The Ball Pool

And finally, Sarah has changed her mind; she is not afraid of the ball pool anymore.



I was surprised to see that she was willing to let me carry her into the ball pool and then she started to perform her favourite stunt - jump, jump, and jump. At first we were happy it works out but now we started to worry…

She will use her full strength to crawl out from the ball pool and we are afraid she will fall flat on her face. Therefore, at this moment we have to place a small mattress under one of the “window” and instructed her to crawl out from there.

At least she has to do this until she has enough height to reach the floor safely.

More on Dory Fish

Baked Dory Fish
This will be the second dish I prepared with using oven. Yvonne has given me the idea of baking the fish in aluminum foil; and I also got some help from this website.

Instead of apply only the mayonnaise on the fish, I added some butter too.


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Outcome:
The fish was baked nicely. The flesh still remained tender and juicy although I’ve baked it in 240°C for about 10 minutes.

Sarah likes the fish very much…maybe it’s the slight saltiness taste from the mayonnaise. She could finish the whole piece of dory fish with a big plate of pumpkin porridge.



Thanks Yvonne for giving me the tips on using the oven in an easier, efficient way.


Spring Onion Ginger Fish
This is my first attempt in cooking this menu for my family. I am lucky that there are so many recipes available in the internet that I could refer to.

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Outcome:
My husband and I love it. I will definitely cook the same dish again, but I got to remember to drain the excess oil after deep fry it, so the dish won’t become too oily.



If you would like the original recipe, click here.

Christmas comes early

Joanne Ngan told me that I shall waiting for a parcel from her; and I’ve got it yesterday. Wow, I mean, I never expected it was like goodie bag! She had also written me a letter to say Hi…



She has a very good memory as she still remembered I love collecting sticker. Joanne sent me so many stickers at one go. It is so touching to receive this special gift from her.



Besides, Joanne also sent few activities book for Sarah; and among the gifts, Sarah likes the colour pencil most. She will now ask for colouring whenever she saw it.



Many thanks to my dear friend. Although I never meet you, I know you always keep me and Sarah in your thought.

Mee Hoon & Nugget

Tomato Mee Hoon Soup
I got the idea of using tomato as the main ingredient from Caroline’s blog. Her daughter loves tomato very much. And that reminded me it’s been a while since I last use tomato in Sarah’s menu…

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Outcome:
I tried to feed Sarah with tomato in every feeding; she can feel the sourish of the tomato but I just ignored her. I let her chew and swallow it with the mee hoon and soup.

She seems okay with the dish in the end; and it is very easy to prepare.



Homemade Nugget
Lydia has blog about her homemade nugget. I like the recipe when I first saw it. The nuggets that she prepared looked delicious yet healthy.

I forgot to buy the tofu, so I have substituted it with carrot.



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Outcome:
The nuggets that I made did not look as good as Lydia’s. I guess I have over-baked it; it has a hard and dry texture…I should make the nugget thinner so it is easier to bake.



Sarah only ate one of it with mayonnaise. She likes mayonnaise better compared to ketchup.



This is the first time I bake food (not cake) using the oven. I think I should polish up my skills in this area.

Thanks Lydia for the useful tips and advice for the recipe.

A (futile) Trip to Ikea

We went to Ikea last Sunday with a plan to buy a new footstool. We thought to have breakfast there (thinks Swedish Meatball) but not available as their restaurant only started at 11.30 am onward.

So we proceed to adjacent The Curve to search for food. I saw a kids ride on our way there; Sarah likes to sit on it because mommy told her that she is sitting with “Barney” (actually it is not). Or else, she won’t even dare to come near it…



Speaking about the breakfast we had, hmmm, please do not step your foot into this restaurant called “Rojak Rojak”, regret big time!

Then finally I have the opportunity to shop at Daiso since I have heard so much about it; and I manager to grab a measuring jug and a packet of balloon from there.



Later we head back to Ikea again. It was so disappointed that most of the footstools are temporarily out of stock. After that, we brought Sarah to the kid’s department. She was so attracted to a small rattan chair. She also enjoyed herself playing with the wooden toy.



It was not a nice trip we would like it to be, nevertheless, Sarah did have some fun time there.

A Case of Mis-identity

It is a daily routine we walk Sarah to the park after dinner. She did not cried for it, but seeing her being “trapped” in the house whole day long, I think it is good to bring her out to take some fresh air.

Yesterday when she was happily playing with the swing, she saw a black basset hound. Most of the kids were running towards the dog and pat it. For Sarah, she also ran towards it but look at it from distance (she is afraid of dog, even dog’s bark). Then, she pointed to the dog and said: “Ba Ba”. I corrected her “No, not Ba Ba, it’s a dog dog”; but she kept repeating it, “Ba Ba, Ba Ba”.

And then finally it dawn on me why she’s calling the dog “Ba Ba” - The dog is in black colour, and her nursery song “Baa Baa Black Sheep” also shown the graphic in the same colour!



She’s now learning to talk, and she tried hard; but in this case I guess she’s little confused…

Off Porridge, Coconut Cake & “Chickuteh”

Spinach, Corn, Egg Tofu Porridge
The last time I used spinach in Sarah’s porridge is when she was nine months old. As I have bought some fresh spinach the other day, it is good for me to give it a second try.

Afraid that the spinach will leave bitter taste to the porridge, so I’ve added some corn into the menu.



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Outcome:

Frankly speaking, the porridge tastes blunt; but after adding some marmite the dish became better…luckily Sarah still ate it.




Coconut Cake
This is the cake that I bake using my newly bought square baking pan.



I found this coconut cake so tender and delicious. I’ve used coconut milk and quite a lot of shaved coconut, but surprisingly the cake does not taste overly strong the coconut flavour.

