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 …

Made fish in creamy mushroom sauce yesterday

I used portabella mushrooms, onions, garlic, thyme, salt, pepper,  frozen veggies (carrots, peas, corn), milk, nutritional yeast (you can use cheese instead), oil, fish fillets (I don’t dare buy Sutchi Fish after having read that they are reared in dirty ponds).

Did you know …

Frozen vegetables retain almost all of their nutritional value, since they’re picked and frozen while at their peak flavor. However, fresh vegetables or fruits that are in season should always be a first choice.

***

Mum’s surgery went smoothly (Thank God)!  She is able to talk and eat light food. Should slowly be able to start walking around. She’s resting in her room now. We are taking turn to keep her company. Last night I spent the night at the hospital and  went to work from there this morning.

I call this an all-in-one meal – Pulses, Veggies and Meat. In one big pot.

Used the last packet of lentils that mum gave me

And made a hearty Chicken & Lentils Stew, with an unintentional slightly burnt flavor. Well, it still tastes great, trust me :)

In the pot: Carrots, half a cauliflower, two chicken breasts (boiled and then shredded), a cup of lentils, shitake mushrooms, ground cumin, curry powder, diced tomatoes,  lots of red chilli powder, chicken stock and water.

Earlier today we went out for brunch at the food court.

Kaya Toast Set

Duck Noodle

Chinese Dim Sum

And we came back home with these: Dragon fruits, bananas, blueberries, broccoli, spinach, chicken breast, chicken fillets, salmon, canned tuna and cauliflower (used in the stew).

It’s been a while since I took pictures of my groceries!

I won’t be at work tomorrow (Saturday)

Enjoy your long weekend :) The husband wants us to catch a scary midnight show later tonight!

We are going to my brother’s place for dinner later and thought of updating this as I have some time to spare. How is your Saturday? Any plans for the weekend?

I said earlier that I was going to show you what I brought back from Mauritius.  Well, they are mostly food! haha. You can find quite a number of food products imported from France and South Africa in Mauritius. It was fun to see new products!

There are Cadbury chocolates in Singapore but I haven’t seen these. I like those cute messages .

Bought couple of biscuits too

As well as some local products such as tea, biscuits and chocolates

Some of my childhood favourites such as biscuit manioc, biscuit Le hochet, biscuit Champagne etc.

Local chocolates

Pate de Fruits

“Tropic” roasted peanuts. I also bought this  cute bowl :)

Other local products such as “Mazavarou” chilli, Fleur de Sel, Vanilla Essence, Muscovado

Sutalfine – my childhood favourite :)

Some french novels for my reading pleasure

My auntie made us “achard de légumes” a.k.a pickled veggies. It is a typical Mauritian dish. Love to have it with  bread.

It is a mixture of veggies (cabbages, beans, carrots) + mustard seeds + saffron + oil + vinegar …

So that’s about it for now …  Gonna take a short nap now!

After that, we went to Phoenix Les Halles mall to shop a little before driving back to Port-Louis for lunch. The escalators in Mauritius are in the upward direction only. Correct me if I’m wrong.

After lunch at Caudan Waterfront.

We are heading to the beach again tomorrow until Saturday. Niiiiiite!!

Plus these. I am planning to make some granola bars with those dried apricots.

Mum made Croque Monsieur this AM. My camera is spoilt. Oh what a great timing! Please excuse the picture quality (you will see a lot of horizontal lines).  I am trying to get hold of another camera before heading to La Pirogue tomorrow! Can’t wait!! :)

I also made my breakfast protein pancake for breakfast – topped with nutella and peanut butter.

With mum and niece Claire

Yesterday I met two cousins for lunch at Le Patio. I had a Marlin Fumé Panini and a carrot-orange-ginger fresh fruit juice. Cuz, thanks for the lunch :)

At night, I met Angele and Lash for dinner at Black Steers. Thanks for the scrumptious dinner guys!

Our starter plate consisted of onion rings, calamari, garlic bread, chicken nuggets and some mozzarella thingy.

Angele and I each ordered a Filet Mignon (270g) and shared a Greek salad. The salad dressing was good :)

A mixed grill for Lash

Me and my steak

The place

Drink Menu

Enjoy the rest of your day :) Weekend is around the corner (for those who are working hehe)!

