Great Tips for Ants Free House (less than $1)

I feel compel to share this great tips I read on one forwarded e-mail months ago, during winter.  I remembered last summer, my house was infested with ants.  Maybe infested was a strong word, but it was pretty scary as we could see rows of ants walking along my kitchen/dining table area searching for food.  It was bad as you know with little kids, the way they ate, food was on the floor all the times.  I could see which holes the ants were coming from, and I tried to close the gap with bathroom paper.  Oh well, it worked a little but I couldn't get rid of the ants completely until the cold weather came.  One of the reasons I loved winter was no ants, fly, or insect in the house.  I am one person who couldn't stand seeing ants in the house, I just had to get rid of it.

My break came when I was reading some great tips forwarded e-mail from a friend, whom I couldn't recall.  I forgot all the tips I read except this great tips of getting rid of ants (because I wanted to remember and use this tips come summer), so I memorized it.  True enough, came this summer and I spotted ants came out from the same gaps last summer.  I took out my bottle lemon juice and dropped some into the gaps.  Killed all the other ants in the house and waited and see.  WOW!  It really worked!  No more ants coming out from the same gaps.  Few days ago, I spotted more ants, I was like what the heck.  They were coming in from two different gaps, again dropped some lemon juice into and along the gaps and now it was clear.  Lemon juice really works wonder as ants hate sour and acidy environment.  Try it next time yourself as this is a cheap and environment friendly way to get rid of ants in your house.  It works for me and I hope it works for you too, welcoming feedback or any other inexpensive way of getting rid of ants in the house.

Oh yeah, it does not have to be fresh lemon juice, just the bottle one selling for few cents in the produce section works just as well.  :-)  Do you like my tips?
 

Five Years Old

My blog is five years old today.  It feels like just a blink of an eye but I have been blogging for five years! It showed how fast time has passed.  I started just to share pictures of my home cook food and it blossomed into sharing my recipes to the world.

I was just sharing pictures and making friends in a food forum and one by one almost all of us started to have a food blog of our own.  Some have stop blogging through these years and some are still going strong.  Lots of fabulous blogs have emerged these past 2 years too and new food blogs have been created every day.  I don't know how long will I be blogging because no one can predict the future.  But I will still blog because it is my hobby and cooking is what I do almost every day and baking experiments in the kitchen such as creating new recipes is what I like and do best.  Furthermore, I cannot let my avid readers or fans down, I recognized some readers have been following me through all these years (before Edda was born), here I would like to say thank you to you.  For those who haven't, you are welcome to join me in Facebook by being a fan and feel free to share or drop comments and get involve.

Here to many more great years of blogging and happy 5th birthday Little Corner of Mine.  This name was created with the thought that in the whole wide world of Internet space, there is this little corner of mine which belongs to me.  But this little corner of mine has become public and hope it keeps on blossoming with your help.

Happy 5th Birthday! 

Trans Fat in 3 in 1 Coffee or Milk Tea

I couldn't believe my eyes this morning when I opened a newly bought bag of 3 in 1 Taiwan milk tea that was manufactured in Singapore. One packet of this has 0.7g of trans fat! I didn't check the label because it never occur to me that milk tea has trans fat. I quickly looked through the ingredients list and the culprit came from the non-daily creamer used. I was at a shock because I just spent $5 for it and I didn't know whether I should throw it away or just have one packet of milk tea per day until it finished and never to buy it again or double check the ingredients list of this product in the future. I beat myself for not checking the ingredients list. Is it safe to consume 0.7g of trans fat a day? Okay, perhaps that was too much, probably two packets per week (by the way, I have a very good total cholesterol level and optimal LDL reading). Of course I quickly threw away the non-daily creamer in my pantry, luckily I only used this when I ran out of milk. Guess it is all come down to this, back to basic! Eat from nature (vegetable, wild-caught fishes, meat, etc), drink from the fresh (milk, cream, etc), and avoid processed food as much as possible. Now I can see the importance of organic food because certain fresh food is still minimally processed unless it is certified as organic. We never know how many years down the road that the scientist will discover something new again.

