I have been a little slack when it comes to planning our family menu. The past two weeks, we have really been spontaneous when it comes to dinner time. My excuse… Um… I was sick, and I haven’t gotten much sleep. Ok. Fine. PMS. Whatever.

What I have come to realise though is that there has been quite alot of wastage. Food and money. You see, this blog started of really good. So did I. It was about how to save money where and when. But lately, I’ve gotten complacent about our finances (BAD) and just been winging it. REALITY check hit when I finally had a look at our bills. GAS bill particularly, and yes my bank account in regards to transactions at Safeway and Coles.

SO anyway, I have a point. You’ve heard it, and you’ll hear it from me. You would save some mmooolars if you just PLANNED your weekly groceries, rather than purchasing as you go day by day.

Sorry, I digress…I hate wasting food. So this week, it was all about trying to use what was there…and finnishing it…

HAINANESE CHICKEN RICE RECIPE

NOTE: There is a proper way to do this, as in cooking the chicken and then removing it and dumping it in ice to stop the chicken from cooking… etc….etc… but this is a SIMPLIFIED fuss-free version.

Day 1: Chicken Rice. Ahhh… my hubby is a Chinaman so he likes his Chinese food. I can only cook a handful of asian dishes and the rest, so where there is luurrrve, there is a way and Google is my friend.

My mum did own a restaurant and I’ve seen my granmama cook this lots of times so here’s a quick cap of what I did. NOTE: I am not a proper cook  chef, nor am I intending to write a cookbook , so why the heck am I writing recipes???  so bear with me with the instructions.

FIRST: prepare your chicken by chopping off as much its fatty bits as you can. I just use a pair of scissors and cut around its bottom, and around its neck of all the excess skins and fat. Then set aside about 4cm lump for the rice.

1) Boil water in a kettle. Put your chicken into a pot. Once the water is boiled, pour over your chicken until it is covered with water by 2 cm. Drop in a lump of garlic, and some ginger. Switch on your stove, and boil away for about 10 minutes. Put the lid on. Boil for another 3 minutes, then switch off the stove. Leave the chicken in there while you wipe and bathe poopy bum  for about 40minutes.

2) The pot should be luke warm to touch. Remove the chicken, rub a generous amount of salt over the whole chicken, glad wrap it and set aside. Season the stock with 1 tsp of salt, and 1 TBSP of chicken stock powder.

3) In a pan, heat up (2tsp) oil, and fry (3 cloves) garlic, (sliced 3cm)ginger and chicken fat. Stir in 2 cups of (uncooked) rice, and fry it for about 1 minute. Remove and place into a rice cooker. Then pour into the rice cooker about 3 cups of stock, stir and season to taste. Set the rice cooker to COOK!

If you really wanted… make your own chilli sauce by blending:

10 red chillies (seeds and veins removed)

3 Birds eye chillies

7 cloves of garlic

2 TBSP of ginger

Juice from 2 limes

1/2 tsp of salt

1/2 TBSP of sugar

1 TBSP of chilli sauce (Sriracha)

Then when its time to eat, chop up your chicken and serve with a bowl of stock and garnish with white pepper, coriander and spring onions.

We had some stock left over so over to the next day.

PORK BALL NOODLE SOUP

I got inspiration from MyCookingHut, but like I said, I made a simplified version.

1) Mince up in a food processor the pork ball paste- (300g )minced pork, (1TBSP) oyster sauce, (1TBSP) fish sauce, (1/2 tsp) salt, (1TBP) sugar, (1/2 TBSP) sesame oil, (1 TBSP) Cornflour, (1 tsp) baking powder and (1/4 tsp) white pepper. Finely dice some water chestnuts, and mix with pork paste.

2) In a pot, bring some water to boil. NOW, grab a fistful of paste in your left hand, and squeeze it so that it pops up through the gap between your thumb and index finger. AND using your right hand, with a spoon, cut off the ‘ball’ and drop it into the boiling water. As the float up, give time about 2more minutes and take them out.