A rooster woke me up at 0430! O.o I went back to sleep and around 0600 he woke me up again! haha. So I got out of bed and ate a pear before heading out to the mountain. My butt is a little sore after yesterday’s inclined walk (at the mountain).

Love going to the nearby mountain for the fresh air and some “me” time … It was breezy and cool this morning. I did both jogging and walking.

I came back home an hour plus later and soon after,  it was time to head to the local market (Bazaar Port Louis) with dad. Here are some snapshots.

I am getting more “confit” later! Loooooove this! <3 <3 <3 <3 Think I’m gonna take a little nap now!

We arrived on Saturday afternoon. It feels nice to be back to the homeland and spend time with our parents again. Well I don’t have any particular plans. Meeting some friends this week and heading to the beach resort on Friday with the family for a weekend get away. Meeting the relatives next week … We are here till the 22nd.

Anyhoo … let me just post some pictures, shall I …  Me and the husband before my departure. I am missing him loads!

The 7 hr direct flight was okay. My niece, Claire, behaved pretty well — it was her first time being inside a plane.

Lunch was provided. We had a choice of fish noodle or curry chicken. I chose the latter.

Breakie time – bread, butter, cheese and tea = <3 <3

Trying to distract Claire

Mum loves gardening and she grows a lot of stuffs at my grandma’s place –  bell peppers, basil, thyme, “pipengaille”, papaya trees, sweet potatoes, celery, onions, garlic, cherry tomatoes, red chillies, long beans and more!

Fresh papaya from the tree

On Sunday we headed to Jumbo for grocery shopping — LOVE!!!

Spices

Cheese stuffs

We ran out of vanilla, so I got a small bottle as I wanted to bake something

Some yoghurt

Spinach for Claire

And a lot more!

I made some granola today.

***

Mum and I headed to the mountain this AM. I am still having some jet lag … falling asleep at 2100 and waking up at 0300 (0700 Singapore Time)…  Okay I should stop now :) Will update again another day! Gonna help mum with dinner now!

Ingredients:

• 5oog mushrooms, cleaned and sliced. I used 400g button and 100g shitake mushrooms
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 onion (chopped)
• 2 cloves garlic (chopped)
• 4 cups vegetable or chicken stock
• 1 cup light cream (you could use milk + flour instead)
• Some mozzarella cheese

Method

1. Heat the oil in a pan. Add the onions and saute until tender, about 5-7 minutes.
2. Add the garlic and saute until fragrant, about 1 minute.
3. Add the sliced mushrooms and vegetable broth and simmer for 10 minutes
4. Season with salt and pepper.
5. Remove from the heat and puree with a hand blender.
6. Mix in the cream.
7. Serve garnish with mozzarella cheese

***

Some random pictures taken over the past few days

I like Clarins moisturising cream. Thanks sis  :)

My homemade granola bars

I processed some of my homemade granola bars into coarse ground granola. Use  this as topping over your morning breakfast cereal!

Such as this: milk + corn flakes + toasted pecan nuts + dried fruits + coarse ground homemade granola

Sunday dinner at a 24hr coffee shop

Drunken prawns – I love the soup!

My grocery shopping for the week. So little! I was in a hurry. I bought chayote (chou chou), sweet potatoes, mushrooms, yoghurt, aubergine and milk.

Spicy baked bean corn and tuna patties. I’m a huge fan of spicy food.

I will post the recipe another day. Well, baked beans and tuna wasn’t the best combi.

Experimenting with silken tofu and jelly crystals

It was a flop! Went straight to the trash. I will stick to my chocolate tofu pudding!

Mini pineapple cookie

XOXO

But I will watch it again someday.

Anyway, how is your Sunday so far? Mine is good. I started the day with an hour of yoga. I’ve always wanted to achieve crow pose. I can finally do it now. I would like to be able to do this and that someday. This one too! Okay in my dream  :)

[Crow Pose Source]

After yoga, we went out for breakfast and ran errands. On top of the usual fruits, veggies and meat, I also bought rolled oats and mixed fruits for my granola bars; yoghurt for breakfast; flour, vanilla essence and eggs for my baking.

And MARMITE too! To add to rice porridge and sandwiches.

I had a handful of toasted pecans today. They are SO tasty!

The husband just bought a DVD recorder. So today I  spent some time recording some of my current favourite music videos (which are good to watch while working out) from the MTV channel.

Who doesn’t eat Yan Yan? We like to snack on these from time to time haha.

