Fried Quinoa Chinese Style

Ingredients
500gm mixed vegetables
300gm back bacon, cut in strips
4 eggs
250gm bunashimeiji mushrooms
1 tbsp of oyster sauce

Cook in rice cooker
2 cups of red quinoa (4 cups water)
1 chicken stock cube

Chop til fine
1in knob of young ginger
4-5 shallots
5-10 cloves of garlic

Fry bacon in oil, till slightly crispy (I prefer Chinese sausages or charsiew, but none in stock today... sweep aside.
Fry mushrooms, sweep aside.

Fry ginger garlic and shallots til fragrant.
Then fry the rest of vegetables.
Scoop into quinoa.

Crack eggs in oil and fry til just before solidify, pour in quinoa and rest of cooked stuff and stir in high flame. Smell burnt? Turn off flame. Lunch is served...

After lunch, I will put it all back in the rice cooker to keep warm til family returns for dinner.

Okonomiyaki, simple

Today we had okonomiyaki simplified for breakfast.

Ingredients
1/2 cup of flour (self raising or plain)
2 eggs beaten
3 grabs of shredded cabbage
1/2 cup water
1 or 2 sausages, sliced

First fry the sausages on lightly oiled (I sprayed olive oil) non-stick pan.

Then whisk the wet ingredients til no lumps, then put in cabbage and mix til all cabbage has the batter but not runny or dripping fast. Then pour in the cooked sausages and mix well.

Pour batter and spread around to preferred thickness. Cook till light brown.

Spray / spread oil on top before flipping. I used my wok ladle and wooden ladle to flip it. Cook to your preferred brownness and serve.

On serving plate, draw squiggles with mayonnaise (kewpie recommended) and BBQ sauce. I don't know where to get the okonomiyaki sauce :-)

15 minutes breakfast for 3 (or 4 if you are light breakfast eater).

You can add shredded carrots and other toppings like cheese, pulled chicken, bonito flakes, etc. Have fun!

Steam-then-fried Brinjal with Bean Paste

Forgot to take this down the last time, had to search YouTube again.

Ingredients
3 brinjals, cut 1 inch quarters
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1 tbsp ginger finely chopped or julienned
2 stalks of spring onions, chopped
100 gm minced meat (or more if you like)

1/2 cup water
1 tsp cornstarch
1 tbsp black vinegar
1 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp light soy sauce
1 tbsp bean paste (hot if preferred)

First soak the cut brinjal in salt water to prevent it from turning brown.

Steam for 8 minutes.

Dry stir fry mince meat until liquids evaporated. Push to side.

Pour 2 tbsp of cooking oil into wok or skillet.
Stir ginger, garlic and spring onions until fragrant, then add the bean paste. Stir and mix well.

Pour in the steamed brinjal and cook till the sauce is thickened and absorbed by the meat and brinjals. Serve with some fresh spring onions as garnish.

Girl with heart shaped eyes

23/5: Ning drew this at school yesterday. I didn't even noticed it as it was folded into a sailors hat. Lougong discovered it when he came home. And... haha Ning wants to show Mummy first. Yeah! I am still the favourite parent!

In this pictorial...
Ning is grown up and in love with some boy in her class. He is happy he is marrying her. They're in their home garden, with a pet cat and a caterpillar that crawled up to eat the apple on the tree.

I told her she can only do this at the earliest 18!

I asked her where did she see people with heart shape eyes before... she says on TV. Wow. I've seen it before but never used it in my drawings. Cool!

Salty muffins for breakfast

This one's simple with preparation.

Just distribute the sliced courgette, I used 1/3 of a large piece, ran it thru the Benriner slicer, some diced pineapples, chopped ham, shredded parmesan cheese, and 2 eggs beaten.

Made 6 muffins,  2 each.

Ning really missed the thousands and she's been understanding that she cannot eat the heaty foods for 1 week plus now. She asked if she could just put a tiny bit on her salty muffins and I agreed.

So voila!

Boiled baby kailan, steamed chicken and soy sauce mee sua

Boiled halved baby kailan in a bit of salt and oil. Added pepper, oyster sauce, bit of sesame seed oil to plates. Piled on the boiled mee sua and mixed. Marinaded chicken in salt, soy sauce, sesame seed oil and put to steam.

