Fitness regime

I went to gym regularly when I am back in KL. Luckily I stay in a place where I have free gym access ...well, not that it come for free because I still need to pay the monthly maintenance fee in order for the management to provide it for all of us. But that is good enough, rather than I have to go outside to use a gym. It feel nice when you sweat like a pig and I am a morning jogger. I prefer to sweat it out in the morning, which means, I wake up at 7am every day. Yes..I am not working but I do wake up early okehhh...

But when I move here, I need to drive a few km just to get to a proper gym. So, I need to be creative if I ever want to maintain my fitness level and maintain my exercise routine. Well, obviously trying to maintain this home of mine, is already a strenuous exercise itself. Don't believe me...try it yourself. 

Anyway, my routine exercise will normally need a yoga mat..

 I used this frequently for my indoor exercise especially the one that involve floor exercise. Then I bought some weights

Arm and ankle weights, which is not heavy...just 1kg each. It is not necessarily to have it so heavy. Even the dumbbell is only 1kg. Apa yang penting is the consistency. Beli berat gedabak pun kalau x guna regularly, no point. It will only end up with injury or you tend to give up very fast pasal x sanggup angkat berat sangat so be moderate and honest to your own body. Just recently, I bought new weights..

A 2kg weight. You can get a heavier one of course but I just want to tone my arm and back muscle. Takder plan nak jadi Xena the Warrior so ini pun cukup la. I do have a 4kg weight but that I only use sparingly. Bukan untuk my floor exercise. And for my indoor exercise, I used 3 type of dvd.

When I bought this, some are very skeptic that I will actually use it. But hello...ni Angie la..of course I will use. When I am lazy to go outside or go to the gym, I used this dvd to exercise indoor. Do not underestimate this dvd because you can really sweat like pig once you finish. And if you just started to follow such exercise, you can be out of breath easily. Nampak senang tapi once you ikut betul2, semput okkk. Plus, your body & muscle really can feel the effect..bagi yang first timer, memang the next day akan rasa sore all over your body!! Nak jalan pun kangkang2. Hahah...It is a 45 minutes exercise and each dvd has different target. My favorite is cardio max with Bob Harper. Hehhe..

When I am not using the dvd, I use this cross runner..

This machine target every muscle in your body and you can do different kind of movement and targeting different muscle group. Jangan lupa you need a good sport shoe too.

Tapi if the weather permit, during spring or summer, I will jog around the countryside or kalau penat sangat just do brisk walking. As a woman, my target area is my hip & waist and walking is the best way to trim that fat down! Normally, I can run 3-5 km daily but sometimes, I will jog/ brisk walking for 7km. It is nice to be outdoor here in the countryside inhaling the fresh air while you jog.

Furthermore, walaupun ada matahari yang terang benderang, the weather is still nice and cold, bukan scorching hot like in Msia. Hhuhuh...

So, I am done with my sharing. I am not a fitness guru, tapi just nak share cam maner nak try to keep fit. Ohh,,by the way, makanan kena jaga juga..Oraits uols... 

Steam Layered chocolate cake with cream cheese

One fine day, I feel like eating cake. Then I look into my refrigerator & thought to myself..hmm..what can I bake? Then it come to me. I think I need to do something with cream cheese in it because I bought lots of cream cheese during my shopping trip to Germany because it is relatively cheap over there as compare to here. So, before I have to throw the cream cheese into the dustbin, I might as well use it. Normally I use cream cheese for frosting but I don't want to do any cake with frosting. 

Then..kaachingggg!!! Why not do chocolate layer cake with cream cheese! Yes..and that I shall do. This cake require me to steam it instead of bake it but since I do not have any steamer, I need to be creative. What do I need? Hmm..

Ok. I need flour, eggs, baking powder, baking soda, salt, sugar (white & brown), of course cream cheese, cocoa powder, vanilla essence, fresh milk, vegetable oil and hot water.

I make the cream cheese batter first so I mix all the ingredient in one bowl; egg, cream cheese, white sugar, few tbsp of flour and water. Mix it all using a hand mixer until it perfectly blend like this..

 Then wash off the mixer because you gonna need it to do the chocolate batter. In another bowl, mix all the dry ingredients; flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt. 

In a separate bowl (this is for the chocolate batter too), mix the egg, brown sugar and vanilla essence. Using a hand mixer, apa lagi..mix lerr..sampai jadi cam ni..

Add then milk, vegetable oil and hot water...

