Keeping your Scouring Sponge Last Longer

Previously, I used to change my scouring sponge every 2 or 3 months as the scouring pad tend to detach easily from the sponge. I always thought that the one I bought are not from 'branded range' so I decided to get the 3M ones thinking they could stick better and longer. Well, I was wrong - again! The same thing happened!

Then I was at my mom's place and I told her about this little problem I had. She then told me that I should stitch a 'cross' on the sponge to keep the sponge and scouring pad together. Hmm.... ya hor! :) And I set out my experiment...

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For the purpose of this post, I have first made one and used it since April last year. It is proven that it does last longer and with the stitches on the sponge, the glue tend to stick better and longer too!

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Now you can save so much from buying these scouring sponge!

Hope this little tip helps you in your kitchen! Happy cooking!

Keeping them Green

I think a lot of people often wonder how come the green vegetables they ordered at the restaurants always looked so green and fresh? Well, there's a trick to it that not many people know.

The few vegetables that we always want to maintain their freshness colors are such as broccoli, kale (kai-lan) and mustard (choy-sum).

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How to do it? Very simple. Boil enough water in a saucepan, add a few drops of oil and some sugar and wait till it boils. Toss in your green vegetables and boil till a little colors appear in the water. Lift them up. If too long in the hot water, they will ended up turning yellow!
You can then stir-fry or simply eat just like that...

Bottled Dried Prawns Sambal

Sometimes it is a hassle to prepare ingredients just to cook a small dish. When I need to grind or ground chillies or other condiments, I prefer to do a huge batch and keep them in the freezer for future use so I don't have to wash my blender every time I want to cook or use the particular ingredient or mix.

This is when the small bottle container comes in handy. I used to give Darrius some bottled/jar food when we were traveling and I will keep these bottles as there are quite useful for keeping moist items. In this case, I stored the excess dried prawns sambal so I can use them when I need to and don't have to go through the hassle to grind just a small portion.

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Ingredients

• 1 cup Dried prawns


• 7pcs Red chillies (cut into big chunks)


• 2pcs Chili padi (cut into small chunks)


• 4-5 cloves Garlic (cut into small chunks)


• 7-8 pcs Shallot (cut into small chunks)


• 1" Belacan (cut to smaller pieces)

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Methods

1. Mix all the cut ingredients into a big bowl. Scoop 3-4 spoonful into grinder and grind till everything are really smashed up. Continue till all ingredients are done.


2. To store, put them into small bottles, around 2-3 portions in each bottle. Store them in the freezer.


3. When you need to use, bring one bottle down to defrost in the fridge. One small bottle can stored up to 3 portions (use 3 times for cooking a normal plate of vege).

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Storing Chilies

Ever wonder how to keep your chilies and some other fresh produces Fresh in your fridge for weeks?

When my MIL was not around, I will normally do my marketing once a week and to keep some of the stuff fresh is a real headache sometimes. Then I got this tips from my mom and I'm glad to have know this so a lot of my fresh stuff, especially chillies (I used a lot at times) can stay fresh for a long time. Can you believe it that my chillies stayed fresh even after 2 weeks sitting in the fridge? :P

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Make sure you have an air-tight container and lined it with kitchen towels or tissue papers. Dry your chillies before putting them in the container and that's it! You can put another piece of kitchen towel or tissues on top of the chillies before covering as the tissues will absorb all the moisture/water vapor when you move your container in and out of your fridge.

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