Didn't really feel like cooking dinner today but when you are the head chef and the only chef, not cooking is not an option. Usually when I'm just too lazy to cook, we would have toasted cheese sandwich. But I didnt feel like having toasted cheese sandwich today...Opened the freezer and saw a nice piece of topside waiting to be used, and I just remembered that there's a bunch of English spinach in the chiller as well. Before the spinach turns into a brown slimy blob, I might as well use it for dinner tonite. So, after much thinking about tonite's menu, I decided to make crumbed beef strips with the topside, sauteed spinach and grilled bread. The crumbed beef went down well because the kids like anything crumbed. But the spinach wasn't received with as much enthusiasm as you would expect Popeye to do. And the reference to Popeye at the dinner table went over their heads....the generation gap huh! So, here it is, tonite's dinner...

Updates on the growing up years. The latest photos of the little misses. They have grown so much over the years...

Last nite, I really felt like eating chicken soup, malay style. God knows why but since it was already 11 o'clock at nite and I was just too comfortable in bed, the craving had to be subdued until dinner tonite. There are so many different versions of chicken soup out there but I guess for everyone, the one that they grew up with will always be their favourite. Since I'm a Malay and grew up with a spicier kind of chicken soup, that's what I was craving for. Hence, tonite's dinner was Chicken soup eaten with rice and vermicelli noodles (suun) and my favourite sambal kicap. The kids opted not to have the sambal with it, wise decision I think! I could have eaten bowls of it but since I'm supposed to be eating healthily, I had to stop at 1. The sheer willpower needed for that...My other half had another commitment at dinner time so he was spared the chicken soup and sambal kicap torture. With him not being a Malay, the chicken soup and sambal kicap combination is still a bit strange for him eventhough we've been married 12 years! Dont get me wrong, he eats other sambal with gusto. Hope this chicken soup looks as enticing to you as it did to me.

Little miss 4 1/2 from birth to age 4. When she was born, she didnt have that much hair on her head, but now, it's a mass of curls. And she still loves her food :-).

Little miss soon-to-be-9 from 3 mths to age 8. It's been amazing to watch her grow up fr a chubby baby to a chubby toddler to a very pretty young girl! (well, we think so anyway :-) ).

Tonight's dinner was home made pizza.again... The kids are not tired yet of having pizza once a week or every fortnight. So when they were asked what they would like for dinner tonight, guess what their answer was? I guess a flat dough laden with pizza sauce,meat, pineapple and cheese appeals to most kids and biggies alike...And I'm not complaining because making pizza is easier than a piece of cake, and it gives my biceps a good workout with all the kneading involved! My other half often wonders why I bought a mixer with a dough hook when I rarely use it...Luckily we've given our breadmaker away to mother dearest or else it'll definitely be collecting dusts! I guess occasionally, I just like the feeling of the dough shaping up in my hands and the nice feeling involved in giving my biceps a good workout (without even having to go to the gym!). So do you think the pictured pizza is worth drooling at? :-)

It's public holiday today so I've decided to make sushi for lunch and dinner. Actually I made a big batch of sushi for lunch and we had leftovers for dinner, what a wonderful thing this thing called leftovers! Miss soon-to-be-9 doesnt like the taste of vinegared sushi rice so as a concession for her, i made her my version of onigiri (which is exactly round instead of a nice triangular shape and also filled with marinated grilled chicken). Luckily no one seems to mind my misshapen rice balls. My other half and Miss 4 1/2 devoured the sushi heartily. She keeps on asking to try the nice looking 'green paste' that mum and dad squeezed on their plates. I wonder if we should just let her and then have the camera ready when the wasabi hit kicks in! But I guess that would be child cruelty....

The morning after...it's not what everyone thinks...When you have 2 kids and staying up watching fireworks until 9.30 and not home until 10.30, it's called a very very late night. The little misses enjoyed their fun day yesterday and were very impressed with the fireworks display. So did the biggies! The kids spent the afternoon going on all the rides (repeatedly!) and had their faces painted. Trust our daughters to ask for a kangaroo face and a mouse face on 1 side of their cheeks! The kangaroo turned out ok but the mouse looked suspiciously like a cat which miss 4 1/2 noticed straight away and pointed it out to the face painter! She was a bit upset because she asked for a mouse but got a cat instead! It was pretty funny though...Other than that slight snag, it was a very fun Australia Day. We will spend today recuperating...we are definitely getting old!

Australia Day! Let's celebrate!

The little money spongers have been eagerly waiting for today to arrive since the same day last year. We are celebrating Australia Day this year in the city at the Family Fun Day Event. We had such a great time last year at the same event that we said, heck, why not do it a yearly fun thing to do. So, obviously, the kids jumped with joyful songs in their hearts when we made the declaration...and since we are parents who follow their own 'once you've promised, you have to keep it' set of rules, here we are going to the event again. Last year we had to miss out on watching the skyworks because miss 4 1/2 was still a bit too young to stay up that late but this year I've told the other half that I really want to watch the skyworks (what I really told him was that it'll be good for the kids to watch such a spectacular show, it'll be their first time ever etc...).
So, hopefully tonight we'll get to watch it on the foreshore of the Swan River. I know it's very Australian to take meat pies and lamingtons to the dinner picnic we are having tonight. But since we are a multicultural family, I've decided on Pasta with pesto and BBQ chicken and summer fruits and white chocolate for dessert. Happy Australia Day!

The little misses have been busy today playing with their Zoobs. 2 more weeks before school starts, can't wait for that day to arrive so I dont have to listen to anymore bickering from 8.30 to 3.00. Ahhh, the wonderful silence....Miss soon-to-be-9 is quite good with her hands and very creative (when you consider her parents!) and she's made some nice creations with the Zoobs.

Dont be alarmed, the toy cats are not being hung, they are on their Zoob leash but hanging... (cruelty to animals are not allowed in this household :-) )

pots and more pots

My other half and I decided to plant some more veges in pots this summer. I guess it'll save us some money not having to buy them and also we know what goes into the veges we eat. And it's also fun to watch things grow...So far this summer, we've planted cherry tomatoes, another pot of lemongrass, ginger, turmeric, eggplants, chilli, capsicum, lebanese cucumber, sugar snap peas and feijoa. that's not to mention the others that we've already planted when we first moved here which are kaffir lime/makrut/limau purut, vietnamese mint/laksa/daun kesum and curry plant. Sadly we had to lay to rest the curry plant because it was growing too fast for it's small pot. Note to self, next time when buying curry plant, make sure it stays a plant and not grow into an 8 foot tree!

It's been a hectic wknd of cleaning the house and making it look presentable (who's standard of presentability, God knows!). But I think we've done an ok job so far of not making onto the 'messiest house in Perth' list. The reason for the extra cleaning and scrubbing you might ask...we are having an inspection on Tuesday so that's why the cobwebs deco have to be taken down, the artistic leaves arrangement under the carport needs to be swept away and the lovingly tended grass on the lawn needs to be mowed. Oh well, we have 3 more months after Tuesday to create some more artistic masterpieces...

Happy New Year 2008

Right, let's see...This will be my first time being a blogger. I've visited so many blogs but have never felt compelled to create one until now. What made me change my mind? I guess having to go with the flow is the main reason for starting and also to make it easier for our families and friends to keep up to date with our comings and goings...Not sure though if our comings and goings will be worth updating regularly! I guess let them decide, hahaha!
I should start by introducing the members of the team. There's me a.k.a the boss of the household (the title my hubby and kids bestowed on me)!, then there's the other half (not sure if it's the better half or the lesser half) and last but not least our little money spongers,miss going-to-be-9-soon and miss 4 1/2.