Carrot cake

It's final exam month. It's that time when I crave the most unhealthy food. I went to the market and bought cinnamon and sugar, grabbed four carrots from the refrigerator and started shredding them. Although carrots contain a lot of vitamins and antioxidant, I found that a carrot cake is unhealthier than a red velvet cake. That's because a carrot cake needs to be softer and moister than a red velvet. That means, you need more oil or butter. But then again, that is subject to the variety of recipes available. The cakes turned out very well and my friends loved it. I topped the cakes with my favourite frosting, cream cheese! The hazelnuts (as a substitute to the expensive walnuts) and chocolate chips empowered the crunchiness and sweetness of the shredded carrots. I brought it to the solat hajat and usrah session last Friday and guess what? Licin :)

Green monster, blueberries and nails

Good morning! I'm still on hols for a week (it's Saturday today.. technically I only have today and tomorrow left). The perfect time to be having a terrible flu.

I have been sleeping early for the first half of the week. Waking up early never felt good! Although it's a little bit ironic to be waking up early when you're on hols. When my flu started to subside last Monday, I got up very early, did some stretching and exercised. Right after, I made myself the delicious green monster smoothie, one of the things that I'm consistent with. I like the new recipe I created that morning. Tasted like heaven!

Green monster smoothie
1 banana
A handful of spinach
1 tbs flax seed
1 tbs unflavoured coarse milled fiber
2 tbs of nestum
1/8 to 1 cup of organic soy milk
Blend everything together

I don't bake often anymore. It's too money consuming and my goodness, the amount of sugar I take is crazy. But, a few days ago my housemate KD was too eager to stuff herself with anything with cream cheese icing. So we made blueberry cupcakes topped with cream cheese. They were oh so good.

How we made them?

Blueberry cupcake
1/2 stick of unsalted butter (1/4 cup)
1/2 cup of granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 cup of 2% milk
1 1/2 cup of flour
1 tbps baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
a few drops of vanilla extract
1 cup to 1 1/2 cup of fresh blueberries
Bake at 175 C for 20 minutes

For the cream cheese topping, I used the same recipe I got for my red velvet cake: joyofbaking.com
But I omit mascarpone cheese (because it's expensive) and reduce the amount of whipping cream. Also, I add half cup of oil to the red velvet batter to make it moist.

I like joyofbaking. Gonna try the panna cotta recipe when I have the time.

P/S: It's that time of the month. So I painted my nails. I like it!

The kitchen is where I belong . .

. . . . no matter how hard I try to stay away from it, so that my hair doesn't smell like ayam masak lemak cili api, or sambal belacan ikan bilis.

This is gonna be one of my food tagged posts again, fellas. You know me and food, we are inseparable. It's winter (Canadian winter can be so long, long enough to cover 6 months) and it is also common knowledge that human beings have the tendency to eat more when it's cold. Maybe that's why Asians are tinier? Maybe not? And maybe that's why I bake a lot this past few months.

I thought this wrap was a fairly quick breakfast worth sharing. Well, 12 minutes is fairly quick to me.

You need:
1. Pita bread
2. Beef/Chicken patty or hot dogs
3. Red onion
4. Baby tomato
5. Lettuce
6. Your choice of sauce (I used ranch, donair, and ketchup)

I like to heat my pita bread in the microwave because I like it crispy and warm. I don't fry the patty, I put it in the oven for about 10 minutes on high temperature. I'm trying to not deep fry anything, not even french fries. Why? So that I feel less guilty eating my fattening cakes.

Red velvet again for the 173747th time

Blue velvet cake

Voila! Thank you KD for helping me decorating the cake. I was on the phone with mom and dad on one hand, while the other was icing the cake and preparing supper

I promise, this would be my last velvet cake of the season. I'm too obsessed with it, it's not good. Especially when I'm trying to lose some lipids around the tummy and thighs. Must resist temptation.

Winter break: Hamilton & Toronto

I honestly don't know where or how to start. I think I will write several episodic posts about the trip. That works for you?

As you all might already know, I spent my holidays in Toronto, Hamilton, Washington and New York. We had an all-you-can-eat sushi dinner on one of the nights.

