Green Gets A New Home.

I learned my lesson. After the death of Mr. C aka the celery incident, I begged my beloved to go out & buy soil. I don't want any of my other leafy greens dead. I can't bare it! (again being overly-dramatic here, lol!) Closest to our home (like, 'hell-o', it's like 40 mins through & fro) is Super Brand Mall which is located in Lujiazui West Road, Pudong.

Reached there with sweat as the summer heat is killing us, but compared to Bahrain, Shanghai heat felt more like being in Malaysia. Humid & hot all the way. Heheheheheh..! So we went & browse through the directory to look for a garden shop or flower shop, and found - 1! Just one. And guess what, they just sell flowers. Where's the DIY store? Or a home store? Anything! A mall is supposed to provide everything under it's roof! Times like this, I miss the malls back in my hometown. Even in Bahrain they have shops for EVERYTHING.

I dont want to grow up! I'm a Toys-R-Us kids! Grow in a tin can DIY. Cool.

Grr.. Think, think! Before my greens die! What and where to get them soils or anything that's closest to soil to save my plants from dying!! (Gosh, I am so dramatic! LOL!) A-ha! You can never go wrong with Toys-R-Us. I dragged my husband to the toy shop and looked around and found some "you can grow this" or something like that, in a can. It's written in Chinese, but who cares! I need those soil. They even provide seeds in it. So bought myself some Basil, Hot Pepper & Mint seeds.

Removing my plants from just water-based to soil & minerals. 

I was happy. Very happy I purchase them. The next day, I woke up and did my job to give my green babies their new home. But of course I was curious too with the items that I bought. I got chili, basil & mint seeds to grow. Took out the instruction and, hmmm... go figure. In Chinese. *sigh* But who cares! I'll use my command sense and go with the flow.

It wasn't really soil when I opened the can. More like some saw dust, wood chunks and other particles. Which I have NO IDEA what. hehehehehe.. Oh well, as long as it can help my green grows. Just look at them green smiling. Kih kih kih.. 

My lime's sprouting and growing. How cute are they!! 

I snipped off the top of the lemongrass to used for my cooking
that day. So hope it will grow more.

Lemongrass in their new home. 

Chives. Reused so many times. & it still keeps growing. :D

Letting them sunbath the sun. I'm sure they are super-beamed happy!

Hoping with loads of TLC from me, these babies will grow. 

PS: Recycle your bottles and start planting. It's fun! Or recycle your bottles & gave them a new use for rather than just throwing them away. :)

Halal Online Article in Shanghai

Was browsing through online to look for some other kind of Muslim Halal restaurants here in Shanghai (we've been eating Xinjiang lam mian pulled noodles all the time and got bored). And I stumbled upon this website. It was written by this journalist name Yao Minji and he was basically explaining about a brief summary of Muslims in Shanghai, Muslim food, the term "Halal". He also talked a bit about the history of how Islam came into China. Though it was written back in 2012, but it was a good article for non-Muslims. 

Click here to go to the Link : Halal Meat to Suit All Tastes

The interesting fact was, a lot of non-Muslim love buying Halal meat as they considered it very fresh and in good quality. 

"...Halal meat, which comes from animals slaughtered by a swift, deep incision cutting the throat, carotid artery, wind pipe and jugular veins, is commonly recognized as good quality and fresh. As a result, many non-Muslims in Shanghai choose to eat beef and mutton from halal restaurants..."

In the article [& also the website], he recommended some of the local Halal restaurants for Muslims like us, can eat & enjoy. And also places related to Islam, Muslim & Halal.

Have a look if you are looking for a different kind of Chinese food besides the pulled noodle aka 'niu rou lam mian'. Hehehehehe! I think, for Iftar today, I might drag my partner for some "Hotpot". It's very famous among the Shanghainese & also Chinese themselves. And it's like steamboat. Kan..? Oh, I miss Johnny's Thai Steamboat. Boo hoo.

Toodles!

