Weaning Baby and Toddler Food Recipes

Facts on Bananas

2011-11-11T11:40:00.004+08:00

I took this from facebook, posted by FreeZonal.. very interesting and helpful.. do read on..

Never, put your banana in the refrigerator!!!...This is interesting. After reading this, you'll never look at a banana in the same way again.

Bananas contain three natural sugars - sucrose, fructose and glucose combined with fiber. A banana gives an instant, sustained and substantial boost of energy.

Research has proven that just two bananas provide enough energy for a strenuous 90-minute workout. No wonder the banana is the number one fruit with the world's leading athletes. But energy isn't the only way a banana can help us keep fit. It can also help overcome or prevent a substantial number of illnesses and conditions, making it a must to add to our daily diet.

DEPRESSION:According to a recent survey undertaken by MIND amongst people suffering from depression, many felt much better after eating a banana. This is because bananas contain tryptophan, a type of protein that the body converts into serotonin, known to make you relax, improve your mood and generally make you feel happier.

PMS:Forget the pills - eat a banana. The vitamin B6 it contains regulates blood glucose levels, which can affect your mood.

ANEMIA:High in iron, bananas can stimulate the production of hemoglobin in the blood and so helps in cases of anemia.

BLOOD PRESSURE:This unique tropical fruit is extremely high in potassium yet low in salt, making it perfect to beat blood pressure So much so, the US Food and Drug Administration has just allowed the banana industry to make official claims for the fruit's ability to reduce the risk of blood pressure and stroke.

BRAIN POWER:200 students at a Twickenham (Middlesex) school ( England ) were helped through their exams this year by eating bananas at breakfast, break, and lunch in a bid to boost their brain power. Research has shown that the potassium-packed fruit can assist learning by making pupils more alert.

CONSTIPATION:High in fiber, including bananas in the diet can help restore normal bowel action, helping to overcome the problem without resorting to laxatives.

HANGOVERS:One of the quickest ways of curing a hangover is to make a banana milkshake, sweetened with honey. The banana calms the stomach and, with the help of the honey, builds up depleted blood sugar levels, while the milk soothes and re-hydrates your system.

HEARTBURN:Bananas have a natural antacid effect in the body, so if you suffer from heartburn, try eating a banana for soothing relief.

MORNING SICKNESS:Snacking on bananas between meals helps to keep blood sugar levels up and avoid morning sickness.

MOSQUITO BITES:Before reaching for the insect bite cream, try rubbing the affected area with the inside of a banana skin. Many people find it amazingly successful at reducing swelling and irritation.

NERVES:Bananas are high in B vitamins that help calm the nervous system..Overweight and at work? Studies at the Institute of Psychology in Austria found pressure at work leads to gorging on comfort food like chocolate and chips. Looking at 5,000 hospital patients, researchers found the most obese were more likely to be in high-pressure jobs. The report concluded that, to avoid panic-induced food cravings, we need to control our blood sugar levels by snacking on high carbohydrate foods every two hours to keep levels steady.

ULCERS:The banana is used as the dietary food against intestinal disorders because of its soft texture and smoothness. It is the only raw fruit that can be eaten without distress in over-chronicler cases. It also neutralizes over-acidity and reduces irritation by coating the lining of the stomach.

TEMPERATURE CONTROL:Many other cultures see bananas as a 'cooling' fruit that can lower both the physical and emotional temperature of expectant mothers. In Thailand , for example, pregnant women eat bananas to ensure their baby is born with a cool temperature. So, a banana really is a natural remedy for many ills. When you compare it to an apple, it has FOUR TIMES the protein, TWICE the carbohydrate, THREE TIMES the phosphorus, five times the vitamin A and iron, and twice the other vitamins and minerals.. It is also rich in potassium and is one of the best value foods around So maybe its time to change that well-known phrase so that we say, 'A BANANA a day keeps the doctor away!'

PASS IT ON TO YOUR FRIENDSPS: Bananas must be the reason monkeys are so happy all the time! I will add one here; want a quick shine on our shoes?? Take the INSIDE of the banana skin, and rub directly on the shoe...polish with dry cloth. Amazing

And here are some of my recipes that contain Banana:

Crepe with Banana Slice

Banana Raisins Loaf

Banana Muffin with Yogurt

Alamak, only three.. looks like I need to explore more recipes using Bananas! Meanwhile, go on PEEL ONE TODAY !

Update

2011-11-10T16:18:00.003+08:00

Dear all,

Haaa... it's been a really long time since I last blogged. And couple weeks ago, my blog was spammed really badly that I'd to close it down for awhile to clean up. So yes, it's back again and I'm terribly sorry to all of you who'd difficulties in accessing my blog.

On blogging new recipes... This blog started as a journal of my weaning recipes for my then 10 months old daughter, Arianne. She is now 5, and mainly eating adult's food. I hardly just specially cooked for her, therefore I don't have any new weaning/toddler recipes to blog for. But I'm still woking and baking religiously for the family whenever I find time as now I'm a full time working mum. Nevertheless, my recipes in this blog are 'evergreen'. They will never, yes for now I'll use the word 'never', be outdated. The only thing that might be outdated is where you can buy the ingredients.

My email is still active and my facebook account 'Littlegastronomy Brenda' is also being updated once in a while. So do feel free to continue sending me queries you might have in whetting your lil ones' appetite, I'll surely reply them as and when I can.

For now, this blog will continue for anyone to browse and use. I'm really happy that after 5 long years this blog is still getting traffic and you mummies are still writing to me :)

So yes! it's still very much alive! ;)

Happy Y2011

2011-01-03T10:30:00.003+08:00

Dearest readers of Littlegastronomy,

As you can see I'm hardly updating my blog these days as I've been committed to a full time job now. I've left cooking for my lil one mainly to my helpers.

However, I'm still actively replying emails, queries and such. Just that sometimes it might take a while.

I was actually on the verge of closing this blog down but the constant receipt of encouragement from you(from my stats report, I still see a high traffic) which makes me want to keep this blog 'alive'.

Thank you for your patronage, and do keep your mails coming in. I may not be blogging new recipes but I hope the 100 over recipes in this blog suffice your lil tummies' hunger (=

Happy New Year! May 2011 brings you and your family lots of love, happiness and glorious food!

Updates

2010-11-06T13:43:00.003+08:00

Dear all,

As mentioned before I'm having blogging problems, mainly at uploading my pics. So blogging of new recipes will have to put on hold till I solve this pics uploading issue.

However, I still check on comments left and emails received so do keep in touch! But do give me an allowance of up to 2 weeks in responding as I've currently taken up a new job. (YES! Im back to FTWM status!)

For Breakfast Menu Planner, I've been receiving quite a few requests but without the necessary info I requested. Please check on this post what are the required info so that when you send your request, I can proceed efficiently without delays.

Also, when leaving a comment do quote your child's age so that I can advise accordingly ya..

Missing blogging already.... :(

Cheers to all!

I'm having problems blogging..

2010-09-10T17:56:00.003+08:00

Dear all,

I have been having a lot of problems blogging my recipes, I can't seem to upload pictures successfully so I may resort to sharing my recipes/thoughts/whatever on Littlegastronomy's Facebook account. Therefore, for those of you who are not on my Facebook, please do add yourself by simply searching for 'Littlegastronomy Brenda' or my email addy: littlegastronomy@gmail.com

Or you may add yourself to the group: Littlegastronomy

Selamat Hari Raya Aldifitri to all my Moslem readers and 中秋节快乐 to my Chinese readers and whoever that are celebrating these festives! (I love festives, it simply means YUMMY FOOD!)

Soupy Whole Grain Veg Pasta

2010-08-23T14:33:00.003+08:00

Very healthy, effortless to prepare and eye-appealing! These pastas are made with whole grain flour and has a nutty flavor that pairs well with chinese noodles soup style. Very child-self-feed friendly too..Ingredients for a 3-4year old / Prep
Whole Grain Veg Pasta, a palmful / Boil in water until softened. Takes about 6-8minutes.

Hard Boil Egg, 1 / Boil an egg in water for about 10minutes, remove shell and slice.

Frozen Corns+Garden Peas, half a rice bowl / Soak with water after removing from freezer.

Garlic, 1 small / Dice

Grapeseed Oil, 1tbs

Chicken Stock, 300-400ml(can be replaced with clean tap water or any other kind of stock)

White Ground Pepper, a few dashes

Cook
1. In a shallow pot using low heat, heat up the oil then stir-fry the garlic till fragrant.

2. Add the corn and peas, continue to stir-fry for about 2-3 minutes.

3. Pour in the stock/water, allow to simmer.

4. Once the soup starts to boil, add in the softened pasta and stir for a minute or so. Add in few dashed of white ground pepper then turn off heat.

5. Remove from pot, serve on a dish and gently place the sliced hard-boiled egg.

Remarks
For toddlers above 18months: Add half a teaspoon of salt when boiling the pasta to enhance the pasta's flavor.

Add chicken, fish or beef if desired.

Chicken Porridge

2010-08-11T16:02:00.004+08:00

On our National day, I decided to make Singapore's signature dish, The Hainanese Chicken Rice, again.. ya, my 2nd attempt. This time is much much better than the last. I decided to use NORMAL chicken found at supermarket shelves than Sakura chicken I previously used.

I used the same stock to make some tofu and cabbage soup. This was what Arianne had for dinner that night..

The next day, with the stock I used to boil the chicken with and some breast meat I shredded for keeps, I whipped up chicken porridge. It was wholesome and Arianne had 3 bowls of it!

Ingredients/Prep
1soup spoon Short Grain Brown Rice + 1soup spoon of White Rice/Rinse 3 times.
300-400ml Chicken Stock(left over from boiling chicken)

60-80g Boiled Chicken Breast Meat/Shred into strips

3tbs Roasted Ground Nuts(I usually oven-roast a whole tupperware. There's no need to remove skin. Fresh Nuts will take longer to cook)

A few leaves of Spring Onions/Cut into small bits

1 slice of Ginger/Remove skin

A few drops of Light Soya Sauce(or desired amount. Can be replaced with salt)

A few dashes of White Ground Pepper

Cook
1. Boil the combined white+brown rice with the chicken stock until softened. Add the slice of ginger in.

2. Add the ground nuts and chicken, simmer for 10minutes.

3. Add desired amount of pepper, light soya sauce or pepper.

4. Remove from heat, serve on a wide neck bowl and sprinkle spring onions on top. Serve warm.

So many dishes can be conveniently wokked up just from one main ingredient!

Important
For babies below 12months, please remove the ground nuts in case of allergy and seasonings are not necessary but a bit of pepper is ok and pepper helps ease colic as well as digestion.

Steamed Chicken Rice

2010-07-14T14:28:00.009+08:00

This is a no-brainer, quick fix dish when I need to whip up something fast to fill hungry lil tummies(including my own), ala Hong Kong steamed rice in metal pots, whereby you can add other ingredients such as chinese wine sausages and salted fish. Yummy! This is a version for younger babies.Ingredients/Prep(for a 3.5year old Child)
1pc Chicken Fillet/Rinse well then cut into cubes or slices

Handful of Leafy Veg

Half a Garlic/Mince

2 small slices Ginger

2 soup spoon of Rice/Rinse and set aside.

Cook
1. Marinate the chicken fillet cubes for at least 30mins with:
Minced Garlic and Ginger slices
1tsp of Light Soya Sauce
1tsp of Dark Soya Sauce
1tsp of Sesame Oil
Dash of White Ground Pepper
0.5tsp of Corn/Potato Starch

For adult's or older kid's consumption, you may add these ingredients for better flavour to marinate the chicken(and I'd prefer to use a whole drum stick or chicken wing): (adjust the amount accordingly)
More Sesame Oil
Oyster or Abalone Sauce
Sugar
Salt

2. In a metal plate(I used the medium size for 1 person type), spread the rinsed rice grains evenly. Add about 8-10soup spoons of clean tap water or fill till sufficiently covering the rice grains.

3. In a deep pot with boiling water, steam the rice grains for about 10minutes or until slightly dry.

4. Arrange the marinated chicken fillet cubes on top of the rice neatly. Continue to steam for another 15-20minutes.

5. Place the veggies next to the chicken and continue to steam for another 5-6minutes or until the veggies are cooked.

6. Remove from heat and serve when it's warm.

Yesterday's preloved, Today's hope

2010-06-28T12:02:00.003+08:00

Dear all,

I'm doing my lil bit to raise funds for the abandoned children at the Singapore's Children Society by contributing and selling preloved children's apparel at this blog.

You can help by buying the items or by donating your child's preloved items too.

Let's just do what we can..

Vegetarian Mee Sua

2010-05-13T10:40:00.003+08:00

Ingredients/Prep
3-quarter chinese bowl of Mee Sua(Flour Vermicelli)

4-5 pcs Chinese dried mushrooms/Soak in hot water for about 10-15mins then rinse a few times, cut into thin slices.

1 Hard-boiled Egg/Cut into slices(Do make sure you use a clean chopping board).

Handful of leafy vegetable/Rinse well and drain.

300-400ml of Veggies Stock(I used soya beans, pumpkin, radish and celery)

Cook
1. Simmer the veggies stock in a pot using medium heat.
2. Once the stock starts simmering, add the mushroom and allow to simmer for about 5minutes.
3. Add the leafy veggies and mee sua.
4. Once the veg is cooked, add a dash of pepper and stir well.
5. Remove from heat, arrange the cut hard-boiled egg, and serve warm.

Coffee Session with Littlegastronomy

2010-04-15T17:42:00.003+08:00

~ 13May2010: Coffee Session is now closed. If you're interested for future sessions, do feel free to write to me and I'll keep you posted. Cheers! ~

Dear all,

I've been receiving quite a number of classes(postweaning/cooking/supermarket tours etc) requests, and with my tight schedule, I thought I could make some time to have a cuppa session with you to chat about any post weaning, cooking for babies, soothing mother-in-law(heehee..).

I think I can make time for a 2 hour session at a cafe place(most likely in town) and I'll arrange it over a weekend so that more can join in. Each pax will be charged at $20.00 with a drink thrown in and I'll limit the space to a maximum of 10pax. So anyone who is interested in attending, drop me a note at littlegastronomy@gmail.com or drop a comment here with your particulars:

Your Name/Contact Number/Email Address
Your Child's Name/Date of Birth

First come first served, cheers!

Last Night's Dinner

2010-04-13T19:23:00.011+08:00

Dinner Menu for 4 adults + one 3.5 year old child
Pork Ribs Soup with Sweet Corn and Carrot
Stir-fried Chye Sim with Hard Bean Curd
Deep-fried Fish(Sorry, just don't know the name)
Steamed White Fluffy Rice

Pork Ribs Soup
Ingredients/Prep
About 700g Pork Ribs(If you don't know which type is good for making soup, ask the butcher behind the counter)/Boil in water for about 5 minutes then drain.

2 Sweet Corns/Cut into chunks

1 large Carrot/Cut into chunks

8 large Red Dates(I don't compromise on my ingredients so I buy the best red dates. Large and very ruby red ones are yummy!)/Rinse and drain.

10 cloves of Garlic/Rinse thoroughly without removing the skin.
if you want good results)/Rinse with hot water then drain.

3-4 litres of Clean Tap Water

Cook
1. In a very large pot, boil the clean tap water and once it starts to simmer, gently submerge the boil-rinsed pork ribs into the simmering water. Allow to boil using high heat for 30minutes.

2. After 30minutes of boiling the pork ribs, add in all the other ingredients and boil for another 30 minutes using high heat.

3. Turn to low heat and keep the soup simmering for another 1 hour.

4. Add half a teaspoon of salt if desired but I didn't, as the soup was tasty enough. Serve with warm fluffy rice.

It's been awhile since I last had time at home to cook dinner. And my 3.5year old Arianne is now quite a 'big' eater (big in my standard). Arianne is now 16.4kg, and just 3 weeks ago she weighed 15kg. I'm not sure if I should credit myself for a healthily growing child, or should I be crediting the helper since she has been preparing Arianne's meals more than I did!

tsk tsk..

But I think I like to tap my own shoulders for raising a child who enjoys her food (=

Oh.. and she enjoys her drinks** and good company too.. heehee
drinks** : No child was harm while taking this pic. It was sparkling grape juice, complimentary from Aunty Krist at a Xmas party. Pic taken by Uncle Sammybuttons..

Spelt Macaroni

2010-03-23T15:18:00.006+08:00

This is one of the most nutritious pastas I learnt.. And its nutty, naturally sweet flavor is also very pleasing to my 3.5years old's palate. I make it either in creamy sauce or simply, in chicken clear soup. Oh, I paid $6.80 for this pack of 375g at Bunalun, and can be found in most other organic stores.

Spelt is commonly used in cereal and is somewhat similar to wheat. A very healthy grain that is high in fiber and protein. For more info on its nutritional value, click here.

Spelt Macaroni in Chicken Soup
Ingredients/Prep(for a 3.5year old child)
0.5 Chinese Rice Bowl of Spelt Macaroni/Cook in boiling water for about 10-15minutes or until softened then drain, and add a dash of Mild Olive Oil, toss well.

50-60g Chicken Fillet/Cut into cubes and marinate for about 15minutes with 1tsp sesame oil, 1tsp light soya sauce, 0.5tsp corn flour and a dash of pepper.

2tbs Canned or Frozen Corn Kernels(can be replaced with Chickpeas, Kidney Beans, Garden Peas or Sugar Beans)/Rinse and drain.

A Handful of Purple Leafy Spinach(can be replaced with other leafy veg)/Wash clean and use hand to pluck into pieces.

300ml Chicken or Pork Stock(can be replaced with clean tap water, just less flavorful)

Cook
1. In a pot using medium heat, bring the stock to boil then add the marinated chicken cubes and cook for a few minutes or until the chicken cubes turn white. Keep stirring while it simmers.

2. Add the corn kernels and the spinach, continue to simmer for about 2-3 minutes.

3. Add the softened macaroni, bring to boil then remove from heat. Serve warm.

Try the creamy version, simply replace the spaghetti with this spelt macaroni and to make the creamy cheese sauce, click here..

Remarks
For 10-12months old Babies: There is no need to marinate the chicken cubes. Blend the dish after it is cooked before feeding.

For 12-18months old Toddlers: Marinate the chicken if desired but consider halving every marinate ingredients used. Do not blend the food, just use a fork and mash to lumpy texture.

For Adult's Consumption: For more flavor, add a dash of salt and another teaspoon of sesame oil into the dish when it's simmering.

Stir-fried Minced Beef

2010-03-02T15:00:00.005+08:00

Ingredients/Prep(For a 3.5yr old)
50-60g Lean Minced Beef/Marinate for about 30minutes with 0.5tsp salt, 0.5tsp sugar, 3-4tbs clean tap water, 0.5tsp corn flour, dashes of white ground pepper, 2tsp sesame oil.

1 Small Sweet Potato/Remove skin and cut into chunks.

20g Garden Peas/Rinse and dry.

1 Small Shallot/Remove skin and cut into small bits.

1 Garlic/Remove skin and mince.

1tbs Canola or Grapeseed Oil

25g Unsalted Butter

100-150ml Clean Tap Water(I used water instead of stock is because the beef and sweet potato are already very flavorful)

Cook
1. In a wok using medium heat, add 1tbs of oil(Canola or Grapeseed) then add 25g unsalted butter.

2. Once the butter melted, fry the garlic and shallot until golden brown then add the minced beef. Using a spatula, pat the beef down to sizzle.

3. Once the beef starts to get fried, add the peas and the sweet potato chunks. Continue to stir fry for 1-2minutes.

4. Add water bit by bit, stir-fry while doing it. (For adult's consumption, add 2tbs of oyster or abalone sauce for added flavor)

5. Once all the water has been added, allow to simmer using low heat for about 20-25minutes.

6. Serve warm with white fluffy rice.

French Toast

2010-03-01T10:12:00.003+08:00

Sorry for the lack of posts... Work, traveling and new maid have taken a toll in my daily life lately..

I haven't been able to wok up anything much for A simply because she's eating mostly what we adults are eating now. But there's this breakfast that I, myself and everyone at home have been enjoying. And best of all? It only takes me a few minutes to make it..

That Golden French Toast..
Ingredients
4 Slices of Thick White Bread (at least 2cm, the thicker the better)

1 Egg

2 Tsps of Sugar

60ml Fresh Full Cream Milk

A few dashes of Cinnamon Powder(can be omitted)

30-40g Unsalted Butter

Cook
1. In a bowl, beat the egg together with the sugar, milk and cinnamon powder.

2. Cut the bread into half and into triangles or quarters. Soak the bread into the egg mixture for about 2-3minutes.

3. Using a flat pan and SMALL fire, once the pan is SLIGHTLY warm, add butter. (The trick to good french toast is suitable heat, if too hot, the bread blacks easily)

4. Gently place the soaked bread into the pan, fry each side for about 1-2 minutes or until golden brown.

5. Place the fried bread onto kitchen paper towel. Sink your teeth into them while it's hot. YUMMY!

Mini Sponge with Chocolate Dripping All Over!

2009-12-18T13:42:00.006+08:00

I'm back and it's nice to be home. Especially with a new fridge and a new OVEN!! heehee :)

And the first bake out of my spanking new oven is this..
and I attempted to make them look Xmassy.