One year ago on this date: I made my first beer bread!

Enjoy the last bit of your Sunday!!

Yesterday dinner was a little on the unhealthy side. A little junk food every once in a while doesn’t hurt. We had fried chicken wings and french fries.

And fried oyster egg – not the best looking one!

(T0day) I started my Sunday with some light home exercises – about 50 minutes of cardio, abs and weights. I just bought a yoga DVD (and another workout DVD) because I’m planning to pick up yoga again :)

After that, breakfast was at KFC. It’s been a while since we ate there. I shared this with the husband – I had most of the eggs.

Then we ran errands but before that I bought a Mr Bean soya breancurd :)

Groceries

I chose cucumber, sweet potatoes, brinjal, apples, lettuce, basil leaves, eggs, low fat cream cheese, buttermilk, multi-grain bread and low fat condensed milk.

And he chose salmon, toman fish for porridge, king prawns, frozen corn kernel, frozen mussels, kit kat, peanuts and cheezels.

While I was still outside, I received a text message from my friend saying that she was on her way to my house to pick up Toto! I wasn’t expecting her today as I thought that she would be coming next Sunday :D So I rushed back home just in time. She brought these for me (from Australia).  OZ cheese twisties are SO cheesy!

I have three bottles of Baileys now!

* Flashback: Last year photo *

For lunch (a late one), I prepared stir-fried garlic prawns

And then I baked Pacman lol :D

Kidding  – 0 -  It was actually a (low fat) Japanese Soufflé Cheesecake hehe. I love Japanese cheesecake because they are so light and spongy! <3

More on that in my next post :) I think I am going to take a short nap now.

Gorgeous green isn’t it. Breadstick + Hummus = <3

Ingredients

• 1 (410g) can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
• 3 jalapeno peppers
• 1 cup boiled or wilted spinach
• Olive oil or EVOO (I didn’t add too much)
• Salt to taste

Method: In a food processor add beans, jalapenos, spinach, salt and puree until smooth . With the processor running, slowly add olive oil in a steady stream through the feed tube. Process until mixture thickens, about 1-2 minutes. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Bring to room temperature before serving.

***

I bought a box of Grissini bread stick ($2 after discount) and Kashi 7 whole grain pilaf ($3.50 after discount) from Cold Storage. Both items were on sale and price reduced by half, because they are close to hitting their expiration dates. I guess there is more than enough time to consume them before they expire :)

I’ve never eaten Pilaf until today.

After 25 minutes of cooking (1/4 cup pilaf + 1 cup of stock), it becomes like this. They are pretty chewy and tasty. Nice with stir fries etc.

***

Look what I bought the other day :)

Honey Thai Mangoes — $1 for 1 piece (quite fleshy) — I bought 9 pieces!

I actually baked mango muffins last night but they didn’t turn out that good. They became too moist (due to the big ripe mango chunks) even after having baked them for at least 45 minute! In my opinion, ripe mangoes are best eaten fresh or in smoothies.

We have a house guest! Tomorrow I will tell you who is staying with us for the next two weeks  :) He is a little shy at the moment hehe.

***

When my parents visited last year, they brought us canned tuna from Mauritius.

These canned tuna have definitely been useful. I’ve used them in Cheesy Tuna Zucchini Spinach Pasta, salads, sandwiches, stir-fries etc. Even the cat had some! He LOVES tuna!

Yesterday I prepared a simple stir-fried tuna & corn pasta dish

I also added some frozen homemade basil pesto cubes

[Repeat photo]

How do I make frozen pesto cubes?

Simple. Place the pesto sauce in a mini ice-cube tray and pop the tray into the freezer. Once frozen, remove each pesto cube (do it quickly before they all melt) from the tray and store in an air-tight container inside the freezer.

***

He’s a BIG fan of corn! So I added a LOT.

I don’t measure when I cook but I think this is roughly how much I used

Ingredients

• 2-3 cup pasta of your choice — Could be more. Can’t remember.
• 1.5  cup corn kernels
• 2 tomatoes, diced
• 2-3 frozen basil pesto sauce cubes or fresh pesto sauce
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 2 tbsp oil – I love EVOO

Method

1. Prepare your pasta according to the direction on the package
2. While pasta is boiling  stir fry the corn, tomatoes and basil pesto sauce
3. When the pasta is ready, drain it
4. Mix pasta to the corn mixture and cook for few more minutes
5. Serve immediately

I bought this organic and gluten free SoyCream yesterday. It was on sale (from $4.95 to $1.90) and I wanted to try something new. But now I don’t know how to use it. I believe it should be like a pouring cream. Well we shall see …

***

Watching American Idol now … Goodnight!