And the feedback from my husband and my family is positive one. (Yes, I even “dare” to share the cake with them during the Father’s Day Celebration).



If you would like the original recipe, click here.


“Chickuteh”


I believe most of us have heard of “Bakuteh”, but “Chickuteh”? I was attracted by its cheeky name hence bought one home to have a try.

The serving instruction was written on the packaging. I love mushroom, therefore I have added in the extra Chinese Mushrooms and Enoki Mushrooms.

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Outcome:



Well, the soup tastes not bad although I only used one sachet of the seasonings. Sarah also had a sip but I guess she’s not so fancy with it; she can’t even finish the rice. But for us, this is satisfying enough.

Father’s Day 2009

What better way to celebrate Father’s Day than a fabulous seafood-lunch with family members? We decided to treat our dad to Port Village Seafood Restaurant at Klang since he is a seafood lover.

The restaurant not only serving good food but also has the nice view of the port. This is the first time Sarah seeing real ships; and she was deeply attracted by the scenery around.



We had DIY a card to dad as a gift. He was so overwhelming that he fall tears when reading our messages. It was a heart warming moment for every one of us.



We are lucky that Sarah did not disturb us while we were enjoying the crab. She just busy playing with the paper napkins and also running around with her cousin brother.



Nothing feels quite good as all of us spent time together with dad once in a while, really.

(210609)

Teaching Aids

Drypers Milestone Programme’s Inserts


This is the first teaching aid I introduced to Sarah a few months back. I started by teaching her about the animals printed on the inserts. She can now recognize the pictures of ladybird, hippopotamus, goat, lion, chicken and etc…


Flash Cards


Sensing that Sarah had made some progress in recognizing the animals from the Dryper’s inserts, we decided to buy a set of Alphabet Flash Cards for her.

Instead of learning the alphabet, she is somehow ends up strong in memorizing the graphics.




DIY Alphabet Cards


But we are not giving in. We thought that the Flash Card is too colourful to distract her from the alphabet, so daddy is DIY an ABC Card (in black and white).

I am teaching Sarah in slow pace as I noticed she’s not so interested to the cards. Every time she saw me holding the cards, she will show some frustrations. Or maybe I should buy a set of colourful alphabet-only cards?

Spiral Spaghetti

Out of various spaghetti (or pasta) available in the market, so far Sarah has only tried macaroni. As she has finished off the pack, I would like to let her try spiral shape spaghetti this time. I bought it because I was attracted by its beautiful shape.

This is the first time I cooked silk squash with noodle. Besides, I’ve also added some mackerel to the menu.



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Outcome:

Sarah just loves the texture of spiral spaghetti. For me, it is definitely much better to serve with soup compared to macaroni.

And the silk squash also makes the dish looked more colourful and taste sweeter!

A simple yet delicious meal.

Toothbrush

Actually I’ve bought this toothbrush from Anakku about two months ago. I thought it was the right time then to replace Sarah’s finger toothbrush but alas, she dislikes it; so I just keep the toothbrush in the cabinet.

Today I showed it to Sarah again and see what her immediate respond was. She grabbed it from me without any hesitation (it’s a good sign).

During bath time, I told her that I am going to use this new toothbrush to clean her “gigi”. I also demonstrated to her how I brush my teeth at the same time. She observed it and the next thing she did was, insert the toothbrush in her mouth and start brushing! Of course she has yet to master the skill, so I got to re-brush her teeth after that.

Happy Brushing, Sarah!

I Love You, You Love Me...

Sounds familiar with the title? Yes, I guest all the children in the world loves Barney; and Sarah has recently fall in love with that purple dinosaur too!

She started to show interest towards the theme song when she first heard it from You Tube. Daddy subsequently bought a Barney VCD for her as she had gets bored with current nursery songs. Since then, she really likes it till the extent that she could watch the VCD over and over again.

Sarah also learned to say “Oh O” from Baby Bop and BJ. Besides, she is also good in saying “Bop Bop” (as to Baby Bop).

It is fun watching her dancing along with the songs.

Chocolate Banana Cake

It is not that I’m getting lazy in baking but I just don’t have the opportunity to do so recently…Sarah always go to bed late; and yesterday she fell asleep early so it’s my baking time again!

I’ve chosen this recipe because I have bought a bar of chocolate and cocoa powder some time ago but never use it. Furthermore, there is also a banana sitting inside the freezer so I guess this recipe suits me best.

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Outcome:

I am quite satisfied with the outcome. My cake no longer has crispy topping thanks to the advices from my blogger friends. This time I have reduced the baking time.

The cake does not have much banana taste either because I only used one. I will definitely use more next time.

I was surprised when Sarah asked for the cake when she saw me sharing it with my neighbour. This is her very first time eating the cake I bake, so happy!



If you would like the original recipe, click here.

First Puzzle

While I was at supermarket the other day, I saw this wooden puzzle. It cost only RM9.90 but the quality is not bad.



The wood-made puzzle is definitely a good choice for toddler. It is handy enough for them to grab and less easy to damage. No matter how Sarah throw and forced the puzzle pieces into the puzzle board, it still remained in good condition.

Of course, Sarah still unable to solve the puzzle yet but at least she is attracted by its colour and interested to explore it.

Dai Yi Ma Ga Lui (Modified Version)

Since Sarah loves Dai Yi Ma Ga Lui a lot, so I’ve cook the meal again. Too bad I can’t find a fresh hairy cucumber this time; therefore I have to replace the ingredient by using cabbage.



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Outcome:

I think the hairy cucumber suits much better with the recipe. The modified version taste less sweet than original menu but it maintained a great aroma from the dried shrimp.

