He has already reached their game village and I just video chatted with him via Tango.

***

I had overripe bananas on hand, hence decided to use them this morning. This is a super easy and naturally sweet banana bread. Great with peanut butter on top.

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cup gluten free flour (I used Bob’s Red Mill)
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 1 tsp cinnamon powder
• 1 cup very ripe mashed bananas (about 4 medium-sized bananas)
• 1 tsp vanilla essence
• 1 tbsp oil
• 2 eggs (or flax eggs)

Method: Mix the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon powder together. Then in a separate bowl, mix the rest of the ingredients. Combine with the dry ingredients and bake at 200 C for about 45 minutes.

Breakfast was protein pancakes topped with microwaved cinnamon apples. YUM.

Guess what was back on the dinner menu last night?

Cottage Cheese! It’s been months since I ate cottage cheese and it was good to have it back hehe.  On the plate was Tuna, cottage cheese and stir-fry cabbage to go along with bread. I also had some air popped  popcorn  seasoned cajun spice. The trick to having your seasoning powder stick to the plain popcorn is to use a spray oil.

This popcorn popper (birthday pressie) has been pretty useful :) It’s so light, easy to use and needs very minimal cleaning — unlike a waffle iron!

***

So last Sunday, the husband and I headed down to Sentosa. It’s been two years since we went there together  O.o

There have been a lot of changes since.

Relaxing

And enjoying the sun and breeze

Playing with my camera’s Miniature setting

Then I saw Hershey’s store and I had to enter! Me holding a huge $60 chocolate bar – Yeah, photographs are allowed. We bought some REESE’S peanut butter cups.

Candles – chocolate scented candles (I suppose)

Universal Studio Singapore. We didn’t go in though.

On Friday (it was a public holiday over here) I threw a mini Birthday luncheon at my place among my siblings and some few friends. It was kind of a very last minute thingy, something that I planned 4 days prior to the actual day.

Well,  let the photos speak for themselves.

The food first? 99% of the foodies were home-prepared

I made my own version of Enchiledas. The sauce was a Mauritian based Rougaille

We had crackers and dips. Starting from the left: chickpea sausage dijon mustard dip,  avocado cheese dip, tuna mayo bacon bits dip and hummus with the forgotten garlic! ha. I made the dips in the morning.

The crackers were not homemade though :)

My brother brought finger food + mashed potatoes (not pictured)

Beef Fried Noodles from my sis

And I also made a HUGE salad bowl

These were TV snackies

Group picture with my family

Group picture with friends

My girlfriends wanted me to open this pressie in particular

After unwrapping :) I think my smile said it all hehe

And yeash, it’s a popcorn maker! Must have a popcorn party soon.

And of course we had to test it out immediately :) We had lots of fun in the kitchen! It was super easy to make popcorn.

Plain and healthy popcorn

Even my niece wanted some? Haa I kid.

Then it was time to do the whole singing-making-a-wish-and-cutting-the-cake

With the husband

It was a very yummy, mousse-y and chocolat-y cake

Goofing around with my camera’s Fish Eye mode. Out of all, I loved how this one turned :)

Testing my camera again

Birthday pressies, including my new camera (which took all these pictures) from siblings and hubby. The Belgian waffle maker was actually a very early birthday present and I haven’t had the chance to make Belgian waffles yet!

Thank you all :)

Rewinding back to yesterday ….

We were at the hotel lounge watching the first part of the soccer match – Man Utd vs Chelsea

Finally he smiles for the camera :)

It was 5 pm and too early for dinner … and because we were too lazy to go out and eat, we decided to order in a Club Sandwich. It came with fries …

Just before heading for a swim

Around 8pm we went out for dinner … Spaghetti

Mushroom Soup

And brought back duck noodles + LOTS of tidbits — Japanese crackers, mixed nuts etc. On top of those, we had grapes and homemade pickled guava — I brought from home to the hotel — as well as sis’ delicious & super moist chocolate birthday cake. I went to sleep in a pure food coma!!!

The husband happily showing me a a YOG (Youth Olympic Games) Torch Relay ceremony video.

And this picture .. He ran alongside the torch bearer on Sunday.

The first Youth Olympic Games begins in exactly 4 days 12 hours! From 14th August  to 26th August. The husband is gonna be a busy man during this period.

