Butterless Chocolate Chip Cookies

Long time no baking post already, yes? So here's one.

Oh, before that, I'm not a good baker, but I do know how to bake a little. I started baking about a year ago, since I found out I have a secret admirer and he said he admired me because I look like the perfect girl who is fast+efficient+effective in her work, knows how to cook, bake, yada yada.

Sorry, I've digressed.

So yes, I baked some chocolate chip cookies (without butter) last weekend. I have everything, except butter, and I didn't bother getting a block of butter from the nearest mini-mart, so I had to make do without the butter.

Ingredients: 1.5 cup self-raising flour (I only have self-raising flour at home), 1/4 cup brown sugar, 1/4 cup white sugar, 1/2 cup cooking oil, pinch of salt and 1 egg. Supposed to add some vanilla essence but I didn't have any.

I mixed everything using my hands, yep, my hands. No spoon, no fork, no whisk. Just my hands.

Added a cup of semi-sweet (Hershey's) chocolate chips. 

Here's what I discovered. I don't like working WITHOUT butter. It makes the dough firm and sticky. Very sticky. It was very hard trying to roll them into balls using my palm. As you can see, the first row, yep, I rolled with my hands. But after that, errr, I just scooped with the spoon. Even with the spoon, it wasn't easy.

Anyway, here's the end result after about 10 minutes resting outside the oven.

I tasted a piece. It was good. Crispy, crunchy and a little chewy at the center. One word - Gooooooooooooooood!

These were made without butter but there were LOTS of chocolate chips inside the cookie, so I'm not complaining. No doubt, it would be more fragrant with butter. But without the butter, it's STILL very very good. Really.

G had a piece. He kept tailing me from the moment I made the dough until I got the cookies out from the oven. I gave him the one with the least chocolate chips. Heaty for babies.

Oh yes, G is wearing a pink romper. Mum says I treat him like a girl.

My two batches of chocolate chip cookies. Half gone on the same day. Another half, I think you'd be able to guess it. Yep, for that secret admirer :)

Ok, bye!

Sexy Legs Again?

I don't know if it's appropriate to post this photo coz I'm my legs are so sexy here *ahem*

After Kz treated my legs as a highway and crashes his monster truck into my legs last week, he decided to "crush" into me again, this time together with his brother! Ouch!

But honestly I felt good when they "crushed" and bumped on my back, my bones, yes, they felt painful at first, but after those crackling & brittling boney sounds, eh, felt very nice pulak. I think I'm old already and I need people to massage my back.

Maybe I should ask them to do this often, to massage my bones, LOL.

Monster Truck Crashed Into Sexy Legs

Lately, Kz is into monster trucks, Bigfoot 5. 

Wait, trucks have names too? 

He watches a lot of monster trucks in the tube and he always says, "Monster truck car crash" or "Bigfoot 5 in action". Call me jakun, I don't know how a monster truck looks like until I see it in the tube (with him). 

Last week, we were shopping for groceries, and Kz spotted a monster truck. It was cheap, less than RM12, so yeah, I got one for him.

That night, he lined up all his cars and trains and whatever on my sexy beautiful legs and treated my legs as some sort of a highway, then used his monster truck to crash on those poor cars.

Well, a monster truck is supposed to work that way, isn't it? To crash all the poor cars underneath it ~ LOL.

If I could drive a monster truck in KL, I would. Then everyone on the road (including the traffic police) would be so afraid of me and give way to me, like a VIP.

Fresh & G

This post is about two types of "Fresh" and also my G, of course.

G has been coughing (with phlegm) for the past one month, he is very prone to phlegm, and when he coughs (with phlegm), I'd get very scared coz he would cough, and then *eeekkk* vomit already. But people say it's good babies know how to "cough out" (vomit) the phlegm, rather than "keeping" inside.

As usual, one afternoon, G is having his afternoon nap. 

Then, he coughs. One time. I'm ready already. I'm already holding the potty next to me, waiting for his second cough. Then before I can hear his second cough, he vomited on the bed already. Arrrgh, I got no choice but to wake him up, change his clothes and bedsheet right away. I bet you can imagine the smell.

Then I remember I have a bottle of Bed Fresh which I put in G's room. I grabbed it, and sprayed on the mattress.

Bed Fresh is designed to eliminate mites and bed bugs, it also has sanitizing effect to get rid of any bad smell on the bed, couch, curtains, everything. Bed Fresh is: biodegradable, has fresh fragrance, eliminate odors, non toxic, safe for kids, safe for pets and MOST importantly (for me, coz I have mild OCD), it's anti bacterial.

And, few days ago, I gave a bottle of Ze Fresh to my hubby for him to spray in his car. His car stinks! No, not from smoke (he doesn't smoke), but he sweats a lot, and the whole car stinks. Imagine all his sweat absorbed into the cushions. Ze Fresh is proven to protect against bacterias and it is designed to help absorb all kinds of nasty odor.

