Giant M&M Bites

When I went to MPH the other day, I fell in love with this book. Cookies Galore by Jacqueline Bellefontaine.

What I like about this book is that it is divided into a few sections like Kid's Cookies, Holiday Cookies, Grandma's Favourite and so on. One of the recipe that attracted me most was the Giant M&M Bites from the Kid's Cookies section. The recipes are also very simple and do not require Not-available-in-Malaysia ingredients like some other cookies recipe books.

My cousin Jihana once told me how easy and yet tasty M&M cookies are. So that very night, I decided to bake my first batch of Giant M&M Bites and it was really easy! Managed to prepare the cookie dough quite fast and the baking time was not that long too. Here is the recipe if you wanna try it.

Ingredients

125g butter, softened

75g sugar

75g soft light brown sugar

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

200g self-raising flour

100g peanut or chocolate  M&Ms or sugar coated chocolates

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 190c. Lightly grease the baking sheet. (I used non stick tray)

2. Cream the butter and sugars together until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg and vanilla. Sift the flour and beat into the mixture. Add the M&Ms and stir until well combined.

3. Drop rounded tablespoons of the dough on the baking sheets, spacing well apart as the cookies will almost double in size.

4. Bake until golden, 8-10 minutes. Cool on the baking sheets for a few minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. These are best eaten the day they are made. (Ours lasts for a week and still tasted great)

Cookie Tip

1. Always stir flour prior to measuring - flour settles as it sits and if you don't stir it you may end up adding too much to your cookies.

2. The cookies were quite big for Adam and he always managed to ate only half of it. So, maybe I will drop only half a tablespoon of the dough instead.

3. I was not so careful when stirring the M&Ms so some of them were crushed in the process and some of the cookies had more M&M than the other. Some has only 1 M&Ms. I read from other recipes, instead of mixing the M&Ms in the dough, you can just place the M&Ms on the dough that you have dropped on the tray. This way, the M&Ms will not sink in the cookies. 

Good luck trying!

Adam's First: Movie

Last two weeks, after a very hectic weekdays, we decided to bring Adam to watch his first movie ever! I went to TGV website and saw that Hop was showing. Rio was not out yet then. I had absolutely no idea what the movie was all about when we decided to watch it. The poster looks like it's a cartoon show so I guess there must be rabbits hopping around. And the chick looks cute too.

We had a quick dinner and dashed off to Bukit Raja to catch the 9.15pm show. I felt the timing of the show was just right as Adam's bedtime is around 12am-1am. While waiting for the show, Adam took a ride on a fire engine. I did not have much coins so Adam had two rides only. Obviously that wasn't enough.

Then Adam persuaded Daddy to buy him some popcorn. Actually I have already bought some but did not plan to give him before we go into the hall. To avoid another scene, I let him have some of the popcorn. And as expected, once his hands were in the bag, he will not take it out. Even his dad was scolded bila mintak sikit  from him. Haiyoooo kedekutnya!

Once we were in the movie hall, he kept pointing to the screen and asked what's that? Movie, I told him. He kept on repeating the question until he could pronounce it properly. (When we went to Starbucks last Sunday, there was a huge blinder outside the cafe and Adam pointed to it and proudly said "Mommy, movie")

As for the movie, Adam enjoyed the part where the rabbit played the drums the most. When asked what did he watch at the movie, he kept saying rabbit drum and make drumming action. The parts where human were talking bored him a bit. After sitting for so long, Adam stood up and that was the most action he did. Yeayyy! I was so happy he did not run around in the movie hall. Guess my lil Adam is now big enough to watch a movie :) So, can we watch Rio next, Daddy?

Adam's First: Train Rides

Ni cerita dah basi tapi nak jugak tulis sebab this was the first time Adam jumpa train betul-betul. Selama ni train rides yang kat shopping complex and TV and his books ajelah. It was an impromptu plan. We visited hubby's brother who was admitted at KJMC and kebetulan tak ada plan apa hari tu, terus suggest to hubby to park dekat Putra LRT KJ and bawak Adam naik train.

On the way to the station, dah start tunjuk kat Adam LRT yang lalu lalang yang boleh nampak from kereta. So, bila sampai dekat platform tu, Adam was so excited to see the train betul-betul depan dia. Masuk je dalam train tu Adam cepat-cepat nak duduk sebelah Mommy. His expression masa tu memang priceless. Muka kagum and trying to accept the fact that he was in an actual train.

Then he started making train sound "choo chooo... chug chug chug.. choo.. chooo..". Sangat seronok tengok muka dia yang excited. Lepas tu, sesi tunjuk cars and trees kat luar train pulak..

