i'm such a nerd

I'm so excited about my Magic Bullet Blender system. It just arrived on Friday in Homeland and I cannot wait to get my hands on it. I've hyped it up so much in my head that I can't even manage my expectations of the product anymore. I've read the negative reviews and whatnot but it still doesn't dim the complete and utter ridiculousness of my over-the-top enthusiasm for my new kitchen appliance. Trust me, I'm too obsessed with it and I haven't even gotten it yet.

In the spirit of my forthcoming culinary marvels, I have systematically gone through practically every single Youtube video review that uses the Magic Bullet blender and the stuff I've found - making coconut/almond/hemp butter, ice cream, mousse, butternut squash soup, slimming smoothies, etc. - they all have me very excited to try out everything I've watched.

I've gone through the "Do's & Don'ts" of the blender by reading the myriad comments made by people who own this system and I hope I've covered everything since I want to be one of those "success stories" who have a fully functional Magic Bullet 10 years on :D Yes, i know I sound nutso.

I also feel this might be a great meal replacement helper. The amount of green smoothie videos I've viewed can make one's eyes go cross-eyed but I'm really excited to get on the whole healthy smoothie movement. Based on some comments I've read in regards to the cross blade used for making smoothies, I decided to invest by getting an ice shaver blade from Amazon for $13.61 sans S&H. Apparently this specialized blade makes the drinks smoother and crushes the ice so much better than the default cross blade that comes in the set.

Looking at the set itself, I know it comes with a traditional blender jug but what I'm hoping is that the set I got also has the juicer attachment so that I can attempt some juicing as well. I read the reviews of the juicer attachement on Amazon and it wasn't good but I feel like a lot of the reviewers were trying to juice products that were too hard. For me, I would likely stick with items that has a softer consistency like mango, oranges, watermelon, etc. I think that if you stuck with these type of fruits and not attempt to juice something too hard like beets or whatever, the juicer might actually work really well.

Okay, I could keep going on the whole Magic Bullet thing. I just hope that the blender lives up to my very high expectations :D

2013 birthday haul numero ocho

I guess the hauling continues on another day. Don't they say birthday celebrations lasts a whole month? I'm pretty sure that's the truth :D I just couldn't resist not getting the dresses from Asos. They were on sale for 20% off from GBP38 and both colours, navy and pink, looked so delectable, I simply had to own each. I also had been eyeing the leather obi belt for a while now and for GBP20, that's a steal for a real leather obi belt. The one I was interested in on Etsy was going for 60 pounds.

Total was GBP80 but I had a coupon code APRBDAY2013 for an additional 10% off so was charged only GBP72. Estimated package arrival date is April 12 which is during the time I am back in Homeland which is great. I'm going to have a collection of stuff greeting me once I get back home, hehehe.

DISCLAIMER:
All images belong to ASOS.com, I do not own them.

2013 birthday haul numero siete

If there's something you'll learn about me through this blog, aside from me doing a lot of shopping, is that I LOVE GIMMICKY WEIGHT LOSS APPAREL! LOVE EM! So when my Homeland Groupon had a deal for the Zaggora Flares pants that usually retail for a hefty USD112 going for about 34 bucks, I got em!

I've bought more than my fair share. Do they work? To an extent, I believe they do but are they enough, that is a resounding 'NO'. Anywho, these Zaggora products, heard so many good stuff about them so why not give em a go if it's selling for that cheap :)

I believe that is the last of my birthday hauls thus far. I am not saying it's the end of the hauling, I'm coming into some drugstore dollars in April so there's that :D And geez if some Asos stuff ain't calling my name but we'll cross that bridge when we reach it.....

DISCLAIMER:
Image is from Zaggora itself, I do not own it.

2013 birthday haul numero seis

This is more of a virtual buy. On 2 seperate occasions, Zinio gave me first, $5, to spend and then an additional $10. With the first free credit, I decided to get a 10-issue subscription to Teen Vogue - who cares if I'm not a teen, the stuff in there is still pretty much relatable :p. I had to top up $4.99 after credit was applied.

