Did You Know Your Toilet Position Affects Your Health?

I love to squat when I do my toilet business.
Now that Singapore has become so advance and modernised.
I could hardly find a toilet that allows me to squat to poo.

Then........
I look forward to visit my in-law's every Sunday because one of her 4 toilets has a squatting-bowl and I LOVED IT!!!

And........
Ever since we started to frequent Malaysia at least once a week more than 2 years ago, I was overjoyed! Because I can easily find a toilet cubicle with a squatting-bowl!
Yeah!

Plus.......
Ever since I shifted to my new place, I realised that the coffeshops' in the vicinity also has squatting-bowl cubicles!
*clap clap clap*

Alright, I'm going to tell you a 'secret'.
*laugh*
Its probably no secret after today.

Ready?

Actually....I rest my feet on a stool when I poo.
Sometimes I would tip-toe while my feet are on the stool, so much so that my knees are VERY bent, just like as if I am squatting.
So now you know what I do behind the doors......
*laugh*

Today, I was delighted to hear that what I had been doing is actually good for my health!!!!

*clap clap clap*


When we stand, our Puborectalis muscle will prevent our feces from dropping out.
When we sit, this Puborectalis muscle will be partially relaxed.
And when we squat, the Puborectalis muscle will be fully relaxed, hence its easier and more effective for our poo to shoo out of our body.

Lack of dietary fibre might have been thought to be the cause of constipation, hemorrhoids, colitis, appendicitis, colon cancer and other related health issues.
However, some researchers found out that our bathroom posture plays a more important role in causing these problems.
Of 'cos, having fibre in our diet should NOT be omitted either.

At The Stanford University Pelvic Floor Clinic, squatting is not only recommended with patients with colon issues, it is required.

Here's a video that explains it all.
I am NOT doing an advertorial post for Squatty Potty.
Just that this video makes me happy because now I understand why I love to squat or bend my knees when I am doing my Big Business in the toilet...... simply because I'm Listening to what my body wants.

Simply because, 

We, 

Humans, 

anatomically, 

are designed 

to squat to poo.

*wink*

Weight Loss Tip : Drink Ice Water!

Did you know that  

your body burns calories 

when it tries to warms up 

the ice water  

which you drink each time? 

First Blood Donation

I could not sleep last night.
Imagining the needle, the pain, the blood.

For someone who fears injection of any sort, this was a huge step to leap.

Whenever I go for regular checkup, the nurses who take my blood always had to try all ways and means to un-tense me. They will try to tell me jokes, ask me questions, to distract me. I would also look away and clench the fist of my other hand. But nothing works, because I would be so stressed up that I would not respond to them. The nurse from my last regular checkup, after several attempts, jokingly said: "Aiyo! You so tense, I cannot even poke the needle in, its as hard as rock."

Whenever something bothers me, I will need to voice it out and my favourite confidante is hubby. Lying beside him in bed at past midnight, he told me about his previous blood donation experience, preparing me for what is to come. Still, it was difficult for someone who has slight phobia of needles to stay calm.

Then he said, "If you are so scared, then don't go."
But its for the good of Others and myself too.
So its yet another moment of 'Act Inspite of Fear' for me again.

I had walked on Fire before.
I had broke a wooden stick with it piercing at my throat before.
So what's this?
I can do it.
I must do it!

Morning came and I was totally ready to go for my very first Blood Donation, after self-psychoing myself the whole night.

Everyone was super friendly there.
I filled up a form.
Registered myself.
Interviewed by a doctor, who examined my blood pressure.
Then I moved on to test my hemoglobin level.
The minimum hemoglobin level for blood donations is 125 g/L (12.5 g/dL). Its the same criteria for both men and women.

I started to get nervous at this point.
Its the first POKE of the day.
First sight of blood this morning.

Once again, I looked away.
She punctured the tip of my middle finger.
Took my blood and put it into a mini machine to test my hemoglobin level.
It was 11.9 g/dL !!!!!

BELOW the minimum requirement!
I was NOT ALLOWED to donate my blood.

My souvenir from the activity:

She gave me a box of iron tablets and told me to eat it after meal each time.
Advised me to eat more vegetables and red meat to increase my hemoglobin level.
Then, she said, "Try again, one month later, at our Blood Bank."

