Day off

I do look forward now to my helper getting off on Sundays as I get to spend quality time with my children and cook for them. Yes, I know I can also do this when she is around, but its kind of different...

I remember the times when taking care of them on my helper's day off was trying and a test of my patience and endurance. But I am glad it gets better as they grow older and mature. It's definitely much easier now that they can entertain themselves by playing together.

Anyway, since it has been a while since I cooked, I prepared dinner for my family tonight. Simple food, straight from my heart..

Cooked black bean pork rib rice as well as fish soup with spinach and fish balls.

Glad everyone enjoyed the food. My little satisfaction I get from watching them finishing up all the food on their plates and bowls. ;)

Simple fun at home

Thank God CT and I both love to be at the comfort of our home. So spending time together as a family has been a priority in our lives.

There would be times when CT would suggest flying kites just down our block even on a weekday..just as long as its windy. Caleb was having fun running around with his kite.



Then I got the children interested with the mimosas growing in the field. They started looking out for them to touch!


Now that my children are slightly older, they enjoy playing with each other since especially they are around the same age (only a year apart) Its joy watching them grow and enjoying each other's company.





They both love to imitate each other. So at times I really wonder who is more influential. I have to always remind Caleb to set a good example for Danielle to follow.

Here's both of them enjoying the blueberry almond crumble muffin which I made...




Danielle loves playing hide and seek at home and there was once when she hid behind the towel in the room which is really cute because her legs were obviously sticking out.


This would be one of our fun activities at home.


It could set them running around crazily and noisily at home.

One of the activity which I would look forward to is getting my children involved in cooking. Kids have a lot of creativity which many adults do not have and that would definitely help in cooking. I am sure they will amaze me like how the Junior Masterchefs in Australia has. Loved the show and how it has inspired me to pass on the love of cooking to my children.

But of course, role modeling for them is always the best start.
Here's what I cooked for them for our pre- CNY's reunion dinner.

There's Kai Lan veggies with oyster sauce and fried garlic on top


ginger, spring onions, oyster sauce chicken with a splash of wine


And claypot rice with chinese sausages, dried mushrooms and waxed duck


I shall start thinking of recipes the kids can help to chip in to make...

Father's Day Dinner...

Celebrated Father's Day dinner at Claypot Fun which is at Big Splash. My dad loves claypot rice so since he heard his friend recommending this place, we wanted to give it a try. This restaurant is run by Jumbo, so I could make use of my membership card for discount!

We ordered two huge claypot rice - the mixed chinese sausages one with salted fish and beef with egg (we ordered this because I had special discount for this item)




We also ordered lettuce with fermented beancurd (looks kind of pathetic since lettuce is so cheap but it tastes good. To me, thats all it matters), liver in clpypot (not too bad) as well as watercress soup.



Everything is quite good. I dont mind coming back again. Moreover, its right at East Coast Park. So we had a good stroll after dinner! The bill amounted to only about $10 per person. So reasonable! Do give it a try! However, dont compare it with Chinatown standard. I still prefer that but eating here is good enough since I consider the location as well!

I love food

Ok, the subject title of this blog is an understatement. If I will not grow fat and unhealthy by eating and eating non-stop, I would. But please do not imagine me as a fat slob just stuffing food continuously as I do selective eating. I have been well-trained by my mum to eat all kinds of food but eversince I have been quite conscious of my weight (even more so, after giving birth to 2 kids), I have learnt to be strict and disciplined when it comes to eating.

Foods that I TRY to avoid: Ice cream (but if there is a free Ben & Jerry's Ice cream dangling in front of me, I would grab it), rice (unless there is a super famous HK styled fried rice which has the wok hei smell and taste), chocs (cant help it if students give me for Teachers Day right?)

Tonight, I felt like cooking glutinuous rice. Concidentally, my mum-in-law also cooked it a few days back. Guess we all had the same glutinuous rice mood.

I do enjoy eating this but only once in a blue moon since its quite filling...