Then when I got my free tenner, I decided to make the most of my dollars and go for one of the Zinio 2-for-1 subscription deals. It's where you pay for a years' subscription but get 2 years. I looked through the available titles and settled for the, admittedly, more age-appropriate More magazine :D I was again charged a mere $4.99 as the cost of the More subscription was $14.99 for a 20-issue sub.

Although I am able to find magazines in PDF format for free online, sometimes I do enjoy paying a little to get higher quality virtual mags, especially if Zinio keep on throwing free credit to me. In fact, recently, about a month or so ago, I suddenly got my Nylon subscription renewed FOR FREE! Who can honestly say they don't appreciate getting nice surprises like that? Plus, that totally encouraged me to buy more subscriptions from them. Currently I have 5 active magazine subs with them, three of which were actual purchases. So by doing promos like these, Zinio totally kept me as an active customer. Plus, digital mags mean I am helping to save more trees, hehehe.

DISCLAIMER:
All images screen capped from Zinio but most likely belong to Conde Nast publications. I do not own the images AT ALL. Oh and just wanted to say I <3 Connie Britton - loved her in FNL, loving her in Nashville :)

2013 birthday haul numero cinco

This haul is from Cotton On. Got myself some more of the Sarah Sleep Shirts. This is their summer version I think whilst the original ones I purchased were from their winter collection. The first ones were of a thicker material while these are definitely much more thinner. They were going for really cheap when I bought them and now the price has gone up again. I think I got them for roughly 30 bucks for all three. MAJOR SCORE!

I also got myself the workout pants. They're called the Active Core Pants and were on sale for 10 bucks. I feel like instead of working out, these make fantastic leggings, am thinking I'm gonna be using them more in that direction :D

What would a Cotton On haul be without getting some crazy stuff from Typo. I'd been eyeing the mug for some time now and finally splurged on it. It cost me a pretty penny too - 99 cents, BWAHAHAHAHA! I have to say, when Cotton On dips its prices, they really do dip.

Also, decided to get that completely nerdy pen cup set. Look, it's a stationary organizing decorative piece in the shape of a very key keyboard command, pun totally intended! CTRL-ALT-DEL, c'mon, that's so darn cute! And going for such a reasonable sale price, just a mere 7 bucks. I could not stop myself even if I wanted too!

Total of this haul came up to 38 dollars, give or take. Gosh, I really love good deals!

DISCLAIMER:
All images belong to Cotton On.

2013 birthday haul numero quattro

I'm really into wearing dressy kaftans for formal events of late so have found the need to buy some inner maxi dresses to wear, well, inside, of course. I have a bunch of sleeveless inner dresses but thought these long sleeved ones would look cool as well underneath the kaftans. Also, got myself a black chiffon maxi skirt :D

This lil haul is from the site FashionValet. Love the name, however, I find the site not as user-friendly. I've browsed through their site more than a few times but feel the layout is unappealing, I prefer Zalora's over theirs especially the feature where you mouse over the item and the sizes available appears <- TOTALLY LOVE THAT, ZALORA! It all feels a lil blah on FashionValet - things also load a lil slower.

Anyways, I was glad to find these items since I was looking around for them. The total cost of my FashionValet spree was nearly USD50. There was a promo where if you got 3 items, you'd get 20% off of your total bill. Would I buy from them again? Sure, if I was actively looking for a certain item and they had it, I would buy from them. But casual browsing and then end up hauling like with Zalora, ummm, as it stands, the answer is no. Service is prompt though, I have to say so kudos for that :)

DISCLAIMER:
Images screen capped from FashionValet, I own nothing.

2013 birthday haul numero tres

What birthday haul would be complete if I didn't haul from my most favourite online retailer, Forever21. Though I have not been said age for over a decade, I still feel said age and the aesthetics of aforementioned e-tailer speaks out to me. Hehehe :D

My total came to something over 70 bucks. I really wanted that mint green dress - yeah, still completely obsessed with the shade - and I also wanted the basic black. I own this exact dress in orange which I think I got back in 2011. F21 always recycle the designs but reproduced in different hues. These dresses cost something like $15.80 I think.