Okay, before I lost my focus, the thing I wanted to say is go check the ingredients list on your favorite 3 in 1 coffee, 3 in 1 tek tarik or milk tea. So that next time you can buy other brand that has no non-daily creamer (mom, sis, go check yours too!). I know how we love to drink from the 3 in 1, so I want you to be aware of this too. I love the 3 in 1 coffee because I can never make my instant coffee taste as good as 3 in 1. Of course I quickly checked my 3 in 1 coffee made in Vietnam, I like 3 in 1 Vietnamese coffee because I found it less sweet. Luckily it didn't say it has trans fat in the label and on the ingredients list, it said creamer instead of non-daily creamer. Can I assume creamer has no trans fat because it didn't make from partially hydrogenated oil? Anyone knows?

Imagine all these years when trans fat has not been discovered, people were delighted at the invention of shortening, margarine and non-daily creamer that have low saturated fat that were supposed to be good for us (heart healthy they said). And now all these are considered bad because they were made from hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated oil that has trans fat that is more lethal than saturated fat. So, all these years we have been eating food that was made with trans fat but not knowing it. Now we have the mean to know and thus should take precaution especially people with high cholesterol and/or coronary heart disease.

Say NO to Trans Fats

I feel like I need to raise the awareness of industrial process trans fats or also known as partially hydrogenated oil. There was a buzz about the seriousness of trans fats few years ago but have you taken steps to avoid consuming food that contained trans fats?

Trans fats (trans fatty acids) are created in an industrial process that add hydrogen atoms into the liquid vegetable oil to make it more solid. Partially hydrogenated oils are widely used in commercial because it is cheaper, provide longer shelf life and produce a desirable texture. Most of the trans fats are found in fried and baked goods, such as bread, crackers, donuts, fries, etc. However, it is the most deadly fats out there, much worst than saturated fat. Eating industrial process trans fats will increase your bad cholesterol (LDL) and decrease your good cholesterol (HDL) and thus causes the increase risk of coronary heart disease, stroke, cancer, etc. It is a very BAD fat and you certainly don't want it to be in your body.

Please don't be fooled by the "zero trans fat" or "trans fat free" labels. Under the FDA regulations, if the serving of trans fat is less than 0.5 gram, it shall be declared as zero trans fat. So, if the serving contains 0.48 gram of trans fat, the manufacturer can declared it as zero trans fat in their nutrition facts label. So, even though it said zero trans fat, look under the list of ingredients, if there is partially hydrogenated oil, shortening or hydrogenated oil listed, that means it has trans fat. However, FULLY hydrogenated oil has no trans fat and is considered safe, for example peanut butter.

So, please check the nutrition facts label whenever you pick up a box of your favorite cracker, potato chips or bread and read the ingredient list. I found that most of the famous brands have partially hydrogenated oils in it. Also, don't be fooled by trans fat free shortening because it still uses partially hydrogenated oil, so avoid shortening at all cause. If you take charge of your life and stop buying the products that used partially hydrogenated oils, it will send a message to the manufacturers. Once they see their sales drop, they will ask question, seek a solution and start using fully hydrogenated oil for their products and we all will benefit.

As for fast food chains, KFC and Wendy now use trans fat free oil in frying their food. So, go support the fast food chains that listen to us and made a change (Wendy has been good at being the pioneer in change, change that is good for the consumers). But what about the restaurants? Perhaps we can ask the waiter/waitress what kind of oil was used in the kitchen and avoid ordering fried food. I haven't done this but perhaps I should start asking especially those we frequent often. I know a few chain restaurants have started to use trans fats free oil in their restaurants.

I can considered myself lucky as I am living in the United States where all the food has to be labeled with nutrition facts label and ingredients used. But what about people in Malaysia? What about the Chinese crackers like tau sar piah, hiong piah, biscuit, do they still use shortening in preparing those? Just check or ask whenever is possible.

