01.01.12: I took down the Christmas tree

01.01.12: Dinner at my place. I made Thai green curry, a pumpkin dish, egg fuyang, salad, Thai mango salad, fried finger foods (sweet potato fries, french fries, calamari rings). We also had dholl purri and sis made fried chicken

31.12.11: Breakfast in the car. We were on the way to Pulao Ubin island

31.12.11: At Ubin Island — this was lunch for just the two of us!

31.12.11: At Ubin Island — fresh coconut juice — sooo refreshing

30.12.11: My breakfast at work which is rare for me to eat breakfast at work. I was running late that day.

30.12.11: Thai food for dinner. I ordered this set meal – tom yum soup (yummm), spring rolls and desert

27.12.11: Salad which my body was craving

Back to work tomorrow! Fortunately January is a short month. Looking forward to the Chinese New Year break (23rd and 24th)!

A few days ago, I made my first coconut macaroons and they were awesome (despite looking a little burnt). They are so easy to make. Here’s the recipe. Adapted from Choosing Raw’s Basic Macaroons.

Ingredients (Makes about 50 macaroons)

• 4 cups unsweetened shredded coconut
• 3/4 cup ground almond
• 1 cup honey (I used half honey and half agave)
• 2 egg whites
• 2 tbsp vanilla essence
• 2 pinches of salt

Method: Mix everything together using your hands, until the mixture becomes sticky. Scoop tablespoon sized onto a baking tray. Bake at 170* C for 20 minutes. Makes about 50 macaroons.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Last Sunday, we gathered for a last group dinner before mum’s departure (this weekend).

Mum made gato piment – Yummm

As well as a delicious kalia

I made Jamie Oliver’s Eggplant Parmigiana, which was a hit too

Sis made an oreo cheesecake which was yummy! Couldn’t tell that she used low fat Philadelphia cheese

Before they left, we took a family photo in front of the Christmas tree

Today in the agenda: High Tea Buffet with the parents and sis

This was the happy me this morning before getting some bad news and breaking in tears … Life is full of obstacles.

I haven’t bothered with the internet much in the last week . What have I been doing? Spending time with the family after I get back from work and watching Chinese drama at night. Mum started to watch the 2100hrs local drama and I started to follow too!

Food always tastes better when someone else (mum) makes them

Even the cat thinks so

Check this video of Mikey if you haven’t seen it yet on my YouTube channel. Mikey was trying to get into the room. The gym ball was purposely placed there.

The other day the husb was dressed in his Team Singapore attire  as he had an opening ceremony to attend. He will be at the SEA games soon, not as an athlete but as a coach.

We are heading to Malaysia tomorrow with the fam just for the day. Goodnight!

Now onto the Scenes From the Weekend …

Breakfast on Sunday. Mum made those peanut-filled  balls

Relaxing time

Lunch on Sunday – I made laksa and it was good (because the husb went for seconds haha)

Well, I actually used a pre-made laksa paste hehe. I only had to add the coconut milk, fish cake, bean sprouts, prawns and laksa noodles

After lunch on Sunday, we headed to China Town for a short while

Then we met bro at Marina Barrage to fly kite!

Beautiful view of the MBS building (boat shape) in case you are wondering

Bro’s kite is a cute bee

We also visited the water system

Exhibition area

The night ended with a “steam boat” dinner

A belated Happy Deevali to all my friends who celebrated it. I miss eating gato ladoo, gato rasgoola, gato di lait!!!

Since it was a public holiday yesterday, I went to Daiso $2 shop

Bought a big cup for my green teas or smoothies

For lunch, we headed to this Japanese place

We ordered some sushi, terriyaki beef hamburg (If I had seen the word “hamburg” behind, I wouldn’t have ordered it. I wanted pure beef), chicken wings, some fried oyster tempura, mushrooms and sashimi

Dinner Time

I made stir fry beef with cauliflower

And a veggie with some dried shrimps

After they finish painting the doors, I’m off to work

Have a great Thursday!

–Banana pumpkin bread–

Texture-wise, it is less dense than the GF chocolate chip pumpkin bread. I think it is because of the type of GF flour used (Bob’s Red Mill GF flour) and also I didn’t use much pumpkin puree this time. I probably shouldn’t mention “banana” in the title as you can hardly taste the banana.

