Pancake Faces

Didn't promise this as this is the first attempt and there was big bowl of delicious "failures" which i devoured hungrily.

Hope they like it.

This Week's Menu Accomplished

Recently I have resumed cooking in the wee hours of the morning so that the little one gets a home cooked meal in the afternoon. And as backup if  the Tingkat meal is inedible. It's been 3 weeks now. Am usually asleep as soon as my head hits the pillow. And thats usually around 10pm afyer settling the 2 kids.

Menu planning usually begins the week before but is subject to change depending on whats fresh at NTUC. Shopping on Saturday or Sunday. Preparation of apportioning meats and vegetables by day happens before i put them into the fridge. Meats are defrosted overnight in the chiller. And cooking the morning.

I think this week's favourite was the Lotus Root soup. There was none left by the time I came back 😆

Eating Adventures

We've been quite busy introducing the world of baby foods since Way's 6 months birthday.

So far, he's had quite a lot even before the month is over. By a lot I mean, many types of food, but still in small quantities, at most 2 tablespoons, mostly 1 tablespoon.

His favourite firsts, meaning he finished the whole portion I prepared the first time were...
1. Egg yolk custard (1 egg yolk, 60ml expressed breast milk; steamed 10 mins; 2 portion)
2. Broccoli floret (boiled)
3. Oatmeal cereal (2 teaspoons heaped ground oatmeal; 30 ml expressed breast milk; steamed 10 mins)
4. Carrots & wong bok with brown rice and basmati rice porridge
5. Sweet potatoes mash
6. Mashed bananas (1/4)
7. Mashed pumpkin (1“ cube)

I found a shortcut to cooking that porridge...
I blended 1:1 ratio of basmati and brown rice. Put 1 helpful teaspoon of the mixture to small stainless steel sauce bowl and soak it with bout 70ml of water for about 2hrs. Then put it in rice cooker to steam with my rice. The consistency is just nice like cereal. No need to monitor, my kind of cooking!

I love his food pics, eats like a Boss! Haha.

Self Fed Pumpkin Puree

Cool.

I just scoop the sticky paste on the spoon and he chews and links it off. Repeat. Easier than me trying to wrench the spoon in! Hope he keeps getting hands on self feeding!

But poor appetite, due to runny or clogged nose. Hope he recovers soon!

Broccoli-Eating Like A Pro

Baby Way has passed motion 3 times normally since starting on egg yolk custard. Instead of waiting 4 days for the second sample, we're starting today!

Initially I wanted to try oatmeal cereal, but changed my mind to broccoli! It was Ning's favourite when she was starting on solids.

The first spoonful of puree didn't go very well, it was gritty instead of smooth like the custard. And it wasn't as sweet. So it was a challenge to feed him. I had reserved some florets for Ning, but decided to give him one to hold and see what a broccoli looked like, before it was pureed.

Lo, and behold, he held it like a drumstick and chomps away without any prompting! He devoured half the floret before dumping the limp stalk and remaining branches on the table. I will cut the stalk longer next time for him to hold again! What a treat!

Am still worried he wouldn't be able to digest those as well as the purees. Will check stool to see if I should continue with the pureed version, or florets! If no difference, will let him enjoy drumstick style next time!

Fried Quinoa Chinese Style

Ingredients
500gm mixed vegetables
300gm back bacon, cut in strips
4 eggs
250gm bunashimeiji mushrooms
1 tbsp of oyster sauce

Cook in rice cooker
2 cups of red quinoa (4 cups water)
1 chicken stock cube

Chop til fine
1in knob of young ginger
4-5 shallots
5-10 cloves of garlic

Fry bacon in oil, till slightly crispy (I prefer Chinese sausages or charsiew, but none in stock today... sweep aside.
Fry mushrooms, sweep aside.

Fry ginger garlic and shallots til fragrant.
Then fry the rest of vegetables.
Scoop into quinoa.

