About Happy New Year 2009..

Just wishing everyone a very Happy New Year 2009. A couple more hours and the last day of 2008 will end! Have you made your resolutions?

My resolutions is not to have any resolutions this year! Not that I ever have any.... ^_*

Cheers!

About being lazy and doing nothing...

“I’m doing nothing” is what you say when you really don’t want to say what you’re doing. Or, it’s what you say when you don’t know what you’re doing. - nothing important

Whenever I think of doing nothing which I have been doing, it will remind me of something I read from Winnie the Pooh. So, I goggle as you can find almost anything you can't remember goggling, and found Nothing's important - an interesting read about nothing.

I was looking for this:

“I like that too,” said Christopher Robin, “but what I like
doing best is Nothing.”

“How do you do Nothing?” asked Pooh, after he had wondered for a long time.

“Well, it’s when people call out at you just as you’re going off to do it ‘What are you going to do, Christopher Robin?’ and you say ‘Oh, nothing,’ and then you go and do it.”

“Oh, I see,” said Pooh.

“This is a nothing sort of thing that we’re doing now.”

“Oh, I see,” said Pooh again.

“It means just going along, listening to all the things you can’t hear, and not bothering.”

“Oh!” said Pooh.

I laughed aloud when I read this many years ago and somehow it stuck in my mind. I wonder what goes through a kid's mind when reading the book. Is it a good idea to recommend a child to read Winnie the Pooh?

About being bless, food wise at least...

It was another one of those days that emphasize I am so blessed!!

One day last week, I came to work with just tomatoes because Fiona got other ingredients for a sandwich - wholemeal bread and tuna... So, that was tuna sandwich for breakfast.

Then Twister showed up with the above and hey, there's my lunch... ^_* Fried eggs on the left and stuff green chilies on the right. (My mouth is watering as I type.) Twister posts recipes on her blog, if you don't already know, but its all in chinese. I offered and tried/attempted to translate(with much help from Fiona) them to english as someone requested but think I failed to come up with anything.

You can find the original recipe here. And below translated to english...

*********

Stuffed Green Chilies

Ingredients
- 8 green chilies
- 1 slice lean pork (chopped)

For meat seasoning
- a little bit of parseley
- a little bit of five spice powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tbsp oyster sauce
- 1 tsp sesame oil

For the sauce
- chopped garlic
- chopped shallots
- taucheo (yellow bean sauce)
- cornstrach (add in water)

Method:
1. Prepare the green chilies for stuffing - clean the green chilies and slit in the middle. Discard the seeds.
2. Chopped lean pork, add in all the seasonings, stir in one direction and marinate for 3 hours.
3. Stuff the meat paste into the green chilies.
4. Heat up some oil in a wok and fry the green chilies until golden in color. Dish up.
5. Using the same wok, leave some oil, stir fry the chopped garlic, shallots until fragant. Add in the taucheo and some water. Thicken the sauce with corn starch and ready to serve.

*********

That was not all... some more got dessert!

Another colleague came by with her sister's made steamed pumpkin covered with grated coconut.

Veggie Curry

SIL cooked vegetable curry for dinner one night last week. Of course, I packed leftovers for lunch the next day...

Nothing to show this week, have been lazy and cannot wake up in the morning.

That bowl of porridge

I know, it was a big bowl... too much carb. Hey, one step at a time, ok? What? It has been months already. Well, I am a real slow starter... and I love my food. Hence the size!!!

In the middle, kimchi and pickled black bean. Bottom and then clockwise - meat floss, bitter gourd stuff with meat (yong tou fu), onion fried eggs and a fish ball.

Back to Nature...

Picture this, having a nice hot bowl of porridge watching the sunset....

That should be the life but instead it is always dinner in front of the TV watching other people's drama!

Bento # 39

Persimmon on the sunflower silicon cup. Inari (stuff with brown rice mixed with furikake) and a star shaped egg. While rummaging thru the fridge, found some more of the sauteed meat from the other day...

