Taking a break

Due to some Personal stuff I am taking a break from this for a while . In time I will be back with lots of great new stuff from where ever I may be in the world .

Closet clean out

My closets upstairs have been bugging me to no end. When we moved, I just piled stuff in them to get things out of site. Since then I have wanted to go through each one and get rid of things and organize. So today that's what I did. Here are before and after pictures.

Before!

After!!

The bookcase has all my letter and craft things. So now I can find everything when I need to send a card or wrap a gift!

The next big clean out; the basement! I am not looking forward to that!

I Think I Have a Problem

I know, I know...corn again? What is this girl thinking? Well, I can't help it. I have an obsessive-food personality. My favourite foods are REALLY my favourites for a reason. That's not to say I'm going to eat the same meal every day for a week, but certain variations of ingredients or dishes will happily be eaten week in and week out. Which might explain why I get cranky if I don't have pizza at least once a week. Or tacos once every couple of weeks. (I know it doesn't actually SOUND like a lot, but its hard when a certain someone has a *gasp* carb AVERSION. That's right. Maybe I need to re-think our relationship. But it's also probably the only reason I'm not morbidly obsese) And why I'm writing about corn for the third time in two weeks.

Now in all fairness, this is probably the most common corn dish in our dinner rotation, except that its usually made with canned and frozen corn so I just HAD to try it with the fresh! Can you blame me?

I can't exactly claim that this recipe is my own, as like the Taco Dip you'll find endless variations on the Internet. For years, I thought it was actually unique to a certain restaurant that we used to order "fancy" chinese food from. But that was stupid, because its on the menu of most Chinese restaurants. And it's insanely easy to make so I have no idea why the lightbulb only went off sometime last year that I could make the soup at home.

Anyway, this soup can be VERY easily made with a can of creamed corn, but for the purposes of the recent fresh corn obsession, I made my own. And it was tasty! The corn flavour was a lot more pronounced and although the corn itself was very sweet, the overall soup had a nice savoury element to it. But I won't lie. I'll probably keep making this with canned corn in the future because a part of the appeal for me is its convenience. So go ahead, grab that can and get cooking!

Chicken Corn Soup

Cream-Style Corn
3 cobs fresh corn, hulled (cobs reserved)
1 cup water
1 tbsp corn starch
1 tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt
(you can substitute canned creamed corn here as a shortcut. I'm going to guess this is about one large 19 ounce can of creamed corn)

Soup
2 cooked chicken breasts, cubed

1 cup imitation crab meat (optional)

4 cups chicken broth (preferably homemade)
1 tbsp corn starch
2 tbsp water
1 egg, lightly beaten
sesame oil (optional)
salt and pepper, to taste

1. Make the creamed corn - combine corn, water, corn starch, sugar and salt in a large pot and bring to a boil. Cook for about 5 minutes, until corn kernels are soft and plump. At this point you want to break up the corn kernels a bit. I used a hand blender lightly, you could use a stand blender or even just mash with a potato masher or ricer.

2. Add chicken stock, and bring to a boil. Let cook for about 10-15 minutes. If you used fresh corn, add the corn cobs to add some more flavour.

3. Remove corn cobs and add cooked chicken and crab meat, if using. Bring back to a boil and reduce heat to medium. Combine corn starch with water until a paste forms, and add to soup. Season with salt and pepper to taste and add some sesame oil (maybe 1 tsp) if using.

4. Reduce soup to a simmer, and add egg mixture. Wait a minute for the egg to cook slightly and give it a stir. And done.

My music > Your music

Mark loves girly music -- Madonna, Celine Dion, etc...it's kind of embarrassing, but also a trait I find rather endearing (only a wife could say that!). So as he headed out for a run this morning with his headphones on, I could, of course, hear some "Material Girl" penetrating loud enough for me to hear. I gave him an eye roll and a smile...and he gave me blogging material.

Some good tunes are essential for enjoying a workout. My top 5 are eclectic, to say the least, but maybe they'll enhance your workout play list, too.

In no particular order...

