Thursday, March 28, 2013

Assessment

This week is the school hols for Peanut, so no Kindy!! (yayy or boo??) Tomorrow,  we will need to go to her school because there's a Meet-The-Parents session with her class teacher and she'll give a short assessment on how she's been coming along thus far :) Our session is from 830am to 845am and I'll be going with DH. Kinda early, but no matter. I guess we'll be the first one?? Not sure whether that's good news or bad news..*nervous laughter*

Peanut in her uniform. (she's wearing skorts) Kinda glad it's not in some jinjang colors..





Mummy-in-training tips: Rattan basket to carry your stuff!

I've been searching  high and low for a rattan basket in KL, but it's damn hard to find one. I finally managed to find a makeshift stall selling rattan stuff at the road side in KL and they quoted me around RM110 for a rattan basket T T. Wtf. Siao. Why so expensive??

I remember using one back when I was a kid for my tuition classes, and it was for my own nolstagic memories that I wanted one again. in fact it was one of the standard pre-requisite bag for one of the schools in kch.   Brought back a lot of memories for me.  And i had visions of Peanut bringing it to her kindy and what not. Vision only la, it's not that practical for her to bring to Kindy in reality. For one, it's bigger than her body lol.

So when I went back to Kuching and I saw a shop (selling stationeries) selling this rattan basket for only RM36, I didn't even have to think twice.


 I have been using it everyday to bring my stuff up and down the  house. cos i am lazy. So convenient.  Each night before we go up to our bedroom, there's A LOT of things for me to carry and that includes BabyD, milk bottles, cannot-leave-their-eyesight bolsters, my tablet, keys, mobile phone, water bottle, books etc and if I don't use the basket, I have to make many trips up and down. With the basket, I can just throw everything in. And same goes in the morning when i need to bring everything down again.

It's also useful when we go out with the kids. Just need to put it in the car and I can see everything at a glance. No need to rummage through my bags and find their bottles, snacks, etc.

My mum, who saw the basket, jumped onto the rattan bandwagon as well and decided one basket is just not enough for me.  Once I was back in KL, she kept asking me whether I need anymore baskets i.e.  " do you need a bigger size, or maybe a smaller size, one for Peanut, one for BabyD? come on, you can put them in your cars etc". She can't take no for an answer and that's how I ended up with two more O_O (she got them from a shop selling baby stuff so i guess i'm on the right track? haha).  I don't know who's a bigger shopaholic. Me or her. She even got someone to sew inserts for the baskets. bless her!!!

Baskets of varying sizes.

Wednesday, March 27, 2013

BabyD




It's 1:30pm, and thanks to my "Babysitter" aka my sarung, BabyD is fast asleep muahaha.The sarung is like a drug. He falls asleep in less than 5 mins inside.

You have no idea how happy I am each time he takes his nap. It's the only time I can savor my coffee slowly without any interruption.  Once he wakes up, he's gonna create havoc in the house, and it's up to me to pick up the trail of destruction that he leaves behind. Sometimes I bribe Peanut to do it for me. 

Ah Pek attempting to draw something. Err...why is his tummy so round and big?? 


 

Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Homemade yoghurt using Easiyo yoghurt maker

I love Easiyo yoghurt because it's so easy to make and it's good. But sometimes the easiyo yoghurt powder (approximately RM16.50 per packet) with the flavor that I want is hard to find and I thought I can try making my own. Can save $$ at the same time hehe

Now that I'm at home constantly, now is the best time to experiment on food.

After googling (love google, endless trove of info) endlessly on various methods to make homemade yoghurt (with some requiring me to boil the milk, using thermometer, putting them in various pots and pans and cooling them down in a cool place) , I finally found a few that uses the Easiyo yoghurt maker. No need to boil, no need fresh milk, and  no need thermometer!!


All you need is this:
  • A tub of yoghurt that contains live culture(approximately RM4.50)
  • Easiyo yoghurt maker (perfect if you have one sitting in your pantry)
  • Full cream milk powder (any brand will do but it has to be be full cream) (less than RM20)
 

 
containes live culture 

Instructions:
  • Put 4 cups of milk powder into the easiyo container 
  • put 2 tbsp of yoghurt 
  • Fill up the inner bottle with cool, boiled water and shake vigorously!


Place it in the outer bottle as how you would do normally with the Easiyo yoghurt maker, and fill it with hot water and that's it!! Leave it for approximately 8 to 12 hours (I left it for 24 hours once, no problemo)  Once it's set, you can put it in the fridge.




Pleased to report that the kids and I do not have any tummy aches after consuming all the yoghurt so it's certified safe! haha You can add flavors, fruits, whatever you want but I prefer to eat it plain or add it to my oats.

Now, 4 cups of milk powder may seems a lot (it was to me).  I've tried experimenting with 2 cups of milk powder with 2 tbsp of yoghurt, and even 1 cup of milk powder and 2 tbsp of yoghurt. I seems to get thicker yoghurt with 4 cups of milk powder, so I guess it' up to you how many cups you want to put inside. Just experiment, because at the end, you will still get yoghurt. :)  and if it's too runny, you can make chicken curry and substitute your coconut milk with yoghurt.

 To start on a next batch of yoghurt, you can just take 2 tbsp of yoghurt from the ones you made as it contains live culture and just make your yoghurt as per instructions above.

Mummy-in-training tips: Thirst quenching tea 24/7


Isn't the weather crazy hot these past few weeks?? it's so hot that a few minutes in the sun, I could feel the sun rays searing into my skin. Ugh.. To cool myself down, I have been making pitchers and pitchers of iced tea so I have access to cold drinks at all times.