Crack eggs in oil and fry til just before solidify, pour in quinoa and rest of cooked stuff and stir in high flame. Smell burnt? Turn off flame. Lunch is served...

After lunch, I will put it all back in the rice cooker to keep warm til family returns for dinner.

Okonomiyaki, simple

Today we had okonomiyaki simplified for breakfast.

Ingredients
1/2 cup of flour (self raising or plain)
2 eggs beaten
3 grabs of shredded cabbage
1/2 cup water
1 or 2 sausages, sliced

First fry the sausages on lightly oiled (I sprayed olive oil) non-stick pan.

Then whisk the wet ingredients til no lumps, then put in cabbage and mix til all cabbage has the batter but not runny or dripping fast. Then pour in the cooked sausages and mix well.

Pour batter and spread around to preferred thickness. Cook till light brown.

Spray / spread oil on top before flipping. I used my wok ladle and wooden ladle to flip it. Cook to your preferred brownness and serve.

On serving plate, draw squiggles with mayonnaise (kewpie recommended) and BBQ sauce. I don't know where to get the okonomiyaki sauce :-)

15 minutes breakfast for 3 (or 4 if you are light breakfast eater).

You can add shredded carrots and other toppings like cheese, pulled chicken, bonito flakes, etc. Have fun!

Steam-then-fried Brinjal with Bean Paste

Forgot to take this down the last time, had to search YouTube again.

Ingredients
3 brinjals, cut 1 inch quarters
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1 tbsp ginger finely chopped or julienned
2 stalks of spring onions, chopped
100 gm minced meat (or more if you like)

1/2 cup water
1 tsp cornstarch
1 tbsp black vinegar
1 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp light soy sauce
1 tbsp bean paste (hot if preferred)

First soak the cut brinjal in salt water to prevent it from turning brown.

Steam for 8 minutes.

Dry stir fry mince meat until liquids evaporated. Push to side.

Pour 2 tbsp of cooking oil into wok or skillet.
Stir ginger, garlic and spring onions until fragrant, then add the bean paste. Stir and mix well.

Pour in the steamed brinjal and cook till the sauce is thickened and absorbed by the meat and brinjals. Serve with some fresh spring onions as garnish.

Salty muffins for breakfast

This one's simple with preparation.

Just distribute the sliced courgette, I used 1/3 of a large piece, ran it thru the Benriner slicer, some diced pineapples, chopped ham, shredded parmesan cheese, and 2 eggs beaten.

Made 6 muffins,  2 each.

Ning really missed the thousands and she's been understanding that she cannot eat the heaty foods for 1 week plus now. She asked if she could just put a tiny bit on her salty muffins and I agreed.

So voila!

Boiled baby kailan, steamed chicken and soy sauce mee sua

Boiled halved baby kailan in a bit of salt and oil. Added pepper, oyster sauce, bit of sesame seed oil to plates. Piled on the boiled mee sua and mixed. Marinaded chicken in salt, soy sauce, sesame seed oil and put to steam.

And we have tonight's dinner, voila!

And a whole sink full of dishes to wash up. Not recommended for a weekday after work meal.

Rainbow fried rice and chawanmushi

I didn't plan to fry rice today. All I wanted to do this morning was chawanmushi. I bought the hon dashi yesterday and saved some mushrooms from yesterdays batch.

When I woke, it came together, the corn, carrots and long beans can be fried with rice. So along with some chicken, garlic, onions, shallots and dried shrimps we have fried rice for tonight! Next time can add fried egg and some chopped mushrooms! Good for picnic or on the road.

This 1 pot dish isn't easy at all, loads of washing up to do. Ended up finishing only 7:30am. Finished my chawanmushi in lrss than minutes and off to work! Forgot to take picture of fried rice!!! Aargh. Tonight!

My 2nd organic box

Am not excited bout the greens...
But will take it as leafy vegetables are good for us right?

Tonight's dinner:
Fried kailan with dried shrimps
Mushroom mince pork potatoes
Lotus root soup

Long beans fried egg

Protein and fibre packed breakfast!