3) Boil up yesterdays stock. Put in 1/2 can of quail eggs, and 1/2 can of straw mushrooms. Prepare noodles as per the packet instructions.

4) Put everything into a bowl and serve.

YES I had to slot in a pic of Missy A into the background just incase you didn’t think my noodles look appetizing.

Refridgerate left over pork balls for tomorrows dinner…

DAY 3: Tom Yum fried Noodles

OK, this was it. All the left overs needed to be used up.

I soaked some vermicilli in luke warm water. Heated up the pan, fried some garlic and ginger. Added the noodles, added bit of oyster sauce, fish sauce, soya sauce, dried shrimp, and grated carrot. Dropped in a TBSP of Tom Yum paste, stirred, and served.

THE rest of the week…

Well, I planned it well because my hubby got his Chinese food fix, and we will be heading out to the in laws and out laws for dinner, and somewhere in there, we will be hosting a birthday dinner for my brother-in-law.

Plans for that is Alvin’s DRunken and Bruised from Masterchef, and ok I’m done.

MAN, that was exhausting to relive…..

Stay tuned for coming posts on :

• Alvin’s drunken and bruised recipe
• some other money saving tips
• what I learnt at School Craft Group …
• …and yes maybe even a pic of me.

Kids are greedy little buggers. They take stuff from you. They throw stuff at you. They puke on you. They poop on you and they eat from you.

Ok, so its not enough that…

• I now have to share Daddy with you
• that my bed has now converted itself into a bunk bed for 4
• that I have to share ME time with YOU making it a YOU time
• that my photo albums are al stocked up with all pictures of YOU
• that my handbag space is divided 94% You, 2% me and 4% food scraps
• that when I shop for clothes, I have to think of what’s practical for you
• that when I shop for shoes, I have to think of what’s practical for you
• that when I’m decorating the house I have to bear in mind what’s good for you
• that the space on the couch between me and Dad is reserved for you…

YOU HAVE TO EAT MY FOOD!!??

The kids just keep eating my food! No, they refuse to eat their own. They have to eat whats on my plate. Its the same stuff!! I thought maybe because they like the ADULT plate that it is on, so I swapped plates/bowls with them. NOPE. They just want to eat off my plate. ERGh.

Mind you. I do love my kids…….

Yesterday I picked up some goodies from my local op shop. Pretty much everything in our house is either thrifted or bought at a really good discount. Much part of me will NEVER pay full price for items… I don’t know why… maybe because I’m asian (??). I love the hunt for a great bargain, and there are some really serious awesome stuff out there if you were willing to be patient.

This I picked up yesterday:

Somebody ask me what the time is so that I can look at my pretty clock! The arms of the clock were a bit bent which was affecting its movement, but nothing a pair of pliers can’t fix.

A nifty new reading chair for Missy A. I’m thinking of padding it up alittle with some vintage fabric cushions…

I’ve been meaning to put up some shelves for our cookbooks but I’ve tiled the kitchen up past my head height. Didn’t think of that earlier, so this little beauty is like PEERRRRFFEEECCT. I LOVE IT! Ok, so I don’t store onions and potatoes in it but seriously, if someone had this solid timber thing, who would want to put it in the dark in the cupboard. It should be showed off!

And a wooden carved tray to keep all our cans in line. I find that because they are on a tray, the space feels a lot more organised rather than for them to just sit on the bench like dwadlers.

All this from one stop! It was a SIGN!

I give my plastic bags lllooove in this house. I treat them with respect and celebrate their many uses, and most of all, I give them my time.

Hahaha… ok now you’re thinking I’m crazy. You know what… I am! Hehehe… ok, ok there is a point to this post.

A whole bunch of plastic bags started taking over one of our cupboards, so I thought that I might just put them back into line.

Here is how you can take control, and reduce the space they take up, and also how to lose 30mins of your life, and never get it back!

1) Lay out your plastic bag friend flat.

2) Lengthwise, fold into 3

3) Working from bottom up to the handles, fold one corner up to form a triangle.

4) Keep folding until you have something that resembles a curry puff.

5) Tuck in the handles and now repeat for all the 100 plastic bags you have stowed away.

