Bloated like a pig!

Credits: QuickMeme

I feel like a penguin. My stomach is so bloated right now that I look super duper pregnant. Haha! Gosh, I hate that feeling when AF is coming near and you get these unfriendly symptoms, making your confidence level drop to the floor immediately.

Leah A A

Technology is the root to all evil. Heh!

I'm thinking of deleting my social media accounts but maintain a few; mainly Google+, my blog of course, and LinkedIn. Well, I've got no choice but to maintain these 2 as the first one, it gives me the freedom to pen down my thoughts and records my recipes while the second one is mainly used for work purposes.

In fact, I've been thinking about deleting my FB and IG some time ago but never had the courage to do so simply because, I may need to access to my friend's contacts, lookout for great deals online or even promote whichever sideline business that I will run in the future.

I've noticed some pretty bad habits that I've developed ever since I started using smartphone. I recalled those days when I can only access to my Friendster using my computer desktop at home. How simple was that to just access anything got to do with internet from a stationary desktop? Besides, news feed is getting exhausting with people posting selfies, or whatever they are doing, literally, online, with the intention to evoke jealousy, or admiration maybe? I'm definitely guilty of uploading selfies of myself and sometimes, photos of those moments that I thought is necessary to be shared. And soon after, I will get addicted to checking if my post had received any likes or comments. Geez, such a pyscho act right?

In fact, I didn't used to be a social media addict. I guess everyone started off the same. It was merely those days, where we upload nice picture of ourselves to make new friends (ehem!) online and then, Mark Zuckenberg decided to change the world. You could do more than just uploading photos! Poking (seriously hate this!), messaging, posting anything that you are feeling now, check-in to your location and advertisements from various business setups even started to flood the news feed. And then there was Instagram. Initially, I had used it to edit photos with nice filters and manually upload it to FB. I had few request who wanted to follow my account in IG which I ignored until one day, a friend asked me "Hey, can you please accept my friend request?" And BOOM! that's where the addiction started. You could link IG to FB for a seamless upload. Cheesy huh!

Wow, this post is getting longer than I had expected. I still have more to share.

I discovered Facebook marketing 2 years back when I tried to sell perfumes and cosmetics. It was fun getting likes on the post you share, or likes to your page. It was even fun with the job title you can create for yourself, making yourself feel like a "Big Boss" and having a notification that someone enquired about your products. Truth be told, everyone dreams to be a big boss, but only a few succeed. I wasn't one of the few but I had my share and experience of earning my own income. That further motivates me to try out other things.

So while I'm contemplating to delete my FB and IG accounts, my tailoring sideline is slowly picking up. Soon, I will need to use either a FB or IG account to promote my services. So how do I decide if I should totally be out of these? Pfft!

Leah A A

LEAH's Kitchen: Ayam Masak Merah (Malay Dish)

I love #ayammasakmerah and will attack this dish whenever I go to wedding ceremonies. I wasn't sure about the end-result but my family wiped out the dish in less than a day (mind you, 2kg of chicken), so I guess, it can be concluded that the dish was delicious right? Jeez, such a self-brag! Haha!

Ayam Masak Merah (Malay Dish) (8-12pax)

 

Ingredients:

6 garlic (sliced)

1 onion (sliced)

2 inch ginger (chopped)

2 cm lengkuas (chopped)

2 stalk lemon grass (smashed)

6 bunga cengkih

4 buah pelagah

2 bunga lawing

2 cm kayu manis

60 ml asam water

100 gm chilli sos (Maggi brand)

6 tbs sugar

20 tbs chilli boh

2 chicken (skin discarded, cut into parts)

2 ts salt

1 ts Ajinomoto

Tumeric powder

Instructions:

1. Clean chicken parts and marinate with turmeric powder and salt. Deep-fry chicken until it's cooked (do not need to be crispy). Set aside for later.
2. Heat cooking oil and stir-fry lemon grass, bunga cengkih, buah pelagah, bunga lawing and kayu manis till fragrant.
3. Mix in with garlic, onion, ginger and lengkuas. Stir-fry till soften.
4. Mix in chilli boh. Stir-fry till mixture looks crisp and shiny.
5. Add chilli sos and seasoned with sugar, salt, ajinomoto and asam water.
6. When mixture starts to thickened, add chicken and mix till even.

