my fruity loaf

I stopped baking after few months staying here. Reason being, I can't find the bakery supply outlet. I have to buy bread from bakery or supermarket, while my bread machine just become a toaster or oven. Poor thing. I missed my home bake bread. :-(

After my maid left, I found she kept my bread flour in a different plastic bag. Well, with the leftover flour, and also we found the bakery supply outlet in Taman U last Sat, I decided to roll up my sleeve and start baking. It's fun! But the headache part followed. I have to wash every single tool that I used. >_< I managed to dig out some cranberries, apricot, sunflower seeds as well as raisins. This is good enough to make a fruity loaf. Ingredient: 1. 280ml water (with/without egg) 2. 500g bread flour (included oats bran) 3. 100g sugar 4. 75g butter 5. 1tsp salt 6. 3tsp yeast **Recipe is not relevant if you are not using bread machine.

After 45m, dough is ready to bake in the oven.

It's done! The smell of the freshly baked bread is in every corner of the house.

Share 1 with my lovely neighbour. Hope she likes it.

Good deal from Popular

While kids attending sat school, both of us having sweet time at Jusco Bkt Indah. After having our afternoon tea, we head to Popular to look for reference books for my students. Right after I made the payment, hubby found this.

These books are packed with interesting facts, images, illustrations as well as well fun quizzes. Ian likes both, but before he start reading, I found my fingers start running through the pages.

What a good deal from Popular! Buy 2 at only RM12.90. If you/your kids love reading/watching magics, you should own this. Head to Popular now and grab 2 or more for yourself.

Little lemon

"who leave the colour pen out on the table?"
"ah, not me. It must be that little lemon."
"huh, what little lemon?"
"aiyo, Yvaine la. Who else?"
I chuckled, but very quickly I clear my throat and asked Ian.

"why you call her little lemon?"
"she always shows people sour face, so she is a lemon herself."
I can't stand anymore. I LOL.

Yvaine likes to pull her face long without reason. Or perhaps we unable to read her mood. Like girls, she has big mood swing, especially after get out of her bed. Up to a time, I can't stand this anymore; I give her options.

It sounds like this : "listen carefully ya. I'll let you choose. If you choose to give me sour face after you wake up from your sleep, there will be no breakfast. It's up to you to choose which one you want. If I see happy face and you greet me Good Morning in a happy tone, I'll serve you breakfast."
"deal?"
"deal."
"so, can you let me know you choose breakfast or sour face?"
"I choose to have my breakfast."
"how about your sour face?"
"no, I want my breakfast." (firmly)

I walked away, with a big grin on my face......

@ it solved my morning battles many of time, as well as after-nap battles.

Sharing : 不等,不管,不看,不做,不給,你做得到嗎?

不等,不管,不看,不做,不給,你做得到嗎? 銀色海嘯------未來老人的危機。

年過半百，不經意的撞見幾齣人生荒謬劇，憑添恐慌。原來人生比想像的還要來去匆 匆，早年一起坐在繁星點點夜空下，談佛論禪，激辯老莊的友人，慢慢有人離開，塵歸 塵、土歸土了。

告別式來得突然，老友們不禁唏噓，往年都是在婚宴上巧遇的，而今改成公祭，多出幾 分酸楚。

讀書的意義從他身上看出弔詭，他因為學業成績優異，搶得一項忙碌的工作； 因為忙 碌，而日以繼夜，最後榨乾自己。

他是賣力之人，得了不少錢，卻從未好好享用，臨走前的一個月，一直長吁短嘆，直稱不 值。

我因他，而添得了許多感觸，有了覺醒。

一 . 我不等 朋友什麼都等。等退休。等一千萬存款。等孩子長大。等房貸繳清。 最後等到了告別式。 他有感而發告訴我們這群探病友人，人都會走，可是他走得有些遺憾，有點不甘，非常 後悔，除了工作之外，他什麼事也沒做過。 離開醫院，所有人眼眶泛紅，並且許願，絕對不等，一定好好活著，享受生活，但盼這些 允諾全是真話。