Dalam the chocolate batter tadi..so, jadi cam ni..

Then slowly mix the dry ingredients into the wet chocolate batter using spatula. U need to really make sure that both ingredient mix very well and avoid the formation of bubble. Nanti cake x nampak smooth..ada 'jerawat'..hehehe..

Using a cake tray ..but I am using the glass tray because I don't feel the need to take the cake out from it later on. Just chunk it inside the fridge. Hehhhe..So, the first layer is the chocolate so you need to divide the chocolate batter into two...like this..

Then cover it with an aluminum foil..

Ok..for those that have steamer, it is very direct. You just place the cake tray inside the steamer for 20 minutes. But for me and those yang seangkatan with me yang xder steamer, don't worry, you can still steam your cake inside the oven. How? Simple jer. Fill up the oven tray with water..hmm..lebih kurang sebanyak setengah from the oven tray. Then place the cover cake tray inside the oven tray that you already fill up with water. That is why I suggest just isi setengah jer or else, air akan melimpah kluar nanti. So, it look like this..

That is the beauty of baking..you need to be creative and know how to improvise. For those who are using oven, bake the cake in a 180C for 15-20 minutes. Then take it out and let it cool off for 10 minute. Then pour on the second layer, which is the cream cheese. Repeat the process again until you finish it off with the third layer, the chocolate. 

So you get your steam chocolate layer cake with cream cheese.....

It is very nice to eat while it is still warm!

Here are the ingredients;

For cream cheese batter

• 1 egg
• 250 gm cream cheese or more if you like it to be more cheesy
• 70 gm of white sugar
• 3 tbsp of flour
• 1 tbsp of water

For chocolate batter

• 2 eggs
• 1 cup of brown sugar
• 1 tsp of vanilla essence
• A dash of salt
• 1/2 cup of vege oil
• 1/2 cup of fresh milk
• 1/2 cup of hot water
• 1 cup of flour
• 5 tbsp of cocoa powder
• 1/2 tsp of baking soda
• 1/4 tsp of baking powder

So ...enjoy your baking!!

Morning thoughts...

Today is a good day. Why do I said that? Because when I woke up, it was raining but as the day progressing, the rain stop and the sun manage to shine through the evening. We don't get much snow nor do we get much sun this winter. What we get a lot is RAIN!!! So, as I sat in the kitchen & had my morning coffee, I was looking at this scenery...my backyard..

Very serene and calm, with birds chirping happily. Occasionally, there will be a group of deers roaming the field near our house. Hubby said, sometimes, fox will pay a visit at the middle of the night. Well, I haven't had the opportunity to see Mr.Fox or wolf yet. It is nice to live in the countryside because I love the quietness and peacefulness that you will seldom get nowadays.

Suddenly, my mind go back to Malaysia. Although permanently living abroad now and constantly leaving my beloved country due to my frequent traveling previously, I always make it a point to follow what is happening back home. Some of my friends asked me why bother? Well, the answer is simple, I love Malaysia no matter what. As cliche as it sound, there really is no place like HOME! Furthermore, I have family and friends whom I care dearly, and who still live there.

Regardless what happen back at home, Malaysia is still a great place to live. I do hope it get better one day soon and all these disputes can be resolve. It is sad to see what has become to our society nowadays especially when it comes to these religious issues. Why can't we tolerate each other like we use to in the old days despite our differences. I guess it is not a good idea to mix politic & religion because most people end up fighting for the wrong reason. Thus, create unnecessary situation where I guess no one will win at the end of the day.

Since we are promoting this VMY 2014 and 1M, I hope we live up to the so called slogan and marketing strategies of our tourism industry on how we can live in harmony despite our diverse culture and religions. Potential tourists will be very confuse when they read the promotion but yet greeted by a different scenario when they landed at our beloved Malaysia. Oh by the way...x payah datang Msia pun orang luar dah boleh baca pasal apa belaku kat saner through internet. 

Homemade vanilla ice cream with a mix of oreo crust and chocolate button

Who doesn't love ice cream right?? We all love it. For some it might not be a constant craving but at some point, we will crave for it especially when the weather is hot. But, that does not mean we don't eat ice cream during winter. During summer, you get to see a few ice cream stand at the park or beaches but it will close down during winter. Over here, they also have ice cream seller in a van. That remind me of the good old day when I used to run to the door when I heard the ice cream seller's bell when he pass through my neighborhood. But since I don't actually come from a rich family, I don't really get to buy it as much as I want. Tengok lalu pun jadi la. Huuhuh..sedih nyer bile terkenang zaman kecik2 dulu.

