Yummy Carrot Cake Recipe!

TGIF! As a prelude to the weekend, I've decided to post my recipe for carrot cake (ang moh style-not Chinese Chay Tow Kuay). I made this twice last week- once because I just discovered that Carrot Cake is the boyfriends' favourite and the second time because he requested for it (again). I am killing his diet at his request. Since its the weekend, anyone with an oven can try and feedback would be amazing. I think its pretty fool proof and feedback so far has been great.

Recipe makes: 1-9x13inch cake/2-8inch round cake

Ingredients:
4 eggs
1 and 1/4 cup vegetable oil
3 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup white sugar

Sift together:
2 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3 tsp ground cinnamon

3 cups grated carrots (use the bigger grater-using the fine one will result in a big yucky mess)
1 cup chopped pecans

For the frosting:
1/2 cup butter, softened
250g tub of Philly cream cheese
2 cups icing sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
Lemon rind (+/-2tbsp)
Chopped Pecans as topping (optional)

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 175 degrees C. Grease and flour baking tins. I used butter the first time and vegetable oil the second time- I think its best to use butter on the base and oil the sides with vegetable oil. Make sure you flour the entire tin! Especially the sides, to help the cake rise nicely.

2. In a large bowl, beat together eggs, oil, sugar and vanilla extract. Mix in the dry ingredients slowly. Stir in the carrots. Fold in Pecans.

3. Bake in the preheated oven for 40-50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted to the center comes out clean. Once done, leave to cool on a wire rack.

To Make Frosting:

Combine butter, cream cheese and sugar along with vanilla extract. Beat until smooth and creamy, add lemon rind to taste. Reserve some lemon rind as topping. Frost the cooled cake. 

Bon Appetite! 

** I will definitely want to try do this again with raisins someday soon. But if I did so, I may reduced the amount of icing sugar in the frosting. Updates will be posted.

** Reduced the icing sugar in the frosting on 9th May 2014, original was still too sweet! Recipe has been edited accordingly. 

White Chocolate Rice Krispies Treat

Courtesy of Michelle <3

This is a special treat for anyone from the age of 5 and onwards. I used to love buying these prepacked and sold in individually wrapped bars from the United States. Sadly enough, you can't get these in Asia. But if there is one thing better than prepackaged food, is doing it yourself and making it exactly the way you want to! Here is the recipe:

Ingredients: 

11/2 Small box of Rice Krispies 

2 bags of mini marshmallows 

(alternatively you can use 1 250g bag of the Large Marshmallows, but these are harder to melt)

1 12oz bag of white chocolate chips

1 stick of butter (approximately 1 224g block of butter, quartered lengthwise)

Sprinkles (Optional)

Instructions:

1. Grease a 9"x13" Pyrex baking dish with butter

2. Melt the balance butter over low-medium heat in a non stick pot

3. Throw in the marshmallows and stir with a heavy duty spatula

4. Once half melted, add 2/3bags of the white chocolate chips- continue stirring

5. After all the ingredients are about 80% melted, turn off the heat and throw in the rice Krispies. Start to mix the rice Krispies in the pot until all the cereal is covered in marshmallow

6. Pour into the baking dish. You may grease your hands and start to press down to get an even layer in the dish but i prefer to use a stainless steel metal spoon to smooth the rice Krispies down (I didn't want to get messy)

Topping:

8. While waiting, melt the remaining white chocolate in the microwave (approximately 30secs or less)

9. Pack the melted white chocolate in the edge of a Ziploc bag or a piping bag

10. Snip of a bit of the tip and start to go over the rice Krispies treat in a pattern of your choice

Optional: You may add sprinkles for a splash of colour.

Refrigerate for 30minutes to help cool before cutting.

Preparation time: +/- 20minutes

Measure of Happiness: Through the roof!

You could easily make this anytime of the week- fuss free, no baking, cleaning is a breeze but the amount of smiles you will receive is immeasurable.

Good Luck!!!

Tsukune Ichigo, River Valley Road

After a long and tiring day, I cheated...on my diet. But it was all worth it. A little bit of sake goes a long way. 

We've been meaning to try Tsukune Ichigo for the longest time. Every time the taxi stops at the traffic lights in front of the restaurant, we always comment "We need to try this one day". Well one day finally came. It's an added bonus that it's walking distance from home. 

Those daunting doors loom before you and I used to envision pulling them open or using the big knocker and being led to a magical area. Ok, no such drama. On the contrary, when we pulled the doors open, there was only one other family there and the place was pretty much empty. Granted, it was Tuesday and we were early. The rest of the patrons (mostly Japanese) started to arrive at about 7.45pm onwards. When we left the place was 80% full. For a Tuesday night and a small restaurant with about 50pax capacity, I would say that they are indeed doing fairly well.

