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Sunday, November 30, 2014

School Holidays Activities

Apart from the mega holiday Lego Project that my 3 girls are currently working on, they also found a new game to play together - Heads Up!

Alycia who had watched her all-time favorite talk show host Ellen DeGeneres playing Heads Up during one of Ellen's talk shows downloaded the app onto her iPod Touch.

Today is the third day the girls are into Heads Up and they are having so much fun at it!   I join them too when I have the time.  Today their grand aunt played with them and got hooked too!




What's Heads Up?
Ellen DeGeneres has released an iPhone version of a game she likes to play on her show called Heads Up. It's simply a word guessing game where your friends try to get you to say the word on the screen by giving you hints. Only with Heads Up, you hold the phone above your head and it records video of your friend giving hints. You have sixty seconds to guess as many words as you can. Since you'll be holding your iPhone above your head and you're not allowed to look at the screen, Heads Up includes some great controls for new cards: tilt your iPhone face down when you get a word correct and tilt it up to pass. At the end of the 60 seconds, Heads Up will show you a list of the words you got correct and passed.

Heads Up includes 18 themed decks ranging from celebrities, movies, animals, accents, characters, and more.









And from this game, I realized that I am so so outdated!  My girls are so advanced and knowledgeable. They are so well versed with the names of celebrities, movies and characters and I actually had a hard time keeping up with them in this game.  I am officially an aunty facing mid-life crisis. Suddenly I feel like my mum, ha ha ha!









Friday, November 28, 2014

Our Thursday - 28 November 2014

There were gloomy skies with thick grey clouds, floating and bouncing swiftly in the windy skies yesterday afternoon. It's been raining almost everyday lately. Bliss!   I could not resist snapping a picture of the KL Tower and KLCC covered partially in the grey clouds.  I think the backdrop of where I stay looks awesome, with an excellent view of the two famous landmarks of Kuala Lumpur.




Can you see Menara Maybank to the left of KL Tower? 
 

The MIL cooked beef bolognese for lunch, using 4 punnets of lean minced beef.  While the girls happily tucked into their favorite food, I noshed my bowl of salad with beef bolognese.  I can never ever go wrong with cooking beef bolognese.  The sauce is so versatile and can be eaten in an array of styles.  Seeing how delish my bowl of salad  was, Sherilyn taxed a quarter portion from me!

 

The mil also boiled a pot of barley with pumpkin to nourish  everyone who is not in top form but the kids were not used to drinking barley in that concoction!







But I think it's very soothing - just perfect for giving my bladder a good cleanse while getting my does of antioxidant from the pumpkin.

 



Tuesday, November 25, 2014

Cassandra's Last Day Of Pre-School

I am definitely going to miss all of Cass' classmates, some of which I have known for 3 years including their parents. Oh yes, the caring teachers there too.  They all know Cass' health issues and have always been very sensitive to her needs. 


All the kids here are such cuties!   All of them but one will be going to a different school as Cass.  But I am pretty sure I will bump into some of the kids here since we all live in the same neighborhood :)



Pictures here were taken on the last day of school by one of Cass' classmates' mother.   She and I have become good friends with each other.  And we stay just opposite of each other.  It was a very memorable day for these 6-year olds as it was the day that they had  to say their good-byes to each other and perhaps never see each other again! *sob sob*




And so with this, the kids here had ended their chapter on pre-school. A brand new chapter begins in the flick of time.  I wish Cass and each of her classmate here a very happy start to their new journey.  May their year ahead be filled with only joy, laughter, excitement to learn new knowledge and may God bless them all always.



Three Compact Equipment Choices For A Healthier Office

Imagine if you could lower your employee health insurance expenses, reduce office stress levels, cut back on the number of sick days your employees have to take and even draw in potential hires all at the same time. Promoting fitness in the office is the perfect way to help your employees stay healthy and provides a way to work off some stress during the day. It even encourages more restful sleep.

Forget about absorbing the high long-term costs of gym memberships or worrying about how to fit a gym into limited office space. These three commercial fitness equipment options offer an excellent range of workout choices without dominating valuable space or eating into your budget.

