Of being vulnerable.

This is uplifting I thought I should share with everybody :)

Hajar's cookies are back

While I cook low fat food, Hajar is baking her chocolate chip cookies. This time with hazel nuts.

Step 2 , substitute.

Actually the corn cake was not so popular with the girls.  They only eat one piece and do not go for seconds.  Maybe it is not to their taste. Maybe they are not yet into healthy eating.

This morning I am fasting.  Time is flying fast and I have many more days to pay back.  When I fast I am like a withered plant.  I read in a magazine, fasting 2 days a week is a good way to diet.  We all know that to fast on Monday and Thursday is a part of our Islamic practices.

I went into this gorgeous blog named absolutely beautiful things, and it is most interesting and colourful.  If only I can come up with something like that.  Unfortunately.....

When you want to cook something healthy, but no one seems to like what you cook or do not believe in your cause, you lose your enthusiasm to cook.  But I should not give up and keep doing what I believe in, that is substituting the sinful cakes for something less sinful ones. To go without, I cannot.  Food is my few pleasures in life.

As I have observed the people around me, they would naturally go off many foods as they grow old.  They suddenly cannot take the gamy smell of chicken, they do not like sweet cakes, biscuit and kueh, they find   fish too fishy.  What they  enjoy is ikan kering..

If only I can get hold of wholegrains, unprocessed wholesome ingredients and make Hajar turn it into bread since I read white rice and white bread is not so good. Bleached products are not good.  Maybe I should go scour the ingredient shop and see what is available. Maybe I should get a wheat mill. A small one.

If my advice on cutting down in the previous post  is step 1, step 2 would be all the substituting.  Difficult and just as challenging.

So far I have made low fat banana cake (Mimi made this actually), low fat carrot cake, low fat corn cake  and low fat zucchini cake.  And tried selling them too. Only half is taken.  Maybe not many are yet into healthy eating.

I shall not give up. InsyaAllah I will try out more low fat less suger  recipes.

Sweet corn cake

Sweet corn cake

420gm canned creamed sweet corn
1 cup dark brown soft sugar (use white sugar if you want a light colour cake
1/ 2 cup white sugar if you want it sweet. If not, omit this.
3 eggs
250ml veg oil
1 tablespoon baking powder
280 gm plain flour
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon ( I omitted this to keep the corn flavour)
60 gm chopped walnuts ( no walnuts, expensive)
75 gm raisins

Combine corn, castor sugar, brown sugar together. Stir in eggs and oil.

Combine dry ingredients. Bake 180 C for 40 mins.

Start taking care of your health early

As we grow older we are more aware of the changes that is going on with our body. Seriously.

When we were young, we could run, juggle and multitask and repeat.

Now, we feel we cannot do so much.  We need time to rest.  I say we because my friends say the same thing.

I don't know if there are other reasons for feeling tired but I think growing older does play its part.

I advice everyone to take care of your diet from the age of 30.So that when you reach 50, you can sort of slow down the aging and changing trend. Seriously.

By now I have somewhat changed my diet and able to eat less and eat healthier.  But it took time. Quite long.

You either do it at your own accord or have your doctor tell you to.  One way or other, the day would come.  You either consult your doctor because you are health conscious or because you are already suffering from something.

Unfortunately when we are younger we are too busy to think about our health. We were invincible.  Some people stay invincible through out their middle age and hate it when we say the word old.  I don't know, to me, every age has its....its promises.

But for now its time to review our health.  The earlier, the better.

Of hand, I can advice this.

1.  Take less sugar
2.  Eat less rice
3.  Cut as much oil as possible
4.  Cut down on the portion of your food
5.  Exercise or move your muscles.  I believe humans are created to work their limbs.

This is the starting point.  And I have just achieved this level. Still poor on no.5

But......

Yesterday I continued this new bright idea of mine for everyone to eat healthy and cooked up some awesome low calorie cakes.   Used healthier oil and not butter.  I made carrot bread, zucchini bread and today, sweet corn cake.  Yep, vegetable cakes.  It still tasted like cakes but not as gooey and less sweet.  Full of fiber.

Will show the actual picture of the sweet corn cake I made this morning as soon as I find the necessary wires to upload. Its yummy.  Rasa dia macam apam balik pun ada.

Healthy eating

I was thinking...