C'mon, look at those polka-dotted jeans! How could I not get those?!?!?! Me, the polka-dot obsessed pass that over? Nah-uh! It wasn't cheap either, it definitely wasn't on sale, I paid the full $24.80 on those. I'm likely going to end up feeling a twinge of annoyance when I see it in the Sales section in the next 3 weeks or so (or less :D). But the jeans in my size will already be in my closet by then so WOOHOO to that!

And how could I also not get a blazer if I'm on F21? How could I not, I ask thee again? So I'm mint green-polka-dot-stripes-maxi dress-wedge heels-tunic-maxi-skirt-black hued-blazer obsessed. I have too many obsessions, I try not to think about them too much. This nice blazer was in the Sales section going for $20.99. Not really the steal that i would have preferred but well, I liked it so I got it.

Package has arrived in Portland, just waiting for my sister's ALDO shoes to get there too before I ship back to Homeland. Should be able to get my hands on 'em when I'm there 2nd week April.

DISCLAIMER:
All images screen capped from Forever21.

2013 birthday haul numero dos

I can't exactly remember how I got around to finding this site but I think it was when i was looking for other ways to shop the makeup brand CARGO. Thus, BeautyBay entered my life. Once I registered with them, they found out my birthday lands in March and thus sent me a 10% discount. Without it, I definitely would not have gotten the stuff. The prices are okay, I just wasn't in the market to be getting any makeup per se.

Anywho, I ended up hauling the following:

My main aim - getting myself a repurchase of the CARGO blu_ray HD compact in 30. I am hitting pan on that one, soon I'll be out. I figure it last roughly 3 months with constant daily usage. It'll probably last even shorter if I retouched during the day. BeautyBay is a UK site and thus, some of the prices are slightly higher than if I had gotten them Stateside. What it does have going for it is that it offers FREE international shipping so the couple of dollars more I have to deal with is canceled out by the fact I do not pay comGateway through the nose.

Now I really should not have bought that Urban Decay Naked Weightless foundation but I was convinced by itsjudytime from Youtube to give it a go. I hesitated to get the drugstore Revlon Nearly Naked foundation when I had a 30% discount from drugstore.com which brought the price to just $6.99 but for something that cost over 30 dollars, I sure caved in fast when offered a 10% discount. My maths is all screwy, hehehe. I got this foundation in the shade 6.0 - the same as itsjudytime. I know I didn't need anymore face paint - I still have a load of BB creams and foundations to go through. I'm currently alternating between a combo of my Lioele BB cream + Tarte Maracuja foundation OR my Murad Anti-Shine primer + Too Faced BB cream OR my ELF Tinted Moisturiser + Clinique BB cream combo. My fave pairing is the Too Faced/Murad combo but since I am really running light on the Too Faced BB cream, I have decided to get all my other face bases into the mix - I need to use them anyways otherwise they'll go bad and that's a whole lotta dollars being thrown into the garbage!

Lastly, I have been eyeing that Urban Decay Naked Basics palette and just decided to go for it with my 10% discount. I don't need anymore eyeshadow palettes (or singles for that matter) since I only wear eyeshadow when I'm playing around with makeup or on a fancy night out but I just could not stop myself from wanting this collection of neutral, matte shades. So I got it!

All in all, this is what my bill looked like:

The total is really comparable to US prices so I was very happy to get the stuff for what I got them for and get them with free shipping. I'm just hoping they arrive in one piece. Or perhaps I should worry that they arrive at all cos there ain't any tracking number! Here's to my package of lovely makeup goodies arriving!

DISCLAIMER:
Images screen capped from BeautyBay and collaged by moi.

2013 birthday haul numero uno

Birthdays come along once a year. Completely justified for one to totally indulge onself. Haul numero uno comes from local Homeland shopping site. Said site was kind enough to offer moi a 20% discount for my birthday and I spent it on the following gorgeous confection:

This outfit is called the Jovanita and is a piece by a well-known local designer named Jovian Mandagie. I have always kept where I come from a loosely guarded secret but in this case, I'm giving credit where it's due. And thank you to Zalora for compounding my online shopping habits - I feel like Homeland is receiving packages from them every week :D My mom surely thinks so. This lovely piece cost me about USD105 after discount. It's likely the priciest piece of clothing I've actually ever gotten.