I cheated. Both bento # 38 and # 39 were from the same day. Posted separated so that I have something to post everyday. Yes, I am silly that way... LOL!! I had one pre gym and the other after gym because I started going to the gym during lunch break for an hour. Happy for me, Emily? But my weight can't seem to go down. It is stuck at the same level.... Sorry, I lied again.... it might have increase just a little bit...

Bento # 38

Trying to take pictures differently.... ^_* What do you think?

Upper box consist of kimchi and the black bean in silicon cup, green apple at the side. Bottom box - inari filled with brown rice mixed with furikake and the other half of the green apple with some wolf berries....

Bento # 37

Yestesdays's fare was biscuit spread with salmon paste(already ate one not in the the picture) and salad of cucumber, tomato and apple with a tablespoon of olive oil dressing. Surprisingly, it was enough for lunch. ^_*

Sunset ...

or just before it rains?


Edit: Yes, Emily. I was doing the dishes when I looked up and there it was the beautiful sunset setting... quickly ran to my room to take a pic. But this picture didn't really capture the true colours!

Bento # 36

Mum and SIL came home from KL on Monday and brought some packages back for me from my 'lil sis. She even marked out 'for lunch' and 'for snack' on the packages.... LOL!!! So I got a fresh batch of the tofu pouch and kimchee, etc... Got another couple more bento box, egg mould and a sunflower silicon cup. Thanks very much 'lil sis, here's a big hug from me.



So, I made Inari, cut some peppers and tomatoes for salad(more than shown above) and the edamame in my new silicon cup. That was on Tuesday.

Seeing no updates from me, my 'lil sis actually gave me a morning call yesterday to wake me up and make my bento.... HAHAHAHA!!! Luckily she called, I was going to snooze some more. I did froze some of the rice I cooked on Tuesday and made Onigiri (rice ball). I think I must have done something wrong, I just took them out from the freezer and put them in my box. Came lunch time they were not frozen but very cold and they tasted absolutely yukky!! Blah!! Just one bite and I close the lid.


Luckily I also grab a frozen pack of Black Bean Chicken soup that mum cooked and froze for me a couple of weeks ago. I put it in my small slow cooker to heat it up... ^_*



Moral of the story ................. - always have a backup!

Bento # 35

This was from last week. Edamame, carrot in star shape and a failed shaped boiled egg. Did not take a pic of the bottom tier as it has another failed shaped boiled egg, leftovers from the cut out star carrot and some edamame... so now you know why I did not post this earlier. ^_* Don't know why the boiled eggs were so soft. Did not boil long enough or was the egg too fresh?

Bento # 34

I have been using this set of bento box over and over again. Why? Because I can't get rid of the food smell after washing. So, will leave it out to air and then the next day instead of taking out a new one just use them again because don't want to get all of them smelling like food... make sense?

This was yesterday bento. The night before SIL cooked noodles, stir fried capsicum, julienne cucumber, mixed it up with black rice vinegar, soy sauce and sesame oil. Simply delicious!! I didn't even warm it up.

I thought it might not be enough as I had twice that amount the night before and also because got this sautéed minced meat with capsicums that mum made during the weekend. The original recipe was Aunty Mary’s, using mock duck meat. But mum said better to stay away from China made product with so many unflattering news about them. Supposed to spread it on the bun and add cheese on top and toast it. But I just have it like that with the noodles. And that's apple in the other box.

I already had a couple of 'epok-epok' that Fiona bought for breakfast when the phone rang...

My ex-driver called to ask me to collect a piece of her father's birthday cake which she promised to bring but I forgot all about it. Its Secret Recipe's Chocolate mud cake......

I can tell you I didn't have a chance to feel hungry yesterday.......

