Grilled Salmon And Mackeral For Dinner - 30 Sept 2016

Dinner on a lovely Friday evening today -

Grilled salmon and tenggiri (mackeral) fish.




Salmon is lightly salted and seasoned with ground black pepper, thyme, garlic and lemon. Lemon is grilled together with the fish during the last 10 minutes in the oven at 160C.




Tenggiri (mackeral) fish is coated with turmeric powder, curry fish powder, sea salt, a dash of Lea and Perrin sauce and grilled with garlic.

Mashed sweet potato and potato with fresh milk, sea salt and ground black pepper.






Half way  through having our dinner, Drama Queen screamed out all of a sudden... which startled me! I thought something in the kitchen had caught fire!! LOL!

She was shouting out to me to see the rainbow, which was seen right outside our unit on the 5th floor.  We quickly ran out to admire the rainbow.  On taking a closer look, I excitedly told the girls that it was a double rainbow!!  The rainbow on the left side was pretty faint but the one on the right side was bright and clear. It is a rare sight to see a rainbow in the sky and it is even rarer to see a double rainbow. I can't even remember the last time I saw a rainbow.  I love rainbows.  This God's wonderful creation is just too pretty and definitely a sight to behold and capture on camera.




Happy Friday peeps and have a fun-tastic long weekend! :)  I am SO SO going to catch up on my beauty sleep on Monday.

Best Supplements For The Family To Weather The Storm

This is what Cass pops into her body each day -- 2 packets of Izumio and 2 capsules of Super Lutien each day. That's enough of antioxidants to protect her body from free radicals and toxins.  Alycia, Sherilyn and I consume these supplements too but in a slightly lower dosage.





On top of  these supplements from Naturally Plus that are free from fillers, binders and preservatives, we eat fresh fruits and vegetables everyday.  We have healthy homecooked food five times a week.

Fruits for today are Korean Shingo pear, New Zealand Sonya apple and cool kyuri.

As I was still very busy with work today and had no time to cook lunch for Cass, we had takeout nasi briyani - half a packet of rice with  chicken and sauteed spinach from my favorite Indian restaurant shared between the two of us.  I try not to eat outside food on week days but on mega busy days, I'll relax my Nazi health practice and take the easy way out by seeking refuge from the food stalls. It's comforting to know that we have Izumio and Super Lutein to assuage the crap that we put into our bodies each day.





Did you know that even the simple natural act of breathing causes free radicals in our body?  Stress, anger, lack of sleep, unhealthy diet and lifestyle all load our bodies with more free radicals. I am GUILTY as charged when it comes to stress and lack of sleep coz I just can't help it. If I had a choice, I'd throw stress and lack of sleep out of my life forever right away! That is why I need Izumio to zap away all the built up free radicals in my body every day.

If you are not taking any antioxidant supplements yet, it's a smart choice if you start taking them now. It's a good investment on yourself that can possibly safe you from serious health issues in future.

Gluten-Free Strawberry Cake

Drama Queen baked her beloved granny a gluten-free strawberry cake two weeks back.  The cake was a surprise for her granny, who would stay in KL over the weekend to celebrate her 70th birthday. It was a Thursday, a school holiday. Drama Queen started to bake the cake after lunch. She had been bugging me for weeks to buy gluten-free flour as my mum is gluten intolerance.

On Friday, the hubs went to the airport to pick up my parents and younger brother, Roy who had just returned from their 1-week cruise from Taiwan to Japan.





As I have very shallow knowledge in cake baking, except for watching my mum bake cakes when I was younger, I could not advise Drama Queen much. I grew up watching and helping my mum bake cakes, pau, buns, bread pudding and cookies.   Drama Queen has definitely inherited my mum's genes in the love and passion for baking, cooking and sewing. She's got my mum's creative juices flowing in her.

The only thing that I warned Drama Queen about was the cake pan.  From the look of her cake batter, I knew that she must have done a miscalculation in the measurement. The cake batter was really little and she told me that she wanted to use a 10 inch (I think) cake pan that was pretty tall in height.