To start with we had the Torikawa Kyuri (chicken skin and cucumber with mustard sauce), I like the way the skin was nicely boiled and didn't feel like skin. The cucumber gave it a nice fresh crunch and the mustard sauce lightly coated the dish without being overwhelming. We also had some of the Yakitori which was normal and nothing to rave about.

Top: Torikawa Yuri, Bottom L: Momo with Mentai Mayo, Bottom R: Momo with Original Sauce

They are most popular for the Tsukune (Japanese chicken meatball, cooked yakitori style) so I ordered a set which gave us a variety of 5 different sorts of Tsukune: Okonomi Yaki, Cheese, Original Sauce, Black Pepper and Avocado Mayo. My bf and I couldn't decide which one was better. He said to start in the above direction because one tastes better than the next. I beg to differ, I thought they all tasted different and therefore deserved their own merit. I order two more Tsukune after: Ume Shiso and Shiso Mentai. Again, both were just as good and worth a try. All Tsukune dishes cost from $5-$8.

Left: Tsukune Set, Top Right: Ume Shiso, Bottom Right: Shiso Mentai

We also ordered the Soboro Don which was recommended but I wasn't overly impressed. Quick tip- let the rice stick to the pot a little after its been mixed if you like that crunch and texture in your rice. The one thing I WILL RAVE about is the Saba Aburi (lightly grilled vinegar mackerel). I love that fishy mackerel taste and this was done to perfection. Not too vinegar-y and so fresh! The slices were nice and thick...Oh the thought and I am drooling here. 

Top: Soboro Don, Bottom: Saba Aburi

In the end, we paid about $112 for two persons which included 2 orders of the Hot sake ($11each). I thought it was reasonable and I'm already deciding what to order for my next visit there. Ordering there is also much simpler because you have a menu that has a nice selection of food but you are not spoilt for choice. Point to note- when I first opened the menu, I nearly broke out in cold sweat because everything was in Japanese...fortunately, either the page beside or the following page has a description in English! Phew! Saves me from being an annoying patron.

Tsukune Ichigo
399 River Valley Road (beside Tony's Pizza)
Tel: 6736 1340

Scarsdale Diet Menu

So life has been somewhat hectic to say the least. Between shuttling back and forth from KL to Singapore and work, I've barely had the luxury of time to sit in front of the comp and pen my thoughts down.

So a few posts back, I believe I was ranting about my weight issues and and thereafter making a conscious effort to try to lose the weight that I have gained over the last few years. I started out at 70kgs and now stand at 66.5kgs. Yesterday, my boyfriend and myself started round 2 of the "Scarsdale Diet". The good thing I noticed was that in trying to maintain my healthy eating habits while on the 2 weeks interim, I managed to maintain my weight (something which was hard for me to do before!). 

Going into this with a real effort to make it a lifestyle change has really been fruitful and its changed the way I view food, I still indulge every once so often but I do so to kill the cravings and leave it as that. I'm thankful that my boyfriend supports me in doing this and he has been especially enjoying the changes I've been making to my cooking. However, I should probably mentioned that the original Scarsdale Diet is extremely strict and does not allow a lot of things. Because I am a somewhat fussy eater I have made some changes to our diet which also make it easier to follow. Also, we have had many friends who have asked for a copy of our diet and are attempting the first round as we speak so I thought i'd share it here.

Here is the Weekly Eating Schedule (which you are to keep for 14days):

Breakfast:
One half grapefruit (or fruits in season)
One slice of protein bread -NO SPREADS!
Coffee/Tea (no sugar, cream, milk or honey)
** Alternative fruits: 1/2 cup diced fresh pineapple, 1/2 mango, 1/2 papaya, 1/2 cantaloupe or a generous slice of honeydew or melon.