二. 我不管 友人什麼都管。他管成績。管分數。管第幾名。管英文。也管數學。 當然是累人的。他常說，沒有他怎麼辦？ 事實上，這個世界沒有誰都照舊，地球照轉，別人照活，太陽月亮依舊浮浮沈沈。 不管孩子就好多了，我只要管好自己就行。我管健康，我管快樂，我管自己的遊山玩水。 人是從依賴到獨立，我們卻常把孩子從獨立教成依賴。 當孩子需要我們的時候，我們忙得不可開交，經常不在，讓孩子留在安親班； 當我們需要孩子的時候，換成他們很忙，沒空，不在，我們順理成章住進養老院。

三. 我不看 兩眼看，不如單眼瞧，睜一隻眼閉一隻眼好些，什麼事都太精明，反而自找苦吃。 孩子只是孩子，不可能什麼都會，可是大人總希望他們快快長大，什麼都懂。 這是衝突，沒有解藥，唯有少看為妙，孩子有自己的成長軌跡，而非揠苗助長。 不會到會是必然歷程，學習中挫折很多，但從中吸取經驗，於是會了。 可是一般人卻奢望孩子要武功高強，什麼都會，後來發現，除了讀書考試，這些人什麼 都不會。 不看，並非什麼都不看，而是看該看的；不該看的、看不見的，就不必一直想看了。

四. 我不做 我不做對孩子無意義的事，但做有意義的事；做不來的不做，做起來很辛苦的也不做， 做了之後會後悔的當然不做。 我打羽毛球深知其味，救不到的球不救，救到了會扭傷腳的不救……人老了，必須服老， 不服老就慘了；而今我更明白，什麼是適可而止，量力而為，來日方長了。

五. 我不給 給不起的，不給；不必給的，也不給。需要的，我給；想要的，不給。 柴米油鹽，給；房子、 車 子、名牌、好的手機……，不給。 給的愈少，孩子愈賢；給的太多，就不賢；什麼都給的家庭，孩子鐵定什麼都不會，只會 茶來張口，錢來伸手，徒增其苦。

林則徐有名言一句，我深有同感： 子孫有若我者，留錢做什麼，賢而多財，則損其志； 子孫不若我者，留錢做什麼，愚而多財，益增其過。

easy-peasy fruit salad

Your kids like yogurt but not really keen on fruits? You may want to try this.

1. Buy any brand of yogurt. I prefer calci-yum as it is just nice for 2 serving of fruity salad.
2. Cut fruits into bite size. Then, scoop yogurt to top on fruits.
3. Lastly, put toppings that you or your kids prefer. (choc rice, nuts, toasted bread with butter in bite size, apricot, raisin, prunes, marshmallow, even toasted oats)

*I prepare small bowl of fruit salad as the sandwich serving is good enough for them. My simple salad needs only raisin and almond nibs (toasted)

4. If your kids like ice-cream but you afraid after taking they may get cold/cough. Perhaps, you can substitute half amount of yogurt with ice-cream. (fruits and topping will turn soggy if too much of yogurt/ice-cream). Look, everyone is happy now.

All time favorite : stuffed tau pok

Ingredients:
1. 500g of pork
2. 1/2 carrot
3. 2 big slices of cabbage (I prefer Beijing cabbage)
4. 5x Shallots
5. 7x medium prawns
6. Seasonings (sesame oil, corn flour, pepper powder, salt)
7. 2 packs of tau pok (~12 in a pack)

Steps: to prepare
1. Ground pork. Cut carrot, shallots, cabbage, prawns in small pieces.
2. Add in seasonings (sesame oil, corn flour, pepper powder, salt) to the ground pork. Mixed evenly.
3. Soak/wash tau pok with hot water to rinse off excess oil.
4. Cut a small opening and stuff in ground pork.

5. Pack them nicely in a container and stock it. It can last for up to months in freezer. Prepare more for at least 2-3 serving.

Steps : to cook
1. Fill pot with 3cups of water. Add in dried scallop and dried oyster (optional, both to enhance the taste)
2. Cut 4-5 slices of cabbage leaves into 2. Then lay down in the pot before you put in stuffed tau pok. If you like the taste of the steam cabbage, put some on top of the tau pok.
3. Simmer for about 25m.

*I ran out of cabbage. :-(


Guess what, I purposely prepare more ground pork mix. I can just steam it with tofu, with long cabbage (my favorite), put it in miso soup or pan fried it next week.

Smart mom time saving kitchen tips

I've been a working mom for the past 11 years and I usually prepare dinner for my family, like 4 out of 5 days. How I survived and still dedicated on providing the family with delicious and nutritious meal without putting too much stress on myself? The answer is plan smart and adopt others' smart tips.