"Common sense girl!! Look at the cake batter. How come it is SO LITTLE?? Did you measure the flour wrongly? Are you sure that the recipe that you got from You Tube calls for using such a BIG pan? See, see, this pan is SO tall and your batter is so little! Go find a smaller cake pan!"  was what I told her.

The girl ransacked grandma's kitchen cupboard but could not find a smaller cake pan. She found some cake rings  and showed me.

"I have no freaking idea how to use this cake ring OK. I have no experience baking. Have you seen how mah mah used this ring??"  I said to her.

And she said "oh yes, I have seen mah mah use this ring for baking cake. Can la. Can use la."

But how to use??

The both of us figured that we should first put the ring onto a baking tray lined with parchment paper. Then pour the cake batter into the middle of the ring.

The ring looked perfect for the amount of our cake batter. It fits just right.

About 10 minutes into baking, the batter seeped out from the ring.  OMG what are we to do!?  Would all the batter seep out and left with nothing inside the ring??? OMG OMG OMG!!

The girl told me that her recipe says to bake for 40 minutes but when I looked at the cake, it had turned brown and smelled good already even after 10 minutes.

Me to Drama Queen - ARE YOU SURE the recipe says to bake 40 minutes?? Look at the cake! It looks baked already.  Get me the stainless steel needle tester (whatcha call that cake tester thingy?)

After 15 minutes, we brought the cake out and this was how it looked.






The batter that had seeped out from the ring was slightly burnt. We could not wait to taste the cake to see if this very expensive cake tastes like a cake or something else!

Though the cake was still very hot, we quickly pinched all the cake that had seeped out from the ring and stuffed them into our mouths. And WOW, the cake was out of this world!  It tasted awesome, despite many things that went wrong, HAHAHAHA!!

Why do I say that the cake is expensive? Coz the gluten-free flour is expensive, plus the good quality butter, organic sugar, whipping cream, cream cheese and 2 punnets of strawberries are all costly. All the ingredients cost us about RM60.

The next big flop was the whipping cream!   I had advised Drama Queen to use cream cheese instead of being adventurous and try using whipping cream as I have no experience in beating whipping cream till it  turns stiff peak, for the frosting.  Being the very determined alpha female that she is, Drama Queen was very resolute and only wanted whipped cream as frosting for the cake.

So fine, I left the girl to beat the whipping cream with grandma's hand mixer.   When she shouted for help from the kitchen, I knew it was a flop already. The frosting had curdled and there was so much liquid!

Me to Drama Queen- "See, I told you to use cream cheese instead of whipping cream and you won't listen. Now you've wasted RM10 for the box of whipping cream.  Never mind, bring the cream cheese out!"

Just like a pro, Drama Queen used grandma's frosting knife and creamed the cake with cream cheese. Cass then helped her to decorate the cake with fresh strawberries.




... and toasted sliced almonds.




The final product was awesome.  The cake looks like some gourmet cake from a high-end patiserrie.





And the cake was SO delish!!  Despite all the initial stumbling blocks and blunders, it turned out to be PERFECT in terms of taste, texture and decor.  My Drama Queen's got talent!  From an AWFUL start to an AWESOME cake. We were both SO happy and could not wait for my mum to try the cake.

We'll definitely be baking more gluten-free cakes after the girls' final exam :)

Organic Food

I am a sucker for organic produce and food stuff. Some of my toiletries and skin care products are organic too.   Most of the vegetables that I buy are organically or naturally grown without the use of pesticides.

Every Saturday, I will stock up my organic stuff from my favorite organic shop.

Below is the loot from the organic shop last Saturday...

Brown rice crackers, miso sesame dressing, natural bean sauce with toona sinensis and Job's Tears.  The sauces are used to season noodles, fried rice and dishes.  Job's Tears is to be boiled with barley every other day. It is good for cleansing of the bladder and kidneys.








The rice crackers are very crispy, not too sweet and fresh. Cass eats them for breakfast and sometimes brings them to school for recess.




Original dark soy sauce with no preservatives, no coloring and no flavoring.