Apa-apa pun hari ni tak nak sedih2. I want to share with you guys how to make your own ice cream so you can be your own master and make whatever flavor you want and mix anything you can think off in your ice cream. The most basic ice cream flavor is of course vanilla ice cream. So, today I will do vanilla ice cream and here how it goes. 

First you take 3 eggs but only one egg you need the whole thing, the other 2, just the yolks. Put it together in a bowl then add sugar, salt and 1 vanilla pod (vanilla essence for those who can't seem to find a vanilla pod). Ok..here's the thing, you place the bowl on a boiler water. Pernah buat kek steam tak? Guna the steamer? So, lebih kurang cam tu la. Place the bowl on top of the boiler water and stir once a while so that the egg mix properly with the sugar. So, the egg won't get clumpy.

In another bowl, whipped the cream and add vanilla essence. Whipped it continuously until it is stiff.

Using a bigger bowl (yang boleh fit the bowl with the custard mixture tadi), fill it with ice cubes. Ok, this recipe does not use any ice cream maker so kenak la carik alternative. For those who has ice cream maker, well, I guess it will make the work easier. Tapi for those yang takder, no worry, you can still do ice cream. Just prepare a bowl with ice cube sebelum you mix the whipped cream and custard mixture. Bila dah ader, you mix the whipped cream into the bowl container the custard mixture and fold it using a spatula until all is perfectly blend together.

 Scrap all the whipped cream from the bowl and mix it with the custard mixture. So, it look like this..

Before you place the whole ice cream mixture in a container, you can add anything you want to make it your own ice cream. So, I decided to add this..

Letak some oreo crust and chocolate button..

Mix it together and pour it into a glass or plastic container. Then cover the top with a string wrap so that the skin doesn't form.

PLace it in a freezer for 6 hours or overnight like I did and you can enjoy your very own ice cream anything you want to. 

Yummeh...next I will share with you my Dulce De Leche Ice Cream tapi kena habiskan ice cream ni dulu. Hehhe..here's the recipe;

Ingredients:

• 1 egg
• 2 egg yolks
• 1/2 cup of sugars
• 1/4 tsp of salt
• 2 tsp of vanilla essence ( 1tsp you mix with the egg yolks batter and another with the whipped cream batter)
• 1 cup of heavy cream

Try it for yourself! 

We have BRAIN, are we NOT...

Off late, I can't stop thinking about the social situation back home. I started to ponder and wonder what has become to my country. I can't help but starting to compare it with a 'mob style' governing. You know...like in the Soprano. No one question the authority without being put under investigation of being a threat to the nation. Or no one can mentioned about how certain individual behave without being force to pay the 'price'. I mean, we are a democratic nation, are we not? Probably, the definition of democracy & freedom differ according to individual needs.

Are we slowly becoming deteriorated in our brain that we really can't think rationally anymore? Are our brain cells slowly dying or diminish into the thin air that we can't differentiate between what is ethical or not? Are we slowly placing ourselves on the lowest hierarchy of living being that we can't tolerate each other anymore? Even animal can live together despite different species you know. Are we not ashamed to worldly announce how our country is different from the rest because we can live in harmony and peace despite having diverse religion and culture but yet, we openly protesting other religion from practicing their belief? It might sound very cliche but our action do speak louder than word. Hello??? This is an era of modern technology where we can get any information at the tips of our finger. How far can we hide the truth from coming out anyway??? 

We all know that politicians are the puppet master in this situation, although I must admit, not all of them are the same but the minority is a rare sight. Like finding a needle in a haystack. However, most important of all, we should not allow ourselves to be the 'slave'. We have brain right??!! So, think people think!!! Be rational..know what is right and wrong..truly understand the foundation of our own faith before we claim to be knowledgeable in it and start judging others...and above all, be A HUMAN! God created us differently for a reason and He created us with a better judgement than animal so do not act like one!

Most wanted cake...red velvet with cream cheese frosting

A friend of mine keep asking me did I did an update on my blog for this recipe. Opsss...I totally forgot because for the past few weeks before Christmas, my schedule was a bit too busy. So, today she ask me again. In order not to disappoint here and because I feel bad that I forgot, so I decide to update it ASAP. Hehheh

I have made experiment with various kind of recipe of this cake and after a while, I manage to modify in order to make the taste and texture of the cake as perfect as possible. And I also try to grab a bit on any red velvet cake/cupcake that I saw in any cafe just to make some comparison. Well, I have to agree with my 'taster', mine really is very moist. Each time I am back in Msia, there are always request or order on this particular cake.

