Simple salmon with precious pea!

It's one of those days when I feel demotivated and yet still have to perform my duty to fill up the little bellies of the two babes with nutritious stuffs.......with no plans on what to cook for dinner....I opened my fridge and THIS orange Mr Salmon stared back at me....and tadaaaaaa.......dinner is planned! And in less than 45 minutes, dinner is done!

Here....let's all have healthy salmon with pureed peas :D

Here's the low-downs on this meal:

A) THE FISH:
Salmon, as many slices as you want. Here I am using just ONE medium large slice.
Dried basil
Salt
Black pepper
Olive oil
Garlic powder

*Season the salmon with all the above.
*With a skillet or pan, heat up some olive oil or butter if you prefer.
*When it's heated to the right temp, lay the salmon into the pan and fry away!
*Halfway through, turn it over once.....let it cook for the same amount of time you did the other side, that's it! (Pardon me coz I can't tell you exactly how long to cook it over the stove, diff temp diff pan.....there's just no magic number in my case...you look, and tell.....if the salmon is cooked well enough....I guess through experience? Hehe...sorry ya!)


B) THE PEA:
1 cup of green peas (or more if you have more salmon slices)
2 medium potatoes, diced or sliced (doesn't matter)
1 large yellow onion, sliced (I usually use a lot more onions)
1 cup of boiling water (add more when necessary)
Salt and pepper to taste
Heavy cream (more if you like it super creamy)

*Boil all the ingredients (except heavy cream) together till cooked.
*Then, carefully pour it into your food processor and puree it.
*Halfway through, add in the cream, then let the food processor run a few pulses again to get it well blended!

The pea puree is done! It's yummy and also very nutritious coz it has carbohydrates from potatoes and the antibacterial properties of onion and best of all, as the name suggests, it has a pea-ful of goodness.....look at the chart below.....see how much nutrients a cup of peas give us?

Truth is, I myself NEVER liked green peas in the past....but I really do know and acknowledge its goodness....and I wanted to slot in this good stuff into my two babes...(and myself too of course..hehe)....but eating green peas in its round cute form is just not workable...thus, I searched for alternative ways to make peas more appealing...and I think I have just found it! :) Coz both babes ate the salmon and the pea puree appetizingly just now....

It always makes me feel good knowing I am feeding the two babes and myself right....that's the least I could do!

Food Indulgence N Ice Creamsss!!!

I just saw an FB contact's contact's photo album entitled "Miserable Life" and who would have guessed the content is actually a BURGER from Mc Donald's? LOL! What a funny way to crave.....and this triggered some thoughts.......and I come to realize I really have to be grateful to be able to eat anything I want (as long as the quantity and frequency is moderated) and be healthy and stay below the 50kg line! Okay, I am currently 49.5kg to 50.0kg (111.5lbs), and for a 5'4" woman, I think I am doing fine.....

I am not one to stay off foods to end up binging on em one bad day....I believe I should be able to eat the things I love as long as I eat it with a sane balanced mind! This is how I keep a consistent weight so far.....and I truly pray that my metabolism will not take a dive now that I am entering my 30th year on earth......hehe!

I also do not eat supper and I eat very healthy lunch and dinner every day because I have to prepare these meals for the two babes at home anyway....so I eat what I feed them! HAHA! And mind you, Kyra is a very fussy eater.....so in case you start to get the idea that their daily meals are tasteless bland stuffs....think again! Unfortunately I cannot say the same for the kind of breakfast I eat......(Coz if there's cake in the oven, I eat 3 cupcakes + coffee for breakfast....yeah, you get the picture....) mainly coz the babes don't eat their breakfast at home.....after their morning milk, they shower and hop over to school where they will eat 'breakfast' at 9.30am. I know for sure that if I have to feed them breakfast, I too will be eating healthy breakfast every morning! :D

So, since this is about indulgence food.....I made my current favourite Matcha Ice Cream....then I made Cookies N Cream Ice Cream too since not everybody in the family fancy green tea like I do....My online buddy Cynthia gave me the recipe to a vanilla ice cream, I modified it a bit and here they are.....



The taste is awesome....those who know NingNing, can ask her....those who know Jacky (her friend who came by last nite)....can ask him! LOL! The only alteration I would make for my 2nd batch of ice creams is to cut down on the sugar......these are a tad too sweet for the sake of our healths really....

Matcha, anyone? :D

55th Birthday for the babes' Granpa!

My dad, aka the babes' granpa turned 55 last saturday. We threw him a surprise family dinner party, and he totally had no idea.....that's why he was so gloomy the entire afternoon, LOL! Well, who could blame him for thinking that his children would definitely remember his birthday after all that he did for them....hehe.....

So, imagine how 'delighted' (that's an understatement) he was when he finally saw the birthday cake and all of us at our home that evening.....hehehehe....... and as usual, mum would 'cater' for most of the food and I catered for the cake and/or dessert.