She thanked me for the thought and I was directed to the door.

I shook my head as I walked towards my family who was waiting for me.
Hubby looked surprised.
I was surprised too......at my own emotions. I realised I was sad that I could not donate.
Shouldn't I be happy? I do not need to go through what I fear.
But I was unhappy instead.

Then I asked hubby: "Do you want to donate yours?"
He thought for a while and went to get a form for himself.

Now....I wished I had not asked that question......
I blame myself now for what he had to go through because of what I asked.....
Here's why :

He went through everything that I did and his hemoglobin level was 14plus, so he was eligible for the blood donation.

Everything was all cool!
We stood by him.
He chatted with us.
Kids asked lots of questions.....as usual.

Then suddenly, the attendant noticed that hubby's blood has stopped flowing.
*JAWS DROPPED*

Then the senior attendant sought permission to PUSH THE NEEDLE FURTHER in to try to 'search for better blood flow'.
*SCREAM*

Hubby was all calm and composed.
But the 3 of us who were beside him felt the stress and pain.
My elder one was so scared he had to cover his eyes.

She tried.
And tried.
And TRIED!!!!

Still no blood flow!
She kept asking hubby if it was painful and suggested that if its too painful for him, she will end the blood donation activity for him.

"Not painful." hubby kept repeating.

After several attempts, she had no choice but to give up.
Then she gave hubby a cream and said: "The vein is slightly swollen and there is a high possibility that there will be bruise at that area. When the bruise appear, apply this cream. If there isn't any bruise, then don't need to apply. Never rub or massage the bruise, it will get worse."

I kept the cream in my bag.

Then she passed an ICE PACK to hubby to soothe the swell.

In the end, only half a packet of blood was collected.

The SADDEST PART of today's blood donation experience is this : They CANNOT USE HIS HALF-PACKET full of blood!

They had to discard it!!!!

When I heard that.
I went "WHAT??!!"

OMG!
Hubby went through all of that and in the end, the blood had to be thrown???!

I was even more upset now.

*sigh*
Even the drinks and snacks couldn't cheer me up.
Even the many yellow SMILING FACES on hubby's bandage could not put a smile on my face.......
*pout*

My first blood donation.......and it ended on a Very Sad Note.

*Speechless*

Song Sharing Sunday #237 - Roar ~ Katy Perry

So easy to fall in love with Katy Perry's new song!

Makes me move to the beat naturally.....

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Every Song reminds me of a person, an event, a place, a smell, a taste....a secret, do you have a song to share today?

  Roar - Katy Perry

I love the teasers for ROAR days before the final release of the actual MTV.
The anticipation was killing.....
until the final MTV was published on VEVO, YouTube, on 12 August.

Here's the build-up.......
[For some reason, some videos are not showing. So I put up the links instead.]



2nd August
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m5Hel36qrFI&feature=c4-overview&list=UU-8Q-hLdECwQmaWNwXitYDw

5th August

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GXcnqxgx62I&feature=c4-overview&list=UU-8Q-hLdECwQmaWNwXitYDw



7th August
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aEjWrS7SfLQ&feature=c4-overview&list=UU-8Q-hLdECwQmaWNwXitYDw



9th August





And Finally.....hear her ROAR!  
12th August 
 

Join in the fun, leave a comment with your Song Sharing Sunday post's URL and don't forget to grab the meme's badge above using the codes provided and I'll hop over to 'listen'...

I Love To Do Repair Work!

Sometimes I feel more like a boy than a girl.
Since young, I find talking to males easier than females. Conversations are more straight to the point and....hhhhmmmm..... just simpler.

Since very young.
As soon as I know how to handle the tools in a toolbox correctly, my father had been teaching and asking me to do different types of repair work. Therefore, when I was still in Primary school, I already know how to fix and dismantle a standing fan, a lamp, a power plug, etc.

Maybe because I was trained to think "When things are not right, repair needs to be done" since young, I am very much of a handyman handywoman wherever I go. I repair my classmate's mechanical pencils, fix their pencil box, etc.

And my father always says: "One Stitch Saves Nine. Don't Wait."

This mindset has stuck in my head for the longest time!
Thus when I saw the condition of my floor after the acid cleaning done by my male renovation coordinator, I was determined to do something about it......eventually.

