Working on my resolutions #2

After clearing all the unwanted, expired, long-frozen food stuffs in my fridge, I restocked a little just to make myself feel more secure. I dunno. I’m quite anal when it comes to empty fridges. I don’t feel secure if my fridge is empty. What if there’s a war tomorrow? What if friends come to visit? What if I crave for some fruits sandwiches in the middle of the night?

A couple of days ago, I got this particular craving for soup. Not those creamy frothy one. Not those whipped out within half and hour and definitely, not those powder mixed one from cans or boxes either. I wanted some nutritious soup which can make me feel revitalized. Especially those I’ve heard from the aunties and mommies. About how the winter melon soup can help detoxify the body or about how turnip soup can help cool and cleanse the body.

Until today, I don’t really know much about the benefits of Chinese herbs though I’ve been raised in a family where herbs are boiled in soups with the belief that these herbs and tonics would strengthen, improve ‘qi’, warm the body etc. So, I went to the market and talked to some herb seller. I actually got a lot of information on how to mix and match some of the herbs so as to create a wonderful blend of healing properties as well as tasty.

During my early years in my marriage, I tried to be the exemplary wife everyone thought I would be and tried to cook up some soup recipes myself. With the help from my mom and a dash of my own creativity, I boiled some soups in the past. However, most of the soups I cooked didn’t really taste as nice as my mom’s.

They say that the more you cook, the more experience you’ll get in the kitchen. It’s really true especially when it comes to boiling soup. No matter how exact I followed the instructions, the soup would come out slightly different in taste. I realized I put in too much or too little of something.

Anyway, I have not given up, yet. So, I made a couple of calls and roughly got the idea of which herb or vegetable to mix so that their taste would blend in well.

And yesterday, I boiled a very special soup. I don’t know what it’s called. Let’s just call it, The Naturally Sweet Soup.

TA-DAH!

Today, I swiped up some stuffs from my trusty old fridge and got the pot boiling yet another nutritious soup, the ever likable Papaya Lentil Soup. They say that papaya soup is meant for women who are breastfeeding. It’s quite true, but it’s actually a healthy choice of soup for all. My sister is drinking this soup more often these days as she’s breastfeeding my little nephew. Try this too if you are in for a tangy sweet soup! Great taste!

Working on my resolutions #1

My sister has always complained that the fridge in my house is overloaded most of the time. She reminded me again a couple of days ago.

Today, a small voice told me that it’s about time I have a look at the fridge. Beckoned by the small voice inside my head, I ventured into the domain which I’ve neglected most in the past year. The kitchen seemed to look crowded as well. Empty containers at the kitchen table top left unwashed. Bowls and plates all dried up and waiting to be placed back into their respective rows in the cabinet. Half empty mugs in the sink, looking forlornly at me. Dusty bottles of condiments which I bet were probably expired by now. Sigh! The list goes on.

Half closing my eyes, I bravely reached for the handle of the fridge and yanked it open.

.

.

.

Amazingly, I could only catch a faint glow of the fridge light. It was so stuffed with things that no wonder I’ve been hearing the fridge making whirring noises and lately, the noise comes more frequently. Perhaps the fridge is hinting to me that it’s overweight.

 

I rummaged through the fridge and was appalled by all the stuffs I found inside. I just realized that we like to collect sweets and candies. After I counted, there were almost 30 pcs of all kinds of candies and sweets. I don’t even wanna think of how and where these came from.

 

Maybe we kept them initially to scam the kids who come to our house so that they stop bugging us? I dunno. We used to have kids from downstairs who always asked us whether they could come to our house to play. All the time. Why they liked my house? I have no faintest idea at all.

 

But their whole family had migrated to Belgium two years ago. Hmm…with the deduction in my mind, I think these sweets have been sitting in my forsaken fridge for about that long. Aiks!

. . .