WARNING: You will not get back the 20-30 minutes that you spend on folding the bags, BUT you will save some space!

Hypothetically speaking…

Once upon a time… there was a married couple called Harry and Sally. They had two kids called Alice and Candy. On one of their most recent weekends, the house sat quite. Nana Christine called up early in the morning, and decided to spend a day out with one of the girls…. Alice to watch a movie. And as Candy had been up all night, Candy was K.O, and sleeping soundly in her baby cot. It was all so quiet…. when Harry and Sally had a light bulb moment! “So… what do MARRIED couples get up to when all is quiet and with no kids running around?” …They both grinned…

Um, lets just say that plans didn’t quite turn out as Nana Christine decided to bring Alice home early, and though they did not have the house keys, and was not sure WHY mum and dad were NOT picking up their phones… Alice decided to show Nana Christine the special door in which Mummy Sally FORGOT to lock!

Hearing the door slam. Harry and Sally jumped up! Harry hopped into the cupboard, and Sally scrummaged for covering. Realising that they were both going to be… BUSTED, they just had to play it cool. Nana Christine, oblivious to the situation, decided to hang about and have a cup of tea. ARGH!!! Sally, going commando under her dressings, politely conversed about difficult it was to “fix the lamp in the spare room” until Nana finished her tea and left.

Harry, out of hiding, and Sally’s face returning to normal colour, could only laugh.

Alice “What are you laughing at Mum and Dad?”

…Nothing…. absolutely nothing…

Hypothetical story ofcoarse….

I don’t wanna grow up, I’m a Toys R’ Us kid. A million toys to choose from, that I can play with. From bikes to trikes and video games, its the biggest toy stor there is. GEE WIZ! I don’t wanna grow up, cuz baby if I did….I wouldn’t be a toys r’ us kid!

I haven’t been blogging much because…I have been growing up lately. I now drink coffee because I think its an adult thing to do. I indulge in cheese too because… its just an adult thing to do. Hehehe… ok not really but of late, I do feel like an oldie scouring wineries,I shop for homewares, having a latte in my hand, ordering caeser salad, and carrying hand cream in my handbag.

I’ve shocked everyone with my new do. Atleast my uncles anyway. He calls it the Aunty hair cut…. but others have liked… it??? Or atleast they have all been very polite.

Then I really felt like an Aunty remembering that this white dress WAS my mummy’s.

And now I dream of my next house. It will have a name. YES my house will have its own name.

I’ve been wearing this T-shirt dress for 5 years now. AND it was only TODAY, when taking this outfit post that I realised that the print on it is a…

…ZEBRA! How cool. Allthis while I actually thought that it was a flower! #FAIL. I don’t know how this proves that I am an adult but I thought I’d share an outfit.

I have been dressing like I am going to work…

Or atleast think that its work anyway…

I am probaly spreading myself too thin, and my older bro has just told me that I should do a few things, and DO THEM GOOD, instead of trying to do everything.

I am a stay at home mum at the moment, and looking at options to… well, contribute to the home loan, or atleast some how contribute to my ‘buying more clothes’ fund.

So the past couple of weeks I’ve been looking to buy an acting business…. which did not work out because we couldn’t see the financial figures of the business, and well, I’d like to think that when you’re going to invest a huge chunk of buckeroosss, and sell half your soul, looking at the business financials is um… ESSENTIAL!

Anyway then I looked at starting an art school. I has a friend friend in M’sia who had an art school, and have been looking to have a good chats with her to see what the possibility for that to happen here. OI! I’m coming down to M’sia for 4 days (??) for “training” so yeh… should meets up yah?? You know who you are ….

But you see that will take alot of my time, and well, there’s a chunky investment there too, setting up a studio, and blah blah when it comes to dealing with kids… so this is still working progress on its viability.

I have another thing I am looking at and slowly starting to build which I may reveal later on. Need to concerntrate and getting that going bfore telling everyone, else, I fall on my ass and everyone knows! Like I care but yeh… just being careful here.

