Down, maybe but not quite out..........

The other day, I felt sorry for a friend who had to endure crap in the office, and today it's my turn to rant and rave!

In my single days, where I used to work 12 - 13 hrs a day, my mom would tell me that one day, when my priorities change i.e. married with kids, then maybe people will think bad of me if my commitment to the job seem to diminish.

I used to laugh it off.

Now, I am not so sure. Maybe what mom said was true.

BUT:

1. if putting my child's needs above all else will cost me a piece of negative comment on record;

2. if planning quality time with my family would mean missing out on certain perks; or

3. if putting forth my own health and well-being means being selfish......

then so be it because a very smart lady once told me, "put yourself and your family above all else because that is all you'll have when you're old and grey. A company is an entity, and will always remain just that".

To those who find it pleasurable to create waves and ripples in other people's lives, I wish only that you get just as good as you give, if not more.

Wassalam.

AM

Craaaassshh

My Lappie finally died..... :-(

So, for the time being I am unable to edit pics from the camera to upload.
Pics here are taken from my fone.

Two weeks ago, we went to GM Klang with Ana as she wanted to buy stuff (in bulk) to take home when she goes back for a holiday in August.

To distract and keep Aina occupied, Babah got Aina some stick-on tatoos :-p


Last weekend Aina and Mama went up to Cameron's with TokMi and Tok Ayah ~ just the four of us.

The hotel screwed up as they did not give us an adjoining room, even though we'd requested for it since the time we made the booking, and ended up with rooms 2 doors away. It was not the best of arrangements as Aina kept looking for TokMi.... :-s

The 2 pics above were taken on the first evening there, where we had our ikan bakar dinner. Aina had rice with chicken soup.

On the 2nd day, Aina was tired I think, and refused to eat the whole time. She just had a tiny bit of roti telur for breakfast, and that was it.

That night, she suddenly started vomitting. I had to call TokMi for assistance, and it was almost 11pm! Had to clean up Aina, turn the comforter and place extra towels on the sheets so that Aina can sleep.

The next day, she still refused to eat, and even our stop at Tapah did nothing to entice her to eat her fishball noodles. She even refused her chocolate milk!

Anyway, I'm glad to report that yesterday (Monday), Aina has started eating as usual again, and I guess her bout of not eating was due to the fact she was on holiday and was more interested in playing and immersing herself in her surroundings!! LOL

I hope to be able to edit some pics from the trip on hubby's lappie, or at least get him to resize them so that I can upload in here since my access to FB in NIL at the moment (only status updates via fone)

AM

A Full Weekend

in terms of time, as well as tummy LOL LOL LOL

Saturday's breakfast was scones with butter and strawberry jam. Could not find nice strawberries at the supermarket, so just made do with jam :-)

you need:
2 cups flour
1/4 cup caster sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. soda bicarbonate
115g cold butter, cubed
160ml buttermilk (i used milk + vinegar)
1 tsp. vanilla

how to:
pre-heat oven to 190'C.
in a large bowl, mix all the dry ingredients and whisk together to combine.
cut or rub the cold butter into the mixture until mixture resembles coarse
breadcrumbs.
in a separate bowl, mix the buttermilk and vanilla and pour into the butter
mixture and incorporate batter until just moist and
combined. DO NOT KNEAD OR WORK THE DOUGH TOO MUCH.

turn the dough out onto generously floured surface and shape into a round,
then roll out with a rolling pin to about 2.5cm height. cut out using round
moulds and place on baking sheet.
bake about 12 - 15 mins, until top is browned slightly.

serve warm with cream or butter and strawberry jam.

For dinner, dessert was a bread & butter pudding, but forgot to take pics LOL LOL LOL

Oh yeah... nowadays, either once a week or at least once a fortnight, I'll make spaghetti for dinner. I still use my usual basic recipe, but have now tweaked it here and there for variety :-)

My 'new' bolognaise sauce recipe is as follows, and feel free to try :-)

you need:
1 pkt ramli minced beef, browned and set aside
1 large clove garlic, minced
1 large onion, cubed
1 pc. dried bay leaf
1 tsp. mixed herbs (optional)
12 - 15 pcs. ayamas chicken balls
1 large carrot, cubed
2 x 240ml canned tomatoes
1/2 Tbs. cocoa powder (YES, COCOA powder!)
salt, pepper and sugar to taste

how to:
heat olive oil in a large pot and fry the aromatics including the bay leaf.
when onions are soft, add in the carrots, chicken balls and herbs. add in
the browned beef and stir to combine. when mixture is slightly dry, add in the
canned tomatoes and cocoa and leave to simmer about 10mins. season and serve
with your favourite pasta :-)

Initially, my maid's eyes almost popped when she saw me adding in the cocoa, but now she's used to it and she herself enjoys a healthy serving of pasta these days.