Ingredients
120g Self-raising Flour/Sifted
100g Unsalted Butter/Softened
80g Caster Sugar
2 Eggs/Gently whisked
2tsps Vanilla Extract

Bake
1. Preheat oven to 180degC and line 12-muffin tray with paper cases.
2. Using an electric mixer, whisk the butter and sugar together until white and fluffy.
3. Add the gently whisked egg bit by bit, continue to whisk.
4. Add the vanilla extract, continue to whisk until everything is well mixed.
5. Stop the mixer and using a spatula, fold the flour in batch by batch. DO NOT attempt to mix the batter well, just fold in and ignore the lumps or uneven mixture.
6. Spoon the batter into the lined paper cases, half filled.
7. Bake the cakes at 180degC for 13-15minutes. Use a toothpick to poke through the cakes and when it comes out clean, means the cakes are baked.

Toppings
100g Dark Chocolates
50g Icing Sugar
30g Unsalted Butter
Silver Balls and Snow Powder(Edible, sold at Phoon Huat)

8. Meanwhile melt the dark chocolates, butter and icing sugar together in a bowl over a pot of boiling water, whisking with a fork. Leave aside to cool down.

9. Remove the cakes from the cases in order to cool faster. Place the cakes on a wire rack.

10. When the cakes are completely cooled down, using a teaspoon, spoon the cooled down chocolate mixture on the top of each cakes, allowing the chocolate to drip down on the sides.

11. Add the silver balls and using a small sift, sift the snow powder over the cakes for a xmassy effect! (can be replaced with nuts or dried fruits)

STAY TUNED for more xmassy goodies!

110th Recipes Blogged!

2009-12-05T00:49:00.009+08:00

I don't know why but I have never counted the number of recipes I have in this blog. And since I can't sleep so I gave it a count tonight.

It's a whopping 110!

a hundred and ten recipes blogged!

Ok, I must admit I am one lazy and an IT un-savvy person. I do not know the simplest, most effective way to book-keep these recipes or have them archived (err.. except for the food pics). If anyone out there happens to have been doing this (for me, hiak! :P), will you be kind enough to give me a copy? Or any kind soul will do that for me?! hahaha :P Ok I know. I was just testing my luck.

Anyway, happy reading and thanks for all the wonderful encouragement in keeping my soul massaged, ego boosted so that I could keep my blog pulsating!

Cheers to everyone and yes, festive is around the corner and I will be leaving town again for holidays so blogging will be lagged.

Merry Merry Merry Xmas to everyone. May your table be filled with all the tasty yummy treats this Xmas! I know mine will be as I will be wokking for about 30 people this time!

Pan Fried Salmon with Noodle Soup

2009-12-03T17:36:00.006+08:00

This is quite a 3 minute dish to wok up. And especially if you don't like the smell of salmon as much as me, pan-frying it before adding into soup or porridge is actually crafty method to reduce that fish odor.

Ingredients/Prep for a toddler
1 slice of Salmon(about 70g, 1cm thick)/Rinse, pat dry then pan fry each side for about 2 minutes without oil as the fish itself has lots of oil. Pat the fried fish on a kitchen paper towel to remove excess oil then use a fork to flake it.

0.5 packet of Egg Noodles

A handful of Leafy Veg

1 small Potato/Cut into small cubes, soak in clean tap water. Drain just before cooking.

300ml Chicken Stock(Or any other soup stock)

Cook
1. Boil the chicken stock. Once the stock starts to simmer, add in the potato cubes.
2. Add in the noodles, use a fork to stir while the noodles get softened.
3. Add in the salmon flakes and the leafy veg.
4. Cook for about 2 minutes using medium to high heat. Add a dash of pepper. For adults, add a teaspoon of soya sauce to add more flavor.
5. Remove from stove and serve when it's warm.

Remarks
For another toddler's version, add 2 tablespoons of tomato ketchup
For another adult's version, add Garlic Chilli sauce! my favorite!

Promo: FUN KITCHEN ware

2009-11-26T17:48:00.004+08:00

I've always like using silicone ware. They're very durable and helpful in the kitchen. But they don't come cheap.

However, I found an inexpensive option, whereby the products are as effective! And from now till end of the year (31st Dec 2009), all Littlegastronomy readers will get a 5% discount. Just type in 'Littlegastronomy' in the 'Alternative' field provided in the online order form at the website.

I find these 2 items very helpful:
Table Mat (after discount S$7.60ea)
This is super effective. Not only you can use it as a mat for hot pots and there'll be no more flying saucers in the house!

Spatula (after discount S$10.26ea)
You can use this as a mixer or for wok frying. Easy to wash and helps to scoop up every bit of gravy in the pot.

Go to Bulk Bazaar (under Kitchen) for more info. You'll need to register as a member before you can make your purchases (= Happy shopping!

Creamy Mashed Potato

2009-11-26T14:51:00.007+08:00

Mashed potato; such a simple, easy to prepare food yet every mouthful delivers immense comfort. I love indulging in it when the day is rainy or when I have no appetite at all. My Arianne happens to love it as much as I do.

And the secret lies in the ingredients. Got to be a good quality fat(got to be creamy french butter) and russet potato; these 2 main characters cannot be compromised.

Ingredients/Prep for a toddler
1 Big-sized Russet Potato/Remove skin, cut into big chunks and boil in water until softened. Drain the water and leave the cooked potatoes in the pot.

30-50g Unsalted Butter(I use President)

100-200ml Full Cream Milk(I use Pura. Adjust the amount accordingly)

Salt & Pepper (Amount as desired)

To Make
1. Right after the potatoes are softened, drain the water and quickly add in the butter, milk, salt & pepper(as desired) and use a fork or masher to combine everything in a smooth paste.

2. Serve when it's piping hot.

Remarks
: Add oven-roasted bacon bits for a different texture or cheese for added flavour(then skip salt totally). I've got a cheese mashed potato recipe for reference.

: For a different variation, use sweet potatoes instead.

: Try with Chicken Gravy.

Mee Goreng

2009-11-17T12:41:00.006+08:00

Ingredients/Prep
0.5 rice bowl of Dried Egg Noodle/Soak in hot water to soften then drain.

1 slice Chicken Fillet/Boil the fillet in 300ml of water for a few minutes to cook then shred with a fork or simply cut into cubes.

Hard Bean Curd(Tao Gua)/Cut into dice.

60g Leafy Veggies/Pluck into 1.5-2cm lengthwise.

1 small Tomato/Remove seeds, cut into cubes and mash with a chinese soup spoon or with pestle and mortar.

1 clove of Garlic/Remove skin and dice.

Seasoning:
3-4tbs Tomato Ketchup
0.5tsp Dark Soya Sauce
2tsps Thai Fish Sauce(Can be omitted for children below 24months old)
Dashes of Ground White Pepper

Cook
1. In a wok, using medium heat, add about 2tbs Canola or Grapeseed oil.
2. Add the diced dried bean curd to fry.
3. Once brown, using the spatula move the bean curd aside in the wok then add the diced garlic.
4. Once the garlic is fragrant, add the veggies and shredded chicken and combine the bean curd too. Stir fry for about 2 minutes or until the veggies turn darker green.
5. Add the mashed tomatoes and all the seasonings. Continue to stir fry.
6. Turn heat down to low and add the softened noodles to mix well with the sauce in the wok.
7. Serve warm.

Remarks:
Add a bit of cooled boiled water at step 6, just before dishing it up if the dish seems to dry for your child.
For Optional: Add a sunny side up egg for some side kicks!
For adults consumption, use sweet chilli sauce instead of tomato ketchup.

Promo: Personalised Stickers

2009-11-06T15:15:00.000+08:00

Dear all,

I’ve tied up with the Australian brand STUCK ON YOU for Littlegastronomy readers to enjoy a discount when you purchase their very effective and adorable looking labels. Click here for info on the promotion and mouse over the graphic to get to the ordering page that will recognise the promo. If you’ve difficulties in getting into the promo website, here it is https://www.stuckonyou.biz/singapore/

The promo is only from today(6th November 2009) till next Monday(9th November) at 2359hrs, and only opened to postal delivery addresses within Singapore.

ENJOY labelling!

Queueing for German Muesli Bread in the heart of Chinatown

2009-10-27T13:18:00.003+08:00

$3.50 per loaf
Super Yummy German Muesli Bread
30minutes of queuing to order(anytime of the day)
15-20minutes of queuing to collect
At Hong Lim Complex, right opposite the food centre

WE LIKE! Store in the fridge and warm up by toasting it for a few minutes. Eat on its own, eat with peanut butter, eat with jam. Nice!

Steamed Egg, Fried Veg w Mushroom, Steamed Corn

2009-10-21T12:32:00.004+08:00

This was what Arianne had for dinner last night; simple and fast to cook..(Ingredients amount are based on cooking for 2 adults + a 3 year old)

Steamed Egg
Ingredients
2 Egg
300ml Pork Stock (made previously)
80ml Fresh Milk
4 tsps Mirin
A pinch Salt & Pepper

Cook
1. Mix all the ingredients together well.
2. Pour the egg mixture through a strainer into a big bowl for steaming.
3. Steam for about 8-10minutes.

Suitable for babies above 10months (remove salt)

Steamed Corn
Ingredients/Prep
1 Corn/Remove corn bits from kernel using a teaspoon
Tiny bit of Unsalted Butter

Cook
1. Place the corn bits on a plate and use a fork mix in the butter.
2. Steam for 10-15minutes or until cooked. (I chose to steam the corn in the rice cooker while cooking rice)

Suitable for babies above 9months old(Remove butter and make sure the baby is monitored if he/she is self-feeding)

Fried Veg with Baby Mushrooms
Ingredients/Prep
A handful of Chye Sim(or Sio Pek Cai)/Wash well then use hands to pluck into sections.
10-12 Baby Dried Mushrooms/Soak in hot water for about 20minutes then use a scissors to trim off the legs.
1 clove Garlic/Mince

Seasoning:
2 tbs Abalone Sauce
2 tbs Chinese Wine
Dash of Pepper

Cook
1. In a wok, heat up about 2-3tbs grapeseed or canola oil.
2. Add the garlic and stir fry till fragrant.
3. Add the softened mushrooms and continue to stir fry for about 1-2minutes.
4. Add all the seasonings and mix well by stir frying the mushrooms for about 3-4minutes.
5. Add about 200ml of clean tap water.
6. When the dish starts to sizzle, add in the veg and continue to fry for about 2-3minutes or until the veg is cooked.
7. Remove from wok and serve on a plate.

Suitable for toddlers above 18months old

Hainanese Chicken Rice

2009-09-30T10:10:00.007+08:00

It's my FIRST try in cooking the authentic Hainanese Chicken Rice! (err I'm a Hainanese)

It was quite a satisfying attempt as Arianne loved it to bits! It wasn't as difficult as I thought it would be, just need a lot of time, patience and passion. So if you've all these 3 up on your sleeves one of these days, let me know and I'll be happy to share the recipe (= (here's the recipe)

You'll need to cook the entire chicken for this dish to achieve it but no sweat, as the cooked meat can be frozen for up to 2 weeks, and shredded for mee goreng or cooking macaroni soup/porridge later.

I'd like to correct the misunderstanding that Hainanese Chicken is STEAMED, no it isn't. It's 焖, and I can't find the right translation for this Chinese word. When I babeled fish for it, this was what I got:

Yes, indeed it's supposed to be cooked in a covered, large vessel but without the heat, just very hot water then the bird will be submerged into icy cold water for a nice cold bath to keep the meat succulent and gives the skin a silky finish. Nice!

The pot of hot water used to cook the bird in is now turned to chicken stock and can be used for many many dishes. Nothing is wasted!

Tempura Veggies

2009-09-21T15:06:00.008+08:00

I find this one of the most effective methods to make children eat their vegetable. And it's easy to prepare and fast to cook.

Ingredients/Prep
2 mid-sized Sweet Potato(or broccoli, zucchini, french beans, sweet beans, capsicum etc)/Remove skin and cut it either strips or chunky slices.

Tempura Batter:
100g Cake Flour(I've not tried Plain or All Purpose flour before but they seem to work too)
2tsp Potato or Corn Starch
100ml Icy Water
1 Egg
Sugar, Salt & Pepper, if desired

Cook
1. In a metal bowl, mix together all the tempura batter ingredients. (If there's a lot to fry, add a cube or 2 of ice into the batter)

2. In a bigger bowl filled with ice, place the metal bowl with the batter in the middle to keep the batter chilled.

3. Use a kitchen towel and pat dry all the veggies before frying.

4. Heat up oil in a wok for deep frying. When the oil is very hot, start frying. Don't overcrowd the wok, take time to fry batch by batch. Serve while its warm.

French Butter Cookies, Sables

2009-09-17T16:05:00.002+08:00

Sable, pronounced as 'Sa-bl' in French, meaning sand. These cookies are the 'sandiest' I've baked so far.. Very crumbly and buttery. I googled for the recipe and ended up using this from The Joy of Baking, with some modifications and a Mickey Mouse cookie cutter I bought (about $3.50) at Pantry Magic the day before..

Ingredients/Prep
150g Unsalted Butter/In room temperature and use the best butter you can find, such as President's.
70g Caster Sugar
1 Egg/Lightly beatened
1tsp Pure Vanilla Extract
280g Plain Flour
0.5tsp Baking Powder

Egg Wash:
1 Egg Yolk mixed with 1tsp Pure Vanilla Extract(I prefer using egg yolk as the shine is really golden)

Bake
Refer to Joy of Baking on how to bake these lovely buttery cookies..

Macaroni and Cheese

2009-09-15T17:28:00.006+08:00

Also fondly known as Mac and Cheese to some.. I love this dish as it's simple to prepare and yet every mouthful is hearty.

Ingredients (2 Adults + 1 Child)/Prep
200-230g Elbows or Macaroni/Boil with some salt then drain.
250-300g Cheese(I used mixed Shredded Parmesan & Cheddar this time, bought at Cold Storage)
500-600ml Fresh Full Cream Milk(Add or lessen when necessary)
100g Butter/Divide to 40g/60g
30g Plain Flour
80g Bread or Cracker(Khong Guan Plain) Crumbs
2 cloves Garlic/Mash and dice
Few leaves of Basil/Wash thoroughly then mince.
Dashes of Ground Black Pepper(or Sweet Paprika powder)

Cook
1. In a sauce pan using small heat, add the 40g butter and brown the diced garlic.
2. Using a fork, stir in the plain flour.
3. When the flour has soaked in all the melted butter, stir in the fresh milk. Using the fork, keeps stirring constantly.
4. When the milk starts to simmer, add in the cheese and stir till all melted.
5. Add in the minced basil and ground black pepper then mix well. Remove from heat and set aside.
6. Place the boiled macaroni/elbows in the casserole, pour the cheese sauce over. Use the fork to mix well.
7. In a small frying pan, melt the other 60g butter then brown the bread crumbs until crispy.
8. Layer the fried bread crumbs on the macaroni, bake in oven at 180degC for about 35-40minutes. Serve while it's warm.

Remarks
: If desired, add veggies such as peas or capsicum. Dice the veggie and add to cook after the fresh milk has been added.

: For adult's consumption, sprinkle with salt just before serving.

Another Muffin: Banana Yogurt with Almond Flakes

2009-09-10T18:09:00.000+08:00

I can't help it but to explore another flavor of yogurt muffin, and gosh! it turned out so wonderful(even better than the last Yogurt Dried Apricot Muffin) as it was so soft that it sort of melted in our mouth when we sank our teeth into it.

This was perfected with Almond Flakes topping.. it gives a crunch to the little cakes.

Ingredients/Prep
4 tubs(4x60g) Petit Miam Yogurt

5 small Bananas(about 170g)/Mash just before adding into mixture. Mash into chunks.

100g Unsalted Butter/Softened at room temperature

100g Raw Brown Sugar(I prefer to use brown sugar for this because it gives a prettier brown to my muffins)

2 eggs/Lightly beatened at room temperature

200g Plain Flour

2tsp Baking Powder

1tsp Bicarbonate of Soda

Pinch of Salt

50-70g Baked Almonds(Roasted also ok and can be omitted to avoid nuts allergy)/Slice into pieces.

Bake
1. Mix all the yogurt and mashed chunky bananas together in a bowl.

2. Preheat oven to 180degC and line a 12-holes muffin tray with paper cases or grease the holes with butter.

3. Cream the softened butter and raw brown sugar together until light.

4. Whisk in the lightly beatened egg bit by bit.

5. Stir in the yogurt mix to blend.

6. In another large bowl, sift the plain flour, baking pwoder, bi-carb and salt together then fold into the yogurt mix by 3-4 batches. Do not over mix the batter, it's alright if the batter is not well blended and flour is still visible.

7. Using a medium sized soup scoop and a tablespoon, fill the muffin holes with batter till 3/4 full then sprinkle the almond flakes on top of each muffin batter then bake for 20-25minutes or until golden brown.

8. Once baked, remove the muffins from the oven and leave on a wire rack to cool.

Remarks
I paired the muffins with Gyphon's Lemon Ginger Mint tea which is caffeine free. It was so good that I had 2 muffins and 3 cups of the tea in a row.. *burppp*

Arianne is 3!

2009-09-08T20:49:00.002+08:00

Dear all,

I'll be missing in action for awhile as I need to keep my big girl (ya! 3 already!!) Arianne entertained during this period of time. Keep your mails/comments coming and I'll reply as soon as I can.

Here's the birthday cake I baked for her
Double Chocolate with Strawberries

I really couldn't think of baking her anything else except chocolate.. it's her favorite flavor for now.

Be right back..

The Hainanese Chicken Rice Recipe

2009-09-02T13:58:00.000+08:00

There are 3 parts to this recipe:
The Chicken
The Rice
The Chilli

The Chicken Ingredients/Prep
1whole Chicken (I bought a sakura chicken at about 1.6kg which is hormones free and less fats from fairprice)/Clean thoroughly, keep the head, neck and feet, just trim the nails and remove hair strands.

1knob Old Ginger, about 50g/Mash slightly, no need to remove skin.

5-6cloves Garlic/Rinse, no need to remove skin.

30g Salt(I used raw sea salt)

Marinade:
100ml Chicken Stock(from cooking the chicken)

0.5tbs Fine White Sugar

4tbs Light Soya Sauce

2tbs Sesame Oil

1tsp Thai Fish Sauce

>>In a bowl, stir to mix all the marinade ingredients well.

A bunch of Chinese Parsley

Cook
1. Put all the ingredients into a large pot and fill the pot with clean tap water. Remove the chicken, place aside in a basket to drain then boil the water with the rest of the ingredients.

2. When the water starts boiling, holding the chicken at its neck, dip into the boiling water and stir one round then lift it up. Repeat this about 5-6 times.

3. Turn off the heat and submerge the chicken into the hot water and cover the pot. Allow the chicken to cook in there for about 50minutes(chicken will be about 80% cooked consistency. If you want the chicken to be 100% cooked, extend the cooking time to 1hour. The breast meat will be slightly tougher).

4. In another large pot with ice and water, remove the chicken from the hot water and dip into this icy water for a 15 minutes cold bath.

5. After the cold bath, drain the chicken and just before eating, chop the chicken into bite sizes. (To freeze, don't marinate)

To plate the chicken, place cold cucumber slices on the plate first then the chicken meat then drizzle the marinade all over and garnish with the chinese parsley.

The Rice Ingredients/Prep (for 5 Adults + 1 Toddler)
4cups Thai Fragrant Rice Grains/Wash twice in the compartment of the rice cooker.

8 Pandan leaves/Wash clean then tear each leave into half at the centre then tie all the leaves into a bunch.

6cloves Garlic/Rinse clean and no need to remove skin.

30g Old Ginger/Mash slightly, no need to remove skin.

5tbs Fried Shallot Oil(You can use other types of oil too but it won't be as fragrant)

2tsp Salt(I used raw sea salt)

Cook
1. Fill the compartment with the chicken stock from boiling the chicken earlier till the mark that says 4 cups. Put the rice cooker to cook.

2. When the rice is cooked, stir well before serving.

The Chilli Ingredients/Prep
2 Big Chillies/Wash and cut into chunks for blending.

6-8 Chilli Padis/Wash and cut into chunks for blending.(Add or lessen the chilli padi according to your own preference)

2-3 Shallots/Remove skin and cut into chunks for blending.

30g Ginger/Remove skin and cut into chunks for blending.(I used old ginger but young ginger can also be used if you don't like the old ginger spiciness)

2tbs Bean Paste

1tbs Fine White Sugar

4tbs Vinegar(I used the Heinz Apple Cider vinegar)

>>Blend all the above together till fine. To dilute the chilli paste to one's preference, add the top layer of the chicken stock which has oil. Add salt or sugar to your desired taste.

For the chicken stock, add parsley or preserved raddish veg and fried shallots as soup. The remainder stock can be frozen.

Enjoy!

Chicken Winglet Stew

2009-08-31T12:30:00.004+08:00

Ingredients/Prep(For one 3 year old child)
3pcs Chicken (Skinny)Winglets/Clean thoroughly
2tbs Frozen Garden Peas/Defrost and soak in water
20g Carrot/Pare skin then cut into tiny cubes
1clove Garlic/Remove skin, cut into chunk
1clove Shallot/Remove skin, cut into chunk
200ml Chicken or Pork Stock(If don't have, water is fine.)

Seasoning:
2tbs Lee Kum Kee Chicken Marinade(can be replaced with 3tbs Light Soya Sauce)
0.5tsp Thick Dark Soya Sauce
0.5tsp Raw Brown Sugar
0.5tsp Sesame Oil
Dashes of Black Ground Pepper

Cook
1. In a shallow heavy bottom pot(prefer with lid), using low heat, heat up the sesame oil.

2. Add the winglets into the pot gently to brown both sides. Each side for about 2minutes then remove from pot, place on aside on a plate.