Read the section with the heading of "27th December 2012" in the post "Progress of New House-Update 4" to know the story of my floor.

Ok, so as a result of what my male renovation coordinator did, some of the acid ate up the cement between the tiles, leaving crack lines and mini-holes in the cement between each tile.

I wanted to fix it.
To get it back to its smooth white look.

However, after moving in, there were lots of 'getting used to' that needs more immediate attention and soon, the urgency of fixing the crack lines and mini-holes was shelved.

Almost 8 months had passed and those crack lines and mini-holes start to accumulate dirt and dust, so much so that its greyish and blackish at some spots. It annoys me. 
*laugh* You must be wondering if my head is hung low each time I walked around the house! Errrmmm.... more or less! *huge laugh*

When something like this annoys me, its an eyesore and I will keep focusing on it till its fixed!!!

As a believer of Law of Attraction, I kept thinking of a product I once saw in Pasar Malam (Night market). Its a bottle/tube-like thing that contains liquid cement. I remembered the demonstration. It was so easy to apply. So I had been looking out for 'him' at Pasar Malam lately.

Believe it or not!
I happened to SEE that GUY who sold this LIQUID CEMENT thing AGAIN!
I was overjoyed!!!!

Bought from him immediately and planned to work on my floor on the next weekday when my kids are in school. Its tough to do such things at home with two active kids.

Thus, since Monday, I started TRYING out the product at a corner of my house.

 I did not want to go full force at first go because I wanted to see the after-effect first.
It was ok.
I would not say 'fantastic' though, because of the nature of my floor tiles.
The product is Good, its my floor tiles that were imperfect.

Some tiles have rounded sides, therefore the gap between each tile is easy to fill up because its like a drain.
However, my floor tiles does NOT have rounded sides. It is a 90 degrees bend.
Though the tiles were machine-made, no two tiles are uniform in thickness.
In fact, every SINGLE PIECE of tile had different thickness from the left side of the tile to its right side.
*shake head*

Hence when we put two pieces of tiles together, the gap between them is uneven, making it VERY DIFFICULT for me to even out the liquid-cement.

*sigh*
We already had so much 'trouble' looking for floor tiles in the beginning stage of the renovation, read post "Progress of New House - Update 2", yet after finalizing the floor tile, problem of another sort still exist.
Oh well, it was our choice and ignorance.

Next time I will choose floor tiles with rounded sides for my next house!
Humph!

Yesterday I inspected the gap of that few tiles which I mended on Monday.
Hhhhmmmm.....satisfactory.
After two days, no cracks whatsoever.
*thumbs up*

Immediately, I took out my 'new toy' and get it to work again on another small part of my living room.

 

 Today, 22nd August, I was in a 'labouring mood'!
And I spent my whole morning doing the entire living room!

Now, I am waiting for the 5hours of rest-dry-and-set period to be over before I start the tedious cleaning of the sides of the tiles : the 'over-spilled' area.
It is tedious because I had to be very careful at all times NOT to accidentally wipe the cement in the gap, or else, I'll have to start again.

Still Drying.
Wiping of over-spilled area are not done yet.

Virgo is not my horoscope but Sometimes, I'm a perfectionist.
Such meticulous work, I choose to do it myself even though I could always call up my renovation coordinator to get the floor contractor to do it for me.

I had backache after spending a few hours on this.
But guess what?!
I am so happy that I am finally fulfilling yet another simple wish of mine!
One word - Satisfaction!
*Super Grin*

So while the liquid cement fills up the crack lines and mini-holes and taking its own sweet time to dry, I am here with my fingers dancing on the keyboard.

Even after the cleaning work that follows after this, [there goes my afternoon! *Jaws Dropped*] the task is still not completed yet. 3 more rooms to go. *Taking a Long Deep Breath*

So this would be my assignment for the week, I guess.
Its good to be occupied because staying still and doing nothing is just SO-NOT-ME!
Ooops!
Unless I'm sleepy!
Then lying on my bed and doing nothing will be my favourite thing to do.
*laugh*

Every small wish fulfilled is a big boost to self-esteem!

Cheers!

A Powerful 2hours to Fix Your Marriage.

Are you having trouble with your Marriage?
Are you having problem understanding your spouse?
Has communication broken down between you and your spouse?