I am glad that Sarah likes the dish and she was able to finish most of the mee hoon and also the soup.

Over The Weeks

My mom had been staying with us since last week and went home yesterday; Sarah had developed a very close bond with popo this time around. She has had a great time because she can go “kai kai” almost every day with popo’s here.



Coincident with my mom’s birthday during her visit, there was another celebration held in our house. We had a simple (as she wished) yet meaningful birthday celebration for my mom.



Besides, I also let Sarah played water in the water pool for the first time. I bought it long time ago but just never use it. Luckily Sarah does not afraid of cold water and she had a great splashing time!

My Big Fat Thigh

This morning Sarah woke up slightly earlier, therefore she started to felt sleepy when approaching noon time.

Normally I will bring her to nap at about 1p.m., but today I’ve delayed the time slightly because I was caught up in a conversation with my husband.

During the chat Sarah came to me and lay down on my thigh; without realising, my hands just unconsciously went to massage her forehead while I was talking. After a while, she fell asleep! I think she is really tired today…

Dried Scallop + Apple + Barley Porridge

Really run out of idea this time…

How about dried scallop plus apple plus barley for porridge? Why not? After all I still got these leftover ingredients in my kitchen.



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Outcome:

I must confess that this is not a good combination; imagine the fishy taste of the dried scallop combined with the sweetness from the apple…it taste weird.

I really thought that Sarah won’t like it but I was wrong. She had no qualms in swallowing it.

Prawn Porridge

I like to buy prawns whenever I go for sundry shopping; so it will be used as the main ingredient of the porridge this time. I am afraid the porridge will taste blunt with prawn alone, so I added in the black fungus and green peas (since I still got some leftover).



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Outcome:

The porridge taste sweet with the prawn in it.

Sarah kept asking for “prawn prawn” when I feed her the meal. Therefore, she has prawn for every spoon full of porridge.

Neno's Award

When I first got the award from Caroline, I thought it is called "Nemo's Award":-) Anyway, thanks Caroline for the award. Appreciate it a lot.

Terms & Conditions For the Award Recipient:

1. Paste the Award Logo in your blog
2. Give out the award to 10 Blogs that you feels the most inspired and most friendly.
3. Make sure u back linked the recipients' blogs to your blog.
4. Inform the recipients about the award by leaving them comments on their blog
5. Give some love to the person who give you this award.

I would like to pass the award to:
1) Merryn
2) HN
3) Yugene
4) Serene
5) Kylie
6) Kristie
7) Maggie
8) Leann
9) Alyse
10)Esmeralda

Vermicelli Soup + Cod Fish

Fearing that my brain will get rusty after not cooking for Sarah for a week, I’ve finally come up with this idea - vermicelli soup + cod fish. The ingredient for this menu was: vermicelli, cauliflower, pureed green peas and the cod fish.



I steamed the fish with some fried shallot and preserved soybeans (tauchu). I’ve also pureed the green peas so that it is easier for Sarah to swallow.

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Outcome:

Sarah was not able to finish the vermicelli but the most nutritious foods (cod fish and cauliflower) were all eaten up; and she also like the soup too…I am so happy to see that.

I did not mix the pureed green peas in the soup instead I feeding her with it separately. I think it also add some extra flavour to the meal.

A Happier Sunday

What a difference a week makes.

After the sad episode of last Saturday, this week we celebrated my father’s birthday and also the belated mother’s day…well, I guest life must go on.

We’ve went to Lala Chong (at Kampung Subang) for dinner yesterday. The food taste not bad and they served in big portion too. Sarah has tried their famous dish - Seafood Tofu Soup. She ate with rice and she’s kind of like it. For 10 of us, it is a full filling meal.

After the meal, we went back home for the cake cutting ceremony. We sang birthday song for father. I was surprised that Sarah learned a few words of the song. She even (try to) sang it when she saw a piece of leftover cake in the fridge.

I am glad that my mom is recouping quite well, and I’m sure she will get over the grief soon.

(170509)

Mother’s Day 2009

I guest no words can describe how I feel now.

Tomorrow is Mother’s Day; therefore I’ve bought a cake and will bring it to celebrate with my mom tomorrow morning.



But as fate would have it, things just don’t turn out that way…

I have got a phone call that my maternal grandma has fainted in the house and being rush to SJMC. I was shocked. Fearing the worst, the uneasy feeling is just too much to bear.

An hour later, got to know that my grandma has passed away. I cried badly.

The cake will not be cut and there will be no celebration tomorrow.

RIP, grandma.

(090509)

Bolster & Nail Clipper

I remembered reading Ivy mention about Sharlene’s bolster; hence she has given me the idea of writing this post.



The big bolster on the top used to belong to me. All this while it was left in my parent’s house until recently I decided to bring it back.

Once Sarah saw the bolster, she wants it immediately and forgoes what she used to have which is the smaller one.

I think the bolster is a bit oversize for her, but she just like to put it in between her legs and can sleep comfortably with this position. I even brought the bolster to Cameron just in case she cannot sleep without it.



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I’ve marked today as a special day.

This is the first time I cut Sarah’s nail. For the past 19 months, her nails were actually cut by daddy. I just dare not to handle the task. So every time I have to “catch” my husband’s time so that Sarah could get her nails trim.

I just don’t know why today I have the courage to do so.

I started with the toe nails because her daddy has been complaining that the small nails clipper can’t do the job well; so I was thinking maybe the bigger clip can handle it…yes, it really can.

From now on, I will happily taking over the job.

Porridge and Cake

Cranberry Beans, Hairy Cucumber and French Beans Porridge
Now only I know pink beans (what I used to call it) also known as Cranberry Beans. This time, I am able to get it from Jusco cold storage section instead of asking my mom to buy it from her place. So much easier!

