Banana Bread Recipe

Cooking Time: 1 hour

Servings: 5 loaves

Preparation Time: 10 minutes

• 1 cup butter


• 2.5 cup sugar


• 4 eggs


• 2 tsp vanilla


• 2 cup buttermilk(or 2 cup milk w/ 1tb white vinegar)


• 4 cups all purpose flour


• 1 cup whole wheat flour


• 2tsp baking soda,


• 2tsp salt,


• 4 cup mashed ripe banana's..

Directions:

preheat oven to 350F

Grease 5 loaf pans and set aside

in bowl add both of the flour's, baking soda, and salt..set aside. cream butter & sugar in mixer, add eggs & vanilla, add bananas, then add flour mixture and milk alternating between the 2. Do not over mix or it get's tough!!

bake 350F about 1 hour

Makes 5 loaves (recipe can be cut in 1/2 if you want to make less)

Freezes well, just wrap in foil making sure all ended are sealed.

Week 37

Congratulations — your baby is full term! This means that if your baby arrives now, his lungs should be fully mature and ready to adjust to life outside the womb, even though your due date is still three weeks away. Your baby weighs 6 1/3 pounds and measures a bit over 19 inches, head to heel (like a stalk of Swiss chard).

Many babies have a full head of hair at birth, with locks from 1/2 inch to 1 1/2 inches long. But don't be surprised if your baby's hair isn't the same color as yours. Dark-haired couples are sometimes thrown for a loop when their children come out as blonds or redheads, and fair-haired couples have been surprised by Elvis look-alikes. And then, of course, some babies sport only peach fuzz.

How your life is changing?

Braxton Hicks contractions may be coming more frequently now and may last longer and be more uncomfortable. You might also notice an increase in vaginal discharge. If you see some "bloody show" (mucus tinged with a tiny amount of blood) in the toilet or in your undies, labor is probably a few days away — or less. (If you have heavier spotting or bleeding, call your caregiver immediately.) Also be sure to ask your caregiver about the results of your Group B strep culture. That way, if the result isn't yet on your chart when you get to the hospital or birth center, you'll be able to give the staff there a timely heads-up if you need antibiotics.

It may be harder than ever to get comfortable enough to sleep well at night. If you can, take it easy through the day — this may be your last chance to do so for quite a while. Keep monitoring your baby's movements, too, and let your caregiver know immediately if you notice a decrease. Though her quarters are getting cozy, she should still be as active as before.

While you're sleeping, you're likely to have some intense dreams. Anxiety both about labor and about becoming a parent can fuel a lot of strange flights of unconscious fancy.

Be patient: if labor doesn’t start this week, or even next, keep in mind that only 4-5% of women actual deliver on their predicted due date. What’s more if this is your first pregnancy, you can expect to be anywhere from two days to two weeks late. You can distract yourself by keeping track of fetal movements, mostly to reassure yourself that all is well with your little miracle. In the off chance that movements do start to decrease substantially, try not to freak out and instead, call your doctor of midwife and discuss it with them.

If you still haven’t decided whether to breastfeed or not, here’s a good reason: some experts estimate that mothers excrete between 400-700 calories a day while breastfeeding, and to compensate, you should be eating roughly 500 extra calories a day (mmm that’s like one spoonful of Ben and Jerry’s ice cream).

Itching Away

I guess this will be my second biggest nightmare which I experienced during my pregnancy (well, the first being my morning sickness). Guess what, this week I was attacked by the biggest irritating problem which I had... the eczema!!! :s It was all over my hands and foot!! All my 20 fingers are being attacked... :'( And it's very very itchy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I can't help but scratching it to satisfy myself.... I know it's no good if I keep scratching it... Wish this can go away soon! I'm dying of itchiness here! :X

Dear Lord, please help me get rid of this eczema. Hope it doesn't affect my baby too. Thank you Lord for everything. In Jesus name I pray. Amen.

Below are some info from Baby Center website regarding my discomfort:

Is it normal to feel itchy during pregnancy?

It's not uncommon to feel itchy, particularly around your growing belly and breasts as your skin stretches to accommodate them. Hormonal changes may also be partly to blame.

Some pregnant women find that their palms and the soles of their feet get red and sometimes itchy. This common condition may be caused by an increase in estrogen. It usually disappears right after delivery.

You may also find that things that normally make you itchy — dry skin, eczema, food allergies — make you even itchier when you're pregnant. Finally, there are certain conditions that occur during pregnancy that may cause you to feel itchy (see below).

How can I get relief from the itching?

Avoid hot showers and baths, which can dry out your skin and make the itching worse. Use mild soap and be sure to rinse it off well and towel off lightly. Then slather on an unscented moisturizer — some scents can cause irritation.