1. Weights
Strength training is the foundation of a good workout and an excellent way to combat the stiff, weak muscles that an office environment can cause. Different systems can provide a range of potential exercises to keep muscle groups in shape and can reduce the likelihood of injury to muscles, tendons and ligaments. Either pin or plate loaded weights are ideal, but don't jump into a choice. Asking your employees which they would prefer is a good way to make them feel involved in both the creation of the office gym and in their work environment overall.

2. Treadmills
Cardio is crucial for physical wellness and goes hand-in-hand with strength training. Running is one of the best forms of exercise, and the number of treadmills in Sydney offices speaks to running's popularity. These machines let your employees choose their own pace. For a few minutes on their lunch break, they can take it slow and steady, try out interval training or maximize their calorie burn with inclines. Treadmills take up minimal space, and some models can be folded up and stored if the area has to be multi-purpose.

3. Rowers
Running can be a passion for some but loathed by others. Offer an alternative in the form of a rowing machine. Rowing machines offer the same cardio impact as treadmills in less space and with less impact on the lower body. They're perfect for anyone that finds running unpleasant, suffers from pain in back or knees or wants to tone both their upper and lower body. Rowers are comparable in size and often even smaller than treadmills. If you have the elbow room, offering both lets your employees change up their exercises for fun and a well-rounded routine.

Establishing an on-site health centre is an ideal way to promote a healthy office environment and lower your overall healthcare expenditures. It's less expensive than a gym membership, more convenient for your staff and an attractive perk for prospective employees.

If you're concerned about the costs or space requirements of an in-office health centre, Fitness Equipment King can lay your worries to rest. The variety of commercial fitness equipment options available can be fit into any office's needs. Visit http://fitnessequipmentking.com.au/ to learn more and explore your office gym choices.



Friday, November 21, 2014

Cassandra's Last Day In Kindy

This is my baby girl today.

She had made this bunny face mask in school :)    And in one of her hands is a big bag of JUNK FOOD and stationery items!  The snacks will be kakak's present today :D




Today is officially her last day in pre-school.  And I am going to say it again - HOW TIME FLIES!!! I still remember her very first day in that kindy when she was just 4 years old. That was over 2  years ago.

This morning when getting ready for school, she spontaneously put on her school uniform.  I told her that she had forgotten that today is casual wear day for the school party.  I told her that I would be giving her uniform away but she hugged her uniform tightly and said "mummy, can you please let me keep this uniform as remembrance?"  *sobs sobs*   I felt emotional.  My baby girl has thoroughly enjoyed almost 3 years in the kindy and has made many good friends.  To think that she may never see her bffs again made me even more emotional.

Anyway, I am sure that Cass will make more new friends in her che ches' school given her amicable and cheery personality.

To all the parents with school-going kids, HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!  :)





Tuesday, November 18, 2014

Lighting Does Strike Twice At The Same Place

I cannot believe that my www.healthfreakmommy.com blog has been injected with malware again, barely 3 days after it was whitelisted by Google and cleaned of infection!!  I thought lightning does not strike twice at the same place?  It is not true. It does strike many times at the same place and same person too!  Bugger!!

I have done all the preventive measures like changing passwords to really strong ones and getting my blog host to scan my domain but still??  Fulat!  I really don't know what to say except to accept that this year is just not a good year for me. I am under attack from top, bottom, left and right in every aspect of my life. Shit!

I really have no time to waste to fire-fight issues like the ones affecting my blogs. Communicating with some of the domain host technical staff is stressful.  They have a pool of technical staff (mostly foreigners) and different staff looks at my problem throughout the day. Some are plain lazy and annoying while some of them would go all out to help me.

As I am typing this post now, the Indon workers are clearing up debris and the mess from our kitchen. The renovation is finally over.    Our kitchen is in a very, very dusty condition now. Every single freaking item has to be wiped.  I don't think we can cook in the kitchen by today. We have been eating out for the past 5 days - twice a day and I am so sick of outside food now.

So yeah, it is back to square one now.  All my time and effort to salvage my blogs have been thrown out of the window.  My babies are down-and-out again. It will take another 3 days at least for them to be resuscitated *BAWL and PULL HAIR* :( :(





Sunday, November 16, 2014

Video Of Sherilyn's Hip Hop Dance Performance At Setia Alam Eco Park - 15 Nov 2014

Here's a video of the drama queen, also the artiste wannabe doing a hip hop dance performance at a restaurant @ Setia Alam Eco Park yesterday night. It was her maiden public performance.  Sherilyn is in a purple jacket and dark blue legging at the front row in the video.

