Shortcrust pastry day

Both of the girls had an early start this morning.

Miss 13 has her mock trials club which starts at 7.30 every Thursday.

Miss 9 pulak has her choir rehearsal which starts at 7.45 also on Thursday mornings.

Selalunya pukul 8 pagi baru terhegeh2 keluar rumah nak pergi sekolah….

But pagi tadi, pukul 8 pagi I dah sampai rumah balik after sending them off to school.

Terus rasa macam lapang giler tak tau nak buat apa, hahahahaha………

(Padahal banyak house chores nak kena buat but malas nak buat…)

So, I surfed the net looking for things to cook for dinner and other things I can cook as well….

We are on a diet but we all makan semua benda cuma tak lah makan banyak and lepas tu pulun exercise lah so tu yang I still buat sweet things occasionally.

Tonights’s theme was shortcrust pastry .

Sebab ada shortcrust pastry in the freezer dah lama tak guna, heeee….

First I made dessert which was berry tart.

But I could only find frozen blueberries in the freezer instead of mixed berries so jadi lah blueberry tart.

It tasted really good albeit a tad too sweet for me. Patutnya kena guna raspberries so ada rasa masam and manis but couldn’t find it in the freezer.

And then for dinner, I made caramelised onion, roast potatoes and sweet potatoes, semi dried tomato, basil and feta quiche.

(I used shortcrust pastry as well for the quiche case.)

Panjang giler nama nya kan, hikhikhikhik….

Ini rupa the quiche sebelum I curah the egg and cream mixture on it.

Mana tak panjang kan, itu benda2 yang I letak in the quiche’s filling.

And ini rupa the quiche setelah dimasak.

And then makan pulak dengan oven baked sausages in sauces and salad.

Cross section of the quiche…

And up close and personal of the sausages.

Sekarang I nak solat maghrib lepas tu nak bertungkus lumus bakar calories on the elliptical…

After our dinner tonite, mau lah kot I kena use the elliptical for an hour

My usual 45 minutes tak cukup nak burn all the calories consumed, hehehehe….

Rantings about i***t drivers on a hot Wednesday

The temperature soared so high today.

And to make it worse, I had to keep on going to school a few times today.

Miss 9 started her PEAC program today so I had to pick her up from school at noon and send her to the PEAC centre.

Kesian dia, she had to eat her lunch in the car on the way there.

Ye lah, ambik dia pukul 12, masa tu belum lunch time lagi at school. Pastu program tu starts at 12.30 sampai lah pukul 2.30 without any break.

I told her on Wednesdays, she has to have sandwiches for lunch so it can be easily eaten in the car.

No nasi goreng or mee goreng or leftovers, hehehehehe…..

After dropping her off, I balik rumah balik and then an hour later, kena keluar balik to pick her up from the PEAC centre and then drove to Miss 13’s school pulak to pick her up.

All in 40C weather!

I rasa kat Perth ni, the Summer is so darn long compared to the Winter.

Gimana enggak capek Ibu Supir!

Pastu, dah lah panas, lagi lah panas berasap otak and jiwa ni bila there are so many idiot drivers on the road.

Apasal lah orang2 ni sangat2 lah kiasu nya?

Nak jugak masuk jalan depan kita tapi bawak selow giler.

Terpampang besar2 kata 60kms/hr, yang kamu bawak jugak 45-50kms/hr tu kenapa?

Kalau nak bawak selow, tunggu lah orang lain jalan dulu.

Pastu bawak kereta kejap2 brek, kejap2 brek, pastu bawak kereta sambik borak2 dgn passenger and siap toleh2 passenger lagi so speed kejap2 selow kejap2 selow.

Pastu, sikit pun tak kisah pasal orang lain. Traffic light dah lama turned green, you baru nak terhegeh2 belok. As long as you lepas, orang lain belakang kira kan.

Agggghhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Mana lah you all dapat lesen ni!!!!!!!!

Tu yang tambah lagi penat sangat2 ni….

Luckily lah prep for dinner dah buat pagi tadi sebelum kena keluar tengah2 panas or else memang makan maggi aje lah everyone malam ni, hahahahaha.

I made roast chicken with roast potatoes and salad for dinner but I cuma teringin nak makan salad aje.

But my salad kenalah ada protein kan so I just carik2 the roast chicken and add that to my salad.

My salad seperti biasa ada mixed lettuce leaves, roasted sweet potatoes, cucumber, capsicum, raw kacang panjang, fuji apple and almond.

Just racik2 roast chicken flesh, jadi a main meal salad yang cukup mengenyangkan.

Since I tengah kemaruk dgn dukkah (and dukkah supply berlambak lagi dlm pantry, hehehe), I tabur banyak2 on the salad along with the marinade dressing.

And since I penat giler hari ni, I’m taking a night off from exercising…

Nak lepak2 aje depan laptop, hehehehe…..