Try an occasional warm oatmeal bath. (You can buy oatmeal bath preparations in drugstores.) Wear loose cotton clothing and avoid going out in the heat of the day, since heat can intensify the itching.

Is it common to get itchy bumps on your abdomen?

Up to 1 percent of pregnant women develop a condition characterized by itchy, red bumps and larger patches of a hive-like rash on their bellies. This is called pruritic urticarial papules and plaques of pregnancy (PUPPP) or polymorphic eruption of pregnancy.

PUPPP usually begins in the third trimester and is more common among women carrying twins and those having their first baby. The eruptions usually show up first on the abdomen around or in stretch marks (if you have any) and may spread to your thighs, buttocks, and arms. PUPPP is harmless for you and your baby, but it can itch like crazy!

Your doctor or midwife will want to see you for a diagnosis and will probably prescribe a topical ointment to give you some relief. She may also recommend an antihistamine. In severe cases, you may need a course of oral steroids.

PUPPP usually disappears within a few days after delivery, although it sometimes persists for several weeks. (In rare cases, it may even begin after you give birth.) Fortunately, it seldom appears again in subsequent pregnancies.

Even more rare than PUPPP is a skin condition called prurigo of pregnancy (or papular eruptions of pregnancy), which is characterized by many tiny bumps that may look like bug bites. These eruptions can occur anywhere on your body, but you're most likely to get them on your hands, feet, arms, and legs.

Although the eruptions can be itchy and annoying, prurigo of pregnancy appears to pose no risk to your baby. This condition generally starts around the beginning of the third trimester and may last for up to three months after you give birth.

In very rare cases, a pregnant woman will develop very itchy eruptions that start out like hives and then turn into large blistering lesions. This rash is called pemphigoid gestationis (or herpes gestationis, although it has nothing to do with herpes virus). The eruptions often start on the abdomen and spread to the arms and legs.

This condition is considered more serious than PUPPP because it may be associated with an increased risk for preterm delivery and fetal growth problems. It usually begins in the second or third trimester, but it can start anytime — even in the first week or two after you have your baby.

Pemphigoid gestationis can come and go throughout pregnancy, and it often flares up after delivery as well. It usually happens again in subsequent pregnancies and tends to be more severe.

Let your caregiver know if you develop any kind of rash during pregnancy. Whether or not the rash is related to your pregnancy, it's a good idea to have your caregiver evaluate it and recommend appropriate treatment or refer you to a dermatologist.

Can intense itching ever be a sign that something is wrong?

Severe itchiness in the second or, more commonly, in the third trimester can be a sign of intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy, a liver problem that affects less than 1 percent of pregnant women in the United States.

When bile doesn't flow normally in the small ducts of your liver, bile salts accumulate in your skin and make you itch all over. The itching can be quite intense. The condition itself doesn't cause a rash, but you may end up with red, irritated skin with little cuts in areas where you're scratching a lot.

Call your doctor or midwife immediately if you think you have cholestasis because it may spell trouble for your baby. Your caregiver will do blood tests to check your liver as well as ultrasounds and fetal heart monitoring to check on your baby.

Depending on your health and your baby's condition, you may be induced before your due date. This problem goes away after you have your baby, although you may get it again with your next pregnancy.

It's Finally Here

My baby's cot was finally here!!! :) Thank God it doesn't rain that evening. I'm feeling so excited and relieved at the same time to see the cot physically placed in our living room upstairs. It was perfect! I can feel my baby in my womb getting excited too! :) We should have bought the white colour cot in the first place... to eliminate all the hassle... hohoh... Anyway, what was meant to be, was meant to be. It's a process everyone will go through... there's no shortcut to it.

After the delivery man assemble the cot and left, my dear hubby carefully checked the cot again to make sure everything is safe. Mmmm... it's good to see that he finally show some aspects of "loving-father" figure around the house :) It was such a lovely scene to see him cleaning our baby's cot... but he did not wash the dirty cloth after using it... >_<" He just throw the cloth in the toilet... hmmmmpppp!! He still need more training on this! To help eliminate extra or unnecessary house chores.