LEAH's Kitchen: Spinach Chicken Cheese Burger

I came across this #spinachburger on Pinterest and felt that the burger was quite peculiar in a way. I don't usually eat spinach in a burger. My mom cooks spinach in a soup form or stir-fry in a Asian-style as a side dish. But the picture that I saw was very tempting. It looks yummy and pretty easy to make so I decided to give it a try.

 

Spinach Chicken Cheese Burger

Ingredients:

100gm of butter

3 x cloves of garlic (chopped)

1 x onion (chopped)

1 x packet of oyster mushroom

1 x packet of spinach (without stems)

1 x red bell pepper (cut into cubes)

Light soya sauce

Oyster sauce

Salt

Black pepper (grounded)

Chicken parts, boneless (cut into small pieces)

Tomato (sliced)

Cheddar cheese slices

Hamburger buns

 

Instructions:

1. Melt butter in a frying pan. Sautee mushroom for about 5 minutes.
2. Add garlic and onion. Sautee again
3. Add chicken and red pepper. Sautee till chicken is cooked.
4. Add a little light soya sauce and oyster sauce.
5. Add spinach. Finish off with salt and black pepper to taste. Place filling aside.
6. Cut hamburger buns and slightly toast them in the oven.
7. From bottom up, placed tomato slice, chicken filling and top it with cheese.
8. Wrap the burger in foil. Place it in the oven 200 degrees celcius for about 20 minutes till the cheese melt. Enjoy.

Healthy Rating:

5/5. I used wholemeal buns and there are loads of goodness stuff in that burger.

Things will change, if you change...

Keep positive vibes and you will see a difference. Yes, you will.

Ever since I stayed away from negative vibes, I've been feeling happier than before. I no longer feel that I'm just waiting for days to pass, get stuck in my emotions of not being seen or treated fairly, or even think why I can't be somebody else.

I'm thankful for things that are happening to me in 2014. Although my circle of friends have grown smaller in size, I no longer have to fake optimism or feel shunned as if my presence is not needed when I'm with my friends. I'm glad that God opened up an opportunity for me to make amends with people that I have lost touched with and strengthen the friendship that I have built along the way. For those that have come and left, thank you for being part of my life because that's where the chapter of my life ends with you in it.

I'm learning ways to manage my finance, always keeping in check if we have enough for the whole month, until one day I realised that you can't save if you are in debt. I'm not in debt, truly. It's just that we have a lot of things to pay for since we are renovating our house. I struggled with payments and at the same time, scrimping every penny which led to even more debts. Don't get what I mean? Heh, never mind. I envied those earning higher salary than me and wished that I could achieve more for a better life. However, things change when I let go of my ego to save every month and pondered over what I could achieve with the little income that I have. Take a look at this article. It's very encouraging that let you have a different perspective of why salary doesn't matter. Applying this concept, I concentrate on clearing my payments, limit my expenses and alhamdullilah, I've seen a difference that it makes to my financial situation.

Excited for my new house, our renovation works are 90% complete. We checked for defects last night and hopefully our contractor can get it rectified by this Friday. My tolerance for my contractor's attitude is really off limit but I keep repeating to myself that this situation is temporary and it will end soon. Well, he's not a bad person to start with but he lacks the initiative and has poor customer service skills. In terms of workmanship, I would rate it 9/10. So that's the deal. You get good workmanship but poor customer service. I say, I go for workmanship. Some snapshots of my renovation works here:

I've just made some baking sale last week out of a regular customer. At the same time, business for tailoring service is really picking up beyond my expectations. Kudos to Carousell! It's such a good app that I don't even require to create a facebook page or website (of course 1 day I will do!). I've received countless of enquiries and mostly are for wedding events in November. Wow! Good thing is, I'm partnering with my mom for this business and we intend to take it further next year for Hari Raya despite my Dad's disapproval. It's quite tiring but I enjoyed every second of it because you can copy ideas but you can never copy skills that's learnt. Hopefully, one day, I can realised my dream of owning either an F&B or tailoring business!

Leah A A

LEAH's Kitchen: Fried Macaroni (Macaroni Goreng)

I had unusual craving (what's new?) for macaroni, salivating at the thought of biting into those al-dente pasta and chew on the ground beef that is perfectly seasoned with some tomato-based sauce. Anyway, it has been a while since I whip up #friedmacaroni or #macaronigoreng and I had forgotten the recipe. That's the reason why I always jot down the recipe into this blog. I used my six sense (like real only!) and grab whatever I think will make the dish tasty.

