Diya and her sheep

Every morning when she wakes up she will grab her sheep! One day I brought her to the mall and she saw it and just won’t let go of the sheep. No matter how much I tried to convince or manipulate her into taking another smaller and cheaper doll she still wants the sheep; lucky it was on sale 70% off and I have enough cash in my bag heheheh… I still wonder what attracts her so much to it. Still she sleeps with her ‘masam cat’ but at least now she has another thing to cling on…

She will then carry it all over the room and finally stops in front of the TV and watch her cartoon. Now she’s a cartoon freak! That’s the only thing she does everyday and night. The last time was ‘Madagascar’, ‘Cars’, then later ‘Monsters Inc’ and now ‘Nemo’! she watches them over and over again. I can hardly watch TV that’s why I have plenty of time for my internet things heheheh… I write and collect recipes, write stories of Diya and mine too, I chat with my friends online, learn and read things on the NET especially now I’m sooooo into writing! I’m



learning to write short articles; just that I can’t really decide on what to specifically write. I’m thinking more on my express cooking for urban moms, since most of my friends have no time to cook (career mommies) or thinks cooking is a very messy thing to do. They let their MAID everything. My Idol is Nigella Lawson the lovely British chef. She is very motherly and beautiful and cooks splendid everyday food! Oh, I so want to be like her…

Ok, back to Diya and her sheep;

She will make the sheep sits and starts to talk to it… every time I teach her ‘saying… saying sheep’ she kiss it just how she kisses me heehaw…

Mommy Thinks…..

Its 5 in the morning 22nd April 2009 and I'm fully awake… been trying to sleep but I just cant. No point of forcing myself to bed so I just grab my cute little notebook and starts typing…

I have so many things on my mind right now and it’s good that I have this blog thingy for me to keep all of my thoughts at any time any day…

Loosing her

This is what I’m afraid of the most. All the time I’m afraid of loosing her. Sometimes I feel that it’s me who’s not able to let her grow. Afraid that one day she wont be needing me anymore… will she? My be this is the main reason I’m so scared to go out there and work? Just to make me feel better I’ll tell myself; nanti takder org nak jaga Diya or Diya nanti terabai, or maybe I really want her to have me around as she grows. I NEVER get that experience when I was small coz my parents were BZ all the time. It has always been me and the maid in my memories like the scare I have on my knee – rushing to naik bas kat greenwood bustop and my maid keep pulling me till I fell into one of the hole there…


I don’t want Diya to have that… I want her to have good memories with me… I want her to talk bout me when she goes to school… ‘My mumy bake this for me’ or ‘my mumy always cook nice food for me’ or ‘mumy helped me with this’… you know… things like that. Sometimes I still wonder am I wasting my hard work all the years at University. Most of my friends are ‘with the title’ already... as for me; I bake cakes most of the days. I hope I can guide Diya with what I have. I want to always be there and grow with her. If she goes to school, I will learn what she learns there, attend all her school activities, send nice food over lunch time, always be there for her. My career, money, status somehow doesn’t matter much any more. It’s a huge responsibility and difficult job to be a good ‘MOTHER’ and I am at my best to become one!

Another baby?

What if Diya has a brother or sister? I always think of this too… will love both of them equally? Can I? Do I need another baby? I say to myself ‘kalau mumy ader dua anak mumy will definitely lupakan soal kerja dan jaga anak-anak mumy fulltime kat rumah… just to sedapkan my hati la since I wont be working in an office hhehehe… but really, can I handle two kids? Can I go through the same process over again? The pain? And mostly the 1st 6-7 months of the newborn baby. I can still remember how I had to carry Diya every time I go to toilet, the back pain of me carrying her all the time, the loud cry, the sleepless nights and so on… can I? Will I? the truth is I’m scared. Scared of everything. I don’t ever want any of my kids to know that the truth is their mommy is very scared of the world and everything in it!

Maybe I think too much eh?

Groceries Shopping!

Today I manage to get some groceries for the week… Lesser things to cook these days so I took the car keys, buckleup my pumpkin and off we go to the nearest grocer market.

Wow! Was I very surprised, very little things but very much to pay… now a day things are getting more expensive then before… Inflation and recession… what else can we do, food is a necessity though.. I try to save as much as I can, find better and cheaper substitute instead of getting the branded ones all the time… Surprisingly the local brand are quite good also… not bad.. Just get the one with ‘first choice’ stickers!