3. Back to the pot, add the chunked garlic and shallot. Brown till fragrant.

4. Add the brown sugar and stir till caramelised.

5. Add in the carrot and peas, stir to fry until fragrant.

6. Add in all the other seasonings, continue to stir fry for about 2-3minutes.

7. Pour in the chicken stock slowly and bring to simmer.

8. Once simmer, place the winglets back to the pot, cover the pot with its lid(keep the lid ajar) and allow dish to stew for 20minutes. Serve with warm white rice.

Remarks
Stewing is the process of slow cooking your meat in the lowest possible heat. Charcoal stew is the best I've tried so far!
For this dish, you can modify it for adult's consumption by adding more seasonings if necessary.
Replace chicken winglets with chicken breast, veal, pork or beef. All will be equally yummy.

Yogurt Muffin

2009-08-11T19:23:00.004+08:00

I've been quite bored with the usual banana muffin, choc muffin, blueberry muffin that I decided to try using yogurt for my yesterday's bake.. awwwwwww it turned out so well that I made 2 batches in a row!

Simply loveeeee the smell of the vanilla peach and vanilla yogurt (Petit Miam's) in the muffins.. They turned out to be so soft and moist, LOOK!
Ingredients/Prep
4 tubs(4x60g) Vanilla Peach and/or Vanilla Petit Miam Yogurt

150g Dried Apricots(I bought the unsulphured Turkish ones from Brown Rice Paradise. They can be replaced with any other dried fruits such as raisins, dried prunes, dried peach etc..)/Soak in water for about 20-30minutes or till softened then cut into bits, not too small so that when one bites into the muffin, can still taste the presence of the fruit.

120g Unsalted Butter/Softened at room temperature

100g Raw Brown Sugar(I prefer to use brown sugar for this because it gives a prettier brown to my muffins)

2 eggs/Lightly beatened at room temperature

200g Plain Flour

2tsp Baking Powder

1tsp Bicarbonate of Soda

Pinch of Salt

Bake
1. Mix all the yogurt and chopped dried apricots together in a bowl. You can keep some to garnish on top of the muffin batter before they go into the oven for baking.

2. Preheat oven to 180degC and line a 12-holes muffin tray with paper cases or grease the holes with butter.

3. Cream the softened butter and raw brown sugar together until fluffy and light.

4. Whisk in the lightly beatened egg bit by bit.

5. Stir in the yogurt mix to blend.

6. In another large bowl, sift the plain flour, baking pwoder, bi-carb and salt together then fold into the yogurt mix by 3-4 batches. Do not over mix the batter, it's alright if the batter is not well blended and flour is still visible.

7. Using a medium sized soup scoop and a tablespoon, fill the muffin holes with batter till 3/4 full and bake for 20-25minutes or until golden brown.

8. Once baked, remove the muffins from the oven and leave on a wire rack to cool.

Remarks
Muffins can be kept in the fridge for about a week. Use the toaster or oven to warm it up before eating. Even if it's at room temperature, always warm it up a little before eating. The butter and yogurt smell will re-vigorate!

Arianne helped to mix the yogurt and apricots.

Cornflake Cookies

2009-08-03T14:58:00.007+08:00

This morning I read the newspaper and felt disturbed with this mum who made her baby(looks like 10-12months old) posed in the washing machine for pictures. What was that mum thinking?! Just hoping to capture cute moments of her baby looked in that washine machine drum?? I dread to imagine if any accidental press of buttons were to happen at those perfect picture moments.

I've also come across mummies who enjoy experimenting foods with their very young babies. I like to further emphasize that a 6 to 9 month old baby who is going through Post Weaning stages, does not need a food menu. In fact we should be very very very conservative when feeding babies who are at weaning stages. Strictly apply the 4 days(some say 3 days) allergy sussing out rule, and do not mix ingredients(eg like a pumpkin+zucchini mixed puree) until the allergies of individual ingredient have been ruled out. A wrong food can cause eventual or sudden illness. Anyway here's a blog that contains many informative read, written by fellow mums about parenting and such. For example, if you're looking at bouncy castles on your child's next birthday party, here's a suggestion from the blog. Just to share..

And for recipe, this is a very simple to make (with Arianne helped out) cookies. Suitable for babies above 9 months old but have water on standby and be watchful in case the crumb is too large to swallow.
Ingredients/Prep(if any)
180g Wholemeal Flour + 1/4tsp Baking Powder/Sifted together
1 Egg/Gently beaten
50g Icing Sugar
70g Cornflakes(2 packets of the small boxes sold in supermarkets)/While in the bag, use fingers to crush them. (Arianne enjoyed this part most!)
125g Unsalted Butter/Room temperature, softened.
1tsp Pure Vanilla Essence

Bake
1. Preheat oven to 180degC.

2. In a large mixing bowl, using the electric whisk, cream the softened butter, sugar and vanilla essence until pale and creamy.

3. Add the egg and continue to whisk until well incorporated.

4. Using a spatula, fold in the sifted flour by batch.

5. Stir in the cornflakes and mix well.

6. Line a baking sheet/tray with parchment paper.

7. Using a 2 tablespoons, fetch dollops of dough onto the baking sheet. When the entire dough is done, bake the cookies for 20minutes or until golden brown at 180degC.

8. Remove from the oven once the cookies are baked and leave the cookies on wire rack to cool.

Remarks
: Try not to eat the cookies when it's piping hot (I know it's very tempting!) as this will easily cause sore throat.

: After the cookies have been completely cooled down, they can be stored in an air-tight container for up to 3 weeks.

: A great snack both adults and children will enjoy..

Mediterranean Chicken in Tomato Gravy

2009-07-13T12:27:00.005+08:00

Ingredients(For 2 Adults + 1 Toddler)/Prep
3 Chicken Thighs/Trim off excess fats and rinse then pat dry.
2 Med-sized Tomatoes/Rinse then cut into quarts.
1 Med-sized Potato/Remove skin, cut into chunks then soak in water.
1 Carrot/Pare skin, cut into chunks.
1 Med-sized Onion/Remove skin, cut into quarts.
1 Garlic Clove/Remove skin, mash.
1 Star Anise/Rinse and pat dry.
1 Cinnamon/Rinse and pat dry.
3-4 Parsley Leaves/Rinse
4 tbs Balsamic Vinegar(Most people use white wine but I prefer this)
3 tbs Tomato Paste
3-4 Seedless Black Olives, if desired for additional flavor
3-4 tbs Olive Oil
300ml Chicken Stock (add more if necessary. If no chix stock, use water)
Salt/Pepper, to taste
Raisins(for garnish), if desired

Cook
1. Sear the chicken thighs in a deep frying pan (preferably comes with a lid) with the olive oil using high heat, each side about 3-4 minutes to seal in the juices. Remove from pan and sit the thighs on kitchen paper towel to remove excess oil.

2. Using the same pan, not rinsing off the oil used to fry the thighs earlier, stir fry the garlic and onions for a minute or 2.

3. Add the star anise and cinnamon stick, continue to stir fry till fragrant.

4. Add in the potato and carrot chunks, fry for 2-3 minutes then add in the parsley leaves, tomato chunks and olives (if adding).

5. Place the seared chicken thighs into the pan then drizzle in the balsamic vinegar and add the tomato paste. Stir in to combine all the flavors well.

6. Slowly add in the chicken stock till all ingredients are fully submerged. Bring the dish to boil, once it starts to bubble, add salt/pepper to taste then turn down heat to small and cook for 30minutes.

7. Remove from heat, serve with rice, paella, pasta, quinoa or nasi briyani and garnish with raisins, if desired.

Remarks
Another Arianne's favorite, simply for the tomato flavor!

Green Bean & Barley Drink

2009-07-07T16:37:00.004+08:00

Sometime back I remember watching this scene in some Korean drama serials(really can't recall if it was 大长金. I can never remember the shows' titles after watching them!), someone in the show used green bean(aka mung beans) soup to help another person with a wound at anti-inflammatory.

I've also been hearing from some people like my aunts that green beans help to 'cool' the body and eliminate and/or expel phlegm. Honestly, I really don't know if these info have any medical facts. I tried finding more info on it but there isn't much convincing findings.

Well, the thing is Arianne loves this drink and asks for it quite often. I like it myself too, especially when it's very chilled. You can try freezing and making lollies out of this.

Ingredients
100g Green(or Mung) Beans
100g Barley (Use the Pearl ones, not the China ones)
A bunch of Pandan Leaves(aka Screw Pine)
Desired amount of Raw yellow/brown Sugar
2.5L Clean Tap Water

Boil
1. Rinse all the 3 ingredients thoroughly and put everything into a pot with the 2.5L of clean tap water and use hight heat to boil.
2. Once bubbles start, put to low heat and cook for about 40-50minutes or until everything has softened. Serve warm or chilled.

Tomato Sauce

2009-06-26T17:02:00.004+08:00

As I've been quite busy with the office and traveling, hence Arianne's meals are mostly prepared by my trusty helper now. But I still do the stocks and sauces so that A could still enjoy a bit of her mum's touch in her meals.

Tomato sauce is one of her favorite and I bet with many other children too. It's super easy to make and very freeze friendly(up to 2 weeks at least!).
Ingredients/Prep
2tbs Tomato Paste (as shown in pic, can be bought at most supermarkets)
400ml Clean Tap Water or Chicken/Beef STock
1 Small Fresh Tomato/Cut into cubes
0.5 Yellow Capsicum/Cut into cubes
1 Garlic/Dice
1 Small Onion/Dice
2 tsp Olive Oil
Seasoning:
2tbs Balsamic Vinegar
1tsp(flat) Brown Sugar
Tiny bit Salt to taste
Dashes Ground Black Pepper

Cook
1. In a deep saucepan, add the olive oil then add garlic and onion then stir fry till fragrant.
2. Add in the fresh tomato and capsicum, continue to stir fry till soft.
3. Add the tomato paste and stir to blend in.
4. Add the water and bring to boil.
5. Once the water starts boiling, add in all the seasonings, stir while adding.
6. Allow sauce to simmer for about 5 minutes using medium heat. Remove from heat and leave to cool. Freeze only when the sauce has completely cooled down.

Remarks
For Pasta: Use this sauce with pre-cooked pasta, while heating up the sauce, add white fish cubes or diced beef/chicken.

For Baked Rice: Add sauce onto rice and bake in oven for about 20minutes using 180degC then remove dish from oven, add a slice of cheddar or grated parmesan, send dish back to oven and change temperature to 200degC and bake for another 8-10minutes.

For Poached Dish: In a frying pan, melt the frozen sauce and once the sauce starts to simmer, add fillet of fish or diced chicken and continue to simmer till cook. Serve with rice. YUMMS!

Away on an Isle

2009-05-30T18:49:00.001+08:00

Dear all,

I'm taking a vacation on a sunny island with my family.. Blogging and replying of emails/comments will be delayed for a short while while I get my tan =P..

Thanks for your patience =)

P/S: The supermarket guided tour is full.. for those who have signed up, I'll be contacting you soon in a couple of days. Cheers!

Supermarket Guided Tour

2009-05-27T09:13:00.002+08:00

Dear all,

I’m scheduling a supermarket guided tour on 13th June, Saturday at 1400hrs and I’m looking at either holding it at Tanglin Mall’s, the Market Place or Cold Storage at Jelita. The whole tour plus a mini chit-chat session for Q&As will take about a maximum of 2.5hours. Per pax fees is S$50.00 and I like to keep the class to a maximum of 5 pax so that the session can be more intimate and beneficial to individual attendee.

This class is suitable for mums with children of all ages; for caretakers such as domestic helpers or even mother-in-laws. I’ll be covering these during the tour:
A. Introduction to Meats, Poultry, Fish, Veggies, Fruits
- General knowledge of the fresh produces and their common properties
- Age Group Suitability
- What kind of fresh produces to avoid
- How to judge a fresh produce

B. Introduction to Dried Sundries
- Such as pastas, beans, seeds, dried fruits, breakfast cereal, cooking
oils and sauces etc..

C. Dairy Products (if time permits)
- Such as butter, yogurt, cheese etc..

This is a class covering mostly basic necessity info, I urge anyone with no prior cooking experience to take this first before attending any of my future cooking demo class so that you’ll be armed with some foundation knowledge of foods. Let me know your interest by replying via email with your name(not nick name please), mobile number, your child's name/gender/date of birth and your choice of venue, Tanglin Mall or Jelita.

Reply in this manner:-
Your Name:
Email Address:
Mobile Number:
Child’s Name/Gender/Date of Birth:
Choice of Venue:

I’ll finalised the venue with most votes. As I'll only take up to a maximum of 5 persons for this tour so participation is on a first come first served basis. Oh, as I’ve had experience of mummies not turning up for classes after their confirmation, I’ll require payment at least 3 days before the class date from now on. Payment details will be furnished to those who are interested. Thank you for your understanding in this arrangement.

Freshly Home-Made Juice

2009-05-23T11:01:00.006+08:00

This post is long overdue. I'd quite a few mummies asking me how to make juice at home for babies. It is really that simple, and most rewarding thing is, you get 100% PURE juice with full vitamin C. Any juice that comes in packaging, cannot even guarantee you getting as much vitamins as the ones you make yourself at home.

There are various methods I do at home. The most common one is of course using the juicer but what if you don't have a purpose-built juicer, and too lazy to ensemble the dusty machine kept in the box, hidden maybe somewhere in the garage and hating to wash up after(I'm just describing myself)? Urrrghhh..

Method 1: Sieve + Spoon
Yes, it's that effective but subject to only fruits with soft flesh such as watermelon, cantaloupe, grapes, mango, grapefruit, pomelo, orange.. which is demonstrated in this post, Child Labor You can use any other metal sieve.

Method 2: A Strong Clean Fist + Muslin/Cheese Cloth
This is a very traditional way of making juice. Just chop the fruits into small bits then put into muslin cloth (like those socks-looking white bags used to make coffee in coffee shops) and squeeze juice out with a strong clean fist.

Method 3: U-like Blender
I use this to make apple or pear juice all the time.

Take Note:
Freshly made juice should be consumed immediately to avoid oxidization and bacteria growth.
Always taste the juice yourself first. If you find it too sweet, add water to it. I use 1part juice to 2parts cold water for Arianne all the time.

Happy Juicing!

Frozen Fish

2009-05-18T14:07:00.003+08:00

Our family has been feasting on frozen fish for the past couple of months. We love fish, can never get enough of them. And pleasant to my surprise, frozen fish can taste better and much fresher (they're speed-frozen on the boats the moment they're caught) than the thawed ones which are usually sold over the counters at supermarkets.

Recent indulgence; Saba(in Japanese, aka Mackerel). No need to use oil, just place on grill pan or frying pan and fried or use oven to grill. Super yummy and flooded with fish oils and iron! Excellent food source for building brain cells.. I'm trying it out for my post preggy memory loss haha!

The frozen salmon fillet also comes in individual fillet perforated packaging. Very convenient and practical. These are great sensible buys if you don't cook often and yet so nutritious for the lil ones. These frozen fish can be kept frozen for 2 years!! and best of all, they are cleanly deboned!!

Some of my salmon recipes:
For babies 10mos and above: Poached Salmon with Parsnip
For babies 12 mos and above: Salmon in a Bag
For babies 15mos and above: Macaroni with Grilled Salmon Flakes
For babies 18mos and above: Pan-fried Salmon with Gravy

Arianne & A Rainy Afternoon

2009-05-12T10:35:00.006+08:00

I took these pictures yesterday afternoon and thought they were quite fun-looking..

Daily Menu: Dinner 28 April 09

2009-05-04T13:16:00.007+08:00

If I have left Hong Kong a few days later, I would have been quarantined at the airport. I came home with slight fever, runny nose, sore throat and a bad cough. Though I am very sure that it is not the swine flu, I just want to quarantine myself at home until this flu is over. I was quite scared when I read that there is a confirmed H1N1 case in Hong Kong.. haiz.. and this bad weather is not doing any justice.

The first meal I cooked for Arianne after coming home from this long trip.. Actually more for myself. Whenever I feel low in spirits, I do the chicken soup. This time with some dried goods I bought back from Hong Kong. I never fail to buy these stuffs from there. Varieties are better and cheaper. Red Dates, Black Dates, Dried Prawns, Dried Japanese Scallops, High Grade Soya & Black Beans, Dried Longans etc.. aiyoo I bought home about few kilogrammes loads!

Stir-fried Mixed Veg with Sliced Pork
Ingredients (for 2 Adults + Arianne) / Prep
100-130g Sliced Pork / Marinate with 1tsp Sesame Oil, 2tsp Soya Sauce, Dash of Pepper and 0.5tsp Potato Starch
80-100g Sugar Beans / Rinse then remove fiber
60g Corn Kernels / Rinse then drain
60g Carrots / Slice thinly
1 clove Garlic / Chop finely
3tbs Canola/Grapeseed Oil (for frying)
200ml Clean Tap Water
Pinch of Salt (for seasoning)
Dash of Pepper (for seasoning)

Cook
1. In a wok using high heat(use medium heat if you're not confident), warm up the wok then add the 3tbs of Canola/Grapeseed Oil.

2. When the oil is hot, add the chopped garlic and using a wooden spatula, stir fry.

3. Add the Sugar Beans and stir fry to coat all with oil in the wok.

4. Add the Carrots and Corn Kernels, continue to stir fry for a minute or 2.

5. Add the marinated sliced pork then pour in the clean tap water. Allow to simmer while gently stir frying all the ingredients in the wok.

6. Turn off heat when the 'water' in the wok has lessened (sucked up by the veg/meat) and all ingredients are well cooked. (Sugar Beans should look deep green)

Suitable for toddlers 24months and above

Chicken Soup with Soya Beans
Ingredients(for 2 adults + Arianne) / Prep
2 Chicken Thighs / Remove skin and fats, rinse.
0.5 bowl Soya Beans / Soak in water for at last 4 hours, rinse then drain.
3tbs Wolfberries / Rinse
4-5pcs Wei Shan 潍山 / Rinse and pat dry
4 Big Dried Black Dates / Rinse and drain
4 Big Dried Red Dates / Rinse and drain
3-4cloves Garlic / Rinse (no need to remove skin)

Cook
1. Put everything in a pot and double-boil for at least 2.5hours.
2. Serve warm with rice.

Suitable for toddlers 30months and above

This is what is looks like when I served A her dinner and she ate them all up and asked for more soup! The chicken soup definitely went down very well for my flu too..

A Hungry Child & Mother

2009-04-20T12:24:00.002+08:00

When I was strolling on 淮海中路, the Orchard road of Shanghai, I saw a little boy about 5-6 years old begging for food. Some kind soul bought him a pack of rice and right after he took it, he went off and gave the rice to his mother.

Such a heartwrenching sight..

Little Gastronomy will be Away

2009-04-17T01:01:00.007+08:00

Dear all,
I'll be away for 2 weeks and will not be blogging soon. Please also bear with me while I try to response to your correspondence quickly. Just keep them coming in. However, I'll be on MSN (add me at: littlegastronomy@gmail.com) mostly at night, catch me there if you need to.

Meanwhile, do take care and eat well! (=

By the way, Arianne said to this to me this afternoon while I was packing my suitcase,
'Mummy, you stay at home alone, take care yourself ok.. ok? I go to Shanghai for mummy, work for you.'

She's so amusing! I'm soooooo going to miss her terribly..

Today's Lunch: Soupy Mickey Mouse Pasta

2009-04-14T14:53:00.004+08:00

Arianne came home after school just now and staged this,

'Mummy, I know lunch is important but I also need to eat my chocolates.' She said boldly, didn't blink while holding on very tightly to a pack of M&Ms..

Hmmm.. not bad, knows how to use soft approach, but who taught her that??! What does she know about 'important'??

Haiz.. these days, almost every once a week she'll be home from school with a bag of goodies, and chocolate is definitely an item found in those bag. So many birthdays, so much junk! I fret whenever I see her holding on to a bag when she alights from her school bus.

So 4 pieces of M&Ms melted in her mouth after lunch.

(Can you spot Minnie on the spoon?)

Ingredients/Prep
10-15pcs Mickey Mouse Club House Pasta/Boil in water with a drop of oil for about 7-10minutes or till soft, drain.
300ml Chicken Stock
30g Minced Chicken
60g White Sliced Fish/Rinse
60g Cabbage/Wash

Cook
1. Boil stock in a pot and once it boils, add minced chicken and fish. Stir for a few minutes.
2. Add the cabbage and allow to cook for 2-3minutes.
3. Add in the softened pasta and stir till the soup starts to simmer again.
4. Add a dash of pepper then serve warm.

Pasta made of Dulum Wheat Semolina, Tomato and Spinach

Mickey and his gang..

Remarks
I bought this Mickey Mouse Clubhouse pasta from Da Paolo Gastronomia gourmet shop at Cluny Court, $6.00 for a pack of 250g. No additives, No added Salt/Sugar.

I used to think that pasta is only good with thick creamy sauce but I was wrong.. It is equally yummy in soups. Arianne finished every friend in her plate today!

Food Poisoning

2009-04-13T10:42:00.005+08:00

I don't think I have any pictures for this post so do bear with me on a long wordy post. It's a post I must do now before I forget on some crucial issues I like to stress on which are wrong methods used by some mummies.

Last week we saw Food Poisoning from a rojak stall claiming 2 lives, miscarriaged one and hurting hundreds. And the most recent news, 2 others were hospitalised and 12(or is it 14?) have been poisoned at a Geylang steamboat stall. It's haunting isn't it? Can you imagine your 2 year old child had a meal at one of these stalls? I can't.. Some examples I like to quote (these are from my readers, I hope you don't take offence that I'm sharing. Your names will be withheld for privacy):

Warm Yogurt/Yakult: Un-chilling yogurt/yakult at room temperature before feeding your child. Anything that contains milk will harvest bacteria. Bacteria will multiply when temperature rises. So if you put your yakult or yogurt at room temp before feeding your baby, you're also feeding your baby the bad bacteria.

