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.

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 ;-)

Scrambled MCP eggs

MCP isn't Male Chauvinist Pig and I am not frying any males this morning.

It's just...
mince (cooked in advanced and stored in fridge),
cheese (grated parmesan) and
parsley (chopped).

Easy and fast. Just beat 3 eggs. Mix all in.
Then stir fry in oiled pan.
Turn off flame before last bits of eggs solidify to keep it fluffy.

If you like solid eggs pancake style just leave it on the stove and flip when satisfied with degree of burn.

Add some fruits and pour milk.

Breakfast done for 3 in under 10 minutes.

Soy sauce chicken

This is one of Ning's favourite dinner.

I'll cook it in the morning before I go to work. It's really simple to prepare and the thermal pot keeps it warm til dinner time at about 7pm.

Ingredients:
4 large portions of chicken
Few slices of dongkwai (当归)
1 tablespoon of dark soya sauce
1 tablespoon of sesame seed oil
2 tablespoon of oyster sauce
1 tablespoon of soya sauce
Few slices of ginger
A teaspoon of corn or arrowroot powder with 1 tablespoon of water, added just before turning off flame

I usually get those large whole legs halved as a portion for each person, but you can have smaller pieces for more to share.

Put all the ingredients in the cooking pot. Make sure chicken is well covered with sauces. Leave for 5-10 minutes, you can cut your vegetables or prepare breakfast. This is when I'll wash and put rice to cook.

Turn on the flame, medium high and add 2 cups (200ml rice cooker cups) of water of water and bring to boil.

Turn the chickens around to coat with the sauces and continue to simmer for 15 minutes. Then add the corn or arrowroot solution, mix around and put the whole pot in the thermal pot. It'll still be warm 12 hours later.

You can add mushrooms, cauliflower, carrots or potatoes to make it a one pot meal. Happy eating!

Blogging with Omnia II

Discovered I can lower resolution of video, limit to 15s maximum, and I can email to this blog! So much easier than with the digital camera and desktop computer.

Also, have setup Hotmail & Gmail on the Omnia II. Together with the free Starhub broadband SIM card, I'm definitely going to be updating more often now :)

3-day laundry cycle

Shay Ning's using less diapers nowadays, since a month ago, on average 15 per day, so we're doing laundry 1 more day apart :) Later, maybe longer :) We still wash diapers with our clothes, no need to separate as I scrub off the solids before throwing into the machine.

Saves us on average 60 washes p.a. compared to 2-day laundry cycles :)

My 150 pc per box of Anakku nappy liners, cut in 2 for usage, should last us a month per box :) Am considering omitting the liners altogether since I have to scrub the 'massive' poos anyway, and most importantly, I don't like the way it sticks to her skin whenever we change her, wondering if it's uncomfortable or warm. It helps keep her dry even when nappy is wet, good when sleeping (dun suddenly wake up with wet and cold nappy).

Meanwhile, will still continue using until she's using the potty or when my stock is used up :)

Our new life routine

Nowadays, my daily ritual is feed and change Shay Ning every hour for 20-30 minutes each time between her 0600 - 1400hrs, then it's twice between 1400-1800hrs, and another 2-3 times between 1800-0000hrs. After that, it's 1-2 times between 0000 - 0600hrs. In the evenings, when she 'fusses', wouldn't sleep or feed, she needs to be held and soothed for 1-2 hrs to sleep, thankfully, Lougong is a good father and takes care of Shay Ning when she fusses in the evening so I can have dinner and take my shower. That is more or less the usual if she's not on a growth spurt, that is a totally different story, it's once every 1-1.5 hours from 0600 - 0000hrs.
 
Ever since Lougong has gone back to work, I've been following a 'system' to adapt to taking care of baby, myself and the household chores :)
 
For someone who cooks occassionally after work or in the weekends, and is okay cleaning house once every few months, this is a really BIG challenge. When Lougong went back to work, I have no one to pack lunch for me, to take over caring for Shay Ning when she fusses when I'm worn out, doing laundry (about 20 diapers daily), all that is quite a handful for me to handle on my own.
 
So, every alternate day, I do laundry, with about 65 diapers to last thru the 2-day laundry cycle. She wets close to 20 diapers daily.
 
As for food, I cook 4 portions of food when it's not laundry day, so I can refrigerate 2 portions for when it's laundry day, and when I cannot cook by lunch on a cooking day. Since I only have very short periods 20-30 minutes to prepare meals, I break up the preparation in these slots. When all the ingredients are ready, I use the steamer to make a stew / soup, with rice / noodle on top layer, sometimes steamed egg with minced meat or other side dishes on top (it has 4 layers). The Simply Her freebie induction cooker comes in handy as I can set the temperature (tried and tested beforehand) and the timer so that if I need to attend to baby for long periods, I don't have to worry about it boiling over at the gas stove ;) Convenient eh?
 
I've also been looking for snacks and decided to make sardine fillings (like those in curry puffs, fry chopped big onions, mash sardines with bones removed, then season with tomato sauch, salt, pepper) and egg mayo for toasted sandwiches. Checked online, these fillings can last a week in the fridge. So there, two snacks a day taken care of, once before lunch, once before dinner :) Maybe I'll make some hummus too, if I have the time, sigh.
 
Am tempted to get a sandwich maker :P I like my food hot :P
 
Till my next post, think it's time she wakes for milk.

Erm, just checked, she's awake, but went back to sleep. Gave me a very sleepy smile when I checked her diaper and asked if she wants milk. Sigh. These are the moments I live for nowadays :)