Shrimp skewer yang sangat lazat

My first ever curry puff

My home made steak with mushroom gravy + baked potato

The long awaited boxing day was not as anticipated. I didn't spend much on that day. We went to Toronto Eaton Center, one of the hot spots in T-town. I bought a pair of new Aldo heels (again... that's cuz I'm slowly building up my shoe collection) and a bubble bar from Lush.

Under the huge reindeer in Eaton Center

The line ups for 'hot' stores are beyond limits. I remember Abercrombie & Fitch 's queue. Apparently, they placed two half naked hunks and a couple of girls in tiny skirts at the entrance to attract more customers. Boy they sure did.

The comforter bubble bar. Smells sweet like cranberries, cotton candy or some sort. Very moisturizing and of course comforting.

To be continued

Menu orang bujang malas: Pizza 10 minit

I tengah tunggu daging kurma I empuk ni. Belakang I tadi ada majikan rumah (lol betul ke ayat ni? land lord) tengah repair peti sejuk. Masa tu baru nak menumis bawang putih and bawang merah. Masa tu dah fikir, beliau ni boleh ke tahan bau? 

N: Ya know, this is gonna smell a little bit.

X: Oh that's fine. I can take it. What's in it?

N: Just garlic and shallots.

X: Ah, I can smell the garlic.

Selamber jelah kan. Pom pang pom pang, taruk pulak serbuk kurma. Dia dah mula batuk sekali dua. Lepastu bunyi hidung dia srot sret srot sret. Then dia batuk lagi.

N: Is it bothering you?

X: Nope!

(2 minutes after)

X: *COUGH COUGH COUGH* I'm gonna get some stuff from the car.

(Gone for 10 minutes)

MEGA L. O. L. S

---

Any college students here? Anyone living at by themselves and too lazy to cook yet they're tired of eating canned food or take outs? That's me back in college. Then dad bought me a portable electric stove. Then I started making simple meals like fried rice, scrambled eggs, french toast and etc. That was the start. :-O Yeap, I only start cooking by the age of 19. And they're not even proper meals! Dah masuk first year dekat University of Alberta sana baru belajar masak nasi. Horhorhor!

Anyways, I don't know why but Saturday is like Kitchen Day to me. I have been in this kitchen since 2pm today and it's 5.08 now. I'm gonna make red velvet cupcakes again today. I made them last Saturday but they end up tasting like chocolate cupcakes. But they're pretty tasty tho, cuma I wanted red velvet not some boring ol' choc cupcakes with cream cheese frosting. I have the pictures, I'll post it tomorrow.

I had three midterm papers in two days (Thurs and Fri) so stayed up all night up til the time of the exam. Yesterday, I was awake for 25 hours then I dozed off at 10pm after watching "Bini-Biniku Gangster". Cute story!

I was too exhausted to cook and all my housemates pun busy dengan paper masing-masing. Semua tak masak. So I decided to make mini pizzas, which I named it Pizza Saploh Minit. Yes, saploh not sepuluh. Cuz I'm that cool.

Try to use fresh ingredients. They taste better :)

Start by pre-heating the oven to 175 C.
You can also use the microwave. I assume you have either one, if not tak dapet lah den nak nolong ye.

Basic ingredients: pita bread, pizza sauce, shredded cheese (I used mozzarella and skimmed cheddar), hotdogs, green pepper, mushroom, and diced tomatoes.

Before topping it off with shredded cheese

Add mozzarella and skimmed cheddar. Or, just cut your regular cheese into smaller pieces and tabur aje. You can add a dash of black pepper to top it off if you prefer. I forgot to.

Let it brown in the oven for about 8 to 10 minutes.

You can add pineapple and sliced olives if you wanna add a twist of sweetness. I personally am not fond of having pineapple and especially olives on my pizza. Lagipun, this is after all menu orang bujang yang nak cepat aje. Bila masa lah pula kita nak beli olive ni? I memang selalu ada sayur and hotdog dalam peti sejuk. Sos pizza and roti pita tu jelah kena beli dekat convenience store.

You of course can add as many ingredients as you want to, but the name says it all: menu orang bujang malas. Kalau nak lagi malas, makan roti pita tu jelah.

Fin

GM experience

As I'm typing my house is literally shaking. Upstairs 3rd floor where the loft is, my landlord is trying to install the air conditioner. I guess they need to dig a hole through the wall first? The room up there is so frikken hot an air cond is a must. As for the rest of the rooms in this house, we have windows big enough to air around. We have no heat problem. So. . . no air cond for us sobs sobs.

