targets.

some people say u need to have targets to achieve what u want.

true enough you should. i do believe in setting goals beforehand in order to set yourself straight and achieve what u want. but sometimes i cant deny that targets can deviate, and at the end of the day u might not get what u initially hoped for. i find that in some circumstances when you dont set targets, thats when you'll score highest.

take losing weight for example. i tend to lose weight when im under stress or when i overwork myself. when i was a student, exams was the best time to shed kilos cuz no matter whether i eat or not, i'll just lose weight. i dont know hw it works, but i blame it on cortisol for inducing stress and make my body break down fat or protein more than they should. hahahah.when i started working 2 months ago i did shed a few kilos too (but regained them back again since i joined dengue ward.hmphhhhh). but seriously, that's the best example i have for not setting goals and yet achieving them anyhow :)

talk about weight loss, i'm seriously thinking of joining a gym soon cuz my weight is starting to worry me. igtkan when work starts i could stop worrying sbb igtkan surely akan lose weight gile2 sbb tension kan, tp nmpak gayanye my weight dah plateau dah ni..risau plak jadinye.hahaha. pastu join dengue ward yg sgt2 relax lagi la menyebabkan i mkn dgn jayanye. hmphh. tp takpe, next week is gonna be my last week in dengue ward, then i'll join the general female ward again which means i'll be busy and not have time to eat yeay! ;P

but nevertheless, i still need to find a gym soon. maybe i'll re-join KLCC's Fitness First where i used to work out 5 years back. and perhaps i should get a Personal trainer too cuz there are 'problematic' areas which needs professional attention. haha :P i wonder whether my personal trainer dulu named Jodi is still working there. he was soo nice, handsome gile plak tu cuz dah la mix Eurasian. ngehee..:D but he was mean to me during workouts - dera i naik tangga berbelas kali ok. jahat gile. it would be cool to have him as my trainer again though. we'll see how it goes.

now back to setting targets. at my age now, whenever i see an old friend's mother or especially when i attend weddings - people tend to ask me the same exact question - when will they hear my wedding bell? trust me people, if i know the answer i would gladly tell you without any hesitation. questions like 'bila nak merasa makan nasik minyak ni?' dont irritate me - i just find myself having trouble answering them. dulu i used to answer like 'ooh, entahla aunty, takde calon lagi..lambat lagi kot', but then my good friend ckp kata2 tu kan doa. so i did change my answer to 'insya allah aunty, kalau ade rezeki tak lama lagi kot. doakan ye'. ahaha..obviously the second answer is better kan? :) skrg if my colleagues tny i bila i nak kahwin, i just ckp 'insya allah tahun depan sblm bulan puasa kot'. dorg sume tergelak gile dgr i siap dah set time dah bile nak kawin tp bf pun xde lg. hueheuehuee..and i dont know y i slalu ckp insyaallah sblm bulan puasa tahun depan. maybe sbb thats what exactly what i prayed for in front of the Holy Kaabah 3 months back. i just want to settle down fast, be a good wife and mother so that i can feed yummy food to my family hehee. u all tlg doakan i skali eh :)

apemenda la yg i merepek ni i pun xtau la. mood membebel i tgh dtg kot skrg. hehee..anyways, a friend of mine just came back from Shanghai a few days back and he got me these:-

an authentic chinese calligraphy of my very own name. cool eh?and that person happens to know that i like red/maroon colour so that explains the red background.pandaiinyeeee org tu hihii ;P thnx eh, it'll definitely be a new addition to my collection rack ;)

a nice dusky blue + gold pashmina . i like the color combination, cantik. but i have to still give credits to him for trying to get a pashmina in my favorite color - teal.hehee. teal is a difficult color to get actually, unlike commercial colours like pink or red or green. it's ok xde color teal pun, i like dusky blue anyways :)

if u find urself wondering how does teal color looks like - let me just spare u the headache:

this is teal if u dont already know it. it's my all time fav color - hence the blog's name. kawen nnt pun i nak buat theme color ni bole tak? hihihi~

now this, on the other hand, is turquoise. it may be difficult to differentiate btwn teal and turqoise cuz they're basically in the same family, but fyi, teal has a deeper darker colour to it.

