Easy Portugese Egg Tart

Went to Bake with Yen the other to look for something and then I saw these in the freezer. Ah cool! Let's buy and keep at home just in case we wanna make some during MCO 3.0

it's ready made tart base and egg tart topping. There are 20 tarts and the liquid was said to make 20 too. You have to keep both in freezer till it's time to use. 

This morning I wanted to make just 10 Portugese Egg tarts so I thawed 10 tart base and cut the liquid portion into half. First half, I stored it back into the freezer (in another closed container, you don't wanna contaminate it). The other half I cut them into cubes so it's easier to thaw.

As for the tart base, thaw them and poke holes at the bottom.

When the liquid is melted and tart thawed to room temperature, Scoop the liquid equally into the tarts.

Surprisingly, it's really just ngam ngam (enough) for 10 tarts.

And then into the oven at 150degree for 25mins or so depending on your oven. 

and... Breakfast, teatime is ready for my kids who's forever hungry now that they are teenagers. 

Happy Mother's Day 2021

I won a beautiful butter cake from Fancy Custom Cake just in time for Mother's Day. Well the cake was supposed to be for my mum, but she doesn't like butter and we're currently in Restricted Movement Order due to the Covid, so we decided not to go back home, to keep everyone safe.

So I just have to eat the cake as my own Mother's Day gift 😁

How lovely is the cake?? Pink rosettes, just what I like!!

Can't wait to dig in later. Happy Mother's Day to all mothers!

❤️ Sasha 

Regrowing plant from scraps :Tou Myou

I got this TouMyou/bean sprout from Donki not long ago. So after cutting the sprouts for dinner, I thought maybe I should just put it in a container to see if it will regrow again. 

Voila! It grew! So that rm5.90 I can have 2 rounds of sprouts (or maybe more rounds maybe?).

Easy Karipap

I did this during the school holiday but I was so lazy to edit the video. Then I thought may as well just do it so my kids can refer the video when they feel like eating karipap.

So here's the easy way to make your own karipap using bread. If you have any filling like curry chicken or potato, chicken stew, sambal, or anything that can made into filling, just use it. I remember making sardine puff during my Kemahiran Hidup lesson in secondary school. It's so easy! The mould is actually my late mother in law's dumpling mould but it's easily found in supermarkets or even in small shops. 

Some of my friends asked if the bread will be soggy or oily after you fried it. Actually it won't in fact it's crunchy. My husband was surprised that it was crunchy when he took the first bite. So try it and let me know what you think ;)

Anyway people have been asking me why I have been toying with breads. Well, most of the time, we have bread at home. And I just want to make easy recipes using whatever we have at home, so my kids can learn how to make different food for themselves without relying on me. For now, their favourite is the Pizza Bread that I've posted before this.

Many people think that bread is just spread with Jam, eat as sandwich and that's all . Boring food. But actually making different food is really easy and it can be interesting too. And that's what I want to teach my kids :D

Home Renovation Ideas For a Cosier Living Space

Home renovation ideas for a cosier living space is important if you are working in a small space or want to provide a more private atmosphere for your large room. Furthermore, your house is where you spend the most time hence it is important to give it a renovation and makeover.

Home renovation helps to improve the appearance, keeping your home up to date to provide better safety and provide a healthier living environment. In short, home renovation can greatly improve your quality of life and live a happier life.  

Home renovation does not necessarily cost a lot of money. If you have a limited budget and want to set priorities, here are some home renovation ideas for you to create a cosier living space:

 

●  House painting. Painting is the most affordable way to brighten up your home. It is an inexpensive and very profitable renovation project. Besides, painting your house can add beauty to your environment. You can go with the color scheme you like based on your house theme.

 

●      Parquet flooring repair. As years pass, the floors will wear out due to sunlight, daily traffic and accidents even though it is the best hardwood floor. Do fix the floor cracks and replace the loose pieces if they come loose.

●    Kitchen renovation. A well-planned kitchen renovation includes designing and creating an efficient workflow space and better storage facilities. Besides, a well-designed kitchen remodel will provide you with a practical layout and best suit all your lifestyle needs.

●     Hire an experienced wallpaper installer. A professional contractor can provide professional advice. If your walls still have the old paint or old wallpaper, the wallpaper installer has a special device to remove and install a new one for you.The contractor should ensure that the wallpaper is properly installed. 