I don't really fancy sweet drinks, so this is a good alternative. Healthy and cooling!
On the left is oolong tea and on the right is green tea. 

My current obssession is Oolong Tea and I love this brand i.e.TenRen (Rm9.90 for a pack of loose tea leaves). I usually put the leaves into teabags I got from Daiso (one bag is usually enough for a jug) and let it steep in hot water for at least an hour before I chuck it into the fridge. I usually leave the tea bag inside the jug.


Oolong tea has lots of benefits and one of THE most important ones is that it aids weight loss. Do i need anymore reasons? I'm sold!!!

Some of oolong tea health benefits are as follows:
  •  help reduce cholesterol build-up in the bloodstream.
  •  help burn fat and thus, may contribute to slimming.
  •  help prevent heart ailments.
  •  can be used for treatment of digestive disorders.
  • can promote longevity by stimulating bodily functions and strengthening the immune system.
I love the taste of Oolong tea and I can drink cups and cups of it in a day. :)


Monday, March 25, 2013

Peanut's birthday cakes

 For her birthday this year, I got Peanut two cakes. One for her to celebrate at her birthday party in Kindy,and another one for home. (Gal requested for a Mickey Mouse cake for school so a mickey mouse cake it is! Only RM80 (1kg) from a hidden and unassuming gem of a bakery in Klang.  Love the choc cake inside. Not too sweet, moist and it's super yummy! This is a third time I got a cake from them. It's never disappointing! If you wanna know where I got it from,  it's from Bread Berry, Klang. Got FB page.



A rainbow cake from Wondermilk "Cirque Du Lola" (RM70) . Frankly, quite a  disappointment. Looks good from the outside but cake was hard and dry and too sweet. :(




Interesting books

 One of the things i've been doing is to catch up on my reading. I've never been interested in any Stephen King novels because i'm not into horror or fantasy. But 11.22.63 caught my eye. It's a story about ho an English teacher went back to the past to prevent the Kennedy assassination which occurred on 22 Nov 1963. It's really unputdownable and I love it!

Once I finished it, I was raring for another Stephen King's novel and Under the Dome caught my eye. This super thick novel is 1072 pages thick (goodness me) and I thought I will enjoy it. If you love Lord of the Flies (not Lord of the Rings hoh), then perhaps you might enjoy this book, but I don't like a book that is "hai lai hai kee". Hokkien for "constantly causing harm to one another". So I speed read  this book just to see how it ends.


I just finished reading Tina Fey's Bossypants and it was light hearted and  funny. A relief from the heavy read that is Under the Dome. I'm now going into "French Children Don't Throw Food". Reallly mehh???? This I gotta see!!

Daily routine

Gosh it's almost the end of March, which means I've been on this SAHM stint for almost a month. Now that I've sort of gotten used to this routine, come April, there will be a whole new routine when I begin my freelancing.

The first two weeks of March went by in a blur. By blur, I meant me. I was in a sort of haze that when friends / family ask me how am i coping, my only answer was "everything feels like a blur". I only got used to things around the third week and now i have a "routine" down pat. Everyone needs a routine right? So this is what happens on a daily basis (on a weekday):

7:15am: wake up and get Peanut ready for Kindy!!

8am:  On days when DH don't need to go into the office that early, he'll be the one to send Peanut to kindy which is good. Because if i'm the one who has to send Peanut to kindy, it means i'll have to wake BabyD and bring him along, and having to bring him means I need to make his milk, strap him into his car seat, drop her off kindy, then go home and unstrap him which is exhausting in itself. On my lucky day, he'll be happily sucking his milk. On bad days he'll be screaming all the way to kindy and back.

8:30am to 12:15pm: Prepares lunch for the kids. Something easy. Usually different kinds of soups or fried rice. Also, use this time to just chill, catch up on news, read a book, 
clean the house, laundry etc. Sometimes i brave myself and go to get groceries with BabyD at either Tesco or Giant. Thank God it's almost always empty. Yay for me!!

1215: Strap DH into his car seat again and off we go to pick up Peanut.

12:40pm: Get the kids to eat their lunch. Zzzz..I don't usually eat lunch because (a) am too lazy to cook for myself, (b) no fun eating alone (c) I'm on a diet forever

Here, I would like to take this opportunity to give my utmost gratitude and thanks to my sidekick, my electronic BABYSITTER!!! Mwuahhh!! Without you, I will dieeeeeeeeeee!!!! (dramatic). Say hello to my baby swing cradle aka as my babysitter. 


Electronic cradle with timer function to help me to rock the cradle

1pm: So at 1pm on the dot, I will put BabyD in the cradle, and he'll be darn excited and happy. He loves it. All I need to give him is his bolster and  bottle and within 5 mins, he'll be in dreamland. He can sleep for at least 3 hours in this thing and during this 3 hours, I can do my own shit. Bliss. Peanut usually watch cartoons, does some art, play with her toys, or naps in this period of time.

4pm: Everyone is usually up. We either lepak at a shopping mall nearby my home if i need to get something (that's the furthest I will venture with the two of them), or just hang around at home and try to do something "useful while I prep dinner,  or for every Tues and Thurs, we will go to their Popo's house. She will usually cook a lot on these two days as well, so I will usually tapao dinner home. No need for me to cook! :)

630pm to 730pm: Shower the kids and get them to eat their dinner.

730pm onwards: Lepak while waiting for DH to come home from work.

So that's it!!