Cooked for about 11 persons, my family as well as my colleagues


Then I packed them up in plastic containers, using chill (mouth), spring onions(eyes) and fried onions (hair) to create a happy face to brighten their day.



A couple of days later, my mum once again prepared sukiyaki steamboat. One of my favourite as its healthy, light and delicious.


It has my favourite meat- beef and lots of it!!

And of course, the ever-guilty fatty pork!


Another favourite part of this meal is the raw egg dip which goes so well with the beef and pork. Too bad, I have 'abstained' from rice. If not, it will go so well with the beef, stained with sukiyaki sauce and raw egg!



My mum's Indonesian helper, Wati, also prepared cereal prawns! Yummy! (Have a soft spot for seafood!)


There was once Wati also prepared sweet and sour fish by deep frying the grouper fish first!! So yummy!!


And my mum's soup is to-die-for! She is so generous on the amount of ingredients that it amazes me! Here's her snakehead fish soup with some special dried veggies...


Sigh, I better start thinking of doing some exercise. If not, my guilt will just increase and increase...:(

"Fan Tong"

"Fan tong" simply literally means "rice bucket" and that's exactly what Caleb is. Ever since he has turned 2, he doesnt really eat porridge anymore. Instead, he eats more rice! He is like a typical Chinese man, who doesnt eat Western food as I have tried giving him french fries, spaghetti etc but he would only eat a few just to please me and stops eating. But as for rice, he could continue eating spoon after spoon.

Here's his typical dinner now. Rice with veggies and fish.


And fruits as well.


A well balanced diet indeed!

Typical Saturday

Our typical Saturday for me would be waking up at about 7-715am. Pack my wallet, water bottle and tissue into my small recycling bag. While waiting for CT to wash up, I would be playing with Caleb or changing his diaper. Vicky would also be brushing Caleb's teeth and we could change him.

Then when CT is out of the room, we would go somewhere for a quick breakfast before heading to Giant together with Caleb for our supermarketing. We leave Vicky and Danielle at home since Vicky has lots of housework to do and also since Danielle's feeding time is about 830-9am.

We would reach Giant at about 830am and I would TRY to buy all the groceries for the week. (TRY because most of the time, I would still forget to buy some stuff and during the week, I would visit the supermarket down at my block to pick up a thing or two). We would place Caleb in the trolley as CT pushes it. I would be the one leading the way as we grab stuff out of the shelf. While shopping, CT would be teaching Caleb the name of fruits and vegetables in English and Mandarin.

CT once commented that I am the youngest shopper there as most would be in their 40s or 50s. And yes, I would be the youngest shopper squeezing in between aunties grabbing for discounted fruits or fish.

However, I would not be like some of them who stands in front of the pork bones counter for such a looong time just to choose those pork bones that are on sale. They would pick and drop them as if there is any difference.(Giant Tampines pork counter used to be open for public to choose and pick) I guess its because of these aunties who clog up the area that has Giant changing the counter to prevent people from choosing now.

I told CT that well, you seldom see people my age buying groceries because firstly, they may not be married yet (as I am still in my 20s) and if they are, they seldom cook. They would rely on their mothers or in-laws to do that.

Anyway, after pushing my trolley load full of groceries to the cashier, we would always wonder which queue is the fastest so that we will not waste time waiting. Yup, it is the hurry sickness- we find ourselves counting how many people in each line, multiplying this number by the number of items in their trolley. And even after we get in line, we keep track of the person who WOULD HAVE BEEN ME in the other line. If we get through and the person who WOULD HAVE BEEN ME is still waiting, we are elated. We've won!! But if the alter-me is walking out of the store and we're still in line, we feel depressed. Does all these seem familiar to you?

Ok, back to what I do on a typical Saturday.

When in line, CT would take Caleb out of the trolley to the outside of the counters for him to run up and down. Caleb would be running around so happily like a bird who has just been set free.

