what's the Matcha with me?

i'm dieting again and have been doing good for the last week. been strict and following the rules. no deviations, very focused. it's been an easy ride so far and i have not been feeling peckish.

then yesterday, i my mouth felt itchy for some green tea sponge cake. (i LOVE green tea ANYTHING!). i put a spoonful of cake into my mouth and spat it out straight away. my mouth/tongue couldn't take the taste. in just 7 days, my body had actually conditioned to reject the sugar. amazing right!

i am disappointed with myself for losing focus (matcha cake is a weakness). super pleased tho, that my body saved me from myself.

sin this; done that

i'm awake doing work and i'm hungry. actually i'm not hungry, just mouth itchy. which is worse. i have kettle chips in my cupboard, B&J's peanut butter cup ice cream in the freezer, oreos (double stuffed) in the drawer and of course heaps of mooncakes *tis the season*.

what i really want is to sink my teeth into some rum balls. yes ... some ... not one ... but some. instead, i have some mango and drink heaps of water while i resist the urge.

so(tong) sedap!

crave of the day today is "sotong hitam" or black ink squid. i love this when it's cooked with a thick gravy.

my malay friends usually prepare this a little sweet and with red or green cut chilli. my nonya friends like it soured with assam.

either way it's served, i want to be at the table with a bowl of hot rice. shoiks.

the quiche and i

i just discovered this website bakingbites.com. i don't usually go out looking for food sites but this one had a recipe for quiche that sounds somewhat healthy. the article aside, my all time fave is the spinach and wild mushroom quiche.

back to the site, it's got recipes, cooking gizmos and stuff.

crustless quiche. dee you reading this?

cheese = protein

diet girl sees the slice of cheese cake at the counter. it's cut in a wedge, just the way she likes it. she thinks to herself that it's 80% protein. 20% sugar. she knows she's kidding herself but damn the slice looks good. heh ... it was yummy too.

the kettle boils, bubbles and sings, musically

i've been craving for a bag of honey dijon kettle chips. told dg abt it last night. she wanted to offer me her bag of doritos ... *rolls eyes*. we all know it's not the same! but she insisted and i caved and relented.

then she left the said bag of chips in her car and was too lazy to go back and get it. sigh. so the crave lives on.

i don't know why i did this but while thinking abt kettle chips, i went on to think about kettle quotes - that i knew of at least. of course there are more

there's the ever favourite "the pot calling the kettle black" - which actually is quite funny if you get a 3rd person visual of a discussion between a pot-head and an african american name-calling.

and the popular "polly put the kettle on, and we'll all have tea". poor polly. i say, next time, send the lazy bunch off to starbucks for their fix. or only make tea if someone offers to bake something :)

and then i started thinking of chips the tv series. i couldn't help this pic :)
check our eric estrada! and those aviator shades. and ... and the tight pants. for the life of me, i can't remember the name of that other guy. and i'm too lazy to google it!

ok, this is getting weird.

the fat and thin of things

hubs was talking to the young'uns about being fat and thin.

he said regardless of your size, you need to be confident to carry off your look. and you should accept "what" you are. there is no such thing as chubby or pudgy. if you are fat then just acknowledge the fact that you ARE fat and work around it (if you don't plan to do anything abt it). most of all, you should embrace it and be comfortable in your skin and work it! more often than not, people will not notice the fat (or thin) and they won't dwell on it - macam he knows what being fat is all about.

but i digress ... so it was very engaging discussion. the kids were chipping in their take on the topic when hubs turns and points at me :

hubs : look at mummy. is she thin or fat.

MB : she's thin ....

me : *i smile*

MB : .... until she sits down. then she's fat.

NOTE TO SELF - don't EVER sit down for fear of that mid-section hamburger effect!! or i could do something about it. or i may just need to be comfortable in my skin and have that chocolate covered donut that i've been craving for.

we all scream for ice-cream

july is national ice-cream month in the US. in my opinion, this should be made into an international event.

my favourite is a single scoop of old fashioned vanilla with a generous dollop of hot fudge and chopped toasted almonds on top. otherwise known as the quintessential HOT FUDGE SUNDAE :)

i also like : haagan daz's chocolate peanut butter, rum and raisin, green tea, dark chocolate, vanilla swiss almond & mint chip. B&J;s peanut buttercup, new york super fudge chunk, and chocolate fudge brownie. (but since trying dreyers chocolate cake, i'm not sure if the choc fudge brownie is all that.) then there is the sticky chewy chocolate from swensen's, which is a classic. and don't gte me started on the popsicles .... magnum, cornetto and how brilliant is the frozen banana on a stick? take a banana, coat it with chocolate, smother it with your favourite topping and freeze it on a stick. ooh and the magic of hershey's magic shell!

you see so many flavours, so little time. hell, we really need more than a whole month to celebrate this. adding those pms days where we could probably eat it out of the tub and finish it too! and the times where you want to have some ice-cream with a wedge of hot apple pie or melt it over a brownie. i'll say it again .... so many flavours, so little time.

what's your favourite flavour?

Or if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love ... 'Tis but thy name that is my enemy - chocolate sweet chocolate

i'm just off my high of giving a 25 slide presentation to senior management. i spent the whole of yesterday data crunching then case-finding to support the said data.

went well i think. i say this coz i had some bad news to tell and they did look miserable after i was done. they also had nothing to say at the Q&A. which could mean one of 2 things : i bored them out of their socks or my message was loud and clear. i think it's the latter coz the coffee served was hot and strong. plus i was really working the eye-contact thing.

now, i'm sitting at my desk. i'm eating an apple but i'm wishing that it is a bar of chocolate. dark chocolate with nuts. dark bitter-sweet chocolate with almonds - roasted almonds to be specific. so why don't i just eat the chocolate (coz i have one in my overhead cupboard)? coz i got on the freaking scales this morning and i'm up a kg! dammit. still within range tho but still ... PMS starts next week, so what gives!

alas, my only love sprung from my only hate! Too early seen unknown, and known too late! Prodigious birth of love it is to me, That I must love a loathèd enemy.

mind over matter ... mind over matter ...

