Cooking during Ramadhan??

I've bought four books to help me dealing with what-to-cook-for-dinner dilemma. And it just hit me that I have to cook two complete meal for 'buka puasa' and 'sahur'. Haiyak!!! All these years I have my dad and my FIL buying food from Ramadhan Bazaar. This year it should be Hubby's turn. Unfortunately with his work travel as well as shift, there's no time at all for that.
The usual event during Ramadhan was my mom would be on one-month break from cooking. Because my dad will be on his mission of buying any exotic meal he could find at the bazaar. Back in my hometown, the bazaar was a food heaven. And the microwave was our BFF(still our true BFF). So there was no need for my mom to cook. Except for rice. Hehehe...
When I was still living with my in-laws. I definitely did not do any cooking. I was plain lazy. Hahaha.. Not really. Even she doesn't cook unless she feels like it. It was my turn to see my Hubby's dad go on his food hunting. Huhuhu.. It's not so bad here but the menu is quite repetitive after one week. But still all right. Heheh..
UNFORTUNATELY for me, all this food hunting at the bazaar did not go down to Hubby. He would rather have a simple meal rather than going through all those decision making and the human traffic. Once I asked him to buy fried kuey-tiaw, he actually asked me where should he go to get that? Arrgghhh!! He was already making up excuse what if he couldn't find it? What's my next choice. My answer was... nevermind. I can understand his unwillingness to go through all the hassle and haggle of deciding what to eat, how much should be bought and which meal is for 'buka' and which for 'sahur' and so on. Well, guess what I'll be doing for the next 30 days? Making a one-week menu plan with deadline every Saturday. Grocery shopping every Sunday. I just pray that Hubby will never interrupt with my grocery shopping plan. Hahaha...

Independence and Ramadhan

To all,

Happy 51st Independence Day and

To all Muslims reading this,

Happy Ramadhan and may Allah blessed us all during this sacred month.

From
Anis, Hubby, Imran and Hani

Body exhaustion

Woke up today with a sore back. Last night, I was feeling nauseated all through the night. Even threw up most of my dinner. And did not have the appetite to replace it. I don't remember going to bed feeling hungry so I thought everything was okay.
I felt so weak today. There was no energy to even play with Hani and Imran. I was trying yo clear dirty dishes, but I can't even stand for longer than 5 minutes without the pain. My back, my waist, I just couldn't stand the pain. Guess my body is telling me to relax and take the day off. Hahaha.. As if! The worse part, I was shivering in hot midday! I felt cold all over. Wanted to get a jacket but was too tired to get up the stairs. Once the usual dosage of Wonderpets and Blue's Clues completed, I rushed everyone. Me, Imran and Hani straight to bed. Slept for a couple of hours.
Informed Hubby, I won't be cooking dinner and reminded him about the clinic. Went downstairs and ends up cooking fried rice. Hehe.. Even with back pain and throbbing headache I can still cook. That's what it takes to be a mother. You need to feed your children no matter how sick you are. By the time Hubby arrived home, I was exhausted, yet again. I just thought a good rest will be enough. So doctor's visit canceled. Instead, I just lay down for the rest of the night.
Wonder what will happen if I get a complete heatlh breakdown? Dear God! What am I saying??!! I should be thankful it's just the usual exhaustion. Alhamdulillah... I'm still alive, ain't I?

Picky eater..??

I have been having trouble to get Imran to eat. I've tried pies, lasagna, spaghetti, and loads of child pleaser food. Nothing works. I really want to test my culinary skills. But I've been blessed with easy-to-please family members.
Hubby prefers to eat he traditional Malay cooking rather than western. But he will not complain if I tried something new. Just make sue it's good enough to eat. Sambal goreng, Sambal tumis, fried chicken wings, masak lemak, curry.. as long as it's not to spicy and hot. He'll just dig in. And he hates chicken soup. Hahaha...
As for my beloved son, he does not eat anything that resembles baby food. He used to love mashed potatoes, now no more. He'll just go 'blerrgghh' while sticking out his tongue. However, he will eat plain pasta (no sauce at all), macaroni and cheese, rice with fried chicken, chicken soup and definitely no soy sauce. Somehow my kids does like soy sauce. I want my son to eat healthy. But I want him to be adventurous too.
Hani... she eats everything!! I hope this one doesn't grow up to be picky eater. Hahaha.. Whatever that either Abah, Imran or even me is eating, she'll be right there to join us. She doesn't mind. She definitely has a very different personality compared to Imran. I didn't have to chase her all over the house just to get her to eat a spoonful of rice. With Imran, it took me one hour to get him to finish his portion. Hani will just hang on to me until she feels full and just turn away and leave.
Right now my next assignment is to get myself equipped with cooking utensils. Then, getting authentic traditional recipes to try. I want to be able to cook the best rendang, sambal goreng, lontong, soto, etc.... Hahahaha.... All the best to me!

