Recycled food

The problem with going on our ‘diet’ is the food left over from dinners. Sometimes I akan teringat masa masak tu and will reduce all the raw ingredients accordingly. But sometimes I sort of forgot about it and still masak banyak.

Like tonite, I tak tau nak masak apa for dinner. Bukak freezer, I saw so many bags of cooked rice and hari tu punya kari. Dari buat menyemak kan freezer, baik I buat masak dinner kan.

I made nasi goreng sayur with the cooked rice but using non stick wok so you dont need oil actually. Tapi I letak jugak about 2 teaspoons which wasn’t much for about 5cups+ rice. I saje masak banyak2, pastu boleh simpan balik dlm freezer or makan for lunch esok, hehehe.

This was my plate. Our diet is a calorie-controlled diet so boleh makan everything (healthy stuff and non healthy stuff) including all the carbs. We love our carbs and we will always eat it no matter what and we can’t live without it. .

But we also exercise everyday at the same time.

I know ramai orang yg kalau sebut diet, maksudnya tak boleh makan nasi. But nasi ni lebih kurang aje calorie dengan white bread or potato or mee or pasta or any other starch. What’s the point of not eating rice but bantai white bread and potato like mad, hehehe.

The Other Half has lost 8kg+ so far and I’ve only got 500g to go before reaching my dream weight, hehehe. The Other Half still has his treats occasionally which for him is potato crisps. But he makes sure he portions it so he knows how many calories he’s consuming. Tu yang buat dia lagi happy sebab still losing weight and can eat his beloved Pringles at the same time, hikhikhik….

(I know I asik cerita pasal our weight loss journey and diet aje kan. But mana lah tau kan, ada orang yang baca ni tergerak hati nak start losing weight secara healthy.)

I told The Other Half yang once I have reached that weight, I’m going to celebrate by making myself a decadent choc cake . The Other Half tak kisah sbb dia tak suka sangat choc cake ni so kalau I buat pun, dia tak kan tergoda punya, hahaha.

Can’t wait for that day to arrive so I can makan choc cake!

So, kalau tetiba I tayang gambar choc cake kat blog ni, maksudnya I dah berjaya capai my target weight lah .

Their first day

First day of school went really well for The Little Misses. Miss 7 got the same teachers she had last year so she was really happy. I am happy as well because they were really good teachers. And some of her good friends are still in the same class as her so adalah kawan dia nak main2 and pergi makan sama .

But it was sad to see her teacher (the one who had a stillborn baby) standing there in the class and us knowing how sad she must have been. Miss 7 straight away hugged her teacher when she saw her and said, “I’m really sorry and sad about what happened to your baby.” And she answered, “It is sad.”

It is funny kan yang we adults will feel awkward in that situation, not knowing what is the right thing to say to that bereaved person. And not knowing how to act either. But with kids, they are so innocent, they will say what’s in their mind and what they are feeling at the time. And they normally say the right thing….

Miss 11 had a blast as well on her first day of school. I sent her to the school gate aje and there were already ‘big’ students which they call ‘peer leaders’ and teachers waiting for the new students to take them around.

After primary school, her high school seems so big. It is the biggest public school in WA so I guess memang besar betul2 lah kan the school, hehehe. They were given maps of the school as well so they won’t get lost when going around the school ground looking for their classes which are everywhere. Dah lah anak I tu kecik aje banding dgn budak2 lain, sure nya lah boleh hilang kat tengah2 lautan manusia tu, hehehe.

Luckily the high school finishes 15 minutes earlier than the primary school so I have asked Miss 11 to go to Miss 7’s school lepas habis sekolah and wait for me there. Tak kuasa I nak mencari dia kat the high school, memang tak kan jumpa punyalah .

And for a treat tonite, I made crispy baked chicken, oven-baked fries and low calorie coleslaw for dinner. Ye lah, nak makan kfc, mana ada yg halal kat sini. Kalau beli kat chicken shop, sure punya the chicken and fries will be deep fried kan and the coleslaw penuh dgn lemak. Habislah diet we all, hehehe.

But, the chicken set that I made tonite was only 420cals aje but still rasa macam makan kfc, hikhikhik…

I had 2 pieces of chicken, 100g of coleslaw, 100g of fries and a bit of sauce. Memang sangat2 mengenyangkan.

I sort of guna this recipe for the chicken wings but I didn’t have a few of the ingredients so I tukar ganti with a few other spices. Memang rasa dia sangat2 crispy but much lower in fat.

Nak buat coleslaw rendah calorie and lemak, you can substitute the mayo with reduced fat mayo or cari yg lower calories and use half mayo half very light sour cream. The taste is still creamy but less fat.

Miss 7 makan coleslaw tadi lagi banyak dari we all, hikhikhik. She even requested to have the coleslaw untuk lunch esok .

The Other Half was 1 very happy man sebab dapat makan this set tanpa rasa guilty, hahahahaha….