After that, I would foot the bill which usually amounts to $100 over and place Caleb back to the trolley before we zoom back home. Usually, we would reach home by 930am. Everything is quite chopchop because I would have my shopping list ready just before going to Giant as I consult Vicky. (Actually, I would start my list on either Wed or Thurs when the promotion discounts for Giant are out in the newspaper).We do not deviate from the list and stick strictly to it. So everything is quite fast.



After reaching home, I would help Vicky load the groceries into the fridge. Then Vicky would be preparing the food for lunch just before she goes down to wash the car.

For lunch, we would eat something simple like noodles or porridge. And after lunch, I would do my stuff on the computer or watch a movie with CT at home.

In the evening or late afternoon, we would go out together as a family. Today, actually, we wanted to drop by the new shopping centre at Sembawang. But because it was raining so heavily, we decided to go somewhere nearer. So we went to Compass Point, Sengkang for dinner.

Since I had a craving for curry rice, we ate at the new restaurant called "Curry San" which serves almost everything curry.



Danielle was wearing her dress and jacket since the weather was cold.



After she made some noises in the pram, I placed her on CT and she was happy there.



Then after dinner, we had a nice walk around the shopping centre before heading home for yet another movie! Ha.

So this is what I usually do on a Saturday.

Weekends cook out!

So far every Saturdays, I would be cooking something special for the family. Most of the time, I would cook some noodle dish for lunch. Today, I decided to cook seafood hor fun for CT as he told me he was craving for it a few days ago.

I first add oil and garlic to the wok. Then, throw in the rice noodles, light soy sauce and sesame oil. Fry till fragrant. If you want your rice noodles to be black, just add dark soy sauce. I prefer the white kind.



After that, remove the noodles from the wok. For the gravy, I first add oil and chopped garlic in wok. Then add chicken stock, light soy sauce, oyster sauce, dark soy sauce, sesame oil and pepper. Then add prawns, sotong, caixin (can add fish fillet and lean pork as well). Then add thickening glaze(flour with water). Stir well. Then throw in egg.

Lastly pour the gravy over. You can season more stuff when you taste.



I was quite surprised as it really tasted authentic. Haha. Go try it!

For dinner, went to Hougang and we all ate chicken rice from the Famous Boneless Chicken Rice Stall! Yummy..But dunno why it still came with bones. Sigh.

Anyway, the chicken was very tender. Loved it as it came with a old cucumber soup with chicken feet and of course, with free flow of chilli and ginger! We ordered a plate of beansprouts to go with it and rojak (from another stall).



Check out the wonder woman- Vicky, handling both children. Well, after a while, I took over from her to feed Caleb. So, didnt torture her ok?



After dinner, went to Hougang Mall to check out the Harvey Norman Sale. CT and I were tempted to buy the LCD TV..but decided not to as our TV is still working fine. But, its a matter of time and price before we would buy a 37 inch one. Cant wait!

New Year's Eve

Well, I spent New Year's Eve at my mum's place for dinner. She cooked up a feast for us! She roasted a whole leg of lamb with herbs. So so yummy even before I stepped into the house as I could smell the roasting from far.



Blur image as its taken by my handphone



There was also seafood paella dish with lobsters and salmon topped with melted cheese. So so good.

This is how it looked before putting into the oven.



Here's the outcome


Everyone loved the seafood paella. While we were eating, I told my mum that it would be nice if there was sangria to go with the rice. So, my mum suddenly remembered that I bought for her a fruit wine which can pass off as Sangria. So, we opened up the bottle and drank finished the wine.

Great dinner! After dinner, we watched '881'- a local production which I found really stupid. I didnt even want to torture myself to sit through the show. I got up many times to cross over to the dining room and watch Terminator 3 on Channel 5 instead as CT was the only faithful viewer of the movie, left sitting at the living room watching the movie while my whole family left to do their own stuff. Ha..Yep, it was that bad. I didnt like the show at all.