Anyway … back to the the getaway pictures … Me enjoying a Mango Smoothie

Morning breakfast buffet … My first plate

***

What were we doing exactly one year ago today?

Celebrating sis’ birthday plus doing this :)

They were saying the Singapore National Pledge. It was a very fun night!!!

We had friends (my co-workers) over for a super late lunch (3 pm) yesterday. It’s been a while since I had friends over! It was a fun afternoon. Must. Do. Again.

Pre-lunch: The guys preparing the steamboat stuffs

Lunch included steamboat, homemade chicken pie, salad and snackies. For my usual salad, I threw together some two types of lettuces, rocket leaves, cherry tomatoes, mint leaves, mixed nuts & raisins, balsamic vinegar, salt and olive oil … Alas, I totally forgot to add in the cucumber, apples and carrots!  Duuhhh… No wonder the whole time I was eating my salad, I felt like something was missing! O.o

[Edit - I've posted the Chicken Pie recipe on Ti Pomme D'amour]

I and the hub finished one of the crisp white wine bottles after the guests left heehe. It’s a mild white wine (9.5% alchohol) and even the taste is mild. I like it :)

I haven’t posted a picture of my cat in a little while … So here’s Mikey

What’s your plan for the day? The husband is out attending courses for most part of the day and I am just gonna relax  in my Little Space. Oh I need to do the laundry too. Have a nice day ahead! And in case I don’t get to blog this week (due to laziness or after-work activities or busy schedule), I wish you all a good week!

***

I received this in my inbox and thought of sharing …

Everyone has God-given dreams and desires. We all have goals we want to accomplish and situations we are believing will be turned around. Sometimes it seems to take longer than we originally thought. Sometimes, things don’t work out the way we planned, and it’s easy to lose enthusiasm. If we’re not careful, we’ll get discouraged and end up just settling where we are. But God doesn’t want us to settle, He wants to take us higher. But many times, people miss out on God’s best simply because they give up too soon. They don’t realize how close they are to their victory.

Friend, don’t let that be you today. Don’t give up just because things seem hard. You’ve invested so much, and you never know, just a few more days of believing, another few weeks of doing the right thing, another few months of staying in faith, and you could see that situation turn around. Remember, God is on your side! Keep standing and keep believing because you are closer than you think to fulfilling every desire He’s placed inside of you!

Did I tell ya that breakfast was delish?

Sausage, egg and bread

Last Saturday (yesterday as well) we walked to the nearby beach. Well it is not the typical beach where you can swim (muddy water) but it is more like a place to fish. Here are some phone snapshots that I took last week.

The starting point

A 2800m foot path that leads to the beach. It took us 30 minutes (from home) to reach the starting point

Midway through. We were heading towards that far end.

Fitness Corner. Yesterday I tried the chin-up but I couldn’t pull my chin above the bar haha! I can do 20 over push ups but not even one full chin- up! My biceps are pretty weak. 

The end point

Sun setting down

People fishing

We had Satay (with yummy peanut sauce) for dinner

Sirloin steak meal

Burger Meal

More than enough for just the two of us! We didn’t finish the baked potato, the baked beans, half the thick burger patty and some of the satay. We were s.t.u.f.f.e.d! Thankfully home was just 15 minutes walk away.

***

Enjoy your Sunday :)

Me getting ready

With the hubby

Live band performances

With our friend, Roger

***

Anyway, how is your Sunday going? We had brunch cum newspaper-reading-time at the coffee shop this morning.  I was craving for a bowl of laksa, so I bought one.

Yesterday (Saturday) I made a microwaved cinnamon raisin apple in the morning to kick-start the day. It does look like a bloody apple eh, like your could make that for Halloween. He thought this apple looked like a rotten apple O.o It is good, trust me :)

Cinnamon + raisin + apple. Microwave on high for 3 minutes. Serve warm!

Did you know

You can toast nuts inside the microwave: Use 1 teaspoon of butter for every 1/2 cup of nuts. Cook on high 2 1/2 to 5 minutes. Stir every 30 seconds. This can be done without the butter. Even granola can be made in the microwave! If you give it a try let me know :)

***

I also made a cake in the microwave (the traditional one)  real quick. It was a 5 minute chocolate mug cake. What a nice and a fun way to make a small cake! Plus you don’t have to worry about over indulging :)

Can you tell how light and moist the cake is?

Couldn’t wait to dig in!