The night before schools start

The schools opening tomorrow and everyone is excited, from Emak to Bapak to anak2, hehehehe…

Sepatutnya I pergi Miss 7’s school petang tadi to find out which class she’ll be in. But malas betul nak keluar rumah bila dah panas tadi and we are going to find out esok pagi anyway masa kat sekolah so might as well just wait until esok kan . We just hope some of her good friends are in the same class as her so tak lah dia rasa lonely sangat.

And since tugas I sebagai supir and makcik kantin will be starting again esok, kenalah I masuk tidur awal starting from tonite. Tak boleh lah I nak tidur balik lepas Subuh nanti, hehehe….

The Little Misses have asked for fruit salad and buttered popcorns for recess and I’ve made sausage roll for their lunches. Tu yang kena tidur awal sebab nak buat fruit salad n popcorns esok pagi2, hehehe. (Nasib baik the popcorns beli yang microwavable tu so senang kerja I, hehehehe).

So, instead of borak panjang, I tayang our dinner aje lah.

We had thai beef salad on a base of japanese noodles.

The noodles I cuma boiled in water flavoured with soy sauce and sesame oil aje so dia tak clash dengan the thai flavouring.

I marinated the beef using this recipe and then grilled it in a grill pan. But for the girls, I guna marinate lain yang tak pedas and I tak bagi banyak sayur.

Memang ada rupa rabbits dah we all sekarang ni sebab makan greens aje hari2!

Their favourite Summer words

Favourite words used by The Little Misses sepanjang cuti ni…

‘hold on….’

‘wait…’

‘not now…’

‘in a minute…’

‘I’ll do it soon….’

‘later…..’

Why can’t their favourite words be…

‘righto…’

‘can I do it now?’

‘would you like me to do it now?’

‘ok…’

‘going now…’

‘yes Mum…’

‘certainly…’

Wouldn’t that be wonderful! . But I can only dream and hope aje lah for that to happen, hehehehe……

The Other Half said that I’m only making myself stressed because I’m asking them to do everything according to my time frame. He then said, ff I were to follow The Little Misses time frame and go with the flow then I tak kan stressed when they say, ‘later’, ‘not now’, ‘wait’, ‘hold on’….

Iyo lah tu Cik Abang, you pun kadang2 geram jugak kat budak2 tu bila dengar ‘wait’, ‘not now’, ‘hold on’, hikhikhikhik……

Malam ni for dinner I made cottage pie makan dengan green salad.

But I made the reduced-calorie version of mashed potato topping tu. I made it using skimmed milk and olive oil spread instead of loads of butter and cream . Rasa dia tak selemak the fat-laden version lah but still very nice.

And on top of the topping I scatter a tiny amount of grated parmesan and bocconcini to enhance the flavour.

And the bolognese beef filling pulak I letak segala macam sayur.

The Other Half is happy sebab I’m still making all his favourite food but the lower calorie version so takde lah dia rasa macam dia berdiet kan .

Sunday without Bianca :-)

Today is Sunday (macamlah ada yang tak tau, hehehe) and Cyclone Bianca has decided to pass us by without doing any stopovers, Alhamdulillah. But it would have been nice to have had a little bit of rain from Bianca though .

Kat rumah I ni, kalau weekend or when everyone is at home, I noticed that there seems to be so many water glasses/tumblers lying around everywhere in the kitchen.

I heran betul lah sebab kat rumah ni cuma ada 4 orang aje tapi kadang2 tu the glasses/tumblers yang lying around adalah dalam 10 macam tu kot.

Bila I tanya The Little Misses and The Other Half sape yang guna gelas berlambak2 tu, takde sorang yang mengaku and semua buat muka heran…

Ini yang buat I sangat2 mushkil, sejak bila pulak rumah I ni ada simpan benda2 halus or orang bunian or invisible friends yang terer minum air bergelas2 ni ye?

Bila I duduk rumah sorang2, tak pulak benda misteri ini berlaku, 1 aje gelas from morning till the others come home….

Hmmmm…………

Kena letak cctv cameras lah around the kitchen kan kalau nak nab the culprits, hikhikhikhik…

Malam ni for dinner, I made grilled polenta (I beli yang instant dah siap tu) and makan dengan grilled lamb chops with its jus and bocconcini, grilled eggplant and green salad.

I’m not sure if I got it right or not though, my plate ni is only around 300cals aje which is not much langsung kan! But sangat2 mengenyangkan and yummy….

I cuma makan sekeping aje polenta tu because dah kenyang, hehehe…

The gravy/jus we ate with the lamb tu I buat senang aje.

Ini recipe gravy yang I selalu buat.

After you’ve grilled the lamb, jangan basuh the grill pan. Keep the heat on low and add a teaspoon of butter to it until it has melted.

Then add about a tablespoon of plain flour and cook it for about 1-2 minutes. Then add some water as much as you want to. Add some soy sauce/kicap masin to taste and then let it simmer until the gravy’s reduced/thickened a bit.