Fried Macaroni or Macaroni Goreng (for 7-8pax)

Ingredients:

6 x cloves of garlic (chopped)

1 x big onion (chopped)

5 x chilli padi (optional)

2 x tbs of tomato paste

4 x tbs of chilli boh

2 x tbs of oyster sauce

2 x tbs of light soya sauce

100gm minced beef

500gm of macaroni

2 x cups of peeled shrimp

1/2 x can of button mushroom

3 x stalks of sawi

Salt

Ajinomoto

A little bit of water

 

Instructions:

1. Boil a pot of water and cook macaroni till al-dente (follow packet instructions). Drain water and put cooked macaroni aside.
2. In a small bowl, mix tomato paste, chilli boh, oyster sauce, light soya sauce and water till it's even. Put sauce mixture aside.
3. Using frying wok, heat up some oil and stir-fry garlic, onion and chilli padi till fragrant.
4. Add in the sauce mixture and minced beef. Stir-fry till beef is almost cooked and add shrimp and mushroom. Stir-fry again.
5. Add in macaroni and stir-fry evenly.
6. Add in sawi and stir-fry till vegetable soften.
7. Add salt and ajinomoto to taste.

 

Hello Baby D!

Baby D has arrived and I'm so thrilled for my gf! I couldn't believe it. It was just Monday, 2 days ago, that I met her for lunch with Baby D in her womb and then, yesterday, Baby D, who had been in my gf's womb for 8 months plus, decided to make his appearance into this world. Alhamdullilah, God's creation is such a beauty beyond words description!

Both mom and Baby D are safe and sound. It was a smooth delivery for her, a 2.5hours process of natural delivery. Such a strong woman!

Hehe. I'm excited for my turn too. Hopefully, I'll get the "jackpot" soon!

Stolen from my GF's facebook. Handsome boy right?

Leah A A

I'm going nuts, literally...

I'm worried about my health. I've recently started to eat a lot of nuts - cashew and pumpkin seeds - for the #TTC project, and at the same time, getting sudden mild headaches for no reasons. This happens frequently in the office. I suspected that it was due to the cold temperature (stupid centralised aircon!!) but just now, I had the headache again after finishing a packet of cashew nuts.

Did I just go nuts? Apparently not.

I google and find out that eating nuts could cause headaches. What? Yes, seriously? My body is such a weirdo, reacting to nuts this way. Right now, as I type, I feel like I'm seeing stars. Suddenly feel so unwell :(

What should I do now? Scrap nuts from my list? Boohoo... I've just started to appreciate them and now this!

Leah A A

TTC...

Ditto. AF is here to visit. Boohoo!

I've always thought that TTC is quite straightforward and easy. I am so wrong. Having TTC for nearing 6 months (I think), I'm starting to think if there is something wrong with us? My period is so regular that it comes on the dot! Well, I know there are couples out there who have been trying for years and so, who am I to complain for waiting 6 months only. But... I can't help it, my maternal instinct is doubling up rapidly that I groaned each time AF is here. Like yesterday :(

I recalled last week conversation with Mom and Sis when I told them I had a craving for Lemak Sayur Pucuk Ubi, my mom went, "Dah ade ke? (have already?)". Haha! I wished! When I told them that we are TTC, they started nagging at me for my exercises. Seriously? I mean I've heard that exercising may reduce fertility but there are some articles which encourage exercising as it helps to better prepare the body for pregnancy.

Yesterday I was really quite disappointed. The past few months, I've been a maniac, tracking my ovulation and fertile period, as if by doing so we will hit the jackpot. When we failed, I totally removed this "tracking" method and tried to take things naturally. So for last month, we just let it happen. Ditto. We failed.

My friend had recommended Blackmore as she was successful with that. It's so tempting to just try it but Husband disagree and prefers to take things naturally. Sad! And so I thought, I have to do something, at least naturally (pfft!), to increase the chances of pregnancy. Well, I have to admit that maybe my exercise routine do play a part in my chances to conceive as my body feels tired and exhausted every single day. I'm not totally omitting exercising out since it has always been part of my lifestyle, but probably I could something about it. For instance, reducing the intensity?