For someone who has joined the hip hop dance class for less than half a year, I would say that her performance was  pretty good, thanks to her 5 years of training in ballet.

I may upload another dance piece when I have the time to convert the video from my phone.

Enjoy! :)


Friday, November 14, 2014

Resuscitated and Alive Again!

I hope you are just as happy and thrilled as I am that you can finally see white and not red in this blog!   Finally.... after 3 days!  Though it is only 3 days, it felt like 3 months to me!   I was on tenterhooks for the period my blogs were dead, feeling darn anxious on the fate of my 2 'babies'.   I did not know if I would lose them forever or get back only parts of them and lose parts of them.  I was hopeful of getting them back safely in one piece. I prayed fervently and PTL, I got my 'babies' back.   Yeehaw, Health Freak Mommy is out of the woods finally (singing to the tune of Out Of The Woods by Taylor Swift!) :D

My blog will now be white since I am now whitelisted by Google. I had to rid the old purple colored theme anyway.  According to the 3 'doctors' who treated my domain, the virus stemmed from the blog theme.   Words cannot describe how happy I am to have my 'babies' back and in one piece, albeit the domain host did some modification and upgrading.  Thank you to the 3 fantastic guys at Exabytes  who have so kindly helped me recover my blogs by removing the virus, did some procedures on them and then helped me to submit my blogs to Google for verification and whitelisting.

Thank you to all my blog readers  who took the trouble  and time to send me messages and emails to inform me that my blogs had been infected by virus.  Thank you for coming back after all these years to read the crap I write.

Cass is sending a flying kiss as a gesture of appreciation to the 3 guys who helped me resuscitate the blogs and to everyone who likes to read her stories :)






Back But Not Out Of The Woods Yet

Hey peeps, healthfreakmommy.com is back after being in the pits for 2 days!   But she is not 100% out of the woods yet. My domain host has already cleaned my blogs of virus. So the blogs are safe to visit now.  However, my site is still flagged by Google as my host has just only cleaned my site yesterday.  We have already notified Google to whitelist the site but this will take several days for Google to review and to whitelist the sites. When you hop to my blog, you will still see the red Malware notice, as shown below. Click on details and click on 'Visit this unsafe site'. No doubt it says unsafe, but it is now clear of virus.  It seems that the virus stemmed from the blog theme which we have now removed.

  

SIGH!!  This is the umpteenth time since late last year that my blogs have been injected with spam, virus, malware and possibly hacked.  I cannot even recall how many times my blogs had been compromised. Enough of  my blogs being hacked.  See my kitchen below.  It was hacked today!  Hacking continues tomorrow. We have to engage a contractor to hack down all the kitchen wall tiles as the tiles are starting to bulge out from the wall, no thanks to the contractor who did a very shoddy renovation job to our unit 6 years ago.  Everything done by the contractor had to be redone by us at our own expenses now from the bathrooms and now the kitchen.  If we do not do anything about the tiles now,  the tiles will one day collapse onto someone unlucky who is in the kitchen. We definitely do not want that to happen.  And I. Hate. Renovations!  Our kitchens are in a mess and very, very dusty now.

 .

So yup, my situation is one of messy now.   Blogs are in a mess. House is in a mess.  And my mind is in a mass of mess with too many issues to straighten out.   My non-stop emails with the domain host (my mind is boggled reading so many IT jargons!), messages to customers and suppliers, cleaning up the mess in the house and groping in the dark in the kitchen as the light switches are all yanked out too.  But I am certain that this low point is just a passing phase.  Life is a roller coaster.  I will surely reach the top again, soon :)



FrogAsia - A one-stop shop for all your educational needs

Hear ye hear ye everyone with primary and secondary school kids in Malaysia's public schools! Your kid(s) may have already told you about this educational website but if they or you have not already known yet, let me introduce you to FrogAsia.