If you have more free time during weekend compare to weekday, then try to prepare ahead for the coming week.

1. Peel shallots and garlic, keep them in airtight container. If your kids are 4 or above, you can get them to help out on the peeling task. Remember, no washing needed until you use them.

2. Clean meat/poultry, cut and pack them according to serving size.

3. If you do eat pork, an option is to ground it rather than to keep the whole chunk. If possible, sliced some and ground the balance.

4. Roughly jot down your weekly menu and stick it on your fridge so you will know when to thaw frozen food.

5. Always keep your kitchen organized. Return the tools/sauce to the same place after use. You may need to have stock check every 2mths, in order to detect nearly expire food stuff or to replenish.

6. Thaw frozen food in fridge before you go to sleep. It takes a day to complete thawing a small pack of frozen food in fridge.

7. Marinade meat/poultry the moment you clean them after back from market. You can leave it in fridge for 1-2 days without frozen.

8. Try to avoid leafy vegetables if you know that you have tight schedule the coming week, as leafy vegetables does not stand long in fridge and takes time to prepare. As an option, you can try to stock up celery, cauliflower or kale which last longer in fridge.

9. Cooking in bulk. Cooking the whole chicken may take up almost the same time and effort compare cooking half. Why not cook the whole chicken, keep balance in freezer and reheat whenever you are too busy to cook.

10. Get everyone to help out. Your spouse may share the cleaning/washing part while kids help to set the table.

Hearty-licious meal for old and young.

Mothers always found themselves running out of idea when comes to meal times. She always wanted to give something simple and yet nutritious for the entire family. Definitely not tapau from outside. But no idea what to prepare as meal time is approaching. Why not give yourself a break with this simple recipe? How about a bowl of oatmeal that suit everyone's tastebud?

Ingredient :
1. Instant oats (3 tbs for kid, 6 tbs for adult)
2. Water (1/2 cup for 3 tbs of oats)
3. Fresh milk or soy milk
4. Salt for savory taste; honey or fruits for sweet taste
5. Anchovies (Ikan bilis - toasted)
6. Topping of your choice (apricot, banana, raisin, nuts, prunes, peanuts) *depends on your preference & availability.

Step 1 - Fill microwaveable bowl with water according to the amount of oats.
Step 2 - Measure spoonful of oats according to headcounts

Step 3 - set microwave to high and heat for 1 min. Stir every min for total 3 mins for 6 tbs of oats. Add water whenever needed.

* After cooking in microwave for 1min.

*after 2mins

*after 3mins, your cooked oats should look like this.

Step 4 - put in a pinch of salt for those who like savory taste or just depends on toppings. At last, add in toppings to your liking. You can add some fresh milk or soy milk if oats turn dry after some time.

Voila, hearty meal is ready to serve.

Here is the final look for Yvaine and Jia En's lunch. They have anchovies, apricot, prunes, raisin, banana and some honey in their oats.

Parenting Mistakes #2 : avoid setting your own land mines

Every parents definitely have some little white lies for their kids. It's not a big deal to give white lies in order for us to get away easily or achieve discipline target faster. However, do take a while to apply some logic onto your white lies before you say it out. For example, some Chinese likes to scare their young one by saying, "ah ah, don't cry yaa. Later the abu-ne-ne will come to catch you." or "if you don't behave, I'll call the abu-ne-ne to bring you away". After sometime, they may not believe you and the worst thing is they may ask you, how come this so-called abu-ne-ne never come. I cried for so long the other day, he still yet to appear."

*My experience with Yvaine. She used to cried for hours just for small matter. I lifted up my house phone & pretend calling the security guard. It works for few times. But I do forgot that we get to see the guards like everyday. One day, she told me "I'm not afraid of the security guard. He just waved and smiled at me. He won't catch me." From that day onwards, I completely erased this white lies from my list.

If you know you will not execute the 2nd option, please don't give them as a choice. Like, you say keep the toys & clean up the place if you want to go out. Else, stay at home. You know that you are not going to leave them alone at home but HOW IF they respond "then I'm not going out."