And we have tonight's dinner, voila!

And a whole sink full of dishes to wash up. Not recommended for a weekday after work meal.

Cover your head from the rain

Last Sunday, it was drizzling and we were on our way to Ning's gym. The only unsheltered path was crossing the road from bus stop to the complex. It was wet and slippery and the road was 2 lanes each side.

Baba carried her.

Mummy said, "Cover your head with your hands ah!" And I dashed across soon as there were no cars. Baba was still at the bus stop.

2 days later Baba told me, Ning thought for a while, then she covered her head with 1 hand and covered Baba's with the other hand because Baba was carrying her with both hands and cannot cover his own head.

I think Baba's heart must've melted.
Mine did just by finding out bout this.

Rainbow fried rice and chawanmushi

I didn't plan to fry rice today. All I wanted to do this morning was chawanmushi. I bought the hon dashi yesterday and saved some mushrooms from yesterdays batch.

When I woke, it came together, the corn, carrots and long beans can be fried with rice. So along with some chicken, garlic, onions, shallots and dried shrimps we have fried rice for tonight! Next time can add fried egg and some chopped mushrooms! Good for picnic or on the road.

This 1 pot dish isn't easy at all, loads of washing up to do. Ended up finishing only 7:30am. Finished my chawanmushi in lrss than minutes and off to work! Forgot to take picture of fried rice!!! Aargh. Tonight!

My 2nd organic box

Am not excited bout the greens...
But will take it as leafy vegetables are good for us right?

Tonight's dinner:
Fried kailan with dried shrimps
Mushroom mince pork potatoes
Lotus root soup

The secret of staying 'forever young'

Saw this at the clinic some time ago.
Recently shared this with my parents.
It's now on their table under glass for display.

起的早，睡的好
七分饱，常跑跑
多笑笑，莫烦恼
天天忙，永不老

Rough translation:
Wake up early, will sleep well
Eat 70% full, run around often
Smile a lot, will have no worries
Keep busy daily, stay forever young

Must get this in fancy calligraphy, print and frame it up for reference!

Do not judge a person until you've walked a mile in his shoes

I think I have heard this one a long time ago... back in secondary school.

At the time, I thought, what have shoes gotta do with your judgement? Maybe the shoes influence our behaviour? Literally. If the other person is wearing uncomfortable blistering shoes, would it make him work harder or steal shoes?

Now, bout 20 years later, I am thinking it's more about empathy and being non-judgmental, don't be too harsh on others until you know what the other person has been through.

The thing about the other person is, we never know the full story, what they've been or are going through.

For example, a person who seem distracted at work, may be going thru a miscarriage or having a difficult pregnancy, or even dealing with a untreatable disease.

Instead of giving the person a breather, you breathe down their neck, or even severe all amicable ties with them. If you knew about the miscarriage or disease, would you still have breathed down their neck?

We visited Haw Par Villa recently and we saw this outside one of the displays, the 10 courts of Hell.

What it meant was, roughly:
Kind deeds begets kind deeds
Unkind deeds begets unkind deeds
If you don't get your just returns immediately,  it doesn't mean it won’t get it at all
It's just that the time has not arrived

Gosh... a lot of times when I felt injustice,  I didn't have this to console me. Now I do. I can face any injustice and be rest assure that there'll be justice. Just not right now. Gosh, I am so mean :P

Hope I've done more good than wrongs, else there'll be hell to payback. Karma.

Baddies out there, the hardcore ones out to plot harm against others, not the accidental ones, beware! Your just returns will be served in life or in death!

Long beans fried egg

Protein and fibre packed breakfast!

Tonight's clearance dinner

These are the vegetables I think won't last until we're back on Tuesday, so big cookout today!

Steamed then fried bean paste brinjal with minced pork (I just couldn't resist having a bit with rice before cooking the rest, first successful tasty brinjal dish I cooked)
Fried ladies fingers
Fried egg, mushrooms with 'neem gua'
Reheated leftover duck

Been at it since 0935am. Now time to hang laundry before fetching Ning.

Pumpkin, dried shrimps, mushroom, chicken rice

Yesterday, we had the above with the quarter piece of pumpkin. I fried everything with chicken (marinaded in oyster sauce) then add to the rice cooker while its cooking.