Lucky me Diya behaving well today at the supermarket, got her some rough brochure at the counter and I always keep a few of Ikea short pencils in my bag… She sits quietly and plays writing or drawing heheheh… sometimes I will just grab nice cute kiddies’ packet drinks for her to sip while I do my groceries shopping. Always keep tit bits in your handbag as they will always come in handy…


Happy Shopping Mommies

Kuah Asam Pedas

This dish is super easy especially for my family since Diya likes fish and dady likes chicken while myself likes terung... I finally came with the solution and everybody is really happy...

Ingredients:

4 tbs cili boh(blended dried chilli)

3tbs garlic paste

2tbs shallots paste(bawang merah blend)

1 batang serai bruised(ketuk2 sikit la)

1 inch ginger bruised also

1tbs curry paste(optional)

daun kesum/bunga kantan/daun kari sikit (either one la just to get da wonderfull smell)

few drops kicap biasa(to make da gravy darker colour-cantik sikit la merah kuah tu nanti)

air asam jawa ikut rasa.

garam ikut rasa

bendi sikit

terung sikit

Method:

Tumis sume paste(bahan blend) sampai garing and bau wangi, then masuk serai ngan halia tu tumis lagi. Bila sume dah garing and bau sangat wangi(jangan sampai hangit plak) masuk kan air asam jawa. kalau suka masam lebih bleh guna lebih asam la. lepas tu masukkan air panas(better hot water or else it will take more time to wait for gravy boil again. bila dah pekat sikit masukkan terung, bendi and daun kesum tu. kalau suka pekan kuah tu tambah kan bahan blend tu lebih lagi like org johor masak kuah asam is very pekat.

Dah siap the gravy.... Then I will fry fish and chicken(goreng ngan serbuk kunyit la goreng garing) separately so EVERYBODY in my family can eat!

Senang kan?.........

Ikan Merah Masak Lemak Asam Belimbing

Memandangkan ader yang merungut saya tulis resipi dalam bahasa Inggeris maka saya tulis resipi masakan ini dalam bahasa Melayu heheheh...

Bahan-bahan:

Ikan merah sekeping (kalau kecik guna 2 keping la)
Asam belimbing segenggam
Daun Kunyit sehelai
Beberapa biji cili padi (terpulang pada tahap kepedasan masing-masing), biasanye saya gunakan cili hijau atau merah sahaja.
Sedikit serbuk kunyit/kunyit hidup ditumbuk halus
3 sudu besar santan pekat (santan kotak pun sedap)
Satu cawan air (cukup untuk menutupi ikan merah dalam periuk)
Sedikit perasa; garam dan gula.

Cara masakan:

Cuci bersih ikan merah, gaulkan dengan sedikit garam dan serbuk kunyit lalu goreng sehingga masak dan garing. Saya gemarkan cara masakan begini kerana khuatir ikan akan hancur sekiranyer terlalu lama dimasak didalam kuah lemak itu nanti.

Didihkan air sehingga betul-betul mendidih, masukkan santan dan serbuk kunyit dan tunggu beberapa minit. Masukkan cili padi atau cili merah (terpulang pada individu) dan daun kunyit. Didihkan lagi, akhir sekali masukkan ikan yang telah di goreng tadi. Hidang semasa masih hangat.

Sambal Ubi Kentang Bertelur

Another fast recipe for daily cooking...

Ingredients:

Couple of medium size potatoes,
5tbp chili paste,
1 tbp tomato ketchup,
2 tbp garlic paste,
1 tbp oyster sauce,
And 1 egg.
Seasonings; salt and brown sugar (I use brown sugar because they are less sweet and taste nicer in cooking.)


Method:

Cut potatoes and deep fry till cook or half cook depend on you.

Start to stirfry chili paste and garlic paste untill cooked and fragrant. Stir in little tomato ketchup for some sourness, oyster sauce for some saltiness and brown sugar to balance up all the flavorings. Stir fry for a couple more minutes and crack an egg. Wait untill its almost cooked and quickly add in the potatoes. for you who fried the potatoes half cook, just wait a little longer so they will soften more in this stage. Stir everything well and serve with hot plain rice.