I've gathered this list by sourcing through various website. I'm going to start my next project #TTC. For those of you who are still puzzled what TTC means, google it! :p

Food that Boost Fertility

Fruits

• Bananas, Oranges, Berries, Prunes, Mangoes

Vegetables

• Asparagus, Broccoli, Spinach, Lettuce, Garlic, Bell Peppers, Potatoes, Yam

Seafood/ Fish

• Shellfish, Salmon, Cod, Snapper

Poultry

• Eggs, Beef, Lamb

Beans/ Nuts

• Almonds, Peas, Edamame (my favourite!),Lentils, Pumpkin seeds, Kidney beans, Tofu

Others

• Whole Milk, Whole Wheat Bread, Olive oil, Yogurt, Green Tea

Moderate Exercises

• Cycling
• Brisk Walking
• Swimming
• Zumba
• Light Jogging

The list could be exhaustive but this is as much that I could gather. I hope that this project works! Give me some baby dust y'all!

Leah A A

Small steps at a time...

When we said, "It's ok, take your time. We are not in a hurry to move-in to our new home", never did we realize our contractor will really take his own sweet time. Not that we mind now, but I'm just getting excited seeing the bits and pieces of work happening at our home right now. I wish I could see the end results, like now! Haha!

So far, the workmanship is not too bad. We faced several issues here and there but Alhamdullilah, they are easily resolved. As of today, our reno progress already have the kitchen carcass done up and I quite like the color. It was suppose to be different shades of pink but because the laminate material went obsolete, we had to make do with another color (I know right, blue is so off from the original pink). It turns out to be quite pretty (too soon to say huh?) right now. Hehe.

That's my dear husband :)

While I can't wait for this process to end, I'm quite tied down in terms of financial these past few months. The reno works has drained up all our savings and it will take some time for us to pick up the pace again. I'm quite grateful towards my parents who are kind enough to let us stay with them, and not rushing for us to move out. In fact, they are suggesting that we should stay with them and rent out our new house (quite typical huh?).

Speaking of dollars and cents, I really need to save up for my Bali trip this December (help!).

Hubby has been very supportive in terms of financial. I wish that I could do more for him and so I reciprocate by making him packed lunch, cooked for him dinner, and try my best to do the laundry for him. I'm so happy that he had completed his studies which could lead to a promising future for both of us. I'll be happy if he could just find another job which allows him to spend more time with me while bring home a decent paycheck.

I wish to earn side income and have some plans in starting a new business in the future. In the past, I've tried selling cosmetics, perfumes, and took up freelance designing jobs but none of them were long-term. However this time, I wish to make it long-term but I just can't decide between these two:

 

Food Business or Retail/ Tailoring Business

 

Help me pick? Or should I do both?

 

 

Of course these are just ideas at the moment. I will need to brush up my skills in these 2 areas and we shall see how to move ahead from there. Currently, I'm just testing market using Carousell app. LOL.

 

My latest tailoring project - The Bridesmaid

A customer that ordered Honey Cornflakes from me

 

 

Leah A A

LEAH's Kitchen: Lemak Sayur Pucuk Ubi (Tapioca Shoots in Hot Coconut Gravy)

Cravings can be quite monstrous for ladies, a deadly virus that can make us fat huh?

My sudden craving for #lemakpucukubi came out of nowhere and I wished I could have it there and then. It has been a long time since my Mom cook this very popular kampung-style dish. The dish is normally accompanied with fried fish, sambal belacan and fragrant rice - simple but yet satisfying meal. And of course, the spiciness of this dish makes it a number one favourite in my list :D

 

Lemak Sayur Pucuk Ubi (Tapioca Shoots in Hot Coconut Gravy)

 

Ingredients:

2 tie of pucuk ubi (tapioca shoots)

500ml of coconut cream (I used KARA brand)

Handful of anchovies (I bought $1 worth)

3 cloves of garlic

1 large onion

1 small piece of ginger

30 nos. of chilli padi

1 small piece of belacan

Salt

Ajinomoto

Water

 

Instructions:

1. Remove stems from the tapioca shoots. We only need to use the leaves. Place the leaves in a boiling pot and add 4 teaspoon of salt. Using your hand, grind the leaves against these salt to soften the leaves' texture. When it's done, fill pot with water and boil the leaves for a few minutes till it soften (and also to remove the rubbery taste).
2. Blend garlic, onion, ginger, anchovies, belacan and chilli padi till it form a liquid mixture.
3. Drain the boiling water leaving the leaves in the pot. Pour the liquid mixture, coconut cream and water into the pot and start stirring the mixture. Adjust water level according to how thick you want the gravy to be.
4. Boil the mixture till its cooked. Add salt and ajinomoto to taste.

