Wake Up and Smell the Cake

Hello!! I know I've been missing for some time, I have lots to blog about, from the new baby to recipes tried to adjusting to being a mother of two... but I shall skip all those for now. Haha. Yesterday I tried making date cake. I don't like eating dates on its own, I do eat them when they are squashed and all watered down in overnight oats. Since I saw FFL and smittenkitchen try out date cakes and smittenkitchen loved it despite not loving dates, I thought I'd give it a try. Date Cake from taste.com.au  (I always trust AU and UK websites for desserts!) 250g dates, pitted and chopped (I just tore them using hands) 1 tsp baking soda 1 1/2 cups boiling water 125g butter, softened 3/4 cups brown sugar 2 eggs 2 cups self raising flour (I used normal flour + 1 1/2 tsp baking powder) Chopped walnuts, slivered almonds Soak the dates in the boiling water for forever. Hahaha no la they recommend 20 minutes but I took a couple of hours because I was busy handling

Yes I know I've been gone for ages!! Junior #2 came out 12 days early, and I haven't really been using the computer haha. I'm blogging from my phone now. Have been trying out some recipes baking and cooking, but I can't remember all of them anymore. So before I forget! Here's my lunch for today. Super simple and fast, this is really a meal under 30 minutes.  I have been trying to use up leftover bits here and there, and I have oranges which I thought I'd save for orange butter cake but I just made apple muffins (recipe is apple cupcakes in my list) few days ago.  Orange Honey Soy Chicken Recipe from Allrecipes.com;  http://m.allrecipes.com/recipe/230660/orange-honey-and-soy-chicken 400g chicken breast (works with any boneless chicken) 1 tbsp ginger paste 1 tbsp garlic paste 1 onion, finely sliced (I added this) 1/4 cup honey 1/4 cup soy sauce (I reduced by 2 tbsp) Juice of 2 oranges  Cut the chicken into 1 inch cubes. Fry the onions until fragrant, then the ging

Did loads over the weekend! Friday was check up day (weekly now! haha!) so it was long weekend for me haha. I managed to find butterscotch chips at Cold Storage Novena on the way back home from the hospital so I grabbed one packet! And just to prove that Cold Storage does carry the brand, I went to check at Northpoint as well and yay! Found them again! Fetched my baby boy from my mum's and went home to make nasi goreng kampung which was a tad salty but the Husband said finally it has taste -_- Haha. Nasi Goreng Kampung recipe to be updated soon! I couldn't get my hands away from the kitchen hence I made butterscotch oatmeal cookies as per the recipe on the packet. Started at like 6 and ended at 8. Yes. That crazy. While the cookies taste oh-so-yummy, I had problems getting them off the trays as they tend to stick. Sigh. Very frustrating. Doesn't help that the cookies are brittle and thin. I'm kinda thinking of making another batch without using oatmeal, an

Yes I'm in cookie mode! Made pineapple tarts on Tuesday and cornflake cookies yesterday! I enlisted the help of my darling baby boy since he wasn't sleepy yet. Junior was glad to help! Junior trying his best to drop the dough, most of the time failing haha. But I let him continue still and rearranged them later. I love my mum's cornflake cookie recipe so I tried to get it from her. Sadly the recipe isn't complete as there's no measurement for flour. In her words, as long as can drop off the spoon can oredi. Like how vague is that!! T_T So I searched for other recipes trying to see if I can sorta estimate, and yesterday I used only 3 cups flour. Less flour is better than too much flour, but the cookies were quite sweet. Maybe 4 cups could be okay too? Anyway. Here's the recipe! Cornflake Cherry Cookies 250g salted butter, softened 2 cups sugar 2 eggs 3 cups flour 1 small box of Kellogg's cornflakes, 275g diced cherries diced almonds

No mood to work. 22 more days to EDD and 10 more working days less weekends and MCs! Haha. And this weather is perfect to sleep in. Yesterday I was at home so I made pineapple tarts! The lengths I go to to get Golden Churn butter in the tin, omg! I could have given birth seriously. I searched aisles and aisles at 2 NTUCs, 2 baking shops, whole of Chong Pang and finally found one last tin, slightly old cos the due date is October this year, and super pricey at $9.90! But I bought it cos there's no way I'm searching anymore. Apparently Phoon Huat doesn't carry Golden Churn brand, and NTUC and Giant are supposed to have them but maybe too many makcik2 and kakak2 buy oredi. Le sigh. I went Giant at Sembawang thinking there'd be stock there since it's big but I asked 2 staff and they don't know where it is either. Great. So I resorted to buying the block butter at the refrigerated section. I made 1 batch only since I only had 1 tin of butter, but at the ra