Now that the cot was actually here in out living room, we are just waiting for his "master" to sleep in it. Hopefully it will be just the perfect cot for our newborn baby, the Newbury cot (from Mothercare) with white finish. The colour, the design and the functions, were all chosen for his safety and usage in mind. Hopefully our baby will like it as much as we do. ^_^

Below the description of Newbury Cot:

- 2 handed drop-side mechanism makes getting baby in and out of cot easier
- 3 position mattress base height
- Protective teething rails
- Requires a continental size cot mattress (60 x 120cm), sold separately
- Suitable from birth to approx. 2yrs
- Flat-packed for home assembly
- Conforms to BS EN 716
- White finish
- Assembled size: L128 x W68 x H99cm

Let the Countdown Begin

Geess.... It's week 37 now! :o) I'm getting VERY anxious and at the same time excited!!! Most of the preparations to welcome my little darling is almost done... apart form his cot! The delivery man will come only tomorrow. Hopefully this time the cot has no defects on them. I can't wait to make prepare his bed before his arrival. :)

After all the huu-haa last week, I realised that it's not a big deal after all. If she don't want to work, then let it be... If they don't want the money, then it's not my problem... why would I be so stressed up on behalf of them??? It's funny how sometimes when things just happened and you are not ready for it, you will tend to handle it differently from your usual self. Now that I have time on my own and I think back... I oredy knew all these is coming... but I didn't know that it will come at one go! hahah.... God has His way of teaching us to look things at the bright side.

I'm all ready again for the new challenge that I'm about to face. I just need to remember to be my brilliant self and enjoy whatever comes to me! Embrace it and live it! That's is your life... if you are not happy whoelse will make you happy???

Piece of Pancake

Today I have a sudden urge to make pancakes as dessert (heheh)... but I don't have much ingredients left in my kitchen cupboard... :( It has been a while since I cook... When I look at those inspiring food blogs, it makes me wanna grab my kitchen utensil and start baking again! :-) I must say their blogs are truly wonderful to read and at the same time motivating.

Below were the pancake recipe which I copied from a blog...

Whole Wheat Pancakes

3/4 cup quick-cooking oats
1 1/2 cups plus
2 tablespoons well-shaken buttermilk,
divided 3/4 cup whole-wheat flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon grated nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 large egg, lightly beaten
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 tablespoon packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons fresh pomegranate seeds
2 tablespoons chopped walnuts

Soak oats in 3/4 cup buttermilk 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt in a large bowl.

Stir egg, butter, brown sugar, remaining 3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons buttermilk, and oat mixture into dry ingredients until just combined.

Heat a griddle over medium heat until hot and lightly brush with oil. Working in batches, pour 1/4 cup batter per pancake onto griddle and cook until bubbles appear on surface and undersides are golden-brown, about 1 minute. Flip with a spatula and cook other side, about 1 minute more. (Lightly oil griddle between batches.)

Adapted from Gourmet


Honey Nectarine Pancakes
(makes about 12 medium sized cakes)

Dry Ingredients
1 1/4 cup all purpose flour
2 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda

Wet Ingredients
2 eggs
1 1/5 cup buttermilk (or milk, in a pinch)
1 tbsp honey

2 ripe nectarines

First, bring a pot of water to a rollicking boil. With a small paring knife, score the nectarines on the bottom (cut a little cross in the skin), and then drop the fruit into the boiling water for 2 minutes. Fish them out and rinse under cold water. Peel the skin off starting with the place where you scored the nectarines. If the nectarines are ripe, the skin should come off pretty easily. This also works with peaches. Core and dice the nectarines into bite sized squares.

Now, heat a little butter in a frying pan on medium heat. Whisk all the dry ingredients together. In a different, largish bowl, whisk all the wet ingredients together. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix with a wooden spoon or spatula until you can't see the flour anymore. Make sure to get to the bottom of the bowl because flour is tricky and likes to hide down there. The batter will be pretty lumpy, but that's ok.

With a small ladle, drop a little bit of batter onto the frying pan to make cakes about 3 inches in diameter (or whatever diameter you like them, really). Drop a few nectarine pieces on top of each pancake. When you see bubbles forming on top of the pancakes, flip them over for another 30 seconds to 1 minute. Continue until you're out of batter (if you'll be making lots of pancakes, heat the oven to 100F and store the finished pancakes on a cookie sheet in the oven to keep them warm). Serve drizzled with honey.

Time Out

I really hope that last week will never appear or repeat again in my life! It was such an annoying and agitating week for me! Aaarrrgghhh!!! Thank God I've got my dear hubby to support me and dear Jesus to shine His light at my path while all these things banging onto me.

Lucky thing was today is Sunday! All those were bygones now! I'm here looking for a little comfort... to patch up and repair all those wounds which has no good to me or my poor little soul. I guess a cup of hot coco or a piece of dark chocolate cake can help drown all my sorrows and problems away. Looking back, I really duno how I can survive all those nonsense!??

Before I forget, we celebrate our anniversary yesterday! This marked 1xth years that we are together as a couple! :) It has been a long and wonderful journey.... :) Nevertheless, it help to put all those nonsense away for a moment and let my poor soul recovered and get ready to fight again! :) Although it was just a simple celebration, we had fun and enjoyed it! :)

Thanks to dear hubby for the dinner (at a Taiwanese restaurant) although he did not planned it before hand (as always)... :P I guess the biggest comfort for the day was the scrumptious 'mango rolled in Mochi disc on top with coconut flakes' as our dessert... it was unexpectedly very good exceeded the main course.