Or
Do you want to have a greater marriage?
It CAN be better!


I watched these 2 videos twice in different occasions.
One was when everything was going smoothly.
The other was after a brief argument.

Hubby and I hardly have big-long-lasting type of quarrels.
None of us like it.
Which Sane person does anyway!?!
*eyes rolled*

I, particularly HATE to break the harmony in the house because I do not want to walk the footsteps of my parents.
I made a BIG HUGE GINORMOUS PROMISE to myself that MY family : hubby, my two boys and I, will be happy together as a family for as long as all of us shall live, NO MATTER WHAT!

Last year and earlier part of this year, had been a very tough journey for some of my friends' marriages.
Some broken and went their separate ways.
Some survived the ordeal and patched back with scars.
And some are still struggling.....

Give yourself slightly more than 2 hours......finish these two videos.
You will see a whole new light in fixing your marriage and making it better.

2 hours is all you need to change the way you see your marriage....
Use the tips, they DO help....before its too late.....

****Actually, after viewing the video, I have come to understand my two sons better too.

So if you have kids that are of opposite gender from you, this will also help.

*Grin*

 

Always remember,
it takes two hands to clap
it takes two hearts to bond
and
it takes two souls to make a marriage work

Throughout ANY marriage, there WILL be times, we do our spouse wrong.
Misunderstood.
Misjudged.
whatever...........

But its important to know that your spouse was YOUR CHOICE!
No one forced you into this marriage (or I hope NOT!!!! *fingers and toes and hair all crossed*)

So when you were in the wrong, ask for forgiveness!



I know some of you (my dear readers) are NON-Christians.
But bear with the story and watch till the very end of this 8:54min video below.

There is a powerful healing message :~

*hugs* to all who are facing marriage issues.

Song Sharing Sunday #236 - Daylight - Maroon 5

It surprises me when I heard my boys sang this song at different times in the day without being influenced by anything.

When one sang this song, the other was no where near him, so they were definitely not influenced by each other either.

I guessed they were really happy this morning.

'Cos whenever they sing any Maroon 5 songs, they are 99% in a happy mood.

<a target="_blank" href="http://allaboutyourchild.blogspot.com/search/label/Song%20Sharing%20Sunday"><img border="0" width="125" alt="Song Sharing Sharing Badge" src="http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x169/TammyDuplessie/SongSharingSundayBadge.jpg" height="125" /></a>


Every Song reminds me of a person, an event, a place, a smell, a taste....a secret, do you have a song to share today?

Daylight - Maroon 5

Join in the fun, leave a comment with your Song Sharing Sunday post's URL and don't forget to grab the meme's badge above using the codes provided and I'll hop over to 'listen'...

Nutella Cupcakes with HappyCall Pan

--> Cooking has never been my forte.
Baking is worse!

I consider myself a very diligent student when it comes to reading recipe books.
Never miss a step.
Never add 1gm.
Never subtract 1ml.
But somehow, whatever that I had baked in the past never looked anything close to the photo beside the recipe.

Then YouTube came along and chefs of all sorts started flooding the site flaunting their cooking / baking skills.
I followed each move faithfully.
I took the extra step to buy the exact same brand used by the YouTuber-chef.
But still fail.

Then, as a housewarming gift, 2nd SIL and 2nd BIL bought the amazing HappyCall Pan for me (Read "Officially A HappyCall Owner Now!") Never did I expect that this HappyCall Pan would one day become my oven!

With this gem in my hands, I wanted to make full use of it. Joining the HappyCall Pan Private Facebook Group is probably the most rewarding group I had joined on the social media site.

The FIRST dish I tried with the recipes shared in the group was "Pork Stew with HappyCall Pan".

Every day I would be hoping to see another simple recipe for me to venture.....and it happened again! 
Here comes the SECOND:-

NUTELLA MINI CUPCAKES 

Just 3 items!
No way it can get any simpler (I was happy!)

The recipe shared in the group was :~
100g Nutella

2.5 tablespoon of Self Raising Flour

1 egg

My younger one mixing them all up

Then it was written in the instructions that the Nutella mini Cupcakes go into the HappyCall Pan for 30mins on small fire

What is 'small fire' mentioned in the Facebook group?
That person's 'small fire' might NOT be my 'small fire'.
There isn't a 'small' indicated on the knob of my stove.
So how small is small?!
I really don't know.
I could only try.
With a little luck and a lot of 'checking', I hope my mini cupcakes would survive.

