Homemade Pesto

My CSA bag I picked up at our local farmer’s market had a big, bright bunch of fresh basil within that was beckoning to either become a Caprese Salad or pesto. The tomatoes we got this week aren’t quite ripe enough to eat, so I opted for the latter. (That, and the fact that on Day 3 of this Blueprint Cleanse I cannot eat...only drink, and I'm not talking wine my friends.) So anyway, I made pesto. The benefit: pesto can be easily made, then frozen. When you’re looking for a simple supper, you can then thaw it and either toss the pesto with pasta, or drizzle it over grilled chicken, fish or veggies.

I used a blender because my Cuisinart has been broken for I don’t know how long. I prefer using a Cuisinart b/c you have more control over the consistency, using the pulse button. But a blender is what I have these days, so here goes:

Homemade Almond Pistachio Pesto

Almonds (I used dry roasted, unsalted slivers from TJ’s because that's what I had in my pantry)
Pistachios (I ran out of almonds, so moved on to pistachios…shelled, dry roasted, unsalted)
Basil
Garlic
Olive Oil
Lemon Zest or Lemon Juice (for a little zing)
Kosher Salt
Vegetable Broth (if necessary, to thin the pesto)

Pop your fresh basil leaves into a Cuisinart or blender, along with ¼ cup of olive oil, a dash of kosher salt, a couple peeled cloves of garlic, the nuts and a squeeze of lemon or some lemon zest if desired. Pulse until all ingredients are chopped and blended.

Pesto is not a precise science…you can continue to add ingredients (more olive oil, another clove of garlic, a bit more salt, a little more lemon zest...) as need be until you reach the desired consistency and taste.

As I mentioned, I ran out of almonds so I tossed in pistachios too. Pesto is traditionally made with pine nuts, but I didn’t have any on hand. The beauty of a pesto is that you can play with the ingredients, flavors and consistency. Pesto can go from creamy consistency (as mine is because of the blender) to chunkier. The longer you blend it, the creamer it will be.

Pesto will last a couple of days in the fridge, but several weeks in the freezer.

My Lolita Craze

Earlier this year I went into a Lolita Craze.


Outfit 1: Lolita Waitress




Probably from all those anime influence since young and a recent trigger after staying in Bangkok, a Lolita crazed city.

I managed to lay my hands on some really fancy outfits and headdress there and when I moved back to KL, decided to try some of them out in public.




I wore this lacy black and white waitress lolita outfit in Gardens one day. (Oh yes I did and I dare ;) )

Highlights of outfit: white lacy umbrella, even lacier black and white headdress


Next day I decided to try something simpler,

Outfit 2: Highschool Kitty Cat




I got a few friends to play dress up with me too.




They're guys. Oh yes.

Daryl wore this Morocco style outfit which I thought was smashing. Given the fact that we were watching James Bond that evening in Signature Gardens.




Casey stole my cat ears to fancy up his outfit as he was a tad bit under-dressed.

Love my tartans designed cat ears.




Highlights of outfit: school girl mini skirt, tartan ears, white heels.

I wore it to eat my New Zealand Natural ice creams.




Following few days, I dated Josh out, one of my close friends, for a drink in the same place again.




Outfit 3: Not So Innocent Bunny




As you can see, I wore the same top as it was one of my favourite tops to go with mini skirts.

I bought it in H&M London, too bad they don't have H&M here.

Highlights of outfit: Lacy mini skirt, white lacy choker, and white furry ears.


Josh loves to camwhore. And he loves to dress up. The most expensive thing on this outfit will probably be his specs.



Cost over a thousand. -.-


Somehow I felt that we looked pretty matched up here.




And equally silly.







There was a bazaar earlier this year held in Old Klang Road which I participated. I decided to bring my Nicolekiss Boutique to public for the first time.


Outfit 4: Cosplay High School Cat Girl



Very similiar to outfit 2 only this time I went all the way with the complete Japanese high school uniform.

To make the whole high school girl look more realistic. I decided to tie my hair into two ponytails.




After putting on my tartan ears, I looked completely like a cat girl lolita.




But this time, I was not alone. I recruited a comrade with me.




Meet Lolita Cat Girl Christine.




She's a uber cute Indonesian friend of mine.







Together with our complementing shoes and stockings/socks, we shocked the crowd that day.




While manning our boutique booth at the bazaar.




We even went to Sunway later that way for a little bit of window shopping.
Mind you, we got a lot of stares.





*wink* am I your dream come true? *omg puke*

Highlights of outfit: comparable comrade with matching foot-wear


Now the most impressive collection I have, however, is this full-on Lolita dress which I bought at a rather high price.

Imported from Japan and only one piece available when I spotted it.

Outfit 5: Pink Lolita


standing shot



sitting shot


Complete with exaggerated pink lacy ribbon headdress, white stockings and lolita shoes.








ribbon headdress


Here are some more shots.













Shots with friends.