I am not making this cake any soon so there won't be any picture showing how to make it by step yeah. Just the recipe and maybe little bit of guidance. 

 I just love the red color effect on this cake. For those who are very particular about using coloring, you can try using beetroot ( don't worry, it will not effect the taste because beetroot is tasteless but it will have the earthy effect though..like ada rasa cam soil. Tapi it's ok) or you can use pomegranate ( ni maybe ader rasa masam2 sket because pomegranate mmg masam pun). 

So, what you need...obviously you need flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cocoa powder, sugar, vegetable oil, buttermilk, egg, vanilla essence, red coloring and vinegar. Sometimes, I do add some coffee (dark plain coffee) in the ingredient.

This one my friend place an order for 50 pieces of red velvet cupcake for her office's party. I happily baked it because I just in the mood to bake. Nak bake mesti mood baik kalau tidak, mesti x jadi smua yang di bake. Ingat tu..heheh

First, you mix all the dry ingredient; flour, baking soda, baking powder, cocoa powder and salt. Gaulkan together in one bowl. In another bowl or using food processor ( for those yang ada), mix the vegetable oil (canola oil) and sugar. I always prefer to use canola oil than butter because it give a better texture to the cake. And As usual, I replace the white sugar with brown sugar ( 1. untuk kesihatan, 2. utk result yang bagus iaitu kek yg lebih moist). Then add the egg one by one, and then the buttermilk (ok, I know benda ni susah nak dpt at some place. So untuk improvise, you can do it yourself. Senang jer, just use 1 cup of milk or plain yogurt then tambah 1 tsp of lemon juice. Senang kan?? )

Buttermilk ni akan me'moist'kan lagi your cake ok.

Then in the wet mixture tadi, you add the vanilla essence and of course red coloring :) So, you akan dapat wet mixture yang merah mak ngah gituew..

Then you add the vinegar tp benda ni you can replace with lemon juice. No need to get one bottle of vinegar in the supermarket because you will only need a few tbsp unless you have one already in your pantry or you will use it again and again. Dalam baking ni, mesti tau improvise in case benda tu mahal or susah nak dapat or takder stok.

For those yg nak add coffee, you can add as the final ingredient dlm wet mixture tadi. Then mix the dry ingredient tadi sikit demi sikit. Jangan main letak smua. Ni I advise you do with spatula. To avoid bubble trap dlm mixture. Nanti kek you akan tompok2. Tak smooth la rupa nyer. Don't forget to scrap the mixture kat tepi2 bowl tu ah..so that smua sama rata. Ok..bila dah campur smua letak dlm cake tray and bake for 40-50 minute in a 175C.

You can check whether the cake is bake by inserting tooth pick or chopstick dlm kek and if there is takder benda melekat kat tooth pick or chopstick tu, then maksud nyer cake dah masak!! Cool if off before you put the frosting.

Nak buat frosting senang jer. Jangan kedekut with the cream cheese ya. You use 250gm of cream cheese and add 120gm of butter. Mix it together sampai rata then add icing sugar 3-5 tbsp SAHAJA! Jangan lebih unless you want to get diabetic! Hahha..and finally add 1 tbsp of vanilla essence. So siap sudah!!

Ni ingredient you need:

• 2 cups of flour
• 1 tsp of baking soda
• 1 tsp of baking powder
• 2 tbsp of cocoa powder
• 2 cups of brown sugar
• 1 cup of canola oil
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup of buttermilk 
• 2 tsp of vanilla essence
• 1-2 oz of red food coloring
• 1 tsp of lemon juice/while vinegar
• 1/2 cup of hot plain coffee ( for those who wish to add coffee. But do not add it all together. Do it slowly2 and stop once you get texture you need. If you pour all the 1/2 cups trus, kemungkinan your cake and jadi runny/ too watery. So nanti x bake betul2. The measurement I give here is the max amount of plain coffee you need. You might add lesser than 1/2 cup. Ok.)

So, selamat mencuba!!

Happy New Year 2014

Finally...another year has come. It is already 2014! How was your new year celebration? Mine was nice. We invite a friend and his family to come over together as well as my in laws for dinner. This year will be the first time we host a new year dinner. Well, we don't actually live here not until 2 years ago. And only after 1 year, our house is really ready for guests and party. Entertaining people at home is something I am used to because while my dad was still in service, we always have gathering of friends and colleague at home whenever there are festive celebrations. I did that a lot too when I am back in KL. 

