Pizza on homemade bread

Last Wednesday, I still have some leftover bread. As I opened the fridge, I found some ingredient suitable to make pizza and hence, I did pizza bread for our breakfast. After hubby ate it, he was not satisfied because the cheese doesn't show the string effect. So, hubby suggested to do it again on the coming Sunday. He got overly excited when he saw that 'string effect' on his pizza. Haha.....

Pizza bread on Wednesday ~ Breakfast  

Hotdog, Mozzarella cheese, pineapple, oyster mushroom, tomato, mayo tuna + onions

Ready to go into the oven

Done !

It was delicious despite I put too little cheese on top. The bread turned out crispy, just like those coffee shop's toasted kaya + butter bread. The ingredient were perfect too because they are all my favourite. If only I have bacon, I will sure dumped a lot of that too !

cheezy hotdog

As I still have extra hotdog, pineapple and cheese, I toasted them together.  The warm juice of the pineapples were so irresistible. Not to mentioned the melted cheese on top and the delicious hotdog at the bottom, it was simply awesome !

Then, on Friday night we bought almost the same ingredient. We substituted the oyster mushroom with button mushroom and hotdog with all pork - ham, sausages and bacon.  

Freshly baked sesame seed bread

On Saturday night, I baked a loaf of wholemeal bread with sesame seeds.

All pork

Then, came Sunday we started our pizza - in - the - making. After married to hubby for so long, this is the first time we made a meal together ! He actually helped to cut the meat into small sizes and pre toasted them as he preferred a crispier surfaced.

Pizza bread on Sunday ~ Breakfast & Lunch 

Cheezy pizza

This time, we laid more cheese on the top. Love love love the cheese smell !

The string effect

And this is the string effect hubby was excitedly waiting for !  He kept on pulling the cheese to the highest point he could reached and telling me to look on. Obviously, he was the happiest customer that day ! haha 

Note to self : In future, we will use healthier meat (fresh meat with own seasoning) instead of processed meat.

His passion to draw

Many times, YX reminded me to bring some A4 size papers to the office so he could draw whenever he followed me to work. When he reached the office, first thing he wanted to do is to draw. He will be very upset when he did not see any papers. Sad to say, this absent minded mummy always forgot about it.

So one fine day, he quietly placed some drawing papers at the door step while I was busy refilling up their water bottles for them to bring to school. *The papers are kept low, so they could reach easily* When I was about to leave for work, I was surprised to see a stack of papers at the door step. YX then smiled and said "You always forgot about my papers. Please bring them to the office so I can draw on this coming Saturday !"

I felt so bad for my absent minded. I guess YX must have felt so tired of reminding me (yet I always forget) so he turned his reminder into action ! haha

There was even one time when we went out for supper. He finished his portion and was feeling so restless. He doesn't know what to do until the drawing strike his mind. Obviously, we did not bring his drawing papers around and he was feeling upset again. Luckily MIL kept a piece of old receipt (which is long enough for him to draw) in her bag and managed to fulfill his 'crave'. 

No drawing papers, he can still draw on a recycled receipt.

The receipt was long enough to let him draw a bunch of Angry Birds !

Last Saturday when he followed me to the office, he drew 2 - 3 pieces of A4 papers. Will try to post them up in his drawing blog soon. In the evening towards the end of our working hour, he suddenly have the idea to draw on emptied toilet paper rolls. He did that once over here. (*that was about 1 year ago. wow...how time flies ! * )

Concentrating in his work.

Dog, cat & rabbit. Some with hair, some without. And the Cat is playing the guitar !

Mummy bunny and Daddy bunny bought some fresh carrots from the wet market !

When XJ saw what his brother was doing, she wanted a share too. Glad there were enough empty toilet rolls for them to share. And glad that YX willing to share with his little sister !

XJ busy at work

XJ simply use a market pen to draw all over the toilet paper roll and she was pretty satisfied with her work !

Art work by my little Picasso

And here's here masterpiece. Hop over to YX's drawing blog to see more of his drawings.

Umbrella

Recently, XJ was fond of umbrella. She must have saw people holding umbrella and she wanted to do the same. She kept on telling us to allow her to hold an umbrella under the rain one of the day. She wanted to walk with the umbrella in hand. 

Drizzling

A few days back, it rained in the evening. As we came back from work, XJ quickly rushed to us asking us if she can use the umbrella and walk under the rain ? I wanted to laugh at this girl......apparently, MIL gave her the umbrella a few minutes before we came back. She was delighted when I said only for a short while.