that's my collection rack in my room. dah byk sgt brg on its shelves, mostly byk mugs yg i collect from places i go to since the past few years. sume shapes and sizes ade. one of these days i need to re arrange them (not to mention to dust off habuk2 yg dah berkumpul dlm tu! eeekkkkk)

mlm ni tgh pk whether nak masak ke tak. ikutkan hati angin malas mcm tgh dtg ni (sbb esok oncall cardio ward arrrrghhhhhh), tp dlm fridge ade ikan siakap fresh my mom just bought. tgkla camne, if i cook i'll update the picture here later .

until then,toodles!

simply Thai.

yep, today i cooked Thai menu for mi familia.

FYI,i suka gila Thai food - especially tomyam yg pekat gilerrr n pedas. it has to be authentic, not tomyam yg cair2 kuah die tu. when i used to study in Penang, my friends and i would always spend atleast once in a month to have good seafood near Batu Uban - they have the best tomyam & seafood there, seriously tak tipu ok. tp kat sane takde plak jual green thai curry ni. ke i yg tak perasan? huhu..but i've always wanted to try cooking Thai green curry. had it once @ Kampung Thai in Ampang during last Ramadhan, and i thought it tasted somewhat like gulai masak lemak cili padi. kebetulan i stumbled upon the recipe in CMG's blog, ape lagi kan..terus la beli brg2 kat Jusco pagi td. hihikk :)

i made the green curry paste from scratch - which wasn't difficult to do at all.

ingredients for Thai green curry paste:

1 handful of fresh coriander
2 bombay onions
4 cloves garlic
2 inches of young ginger
2 lemongras - sliced
10 green bird chillies (cili padi laa..)
1 teaspoon coriander powder
1 teaspoon serbuk jintan putih
i inch shrimp paste
some fragrant fresh kaffir lime leaves
*blend all ingredients together until becomes smooth and thick.

this is how the green paste looks like.

Thai green chicken curry with aubergine (aka terung).

close-up view. nmpak mcm kurma ayam kan?

Thai green chicken curry

ingredients:

green thai curry paste

2 batang serai - dititik

4 helai daun limau purut

terung - di potong dadu

tomato - belah empat

daun ketumbar utk hiasan

kacang panjang - dipotong panjang

seekor ayam - potong sederhana besar

sebiji santan kelapa

sos ikan namphla - 4 sudu

kiub ikan bilis secukup rasa

2 sudu jus limau nipis

cara:
tumis green curry paste smpai naik bau

masukkan serai dan daun limau purut

masukkan ayam dan santan

didihkan sampai ayam masak

perasakan dgn garam, sedikit brown sugar, sos ikan namphla dan jus limau

akhir sekali masukkan terung, tomato & kacang panjang

hidangkan dgn nasi putih (jgn masak smpai terung or tomato lembik)

u all mesti tertanya2 nape i pakai acuan roti jala ni kan? benda ni actually utk buat serbuk/kerak utk butter prawn.

butter prawn.

close up view. kerak/serbuk telur tu yg mahal tu. huhuu~

butter prawn

ingredients:

500 gm udang - cuci & buang kulit

tepung jagung utk salut udang

sedikit garam

sebatang daun kari

cili padi - hiris halus

3 biji kuning telur

2 sudu butter

minyak utk menggoreng

method:

salut udang dgn tepung jagung & garam - goreng dlm minyak panas

bila dah hampir masak - masukkan daun kari & cili padi

angkat dan tos atas tissue paper utk hilangkan residual oil

utk kerak/serbuk butter prawn:

-panaskan minyak dlm kuali (pakai minyak yg sama u all goreng udang td pun boleh)

masukkan 2 sudu butter

tunggu smpai minyak betul2 panas - padamkan or slowkan api smpai yg paling kecik skali

guna acuan roti jala td: masukkan kuning telur yg dipukul dlm acuan tu, dan slowly tuang dlm minyak panas. with ur other hand pakai garfu utk kacau juraian telur tu spy tak melekat.

