Banana Recipe for Generations

Do you boil the Bananas ?  

Yes we do.  It is very common for us to boil the Pisang Saba even though we can peel the skin off to eat them like other bananas  My mum loves boiled Pisang Saba (Banana Saba).  She served us boiled Pisang Saba when we went visit her, she would ask us to bring some home if she has got extra.  

There is no special recipe for boiled Pisang Saba.  Just clean them and boil them in a pot of water.  The fully ripened banana taste the best (sweeter) after boiling.  The boiled bananas can be kept up to few days in room temperature and longer if store in the fridge.

the boiled pisang Saba turned softer and browned.

We also use Pisang Saba to make banana fritters (pisang goreng) and banana chips.  

We used to have banana trees growing over the fencing at the back of our backyard.  They are growing wide, tall and wild. They have grown near attaching to the roof.  I insisted to remove them when we did our kitchen renovation last year.  They will grow back overnight especially after the rain.  We have to trim them almost every week to prevent them from growing wild again.  The price of Pisang Saba is relatively cheaper than the other bananas of similar size.

Oats for breakfast

We have been frequent having oats for breakfast these days. It is quick to fix and healthy. Pearl likes oatmeal, she learnt from youtube/tiktok on how to prepare overnight oats meal for her next day morning breakfast before school.

I bought this pack of Oats with Omega 3 flax flakes, it is an Australian product.  Easy to prepare by adding hot water to soften the oats just like any instant oats.  The texture is good.

This is my Strawberry Oatmeal breakfast.  I also had some blueberries Oatmeal the day before to add more varieties to my breakfast.

Home Bakes - Cocoa Almond Muffin Cupcakes

My daughter was in the mood to bake cupcakes.  After baking the mini carrot cupcakes on last Sunday, she wanted to try out another cake with different flavour, I was a bit lazy but she promised to help out, she started to randomly flipped through a cake recipe book in the kitchen and found a coffee & walnut cake but I do not have instant coffee power nor walnut.  I do have coco powder and almond flakes which I have not been able to use them for anything yet, thus we have a twist on the ingredients and we had Cocoa Almond Muffin cupcakes instead.

It was supposed to be a cake as per the recipe book, since I have got plenty of unused muffin cupcake cases in stock might as well use them up.  We only made 7 medium size muffin cupcakes using this recipe, using smaller size cupcake cases will yield more. 

I included the ingredients in my youtube video description box for record.

Monday food stuff shopping and dinner

Yesterday Morning, after sending Crystal to Uni, we went to the wet market to get some fresh vegetables, we have totally run out of green in our fridge.  

These are what we bought 

This sawi and pak choi is RM2.00 per ikat

We bought some favourite kuih for our lunch & tea breaks and a loaf of bread for the next day morning breakfast as Pearl has got SPM's Accounting exam in the morning, we need a quick fix breakfast before rushing to school.

After the wet market, we went to the supermarket meant to get a can of evaporated milk for the whole grain desert that I boiled on Saturday.  100% of the time when we went into the supermarket we will come out with more stuff than what we intended to buy.

the evaporated milk and a bag of rice

some frozen food that come in handy for breakfast (the Mantou), lunch and dinner (the chicken meat rolls & Pork meat ball)

and a bag of 16 rolls of toilet tissues.  The prices of the toilet tissues have increased some much, this brand cost RM2.04 per roll, I find the quality of this tissue is satisfying.

To save us time from cooking lunch, we take out/tapau 2 Tuaran Mee for our girls from the shop we had breakfast.  

For dinner, we had the chicken meat rolls that we bought from the supermarket in the morning.  I fried the rolls in the air fryer

and cut them up, served them in a bed of green vegetable

3 dishes, very simple dinner

Multiplying Hoya Kerrii, the lucky heart plant

Honestly I did not know what this plant called until I searched it out from Mr Google by typing "heart shape cactus" wahahaha.  Now I know it is call Hoya Kerrii, Hoya Heart or Lucky Heart among many other names given to it.  Anyway, I prefer to called it Lucky Heart plant from now on.

This Lucky Heart plant with 2 leaves was given to us by my SIL last year who is very passionate in plants and flowers, she has got a garden full of greens and flowers and also vegetables too. She puts a lot of afford in maintaining her garden. 

from 2 leaves last year (forgot the date).....I gave auspicious names "吉祥, 如意" to the leaves, simply means "Good Fortune and Abundance of all that you love"

and today, it has multiplied with an additional of 3 leaves with minimal care.  I just have to water it 2-3 times a week.

In order for it to multiple more, I will have to transfer my Lucky Heart plant to a bigger pot.  Will do that soon.

 

Philips Coffee Maker HD7431

My previous "kitchen" was only like a pantry, I can only place the most frequent use kitchen aids on the table. 

This Philips Coffee Maker has never been used, still in its original box for years. I took it out for good used since 3 months ago when there are more space in the renovated kitchen. I use local coffee powder from Yit Foh Tenom Coffee, more economical and thick. Sometimes I place a coffee bag inside its jug and boil water in the reservoir to make my coffee. This coffee machine has got keep warm feature which allows me to have warm coffee throughout the day. 

I will use this coffee maker until I have got the budget to buy a capsule coffee machine.

Sunday bakes - Carrot cupcakes

After taking a long break off from baking due to kitchen renovation. Crystal wanted to baked some little cupcakes. She agreed to help me in the baking, my better half flipped thru the recipe book and suggested us to bake the carrot cake because we have got carrots in the fridge. The ingredient called for self-raising flour but we didn't have any. Crystal suggested to ask uncle Google see whether we can replace it with cake flour. Yes, we can. Just add baking powder and salt.