In conclusion, Trans Fats is lethal, once you consumed it, it will remain in your body and do funny thing, so please take charge of your life today (if you haven't done so) and stop buying any products that have partially hydrogenated oil, hydrogenated oil and shortening in their ingredients list. Together as a consumer, we can make a difference, we will show them why their sales drop and make them listen to us. In fact, go check the crackers in your pantry right now, I can tell you most have partially hydrogenated oil in the ingredients list (Most well-known, well-liked brand I tell you!). So, let's us start today by making a difference, together we will win.

Deep-fried Chicken and Drama

Here sharing with you a picture of my deep-fried chicken drumsticks using the Seah's Spicy Fried Chicken Spices that I bought in Singapore. The packaging looked so good that I just had to buy one and try. I coated the drumsticks with cornstarch before deep-frying, thus provided extra crunch to the drumsticks. Then again I would say we don't really have to waste money on fried chicken spices because it is easy to make one at home.

And for the Anon who recommended me to watch 命中注定我愛你, I would love to say Thank you very much because it was really good! 谢谢你哦, 真的很好看哦！Any other good recommendation? I am watching "Tokyo Juliet" now. Also, I would love to try the Korean drama since you all said it's better than Taiwan Idols drama, any good recommendation that is completely downloaded? The list is so long that I don't know where to start! Thanks in advance ya! :) Oh preferably not those sad ones, I hate to cry like crazy.

The Triangle Number Under Your Water Bottle

Are you guys aware that the triangle number under your water bottle actually means something? It tells us what type of material the plastic bottle was made of. And the recent studies suggested that the most popular hard, clear and durable plastic bottle that we used was made of Polycarbonate and one of the key components of this is the endocrine-disrupting bisphenol-A (BPA). BPA can leach into the liquid and making the water toxic and can cause breast cancer in women or prostate cancer in men and some other illnesses. This bottle has numbered (3), (6) or (7) in the triangle. So, I would advice all my friends and family members to stop using any water bottle that has a number (3,6,7) under the bottle. The most common plastic bottle that we have seen everywhere has a number (7) in the triangle. I just threw away mine, all six of them. I know this bottle looks nice but it can kill also!

I guess the best re-usable water bottle would be one made from stainless steel as they don't leach any chemicals. But it can be expensive. The other is aluminum as it is BPA free and very reasonably priced. Other alternative is to look for water bottles that contained number (2) (high-density polyethylene), (4) (low-density polyethylene) and (5) (polypropylene) if it is plastic made.

If not, just drink from the glass or coffee cup. Use glasses while at home and only use the plastic water bottles with number (2), (4) and (5) in the triangle while going out. Number (1) water plastic bottle is safe to use but it was not meant to be re-used.

For updated information, click here. Looks like water bottle number (1) is safe for one time and repeated use, as long as you wash it with soap and dry it nicely each time after use.

Thank You FoodBuzz!

Look what I received in the mail. A care package from FoodBuzz to welcome the Summer! I totally loved it!


Look, it has my blog name on one of the pins! Cool right?

Thank you FoodBuzz, I will proudly wear around town and create some buzzzzzz for you and me! :)

Stomach Flu

What is a stomach flu? I have no idea before until it strikes my daughters. Out of the blue, Edda started to throw out one night. We thought it was a one time thing, cleaned her up and put her to bed. Then, the next morning the same thing happened again. Whatever she ate, out it came, even my breast milk! So, the next day we made an appointment and brought her to see her pediatrician. Then, the pediatrician explained it was a stomach flu, it was a virus that has been going around. Asked me not to give her milk, ice-cream and greasy food. Just something light and mostly water or Gatorade, just let her body cleaned or cleared itself. So, I mainly gave her fluid the next day and no vomit from her. The following day, she started to show interest in food again so I gave her a little here and there and watched what happen. Well, it turned into diarrhea, so she had been diarrhea the whole day. On the third day, she was back to her normal self again. And then it was her sister turns to throw out. Luckily we knew the pattern already, so only fluid for Evy the next day and she did well, no vomit. The following day, she started eating and she diarrhea the whole day and on the third day, she had recovered. I guess I got infected as well because I too got diarrhea for a day and felt like vomiting the next. This stomach virus flu is indeed infectious and messy (as in cleaning after your little ones). Too bad I have no idea how to prevent it, washing hands all the times?

