eHomemakers Malaysia

Well, here I am at home, my Dad is watching a DVD but I'm bored and..........hungry...... So, I thought, what snack can I fix myself that's both healthy and filling? Well, I have some romaine lettuce : Bingo! Homemade Ceaser Salad! The Dressing : 2 cloves garlic, chopped fine, mixed with light mayo and mustard. Set aside and allow flavors to develop. Then I chopped the romaine lettuce to bite sized pieces, you can also tear the leaves in 2s or 3s. Since there is half a cucumber waiting to be used in the fridge, I chopped them and added them to the lettuce. The Croutons : Cut a slice of day old bread into cubes; sprinkle with olive oil, you may also sprinkle some dried herbs like rosemary and thyme like I did, bake in a toaster oven for 30 minutes or so till crispy. The croutons have to golden brown to be done. When croutons are done, put over salad, sprinkle some real or vegan bacon bits, pour the dressing over and toss! Walla! Homemade Ceaser Salad!!! Bon Appetit...

A favour that was offered to a friend turned out to be a heart-wrenching experience for me. It really made me think and ponder about life and humanity.     The 45-minute journey took me to a shanty wooden house, with missing wooden planks on its wall.      A fairly good wind could blow down such dilapidated structure any minute. After introducing myself, I asked permission to snap some photos for the record. The interior of the house proved how deprived the family’s life has been.      I stepped into the kitchen, hoping to find a fridge to store the milk supply I brought. I was relieved to spot a small fridge, with a surface rust, standing in the corner of the kitchen.      It was a 2-room house – the kitchen and the bedroom (cum living room). The back of the house doubled as En. Emran’s workshop. Being the sole breadwinner of the family, it was pretty difficult for him to make ends meet. ...

It's a hot day! Again, I find myself longing to go to the nearby cafe, Coconut Groove to try their huge and icy Coconut Shake. I've never tried it before and it looks good on the menu. But it'll probably be a bad idea because 1) it's not exactly cheap 2) it comes in this huge jug which frankly to me looks like it could be shared with a family! Not a good idea for a dialysis patient like me; who need to control her fluid intake. Also, as always, I have cravings for a McDonald's Double Cheeseburger, which again is not a good idea because of the cost, the amount of fat I'll be ingesting, not to mention sending my protein and phosphate levels rocketing sky high! Just think : 2 slices of cheese, 2 fatty beef patties, bad idea, not to mention the sodium. And don't even get me started on 'saving' money by ordering the McValue Meal, which adds more fat and sodium in the form of fries, not to mention the sugar-laden soda (soft drink) that comes with ...

     The class we had today was pretty fun. The moment one student realized that she had to peel the onion skin and clean the fish, she looked startled.      Apparently, she had never cleaned a fish before and not planning to do so. She never cooked a meal but because she's getting married in a few months time, she felt like it's time to learn some kitchen skills.       Realizing that look on her face, I quickly reassured her we'll be able to do it in a breeze. With a little frown on her face, she made her way towards the kitchen table.       The other student had a new resolution to fulfill - preparing home-cooked meals, at least once a day - because she finally realized that eating out is such a costly and unhealthy. So now she plans to have healthy, frugal cooking and living. I hope she will.       We cooked 3 dishes - ikan asam pedas, ayam masak merah, Chinese mus...

Loosing weight is an uphill battle even if you're not on steroids, but even more of an uphill battle with steroids. I was prescribe steroids by my nephrologist (kidney doctor) when my SLE was active. At that time, my weight ballooned up to 68kgs! Imagine being that heavy at 4 feet 11, I was overweight, bordering on obese! No matter what I did at that time, the extra weight just refused to budge! To make matters worse, I had a tummy to rival that of a pregnant woman! And I was teased by heartless people for my tummy problem! To make matters worse, the steroids also increased my appetite. Now, I have a pretty good appetite even without the steroids but with the steroids, I was hungry all the time! And I had to eat a lot to fill my rumbling tummy! So, that made it even harder to slim down. Then came the magical day when my doctor announced that steroid are not meant to be taken long term and that I'd be taken off the steroids from that day onwards. Hallelujah! Praise the Lo...

The price of food has increased drastically over the past few years. The recent hike in petrol price has mad me revise our family routine and budget on eating out. Should we frequent restaurants and cafes on weekends like we normally do? We dine out for the kind of food that we rarely cook at home - Western, Japanese, fast food, French etc. These food seem more appetizing when served in a fancy restaurants with colourful accompaniments . However, after a month of weekend dinners and and putting that extra effort on preparing homemade fancy and Western dishes, I noticed a striking difference in our monthly budget. I saved a few hundreds. One dish that I find works perfectly well with my kids who are ever willing to eat anything chicken everyday is crispy chicken chop. This can be much healthier than fast food or restaurant fried chicken when using organic chicken (I can afford to use healthy ingredients now because I have already cut down on my monthly cost for dining out!). Le...