In this 1st ATTEMPT, I was really nervous and kept checking every 5mins.

After 20mins, it looked like this!

Fully puffed up!

I thought, "This Can't be right! The instructions said its supposed to be 30mins! I am 10mins ahead of that time. Its ahead of the target."

So I took a toothpick and poked the center to check.
It came out dry.
Whoo-hoo!
Its cooked!
Ooops! Or should I say its BAKED!

My elder one arranging them on the plate

Together with my two boys, we were eager to take our first bite into it.
It looks ok on the inside.
But the top texture was like brownie, a little crusty.

The taste was NOT shiok!
I like very 'RICH' chocolatey taste.
But this is just, ok.

Still, I'm happy that its EDIBLE!!!
Yeah!
'Cos ALL of my previous baking adventure using the HappyCall Pan ended up in the bin.
*thumbs down*

The bite above was taken when the Nutella mini Cupcake was still in its Silicon holder. So we did not see the bottom, which turned out to be a horror!

It looked BURNT!
It smelled BURNT!
But it DIDN'T taste burnt!
It was like biting into biscuits. Crunchy!
So is it burnt?
I don't know.
So confusing!

*scratch head*

As the texture on the bottom didn't quite match with the other parts of the cupcake, my kids and I only bite into 90% of the Nutella mini cupcakes, leaving these behind :

All 11 pieces were gone in seconds....filling up our tummies.

Verdict : Edible.

-------------------------------------------

2nd ATTEMPT on the very next day, 6th August 2013. I felt that the chocolatey taste of the Nutella was not strong enough, so I added Cinnamon powder this time. According to the famous Laura Vitale from 'Laura in the Kitchen', Cinnamon brings out the best chocolate flavor and so I tried.


Since 11pieces did not seem enough yesterday, I DOUBLED the quantity this time, making BIG and small Nutella cupcakes.

Elder son doing the mixing this time round

After lowering the fire in this 2nd attempt, it took 28mins .........closer to recommended 30mins

 The bottom was still the same as my 1st attempt : Darker than it should! I was seriously wondering if my 'small fire' was STILL not small enough, because the one who posted the recipe in the HappyCall Facebook Private Group did not mention anything about burnt-looking-bottom cupcakes.

There and then, I decided to go for the 3rd attempt the next day again, but with the Knob on my Stove pointing to the SMALLEST fire mark.

I was also not very happy with the texture, its between cake and brownies.
I prefer it to be softer and moist.

Yet, I have to say that with a pinch of Cinnamon, the Nutella cupcakes did taste nicer!
*Thumbs up*

Even my 2 fans agree that this batch is better than the 1st.........

-------------------------------------------

3rd ATTEMPT was what I did first thing in the morning.

My aim this time was :~

1. No more burnt-looking bottoms
2. More chocolatey (the 'chocolate-ness' in the 2nd attempt was still not enough for me)
3. Softer and moist texture

In order to improve the texture, I added ANOTHER ingredient : Butter!
From a simple 3-item ingredient, now it has become a 5-item recipe.

To make it more chocolatey I added another 10g of Nutella to the recommended quantity.
Thus, with the additional ingredients (butter and  extra 10g of Nutella), I could fill up one more mini silicon cupcake holder, making the total count to 12 pieces (compared to 11 in the first attempt.)

But with the Stove Knob pointing to the SMALLEST Fire marking......OMG!!! It took sooooooooo long for it too be ready!!!!

The time stated by the HappyCall Pan Facebook group member was 30mins.
But at 35mins my mini cupcakes still had sticky-watery residue on the toothpick, when I poke it into the center of the cupcakes to test!
*faint*

It felt like its going to bake forever!!!!!!
*double faint*

I knew the strength of the fire was definitely wrong!
So I turned up the heat and checked every minute after that!

So nerve-racking!

I did not want my previous 40mins (5mins of preparation and 35mins on stove) to go wasted and land my 3rd attempt into the bin!

After a total of 41 mins (jaws dropped) on the stove, in the HappyCall Pan, this beautiful-looking Nutella mini cupcake glided out of the silicon holder.