Have FUN guys...

Ayam Kicap 'Kenduri' Style

This in my express version of ayam kicap like we always makan at the kenduri-kenduri tu... but I edited the recipes; make it easier and turn them into our daily express cookings... So sedap and so easy to make yet so glamerlicous hehehhe...

Ingredients:


A few cuts of chicken meat, 1 tbp garlic paste,
1tbp shallots paste,
An inch of ginger,
1tbp chilli paste,
1tbp tomato ketchup,
1tbp dark soy sos,
1tbp sweet soy sos,
1tbp oyster sos.


If you don't have the paste type or has no time to make them just get a few cloves and bruised them lightly.


Method:

Mix the chicken parts with little salt and tumeric powder (be generous it will taste better) and deep fry them with some oil till crispy. It will cut the time in half if u fry the chicken first instead cook everything together and wait till well done.


Start to stir fry all the 'bahan tumis' untill fragrant and the chillies are cooked and add in a little of HOT water and wait untill the gravy thickens. Then add in all the fried chicken and stir well for couple more minutes and they are ready to serve!So easy cooking!

Tips:

Mostly I prefer with some bones so small drumsticks, ribs, wings will do great! As all of you can see I cook for small family so if your family has more people just double up the portion...

Kangkung Goreng Biasa/Belacan

The easiest stir fried vegetable!

Ingredients:

A bunch of fresh kangkung,
1tbp garlic paste,
1 tbp fresh chili (optional),
A pinch of dried shrimps (udang kering) or ikan bilis,
A pinch of belacan (optional),
A couple of shallots and
Seasonings; salt and brown sugar to taste.

Method:

Clean kangkung; normally I will use my hands to peel them Malay say petik kangkung sebab lebih manis instead of use knife or scissors and soak in the water with pinch of salt (to maintain the greenness) to clean from the sands and dirt’s... Well depends on your cooking time though... Pound all the other ingredients except seasonings ofcoz or if you rushing just put them in a blender and turn on ahahahhaa... Short cut. Start to heat oil and stirfry the pounded items untill fragrant and cooked. You may want to turn on your cooker hood at this time heheheh or else satu rumah bau nanti! Then quickly put in the kangkung and stir fry everything well. Don’t cook too long as you will loose they crispiness of the vegetable. No need to add water becoz the kangkung is naturally banyak air.

Serve hot and you can mix this dish with my other cooking...

Coffee Bean Mommies...

Mommies Nite Out

Simply a nite out for the mommies and their kids to catch things up! We 'lepak' at one of the coffee shop in Shah Alam. We always take turn; me an me bestest fren to drive up and down for meet ups! Now that we are staying so far from each other but still must make time for us together...

Light salad for the nite... Little sweetness for Diya with her Pure Chocolate Ice Blended... She loved the crutons on my salad so much and can't stop to munch them heheheh...

My favourite; Ceaser Salad with chicken. Only when Im with her can I eat 'my kind of food' ahahahaha...

These are a MUST for Debbie! Chinese Oriental Chicken Salad and COFFEE! Im still breast feeding so coffee is a definite NO NO for me, huhuhuhuh...

So there were we, chit chatting for hours mainly bout our kids now ahahaha.. We used to talk bout new arrival on handbags, shoes, clothing even the latest pirated DVDs heheheh but now we have so much to talk bout our kids and very little time of meeting ups... So.. Damian can dis... He climbs that... He pulls my hair... Well Diya now like dis... She can do like dat.... And so on... Hehehehe... Once she tried to carry Diya on her lap and Damian gets very annoyed and jelous mommy carries another baby ahahaha...

Later we manage to get some quick groceries and dumped the kids in the trolley... So funny... It was so full with noise the kids made till we took one of the pillow without paying.. Shhhhh...
Heheheh... They were quite heavy together so I had to control the front part and Debbie pushed from behind... I'm sure people were admiring us in handling the noise makers and at the same time get our groceries FAST!

I thank God Diya behave well most o the time in her car seat while I drive safely home...

Lunch at Aji Don, Plaza Damas.

GOOD LUNCH!

We had lunch at Plaza Damas the other day... We had soooo much FUN there... Its quite easy for us to dine there, just browse for the food you crave and order, later they will send them and pay cash immedietely. Easy eh? I feel like eating EVERYTHING there heheheh...