Re-bottled Bottled Water: Feeding bottled water while in other countries. Do not take it for granted that water supply, even the bottled ones in other countries are as safe as in Singapore. During my work in Surabaya some years ago, I came across bottled water that were REBOTTLED using water from unreliable source. The cap was obviously tempered with and it was supplied to a 5-star hotel I was putting up at. If you travel with your baby to countries like Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia, China etc.. make sure you bring your own distilled water in bottles. I shipped a whole carton of distilled water with me when I brought Arianne to Phuket and Shanghai with me when she was a few months old.

Food left at room temperature: Make sure it's warm up again before feeding, like those steam buns（肉包） that contain meat or Char Siew(叉烧 Roast Meat), they should be freshly warmed up before eating.

Unsafe Hawker Food: I don't encourage feeding Chicken Rice（Roast or Steamed, as long as it's been cooked for a while and left on the shelf to sell. Especially the Steamed ones, as they're usually 70% cooked only) or Mixed Veg Rice(杂菜饭 dishes. These foods are prepared before hand and left to collect whatever droppings you can worst imagine. So stick to freshly cooked/prepared food, like noodles soup(but must make sure all the ingredients are warmed up) or porridge.

Unhygenic Food Prep at Home: This is one topic that I emphasize a lot during my post weaning classes as most people take it conveniently that food prepared at home must be most hygenic and little do they know that they're not using the right practice. I'm ruled by these for preparing foods for my child.
:Chopping Board
Do have at least 3 different chopping boards at home. 1 for cutting fruits/veg ONLY, 1 for cutting raw meat and 1 for cutting cooked meat/food. Change the wooden ones every 5-6 months. Sun them after washing.

:Eggs
Do not leave eggs at room temperature. Do make sure eggs are thorougly cooked before feeding young children. Avoid egg tarts, custards, ice cream that contains egg yolks etc.. all these contain raw or not well cooked eggs.

:Storage
Keep fruits/salad green/veggies in a compartment on its own. Do not cut open a fruit/veggies such as carrot, and keep the other half in the fridge for too many days or exposed. Keep cut veggies/fruits wrapped with plastic. Check out my previous post, To freeze or not to Freeze.

For freezing meats/fish, place them wrapped in plastic bags, freezer cubes, tupperwares on tray in the freezer. For defrosting, transfer the meat/fish on a tray to the fridge the night before.

For frozen meats/fish bought, do not refreeze. Refrigerate as soon as you get home(I usually bring a a cold thermal bag to shop) and use within 3 days or the stated used-by date on the packaging.

If keeping any warm cooked food in the fridge, do make sure the food has been totally cooled down first. Putting warm food in the fridge will cause the drop of temperature in the fridge. For speed cooling down, ice bathe the food.

Food poisoning is seriously life-endangering to young children, poor health, feeble, old aged adults. So the next time you put something mysterious to you or food of unknown source into your child's mouth,
please, please think twice.

Soya Sauce Oven-Roast Chicken

2009-04-07T01:14:00.001+08:00

Tonight's dinner was a quick fix and hassle free!
Ingredients (for 1-1.2kg Chicken)
1 Chicken/Clean well, trim off fats and use a kitchen towel to pat dry
6-8 cloves Garlic/Mash (no need to remove skin)
1 large piece Old Ginger(about 50g)/Mash (no need to remove skin)

Marinate the Chicken for at least 1 hour in the fridge with:
6-8tbs Chicken Marinade(Taste like those Soya Sauce 油鸡 from Lee Kum Kee)
2-3tbs Sesame Oil
3-5tbs Dark Soya Sauce (I like the red cap Tiger brand, can be found at Fairprice)
Few dashes Pepper

and stuff all the ginger and garlic into the breast cage, seal it with a wooden toothpick.

Roast
1. Preheat oven to 170degC.
2. Place marinated chicken in a baking tray. Using wooden toothpicks, pin the chicken wings down to the sides so that the tips are tucked nicely.
3. Roast in oven for about 1 hour.

Remarks
: I used a fork to shred the meat from the breast area for Arianne and kept the carcass to boil in porridge tomorrow. I know we're going to have yummy chicken porridge for lunch tomorrow!
: The 'gravy' in the baking tray, can be put on a stove to heat up, add a bit of white wine and potato starch to make gravy. Another yummy treat!

Arianne's Dinner Plate

Giveaway: 1oz Freezer Cubes

2009-04-02T12:37:00.005+08:00

~ Sorry to disappoint the rest, it has been taken by baby Caden as of yesterday ~

I like to give this tray of used 1oz Freezer Cubes away. They're in good condition, only some have been stained by carrots so have a tinge of yellow. You can sterilize them before using to ensure hygiene. So drop me an email with your name, Child's name/gender/DOB and postal address, I'll post them to you at no charge.

Loving Mango!

2009-04-01T23:18:00.004+08:00

Arianne never never never liked mango. Be it, eaten with yogurt/cereal, in ice cream/cakes/pastries or milk shake, she'd refuse them flatly. I guess my 15 tries do pay off!

These mangoes are really sweet and cheap! Each costs about a dollar something and bought from Sheng Song, the very big wet market like supermarket! hahah! maybe I don't much sense here..

Stir-Fried Macaroni with Sausages

2009-03-31T12:20:00.004+08:00

There seems to be this thing about Macaroni and kids.. I've yet to meet a toddler who doesn't like eating it. With this lunch, I was hoping to perk up Arianne's appetite a little since we came back from the hospital. And true enough, she ate the plate clean! So pleased was I (=
Ingredients / Prep
0.5 Chinese Bowl of Macaroni / Boil to soften with a few drops of oil then drain

4 mini Chicken Cheese Sausages / Scald in boiling water to remove the saltiness then cut into slices

3-4 Stalks of French Beans / Slice thinly

1 clove Garlic / Diced

3-4tbs Tomato Paste or Ketchup

60ml of Clean Tap Water

1tsp Olive or Canola Oil

Cook
1. In a frying pan using low heat, heat up the pan then add the oil and diced garlic.

2. Add the sausage slices and french beans. Fry for about 2-3 minutes.

3. Add the Tomato paste and mix well.

4. Add the boiled Macaroni then add the water, fry for 2 minutes then allow to simmer till the gravy gets a bit dry.

5. Add a dash of pepper and serve warm.

Giveaway: Cookie Cutter

2009-03-30T20:51:00.004+08:00

~ Sorry, as of now at 0102hrs, ALL snapped up ~ (=

I've got 3 sets of these cute couple-figure cookie cutters to giveaway. First 3 readers to contact me with your name, your child's name/gender/DOB and postal address, I'll mail them to you.

They're new and still in their packaging. Inexpensive stuff but useful for cutting bread, cookies and even mould for rice.

Check out these posts for some examples of what I've used these cutters for:

Rice Coolies

Toasted Breadmen

I've yet to use them to make cookies but will certainly keep them in mind! Hurry, only 3 sets to go. Postage will also be free (=

Coughing can help

2009-03-26T16:33:00.005+08:00

Coughing is needed when you have mucous in your lungs. Yes, you hear me right. First, mucous develops while your body deals with the infection but having mucous in the lungs is bad as our lungs have no exit point at the bottom of it. And by coughing, the mucous can be dispelled out of our lungs. The other method will be the painful one which is to insert tubes into the mouth and vaccuum the mucous out. The latter method is usually applied when a child cannot cough well. With adults, we have no problem to cough on demand but not for a 4 months old baby (I saw the therapist treating one at the hospital) or a 2.5 years old toddler like Arianne who refuses to do anything right. In this video, I demonstrate how to induce cough in small child which was taught to me by the Paediatric Physio Therapist who attended to A during her stay at the hospital. The therapist greatly encouraged that I do this at home whenever I notice mucous. Try at your own risk though.

The child's bottom should be raised and lying on his side. The stength of your cupped palm taps should be applied according to how you feel. The main point is to induce cough, not to hurt the child. It shouldn't be painful and the sound made should sound like what you hear at the last bit of a nice spa massage, like 'pok pok pok'. Too soft taps will not induce the cough.

Also, for children who are mature enough to blow a balloon, whistle or blow into a partyware trumpet, ask them to do this while you apply the taps. This is to encourage deep breaths while the lungs do its job in coughing out the mucous.

If your child can cough on demand, then just get him to lie down on his side and raise his bottom while coughing.

Mucous swallowed by mouth is ok, as it'll just go into the stomach and be passed out with motion.

So in this case, coughing is good. Cough out the phlegm!

Cranberry Spill-Over Something

2009-03-25T16:59:00.009+08:00

Funny post title? Read on.....

It has been a hard time lately.. thanks for all your emails and comments, Arianne is almost fully recovered. I need a little perk me up today so decided to try making these after I saw the recipe from Joy of Baking, except they called it Muffins. I'm not convinced to call them muffins because they don't puff up and the texture is not crumbly when you bite into it. Cupcakes? nah, it doesn't sit in the cup. Too soft to be called a Scone.

The tired week has dried up my brains so I simply gave up thinking of a name for it before posting.
Anyone can help replace the word 'Something'? (The lighting today didn't do the cakes justice. The cranberry sauce looks darker than it's supposed to be)
Prep
12-holes Muffin Tray: Grease each hole with butter or butter spray
Oven: Preheat oven to 200degC

Ingredients for the Cranberry Sauce
70g Dried Cranberries
80g Fresh Cranberries
80g Castor Sugar
Orange Juice from 1 whole orange
Orange Zest from 1 whole orange's rind

Cook:
1. Put all the ingredients above in a small saucepan and stir to dissolve and melt down the cranberries in order to make it pasty like a jam consistency. Takes about 15-20minutes.
2. Remove from heat and allow the sauce cool down before use.

Ingredients for the Cakes
Dry ingredients, in a bowl combine these together:
250g Plain Flour
50g Castor Sugar
2tsps Baking Powder
0.5tsp Salt

Wet ingredients, in another bowl mix these:
50g Unsalted Butter, melted
240ml Fresh Milk
1tsp Pure Vanilla Extract (I used vanilla bean pod instead so can see black seeds in the batter)
1 egg, lightly beaten

Pour the wet ingredients mixture into the dry ingredients, using a spatula fold until quite incorporated. (It's ok if flour is still visible. Over mixing will harden the cake)

Assemble & Bake
1. Spoon the cranberry sauce evenly into the 12 muffin tray holes. (I might use a greased baking sheet cut and place into the holes before spooning the sauce in the next time I make these again. This is to avoid the sauce from sticking onto the bottom)

2. Spoon the cake batter over the cranberry sauce. (The batter is just nice for 12 standard muffin tray holes. Each hole will be about 4/5 filled.)

3. Bake for about 15 minutes. This goes very well with a cup of herbal infusion tea. Delectable!

Remarks
The Cranberry Sauce is a great companion of scones and some breads or a nice jam spread for swiss rolls. Can be stored in the fridge for up to 4 weeks.

Littlegastronomy's Absence

2009-03-20T15:34:00.006+08:00

Dear all,
My Arianne has been hospitalised for bronchitis since 3 days ago. Her lungs are filled with mucous and she has been having a tacky fever that keeps coming on and off. Doc will only discharge her until her fever is completely gone for good. Therefore, I won't be blogging for awhile and my replies to your emails/comments will be delayed. Sorry for the tardiness.

Here's a pic of A in her hospital gown with her ward mate from Holland..
(The hand cast you see is just for IV drip purpose)
By the way, we're undergoing some physio-therapy to flush the mucous out, I'll blog on this and share on how this can be applied at home for babies as small as few months old in getting rid of your child's mucous effectively but safely.

Be right back..

Beans Assorted

2009-03-12T12:23:00.004+08:00

This is not an edible post.. it's just me showing how I keep Arianne occupied at times when I really need an hour or slightly more to finish the last bit of my magazine or to watch the exciting episode of my Korean drama.

Here she is, doing the beans assortment..
Then I will lengthen the amusement time and fun factor by introducing her gadgets one by one to revive her excitement with the beans again and again.
Gadgets I use:

Milk Scoops & Different Size Spoons: She loves scooping the beans using scoops and spoons then fetch the beans into bowls.

Kachamputeh Cones: Remember those sugar-powdered peanuts or chickpeas that came in cones made of Yellow Pages outside Capitol or Lido cinemas? Ahh... I fold these cones for her by tearing off the pages from my unwanted mags. She likes 'wrapping' the beans in these cones.

From Bowls to Bags: I give her various sizes bowls and bags which she simply enjoys transfering the beans from different bowls to different bags.

Bottles & Funnel: I kept a few Yakult bottles, mineral water waters and some other odd shapes bottles. She will place the funnel on top of each bottle and attempts to drop the beans through them.

This Beans Assorted activity promotes these skills, source from Gymboree's Toddler Play;
Cause & Effect: How one action affects another.
Classifying Skills: The ability to group objects according to a common characteristic.
Cognition: Mental or Intellectual abilities.
Fine Motor Skills: Control of the arge muscles, such as those in arms and legs to execute small movements.
Problem Solving: The ability to work out a solution to a mental or physical puzzle.
Visual Discrimination: The ability to focus on and distinguish objects within a visual field.

Warning: These beans are very small not a suitable entertainment for babies who don't know how to handle them, I'd think 24 months and below. Subject to individual babies' who are capable of Logical Reasoning.

I keep her and the beans 'caged' in this carton box I bribed the nice Bangladeshi worker to give me when I bought flowers for Chinese New Year at Prince's Nursery! Arianne thinks this box is her territory so she enjoys playing in it! No efforts in luring her into it! hahaha! My next project is to pour sand(I bought 5 bags of clean sand from Prince's Nursery too) into this box and let her build sandcastles in there, right at home, at our balcony. Cool huh?

Daily Menu: 2009 Mar 11 Lunch

2009-03-11T14:59:00.006+08:00

Pan-fried Chicken Fillet glazed with Cheese Sauce
Ingredients/Prep
1pc Chicken Fillet/Marinate with dash of black pepper and rub with olive oil
2oz Pre-made Frozen Cheese Sauce

Cook
1. In a warmed up pan using low-medium heat(no need to add oil), pan fry each side of the chicken for 2minutes. Remove from heat and place on the plate.
2. In the same pan, warm up frozen cheese sauce and after the sauce has been warmed up, drizzle over the chicken.

Suitable for babies from 12 months old

Oven-baked Potato Chips with Tomato Ketchup
Ingredients
Handful of Frozen Chips (Only remove from freezer when the oven is ready to bake)

Cook
1. Pre-heat oven to 230degC then bake frozen chips for about 10 minutes then flip the chips a little, continue to bake for another 10minutes. Remove from oven and place on plate.

Suitable for babies from 12 months old

Steamed Garden Peas & Chickpeas
Ingredients
20g Frozen Garden Peas
20g Chickpeas (I used the raw ones and soaked over night to soften)

Cook
1. In a rice cooker, add some water and place the steamer basket in.
2. Put each peas in separate small plates then place in steamer basket to steam for about 15minutes. Remove from rice cooker and place on plate.

Remarks: 3 types of cooking here but all took me less than 15 minutes of cooking and prep.

Suitable for babies from 10 months old

Skinny; not chubchub, so what?

2009-03-09T22:01:00.015+08:00

Today we went to the PD again because A's eye was swollen. Turned out she got an eye stye on her eye lid. PD gave a suggestion to use warm steamed rice on a hanky or tissues and place on the affected lid in order to help ripen the stye. I thought that was clever.

But that isn't the point of this post. When I was walking out of his consultation room, a senior staff at the counter called out to me to pick up a few sample bottles of those colorful multi-vitamins to bring home. She said A is too skinny, and so is her mummy. I was taken aback at that moment. I paused, trying to stay collected then I replied in a somewhat calm tone to her that first, I don't think A is skinny and secondly, why the need of those synthetic multivitamins when we can get the naturally occuring ones from food??!

The usual Monday morning buzz in the clinic went pitch quiet.

Then I threw a joke just to break the uneasy silence as there were other sick kids with their parents around. I said besides that, I prefer A to stay skinny than me having to deal with the eventual teenager(or younger I heard these days..) consequence of I-need-a-lyposuction talk.

Aren't these vitamins consumed on a need to basis?? Why is this being encouraged than what the nature gives? I was more upset about these than being told that my daughter is skinny.

I personally have suffered since the day I was born un-chubchub with long skinny arms and legs, yes it is suffering to be skinny. I always have(still have) people telling me how skinny I am, I should eat more, how nice I would look if I'm meatier, I am under-nourished(this was mean!) and all those names-calling. Oh, and my own mother used to hate going out with me when I wore short skirts!

I find being skinny is much more suffering than being fat. Simply because, NO ONE goes up to a fat person and bruises his/hers ego telling him/her is fat. It's just morally wrong to do so, right? And yet it's alright to do that to a skinny person. Oh right, our bodies are too skinny to house an ego. Aren't both situations dealing with imperfect weight?

And the worst sufferers are babies who are not chubchub to the old aunties' dislikes. They can't defend for themselves and their mothers live in guilt like as if they'd starved themselves when they were pregnant.

Fact is, in this part of the world, a skinny or simply not a chubby baby is just not something that is acceptable. But if we don't learn to take this into our hands and minds well, our babies will grow up in mockery, like the way I did. About 8 years ago, I decided to brave it. If I haven't, then today I'd have walked out of that clinic feeling guilty for A.

Nah, here is a chubchub Arianne who was flaunting her DD cup assets at 3 months old.

Think Twice; Processed Foods

2009-03-07T12:25:00.004+08:00

I'm sure every mum still remembers the horrors of the China melamine case. I do, and those images I saw in the news, those very weary looking little babies lying on the bed with kidney problems are hard-stoned in my mind and heart.

There're many people out there who eat to live. I'm not refering to food poverty condition, I'm talking about those people who fill their stomachs with no fuss. And usually, these people are victims of processed foods. Naming a few examples: instant noodle, microwaveable pizza, pre-packed fruit juices, hawker centre packed meals and many more.. I live to eat, at least that's what I like to think and yes, I'm fussy with what goes into my stomach, not exactly on the taste or flavor but more on what is added into my food.

I just read an article on Kid's Nutrition in this month's Expat magazine and I thought this article on Food Addictives serves a great deal to Singaporeans as the examples cited are based on local food. The article refers to 2 expat mothers who dedicate their time in educating the public on Food Addictives and Labeling when they found that our local shelves food were insufficently labeled, compared to how it is practice in western countries. A very helpful wallet size list of Food Addictives can be downloaded at their website, Kids For Life.

Examples of Addictives that are not spelt out clearly on their packaging:

Bread, a daily staple
Quite a lot of locally made breads contains Calcium Propionate, a mould inhibitor, which was known to cause lethargy, sleep disturbance and other behavioural problems in a child. In the article, these bread brands are listed FREE of Calcium Propionate; Swiss Bakery, Cedele, Delifrance, Bread Talk, Simply Bread and more..

Chicken, the most common meat we put on the table
Most chicken sold at the wet markets or supermarkets are injected with hormones and antibiotics which can cause cancer and neurological problems in human. I urge everyone to buy hormones free Sakura Chicken from Fairprice or go organic.

Having said all these, I'm not pledging that I'm a 100% non-processed food person. I don't have a cow to milk or brew my own soya sauce at home. I just do what I can afford to, both time and money. And I like to encourage you to do the same. Those kidney-strickened babies didn't look good at all. Think twice before you put that pack of instant noodles in your trolley ok..

Daily Menu: 20 Feb 09

2009-03-04T15:45:00.007+08:00

Lunch
Bean Stick Noodle Soup
Ingredients/Prep
60-80g Bean Stick Noodle 豆鉴
250-300ml Ikan Bilis & Soy Bean Stock
60g White Fish/Rinse and cut into cubes
Handful of Leafy Veg/Wash clean

Cook
1. Boil the stock and once it's boiling, add the fish and veggie.
2. Use a soup scoop to stir while the fish and veg are cooking. When the veg is turning a bit darker green, add the noodles. Continue to stir.
3. Once the noodles feel soft, add pepper then remove from heat and serve warm.

Suitable for babies above 9 months old

Dinner
Pork Stew
Ingredients/Prep (for 1 Adult + Arianne)
A Chunk(abt 80-100g) of Shoulder Pork/Rinse clean then boil in water for about 6 minutes to 'cleanse' it.
2 Hard-boiled Eggs/Remove shells and soak in clean tap water.
2 large Indonesian Potatoes/Pare the skin, rinse then cut into chunks and soak in clean tap water.
1 Med-sized Carrot/Pare the skin, rinse then cut into chunks.
1 Med-sized Red Onion/Peel the skin and quarter it.
2 Garlics/Mash then remove skin.
300-400ml Clean Tap Water

Seasonings:
1tbs Oyster Sauce(for pure adult's consumption, add 3tbs instead)
2tsps Light Soya Sauce(I love the 'Popo' brand but it seems so hard to find these days.)
1tbs Premium Dark Soya Sauce(Use 'Tiger' brand, red cap. Very good flavor)
2 Star Anise
0.5 stick Cinnamon
5-6 granules Black Peppercorn

Cook
1. Using an earthern pot/crockpot, twirl around the heat to warm up the pot then once the pot is heated up, add 1tbs oil.
2. Add garlic and onion, stir fry till brown.
3. Add peppercorns, star anise and cinnamon. Continue to stir fry till fragrant.
4. Add the chunked potatoes and carrots. Continue to stir fry for about 2 minutes.
5. Add the pork, then all other seasonings and the hard-boiled eggs.
6. Add the clean tap water, cover the pot and once boiling, lower the heat to small, keep the cover ajar, then let it simmer for about 45minutes. Serve with rice.