XJ was thrilled having the chance to hold an umbrella in the rain !

She quickly pulled me out of the house and I helped her to open up the umbrella. She did some 'catwalks' with that umbrella while I was admiring her at the side.  She was thrilled !

Mummy-J's Mushroom soup

When mummy-J posted about mushroom soup in her blog, I just can't wait to get all the ingredient and try out the recipe at home. I love mushroom soup. In fact, anything milky, cheesy, creamy and buttery are all my favourites !

Button mushrooms (cut into desired size), whipping cream (200 ml), potato (mashed), Bombay onion (diced)

Before preparing the mushroom soup, the important thing is the chicken stock.

Chicken stock

Boiled chicken stock with some chicken bones / breast meat for at least 2 hours for better taste. 

Creamy mushroom soup.........slurp......

I love the milky taste of the mushroom soup but my other family member doesn't. Maybe I should reduce the amount of whipping cream (if I'm going to cook again in the future) to suit their taste bud. For the recipe, hop over to Mummy-J's blog. 

Coffee

I'm not a coffee lover. I've always prefer tea over coffee. However, a few months back I've started to love coffee. It all started when dad give me a box of 3 - in - 1 coffee where he bought them during his holidays in Vietnam. I've been keeping that box of coffee until nearing the expiry date. In order not to waste my dad's effort and appreciate the 'souvenir', I make sure I finished the coffees.

I drank for my breakfast and sometimes, afternoon tea. I made a cup or two for hubby too. However, hubby can't drink too sweet due to health reasons so he can only drink occasionally. Slowly, I managed to finish up the whole box of 30 sachets coffee and I began to fall in love with coffee !

During my recent trip to Korea, I bought a pack of 100 sachets Korean coffee and I just love the taste. It is not too strong and not too sweet. The taste is just nice for me but not for real coffee lover. Dad said the taste is too flat for him.

No matter how I love coffee now, tea is still my NO.1 !

How about you ? Do you like coffee ?

Just like an adult

This picture was taken in Dec 2011

Since young, XJ loves to mimic the adults. When she was barely 2 years old, she likes to wear my slippers. Even until today, she likes to slip in her tiny feet into my slippers whenever she got the chance.

When I put on my facial cream after bath every night, she will rushed over and requested for some cream too. I will simply use one of my finger and apply on her face but this fussy girl wanted me to press from the bottle and apply straight to her face.

During dinning out, when she saw us using chopsticks, she insisted that she wanted a pair too. Just like an adult, she managed to 'kiap' her food without fail.

Now, at 3 years 10 months, she insisted that she wanted to bath on her own. Just because she saw her brother is taking his own bath. I always told her NO because she still can't do it properly. But I told her that she may do it half half. Meaning, she may wet her hair and body, I will apply soap for her and we rinse off together. It was fun bonding with her this way ! 

Testing pies

After I read about Angeline's Pot Pie, I so feel like making some as I love pastries stuffs. So, I went to buy all the necessaries ingredient. I did only a few because it was only for testing. I'm not sure if this project would turn out ok or not as I do not have a proper oven. All I have is a toaster oven (which can adjust the timing only but not the temperature).

I used almost the same ingredient as Angeline except for the mixed vegies and I skip the egg glazing as well. I will keep them in my next try.Oh yes....I dash some pepper into the gravy.

When putting the pies into the toaster oven, I was hoping they won't burnt. I constantly checked on my pies and after baked / toasted for almost 15 - 20 mins, I can see the pastries rose up and turned golden brown.

And here, presenting my first few pot pies and one and only Hotdog puff. Since I have an extra hotdog, I just rolled it up with the frozen pastry.

3 pot pies + 1 hotdog puff

Yummy.....the pies were delicious......I had 2 pies at one go for my afternoon tea. I do hope to do this again soon and I wish to add some onions and button mushrooms into the gravy. Those are my favourites.

If you love mushroom soup, you will love this pie. Give them a try.  Hop over to Angeline's blog to get the recipe over here. Happy trying !

Big small eyes

On Sunday evening, I noticed YX's left eye was a bit swollen (like insect bite) and the upper eye lid was a little bit red. I told myself, something is wrong. YX did not complaint of pain or itchy.

Big small eyes

On Monday morning, when I woke him up from sleep, I was shocked to see his left eye was covered with green cum white discharged. The swell got even worst. Quickly rushed him to brush his teeth and sent him to the eye specialist.