---

I've always liked green tea but I used to only drink it when I'm at a sushi or any Japanese restaurant. They asked me why do I like green tea? It tastes bitter, and almost like plain water. Me myself never understood why, I just like the feeling of having warm green tea down the throat. Me and D started drinking green tea with honey on a daily basis (well...sometimes we forgot) months ago just because that's about the only healthy thing we consume. The results are evident but I want something different this time.

My Green Monster, looking nasty but tastes wonderful

As promised, I said I'd give it a try. Surprisingly, it tasted nothing like a baby's throw up. You can barely taste the spinach at all. I tried to vary my GM concoction such as adding lemon juice, oat and wheat. Lemon juice is a no no, unless you wanna add bitter taste vege like kale (the green cabbage you use in salads). The juice will cut down the bitterness of the kale. As for me, I find the simplest and best concoction is:

1 to 2 handfuls of spinach
1 banana
half cup wheat or oat
1/2 or 1 cup milk or soy milk (depends on the consistency you desire)
Honey (optional)
Ice

Other common ingredients are cucumber, carrots, kale, berries, and yogurt too. Add more to get more vitamins and happiness! Lol.

It's anti-ageing, detoxifying (poopie!) and energizing. It increases body defence against diseases, smoothes and clears out skin, improves hair and improves digestion. And trust me, I need all of these.

Spinach is an excellent source of bone-healthy vitamin K, magnesium, manganese, and calcium; heart-healthy folate, potassium, and vitamin B6; energy-producing iron and vitamin B2; and free radical-scavenging vitamin A (through its concentration of beta-carotene) and vitamin C.

Too much info, just give it a try. I'm sure you'll love it too.

Oh, I still drink green tea with honey cuz it's still just too good.


Fin

Green Monster

It's a Saturday and I woke up at 8 in the morning because, ehem, miss Nada, needs to do some shopping at the farmer's market. I wrote a post about the place. I had to carry heavy loads of fresh vegetables and fruits and walked back home whilst holding the umbrella. It was a bit chilly too. So imagine that. Everyone was wearing rain coats and boots but not me! Explains the wrinkled toes and wet dead leaves sticking on my calves. Gua pun bedal jelah.

I've got spinach, broccoli, peaches, bananas, plums, onions and etcetera. Bought a banana-strawberry smoothie too and it tasted wonderful.

Okay what's up with me? I'm attempting to eat healthier. I've been attempting this since last summer. But I am so inconsistent! I'm somewhat thankful to not have K* here (he's in another part of Canada) because boyyyy, he'd scold me for eating junks and 70% of what I eat is either unhealthy or junks. The other 30% is somewhat good i.e. rice, yogurt and potatoes harharhar. He takes good care of what goes inside him. Sometimes too good that I think it's ridiculous and I'd turn around and roll my eyes in disbelief. Lols.............

Speaking of spinaches, I had spinach frittatas last couple of weeks at Jim's and Kim's.

Posted this on Facebook with caption 'Welcome to our new crib'. I think I got 80% of them fooled. Gotcha.

Spinach frittata (erti kata lain, telur dadar campur sayur haha) and blueberry pancakes.

The recipe is quite simple. Eggs, cream cheese, spinach, onions, bell peppers, butter, salt and you can add more colourful vege to make it pretty and tasty.

Now, the main point of the post. Spinach smoothie. I found this recipe from a vegetarian blogger, whose name and blog page I could not recall. I am that amnesiac. But it's okay it's not like the smoothie is copyrighted by her or anything. The name of the smoothie is Green Monster!

• 2 cups organic spinach
• 1-1.25 cups milk (your choice of cow’s milk, soy, hemp, almond, rice, etc)
• 1 tablespoon flax (a type of oilseed, but I prefer barley powder or wheat germ) (optional)
• 1 banana
• ice (optional)

I must say it does not look appealing in any way.  It looks like a baby's vomit.

But I'm gonna try it nevertheless. I'm sure it's gonna taste like my own throw up but if it's tolerable, I might consider drinking it at least twice a week as a start. If not, I'll just use the remaining spinach for cooking haha. Me . . . . healthy eating . . . so wishful thinking. At least I'm trying to make it happen rather than just talking about it.