My dad was born in the year of the Goat (or sheep?!), but because a herd of sheep is way nicer, better and cuter than goats, I made him these......... (the Chinese words read HAPPY BIRTHDAY, and we had to google it for me to refer coz I don't read nor write Chinese. It's my 1st set of cupcakes with Chinese words btw...a lot of fun!)
Take a closer look.....the one inside the fences is GRANPA SHEEP of course..the birthday man! The 2nd largest sheep is GRANDMA SHEEP... :D, and the two lil sheep is Kyra and Maia each! There were even two sherperd dogs, the brown one is a mongrel (LOL!) while the other one in jet black fur is a Labrador Retriever! Fences made of biscuits, salty yummy biscuits, while the paving stones are actually Cadbury's. Grass is buttercream, the 'land' itself is chocolate ganache. The sheep's wool is buttercream as well, while the head and legs are fondant. To be honest, I had a lot of fun creating this birthday cake......so much so I can't wait for another occasion to bake one with deco!
Here's the two babes wishing their Granpa a happy birthday with their wet kisses...LOL!

This is us, from LEFT TO RIGHT:
Zac, Me, Kyra, Mum, Granpa, Maia, Sis#2 aka NingNing and lil bro Leonard. The only person not in this photo would be Sis#3 who's far enough, in KL...too bad. But well, she's coming back next week.....goodie!!!!

An old video of Maia....@1yr++

Shaun The Sheep?

Made these last weekend for my Singapore sis-in-law, at the same time test drove my Shaun The Sheep for fun......these are moist chocolate cupcakes with either dark chocolate ganache (the blackish brown) or peppermint white chocolate ganache (the green ones), and I think you'll be able to tell how moist it is with this pix, no?
Tested ONE ladybug too...with fondant.....just coz it's so adorable....
The frosting in lighter green is non-dairy fresh cream and it's by far my favourite kinda frosting coz it's not that sweet.....


Say Hi to Shaun, everybody!
Lemme see....Sis-in-law brought back 10 cuppies to Singapore,
Cuzzie Mobby took 6,
Aunt Halinah got 5,
Sis#2 took 3 (2 for her buddies),
and I ate the rest! LOL! FYI, there were 34 cuppies in total. Ahemmmm!!!

Dad's 55th birthday is this coming Saturday, and I have already 'sketched' out my cake design specially for him (in my head that is). :D I can only tell you it's yellow butter cake made with golden churn butter, just because some weeks ago he did ask if I could make him the 'common' yellow butter cake...hehe!

Another good occasion to bake, YAY!!!

OMG! my 2nd zippered pouch :O

I did it again!!!
It's just so interesting to see THIS come to shape,
I guess the vibrant happy stripes contributed loads to its cuteness ratio too........
The strap of this zippered pouch is made with polkadot
grossgrain ribbon, and yes, the fabric flower is another
scrappy matter...hehe!

The interior is lined with brightly printed cotton,
and I suspect this is why I am loving this stripey pouch
super duper muchie!!!
Makes me happy just looking at it! :D
This one's gonna be a gift for a dear friend,
I hope she does forget to read my blog from today till mid June:P
LOL!

I have one little problem with the things I made....
(cupcakes excluded)
Each time I make something,
I fall deeply in lurveeeee with it that
I am so hesitant to let it go! :(

To the (past, present, future) recipients
of all my humble homemade handmade things,
I really hope my little gift would bring as much
excitement and joy into your life as much as
it did mine!

And if you happen to own something I made for you as a gift,
do know that you mean a lot to me :)

Eeeee!!!!! I Just Made My 1st Pouch!!!

I haven't done a single sewing for over a week.....or was it 2 weeks? :O Coz I have been baking a lot a lot.....there's baking for Mothers' Day....Teachers' Day.....Cousin-visiting-from-Miri day...LOL! It's good to have wonderful occasions to bake for...haha...less guilt! :P

So this morning, since lunch and dinner have been taken care of,
I found myself itching to make something useful,
and I remember how much I loved Sis#2's MNG wristlet pouch last Sunday,
thus, THIS!
Fully lined with cotton printed batik and with a layer of
4mm thick sponge sandwiched in between,
this wristlet pouch is even good for a digital camera I realized!
Well, it can definitely fits my hp, keys, tissue pack, hand sanitizer,
(even 1 sanitary pad), and a medium square wallet.....(not my long wallet tho!)
I truly luv this navy blue Japanese cotton to bits...it's on the expensive side....unfortunately!
I can only imagine owning bolts and bolts of beautiful Japanese cotton in my studio...
sigh....LOL!
(Don't get me wrong, I luv American cottons too....esp those of Patty Young's,
Amy Butler's....the list is longgg!)

I completed the look with my handmade flower,
also from scrap fabric, I like a bit of contrast for this pouch,
so I chose this red punchy printed fabric flower.
Now I wish I already have my fabric label in hand....so I can stitch it on the pouch,
and call it the "-------" creation!
Hehe.....surprises ahead!

A sweet THANK U for the teachers!

This one's bittersweet chocolate....
And it's now transformed into a pretty pink ladybug!
Sitting pretty on a bloom....ready to fly whenever
you reach out to catch it! :D
And here's "I AM VANILLA"
good ol plain vanilla....
Plain personalities go so well with classy blingz....hehe!!!