The Little Dare Devil

My drama queen is a little dare devil.  She is sociable, daring, creative and adventurous.  She would take part in almost all the competitions organized by her school, though she may not be good in the field.  When she was 6 years old, she took part in an inter-kindergarten singing competition. She went up the stage and sang solo in front of hundreds of people, complete with a p2r clipped to her costume. I was really proud of her, though she did not win. What mattered was she was braved enough to go up the stage and strut her stuff.

Oyakodon - Chicken With Egg And Rice

The past few days have been very, very busy for me.  Busy with work. Thus, the lack of update in this blog.

I had planned to dish out Oyakodon for the girls. The plan was to marinate the chicken breast meat for at least 5-6 hours so that it will be tastier.  I also planned to cook my Oyakodon like an authentic Japanese Oyakodon but I had not had the time to take a breather since I got up from bed at 4:45 a.m. today! So my Oyakodon today was a 'cincai' executed one.  I only started to cook at 6pm, only had 1/2 hour to marinate the chicken meat and no time to even google for a proper recipe. I used whatever sauces that I had in the fridge - which was Teriyaki sauce, organic shoyu, black pepper and corn flour.

*gasp for air*

Anyway, my 'cin-cin-cai-cai' Oyakodon still turned out very yummy! :D






As I did not have enough time to saute the French beans separately, I dumped the beans into the sizzling pot of chicken, making this into a one-pot dish complete with meat, eggs and lots of vegetables.




And then dumped in the eggs.





The egg for Oyakodon is meant to be slightly runny and raw but I don't fancy the kids eating half cooked eggs for fear of food poisoning from bacteria. So the egg was poached till 100% cooked - in the sauce.






Thankfully Drama Queen came back from school on time and helped me to chop the onions - 3 big juicy onions. The both of us shed so much tears in the kitchen inhaling the super stinging enzyme from the big onions!  I had planned to chill the onions for several hours before chopping them to reduce tearing of the eyes but again, I was so absorbed in work that I forgot all about it.

Despite dishing out my Oyakodon without much planning, it was nonetheless still very delish, albeit tasting more Chinese than Japanese. I have an extra portion saved for Cass' lunch tomorrow. Now, that's one less worry for tomorrow. Lunch is settled for Cass.

Cool Monitor Speakers

A few months before I turned 15 years old in 1988, I begged my parents to throw me a sweet 15 birthday party at home. I remember pestering them day and night, only to get NO for an answer. One day, my dad agreed to throw me the dream party that I wanted. I was totally overjoyed.  Big brother Ray  helped to organize the sound system and managed to borrow some speakers from this friend. Though nothing like those krk rokit 5, the monitor speakers were nonetheless cool and made my party magical. It was a party that I will always remember for the rest of my life :)

Scary Video Shows How Quickly Bacteria Becomes Antibiotic Resistant

Prevention is better than cure. I am all for this adage.

Do watch this video on an experiment by Harvard Medical School on how quickly bacteria becomes antibiotic resistant. They mutate, evolve and become so strong that even the most powerful of antibiotics can't defeat them!

And I am speaking from experience. When Cass was put on prophylactic antibiotics EVERY DAY since she was only a fragile 6-week old infant, the antibiotics did not work on preventing a UTI (Urinary Tract Infection).  Despite taking antibiotics every day, she would get a UTI attack once every 3 weeks.  Every single month. This went on until she was strong enough for a surgery at 13 months old weighing a mere 8kg.  I went through many nightmares with Cass when her doctors told me that the sensitivity test report showed that no safe antibiotics were suitable for her. The bacteria had evolved into mutants, resisting even strong antibiotics.   Imagine, if a doctor tells you that your child has an infection that no safe antibiotics could cure.  What would you do? How would you feel? I can still remember my exact feelings on those cold nights in the hospital staring blankly at the sensitivity test report with my doctor sitting next to us and scratching his head trying to find a solution to treat Cass.  How did Cass and I even survive those days?  I can only pray that we will never have to go through those harrowing moments again, ever.

And that is why I am doing all that I  possibly can  to prevent another UTI from attacking Cass.  Ever since she had a UTI attack in November last year, she's had a series of mild UTI attacks.  When she had quite a bad UTI attack in November last year, she was put on strong antibiotics via IV for 5 days and another 7 days of oral antibiotics. The after-effects of antibiotics on the body is really damaging.  Cass' immune system was weakened. I am very sure that the antibiotics did not completely kill all the resistant bacteria (and they multiply when conditions are conducive), thus the series of mild UTI attacks every 3-6 weeks, post November 2015.