At dinner time, turned on keep warm and ate that with boiled broccoli, carrots and baby corn.

The rice looked a little over soft but the idea was there. Tasty. Like loh mai kai. Now I have a recipe for pumpkins!

Banana pancakes for breakfast

Surfed for a paleo recipe, my bananas and eggs version was not quite filling enough. Found this one from www.myfitfamily.com.

Ingredients
2 ripe bananas
3 eggs
1/2 tsp cinnamon powder
2 tbsp coconut flour
2 tbsp honey
1/2 tsp vanilla essence
And oil for the pan (i used coconut)

The results were firmer and more filling then my 2-ingredient original version.

Bon apetit!

Udon with eggs breakfast

15 minutes
1 pack of udon, miso and dried vegetables
2 eggs

And we have a filling and nutritious, sort of, breakfast for 3.

Constructive destruction

Yesterday I visited Ning in her play area when she didn't come out after 5 minutes. This was what she was trying to show me. But before I had a good look at it, her friend Zachary threw a block at it and mowed it down.

Ning was screwing up her face to cry. I said, why don't you build it once more and Mummy will take a picture of it for you.

That she did and was happy again that I've captured it forever, again right before Zachary destroyed it. Funny boy.

Monitor stand from acrylic frame and bases of trophies

Admin was throwing out old stuff.

I rescued a large acrylic frame, slotted my photos inside, unscrewed 4 trophy bases and voila! A custom built monitor stand.

Good for hiding my charging phone and calculator under it.

$30 Zenxin Organic Box

Total price of individual tags was $35.97. Most seems quite fresh. Think enough for 7 days vegetables. Only need to get soup or meats. Hope it can last the week in fridge without spoiling. 

I chose Cash on Delivery but the guy arrived when I wasn't around, I asked him to leave it at my door. Left a note to pay by bank transfer. Great!

Menu options for 2 adults and 1 child:

Fried chye sim

Fried celery, baby corn and carrots

Fried cabbage with carrots

Dried shrimp fried pumpkin

Boiled ladies finger with oyster sauce

Fried/boiled kailan with oyster sauce

Minced meat fried with steamed long beans and brinjal

A fine day @ Haw Par Villa with Popo Gong Gong

The day started with breakfast nearby and no taxis willing to take us there. It was quite cloudy here. All taxis were either changing shifts or refused to take us there. I saw one particular taxi circling Woodlands Ring Road, stopping to ask where passengers were going, then moving on again. I should take a photo and STOMP him.

Popo had to use the toilet, so we went home, and I continued trying to book a cab using the My Taxi Booking app. Finally! A cab, at our doorstep!

We were down in 5 minutes. During the ride, parts of Clementi were raining cats and dogs. I was having second thoughts, but had backup plan. If it rained there, we'd hang around the Westway building until the rain subsided. Thankfully, it didn't rain there, instead it was pleasantly cool and cloudy.

We walked around the whole Villa, without snaking through the middle portions. The only 'indirect' path we took was to take pictures with the Fu Lu Shou deities. Like we did when we were much younger. Mummy walked a lot today, she took lots of rests in between, but she didn't complain 'as much'. Tonight, Baba took her blood sugar to prove that walking reduces her blood sugar, and he's right. Tonight's quite near to normal range of 4-6. It was 9.2 (her usual is 18 or 19).

Popo, you must 'jia you'!!! Gong Gong, depend on you to spur Popo to keep walking!!

The beginning hike up the entrance slope.

Somebody's unhappy because Gong Gong isn't sitting beside her.

The brother's whose legacy we are visiting today.

Madam White Snake and her human love.

Well deserved break after a steep climb up the slope at the entrance.

These are the only statues, other than the black swans, that she dared to take pictures with.

Popo Gong Gong last took pictures here more than 10 years ago.

The 10 courts of hell. Ning bugged me the whole day to bring her to the cave. She asked loads of questions, I read every placard there to her. When she reached the 7th court, she wanted out already. I asked her if she'd like to go out now, she said, maybe we do the last few courts quickly and walk out. So that we did.

Korean BBQ as reward for the active participation in this morning's sightseeing!

Ning is happy because there's a ball pool and play area for kids, and she's the only kid around!

Words ending with -at by Ning

She drew the pictures then labeled them on the side.