No, I'm NOT advertising for these products, and no, am NOT selling these products too, but I share it in my post today because I feel all, yes, I mean ALL households need things like these, especially if you have kids (they vomit and spill food/drinks everywhere, on the couch, bed or even in the car), you would find these products useful.

It's available in Village Grocer @ Sunway Giza mall, or contact mandy.plincco.com, or just call Mandy at +6012 396 6388 (to see if you get anything free, again, teehee).

Oh, back to my G pie, here's G, making his manja face each time he wakes up from his nap. He still  loves to lie on my chest and sticks to me like a koala, and I'm sure I will miss this feeling when he stops sticking to me like this anymore one day.

Ignore my ugly face, ugly hair and ugly pyjamas. I look like this at home most of the time.

Goodies

Goodie goodie news for all my sweeties & dearies here. 

Remember this post about the laundry liquid I got?

Now they are offering samples of the non bio laundry liquid - in 100g sample, and it comes in miniature bottles too! Very cute. And you only need to fill up your details here.

It's very easy only, don't be lazy, just click on it, fill up your details, and they will send the samples over before you know it, really! Err, only 30 trial bottles available, so hurry, go get it, k?

P/S: Give some face k, coz they're only for my blog readers (not available anywhere, they claimed). If nobody applies for the samples, means it is assumed that noone reads my blog. Don't do this to me k?

Oh, wait, only for Malaysian address ya.

Have fun :)

Let It Go

Today's about letting go. Letting go of something and wake up from my fantasy. My mind is clear but my heart is not made of stone, baby. In fact, it's made of glass. Broke into a million pieces previously, sometimes I think it's better to leave it broken than hurt myself trying to fix it.

Have you ever hold on to something, something that you possess want so much, and then, let it go in the end? It feels so heavy-hearted. So difficult. My motto is simple, just like my tagline - Just do it, make it happen, but when it is starting to hurt, it's time to let go. 

I saw this in FB last week, a friend posted on her wall: Never let someone let you down for more than two times. One time, it's a warning. Two times, it's a lesson. More than that, it's a choice, don't blame anyone. I prefer to rephrase it to: More than that, it's stupidity. Plain stupidity. There's no turning back for stupidity. You think about it, utter some vulgar words, then move on.

So, let go when that thing is starting to eat you up. No point making a big hoo-haa out of it. The other party might be enjoying himself, heehee-haahaa celebrating, while you are here, crying about it. Silly, isn't it? So, so silly.

I saw Claire's comment in TM's post, which I like very much. Pinjam sekejap, k?
Life is short, time is fast, no replay, only in my mind, no rewind, only in my dreams, discard the sour, keep the sweet.

Dear heart,
Let me let go, forgive & forget about the past. Thank you. Oh heart, there's another message for you:

Babysitting

Neighbor asked for help one Thursday to takecare of her girl on Saturday coz she has to go to work and her hubby has OT. I said yes of course. It's good to help our neighbors as we won't know when we need their help in future.

Woke up early to prepare breakfast ~ Bread with strawberry jam, scrambled eggs and bananas.

Little girl was amused with breakfast and those cute fancy picks. I sent the picture to her mum and she was impressed with all the oohhhs and aaahs and wahhhs, said she never prepared this kinda breakfast for her girl before.

Made Milo popsicles the night before and today, the kids could enjoy them.

After breakfast, it was time for shower. Then play. And when they started to get restless, I on the TV and *ding*, like magic, all quiet already.

Lunch time. Noodles in chicken soup with potatoes, carrots, tomatoes, onions and pumpkin.

Psst, nobody needs to know I boiled this the night before. 

Lunch for the little bosses.

Ok, time for afternoon nap. Two down, one more to go.

Yay, mission accomplished. Now I could sit down and rest.

When her mum came to pick her girl up, she said, "If you open a nursery or daycare or decide to make your house a playgroup for the condo community, I'll be the first to enrol".

Playgroup? Nah. I have mild OCD, I don't think I can hold for even a few hours.

I Got My Detergents - Yay!

I received a parcel in the office consisting of laundry liquids about two weeks ago. This is NOT a paid post, but when you receive something free of charge, well, of course you have to use and review it, then blog about it. So that's what I'm gonna do now. 

The products are called Ecover products. It is a new brand of eco friendly household cleaners. The brand is over 30 years old globally, but very very new in Asia, so I think I was the first few ones (*ahem*) to road test them! Ecover’s cleaners use powerful ingredients made from plants and minerals, and they really walk the talk with their ecological factories.

It's safe for the entire family. It's: 

Tested for sensitive skin

Kind to your hands thanks to plant based and mineral ingredients

No petrochemical ingredients

No residue of unnecessary chemicals left on your clothes

Fresh perfume from plant based ingredients

Washes efficiently using the power of nature

Not tested on animals

Here's my loot.

A bottle of laundry liquid - for normal regular washing - Ecover products do not use phosphates (very bad for the environment and the water in rivers and lakes) Ecover was founded by a man who saw a need for cleaners without phosphates when he noticed his local streams were becoming extremely polluted. So as far back as Ecover’s beginning in 1980, the brand has never used phosphates in their products.