Suitable for Toddlers above 18 months

Post Weaning

2009-02-28T14:03:00.009+08:00

I've been receiving quite a few emails from mummies who are at the post weaning stage so I'm going to pluck and paste those questions and my replies from the emails here in order to share with other post weaning mums reading this blog. I'll keep the anonymity of the mummies as much as I can and some of the text have been edited for easy reading purposes. This post will be updated as and when I receive further questions concerning Post Weaning. And the updated questions will be on top of the post.

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Mummy JT, baby boy is 6months 2weeks old on Broccoli Puree & Green Veg
[Mummy JT] I have just started him on semi-solids 2 weeks ago. So far, I have introduced him to brown rice cereal and sweet potatoes. Today, I let him try brocolli puree. Unfortunately he did not like it. He had a few teaspoons and then proceed to vomit it all out together with all the milk he had previously.

How do you make broccoli more palatable for an infant?
Any other green vegs that i can introduce to him at this stage?

[brenda] Broccoli is one of the strongest tasting veg. I'm sure you'd sniffed the 'gas' smell when you pureed it, right? So to say, we don't introduce Broccoli as first few foods. Try to keep the first foods as PLAIN as possible. For eg: Spinach, Potato, Banana, Apple, Pear, Peach.

Green Veg are mostly the leafy ones like baby spinach, Chinese spinach, chye sim, xiao bai chye, kai lan or non-leafy ones like french beans, garden peas or sugar beans.. You can add these veggies puree into the instant rice cereal or white Chinese porridge or simply add some milk into it to make it more palateable for your child.

Mummy ST, baby boy at 9 months old on Type of Pork
[Mummy ST]I understand that you use pork fillet. I tried to search for it at COld Storage, but dont have leh...When I asked the guy over at the meat counter, he said it only comes like once every few days. And he calls it 'muscle'??!
Another question, pork is considered to be 'dirty' and 'smelly', why do you use it instead of chicken?

[brenda] Pork fillet(in chinese is ZHU1 JING3 ROU4) is readily available in most supermarkets, it’s strange that you couldn’t find it. Particularly in cold storage, there are usually rows of it. Each fillet costs about $8-$10.00 so not many people wants to buy this part of the pork.

What do you mean by it is dirty and smelly? Where did you get that info from? I can’t answer you this question if I don’t understand what your question is relevant to. In fact, in Chinese herbal cooking pork is MAINLY used for treatments comparing to Chicken. But that doesn’t mean chicken is bad.

[Mummy ST] Does the label state 'pork fillet' plainly or does it have other names like pork loin, etc? I will go find again.
When i mean dirty and smelly, it's because pig is a dirty animal. I also use pork for herbal soups, but for babies, im more cautious, that's all. Cos pork has a certain smell, Im not sure if you know what i mean. And need to scald it with hot water to get rid of the smell and blood..

[brenda] It is labeled as PORK FILLET on the packaging.

The smell in pork, is the same as fish has fish smell, chicken has chicken smell etc... I think you personally are sensitive to the pork smell. If you eat pork in the US, then yes, the pork smell is very strong but Singapore’s pork is not to most people, only to sensitive people then the smell is significant.

But for babies consumption, there’s no issue with that as far as I know. I do boil pork bones to get rid of the blood before adding into my stock/soup but for Pork Fillet, there’s no blood so there’s no need to do that though you could if you want to.

Mummy JY, baby girl at 6 months old on Mixing Puree
[Mummy JY] I would like to introduce vegetables like carrots - do I mix this into the cereal so should I just feed her carrots (pureed) on its own in case of allergies? Also, can I mix some milk into the carrot puree?

[brenda] Yes, you’re right, you should not mix the carrot into the cereal first for sussing out of allergy. But once you’re sure she’s not allergic to it, you can then mix into the cereal. Yes you can add some milk into the carrot puree.

However for first tastes, I’d recommend using non-strong tasting foods such as potatoes, avocado, banana than carrots.

Mummy YO, baby girl at 6 months old on Cereal & Chinese Herbs
[Mummy YO] I started to intro my baby on nestle's rice last Saturday. I have problem making the cereal.
Saturday: I mixed 1 tablespoon rice cereal + FM (as per ur recommendation on the 6 month feeding entry), but the cereal doesn't seems to smoothen... My maid commented that it is becos the FM is not hot enough. So I took it to the steamer and double boil it.

[brenda] How much milk did you add for this? Also I didnt mention 1 tablespoon at all in my post, did you read correctly? Also, it doesn’t take WARM/HOT liquid to smoothen or to mix the cereal well. Even if you use lukewarm liquid is fine. I think the mistake here is the amount of cereal you'e put.
This was what are mentioned in that post:
At 6months: (Weaning started with 1 solid meal at Lunch)
4th Mar > 1300hrs > 2tsp x Rice Cereal+30ml Milk
5th Mar > 1300hrs > 4tsp x Rice Cereal+30ml Milk
6th Mar > 1300hrs > 6tsp x Rice Cereal+60ml Milk
7th Mar > 1300hrs > 6tsp x Rice Cereal+60ml Milk
8th Mar > 1300hrs > 4tsp x Rice Cereal+30ml Milk and 1oz x Sweet Potatoes
9th Mar > 1300hrs > 4tsp x Rice Cereal+30ml Milk and 1oz x Sweet Potatoes
10th Mar > 1300hrs > 4tsp x Rice Cereal+30ml Milk and 1oz x Sweet Potatoes
Tsp = teaspoon

[Mummy YO] Sunday: I mexed 1 tablespoon rice cereal + 1 spoon of milk powder the add 30ml of hot water.. This time Is much better.. And be the time the cereal is ready.. It cold already.. At 6months: (Weaning started with 1 solid meal at Lunch) [brenda]Again, you're using 1 tablespoon of cereal. For using with FM, you should make the FM first then use the mixed FM to mix the cereal with.Any tips on how to prepare the cereal? Or what kind of utensil should I get, there is one type of bowl that can put in hot water at the bottom.. Is it recommended to use that?

[brenda] all you need is a spoon and a bowl. Milk is prepared otherwise.. Like to check with you... my mil ask me to get those cereal that need to cook and mixed with Chinese herds (4 sheng + gensin)... I'm kind of not very comfortable with this. Do you think baby is safe to take this?

[Mummy YO] my mil ask me to get those cereal that need to cook and mixed with Chinese herbs (4 sheng + gensin)... I'm kind of not very comfortable with this. Do you think baby is safe to take this?

[brenda] Chinese Herbs: My take on this is no go. I don't like feeding very young kids herbs with medicinal value.

[Mummy YO] Re chinese herbs, I have the same idea... Think I to get my husband to talk to my mil on this. When would be a good time to take chinese herbs, you reckon?

[brenda] I reckon at least 12 months and above when the baby system is more mature to handle the medicinal values. If you've a problem with telling you MIL, just tell he commercially prepared cereal adds lots of sugar and salt, plus they don't wash as clean as what we can do at home for the rice. Ha! Good excuse right?

[Mummy YO] Can I check with you, when you intro sweet potatos to your girl. Do you mixed it with the cereal?

[brenda] Not if its the first time she's tasting it. If she rejects the mixture, you don't know if it's the sweet potato or the cereal she's rejecting so better to feed separately.

[Mummy YO] Would like to check with you on to cook cereal. I got those brown rice in powdered form from medicine stall. I read from website:
1/4 cup of brown rice
3/4 cup of water
And cook for 10 min. <== small fire? The result I got from above, it gets very dry (aka jelly).. Hmm.. Are we suppose to add milk into the cooked cereal when feeding bb? Sorry for asking such stupid question. [brenda] Your question is not stupid but I've never used instant brown rice powdered form to cook for my child before so I won't be able to give you appropriate answer on this. But I would GUESS that if it's instant powdered form, why need to cook? I thought just add hot water/milk and stir? Really not sure about this.. hmmm

Mummy AL, baby boy at 6 months old on Nursing/Crying at Night, Porridge & How much to feed
[Mummy AL] I start weaning my baby boy when he is 5 months old as he was showing signs of weaning and considering he was a bigger baby. He is 8.3kg at 6months 1 week. He is a total Breastfeeding baby.

[brenda] You’ve got sound considerations there, and not being narrow to just follow the book.. nice

[Mummy AL] I gave him 1.5 tbsp of Healthy Times brown rice cereal and slowly increase to 2 tbsp in a months time. Like you too, i chose organic produce for mainly his diet. Have so far introduce apples, sweet potato, carrots, brocolli.

[brenda] For the matter on my choice of organic, actually I don’t give everything organic. I give what’s affordable for my pockets. Also, there have been too many 2 schools of thoughts for going organic, hence I’m still at a confusion of what should go organic and what don’t need to so please don’t count on me for that..

[Mummy AL] But recently about these 10 days, he have been crying alot at night and waking up very frequent almost 5x and is crying very badly. Sometimes it could last for 1 hour. I will nurse him only 1 time as i try not to let him comfort suck. But if i do not feed him, he will cry very badly and hence my hubby took over and gave water instead. Sometimes he will reject and cry hard. I thought it was due to teething or even ear infection, i brought him to see his PD and she found nothing above but says that he may be hungry as the food was too little and ask me to feed him porridge and increase it to 3 meals a day instead of the 2 meals now. Very honestly, i know she have the medical professional views, but i have also know that if i introduce porridge,it may be too heavy for his lilttle tummy. He use to sleep thru from 3 months or may wake for 1 feed. Till when i start introducing solids, he woke up more than often.

[brenda] How long is each cry or awake time? Is nursing him THE ONLY way to calm him down? Do you know how much he drinks when you succumbed to nursing him? How does he fall back asleep? Any NEW major things that had happened? Like moving house? How is he like during the day? Still happy and response well? Based on what you said here, I find it a bit hard to believe that he is crying because of hunger. 5 times a night is not a justifiable number that would lead me to think it’s due to hunger. But then again, there could be a slight possibility in that too so we shall not cast that aside.

At 5-6 months old, in my experience/understanding with the queries I’ve attended to my blog readers, our babies tend to be more ALERT than that sleepy infant from newborn to 4^th month, I find that at post weaning stage, things taken a major toll of change in our little ones’ life. There’s the sitting upright position, going to crawl, getting more responsive to sounds/sights and of course, with the teething too. Their brainwaves are also getting stronger so they probably start to have so-called nightmares/dreams at this age. But then again, these are only my little non-conclusive findings.

[Mummy AL] May i ask if i should start giving him prorridge?

[brenda] I supposed you’re refering to the chinese porridge right? Cereal is also rice grains, is also a form of porridge. I’d suggest you increase the quantity and the number of feeds instead. But how do you decide to stop feeding him? The decision to stop feeding should comes from him and not you. Our babies are born to know when to stop eating, not like a fish :P so try letting your child decide when to stop eating. He’ll usually move away from the spoon or refuse to open his mouth or when fed, he’ll not swallow his cereal and will use his tongue to thrust it out.

[Mummy AL] Should i nurse him every time he wakes at night like every 2 hours

[brenda] For me, I’d think if all trials and tests fail then you might want to nurse him just to keep everyone sane but this should NOT be a permanent solution. You definitely need to find the root of the problem. I can safely tell you that this is just a passing phase, it’ll go soon and things will be back to normal eventually. Just a matter of when. So meanwhile, you need to keep yourself hydrated and do have enough rest to tackle this issue.

[Mummy AL] Or maybe have you hear of any similar?

[brenda] Yes, but not exactly the same. The wakings at night coincidence is usually the AGE(post weaning age) of the child when such difficulties occur.

Mummy SW, baby girl at 6 months old on Rice Grains
[Mummy SW] She is slowing into semi solids now. Can you advise me where can I buy the Japanese Rice and the Brown rice as mentioned in your blog? Pls also teach me how to prepare them step by step. I am really at a loss.

[brenda] All the info you required is in my blog, and that’s the purpose of my blog. You can read the post, ‘Porridge, Porridge, Porridge’ or you can simply do a search on ‘Porridge’ at the search field. You are not at a loss if you work a little harder to find the info you need.

I also organise cooking/weaning classes as mentioned in front page of my blog, if you like to join, write to me and I’ll keep you posted whenever I schedule one. Alternatively, you can also group 3 or more friends to do a private class. Let me know what you like to do.

Jap/Brown Rice both can be bought at most supermarkets.

Mummy AC, baby at 7 months old on Butter, Oat/Barley, Pudding, 1st Weaning Foods & Bowel Movement
[Mummy AC] Can I use unsalted butter for my baby right now?

[brenda] Actually why do u want to use butter at age 7 months for? Can you share with me what kind of dishes or recipes you’ve in mind for your child? Butter contains high animal fats which can cause high cholestrol, you don’t want a child who is yet to be mobile (not jumping or running) to be eating anything that’s fatty right?

[Mummy AC] Do you means including all oat like Cooking oat or instant Oat ? cause I read from http://www.wholesomebabyfood.com/ It said that Oatmeal could be introduced to baby around 6-8 months.

[brenda] Wholesomebabyfood is one source on its own but GLUTEN intolerance is a huge thing out there. Just google for 'gluten intolerance' and you can read up about what oat or other wheat products can cause harm to a small baby who has immature digestive system. Anyway as I said, to AVOID so it’s entirely up to you.

[Mummy AC] I want to give Mxxt barley this weeks. Do you have any recipe using Barley or any combination with the food that Mxxt already try before ?

[brenda] Barley is also considered a gluten product so I don’t encourage feeding him that at 7 months. There’re a long list of foods which you could feed him, you give me a feeling that you’re rushing into weaning Mxxt solids, is that so? 7 months is only 4 weeks after 6 months and if you do the 4 days sussing out of allergy rule, you probably have a choice of 8-10 items to suss out. So to say, in terms of varieties, you have aplenty so why want to test him on food that are known to be harmful for babies at this age?

[Mummy AC] I had introduce Mxxt: Kabocha, Butternut pumpkins, Sweet potatoes, peas ( he don’t like it )

[brenda] Firstly, these foods you just described to me all have one thing in common. They are strong tasting foods. The least tasting foods are like potatoes, spinach, pear, apple, banana, avocado etc… I’m not sure if you actually fully understand what weaning is all about.. At this stage of weaning, a baby has NO likes or dislikes.. he’s still exploring and learning every step/move you make (most importantly get acquainted with his new friend called MR SPOON!). Also, the general rule on testing a baby’s preference (if you take these tastings as experiments) is to try the same food on him at least 15 times. This is what most parenting experts have advised. Again, you can google this for more info. And if he doesn’t like it now, doesn’t mean he won’t like it forever.. you just got to give time for Mxxt to discover food and its tastes..

Sorry to be blunt, and it really worries me that mummies are taking their young babies as test baits, and I do hope you don’t get offended with what I’ve said so far. If you want a further guidance, draft me a feeding schedule of what you’d like to feed Mxxt with for the next 1 month or so and I can help see if there’s any areas for amend. Cheers!

[Mummy AC] Actually I just want to know in which age that unsalted butter can be use for baby, cause I don’t find it in your breakfast Planner. In here its already common to give it when baby reach 7-8 months old. It usually added in their Porridge or steamed rice.

[brenda] Wow! That’s scary but then again, there are many ways to feed a kid. I’m not sure why in Indonesia they put butter into rice and porridge for kids. As far as butter is concerned, we’re just putting animal fats into our kids’ tummies.

I guess in Indonesia there’s lack of dairy products such as fresh milk or cheese which are not readily available if you don’t have a fresh supermarket nearby. But as for butter, you can buy a lot and keep. Do you think so?

[Mummy AC] I feel confuse, cause in your breakfast planner, you said to wait until 9 months, but in http://www.wholesomebabyfood.com/ It said that oat and barley can give to baby 6-8 months. That is why I want to know much from you. For me I want to give the best for my baby. I am not rushing into weaning Matt a solid food. Honestly I don’t which food that I could give to my baby L at his ages. Do you have any suggestions?

[brenda] http://littlegastronomy.blogspot.com/2008/09/basic-kitchen-food-list.html this is a list you can use as a guideline on at what age, feed what. For 6-8 months, stick to simply, less texture, less flavor foods.

As mentioned for gluten intolerance, you can just google for more info on that..I’m not a medical professional, but I read and find out more from more than one source. We can’t simply depend on one source. Just like if a doctor tells me something is serious about my kid, I’d certainly seek a 2nd opinion for that. Even doctors can make mistakes, let alone commercial web sites like wholesomebabyfood.com

[Mummy AC] I just give my baby fruits yesterday. I give him peach do to he haven’t pup from 13.PM ( 14 Dec ) until 13PM ( 15 Dec). Before he usually pup when he wake up in the morning and after lunch. I am so afraid that he has constipation, so give peach to him yesterday. Today I just give Peas for lunch (12.00) and Peach for tea snack ( 15.00).

[brenda] Your baby at 6 months is having constipation? That’s quite worrisome if you ask me. He just started eating solids for less than 3 months of his life. Does he use to have constipation before you started solid? And if he’s mainly on breastmilk, not formula milk, he should be very well hydrated as breastmilk contains a lot of water. So what has gone wrong?
1. Do you feed him water at all?
2. Peas cause further constipation because its full of fiber and making digestion slow so avoid that until his diet is well again.
3. Peach is full of sugars, avoid that as well as too much sugar can also cause constipation.
4. Brown rice / Red Rice all worsen constipation because they are full of fiber. That’s why people on diet are told to eat this because the high fiber makes them full whole day without eat much food. So change to white rice and if you want, you can mix the brown/red rice a little into it.
I’m not sure what other reasons could contribute to Matt’s constipation but you can try giving him plum and pear juice. Don’t forget to DILUTE WITH WATER ok.. 1 part juice to 2 parts water.

[Mummy AC] Actually my baby not really has constipation. I am just Panic if he not Pup in 24 hours. ^_^ But until now he always pup, only twice that he pup >24 hours. Right now he always pup after wake up in the morning at 5-6 Am. After Lunch, he will pup again J around 12-13 PM. After Tea break (3 PM), sometimes he pup.

[brenda] Seems like a very healthy pooping schedule he has..

[Mummy AC] Mxxt usually drinks breast milk ( bottle ) around 330 ml and Formula milk around 240 ml (From 6 Am – 8 PM). After that ( 8PM – 5 AM Morning )he drinks breast milk directly every 2-3 hours. Do you know how can I manage him to sleep without wake up until morning? J. Cause is not good to have milk when baby sleep.

[brenda] There are a few reasons on why a baby at 7-8months old not sleeping through the night. He could be not having enough to drink during the day so he wakes up in the night to drink. Or he is still not tune to night and day timing. He takes night as play time than day, if he doesn’t just wake up for milk. So it really depends on the reason why he wakes up then you can work on it.

[Mummy AC] I would like to give Mxxt a Jelly / pudding, can I give it right now ?

[brenda] Pudding contains egg and more often than not, the yolk is not thoroughly cooked. Also, there’s additional sugar (not from fresh fruits but syrup instead) and other addictives like gelatine (which is a chemical) and artificial coloring/flavoring(another chemical here). I supposed you need to decide yourself if you want these to go into your 8 months old child’s stomach.

[Mummy AC] I just know that pudding contains egg hehehehe. When I can give Matt pudding ? After 1 Years ?

[brenda] I don’t like to fish for you or my other readers, I rather teach you how to fish. So allow me to teach you how to judge what is good for your child than I tell you what is good or not.
So do you think egg can be fed to Mxxt at 8 months old?
Or when do you think Mxxt can have the eggs?
Do you know what is in the pudding?
Do you know how the pudding is prepared?

I can’t tell you when Mxxt can have pudding as I don’t know what’s in the pudding, and if I don’t know, I rather not feed him. It’s your job to find out what’s in that pudding. If you found out that the pudding contains artificial coloring, will you still feed it to him when he is 3 or 5 years old? I won’t.. AS MUCH AS I can help it, I will not give Arianne anything that contains addictives. But many a times, we can’t help it, like when she goes to school. In school, the kids are often offered SWEETS, chocolates, PUDDINGS, and there’s no way I can stop them unless I attend class with her.. so my thinking is, if I can protect her at home, I will want to.

Mummy MW, baby girl at 8 months old on Finger Food, Salt & Asparagus
[Mummy MW] Want to check with you what finger food is safe for her since she has no teeth?

[brenda] Teething biscuits that are harder to break will be safe. They help soothe the sore gums too. I think Bellamy and Earth Best carry them.

[Mummy MW] I saw those commercial biscuit finger food for babies, almost bought them until I saw 'salt' to be one of the ingredients.

[brenda] There’ll be naturally deriving salt (or more like sodium) from the ingredients the biscuits are used to make, can’t help it but what you can avoid buying are those that are added synthetically.

[Mummy MW] Also, I wanted to let her try asparagus but I am not sure how I should give it to her. Can it be easily mashed after steaming it? Should I use those thick or thin asparagus?

[brenda] Any types of asparagus is fine, just steam and blend. U can find the method of preparing asparagus in my blog, just do a search for it. I even have a video that shows how to prepare the asparagus.

Mummy E, baby at 6 months old on Using Salt to Wash Veg, Cut Veg in Fridge & What to Mash or Blend & Olive Oil
[Mummy E] Have you ever heard of using water with salt to soak broccoli to wash away the dirt/worm? My MIL ask me to do that byt I thought of using salt which I really dun feel comfortable with. She said nvm just soak with another time clean water and then soak in hot water fo awhile and the salt will be remove then we can steam liao. How you think about this?

[brenda] Yes, I heard about this but I don't like the practise cos the stems can soak in the salt too..