I’ve used Cranberry Beans, Hairy Cucumber and French Beans as the porridge ingredients. I also added some onions into it. I’ve seen many mommies using it as one of the ingredient, so I thought to try too.



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Outcome:

The porridge has a wonderful aroma. I think it comes from the onion. It does not taste as good as smell though, it just lack a bit of sweetness in it.

I always use marmite as my last resort when the foods taste blunt. Once the marmite being added into the porridge, it tastes great! Sarah just loves it. She finished the whole pot of it.




Butter Cake
I got the recipe from Mommy Gwen. I am not a big fan of butter cake, but I kind of like this one.

I faced some problem with the ingredients when I start the baking process. According to the recipe, it requires some self-raising flour; but I don’t have such a thing…Thank God, I am able to google search that it can be substitute with the mixture of all-purpose flour, baking powder and salt (I really learnt something this time).

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Outcome:



Well, the cake does not taste very “buttery” or “milky” (Just suits my taste).

But I am wondering why most of my cake has a crispy topping? I thought it is suppose to be soft? Am I over-bake?

About the cradle...

I am so glad to tell that Sarah has not been sleeping in the cradle (for her afternoon nap) for about two weeks. Therefore, I consider that I’ve successfully weaned her from it.

Actually few months ago I’ve tried to let her sleep on the bed during her afternoon nap, but she only managed to do so for the first day, after that, mission failed! She cried and asked me to bring her downstairs for the “Yao Yao”. No choice, I have to raise the white flag when seeing her sobbing.

And finally the right timing has come…

When my sister-in-law came for a visit two weeks ago, I thought that this will be a good opportunity to wean her off from the cradle. Normally we have to bring the cradle upstairs when we have guests, so that Sarah would have a peaceful nap…so much of hassle; so I’ve try to “forced” Sarah sleep on the bed started on that day citing we have guest at downstairs.

Amazingly, she seems to understand what I mean and she was fine with it since then. For now, I’ve pack the cradle into the store room and she also hasn’t noticed that such a thing has “disappeared” from our living room.

Fried Noodles

I read about Mery frying a delicious Air-Dried Noodles the other day, therefore I thought to do the same too. And what left inside my fridge were only some French Beans, eggs and Chinese Mushroom, so it will be my ingredients this time.



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Outcome:



What do you think of the result? Looked too dry? I think so. Maybe I did not add enough water or oil…or I should have blanched the noodles with boiling water instead of soaking it with cold water before cooking.

Normally Sarah preferred noodles with soup, but surprisingly she also likes this one. She has eaten quite a lot. As for the leftover, all eaten by me (I should eat my own cooking, right?)

Cameron Highlands

Over the weekend, we traveled to Cameron Highlands for holiday with my parent and my sister’s family.



This is the first time we brought Sarah to a place so far away from home (about four hours trip from KL) and stayed overnight.

Initially I was worried that Sarah would vomit on the way there because of the winding roads, but luckily she did not. I distracted her attention by keep talking and explaining to her about the scenery outside the car window. She managed to learn quite a few vocabularies, like mountain and trees.

Well, I cannot say Cameron Highlands is an interesting place. Nonetheless, we’ve checked out the tea farms, strawberry farms, Butterfly Park and stuff like that. We managed to visit most of the tourist spot within a day.

Sarah did had some fun while we were at these places. She was very exhausted on the day…I never see her fell asleep in a sitting position (while we were waiting for the dinner to be served). Poor girl.

Overall, I must say that Sarah does not give us much hassle and problem...phew, what a big relief! For me, there’s really nothing much about Cameron Highlands, so I decided to let the pictures do the talking.

Enjoy.

Gu Gu come again

Sarah’s “gu gu” come visit again, a 3D2N stay this time.

My sister-in-law visited us last Friday and Sarah seems like still remembered her very well; therefore Sarah didn’t cried when she first saw my SIL.

But alas, once she saw the “gu zheung” (my in-law’s husband), she cried out loud. Luckily my SIL always has a lot of biscuits with her, so she was able to “tame” Sarah with it.

Sarah then sits on my SIL’s lap for about an hour just to observe how her two cousins played around the house.

Throughout the three days when our guests were here, Sarah was well behaved; she hasn’t throws tantrum at all. I shall also praise her for always sharing toys with the cousins. Slowly but surely, she’s learning how to interacted with other kids.

And after getting familiar with her “gu gu” for the last three days, Sarah is refusing to letting her go home when its time to say good bye. So cute of her.

Salmon Porridge

Smoked Salmon is something I definitely will not miss in a buffet meal; then again I have no idea how to prepare it. Therefore I had chosen something easier…

I’ve marinated the salmon (with some brown sugar, salt, light soy sauce, oil, vinegar and water) then let it sit in the fridge overnight. Sound simple, right? I got the recipe from here but I have modified the cooking method by frying it (as I am not good in grilling fish)

Besides fish, I’ve prepared Sarah a bowl of porridge to eat with; the ingredients are jicama, corn and white potato. The corn is to sweetening the porridge.



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Outcome:

The salmon turned out just nice and taste good. Although it looked caramised but actually fresh inside. The aroma is mainly come from the brown sugar, but luckily it dose not taste exceedingly sweet and it goes well with the salmon's rich texture.

Personally I am kind of like it, but not Sarah. She almost vomited when I first feed her with the salmon (plus porridge). Fortunately after few feeding and she was able to accept it.

Maybe I should add some lemon juice (which I’m not able to obtain) on the salmon to get rid of its slight fishy taste.

Leg Warmer / Legging

I seldom buy fashionable accessories for Sarah but I am fortunate enough to have Angel sending me this leg warmer / legging.