For breakfast this morning, I had one slice alongside 2 scrambled eggs (topped with nutritional yeast) and a glass of milk

Lunch was very similar to yesterday — Chicken burger + mixed greens topped with mustard sauce + lentil

Yesterday dinner was at sis’ place and mum made “Daube de poisson”.  This pix from last week … playing with my niece

And singing too … Video from last week. Skip to 1:50 if you want to see the sweeeeet ending :P

Gluten Free Banana Pumpkin Bread

Ingredients (makes 10 slices)

• 1 3/4 cups Bob’s Red Mill all-purpose gluten-free flour
•  2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 cup raisins
• 1/4 cup chopped walnuts (you could toast the nuts lightly if you want)
• 2 tbsp canola oil (optional)
• 1/2 cup mashed banana (about 1 big banana)
• 1 cup Libby’s pumpkin puree
• 1/4 cup raw sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Method

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. In a large bowl, mix together the oil, sugar, eggs, vanilla, mashed bananas, pumpkin puree
3. In another bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, sugar, salt, cinnamon, dried raisins and walnuts
4. Combine both the wet and dry ingredients together without over mixing
5. Transfer to loaf pan
6. Bake for 1 hour
7. Let cool completely before slicing (best if  sliced the next day)

Makes 10 slices. Approx nutrition facts per slice

Remember last last Friday I baked something using these ingredients?

What I baked was a Pumpkin Cottage Cheese Cake!

With an Oat Crust!

It isn’t  as cheesy as a real cheesecake but it is a healthier version. I could probably use some cream cheese next time for a more cheesy taste.

Pumpkin Cottage Cheese Cake

Oat Crust

• 1 1/2 cup oats
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 4 tbsp melted butter
• 1 tbsp water

Pumpkin cheese filling

• 400g cottage cheese, drain excess water if any (roughly 2 cups)
• 40g – 50g sugar
• 150g pumpkin puree
• 3 eggs
• 100ml milk of choice
• 1 tbsp corn flour or gluten free flour

Method

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).
2. For the crust: Mix ingredients together and gently press into a  cake pan. If using a tart pan or a spring form pan, press the crust up onto the sides. Bake at 350 degrees for about 7 minutes or until set. Allow to cool.
3. In a blender, combine cottage cheese, eggs, flour, vanilla, sugar and salt. Blend until smooth. Pour into prepared crust.
4. Bake in the preheated oven for 60 minutes, or until filling is firm. Allow to cool completely. Place in the fridge and serve cold.

***

Tonight I prepared some make-ahead chicken burgers (minced chicken, onion, salt and apple)

And salad for the week (lettuce, carrots, cucumber, cherry tomatoes, pickled green chilli)

Fridge at the moment

Yep, I had a  quarter pounder last week <– came back home late and was super hungry. “special order” as I omitted the cheese and ketchup. Did you know, McDonald’s meat is actually purely made up of 100% beef.

Some other recent eats — Quinoa salad with turkey ham <– yum! Quinoa, cucumber, cherry tomatoes, carrots, bell peppers, pickled green chilli, turkey breast

Chilli rubbed salmon with quinoa

The bread ‘hardened’ the next day as it was kept in the fridge. so it’s best to re-heat it before eating

Dad flew to Singapore in the morning and we (mum, dad and I) straight away headed to a cancer seminar which was organised by Parkway Health and Channel News Asia. They talked about breast cancer, blood cancer and colon cancer and how an early diagnosis can lead to successful treatments of various types of cancers. Overall, it was pretty interesting and worth the $11 that we each paid. The next health seminar will be about Liver health.

About colon cancer: Limit your red meat intake to 500g per week. As a guideline, the two beef patties in a big mac are 100g (each 50g).

About breast cancer: Women 40 years and older must have a mammogram every 1-2 year. I hope you already knew that :) A woman’s chance of developing breast cancer increases if her mother, sister, and/or daughter have been diagnosed with the disease, especially if they were diagnosed before age 50. Oh, and men also DO get breast cancer but of course it’s very rare.

Food and refreshment were provided during the tea break and at the end of the seminar we each received a 1L carton of Magnolia Oat milk. I tried the milk this morning for the first time and it’s pretty tasty.