1. Madagascar 2 Soundtrack, Big and Chunky -- it's not the whole song...but I had to get the little animals dancing - get the whole song, though...surely some motivation there!



2. Machine Head, Bush -- if you're huffing through a run, the lyrics will help you out!




3. Nicole Scherzinger feat P. Diddy, Come to Me -- not the best sound quality...but the dancing sure is!




4. Gaelic Storm, Nancy Whiskey -- This song was played every week in a spin class I took with a lovely gentleman named Vince. Vince was incredibly buff and incredibly quirky - this song...has stuck. Very bizzare choice, I know, and you must download one that is NOT a live performance...YouTube was not much help in finding a quality version of that rare song.





5. Bob Sinclar, Love Generation -- Spring Break '06 in Acapuloco. I'll say no more!


What are YOUR favorite workout tunes? Help me out, too! Post your answers in a comment for all to see, please!

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break a way

what i've done these past few days? 24th, 25th & 26th july 2009.

friday.

jmpe TTM. 1st time tgk die pakai bju melayu.

mlm? nothing much. i slept early.

and sent few msg to those i love...

u know who u r. aite ppl(s)? =]

then i sleep alone. in the dark room.

listening to the fray. and pink as well.

with sorrow, i fell asleep.

saturday.

bgn awal. setelah sekian lame, pergi jln kaki ke pasar tani.

it's been a while act. ptg, mama blk dr UPSI. lepas asar, jln.

went to masjid jamek-jln tar. owhhh...ramai org. and.

gagal. duit habis jgk. owh tewas~ rm100 ++. wuwuwu. T_T

1st time x on9 24 jam langsung2. hampir gile. ahah~

sunday.

bgn. on9 fb jap. tu je. breakfast manggis. lunch m&m.

obviously i'm not ok. aite? theyyy said so. entah. penat.

mentally. but. life must goes on. pushhh pushhh pushhh.

no need to tell every1 that u're not ok. they're not ok too.

they just pretend, to be ok. cuz they know. they've too.

then aqilah. let the time passed by.

i looked at my hp. contacts. 1 by 1.

and owh, i've almost done from a-z. i don't know.

who to turns to. to call. to sms. to share. to cry with.

it's not that i don't have any friends. i've a lot.

just. each of them. don't know the real me.

cuz i didn't let them 2 know me 100%.

it makes me realize, i just need ALLAH all the way down.

owhhh. i've the dark past side of me. i'm such an evil.

i did a lot of mistakes. and i watched 'nur kasih' accidentally.

and yesss. meremang bulu roma. grrrrrr~ and it makes me sad.

being pathetic as aqilah amin, is act horrible. i'm not that special.

i, am dirty. and...ishhh. da tataw nak gune perkataan plg seswai da.

i know. past is past. let go. never look back. but sometimes.

we've to look back. do not repeat the same mistake again. but. i did.

i'm happy 4 others. 4 those who's happy. yes i am.

but i'm wating 4 my turn to. u know...it's like...

i'm having a good ordinary day these past few weeks.

no problems at all. but there's something missing.

i guess, it is the true nur[light] that i haven't discover yet...

each of my friends. including u guys, who's reading, have their own matters.

that obviously 1 of my main reason to, not to share any bad news / feelings.

i've to stand on my own. yes i'm. while i was being gloomy alone, i was thinking.

"well aqilah. u're showing the world that u're independent. at least.

u're not that totally-pampered anak tunggal"

yes yes yes. i'm proud bout that. cuz i realize. with all the ppl arounds me.

i've seen that, i'm LOTTT more stronger & independent than half of the ppl around me.

and these past few days. i've been thinking bout a lot & a lottt of things.

bout my past, my attitude, my future, and. erm. so much things.

and it's hard to describe. well. let say, here's a few lesson learned.

based on others, cased & i heard bout it. and, this is just on opinion.