Josh






Richard from TAT





Highlights of the outfit: Pink ribbon headdress, lolita shoes, color contacts, and well, the dress itself. ;)


And that marks the final piece for today's Nicolekiss Lolita Craze.




Till then everyone, muaks and ciao.




Don't wet yourself in your dreams. ;) *don't puke either* :p

Banana Boats

Today was my big one’s last full day of K…Monday will be filled with celebration and good-byes. It’s a soggy, gray day here and he keeps announcing that he'd like to stay in K forever, so I brightened the afternoon with a quick homemade treat.

Banana Boats

Banana
Chocolate Chips
Optional: ice cream + sprinkles

Place peeled bananas on a cookie sheet, and cut a thin divvet down the length of the banana (“it looks like a canoe!”). Fill the gap with chocolate chips, replace the banana top as best you can (to prevent the chocolate chipes from burning under the broiler...it doesn't need to look pretty) and broil on low heat until the chocolate chips are melted and the banana is slightly warmed. Serve with ice cream if you’d like!

Hi, My Name Is______________

Interestingly, the majority of you do not like change. Either that, or you just really really like the name Mom-a-licious for this blog. For those of you waiting until 11:59pm June 9 to submit your re-naming ideas, I thought you might be inspired by the names submitted so far. Remember, the survey will be open until June 10, and the prize is a 2-hour in-home cooking lesson (see May 28 posting for the "fine print"):

Animal, Vegetable, Mommytable
Barefoot Mommy
Busy Mom, Healthy Parent, Happy Household
Culinary Instruction by Eila
Daily Feast
Eating with Eila
Eats, Peas, Shoots
Eilalicious
Everyday Eila
Family Foodie
Feast
Food for Thought
Green Apple
Health-a-licious
Healthy body, Happy outlook, Great Mom by Eila
I'll be at Eila's
Jackolicious
Jacolicious
Life-a-licious
Mom and Chef
Mom Is The Cook!
Mom-a-licious by Eila
Mom-a-Living
MomCooks
Mom-entous Fun
Mommy Gourmet
Mom-specialicious
Mouth-Watering-Mama
Second Helpings
Spoony Spicy Relish
Tasty Tales of Inspiration
Terribly Tasty Two's
The "Take-out" Takeover Guide
The Tasty Palate
The Upside of a Busy Kitchen
Tickled Taste Buds
Wagon
What's for dinner, kids?
Yummy Mummy

First Firkin Friday

Just reminding everyone that tomorrow is First Firkin Friday at the Tasting Room!  We open at 4, and we'll be tapping a special cask of Trade Winds Tripel with a mystery ingredient.  

Intrigued?  I don't blame you.  Come to the Tasting Room tomorrow to find out what it is!

In addition, we'll be pouring Orchard White, Black Orchard, Saison Rue, and Trade Winds, as well as some special drafts including Virgin Papier and Levud's (Batch #1).  Sounds like a tasty weekend!

See you there!

Cleansing Mommy

Having felt sluggish and rather irritable for a while now, I decided it was time to cut back on the coffee and treats I consume throughout the day. I don’t have the will power to just cut it out of my life, so I decided to do one of those juice cleanses. My hope was that it was cleanse my sugar cravings, turn coffee back into a coffee house treat like it used to be for me, and that it would clear my head a bit. Here I am ½ a day into a 3-day cleanse and I am dying.

As a wife and mom, I prepared everyone else for my 3-day check-out of eating solid foods. I made suppers and lunches for my husband that he can easily heat up, and made sure I had plenty of yummy, healthy foods on hand for the kids. I knew I wouldn’t really be in the mood to grocery shop. But past that, I thought how hard could this really be?

Well, I like to eat. And most of the time I am a relatively healthy eater. But today as I was conscious of my eating for the first time, I found myself just heading to the fridge for a slice of cheese, or absent mindedly picking up a stray glob of peanut butter leftover from the ants on a log I’d made the kids for lunch. Ouch. No licking fingers? No popping their crusts into my mouth? This is much much harder than I thought….

If I have the willpower later on today, I will post the recipe for Chicken Marbella and the sides I made with it for my Wednesday Supper Exchange I do with my friends. It was pretty simple, and really good—and I am not just saying that since it was my last solid meal!

Life Coach

"A thief is only there to steal and kill and destroy. I came so they can have real and eternal life, more and better life than they ever dreamed of." (John 10:10, The Message)

I'm changing my title to Life Coach. One of the most common conversation starters is: "So, what do you do?" or "What is your title?" Honestly, my title doesn't come anywhere close to describing what I do M-F; 8-5. Like most people, I need money to survive, but that "day" job doesn't define me. It enables me to do my real job. My real job on this earth is to help people discover new life, abundant life, in Christ. I'm here to point people in the right direction; coach them to salvation and life in Christ; come along beside them and help carry the load; stand in the gap in prayer; lay hands on the sick; set the captives free; and every now and then offer a challenge to help them grow. As Christ Followers, we are all "Life Coaches." So, the next time someone asks, "What is your title?" My answer will be "I'm a Life Coach."