 

Anyway, I continued dissecting the items I found. A box which contained small pieces of mooncake, leftover from eons ago. A bowl of sambal which now looked over-chilled. A bottle of expired Marmite. Four bottles of Mayonnaise, all half-empty. No idea why there were four. Probably been buying and forgetting that we still have some at home. There were all sorts of medicines and pill from various clinics, Dr. Ho, Dr. Lee, Klinik Medijaya etc. a bottle of pickled dill which obviously had expired long time ago in 2004. And guess what? I even found a bottle of tomato paste which had developed a huge spore colony and should be attacking the nearest enemy base (Er..excuse me, my imagination is running a bit wild today. Been playing Starcraft. Hehe!)

. . .

One thing which blew me over was when I reached the bottom of the fridge. When I opened the compartment, I was engulfed in a smoke of greenish dust. I choked over it a little and peered into the plastic bag. What I found was a couple of oranges. No, let me rephrase that. I saw a couple of powder coated oranges which seemed to have undergone a massive makeover. They no longer look orange-y. Instead, they have turned into a greenish powdery entity which dissolved into the air when held. YUCKS!!!

. . .

Alright, looking at the brighter side of things, it was not so bad after all, right? I didn’t encounter plump maggots or whatnots. So, I’m rather relieved about that. Phew! *wipes sweaty forehead*

So, after I dumped the expired foodstuffs and whatever I found inside, I ended up with three big bags of rubbish. It was a tough battle, cleaning the overloaded fridge and all.

It made me realized one thing though. We have been extremely wasteful. We kept buying stuffs which we only use once, say, the Mango Flavouring for jelly. And after used once, we chucked everything into the fridge and forgot about it till the next time we clean the fridge (which we hardly ever do).

I feel really bad for having such a bad habit. I realize that we have thrown out so many food over the years and yet, so many unfortunate children are going hungry everyday. We actually can make a small difference by changing our mindsets and cherishing the food given to us so easily. How can I teach my kids in the future and set a good example for them when I keep throwing away food? It’ll be like slapping my own face, ain’t it?

So, this year, I’m making it a clear conscious effort to buy necessarily when stocking up my grocery. Also, I’ll make more effort to check the items in my fridge more often. If there are fruits in the fridge, I’ll make more effort to cut and serve them so that they wont go rotten and turn into powder green. I’m not a chef at some restaurant, so I don’t really need all sorts of condiments if I’m only gonna cook once a while. Just make sure we have salt, sugar, pepper and soy sauce, enough for simple meals.

. . .

It has been an hour since I worked industriously in the kitchen and now, the fridge seemed happier. It’s no longer making whirring sounds.

First Tag of the year

Didn’t realize I was tagged by Muks until I read her blog a while ago. She amused me so much with her answers.

1. Name one person who made you laugh last night.

My niece. She had a look at my old passport. I had a geeky photo there. My niece stared intently at me and asked, “Why last time, when you were not pretty, Ah Yee Pa Pa (which means, the hubby) married you? Why now, when you are pretty, he doesn’t marry you anymore?”. Aah…kids say the darnest things, don’t they?

2. What were you doing at 0800?

Hiding underneath my blanket.

3. What were you doing 30 minutes ago?

Scratching my butt.

4. What happened to you in 2006?

Lemme see…a kid pulled out his tooth and gave it to me as a present. Yup, the bloody tooth held in his fingers dripping in blood. *slaps forehead* I bought my first car and I quit my 9-5 job.

5. What was the last thing you said out loud?

OUCH! ?

6. How many beverages did you have today?

Barley water and 3 bowls of soup.

7. What color is your hairbrush?

Black.

8. What was the last thing you paid for?

RM3.80 for my plate of Kon Lou Mee this morning. Dang! It’s only the 3rd day of the new year and all prices have hiked up. Where can I find a RM2.00 plate of Kon Lou Mee now?

9. Where were you last night?

At home, playing Starcraft in FB.

10. What color is your front door?

Lemon Yellow.

11. Where do you keep your change?

I give them to my niece.

12. What’s the weather like today?

Scorching hot in the morning and gloomy towards the evening.

13. What’s the best ice-cream flavor?

Mango Tango.

15. Do you want to cut your hair?

Yes! Yes! It’s so in-between now. Not long and not short. I look scraggly.

16. Are you over the age of 25?

Hmm…this year I’m 18. Last year, I was also 18 and a couple of years ago, I was also 18. Funny how time stays stagnant.