I have many homespun therapy.  One time I did leg massage therapy for Aishah and Shaz when they were flat out exhausted interns in Kuching.  Quite recent I tried selling food therapy to make our problems go away. Did not quite achieve it.  I tried paint therapy for Bahrain and was only half successful.  Sewing therapy for Hajar has come to an end.

Cooking therapy, I could not do it for long since I am not allowed to eat alot of stuff. I am on a perpetual diet.  But...if it is healthy eating, I have not gone bored on this subject.

Lets get into healthy eating and see how long I would last writing about it.

Yesterday I cooked for my dad and my two brothers at their holiday house.  It was actually my desperate attempt to escape from having to join in their discussion so I volunteered to do the cooking. Even bundled up  my oven and pans and brought with me.  I grilled salmon, served with white rice, roasted vegetables, and cucumber soup.  All healthy. While they wait, I served them cubed fruits with melted chocolate fondue.  Not so healthy but I hope that when they dug into the chocolate, they would  forget I am there.

Then it got me and Mimi thinking, what to cook next if we are called to go there again.  And I just got the answer.  HEALTHY FOOD!

I share with you my cucumber soup recipe.

2 cups natural yogurt
1/ 2 cup water
2 medium cucumbers cut, seeded and dried with a towel.  Add salt to the cucumber before drying them.

Some dill
1 clove garlic
1/ 4 big onion or some chives.
1 tblspn sugar
1 tblspn lemon juice

Put all the above in the blender and blend till smooth.  If you like less tangy, add some milk. Serve cold.

Its cooling this recipe.  I like. Rasa sejuk dalam perut.

Going another colour?

Ok, I do not have a life, so I do this colour your day thing.  I guess those with a life would be too busy to think of all this.  But its fun don't you think, no matter how old you are, to choose a theme colour for the whole day and see how it turns out.  A little harmless fun that cost nothing  is good for everyone.

Let's try citrus colours, orange and yellow!

Dress in citrus and if it is your lucky day, win a beauty pageant like Mimi.

For breakfast have orange juice, egg sunny side up and toast with marmalade.  A slice of papaya.

Have sushi for lunch, pick those with the orange fish roe on top.  For drinks, Kikapoo.  And complete your lunch with lemon meringue for dessert.

Not many things to do in orange and yellow.  I know!!  You can go to a yellow Digi Shop and check out their latest whatever.

For dinner have carrot soup or pulut kuning (yellow glutinous rice)  A glass of lemonade and persimmons for dessert.

Buy a pumpkin.

How about going blue?

The article said looking at blue colour makes people happy.  Blue it seems is a  happy colour that can bring out good feelings in you when you look at it and it is the most loved colour  according to this quiz I did.

How do we go about going blue?

You can feel blue if you like for the day. As long as you are not grouchy .
Wear something blue for starters.  Blue top and blue jeans.

For breakfast have blueberry muffin with blueberry yogurt, since blueberries has alot of antioxident. (Please google its benefits)

For lunch some blue kerabu rice and Pepsi Blue at a Kelantanese restaurant near your place.

Sit and gaze at the blue sky and see how white and fluffy the clouds change its shape.

Or jump into a  blue pool and swim your stress away.

Dream  a holiday to Blue Mountains, Australia.  I saw on TV how lovely it is.  Quaint  houses surrounded by flowers.and trees.

 Go to Aquaria at KLCC and get to know the fishes.

Buy some Hydrangeass  and put it in a vase. They are my favourite.  Real flowers never fail to lift up you spirit and mood.  I am sure Allah create flower for that reason.

The only blue not allowed are blue movies.

Already bored with happy

Like Shrek said in one of his three movies, " Happy, happy,happy."

I can't go writing 100 happy post, I am the kind that gets easily bored.

Anyway, we are not put in this world to be happy, but to gain the blessings of Allah.

Nevertheless, happy is important because being unhappy is bad for the soul. That is why we have to learn to stay happy, if not, at least, to keep cool.

The best kind of happiness is being happy in both ease and adversity. Anyone can be happy when they get what you want.  Everyone is happy when everything goes their way.  But can you be happy when the world is against you and everything goes wrong?  Can you still find something to be happy about? Can you keep your smile while you heart is breaking? Can you feel happy when someone wins and you lose?

 And no one is happy all the time.

When it comes to heartbreaks, I am up there, where few have been.

It sucks the life out of you, swallow you whole. You forget what it is like, the emotion happy.  Its a stranger to your heart.