Of course, I would love to let Sarah wearing it and make her looked trendy.

Thanks Angel for the generous gift. Sarah is blessed to be “sayang” by Auntie Angel. I am also lucky to have a friend like Angel.

Onde-Onde

Yeh! Finally, I have made my own onde-onde. Thanks Cendrine.

Actually I failed on my first attempt because I’ve bought a “rotten” glutinous rice flour (from Jusco, although it has yet to expire). It has a weird smell when I first opened it. I should toss it away but I just not sure because this is the first time I bought this kind of flour.

Of course it does affect the outcome. Although the onde-onde looked good but it tastes weird!

After further discussed with my mum and Serene, I decided to try the recipe again but with a newly bought flour…so here you go, my first dessert and it is also my favourite one.



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Outcome:

It tastes superb. The outer layer has its soft texture (from the mashed sweet potato) and also the chewyness (from the glutinous rice flour).

I have substitute the filling of chopped-pieces gula melaka to fine texture one, because it is easier to cook. Oh ya, the filling is just nice, not too sweet.

I will make another round tomorrow. It is a simple yet delicious dessert. Do give it a try.


Onde-Onde Recipe:

150g steamed sweet potato
150g glutinous flour
6 tbsp water or more
1 tsp canola oil
chopped pieces of gula melaka (or call palm sugar)
freshly grated coconut

Directions
1) Steam the sweet potato until soft.
2) then mash the sweet potato in a bowl, add in the glutinous bit by
bit flour, water and oil.
3) Knead till a dough is formed. You can add more water if the dough is dry.
4) Chop gula melaka into bite size pieces. (avoid wet)
5) Divide dough into 20g each and wrap in the gula melaka.
6) Put the wrapped balls into a big pot of boiling water.
7) Fish them out when the ball floats.
8) Toss them on to a plate filled with grated coconut and coat all
around the balls.

P/S:

1) I didn't add the pandan juice cos I prefer the sweet potato flavour.
But if u want, u can add the pandan juice, by blending the pandan
leaves and water to get the juice. And add it into Step 2. The pandan
juice is to make the onde onde turn green color.

2) I didn’t use canola oil. I just use normal cooking oil.

3) You may add a pinch of salt to the grated coconut (before coating the onde-onde) to add more flavour to the dessert.

Balloon and More Balloons

Sarah started to fell in love with balloon after she got one from shopping mall; since then, the balloons is all over the place in our house. I was told by mum that I have the same interest too when I was a kid, so maybe Sarah got these ‘gene’ from me.

Actually I love the job of blowing the balloons. Normally I will buy a packet of it from the nearby shops until recently I saw some nice, cheap but good quality one from Toys"R"Us.

Of course the balloons will burst and Sarah got shocked and cried sometime. After a while, she will back to normal and continued to play again. She really likes the game!

She has learned a lot from the game. From just throwing the balloon to the air and now she even knows the technique of hitting it (not shown in the video though).

Stir Fried Prawn with Capsicum

This is the first time Sarah tried on prawn and capsicum. I think she would like prawn better than capsicum. Besides, I have also cooked Yi Mien Soup (Sarah is a big fan of Yi Mien). As for the capsicum, I fried it rather than cook in the soup.

So I guess it won’t go wrong by feeding her the food she likes, together with something that she never tried before (Prawn and Capsicum). Hope she won’t vomit out all the things.



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Outcome:

The stir fried dish just turned out nice. The capsicum taste goes well with the prawn. It gives beautiful colour to the dish too.

As expected, Sarah likes the prawn very well. She has no problem eating the capsicum either. Thank God.

Sponge Cake

Am baking cake again!

I remembered Caroline told me that, we could not stop baking once we’ve started the ball rolling. How true…recently my hand just gets itchy again and I’ve decided to bake another one. I try on sponge cake this time.

Overall the instruction’s clear and I’m following it quite well, but my egg white just couldn’t form the stiff peaks. Maybe this is the reason why my cake not spongy enough?

I am satisfied with the outcome. At least the cake is ‘eatable’ compared to my last two attempts (too shame to blog about it). I feel so happy that my husband also supported me by eaten half of the big cake. Not like Sarah, tried a few bites then shake her hands hard (means no!)



If you would like the original recipe, click here.

Tag: When Cupid's Getting Naughty...

Oh no! I was tagged by HN that I need to share the story on how I and my husband met. After reading about HN’s story, I think ours is nothing as interesting as compare to hers.

And hope you won’t get bored with our story…

I think our relationship can be categories as ‘work related”. I first met my husband when I was working as an Administrative Assistant in a financial advisory firm.

There is one time he forgotten to sign a certain document and he have to come all the way from hometown to re-sign it. And I was the one who tasked to handle him.

That was the chance we have to get know to each other and from there on we started to become friend and later developed a romantic relationship.



After dating for about two years, he finally pops the question one day and we married in year 2006.

Of course, we are blessed with a daughter, Sarah, in year 2007.



A typical ‘boy meets girl’ story, huh?

To follow HN, I am now passing this tag to:
1) Kristie
2) Sha
3) Esmeralda
4) Mery
5) Agnes Chan
6) Gladys
7) Sam
8) Kylie
* No obligation, it's up to you to share; I just tag it for fun :P*

Tag with Awards

A big thank you to Mery for passing me this award. What’s so special of this award is it comes with a tag too :) So here it goes...