I was trying to spend above a certain amount, roughly $115, to qualify for a cashback voucher (which now that I'm talking about it, I did not recieve for one reason or another) so also got this cutesy dress in a red/black combo. The image I have is only of the black/red piece since by the time I got around to screen-capping the stuff, the particular one I got was all sold out.

I think this lil tuxedo-ish inspired dress from MiL is adorable. It cost me about 17 bucks. I feel dropped waistlines is a flattering cut on me and I simply feel this will be a worthy addition to my closet.

Last but not least - another pair of shoes. This was actually a recent purchase. The site was having a 13% hour-long discount promo and on top of that if you paid via paypal, you'd get an additional 10% off so I figured I'd get these bow wedges by Larrie for work. The Jessica Simpson wedges I have are actually coming to their death - so sad, I've had them less than a year! And I don't want to wear my nice, patent Kelsi Dagger pumps and have them destroyed too in the harsh environment that is Workland. So synthetic leather Larrie wedges will be the workhorse that I wear to work soonish.

They look comfy and I'm crossing my fingers that they will be comfy. Those Jess Simpson shoes are all broken in now but the initial breaking in period was rather hellish on my left foot - tres painful. When my feet expand during the day, they still feel a slight twinge. These look like the upper is more pliable. I'm definitely hoping they are. After all discounts applied, I paid around 25 smackaroos.

So that's haul no 1 from Zalora done and dusted - now off to birthday haul no 2!

DISCLAIMER:
All images are from Zalora, I own nothing but the words I typed. Do I even own that though?

wth is the Harlem Shake?

I keep hearing it's supposed to be the Gangnam Style of 2013 but I don't get it. I don't know if I'm just proving how out-of-touch I am with current culture but it just looks like a bunch of people having spasms. However irritating and annoying Psy's Gangnam Style became over the course of 2012, at least there were actual dance moves and it was somewhat fun.

making sweet potato ravioli

So this weekend's cooking project was instigated by bestie in Oz. She showed her sweet potato ravioli off back in January and I was sufficiently impressed and gung ho to try it out. She Whatsapp-ed our group board the recipe which I'll now upload right here.....

I'm not sure from which recipe book she got this from and I will ask her if I remember and update this post when I do. Anywho, I only got around to make it since, a) I wasn't too keen on having to hand mash the sweet potato because of my crap kitchen blender b) ingredients are just hard to find here in Workland. I didn't get no chives nor sage so as usual, turned to Best-Friend-Google for alternatives. Found this page that is really helpful. So, of course, no chives and actually, I didn't have any scallions either but I read on another blog that freshly chopped parsley would also mimic the chives taste. Though apparently, there is no true substitute for chives flavour :) Since I had no sage and the alternative was thyme which I usually have but didn't this time, I just used more parsley. It didn't hurt at all. Plus, my wanton wrapper was spinach-based so I was already improvising the recipe. The results.....

The finished ravioli artfully coupled with the chopped walnuts

Plated presentation of finished product. Yes, I may have drizzled more than the required amount of butter, hehe. Plus, I also seasoned with hints of lemon juice, a dash of garlic pepper, a pinch of paprika and sprinkle of parmesan :D It tasted great!

And lastly, what the inside of said ravioli looks like. Yes, I could not mash the whole thing smooth, I got tired to get all the chunks out. I liked it all the same :)

Okay, I'll be honest, these pics are actually of today's attempt. When I made this on Saturday, I totally effed up cooking the ravioli. I had the heat on too high and I left it in too long so the end result was a gooey, destroyed mess. I visited Google to find out where I went wrong and now I am sufficiently educated on the hows of cooking ravioli. I'll just put a reminder to myself here: DO NOT cook it like normal pasta! Once it rises to the top, it's done! It does not need 8-12 minutes, m'kay? Also, once the water is up to boiling point, turn the heat down, then only place the ravioli in, DO NOT CROWD. Keep heat low so water is at a simmer at most.