My Healthy Rating:

This dish uses a lot of coconut cream (fattening down there!). Oh well, #yolo.

 

LEAH's Kitchen: Noodle Soup

I love soups! Especially those that I can modify with lots of chilli!

I didn't have time to upload the recipe for #noodlesoup and only realised today, after drooling at the pictures of food. I remember cooking this simple dish for the family on Mother's Day. It's so easy that you should try it! So here you go...

Noodle Soup

Ingredients:

Soup Base

1 pkt of anchovies (small to medium size)

3 cloves of garlic (mashed)

1 piece of ginger (sliced thinly)

Water

Salt

Pepper

 

Main items

500gm of prawn (half-peeled)

1 tie of kai choy or sawi

1 tie of Chinese celery or daun sop (for garnish)

1 pkt of fried shallots (for garnish)

1 pkt of Dodo fishball

Chilli padi

Sweet soya sauce or kicap manis

2kg of yellow noodle or bee hoon

 

Instructions:

1. Using a large pot, boil water with anchovies, garlic and ginger. Seasoned the soup with salt and pepper
2. Boil prawn, sawi and fishball separately. Put it aside for servings later
3. Cook yellow noodle in hot water for a few seconds. Put it aside for servings later
4. Blend chilli padi with a little water. Mix soya sauce into this mixture and put it aside for servings later.
5. When everything is prepared, serve noodles with all the items prepared.

My Healthy Rating:

This should be quite healthy. Eat in moderation will do :)

 

LEAH's Kitchen: Stir-fry Broccoli with Chicken and Mushroom

Hubby keeps nagging me to cook for him some #broccoli for his post-workout meal. So yesterday after gym, I tried out this recipe to satisfy his cravings.

Stir-fry Broccoli with Chicken and Mushroom (6pax)

 

Ingredients:

4 stalks of broccoli

1 packet of oyster mushroom

200gm of boneless chicken (cut into pieces)

10 sticks of baby corn

4 tbs of oyster sauce

4 tbs of light soya sauce

2 ts of cornstarch (I used normal flour)

2 tbs of sesame oil

120ml of water

3 cloves of garlic (chopped)

1 large onion (chopped)

Small piece of ginger (sliced thinly)

Olive oil

Salt

Pepper

 

Instructions:

1. Mix oyster sauce, light soya sauce, sesame oil and cornstarch. Put it aside for later.
2. Using a small amount of olive oil, cook chicken for about 10 minutes in a wok or large frying pan.
3. Pour in the broccoli, mushroom, babycorn, garlic, onion and ginger. Keep stirring till vegetable is medium cooked.
4. Pour in the mixture (from no. 1) and water into the wok. Stir fry, season with salt and pepper and adjust taste accordingly.

My Healthy Rating:

Definitely healthy! Will give it 5/5. Yay!

Adventure to S.E.A Aquarium @ Resorts World Sentosa

Mr. H had bought the tickets for 2 ages ago but we just couldn't find time to visit S.E.A Aquarium. Funny part is, we decided to give it a miss and sell the tickets at Carousell for $30. Within a day of listing the tickets, we had a number of keen buyers and so Mr. H found it amusing and realised that $30 for 2 tickets was too cheap a deal. Expectedly, he asked me to do the dirty job of declining all offers, making me look like a "bad seller" in Carousell! Pfft!

But secretly, I was relieved we didn't sell away the tickets :)

Honestly, SEEA isn't something that I will genuinely pay for because I don't really know much about admiring sea creatures or even nature. But the experience was really an eye-opener. For instance, I've never seen creatures like jelly fish and sea horses and when I saw them for the first time, they looked amazingly mysterious that I could hardly take my eyes of them.

Sea Horse

By the way, don't you think the sea horses looked like golden seaweed. LOL.

Jellyfish

Jellyfish

There was 1 interactive station whereby you could touch the starfish. I was reluctant to touch it at first but after much convincing from Mr. H, I stroke the starfish lightly. Eh, not bad lei, feels like soft rock. And I touched it again. Haha. But I only manage to capture Mr. H touching the starfish. Not fair!