Eye medications

Doc said it was the starting of getting a 'red eye' and precaution must be taken to prevent it from spreading. He has to stop school for the time being and avoid contact with others because it is very contagious.

Glad after a few eye drops and eye cream, YX's eye recovered. The swell subsided and no more discharged. However, to apply the first drop of eye medications on him was a struggle. He was so scared and was crying for help. After much persuasions, he agreed to apply the medications but with his eyes closed. Once tested, he was actually looking forward to apply the eye drops !  

Fresh from the oven

Late last month, hubby suddenly suggested to buy a breadmaker since we have a 'Roti King' in the house. We must have bread on the table everyday as YX will be asking to eat a slice or two when he has the crave. So, after checking out the ovens in our usual electrical shop, we immediately grab one back home since they have a promotion going on at that time !

My 1st loaf

The oven was sitting in the box for about 2 days before I started my 'engine' to bake my very first loaf. Glad that it turned out well. All we need to do was just measured the ingredient correctly, poured into the pan according to the sequence (refer to the recipe provided), put the pan into the oven, pressed START and the oven will do the job.

Wholemeal

To make a basic loaf, it takes about 3.5 hours from mixing, rising and finished baking. My first loaf did not raise high enough. We guess it must be the quality of yeast used. 

Top with some almond nips

However, the texture of the bread is great, despite the top looks a bit dry. Maybe I did not put in enough of oil / butter. Anyway, it was my first try and it was a success which makes me looking forward to bake more.

My 2nd loaf

A few days later, I tried to bake a different flavour bread by adding a little bit of cocoa powder, add in raisins and chocolate chips into the dough.

Wholemeal with chocolate chips & raisins

Again, the top looks a bit dry even I make sure the oil used are measured correctly. All my chocolate chips melted but the bread smells very nice. Very chocolatey ! And the raisins give the bread a hint of sweetness. The kids love them ! Not forgetting that the house was filled with the freshly baked bread aromas.

My 3rd loaf ~ topped with black and white sesame seeds 

As my 1st and 2nd loaf did not raise high enough like the size of a normal bread selling outside, I went to a local bakery shop to buy a different type of yeast. Surprise ! Surprise ! The bread rose up high and the texture was very soft. I was feeling so satisfied.

 

The texture

For this wholemeal bread, I add in only 30% of the wholemeal flour and the remaining with high protein flour. It was enough to makes the bread cover with loads of wholemeal.

After making a few loafs of bread, I googled and found that I can even bake a cake with the breadmaker. I took down the recipe and was so eager to try them out. 

My 1st Butter cake

Last Friday night when the kids attended their Art class, I worked on the butter cake. I was glad and satisfied too that the cake turned out successfully. Just that the size and shape of the cake doesn't look nice. I think the pan was too big for my recipe. Maybe I should doubled up my ingredient for my next try.

Moist and buttery

Nevertheless, the taste was great. The texture was moist and buttery. I topped my cake with some almond nips as I love almond nips a lot. When buying from the bakery shop, we hardly can find cakes with almond nips.

Our new toy ~ Breville breadmaker made in Australia

All thanks to this breadmaker machine. Our house will be filled with bread and cakes most of the time (if the chef is not lazy). The kids have been placing their orders already, telling me to bake orange cakes, lemon cakes, corn bread and even MILO bread ! Wait wait........I'm still learning.......In fact, I'm very happy and satisfied because my hard work managed to make the kids happy ! 

WeChat apps

I still remember when I first entered the college, I signed up for my very first e-mail. Then, I was being introduced with those chat via computers namely, IRC and ICQ. Soon, MSN was being introduced and it seems, chatting online are getting more and more interesting. I can spent hours in front of the computer just to chat with friends and amazingly, through this type of chat, I picked up typing !

With the technology these days, we don't even need to use the computer to chat anymore. Majority of people are using smartphones and we can simply download the WeChat apps to chat. Best of all, this application is FREE. It is supported by iOS, Android, Symbian & Windows with multiple languages.

So what can we do with WeChat apps ? 

By using WeChat, we can sent text messaging, broadcast (one to many) messaging, share photo/video, sent your current location to friends and we can even share contact information. We can also connect with other WeChat user locally or internationally. We can even add emoticons in WeChat to make our messages interesting. And remember, it is all FREE !

WeChat had been officially launched in Malaysia on the 20th June 2012 held at Zouk. As at March 2012, there are already 100 million WeChat users worldwide. 