The Quack Bento # 33

Leftovers from last night... duck meat, brown rice and bitter gourd. Ok, I lied... there was another box of the duck meat that was not in the picture. It was still nice and warm and I was hungry, so I'd some for breakfast and finished the rest around 11.45am. ^_*

Lunch was tea and 'loti peng with kaya' from the kopi tiam plus pineapple, papaya and guava from the fruit stall. I started to bring own containers to pack the fruits. I'd an extra container so got my colleague to use it and safe a few more plastic bags!

Managed to burnt some calories at the gym yesterday. Will try to continue today.....

Pink Sisterhood Tag

But Monday is Blue and it is raining, so unlikely to turn to pink. And when you read the following, you'll get even bluer....

* One in eight women or 12.6% of all women will get breast cancer in her lifetime.

* Breast cancer risk increases with age and every woman is at risk.

* Every 13 minutes a woman dies of breast cancer.

* Seventy-seven percent of women with breast cancer are over 50.

* Breast cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in women between the ages of 15 and 54, and the second cause of cancer death in women 55 to 74.

* Risks for breast cancer include a family history, atypical hyperplasia, early menstruation (before age 12), late menopause (after age 55), current use or use in the last ten years of oral contraceptives, and daily consumption of alcohol.

* Early detection of breast cancer, through monthly breast self-exam and particularly yearly mammography after age 40, offers the best chance for survival.

Facts taken from Women’s Health!

*****************************************

Got tag by 3lilangels and the rules:

1. Put the logo in your blog.

2. Add a link to the person who shared it with you.

3. Nominate at least 7 other blogs

4. Add your link to the list of participants below

5. Leave a message for your nominee on their blog.

Here's to spreading awareness on breast cancer!

A week flew by...

and there is nothing much to report. Busy with work and seriously you do not want to know the details...

Nothing to report craft wise and no bento either. My SIL did cook mee hoon one morning and I packed for lunch with otak-otak.

Another morning she made corn pancakes with wholewheat flour... I had for breakfast and lunch.

Yikes!! No greens...

TGIF again!

I wanted to break this lethagicness that I had forever. Lazy to go to the gym, lazy for bento, lazy to do cross-stitch, weary about the stock market... Told Emily I'll break the cycle this week.


Came Monday, I packed a salad and had 2 hardboiled eggs for breakfast. Healthy start, right? I even had wholewheat bread for snacking. Went to the gym for the spinning class after work but ... very paiseh... I almost fainted when the class was over that I had to sit down on the floor. Obviously, after that I had to rest and that's what I did for the past few days.... ^_*



Came Tuesday, lazy to pack anything... but as I am naturally a blessed person, Twister came with some mashed potato salad thinking that I can have with my bento. The bee hoon was from Fiona's bento and a client came by with yam cake!!!



Speaking of being blessed... did I mentioned that I got the 3rd prize from Snazzynsuch, Tini's giveaway. I received it last week and I haven't even thank Tini, yet. Tini... here's a big hug from me!!! Thank you very much! Someone else I know got the 2nd prize!! How lucky were we?


Remember I mentioned that I was busy playing the text twister game from DIGI a while ago... I had a surprise when Digi called and asked for my IC no. "Why do you want my IC no? I did not switch from Maxis." Talked about being paranoid. But shouldn't she explained first before asking for my IC no. LOL!!! Anyway, I won the consolation prize and it arrived by courier yesterday. 2 movies tickets and a RM50 cash voucher from Parkson. Someone else I know also won a consolation prize, we were playing the game together trying to beat each other's scores... See, not only am I blessed, people around me are also blessed!!! ^_*





But the best of all is when you received something and don't know who they are from....



I try to refrain myself from jumping up and down. Seriously, I don't know why I want these for. They are too kiddie for me... I tried calling my sister but she was busy and said she will call me back.


Then it just occur to me... they are not for me. I am just the courier service to Singapore. Must be lah!!! LOL!!!!!

Bento # 32

Seems like I have two bento # 30, then this must be # 32?

White rice sprinkled with a generous amount of sakura denbu. Bottom tier, that's otak-otak and a couple pieces of 'yong tou fu'. Added the green apples for colour...