2 Weeks of Ramadan.

It's already coming to the 2nd week of Ramadan. How time flies. Didn't feel "meriah" that much this year. Had the best so far in Bahrain. Maybe due to Malaysians Muslim friends were many there. And activities like Iftar get together, Tarawith prayer, & we did few times invited friends for Iftar too. Plus, I was busy baking kuih raya (eid cookies & bars).

This year, the place we stayed didn't provide us with an oven. Guess, God is fair to let us stay in a fancy looking apartment, yet teach us to be grateful no matter what. As for me, it's the oven. Had my taste to use it & now, I've to deal with it. Hehehehe!

Not here to talk about my oven-days. Just a quick post. I made Sweet & Sour Fish & Stir-fry Watercress yesterday for Iftar. I also did Oyster Mushroom Soup ala Thai, but forgot to take any photo, as we were expecting a friend to join us for Iftar dinner. 

Will post recipe for making this simple delicious dish. 

Stir-fry Watercress & Sweet Sour Fish. 

Ate both the dishes with white rice & oats.

Bon Appétit!

Green Thumb.

I took the opportunity of being a full time housewife & learn how to start [& learn how to love] growing. And I told my black thumb, "Be the green, be the green..." Kinda reverse-psycho-ing my mind. And wow! It worked!

I got inspired via Pinterest. I mean, I was just browsing & reading peoples Pin and saw how easy they started growing things indoor. Just by regrowing back greens where they got it from the grocery market. How cool was it. Simple, easy & cool.

So I started with celery, cause it was the easiest that I read so far. It grows well too. [Zira, please insert photo of the celery progress] But it also died too. Boo-hoo. And sadly, I had the dead pic of Mr.C (yes I named them out of love) below.

What's left of Mr. C. The whole body got soft & the toothpick didn't get any
grip, so it plopped into the water. *sob sob*

It died after 2 weeks. Sob sob. It was my fault! I didn't get Mr.C a new home! He was in need of soil & I just didn't give him any. Or was just too late. Why! Why! Why....! You grew beautifully. You had beautiful leaves & stalks.. Oh, well... It was your time. 

After the tragic death, I mend my broken heart by regrowing back some lemongrass & chives. Look at that! New shoots! Green-y leaves. It's amazing. I let them sit in water & sunbathing to the awesomely summer sunlight, & they stay perfectly cool with the room temperature of 18-25'c. 

Lookie' them shoots from the lemongrass. & I have been snipping them
chives for my cooking so many times & it still grows.

And lastly, I grew some lime too. Well, I don't know how well will it grow, but looking from the pic below, the seeds [which I got from the fresh lime itself which I bought it from the supermarket] sprouted very well. I started by just cleaning & peeling off the almost see-through skin of the seeds and sandwiched it with facial cotton pads. Moisten the pads and let it sprout in 4-5 days or more. I think mine took about a week plus. Always keep the pad moist. 

The method I used for the above is just with water. I recycled old mineral/coca-cola/vitamin C plastic bottles and cut them into half. Just turn the nozzle head side down (which will be for the plant) and the bottom half is filled with water. It's a good way for self-watering too. In case ones forget or lazy to water them. Like me. :P

So happy it grew. My "black thumb" aint that "black" after all. Kih kih kih.. I hope I get to post more about their development. Curious in what to do after they sprout or grow shoots. What do I need to do now? Have no clue. But, just happy. It's very therapeutic & calming too. 

PS: So envious with those who grows very well & have a garden or space for it. I can only make do with what I have. 

Happy green day ahead!

Cauli Gets Mashed, Mashed & Mashed.

I declared what I made (pic below), awesome-ly delicious. And healthy too. I know maybe I was a bit absentmindedly unaware that, there is such a thing called Mashed Cauliflower, but I guess I was being totally ignorant about it till I was desperate enough to make mashed potatoes and didn't have them in hand the other day. And I saw my cauliflower dying any seconds (being exaggerating here). No it was not dying, but it started to have molds on it. 