Finally food arrived... Lucky me.. Diya behaved well beside me, though I had to eat with only one hand and hold Diya on the other; just incase she fell down... I ordered char kuey teow, waffle for Diya to enjoy and tapau chicken rice incase later she gets hungry at home.

Diya really enjoyed her FOOD!!!

My Corner Ver2 1/2..

My Corner Ver2 1/2 ahahahaha...

This is again my space after I added a mini reading corner... Still I feel COMFY there and sometimes reading magazines while chatting with frens... heheheh... The next step is to have a feature wall at my bar concept mini office...

To be continued...

An Hour of Education...

An Hour Everyday With Books.

Everyday or every two days a week I will make an effort to have Diya at her books cum play section in the house.. I will let her choose her own activity; sometimes she wants to draw, another she likes to read books and her favourite is peekaboo books! Everytime she opens the flip she will make the surprised noise like Haaaaa... Or Oh No... Hahahah... So funny.. And myself also must pretend the same lah hahahah...

She can handle books very well meaning she doesn't easily tear them and flip the pages properly. Tho I always get her the hard cover and pages book type just incase... She can even hold pencils and crayons properly and scatch roughly on papers. As for that I always get her the chunky type of pencil colors and removable crayons again just incase she scratches my white wall paint hehheheh...

After full satisfaction spending that particular hour with her, I will let her to her favourite DVDs again... Its ok, just monitor from far and make sure shes not too close to the tv... Mean while I will do my work online, the dvd can last at least for few hour heheheh...

Visiting A Friend...

Today we went visiting my bestest fren's baby who got admitted twice in one week at Asuntha Hospital, Petaling Jaya. Poor baby kena 'cucuk' so many times for blood test. The first time was coz of viral infection so he got high fever then after discharged the day after kena diarrhea pulak so admitted again in the same room.

Although he is sick there but the first impression I get once I pulled out my camera was his big SMILE! Its like auto smile jer bila nampak camera. So CUTE

Hes was bored there coz tied up with those wire and tubes most of the time, she had to push the tall thing with all the bottles with one hand and carry Damian in the other hand every time need to get food at the cafeteria nearby... Well, that's a mother's sacrifice... Tender loving care to her ONLY son; at the moment lah... Heheheh..

Lucky him; there was Astro Disney channel in the room to watch as that's the only entertainment he can get. With all the tubes around him, its impossible for him to play at the mini playground the hospital provides with the other kids there....

With him being sick there still he can give that big SMILE before we all leave...

Love you baby Damian from all of us!

Me Pastas...

Olive Oil Pasta

Ingredients:

A bunch of spaghetti (a grip full) - any size will do up to you... Dice up some prawns or calamari(the best) or if ur allergic to seafood have chicken breast instead; beef not recommended tho... you can add in some fresh mushrooms and my favourite is organic brinjals (thinly sliced), few cloves of garlic (I always make my garlic in paste form so its about a teaspoon or so), salt to taste and chili flakes to taste also, few pinch of thyme herbs or oregano will do... Oh, for weight watchers use wholemeal pasta and extra virgin olive oil.

Method:

Boil pasta till cooked. I always use the express way; microwave ready in 10 mins!

Heat Olive on a non stick frying pan and start to stir fry garlic, all the meat and mushroom. Later add in the brinjals and stir fry few more minutes. Add all the flavours ie; salt and chilli flakes, dry herbs and continue to fry. Lastly stir in the cooked pasta - do not rinse the cooked pasta under water as the natural flavours will loose. Serve immediately!

Stir Fried Pasta with Tomato Sauce

Ingredients:

A bunch of shell pasta or any chunky type of pasta will do (a grip full) - up to you... Dice up some chicken breast or beef... you can add in some fresh tomatoes and diced carrots, few cloves of garlic (I always make my garlic in paste form so its about a tablespoon or so), a table spoon of tomato pasta sauce (I always get mine in jar and keep in the fridge), salt to taste, teaspoon of brown sugar and chili paste if you prefer it a little hot, few pinch of thyme herbs or oregano even Italian herbs will give the same lovely smell... I always add an egg in this recipe. Oh, for weight watchers use wholemeal pasta and extra virgin olive oil and low cholesterol egg.

Method:

Boil pasta till cooked. I always use the express way; microwave ready in 10 mins!