	Lunch	Dinner
Mon	Assorted cold cuts*** Tomatoes - sliced, broiled, or stewed Coffee/Tea/Diet Soda/Water	Fish or shellfish, any kind  Combination salad, any greens and vegetables as you wish One slice protein bread, toasted Grapefruit - if not available, use fruits in season Coffee/Tea/Diet Soda/Water
Tues	Fruit salad, any combination of fruits Coffee/Tea/Diet Soda/Water	Plenty of broiled, lean hamburger Tomatoes, lettuce, celery, olives (limit 4), cucumbers and/or Brussels Sprouts Coffee/Tea/Diet Soda/Water
Wed	Tuna fish or salmon salad (oil drained off) with lemon and vinegar dressing Grapefruit, or melon, or fruit in season Coffee/Tea/Diet Soda/Water	Sliced roast lamb***, all visible fat removed Salad of lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, celery Coffee/Tea/Diet Soda/Water
Thurs	Two eggs, any style (no fat used in cooking) Low-fat cottage cheese Zucchini, or string beans, or sliced/stewed tomatoes One slice of protein bread, toasted Coffee/Tea/Diet Soda/Water	Roast, broiled or barbequed chicken (skin and visible fat removed before eating) Plenty of spinach, green peppers, string beans Coffee/Tea/Diet Soda/Water
Fri	Assorted cheese slices (preferably lowfat) Spinach, all you want One slice of protein bread, toasted Coffee/Tea/Diet Soda/Water	Fish or shellfish Combination salad (any fresh vegetables desired, raw or cooked) One slice of protein bread, toasted Coffee/Tea/Diet Soda/Water
Sat	Fruit salad, any combination of fruits Coffee/Tea/Diet Soda/Water	Roast turkey or chicken Salad of tomatoes and lettuce Grapefruit or fruit in season Coffee/Tea/Diet Soda/Water
Sun	Cold or hot turkey or chicken Tomatoes, carrots, cooked cabbage, broccoli or cauliflower Grapefruit, or fruit in season Coffee/Tea/Diet Soda/Water	Plenty of broiled (grilled) steak, all visible fat removed before eating; any cut of steak you wish- sirloin, porterhouse, London broil, etc. Salad of lettuce, cucumbers, celery, tomatoes (sliced or cooked) Brussels Sprouts Coffee/Tea/Diet Soda/Water

After finishing with the 14days, you will then move on to the Keep Trim Diet...I never follow this, I just try not to go nuts and binge thereafter! The reason the diet is so strict is because its supposed to play off on how the chemical compounds in the food react with each other and your body.

Rules of Scarsdale diet:

• STRICTLY NO ALCOHOL. 
• Follow the menu as closely as possible. If you have to, change the days but not the foods. If you do not like a particular food, replace with more of something else that's on the menu
• Carrots and celery are allowed anytime- with meals, salads, snacks.
• When you eat vegetables don’t use any form of fat. It means no olive oil, no margarine, no butter. 
• Only vinegar and lemon dressing. Alternatively, mustard dressing. But oil and mayonnaise are strictly forbidden.
• Sugar beverages are STRICTLY forbidden. So always look for diet(sugar free) versions of your favorite beverages. Coffee and tea are allowed but without the milk and sugar.
• When preparing meat make sure it is as lean as possible. Cut off as much skin and fat as you can before cooking your meals.
• The diet is designed for 14 days. Keeping it for more could be seriously dangerous to your health.

Few things to note about how I perceived the diet:

• Salads are boring as it is, so I try to be creative with my dressings and use natural flavouring. Stuff like anchovies, Bragg's Amino Acid and Apple Cider Vinegar, Balsamic dressing and olive oils. Once in awhile, I do use a cream based dressing but it does effect the result of the diet. MODERATION IS KEY!
• I do not like protein bread! AT ALL! So I always prefer to look for alternative source of protein. My go to source of protein- EGGS!
• I do not like Sugar beverages and if I need to have something gassy, soda water is my go to drink. Even if I have to make fruit juices at home, the composition is usually 1:3 fruit to vegetables. I drink my coffee and tea black so its not an issue.
• I like my meat with a little bit of fat so I usually leave that on. Also sometimes when cooking, the fat helps to protect and flavour the meat so before consumption, the individual can remove the fat. Also, I will never be able to swallow chicken breast...EVER! It's like eating cardboard.

*These changes that I have made are strictly on a personal basis and has not been approved by any Doctor.  It is changes that I have made to try keep my diet sustainable without triggering cravings which trigger binge eating! Also, if I make my salads yummy, I'd look forward to eating them more! 

For anyone who wishes to try, GOOD LUCK!!! 

And i'd love to hear any feedback and success stories in the comments below.

Marcha Scarves

So I got some lovely stylish scarves from Marcha Ballerina a few days ago, they were reasonable priced  ($18.90) and despite only having a few patterns, I found the selection quite versatile and I was half tempted to get one in all the designs! But being thrifty I started with 2 designs that I really like- the zebra print and the leopard print. Yes, I'm going all African Safari on myself! 

The Zebra print one is unique because it has a Zebra print on one side and a print of Zebra's on the other. You can layer it or wear it long which I did last night but unfortunately didn't get any pictures of! Today I am wearing the Leopard print scarf and I'm loving the pop of pink and the lovely hearts that break the pattern. What I love about both scarves is the fact that even though I bought only 2 scarves, depending on how I fold the scarf, I have 2 different patterns on each. (Recently inspired by this video of 16 ways to tie a scarf- Courtesy of Scarfsmall, YouTube)

Today's Scarves-piration! :)

Go check out the store, which has a cute market concept! And if you are into the matchy-matchy thing, they even have shoes to match the scarves! There is another design with a lovely blue and off-white pattern of Paisley which would amazing with jeans and a simple white T.