Back in U.S.

We safely arrived in COS yesterday. I had to dress Evy in long pant, long sleeve shirt, socks and also covered her hands with socks all the way home. We got a scare in the Hong Kong airport as the officer asked us to remove her socks on her hands. Luckily when my husband explained that it was some rashes, she didn't pursue it. *wipe sweat* Evy was still having painful throat and mouth sores on all the flights home, thus she hardly eaten anything. Luckily Edda was feeling better and able to eat and sleep. My parents in-law came with us and they will be here for two weeks. Right now we are all suffering from jet lag, some more severe, some just mild. After this update, I need to go get some sleep too, I woke up at 5am this morning and I don't think I get enough rest. I can't cook because I cleared my fridge before I went back, so later we will have to do some grocery shopping. Edda is back to her usual self again and happily eating and requesting for food. She is able to play and run around again. Evy is getting better, at least her throat and mouth is not painful anymore. However since she is getting hit hard on her hands and feet, it will probably takes a while for her scars to disappear. Right now all her sores, blisters, red spots were turning dark red and dried up, and very scarely looking. I hope it won't leave her with ugly scars!

Hand, Foot & Mouth Disease

We were the unlucky few I guess. My daughters fever turned out to be the hand, foot and mouth disease. I spotted the oral ulcers, blisters on my little girl hand this morning and suspected it might be this and quickly took them to the clinic. She also has some tiny red spots rash on her foot, hand and buttock areas which we first thought might be heat rash and sort of ignored it. And then my older girl started to have high fever early this morning and not feeling so well. So, I suspected she might contract the same disease as my little one. True enough, both of them have hand, foot and mouth disease and it needs to run it course in about a week. No wonder my Edda has no appetite at all. She was the one that help herself on food first and suddenly she was like pushing the food away. She also became very cranky and kept crying for no apparent reason (reason being painful ulcer but at that time I had no idea). Now we know. The doctor gave them a medicine for fever and drops for reducing pain and fever. I hope they will feel better soon as we will be heading back to U.S. this Sunday.

Because of this we won't be able to visit Sentosa Island. My girls have to be in quarantine until they recover simply due to the fact that this viral is highly contagious. Guess I also won't be able to visit Daiso and meet E from Precious Moment due to this short coming. :(

Back in J.B.

Finally back in J.B. late last night. We were planning to visit Sentosa Island tomorrow but it has to be postponed because my little girl has a little fever due to the heat. Just fed her the fever medicine and hope the fever will go down soon and her appetite will return. The time spent in P.J. went like lightning and in few days time we will be flying back to U.S. My brother wedding went well, and I got to see or meet my relatives whom I haven't seen for more than 15 years. It was nice to see their children all grown up.

Sid from Big Boys Oven managed to catch me on Friday for brunch before some of my relatives arrived from out of states. I would love to thanks Sid for bringing us out to try the famous melt in the mouth Seremban char siew and Hakka noodle. I would have to get the address from him so that my parents and family will get to try it too as I have no idea where it was. The char siew is really melt in the mouth soft (sinful also lah) and I really like the hakka mee. Some of the bloggers/floggers posted this place before but I forgot who already.

Fat liao Fat liao

How can I not putting on weight? All the yummy food, three meals a day plus all the food I wanted to try....siao liao lor. Furthermore, I have more than one week of makaning before flying back to U.S. Man, not sure to cut back on eating or what! Gained 10 pounds already and still eating.... *pengsang* Really have to go on diet and exercise when I go back to U.S.