Then on Sunday, we had a birthday party to attend @ RSGC, and it was supposed to be a pool party for the kids. Unfortunately, it rained..... non-stop! So we spent the whole time just going back and forth to the buffet table LOL LOL LOL

Will upload those pics, as well as pics from our outing on Thursday later, after editing and resizing :-)




AM

Food Entry, after a LOOOONNNGGG time -p

yup! finally an entry on FOOD!!

This week, I've been fasting to pay of my 'debts' and yesterday, I decided to have rice porridge with condiments for buka puasa.

I usually have 2 ways of enjoying my porridge ~ either chinese style or berlauk a la Kg. Baru :-)

Last night, I decided to be greedy and have it both ways!! LOL LOL LOL

The first side dish was Stir-Fried Oyster Mushrooms in Oyster Sauce.

you need:
1 med-sized pkg oyster mushrooms (white or grey)
1 Tbs. minced garlic
1/2 tsp. sesame oil
1/4 cup oyster sauce + half the amount of water
ground white pepper
a wee bit of sugar, to taste

how to:
heat oil and fry garlic till fragrant.
add in the sesame oil and stir. quickly add in the other ingredients and stir well.
cook till mushroom start to wilt, then turn of heat. Check seasoning.
Serve hot.

Another favourite is Spicy Black Pepper Beef.

you need:
250g beef slices (approx.)
marinate with 1 Tbs dark soy sauce and 1 Tbs oyster sauce.
pound:
3 cloves garlic
6 - 7 cili padi
2 shallots
2 Tbs. black peppercorns
a pinch of salt
1/4 cup water
sugar, to taste
coarsely chopped coriander leaves
* veg of your choice i.e. carrots, capsicum, spring onions, etc. (optional)

how to:
heat oil in wok and fry the pounded ingredients till fragrant.
add in the beef slices and fry till half done. add in veg, if using.
add in water and simmer till done.
season (no salt is added due to the use of soy sauce & oyster sauce), and stir in the coriander leaves just before serving.

We also had Ginger & Tauchu Chicken.

you need:
1 pkt chicken breast, sliced
1 inch ginger, sliced thinly
2 - 3 shallots, pounded
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 pc. lemongrass, bruised
1 Tbs. oyster sauce
1 Tbs. tauchu
water
sugar, to taste
chopped chinese parsley and spring onions, for garnish

how to:
heat oil and fry all aromatics till fragrant and start to dry out. add in the chicken strips.
fry further till chicken is cooked through, then add sauces and water. simmer till chicken is tender, and season. no salt required due to the use of tauchu and oyster sauce. sprinkle with garnish just before serving.

And these are my must-have condiments ~ pickled lettuce (or so it says on the can), preserved peanuts and chopped spring onions.


THREE other crucial condiments are missing but since I ran out, no choice :-s Had to just make do. What are the missing items?

• Salted Egg
• Fried Onions/Shallots
• Fried Peanuts :-)
  

However, it was a very satisfying meal indeed........... :-)

And this "Bare-backed-then-Stuffed Cencaru" was a dish from the previous day.

you need:
2 pcs cencaru (or kembung or whatever fish you fancy)
salt & turmeric powder ~ rubbed into the fish
2 Tbs. pounded shallots
1 Tbs. pounded garlic
2 Tbs. chili paste (chili boh)
1 large onion, sliced in rings
1/4 cup tamarind juice (using 1 tsp. of tamarind)
sugar to taste

banana leaf/foil
olive oil

how to:
in a wok, heat a fair amount of oil and fry the pounded ingredients & chili paste until fragrant and slightly dry. add in the sliced onions. cook until onion is soft, then add the tamarind juice. simmer and stir, then check seasoning. set aside.

pre-heat oven to 200'C - 220'C.

line a baking tray with foil or banana leaf.

scoop the sambal mixture into the fish cavity (if using whole fish) or on top of fish slices (if using fish steaks), place fish on the banana leaf and drizzle quite generously with olive oil. top with a layer (or TWO!) of banana leaf and place in hot oven. cook for approx. 30 mins. serve hot.

I don't really fancy cencaru, but hubby seems to be partial to it, and he's the one who usually buys them at the pasar borong. I'd usually go for senangin, siakap, kerapu or bawal (both the white pomfret or the 'black' version). Sometimes I get a hankering for certain types of fish, then I'd go from stall to stall to look for it.

And while on the subject of fish, if the fish is bought, I would eat it, but not really devour it even if it was my favourite fish prepared the way I like it. If however, the fish was caught fresh by hubby on his trips, I can gobble up a whole good-sized kerapu on my own LOL LOL LOL

While on this subject i.e. food, with Ramadhan coming in close, hubby mentioned yesterday that he'll soon need to go out and look for crabs :-D :-D :-D

OK OK.... he will not be our crabbing, but will call up his 'supplier' in Pulau Ketam and get it there.