FrogAsia, a YTL company, is the first company in the world to connect an entire nation through a single, cloud-based learning platform. You and your child will not be charged any data costs while accessing Frog on their network, so everyone can enjoy unlimited access to their world of learning anytime, anywhere!
Through the 1BestariNet project, FrogAsia is bringing the future of education to every student, teacher and parent in Malaysia. Combining high-speed 4G internet access, a world class learning platform and access to ‘best-in-class’ resources and technology, Malaysia is the first country in the world to bring its entire education community together on a single converged network designed specifically to meet the needs of teaching and learning.  1BestariNet is a project initiated by the Malaysian Ministry of Education in line with the government’s vision of providing quality, Internet-enabled education for all.  Over 10,000 government schools around the country will be equipped with this awesome solution, bridging the digital divide between rural and urban students.

I first got to know about Frog Asia when Alycia and Sherilyn came home from school one day some time early this year and told me that their teachers had instructed everyone to log into this website. The students were required to explore the website and try out the apps and features at www.frogasia.com.
Your child will first need to register at the FrogAsia website. For Alycia and Sherilyn, they were given a set of log in data by their school (they are in a cluster school).

The website is pretty kids friendly. It is Sherilyn, my drama queen who taught me how to navigate around the website.  And boy was I impressed with what I found in there! Everything that is available at the FrogAcademy is on the left side bar of the Frog Store from resources to documents, books, images, videos, audio, question banks and much more.

Your kids can even gain access to their school text books at the FrogAsia website! So worry not if your kid has forgotten to bring home an important text book for revision. She/he will be able to read the text book by hopping into FrogAsia.


Here is a sample of how the eText book looks like...

Alycia and Sherilyn have added over 50 e-books into their 'My Library' at the FrogAsia website. They can read them on their iPad or lappie during their free time.

This is how the eBook looks like...

They were jumping with excitement when they found Diary of a Wimpy Kid from the Fun Brain app, in eBook form!


Interesting eComics are also accessible for free!

Parents can buy questions for their child to work on from the FrogAcademy at a minimal cost of only a few Ringgit per subject. Since the Question Banks is still at its Beta stage, only Form 4, Form 5 and SPM questions can be purchased at the moment. But very soon, questions for primary students and other levels will be readily available for purchase. You can pay via M2U or credit card. There will soon be sample UPSR questions for purchase as well.

Parents can check their kid(s)' work from the questions that they have bought from the Question Banks and monitor them, as shown below...

Educational videos can be added to your 'My Library' and they are free to view!

Under the Resources category, you can add flash cards, free images, free sounds, Funbrain (my girls love this category) and much more to your 'My Library'.


FrogAsia has a partnership with Google, which means that your child can assess to a buffet of interesting education materials from FrogAsia, which will bring them over to Google Apps to assess the educational materials. So make sure you or your child has a Google Chrome account as well.


FrogAsia is probably one of the best and most comprehensive local educational websites that I have come across. If your child's school has not been introduced to this website yet, you can help your child register now and start letting him/her explore FrogAsia today. This is definitely a must have website bookmarked in all your electronic devices!



Wednesday, November 12, 2014

Someone Just Killed My Blogs!

Some SOB killed my www.healthfreakmommy.com and www.healthiswealth.healthfreakmommy.com blogs today!

Early this morning, two of my dear loyal blog readers messaged me in Facebook, informing me that my blog has been infected by virus and sent me this message:






FULAT! I quickly hopped over to my two dot com blogs and shiats, I got the same message too.  They are both hosted by Exabytes and both my 'babies' are gone! 

From the moment I discovered the tragic fate of my 2 blogs, I have been feeling queasy and emotional.  As of  today, they are both over 7 years old and in just a matter of hours, both have been taken away from me by some assh*les who tried to inject malicious malware into my blogs to infect others.  They were still alive yesterday night.

I have notified my blog host of the problem but I have not heard from them yet.  Some of my advertisers are trying to review the ads that I have just posted but can't access my blogs.  One of the ads gets me a high payout. If my blogs are still not revived, not only are they dead, I will be dead too! They are a part of my life.

This year has been a pretty tough year for me, health wise and work wise, with stumbling blocks one after another. My two dot com blogs keep getting plagued by various problems since the start of this year.  I certainly need loads of luck from the universe and divine intervention as well to help me counter all the negativity around me. MAY THE FORCE BE WITH HEALTH FREAK MOMMY!