●    Hire a plaster ceiling contractor. Plastering is somehow considered an art to apply in your living space. It is a very safe material for interior decoration. Hiring a contractor can make sure the work is done correctly and turn out beautiful decorative ceilings. 

In short, a house renovation allows you to customize the house according to your preferences and needs. You can create a comfortable space and make it more useful and comfortable. If you’re interested in giving your home a renovation, do not hesitate to contact Space Reno -  professional renovation contractor in Selangor and Kuala Lumpur to help you.

SpoonFit Jam, the healthy jam

Received 2 jars of jam from Spoonfit.jam yesterday. Seeing the box made me excited cos it was sealed nicely with bright and cheerful sticker. I don't know why, maybe cos I used to design baby related stuff so it kinda relate to me 😁

Anyway it was a "surprise me" box which they will randomly send 2 jars over with Rm10 shipping. Seeing how it's packed, rm10 is worth it.

I was 🙏 to get passionfruit but I got  Carrot Orange🥕🍊 and Beetroot, which is okay too. Both are mixed fruit jam.

I tried the carrot orange today cos the expiry date is nearer and since there no preservatives, the jam must be consumed in 2 weeks.

The texture of the jam is different from other jam in the market. It's lumpier and the colour is not bright cos it's made of pure natural ingredients.

I'm not sure if you know the feeling of eating jam, the first taste is like bursting sweetness. You can't taste it with this jam. It's not the super sweet kind of jam and it doesn't leave an aftertaste sweetness in your mouth which I like.

Overall this jam is good for kids or those who are health conscious and I think it's great to go with bread or biscuits or maybe can use for cake too🤔 

I think they are still giving out the free jam, you can try this link. The jams are given random between the 5 flavours and rm10 shipping fee applied.

#spoonfitjam

#giveaway

#giveawayreview

#WholesomeGoodness

Pasta Sauce Fried Rice

The amount of fried rice cooked last year is more than the accumulated times I have cooked throughout my life before MCO 😂

I think everyone is just too tired of thinking what to cook everyday. Sometimes we just wanna take a break and cook something simple. But then we don't want to cook the same thing over and over again. Then what to do? Cook in different variations 😁

This time I've used Prego's Pasta sauce for my fried rice. I've tried cooking with tomato sauce earlier and it's not bad. So I thought this time I'll try with pasta sauce and see how it goes.

Surprisingly my kids love it. They say taste like pasta (haha of course) but it's rice! They gave me thumbs up.

The ingredients for Pasta sauce fried rice:

Garlic

Bacon

Corn from the can

Carrots

Eggs

Pasta sauce of your choice 

Overnight rice

I did a video for this as I wanted to show my kids how to cook, but then my wok wasn't suitable and the rice stuck at the bottom of the wok. Perhaps, if there's request for it then maybe I'll make a video I'm the future 😬

Pasta Sauce Fried Rice with furikake sprinkled on top. If you want you can even add a fried egg  on top. (yes, more egg!! 🤤)

The texture is slightly wet compared to the normal fried rice where the rice is all well separated. This fried rice's texture is more of like kimchi fried rice, slightly wet and very flavourful in each scoop of rice. 

Fast and Easy Pizza Bread

My sons always ask me how do I cook some of the food that I've prepared for them. You see, they are teens now and they eat A LOT. I MEAN A LOT and MANY TIMES in a day.

Sometimes they will cook instant noodles, pasta and soups too. So they want to learn other food preparation and be more independent. I'm very supportive of kids trying to be independent (and leaving the parents more time for themselves 😝) So I think the best way is to take a video and show them. So here's one that I think they will enjoy making and eating.

I hope you enjoyed it too 😊

Fast and Easy Pizza Bread.

Ingredients:

👉Pasta Sauce

👉Corn

👉Bacon

👉Mozarella Cheese

👉Bread of your choice

Steps:

Spread the pasta sauce over the bread

Arrange your bacon and corn. 

And top it up with Mozarella Cheese. Air Fry it. 

Such a fast and easy meal. Anyone can do it. (except tiny little kids who want cut and handle Air fryer but mommies and daddies can always help :)

Crabstick Egg Mayo Sandwich

A simple breakfast for a crabstick lover.