Yesterday night I was still on my hardworking cook streak and so I fried laksa mum's style to be eaten with marinated chicken wings this morning. I always prepare sahur the night before because I know I can't bear to wake up at 4 to cook in a rush. Haha. My mum's laksa goreng is something like bee hoon goreng taucho, and I love it a lot. Got the recipe from her and this is the second time I'm making them. The first time I didn't have taucho and it was a little too salty. This time round although I have taucho I still didn't have vegetables haha. Oh wells. A better try than the first, but still not perfect yet! Laksa Goreng Taucho 420g laksa noodles (because the packet is in 420g haha), washed 1 onion, sliced 4 tbsp chili paste 2-3 tbsp taucho, try not to take the water, just the beans 1 sq cm belacan 1 tbsp sugar 3 tbsp udang kering, soaked for a while Prawns. scrambled eggs (3) and sliced fishballs Tumbuk the taucho, belacan and udang kering u

Am very sleepy and cranky because I don't get enough sleep and my eyes are dry. Yesterday we had a small celebration for Junior at my mum's house. He loved it :) He loves anything to do with cake and candles hahaha. I'm making it a point to make either a smoothie or overnight oats for sahur daily for extra energy and to force myself to eat 3 ajwa dates daily. I don't like dates because they are too sweet, but when paired up with oats and/or milk, they become tasty! So far I tried the following combinations: ground almond + milk + dates quickcook oats + milk + dates banana + milk + slivered almonds + dates all blended together. The last one is my current fave! Super yummy! I still have some bananas left so I'm gonna make more banana smoothies. Maybe add in chocolate and oats this time round hurhur. Banana oatmeal peanut butter smoothie sounds nice too. I'm so excited at the endless smoothie possibilities! Best of all no sugar needed! Okay back to

Today is Junior's 3rd birthday. We had a small celebration, just the 3 of us at home on Saturday morning because Husband has to shuttle to and fro the hospital for the past few weeks and the coming few weeks too I suppose. It has been a very trying time for him and his family, may Allah ease their hearts, give them strength and patience. Junior was very excited to make his own birthday cake ever since I showed him that I plan to make a digger cake for his birthday. Just normal chocolate cake, with chocolate frosting and topping it with his diggers and cake crumbs to look like a construction site. Whoever came up with this idea is brilliant! I don't have to frost properly, and he gets to play with the cake first before we cut it. I meant to go to NTUC during lunch on Friday, but lunch plans changed, and we didn't manage to go to the supermarket that night hence I had no eggs for cake. No eggs! Luckily there's such thing as dairy free, egg free and butter free cake

I have been on and off work this past week because we were cleaning our home to make way for baby before fasting starts. We've managed to clear loads of stuff and made way for new wardrobes for the spare room (for Husband's long coats etc) and for the kids' room, and got brand new airconditioners for all the rooms! Ka-ching. Our home is all set now, minus the dining table which is still a hand-me-down. Oh and our bed could do with a change too but that can wait. Did some normal cooking and a little baking over the days, made bread pudding and this time round it turned great cos I soaked the bread in the custard for almost an hour. Soaking it prevents the crust from being too hard when baking. Oh and I attempted apple spring rolls too! I think I prefer banana chocolate spring rolls instead. Here's the recipe: Apple Spring Rolls , recipe from Crazy Mom Cook 6 small apples, peeled and diced 1/2 tsp cinnamon 1/3 cup brown sugar 2 tbsp butter 2 tsp orang

Very very lazy Monday morning today. Cousin got married over the weekend! Junior was in a good mood for both days, surrounded by family which he loves. This was after the nikah at the girl's side. He was happily making this cute pose and laughing at himself haha. My little king, slightly sleepy yet still wanted to pose with his crown. Managed to slot in semolina pudding on Saturday morning, finally I got to make some. It's kinda hard to find a recipe online cos there's German version, Indian version and others as well. Few weeks ago I came across a recipe book by an Indian/Pakistani Singaporean and the semolina pudding looks like what I was looking for so I tried it out! Sadly I didn't have rose water so the Indian flavour fell flat. Or maybe I should add in more cardamoms next time. Semolina Pudding , by Liza Kassim 900ml water 1 cup sugar 2 tsp rose water (I didn't have this) 1 pandan leaf (Didn't have this either) 2-3 cardamoms 400ml