Ok more pictures from the visit below;

 Leah A A

Pictures are not 100% rosy all the time

I'm waiting for time to pass as I blog useless thoughts here. I say useless because these thoughts are really uncalled for and I know I should appreciate what He has bestowed upon me. But I can't help it. Well... I've been feeling down the past few days, envying the glamorous lives of others who seems to have no boundaries to travel all over the world or achieving successful career. For instance, take a look at this instagram account @esteezaki and you will know what I mean (boohoo!).

The clothes, the lifestyle, the beauty... all of these seems picture perfect! How can these be? I don't even have time (or rather, quite lazy) to even put on proper makeup and clothes to go to work every morning; preferring baggy clothes rather than body-hugging outfit, flat shoes rather than heels, and quick eyeliner drawn rather than having full makeup. Jeez, with such a lazy attitude, how to be picture perfect?

I know right.

I read somewhere that there are some ways to overcome this self-esteem. One of it is to write down the list of things that you are grateful for, and you will realise that things for you is not that bad after all. Well, let's try and see...

1. I'm married to my "dream" husband who cares for and loves me to the moon and back.
2. I have a complete family which I know I can rely on
3. I own a property at the age of 25
4. I've been to Europe for a solo business trip
5. I'm holding a decent job with a good pay (and time to do personal things during office hours!)
6. My financial situation has never left me to starve or in debts
7. I've successfully saved a large sum of money for my wedding
8. I've completed my private degree using my own savings
9. I've learnt sewing and can make my own dresses at the moment
10. I have great friends whom I can gossip and have fun with...

Hmm... Not too bad, for the 1st 10 list!

I guess every individual has something that they are grateful for. Whatever is being portrayed on social media may just be a façade and there could be something else lying underneath that beautiful smile. I've just seen a shocking photo of a CEO whom I used to work with, someone who holds 6 companies (as she claimed) and holds the title of Business Guru. Someone, whom I believe is one of her haters, had created a fake FB account, uploading photos of her and her scandal behaving intimately. Problem here is that she's married, to a home-stay husband (as she always proudly announced) and has 3 lovely-looking kids. But... that photo... with all hugs and close proximity to other guy... It is just heart-breaking to imagine what her husband and kids will feel when they see this today :(

If you climb up too high, you will fall and break hard. Period.

Leah A A

LEAH's Kitchen: Roti Kirai or Roti Jala

#rotikirai or #rotijala, both meant the same thing - "net bread". When I saw that my mom had cooked beef curry last Saturday, I had a sudden craving for roti kirai. I knew there will be much left from the curry gravy for Sunday and thus, I took this opportunity to make roti kirai for the whole family.

I remember those times when my mom curse and swear while making roti kirai because she failed terribly. LOL. I thought it's going to be quite a challenge since it's going to be my first try but surprisingly, it was pretty easy in the end :)

Roti Kirai (20-30 pieces)

 

Ingredients:

2 3/4 cups of flour

1/2 x teaspoon of ground turmeric ("serbuk kunyit")

2 x cups of water

2 x cups of coconut milk

1 x teaspoon of salt

2 x eggs

*1 cup = 240ml/ 240gm

 

Essential Equipment:

Blender

Big frying pan

Roti jala mould

Credits: kellysiewcooks

Instructions:

1. Mix all ingredients and ensure smooth batter. Once the mixture is evenly mixed, blend the mixture to ensure even smoother batter (this is important to ensure that the batter flows out smoothly from the mould).
2. Scoop mixture using the mould and see if the batter flows out smoothly.
3. Heat frying pan and brush oil on it. Use roti kirai mould to scoop mixture and start pouring the mixture onto frying pan into circular motion (don't need to pour so much!)
4. Cook about 20-30 seconds (lightly crisp) and start folding the roti kirai into half, and half again to make a triangle.
5. Serve with curry or sambal.

 

My Healthy Rating:

Not applicable. Haha, this is too yummy to think about calories :)

 

Reno fever!

My reno fever still continue today. Yikes!

Yesterday, we went to IKEA to get some stuff for the house so that our contractor can help us do the necessary mounting. I thought buying accessories is quite straightforward but I was damn wrong. We reached IKEA at 3pm, gobbled down 10pcs of Swedish meatball and 3 wings each (greedy, I know), and went on with our shopping escapade. And guess what time did we leave IKEA?..... 9PM!!!

I couldn't believe we spend 6 blardy hours in IKEA and all we bought (like finally) is just some accessories for the laundry area and some toilet railings. Pfft.