And suddenly, I’m feeling much ‘cooler’ sebab I can hear the rain pattering on the roof…

Alhamdulillah for the rain after such a hot day walaupun cuma 5 minit aje, hehehehe!

The dish with no name.

We use a lot of beef mince in our meals.

(Well…..We means I use a lot of beef mince in my cooking, the rest just redha makan aje apa yang I hidangkan in front of them, hahahaha).

Once a week or kadang2 twice a week mesti ada mince in the menu.

I love beef mince sebab I can do so many different things with it and it is cheap as well.

And the mince yang I beli is quite lean, memang merah aje the appearance instead of penuh lemak.

The more fat in the mince, the paler it looks sebab fat is yellowish whitish in colour kan.

And I know the beef mince I buy tak banyak lemak sebab I do not have to drain the fat off during cooking.

People say, if you want to make burger/ rissoles/kebabs, it is much better to have a bit of fat in your mince so bila kita grill the homemade patties, tak lah dry sangat.

But I tak kisah, I just use the same tupe of mince in all my cooking, sedap jugak, hehehe.

Dah beli pun kat butcher yang sama, and he only makes one type of mince .

Tonite’s dinner is another mince meal.

But when The Other Half asked me what is the name of the dish (because he has to log it in his daily food intake diary), I told him, “I have no idea”.

Miss 13 then said, “It’s typical Mum’s concoction. There’s no name for it.”

So, this is the dinner with no name….. Hikhikhikhik….

(I bet you, there is a dish somewhere in this world that looks exactly like this and has a name kan, cuma I belum jumpa aje lagi, hehehehe….)

It’s basically a mince mixture on top of turkish bread.

The turkish bread I dah sapu dengan a bit of butter and humus before I letak the mince on top.

Then I tabur some roasted pine nuts, dukkah, sliced bocconcini, sauteed red onion on the mince mixture.

Then I baked this dish with no name in the oven until the bocconcini cheese is slightly melted.

Then I topped it with runny fried egg, some more dukkah on the egg, chilli flakes and some mint leaves.

My plate kena ada greens which I put as a base.

Bismillah…….

This is the best part, when the yolk runs everywhere onto the mince and the bread…..

Yummmmmmm………………

The result and the dinner….

Since I dah berjanji semalam nak bagitau sape yang menang the watermelon weight guessing competition, I guess I have to do it lah kan .

The weight of the watermelon was 9.9kg!

And out of the so many guesses, the first person to guess that correct weight is…….

SUZY WATI .

Yeay, tahniah! clap clap clap .

Unfortunately I still tak boleh tunjuk gambar the gift yang you have won sebab that gift is currently in Malaysia and the person who is holding the gift tengah bercuti2 Malaysia so dia takde kat rumah and tak boleh nak ambik gambar the gift, hehehehe…..

Mintak maaf banyak2 ye for the delay.

Once she’s come back from cuti2 Msia, I will put up the photo of the gift and I akan email you to ask for your details ye.

Since, I tak boleh nak tayang gamabr the gift, kenalah tayang gambar our dinner tonite aje.

Malam ni The Other Half balik lambat so I made something that can be eaten cold as well as hot.

Selalunya kalau dia balik lambat, I memang akan masak dinner yang senang nak di reheat so bila dia balik, tinggal masuk dalam microwave and terus makan.

Fish and chips or burger and chips memang tak boleh lah nak buat on the nights dia balik lambat because chips taste awful reheated in the microwave!

And since I dah overate during lunch time tadi, makan leftovers nasi and rendang, malam ni konon2nya nak jadi baik buat something healthy lah.

Kalau nak healthy, kenalah buat something yang ada banyak sayur kan.

So, I made a gorgeous salad (well, gorgeous for our tekak lah).

I made a salad that has mixed lettuce leaves as the base, then I added sliced cucumbers, tomatoes, fuji apple to bulk it up.

And then, to make it more interesting, I added some roasted walnuts to it.

And since I didn’t feel like having any carbs as a side, I added some roasted sweet potatoes to the salad mix.

But nak jadi kan the sweet potatoes more exotic, I tabur dukkah on top of the sweet potatoes halfway through roasting.

Nak tambah lagi the oomph, I drizzled the salad with the cooked marinade that I used to marinate the chicken wings for dinner.

So, this was my plate tadi.

I marinated the chicken wings with seeded mustard, honey, garlic and a bit of soy sauce for about half an hour.

Then I baked them in the oven at 190C until betul2 masak.

Halfway through the baking, I collected all the chicken juice on the tray, letak dalam saucepan and mix it with the leftover marinade.

Then, let it boil on the stove top until it is slightly reduced.

Pastu, boleh guna as salad dressing.

Jimat dan sedap!

The Other Half kata, “I do like salad especially when it’s like this. Really gorgeous combination!”