And here's the final 25 cupcakes to celebrate the babes' teachers
in school today......
Our sincerest gratitude for teaching my two babes,
and tolerating Maia's "OOpppssss, I spilt water again!",
and the other "Ooopppsss!" in class.....

HAPPY TEACHERS' DAY
to all the great educators everywhere!!!

Homemade Mothers' Day!!!

We celebrated 5 moms last Sunday, namely, Grandma (my mum), MIL (Z's mum), Godma, ME, and a last minutely invited Aunt. The CHILDREN (me included) decided to make the dinner ourselves and exclude the usual chef aka my mum because it's Mothers' Day....... (I wonder why am I not excluded as well...LOL! But I guess that gotta mean I am still young). So here it is....snapshots of that evening.......a very enjoyable one that is!

The carrot cake I made.....and look at how pitiful that babe was?
Don't be fooled by her multi-facial expression! HEHE!
She just had a chocolate mousse prior to this pix!
I didn't ask her to pose with my cake fyi.......Here she is again....
Posing with the chocolate mousse I made for dessert!
You'll be able to tell how heavenly chocolate mousse is by looking at
Maia's expressions here......photo by photo!
I didn't have to ask her to dig in too!!!!
Mmm......mmm......
MMM......MMM......mmmmmmmmm
confirmed a chocolate love, like me and my family!
(FYI, Kyra on the other hand, DOES NOT like chocolate)
Weird huh? Who doesn't like chocolate? LOL!
Lemon Dew drink that LEONARD, my lil bro made.....
Honey Dew juice + Lemon Juice + Sugar + Crushed ice + Mint + h2o
Very refreshing!!!
Modified deviled eggsssssss!
Our last minute improvisation!
I had a lot of fun dressing these chocolate mousse up I tell u....
Made me feel like a real CHEF for that day...LOL!

Simple sushis by Cousin Stella....
It's yummy albeit the simplicity...
My babes just loved it so much, they ate till Z had to forbid em!
Ahhhh............
The MOMssss..... x 5
(the 2 babes couldn't help emselves...they just had to celebrate the
cake and candles....as usual......even if it's not their occasion I tell you)
"US"
It was a great fun throwing a small casual dinner party for my closest family
members.....at least now I know how to make chocolate mousse.....and pipe basketweave pattern on the cake!!! :D Mothers' Day is never a day when I expect to get presents from hubby really....it doesn't make much sense to me..LOL! But he did give me a little something that I've wanted since last year.....and I thank him for that :D AND he did say:
"This is an ALL-OCCASIONs-WHOLE-YEAR-IN gift you know....."
LOL! I don't mind......
What's really important on this kind of occasion is how it is celebrated....
with people who mattered most to me!

Now this is really a HAPPY MOTHERS' DAY, alright!

The 'Cake' That's Missing Something......

u know how it is when the perfect 'carrot cake' requires chopped walnuts in it but you just can't have it coz your kids are allergic to nuts? The carrot cake without this 'chopped walnuts' tastes very good FYI, but deep down, I still wanna taste the perfect carrot cake that I ate for the 1st time, THE carrot cake that got me falling in lurveeeee with it to begin with!......

ahhhhhhh.......what should I do?......... (please don't help me with question..hehe)

GREEN Tableware For Kids & My Fave GREEN Bag!!!

Yesterday @ The Springs, was just accompanying the babes at the play area inside POPPIES when my eyes spotted THESE.......

Yeap, you think you're looking at melamine or claytan's tableware, but you're wrong! :) These soup bowls and soup spoons are made from rice husks, thus the brand LITTLE HUSKS. It's completely natural, non-toxic and good for our environment too for obvious reasons! I am just so glad they have soup spoon in their range coz I've been looking for a long time for it....(didn't wanna let the two soup-loving babes use my clay and cute soup spoons for fear of em breaking it, and I only have 8 pieces!)

Even better is, the price is decent and it's locally manufactured, not MADE IN CHINA...phew-factor there! Hehe.... :P The soup spoon is only RM3.90, the soup bowl RM8.90. Would love to get the plates for them too if not because of its small size :(

After grabbing 2 of these items, I spotted what could be my FAVOURITE PRINTS from Envirosax thus far...the ORIGAMI set!!! Not gonna get all 5 prints from this range though coz I have enough grocery bag really.....but I knew I just had to own this one!!! It has cherry blossom prints....with a calm cool aquamarine colour......the print is so vibrant, don't you think? Makes me happy just looking at it.....(making me wish I have tons and tons of fabric in the entire ORIGAMI range prints!!!)



Aren't these sooooo pretty???? I wish I could have valid reasons to own the entire set, but NO, I do not...I have enough grocery bags.....(sigh).....So, for those of you who hasn't started using reusable grocery bags when you go to the supermarket, these gorgeous baggies gotta give you a good reason to...NO? (even if these don't....what about conscience then?) hehe!

***pssttt!!! I am actually very glad that the supermarket I frequently go to (if not each and every time) supports using our own grocery bag!!! This is very encouraging.....UNLIKE one huge hypermarket here that does not allow our own bags and even SEALS their plastic bags with cable strings!!!! Each and every plastic bag I tell you! Now imagine how many plastics they waste already...... :(