Just got back from Genting Highland and really enjoyed the weather there, not as cold but at least it was not hot. My girls were having fun at the indoor theme park, really worth it for the whole day pass. I managed to try the Durian and Pandan tarts at Gotong Jaya. Not bad lah, not really crazy for it!

The other day we bought some D24 durian at Giant. They cut it fresh in front of us before they wrapped it. It was selling 2 for $20 and we started chatting and the friendly uncle gave me a package of local durian ($5) free. Very nice hor? My hubby even get to sample the D24 durian to make sure it was good before buying. My Evy refused to eat durian but my "thiamjiak" Edda ate everything even the durian. I think Edda is just like the mommy who "sapu" or eat anything, that's why both of us are so chubby...hahaha...

I tried King Crab restaurant recently and really loved it. Hor Jiak leh! The salted egg yolk squid, oh my goodness, so sinful and yet so delicious, I couldn't stop eating it! The Guiness Pork Ribs also one of my favorites, the flavor is just so nice. I'm actually debating on whether to go back there again or try other new restaurant like New Formosa restaurant.

Here in P.J.

We reached PJ this morning. So, we will be here until the 25th. Going up to Genting Highland on the 19th and 20th. Have to get use to the weather here again, thus far it's very hot. Didn't manage to go to the Jonker street pasar malam. With a picky hubby who doesn't eat Hainanese chicken (white chicken), we have to settle for AFormosa Chicken Rice Balls on Jonker Street. Since over here, we had the choice of siew yoke and baked chicken. Nilmandra, you were right, nothing to shout about. I prefer the fluffy chicken rice anytime. Took a walk along Jonker street, but I couldn't find any famous spicy shrimp hiong piah? Also, the prices there were for tourist, all very expensive. Managed to stop at Jonker Dessert 88 for some durian ice cendol and Gula Melaka ice cendol plus the Nyonya Laksa. When we returned to the car, we found a $30 parking ticket on our window wiper. Aiya!!! We didn't know we have to buy ticket and just happy that we found a parking space. Luckily we met someone who was very helpful and helped us to bargain and cut the fine to $15. Managed to stop by at Jing Yuan Biscuit and Bakery and bought some mini tau sar piah and hiong piah to bring it here. Had to miss the satay celok because it only opened at night and it was hard to drive all over here again at night to eat. It was about 30 minutes drive from the place we stayed to Melaka, so after the Safari, swimming in the swimming pool, got shower, we were all dead tired.

Melaka, here I come!

We will be heading to Melaka tomorrow. Going to stay in AFormasa Resort at Alor Gajah for two nights. Will bring the girls to the Safari and probably outdoor theme park. Not sure about the water park yet since I heard it's mostly for adults. So, probably will skip that. Can't wait to eat the famous Chicken rice balls that I have read all these years in Melaka and pay a visit to the popular Jonker Street for more makaning. Oh yeah, beachlover, I will remember to bring the mosquito spray. ;)

We will head to PJ on Thursday and stay until the 25th. During my stay at PJ, will sure go visit KLCC. Oh yeah, we will be heading to Genting Highland on the 19th and 20th. Feel free to say Hi if you recognize my girls through my blog ya. I probably won't have excess to the Internet during my stay in Alor Gajah and Genting Highland.

Update!

We are postponing our trip to Sentosa Island until the end of May. In case you don't know, all Malaysian get to pay half price at Sentosa on May 23rd - June 30th. Just show your Malaysian passport at the ticketing counter. We can even pay the equivalent prices in Ringgit! What a great deal!