*This happened to me before. I was irritated on how Ian kept his tricycle when he was about 4. I kept telling him, when you are not playing, just push it to a designated corner. One day, I told him in a serious tone, push it to that corner OR I'm giving it away to someone else. He answered me in a firm tone. Ok, mummy. You can give to other boy. =_=|||

So, my little advice here is, put some logic into your white lies. Kids are growing up and you need to always review and update your white lies according to their age. Else, you will turn it into a land mines/mouse trap.

Another task for Ian.

It has been 3 days without maid. Everyone seems happy or I should say none of us feel lost. Kids are happy as I've told them before hand that, we are going to work hand in hand to keep our house clean and tidy. They seems like can't wait to wipe the computer table, to clean up the coffee table and to help to throw rubbish. I'm happy too as I can keep the house clean with the way that I prefer, eventhough I'm tired.

Today, while Ian is having his lunch, I took the chance to mop the floor with my new spin mop. His eyes sparkles when he saw me using this new gadget. I was thinking, well, you are going to use it one day. Out of sudden, he sounded.
"mummy, I din't see you cleaning area under tv cabinet ".

"what?! Since when you have become my boss?"
He still want to argue. "but, i do not see you mopping under tv cabinet"
=.=|||

So, to teach him a lesson, I passed the mop to him. He seems like having fun with my spin mop and enjoy mopping the floor. *.*

To make him feel the tiredness, I instructed him to use more force to mop. When he reached the shoe cabinet, voila! my turn for revenge. I repeated his question. "Ian, how come you do not mop under the shoe cabinet?" :-D

Guess what, I can add in this task to his duty roster. Ian, you can continue to have fun mopping the floor with my spin mop. ^_^

Sharing : 噓聲和掌聲，要用什麼態度面對？

作者： 王珮華

《犀利人妻》電影是掌聲和噓聲的交集。我不諱言，第一次拍電影、第一次當導演，確實有很多不完美的地方。

但一路走來，很感謝身邊很多有智慧的長者和夥伴們，隨時提醒我「態度」的重要。例如，我在拍電影遇到挫折的時候，百是傳播的董事長黃義雄，也是電影的投資者，他只問了我 一句話：在這過程中，妳得到什麼？我說，是成長，因為困難會讓人成長。但是，等電影上映告一段落後，他又再問了我一次：妳學到什麼？這時我回答他，這一趟旅程我要學的是 「心平氣和」。

心平氣和，是人在面對掌聲和噓聲時最好的態度。當很多人給你掌聲時，若不懂得反省，你會變得張揚；當很多人給你噓聲時，若沒有正面力量，你會感到沮喪。因此，當掌聲過度 時，我們應該要檢討；當噓聲過度時，我們需要的是鼓勵。一直提醒自己這樣的態度，否則誰的人生是完美的呢？

就如同電視劇《犀利人妻》播出最後一集時，觀眾都在期待最後的答案，很多人誇讚我們帶出一個話題、席捲一股風潮。但是當天我看完播出後，立刻撥了一通電話給人在北京的編 劇楊海薇，我們一談談了三個小時，都在檢討哪裡沒做好、哪裡需要加強。相反的，當我面對很大噓聲、感到沮喪時，楊海薇也會特地從北京打電話給我，鼓勵我說：「不怕，我們 要勇往直前」。

態度對了，才能朝正面的方向走。這也是我想跟年輕朋友分享的態度，第一，承認不完美，是我們往前走的動力。如果總是把問題的責任歸咎到別人身上，很容易自怨自艾、怨天尤 人彼此把責任推托，好像找個替死鬼就可以讓自己紓解壓力，或找到自我存在的價值，但事實上批評別人並不會帶給自己任何進步。

第二，選擇用正面的態度，看待一切事情。很多人看事情喜歡從負面去批判，每當我們公司內部開會，有同仁提到說：為什麼某部戲不好看，收視卻這麼好？我都會反問他，難道你 想學人家不好的地方嗎？還是給自己找個理由，日子可以過得比較安心？事實上，放大別人的缺點，就看不到別人的優點，自己永遠不會進步；唯有放大別人的優點，我們才有努力 的空間。

電影上映之後，我就接收到很多觀眾和輿論的反應，不論好的壞的，都將成為下一部作品的養分。但在過程中，我學到最寶貴的一課，是態度。看到自己的不完美，也鼓勵自己還有 很大進步空間，正向的態度，才是我們在人生的長途旅程中，真正決定成敗的關鍵。

感謝一路引導我走向正向的朋友， 願這樣的態度也分享給你，一起往前。