Heat Olive on a non stick frying pan and start to stir fry garlic, Chili paste(optional), tomato pasta sauce (if you like the colour a bit more red just add more of the sauce, all the meat and carrot. Later add in the egg and scramble few more minutes. Add all the flavours ie; salt, brown sugar, dry herbs and continue to fry. Lastly stir in the cooked pasta - do not rinse the cooked pasta under water as the natural flavours will loose. Serve immediately!

Very easy cookings kan? Since I normally cook for one person that is myself so all the ingredients are in small measurements. If your cooking for a bigger family or just couple more people just double or triple the ingredients! These pasta recipes are perfect for surprised guests coming over to the house, bz career mothers or frens meet ups as light servings.

Perfect for kids too!

Do try them out...

My Mini Corner!

Finally!!!! I have my own space in the house now... Its my mini bar concept place for me to have my things on and do my work with my lap computer. Tho there is an office room in the house but I prefer my space to be in my master bedroom close to where my baby always is - In front of the TV definitely heheheh... Its easier as I always need to stay close to her and all that will be difficult if I have to stay in another room to do my work plus shes always calling for MIE.. MIE... MIE.. every time she can't see me.

Well my 'corner' is still not complete yet; It suppose to have down lights under the 1st shelf and some wall decos also some fresh flowers heheh... I choose the bar concept so Diya cant reach any of my things up 'there' and its pretty cool I think... Soon when everything has complete I will post the Ver2. of my space!

I'm very happy there and if any of you see me online means I'm 'there' on the bar stool typing heheheh...

Wat do all of you think of my new space?

Am I Spoiling Her?

Sometimes I wonder; am I spoiling her? Most of the time I just let her have whatever she wants.. I even bring breakfast up to the room and let her eat while watching cartoons or shall i say her favourite movie? Monsters Inc and Cars... Those two dvds is a must!

She love to sit on her baby chair booster, well im trying to get her own mini sofa (wait till i have save enough or sell plenty of my cuppies hehehe) as the chair is almost too small for her already hehehhe...

With a plate of her favourite breakfast food; Vanilla pancake with maple syrup sometimes strawberry jam and her Ribena drink she can stay there for hours provided her fav thing to watch is ON lah!

And after a while the TV watches her...

I hope im not spoiling her much, after all shes my ONLY baby for now... heheheh.. now im trying to get her more organized. make her mini schedule, like few hours on tv (so i can do my work on da NET heheh..), then few hours on her play room get her with some books, then lunch either outside or homecooked food and even some days i'll take her to the play land in one of the malls... I think that I should be doing with her, lucky me able to stay home and jaga her myself... Lets see if I can stick to the plans heheheh... Wish me luck!

Diya Lately...

I just realized how my baby has grown so much... She is starting to talk but mostly in her own language lar (God knows wat) but sometimes she immitates wat we say. She now can say 'oh, NO' if something fell down or she dropped something ker even if she sees somebody else droppeed anything. Surprisngly siap ader 'sleng' American tuh! miahahahah...

The cheeky smile myself also cannot tahan lah... want to get angry also can't... Let say she did something not right ker, once I make dat angry tone she will quickly run towards me and grab my leg then start to talk to my face with the cute little lips, how can I ever get angry?

Sometimes I bring her to the mall without the stroller and just let her sit in the trolley the mall provides, let her hold something soft and she will be quiete there, heheheh... I try not to pamper her so much with the stroller and let her walk most of the time till she gets really tired, get her to a baby room and breastfeed her till she sleeps and I can get my rest too..

She LOVES all da coins ride!!! Anything and almost everything she will try and mumy MUST get ready with loads of COINS! ahahahaha... She knows where the coin slot is and keep pointing to it everytime her ride finishes... When da machines starts to move she will make da VROOMM... VROOMM... noise! soooo funny...

Ball pool!!! Her favourite of the day... Everyweek say few days only Iwill let her play in a pol of water. She has eczema so long time in the water is a big NO NO for her or else her skin will get dry and itch. Its just a mini pool (easier for me to clean it later) where i will lay it on the floor of the lower ground bathroom of the house, they are slightly bigger than other bathrooms...

This is my view everytime before I go to sleep or after I wake up in the morning.... What a LOVELY view...