Crabstick Egg Mayo Sandwich.

This is another simple breakfast or just a homecookfastfood that you can prepare for your kids (or yourself) at home. You can also prepare the spread and keep them in the fridge the night before to save time in the morning rush.

Steps:

1. Boil eggs in the bottom pan, add a steamer rack on top and steam your crabstick at the same time.

2. After cooled, mash egg and crabstick together.

3. You can add in minced big onion and parsley too.

4. Add in Mayonaise little by little cos you don't want too much mayo vs the egg+crabstick

5. Add black pepper and salt to taste. It's ready to be spread on bread. 

Tips:

1.You can wrap the bread in cling wrap to secure them up before you slice them in halves. 

2. Wrapping them in sandwich paper names them look much nicer and presentable. Feed the eyes before the tummy 😋

My son thought I bought it from Family Mart 🤭 cos that's what he always buy when he's there. It's good to hear him saying "oh it's so nice! “ that just made my day. Hope you have a great one too. ❤️

Fried Spaghetti with Bacon

Primary school has started few weeks ago and secondary kids will be back (hopefully) to school in April. For the past weeks, I've seen so many parents asking for recess food ideas in FB groups. Here's one that is fast, easy and yummy food that you can make.

Fried Spaghetti with Bacon

It's dry noodles so it won't be soggy after sometime. And it still taste yummy although it's not warm. 

Ingredients used: garlic, bacon, brocolli, carrots, spaghetti, Uni Sauce (refer pic below) 

Some tips to share:

Tip #1: If you're cooking spagetti the day before, prepare extra and keep in fridge so it will save you some time the next day.

Tip #2: Precut all ingredients the night before and store them in containers so that cooking time will be shorten. I usually cut all my carrots and put in my fridge.

Tip #3: Use sauces as short cut. I personally like Uni Choice's sauce. You can make lots of different dishes with it.

 Stay safe and happy cooking!

Homemade Garlic Spread

Hello! It's been a while since I've written in this blog. I've been busy with work, moving house(s), yeah moved 3 times in a short span of time, kids and so much more. So now that I've settled down I think it's time to restart my blog 😊

So here's my first post after long hiatus- Homemade Garlic Spread. Prepared some to be stored in the fridge so my boys can prepare their own food when they are hungry. You know, teenage boys and their eating moment 😅

You need minced garlic, parsley and salted butter. Mix them up, keep them in a container and keep chilled in fridge. 

Just spread it on your bread and toast it. I air fried mine. 

And you can enjoy it on its own or pair it with mushroom soup. It's so easy and yummy! 

The remainder is kept in the fridge. My kids can just spread it on baguette, bread or even on cracker just like that. 

Teaching Time

Found this in one of the FB pages. Great idea from a teacher. So I printed out the numbers on coloured paper and laminated it.

To save my time, I added "suku" and "setengah" . Stick all the numbers of my cheap ikea clock and added battery. All done very quickly and ready to hang up the wall :)

Teaching "Hari dalam seminggu".

My Standard 1 son is learning "Masa dan Waktu" in sekolah kebangssan now.  Nowadays the questions are not straight forward anymore. They ask questions like what day comes before Monday? Or what is the day between Sunday and Tuesday? and so on. If it's in English it would be easy peasy for him but the nightmare is when it was asked in BM since he is still weak in understanding the BM language. To make learning more interesting for him and since he likes crossword puzzle, I made this just for him. It's like a game, but they are actually revising what they learn in school.
If you want a copy, you can download it too ^_^!

Step by Step : Minion Sponge

Teacher gave him a sponge last week for art class. They are supposed to create something using the sponge. So we goggled and it kept telling us the only thing we can create is Spongebob. Luckily I spoke to Merryn, she suggested Minion. That's a great idea! So after sketching the draft and listed the things that he need for the minion, I went to the craft shop and bought some materials and also used some from my craft supplies.

You need:

2 wobbly eyes

2 big grey button (as goggles)

Black ribbon (as goggle strap and gloves)

Blue ribbon - (small) as the overall strap

Blue ribbon - (big) as the overall

2 yellow straws - as the hand 

UHU glue 

4 Small buttons or eye pins for plush dolls

Wire for making artificial flowers or if you can find black pipe cleaners is better

Markers

Scissors

First cut 2 squares as the overall top. Apply glue at the back and paste on the sponge. The glue and secure around the sponge as the overall bottom.