*start copying*

Name 7 things/persons that you love and then pass this to 7 other bloggers.
1) My beloved hubby
2) My daughter, Sarah.
3) My family
4) My friends
5) My rabbit, I-Sh
6) My guppy fishes
7) My laptop

*end of copying*

Now I am passing it to:
1) Yen Ping
2) Queenie
3) Serene
4) Mommy Gwen
5) Joanne Ngan
6) Kristie
7) Olive

Mixed Beans and Carrot Porridge

Just when I was scratching my head for Sarah’s menu last week, I saw some mixed beans (Red Beans, Green Beans and Black Eyes Beans) available in the sundry section at Carrefour. I was attracted by its beautiful colour, and I guess Sarah will like it too.



Since those dried beans will takes a long time to fully cooked, so I decided to put it into slow cooker and cook it overnight.

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Outcome:

Although it is convenient to use slow cooker, but (for me) the result does not taste as good as using the gas stove. Therefore, I’ve add some marmite into it.

Besides, the porridge also has the coarser texture but luckily Sarah is fine when swallowing it; just to ensure she won’t get chocked, I fed her with water for every two spoons of porridge. So she ended up had a very fulfilling meal.

I am glad that she likes it, and she even asked for second bowls of it.

Inside My Luggage…

Yesterday when I was busy packing my stuff for a trip to mother’s house, my naughty girl also busy packing hers.

She transferred most of her toys from the toy basket to the luggage. Actually I did not intend to take any of her toys along (except her favourite VCD), but she keep putting them in.

I did not stopped her because I was curious what she will do after she has done her “packing”…She just left!! *sigh*

Double Dishes

Air Dried Noodles with Shitake Mushroom, Green Peas and Steam White Pomfret

Shitake Mushroom
I’ve heard from many mommies that Shitake Mushroom has the best taste and aroma compared with other mushrooms; so I decided to give it a try…

White Pomfret
This is the first time I used Pomfret in Sarah’s menu. I have steamed the fish with some shitake mushroom, ginger, light soy sauce and sesame oil; and the fish will serve together with the noodles.



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Outcome:

The fish look good and fresh in the end; but somehow the taste of green peas has overshadowed the mushroom. Luckily, Sarah like the steamed fish and managed to finish her meal.




Coleslaw

The other day when I saw Sarah happily eating the coleslaw at KFC, I was like: why not I make some for her myself?

I have used the usual suspects: cabbage, carrot, cucumber and raisins, and mixing it with the mayonnaise and Walla…the home made coleslaw are ready to serve.



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Outcome:

Wow, this is delicious! I can taste the crunchiness of the vegetables and the raisin makes the coleslaw simply superb!

Sarah did tried two spoonful of it and then turned away. I think she still prefer the one from KFC.



P/S: Put a tiny pinch of salt into the coleslaw before serve. It will bring up a lot of flavour.

100 Truths Tag

Thanks to Mommy Gwen and Mery for passing the 100 Truths Tag to me.

001. Name → Joanne
002. Nickname(s)→ None.
004. Zodiac sign → Capricorn.
005. Male or female → Female.
006. Elementary → Yes. Spent a year in kindie.
007. Middle School → SRJK (C) Yuk Chai
008. High School → Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Kelana Jaya
009. College School → Systematic College, KL
009b. University → None.
010. Hair color → Black
011. Long or short → Passed shoulder length
012. Loud or Quiet → Quiet
013. Jumpers or Jeans → Jeans
014. Phone or Camera → Phone.
015. Health freak → No.
016. Drink or Smoke? → I don't smoke or drink.
017. Do you have a crush on someone? → Happily married.
018. Eat or Drink → Eat.
019. Piercings → Ears.
020. Tattoos → Never.

FIRSTS:
023. First piercing → 7 or 8 yo.
024. First best friend → When I was in primary school.
025. First award → None.
026. First crush → None.
027. First pet → A rabbit.
028. First big vacation → None.
030. First big birthday → When I was 21 yo.

CURRENTLY:
049. Eating → None.
050. Drinking → None.
052. I'm about to → charge my laptop battery?
053. Listening to → Nothing.
054. Plans for today → None.
055. Waiting for → A vacation with my family.

YOUR FUTURE:
058. Want kids? → Not really. I already blessed with one daughter.
059. Want to get married? → Already married.
060. Careers in mind → None.

WHICH IS BETTER IN THE BOY/GIRL YOU LIKE?
068. Lips or eyes → Eyes.
070. Shorter or taller - Taller.
072. Romantic or spontaneous → Romantic.
073. Nice stomach or nice arms → Nice arms.
074. Sensitive or loud → Sensitive.
075. Hook-up or relationship → Relationship.
076. Trouble maker or hesitant → Neither.

HAVE YOU EVER:
080. Lost glasses/contacts → None.
081. Ran away from home → Never.
082. Held a gun/knife for self defense → Never.
083. Killed somebody → Never.
084. Broke someone's heart → Yes.
085. Been arrested → Never.
087. Cried when someone died → Yes, when my uncle passed away.

DO YOU BELIEVE IN:
089. Yourself → Yes.
090. Miracles → Sometimes.
091. Love at first sight → Yes.
092. Heaven → Yes.
093. Santa Claus → Yes.
094. Tooth Fairy → No.
095. Kiss on the first date → No.

ANSWER TRUTHFULLY:
097. Is there one person you want to be with right now → No.
098. Are you seriously happy with where you are in life → I'm satisfied with what I have.
099. Do you believe in God → Yes.
100. Post as 100 truths and tag 20 people→

Leann, Charliz, Yvonne Tan, Joanne N, Jennifer, Amanda, Shirley, Sha, Gladys, Amy, Priscilla, Rachel, Yugene, Su Ying, Alyse, Ling, 2ma, Julie, Xin Yun and June

A Perfect Blend of Friendship Award

As always, I want to thank my dear friends Caroline and Kylie for letting me grab this tag. I really appreciate this award, Thank You.