[Mummy E] But we not giving the baby the stem/shoot part right?

[brenda] The stem/shoot is connected to the florets.

[Mummy E] What is the reason for better not cut the veg like carrot and keep bk to fridge huh? I was told can do it but b4 giving to bb cut away that previous cut part then is fine.

Imagine you've a cut then you put your hand into the fridge, the wound will dry up right? By drying up also means the internal area of the hand is drying up. For 1-2 days is ok so the longer you keep in the fridge with an open wound, the more the internal will dry up so loss of nutrients. At the same time, the open wound will absorb the 'dirty' air in the fridge because there's raw meat in the freezer. Fridge and freezer share the same motor, means the open wound will pick up the germs from the raw meat.

[Mummy E] Oh so meaning cut away a small portion of the open wound also no use? The germ will get into the whole veg?

[brenda] For cut carrot in the fridge, you can use the cut away a bit method but the germs are very naked to your eyes so why rish when you can help it by buying baby carrots? For other veg, can always steam then freeze. Once frozen, cell walls of the veg stop producing germs
Correct me if I am wrong,s o is it steam the whole carrot puree and freeze it better than always cut a portion from the same large carrot even if we try to cut and throw away the portion of the open wound?

Anyway, steam the veg to only about 60% cooked for freezing portions so that when you warm up for feeding you don't overcook the veg.

[Mummy E] You mean so I won't overcook the veg puree right? For freezing puree, I just make sure I remove from stove once the veg like going to cook leh cos don know how to see is it 60% cook, cos I worry I undercook it too.

[brenda] Undercook is better than overcook, the most before you feed, you steam a bit longer. Use a fork to poke through the veg, it should feels a little hard.

[Mummy E] Do you have a chart of food to intro for b b at 6mth 9mth 12mth etc? Like what veg can intro at each month of their age. Like tof how many mth can bb start eat it?

[brenda] I have a few posts here and there. If you got to the tag 'Useful Info', there should be some lists.

[Mummy E] The olive oil once open got need to within how long finish to be safe to be use for children food?

[brenda] It depends on how you've store it. If stored well, can keep up to 6 months or maybe as long as there's no bad smell.

[Mummy E] What are the foods cannot be blend or store in freezer as puree? Going to give my baby try carrot today so since carrot can be mash also so i should not blend the balance and freeze it also right?

[brenda] There isn't a firm guideline one these as there're so many fruits/veg out there. I know whatever that can mash, just mash. Blend should be the 2nd alternative.

[Mummy E] Ok so will mash the 60% cooked carrot balance and freeze instead, for fruit like apple doesn't matter if to blend or freeze right? or must also be mash than blend?

[brenda] Why need toblend or freeze apple? It should be eaten fresh and immediately after you cut it open. From cutting to freezing, the apple already turning brown because of the exposure to air and bacteria. Why blend when you can scape with a teaspoon? Fresh is best!

[Mummy E] Oh cos I see someone freezing fruit so thought it will be more convenient like what they said. Especially when bb cannot able to finish.

[brenda] We can't based on what others are doing then we follow right.. Need to apply logic to it, even doctors can make mistake.

[Mummy E] Just trying the mashing method, if I steam the carrot to 60%, it is very difficult to mash it with forsk to very fine, got bit bit and I take so long to do it real soft and smooth.

[brenda] For carrot is ok to blend. I just mentioned if can mash, then mash but doesn't mean everything must use fork mash. For potatoes, a masher is used.

[Mummy E] So mean anything that is starchy we dont blend instead should mash it. Other rest is ok to blend, right?

[brenda] yeapp! (=

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And I'd like to recommend Post Weaning Mummies to read these posts and the comments that come with them. Hopefully they serve useful to you:

Feeding Journal from 6 months old
Weaning off Breastfeeding
Basic Kitchen Food List
Basic Kitchen Utensils for Post Weaning Needs
Purple Sweet Potatoes
About Food Allergies & Intolerances
To Freeze or Not To Freeze
Video on How to Pare Asparagus Skin
Video on How to Remove Spinach Fibre
Making Chicken Stock Step by Step
Homemade Fresh Juice

If there's any topic which you as a postweaning mum think that I should work on to help yourself and other postweaning mummies, let me know and I'll see what I can do with it. As mentioned, Post Weaning classes are in plans, if you're interested, drop me an email.

The Art of Double Boiling

2009-02-23T16:20:00.005+08:00

When I was 8 or even younger, I'd always seen my grandfather and my uncles making soup using the double-boil method. We'd this spaceship like vessel sitting on top of a very very very big and heavy iron wok filled with simmering water in our coffee shop. The soups were always sold out even before lunch time ended. I remember the taste of each soup vividly, just wasn't too fond of the pig brain's version and I'm sure you know why.. heh

The 2 soups which I have always loved since then are Salted Veggie & Duck Soup and Water Cress Soup. So flavorful yet uncomplicated. I can never forget those tastes.

On the 1st day of CNY, my 3rd uncle invited(or rather I insisted :P) us to his place for lunch, it was that taste again! And I had to 'steal' that bowl which contained that taste.

This is that bowl, he gave it to me to bring home with after our lunch.

And these are the 2 methods of double-boiling..

1. Placing the bowl in a slow cooker using slow cooker method

2. Placing the bowl in a larger pot using stove fire method
Cooking Methods
for Slow Cooker:
Pour hot boiling water into the inner pot of the slow cooker and set slow cooker to high then place the bowl with ingredients, fill the bowl with hot boiling water, cover the pot with its lid then cook at high heat for 1 hour then turn to low heat for 1.5hours.

for Stove Fire Cooking:
Boil water in the pot then when the water boils, place the steaming stand into the pot and the bowl with the ingredients. Then fill the bowl of ingredients with hot boiling water, cover the pot with its lid then cook at high heat for 30 minutes then turn to low heat for 1.5hours.

The Art
: According to my grandfather, my uncles and my father, this is the best method to cook soup in retaining the flavours and nutrients.

: Try not to be tempted (For me, I do! haha!! bad habit..) to open the lid while double boiling is in process. I heard the flavor will escape with the steam.

: The result also depends on how the meat and the accompanied veggies have been prepared. If using inferior quality such as frozen meat, the taste will be affected.

: Do not remove the oil that eventually floats on top until the soup is ready for eating. The oil actually protects the flavors and keeps the soup warm.

: Do make sure you have the right gloves/tools to help you handle the inner hot pot. For me, I just take the entire outer pot and place on the dinner table with a big coaster and use a ladle to scoop the soup out.

: This way of cooking soup is almost effortless, I feel that it's very suitable for weekend mummies. You can dump everything in and allow the cooking vessels to do their job while you do housework or spend quality time with your baby.

: This is also the way to make White Fungus & Lotus Seed Soup and the Bird Nest Soup.

: I think that special bowl can be found in those household items shop in neighbourhood areas. If you can't find the bowl, earthern pots can do the job too. Just don't replace with metal bowls like what most Zi Char(Hawkers) stalls are doing now. Apparently the heat retains by the metal is too hot and harsh so it will kill most nutrients by the end of cooking.

Love can be brewed in the soup, really! (=

Daily Menu: 17 Feb 09, Dinner

2009-02-20T13:19:00.007+08:00

As I've been too busy lately, it's quite hard to take note of all the meals that Arianne is having, and for most of the meals, she eats what we eat so I decided to modify my daily menu entries to just posting whatever meals or dishes I can take note/pic of instead of all the 3 meals/snacks.

I discovered that Green Carrot is quite yummy. It has a mushy potato like taste and very sweet for soups. So I got gungho and tried it with one of my regular soup recipes, and replaced it with my usual Japanese Daikon. It turned out to be very pleasant and most importantly, my hard-to-please unavoidable dinner guest, Arianne, loves it! hehehee

Dinner
Double-Boiled Green Carrot Soup
Ingredient/Prep
300g Green Carrot/Pare the skin and cut into 0.5sm slices
300-400g Spare Ribs/Boil in water for about 5 minutes to 'wash' the ribs. Drain.
15g Dried Oysters/Rinse(I've started to give Arianne seafood in the form of tastes/flavours but not the seafood itself.)
4-5 cloves Garlic/Rinse, no need to remove skin.

Tools
Check it out in my next post for The Art of Double Boiling

Cook
1. Place all ingredients into the inner(smaller) pot(add 1tsp salt if desired ) and fill with boiled water till the brim. It doesn't matter which ingredient goes in first then double boil high heat for 30 minutes then turn to low heat for 1.5hours. Serve hot with rice.

Daily Menu: 10 Feb 2009

2009-02-16T18:43:00.006+08:00

Breakfast
Mixed Cereal with Fresh Milk

Lunch
Fish Fingers & Roasted Sweet Potato Wedges
Tomato Ketchup with Little Cucumber Triangles

Fish Fingers with Bread Crumb
Ingredients/Prep
60g of Threadfin or Pacific Dory/Cut into 1cm thick strips
100g of Breadcrumbs/Put bread crumb in a bag
In a bowl, mix these ingredients together and place all the fish strips in and use fingers to marinate for about a few minutes:
1 beatened egg
Few dashes of Ground White Pepper
Few dashes of Dried Parsley
Tiny pinch of Natural Sea Salt as desired

For shallow frying:
Few tbs of Low Cholestrol Oil(such as Canola, Soy or Grapefruit)

Cook
1. Put all fish strips into the breadcrumbs bag and shake the bag to coat the fish strips well.
2. Warm up a shallow frying pan using medium heat. Once the pan is warmed up, add the oil and start laying the fish strips in for frying.
3. Fry each side for about 2-3 minutes or until the bread crumb coating is browned.
4. Remove fish fingers and place them onto a kitchen towel.

Suitable for babies above 12 months old

Roasted Sweet Potato Wedges
Ingredients/Prep
2 medium sized Orange Sweet Potatoes/Cut sweet potatoes into 2/2cm wedges
Few tbs of Olive Oil

Cook/Roast
1. Toss the sweet potato wedges evenly with the oil and salt in a bowl.
2. Preheat oven to 160degC and once the oven is warmed up, place the wedges on a baking sheet and bake for about 10 minutes or until the wedges are softened.

Suitable for babies above 12 months old

Serve both dishes with little cucumber triangles in tomato ketchup

Dinner
Poached Fish in Fermented Soya Bean Sauce with Tofu
White Fluffy Rice

Daily Menu: 6 Feb 2009

2009-02-09T12:49:00.005+08:00

Breakfast
Muesli with Dried Apricots
A Cup of Fresh Milk

Lunch
Smoked Turkey Breast Cheese Canapes
Ingredients / Prep
1 slice Turkey Breast Smoked Turkey Breast / Scald in boiling water for 10-15seconds. Drain and cut into small 2x2cm squares
1 slice Cheddar Cheese / Cut in 2x2cm squares
1 slice Wholemeal Bread / Toasted then cut into 2x2cm squares
Few slices of Cucumber / No need to remove skin, slice then just cut into small triangles.

Assemble each ingredient then break cocktail sticks into 2, and poke through the centre of the piled up ingredients. Serve with a drink.

Suitable for babies above 18months old (careful with the cocktail sticks, if needed, trim off sharp ends)

Dinner
Colorful Egg Fried Rice

Banana Raisins Loaf

2009-02-08T00:08:00.013+08:00

I don't know what happened to Arianne's palette lately, whatever she used to love eating, now she loathes them.. Yogurt, cheese sticks, grapes, rock melon and most recently, banana and raisins.. Yes, you read me right! Banana and Raisins! I don't know of any toddler who doesn't like these. Hmmm..

But too bad, 2 days ago I already bought a big bunch of bananas so today I used them to make loaf with.. Ha! and she actually loved it! (Oooh and I also sneaked in her second dislike, raisins! heehee..)
Ingredients
500g Bananas (I used the 'pang jeo', small fragrant bananas. Very sweet)
100g Unsalted Butter, softened 100g
2 Eggs, beatened
70-80g Raisins/Sultanas (can be substituted with Choc Buttons, Almond or Walnut)
50g Light Brown Sugar (I used very little sugar compares to most other recipes because I find the fragant bananas are already quite sweet)
220g Self-Raising Flour, sifted
(See picture below)
Tools
Electric Mixer with Paddle attachment
Rubber Spatula
Masher or Fork
Loaf Tin or A Square Tin
Wooden Skewer

Bake
1. Preheat the oven to 180degC and butter the tin either with extra butter or using a butter spray.

2. Place softened butter and brown sugar into the whisk bowl of the mixer. Whisk in medium speed.

3. When the sugar and butter are quite well-mixed, turn speed to low and add in the beatened eggs slowly.

4. Mash the bananas.

5. Add in the mashed bananas and raisins.

6. Follow by the sifted flour, add in part by part until finish. Continue to let mix for about 2-3 minutes.

7. Remove whisk bowl from mixer base, use spatula and hand-mix a few rounds.

8. Transfer batter to buttered tin and bake for 45-50minutes or until the wooden skewer comes through clean.

9. Remove loaf from tin and let cool for 10 minutes. Cut using bread knife, serve with yogurt or a fresh cup of mint tea.

Daily Menu: sometime in Jan 2009

2009-02-05T15:01:00.005+08:00

Breakfast
Mixed Berries Yogurt
Crepes with Maple Syrup & Banana Slices (yield about 8 pieces)
Ingredients
300g Plain Flour
3 Eggs
120ml Fresh Full Cream Milk
50g Unsalted Butter (if using this, add into the batter and melt to mix)
or Butter Spray (if using this, spray onto warm pan before pouring batter)

Garnish
Banana/Cut into slices
Maple Syrup

Cook
1. Mix all the ingredients together.
2. Using a thin non-stick small frying pan, warm it up by using medium heat.
3A. If using butter spray, once the pan is warm(not hot), spray the butter evenly. Then pour in the batter using a soup scoop gently and smoothly.
3B. If using butter, add melted butter into the batter and mix well. Then once the pan is warm, pour in the batter with a soup scoop slowly and gently.
4. Twirl the pan around to even the batter on the pan, using very gentle stroke of your wrist.
5. Once you see little bubbles forming about 2-3 minutes later, flip the batter to the other side.
6. Crepe should cook within 3-5 minutes. Serve warm with garnish.

Suitable for Babies above 12 months

Remarks
If desired, add a quarter tsp of salt and 4tbs sugar in the batter mix for adult's consumption. I find the syrup and bananas already sweet enough so I omitted the sugar.
I also melted some chocolate bars for my husband to accompany his crepes.

Lunch
Minced Pork Noodle aka Bah Chor Mee
Ingredients (for 2 big bowls + 1 small bowl)/Prep
200g Minced Pork/Marinate with 1tbs Soya Sauce, 1tbs Sesame Oil, 1tsp Potato Starch and some dashes of White Ground Pepper
80g Japanese Flower Dried Mushrooms/Soak in hot water to soften for about 30 minutes. Remove stems then cut into stripes.
Desired Amount of Fresh Fish Balls/Rinse
2 Cloves of Garlic/Mince
Handful of Chye Sim (or any green leafy veg)/Wash and hand pluck into short lengthwise.
Any Noodles(Yellow Mien, Bee Hoon, Kway Teow etc..)/Rinse in hot water then with running tap water. For Bee Hoon, soak in hot water till softened.
1 liter of Fish Stock(Chicken/Pork stock also ok)
A dash of Shao Xing Wine
1tbs of Oyster Sauce

Cook
1. In a pot, boil the stock then once boiling, put in the fish balls to cook them.
2. Once the fish balls float, that means they are cooked. Remove from stock and drain.
3. Add the leafy veggies into the simmering stock to cook. Remove from stock once they turn dark green and drain. Turn off the heat for the stock.
4. In a frying pan, add a tiny tsp of oil then add the minced garlic, fry till brown.
5. Add in the minced pork and mushroom. Sauteed with a wooden spatula. Try to 'loosen' the minced pork.
6. Add a dash of Chinese Shao Xing Wine and a tbs of Oyster Sauce into the pan and continue to sautee to mix. Then add about half a rice bowl of water to loosen the mixture.
7. Once the meat is cooked, remove from pan and set aside.
8. To assemble, place the desired amount of noodles into a bowl/plate, then add the cooked fish balls and veggies, then ladle the minced pork mushroom gravy and pour gently over the noodles. Serve warm with soup(the stock) on the side, garnish with spring onions if desired.

Suitable for Children above 24months (Note: Fish balls should be cut to manageable size)

Remarks
My entire family loves this dish for an afternoon meal.
You can freeze the minced pork/mushroom gravy for up to 2 weeks and thaw it by placing in a microwave oven or simply in a frying pan over low heat. Use this gravy on instant noodles, you can do without the instant mix from the instant noodles.

Dinner
Stir-fried Purple Spinach with Ikan Bilis
Poached Potatoes, Tomatoes & Onions in Sweet Chilli Sauce
Hot Fluffy Rice

Cooler for 'Heaty' Days

2009-01-29T11:36:00.005+08:00

Did you read the papers today? The heatwave is here and Singapore is having bush fires! Darn.. and to think that we were enjoying the past weeks of chilly wind. With the celebration of Chinese New Year and this terrible weather changed, we better take care of our health. Especially for those who are returning to work or school..

And remember my last posts, my Arianne didn't catch the HFMD virus? now I think she did catch it afterall because right after she was well(ill for 3 days), her father got it! Aiya, my poor husband had to be quarantined from us and couldn't celebrate CNY at all for the last few days. But thank goodness, today he's all well already and all the blisters have disappeared =)

I made all sorts of herbal drinks to combat the ulcers in his throat, one of them is this..
罗汉果(Dried Siraitia Grosvenorii Fruit)

Ingredients/Prep (All bought at Chinese Medicinal Shop/Yield about 2.5 liters)
2 Big 罗汉果 Lou2 Han4 Gou3 (Make sure it doesn't sound 'loose' when you shake to check the freshness)/Break into halves and rinse under running water.

20g 龍眼干 Long2 Yan3 Gan1 aka Dried Longans, shelled, deseeded and whole/Rinse under running water.

20g 紅棗 Hong2 Zao3 aka Big Red Dates, deseeded/Rinse under running water.

20g 冬瓜糖 Dong1 Gua1 Tang2 Sugar Melon

3-3.5 liters Clean Tap Water

Cook
1. Boil the clean tap water in a big pot.

2. Once the water is boiling, put ALL the ingredients in and bring to a boil then turn down the heat and let it simmer for 45 minutes.

3. Remove from heat and drink at room temperature or chill in the fridge to drink cold.

Remarks
Very soothing for the throat. Good for sore throat and cough with no phlegm.

Gong Xi Gong Xi to all! May the Ox year brings you prosperity, happiness and most importantly, a very pink health.

Steamed Cupcakes

2009-01-17T20:36:00.003+08:00

For the past few days, I had been at my wits end in planning for Arianne's meals... and to my surprise today, she has recovered!

No HFMD! it was merely a sore throat.. Phewww. That was quite a scare.

She started to ask for vanilla cookies, corn flakes, honey this morning.. We were more than happy to supply her anything she asked.

I just made Steamed Cupcakes, hope she'll like them too..

Ingredients (makes about 12)
5 Eggs
300g Super Lite Flour (Prima)
2tsp Baking Powder
1tsp Bicarbonate Soda
150g Castor Sugar (or grind Granulated sugar for a few seconds in the mill)
120ml Coconut Milk
100ml Canola Oil

Prep
1. Line 12 aluminium casings with paper cases.
2. In a bowl, whisk the eggs with the sugar till fluffy then continue to whisk in the oil and milk till well mixed.
3. In another bowl, sift the flour, baking powder and bicarbonate soda together.
4. Fold the egg mixture into the dry flour mixture. Stir as you fold until all is well mixed.
5. Spoon them into the casing and let the mixture rest for 30 minutes.

Cook
1. In a steamer, put the water to boil.
2. Once the water is boiling, place the cakes in to steam for about 10-15 minutes. Use a wooden stick to poke through and when it comes out clean, the cake is done.
3. Serve warm

Remarks
I'm not a big fan of artificial colorings that's why my steamed cupcakes are one tone. I rather serve them with dried fruits or drizzle with maple syrup or home made strawberry sauce.
Read this BBC news about Artificial Coloring. Though the studies are not conclusive but do our kids really need to eat these artificial colors? hmmm... We can use fancy looking casings for presentation :)

Food for HFMD?

2009-01-16T17:08:00.007+08:00

On Monday afternoon, Arianne started to have high fever like 39.5degC and she was totally lethargic, not a word was heard from her for almost the whole day. I took her back from school and went to see our PD. Her throat was a little red but nothing else suggested what she was having.

The fever went on and off for the last few days and last night, I was told her little cousin was hospitalised for HFMD. It straightaway daunted me that they were both playing together last Sunday =(

So I decided to quarantine her at home since her throat was red when the PD saw her. And if you think your toddler is a fussy eater, wait till you try feeding a HFMD infected toddler! (ok I don't really have the experience of feeding one since A is not confirmed suffering from HFMD, but A and her sore throat is bad enough so I can't imagine worse)

HFMD Symptoms:
Fever
Loss of Appetite
Difficulty in swallowing even drinks
Lethargic
Tiredness
Vomiting
Visual Signs: Mouth/Throat ulcers and blisters on hand and feet.

This is what I learnt from docs and web sites:
Most HFMD cases are mild and there's no need to go the hospital unless fever is too high like beyond 39.8degC and not having the appropriate medicines at home to contain the fever. Even if you go to the hospital, there's nothing the docs there can do except to confirm the case. There's no medicine for HFMD. Incubation period is usually about 4-7 days. Mild HFMD cases will self-heal within a week. Plenty of fluids is the way to go.