POSTNOTE : i caved at about 4-some. i popped 2 squares in my mouth. somehow, pre-meditated chocolate is not as good at spontaneous chocolate. the guilt got in the way. sigh.

love is lemon sherbet

the woman giveth, then the woman taketh away. but it wasn't her fault. unbeknownst to her, i would crave the same delicious poison that she served and titilated my palate with last night. she hadn't an inkling that i would crave the tangy lemon sherbet which she shared from her own personal stash, to satiate my appetite after a sinful dinner.

but the love is strong in another (not that the love isn't strong with the first) i am grateful for the other as she is, as i type this, making a detour to pick a carton of lemon sherbet coz i am craving for it.

what will i do without girlfriends! they keep my mood swings in check and my being satisfied.

i feel a bacon'ing

i haven't had bacon in eons and i feel the crave coming on. but the kid doesn't like fried food so i don't really know how i'm going to work around this. i thought of doing a cream sauce and putting the bacon in it (like a carbonara) but the cream won't stand a chance. also, for some strange anal reason, i can't help but think how fattening CARBOnara is. i know, it's psychological but since the diet, my head has been seriously screwed with. just the thought of it makes me feel so "jelak".

anyways, i found this bacon website and got excited. so we'll see, i'm still not into cooking and i dunno how the smell of bacon sizzling in the pan is going to affect me. but damn the bacon looks good.

bangers and beans

the crave is on! i'm feeling the heat for sausages. pork, beef, chicken ... italian, english, german. oh it doesn't matter. i miss them all. how yummy do these look!there is something about bangers and beans that are just made for each other. and i tell you i'm one of those weird ones who eats baked beans with everything - even out of a can. i'd take a can of heinz to a bbq. that's how serious i feel abt my beans. i feel the same way with tobasco sauce, but that's a different blog altogether.these beans on mash on toast is getting me mighty excited!i really mean i miss sausages k. hubs is back ... so i'm otherwise satisfied :P

hari raya special

and so as the raya season approaches, i have narrowed down my cravings to lontong lah babe. heavy on the serondeng please. eh-eh ... sedaaaaap

why, oh pie!

i'm in the mood for some chicken pie. non of that flakey pastry sort. but that baked butter and flour type. where the pie filling is stew-esque, like xmas pie. my fave way of enjoying chicken pie is with a huge dollop of ketchup on the side. there is no compromise to this rule.

dee makes the best, she puts extra crust and throws in quails eggs. i could eat this for days. and i usually do, all 12 days of xmas if nobody stops me! this year will be different, but i don't think i'm giving up my pie.

thai that binds

i'm beginning to see a pattern here. when the hormones are at rage, i start craving comfort food.

today i'm craving for tom yam hor fun and curried soft shelled crab, both from thai express.oooh, the hor fun is so silky and soaked in thick tom yam sauce. i can almost taste the hot and sour tang as i type this. not forgetting the generous fresh and plump seafood portion.and thick and textured seafood curry generously poured over cripsy soft shelled crab. eaten with hot fragrant white rice and sliced raw onions

rolling with it

i'm one month into the diet and 10kg lighter. to quote irene cara,"WHAT A FEELING!".

but it's the little pleasures that put a smile on my face. last week, for church, i wore a corduroy skirt and tucked my shirt. (and that is just half my joy ... the fact that i'm tucking my shirts) we went for lunch at mac-ers coz the kids were behaving. i finished my salad fast and was sipping my coffee as the kids wolfed down their burgers and fries.

so there i was leaning back in the chair when i looked down at myself and saw the top button of the skirt. i smiled coz for years, whenever i looked down, all i saw was a roll of fat. now, i actually see the skirt. it was amazing! i started to touch my mid-section (as tho in disbelief) then i grinned again.

POSTNOTE : this entry was a "crave of the day" in disguise. those rolls would have completed my hot cup of coffee if you know where i'm going with this.

bringing sexy bak

today's crave of the day is sio bak.

picture this .... the firm top fat roasted to a bubbling crisp, the second layer of fat silken soft and melting in your mouth. the third layer is the moist pork belly meat and finally the salty bit at the end. a montage of textures and tastes in a sliver of meat. damn!

and while i'm at it. i'm missing wan ton mee too. noodles meticulously done el dante with lots of red chilli paste, for flavour. tender char siew slices, the token veg and the plump wan tons in the soup.

sometimes .... with a hint of sliced green chilli laced with vinegar to whet the appetite.

where's the milk

today's crave of the day is meusli with chocolate milk. i miss the texture of this yummy breakfast. and the fun i have twisting and contorting my tongue to dislodge a stray flake that's stuck at the back between the teeth. then once it's free, playing with it with the front of my teeth and crushing it into the tinest bits (as i do with sesame seeds ... but that's a different pleasure).

the milk needs to be cold tho. else, it's just not worth the effort.

can you say MMmmmmm

i miss eating bananas. today's crave of the day is chocolate coated bananas. MMmmmmm ....

ps ... bananas really shouldn't be arranged standing up in it's phallic glory like that. but damn they look good!

shoik lah

i'm going to start a "crave of the day" entry cyle. since being on the diet i've craved so much. but it's all good. i can wait for the good stuff.

today's crave of the day is nasi lemak. soft coconut rice with a bullseye that is nuah in the eye. and the crunchy kachang and with the so sedap sambal. oooooh shoik!