And today, we had a fabulous buffet dinner (as post-celebration) at Hilton Hotel. I must say, it was really good! 2 thumbs up for their delicious food (and variety) and of course service!!! ^o^ We had a good time eating and relaxing at the restaurant. Mind you, we seldom go for buffet lunch or dinner as we afraid that the food might be disappointing but this one is surprisingly goood and the price was reasonable! I guess this wrap up all my lousy previous weeks and start new this week! :)

Hope y'all have a good weekend!

Gone Bananas

Problems on top of problems...! It seems like this is not my month after all.... >_<"

All the problems seems to roll in one by one each day... I do not know how much more I could handle, these "unforeseen" circumstances. Guess what? The cot which we ordered early this month got defects on them and the delivery guy who are suppose to find a new one for us did not call us in return. Bear in mind, we bought this cot from a reputable company who are suppose to care - the Mothercare shop.

So today, Mothercare suppose to deliver a new cot to our house to replace the defect one. It was so coincident that when they arrived, it rains cats and dogs! We do not know that the "cleaver" delivery guy bought the ready assemble cot in his truck!?? And it got wet when they open the back of the truck making it worst!!! So hubby reject it as it was very dirty, wet and still got defects on them! >_<>

When I think of it... it's just like a nightmare... I wonder do other parents also face this sort of problems while they are preparing for their newborn to arrival??? This month definitely not a good month for me! :'-( It started of quite ok but in between the road, it has a lot of humps in the middle.... I wonder when will all these nonsense going to end. If only my life could be made simpler. Btw, did I mentioned that I mistaken the appointment time for my gyne visit this month... *_*

You're Fired!

Not again...!!! Why are they (the confinement lady and part-time maid) kept giving me endless problems??? I'm getting very irritated and I'm tired dealing with all their shallow mind-set... >_<

Not that their services is any cheaper than others in the market price... and I still pay them promptly. I thought that by paying "double" of what the normal confinement lady charged would satisfied my confinement lady's greedy appetite to work but it seems that my confinement lady wants MORE!

After about 2 months from the agreed price and date, she agreed to work for me during my confinement period but now, just yesterday, she called to say that other people are charging more and she's not willing to work at the price she agreed on previously!!!! :0 What a greedy b****!!! You are telling me now... At this very last minute and my baby could pop anytime!! :S

I guess this is what the Cantonese are saying, "while you are ill, they will take your life"! This is what she is doing to me... She knew I'm desperately looking for someone to look after my baby yet she still do such nonsense to me. These people are very greedy!!!

Well, lucky thing was I did not depend so much on just her alone to look after my baby. I still have my back-up plan (thank God for that!). If I were to really just depend on one person alone I think I'll have heart attack!!! Serious! Normally I will think of the worst and then the best ways in solving my problems cause you never know which asshole will rack your plan last minute.

When life gives you lemon, just make lemonade! :-)

Dear O' Lord, please help me to go through all difficulties in life at this very moment. Please shed some light for me if I'm in the dark tunnel. Thank you Lord for all that you have done for me so far. Please continue to bless me and my family especially my baby which is still in my womb. We need your loving care and attention as always. Lastly, please forgive my sin and please show me the right from wrong. In Jesus name I pray. Amen.

I Love Photography

Recently me and hubby decided to have my maternity photography taken before my pregnancy due. So, after surveying for a few photographers, I decided to go to the one which provides studio & make-up services plus of course, their photography skills must not be too lousy. Now, I dare not have too high hopes on those freelance or studio photographer as their skills may vary according to their "mood". Sometimes what you see on their blog or website is very pretty but when comes to your photography session, it turns out otherwise. So I kept a broad mind on this matter.

Well, after all the emails and postponement of appointments, we finally set a date for our shooting!!! :) We were so excited! :) And I found my dress to go with the shooting as well as my hubby. We were all set to go for our shooting. Just have to wait for a few more weeks for my tummy to get bigger so that it will look nice according to the studio staff. So we waited for my tummy to get bigger around till about week 34! :-) It turns out, my tummy really got bigger than before!?! Huge! ^_^

The day was finally here! And we had our shooting done. It turns out all those photos were not too bad... although some were kinda weird - my hubby dislike a few pose in the photos and as for me, I was quite disappointed at the way he shot my Blueberry bear which I bought for my baby... :'( It was a waste that the photographer failed to see the beauty in his eyes.

Anyway, overall it was not too bad. I like a few poses and so do my hubby. Hopefully when the photos were edited it will look much better. Can't wait to show it to my dear baby.