Then glue the black ribbon around the sponge and paste 2 buttons on it.

Then apply glue on the button and paste the wobbly eyes on it.

Then measure and cut the overall strap. Remember to glue it.

Wait for a while for the glue to dry and then glue the push pin or glue the button on it. 

Next draw the minion's mouth with a marker.

Now for the hand. Measure and cut the straw according to your liking.

Make a hole under the overall strap with one side of a scissors. 

Then apply glue on the straw and push the straw in. 

Next, cover the bottom of the straw by gluing black ribbon around it. That's the gloves.

Since we couldn't find black pipe cleaners, we have no choice but to use craft wires and colour it with black markers. 

Measure and cut the wire. Then apply glue on the bottom of the wire...

and poke through the sponge on top of the minion's head.

Repeat the step above and bend the wire to create effect of the hair slanting down.

He can't draw circle with free hand so he used a 50 cents coin. Draw 2 circles. These are the legs and also to balance the sponge so that it won't topple over.

Cut it out.

Apply glue , only half of the circle. And paste it below the minion.

Then colour the legs with your marker pen.

TADAA!

The final artwork. He is so pleased with it.

DIY toy from recyclables

Look what my youngest son with learning difficulty did? A helicopter toy made from his watch container, a propeller from smarties packaging, fridge magnet letter L and cloth peg at the bottom. They may need extra help with studies but the brain can be fantastic and creative, if they are allowed to explore.

How to cope school with learning difficulty: Copying from the board

I shall pen down my journey with guiding JT through him school life with minor learning difficulty/ dyslexia. This is also for my own reference and for some parents who wants to help the kids to cope better in school. I truly believe that giving them a strong foundation at the beginning of school life can help to teach them how to manage themselves better later.

So at the beginning of school, he came back with this note.

I was shocked to find out that he has problem with copying from the board. To many people this is "common sense" and you just copy as what teacher write. However, after some observation not only JT has issues with this, but some other students without learning difficulty also faced the same issue.

So this is what I did.

1. Identifying the problem.

I got the note from some of the parent and wrote on a big whiteboard and asked JT to sit and try and copy.

 I wanted to know why he has problem copying from the board. Is it because of his eye sight problem, or he doesn't know how, or etc. So some of the problems that I noticed is that :

•  he copies alphabet by alphabet and not word by word
•  for maths he tried to write the answer before he finish copying
•  busy underlining or writing answers in colour
•  busy chit chatting with classmate while copying (this is through the conversation we have before sleep each night)
•  friends coming over to borrow stationaries so he doesn't have ruler/eraser for himself and have to wait. (for eraser  problem : I did this )

2. Solving the problem.
I found out that he copies alphabet by alphabet, looking up and down the book and board. So that's why his writing is up and down up and down, and here and there, sometimes he misses a line, sometimes the lines got mixed up, and by the time he want to copy more, teacher has already erased and wrote something else. I did try and speak to the teacher about this, however I think I should work on my side too cos it's not really fair for the teacher to check on 37 students notes and also waiting will slow her down.

problem - he copy alphabet by alphabet and not word by word
solution - So since JT has no problem reading suku kata, I asked him to read few words and then copy without looking up the board instead of alphabet by alphabet. He tried it and he said "hey this is much easier".

For the rest of the problems, I did this.

I wrote on sticky notes and paste on all his buku latihan on the page where he will start copying to remind him. He has excellent memory about everything but not on his studies :P. Well, most dyslexic students have the same issue. So the tips is REMIND, REMIND and REMIND!

3. Practice a few times at home.
And after recopying this was the outcome and I showed him the before and after picture. 

And you know what?
He improved so much with better notes, and most of the time he manage to pass it up to teacher on the same day.  Some of the parents that knew he has Dyslexic, wondered how come he manage to copy and finishes his work while their kids struggles. So I shared with them what I did and now they are also practicing it with their kids. So not necessary only kids with learning difficulty have this issues. In fact I think that many of us take for granted that we assume they know, actually they don't. So it's better to teach them step by step how to do it.

However, I still have to work on his writing with spacing words issue, capitalisation of words, punctuation marks and most important of all his ability to understand Bahasa Malaysia , which I am still working on and will share it later on.