Tonight's clearance dinner

These are the vegetables I think won't last until we're back on Tuesday, so big cookout today!

Steamed then fried bean paste brinjal with minced pork (I just couldn't resist having a bit with rice before cooking the rest, first successful tasty brinjal dish I cooked)
Fried ladies fingers
Fried egg, mushrooms with 'neem gua'
Reheated leftover duck

Been at it since 0935am. Now time to hang laundry before fetching Ning.

Pumpkin, dried shrimps, mushroom, chicken rice

Yesterday, we had the above with the quarter piece of pumpkin. I fried everything with chicken (marinaded in oyster sauce) then add to the rice cooker while its cooking.

At dinner time, turned on keep warm and ate that with boiled broccoli, carrots and baby corn.

The rice looked a little over soft but the idea was there. Tasty. Like loh mai kai. Now I have a recipe for pumpkins!

Banana pancakes for breakfast

Surfed for a paleo recipe, my bananas and eggs version was not quite filling enough. Found this one from www.myfitfamily.com.

Ingredients
2 ripe bananas
3 eggs
1/2 tsp cinnamon powder
2 tbsp coconut flour
2 tbsp honey
1/2 tsp vanilla essence
And oil for the pan (i used coconut)

The results were firmer and more filling then my 2-ingredient original version.

Bon apetit!

Udon with eggs breakfast

15 minutes
1 pack of udon, miso and dried vegetables
2 eggs

And we have a filling and nutritious, sort of, breakfast for 3.

$30 Zenxin Organic Box

Total price of individual tags was $35.97. Most seems quite fresh. Think enough for 7 days vegetables. Only need to get soup or meats. Hope it can last the week in fridge without spoiling. 

I chose Cash on Delivery but the guy arrived when I wasn't around, I asked him to leave it at my door. Left a note to pay by bank transfer. Great!

Menu options for 2 adults and 1 child:

Fried chye sim

Fried celery, baby corn and carrots

Fried cabbage with carrots

Dried shrimp fried pumpkin

Boiled ladies finger with oyster sauce

Fried/boiled kailan with oyster sauce

Minced meat fried with steamed long beans and brinjal

Tips for clearer meat-based soups

Yesterday I got a tip or 2 from my primary school classmate on how to remove scum from basic Chinese herbal soup. I tried it out this morning. And I think it worked.

The tip was boil the meats in water for 5 minutes before putting it in my soup pot.

I thought it might hold me back coz I really need to hurry in the morning but with a bit of planning, it didn't hold me back at all.

Just needed to put water to boil before my 10-minute bathroom routine.

The second tip was to freeze to remove the oils from top layer. This one I cannot use yet. If only some invents an ice blow torch that'd do the trick! Blow freeze the surface, scrape away the oils and fats and the soup below still stays hot. Any inventors interested?

Advance prep of vegetables

I am a speed demon when it comes to cooking. The less time I spend on it the more time I have for Ning, Lougong and myself.

I only have an hour in the morning before Ning wakes, or is willing to start the day, and will not give myself more than half an hour to cook in the evening. I am talking about weekdays of course.

Yet I don't really like to serve Ning cold soggy vegetables. Or overcooked vegetables (in thermal pot).

So one way is to wash and pre-cut in the morning, and store my vegetables in air tight boxes in the fridge. When I return, I juz heat oil and fry.

Some supermarkets sell pre-packed vegetables like that; and the average restaurant or food stall vendors do that, though I don't think they use air tight containers. 

Not the best way in retaining nutrients but at least I know it's not left overnight or that cockcroaches / flies may have feasted on them before; if we ate out.

Having said that, the airtight containers that comes with a pump to remove air did keep my leafy vegetables fresh for 1 whole week. If left in fridge in original package my spinach or baby bok choy will definitely turn yellow or wilt in 3 days. So these containers are worth trying out ;-)