The weather here is actually not too bad, lots of rain and thus not very hot. We haven't encountered the mosquito problem yet, thanks God. Guess what happen while we went to eat dinner yesterday? We saw a police man with a gun man standing outside of the restaurant and kept shooting at the birds on top of the trees! No wonder the birds were so noisy flying around. The gun shots were loud and the birds were as loud, what a way to have dinner. Sister in law said they are shooting the birds down because of the over population. Got to say this was not an easy task because the birds came back in the evening, so shooting at black bird at evening time was not easy at all, and how many could they get? 10-20 the most! They better just chop off the tree in half. :P

Here at Last

Yes, we are finally here in Johor Bahru, Malaysia. Getting use to the hot and humid weather again but this time I find the weather is tolerable. My girls are doing good as well, at least they didn't complain they are hot. Going to Singapore this weekend, at least my girls will have some fun visiting Sentosa Island and Vivo City and their relatives. Here in J.B. is pretty boring, nothing much to do and nothing special to eat. Thus far, my hubby got his new passport done. It was done in few hours, surprisingly fast, went there in the morning and collected the passport in the afternoon and I waited 3 months to get my passport from U.S. Will update more after the trip to Singapore.

Vacation Finally!!

In few hours, I will be on the plane heading back to Malaysia. I will be back for a month. First stop would be Johor Bahru where my in-laws are. This is my long awaited vacation to Malaysia. I also get to attend my brother's wedding banquet in P.J. at the end of the month. We will visit Singapore, Melaka and Genting & Cameron Highlands in this trip and I can't wait to visit Sentosa Island after 20+ years. I also can't wait to eat my way through Melaka and visit the Jonker Street. Stop at the Ostrich Farm at P.D on the way to P.J. And visit my high school friends whom I haven't seen for 14 years!! Cool down at Genting Highlands and Cameron Highland (will be needed for sure) and let the kids have some fun at the theme park, shopping at KLCC and visit more friends from college days. Can't wait!!!

I will keep updating in Malaysia whenever I have access to the Internet. I also have some drafts that I will be posting in Malaysia so stay tuned! Oh by the way, I might be late in responding to your comments, but rest assure that I will, just a bit late! :o) Also, I might not be able to visit your blog often or in the month of May at all, sorry in advance ya!

Just For Fun 2

Saw this at Daily Affair and decided to play along. What Your Pizza Reveals

People may tell you that you have a small appetite... but you aren't under eating. You just aren't a pig. You are a very picky pizza eater. Not any pizza will do. You fit in best in the Northeast part of the US. Your taste in food tends to favor what's rich and comforting. You prefer food that will definitely satisfy you. You are generous, outgoing, and considerate with your choices. You are cultured and intellectual. You should consider traveling to Vienna. The stereotype that best fits you is upper class preppy. You don't anything too ordinary or vulgar.

What Does Your Pizza Say About You?

Just for Fun!

Saw this at Rainbows's blog and decided to play along! Hehehe.... Just trying to kill my curiosity. Here's the direct link if you want to play too. :D

Your Blogging Type is Confident and Insightful

You've got a ton of brain power, and you leverage it into brilliant blog. Both creative and logical, you come up with amazing ideas and insights. A total perfectionist, you find yourself revising and rewriting posts a lot of the time. You blog for yourself - and you don't care how popular (or unpopular) your blog is!

What's Your Blogging Personality?

Winter Wonderland

It has been snowing again. It snowed the past Saturday and today and it is freezing cold. Currently at -8'C (but feel like -12'C) and tonight low is -13'C and tomorrow high is only going to reach 1'C. V, if you are reading this, the weather in Singapore is so much nicer compared to this cold. Enjoy the hot weather there as you would probably home to snow and COLD! I am not sure who wants to go out in this kind of weather unless has to.



Look at the accumulation on my deck! But this is nothing compared to foots of snow we got last year. I took these pictures on my sliding door as I would not want to step outside in this cold. Just want to share with those in Asia what it is like here where I live. It spelled C.O.L.D! *shivering*

Btw, winter solstice festival or tang yuen festival falls on Dec. 22nd. Let's make some tang yuen on this day, it's a fun time letting your little one plays with the dough too. Evy has been asking me to make tang yuen, but this lazy mommy told her, wait until winter solstice day first since mommy is lazy. :P