When hubby decided that we will stop at KL Sentral, sajalah bagitau Adam "OK Adam, we are here!" bila sampai one of the station. Menjerit Adam tak nak turun. Tak puas lagi! Did that for 2 stations kut saja nak bagi dia tau that the ride won't last forever. So bila sampai KL Sentral, he was okay bila ajak keluar.

Next stop? Makan dulu!!!! We had our lunch at KFC. Lepas tu amik komuter pergi stesen Kuala Lumpur pulak.

Told hubby that rasanya semua long distance train dah pindah to KL Sentral tapi kitorang pergi jugak as I was not so sure. Turned out betul semua train dah pindah to KL Sentral. Sedih pulak tengok the train station that was so majestic before and selalu penuh je orang sekarang dah kosong. Nasib baik jugak kitorang decided to go there sebab while waiting for Adam to refuel, dapat tengok the real long distance train lalu. Adalah a few and dapat jugak tengok  train Pos Malaysia yang colourful.

While waiting for the train, sempatlah beli Cheezels satu tapi silap besarlah bagi Adam pegang. Langsung tak nak bagi kat Daddy dia. Tapi yang comelnya, a few days after that, Adam buka fridge and nampak packet cheezels tu dia terus cerita pasal Choo Choo Train.

On our way back to Kelana Jaya, Adam asyik lari-lari from Mommy to Daddy and Daddy to Mommy. Dahlah baru minum susu and makan Cheezels. So as soon as we reached Kelana Jaya station, Adam muntah dalam train. Dahlah train tu continue pergi KL balik. Kesianla penumpang-penumpang lepas tu sebab tak sempat nak bersihkan pun dah kena turun.

Masuk saja kereta, Adam terus tidur and sambung sampai ke rumah. The 2 hours train rides (and lunch) was really worth it. So, if you have no plan for the weekend, why don't you take your kids for train rides? It's cheap and they will surely love it :)

Chicken Schnitzel with Grilled Eggplant and Tomato Salad

My friend persuaded me to try Junior Masterchef Australia's Chicken Schnitzel with Grilled Eggplant and Heirloom Tomato Salad for quite some time and finally I gave it a try last month. True enough, it was pretty easy! I shared a picture of it in my FB and another friend of mine has been persuading me to copy the recipe and put it in my blog. So, Tika, this is my version of the recipe specially for you on your birthday. Happy Birthday! :)

Ingredients

200g breadcrumbs

50g parmesan cheese, grated

6 sprigs thyme, leaves only

2 sprigs rosemary, leaves only

Pinch salt and pepper

2 chicken breast fillet

1 egg

2 tablespoons milk (I use Nespray)

70g plain flour

olive oil for frying

40g butter, chopped

Salad

1 round eggplant

1 tablespoon olive oil

Juice of half a lemon

Extra virgin olive oil for drizzling

1 tomato sliced

100g baby tomatoes

110g mozarella cheese

1 cup mixed salad

Directions

1. Process breadcrumbs and parmesan in a food processor until well mixed. Add herbs and season with salt and pepper, process untill finely chopped.

2. Place one chicken breast in between 2 sheets of cling film and lightly pound with the flat side of meat mallet to flatten (I used the wooden dough roller). Repeat with the other breast fillet.

3. Whisk egg and milk together in a bowl. Coat one piece of chicken in flour and shake to remove excess. Then dip the chicken into the egg mixture.Then coat the chicken in breadcrumbs, pressing firmly to coat. Repeat with remaining pieces and crumbing mixtures. (To have a thicker crunchy skin, dip the chicken in the egg and coat in breadcrumbs once again)
4. For the salad, slice the eggplant into two. Heat olive oil in a grill pan over high heat. Cook eggplant until tender and golden. When cooked, place on a paper towel-lined baking tray. Arrange salad, tomatoes and eggplant in a plate. Dress with a squeeze of lemon juice, torn mozzarella and extra virgin oil and season to taste. Toss to combine.
5. Heat oil in a large frying pan over medium heat, cook chicken in batches, until tender and golden. Reduce heat to low and add butter around the chicken. Cook until crispy, remove and place on to the paper towel-lined baking tray.
6. Serve the chicken with the salad.

Recipes Tab

Noticed the new small tab called "Tried and Tested Recipes" up there? So now all the recipes can easily be viewed in that tab. I know I promise some of you some of the recipes I have tried but it's Monday! I'll try to update bit by bit ok. Have a great and productive week!