goreng smpai kuning dan angkat & toskan atas tissue paper

taburkan kerak/serbuk butter tu atas udang yg dah digoreng td.

this morning i woke up quite early considering it's my day off work. lepas subuh je i terus tak tido. i went outside and saw the sunrise - it was such a nice feeling. i rasa mcm lama gila tak tgk cahaya matahari properly. sebelum ni hari2 before sunrise i dah gi ward. nmpak sunrise pun dr dlm ward je. huhuhu. sambil2 tu i saje2 je snapped pictures of mommy's garden.

i taktau la ape nama pokok ni. byk sgt pokok bunga dlm my mom's garden. ni mommy tanam beside her Koi fish pond. i took this picture pakai my blackberry je, but surprisingly it turned out really nice. my brother pun said so. nmpak cam DSLR picture je kan? eventho i tak sempat2 lg nak beli my own DSLR, for now cukup la dulu my blackberry camera ni. hehee~

the same pokok but at a different place.

red rose. solitary one. :)

haa ni daun kari yg my mom tanam kat tepi rumah. tinggi ok pokok kari ni...kitorg slalu nak masak kari main petik je la daun ni. gemuk2 plak tu daun dier.

mommy's Koi pond.

ni pokok ape i pun tak tau. tp pokok ni tinggi ok. tgk tu dah nak smpai our balcony.

this is a miniature bird house. burung tak muat pun nak masuk dlm tu. buat hiasan je. hehee~~



tomorrow's a new day. i'll still be in Dengue ward for another 2 weeks. it's fun cuz there isnt much work to do, and i usually finish work at 5pm on the dot. tp bosan gak hari2 asek tgk dengue je kan. nak jugak kes yg mencabar sket. haha gedik tak? bila dok ward yg busy i dok membebel, now dah kat ward yg senang pun membebel gak. huhu. the grass is indeed greener on the other side most of the time eh? :)

just look at that brilliant sunset - such splendid view from my bay window. it's really a bliss to be home :))

where did they go???? :(

when weekend comes i find myself craving to cook and try out new dishes. lama gile wehh tak buat benda2 ni sume. so i was browsing thru my laptop for all the pics of the food i cooked - saje je la nak tgk which ones i haven't upload in this blog. usually i saved them in one folder entitled 'daily cooks'. and guess what - i couldnt find it!!!! waaaaaaaaaarghhhhhh sgt stress okkk..kalau i hilang sume gmbr2 tu mcm sedih gilee..everytime i cook or try out new recipes i definitely would snap a picture of it and save it for blogging. i wonder where did i put that folder???:( :( :(

anyhow, i stumbled upon these few pics of some dishes i tried out 3 months back. tak menyempat2 nak upload dlm blog back then. alang2 now i tgh free so i'll just update them here k.


appetizer: bruschetta with beef and tomato filling.

recipe:

1 piece of readymate baguette (i bought it @ delifrance. mana2 bakery pun ada)
minced beef - 200g
3 tomatoes - diced
dried herbs: oregano, basil, parsley
olive oil
margarine/butter
tomato puree - 1 small can
cheddar cheese - cut into thin strips (boleh pakai other types of cheese based on personal preference)
olive oil to sautee
bombay onions - diced finely
2 cloves garlic - crushed

method:
sautee chopped onions and garlic in olive oil until fragrant
add in minced beef (i usually rebus dulu minced beef tu spy senang and cepat masak)
add in tomato puree and diced tomato
add black pepper and dried herbs
kacau smpai sebati
slice the baguettes obliquely - spread some butter/margerine on top each slice
spread the bruschetta filling on the cut slices of baguettes evenly
put the thinly sliced cheddar cheese
bake in the oven at 180 degrees for 10-15 minutes until the cheese melt



main course: grilled chicken (boleh tak i malas nak letak recipe grilled chicken ni? sume org pun tau kot. main campak2 je anything u like then bakar je dlm oven - gerenti jadi punye ;) hehee)


briyani rice with cucumber raita.

recipe briyani rice (version yg super simple cuz i used ready made briyani powder je :P).