Monday, November 10, 2014

Chilli Espresso At Nexus, Bangsar South

The foodie hubs brought us to Nexus @ Bangsar South to hunt for something new and nice for lunch yesterday.  It was our first time at Nexus.

We walked up and down Nexus to see what would excite the man's taste bud.   Finally he settled for Chilli Espresso for some local delights.  He scored again for making the right choice.  We enjoyed the food at Chilli Espresso very much!

Here's the interior of Chilli Espresso, decorated with vibrant paintings by an Australian artist.
A general view shows the interior of Chilli Espresso, decorated with paintings by an Australian artist. – The Malaysian Insider pic, July 12, 2014.

If you happen to be hungry now, I am sure you will end up  with a rumbling tummy craving for some local food by the time you finish reading this post :P
This is our 'The Lot' set.  Hubs is a sucker for Western breakfast set.

Sherilyn is not in the picture as she was at her school trip.

Boneless Percik Ayam.  Everyone loved the grilled chicken covered with fragrant lemon grass  and spicy peanut sauce.  Trimmings on the side are papadam chips and acar mango.  The sauce is not too spicy and even the girls could stomach the spiciness.  It reminds me of the boneless chicken chop that I had recently grilled with the satay sauce from the hubs' catering kitchen.  If you are a reader of my other blogs, you would have read my post on the grilled chicken chop with satay sauce.    This boneless percik ayam set could have tasted even better had the rice been cooked with coconut milk.  The saving grace for this dish came from the rich sauce on the grilled chicken, which exuded intense flavor to the entire dish.  The acar mango was also very refreshing.


Fried kuay teow.

My order of Chicken Jicama Salad, which only costs RM12.50.   Love this oriental salad, that comes with a piquant sauce, which is not too heavy. The combo of ripened sweet mango slices with juicy julienned turnip along with crispy puffed tofu is very refreshing. I am definitely going to order this again if we are here again.

The Chicken Jicama Salad is dressed in a sauce that reminded me of our rojak. The salad is composed of shredded sengkuang (turnip), crispy puffed tofu (tofu pok), ripened mango, cucumber, pea sprouts, cherry tomatoes, celery, red salad leaves and pan-fried chicken.



Margherita pizza for the pizza-crazed girls.   And why are they so obsessed with pizzas lately?  No thanks to  Ninja Turtles!

Anyway, the pizza is good, with thin crust and chewy cheese on top. And it is sans ham, pepperoni and bacon - the items banned in the house by the health freak mommy :D

The last dish that came was the Three-Egg Omelette.

Check out the pulled-cheese from the omelette.  The girls love this kind of omelette and it comes with mushrooms and veggies wrapped inside.   This was very yummy and wholesome.    And ideal for low-carb dieters like the hubs and moi.  Well, in fact everyone in the house except for the kids are on a low-carb diet now.


Chilli Espresso is definitely the place to go to if you want delish local and Western meals (with top notch presentation too) without burning a hole in your pocket.  Definitely a bang for your bucks place for your meals!

Chilli Espresso
Unit G-6, Ground floor
Nexus @ Bangsar South
No. 7 Jalan Kerinchi
Kuala Lumpur
tel: 03-2242 2632.



Sunday, November 9, 2014

Egg & Cheese Burger By Chef Sher

Yesterday, we had brunch of fish ball noodles before noon.  The mil bought it after her marketing at SS2 market.  By 4ish pm, Miss Drama Queen announced her hunger pangs loudly and annoyingly. She kept bugging me to allow her to fry some eggs. She said there was NOTHING to eat at home but eggs!  Yeah, those biscuits in the drawer and yummy kaya swiss roll cakes that grandma bought ain't edible to her ok. Sometimes she would ask me if I care if she died of hunger!   She's this dramatic la.

I said no cooking to the drama queen as we were about to go to Alycia's school to fetch her back from a day trip. And I had just finished mopping the floor and cleaning up the kitchen. But this melodramatic queen promised me everything that she could think of - that she would make it quick, she would wash up and she won't cause a big mess.  How could I say no to her?   I should have said NO!  Coz I ended up mopping the floor and cleaning up the stove!  I always have to clean up after her.  But all the anger soon sizzled away when I took a bite of this egg and cheese burger that she had prepared.  Bliss...