Family Planning cont....

Where was I? Oh yes, about the contraceptive. It has been one whole year without me on contraceptive. So far so good. For those who use calendar, I really hope you are aware of the percentage of getting pregnant. Because it happened to me. Hehehe... We were supposed to try for 2nd baby after Imran turns 2. Instead we welcomed Hani when Imran turned 2. Doctor was right, we were blessed by Allah s.w.t. 4 weeks earlier than the expected date.
We have another 2 years to go, but somehow I felt like I want another one soon. Hubby's going to have a fit if I tell him this. The one and only reason we had to plan for a larger gap between Hani and baby no. 3 is at doctor's advice. Initially I wanted to have 7 children. I know.. I know.. big number. Hehehe.. Hubby wanted smaller. We decided on 5 kids. But we'll see how. After 2 c-secs, it is obvious I can have no more than 4 surgeries. Unless I'm getting twins, I guess I can settle with 4 kids.
I've read somewhere that it is wrong to plan your family. Taking contraceptive for the wrong reasons. The one thing that scares me is that it is wrong to plan your pregnancy due to financial. I never thought it's wrong. I must've read the wrong article before this. The only reason you can plan pregnancy is for health purpose. Only on life and death decisions. Guess I need read more on this.
I've come across people saying 'Good la.. you got boy and girl already. Enough what.. Why you want some more?' My answer to that.. WHY THE **** NOT?? No I didn't actually say those words. I wish I could. If you chose not to have more children, not to breastfeed your babies, to give your babies to your maid, day-care staffs, and etc.. it none of my concern either. So why should you judge me for wanting more kids? The more the merrier they say. So I chose more.

Family Planning

It took me quite some time to get the nerve to right this post. You see, I've been browsing friendster and found out that some of my friends are preggy with either their 2nd or 3rd child. It gives me this feeling of wanting to be pregnant again. Hehehe... Hubby's going to throw a fit if he knows this. We're definitely not ready for another baby just yet. Medically and mentally. Huhuhu..
After 2 c-secs, at doctor's advice, I need to put a bigger gap between 2nd and 3rd. His word was, 'You've been blessed with a boy and a girl. give yourself a break and make it 2 years before you try for another baby. Especially with your condition.' We decided for 3 years.
At first I went through loads of planning options. Pills, IUD, Implants and the most common for men, condoms. The one caught my eyes was the implants. It sounds just the perfect one for me. No routine, no foreign objects inserted down there, and definitely no jabs. Hahaha.. mother of two scared of needles. Anyway, by the time we decided on it, Hubby had to leave for London. Well, what's the point of having contraceptive if you're not going to test it. Hihihi.. We took a rain check. And up till now I'm still not on any birth control. You see, the best family planning ever is having your kids sleeping with you and refuse to do otherwise.
Hani's awake... BF time!!

It's been a while..

since my last post. Been busy shopping. Haha.. I wish.
The truth is I got tied up with so many tedious tasks and chores that by the time I'm sitting in front of the PC, I have lost all mood and ideas to blog. Instead, I'll log on to facebook and play games.
Last Saturday there was a 'kenduri' at Hubby's aunt. Imran and Hani got few pairs of new clothes from grannies. Another cake for belated august-babies birthday. Wan Long included this time. Nobody ate my Shepard's pie due to bloated tummies.. Next time I'll just stick to dessert. Shepard's pie is too heavy. It is a one dish meal anyway.
Imran has fallen sick tonight. He throw up almost everything he put into his mouth. Including water. His temperature went a up a bit, so we decided to take him to the clinic nearby. Unfortunately for him, doctor decided to give him a jab on the butt. Afraid he might throw up again if given oral medicine. He cried a bit. My eyes was watery listening to him whimpering. Can't belive I have gone soft. Guess when it's your child in pain, you would just turn jell-o. I blame it on the rice from the 'kenduri'. I made fried rice and it made my son fell sick. Even though Hani is fine. Hehehe.. Tomorrow I'm making porridge. Hopefully Imran will be better. And in the mood for eating. He is a picky eater....