Marcha Ballerina

Raffles City 

Basement 1 (just beside the DBS ATM's)

MRT: City Hall

Leopard Print Nails for Kids

When you have 4 young girls as neighbors, sometimes its hard to come up with new designs and pattern for them as they have the tiniest nails! I do my best- but when each girl has her own favorite color, a mind of her own and neither of them wants the same design or anything remotely similar, things can get a little challenging! I do try to seek inspiration online, unfortunately, any form of nail art that I find are for adults with "normal" sized nails that you can really let your creative juices flow. So for the next person who need a little inspiration when a little girl wants "the prettiest nails in the world", this is the first design I am posting. 

All the art that I do for the girls are done either hand drawn with a fine brush, using a dotting tool or nail tattoos.

The girl who requested these nails loves the color pink, she has initially wanted tiger stripes but her nails were too tiny. We compromised with the leopard print spots. 

What I used:

1) LAKA #159 as the base

2) Sally Hansen #28 BlackOut

3) Orly Dazzle

First, I painted her nails with only one layer of LAKA color as the colors are very pigmented and you really don't need more than that. Then using a dotting tool (a toothpick may be used as well), I randomly outline leopard like shapes on her nails. There are no hard and fast rules about where they should be placed. I decided to use the Orly in Dazzle as the insides of the spots as it would add a little but of sparkle and fun to the pattern- which girl doesn't love that right? Again, using your dotting tool, fill out the spots which you have just made, again, it doesn't have to be perfect. If the nail is too bare, add some silver spots around. Finish off with Top Coat (I used Seche Vite Quick Dry-necessary when with kids).

End Result...and a happy little girl!

Stay tuned for more posts on Nail Art for Kids!

Mylar Nail Art

So I decided to attempt some nail art with Mylar. I seem to have a never ending collection which only grows with time but somehow its never something I could master. I can never get the Mylar down flat enough so it won't pop or scratch the surface. It always seems to involve several rounds of filing down and in doing so I seem to lose some of the shininess and the compactness of the Mylar. Thank God for no wipe gel topcoat which doesn't require filing down before the next application so I can only file targeted areas and do another coat of gel over.

Decided to go with a deep shade of wine to match the color of my outfit for the weekend wedding that's coming up. Randomly placed the Mylar at different angles to allow it to catch light and give the illusion of shine. 

If anyone has any suggestions as to how I should go about doing Mylar nails properly, feel free to leave a comment!

Last Day Of...

...THE DIET!!! So that's it, I managed to complete my 2 weeks of strict dieting and today i'm going for the kill...my last day. Of course because my boyfriend has just got back from a business trip to Hong Kong and started late, it means that he will only end a week from now- great excuse to continue this health streak.

At the end of the day, I was hoping to make this a sustainable lifestyle change. As I age, yo-yo weight gain/loss becomes much harder to yo-yo...if you get what I mean. I noticed my skin getting better and I feel better in general. 

I'm trying to do what health fans would call clean eating but its sometimes hard to eat clean when there is so much good food (hawkers, restaurants, anything that doesn't require me doing the dishes!) around. The meals I prepare are usually pretty fast- the next best alternative to "fast food". Over the weekends I spend my time washing, dicing, slicing and packing my veges so that in the mornings I can just put together a salad in less than 10 minutes. 

Typical packed lunch Salads

Also, it helps that when I open the fridge, the first thing I see are cut carrots or cucumber sticks...I can't give myself the excuse that its too much trouble to prepare. I also learnt that if you want to avoid the junk food, don't even step into the supermarket aisles that has stuff you can't eat. Stay in the fresh sections! So hard for me...I miss Cheetos!

Saturday Breakfast Burrito w/Spinach and Mushroom

My Sunday Spinach and Haloumi Omelette

For now, I won't bore you with details on how I made these dishes (too simple) but I will definitely be posting up some yummier recipes as we go along. Ugh, the next couple of weeks are going to be busy in the run up to one of the bestie's is getting hitched. On that note, I also have my own nuptials to prepare for...which I am starting to feel quite inadequately prepared for. Sigh. Anyone know of a good photographer who can do night ballroom shots?

Current Weight: 66.5kgs
"Targetted" Weight: 59.5kgs (my boyfriend has high hopes...this is his target weight for me)

Till next time my fingers need a keyboard workout! XOXO