Europe 2012 Page Uploaded!

Yay!

So we have uploaded the Europe 2012 page and post the first entry. Do check it out ya!

Follow Us to Europe!

The school holidays are here and many of us will be going for a holiday with our friends and family. Maybe its a short getaway, maybe its that dream holiday you have been planning for awhile. Whatever your holidays plans maybe, we hope you will have a great time.

A friend of ours will be going for a vacation to Europe this weekend. After some persuasion from us, our friend has agreed to journal the trip and send us daily updates (no promises she said, but she will try her best!) during the trip. She will journey through 5 countries over a 3-week period and will share with us useful info on hotels, sight-seeing places, food (where to find Halal eateries) and transportation options.

We will add a special page on our blog for this and the page will be up even before the trip begins so that she can share some useful pre-holiday trips on packing and travel arrangements, especially where kids are involved. We hope you will find her journal helpful if you are planning for your own vacation in the future.

So do look out for the page over the next couple of days. :)

Have a great Wednesday!

New Updates!

For our customers who have been waiting for restock of our next inners, the shipment has finally arrived after a little glitch from the supplier's end.

Pheww!

So do check out our FB page and make your purchases today!

We have added 4 new colors to the collection, so now you have 17 colors to choose from (we were not able to restock Dark Brown)

The new colors are :
 - Baby Pink
 - Mid Purple
 - Brown
 - Royal Blue

 

Wear It Right - Another Shawl Tutorial

We have another tutorial on shawl wearing. We find this one quite a glamorous look, so for those who are adventurous, do give this a try!

Please note that we do not own the video. The video and its copyright belongs to its owner. 

Eat, Pray, Love

Ever had one of those days when you feel like eating healthy at home but not sure what to cook? Or are you trying to lose some weight by reducing your carbohydrate intake?

Whatever you reasons may be, healthy eating is not too difficult to prepare at home. And we are not just talking about eating vegetables day in and day out. It is easy to prepare a chicken, meat or fish meal healthily with ingredients that are readily available in your kitchen.

Today we would like to share a healthy recipe chicken recipe. This recipe is actually an ideal dish for a barbecue but we since we are preparing it as a home-cooked meal, we will pan-fry it instead. And you can marinate the dish ahead of time and leave it in the fridge until ready to cook.

So the next time you want to make a healthy dish, why not try this recipe?
Click over to The Cooking Foodie for the full recipe details.

Have A Chocolate And Cheese Day

We are sharing a muffin recipe today..

Muffins has always been a fascination of mine. They are so easy to do, quick to prep and bake. You can practically put any ingredient or combination of ingredients and as long as you get the proportions right, it's almost usually fail-proof. 

Once you have tried a few recipes, you will realize that it follows just a few simple process; mainly combining the wet ingredients, combining the dry ingredients..and then combine the two. 20 -25 mins later in the oven (and sometimes even sooner), you will be greeted by a batch of delicious muffins! 

Check out the full recipe under The Cooking Foodie page. 

Have a muffilicious day!

Wear it Right - Hijab Wearing Tutorial

The trend now is to wear your hijab or shawl loosely. As such, neck inners has become more in demand recently. We are re-stocking our neck inners this week so do check out our FB site.

In the meantime, we would like to share a couple of videos on Hijab wearing tutorial, one of which can be applied to those of you who wears glasses. Sometime back, we have received requests for tutorial on shawl wearing so this should help those of you who needs a visual on how to put on the shawls in a more fashionable way.

Please note that we do not own nor take credit on the videos, they are owned by their respective originators.

Light of Life

We are making a short post today.

In the spirit of the Festival of Lights, here is a video of a dedication of a mother to his paralysed son, and a determination of a man to live life to the fullest despite his circumstances.

Have a great day!

Bring on the Lights!

Tomorrow our Hindu neighbours and friends will be celebrating Deepavali, or the Festival of Lights. It is a 5 day festival which starts on Dhanteras, celebrated on thirteenth lunar day of Krishna paksha (dark forrnight) of the Hindu calendar month Ashwin and ends on Bhaubeej, celebrated on second lunar day of Shukla paksha (bright fortnight) of the Hindu calendar month Kartik.

Not all countries declares Deepavali as an official holiday. Currently only these countries makes it an official public holiday : India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Mauritius, Guyana, Trinidad & Tobago, Suriname, Malaysia and Singapore.

