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!

pre-birthday treat

Sheesh, I should never make public statements about my good spending habits because I rarely manage to follow through longer than 24 hours after making such statements! Got myself some pre-birthday gifts for me, myself and I as the title suggests. I had been lurking around the Urban Decay site for the past week or so as they had a spingtime "Friends and Family 20% Off" discount site-wide offer going on. Yesterday was the last day and I thought I could be good but I guess the deals to be had overwhelmed my fiscally responsible side and I ended up checking my cart out. It's actually my first attempt at shopping direct from the Urban Decay site so I wasn't sure if my faux US addy would stand up to the checks but I did get my order confirmation and all appears to be hunky dory for now. We'll see after the President's Day holiday if my order still stands the test of time (and more security checks - Tarte was quick to reject me :D).

Anywho, the sale extended to even the Sales items which is where my purchases came from. I got a bunch of eyeshadow palettes that normally costs between $38-$39 per box but were already on sale for about half off. Plus the extra 20% off and it became more than half off for these popular palettes. To round up the cost for free shipping, I decided to get another sale product which was th Lip Junkie in the shade Runaway. My haul....

The Mariposa palette, which is the main product I wanted - look at the shades in the palette, so totally gorgeous!, was on sale for 19 bucks. That was also the sale price for the Eyeshadow Ammo Shadow Box. The Deluxe Shadow Box was selling for cheaper at $16. The Lip Junkie was going for $9. Altogether, after the coupon code FFSPRING13 was applied was a very bargain door-buster $50.40. Also, Urban Decay threw in 2 free samples, a deluxe tube of the Naked BB Cream and a sample of their original Primer Potion.

Anyway, like mentioned above, I'm really unsure if the transaction will ultimately go through but fingers crossed it wil :)

DISCLAIMER:
Images screen capped from urbandecay.com. I do not own them.

UPDATE (20/02/2013):
As suspected from the moment I made the order, it got canceled, boohoo! Hehe, what surprised me though is that the email mentioned they're not against freight forwarders, they just support the one freight forwarder, MyUS.com. Oh well. I'm a happy camper with comGateway so I really can't see myself jumping ship just because urbandecay.com doesn't support the freight forwarder of my choice :D

turning another year older.....

Every year, my group of besties will buy each other a gift of our own choosing during our birthday. We each are in charge for the person whose birthday is right before ours. I am the person-in-charge (PIC) for the preggy one who wanted an iPad mini which is currently on the way from Shenzen, China to Homeland. Her birthday is on the 25th of this month and I put things in motion way back in January since her due date will be about the time of her birthday as well. I didn't want my PIC duties to get swallowed up by her having her first child and getting delayed. I know, selfish of me but great for her cos she gets her prezzie earler.

I, too, am getting my gift one month earlier to the date. Only because there was only one left of the main thing I wanted so the purchase needed to go through ASAP. This year, I decided to ask my besties for some stuff from that Homeland site I'm so addicted to. The PIC for my birthday is the bestie who is currently working in Singapore and when I gave her my list, she promptly got on it and my goodies are en route to my house in Homeland as I type. Everything totaled to about USD135.50.

The number one item on the list was the Kelsi Dagger Molly pumps. I am looking for another pair of appropriate shoes for work. The Jessica Simpson wedges I'm using are getting beaten up pretty good and I need to have a backup cos those wedges look like they're gonna come to the end of their life soon. Which dooes disappoint me slightly since I've had them for less than a year. Perhaps I shoould be kinder to my shoes :)

Then I decided I wanted the sleeveless blazer from the brand Something Borrowed. I've been wanting a more office-appropriate vest to wear and I feel this might fill my criteria. Another vest purchase was the long vest with pockets from the brand Musso. I've been completely relying on my waterfall vest I got from Thailand 4 years ago and although still in relatively awesome condition, I feel like I need to have a backup just in case. This vest might not be as great as my Jatujak vest but maybe it'll serve me well. Lastly, I decided to pick up this Ethnic Chic Isabella peplum dress. My love-hate affair with peplum continues. I've had quite a few missteps with peplum. The Cotton On peplum top was a tad too short but I overcome that by constantly stretching it longer. The one I got from Homeland site earlier last month was ill-fitting through the sleeves but I fixed that by cutting off the sleeves and making it into a sleeveless peplum top :D I'm crossing my fingers that third times the charm, hehehe. And it's hot pink!

DISCLAIMER:
All images belong to the Homeland site and not moi.

meet my other new love

Going back for Baby Danial's birth also gave me the opportunity to pick up a bunch of my stuff. After many moons moonng over the Rebecca Minkoff Morning-After-Bag, I finally have mine in hand. It's been a bit of a learning curve to get the bag to fall just right as it's very smooshy. Yes, smooshy is a common term used when in reference to the structure of a handbag and how that affects the way the bag "falls" :D

Also managed to get my hands on the F21 stuff like the mint green high neck blouse and black tapered pants below....

Wore this outfit to work the other day. The thing with F21 is that sometimes, you can buy the same piece in the same size but different hues and they don't fit exactly the same. But these pants, they don't seem to have that problem and for that I am very happy. The mint green blouse is also very lovely and cooling. And since the material is prone to show perspiration in all its glory, I made sure that I had myself covered in that area - there was liberal use of my Dove Invisble Dry anti-perspirant spray, hehehe.

Also, since we're covering an OOTD with apparel I've recently gotten, here's a casual OOTD of me wearing my new Cotton On sleep shirt, the RM MAB as well as my new leather Converse. I'm also wearing my waterfall vest gotten from Jatujak Market back in '09 when I went to Thailand on the company retreat and my Uniqlo jeggings.

I've been kinda great about not buying anything of late. When I was in Homeland, I did not spend on any clothes/beauty product and whatnot. Aside from groceries that is - a girl's gotta eat!

for the 4th time.....

I'M AN AUNTIE AGAIN! Baby Danial was born on 9th February at 9:27am weighing in at 2.93kg. I went back to Homeland for his birth so I've met the lil guy already. Mum and baby are doing okay. Congrats to moi!