THEN there’s this OTHER thing I am doing… just for fun and see what that can take me. Missy A’s school is having a ‘Mother’s day” fair thing, and I was asked by one of the other parents to set up a table to sell stuff. ARGH if only these people would like me clothes! (NO. bad idea) And then I came up with this…

http://abcdiy.wordpress.com/

Have a look around, and let me know what you thinks.

Each week, I will try to come up with a new idea/pack… that is economical for everyone. BEST of all, its all recyclable!! AND BEST BEST OF ALL… I can do it all at home while Missy C and Oscar chews on my ankles…. g..r…e…a…t….

School has started and I am still in HOLIDAY mode… gawwwwww……

So no pics as I have been rushing out the door, and quite frankly I’ve been lazy. *sorry*

Lunch Idea #13 – Monday: Pork Floss on Sour dough sandwich, dried mangoes, dried apples and Vitawheats

Lunch Idea #14 – Tuesday: Tuna, avocado and tomato dip with rice crackers, Vegemite vitawheat biscuits, dried apple and cranberries

Lunch Idea #15 – Wednesday : Avocado and cream cheese on sourdough sandwich, dried mango and dried apple.

So, slight variations there, and a good use of an avocado. Still sticking with the varied texture which still makes things interesting….. and gives their jaws an exercise not that Missy A needs it OMG she won’t SHUT UP these days!

Apart form lunches, I’ve been busy slowly decorating our little humble home. Here’s one of our walls.

I have been wanting to do this for ages in terms of ’summarising’ our year up where each month has a photo to represent that month and then putting it into a book so we have a collection of every year we have as a family and for the rest of our lives. So if you have a closer look, each frame has a month to it, and i’ve finally printed out up until March. Will wait for the end of April to decide on which pic we will use. I love it! Um… that big BROWN one is well.. June I think. hehehe I ran out of frames and also Js. BARh.. so its special for this year. This is super easy, and cheap too. I bought the frames from Ikea and these were the odd ones from the ‘As Is’ bins so they were even cheaper. Missy A and I painted them up with shiny black paint bought from Bunnings, and then hot glued gun the wood letters that were bought from Riot. I think it all costed up like… $12 for frames, $4 for letters and $4 for paint. *shrug* something like that anyway.

AND here’s a pic to melt your hearts…….

…she thinks its funny when we sneeze!

My birthday was… sometime last week, and I have had the BEST birthday celebration ever! On the day itself, my hubby took leave so I could sleep in. Missy A had a day off (no school on Wednesdays – NO not wagging)… and they baked me chocolate muffins, and woke me up by singing Happy Birthday with a single candle on it. By the time I got out of bed, the girls all had their breakfasts and all I did was get changed and it was time for LUNCH! YES I WAS in bed til 11. So we headed out for a simple lunch, came home, watched DVDs, and Missy A cooked fish and chips for dinner! How awesome! Then I had family over to polish off the rest of the cupcakes, and that was it! Simple. With the people I love. Best. EVER.

OFCOARSE there was a boozy weekend with friends. I ate myself silly at Crown, and headed out to party it up. Hubby booked hotel rooms for ourselves and the grandparents to look after the little ones… and that was that. BEST. EVER!

Ok, so there were a few hiccups at the end of the night but yeh, I’d hate for the to fog over the GOOD GOOD TIMES!

MAN, house-keeping really sucks the gebeezuz life out of you! Haha… or atleast that is my excuse for not blogging long time now.

Anyway, picture galore coming up!

Here’s what I’ve been wearing the past few days…

…This is what we’ve been up to lately…

Yes, I have been attacking a bush that has overgrown. It has tried to take over my clothes line…but NAH NAH!! I KILLED it. Muahaha…

YES… I am knee deep in weeds… and I have a rosemary bush TREE!!! Not one but TWO! ZOOOMMGGG…

Missy A has been warming up the house with her delicious hamburgers…. hmmm.. perhaps it is now time for me to teach her how to use the mop and bucket now that she has the kitchen / cooking down pat….

Haha.. TAG dag! Missy A is soooo PUURRTTYYY!

Lunch in our backyard.