I'll be due in less than 7 weeks! Suddenly it's so fast. We haven't really prepared the house for the baby yet. We didn't buy any cute clothes, just normal home clothes you can get from the market. No shoes, no bows or ribbons. Things we have yet to do/buy: clean the house to make way for new cupboard and playpen cupboard for both Junior and No. 2 prepare my delivery bag!! Clothes, disposable underwear, sanitary pads, baby's clothes, documents diaper changing mat (I can tell when my boy is gonna pee but for girls, you'll never know!) new bottles to keep breastmilk bedsheets and pillows for playpen I think that's about all, not much prep for a second baby. The rest I have them already. No need for a birth plan blah blah. Will use epidural if I require, that's all. I hope I can go through with natural birth no matter how big she is. It's time to start panicking. Haha.

Today is a much better day than yesterday. Good start to my morning! I woke up at 4am and got my washing machine going, slept back and woke up at 5 to start the dryer. I love it when laundry gets done! Then I ironed a couple of shirts, baked banana muffins cos I have ripe bananas rotting in the fridge, and then off to work with the muffins! In office, a stack of chappati with keema and vegetable curries awaited me YUMYUM :) My dearest colleague made them for me (I requested for her homemade chappati and keema), she loves cooking for pregnant women. Totally love her soft chappati and her curries! With such spices, I don't mind being vegetarian haha. My banana muffins today aren't sweet, luckily I added some leftover chocolates in for a bit of sweet chocolatey taste and topped off with sliced almonds. Banana Muffins (they don't qualify as my type of banana cake) 250g plain flour 1 tsp baking powder 1 tsp baking soda 1/2 tsp cinnamon powder 2 eggs 125ml oi

Going for a short getaway to KL this weekend with colleagues! 3 families consisting of 6 adults, 4 children. I have trouble thinking of what things to bring for the trip. When Junior was younger, there was so much prep! Extra clothes, cooking porridge in advance and freezing them, bringing milk and my breast pump just in case, bringing all sorts of toys and books to keep him entertained. Ah yes porridge. I was am one of those mothers who must make sure my child gets good nutrition, but somehow along the line Junior developed a liking for only the usual chicken porridge with carrots and broccoli. No salt too. So wherever we went, I was sure to bring containers of porridge along. My son didn't like to be hungry and can turn into Hulk for not having food on time (like his mama too haha). I remember cooking in advance, freezing them, putting in freezer bags and thawing when it was time to eat haha. Nowadays I don't have to cook porridge, but it can be quite a hassle to thin

Back from the long weekend and dreading it. Haha. I've never believed in the concept of going for a break and coming back refreshed. Going for a break, yes, but who would want to come back from a break! Anyway. Lots happened! Like Junior's cookie session, and my 7th month check up (yes time flies!), another round of abdominal pains that got me so worried and got me thinking of death too later that night. But happy things first. Cookies! Wanted to make no chill sugar cookies but it didn't turn out well. I followed the recipe yet the batter was too soft so I added more flour and sugar (but more flour than sugar and the ratio got weird), and while it was good to make shapes for Junior, the taste was horribly bitter. So I threw them out. Good that I only used half a pack of butter, and saved the other half for chocolate chip cookies. Next time I shall just use my pineapple tart cookie recipe lah. Junior couldn't wait to press the cookie dough! Yes

Good morning! We had a good weekend, but it was really really hot to the point where I ironed clothes in aircon and with the fan on haha. Also! It's the start of my 3rd trimester yay! And what a way to start 3rd trimester than a dream about giving birth. Such a tiring dream -_- Saturday morning I cooked an early lunch for Husband's korma ayam brunch (yup repeat telecast), and later I made apple raisin muffins which he approves!! Seldom does he approve fruit related bakes so this is an achievement! He did ask though if eating that qualifies eating fruit. I would like to think so too ahhahaha. I've made apple cupcakes using this moist apple cake recipe ! I've used this before, in an earlier post . Totally love it. I added raisins as well for a sweeter bite. Would have been nice to have walnuts too. Moist Apple Mini Cakes 4 apples, peeled cored & diced 3/4 tbsp cinnamon 3/4 tbsp sugar (supposed to be 3 but I followed wrongly but still turned out fine wit