1 - kalau seorg lelaki tu betul2 baik, mcm mane pon die minat / syg dgn seorg perempuan yg dah jd milik org lain [gf org lain] contohnye, die tak akan kacau perempuan tuh. sbb die taw perempuan tuh milik org lain. die akan tnggu je, & mungkin akan luahkan perasaan die tp still die tak akan kacau lebeyh2 sbb die taw, die kene hormat hak org lain. tp, kalau dah terang2 awk tuh gf org, dan lelaki tuh kacau awk jgk, mmg dah terang2 la lelaki tuh sebenarnye x baik. tp...yg lg naik lemak. awk pun layan lelaki lain tuh sedangkan awk dah ade bf yg amat sgt baik. pd pendpt sy, ape kate awk yg mintak putus dgn bf awk tuh, sbb awk ckp, die tuh bkn baik sgt. org lain je rase bf awk baik. tuh awk ckp kan? ape kate... awk yg dah x syg die. awklah yg mintak putus dgn bf awk tuh. bf awk kan jahat? mungkin lelaki yg minat awk tuh lg baik n memahami awk dr bf awk. lepas tuh blh la awk bercinta terus dgn lelaki tuh. awk pun bahgie sbb baik same baik...

2 - sy tak pernah kisah pon awk ade bf. sy x berkenan sgt dgn bf awk tuh, yer la, sy sebagai kwn, mesti ambil berat jgk. tp sy x ckp bnyk, sbb awk pun bkn jenis blh terima pndpt org lain sgt. tp masih sy ambil berat ttg awk. sy nmpk...awk bkn nye slalu bahgie dgn die. lelaki mcm tuh? awk syg sgt? sdgkan ade lelaki lain yg syg awk dgn lebih jujur. sy tak pernah berpk bkn2 walaupun awk selalu keluar mlm dgn die sampai x blk rumah. sbb sy percaye dgn awk. sy yakinkan diri sy yg awk pandai jage diri. tp baru2 ni sy dpt taw, yg sebenarnye awk selame ni terlalu syg die sbb...awk dah serahkan segalanya. awk. mmg sy dgn awk berbeza. sy cuba tak mencarut wlpun marah, tp awk dah sebati dgn mencarut. tp sy x pernah kisah. sbb kte kwn...

tp. ble sy dpt taw awk da serahkan segala2 nya dkt die. mmg sy kecewa. mcm mane sy dpt taw awk x perlu taw, tp itu bukti yg mmg sgt jelas. sy frust. baru sy perasan, duit belanja awk mmg selalu cpt habis. pdhal x nmpk ke mane pon hilang duit awk tuh. sy yakin. awk belanjekan utk die. awk! sy x kisahlah kalau lelaki tuh baik. hormat awk. sy taw, ade kekasih yg mmg syg same syg, jujur dan terlanjur. tp die awk? sy x yakin dgn die. dr dulu lg. ishhh... entahlah mcm mane sy nak tegur awk. sy takut. tp tlglah... sudahlah. ingt skit,ade lelaki yg syg awk dgn jujur walaupun dah tahu ttg awk yg sebenar. sampai skrng sy pk ttg awk walaupun kte x serapat mane dah.

entahlah. bnyk yg sy pk kan. bnyk aspek. sekecil2 hidup sy & org sekeliling.

dunia. globalisasi. and... idk. lot n lot. erm. i know.

it's a booorinnggg post. i just need some time. to sit back n think.

and think. think. think. but still, i'm okay ppl.

owhh... i'm going 2 srwk. t heee~ 5th-10th august. saje gedik.

then blk kl. 17th or 18th or 19th or 20th nnt, blk kuching lg. ahahahhaha...

skeee hati la nak ulang alik! haha XD

owhhh...cant wait to see my kittyyy2 kittens. yeah yeah!

owh yer. ade 1 baju plg cantik sy beli semlm kan...

x muat. waaaaaaaaaaaaa.

bkn la x muat. leh pakai. tp sumpah.

cam nangka busuk kene bungkus. ahah~

kalau kurang lg 5kg - 8kg, maybe nice sgt3.

tp...tah. kuat makan. ske hati la. perut happy. haha.

p/s; lola da ade bf. hahahahah....

tp...err. tataw la lola ade bf ke.

tuan lola yg ske dkt tuan bf die. wakaka XD