17. Do you talk a lot?

Who? Me? Who’re you kidding!?!

18. Do you watch the O.C.?

What the heck is that? Is it some kind of porn?

19. Do you know anyone named Steven?

Yes. In fact, we call him See-Tai-Fun (in Cantonese slang)

20. Do you make up your own words?

Er…not sure. But I do make up my own songs. I have a tuneless song about my sister. I also have a song for the hubby and for the expired yoghurt in the fridge.

21. Are you a jealous person?

Nah! *winking my green-coloured eyes*

22. Name a friend whose name starts with the letter ‘A’.

Anthony (He’s always the first to sit in the exam hall)

23. Name a friend whose name starts with the letter ‘K’.

Kenny (from South Park), no..seriously, Kenny, my cousin.

24. Who’s the first person on your received call list?

LGG (In other words, the hubby)

25. What does the last text message you received say?

It’s rather long. So here goes:

Mr. Chung and family will visit me during this Sunday. I’ll ask them to visit you too! His family members are Chung Ma Piu, Chung Tai Choi, Chung To To and Chung 4D. They’ll be there to wish you Good Luck for 2008. Don’t worry, one of the members will not visit you for the whole year. Chung Sa Man is out of town this year. Haha!

26. Do you chew on your straw?

No, I usually digest them.

27. Do you have curly hair?

How I wish for that. My hair’s been straight and limp no matter what. Even when I curled it, it stayed plastered to my face.

28. Where’s the next place you’re going to?

Dreamland. It’s late now. I’ve resolved to be in bed early this year.

29. Who’s the rudest person in your life?

Most people I know are well-mannered, except for the occasional nose-digging. Heck, who doesn’t need to dig their nose anyway?

30. What was the last thing you ate?

Yam cake made by my mom-in-law and my own cooked Apple-Corn soup.

31. Will you get married in the future?

Er..I don’t think the hubby and I will get married…twice.

32. What’s the best movie you’ve seen in the past 2 weeks?

Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium. Watched it twice.

33. Is there anyone you like right now?

Oh yes, the funny man who sleeps beside me.

34. When was the last time you did the dishes?

After I drank my soup sometime ago.

35. Are you currently depressed?

Nope. I’m not having PMS right now.

36. Did you cry today?

No.

37. Why did you answer and post this?

For the sake of it? For fun? Out of boredom? Who cares?

38. Tag 5 people who would do this survey

SexyLady Monica

SweetMama Shemah

Cindy

Kay

Micheal (I don’t think he’ll do tags but what the heck)

 

How fast kids grow up

I’ve not kicked off any of my classes for this year and the kids are already calling me on my handphone.

Today, I received a call from SC.

.  .  . 

SC : Hello Auntie Lisa. I’m a big girl today.

Me : Oh yes! You’re in Standard one now.

SC : Yes, I’m a big girl.

Me : Did you cry in school today?

SC : No, but there are many children in my class cried. They were scared.

Me : Were you scared?

SC : Nope. 

.  .  .

The tele-conversation lasted a couple of minutes more with the kid narrating to me what happened in her school today. We yakked about crying kids to new school bag and pencil boxes. She sounded really excited to go to a new school.

Aww! How fast the kids grow up. It was like just only yesterday that I cradled my niece in my arms and feeding her milk. And this morning, I sent her to her kindergarten, where she’ll join the older kids who’re six. Last year, she was only in playschool where she didn’t have any homework. This year, according to her teacher, all the kids who’re five and six will have homework assignments.

Time really flies in just a blink of an eye, especially watching the kids growing. Right now, I just focus my energy and my time just to experience the craziness of taking care of a baby. My nephew is quite a bundle to take care of and he has proven to reach the top scale of the voice-box. Oh yes, he’s very ‘clear’ in letting us know when he is hungry. I’m not complaining, you know. It’s tedious sometimes, and frustrating whenever we feel helpless around a baby. But I told myself that I have to cherish the moments, cos time really passes by real quick. And soon, baby Nathan will be gamboling around at home and in another blink of an eye, turning around to wave goodbye as he walks into his kindergarten.

I don’t wanna miss all these moments with my niece and nephew. No sirree!