Growing 'shu zai choi' aka pan mee vege

Got a whole bunch of shu zai choi from the aunty who sell pan mee at the pasar pagi (morning market). Thank you very much aunty

She was very happy when I told her I wanted to germinate & grow them. She say 'take take better than her throwing it away'

Took the whole pack (as tall as 2/3 of my height) home, de-leaves them remaining on the branches and put them in water to germinate

You can see they started sprouting and new shots coming out. 

Just transferred them to the ground last weekend

The bigger plant was from previous batch (also from the pan mee aunty at the pasar pagi)

However, some little insects find it tasty and start attacking it...aduh..they get to taste it before us.

making salted limes

Trying my luck at making some salted lime.. using calamansi lime. 

Keeping them to 'jaga pintu' in case of sore throat.

Salted lime makes good remedy for sore throat and for heatiness

Batch 1-4 combined for group pic

And another group pic

And the salt we used red for coarse and green for fine

 

Chawan mushi in a cawan

To make life more fun and interesting, I make it a point to try out new breakfast recipe for every week. So in a year time, i would have at least try out preparing plus minus 40 different varieties of breakfast.

This one is one of my favourite and nutritious .... I call it chawan mushi in a cawan 

Because I can't fit 4 bowls into the steamer tray, i decided to use cup (cawan) instead. And because I don't have spring onion at that point of time, I just added some moringa leaves pluck from my kitchen window. What makes me happy was my children like this localised & improvised 'cawan mushi' ... and it's all that matter.

Mushi mushi ... cawan mushi 

 

Trying new recipe for someone with nil cooking skill

I feel I'm more open to try new things nowadays especially when it comes to food. Every weekend, I'm thinking of introducing new foods or drinks to my family (whether they like it will be a topic for another day but so far so ok la...lucky they have taste bud similar to mine..lol)

1. Tried lemon mint lemongrass sour plum (shuen mui) soda ... failed in look as the drink turned out white instead of transparent but luckily the taste was refreshing.

2. Tried garlic herbed potato wedges (oven baked) again doesn't really look inviting, luckily the taste was acceptable and children love it. (ps. who doesn't love potato wedges when you can't have french fries ;p) 

3. I know i know this doesn't look good but this is the one i like best. Dip oyster mushroom into flour+corn flour+salt+pepper batter and fried them. The feedback I got was my fire was not big enough and the oil not hot enough thus it's not crispy. Will try again next round 

4. Tried basil tomato omelette ... like the combination and makes a healthy breakfast. 

I'm feeling hungry as I'm writing this ... some of my food wishlist 

chawan mushi

indian coconut candy

otak otak 

mieng kam

egg kurma

bibimbap (which I tried and failed earlier) 

tan cha tong shui (which last time the ah pak tong sui sell in yulek last time ... i really miss this one)

Would like to say thank you to youtube and to those who willingly share their recipes and cooking videos online ... mean a lot to someone with nil cooking skill :)

Moringa seaweed soup

I'm thankful I managed to grow moringa tree at my backyard (near my kitchen window) and didn't want to waste the nutritious moringa leaves which greet us every morning.

Cut some of the leaves and mix it into our breakfast seaweed soup. I'm happy children like the new ingredient addition. 

Benefits of moringa leaves (source : https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/6-benefits-of-moringa-oleifera)

Moringa leaves are an excellent source of many vitamins and minerals such as protein, vitamin B6, vitamin C, Iron, Riboflavin (B2), vitamin A, Magnesium. It is rich in antioxidant, can lower blood sugar level, reduce inflammation, lower cholesterol and protect against arsenic toxicity

糖水without the 糖

The long weekend, I boiled 糖水 without the 糖, but happy as everyone like it :D

the yellow, orange & purple sweet potatoes + ginger

all into the pot with lots of pandan leaves...simmer with slow fire

peer influence

Towards the end of last year, new experiments being tried out.
One of my colleague who had high cholesterol started eating healthily.
And I was unconsciously influenced, I find myself on a few occasion yearned to eat salad for lunch. But mine was with much more 'solid' ingredients to ensure tummy full as need to produce milk.
some of my 'twists'
vinaigrette balsamique bioloqique (reduced to clear from Natural Health Farm Tesco)
buttercup lettuce, coral lettuce (reduced to clear from Tesco)
cherry tomatoes (reduced to clear from Tesco)
2 hardboiled eggs
2 slice of cheese
sunflower seed 
mixed herb (Tesco)
as I ran out of above ingredients, I started adding carrot, steamed shitake mushroom, goji berries and whatever I can find in my fridge or the reduced to clear section...LOL

* Hoping Tesco got more reduced to clear lettuce soon. As I find the normal prices a little pricey.

vadai

how I know the existence of such nice food is through ERT (Ekonomi Rumah Tangga).
Remember in one of the major assessment, Soon Yeng and me was in the same team and we ended up with making vadai as part of the dishes. 
It was then I learnt to appreciate vadai ...
here after 15 years ... I tried making them again, this time with more daring & healthy combination and fried with less oil. 
My kids love them .... as much as their mama =D

nutritious at lower cost

Nowadays I've become a permanent member of 'reduced to clear' club.
If lucky, can get great deals
like black gold mango - 3 biji for RM0.71 
fresh coconut for Rm0.99
2 bunch of small banana for RM1.99

The verdict : 
black gold mango : 2 is nice and 1 too ripe at one portion (to my standard)
coconut : old coconut with thick juicy flesh (to my liking)
banana : some taste not ripe at middle portion, suspected is made ripe with chemical instead of natural ripe

1st attempt : no bake coco choco mudball

Stumble upon a recipe which I have all the ingredient @ home, so no harm trying since I like choco (cocoa) & coco (coconut).

here's the recipe I copied from the website

the cocoa powder 

the raw honey 














The mixture of shredded coconut, cocoa powder and honey.
Shredded coconut is the type we use to make santan.

The end product, for better taste, cover and chill in the fridge.
I give myself a pass ... taste a little too 'coconuty' due to overpour coconut oil.








Dare not offer anyone except dear ... due to 'you know la' how bad can the food I prepare be .... LOL
Anyone want to be guinea pig next round? ....LOL

colourful things that can go into the mouth

Ever since what happened to us (my family) last year, 

I've learnt the importance of health 

and is more careful with what we put into our mouth.

I like colourful things so I assume my kiddies like them too ...

so I learn to make our own snacks.

I love making these for them.

They love these their mother make for them.

I couldn't have ask for more =)

the 4 jars of dried fruits were gone in less than an hour =D

The process :

1. Cutting and slicing the fruits. Treating some with lemon juice if required (to reduce oxidation)

2. Arrange slices of fruits according to similarity of texture (ie. time needed to dry). Mine is more of trial and error basis.

So we have

• kiwi
• mango
• dragon fruit
• pineapple 
• nangka / cempedak
• green & red apple
• guava

 3. stack up the tray and on power ... then we just wait. I prefer to do it at night after they sleep.

4. When they reach desired dryness, we off the power and let the fruit cool down before canning them in clean airtight container (preferably glass).

5. Give the kiddies some suprises. Enjoy!

my little new toys

here are my little new toys
which I bought online just few weeks shy before I go back to work
and didn't regret getting them 
for I start to like preparing foods 
me definately not a good cook but I'm willing to learn and improve
but 'someone' say I like to buy things that consume a lot of electricity wo...

here my little new toys and some of their end products

(a) little toaster oven & simple coconut cookies

(b) little electric steamer & steam herbal chicken & steam egg

(c) little juicer & a glass of refreshing juice

(d) little ceramic coating frying pan & banana pancake