So, when it come to hosting a dinner/party, obviously you need to cook. And for this dinner, we plan to serve Malaysian foods. I seldom cook Msian dishes because most of it require a lot of ingredients and it consume so much time to prepare but skali skala, boleh la. Just to introduce some of the Msian dishes to the Danish people. So, apa lagi, I dah prepare the menu a week before. Asian ingredients do not come easy here especially the area where we live. Lepas googling maner nak carik Asian's shop, we finally found one and decided to go there. Luckily, the town where the shop is situated is not so far so we took a drive and I must say, I am very happy and satisfied with the shop. Well, at least I know where to get my kangkung if I am craving for it.

I prepared the paste for the chicken curry, prawn in a spicy sauce and black soy sauce squid the day before so I can go ahead and cook the dish in the morning. That is one good thing about Msian cooking, you can do it early in the morning and just reheat it when you need to serve it.

Told my hubby to set the table after lunch and decorate it because I need to cook. And the end result is BEAUTIFUL.  

First thing I do that morning, cook the chicken curry! I marinated the prawn & squid the night before. The prawn I add salt & turmeric powder the night before and for the squid, I marinated with lemon juice (both to get rid of the smell & to soften it a bit so it won't get too rubbery). The next morning, I need to stir fried the prawn while in another pot, I cook the chicken curry.

The prawn are quite big so I am very happy. Probably next time I go get some more from that store and try to do butter prawn. Yummy..anyway, this is how the prawn look like after the frying...

Still steaming hot. But this is not done yet. I just put this aside for later. I need to mix it with the paste to make the gravy later on. After I am done with this one, my next dish is the kuah kacang for our satay. I miss stay so much so I decided, why not!! I made the kuah kacang the night before but something just not rite. I need to make some 'modification'. Hehheh...after the 'modifying' is done..tadaa...akhirnya, dapat sudah the kuah kacang...

What a pity that I have to make it less spicy. Takut nanti, tak ader orang dapat makan. Huhuh..Lepas tu, giliran sotong plak. Color a bit out because I do not have thick black soy sauce like we have at home. Heheh...

Tapi the rasa, maintain sedap okk..heheh. Just now I set aside the prawn right, now lps I add the paste and stir fry together, tadaa...spicy prawn..

Unfortunately, it become very spicy for some. For those who tak peduli, dia orang makan jer sambil tarik hingus. Hahah...yang tan brani, only try sekeping jer. They said it is very nice tapi pedas!! Hhaha..

Anddd...my curry pun dah masak. Waduh, I tengok now lapar plak. Hehhe...actually, I cooked this based on personal request. That friend of ours had tried this so many time during his short visit to Singapore, which was a long time ago and now he misses it so much. Tu yang request nak suruh I masak tu. And the verdict..PASS WITH EXCELLENCY! Hahhah..

Vegetable is a much so I cook stir fry mix vegetable. There is cauliflower, capsicum, mushroom and carrot. No fancy mancy recipe but I add Maggi Secukup Rasa. Hahha..yang I seludup dari Msia. 

And this is my satay! I marinate the mince beef & chicken with turmeric powder and salt. Wet the stick so it won't get burn and stick up the satay on it and trus masuk oven. I wish I can bbq it just like dekat saner tapi it is freezing cold outside so I have to be happy with an oven. It turn out great except for the beef, as it become very dry but edible. Heheheh..the smell..hmm..yummy!

Ini dia!! I brought the nasi himpit from Msia. Bought yang ready made kat carrefour jer. Nanti bila summer come, aku nak buat real satay ni. Do bbq kat luar..ahh..mabeles. I save some of the nasi himpit yang belum di masak untuk itu. Hahaha...

Oh ya, we also did sushi roll. Hubby berkenan sgt nak makan sushi so ok la, I do for him. Actually making sushi ni very simple. All you need is the rice vinegar and the sushi rice. And of course the seaweed thingy. What you put inside the roll, that is up to u. Bila the rice the sejuk, add the vinegar mixture (vinegar, salt & sugar). U let it settle for a while then do your rolling. Here's our sushi....

Hubby did prawn tempura. My father in law love it very much. I guess next time we can make sushi party and invite them both. They won't eat the sushi so much but tempura, at least I know they love it.

So, makanan dah masak, guests dah datang....let's dig in. Happy New Year peeps!!