Pastu, bolehlah makan dengan your chops or steak! Tak payah susah payah beli gravy powder.

Perth and the storm

Yeay, we finally got a thunderstorm here in Perth after so many thunderstorm warnings over the past few months. Actually, budak2 tu yang excited lebih sebab kat sini tak banyak storms unlike M’sia . But the storm today is unlike the usual storms you find during Winter where it’s cold and freezing. Storm tadi memang betul2 tropical because it was still so hot and muggy but pouring with rain!

Pagi tadi it was so hot, it got to 41.8°C at 2pm about an hour before the storm started. Pastu, tiba2 gelap and terus hujan lebat gilers.

The Other Half kata, teringat dia masa duduk kat M’sia, hehehehe.

Why I ambik gambar the hujan? Sebab kat sini kan negara kering and jarang hujan, so tu yg macam jakun aje ambik gambar, hahahaha…….

And this is our apple tree. Kesian dia sebab this is probably the 3rd heavy rain it’s endured. All our apples yg masih kecik2 memang gugur semua because of the heavy rain . Baru aje nak membesar dah kena hujan so gugur lah dia. Tak dapat nak merasa buah apple this season, sob sob……

Esok, the BOM kata Cyclone Bianca nak mai Perth but they don’t know how strong it will be. Habislah pokok apple I ni, memang tak tinggal sebiji pun buah lah nampak gayanya…..

The Other Half wanted to fire on the barbie for dinner tonite tapi sebab hujan, tak jadi lah dia nak berBBQ, terpaksalah dia masak kat atas dapur aje, hehehe.

This was what he cooked tonite.

Grilled bronze whaler shark steak in cajun spice rub, makan dengan tomato and avocado salsa and seasoned roast potato.

Sharks ni tak boleh makan selalu because as the norm in big fish, they usually have high levels of mercury in them which is not good for us. Tu yg I lagi suka makan ikan bilis, sure takde mercury, hahahaha……

Ikan bilis masak sambal, ikan bilis goreng dengan kacang, ikan bilis makan dengan nasi goreng… Fulamak sedapnya, hikhikhikhik…..

kopi susu pekat or macchiato?

If you can describe the colour of your skin using a drink, what would yours be?

I berborak2 kosong dengang The Other Half tadi about the colours of our skin. (jarang weh we all borak2 kosong ni )

I said to him yang my skin colour will be kaler kopi susu pekat kalau kat kedai Mamak, bukan nescafe susu tau, real kopi .

He said, kalau pergi posh nya coffee house, my skin will be the colour of macchiato. Kalau you all pergi kedai mamak and mintak macchiato, ada lah yang nak kena sedas dua penumbuk dengan mamak buat air tu!(hikhikhikhik)

Pastu I tanya lah The Other Half, what will be his skin colour. Dia kata maybe horlicks but with loads of susu. (alamak, terus terasa nak minum horlicks ais kaw kaw pulak tiba2! Nyampah betul kah kalau borak2 pasal food ni, hakhakhak).

Kalau kat posh coffee house, you all mintak horlicks, sampai tutup that coffee house pun you takkan dapat air horlicks.

And then he said, Miss 11 pulak will be the colour of caffe latte and he said if he goes to a coffee house and asks for a caffe latte and it comes exactly like the colour of Miss 11’s skin, he would be happy. Hikhikhikhik……

Then I tanya dia, what about Miss 7. What would be the equivalent drink?

He said, sampai sekarang dia tak tau whether Miss 7 tu tanned ke cerah sebab her skin colour changes with the season, hahahaha…..

Sejak lepas balik from Adventureworld hari tu, kulit dia dah ala2 kopi susu cair. Tapi bila masuk Winter, kulit dia macam sirap bandung mixed with a bit of teh, heeeeeee……..

Pastu The Other Half cakap, “I know! It’s like that drink in M’sia where you ask for teh susu and then the bring it to you unmixed and the condensed milk at the bottom and the tea on top. She’s like that, the bottom layer in Winter and the top layer in Summer .”

Muahahahahahaha…… ada pulak kulit anak I kaler teh c peng!

Ini lah jadinya bila a dark-skinned Javanese kahwin dengan light-skinned Mat Saleh kan!

Malam ni I masak oven-baked beef curry (takde santan nor yoghurt, I cuma letak 1 can of diced tomatoes), steamed eggplants with sambal ikan bilis and jasmine rice.

eggplants ni dari kebun we all. Sekarang tengah lebat berbuah so memang kiranya hari2 lah makan terung, hehehe.

Ada 5-6 pokok tak silap and semua tengah lebat berbuah. Nasib baik lah terung ni ok aje masak dgn apa2 pun. I masak pizza, letak finely diced terung on it, masak bolognese sauce, letak finely diced terung in it jugak. The girls makan aje, they didn’t realise ada terung in them . Kalau buat salad pun, I akan letak grilled eggplants in it.