5 Minute Chocolate Mug Cake.

The recipe is adapted from Not Quite Nigella and this is my modified version.

Ingredients (Makes 2)

• 4 tbsp flour
• 3 tbsp sugar
• 2 tbsp cocoa
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp cream of tartar
• A pinch of salt
• 1 egg
• 3 tbsp milk
• 2 tbsp oil (I used canola)
• Splash of vanilla extract
• 2 microwave safe coffee mugs or ramekins

Method: Mix all the dry ingredients in a big bowl. Add in the milk, oil, vanilla extract, egg and mix well. Pour mixture into mugs (at the halfway mark) and place the mug on a plate in . Microwave one mug at a time. Cook for 1 minute on medium heat. It will bubble and rise as it cooks, so make sure you provide ample room for that. Leave it for a few seconds, then microwave for another 30 seconds on medium again. The mixture will solidify, but still look a little molten. That is fine because it will continue cooking on residual heat. Overcook it and you get a chocolate rubber ball.

We bought some snackies after the movie. Guess which one I chose.

The Fragrance Tayar Pop! Love them!! They just melt in your mouth.

He chose  the crispy Fragrance Rice Cookies.

As well as the sweet Fragrance Mini Pineapple biscuits

On to the Meme now! I was tagged by Angele yesterday :)

***

Three things that scare me:
01 | Lightning when I am stranded outside. The lightning over here are huge sometimes!
02 | The waiting.
03 | Flying roaches. Ewww.

Three people who make me laugh:
01 | My two colleagues when they are in a crazy mood.
02 | My friends (Haze, Eunice etc.).
03 | My cat when he is playing with his toy or running after an insect. It’s fun to watch :)

Three things I enjoy:
01 | Body Massage and foot reflexology – I will never ever get sick of these!!
02 | Cooking and baking.
03 | Working out – run, gym and I am starting to like yoga.

Three things I hate:
01 | Public toilets. Eewww!
02 | Rude people.
03 | Flying roaches.

Three things on my desk at the moment:
01 | My Water bottle.
02 | Choc Mint Wafers.
03 | Hello Panda biscuits.

My colleague is feeding me with those sweet snackies LOL. But I am trying not to eat too much of these sweet stuffs.

Three things I’m doing right now:
01 | Writing this meme – obviously o.O
02 | Listening to music
03 | Well I’m actually multi-tasking … twitting, googling and working!!

Three things I want to do before I die:
01 | Run another marathon.
02 | Travel.
03 | Enjoy my retirement days with family and grandchildren around.

Three Things I like about my looks:
01 | My smile
02 | My legs
03 | My eyes

Three of my absolute favorite foods:
01 | Thai Tom Yum Soup
02 | Curry Fish Head
03 | I like a lot of things but can’t think of another one that is my absolute favorite!

Three things I’d like to learn:
01 | Driving (but I’m not as much interested as I was before)
02 | Baking – as in professional baking
03 | What else??

Three shows I watched when I was a kid:
01 | Rosa!!! Femme de sable!!! And similar ones!!!
02 | Saved by the Bell
03 | La fete a la maison (Full House?)

***

Whoever is reading this and wants to do the meme, please go ahead  :) Have a great day ahead!

An old fashioned chocolate cake actually

The birthday boy - So not going to use thin long candles next time because they wouldn’t stand straight!

The candles wouldn’t blow out because I  used magic candles :)

It’s a moist and spongy cake

This cake is SO easy to prepare! Just dump all the ingredients into a food processor and then bake!

***

Old Fashioned Chocolate cake

• 100g plain flour
• 80g caster sugar (original calls for 100g but 80g was sweet enough for my taste)
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
• 20g best-quality cocoa
• 50g unsalted butter + 35g applesauce (original calls for 85g soft unsalted butter)
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 teaspoons real vanilla extract
• 75ml sour cream (I used low fat)

Method

1. Take everything out of the fridge so that all the ingredients can come to room temperature.
2. Preheat the oven to gas mark 4/180°C and line and butter one 12 cm spring-form pan – you can use two if you want flatter cakes.
3. Now all you have to do is put all the cake ingredients – flour, sugar, baking powder and bicarb, cocoa, butter, eggs, vanilla and sour cream – into a food processor and process until you have a smooth, thick batter.
4. Pour the batter  into the prepared pan and bake for about 40 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean.

I made a 12cm cake just for the two of us

I actually love the cracks!