The inside was soft and moist and fragrant too!
YUM!
The butter really made the difference!

The extra 10g of Nutella was still not 'chocolatey' enough for me though.
Hhhmmm....
Hard to please a chocolate addict like me.
But I liked the darker brown colour of my cupcakes now as a result of this small increment (+10g) of Nutella.
Look!

 Previously :

 and now

 With extra 10g of Nutella :

You might be asking : "What about the 'bottom'? Was it burnt-looking just like the first two attempts?"

Nope!
It looked beautiful.
But it was crusty.
Too Dry at the bottom.
So in my view, it still did not hit my target.

Hhhhmmm.......
Hubby and I talked about it and came to a conclusion that its probably because the silicon holders was on the baking tray, which was resting directly on the HappyCall Pan, which was right on top of the fire; thus causing the texture of the bottom of the cupcake to be different from the other parts of the cupcake.

We wanted to make this work.
As this is the VERY FIRST TIME, I did NOT throw away something which I tried to bake using HappyCall Pan, in first attempt.
So this is truly a very consoling experience for me.

Maybe its due to our experience as a bazaar-retailer for so many years in the past, we are a very DIY-couple.
Hubby came up with an idea to lift the silicon cups OFF the baking tray, so that the bottom of the cupcakes will not be receiving more heat than the rest of the cupcakes.
I agreed.

Was not aware that hubby put the idea to work when its already past midnight, while I was asleep!
Aaawwwww.......
*super hugs*
And I woke up in the morning feeling loved when I saw his creation on the table:

-------------------------------------------

4th ATTEMPT in making Nutella mini cupcakes and I had changed from the recommended 3-item ingredient to 6-item ingredients.

What have I added this time?
Sour Cream!

Did you go "HUH?!"
*giggle*

I went "HUH?!" very loudly too when I first heard that Laura Vitale from 'Laura in the Kitchen' added sour cream when making muffins. She said: "The sour cream makes the cake part itself so moist and delicious"

 Well, I trust her!
And so my final 'combo' to make Nutella cupcakes ended up like so :~

 Remember I was still unsatisfied with the amount of 'chocolate flavour' in the cupcakes of the 3rd Attempt?

So in this 4th try, I added more cinnamon powder and another 10g of Nutella; making it 20g more than the recommended quantity.
Too daring?!

I think I forgot an important lesson :  In any attempt, there should only be ONE change, now I'm changing TWO things at the same time!

Errrr......actually, its THREE!
*tongue in cheek*
Because I find that the fire was way too small in the 3rd attempt. I do not want to wait another 41mins!!!!
Thus I put the stove knob back to the same range as my 2nd attempt, somewhere between medium and small (fire).

The result of the 4th attempt????

Looks nice don't they???
Actually, it tasted really yummy too!
But......I think its either I added too much cinnamon powder or the extra-extra 10g, it was a little too sweet for me.
See?!?!
CANNOT change MORE THAN ONE VARIABLE at any one attempt.
*sigh*
Now I do not know which one should I change back.
Hhhhmmmmm........
*knock head*

Yet, the sweetness reminded me of the chocolate cake which we buy often from Four Leaves Bakery, which I love to the core!

So I'm a little torn.
Should I leave it or should I change the quantity?
Hhhmmm.....

My biggest fan, my elder son, had been popping at least 2 Nutella mini cupcakes into this mouth every single day and he thinks that this 4th attempt is the best thus far.
So should I change?
Hhhmmm....

Hey!
Up to this point, I realised that I had not shared the quantity for each ingredient!
Alright, so based on my 4th attempt, its this :

 

• 120g of Nutella
• 2.5 tablespoon of Self-Raising Flour
• 1 Egg
• 1 tablespoon of Salted Butter
• 2 pinch-es of Cinnamon Powder
• Half teaspoon of Light Sour Cream

 However, I strongly recommend that the Nutella mini cupcakes are consumed within the SAME day.

Somehow, the taste of an overnight cupcake is not as nice as when it was out of the HappyCall Pan after 30mins.
Oooohhhh....that is the BEST time to gobble them up!
Yum! Yum!