So today, we would like to share a curry recipe with you. There are so many versions of the curry out there, and many ways of cooking it with so many variation of the ingredients. This one is probably more of an Malay curry, one that I only learned to cook when I was in my 20s but if I dare say, am able to cook it well enough now to bring it to gatherings. Why? Because it has the stamp of approval from both my mom and mother-in-law! (yes, that's the ultimate QC test and certification, isn't it? :) )

The ingredients are very simple and steps easy to follow and you can do it in under 1 hour.

So to all who will be celebrating Deepavali tomorrow, have a wonderful Deepavali.

To the rest of us, have a great curry day? (I know some of my friends are planning curry on their menu)

Click over our recipe page (we have just renamed it 'The Cooking Foodie') and get the full curry recipe.

Cheers!

Breakfast with Love

Breakfast being the most important meal of the day, should be as healthy as possible. A power breakfast can help to kickstart your day and put you in a good mood throughout the morning. But many of us are still missing breakfast, simply because it's too tedious to prepare something substantial or we are rushing somewhere and do not have the time to dwell on what to eat in the morning.

But what if breakfast can be done quickly, easy to do and it's very very delicious? Recently an old friend of mine shared with me a heathly breakfast recipe that can be whipped up in minutes, with the help of the microwave! 

Microwaved poached eggs. 

For some of us who are familiar with the traditional method of cooking the egg, you would know that making poached eggs can be messy and tricky. But this method of using the microwave to poach the egg is almost failproof. So yeah, it's a shortcut..but it still produces the same results.

So why not give it a shot? Check out our recipes page for the fill recipe. 

Update on Autumn Bloom Album 3

For our Bella Collectionz members who are waiting for restock of Autumn Bloom album 3, today some  colors have been restocked! Check them out from our facebook Bella Collectionz.

   

Banana Friday

Bananas are wonderful fruit. Eaten on its on, it's ideal for breakfast, as an after lunch dessert, or as an afternoon snack. Serve them with pancakes..or cut them into bite sized portions and combine them with other fruits to make a salad or blend them with milk to make a smoothie. 

However you serve them, bananas have great nutritional values you should not ignore. For example, an average sized banana contains 467mg of potassium, providing powerful protection to the cardiovascular system. Regular consumption of the potassium-packed fruit helps guard against blood pressure, atherosclerosis (the narrowing and hardening of the arteries) and stroke.

Although bananas do not contain high amounts of calcium, they do supply the body with an abundance of fructooligosaccharide, prebiotic substances that as they ferment in the digestive tract, enhance the body's ability to absorb calcium. Bananas also suppress acid in the digestive tract and help to alleviate heartburn and guard against ulcers. And it contain pectin, a soluble fiber which aid in the elimination process, thus preventing constipation. 

These are just some of the great nutritional values of the banana. So how about eating a banana today? Better yet, how about trying a banana muffin recipe for the whole family to enjoy? Check out our recipe page for a delicious banana muffin recipe.

No holiday plans? No worries, check out this great deal.

This week we highlight a great deal for you and the kids to enjoy during the coming school holidays. It's cheap & it doesn't involve stamping the passports :)

Get more information from our Review page.

Durian Treat

Have some leftover durian in the fridge? Why not make Bubur Kacang Durian (Green Beans with Durian dessert) tomorrow?

Check out the recipe under our recipes page.

Lose Weight - Simple Exercise You Can Do At Home

If you want to lose weight but is somehow unable to do vigorous exercise like jogging or aerobics, there are still other alternatives that you can try to help you start loosing weight. Other than watching your diet, there are simple exercises that not only can help you start losing weight, but can also strengthen your body and stimulate your mind as well. Pilates is one of them.

Pilates is a form of sculpting and strength training. It was developed in the early 20th century and today is popular for creating long, lean muscular body without the bulk. And you don't need much investment to start doing pilates at home. A simple exercise mat is all you need to start you enjoying your pilates workout in no time.

Pilates exercises stretch, lengthen and tone muscles, particularly through the abdomen and back. According to the American Council of Exercise, pilates is one of the most challenging and effective ways to build core strength and stability. A strong core can improve your posture, coordination and body awareness, while improved posture and flexibility will help you look slimmer as you are working on your weight loss.

Below we include a video on how to start doing pilates at home. You can get other similar videos from youtube.com and this is just one of the simpler ones. But do remember, if you have any pre-existing medical condition or is concerned if your body can take the workout, do consult your physician before trying this out.