So because of that, I boiled them and didn't know what to do with it. And came up with a brilliant idea (yeah, right!) I said, "Maybe we can mashed it like mashed potatoes.." & quickly did my online R&D if this "oh-not-so-original" idea works. And yes. Thanks to the Internet world, you can just find any 'full-proof-it-worked' recipes & ideas. 

So, being me, I just used what I had in the fridge to make this yummy delicious "langsung-takde-taste-like-cauliflower" mashed cauliflower. 

Ingredients (my version) :-

1. Some low fat milk (or you can opt for Greek yogurt or almond milk or sour cream)
2. 2 tbsp butter
3. 2 cloves of garlic
4. 1 head of cauliflower (cuts into florets)
5. Salt & pepper
6. Some olive oil
7. Chives (which I blend some together & left some for garnish)
8. Cheese (see pic below)

After boiling the cauliflower, just throw all the other ingredients in the blender
& all is in good hands. But some like it not so mushy, so using a hand masher
will do too. *except the cheese. see pic below.

I layed a sliced cheese at the botton of my bowl. Heheheheh! So when you
scoop some mashed cauli, you get some cheese with it. Yumm-eh!

Top up you mashed cauliflower with some snipped chives (which I regrow
it in my apartment)

Voila! Mashed Cauliflower!

This is a good substitute for mashed potatoes. It's way healthier. Even if you used that many butter. Hahahahaha! well, it way better than that starchy 100% potatoes. It is also good with spreading & dipping. My husband kept spreading them on his Ciabatta, and I couldn't stop dipping it with celery & pretzel. 

Have a try. Replace your usual mashed potatoes with mashed cauliflower. :)

Healthy up!

Been telling myself, this year, I need to start back to live life healthy. I hate it that I am that girl who (yes, I confessed!) once married, I don't care of my body. Just like this picture quote below. Guilty!

So I learn to get back into my health. Learning to love my body again. I mean, I'm not a size 0-1 lady, and I sure hell got no 6 pack, muscle arms & toned legs. But all I know is that, you can be fat & healthy at the same time. Though I'm not trying to strive to being just fat. But I aim to be healthy. Being fit is on-going - lah. 

I've been doing research and reading some online articles, about superfood, clean eating, healthy organic, Fit is the new Thin, and the list goes on and on. Therefore I decided to start the habit again. Yes, again! I mean, before I got married (3 years ago) 1 year prior to my wedding, I worked my butt up. Eat healthy, drink healthy and excercise 3 times a week. Every morning, I take 15 mins or more to do some strenght training, sculpting and toning my body. Gosh! I was at my happiest. I didn't weight 40-50kg. But I was happy. And went I look back at my old photo, I was like, "OMG! Look at me! I look so good! And slimmer!" And to believe back then, I was still calling and thinking I am fat! When I look sooo good already. *sigh*

Moving on.

I have always love smoothies. I don't like eating them vegetables raw or sometimes fruits raw, but I don't mind drinking them. Heheheheh! So did my research and notice that, it's like a "healthy fashion" to drink up your greens  now. I used to just drink fruit smoothies only and sometimes, add in those protein mix. But never, never ever add in greens. 

I stumbled upon good, motivational website. For once, of course, I started using SparkPeople to lose my weight, back then. I get inspired by their real life losing weight people, and food calculation, fitness tracking, recipes & so on. I even shared my homemade recipes to know how much I'm eating. Cool. But then I stop doing it. Because I'm married. Alasan!

Early this year, I saw a friend of mine, who gets into a great transformation of being healthy! I envy her! She not only is a qualified yoga instructor, but she started EatCleanKL. Kuala Lumpur needs to eat clean and learn to eat clean too. Heheheheh! She makes delivery too. But please check out her Facebook page first to see where their delivery areas are.

 Next, I stumbled upon this page. Simple Green Smoothies. And I've got to tell you guys, I love this website so much, that I followed them on Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram & even Twitter! Them girls (Jen & Jadah) are so full of greens. They make it look like it is fun to drink your greens. Well, it sure is! Not only that it's healthy, all their green smoothie recipes are yum-meh! 