To tell the truth, I cooked the rice in the rice cooker and heated the otak-otak in the oven toaster in the office. The 'yong tou fu' was from Fiona's bento. And I ate times 2 the above! Actually, I had already ate half of my food before I plated it into the above boxes. You know, just to take a photo....LOL!!!!

Well, the otak-otak was the main menu for a couple of days...

This was last weekend's frog leg's herbal soup... it was delicious and the aunty said its very easy to cook. Will try to get the recipe from her or easier, just get her to cook for me again. HAHAHAHA!!!

Bento # 30

I was running late so I pack up my lunch and had it around 2.30pm at where I work during the weekends. ^_* Brown rice sprinkle with sakura denbu, I am going to be using a lot of it b'cos its going to be expiring soon. I even sprinkle sakura denbu on my hard boiled eggs this morning.

The upper box, veg - kangkong, petai and bitter gourd, tofu and meat cook in soy sauce. Papaya in another box.

Red Rose Award

Yay, yay... I got two roses award, thanks to 3lilangels and Emily.

I have two!!!

Instead of one...

Red Roses for 7 Friends
The rules of the award are:
1. The winner can put the logo on her blog.
2. Link the person you received your award from.
3. Nominate at least 7 other blogs.
4. Put links of those blogs on yours.
5. Leave a message on the blogs of those you’ve nominated.

Now I have 7 roses to give.....

Nik, Shanny, Tini, Charlene, Lody, Paul and Janet, please come and claim this award. ^_*

Bento # 30

SIL bought this bag from a RM5 store. I did not catch the name of the store. She wanted me to try it out and see if it keeps the food warm till noon.

A lot of water condensation. Not good right? Anyway, the food wasn't warm. It was just room temperature, not cold. If you know what I mean.... ^_*

What I had was 2 chicken drumstick( last of the frozen batch that mum made for me), brown rice sprinkled with sakura denbu, edamame, korean pickles and japanese radish pickle. The pickles were cold, so I pack them separately. Plate into the box above before taking a pic. Not in the picture were 2 small red and green apple.

Hearts

What do you do when you have these?

Play time?

So, while making an egg sandwich...

Try this out for size

Can add 2 more small ones...

And this is what you get

But what to do with this?

Eat it first, of course

And then play some more...

Voila!

Lody's Contest 1: Give Thanks

Ok so I shamelessly copied from Paul’s blog to give him some contest…. (Ops, can he sue me for copyright?)

OK so I got this from Lody's blog.

She turned it into a mini contest and I wanna win so I'm putting this up on my blog as per the regulations.

WHO ARE YOU AND HOW DID YOU FIND ME?
1. As a comment on this post, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn’t matter if you know me a little or a lot, anything you remember! And if we’ve never met in real life, leave me a comment of your favorite post I wrote and why it was your favorite.

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It’s actually really funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I’ll assume you’re playing the game and I’ll come to your blog and leave one about you.

3. Do you read my posts from a reader, blogroll or is this your first visit?

Just post on her comments area about a memory of you and her and paste the above on your blog (more details at her blog).

She's going to announce the winner for the contest in Thanksgiving 27th November 2008. I hope I win!

^-^

Friday's bento # 29

Another bento of leftovers from dinner - vegetables and fish. I started eating then remembered have not taken a pic.. ^_*

I am still trying to get use to the idea of straight out of the fridge to work bento. I pack the upper box with the leftovers the night before and place in the fridge. I only heat up the rice in the morning. I suppose by noon the food is already room temperature whether from the fridge or heated up in the morning? Taste wise, I think it was the same... probably because I am not particular that my food must be heat hot.

Another Fiona made Bento

This was Tuesday bento. Crappy pictures took with handphone...

Yummy Yam cake for breakfast curtesy from Fiona's mum.

Fiona pack 2 bentos

Bottom tier - Petai fried with tempeh and dried shrimps, stir fried veg.
Did not take photo of the upper tier of white rice.