1 packet of briyani herb - mix with 2 spoonful of water
minyak sapi
bawang besar - dadu
serai dititik - 3 batang
pewarna oren/kuning
gajus- goreng untuk hiasan
daun ketumbar utk hiasan
2 cawan susu segar
beras basmathi - dicuci dan toskan

cara:
tumis rempah briyani dgn minyak sapi hingga garing/naik bau
masukkan serai dan bawang besar -tumis hingga naik bau
masukkan susu segar dan air then masukkan beras
masukkan sedikit daun ketumbar utk bau
masak sehingga beras kembang
lastly hiaskan dgn gajus , bawang goreng & daun ketumbar

******
cucumber raita (which translates into acar timun dgn yogurt :) )

bahan2:
sebiji timun - finely diced (buang the core and biji timun tu)
carrots - finely diced
1 small container fresh yogurt (i used dutch lady plain yoghurt)
sugar and salt to taste
fresh mint - finely chopped

method:
mixed all ingredients together
chill in the fridge before serving



dessert: mango panna cotta

resipi ni dpt dr blog Kak Ummi kuantan. senang gile nak buat and sgt sedap ok. just that when i made it i terlebih letak gelatin kot, so my milk layer tu keras sikit. otherwise i rase mesti dah perfect gile dah. this dessert is supposed to be gooey in consistency. Kak ummi, mntak izin copy & paste recipe ek..thanks :)

Ingredient:
7 grm gelatin (1 packet) + 3 tbsp of water
2 ½ cups full cream milk
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla essence

1 ripe mango – pureed in a blender

Method:-
Mix the gelatin and water together and set it aside to bloom.
Put the milk and sugar in a saucepan, cook over low medium heat until bubbles form around the edges of the saucepan.
Remove from heat and add in the vanilla and stir in the gelatin. Stir until the gelatin dissolved.
Pour the mixture into six ramekins or cups. pour in the pureed mango over the milk layer.

chill in the fridge before serving.

esok nak masak ape plak ek? Thai food probably?

benefit of the doubt.

Eid mubarak to every Muslim celebrating all over the world today. surely perut sume org dah penuh dgn rendang, lemang, ketupat segala kan? pastu surely pegi open house kan kan???

but for me, it has been indeed a mundane day instead.



i woke up at 430am, had my bath and got ready for work. i reached the ward at precisely 10 minutes to 6am. lepas solat subuh terus pegi ward and started updating the patients. today cuma i with another friend of mine yg cover the whole ward, sbb tu i dtg awal giler. nasibbaik la rounds dgn MO pun start a bit late, so i had ample time to update the lab results and review all patients. alhamdulillah la :) kol 3 ptg baru i finished all my work, and headed straight home. by then my family sume dah balik dr kampung i kat rawang tu. mmg i x sempat nak balik kampung pun today. so all in all, it was just like any other day for me - nothing special except for hearing takbir raya being aired in the radio.


i mmg tak sempat nak masak apa2 makanan raya. although i went home yesterday, i felt really tired sbb postcall ari tu kot. plus, mommy cuti semalam and she did all the cooking with the help of my sister. bila i smpai rumah je, makanan sume dah siap. rendang ayam + pulut kuning dah ade atas meja . lapar gile ok smpai tak sempat pun nak snap gmbr pulut n rendang tu. it was too nyummeyhhh thanks mommy! muacksss2.. :D


on a brighter note, things are starting to look up for me as the days go by. work isn't as dreadful as it was before, and i'm beginning to make new friends as i go along. life actually does get easier when u have good friends to laugh and cry with, don't u think? i do call myself loyal when it comes to friendships (and relationships too, ahem2 :P hahaha ), and by that i mean i dont just make friends for the sake of it. when i find that someone is on the same wavelength as i am, i'd make sure i keep that friendship going and not just u know, befriend any soul just to take advantage on them.surprisingly some ppl are like that u know. bila dah kerja ni baru nampak mcm2 perangai manusia..ada yg honest, ada yg two faced, ada yg batu api, ada yg berkira gile toksah ckp la. u choose who u want to be it seems. work politics they call it :). i just hope i dont fall into any of those bad categories. huhu