I drew the bat because she thought hers didn't look like one.

Kids learn so fast with proper teaching methods and guidance (at school).

The many beautiful faces of Ning's Popo

I was trying to take a picture of her post perm. Popo refuses to smile and makes funny faces.

I think she's beautiful.

Colourful meds

Ning and I have been down with cough, running nose and phlegm.

If I didn't know better I'd think those were water colours. Gosh. They were sweet and foul at the same time.

Am still clogged and coughing but much less than before. Ning too. Hope to recover fully by the weekend so we can enjoy weekend outing with Popo Gong Gong.

Bye bye Firefly Resort Chalet No. 10

The breakfast, free and only available on weekends, came around 8am.

We had ayam masak merah with nasi lemak, 1L orange minute maid, 3 green apples,  2 oranges, 4 instant coffee and tea, 6 muffins, a loaf of bread with jam and margarine on small sauce dishes.

While we're eating inside our chalet, 3 macaques approached our door. Before they entered, I closed the doors. Close shave with the native inhabitants.

Left Kuala Selangor at exactly 10am. Drove 2 hours back 52km. Ok, I am slow. Hey gotta make sure I give the GPS ample time to inform me of turns right?

We're home safe and sound by 12:15 noon. Went for lunch at River Fish King (河鱼王). 4 adults and a 4 - year old ate a 1.2kg  八丁鱼, spinach soup and 东坡肉.

Now chilling at Kota Kemuning.

Day 2 at Firefly Resort

We were pleasantly woken up by sun and singing birds. The kids woke first.

We went to Pasir Penambang to look for breakfast. Bought some snacks, fruits and drinks. Prayed at the 10 swords temple next to Giant. Hoped to picnic at Nature Park.

Paid RM 12 conservation fee to enter. Walked 200m over countless ant trails and swarms of mosquitoes. We chickened out when we saw whole patch of mosquitoes tucking in my calves. Gong Gong turned around the fastest and walked out. I carried a near hysterical Ning with Cerys walking beside me. So we were in and out of nature park in less than 30 minutes.

Sigh. We need a proper tour guide. BB, you and Teckwyn lead the way next time.

We decided hangout at Tesco and bought a bunch of hair accessories there. Then we had lunch at Secret Recipe. Popo had green apple celery juice, curry seafood laksa with 1 scoop of noodle, and caesar salad with it. She loved the spicy soup. She didn't have a hard time after this meal.

After that we went back to chill.

Had dinner at River View Seafood Restaurant with BB and Teckwyn, Cerys was so glad to be with her Mummy again. Thanks for dinner!

Tips for clearer meat-based soups

Yesterday I got a tip or 2 from my primary school classmate on how to remove scum from basic Chinese herbal soup. I tried it out this morning. And I think it worked.

The tip was boil the meats in water for 5 minutes before putting it in my soup pot.

I thought it might hold me back coz I really need to hurry in the morning but with a bit of planning, it didn't hold me back at all.

Just needed to put water to boil before my 10-minute bathroom routine.

The second tip was to freeze to remove the oils from top layer. This one I cannot use yet. If only some invents an ice blow torch that'd do the trick! Blow freeze the surface, scrape away the oils and fats and the soup below still stays hot. Any inventors interested?

Advance prep of vegetables

I am a speed demon when it comes to cooking. The less time I spend on it the more time I have for Ning, Lougong and myself.

I only have an hour in the morning before Ning wakes, or is willing to start the day, and will not give myself more than half an hour to cook in the evening. I am talking about weekdays of course.

Yet I don't really like to serve Ning cold soggy vegetables. Or overcooked vegetables (in thermal pot).

So one way is to wash and pre-cut in the morning, and store my vegetables in air tight boxes in the fridge. When I return, I juz heat oil and fry.

Some supermarkets sell pre-packed vegetables like that; and the average restaurant or food stall vendors do that, though I don't think they use air tight containers. 

Not the best way in retaining nutrients but at least I know it's not left overnight or that cockcroaches / flies may have feasted on them before; if we ate out.

Having said that, the airtight containers that comes with a pump to remove air did keep my leafy vegetables fresh for 1 whole week. If left in fridge in original package my spinach or baby bok choy will definitely turn yellow or wilt in 3 days. So these containers are worth trying out ;-)