Wonder when, if ever, he'll go and start fishing for tiger prawns again.............
(that was his thing when I was pregnant with Aina)






AM

Aina is 26 months :-)

Haven't been gallivanting much lately so pics of Aina are mostly from my cellphone camera ~ really bad quality LOL LOL LOL

Aina is now officially in her Terrible Two's and it's not something she takes lightly :-p

In the morning when she wakes up, and Ana comes into the room to get her, she'll sometimes slam the door in Ana's face. Then, when Ana prepares her bath water in the tub, she goes running round the room like a cheeky monkey, giggling and climbing all over the bed just to make it that much harder for Ana to bathe her!

She's gotten round to calling out for Ana, (or Mama or even Babah) like this "Kakak Annaaaa... where youuuu.......?"

She still cannot speak properly yet, but I think that's just because she wants to shock us later with full sentences with perfect grammar and all LOL LOL LOL

She recognises stuff and you can even ask her to get something for you ~ she knows perfectly well what it is and where it is ~ but she just hasn't gotten around to pronouncing it yet :-D

Last night she made me laugh my head off when she went "Kaaaa.....where yoooouuuuu.........?", walking round the whole room. Guess what she was looking for......... :-)

Her COLOUR PENCILS!

When I asked her, "Aina, what are you looking for?"

She replied, "Kaa-yee."
(That's her pronounciation for 'colour')

Before I could help her though, she'd managed to locate the box of colour pencils and got on with her very busy schedule :-p :-D

Out in the morning, so the sun was bothering her. Hence, the shades and hat!

her favourite snack (at the moment) ~ popcorn

Aina wearing a simple dress hand stitched by Mama
(nak wat camner, mesin jahit takde, ehehehhehhee)

Aina with the Giant Bear that Mama & Babah are selling @ RM120 each
Interested? Please drop an email to zazook@gmail.com :-)

Aina also has learned to use the words "NO!", "No Way!" and "Go Away!" rather effectively!!
Bath time is also a very testing time for me because sometimes she's ok and other times she wants to hold the shower head and spray the whole bathroom with water, and screams "NO!" over and over again if I even attempt to shampoo and soap her........

Yup, bath times can be a very chaotic affair now......... :-s

But, on another note, she's also really cute and smart ~ if she does something she knows she's not supposed to, she'll grin and come kiss me. Or hug me. If i sit on the mini couch and she's on the floor (she LOVES sitting and lying on the floor, I don't know why!) she'll make her way to me and settle herself under my legs!!! Haaaiihhh.............


Anyway, from the pic below you can see that Aina is learning to be a good 'kakak' these days, thanks to my Sister for baby Qalesha :-D

Perfect, because if I ever have another one, at least Aina is already used to the concept of sharing (she'll be 'sharing' TokMi this Ramadhan and part of Syawal as Aina will be staying with TokMi on weekdays, with Qalesha ~ kakak Ana balik kampung)



And here are more pics of Qalesha :-)

notice her birthmark on her hand?

in this pic, she looks exactly like her Mommy :-)

OK... enough for now.

Must remember to take more pics of Aina this week, PROPER pics. Not just using the c****y phone camera!! LOL






AM

Makan-Makan @ Tenji

I dunno if people actually read all my entries, LOL, but last year I put in an entry about my niece's little tiny preemie, Azri.

Now, in this pic below, is Azri, soon to be 1 year old :-) :-) :-)

He's a big boy now, isn't he.

Here, he's enjoying his fried rice, and the pouty face you see is because his mak is taking too long to feed him LOL LOL LOL


On July 3rd, we went to Tenji for a makan makan do supposedly before Ramadhan. I believe there will be another one, but we'll see how it goes. I think there was about 15 of us the other day @ Tenji, and because the tables in Tenji were small, the arrangement was long, and we could barely talk to the others at the other end.

I was too busy watching Aina and getting food for both of us that these were the only pics I managed to snap :-s

in this pic is my sis-in-law and my step daughter who's now in UITM

And in these two pics (above and below), you'll see how much Aina enjoys her Baskin Robbins ice cream (think it was the berry flavour). She had two servings, and was going "yummy..." all the time.

I let her have her treat since she had a bit of fried rice and miso soup with fishballs earlier.


I have yet to take more (recent) pics of Qalesha, but I have been to see her.


She's doing well, but her mummy is another story altogether.... but I guess both mummy and baby are adapting to each other, and it's only been two weeks... so... we'll see. It should all sort out by itself soon :-)



AM