So, to conclude, making ravioli isn't as difficult as I thought it would be. I know that using the wrappers helped make the whole process less prone to disaster but as a beginner, I feel that it was a really good first try to go this way. Perhaps, when I've had a few ravioli dishes under my belt, I'll give making my own ravioli dough a go. Maybe. If I'm not too lazy which I'm wont to be :D

is it wrong that i wanna watch 21 and over at the cinema.....

.....admire Skylar Astin's flawless skin on the big screen?

Lol, I am just so entranced by his skin, looks so frickin smooth and supple. I want that skin! Okay, maybe not want that skin. Before some major Skylar Astin fan accidentally happens upon this blog post and freaks out at my perceived "threat", let me just put it out there - I do not want to harm Skylar Astin in any way, it's just a case of perfect skin envy, is all :)

Allow me to rephrase, I want skin that looks like his. I simply do not see pores, not that I've been looking too closely or anything. *INNOCENT FACE* Seriously guy, what are you using on that face?

Posted with Blogsy

shows i've been loving

The Mindy Project. Mindy Kaling is A-M-U-S-I-N-G. Ike Barinholtz is H-I-L-A-R-I-O-U-S. Watch this, people! Do not let this show get cancelled, Americans! Side note: Mindy's book Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns) is F-U-N-N-Y!

Speaking of Americans.....The Americans. Matthew Rhys of Brothers & Sisters and Felicity's Keri Russel star as Russian spies posing as the average American family, infiltrating the American government for Mother Russia in this espionage-themed drama set in the '80s. Love it, feels realistic, hehe. Also makes you a tad paranoid, lol.

Scandal. I tweet about Scandal a lot. I am very much in the Olivia-Fitz camp, I find Fitz tres attractive. Season 2 has been riveting.

Suits. Came on my radar summer 2011, essentially when the show premiered. Was always a Gabriel Macht fan. Love Louis Litt - he's crazily amusing. Rick Hoffman, keep up the good work. Big Donna fan. Sometimes I love Mike Ross, sometimes I want to smack him in the face. I can take or leave Rachel - I liked her better in season 1. This time around, she feels a tad entitled. Okay, you're a Zane, we get it.

Spartacus: War Of The Damned. OMG, this is the last of the Spartacus saga. After this I will no longer be able to gaze upon Gannicus's fine form *SAD FACE*

Unless I'm watching reruns. I'm prone to do that with this show. A lot :p Thoughts I tweeted after watching the latest episode -

The Walking Dead. This season has been a home-run hitter EVERY SINGLE EPI! For me, that is. The Governor repulses me to my core - good job David Morrissey for playing the part of Phillip so well, managing to evoke feelings of actual disgust for him from me :) And c'mon, you have to give the showrunners props for being brave with the storyline. No worries, I will not spoil it, nuff said.

Am excited for season 3 of Game Of Thrones - coming to TV-land this end of month. Sigh. So can't wait.

making mushroom melts on home baked bread

My sis and I were gtalking online awhile back and she introduced me to the wonderful world of Closet Cooking. We went through his posts, all the while oohing and ahhing at the many iterations of grilled cheese sandwiches he comes up with. I'm especially enamored by the idea of a buffalo chicken wing grilled cheese sarnie.....ummm, the thought is making me salivate....anywho, I came across his recipe for the mushroom grilled cheese sandwich aka The Mushroom Melt and I immediately knew I was making it - I so happened had all the ingredients including my own homemade wholemeal bread - c'mon gimme props for making my own bread IN A CONVECTION OVEN! I only made it the one time, it's hard work kneading dough manually, I really should invest in some dough hooks for my hand mixer then perhaps I can make more of my own bread.

Cutting to the chase.....

Hehehe, it's like TIWFM has become a cooking blog or something what with the crazy amount of food pics I've posted in the last couple of hours. Honestly, I actually have a love/hate relationship with being in the kitchen. I love testing new recipes, trying things out of my comfort zone and whatnot, however, the part I dislike is how time-consuming the entire process of making something is, sometimes taking hours at a time, and when it comes to scarfing the whole lot down - MERE MINUTES! It completely aggravates me that all that time I spend making something, all that effort, just goes in 20 minutes max when I'm pacing myself :)

skylar astin, what's your secret?