I'm inspired! So inspired that I have started drinking & yes, eating healthy again. It's not like, BAM! everything changes. But slowly, gradually changing my eating habits & drinking my greens. :)

For eating, I still cook white rice, since my husband needs them for energy cause he works with oven & hot heat (& just being a typical Malaysian), but I added in oats. I love this the best [image below], but sadly in Malaysia they don't have them. So far, only found them when we lived in Hong Kong & also here in China. But it's okay. If you can't find them, just used normal oats. 

I love this so much. The least I can do to make my husband eat healthy balance.

Then, I also added organic flaxseed. It is a such a small powerful seed indeed. It helps fight heart disease, diabetes and breast cancer. It contains good fats, packed with fibers & a good weight lose seed too. Have a try. I just add them on pretty much everything. Rice, dishes, & even drink it. Which I used them every time I make my smoothies. Just look at them photos below. (note that some of the photos taken are drank till the last drop image). But because I love the outlook & the after effect that my smoothies make. It's like art. HEHEHEHEHEHE!

For drinking, I started to add in spinach. Yup, just spinach. Haven't tried kale yet, but till I can find a good, healthy & organic kale, will I used spinach first. There you go. Just try adding them greens. Try a cup first. I tell you, you can't taste the green at all! And the colours are just beautiful to see. 

Sadly, my smoothies are not as smoothy as what I see online or go to some fruit juice smoothie bar. Cause I didn't purchase any good blender yet. Hey, you need to keep money to invest a good blender. But at the moment, I'll just use my cheap Philips brand blender. That's why you see loads of chunks in my smoothie. Kih kih kih. It's okay. It will go in my tummy anyways. :)

Reminder to self : I will need to write down the recipes for all the smoothies I made above. 

Self : Ok, noted. :P

Till next blog post! Eat up healthy! Drink up healthy!

Yellow-y Coconut Gravy.

Ayam Masak Lemak Cili Api - (Chicken Cook in Spicy Yellow Curry.) Or in Google "direct" translation :- Chili Chicken Fat - huh! Wth!! That is so funny!

This is a Negeri Sembilan's dish. Its on the western coast of Peninsular Malaysia, just south of Kuala Lumpur and borders Selangor on the north, Pahang in the east, and Malacca and Johor to the south. I started to like eating this dish when dad started to eat them with cow's stomach. Euwww.. I only take the gravy, not the stomach. 

You can cook with anything using this ingredients. Like, I used chicken. But you can opt for fish, shrimps, BBQ/smoked sliced beef, eggs or even just veges. 

Well, usually the N9 folks used the smoked beef in this dish. But sadly, I don't have a BBQ pit in this apartment. Nor a balcony. Nor a window that opens! Wth! I feel like we live in an aquarium! *breath & be thankful...breath & be thankful...*

Anyways, where was I. Yes. I used chicken. The end. Below is the recipe, which is also my version of cooking them. Took some tips from my Mom, MIL, SIL and all the expert cooks and added my way to make it, well... my way. Heh heh heh! Good luck! 

The Ingredients are:-

1. Chicken (Clean & cut to desired size)
2. Coconut milk (250ml)
3. 1 tsp of Turmeric powder
4. Salt (I think I put 1 tsp or more..?) 
5. 8 Birds eye chili (I had like 6, cause the chilies here are super hot!)
6. 2 pcs of Asam Keping (Garcinia atroviridis.)
7. 2 stalks of  Lemongrass (bruised)
8. Large potato

Method:-

1. Blend turmeric powder, salt & birds eye chilies. Add a bit of oil to help blend. (If you have a mortar & pestle, then it would be better as it's the 'my Mom's, MIL's, grandma's' traditional way.)
2. Add in the chicken & mixed the blended ingredients in the cooking pot till combined. Let them mingle for a while before turning on the fire on medium.
3. Stir fry them without oil (but I used like a tsp cause I feel like if I don't, the chilies & chicken wont cook thoroughly & might get them stomach ache.) 
4. Add some water as it gets to dry. 
5. Add in the asam keping & lemongrass.
6. So, since I used oil, stir fry them till oil separates, chicken sweats & water boils.
7. Once boiled, pour coconut milk. Stir so that oil won't break.
8. Add (cut into 8 cubes or more) potato (optional).
9. Taste & season with salt & sugar if needed.
10. Keep stirring. And let it boils.
11. Once boiled, turn off fire & serve.