Fin

Ice cold

-

Hamilton

As promised, here's the story. Briefly lah I'll tell you. Last couple of weeks, me and D decided to do something crazy. It was Thursday morning, we cut school and booked a flight to Toronto on the same day. We hopped on the next flight which was in 2 hours from that moment lol.

I don't have any acquaintances in Toronto but thanks to my good friend who coincidently was in Toronto for a visit, we spent the night exploring some parts of Toronto without getting lost. Thanks S for the hospitality!

The next day, me and D took a bus to Hamilton, which was an hour away from Toronto. Ada agenda sikit.

I seriously thought we wouldn't be so welcomed sebab diorang tengah ada final exam. It turned out that everyone was so sporting, welcoming, and friendly. Eventho the time spent was just about 4 days, gaya macam kenal lama je ek? We will surely come again :)

We wuz herez!

Delish!

We went here and there but the paling the best is again, the waterfall.

A panoramic view of the river and fall

At the edge with Azri and Peti

Hihi awkward. Didn't wanna look down!

This dude makes me look tiny

Food? Perkara wajib if you know me well.

Sushi all-you-can-eat feast!

My spider crab sushi

Before we left we had breakfast @ William's. Above is the fruity crepe D ordered.  Pretty onot?

My chocolate belgium funky monkey waffles. Sedap!

That's it? You call that crazy? Haha, you wouldn't understand. It's crazy and only we know why!

To be continued.

Tokyo Noodle & Bubble Tea

I'm a big big fan of Japanese cuisine and bubble tea drinks.

Put me somewhere deserted, add a sushi bar and a bubble tea store, all is great.

I haven't had sushi or any Japanese food in ages. Okay, 4 months to be exact. Back in Malaysia, I eat sushi 3 to 4 times a week. My personal favourites are Sakae Sushi and Mr. Teppanyaki. But I often go to Sushi King because Takoyaki (sotong ball), Kanitama maki (Deep fried crabmeat and cucumber topped with mayonnaise) and Tori Karage (Deep fried chicken on sushi rice) are in the menu. I eat both deep fried and raw. Beef Teppanyaki is my favourite wei, siapa-siapa nak ajak date, bawa I makan teppanyaki and sushi okay ;)

So in Edmonton, Amy and Aimi belanja makan dekat Tokyo Noodle House. I didn't like the ambience; dark, moody and scary too. But the food was good enough to satisfy my craving. Plus, ada Amy, Aimi and D, mestilah best kan? I ate too much wasabe my nasal felt like it was about to blow! 

Spider roll (Deep fried spider crab wrapped with rice and avocado)

With D. Green tea is always my choice

Orang kuat Edmonton; Amy and Aimi

Kimchi Ramen

We paid a visit to Dream House Bubble Tea for desserts. I ordered avocado bubble tea. I love love avocado drinks man. Taro (yam) flavoured is tasty too.

Shaved Ice + Taro + Mango + Lychee + Susu pekat

Toys, games and play cards are made available for stay-in customers to enjoy while sippin on their delicious beverage

What a happy day it was ;-)

Whale-watching @ St. Andrews, NB.

We started our day with a cup of coffee at Tim Hortons. As always: "Can I have a large sized, triple-triple coffee?"

2 cars, 8 people.

2 hours journey.

And the first thing we did was having brunch at a local restaurant where they serve seafood meals.
St. Andrews is a wonderful place. It's an excellent place for those who are retiring lah (hahaha). Semua warga emas je kot duduk sana. But nonetheless, it's still a terrific place to visit. I'm sorry the photos are all out of place. I'm trying this new blogger thing. So bare with me. I have a video of the whales. But that's gonna be in a different post. And the seasick, that's gonna be in another post as well.

seafood creamy soup. I can't recall the real name.

Ain and her desert; vanilla ice cream.

Seafood alfredo.It really looked good. . . before I threw it all out when I got seasick.
(A different story)

You gotta love this. French onion soup with bread and butter sideline.

some salad with berry sauce

The restaurant we went for brunch

A panorama photo of the jetty

Me and Captain Hook

Mr. Woodcock, Emi, Ms Christie and Adiba.

My new girlfriend, lol.

Was really cold actually. About 3 degrees, tak masuk angin kencang lagi.

Us wearing pirate props and costumes

A chart of whales, dolphins and porpoises. Click to enlarge, it's very informative and fascinating.

Interior of Candy Shop

Pacman candies and a lot of candy canes.