I mean, look at that amazing skin! Dude, I'm so envious! The surface looks so pearlescent smooth in this particular video. Granted, he's on camera during a press junket interview hence likely to have some form of makeup on just to not look washed out on camera but still, you can tell when someone has really great skin and this guy has it! Am so jealous :D

more retroactive "on the stove"

These are the more recent kitchen escapades.....

Potato gnocchi in meat sauce

Pan fried herbed dory with sour cream baked potato and steamed veggies

Chicken pie and mashed potatoes topped with brown sauce (and leftover mixed vegetables from the pie filling, hehe)

Chocolate chip pancakes using Bisquick's Heart Smart pancake mix - they come out really fluffy!

Caramel walnut chocolate brownies made using Betty Crocker's German Choclate Cake Mix. I was craving brownies and googled to see if you could use cake mix to make brownies and lo and behold, you can! But specifically using german cake mix which i happened to have. I also tried using the double chocolate cake mix but that didn't turn out as well since it did not hold shape as well when reheated.

Thus ends the backlog of "On The Stove" postings. I have one current one to do which I'll get to tomorrow ;p

was looking through my blog and am surprised i don't have more cooking/baking stuff

I feel like I constantly take pics of food after I've plated them but I guess I never get around to actually blogging about my kitchen exploits. Hence I'm just going to retroactively post some pics of my cooking - you know how I love to retroactively do things :D In fact, the 5 minute choccie cake post that went up earlier, that was actually done in early feb I think, hehehe.

First one up is.....

Made this breaded chicken chop with mushroom sauce with homemade baked fries.

Pan fried red snapper with baked potato and steamed veggies

Chicken risotto

Baked mac n' cheese

Betty Crocker's Devil Chocolate Cake, frosted with Betty Crocker's double chocolate frosting and decorated with Hersheys Peppermint Kisses

I have another 5 more recent dishes which I'll do in another post.

when cake mixes get reduced.....

Zlena will buy, buy, buy :D I think baking cakes are my thing. I like to make cakes, I don't know why really cos it's always a laboring endeavour for me and my hodge-podge kitchen. Like, I have to bake with a convection cooker - it's not ideal but it gets the job done. Side note, that convection oven is "da bomb"!

So I had a box of Betty Crockers carrot cake mix that I had gotten some time ago which was reduced to clear. Last weekend, when I also forayed into the spinach mozzarella parcels, I also decided to make the cake. Okay, actually, I made the cake first, then decided I couldn't simply eat just cake (am not Marie Antoinette, just saying, hehehe) and had to make something substantial for my tummy.

Anywho, when I made plans to bake the carrot cake, I had very lofty ambitions. I was finally going to try to make my own frosting. I figured some buttercream frosting wold go well with the carrot cake. When I googled "best frosting for carrot cake", it came back overwhelmingly in favour of cream cheese frosting. Nevermind, I wasn't fixed on that buttercream anyway. And as luck wold have it, I had recently brought back a huge tube of cream cheese from Homeland so it's not like my whole cream cheese frosting making plans were scuppered.

So with much excitement and a recipe to follow, I went to work in my kitchen. Did the cake first and foremost. That of course was the easy part. Read back of box and follow instructions to the tee. Once I set the first cake pan to bake, I started to look at the recipe for the frosting. That's when I noticed, hmmm, I need powdered sugar. AKA icing sugar. Someting I had been so confident was in my larder. About 15 minutes of intense searching (and some cursing later), I came to admit defeat, I definitely did not have any icing sugar. I really could have sworn.....

Undeterred, I brought up Google - I'm just going to outright call it and say Google is my bestest friend, rarely lets me down in my time of need. "Frosting using granulated sugar" typed in the search bar and I don't even press "Enter" and results aplenty. Haha! All is not lost, there was a way to make frosting with normal, white sugar! This is how.

