And just when you thought my collaboration with IKEA was over (read this, this, this and this), here I am back with a surprise that will interest you even more – I hope!

IKEA has revamped their menu and with that, introduced a range of new dishes and products including Veggie Balls. Hands up those who visit IKEA for food over furniture! Jason and I had actually tried these vegetables balls in-store, even before the good people at IKEA sent a packet over for sampling. At the IKEA restaurant, they serve the veggie balls with three sauces: yogurt based tzatziki, curry and black pepper. BUT of course, there are many other innovative ways to eat them.

For weekday lunches, I have had them rolled up in wraps (and crispy prata!) with chopped lettuce and a simple lemon-mayo sauce. I have also used them on top of Mesclun salads for the husband’s breakfast boxes. Today, I have an even brighter idea: Cook them in Shakshuka!

My family and I love Shakshuka, a dish of tomatoes, onions, peppers and spices topped with poached eggs, cooked in a skillet over the stove top, and usually served straight from the pan. In Israel, Shakshuka is often eaten at breakfast, but I have had this for all my main meals and my tummy more than agrees.

Last year, I cooked this for Christmas gathering with the besties, since Boon is vegetarian. Now I can add veggie balls. The addition of IKEA’s veggie balls – which are free of dairy and gluten – add more flavour and substance to the vegetarian shakshuka.

From the back of the packet:

There are many ways to cook Shakshuka. Everyone has their favourite recipe. For this variation, which is slightly different from my previous, I added a little bit of curry powder. If you eat meat, I actually like Shakshuka better with bacon and sausages, fried initially with the onions. This is an amazingly low carb dish – if you can resist mopping off the tomato gravy with slices of crusty baguette, that is.

The post IKEA Veggie Ball Cook-Off: Curried Shakshuka with Veggie Balls appeared first on Budgetpantry | Singapore Mummy Blog on Food, Recipe & Baby.

Disclaimer: This post is part 4 of the IKEA Bloggers Program in which I was given a gift card to revamp my place. All ideas and comments are my own.

Hello! I can’t believe we’re into the final installment of my collaboration with IKEA. The theme of the month is “In and around the kitchen”. THE KITCHEN! My arena! Although I already did my kitchen back in my first task Bringing the outdoors in, that was only ONE side of the kitchen. This month’s direction gives me the chance to do the OTHER side, which really looked like this before this week:

Chio not, my kitchen? Although it is was messy, nobody has died in here before. LOL. And many delicious dishes have come out from here, so don’t judge ok? Disclaimer: I had nothing to do with the “before” of this kitchen because I wasn’t interested in cooking when we moved in, but I admit, I have procrastinated too long.

The first thing I did was get rid of those Toyogo plastic boxes. They’re functional but so ugly, maybe the aunt got it to match the kitchen tiles. I replaced it with the marvellous KALLAX shelf, which comes in different colours, heights and widths. I got the one with 8 compartments, all empty at first – you decide how you want to dress it up. I chose 2 sets of drawer inserts and another insert with door for the aunt to store her medication. I kept the first compartment on the left empty so that I can display more of my bowls, plates and tingkat collection.

You can do whatever you want with these. More drawers? Ok! Black and white drawers? Not a problem! You don’t like the insert with door? Well then don’t get it. I decided to use storage boxes and baskets for the bottom compartments – they’re great for snacks and beverage, and stuff like ziplock bags and lunchboxes. I mixed and matched DRONA cloth boxes and KNARRA baskets to create some difference in texture. The KALLAX shelf is your personal DIY shelf!

On top, I placed items commonly used in my cooking – dried chilli, honey dates, trail mix (for my salads), mixed herbs – so that they’re easily within reach.

And now let me show you my favourite buy this month: the GRUNDTAL Kitchen Trolley. I have space problems in my kitchen – the space on the counter top is so limited, I get frustrated all the time when there isn’t even space for a few plates or for me to chop vegetables. And when a recipe calls for rolling out the dough, I have absolutely no space to do it. Now I do!

The GRUNDTAL Kitchen Trolley is stainless steel, and just the perfect addition to your kitchen if you have space constraints like me. What I really like about this trolley is that you can buy little hooks (I got both big and small sizes) to hang your ladles, spatulas, whisk, egg slicer, strainer, grater…. as opposed to chucking them (still damp) in a cutlery holder.

I can do all my food prep on the counter top! The trolley also has space for rolling pins and wine bottles, and a larger pull-out storage compartment below. Just perfect for my airfryer basket and salad spinner.