Cass is now under a very 'controlled' lifestyle by me. She drinks Izumio hydrogen water 3 times a day, pops 1-2 Super Lutein capsules every day, pops a potent probiotics once or twice a day, drinks boiled barley and Job's Tears water every other day, coconut water every other day and I limit her intake of acidic food. She also drinks Waterfall D-Mannose every four hourly.   Sweets and junk food are banned. Sweet food is limited. Sugar and refined flour products only feed the bacteria, as with an acidic environment. Food that I cook is less sodium, less sugar and less oil. I try to avoid using bottled sauces with preservatives, coloring and other harmful chemicals.  She has to pee every hourly. And the toughest part is waking her up at 2am every single day to bring her to pee.  Drinking lots of clear liquid and peeing is key to flushing out the bacteria, NOT antibiotics.









Watching this stunning video of disease will surely bring pandemic movies like “Contagion” and “Outbreak” to mind. A Harvard Medical School study tested the strength of bacteria against powerful antibiotics on a “mega-plate” petri dish. And guess who lives in the end?

In the experiment, bacteria is placed on the sides of a petri dish and then advances to the center as it encounters different types of antibiotics, each more powerful than the last. The scientists created a time-lapse video to show its rapid evolution over the course of two weeks. You can see the bacteria (in white) as it fights through layers of antibiotics, multiplying and morphing as it spreads. Over the course of time, the superbugs become impervious to drugs and not only survive, but also thrive as they increase in size and strength. It shows how antibiotics are truly powerless against mighty evolution.

The experiment is one of the first large-scale looks at the evolution of bacteria (or, arguably, of life) and how even our most powerful drugs can’t kill germs. Which leaves us with only one conclusion: This is both really cool and totally unnerving.







A new experiment shows how bacteria can fight it's way through antibiotics. Photo Credit Scharvik/iStock/Getty Images


Video and article, courtesy of Livestrong.com

Braised Pork With Radish

This is yet another very tasty dish that is SO easy to whip up. Trust me when I say that it is easy. Once you have all the ingredients, this dish is a total child's play. Even Drama Queen can be trained to whip this out on her own. No need recipe even.

Note - you can replace the pork with beef belly (ngau lam)




Ingredients:
1) Pork belly, pork shoulder loin or even pork ribs. I used pork shoulder loin.  I buy only Berkcious pork now, which is free from antibiotics and growth hormones.

2) 1 whole large radish - you can add more if you like your dish with more radish. I love radish, thus I added a real large radish.

3) Chopped garlic

4) 1 packet of spices consisting of cardamon pods, star anise, pepper corns, cloves and cinnamon sticks.  You can get this from the herbs, spices and dried food stuff section of the supermarket and sundry shop. It only costs a few Ringgit. You can also use this packet of spices for making sup kambing and sup lembu, a popular Malay soup.

5) Soy sauce - I used organic shoyu sauce.

6) Dark / thick soy sauce - I used natural dark soy sauce bought from the organic shop. It is free from coloring, MSG and preservatives.

7) Sugar - I used ground palm sugar, which is lower in GI vs regular sugar.

8) A bunch of coriander leaves

9) Eggs (hard boiled), mushrooms, firm tofu are all optional sides to be added

Sorry, no measurements for all the seasoning as it is up to your liking. I like my broth strong in aroma / taste yet mild in saltiness and sweetness.









Below - picture of pig shoulder loin. This is my favorite part of the piggy. I like the marble effects on the meat. The slight fat all around the meat gives the meat a tender texture. It is not too lean, yet not too fat.  I use this part of the pig for pork chops, braised pork dish and to have them minced by the butcher.






Direction:

1) Saute the spices, minced garlic and pork until fragrant.





2)  Add water, radish and all the seasonings. Bring to a boil and simmer for 1.5 - 2 hours or until the meat is tender.   I like my meat really tender.