But after the dust settle, as it always would,  you must give yourself permission to be happy again. Telling yourself, despite the hurt, the heartaches, the giving up, the bleak, the damage, that its okay....to be happy.

Happiness is doing little things

If you cannot do big things, do little things.  They will all sum up  one day when we look back and feel happy  that we did them.

 I have been doing  little things too. If I may proof to you that I practice what I preach and may those in this post allow me to publish this.

This morning Abang was supposed to paint my flat.  So I went to pick him up and realized it is one of those days since he could not answer any of my questions about painting plan. What colour should the kitchen be? Wrong.  What colour should be bathroom be? Wrong. He was going on about finishing the balcony when the flat has no balcony.  All I could do was to tell him. "Abang, hari ni Abang jadi bodyguard Aunty. Tak payah cat rumah" and took him along with me to run my errands.  From my front mirror I could see him fighting hard to keep alert and asking me funny questions like if there is a black cat in the car, do I want to eat durian he imagined he had bought. Then I sent him home giving him 20rm for guarding me from the non-existent.

One of the girls was feeling blue so I bought her her favourite food, KFC. That was easy.

I bought 3 nasi lemak 'ciput',(as in little)  to eat with my aunt.

Made Ikan Singgang for Kak Ros since she had never tasted my version of that dish. This is to reciprocate her wonderful nasi lemak she plans and hopes to sell. She makes lovely kueh bakar kemboja too.  Can order.

Ida called to say a piece of curtain she was sewing for me went missing. She cut 6 pieces and when she came down from her bath there was only 5.  I said, never mind,' sedeqah' the missing piece. The cloth is extremely sweet and I guess someone else thought so too.

Selling my soaps cost price to relatives so that I do not pinch their pocket at a time of  loss and grieve .  Lovely handmade olive oil soap from Nablus, Palestine.  They are added with one of the beneficial extract from sage, pomegranate, milk, grape, black cumin, dead sea mud and many more great stuff. These soaps work. Tried and tested. 17.50rm, can order.

Motivated Diana to do well in her new part time business selling Alpha Lipid milk for health and slimming. Can order.


Ordered a chocolate fondue set to make 'strawberry cicah chocolate' for my father.  Plan to sell those little  thingy too. One day can order.

My god-sister, Kak Timah is here and she is doing Wakaf Quran, where you pay 20rm for a Quran to be sent to the mosque or Tahfiz and if someone reads your Quran, you will reap the 'pahala' as well. Can order.

Tomorrow I will be meeting Jiha InsyaAllah whose father makes the best herbal balm that really really really works. Can order.

I have put advertisement in this ' little'  blog for those mentioned above but I am sorry, guys, if this blog cannot skyrocket your sales since it is not a famous blog.

Happy Going Green

Going green is a good thing.  Its a favourite colour at the moment.

Now, how do we go green?

Down with all  bio un-degradable emm...things. At least minimize their use.

Do not use or depend on those things even if that is like impossible to do.

One big plastic bag  outweighs the use of many small plastic bags going by this concept. All the supermarkets sells this  at their cashier (Better still if you can get a big bag made of a natural source).  So buy and bring your own  big bag to do your shopping  each time you  leave the  house.  Please do not forget this bag or you will have to forgo going green for that day. And believe me, you can forget ALL the time.

Spend time creating a garden. Flower or better still, herb garden.  Grow pandan, serai, daun limau purut, and many other herbs. Many western herbs are now planted and sold locally.  Oregano, rosemary, dill etc

Drink green tea. Please google its benefits.

Detoxing is a part of going green.

Eat green leafy vegetable. Take Alfafa, wheatgrass, fresh sugar-cane drink.

Down with processed food.  Eat natural food with natural goodness.

Eat green fruits like green apples and green guava to help you stay off the sugars.

Take a break from the concrete jungle to a real jungle, (no lah, not jungle,  forest more like it).  How big this 'jungle' depents on how green you would like to go.  A lake with trees would be good enough for me.

Take a walk barefooted on the grass.

Be as cool as  a cucumber.

More cute things

The power of cute

The article says looking at cute things makes you happy.
.
I absolutely agree. Bringing them home makes me happier.

I have this urge to squeeze cute things.  Sometimes I squeeze babies.

 Let's get some cute on this post.


                                                                                                                       A cool squirrel

Some cute animals are smelly

Cute cake

Cute cartoon who loves to write/draw

Cutie-pie

cute house