Oh yes, I'm in love with Pinterest! There are so many ideas you can get for the home décor. Typically, my favourite area is the kitchen. I've already imagine how I want my kitchen to look like and make it a point to Mr. Husband to let me be in charge of the kitchen décor (basically, telling him to back off! Teehee!). Instead of working today, I was busy searching for Kitchen décor ideas and I started sketching the wall items that I wanted for the kitchen. Seriously in love with these vintage stuff...

 

I know my drawing is not that impressive, but do you get the idea? *excited mode*

Leah A A

Overly Egg-cited!!!

I can't believe I just declined my boss' offer to accompany him to Europe for the Worldwide Meeting in October. Call it stupid or whatever because I would rather spend my time with Hubby and concentrate on our ongoing Reno works. YES, Reno works!

Wheee!

Our Reno started 5th Aug and so far, I have only visited my house once. Jeez, some ownership I have! Haha. Well, there is nothing much to see just yet since the last time I visited. We had electrical wiring done, and the workers were still sorting huge piles of sand for the haulage works. That was then, but 4 days ago, my flooring had arrived! So I'm overly excited to see my house later picturing my house with the glorious marble. Heh!

Honestly, I wasn't that much excited before during the process of searching for ID, comparing quotes, asking for discounts etc. It was a tiring work and I hate it. During this period, I met different king of people - the "Ya Ya Papaya", the "Arrogant", the "Si Bei Expensive", the "Super Persistent" - and many more. In fact, I didn't really had a good impression of my chosen contractor from the start he contacted me until the first day I met him. If I can recall, his website didn't impress me, see how important a good image is? But after receiving his quote, eh not bad lei! Typical Singaporean, I know. But that's not all, I like the way he respected our "terms and conditions" and didn't push us to do more than necessary unlike other contractors. Workmanship wise, I have to wait and see the outcome.

The thing that made me excited was also the fact that my sofa bed has arrived, parked in a corner of our room, in my mom's place. Call it an impulse purchase! I couldn't resist the offer of getting this sofa at $99 ONLY! And what's more, it was exactly the kind of furniture I was looking for. I'm a happy kid, not sure about Mr. Husband though!

 

I'm filling my brain with lazy thoughts of just lying on that sofa and drinking hot chocolate on a rainy days :D

 

The momentum has now pick up and I am thinking of a whole long list of fixtures/fittings to buy so that our contractor can help us with the mounting. Things like mirror, picture frame, toiletries items etc. I better come up with a list of items to buy before I forget anything that requires drilling onto the delicate wall. How exciting!

 

Leah A A

LEAH's Kitchen: Grilled Salmon served with Caprese Salad

I was craving for #caprese salad as I browse through the photos taken during my trip to Europe. I gave that idea to Mr. Husband if he wants that as a meal and he frowned, "No meat?"

Seriously? What a carnivore! LOL. Ok, Mr. Husband. You asked for it, you will get it :)

The caprese salad is pretty heavy on its own and hence, I decided on fish as the main "meat", and decided on #grilledsalmon for this meal...

Grilled Salmon with Lemon Butter Sauce served with Italian Caprese Salad

Ingredients:

200gm of salmon fillet

2 x tomatoes (sliced)

1 x lemon (freshly squeezed)

1 x garlic (finely chopped)

Fresh basil leaves

Butter

Grounded black pepper

Sugar

Salt

Mozzarella cheese (sliced)

Olive Oil

Balsamic vinegar

 

Instructions:

Grilled Salmon

1. To make the sauce, melt butter in a sauce pan and add a small amount of lemon to taste, garlic, sugar and pepper. If you are using unsalted butter, add a little bit of salt. For a creamier sauce, you can add fresh cream to make the sauce thicker.
2. Season salmon with generous serving of pepper and salt, and a little amount of olive oil. On a frying pan, spread olive oil just enough to grill the salmon. Cook salmon at all side till it turn golden brown.
3. Plate the cooked salmon and pour the lemon butter sauce on it. Sprinkle pepper and basil leaves as garnish

Caprese Salad

1. Plate the tomatoes, with cheese and basil leaves.
2. Pour a little of olive oil and balsamic vinegar

My Healthy Rating:

The fattening stuff we have here is the mozzarella cheese.

Hence, eat in moderation and I'm sure you will be fine :)

LEAH's Kitchen: Chicken Wrap with Sweet Corn

Hubby told me that he was going to the gym. As a good wifey (ehem! self-praise here), I had decided to whip up something healthy for his post-workout meal and motivate him to stick to a healthy eating regime. I recalled those times in Australia where I made #chickenwrap lunches during our stay in the apartment.