They also don’t use optical brighteners. This is the stuff that is added to laundry detergents to make your white clothes look even whiter. So when detergents promise you clothes that are ‘whiter than white’ .. be careful! It’s a synthetic chemical that doesn’t have anything to do with cleaning, and is left behind in clothes after the wash, so you’re the optical brighteners will rub off on your skin when you wear your newly washed clothes. It can cause skin allergies!

A bottle of laundry liquid, for fine fabrics - Ecover delicate is for fine fabrics, woollen clothes and silky materials. They even have the Woolmark approved logo, so it’s safe to use with wool clothes and winter wear. 

A bottle of laundry conditioner, something like a softener I reckon.

This softener is also cloth diaper friendly, because baby’s bum bum is very sensitive. Ecover softener does not cause product buildup, so no skin irritation. Good to use when washing the boss’ clothes.

Plus, four boxes of these, but they're all EMPTY boxes. I don't know why they were sent to me, since they're all empty.

***Oohh, updates as at 18.09.2014 @ 8am.

They replied my email and said that these empty Dylon boxes that was sent to me was 

just a filler so that the Ecover products are packed well. So, I was right - as cushions.

I don't have expensive silk or satin dresses to use this with, so I use it to soak my G's clothes. What's more delicate than a baby's skin? 

G's rompers and pants, soaking in the tub. It smells like lemon juice plus milk. Really. 

Psst, Ecover gets really serious about being safe for family use and looking after the environment. All their bottles are made from sugarcane! They call it Plantastic … plant-tastic .. geddit? So they are 100% recyclable. Makes me feel better, even though I also reuse my empty bottles.

Eh, what is this? The boss having his afternoon nap. Out of topic, back to Ecover please.

In the evening, I used the regular laundry liquid, mixed with this conditioner aka softener (I reckon) to try. Then I wash my laundry as usual. 

After 45 minutes, done. Here's my laundry for the day. 

Here comes my humble review. I'm a very simple but straight-to-the-point person. I write what I feel. 

My laundry smells like creamy liquid cleaners. Like C*F or J*F brand, those type, if you know what I mean. Try mixing C*F with water, and rub together with your hands. It smells just like that. The smell is acceptable, doesn't smell as strong as normal commercial laundry liquid. To be really honest, I prefer my laundry to have more fragrant smell, but I'm not complaining, because Ecover is plant-based, so not expecting "flowery" smell is normal.

Overall verdict and the texture? Very soft, I like. It smells ok when I took my laundry out from the machine, and when the clothes dried up the next day, there was still that refreshing lemon-milkish-cream smell.

I know you guys are getting bored already, teehee. Wait, if you are interested to try, you can email to hello@brand360.com.my.

Ok bye! 

Surreal

It's hard to describe my feelings now. Mixed feelings I would say. Things are not really okay. No, not me. Somebody.

I used to envy that somebody who doesn't need to work, stay at home and take care of the kids only, shopping, go for facials, manicures+pedicures, hair-do's, buy branded stuffs most of the time. But now, I won't be complaining about a single thing anymore. Yes, am counting my blessings now.

It feels so surreal. I need someone to pinch me on the face to confirm this is not a dream.

One mistake, and life is crushed.

I've seen this somewhere - Everything is going to be okay in the end. If it's not okay, then it's not the end.

No photos for this post? Ok, as usual, I'm gonna put my selfie picture here. Maybe some of you are missing me terribly already.

*Suka tengok boleh komen, tak suka tengok tak payah komen, thank you.

Everything is going to be okay in the end. If it's not okay, then it's not the end.

Note: I will not be commenting for the time being, til my mojo comes back. Don't worry, I'm still here, just a click away. I will still be reading your blogs, I just don't comment only la.

Homecooked - A Heavy Breakfast

I woke up early and made these the other day.

1) Homemade chicken nuggets
Ingredients: 1 piece of chicken breast, 1 potato, some carrots. Steam and blend everything together, can add broccoli or cheese. Roll into balls, dabbed in egg, coat with Nestum and lightly fry in cooking oil.

2) Flourless banana pancake 
Ingredients: 2 eggs, 1 banana. Mash banana and crack two eggs, whisk everything using a fork and fry on non stick pan. It tastes like banana omelette. If you are expecting classic pancake texture, this is not for you.

3) Pizza
Ingredients: Bread or wraps or instant puff pastries (depending what you have in the kitchen or how much you want to do), sausages, mixed peas, tomato sauce, cheddar cheese, can add onions or mushrooms, but who wants to do so much early morning? Spread tomato sauce on bread, add sausages, mixed peas and top with cheese. Bake for 10 minutes. 

Heavy breakfast? Yes indeed. Lots of work too. But that's me, when I have the mood, then I'll do it. Else, it's just Fruit Loops+Honey Stars+Koko Crunch with milk for breakfast.