I’m hangin’ in there, babe

 

I found 10 minutes yesterday evening and managed to flip through an adorable little book which my good gal pal Audrey presented to me recently (thanks Aud!).  It’s called The Wit and Wisdom of Mothers.  While I thoroughly enjoyed the beautiful pictures of animals in the book, the accompanying (witty) phrases sure did strike a chord within me as well.

So how do you think I have been coping with my current job as home project manager aka SAHM?  I would think I am doing pretty okay.  All it takes is some practice, some time and a whole lot of patience obtaining certain skillsets I like to call the “Mommy Multitasking Skills”:

These include, among others, the ability to:

  • Do as many things as possible while breastfeeding, such as typing on the keyboard of the computer, eating lunch/dinner, reading a story to your other kid etc.
  • Talk to your elder child and prevent him from any mishaps while changing/bathing your younger child.
  • Cook for your family while making sure your younger child, who can’t eat regular adult food yet, is fed and contented too.  Someday I’d like to master the art of breastfeeding and cooking at the same time LOL
  • Carry 2 kids simultaneously (cannot be done very often)
  • Have lunch while doing laundry
  • Know when to take a shower while baby is taking a nap, at the same time rinse some cloth diapers in the washroom, oh and before that put some chicken vegetable soup to boil, so a few proverbial birds are killed with one stone.  Must be done in perfect timing before baby wakes up.
  • …oh, and let’s not forget the ability to try as much as possible to keep all my blogs alive and prevent mold and mildew from making them their home.

As you can see, my life now is never with a dull moment, and I foresee even more exciting things happening in the near future!

Posted in Parenting & Motherhood | 2 Comments

My colorful, magical beans

Look ma, these are my magic beans!!

 

I got these from Safeway upon the recommendation from my son’s daycaregiver.  The beans are labeled “12 beans for soup”.  Don’t they look colorful?

 

Boiled them in the pot for a while, and then right before serving, I brought the soup to a boil, added sliced tomatoes, 1 red bell pepper (if I were blogging this from Malaysia, I’d say “capsicum”), chopped scallions and some salt to taste.  Then I sprinkled some Italian seasoning.

 

The result is a colorful-looking soup which we had for dinner last night.  It’s perfectly healthy and it’s great for vegetarians too.  Hubby didn’t really like it though, but I did 🙂

So no…I didn’t check if the beans would grow into a giant beanstalk, but they sure make a splendid soup!  Now I wonder if I can get these from Malaysia…

Posted in Drooling & Cooking | 5 Comments

I’m now an aunt to a niece

 
Scrap Credits
Choukette Designs – Sugary Summer QP freebie from Biancka
Bohemia Alphas from Sweet Blossom Designs

Welcome to the world Phoebe!

BIL and SIL embraced parenthood on May 18th as baby Phoebe came into their lives.  Congratulations to them both!  I can’t wait to meet my niece.

Posted in Close to Heart & Home, Relax & Celebrate | 2 Comments

Let’s get the grill on, babe

 

When I was a little girl, Kentucky Fried Chicken were novelty meals.  The aroma of the fried chicken was heavenly and familiar and it meant some finger-lickin’ goodness was in store.

Last Friday, I tasted Kentucky Grilled Chicken for the first time.  Yup, not FRIED but GRILLED.  The telly has been screening these ads for so many weeks now, and there was only so much I could do to restrain myself from trying this *healthier* option.

In a bid to lure health-conscious consumers back into KFC (incidentally I learnt that it became KFC because the word FRIED in Kentucky FRIED Chicken needed to be dropped), KGC was introduced after two years of testing.  The selling point is that it contains less calories, less fat and less sodium than its *fried* predecessor. 

Original Recipe Chicken (varies per piece):
110-370 calories
7-21 g fat
290-1050 mg sodium

New Kentucky Grilled Chicken (varies per piece):
70-180 calories
4-9 g fat
160-440 mg sodium

(obviously the Hot and Spicy variety we have in Malaysia will have MANY MANY more calories, fat and sodium than the OR ones)

The verdict?  Well, I must say that I was slightly taken aback by how tiny the KGC pieces were.  It was almost as if free-range chicken were used!  I have never seend such minute chicken pieces in the US!  Tastewise, it did not have that fragrant OOMPH KFC always exudes, but it was definitely palatable.  Because it’s grilled, you don’t get that crispy skin though…but it FELT healthier.  However, if you’re talking *grilled* chicken, give me Nando’s anytime!  Hehe…

The set meal I had contained 2 pieces of grilled chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy, coleslaw, and instead of the bun we have in Malaysia, the set comes with a flaky crumbly buttermilk biscuit, which I absolutely LURVE!

I am not sure if KGC has come to Malaysian shores yet, but I would say it may not be a big hit there, given that people are more inclined to fall back on the comforting reassuring KFC they know and love.  Sure, they’ll try KGC one time at least, but Malaysian tastebuds would probably prefer the fried option.

Have I made your tummies rumble yet?

Posted in Drooling & Cooking | 10 Comments

Celebration in full bloom

If being a mother of one means receiving a dozen long-stemmed roses, what then does a mother of 2 get?

 

I hope everyone had a great Mother’s Day.  Mine was a simple yet enjoyable one spent with my family…

Happy Mother’s Day to me, and to all you special mommies out there…one day is certainly not enough to shower Mom with love.  That’s why Mother’s Day should be celebrated every day!

Posted in Close to Heart & Home, Parenting & Motherhood, Relax & Celebrate | 7 Comments