So I'm thinking, all is well, where's that bottle of white sugar I have lying around somewhere? Then, like a flashback reel, I remember seeing myself throw an empty packet of white sugar into the kitchen bin - I had used up the last of my white, granulated sugar when I was making my homemade caramel sauce. I did utter a "F@#K!" in frustration. I guess I'm a really angry baker, hehehe. Just as I'm about to google making frosting with brown sugar and rueing the aesthetics of such an endeavour, I also realized that i don't even have plain brown sugar, I turned it all into cinnamon sugar the night before! I've gone through the recipe halfway and I was damned if I was going to give up - I had neighbours, I will call one of 'em and ask to borrow a cup of sugar like you see on TV. Just as I was preparing to call, I suddenly recalled, the last vestiges of white sugar I had kept in my drinking nook in the living room - it's for my coffee and tea, just fyi. I run to get it, and yes, it's still 3/4 full - just enough for my 1 cup of sugar needed for the recipe. And after what I'm now gonna term as "Zlena's Hijinks in Homemade Frosting".....

And I'll insert some cake frosting pics here.....

Doing the center frosting for my 2-layer cake

Both halves stacked after center frosting done. Yeah, there's a fissure in the middle there, I see it.

Freshly frosted cake

Final product, shared half of it with my neighbours above and the rest I ate throughout the week. It's no wonder I'm chubby in the face right now :p

I have to say, this is actually my first time eating carrot cake. Okay, the first time that I can recall. It's actually really delicious, just sweet enough. Also, when i normally use store bought frosting, I always find them tooth-achingly sweet. Making my own frosting rendered the perfect balance of cream cheese and sweetness that you won't get when using store bought frosting. Plus, you still have tons that you can keep to use for the next baking project :)

making Pampas's Spinach & Mozzarella parcels

Last weekend I was looking into the freezer trying to see what could I make to clear up some space in that ice box when i saw myself staring at this -

I had the fillo pastry sheets in there for awhile now and knew that if I kept 'em any longer they were gonna dry out and harden to the point of no return - hence it would be garbage-bound and I wasn't about to dump an 8 dollar box into the rubbish bin if I could help it! Okay, I had already used some to make some McDonalds-style apple cinnamon pies so I had already used it but there was still quite a bit left. And considering I had a large bag of frozen spinach available to me as well as a bag of mozzarella, well, the parcels practically made themselves! Okay, it didn't, I really had to spend more time than I wanted making those parcels, hehehe. Anyways, VOILA!

*End Scene* It turned out pretty well considering I really wanted to murder the fillo sheets while trying to layer them on top of one another. I served this with a dollop of sour cream and a sprinkle of garlic pepper.

just 5 minutes for a cake fix? sign me up!

Now I know the whole 5 minute choclate cake recipe has been doing the rounds for years but it's only recently, thanks mainly to best gal pal in Oz, that I got to try out the most successfully delicious and moist 5 minute microwave cake. And this recipe that I followed is courtesy of the incredible, Not Quite Nigella, whose food blog I have now come to love A LOT. Anyways, this will take you to the exact page where you can find your 5 minute tops chocolate cake fix recipe.

Some samples of my microwave baking forays.....this is version 1 with a scoop of Dairy Queen peanut butter ice cream and a drizzle of homemade caramel sauce - YEAH, THAT'S RIGHT, HOMEMADE CARAMEL SAUCE, cos that's how I roll :p

And this is my second attempt done the next night. This time around, I decided to top it off with some whipped cream but as the cake was piping hot, the whipped cream melted hence the puddly creamy mess. Nonetheless, totally delicious, cream seeped into the cake crevices, YUMMERS!

I've gotten microwaved cakes so, utterly wrong in the past. It's really as NQN has mentioned, it's all about the setting and timing. I think a common mistake is putting the microwave on High or Med High when Med is what is called for. If you want rock hard cupcakes, go with High, you'll achieve it in no time, hehe. I have to note though that the convenience of making this happen is very much a danger to your waistline (and in my case, hips as well, sighs). So, just, in moderation, y'know. There's that saying, "A moment on the lips, forever on the hips". Lol.

quietly doing my thing

On some level, I've been really great at not buying stuff. However, It doesn't mean that I haven't been buying. I've just been getting less "trigger-happy" with the "checkout" button :D These are some things I got over the span of the month. The kaftan and black grecian-style dress were more end of January buys from Homeland site while the other stuff came from Homeland groupon-style site.