3)  Add in a bunch of coriander into the pot about half an hour before turning off the fire.  The coriander leaves impart a fragrant and appetizing lift to the dish.







Go on and try this dish. It is so easy to cook and so appetizing that even the fussiest of kid and spouse will love.  You could cook a big portion and save some for the next day. It goes well with rice and all types of noodles.

Video Of Cass Solving The Rubik's Cube - Part 2

Here's another video of Cass solving one side of the Rubik's Cube taken today.  Video was taken at Ben's General Store @ Gardens while waiting for our food to arrive.


 



Total time taken = 15 seconds.

Video Of Cass Solving The Rubik's Cube (Part 1)

This is a short video of Cass solving the Rubik's Cube. It was taken today, after lunch at Oiso Korean Restaurant.

She can now complete  any one color in under a minute. In this video, she took 1 minute 4 seconds. Maybe she was a tad tensed that I was filming her :D

For Alycia, she can solve the entire Rubik's Cube (all colors) in under 2 minutes.  Cass is aiming to achieve her che che's prowess soon.





Cass at 8 years 5 months.

Our Saturday - 10 Sept 2016

Today is the start of the 1-week school holiday.

So what does a school holiday as short as 1 week mean to me?

Catching up on sleep, have brunch with the girls at our favorite coffee shops at 11am, shopping, lazing around the house, working-out with the girls in the gym in the evenings and hitting the sack way past 11pm every night.  Drama Queen has already planned to bake cookies and cuppies. And the big girl has planned a movie date with her besties.

What does the school holiday mean to you?  Cuti-cuti Malaysia? Or an overseas trip? Or simply a staycation at a hotel in your town?  We used to do a LOT of staycations when the girls were  younger.  My parents and younger brother, Roy have just flown to Taiwan today. From Taiwan, they will be transferred on board a cruise liner on a pleasure voyage to Okinawa, Japan!  I. SO. WISH. TO. JOIN. THEM!!!

Some day I will. I know the day will come. PATIENCE IS THE VIRTUE!

We had breakkie with hubs at Les Deux Garcons (LDG) today.  The girls and I wanted wantan mein and bitter gourd noodles but my trencherman said big breakfast at LDG!  So LDG it is then.  Cass was really disappointed that she couldn't dig into her favorite bitter gourd noodles this morning.






Not-so-healthy big breakfast.  Nay to ham and sausages 👎 but it feels good to eat them once in a purple moon 😋





Cumin chicken and corn with pita bread and boiled potatoes.  The taste of cumin didn't really go well with the girls though.  I promised the girls that I'll make them their choice of chicken filling for a pita bread meal next week.





A meal at LDG will never be complete without a Frangipane croissant.  LDG bakes one of the best Frangipane croissants (RM8.50 a piece).

Izumio And Super Lutein - Prostate Cancer

This testimonial on prostate cancer and how the products have helped a 77-year old man with prostate cancer was originally posted by one of our team mates in June 2015.


My dad ( 77 yrs old) was diagnosed with prostrate cancer in March this year with his PSA level at 143. He didn’t want to go for further scan so we do not know what stage he is in or where the cancer has spread. The biopsy showed little cancer cells in his prostrate so the doctor ‘thinks’ that it may have spread to his bones. However he had no symptoms related to prostrate cancer. ..i.e no urination problem, or any pain. One of the reasons he took the blood test was because he had been feeling extreme tiredness. The tiredness caused by cancer is different from our normal tiredness. Tiredness caused by cancer does not go away even after sleep/rest. He went for hormone injection in March. This hormone injection works by stopping the hormone testosterone from reaching prostate cancer cells because testosterone is like ‘fertilizer’ for cancer cells. This injection is suppose to help lower the PSA level and also control the cancer cells from spreading but not to heal. After the 1st treatment in March, he became weaker each day due to the side effects of the jab. 2 months after his treatment he was so weak that he thought he will meet his Maker soon. I then decided to get him Izumio and SL. 