***

Enjoy your Sunday! I’m making some super healthy, protein-packed and nutritious soup for tonight :)

Picture of us before heading to the city.

* I painted that wall oil painting and the blue one behind me :P *

Not just one picture … I took a dozen.

One year ago on this date:

Two years ago on this date:

We went though incredibly a LOT of ups and downs during those past two years.

***

Cotton is the 2nd Anniversary Traditional Gift because by the time a couple celebrates their second anniversary, they are more cozy with one another, making cotton the appropriate anniversary gift for this wedding anniversary celebration.

So guess what, we bought each other new bed linens :) It was time to get new ones anyway!

* Mikey cat is a little shy *

Quilt cover set, fitted bed sheet and bath mat — all 100% cotton

The quilt cover set was a good bargain

How does it look like? The bed sheet matches our purple wall.

After dinner, we headed to Carrefour @ Suntec mall to run errands. Suntec was very crowded because of the IT Show.

Before that, dinner was at Pariss Restaurant. We’ve been there 4-5 times …  It’s probably  not the best buffet in town but the food is decent.

I started off with some cold salads. I liked the Edamame seeds but not the seaweed salad or the Thai style papaya salad.

The husband’s plate … I think this was his 2nd. On the plate was lobster (he ate a total of 6 lobsters O_o), raw salmon, Thai style papaya salad and  not too sure about the rest.

Everything on my plate was nice. Love the spring roll and fries! The prawn was very crispy! I don’t think I can eat $50 worth of food at buffets because my choice of food is kind of  cheap.

This plate was obviously his as I don’t like oysters … he adores raw oysters. He only ate seafood! So much cholesterol went into his blood that night.

Do you know, after my 2nd plate I went straight to desserts? I didn’t finish all the cakes. Probably ate half of each. He only ate the purple dragon fruit and the choux à la Crème.

However I didn’t eat dessert straight away as I went for my 3rd plate — Thai Pineapple Fried Rice, Thai style Tofu, Prawn dumplings, pickled chillies. Oh yeah, that is a ton of green chillies! I love pickled green chillies :) Not pictured was prawns, fish, curry, mushroom soup (not nice) etc.

Crabs

***

Last week’s workout:

Monday: 30 minutes elliptical
Tuesday: Rest
Wednesday: Rest
Thursday: 7 km fast run (fast because I was full of energy after 2 rest days. I could have run more but didn’t want to over-do)
Friday: Rest
Saturday: 40 minutes strength
Sunday: 5 km run

***

I leave you with this. Too funny :)  The ‘cooking after 6 years’  is quite true. Have a lovely Sunday!!!

How Men Change

The Love Word:
After 6 weeks: I looo-ve you, I love you, I love you!
After 6 months: Of course, I love you.
After 6 years: GOD, if I didn’t love you, then why did I marry you?

Back from Work:
After 6 weeks: Honey, I’m home!
After 6 months: I’m BACK!!
After 6 years: Have you cooked yet?

Phone Ringing:
After 6 weeks: Baby, somebody wants you on the phone.
After 6 months: Here, it’s for you.
After 6 years: ANSWER THE PHONE DAM*T!!

Cooking:
After 6 weeks: I never knew food could taste so good!
After 6 months: What are we having for dinner tonight?
After 6 years: DUMPLING AGAIN??

New Dress:
After 6 weeks: Wow, you look like an angel in that dress.
After 6 months: You bought a new dress again?
After 6 years: How much did THAT cost me?

TV:
After 6 weeks: Baby, what would you like us to watch tonight?
After 6 months: I like this movie.
After 6 years: I’m going to watch PIRATES play, if you’re not in the mood, go to bed, I can stay up by myself!

Making Love:
After 6 weeks: Baby, I want you tonight?
After 6 months: Lets make another baby, my mother just called!!!
After 6 years: Please MOVE over to your side, I’m suffocating here!!!!

Since this is our special weekend, I took the day off  today so that I could relax, bake and cook!  I whipped quite a bit of things this AM!

First I made homemade Jalapeno Hummus. I  like hummus (great for dips). However I don’t like to spend $6 for a small tub of it. Solution? Make your own!

Making your own hummus dip is incredibly easy! The basic is chickpeas (aka garbanzo beans), garlic, lemon juice, salt and olive oil. Jalapeno is the add-on.