Want to know more about WeChat ? Hop over to their Facebook page over here and LIKE their page ! 

My first trial......

When the chef is not at home, I 'played masak-masak' in the kitchen. I already have in mind of what to cook and obviously, they are my favourite food. haha.

Mum used to fried 'jemput-jemput' for our breakfast or afternoon tea when we were still young. It was our family's favourite and we will bugged mum to fried them often.

Ingredients : ~
~ Self raising flours (enough to make a thick batter. I used MFM brand)
~ a dash of salt
~ 1 whole big Bombay onion (diced)
~ water (pour in bit by bit to avoid getting too watery batter)
~ prawns (cut into cubes )
~ 1 tbsp of cooking oil

Jemput-Jemput batter

Mix everything (except the prawns) into a large mixing bowl until you get a thick batter. If too watery, add more flour, and if too thick add in some water. Mum reminded that too watery batter will make a flat 'jemput-jemput'. Once the batter are well mixed, pour in the prawn and mix well.

Jemput-jemput

Scoop a tablespoon of batter into the frying pan and fried till golden brown. I guess my batter wasn't thick enough and thus, my 'jemput-jemput' turned out flat. Mum's version was fat and round. Anyway, the taste was there and I was glad both my kids enjoyed eating them as well as the 'food critic of the house', aka hubby. YX even requested me to cook this again as he said it was delicious. My heart melted. haha

Ginger & Spring onion fried chicken 

After frying the 'jemput-jemput', I prepared the next dish. Again, after getting advises from mum, I tried my own version of ginger & spring onion fried chicken (dry).

I seasoned the chicken overnight with some salt and pepper. Before frying, I coated the chicken with some self-raising flour (which I used to prepare the jemput-jemput) and fried them till golden brown.

I stir fried some ginger (sliced) and spring onions (chopped) before I poured in the fried chicken and stir them. Dash with a little bit of soy sauce and my chicken are done !

Again, both kids enjoyed their meal that day. It was nice to go with a bowl of plain porridge.

Souvenirs from Europe

MIL recently went to Europe with a few relatives. It was a 2 weeks long holidays and that explained why I've been very quiet in the blogging world. Anyway, MIL had returned last Saturday with a bags full of souvenirs for everyone in the family.  

Green Puma T-shirt for hubby, Blue Puma T-shirt for YX, Red Puma T-shirt for XJ and red bag for me. 

Even things are expensive in Europe, MIL bought one item for each of us. It was the SALES season but after conversion, things in Malaysia are still cheaper. Haha.

Pink sunnies for XJ 

XJ loves her sunglasses a lot and refuse to take them down after putting them on. She kept on looking at the mirror, and continues to wear them during dinner time ! We insisted her to take them off and only allowed her to put on when she goes to school the next day (in the car only). She even wanted to bring her sunglasses to the bathroom when I asked her to take her bath !

Blue sunnies for YX 

As for YX, he was not really fascinated with the sunglasses. He only put them up for a while and have since forgotten about it. He doesn't like the feeling of having something hanging over his ears. LOL.

'Winter' in Malaysia

Last month, we brought the kids for a short 2D/1N holiday in KL during the Agong's Birthday cum weekends. We stayed over at hubby buddy's house and traveled together with his family. The visit to the i-city was our first. The kids got excited when they saw the beautifully decorated place and was even more excited when was told that we will be bringing them into the 'ice room' to play and touch the ice !  

Posing with the elephant family

We arrived at around 5.30pm because we wanted to buy cheaper entrance fees. Ticket price will be different after 6 pm. *sorry, I forgot about the pricing *

The entrance of the Snowalk @ i-city

It was not too crowded. We only need to queue up for less than 5 minutes before being allowed to enter and try on our winter jacket which was included in the entrance fees.

Christmas trees

It was freezing cold and the kids enjoyed themselves a lot. Everything was colourfully lit.

XJ's first time experiencing winter !

Both kids were freezing 

After spending almost 30 minutes in the 'refrigerator', we decided to leave as the kids were complaining of coldness. We then walked around the park (it was still early and the light were not lit yet) and spent some time at the mini Theme Park.

Beautiful trees

 Soon, the sky turned dark and the trees were all lit up ! It was such a beautiful scene.

Can I pluck the fruits ?

Overall, it was a fun trip and hubby had already decided to return to this place again with our parents, soon. We left i-city at around 8 pm + and hubby's buddy drove us all the way to Klang for seafood dinner. We were all famished and dead tired !