Ye lah, I terlupa pulak yang tekak dia kan posh and upmarket sikit, kalau I buat salad sempoi2 setakat lettuce leaves and cucumber aje, lambat noh dia nak menelan….

Kalau buat salad upmarket macam ni, baru laju masuk mulut!

Ceh! Hahahahahaha…..

3 nights’ dinners

Alright, dah ada yang dapat meneka berat tembikai dengat tepat.

Tahniah!

But, esok lah ye I announce the person’s name.

Malam ni, kita layan cerita lain aje eh .

Mana ada cerita gempak pun, our lives are not that interesting anyway, bukannya retis kan…

Hahahahaha…

Hari ni, setelah sekian lama bercuti, the girls started their Sunday school at the masjid.

And I pun start lah balik membaking pagi2 Ahad untuk bawak makanan for the kids to eat.

Happy I sebab I suka jugak membaking occasionally (bila datang mood) ni tapi banyak mana aje pun we all boleh makan sebab semua tengah berdiet.

Jadi, adalah reason sekarang untuk I membaking every week and ada budak2 yang nak menghabiskan.

But I terlupa nak ambik gambar the cake pagi tadi so you all layan aje lah ye gambar our dinners for the past 3 nights, hehehe.

Kan I dah bagitau yang I kena masak pizza on Friday nite tu…

So, I pun sebagai isteri and emak mithali, buat kan lah cheese pizzas for them but untuk I, I buat pizza lain yang tak banyak pakai cheese.

Sebab I dah muak sangat2 tengok cheese berlambak2 atas pizza tu!

I made for myself a bocconcini, semidried and fresh tomatoes and basil pizza.

Ini rupa my pizza sebelum dimasak.

And ini pulak rupa dia setelah dimasak.

I made it thin crust and very simple.

Sampai kan The Other Half pun tergoda habis2 tengok pizza I ni! hahahaha….

And then on Saturday nite, dah penat pergi rock climbing, we had a very simple dinner.

I bought rustic french bread and chicken burger patties at the shop and we had that for dinner, with salad.

My burger yang sangat sempoi, cuma bread, chicken patty and sandwich mayo sahaja.

I made green salad with added tomato, capsicum, oranges and bocconcini.

And then for dinner tonite, terpaksa lah tunaikan permintaan The Other Half nak kari.

Tapi instead of kari, I told him I nak buat rendang daging sebab dah laaaaamaaaaa tak makan rendang daging .

And he agreed with it.

And to make it even better, for the rendang paste, I guna bahan2 yang boleh dapat kat belakang rumah (kecuali lengkuas, bawang and garlic aje lah).

I used fresh red jalapeno chillis, halia, kunyit hidup, daun kunyit, daun limau purut, serai yang semua I petik kat kebun!

I rasa inilah rendang yang paling sedap I pernah buat sebab semua petik dari kebun!

hikhikhikhik….

And I buat grilled ikan kembong as well, untuk tekak I.

Makan pulak dengan ulam2an

Pegaga and kacang panjang petik kat kebun, tomato and timun beli kat kedai, sebab pokok timun masih belum berbuah lagi and pokok tomato baru nak membesar.

And then for after dinner sweet, we had some watermelon slices which also came from the garden.

Sangat lah happynya dengan hasil kebun……Alhamdulillah!

First time rock climbers

Today, we spent some quality time together as a family.

Selalunya The Other Half and I aje yang akan keluar ke kedai on Saturday morning while the girls stay at home doing their own sweet things.

Tapi pagi ni I paksa secara manja for The Other Half to agree to go rock climbing.

At first, punyalah liat dia nak pergi, macam2 alasan dia bagi…

Penat lah, nak spend time resting at home lah, malas nak drive to the city lah….

But I paksa/pujuk gak sampai lah dia setuju denganmuka agak kelat, heeee….

Tapi bila dah sampai kat tempat rock climbing tu, dia pulak yang beria2 memanjat tanpa henti2!

Ceh! hahahahaha….

First time for we all buat rock climbing ni….

At the first climb, ada lah jugak sikit takut but lepas tu, semua perasan macam spiderman aje!

Nasib tak pakai costume spiderman….. kalau tak, memang sebijik .

So, layan lah ye aksi2 we all meniru gaya spiderman, heeee….

First, kena pasang safety harness…

Then kena dengar taklimat by the staff, baru boleh panjat lepas tu…

He did the first climb while I was the anchor or in their term, belay.

making sure the carabiners are all properly fastened.

and then tukar2 pulak…

Look Mum! No rope! .

The Other Half doing the chimney climb.

And we got to the top, yeay….

The rope is basically only for safety reason. It doesn’t assist our climbing at all.

Memang guna kederat sendiri lah nak mendaki tu!

Adalah 3 jam lebih we all kat situ.

Bila balik rumah, semua lenguh2 tangan, lengan and kaki, hehehehehe…..

Malam ni gerenti tidur nyenyak sebab kepenatan .