Fast forward 2 weeks later after IW and SL, he felt better and went to do another blood test. His PSA level dropped from 143 to 12.5. Since it is only 2 weeks after he took the products, we can’t really tell if it is due to the products or the hormone injection was working well. Whatever it is, I believed the products did help greatly. It has been a month now since he consumed IW and SL. He is less tired. More positive and cheerful. He sleeps well. No more bloating or stomach pain. Only still dealing with his tiredness in which certain days are better than other.

Dosage : First 3 days 3 IW 9SL. Thereafter till now : 4IW 12SL 

Detox symptoms : His detox symptoms started on the 3 rd day consuming the products. Some of his old symptoms came back i.e heart palpitations ( he has leaky valve) , stomach pulling, dizziness and very tired. His current symptoms magnified i.e bloating, stomach pain. 

New symptoms : sweating profusely especially in the night ( could also be a side effect of the hormone injection ), feeling heaty and of course loose stools several times a day.  

Thank God, that had all calm down from week 3 onwards.  

Yesterday, he went for his follow up treatment. The doctor was very pleased with his progress and wanted his PSA to drop further. However he (doctor) is not ‘receptive’ that the products can really help heal/cure cancer. Gave my dad another jab and told to come back in 3 months time. Though my dad is not cleared of his cancer yet ( and the doctor doesn’t believe it can be cured rather it can be controlled for many years….more like prolonging his life), taking the products has helped him greatly. From someone that used to sit and stare at the wall and looking miserable, he can now do light exercises , sweep the compound and sometimes cycle to the nearby market. Just looking forward for him to be healthier each day. 

Update (18-9-15) : My dad's PSA is now 3.4 which is considered normal for his age. He is on 3SL 1IZ once to twice a day.

If you know of anyone with prostate cancer, you could tell them that they can try natural supplements like water enriched with molecular hydrogen and carotenoids.  There is no 100% guarantee that they will get healed but these products have helped many people with terminal diseases get better.  These are life-saving products. You have nothing to lose by giving them a try.  I am thankful I gave them a try 1.5 years ago. Don't take my word for it. Just try them to see the difference they can make to your health.


For more reading on Izumio and Super Lutein, you can click here.

Wat Tarn Yee Mee (Yee Mee In Egg Gravy)

Dinner a few evenings ago was 'wat tarn yee mee' and 'wat tarn meehoon' (Cantonese style / Kong Foo Chow)

I am a lover of vermicelli / meehoon. While the girls had sweet potato yee mee, I had meehoon.

The girls had the sweet potato yee mee from Lohas  straight from the packet, with hot egg gravy poured onto the noodles.  The sheer crispiness from the yee mee interweaved with the hot egg gravy make this noodle dish very interesting.





I can never get sick of  eating meehoon. I love it cooked in any style. It's my all-time comfort food, though it's a high GI food. To slow down the spike in insulin, I always eat meehoon together with protein like meat and eggs.




My egg gravy composed of Berkcious minced pork, squids, organic miso, naturally fermented bean paste with toona sinensis, organic shoyu, pepper, lots of chopped garlic, fresh portobello mushrooms, free-range chicken eggs and organic Chinese cabbage.

Berkcious pork is free from growth hormones and antibiotics.




My bowl of sweet potato yee mee is 90% organic.  Even the scallions are organic :)




My 8-year old bookworm enjoying her yee mee and all soaked up in her book on David Copperfield, borrowed from her school library.

Making The MRI Manageable

If there is an MRI in your future, there are a few tips to keep in mind to make the scan a little easier. An open MRI scanner is often the best solution if you are afraid of being in small spaces or if you are physically unable to be inside the machine.

One of the things to keep in mind is that you should leave your modesty outside the door. You will likely have to wear a hospital nightgown, especially if you will need to stay in the hospital for a few days after the scan is completed. You can't wear anything metallic, and you should tell the technician if there is anything in the body that is metal as the machine is a large magnet. Some of the things that you might not think about are hair bows and earrings.

While in the scanner, don't move at all. This will only mess up the image, and you will likely have to repeat it until a clear image can be seen. You aren't strapped down on the table, and no one is in there to hold you down so that you don't move, so you will have to use willpower to not fidget while the machine is circling around you to take a picture. Patience is a virtue as it seems like it takes forever to get the results back. However, with the digital age, doctors can usually see results of the scan a short time after it's completed.