She cracked up some eggs and tossed in a whole load of spices (I think about 10 types of spices and herbs!) that she could see in the kitchen cabinet.  Her sidekick was Cass.  The 2 sisters added the spices into the egg mixture like they were playing masak-masak!  There was also milk and garlic bread seasoning in the eggs. Then she cranked up the stove and lightly fried the eggs. Next, she halved up some oatmeal burger bread and pan-fried them.  Did you know that by lightly pan-frying your bread, you will bring out the full flavor  of the bread?   Plus the bread will be crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside. Lastly, she spooned some Chinese chilli sauce (leftover from the fish ball noodles) onto her burger and walah, she made an amazing egg and cheese burger for everyone! 




Saturday, November 8, 2014

Mousse Treat From My Celebrity Chef Wannabe

My drama queen, also the celebrity chef wannabe fixed me something cool on a wet and cool morning today! When you see posts like this one, you'll know that only the drama queen will fix me a meal. I can never expect this to come from the older girl but can expect something like this from the littlest one - but made from her blue tac :D
Chef Sher's healthy black sesame 'mousse' with green tea Oreos and cashew nuts.


Composition of Chef Sher's healthy black sesame 'mousse':
1) Skinny sugar-free yoghurt (we buy Farm Fresh)
2) 1 tablespoon of organic sugar-free black sesame powder (we use Bio Green)
3) Baked cashew nuts (sugar, salt, oil and MSG-free)
4) A few scoops of strawberry flavored Calciyum yoghurt, just to splash a hue of my favorite color to the mousse :)
5)  Mini green-tea oreos (grandma brought back from Japan)

So whatcha think?  Does she deserve a 10/10?  I'd say YES to taste, presentation, initiative and choice of ingredients used!  It was  very yummy and  oh so healthy too!  :)




Our Wet Saturday - 8 November 2014

Today is a Saturday but it ain't any rest day for me. I got up at the same time at 4:45am.  Tomorrow the same thing will repeat.  So this week is strictly a  NO REST DAY for me.  Life's tough being a mum huh? On the bright side, I am looking forward to the year-end school holiday soon.  The kids will be having a 6-week long holiday in 2 weeks!  I can repay all my sleep debt during that period :D

Alycia has gone on a school trip today.  This trip is a treat for the school prefects.  Tomorrow will be Sherilyn's turn  to attend the treat trip for librarians and to the same places as the prefects will be visiting today.  As I am typing this post, I am feeling worried and thinking about Alycia and the entire entourage in the trip.  It has been drizzling non-stop since 7am today.  How are the kids going to enjoy their outdoor trip in such a wet weather?  Thankfully Alycia listened to me this time and has included a foldable umbrealla in her bag along with a cap and an extra change of shirt.  But still, how are the kids going to enjoy their time at a park and then adjourn to Farm In The City  in such unfavorable weather condition?  I can imagine that all the animals will be snoozing in their dens and coops and the kids would have to get wet walking round the farm with mud stained sneakers and jeans with nothing much exciting to do. Oh well, the kids will still have fun just being with each other at a new place, I hope!

Breakfast I made for the girls today, using my Blendtec blender -
Orange smoothie and avocado milk shake.





The avocado milk shake (this is REALLY smooth, rich and yummy!) is composed of half an avocado, orange smoothie, low fat fresh milk and a toss of chia seeds. I had meant to down the cup of avo milk shake all by myself but when Cass and Sherilyn tasted how good it was, my milk shake got taxed and I was left with only a quarter cup!

Friday, November 7, 2014

HFM's Lunch - Salad

I shared some steamed paus with the MIL this morning, thus was still feeling bloated by noon.  So I whipped up a bowl of refreshing salad for myself as I really needed something light and easy to digest.

Here is my bowl of high fiber, high protein and super low carb salad for lunch today...





HFM's salad today is composed of organic alfalfa sprouts, crisp and cool Japanese cucumbers, raw pumpkin seeds, toasted almond flakes, seasoned Korean seaweed, a boiled free-range chicken egg and chunks of low-sodium mozzarella cheese, drizzled with Japanese citrus salad dressing.
 
This salad tastes so good and knowing that only wholesome food goes into my body makes me feel happy :)

What was your lunch for today?