Without searching for any recipe, I decided to explore mixing my own ingredients for the wrap filling, with whatever I can find in the supermarket...

Chicken Wrap & Sweet Corn

 

 

Ingredients:

Boneless chicken breast (or any chicken parts) - cut into small pieces

2 x tomatoes (diced)

1 x bell pepper (diced)

1 x onion (sliced)

1 x sweet corn (cut into 3 pieces)

Tortilla wraps

Oyster sauce

Dried basil leaves

Grounded Black Pepper

Salt

Butter (small amount)

 

Instructions:

Sweet Corn

1. Heat water in a pot and add sugar. When the water starts boiling, add sweet corn and boil for about 8-10minutes. You can use a fork to poke onto the corn and see if it glides down easily. If it is, means, the corn is cooked.
2. Melt butter and sprinkle some pepper and dried basil leaves. Using tongs, place the corn into the mixture and briefly lather it with the butter mixture.

Chicken Filling

1. Pour olive oil into a frying pan. Cook chicken until it is half-cooked, remove from pan and put it aside.
2. Using the same pan, cook onions and bell pepper till fragrant. Add chicken and tomatoes and stir fry till the vegetables turn soft and puree is formed.
3. Add in oyster sauce, pepper, and salt to taste. Stir fry till mixture is cooked.
4. Heat tortilla wrap in a microwave for 30 seconds. Put a small amount of chicken filling and wrap it. There you have it!

My Healthy Rating:

Definitely a healthy choice of meal. Great idea if you want to have something light yet fulfilling to the stomach.

 

 

LEAH's Kitchen: Fried Crabsticks

This was an impromptu idea. I came across this snack few months back in one of the FB group that I was following, and these crabsticks pictures were floating around during the CNY period. So when I was shopping for the honey cornflakes ingredients and saw the packets of Dodo crabsticks, I thought to myself "Hey, why not we have these for New Year?". Little did I know that making these #friedcrabsticks will suck out all our effort and perseverance.

Again, I use my helper (sweet hubby) to assist me with peeling those crabstick skin. Imagine, in each packet there are 12 sticks, cut into 2 pieces, multiply by 5 packets. We peeled 120 individual crabsticks into approx. 1cm flat pieces. Gawd!

Fried Crabsticks

 

Ingredients:

5 x packets of Dodo crabstick

Cooking Oil

Paper Towel

 

Instructions:

1. Cut all crabsticks into half.

2. Peel crabstick skin into approx. 1cm width and place it on a tray.

3. While at it, deep fry those skins which have already been air-dried till golden brown and crispy.

4. Place fried crabsticks on clean paper towel to absorb the oil.

5. Store in air-tight container after crabsticks have cooled down.

 

 

My Healthy Rating:

These crabsticks are made of flour, which technically means carbohydrate. Definitely not a healthy type of snack for those who are self-conscious.

 

 

LEAH's Kitchen: Honey Cornflakes

I was contemplating if I should bake Hari Raya (HR) #goodies this year because I was so caught up with sewing my HR costume. But when my sister started baking 5 type of goodies and filled the kitchen with fresh bakery smell, I suddenly got into the mood.

Every year, I have been baking honey cornflakes and oat biscuits. Yes, I only choose the simplest recipe as the oven that we have is not really advanced or meant for baking complicated items. I had thought of baking "tapak kuda", a type of nutella roll, but I guess I will put that plan into place for next year once I move into my new house.

Since it's soooo last minute, I had my husband to helped me out in making this #honeycornflakes. So sweet isn't he?

Honey Cornflakes

 

Ingredients:

1 x box of cornflakes - 220gm

100gm butter

6 x tablespoon honey

3 x tablespoon sugar

Papercups

Coloured sugared balls (for decoration)

 

 

Instructions:

1. In a heated pot, melt butter and mix with sugar and honey. Stir till mixture is even.

2. Pour in cornflakes and stir till mixture is evenly spread out to the cornflakes.

3. Placed a good amount of evenly mixed cornflakes into papercups.

4. Sprinkle coloured sugared balls on each cups as décor.

5. Baked the honey cornflakes for 10 minutes at 150 celcius.

 

 

My Healthy Rating:

No such thing. LOL.