I’m giving this award to:
1) Michelle
2) Sha
3) Ivy
4) Doreen
5) Peggy
6) Kristie
7) Angie
8) Ummi
9) Mommy Gwen

Apple, Dory Fish and Broccoli Porridge

Apple
This is first time I used fruit as an ingredient in porridge. I’ve read from Agnes, Kristie and Caroline’s blog that they cooked apple porridge for their little one, so I thought to give it a try too.

Dory Fish
I always have problem in getting the nice fish for Sarah, more over a boneless one. So frankly I thought it was a steal when I saw Carrefour selling the Dory Fish Fillet for just RM3 (two big pieces of it).

I have decided to fry the fillet lightly so that it won’t leave fishy taste to the porridge. Of course, I’ve also added a piece of ginger into the porridge for the same purpose.



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OUTCOME:

The porridge turned out well and it taste yummy too. The sweetness of the apple blends well with the other two ingredients. Sarah and I love the dory fish fillet very much; its flesh still remains tender after cooked with the porridge.

Sarah manages to finish her big bowl of meal in less than 20 minutes. She is such a good girl.



P/S: Thanks Yugene for giving me the idea of using Dory Fish in Sarah’s menu.

My First Attempt

I’ve try something new today…after tons of questions I have asked mommies pertaining to cake baking, finally I have baked one myself.

This is my very first attempt in baking so I have choose the most easy one, Steam Banana Cake. I really feel blurred and lost when I shop for the ingredients, but luckily I manage to found what I want.

I couldn’t believe I’ve finish preparing the batter in just 10 minutes. Then, I let it steam for 30 minutes while I went for dinner.

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Outcome:

Well, the cake looks ‘real’ but its colour turned out not as dark as I’d like; personally I preferred darker colour one as what I saw from Esmeralda’s blog.

And another thing is the cake taste not sweet enough. Maybe next time I should use the weighing scale to get a more accurate measurement for the ingredients.

Sarah did try the cake but not fancy it. I am not able to finish the entire cake myself as my husband doesn’t like cakes either; so I wonder how should I adjust the size of the cake as I like? Can I just simply cutting all the ingredients by half?

Anyway, it is an exciting experiment for me. I think I am more than happy to try out more baking in the future.






P/S: Thank you to Esmeralda and Caroline for giving me so many baking tips.

Spicy Chocolate

I got to know about Chili Chocolate from Sam’s blog and I’ve asked lot of question about it (out of curiosity). And then she was so kind that she offered to “fly” me the chocolate all the way from Kota Kinabalu.

I was surprised when Sam sent me a brand new box of chocolate. I thought she mentioned she will only send “some” for me to try...how sweet.



Sam says the chocolate taste weird; for me it is not weird but funny. It taste from sweet to savoury and then become mild spicy. I expected the chili taste to a greater degree but it is okay for a chili lover like me.

It is a new experience worth trying; now I know chili and chocolate can go really well together. Yum!

Thanks again, Samantha.

For the Love Of Surveys

I have got another lengthy survey from Esmeralda. Thank you for passing it to me.

Rules:

1. Use Google Image to search the answers to the questions below.
2. Then you must choose a picture in the first page of the results, and post it as your answer.
3. After that tag 6 people.


I am


I really want to go


My favourite place is


My favourite things are


My favourite drinks are




My favourite food are





My favourite colours are




I live in


I was born in


I attended the followings:

(Primary School)


(SMKJ, Secondary School)


(Systematic College)


My favourite story HAS TO BE


My hobbies are




My wish is for


Since most of my friends have done the similar tag, therefore I choose not to tag anyone this time.

Mee Hoon with Ikan Bilis Broth

Since Sarah does not fancy mee hoon herbal soup, then better I cook something that she has eaten before. Therefore I’ve bought some grey oyster mushroom, egg tofu, “sawi” and fish ball to cook with the soup.

This is the first time I used oyster mushroom in Sarah’s menu, hope she will like it.



----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Outcome:

Wise decision! Sarah loves it a lot. I was delighted she is able to finish the meal. She also likes those ingredients in the soup. She will just swallow all of them with no problem at all.

The Name Game

I have got another tag from Esmeralda. Thank you so much. I enjoyed answering the tag.

Rules:
1. Copy to your own blog, erase my answers, enter yours, and tag 20 (if you have 20 in your list).
2. Use the first letter of your name to answer each of the following questions. They have to be real...nothing made up! If the person before you had the same first initial, you must use different answers. You cannot use any word twice and you can't use your name for the boy/girl name question.
Have fun scratching your head...

1. What is your name? Joanne
2. A four letter word: Joke
3. A boy's name: Jayden
4. A girl's name: Jennifer
5. An occupation: Joker (not the Batman)
6. A colour: Jade Green
7. Something you wear: Jeans
8. A food: Jam
9. Something found in the bathroom: Johnson baby shampoo
10. A place: Japan
11. A reason for being late: Jam (traffic)
12. Something you shout: Jom!
13. A movie title: Jaws
14. Something you drink: Juice
15. A musical group: Jones Brothers
16. A street name: Jalan Maarof, Bangsar
17. A type of car: Jaguar
18. A song title: Just Once
19. A verb: Jump

I wish to pass the tag to my Multiply friends, here they are: (I think I dont have 20 in my list)
1) Maggie
2) Leann
3) Xin Yun
4) Angie
5) Gladys
6) Ann
7) Charliz
8) Alyse
9) Priscilla
10) Yvonne Fung

Beetroot and Ginkgo Nuts Porridge

Beetroot
I have totally no idea about this vegetable until I saw Caroline used it as the ingredient for porridge. I managed to buy one last Sunday after searching for so long.