Mum also bought a recipe book there

Afterwards we headed to my bro’s place for dinner with la famille <3  So glad to have both my mum and dad with us! I have not seen them for a year — skyping doesn’t count — Gonna spend as much as with them while they are here.

Food ..  there were about 8 different dishes. Delish!  I really enjoyed the curry fish head (not pictured).

This is a lotus root dish — pretty tasty .. there’s something in the middle and I think the whole thing is deep fried.

Some other pix

Niece

Today, five hours passed like a breeze. I got asked what I do upon reaching home, which is usually around 1600 hrs. Well, after I get home from work I look for something to eat first because most of the time I’m hungry around that time of the day. If I don’t have any leftover food, I will cook dinner this early. On alternate days, I head over to sis’ place after work to have dinner there (if my parents stay at my bro’s place, then I will head over to his place instead). After my  mid afternoon meal, I  go online and read my favorite blogs. Sometimes I take a short nap or  watch some TV if  there’s anything interesting. Time flies and the next thing I know it’s already 2000 hrs. On most days, the husb reaches home after 2030 hrs.

Today after work I saw this abandoned trolley. What the ….  It’s not my first time seeing abandoned trolleys on the side of the road haha. It’s funny. What were these people thinking (!!).

I was in a baking craze today. I made Fitnessista’s Vegan Gluten-free Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread! However I de-veganised mine — I used cow’s milk.

I used this whole bar of dark chocolate

Raw sugar — “Taikoo” a Hong Kong brand but the sugar originates from my home country (Mauritius) hhee. That is why I bought it :P  Gotta love home grown stuffs hehe.

Big chunky chocolates in there

I made one big and one small loaf

The whole house smelled of cinnamon. I couldn’t wait to slice it and have a bite!

This gluten free pumpkin bread is as moist and dense as my banana cranberry bread. It makes a great breakfast! Plus, it isn’t overly sweet. I actually only used half of the recommended amount of sugar and it was sweet enough to me — you get enough chunky chocolate pieces in every bite.

The ingredients and quantity that I used.

• 2 Cups Orgran’s Gluten Free self Raising Flour
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg-
• 1 bar (100g) Frey, Classic Noir 72% Cacao
• 2 cups Libby’s pumpkin puree
• 1/4 cup raw sugar
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2 flax eggs (2 tbsp ground flax soaked with 4 tbsp water)

I followed the baking instructions from Fitnessista’s blog. I baked mine for about 45 minutes.

Yield: I got 18 slices

***

I still had half can of pumpkin left and I wanted to use them all. So guess what I made as the pumpkin bread was in the oven!? Yess it involves cheeeese …

You will find out in the next post :)  Have a great weekend!

After I came back home, I made myself a green monster <– they are back on my breakfast menu. I had this Braun blender for about 5 years and it has been pretty useful!

In the mix: 1 scoop Sun Warrior protein powder, 3/4 cup milk, 1 cup ice cubes, 1 medium banana, vanilla extract and frozen spinach (3 balls). Sometimes I will add a tablespoon of rolled oats (depending on how heavy and creamy I want my smoothie to be),  flax seed and frozen coconut cubes (for healthy fats) but this time I didn’t.

I usually eat breakfast while checking emails

I also made a quick omelet with laughing cow cheese and packed it for lunch along with some leftover (soupy) lentils and (hidden red cargo rice) and cucumber salad. I wanted a meatless lunch today.

After work I ran some errands as I was running low on some produce

-Halloween section-

Saw Gluten Free White Rice Loaf at the supermarket — I’ve never seen this brand (Ener-G) before. They cost about $11 (!) a packet and nope I didn’t buy one. Some local bakeries should come up with Gluten free (wheat free) bread too.

Organic free range eggs were reduced in price  by half because of nearness to selling date

Anyway here’s what I got – Cucumber, carrot and lettuce (will bring a salad for tomorrow’s dinner at sis’ place), cauliflower, green pepper, frozen spinach (for my green smoothies), eggs and milk

I thought of buying white eggs this time :P

What’s in my  fridge at the moment

And tonight for dinner, I made  minced pork and eggplant stew — sis made it the other time and I liked it A LOT. The additional things that I added are green peppers and cauliflower. I had it with leftover lentils.

