Recipe trial: Trio Quick Soup - Cilantro/Coriander + Beancurd + Century Egg

I was looking for more inspirations to making quick soups (since I am getting lazier to wake up early to prepare stewed soups). I came across this recipe that promotes body fluid and expel heat during the hot seasons.

Ingredients:
1 bunch of cilantro/coriander (cut into 2 cm length)
1 packet of beancurd (or 2 pieces, if you are buying from the market)
1 century egg (quartered)
1 bunch of dried anchovies

Optional ingredients:
1 small bowl of minced pork (seasoned with sesame oil, soy sauce and corn starch)

Steps:

1. Boil the anchovies
2. Dump all the ingredients in and let it boil for 10-20 minutes
3. When the anchovies flavour is released, use a spoon to scoop the minced meat to bite size and drop into the soup
4. Let the soup simmer until the meat is thoroughly cooked.
5. Serve

Quick and tasty as the ingredients goes well with each other.

DIY: Grip Socks

I have trouble looking for reasonably priced grip socks for older children, that is if you can find them. A lot of times, grip socks are catered mostly for younger children. Those that I managed to find are not cheap and the designs are not worth the price.

Then my friend showed me the many pinterest sharing of DIY grip socks. I decided to try on my own. However, because most of these craft sites are from US, I found it difficult sourcing for the similar material brand they use. Even if I do find them, many a times, they are expensive to start with.

Many crafters use Tulip slick paint or puffy fabric paint. I found none. But alternatively, I discovered 3D fabric paint. An 11oz tube cost me RM7+ in Art Friend (The Gardens Mall). I bought 2.

It is my first time trying this craft. I'd say it was really easy and fun. Just draw whatever you like at the bottom of the socks and let it dry for 24 hours. I finished 2 pairs in less than half an hour. I am already having ideas of naming the socks and/or letting the girls do it for themselves.

Have fun trying!

For the peace of me and happiness of my gal

Since PM started school, I started to detect that she is a right-brained user despite she writes and eats with her right hand. Math concepts seemed a bit elusive to her. Although I do not expect her to become math genius, but I do not wish for her to feel defeated by math. She can master it with the right method. But having us both exhausted after a whole day of work to sit down and discuss math?
Conclusion: Left-brained mom to teach right-brained daughter math = Disaster.
I lose my head most of the time, although I know fairly well that her learning methods is different from mine. I needed more guidance, if we want to trod through this situation happily.

Then I found this in one of the websites that facilitate teaching to the right-brainers. The book seemed interesting with the colours and pictures.

And so my journey of book searching begins... Local bookstores are kind of hopeless, be it online or offline. Amazon is expensive after conversion and shipping. MPH quote me quite an exorbitant price. I was about to book myself a ticket abroad to hunt for the book (no-lah... just exaggerating to create more reader interest hihihi...), when I came across www.bookurve.com . The homepage looks simple, but they are able to source the books and quote me a more reasonable price than my previous searches.

I think the effort to bring in more channels to source for books and improve the reading habits in Malaysia is really commendable. We need this.. Our minds are too constricted. Not only do we read very little, even access to variety of books is limited. I hope more of such effort could open up our perspective, not only in books, but life too.

Now I am waiting for the arrival of those books and hope my sessions with PM will improve moving forward. Will update you with review of the bookurve services as well as the books' effectiveness. Stay tuned but not so soon (I am a working mom with no maid and juggling work, home and children. I am not seeking your understanding. I am telling you to deal with it!).