Life during Covid-19 Pandemic

I usually only post information about cooking or baking on a blog I have created for my children as I am trying to generate their interest to learn to cook.  I posted it here by mistake and decided to leave it as there is lesson from what I went through during this Covid-19 pandemic.  Most of the time, there is a solution for the problems we face when we highlight the issues.  Sooner or later it will reach the right person who can resolve it.  When we face an issue, it is more interesting to find ways to resolve it then to waste time and energy being angry or being sad about it.  Nothing is permanent. We just need to adjust the way we live our life to make it bearable if not enjoyable.

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When I stopped cooking after we started the bike shop in 2012, we used to go out as a family for breakfast and dinner.  It was a great time to bond and the children enjoyed eating out.  I started cooking again when the Covid-19 Pandemic was reported in 2020.

To avoid the crowd I started buying my groceries online from Tesco.  I continue to shop there after it was taken over by Lotus. My family members like thier coffee buns (Roti Kopi) and Cheese Onion Buns. So I buy them on a weekly basis for breakfast.  They are available in packs of 4. 

Since last November I have not been able to buy their Cheese Onion Buns online. I found out from Hafiz, a very friendly Store Manager at its Kajang branch where I collect my orders, that not all outlets sell this bun.  That is why it is no longer listed online. Most of the time, the Cheese Onion Buns will have been sold out when I get there to collect my order.

So, that started my quest to look for Cheese Onion Bun recipe to bake in my breadmaker.  I bought it from Cosway during the pandemic, when they had a promotion running.

My favourite bread to make is the Milky Loaf.  

This is the recipe for it. 

As you can see, I can choose the "dough setting" on my breadmaker to make the dinner rolls with the same ingredients.  If I make dinner rolls, I can top them with onion and cheese to bake in the oven.  But I prefer the lazy way.  Once my loaf is baked, I cut it in half horizontally.  I then slice the top half of it 3/4 way through so that I can slip in my fried sliced onion and cheese to airfry.  If you watch this video, you will get an idea of what I did.  You will also discover from it other ingredients you can shove into the cuts to flavour your bread or buns.

Did that but I still prefer the ones from Lotus as it did not turn out cheesy enough.  

Then I found this Cheese Bread recipe. 

It requires 1 cup of sredded cheese which is 120g.  I used a 200g pack of Emborg Shredded Mozzarella Cheese to bake it.   But I am still not happy at how it turned out and decided to modify the recipe. I used the ingredients for the Milky Loaf and added 125g pack of shredded Parmesan cheese, as it was on offer at Lotus. I like it better baked this way as it tasted cheesier.  

However, eating it with peanut butter, which I like eating, will kill the cheese flavour.

After all my trouble, I found out recently from Hafiz that if I call Lotus with the number he gave me, the staff at their "Self Collect" counter will keep the Cheese Onion Buns for my next collection.

The other bakery that I will buy from Lotus is their Croissant which is also available in packs of 4 pieces.

I usually serve it with sardine which I have cooked and stored in the fridge.  This is the recipe for cooking it:

I am usually wary about buying house brand food item but I am happy with the canned Sardine with Tomato supplied by Lotus.  

Other than the airfryer, bread and sardine kept in the fridge can also be heated up with a sandwich toaster.

I have a reason for cutting my loaf in half horizontally. The containers I have, large enough to store my bread are shallow. After I cut it up horizontally, I will slice it to store in the fridge. This is the top half section of my Milky Cheese Loaf with 2 peices of Milky Loaf leftover from an earlier bake.

This is the bottom half section of my Milky Cheese Loaf.  Though I chose "light" colour setting, it turned out darker than my Milky Loaf baked at "medium" colour setting.

ONIONS. Not for cooking only.