I'm most excited to get the Magic Bullet Blender system I bought. I have been looking at blenders/food processors for what feels like eons now and was so close to getting a Cuisinart off of Rue La La 2 weeks ago that was going for 79 bucks. I have a 20 dollar credit so it would have been $59 + $9.99 for shipping but since I was in apprehensive mode, let the event end without purchasing. So glad I did, the ASOTV Magic Bullet Blender system is so what I've been looking for. It's compact and it's easy and I hope it's as fuss-free as it claims. Been youtube-ing vids on people with these blenders and have gotten even more psyched to have this in my kitchen. I paid about 35 bucks for this and it's with free shipping so it's a total win on all fronts!

Oh, and so happens Homeland deals site was having an offer for the Urban Decay Mariposa pallette that I failed to get earlier in the month. I guess that palette was meant to be owned by moi cos the door may have shut in my face by UrbanDecay.com but Homeland deals site was having it for about 24 bucks plus free shipping. It may have not been the 16-ish bucks I would have gotten it for through the official site but factoring in comGateway shipping charges, I still win in the end :D

Also got a total deal on those Triumph bras. It was 3 for about 43 bucks! That's usually about the price of ONE bra from triumph :D It came in four colours and I went for plum, pink and black. I have a hangup about red lacey lingerie - it comes off as sluttly too me, lol. If they weren't lace, I'd probably have gone for them but since they are - well, call me prudish, so what, hehehe.

Next I got a package deal on the Cami Secret and Trendy Tops. I own the Trendy Tops from a previous deal bought and I liked them so figured I could get some more. Lol, when you really think about it, these things seem like such a simple idea but no one ever looks at the obvious. Well, untill someone does and hey ho, Trendy Tops - As Seen On TV! Those Cami Slips look to be a good idea too though I'd really only be able to positively say yay/nay on the whole trick cami thing once it's been tried out, no? Will they stay put once hooked, will they ride up, all valid questions that shall only be answered once I have them in hand.

The next get is something called the sleeping varicose vein slimming pants in black. That's the image with the Korean-looking girl twirling about merrily in the purple and/or black leggings. I believe Dr Scholl did come out with the leggings version of their sleeping socks (which I already own). Those are so popular that I've never been able to find them at any of the Homeland pharmacies since the first time I saw them and passed. Is it a gimmick, is it not? Who knows! However they may work, I'll just give em a try. Yes, I do unfortunately have varicose veins, perhaps these will aid in improving the look, perhaps not. It wasn't so pricey and I had a Chinese New Year coupon code that I got to use so paid pretty much a pittance for it.

Something I don't advertise on this blog, mainly cos I've had no reason to till now, is that I am a collector of portable storage media. Lol, I'm starting a whole thing here. My current collection consists of 3 3.5" hdd, 4 2.5" hdd and 5 handy drives. All in varous sizes. I was the first person I know to own a pen drive back when they started to come out. My first one was a 128MB drive by Kingston. Ah, those were the days when 128MB sufficed. Now I seem to be filling up my GB left, right, front and back. Hence why I have an assortment of HDD. Wanted to get a 1TB, maybe 2TB, 2.5" hdd since my 1TB 3.5" hdd is running out of space but for some reason I have put that off. I'm into deleting most of my video files now :p Anyways, to compensate, thought I'd get the thumb drive dressed up as a solid gold bar, lol. Hey, it was a 64GB stick selling for 25 bucks - that's a super deal! Of course, at such a price, there is concern that the thing doesn't last or work since it is so cheap but the package has already arrived at my house and my sis has tested it out and for right now, all is hunky dory :D

Lastly, I got those As Seen On TV Fix-A-Zipper thingies. I don't have a pic of it cos I forgot to screen cap the deal when it was active. Since I travel a lot, my suitcases get man-handled to the point that my zippers always end up broken. I'm hoping this 2-pack deal I got for roughly 15 bucks will help rescue the zippers on my Benetton suitcase and Elle cabin bag.

I should be able to get all my things when I am in Homeland in 2 weeks for my birthday holiday. I really can't wait for my blender, y'all!