talk about friendship, my mates from PMC came by to KL last weekend for a rendezvous. i havent seen them since we started working - rindu giler okkk.so we opted to have lunch at Sakae Sushi and oooh boyy, we spent hourssss there just talking and laughing away (while snatching sushi plates from the moving belt of course ;P)

the blue mermaid, purple mangosteen, the bronze diva and pouty miss baby blue ;)

just look at Apai's face while listening to Danial's animated stories - tak bole blah ok. ahahah

our Sakae moment :)

my happiness score - currently upgoing trend :D

im seriously thinking of applying for a few days leave this month or next mnth...by the looks of it, i think i may be needing it earlier than i thought! ;P

i shud re-visit Pulau Redang soon. beautiful sunset kan? :)

my comfort zone :)

there's this cosy feeling i get whenever im in my own comfort zone i.e the kitchen. i dont know how to describe it, but it clears my head. it relieves my stress, helps me forget things. it feels good when i feed people and they finish whatever it is i serve on their plates. im sure fellow foodbloggers know exactly what im talking about kan? ;) i dah lama sgt2 tak masuk dapur..sebulan lebih since start keje. luckily this weekend dpt cuti 2 hari, baru la dpt merasa pegang sudip, pots and pans segala. td awal2 pagi i dah pegi Jusco n beli brg2 nak masak today's enu - beef lasagna. my mom buat muke pelik je i bgn awal2 gi beli groceries. tp die bahagia la sbb hari ni i masak lunch so die leh la goyang kaki je. heheee :D

for lasagna kena ada 2 sauce : the red tomato-based sauce, and the white cheese sauce.yg kat atas ni is the tomato based sauce - i mixed together with minced beef and button mushroom. nmpak tak still berasap lagi sauce tu? hehee

homemade white cheese sauce. believe it or not, sgt senang nak bwt white cheese sauce ni. i used to think it was difficult, tp tak pun. just sautee some chopped garlic in melted butter, pour in 2 cups of milk, add some crushed black pepper and a few spoonfuls of wheat flour. mix well until the consistency becomes thick, then throw in as much as cheese as u like.then voila!senang je kan? :)

one thing i hate about making lasagna tu bab nak merebus the lasagna sheets. kene guna pot yg besar, then rebus 2 sheets at one time je. sbb takut if rebus byk2 sheets at one time nanti they'll stick to each other. agak lambat la proses nak rebus sheets tu jadinye. lepas dah rebus, bole la susun2 the sheets - selang selikan dgn white sauce and red tomato sauce in between.

this is how the lasagna looks like after layering and sprinkled with dried parsley on top.

ni rupe die lepas dah makeup dgn grated cheddar cheese. hehee

baked beef lasagna.

and this, is the latest addition to my Nicholas Sparks novel collection. when will i get to read it i wonder???

quick update.

it feels like ages since i last blogged. i truly am sorry people, it's unintentional. i rindu gilerr nak masak n blog like i used to, but due to unfortunate circumstances - those things would have to wait :-/

a month + have passed since i started working. initially it was tough like ppl say it would be. i struggled and stumbled along the way, but now i can proudly say that things are beginning to look up. i still need some getting used-to with the fast pace of working, specialists or MO yg kadang2 ade yg garang ade yg baik. but hey, those are what working is all about kan. yg penting, gaji masuk :D teheee.

i got a day off today sempena Deepavali, and it's been put to good use so far. semalam i oncall for the 6th time, and alhamdulillah yesterday was the best call ever cuz i finally got to sleep! 4 jam i tido smlm sbb ade 2 admissions je.. i left the ward today with a big cheeky smile indeed ;) bahagia giler kalau everytime oncall pun mcm tu. hehee. esok keje lagi, but sunday i got the day off. maybe i akan cube bersilat kat dapur utk lepaskan gian..sebulan lebih tak masuk dapur woo. rase mcm something amiss je. huhuu.

this is the view taken from the balcony in medical ward 9D. lepas penat keje malam2 i slalu lepak pantry n just let my tired eyes rest by seeing the view. not bad eh? :)

ok it's past midnight alrdy and i have an early day tomoro. nighty night !