From My InBox:


>> ONIONS! I had never heard this!!!
>> PLEASE READ TO THE END: IMPORTANT
>>
>> In 1919 when the flu killed 40 million people there was this Doctor
>> that visited the many farmers to see if he could help them combat the
>> flu...
>> Many of the farmers and their families had contracted it and many died.
>>
>> The doctor came upon this one farmer and to his surprise, everyone was
>> very healthy. When the doctor asked what the farmer was doing that was
>> different the wife replied that she had placed an unpeeled onion in a
>> dish in the rooms of the home, (probably only two rooms back then).
>> The doctor couldn't believe it and asked if he could have one of the
>> onions and place it under the microscope. She gave him one and when he
>> did this, he did find the flu virus in the onion. It obviously
>> absorbed the bacteria, therefore, keeping the family healthy.
>>
>> Now, I heard this story from my hairdresser. She said that several
>> years ago, many of her employees were coming down with the flu, and so
>> were many of her customers. The next year she placed several bowls
>> with onions around in her shop. To her surprise, none of her staff got
>> sick. It must work. Try it and see what happens. We did it last year
>> and we never got the flu.
>>
>> Now there is a P. S. to this for I sent it to a friend in Oregon who
>> regularly contributes material to me on health issues. She replied
>> with this most interesting experience about onions:
>>
>> Thanks for the reminder. I don't know about the farmer's story...but,
>> I do know that I contacted pneumonia, and, needless to say, I was very
>> ill... I came across an article that said to cut both ends off an
>> onion put it into an empty jar, and place the jar next to the sick
>> patient at night. It said the onion would be black in the morning from
>> the germs...sure enough it happened just like that...the onion was a
>> mess and I began to feel better.
>>
>> Another thing I read in the article was that onions and garlic placed
>> around the room saved many from the black plague years ago. They have
>> powerful antibacterial, antiseptic properties.
>>
>> This is the other note. Lots of times when we have stomach problems we
>> don't know what to blame. Maybe it's the onions that are to blame.
>> Onions absorb bacteria is the reason they are so good at preventing us
>> from getting colds and flu and is the very reason we shouldn't eat an
>> onion that has been sitting for a time after it has been cut open.
>>
>> LEFT OVER ONIONS ARE POISONOUS
>>
>> I had the wonderful privilege of touring Mullins Food Products, Makers
>> of mayonnaise. Questions about food poisoning came up, and I wanted to
>> share what I learned from a chemist.
>>
>> Ed, who was our tour guide, is a food chemistry whiz. During the tour,
>> someone asked if we really needed to worry about mayonnaise. People
>> are always worried that mayonnaise will spoil. Ed's answer will
>> surprise you. Ed said that all commercially-made mayo is completely
>> safe.
>>
>> "It doesn't even have to be refrigerated. No harm in refrigerating it,
>> but it's not really necessary." He explained that the pH in mayonnaise
>> is set at a point that bacteria could not survive in that environment.
>> He then talked about the summer picnic, with the bowl of potato salad
>> sitting on the table, and how everyone blames the mayonnaise when
>> someone gets sick.
>>
>> Ed says that, when food poisoning is reported, the first thing the
>> officials look for is when the 'victim' last ate ONIONS and where
>> those onions came from (in the potato salad?). Ed says it's not the
>> mayonnaise (as long as it's not homemade mayo) that spoils in the
>> outdoors. It's probably the ONIONS, and if not the onions, it's the
>> POTATOES.
>>
>> He explained onions are a huge magnet for bacteria, especially
>> uncooked onions. You should never plan to keep a portion of a sliced
>> onion.. He says it's not even safe if you put it in a zip-lock bag and
>> put it in your refrigerator.
>>
>> It's already contaminated enough just by being cut open and out for a
>> bit, that it can be a danger to you (and doubly watch out for those
>> onions you put in your hotdogs at the baseball park!). Ed says if you
>> take the leftover onion and cook it like crazy you'll probably be
>> okay, but if you slice that leftover onion and put on your sandwich,
>> you're asking for trouble. Both the onions and the moist potato in a
>> potato salad, will attract and grow bacteria faster than any
>> commercial mayonnaise will even begin to break down.
>>
>> Also, dogs should never eat onions. Their stomachs cannot metabolize onions.
>>
>> Please remember it is dangerous to cut an onion and try to use it to
>> cook the next day, it becomes highly poisonous for even a single night
>> and creates toxic bacteria which may cause adverse stomach infections
>> because of excess bile secretions and even food poisoning.