Love the long weekend! Junior and I made some old fashioned chocolate cake by Nigella and I cooked chicken curry on Friday. Because the other 2 days we were out with extended family. Old Fashioned Chocolate Cake 116g butter, softened 133g self raising flour 133g sugar 1/2 tsp baking powder 30g cocoa (valrhona, not dutch processed) 100g light sour cream 2 eggs The recipe blitzed everything in a blender, but I did the old fashioned way of creaming the butter and sugar together, then adding in eggs one by one and then the sifted cocoa + flour and light sour cream. Junior helped too of course :) We put them into cupcakes, and got me exactly 12 normal sized ones. I have not taken any photo of the finished product, but it is soft and fluffy, and I love how the domes turned out! Totally love this recipe :) Chocolatey but not too much, perfect for chocolate base cakes! I cheated on the frosting, bought the Philadelphia ready made chocolate frosting because I have never h

Back to work. We spent most of the weekend at home since Junior is down with chicken pox. Saturday's menu is ayam masak korma and pengat pisang. Both are The Husband's cravings. So morning I managed to cook pengat pisang for breakfast using the same recipe as before. Got started on my ayam masak korma. I decided to follow the recipe on the korma powder packet cos it seems simple enough and it's catered to that specific spice anyway. So for 1 whole chicken, this is the recipe. Ayam Masak Korma 1 whole chicken 2 onions, thinly sliced 2 cloves, 1 cardamom 1 star anise 5 cloves garlic 3 cm ginger 1 tbsp chili paste (I added because I didn't have fresh chilis) 5 tbsp korma powder, Malabar brand 2 tbsp meat curry powder, Malabar brand 1 packet Kara coconut cream (200ml) Potatoes and cherry tomatoes Thinly slice the onions, pound garlic and ginger together. Fry the sliced onions in oil. Add in the cloves, cardamom and star anise to fry together. On

Yesterday was one of those days I was really hardworking in the kitchen. Cooked Junior's broccoli soup and got started on my beef rendang. I wanted to try cooking pulut kuning using the rice cooker, what rendang compliments pulut kuning beautifully. My SIL just got back from Bandung and I requested this from her! Haha. Have no idea what it's called, but on the packet it says "sale pisang". I love it a lot but can't seem to find it here. This beats getting cloth or clothes as presents haha! She gave me 5 packets summore. I'm a happy girl! :) Anyway back to rendang. Husband requested the addition of kerisik, though I don't know how that will help except bring more fats in :/ I still stuck to my mum's recipe because I refuse to try others hahaha. Once that was about done, I started on the glutinous rice. I tried the recipe from here , and I think I should have reduced the amount of coconut cream and replaced with water. Pulut Kuning Rice Cook

Eating healthy is not interesting at all. I'm starting to get bored. No wonder my grandmother can't stand being on the strict diet that she has to adhere to. Since we've found out my baby is big about a month ago, I've been trying to eat proper breakfasts and snacks so that neither the baby or I will gain unnecessary weight. No more canteen breakfasts (I cheated on 2 days so far but I'm still proud of the fact that it's only 2 days haha), cut down on chocolates and cakes and replaced with apples. So far my weight has not changed for 5 weeks now even though my belly is growing and I've found that apples really do help with appetite and managing your glucose. By far the best snack I've discovered so far! I've prepared breakfast of mostly wraps with marinated chicken or scrambled eggs and lots of salad. Good amount of protein with minimal carbs. But today I am starting to feel bored of healthy food. I am craving for potato chips with sour cream and

Took the day off yesterday cos my mum had to take care of her baby boy (HAHA) so I took care of mine :) It was the first time we sent him to school. We went to work cos I had to settle some slides even though I was on leave, and later I fetched him from school. Junior was so bubbly and happy :) Love seeing him so carefree and enjoying life. After I settled work stuff, we took the public transport like he has longed wanted, so it was the bus and train! Junior entertained mama's selfies hahahaha :) We stopped by the Lego shop too to get more parts for his building Lego collection. Waiting for the train to come! And yes I got the reserved seat woohoo! By the time we reached our MRT stop, he was tired so we too a taxi home instead of another bus. He too said he was tired. Aww my poor little boy. Almost fell asleep in the taxi. But once he reached home, he has a sudden release of energy and was off singing and talking again. We did his Lego set, sooo difficult to g