We did it with some modifications from the book's ingredients by reducing the amount of sugar and oil especially.  

most of the cupcakes are in this small size with only 4 bigger size with cheddar cheese topping.  The cheese all turned brown after baking.  

 

Company 2021 Christmas & year end lunch gathering

This is a very very late post.

It was on 9th December 2021 we had a company's Christmas & Year End Lunch gathering at The Palace Hotel Kota Kinabalu.  We were served with a 4-course Western Set Lunch. 

For the starter, I chose the Prawn, Avocado Salsa with Meslun Leaves & Sesame Seed Vinaigrette

Soup : Cream of cauliflower with olive oil drizzle & garlic bread

Main course : Chicken Wellington served with potato au gratin, creamed spinach sauteed vegetables

Dessert : Chocolate Mouse Cake with Strawberry compote

We have Christmas gift exchange after lunch.

A nice pastel blue handbag was in the gift bag from a colleague who had picked my name, a secret Santarina.

A compilation of plants & flowers at front yard

These are some of the photos of my plants & flowers that I managed to capture when they are flowering or I would say in good condition.  Post them here to record their blooming glory.

Desert roses are the only flowering plants that I have.  As you can see they are of common varieties.  I experienced down times with them, seeing all the leaves turned yellow, brown and dropped off completely.  I have to spray them with soap water when they are infected with fungal.  At times, I have no choice but to trim the branches.  They will grow back amazingly.  That's what I love about Desert Roses.

This plant is given to us by my sister in law who has green figures.  

Starbucks Doughnut

I grew up with round doughnuts. When seeing a doughnut in different shape, there is an urge to try it out. Just like what I did to Starbucks Doughnut, thought kind of different in taste because it is square. Do you have this kind of mindset ?

On board Airasia and MAS from BKI to KUL return

Is was sometime mid 2022 that I was on board an Air Asia 5 a.m. flight to Kuala Lumpur. I was thrilled to see the tiger painted on the air plane. Don't you think is nice ?  I got to stop to take a photo of it letting the other passengers went ahead of me.

the whole cabin luggage compartments are about "Save our Malayan Tiger". Nice.  So long as there is no real tiger on board :DDD

I always pre-ordered my meal on board Air Asia.  Most of the times are Chicken Rice.

Taste nice though..

I took Malaysia Airlines (MAS) on my return flight to KK..Meal is included in all MAS flights and with on flight movies selections for entertainment from take off to touch down. 

It was not long after the pandemic, the fares between Air Asia and MAS was not that much of a difference then. 

Rahmah Meal at Old Town White Coffee

We had a very satisfying breakfast cum lunch (brunch) at Old Town White Coffee, Jalan Gaya, KK yesterday. There is no banner or sign of the Rahmah Meal place outside the shop nor on the table. This leaflet is displayed on the cashier's counter.

We wanted to try the minced chicken set but it has sold out at around 10 a.m. so we ordered the Nasi Lemak Rahmah set and Nasi Lemak Rahmah with Sausage set.  All come with Lime Drink.  I am a coffee lover, I switched the Lime Drink with White Coffee by adding just RM2.00

Rahmah Meals for 2 of us cost RM11.50, it is very economical.

The rice is very fragrant, ikan bilis (anchovies) is crunchy, egg and cucumber are fresh.  The sambal is nice but just a bit too hot for my taste bud (just me).  Though is in a small bowl, the portion is just right.  Definitely will come back for my meals.

Hope there will be more shops and restaurants support the government's initiative in providing affordable meals to the public very soon.

Maple Boutique Hotel Melaka

Me and my sister checked in to Maple Boutique Hotel Melaka in August last year.  I did the booking via Booking.com for a big family room with 2 King size beds thinking that my daughter would be joining us for the stay. 

Maple Boutique Hotel Melaka is very near to the Melaka Sentral bus station and walking distance to both shopping centres, Aeon and Lotus. 

Our room is located on the 1st floor.  There is no lift in this hotel.  If you are having heavy luggage, it's better to stay on the ground floor room. 

Maple Boutique Hotel Melaka is quite a distance from the City Centre where Jonker street and other tourist attractions are.  Hiring of Grab transport is not a problem during none peak hours to the City Centre, however, to our experience, getting a Grab transport from the City Centre of Melaka during traffic peak hours could be a problem due to massive jam.

Reading Book Challenge

Finding time to read a book is a challenge for me while I was a full time working mum.  Though I am considered semi retired now, am trying to adjust my time to be a consistent reader.

I am challenging myself to finish reading this book which I got from the library's book exchange shelf.  With the book exchange concept,  this book is mine now as I have brought a book to exchange with it.

Aroid & Orchid Exhibition, Rafflesia & wild life of Borneo

One of the weekday after sending our girls to the Uni and school in the morning, we went to the city to check out the Art Attic shop near City Hall but the shop only opens at 10 a.m., since we are just near the City Hall and there is Aroid & Orchid Exhibition going on, I was curious what Aroid is, we went in to have a look.

     

A search from Google :

What is considered an aroid plant? Aroids are from the family Araceae and include many common houseplants like aglaonemas, monsteras, philodendrons, pothos and ZZ plants. While these plants tend to be “low light” indoor plants, they're often understory plants in the wild.