I’m just relaxing and having some ME Time right now …

Work shoes (love!) — I feel the most comfortable in sports shoes

On the way to work. Good thing I decided not to cycle today

Because it rained minutes after I reached the office. Yep, it is the rainy season over here …

After work I went for a 8 km run around my place.  I know I’ve said this a few times before, but it was my first run in 2 months. I know it’s a bad habit! I run, then I stop, I start running again, then again  I stop  …  and the cycle goes on and on.  My last run was back in August. Sadly, upping our intervals to 300m, then 400m never happened! Oops.

On the other hand,  I am officially done with  ChaLean Extreme 90-day programme! Mum watched me as I did my last  ChaLean workout yesterday hehe. I’ve always encouraged my family to incorporate some strength training in their life.  It is  fun. It never gets boring. Lifting weights makes you stronger and helps you lose inches too.  I’m gonna follow ChaLean’s “Lean For Life” phase now, which mixes up all three phases. And hopefully will add in a weekly long run too …

“Lean For Life” Calendar

Week 1
Burn Circuit 1
Rest Day
Push Circuit 2
Burn Intervals & Extreme Abs
Lean Circuit 1
Burn it Off & Recharge
Rest Day

Week 2
Burn Circuit 2
Rest Day
Push Circuit 3
Burn Intervals & Ab Burner
Lean Circuit 3
Burn it Off & Recharge
Rest Day

Week 3
Burn Circuit 3
Rest Day
Push Circuit 1
Burn Intervals & Extreme Abs
Lean Circuit 2
Burn it Off & Recharge
Rest Day

Week 4
Burn Circuit 1
Rest Day
Push Circuit 1
Burn Intervals & Ab Burner
Lean Circuit 3
Burn it Off & Recharge
Rest Day
Burn it Off & Recharge

Tonight I made Chilli Rubbed Salmon. Yum!

I seasoned the salmon with salt, pepper, chilli powder and dried oregano. Had it alongside Thai red cargo rice and a simple cucumber salad.

Chili-Rubbed Salmon

Ingredients (1 serving)

• 1/2 teaspoon chili powder or flakes
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• Pinch of salt
• 1 salmon fillet (about 120g)
• 1 tablespoon olive oil

Directions

1. In a bowl, combine the chili powder, oregano, and salt. Pat the spices on the fish.
2. Heat the oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat.
3. Cook the salmon until opaque throughout. (Reduce the heat if the spices begin to turn black.)

Mum baked a buttermilk cake (texture of a pudding) in the morning too. The cracks look pretty don’t they ;)

For lunch, we prepared some vegetarian dishes

On the plate: Stir fried veggies, Mauritian Brinjal dish (steamed brinjal, garlic, tomatoes, chilli flakes and salt) and red cargo rice

In the late afternoon, we headed to Carrefour after mum saw a salmon promo on the newspaper

And we bought a whole salmon! The fishmonger scaled the fish and we told him to cut it into fillets. We got about 12 (averaging 140g) fillets plus the carcass. The whole fish was $27.50 weighing almost 2.4 kg

So far, I’ve already baked some salmon fillets

And made salmon pie which I froze (make-ahead meals)

We spent 2 hours at Carrefour that day! The husb was patiently waiting for us :P

Lunch on Sunday

Sis bought these pizzas from IKEA

Have a great week ahead!!

Anyway … Here are 15 super foods that are also good for your general health. Found the list on Davita.Com website and I created an image as illustration purposes. The 15 super foods for the kidneys are: Red Bell Pepper, Cabbage, Cauliflower, Garlic, Onions, Apples, Cranberries, Blueberries, Raspberries, Strawberries, Cherries, Red Grapes, Egg Whites, Oily Fish, Olive Oil.

I used fresh coconut milk, cocoa powder, vanilla essence and some water

Date night ala Teppanyaki style on Tuesday

Followed by “Mango Snow Ice” dessert.  We’ve never had snow ice before, so it was a new-to-us ice texture.  We kind of prefer the normal shaved ice.

And nothing beats the Mango Pomelo Sago dessert

I’ve been seeing this pretty niece of mine quite often

Dinner at sis’ place tonight. XOXO.