Nothing makes me quite as happy as organising my kitchen! You don’t have to spend a bomb to do it. Get the look:

Thank you IKEA for the four months :) We’ve had good times together!

You might also be interested in my other IKEA posts:
IKEA SG Bloggers Task #1: Bringing the outdoors in! (here)
IKEA SG Bloggers Task #2: The Living Room – I did colours! (here)
IKEA SG Bloggers Task #3: Dining – The Great Gatsby Wedding! (here)

The post IKEA SG Bloggers Task #4: In and around the kitchen appeared first on Budgetpantry | Singapore Mummy Blog on Food, Recipe & Baby.

Disclaimer: This post is part 3 of the IKEA Bloggers Program in which I was given a gift card to revamp my place. All ideas and comments are my own.

I’ve always been a bit obsessed with table settings and decorations. I had a rustic vintage theme for my Chijmes wedding in 2013, and chose pastel pink and blue, cream and white as the base colours. My bestie at work Aishah (I love you, beautiful mummy!) and I spent eight hours two days before the wedding to package the favours ourselves. We bought gold-capped glass bottles direct from the manufacturer, sourced for childhood biscuit gems and round baby biscuits, got the paper dollies, blue ribbons and “Handmade with Love” stamps and got down to work. We even had an old-school cakes and snacks dessert table complete with Hiro cake, Doraemon chocolates, Chok-Choki and cream horns and butter cream cakes from Balmoral Bakery. I know you want photos!

I really enjoyed planning my wedding! I wish I could do it all over again!

The moment I got to know IKEA’s theme for the month – “Dining” – I knew exactly what I was going to do. Re-live our wedding day with a candlelight dinner. The theme? The Great Gatsby. I hope this post will help you if you 1) are planning for your wedding or 2) want some ideas for a romantic dinner at home!

Most dining tables – or at least the ones I’ve seen – are basic with bare necessities (and lots of unrelated clutter like keys, pens, and letters). My dining table is a simple round marble top with dark chocolate legs, complete with matching chairs. It is simple and comfortable, but sometimes, especially during anniversaries and special occasions, the set-up can be a little blah. This was how my dining area looked like before the makeover:

And after!

When doing a crafty DIY/makeover project, I always stop by two places. IKEA and Arab Street. You can get fabric and textiles in any colour, texture or sheen that you want for $2-$4.50 a metre from the textile shops in Arab Street, or generally in the North Bridge Road area. As I wanted a Great Gatsby theme, I chose a crushed ivory fabric for the base and black satin as the table-runner. I also decided to amp up my dining table chairs with a sheer gold sash. Most textile shops give a bulk discount if you’re doing up many tables for your wedding, so ask the shop owners for a better price.

Another must-stop for crafty things like ribbons, string pearls and beads is Sin Hee Chuan Kee, also known as that “YKK shop”. They stock a crazy variety of ribbons, beads, zippers, buttons, headpieces and even feathers in many colours – black, white, navy, purple, yellow, pink – for $2.50 to $5 per packet (there’s easily 20 pieces per pack). Large Ostrich feathers are more expensive, about $25-$30 each (yes, per feather!). I got some gold ribbons and black tape (for dressing up plain candle holders as you can see in the pics), but my favourite buys were the strung pearls and beads. An entire spool for only $8 to $10 depending on size.

You can use fresh flowers for your centrepiece, but I chose artificial white roses, hydrangea and magnolia. IKEA has a nice selection of artificial flowers which you can mix-and-match for your centrepiece. To up the glam factor, I dressed up the crystal vase with pearls and gold beads using clear tape.

And of course we gotta have candles. Have you seen these beautiful candle holders? At $21.90 for three of varying heights, these were a classy addition to the theme. I chose to pair these with petite tealight candles instead of long candlesticks because I didn’t want the candles to compete with the floral centrepiece for attention. Tip: Decide from the get-go what you wish to focus on. Candles or flowers? If you decide to use candles as the centrepiece, then choose taller candlesticks and shorter vases and little dainty flowers. If you’re going for a glamorous floral arrangement, then choose shorter candles.

I also picked up some (ok, many) candle holders, some wine glasses, a 24-piece cutlery set and little glass containers for candles and flowers. The FÖRTJUST Tealight Holder is usually for er, tealights, but I used it to hold my block candle instead. I think it is very pretty! And at $3.90, it is an absolute steal.

For candles, the FENOMEN set of five for $8.90 gets my vote. With different heights, they’re a great way to add some interesting spark to your dining table.