– Me eating a kiwiBerry … more on that later –

After 3 hrs at the office, I headed down to the city. Dropped by ThreeSixty Marketplace at Ion Orchard and spent over an hour browsing the aisles and exploring new items on the shelves. I don’t like clothes shopping  but I LOVE grocery shopping! I could have spent a b0mb at ThreeSixty but thank goodness I have enough self control!

Guess how much I spent there?

Only 10 bucks! Of course the $30 ++ truffle oil 100ml bottle was tempting but I don’t see myself using it that often, thus gave it a pass. I only bought Hummus dip ($3.95 on sale) and something new to me — TVP for Textured Vegetable Protein ($5.75). I have absolutely no idea how this will taste.  Shall give it a try soon!

Texture vegetable protein, TVP for short, is a high-fiber, high-protein meat substitute made from soy flour and available in a variety of flavored and unflavored varieties, as well as different sizes, from large chunks to small flakes.

It’s definitely packed with loads of protein.

***

After ThreeSixty, I ran more errands at  Carrefour @ Plaza Singapura. I prefer the one at Suntec mall because they have more varieties of stuffs.

I bought …

• Dried apricots ($1.99)
• Sweet potatoes (sweet potato fries! Yum) ($3.30)
• Aubergine ($2.35)
• Multi-grain bread ($2.50 on sale)
• Spicy honey mustard (first time trying this)($5.30)
• Extra-light whipping cream (planning to whip something) ($2.95)
• NZ KiwiBerries ($3.65 on sale)

NZ KiwiBerries?

I didn’t know this fruit even existed! It is as small as cherry tomatoes and as sweet as the yellow kiwis. This small punnet costs $3.65 and it was on sale. The skin can be eaten.

See how small they are?

KiwiBerry are small – in the 5 – 20 gram range, with smooth hairless edible skins, and shapes varying from round to elongated. One of the attractions of KiwiBerry is that they, like grapes, are a single mouthful and to increase the size above say 20 grams eliminates this desirable characteristic.

I have no idea what to eat for dinner … Maybe just bake sweet potato fries!

XOXOXO

I hope you had a nice weekend! We spent quite some time in front of the TV during the weekend!  We watched  Jennifer’s Body, Surrogates and The Final Destination.

Last week’s workout:

• Monday: 45 min Strength Endurance
• Tuesday: 10 km run
• Wednesday: 7 km run
• Thursday: Rest
• Friday: 8 km run
• Saturday: Rest
• Sunday: 4 km run + 20 min strength

I’m lacking on long runs (> 15 km) and intervals …

***

Today’s late lunch was stir fried scallop cake and ham omelette.

We ate in the bedroom in front of the TV while watching  Surrogates. Nice movie. This big plate was shared between the two of us.

A closer look.

***

Have you ever eaten sweet couscous?

I had some couscous in the fridge (1/2 cup left). I wanted to make chicken couscous salad but I didn’t have most of the ingredients. On the other hand, I had plenty of apples and mangoes. So I came up with a couscous fruit salad!

Milk and vanilla essence were also used.

To be honest it tasted a little weird. It was my first time ever having sweet couscous.  The husband kept asking what it was and I kept telling him that it was just a fruity milky pudding :)  He isn’t really a fan of couscous ha ha. We didn’t finish the bowl. I froze the remaining … maybe frozen ones would taste better? We shall see!

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup instant couscous
• Low-Fat milk (can’t remember how much I used but it must be at least 1 cup)
• 1 tbsp jam
• 1 apple, diced
• 1 mango, diced
• Vanilla essence

Method

1. In a saucepan, bring milk, vanilla and jam to a boil. Add couscous, cover, and immediately remove from heat. Let stand for about 10 min.
2. Mix the fruits and the couscous together.

There’s a recipe on Oprah’s website for Couscous Fruit Salad. Better follow hers  :)

***

Ran some errands in the evening.

What he bought

What I bought

See the difference? He doesn’t snack that much but he does have a sweet tooth, especially for KitKat!

Bought this cheese Pretzels snack at Daiso.

Time to sleep … Goodnight!!