Here are what I prepared for her today..
Chicken Porridge
Barley Drink
Fruity Jelly(using organic fruit smoothie from The Purple One and gelatine)

Did she eat? Not really =( ....only drank a tiny glass of Barley and a few jelly.. will try again tomorrow..

Porridge, Porridge & Porridge

2009-01-06T13:54:00.007+08:00

I had wanted to post this like 2 years ago!! but was waiting for an accumlation of pics/recipes. Arianne never really like porridge so I didn't have many to blog about.. Here are my little collections so far. Will add more when A happens to request for porridge.

Main Ingredients (yields about 1-1.5 Chinese Rice Bowl of Cooked Porridge)
1 Chinese Spoon Japanese White Rice
1 Chinese Spoon Brown Rice
300ml Clean Tap Water (for slow cooker usage, use hot boiling water)
300-400ml Chicken/Beef/Pork/Veggie Stock
1 big slice Ginger
Lots of love! Heehee

Types of Meat/Fish Used
Pork: Pork Fillet. It comes in a strip, very red in color. Only 1 piece in each pig. Chinese is known as Zhu1 Jing3 Rou4
Beef: Either Tenderloin or Striploin
Fish: Silver Fish, Cod or Threadfin, at wet market is known as 'Ngoh Hee'
Ham: for babies above 24 months

Types of Veggies or Fruits Suitable
Carrot
Parsnip
Pumpkin
Yam
Radish
Turnip
Winter Melon
Sweet Corn
Baby Corn
Garden Peas
Sugar Bean
French Bean
Chickpeas
Lentils
Potato
Sweet Potato
Cauliflower
Broccoli
Spinach (Chinese, English or Baby)
Chinese Cabbage (Sio Pek Choi)
Kai Lan
Celery (for 18 months and above)
Water Chestnut
Apple
Pear

Other Stuff
Tofu
Hard Tofu (Tow Kuah)

Utensils
1 small heavy bottom pot or slow cooker
1 ladle

Garnish
Spring Onions/Chinese Celery
Ground Pepper White/Black

Most steps are reptitive in all the recipes..
Shredded Pork + Sugar Beans
Ingredients / Prep
1 Chunk(50g) Pork Fillet / Wash and drain
Handful of Sugar Beans / Wash and remove fiber. Do not cut into smaller pieces for more retention of Vitamin C. Cut only after its cooked.

Cook
1a. If using a POT, add the ginger and both rices into the pot with the water to boil in high heat. This will take about 15 minutes.
1b. If using a SLOW COOKER, add the ginger and both rices into the vessel with hot boiling water and bring to boil in high heat. This will take about 20-30minutes.
2. Turn heat to low, add in the pork and half the stock. Allow to slow cook for at least 45minutes. During which, stir as often as you can. If the porridge is getting dry, add stock bit by bit.
3. Add in the sugar beans and cook for another 30 minutes or until tender. Add in stock and stir as it cooks.
4. Cut/Blend the porridge to desired bite size. Shred the pork with a fork to hairline size. Serve warm with or without garnish.

Suitable for babies from 10 months

Pork + Yam
Ingredients / Prep
1 Chunk(50g) Pork Fillet / Wash and drain
2 Baby Yam / Remove skin, cube and soak in water until use.

Cook
1a. If using a POT, add the ginger and both rices into the pot with the water to boil in high heat. This will take about 15 minutes.
1b. If using a SLOW COOKER, add the ginger and both rices into the vessel with hot boiling water and bring to boil in high heat. This will take about 20-30minutes.
2. Turn heat to low, add in the pork and half the stock. Allow to slow cook for at least 45minutes. During which, stir as often as you can. If the porridge is getting dry, add stock bit by bit.
3. Add in the yam and cook for another 15-20 minutes or until tender. Add in stock and stir as it cooks.
4. Cut/Blend the porridge to desired bite size. Shred the pork with a fork to hairline size. Serve warm with or without garnish.

Suitable for babies from 12 months

Pork + Apple + Pumpkin
Ingredients / Prep
1 Chunk(50g) Pork Fillet / Wash and drain
2 slices Apple / Remove skin, cube and soak in water until use.
30g Pumpkin / Remove skin then cube.

Cook
1a. If using a POT, add the ginger and both rices into the pot with the water to boil in high heat. This will take about 15 minutes.
1b. If using a SLOW COOKER, add the ginger and both rices into the vessel with hot boiling water and bring to boil in high heat. This will take about 20-30minutes.
2. Turn heat to low, add in the pork and half the stock. Allow to slow cook for at least 45minutes. During which, stir as often as you can. If the porridge is getting dry, add stock bit by bit.
3. Add in the pumpkin and apple, cook for another 20-30 minutes or until tender. Add in stock and stir as it cooks.
4. Cut/Blend the porridge to desired bite size. Shred the pork with a fork to hairline size. Serve warm with or without garnish.

Suitable for babies from 10 months

Instant Porridge
Ingredients / Prep
1 Chunk(50g) Fish Fillet / Cut into cubes
40g Carrot / Shred into short thin stripes
Handful of Chinese Cabbage or Spinach / Use only the leaves and do not cut small.

Cook
1. Use a pot, add the ginger and both rices into the pot with the water to boil in high heat. This will take about 15 minutes.
2. Add in the fish, shredded carrots and all the stock. Allow to cook for at least 10minutes and keep stirring gently. If the porridge is getting dry, add stock bit by bit.
3. Add in the leafy veggies and cook for another 5-7 minutes.
4. Cut/Blend the porridge to desired bite size. Serve warm with or without garnish.

Suitable for babies from 12 months. For babies at 10 months, the rices need to be cooked longer

Fish + Tofu + Tomato
Ingredients / Prep
1 Chunk 50-60g Fish Fillet or 0.5 Chinese Rice bowl Silver Fish / Rinse well
30-40g Soft Tofu / Rinse gently and cut into chunk
0.5 Tomato / Cut into cubes

Cook
1a. If using a POT, add the ginger and both rices into the pot with the water to boil in high heat. This will take about 15 minutes.
1b. If using a SLOW COOKER, add the ginger and both rices into the vessel with hot boiling water and bring to boil in high heat. This will take about 20-30minutes.
2. Turn heat to low, add in the fish and half the stock. Allow to slow cook for at least 30minutes. During which, stir as often as you can. If the porridge is getting dry, add stock bit by bit.
3. Add in the tomatoes and tofu, cook for another 15 minutes. Add in the rest of the stock and stir as it cooks.
4. Cut/Blend the porridge to desired bite size. Serve warm with or without garnish.

Suitable for babies from 12 months (Tomato is considered as a citrus fruit)

Fish & Lentils
Ingredients / Prep
1 Chunk 50-60g Fish Fillet or 0.5 Chinese Rice bowl Silver Fish / Rinse well
2tbs Lentils / Soak in water for about 1-2 hours

Cook
1a. If using a POT, add the ginger and both rices into the pot with the water to boil in high heat. This will take about 15 minutes.
1b. If using a SLOW COOKER, add the ginger and both rices into the vessel with hot boiling water and bring to boil in high heat. This will take about 20-30minutes.
2. Turn heat to low, add in the lentils and half the stock. Allow to slow cook for at least 30 minutes. During which, stir as often as you can. If the porridge is getting dry, add stock bit by bit.
3. Add in the fish then cook for another 20 minutes. Add in stock and stir as it cooks.
4. Cut/Blend the porridge to desired bite size. Serve warm with or without garnish.

Suitable for babies from 10 months

Chicken + Parsnip + Baby Carrots
Ingredients / Prep
50g Chicken Fillet / Rinse and do not cut
30g Parsnip / Cut into Chunky cubes
2-3 pcs Baby Carrots / Rinse and halve

Cook
1a. If using a POT, add the ginger and both rices into the pot with the water to boil in high heat. This will take about 15 minutes.
1b. If using a SLOW COOKER, add the ginger and both rices into the vessel with hot boiling water and bring to boil in high heat. This will take about 20-30minutes.
2. Turn heat to low, add in the chicken and half the stock. Allow to slow cook for at least 45 minutes. During which, stir every 15 minutes or as often as you can. If the porridge is getting dry, add stock bit by bit.
3. Add in the parsnip and baby carrots, cook for another 30 minutes or until tender. Add in stock and stir as it cooks.
4. Cut/Blend the porridge to desired bite size, use fork to mash the parsnip/carrot. Shred the chicken with a fork to hairline size. Serve warm with or without garnish.

Suitable for babies from 10 months

Minced Beef + Sweet Corn + Peas
Ingredients / Prep
50g Beef Fillet / Rinse and mince
2tbs Sweet Corn Kernels / Rinse
2tbs Garden Peas / Rinse

Cook
1a. If using a POT, add the ginger and both rices into the pot with the water to boil in high heat. This will take about 15 minutes.
1b. If using a SLOW COOKER, add the ginger and both rices into the vessel with hot boiling water and bring to boil in high heat. This will take about 20-30minutes.
2. Turn heat to low, add in the beef chunk and half the stock. Allow to slow cook for at least 45 minutes. During which, stir every 15 minutes or as often as you can. If the porridge is getting dry, add stock bit by bit.
3. Add in the peas and corns, cook for another 30 minutes or until tender. Add in stock and stir as it cooks.
4. Cut/Blend the porridge to desired bite size. Shred the beef with a fork to hairline size. Serve warm with or without garnish.

Suitable for babies from 10 months

Beef + Baby Corn
Ingredients / Prep
50g Beef Fillet / Rinse and do not cut
30g Broccoli / Use only the florets. Wash thoroughly
2-3 pcs Baby Carrots / Rinse and halve

Cook
1a. If using a POT, add the ginger and both rices into the pot with the water to boil in high heat. This will take about 15 minutes.
1b. If using a SLOW COOKER, add the ginger and both rices into the vessel with hot boiling water and bring to boil in high heat. This will take about 20-30minutes.
2. Turn heat to low, add in the beef and half the stock. Allow to slow cook for at least 45 minutes. During which, stir every 15 minutes or as often as you can. If the porridge is getting dry, add stock bit by bit.
3. Add in the parsnip and baby carrots, cook for another 30 minutes or until tender. Add in stock and stir as it cooks.
4. Cut/Blend the porridge to desired bite size, use fork to mash the parsnip/carrot. Shred the beef with a fork to hairline size. Serve warm with or without garnish.

Suitable for babies from 10 months

The TRICK or MAGIC to make really yummy, pasty, smooth porridge is to stir, stir and stir. Stirring helps in even cooking for the rice and ingredients. Porridge left unattended is the worst to stomach :( So the more you stir, the more love you're adding in.

Attention = Love, isn't it?

Daily Menu: Xmas Dinner 25 Dec 08

2009-01-06T11:06:00.006+08:00

A bit backdated but anyhow it's still a worthy recipe to share. Very popular with Arianne's palette and adult's too, yet so easy to make..

Dinner
Roast Chicken
Potatoes Au Gratin
Roast Carrots & Parsnip

Ingredients (for 2 Adults + Arianne)/Prep
1 Whole Chicken(about 1-1.2kg, get the Sakura no hormones injection ones from Fairprice.)/Wash then marinate with 3tbs Honey, 3tbs Oyster Sauce, 3tbs Sesame Oil, 3tbs Worchestshire Sauce, White Ground Pepper, Mashed Garlic and Ginger in the fridge for at least 3 hours.

8 Potatoes(small, yellow ones)/No need to remove skin, par-boil them for about 10 mins or desired time in boiling water then drain to cool. Just before baking, add parmesan cheese on top of the cut level side and minced garlic/butter paste (Minced 3-5garlic corsely then add about 30-50g butter, use a fork to blend them together)

1 Big Carrot(baby carrots are nicer actually) & 1 Big Parsnip/Remove skin, cut into stripes

Cook
1. Preheat the oven to 180degC. After the chicken has been resting in the fridge with marinade for at least 3 hours, remove from fridge. Use aluminium foil and wrap the tail of the chicken wings and drumsticks so that they won't get burnt easily.

2. Place the chicken on a baking sheet at the lower tier of the oven. Bake for at least 45 minutes or until it's cooked when you use a steak knife to cut through.

3. Put the potatoes (topped with parmesan cheese + garlic butter paste) in for baking(together while the chicken is baking) on the top tier of the oven and bake the potatoes for about 15 minutes or when the topping turns brown and crispy.

4. Remove the potatoes and replace the tray with the carrot and parsnip stripes. Drizzle a little olive oil on the rooties, toss a little to evenly spread the oil and bake for 20-30 minutes or until they're cooked.

5. Sprinkle dried oregano on the rooties. Serve everything when they're warm.

Suitable for babies above 12 months (Cheese included)

Remarks
When Arianne was about 10 months old, I used to roast the chicken only with olive oil as marinade then shred the meat and freeze for future used. I used the shredded roast chicken meat for adding into her porridge or noodle soup. Instant yums!

Cream of Tomato (Not in the pic, I forgot to take because was too busy trying to shred the chicken for A!)
Ingredients / Prep
8-10 mid sized red tomatoes/Remove seeds and cut into quarters.

2 large sticks Celery/Wash and cut into chunks

5-6 Sugar Beans/Remove fiber and cut into pieces

1 Red Onion/Slice

3 Garlic/Chop

Few leaves of Fresh Basil Leaves for garnishing/Chop

2liters Chicken Stock

1 tin 100% Natural Tomato Paste (Can be substituted with Tomato Ketchup but results not as desirable)

100ml Pure Cream (I used Bulla from Cold Storage)

200ml Whipping Cream UHT (I used President's Full Fats and keep some aside for swirling when the soup is presented in a bowl)
30g Unsalted Butter (Elle & Vire's French Full Fats Butter, fab smell and very creamy!)

Cook
1. In a deep sauce pan or heavy bottom pot, add in the butter then sautee the garlic and onions together till brown.

2. Add in the celery, fresh tomatoes and sugar beans, stir fry till tender.

3. Add in the tomato paste, stir fry a little then add the chicken stock and simmer for about 15-20minutes.

4. Add in the Pure Cream and stir still it simmers again.

5. Add the Whipping Cream (remember to leave some for swirling later) bit by bit, stir as you add to avoid clogging then once the whole pot of soup is simmering, turn off the heat. Do not boil the soup.

6. Use an immersion blender then blend the soup till everything is smooth.

7. Put the pot of creaymy soup back to the stove and bring it to a boil. Turn off heat. Scoop to bowls, using a small teaspoon to swirl in the Whipping Cream (like your signature heehee..) then garnish with basil leaves. Serve warm with bread or croutons. For adult's consumption, add salt if desired.

Suitable for babies above 12 months

Update on Self-Potty Training

2009-01-05T00:11:00.005+08:00

Heehee.. I hope the above pic didn't spoil your appetite if you were coming in here hoping to see some tantalizing food pics instead hehee..

I've received quite a few emails from mummies asking how's A doing with her self-potty training. It's been 18 days, about 2 weeks plus since I blogged about A and Potty Training.

I'd think she's considered fully toilet trained. In fact since that magical day started, she never once had an accident.

YA! NOT a single accident so far!! No pee in the panties while we ride in the car or bus or while jumping around at the playground. She can even forsake her Barney or Mickey Mouse Clubhouse shows or whilst playing with her friends, and alert me to go pee! So to me, these are signs of full awareness. PHEW!

Heehee..

I'm still gleeful about it and still think I'm dreaming or something.. my mum and I are still having the, 'sure or not? a baby can self potty trained??!' conversations.. and smile silly.

So my friends, it's possible! Just take it in your stride and be patient about it. It'll happen! Good luck :) just don't give up..

Oh.. just that Shawn and I still kind of rely on diapers at certain times like when we visit a friend's because we can't imagine or handle the embarassment! CHICKEN I know!! :P

hahaha! I've striked lottery!

Poached Pears with Chocolate Sauce

2009-01-04T17:32:00.004+08:00

I'm back! Thanks for all your patience with my late entries and reponses to your mails :) I hope the wait wasn't too long..

Here's one recipe I MUST SHARE. Simply because it was soooooooooo easy to make and it's absolutely yummy on a Xmas night.. or any other cool nights :)

Ingredients (for 2 adults + Arianne)
3 Pears (I used Belgian ones from Cold Storage. The Italian ones are equally suitable) / Halve and Core
1 Lemon / Squeeze out the juice
70g Sugar + 500-800ml Clean Tap Water
1 Cinnamon Stick
Heapfuls of Rich Chocolate Sauce (I bought a bottle from The Market Place brand is Herman's Place. I think you can get it at most supermarkets, just probably in another brand)

Cook
1. Boil the sugar in the tap water until it's well dissolved.
2. While it's simmering (turn fire small if necessary), add the lemon juice and place the halved pears into the pot and poach for at least 20 minutes. While poaching, the water must cover all the pears well.
3. After poaching the pears for about 20 minutes, use a satay stick or a toothpick to check if the pears are soft. If tender enough, turn off the fire and let cool.
4. Let cool for at least 20-30 minutes, remove the pears from the pot, drain then drizzle rich chocolate sauce all over. Best to eat it warm.

Remarks
Minus the cooling/poaching time, it took me less than 15 minutes to prepare!

Suitable for children above 2 years

Littlegastronomy is on a little break..

2008-12-27T14:18:00.008+08:00

Dear all,
I'm taking some time off before the New Year ends.. please pardon the lack of posts and delay in replying your emails/comments. When I come back, there'll be lots of recipes(Home-made ice cream!, Poached Pears with Choc Sauce, Potatoes Au Gratin etc..) for really easy to prepare desserts and meals, aimed at full time working mums(heehee..). My head is already filled with the ingredients I want to sprinkle and spread.

Meanwhile, stay bubbly and keep your little ones' hearts and tummies warm too. I'll see you next year with more yummy treats.Do have a yummylicious Y2009! May it be filled with many many fabulous spread of surprises and good food.

Toast *with a glass of bubbly*,

Brenda

P/S: I'm catching up with all my Nigella collections on a mat by the sandy park.. err with a double espresso, flushed with piping hot milk :)

Xmas on the Lawn | Post Party

2008-12-24T17:32:00.007+08:00

23rd Dec 08 . 5-8pm

Rider's Lodge . The Lawn

Guests: (Total 120++ adults and 44 kids)
Parents with Children
Senior Folks from Lions Befrienders Club
Rider's Lodge B&B Guests

and the Credits go to,

Volunteers:
Aaron, Mervyn, Lilian, Elise, Elsie, Angie, Siau Chun, Jessy, Kat, Francisca, Chia Choon, Irvin, Kenny, Aza, Danny, Tommy, Jing Sheng, Jil and Shufen

Gifts Sponsors:
Sharon Teo, SuperCoffee
Ginette, Mummy
Yvonne, Mummy

Venue by Rider's Lodge

F&B by Overyjoy Restaurant

Facepainting by Queenie, ArtyBody

Costumes by Elise (Order through Hilton Events & Entertainment)

Sound System by Wedding Harmony

Mozzie Bands by Bugslock (Order through Little Jet Plane)

Gingerbreadmen by Scrumptious Cafe

Carolling by Raffles Junior College

Music by Angels are Architects, Australia

Setup by Hilton Events & Entertainment

Pictures by Sean Koh & Azhar

Creator: Brenda, Littlegastronomy

Pictures talk...

to view more pics, click these links: PART 1 and PART 2

Self Potty-Trained

2008-12-18T22:51:00.004+08:00

I don't know if I should jump for joy now or should I wait for a few weeks to do it.. but what the heck! It's something too happy to be missed :P

This morning I chatted with Arianne while she was brushing her teeth. I said to her, how nice it'd be if she were to go off diaper and to signal me or helper if she needs to use the toilet. And guess what?!

She asked me to change her diaper to a panty when she was done with brushing her teeth. Then for the whole of today, she asked for help to go to the toilet.

The WHOLE of today!!

Diaperless!

TOTALLY!!

and most relieve of all, NO ACCIDENTS at all! No pee/poo to wipe off the floor or sofa, no wet panties to rinse or soak.. awwww

What's going on?!?! Beats me!
I didn't train her. Well, I did try to some months ago for a day and was too lazy to persevere.

Self Potty Trained! is there such a thing?

No fancy plots or gimmicks, not a bribery.. hmmm

Ok, please help me pray that this will go on when she wakes up tomorrow and ever!

Still can't believe it. 18 December 2008, I want to remember this day.

Perhaps to some of you this is really no big deal, but it is for me.. Because it hits me hard that my little Arianne has grown up and she has a mind of her own.

If this goes on tomorrow and forever, I'm going to say it was only TWO THINGs that made this worked.. RESPECT and FAITH. I did respect her choice of not wanted to be trained when she put up a bit of resistance and I had faith on her that she'll do it on her own. I'm happy :)

Okok.. maybe she might go back to diaper again tomorrow but I definitely had a day of pride!

Xmas Carol Invitation

2008-12-12T15:23:00.008+08:00

Dear all,

I'm organising a private xmas carolling session on the lawn, on 23rd December, at 6.30pm for about 2 hours, starting at about 5ish and ends at 8pm in the vicinity of Bukit Timah.

If you're interested to bring your kid(s) over and enjoy the Xmas cheer (there'll be Santa Claus and his Elves/Santarinas), do email me and I'll give you the formal invitation with details. And you may bring a friend or 2 or more along. It's FREE!

Space is limited to 50 adults + kids, so on a first-come-first-serve basis ya..

Oh, and I'll be bringing about 25 old folks from a nursing home to come join us.

So come spread the love and sprinkle some joy to everyone :)

HO HO HO! Merry Merry Xmas!