And with the ribbons and tape that I got from Arab street, I added detail to the PLATS Salt and Pepper Shakers, GLASIG Tealight Holders (only $2.90 for 5! The budget auntie in me is screaming in joy) and the RAJTAN Spice Jars, which I used as little vases to hold my $2 roses from Daiso.

Here’s the look with the candlelight. There are a lot of pictures but I couldn’t resist snapping them!

Get the look:

What a fun challenge this has been! I hope this post has given you some ideas on how to decorate your own wedding on a budget!

You might also be interested in my other IKEA posts:
IKEA SG Bloggers Task #1: Bringing the outdoors in! Kitchen Makeover (here)
IKEA SG Bloggers Task #2: The Living Room – I did colours! (here)
IKEA SG Bloggers Task #4: In and around the kitchen (here)

The post IKEA SG Bloggers Task #3: Dining – The Great Gatsby Wedding! appeared first on Budgetpantry | Singapore Mummy Blog on Food, Recipe & Baby.

Disclaimer: This post is part 2 of the IKEA Bloggers Program in which I was given a gift card to revamp my place. All ideas and comments are my own.

The Living Room Challenge is is part 2 of the IKEA Bloggers Program. Read about my kitchen makeover in Part 1 of this series: IKEA SG Bloggers Task #1: Bringing the outdoors in! Kitchen Makeover

My living room is very typical of a Chinese family. Dark brown leather sofa, wooden cabinets, traditional embroidery-type cushion covers, Chinese vase by the side complete with fake CNY pussy willow (銀柳) and a terribly out-of-place Victorian style lamp with mismatched floral lampshade. Oh, and that Chinese painting on the wall passed down from my grandfather – it is apparently worth a lot of money.

The aunts are quite proud of their traditional-looking living room, so imagine their apprehension when I suggested to change the look-and-feel by just a little bit. I’m not about to do anything large-scale, I told them. I’m going to leave the sofa, cabinets, gaudy curtain and painting untouched, but maybe I could add some vibrancy by mixing some materials and textiles, patterns, prints and colours?

We often have relatives over for coffee and cakes, so I’ve also been wanting to spruce up our living room for some time now to make it more guest-friendly. What better way to do this than with a couple of lidded cake stands, complete with a table-runner, matching candles and nifty paper napkins for an inviting pop of colour?

I’ll confess, my plan was to bake a pandan chiffon for my aunt’s bestie who’s visiting today, but baking right after touchdown (I just came back from Japan less than 20 hours ago and slept for 6 hours) is no joke. So I’ve decided to entertain with Tokyo Banana instead. And to add on to the goodies, I got some ginger thins, pear cream biscuit sandwiches and packet lingonberry and apple & strawberry smoothie (!) from IKEA’s Swedish Food Market. Talk about having everything under one roof!

When entertaining, IKEA’s range of cake domes and tiered stands are perfect, just what I need for storing freshly baked cakes and breads. The large dome is now a permanent fixture in my living room table for little snacks. I like it so much, I have another one in the kitchen! The aunt is obviously in love with it and has hurriedly transferred her loaf of Gardenia bread from the oven even before I could say anything else.

Since we’re on the subject, the Apple & Strawberry packet smoothie is my latest favourite drink! It is made with 100% fruit purée and one packet is an acceptable 96 kcal. I think it’ll be good as an afternoon pick-me-up (I already eat fresh fruits for breakfast).

I also decided to add some life to the living room couch with cushions of contrasting colours. My little niece Cara loves to throw ALL my soft toys around so these chic cushions will do nicely for her, I think. I secretly wish they will distract her from my poor soft toys which are trampled to death every time she comes for a visit. Ah mm also loves the bigger cushion because it can support her back better. I spied her using it while watching TV just now! Get the look:

I thought these would be too edgy for my aunts, but they surprisingly liked it and said our living room looks tonnes more modern now. So you see, you can transform your living room even without a major overhaul. Til the next collaboration post!

You might also be interested in my other IKEA posts:
IKEA SG Bloggers Task #1: Bringing the outdoors in! Kitchen Makeover (here)
IKEA SG Bloggers Task #3: Dining – The Great Gatsby Wedding! (here)
IKEA SG Bloggers Task #4: In and around the kitchen (here)

The post IKEA SG Bloggers Task #2: The Living Room – I did colours! appeared first on Budgetpantry | Singapore Mummy Blog on Food, Recipe & Baby.

Disclaimer: This post is part 1 of the IKEA Bloggers Program in which I was given a gift card to revamp my place. All ideas and comments are my own.