Nuts Over Coconut Milk And Everything Coconut

Did I mention before that I have this craze over santan (coconut milk) and everything coconut?  I love to eat santan in all forms.  I drink it neat, as in how I would drink regular cow's milk.  I love to add santan into our rice.  I love it in tong sui (sweet soup) and absolutely love cakes and kuih that have santan in them.  Once, I convinced the tong sui seller to sell all her remaining coconut milk  to me.  She had a jaw-dropping moment when I told her that I drink it neat, just like that!   She thought that I was crazy to be gulping down coconut milk, haha!  Now she knows me well.  She would always invite me to buy all her left-over santan and I will gladly accede.

Last week, I bought 3 packets of fresh coconut milk from my regular veggie and meat seller.   I drank half a packet and used the other half to cook rice for the girls.  The other 2 packets of coconut milk were deep freezed.

Yesterday, I added a quarter packet of half thawed coconut milk into my red bean tong sui.   Half thawed coconut milk tastes very much like coconut sorbet.  So imagine having coconut sorbet in your chilled red bean tong sui.  Ah, such bliss and gives me an instant surge in serotonin (feel good hormone)!
My mug of chilled red bean sweet soup with ice coconut sorbet.    A cup  of this goodness can give me the same kick as an O, ha ha ha!


Food For Thought:

Weight Loss
New research has revealed that not eating enough fat can actually make you fat. According to Bruce Fife, N.D. in his article "The Fat that Can Make You Thin," people who include more healthy fats in their diet, such as the medium-chain triglycerides in coconut milk, eat less than those who don't get enough fat. While all fats help the body feel full and satiate the brain receptors that control appetite, the fat in coconut milk may increase metabolism and perhaps increase weight loss on a reduced-calorie diet.

Healthy Skin and Hair
Coconut milk is highly nutritious when ingested, and these nutrients may help fortify and condition skin and hair as well. The fatty acids in coconut milk are a natural antiseptic and may help treat dandruff, skin infections, wounds and dry, itchy skin. Furthermore, the high fatty acid content in coconut milk serves as a natural moisturizer for healthy skin and may help repair wrinkles and sagging in aging skin.


Thursday, November 6, 2014

Cakes vs Biscuits

Swiss roll cake vs chocolate chip walnut cookies. Which one is more of the junkie, in your opinion?
To my soon-to-be 11-year old, she tells me that cake is not categorized as junk food but cookies and biscuits are. Apparently, her teacher told the class that cakes can be brought to the children's day party tomorrow but for biscuits... preferably not! What??! Aren't cakes and biscuits almost the same? They are cousins and composed of almost the same ingredients, isn't it? *scratch head*!!

The class has been told to bring such preferred sustaining food as noodles, spaghetti, fried nuggets, fried chicken, sausages and pizzas. But I ain't going to wake up at 4am to cook such food nor drive to the school to deliver the food. You can call me lazy but time is just not on my side... for now.

Last night, my 11-year old asked me to buy a box of swiss roll cake for her children day's party in school to be held tomorrow. When I told her that swiss roll is not suitable as the cream (made from milk) may turn bad, she said never mind, just get her a swiss roll cake as her teacher says cakes are ok! I don't buy that reasoning ok. This morning, I went ahead and bought her a box of 'superior' chocolate chip cookies with walnuts from our favorite bakery. I said 'superior' as they are freshly handmade and do not contain preservatives. But the girl went ballistic when I told her just now that I bought cookies and not cakes! She said she ain't bringing the 'junkie biscuits' to school coz her teacher said "cannot bring biscuits!" WTF!? Amusingly, sweets and candies can be brought to the party and she asked me to get a packet of sweets! Is this a joke or what?! LOL!

Anyway, when the girl saw the nicely packaged cookies that certainly do not look like any off the shelf biscuits, she changed her mind and said she is bringing them to school as well! That is the joke of the day for me, from my 11-year old!

The below pix were taken 3 hours ago at our condo when I picked up Alycia.  It rained cat's and dog's shit, resulting in a mini waterfall  from the roof gutters.
We stopped for a moment at the lobby to enjoy  the strong wind blowing at our faces, sound of torrential rain water (water is SO precious to us these days!) and chilly weather just now  :)  I  imagined a dam full of water now, thus putting an end to the Klang Valley water woes forever! *wishful thinking*