Daily Menu: 17 November 08

2008-12-12T09:53:00.004+08:00

Breakfast
Avocado Soya Milkshake with 2pcs Rice Millet

Lunch
Muffins at Marmalade Pantry with Mummy and friends

Dinner
Stir Fried Spinach
Steamed Minced Pork with Water Chestnut
Steamed White Rice
Pear Soup with Chicken 梨子炖鸡汤
Ingredients/Prep
4large Chinese Pears/Remove skin and core
4large Drumsticks/remove skin
20g Wolfberries 枸杞子
30g Lotus Seeds aka 莲子
40g Wai San 淮山
A few pieces of Melon Sugar 冬瓜糖

Cook: Double Boil
1. Double boil in a pot within another big pot. Put water into the big pot and boil for double-boiling purpose.
2. Place all ingredients into the smaller pot and all 2.5-3liters of boiled water.
3. Once the water in the bigger pot is boiling, place the small pot into the big pot and double boil for 3 hours using small heat.

Remarks
Suitable for children above 1.5 years old.
This soup is known to cure cough with colored discharge or to lower the heatiness.
Arianne loves the soup! It has a sweet and uncluttered taste.

Pop Pop Popcorn

2008-12-08T14:27:00.004+08:00

One of those feel like having junk food days made me wanted to pop some popcorns :P, and it's definitely one of the easiest junk food to make!

Ingredients
100g Unpopped, Raw Popcorn Kernels
3tbs Honey
2tbs Unsalted Butter
2tbs Olive/Canola/Grapeseed Oil

Cook
1. In a deep sauce pan (standby the lid) using small heat, warm the oil and add the corn kernels to pop. Cover the pot using lid. Hold up the pot with its lid and shake to mix the oil and kernels well.
2. While the corns are popping, in another shallow pan, melt the butter and add in the honey and stir to caramelise.
3. Once you HEAR the popcorns popping sound fainting, remove the pot from heat and shake well to pop completely.
4. Add in the caramelised syrup and shake to glaze the popcorns with the syrup. Eat at your own pleasure!

Daily Menu: 14 November 08

2008-12-07T14:14:00.003+08:00

Breakfast
Egg Sandwich
Fresh Orange Juice

Lunch
Pasta (Macaroni) with Fish & Chickpeas
Ingredients / Prep
0.5 chinese bowl of Macaroni or Elbows / Boil til soften then drain
1pc(abt 50-60g) White Fish Fillet / Rub a little olive oil on both sides of the fillet then pan-fry a little then cut into small pieces.
A handful of Chickpeas / If using the dry ones, soak overnight in clean tap water to soften them. Drain
1clove Garlic / Chop
0.5tsp Dried Oregano
3tbs Tomato Ketchup
1tbs Olive Oil

Cook
1. In a frying pan using medium heat, warm the olive oil a little then add the chopped garlic to brown.
2. Add in the softened chickpeas and sautee a little.
3. Add the tomato ketchup and few tbs of clean tap water. Mix well.
4. Add in the cut fish and let simmer for 20-30 seconds. Toss in the softened pasta until well mixed.
5. Garnish with the dried oregano and serve warm.
(Arianne finished everything! Suitable for Babies above 12 months)

Dinner
Fried Fish (Chinese Pomfret) with Sesame Black Sauce
Steamed Turnip Stripes
Steamed White Rice
(Arianne loved the Turnip Stripes because they were so sweet)

Daily Menu: 2008 Nov 13

2008-12-02T21:34:00.002+08:00

Breakfast
Oatmeal Porridge with Apples
Fresh Milk
^Arianne used the sliced apples as dippers for the oatmeal porridge. She's not fond of cereal but this way, she eats it.. pleases me :)^

Lunch
Fried Rice with Chinese Sausage + Eggs
^Arianne loves fried rice and Chinese Sausages but I try to limit it as these sausages can be quite salty^

Dinner
Fried Kang Kong with Ikan Bilis
Bak Kut Teh
Ingredients / Prep (for 3 adults + Arianne)
3liters Clean Tap Water
500-600g Prime Ribs
0.5 Chinese bowl Garlic / Wash and drain, no need to remove skin
60g White Peppercorns / Crash them a little and put all into a muslin filter bag

Chinese Herbs Used: (Put all these herbs into a muslin filter bag)
4 pcs Star Anise
3-4pcs Dried Tangerine Peel
30g Chinese Angelica
50g Wolfberries
2 sticks Cinnamon
20g Fennel Seeds
20g Coriander

Seasonings:
2-3tbs Dark Soya Sauce
3tbs Brown Sugar
Salt to taste

Cook
1. Put the 3liters of water to boil in a large heavy bottom pot.
2. In another small pot, boil the prime ribs for about 2-3 minutes then drain.
3. Once the big pot water boils, add in the scalded prime ribs.
4. Drop the muslin bag of herbs in and continue to simmer using high heat for at least 1 hour.
5. Turn heat to small, then add the garlic and bag of white peppercorns and continue to simmer for another 1 hour.
6. Add seasonings to taste. Garnish with coriander leaves and serve with steamed rice and red cut chillies in dark soya sauce.

Remarks
This is the 1st time I make my own Bah Kut Teh. As I'm quite interested in Chinese herbs lately, I thought I try my hands at mixing the herbs to produce the soup. The result was surprisingly not bad but my mum thought the pepper was a bit too much though. The warming tummy soup was quite good for a rainy night.
Arianne didn't like the soup but was very happy with prime ribs.

Simple Toys

2008-12-01T13:51:00.006+08:00

I'm really not fond of buying toys for Arianne, 80% of the toys she owns is given. To me, they just take up valuable space in the house and have maximum of 30 days or less shelf-life after the packaging is opened(sometimes the packaging is more fun!). But there are 2 particular toys which I see her quite fond of. The most beautiful part of these toys are they're very afforable!

Bola Bola
S$1.50 (can't remember exactly, I bought it since A was 4 months old..)
Suitable for age 5 months and above
Skills Involved:
Body Awareness (while lying on the back, using all fours to hold the ball)
Balance (while lying on the ball)
Hand-Eye Coordination
Leg-Eye Coordination (for 18months++, learning to kick the ball)
Cause & Effect
Balancing
Color Differentiation
Listening Skills (while 'scratching' the ball out of the baby sight, baby looks out at the direction from where the sound is from)
Sensory Exploration
Tactile Discrimination (touching the ball itself, understanding that it's round and has no edges)
Tactile Stimulation (while rolling the ball over the baby's arms/legs/face/body, baby can feel the pressure of the ball and the 'roundness' of it)
Social Skills (tossing the ball to another friend and waiting for the ball to be returned)

Here's a video demo I did when Arianne was about 5-6 months old to show with mummy friends how to 'use' the ball on our babies..

A Photo Montage I did sometime ago for some of Arianne's friends posing with their BolaBola..

The Hoola-Hoop Cone
S$5.90
Suitable for age 5 months and above
Skills Involved:
Balance
Bilateral Coordination (For 18 months++, with the hoops on the head to walk a straight line)
Body Awareness
Classifying Skills (For 12 months++, differentiating colors/sizes/shapes)
Cognition
Concept Awareness
Counting Concepts
Fine Motor Skills
Gross Motor Skills (For 24 months++, place hoops on the floor and try to hop from one to another)
Reflexes (For 24 months++, while walking with hoops on the head, moving the head, shoulders and straightening the arms to stop the hoops from falling off)
Something like this:

Logical Reasoning (For 18 months++, learning to build the cone using the different size of cups or learning to put the hoops together according to ascending or descending size) . Something like this:

Quick go grab these at those HDB residential shops.. I got both at Holland Village. I can help to buy for you, but got to figure out how you can pick it up.. Email me if you're interested. State which toy you like and I'll charge you the cost of the toy and the postage if you want to receive via snail mail.. Have fun!

Home Made Mango Milk Ice Cream

2008-11-26T17:20:00.004+08:00

Ingredients
500g Mango Flesh (I bought some from Cold Storage lately, they're from Australia. Very sweet and quite fragrant)
100ml Whipping Cream (I used President's this time)
300ml Fresh Milk
100ml Sugar Syrup for adults, if desired (as I find the mango is already quite sweet, I did without the sugar totally)

Make
1. Blend everything in a blender then pour the mixture into a metal tin for freezing. Use plastic wrap to cover.
2. After about 4 hours, remove from the freezer and using an immersion blender, puree the mixture to break up ice crystals. You can also use an ice cream scoop or a strong spoon to scrape the ice cream to 'loosen' the ice crystals. Put the pureed/scraped ice cream back into the freezer for another 4 hours to harden.
3. Once ice cream is hardened (use a spoon to check), it's ready!

Remarks
Great way to serve fruits to kids who don't like fruits and at the same time, increase their calcium intake :)

Home Baked Croissant

2008-11-26T17:12:00.003+08:00

I bought these mini unbaked (raw, still is 'batter' type)french bread, Croissants from Swiss Bakery which can be found in most Cold Storage.

Bake them at home, anytime at your convenience using 180degC for about 10 minutes or till brown and all puffy!
Can be kept in the freezer for up to 1 month..

They're already buttered so eat with fruity jams. Fresh!

Daily Menu: 2008 Nov 10

2008-11-20T19:27:00.005+08:00

Breakfast
Cheese Swirl Sticks (from Swiss Bakery)
Starfruit+Apple Juice
Ingredients / Prep
0.5 Red Apple / Core, remove skin then cut into chunks
0.5 Star Fruit (Riped) / Remove seeds and cut into chunks

Make
1. In a blender, blend the cut fruits together and add water to lessen to desired sweetness or to strain for younger babies (between 6-9 mos) consumption.
2. Strain through a sift and serve immediately.

Lunch
Creamy Spaghetti with Minced Beef and Veggies
Ingredients / Prep
0.5 Chinese Bowl Spaghetti / Boil til soften then drain and toss with a small tsp of olive oil.
40g Beef / Wash thoroughly then use a cleaver to mince.
Handful Cauliflower Florets / Soak in water to wash and drain.
Sweet Beans / Wash and slice.
2oz Pre-made Cream Sauce
1 clove garlic / Rinse and mince

Cook
See my earlier post on Creamy Spaghetti with Tuna. Just replace Tuna and French Beans with Minced Beef and Sweet Beans.

Dinner
Steamed White Pomfret ala Teochew
Stir-fried Kai Lan with Sliced Pork

The Wonders of Honey

2008-11-14T13:47:00.008+08:00

Honey is sugar, just edibly raw without any process, and not bleached like white sugar. It has great anti-infection and anti-bacteria properties. It's also considered as a natural anti-biotic to many. I was told by a doctor that if Arianne has a cough and before the phlegm develops, make honey water for her to drink in order to stop the bacteria from forming. I've been giving honey to A since she was about 20 months old and she's loving it!

I can name you a few things I do with honey at home:

Our Breakfast Deals: Mix in Plain Yogurt, Drizzle over Pancakes, a Dip for Millets etc..
My Hair Treatment: Mix with my Hair Conditioner then rub into hair and use a hot towel to wrap my head for about 10 minutes then rinse.
My Mouth Ulcers: Rinse mouth with Honey water. It's anti-bacteria!
My Hands Pamper: After washing my hands with warm water, I soothe about 2tbs of honey on my hand, leave it for about 5-6 minutes then rinse it off with water. An Instant Moisturizer!
My Body Pamper: Mix a tbs of honey into your usual shower gel and rub all over body then rinse it off with warm water.
Stomach Treatments: When I have diarrhea, constipation and when I used to have gastric, I will drink a cup of warm honey mix in water.

or simply, when I feel headache or upset emotionaly, a spoonful of honey straight down the throat helps :)

Try this:
Iced Honey Lemon
Ingredients / Prep
8tbs Honey
1 Lemon / Squeeze out the juice and filter the seeds.
2 trays Ice Cubes

Garnish
Lemon Slices or Lemon Grass

Blend
1. Put everything into a blender and blend till ice is small enough to pass through straws. I used an immersion blender this time.
2. Garnish with Lemon Slics or Lemon Grass. Serve chilled.

Remarks
I don't recommend feeding honey to babies below 18 months. Honey is considered 1 of the highest allergen in foods so better to take precautions and delay in introducing it to your baby. I only started to give A when she turned 20 months.
Buy only the raw, good grade and if possible, organic honey as tampered honey may have its great properties all removed already then it'll be just like any flavored processed sugar.
Oh, I also heard that honey can help with increasing appetite! So many good things ya :)

Daily Menu: 2008 Nov 05

2008-11-12T21:16:00.006+08:00

Breakfast
Toasted Cheesy Garlic Bread

Lunch
Brown Rice Bee Hoon(aka Thin Rice Vermicelli) Soup with Fish, Tomatoes & Cabbage

Dinner
Cream of Mushroom & Garlic Toasts on the Side

Cream of Mushroom
Ingredients (for 3 Adults + Arianne) / Prep
500g White Button Mushrooms (I bought 2 boxes from Fairprice)/ Keep about 6-7 aside, thinly slice them for garnishing later. Wash the rest thoroughly, remove the legs and cut into small cubes.
60g Leek / Remove leafy part then slice the white part to about 0.5cm or smaller sizes.
60g White Onion / Cut into small pieces
2cloves Garlic / Dice
20g Unsalted Butter
200ml Whipping Cream (I used Emborg this time from Shop & Safe. I find the taste is inferior to President's)
200ml Whole Cow's Fresh Milk (I usually use Pura's)
1 litre Chicken Stock
1.5tbs Chinese Hua Tiao Wine
1tbs Cornstarch (use more if prefer a creamier texture)/ Mix the starch with 2-3tbs of water.

Garnish
A Bunch of Fresh English Parsley (I used the dried ones this time) / Cut into small bits
20-30ml Whipping Cream

Cook
1. In a deep saucepan, melt the butter using medium heat then add the garlic, fry till brown.
2. Add the chopped onions, leek and mushrooms. Stir fry for about 5-10 minutes and the water in the mushrooms will start oozing out.
3. Once the water from the mushrooms is getting drier, add the chicken stock and Chinese Wine then bring the soup to simmer using low heat for about 20-30 minutes.
4. Remove from heat and use an immersion blender to blend the soup in the pot. Blend till all ingredients are almost not visible. Return the pot onto the stove and turn on low heat.
5. Add the cream and milk, use a whisk to mix in order to avoid lumps.
6. Whisk in the cornstarch mixture.
7. Scoop out into bowls, add the freshly chopped parsley and a swirl with cream (try making Mr Happy face). Drink while it's warm but do check the temp before serving to young children. For adults, add salt/pepper to taste.
(Suitable for babies above 12 months)

Dinner
Creamy Spaghetti with Tuna & French Beans
Ingredients / Prep
1 rice bowl of Spaghetti (I broke the usual long ones into shorter length) / Boil for about 20minutes or until softened then drain and toss with 2tbs of Mild Olive Oil)
40-50g Fresh Tuna / Cut into chunks
40g French Beans / Cut into small pieces
1clove Garlic / Dice
1cube 2oz Frozen Cheese Sauce / Defrost

Cook
1. In a saucepan, add 1tbs Olive/Grapeseed Oil, fry the garlic till brown.
2. Add the tuna and fry for about 1-2 minutes.
3. Add the cut french beans and continue to fry till the french beans are softened.
4. Add the defrosted cheese sauce and stir fry for about 1-2 minutes. Add a bit of water if sauce is too dry.
5. Add the softened spaghetti into the sauce and toss the pasta then serve as soon.
(Suitable for babies above 12 months old)

Littlegastronomy is now on Facebook!

2008-11-05T13:18:00.012+08:00

Yup! I thought it's quite fun to be at Facebook and we can sort of 'hang out' there.. And today I've also created a group called 'Little Gastronomy' and I'll keep the group private(only for invited people) so that I can make sure there's no funny members in there. If you haven't receive my invitation to add me in your friend's list or to join the group, please add me instead :)

Post Weaning/Baby Cooking Classes & Supermarket Tours?
I’m also looking at conducting classes for mummies(or your helpers! I can speak some Bahasa and little hokkien heehee..) who need help in cooking. A supermarket tour is most suited as a jumpstart for those who don’t have any experience or understanding at cooking. No point having all the recipes but don't know how to buy ingredients or choose the freshest fish. Subsequently, we can always have a follow up cooking class.

For a start, I’ll like to start in small groups like 4-6 pax maximum and for mummies with babies below 12 months. Of course for those with babies above 12 months, you’re welcome to join too but the tour will focus mainly for post weaning mummies who need to know what are suitable for their babies at different weaning stages.

Let me know your thoughts about this(or any other suggestions/ideas) under comments or email me :)

If you already have a group of 4-6 mummy friends and are keen on this idea, let me know and we can start right away! I'm excited, hope you are too!!

Daily Menu: 2008 Oct 30

2008-11-05T11:13:00.007+08:00

Savory Pancake: Ham & Cheddar Cheese (Ate one whole piece!)
This version of pancake is unlike the sweet ones whereby we add jam/maple syrup/fruits. I like it this way for a nice morning breakfast..
Ingredients (Yield about 5-6 pieces)
50g Melted Butter (I used Lur Pak's Unsalted)
60g All Purpose Flour
2 Eggs
200ml Whole Cow's Fresh Milk
Tiny Bit of Salt (I used Pan-Salt, Low Sodium)
2tsp Castor Sugar

Cook
1. In a pitcher(or any container with a wide neck and a spout), beat the eggs till well mixed then whisk in the milk and melted butter.
2. Add in the flour, sugar and salt. Whisk till everything is well blended and no lumps.
*These steps here are a bit tricky in order to make a very well done pancake*
3. Using a small frying pan, rinse it and place on SMALL fire/heat. Once all the water drops are dried up, pour the batter in the CENTER of the pan. (To be exact, for a 20cm pan, pour in 60ml of batter at one time)
4. Pick up the pan and quickly twirl the pan gently in circular motion in order to spread the batter 'out' of the center.
5. Once tiny bubbles can be seen forming on the side up, lift the pan up and try 'shaking' the pancake a little to see if it moves. If it moves plus the smell of cooked pancake(nice!!) means it's quite cooked already. Flip over using a flat spatula then place a slice of ham and cheese on top of the ham.
6. After the other side has been cooked for about 2-3 minutes, fold the pancake into half using a flat spatula then gently press the pancake to 'seal'.
7. Eat it when it's warm. (I love how the cheese oozes out in the mouth!! Aww..)

We had plums on the side..

Lunch: Macaroni Soup with Sliced Pork & Poached Egg (Ate only half)

Daily Menu: 2008 Oct 26

2008-10-31T14:27:00.006+08:00

Breakfast
Oatmeal Potato Cakes
Scrambled Eggs with Cheese
Chicken Sausage
Blueberries on the side

Lunch(Finished all!)
Soup Noodles with Minced Beef
Ingredients/Prep
0.5 bowl Yellow Wheat Noodles/Rinse with hot water then drain
50g Beef/Mince till finely, marinate with 0.5tsp Sesame Oil, 0.5tsp Light Soya Sauce, Dash of White Ground Pepper, 0.5tsp Corn Flour
300ml Chicken Stock
2-3 sprigs Leafy Veggies/Wash, pluck into small pieces

Cook
1. In a deep saucepan, put the stock to boil.
2. Once boiling, turn heat to small and add minced beef. Use a fork and try to separate the meat in the soup. Simmer for at least 20 minutes using very low heat. (longer the better so that the beef will be more tender)
3. Add the veggies and the noodles, bring to boil and add a dash of pepper. Remove from heat and serve warm.
(Suitable for Babies above 12 months, omit seasonings when necessary)

Dinner (Left a few mouthfuls)
Soup Chicken Fillet with Corn & Carrots
Ingredients/Prep
300ml Chicken Stock
0.5 Corn on Cob/Cut into 2 chunks
4-5 0.5cm thick slices Carrots
1 small-sized White Onion

Cook
1. Boil the chicken stock then add all the ingredients and simmer till all ingredients are cooked and tender. Serve as a soup.
(Suitable for Babies above 12 months, cut food into desired bite size)

Daily Menu: 2008 Oct 23

2008-10-31T14:10:00.001+08:00

Breakfast(Finshed everything!)
Honey Wheatgerm Bread w Cranberry+Blueberries Jam
A slice of Watermelon
(Suitable for babies above 12 months)

Lunch(Left 0.25)
Stir-fried Thick Rice Vermicelli w Grouper and Veggies
Ingredients/Prep
0.5 Chinese bowl of Thick Rice Vermicelli (aka Laksa Noodles)/Rinse with hot water & Drain
1 Garlic/Chop
60g Grouper/Rinse & Slice
2-3 Sprigs Chye Sim/Wash & Pluck finely
40g Carrot/Cut in thin stripes

Cook
1. In a frying pan with low heat, add 1tbs Sesame Oil then add the chopped garlic and fry till brown.
2. Add the fish slices and continue to stir fry until fish turns opaque.
3. Add the carrot stripes and chye sim. Fry for 1-2 minutes.
4. Add a little water and allow dish to simmer.
5. Once simmering, add a dash of white ground pepper then remove from heat and serve warm.
(Suitable for Babies above 12 months)

Home-Baked Bread

2008-10-29T12:11:00.003+08:00

Don't fret, this is really idiot-proof. For a poor baker like me, this is such a convenience!

I'd to do this in a separate post even though this belongs to my Swiss finds.. I can now buy pre-kneaded/dough-ed/flavored bread doughs, and bake it at my own time, and at my own space! YEAH!!!

It's really that simple. It comes in this form..

After defrosting for like 10 minutes, pop into a pre-heated oven at 210degC and bake for 10-12 minutes. This is what you'll get.

Only for $5.30 per loaf for a Muesli Bread! Same, get it from Huber's Butchery.