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Thursday, March 24, 2011

Aku takde la pandai masak.... tapi....

I made a new year resolution in 2010 to cook dinner more often. Since I was pregnant in 2009, I don't remember doing any cooking throughout the 9 months. It was not because of the smell of food, but I was just too tired once I reached home from work. Pregnancy after 35 is seriously draining. Every weekend I spent at least 2 hours sleeping during day time. I could wake up and go to the office in the morning when my energy level was high, but after 6pm all I could think of was my bed.

So, in 2010 I started cooking dinner at least twice a week and lunch on Saturdays. It was quite difficult at first as I had to cook really quickly. I reached home at around 7.30pm (if I went to gym). After taking shower and Maghrib prayers, it's already 8.20pm. So, I only have about 45 minutes to prepare dinner.

I started with really simple recipes such as tempe goreng and fishball soup. After about a month, when I knew how to plan and execute better I started cooking a few types of sambal, soup, noodles and grilled stuffs. Once I learned the trick, it's becoming a lot simpler.

The keyword is PLAN. I had to start thinking of what to cook for dinner tomorrow before I retire to bed at night. In the morning I would thaw the meat or chicken in the fridge. Sometimes I bought additional ingredients  at Jaya Grocer after gymming. Actually my life and schedule got better after Empire Gallery was opened. Gym and grocery store in the same complex, how convenient.

Today, after more than a year of cooking frequently at home I realized one thing: my hair fall is under control. So does my hubby's. Not too long ago the bedroom floor was always littered with our fallen hair. Now sometimes a few strands could be seen at the corners but in general, our hair fall problem is not as worrying as before. Eating out is fun where you can get endless choices of food in Malaysia but knowing how popular Ajinomoto is in the country, I can't imagine how many cans of MSG have been absorbed by my body. Besides MSG there are other chemicals added by the cook that we're not aware of. The various types of commercial sauces and their preservative are just as scary.

We can find a lot of delicious food sold in the eating places in KL, but finding quality food is quite a challenge. So, I'm glad with my decision to provide more home cooked food for the family. I grew up having home cooked food and my mom never used Ajinomoto or chicken stock cubes. It's only fair that my kids could enjoy those privileges too.

Wazif's favorite: cekodok ikan bilis (tak mau bawang)

Mr Hubby's favorite: fried salmon with garlic

Shawqi's favorite: Spaghetti bolognaise with keropok

1 comment:

spena15 said...

I love salmon with garlic. Udang galah with garlic and pepper goreng gitu pun sedappp!!