After dinner, my family had to go church for watchnight service to count down to the next year. I didnt attend as CT wanted to spend time with me alone reflecting and praying instead. So, we drove home and initially, we wanted to join the countdown party happening in Punggol and to catch Hady Mirza, our Singapore and Asian Idol performing in Punggol. But we became too lazy to walk out but just stayed at home and did our own things.

It was nice waiting for the new year to come and its nice to always think of how great a year it had been and always looking forward to a better year 2008.

Great week!

CT was on leave from Wed(19/12) all the way to the end of the week. So, on Friday,we woke up early (not on purpose, but naturally) at about 7am, and went for breakfast at one of my favourite breakfast place at Lor Ah Soo Market (only about 10 mins drive from my place).


They have so much food in the hawker centre. I was craving for porridge with you tiao when I woke up...so off we went! (Strange that I have cravings now and not when I was pregnant!)

Check out my breakfast- you tiao with century egg porridge and a plate of yu sheng (raw fish). I can slurp down the plate of raw fish anytime man!


I also had the Bedok chwee kway which was also found in the same hawker centre at Hougang.



After a satisfying breakfast,we planned to watch "The Golden Compass" in AMK Hub at 10am (first show of the day).


We almost had the whole cinema to ourselves. I love watching at AMK Hub as I not only watch it for 'free' (with my credit card points), but I also get to enjoy the nice, new theater with great seats.

After the show, went to "Pepper Lunch" for lunch(Duh!). Its this restaurant where you cook your own food. Like what CT says, why are we paying to cook the food ourselves? But anyway, its just a novelty having to cook it yourself and psychologically, it tastes better (probably because ego).

This was what I had- a beef pepper lunch set


While CT had a double hamburger steak



At night, Vicky cooked a special filipino dish. Its a mixed vegetable dish (with egg plant,long beans, lady fingers, bittergourd) cooked with bagoong (fermented krill). She didnt add a lot of bagoong as it is actually quite salty. But because of that, I couldnt quite taste the fermented krill. Oh well, it was still nice to try something different.


Caleb has been using the walker ever since I read my friend's blog on her 4 month baby using it. I would do anything to try something different with Caleb to see his reaction. So I excitedly place him on the walker. Well, he doesnt really adapt well to it because he doesnt seem to want to put down his legs on the floor.




Even if he does place his leg on the floor, he doesnt seem to want to walk. So he would just sit and play with his toys on the table.



Yep, as you can see from the picture, he drools a lot more now.I am quite used to having his drool all over the place now..

Glutinuous rice

Today, I suddenly felt like doing some cooking. So, I made glutinous rice and at the same time, taught Vicky how to make it since she loves to eat it.

First, I prepare the ingredients by cutting them up and soaking them in water. I soaked the glutinous rice, cut the shallots, dried mushrooms, soak the dried shrimp which I cut into small pieces after that, stand by the 2 cans of peanuts which can be bought in supermarkets, and retain the mushroom water to use later.



I also add roast pork in it. So,I sliced it thinly to add later. You can also use the "three-layer" pork instead of roast pork.



After all the preparation, I start the fire to my wok, add oil and fry the shallots first. Then I add the dried shrimps and the roast pork. I feel as if I am cooking fried rice where I just throw everything in. Then I start throwing in the dried mushrooms. You can also add dried scallops which I added a little.

After all the ingredients are thrown in, I then drain the water from the glutinuous rice and throw the rice into the wok with ingredients and fry. Then I add the canned peanuts and the seasonings-soya sauce, salt, sesame oil, dark soya sauce. I didnt add sugar because I used the gravy from the peanut can. Its sweet already.

After frying for a while and mixing it well, I off the fire and transfer everything to my rice cooker. Traditionally, I should be steamed in the wok, but I wanted it fast, so I use the rice cooker instead.

After the rice is cooked, I just top it off with spring onions and fried shallots.

Here is the outcome of my glutinuous rice.


If you want it to look "prettier", you can slice chilli and garnish it even more.

I do not know how much quantity for the ingredients as my mum has always taught me from young that cooking is by "feel" and "agar-ation".