So I google the beetroot, and I am amazed with the huge benefits of it; the main benefits was it contains no fat, very few calories and it’s a great source of fibre.

Ginkgo Nuts
I am sure you all have seen it or eaten it before. To be frank, I dislike its funny smell and the weird texture when chewing it. Although I’m not fancy it, but I can’t deny it does help strengthen the vascular system and reduces clots to improve hearing.



---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Outcome:

I can’t help but to joke with my husband when I saw the result. I asked:” Does it looked like Bloody Mary Punch?” And my next question is, “Will Sarah eats a porridge that’s red in colour?”

Then I showed Sarah the meal, she was so excited about the colour. And guess what, she was able to finish two bowl of it. I must thanks the Beetroot for it colour to entice Sarah to eat more and more…

I feel extremely happy every time when I see Sarah eating the porridge. I just know that she is swallowing all the “goodness” from the ingredients that I have used.

Surveys…And More Surveys

I have got this lengthy survey tag from Nicole, Kylie and Esmeralda. Thanks ya!

Rules:
1. The rules of the game get posted at the beginning.
2. Each player answers the questions about themselves.
3. At the end of the post the player then tag people and posts their names, then go to their blogs and leave a comment, letting them know they got tagged.
Are you ready? Here we go...


Starting time: 11.09p.m.

Name: Joanne

Sisters: 3

Brothers: 0

Shoe size: 7 or 8 depending on the cuts

Height: 5 feet 2 inches

Where do you live: Kemuning Utama, Shah Alam

Home sweet home: Same as above

Favourite drinks: Coffee and ice lemon tea.

Favourite breakfast: Anything as long as not too oily.


Have you ever...

Been on a plane: No.

Swam in the ocean: No. I can't swim...

Fallen asleep in school: No.

Broken someone's heart: Yes.

Fell off your chair: Yes, once my naughty classmate pulling away my chair when I was about to sit down.

Sat by the phone all night waiting for someone to call: Yes, when I was dating my husband. The worst thing was my legs and hands were bitten hard by mosquitoes, because he usually called late at night.

Saved e-mails: I will usually delete it after read.


What is your room like: Quite a spacious one (as it can fit in two king-size bed)

What's right beside you: Remote Control and Mouse.

What is the last thing you ate: Biscuits and Coffee.


Ever had...

Chicken pox: Yes. it even spread to my ears, head, back feet.

Sore throat: I easily get it when I eat heaty food.

Stitches: I have two stitches from Intestinal Obstruction Operation and C-Sect.


Do you...

Believe in love at first sight: Yes.

Like picnics: Yes. Looking forward to have one with husband and Sarah.


Who was the last person

You danced with: My uncle

Last made you smile: My husband.

You last yelled at: Sarah. She tried to touch the paint when my husband was painting the wall.

Best feeling in the world: When the bathroom scale shows that my weight is decreasing.

Do you sleep with stuffed animals: No.

What's under your bed: Nothing.

Who do you really hate: Bad manners people.


RANDOM

Q: Is there a person who is on your mind right now: Yes, Sarah.

Q: Do you want children: I already blessed with one princess, so at the moment, one is just perfect!

Q: Do you smile often: Most of the time.

Q: Do you like your hand-writing: No no no….

Q: Are your toenails painted: No.

Q: Whose bed other than yours would you rather sleep in: Parents and sisters.

Q: What colour shirt are you wearing: Black.

Q: What were you doing at 7:00pm yesterday: Playing with Sarah.

Q: I can't wait till: I go for outing.

Q: When did you cry last: Last week when I had an argument with my husband.

Q: Are you a friendly person: I think I am.

Q: Do you have any pets: Yes. It is a rabbit named I-Sh. She died few years ago. And now, I rear guppy fish.

Do you sleep with the TV on?
No.

What are you doing right now?
Answering this survey while watching TV.

Have you ever crawled through a window?
No!

Can you handle the truth?
Yes.

Are you too forgiving?
Not really.

Are you closer to your mother or father?
My mother.

Who was the last person you cried in front of?
My husband.

How many people can you say you've really loved?
My parents, my sisters, my husband and Sarah

Do you eat healthy?
Yes, especially when I am on diet.

Do you still have pictures of you & your ex?
No, my husband is my first lover.

Have you ever cried because of something someone said to you?
Yes.

If you're having a bad day, who are you most likely to go to?
My husband

Are you loud or quiet most of the time?
Quiet.

Are you confident?
Sometimes.


5 things I was doing 10 years ago...
1. Studying for SPM.
2. Looking forward to the college life.
3. Accompanying mom to wet market during weekend.
4. Learning to drive and obtained license after that.
5. Yam Cha with friends.


5 things on my to-do list today...
1. Forum-ing
2. Clearing up all the pending tags.
3. Clean the toys and tidy up the magazines.
4. Taking the photos of Sarah’s menu ingredient for blogging purpose.
5. Back up all the files as I need to sent my laptop for reformat.

5 snacks I enjoy...
1. Ice cream
2. Biscuits
3. French Fries
4. Groundnuts
5. Chips


5 things I would do if I were a billionaire...
1. Travel
2. Buy more clothes
3. Invest for the next billion
4. Give some to my parents, and
5. Leave some for my daughter


5 places I have lived in...
1. Kg. Chempaka
2. Petaling Utama
3. Bangsar
4. N/A
5. N/A


5 jobs I've had...
1. Shop Assistant (in a hamper co.)
2. Tuition Teacher
3. Admin Assistant (in AIA)
4. Administrative Cum Company Secretarial Assistant (in a Co. Sec and audit firm)
5. Admin Executive

I am not passing this tag to my friends as most of them already done it.