BREAKING: I’m finally showing you my embarrassment of a kitchen. I can’t believe I have cooked everything on this blog in here. Going by how much of a sucker I am for pretty presentation, really, who would have thought my kitchen looked like that? My colleague even went as far to accuse me of messing it up deliberately for this challenge. No really, I am this messy.

When IKEA Singapore approached me for their 2015 Bloggers Program, short of being surprised, the first thing I thought of was, “I AM SOOO GOING TO REVIVE MY KITCHEN”. The collaboration with IKEA will run for four months. To kick-start the program, our theme for June is: Bringing the outdoors in.

The kitchen is the one place where I spend most of my time in at home. It is the place where all our meals are whipped up, where Jason’s breakfasts get prepared, where my lunchboxes get packed, where our last meal of the day is cooked. It is the first place Ah-mm goes to when she wakes up (see that red chair in the first picture? That’s where she takes her medication every morning) and the last place 88 goes to before she sleeps (she always needs to eat something before going to bed). I knew I had to make it a more comfortable place for all of us.

And finally, my vintage faux formica stools can see the light of day (I collect vintage things) and now I have a place for my Kitchen Aid (thank you Mayer Singapore)!

My problem was really, storage. I live in a regular 4-room HDB flat with my aunts. When we bought the flat, I hadn’t picked up cooking yet, not that obsessively, anyway. No one gave a *** about how the kitchen would look like and what storage capacities we’d need. As time passed (and I bought more and more plates, trays, cutlery… you get the idea), we quickly ran out of space. I decided to fix our storage problems (and the ugly mismatched shelves and table) by getting a nice shelving unit and accompanying baskets. Everything unsightly can go right in, instead of being left all over the place or stuffed in every nook and cranny imaginable. I also got some pretty tea towels to cover them up so they look neat and uncluttered.

I dressed up the baskets with existing little bunches of flowers. I also had a polka-dot countryside-style basket sitting around since forever, so I used it to store Jason’s wine glasses, corkscrews, and wine-related stuff. Much better than letting the wine glasses stand dangerously on the ledge just waiting to be broken.

I made use of the KNARRA woven baskets to store the rest of my items. Food stuffs in the first basket, lunchboxes in the second, and baking stuff and measuring cups, plus little things in the third.

These baskets are sturdy and don’t break easily. I thought of getting those plastic baskets from Daiso and I’m glad I didn’t. Seeing how these baskets fit right in, I know it’ll just not be the same, both functionally and aesthetically.

We used to have this red plastic trolley which we place our electric kettle. I replaced it with a MOLGER trolley in the same series as the shelving unit, and used it to also store my plates and bowls, and sugar and coffee. Macam hotel. I think Ah-mm secretly loves it cos I refill her white coffee for her every couple of days now.

I now have more space for my plates and bowls. And that means I can buy more!

The folding outdoor table is from their TARNO range. It comes with matching folding chairs but I didn’t get those due to space constraints and because I secretly wanted to use my retro kopitiam stools. The brown is lighter than the shelf and trolley, but that doesn’t matter, because for furniture to “match”, it doesn’t mean they all have to be the same colour. The lighter brown actually match with the off-white baskets and provides a nice contrast to the darker wood. Plus, I think it’s just beautiful with the grass-green rug.

I’m kinda proud that Jason and I can both hold our own when it comes to fixing up IKEA’s flat-pack furniture. I fixed the trolley and he fixed the shelving unit. We challenged each other to see who would take a shorter time. He won, of course (by just a few minutes!). We completed both in about 45 minutes and saved a hundred bucks in delivery and installation fees. And now, you should check out the look book:

I’m so happy with my new kitchen. Thank you, IKEA Singapore, for getting me off my butt to finally do something about it. I love it that it is less cluttered and I’ve solved a lot of my storage problems. And although I don’t have a balcony, there’s still a small area for us to sip tea and have a slice of cake.

Can’t wait to know what the other themes will be. I’m starting to love our (very frequent) IKEA trips! (Jason prefers the food, but we’ll leave that for another day.) LIKE me on Facebook and follow me on Instagram to get alerted on my 2nd IKEA task!

If you have time, please leave me a comment to tell me what you think. More tips and tricks are very welcome!

You might also be interested in my other IKEA posts:
IKEA SG Bloggers Task #2: The Living Room – I did colours! (here)
IKEA SG Bloggers Task #3: Dining – The Great Gatsby Wedding! (here)
IKEA SG Bloggers Task #4: In and around the kitchen (here)

The post IKEA SG Bloggers Task #1: Bringing the outdoors in! Kitchen Makeover appeared first on Budgetpantry | Singapore Mummy Blog on Food, Recipe & Baby.