Garbanzo beans (also known as chickpeas) have a delicious nut like taste and buttery texture. They provide a good source of protein that can be enjoyed year-round and are available either dried or canned.

I re-filled my hummus tub. I got two tubs! Definitely so much cheaper :)

Ingredients

• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 (410g) can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
• 3 tablespoons lime juice
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup olive oil — I probably added less than that as I didn’t measure
• 3/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro — I skipped this
• 3 jalapeno peppers

Method

Place garlic in a food processor and process until minced, about 10 seconds. Add beans, lime juice and salt. Process into a puree. With the processor running, slowly add olive oil in a steady stream through the feed tube. Process until mixture thickens, about 1-2 minutes. Add cilantro and jalapeno and pulse throughout, about 10 seconds. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Bring to room temperature before serving.

***

Next thing I made was big bowl of Beet Corn Salad.

I have  not eaten beets for probably over 3 years (or more)!!  I like beets (though not a big fan) but I don’t know the reason why it took me so long to buy some!  O_o

Filling: 1 beet (boiled), 1 cup of corn, 4 small diced tomatoes, 2 hard boiled eggs, roasted nuts of your choice

The husband doesn’t like beets :D  After 9 years together, TODAY (only after having made the salad) I learned he has never eaten beets in his life — I am pretty sure he had but maybe can’t remember! I believe he won’t be able to tell if I secretly add some beets to his raspberry strawberry smoothies next time!

***

And finally, I made double chocolate pudding which I’m keeping for tonight! Will post recipe another day.

***

Some eats over the last few days.

Microwaved corn egg

Words of Caution when microwaving eggs: Eggs micro-cooked in their shells with EXPLODE!  Even out of the shell, eggs may explode in the microwave because rapid heating causes a buildup of steam. Always use a wooden pick or tip of a knife to break the yolk membrane of an unbeaten egg before micro-cooking to allow the steam to escape.

Lemon-Baked Salmon

Baby Spinach in mild creamy cheezy sauce

Baked Sweet Potato Fries – still a hit

Have a nice weekend everyone!!

Some sushi before my run

After the run, we headed for breakfast at the nearby coffee shop. The only food stall that was opened was the Malay and the Indian stall. The drink stall too. We had a nice cold iced milk tea and Malay food. Yesterday we shared a plate of Briyani for lunch.

***

Some pictures taken yesterday at River Hongbao Carnival.

Wondering what they were looking at?

At this! (above pic). We tried it in Malaysia last year. It was awesome!!

Bought a cup of corn.

Cotton candy.

Some type of Roti Prata. We didn’t buy anything at the main food section. The queue was too long.

Ground peanut in that huge tray

Me and him

Me

The 2nd Casino in Singapore still under construction.

Afterwards we headed for Suntec and Carefoure. Yes Carefoure was opened.

Part of dinner was a delicious minestrone soup with focaccia bread.

Some typical Chinese New Year foodies — nuts (pistachio), Kuih bangkit (very soft cookie that melts in the mouth), pineapple tarts, love letters, pork bakkwa (salty-sweet dried meat) and yusheng.

The husband likes Kuih bangkit (the white ones – coconut flavoured cookies) and I like love letters (those rolled biscuits).

These are bakkwa – bbq sweet salty pork slices.  They are really really fattening and addictive but they taste good. We eat them once a year during the Lunar New  Year time.

This is Yusheng, which I will bring to my sister tomorrow for dinner. I’ve bought the smoked salmon separately.

***

Yesterday (Saturday) I spent 4 hrs cleaning my house. Vacuumed, mopped, uncluttered the kitchen cabinets and re-arranged my spice bottles. I found an x-box console in our wardrobe! Toilets were scrubbed too.

I got rid of 4-5 bags of unwanted things, mostly our old clothes … My wardrobe is less messy now. I have a carton box full of old school books. I am not sure what to do with them. What do you do with your old school books? Throw or give them away? Give to who??

I was too busy cleaning and re-arranging things that I didn’t even eat my breakfast. And I didn’t feel hungry at all!

Lunch was a simple noodle soup – clams, mushrooms and veggies. Yummy!!

Some Fuju Apples as dessert

***

Dinner on Saturday was at my mother in law’s place. She cooked quite a lot for just the two of us. Not pictured was steamed prawns, steamed fish, braised mushrooms and fish ball soup.

Today I’m not sure what the plan is. I am going to take a nap now! Tata!