The cupcakes are NOT perfect, but to my boys, it has become their favourite thing that Mummy could make with HappyCall Pan.
Muah Chee used to be on the top of the list, now these Nutella mini cupcakes has taken its place.
*smile*

My younger boy had even 'placed order' for my Nutella mini cupcakes to be packed for his school excursion next week.
*feeling REALLY happy*

Now that we know 'fresh' ones taste so much better....guess I'll have to wake up an hour earlier that day..... wouldn't want him to have overnight cupcakes.
*Grin*

This is a post that made me smile from the beginning till end.
Feeling really good.
Because I can FINALLY BAKE something Decent!

Yeah!
*clap clap clap*

========

NEW Updates to this post (19th September 2013) : After this 4th attempt, I tried to change the recipe again and the FINAL revised recipe is over here "[FINAL] Revised Recipe for Nutella Muffins"



Nutella Cupcakes with HappyCall Pan

Song Sharing Sunday #235 - Lucky ~ Jason Mraz & Colbie Caillat

Lucky is how I feel today.
Lucky to have a hubby so supportive..... to work on a 'project' at wee hours in the night, so that my baking journey could climb greater heights the next day.
Lucky to be able to know a friend through blogging, 'M', who introduced me to a fantastic chef, who shared simple tips which created wonders to my cupcakes.
Lucky to have a generous 2nd SIL & BIL to buy an amazing cookery for me.

I can't wait to share my First (finally!) successful baking experience with HappyCall Double Pan....
Made some blunders along the way that even I can't stand my own scatterbrain -self and ended up having more than once 'slap-the-forehead' moment.......All coming up in the next post.

Till then, my heart is dancing to the beat of this song....

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Every Song reminds me of a person, an event, a place, a smell, a taste....a secret, do you have a song to share today?

Lucky ~ Jason Mraz and Colbie Caillat

Join in the fun, leave a comment with your Song Sharing Sunday post's URL and don't forget to grab the meme's badge above using the codes provided and I'll hop over to 'listen'...

MIL's Heart-Work - Dumpling 粽子

In last year's post, "My MIL's Hardwork - Dumpling 粽子", I mentioned that my MIL prepared lesser dumplings that previous years.

This year...... even lesser.

With an unwelcoming remark on the health of my MIL from the physician recently, MIL has taken a step back from her usual 'I want to be in-charge of everything' self. She is learning to relax more and I think it has affected the number of dumplings made this year too.

When I received the dumplings from her on the last Sunday of July, I was shocked.
The plastic bag was so much lighter than all previous years.
What was missing?
My boys' favourite mini-dumpling which they would coat with sugar before taking a bite into the soft glutinous rice. (See photo in last year's post)

Only the white and the brown dumplings were made this year.
We used to have dumplings for lunch for almost a WHOLE week before we could finish the portion that she gave to us.
We have a portion of her heart-work, my 2nd BIL's family gets another portion and leaving the biggest portion for my 1st BIL's household, which includes herself and FIL.

Yet, this year, the dumplings were NOT even enough for the 4 of us to eat for 2 rounds of lunch!
All were gone by 30th July!
What a big drop in quantity!

However, its good to know that she is getting her piorities right, this time....finally!
Health is more important than anything else....

Thank you MIL for the gift from your heart.....made with your loving hands.

Song Sharing Sunday #234 - 十萬毫升淚水 ~ 蔡健雅 Tanya

Few weeks back, I shared the lovely theme song of the Channel 8 9pm drama <>.
Now that the 30 episode drama had pulled the curtain this week, I thought it would be memorable to post the other song of the show, that is just as nice or even nicer, (because of the piano piece in the background. LOVE the sound of piano!!!!) for this week.

A truly wonderful show that makes me salute the scriptwriter.
So many inspiring quotes in every episode.
*Salute*

<a target="_blank" href="http://allaboutyourchild.blogspot.com/search/label/Song%20Sharing%20Sunday"><img border="0" width="125" alt="Song Sharing Sharing Badge" src="http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x169/TammyDuplessie/SongSharingSundayBadge.jpg" height="125" /></a>

Every Song reminds me of a person, an event, a place, a smell, a taste....a secret, do you have a song to share today?

十萬毫升淚水 ~ 蔡健雅 Tanya

Join in the fun, leave a comment with your Song Sharing Sunday post's URL and don't forget to grab the meme's badge above using the codes provided and I'll hop over to 'listen'...