Some people think that you can't breathe while you're getting an MRI. It's alright to breathe, and the technician might tell you how to breathe at times in order to get an image of the lungs or other areas of the body. If you're afraid of being in the machine, then close your eyes. It doesn't prevent any kind of magnetic ray from harming the eyes as the scanner is safe, but it can make you feel a little more at ease with being in a confined space. The technician will tell you when you are done with the scan so that you can finally relax for a while before the results are back.

Hainanese Chicken Chop (Grilled In Oven)

The other day I saw an advertisement from a cafe promoting its menu in the newspapers. One of the dishes was Hainanese chicken chop. Looking at the enticing pictures of the chicken chop made me salivate. Since this dish does not require me to go at it hammer and tongs and sweat buckets, I decided to prepare it the next day.

Hainanese chicken chop is my childhood favorite food.  Dad can whip up Hainanese chicken chop to die for.

The recipe for Hainanese chicken chop requires  deep-frying of the boneless chicken thighs. I adapted the recipe and grilled the chicken in the oven instead. I will not prep any dish that is super messy and requires deep frying.







Marinating the meat

I marinated the boneless chicken thighs with coriander powder, a little corn starch, ground black pepper, Lea And Perrins sauce and organic shoyu.
Some recipes include five-spice powder for the chicken marinate. But I could not find it in my kitchen, thus omitted it.

After popping the chicken thighs into the oven, I made the sauce, which is pretty effortless and fast.


Ingredients For Sauce 
Big onions, cut into rings
Chopped garlic
Tomatoes - cut into wedges
Green peas - I used Wattie's frozen baby garden peas from New Zealand
Sweet corn kernels - I used Wattie's frozen corn kernels
Button mushrooms - I used fresh Portobello mushrooms
Tomato ketchup
Lea And Perrin sauce
Soy sauce - I used organic shoyu
Sugar - I used organic brown sugar

Directions For Sauce
Brown garlic and onion rings
Add in tomatoes and saute till they turn partially soft and skin withers
Add in mushrooms, sweet corn kernels and garden baby peas
In a bowl of water, add a few teaspoons of corn starch.  Stir to dilute the corn starch.  Add into wok.
Season to taste with Lea And Perrins sauce, soy sauce, organic brown sugar, tomato ketchup and add more water. Let simmer for about 10 minutes.

Below - my wok of sauce with lots of colorful veggies is all ready!







Grilling The Chicken Thighs
Grill chicken thigh at 150C for about 15-20 minutes on each side.
Earlier, I steamed the sweet corns, potato and sweet potato wedges for about 15 minutes in the wok. Then I transferred them into the grill tray and grilled them with the chicken.





For sides, I made a mash of grilled potatoes, grilled sweet potatoes and blanched cauliflower.  I whizzed the 3 items for a few seconds in my Shimono blender.   Added some fresh milk, pepper and salt to taste. This mash is really delish. The girls loved it! It's so creamy, so rich and naturally sweet. Once you've popped a spoonful into your mouth, you just can't stop whacking more.

Our Saturday - 3 Sept 2016

Cass waited impatiently for another week to Saturday, not so much to attend piano class but to see her favorite doggy at the pet shop - a mighty cute and fluffy Samoyed, whom she has named Twitchy Nose (and then changed the name to Samo!) as this little Samoyed pup likes twitching its cute little black nose when playing with Cass, separated by a glass panel.








Samo has long white eye lashes and double eyelids. It's such a perfect and beautiful dog. This explains the RM8,300 price tag on Samo!

 


As long as we stay in a condo, there is no way we can keep a dog... much as I love Samo too.  It is just too cute, too cuddly, too irresistible.





Dinner was just us girls, without the hubs, as he was at a client's function.




We had economical Japanese food at Lao Jiu Lou restaurant, opened by a Japanese hunk!

 









Back home, I drilled Drama Queen on conversion of metric measures by setting tons of questions for her. She wasn't 100% sure on the conversion and techniques and the only way is to give her loads of problems to solve.  Told her that she needs to practice the problems until she has them down cold.  This knowledge must be at her finger tips as she will be needing it for life.