PS: Be very careful as this is a sweet & spicy dish. It is also very fattening as it used purely coconut milk. Eats well with Jasmine rice. 

PSS: I also recommend to do it a night before serving so that the coconut will thicken more and give the delicious, yummy & thick fat taste of the "masak lemak." hehehehehehehehehe!

After pouring in the coconut milk, let it boil for awhile. 

Voila! Ayam Masak Lemak is served! See the chili bits. Love them spicy! 

Curry Cluck Cluck, Peeeer - Cluck!

I ain't a good cook. But I have been practicing and my husband tells me that, my cooking is getting better. I guess it's true. When you live away from your home or your country, you survive by learning to cook your home cook meal. You adapt to the fact that, there wont be any Malaysian meal available anytime or any day. If there is, will it be halal? So here I am, from a zero na-da cook to a cook. I still got more things to learn or do. Better yet, master the Malaysian cooking. But I make do of the simple dishes. Like curry, sambal, simple oyster sauce veges, beef in black sauce and etc.

I made my first curry back in 2011. Yes. After we got married, moved to Hong Kong and my husband wants curry. So, after some Youtube-ing, learning from MIL when we come home for holiday, our neighbor in Bahrain gave some tips, got my quick class learning from a chef, I finally understand how to cook it.

Pecah minyak? Masak sampai empuk daging? What are those words, at first I asked. Now, I sooooo totally get it (blond moment). HAHAHAHAHHA! So here is my version of making them curries.

Prepare you ingredients. Mise en place can be taking up time, but once its all done and ready, cooking it takes only 5 mins. 

Get your ingredients:-

1. 1 whole Chicken cut into pieces (which I take the skin out. I use tamarind juice & rub all over the chicken's body to get rid of the chickadee's smell. Another tip from my MIL. You can use lime or lemon. Anything citrus.)

To make curry paste:-

1. 1 packet of Chicken/Beef curry powder (About 24 gms)
2. 1 tbsp chili powder
3. 1 big onion, diced
4. 4 cloves of garlic, chopped

(Blend all together till with some water till paste like and put aside.)

To stir fry:-

1. cloves of garlic, sliced
2. some shallots, sliced
3. 1 stalk of curry leaves (if you have, which I don't)
4. some star anise, cinnamon stick, cloves, flower of cardamon (I use the five spice powder instead)

To add flavor & thickness to curry gravy:-

1. 250 ml coconut milk (1 tin, as I like it thick.)
2. 1/2 tsp of tamarind paste

To add in :-

1. Potatoes
2. Tomatoes (I didn't have them that day)
3. Chilies
4. Some ladyfingers

Method:-

1. 2 tbsp oil. 
2. Stir fry all the "To Stir Fry" ingredients till fragrant.
3. Pour in blended curry paste.
4. On slow fire, let the paste cook till oil separates. If paste gets to dry before oil separation, add in water and wait again. Don't burn the paste. 
5. Once oil separates, put in chicken & potatoes and stir to combine. Then add in some water (I think I pour in 1 cup, at first) just so to soften the potatoes. Let the water boil.
6. After boiled, pour in coconut milk. Stir well. Add tamarind paste, some salt and I usually add a bit of sugar to taste.
7. Then add in lady fingers, chilies & tomatoes.

PS: I usually cook the curries a night before, cause I personally thinks curries are best eaten the day after as the gravy will taste better. Maybe because they absorb all the coconuts and all the ingredients. I don't know how to explain it, but trust me. :)

My curry paste got a bit dry before the oil separates, so I add in some water.  Oh, be prepared for the awesome 'the-whole-building-will-smell-of-curry' experience. That is if you live in an apartment. Worst, executive hotel apartment!