Baby Mushy Mash Potato

Fast to cook, good to eat!

Remember this Maggi Mee jingle from the 70s? When am lazy or pressed for time, I'll make this for Kimi.

Ingredients

• 1 small potato
• 1 floret of broccoli
• 1 tbsp of small diced carrots
• 2 tbsp of tuna (in water)
• Some butter
• Milk
• 1-2 slice of cheddar cheese
• Kelp

Method

1. Boil or steam potato till soft
2. Peel skin when still hot, add butter and mash with fork. Add more if still dry Mash till the potato flesh has absorbed the butter
3. Add milk a little at a time, while still mashing till smooth. Set aside
4. Boil or steam broccoli and carrots till soft and chop/mash till desired texture
5. Add the tuna and veg to the mashed potatoes and flow in till well mixed
6. Place half layer in small dish, add 1 layer of cheese and top with another layer of the mashed potatoes
7. Cover the top layer with cheese and put in microwave or oven till top layer of cheese has melted
8. Remove, stir gently and sprinkle some kelp on top
9. Serve when cooled sightly.

Tip

• PLS BE VERY CAREFUL with potatoes /cheese dishes as it can be very hot!

Lippy Smacking Good!

After 2 weeks of abstaining from yogurt, Kimi is so happy to have it again for brekkie today!

He was so happy that he did a new trick by smacking his lips, so cute!

Wave Flag Wave

Kimi's starting to practise early for National Day? (Pls ignore the HigglyTown Heroes' loud loud voices in the background!)

Simple Sambal Brinjal

I love to eat brinjals, especially those from the Nasi Padang stalls (Indonesian styled rice dishes) that are blanched in hot oil and smothered with chilli sambal. Yum! But I always suffer as I can't really stomach too much spice but I still go for it.

This is a quickie dish for my dinner. Chilli or sambal die-hards will hate it cos they will say that's no way to cook and eat. But I like mine mild and sweet and FAST - for a ravenous appetite!

As my sambal is relatively mild, the colour is not as vibrant. I also have no more parsley to add a nice green touch.

Ingredients

• 1 brinjal or eggplant cut in strips and steamed
• 1 tbsp of store bought sambal (or home-made if you have)
• 6 tbsp of dried shrimps
• 2 tbsp sugar
• Some dried mushrooms soaked in hot water with a little oil and thinly sliced
• Water

Method

1. Wash dried shrimps and place in microwave for 1 min, low heat
2. Remove and blend till chunky powder form
3. Put sambal, sugar and dried shrimps into bowl and add water till desired texture. Taste to ensure that it is spicy/sweet enough. Add more it needed
4. Stir well and place in microwave for 1 to 2 mins, medium heat till all heated through (more in spaces of 20 sec if needed). If too dry, add water.
5. Arrange sliced brinjals and spoon sambal onto brinjal and add the sliced mushroom
6. Serve hot and ENJOY!

Kimi's Many Personalities

Personality 1 - Caterpillar

Today when I brought Kimi for cycling, I decided to let him hold onto a leaf so he can feel the texture. Last week while waiting for Papa, I let him play at the fields, picking up twigs and leaves, he loves it.

This time, he crunched the leaf and was so happy that it made a nice crackling sound. Although i warned him not to eat it, after some distance, I found him chewing happily! I had to pry open his mouth to remove the leaf bits!

Kimi when I first gave him the leaf

Kimi starts to crunch the leaf & enjoying the sound before he 'ate' the leaf!

Observation - "Have my baby became a caterpillar??"" Keke!

Personality 2
After we got home from walking Enzo, Kimi threw the ball at Enzo while in the playpen. Enzo picked it up with his mouth (Enzo's favourite toys are balls). So i washed it and returned it to Kimi. This time, Kimi imitated Enzo and picked it up with his mouth!

Kimi trying to be Enzo

Observation - "Enzo no. 2?" Wuhahaha!

Conclusion - Kids!! They just pick up the good, bad & ugly at lightning speed so we have to be really careful with what we say or do in front of them!

Cutting of 7th Tooth

So happy to feel yet another pearlie today! Kimi's right lower lateral incisor is erupting.

Buddha's Brew Roasted Chix Breast

Crispy skin, juicy insides

Look at the plump, juicy breast!

Some time back, Urban (Straits Times Supplement Paper) recommended this special spice blend called Buddha's Brew from Indigo Grinds(http://www.indigogrinds.com/). It boasts of an interesting and aromatic touch to roasts. I was bowled over and went to get a bottle (not exactly cheap though at $14+ a bottle) but felt it was alright since it came with its own grinder - fresh herbs & spices only a turn away!

I used it today for a simple lunch of roasted Chicken Breast. Frankly, I feel that the sea salt content was a tad too much so I can't really smell or taste the mint, lemong grass, etc. Nevertheless, it was delicious cos it was cooked just right and the breast was not dry - it was sweet and juicy with a crispy skin. Considering I did not even rest the chicken after roasting.

Actually it kind of tasted like how I normally roast my chicken - just salt & pepper! But, I will try again, will update if I do! If you are still keen on this cute blend, you can get it from Tanglin Mall.

Ingredients

• 1 large Chicken Breast with Bone
• Buddha's Brew
• Black Pepper
• Oil

Method

1. Preheat oven to 200 degrees celsius
2. Grind Buddha's Brew all over the top & under the breast
3. Sprinkle some black pepper on the top of breast
4. Rub the spices in the meat and put some under the skin
5. Leave to marinate for 15-20 mins
6. Rub the oil onto the whole breast
7. Place into oven to roast for 40 mins
8. Remove and serve hot with potato salad/rice/veg

Baby Roasted Chix Salad

Since we were having roast chicken today, decided to let Kimi have some of it too. Overall, Kimi is ok with the taste but he really hated the texture. I think I was way too ambitious today to try and make him eat more textured food. I should have just use 1 to 2 ingredients for the texture rather than ALL!

In the end, he took only about 6 spoonfuls... But, I will re-introduce this again when he is more prepared to chew. For those whose bb are open to chewing, you can prepare this quick lunch for them!

Ingredients

• Some roasted chix breast meat chopped
• 2 florets of broccoli chopped
• 1 inch of carrot chopped
• 1 hard boiled egg
• 2-3 tsp of yogurt
• 2 tsp mayonaise

Method

1. Boil or steam all the vegetables


2. Chop the yolk and use half of the white


3. Put all chopped ingredients into a bowl


4. Add yogurt and mayonaise


5. Turn till all ingredients are coated


6. Serve immediately

Back Dated Posts 3

Updated, 2 more posts added to present 2 posts. Click on post title to bring you straight to the post!

• CNY 2008
• Salt Baked Prawns
• Tangy Lemon Grass Steamed Fish
• My Food Treat
• Baby Salmon Fish Cakes

Back Dated Posts 2

Slowly but surely ...

Pirate Rehearsal
Kimi's 1st Birthday -Actual Day
Kimi's BIG ONE - Happy Birthday!

Salt Baked Prawns

An extremely easy and delicious dish to whip up for your family!

Ingredients

• 6 large prawns (or how many as u need)
• Salt to taste
• 4 tbsp of chopped garlic (more/less as you prefer)
• Chinese parsley

Method

1. Clean prawn by washing them in salt water and cut off whiskers and legs, set aside to drain and dry


2. Heat wok, once wok is heated, throw in the prawns and reduce fire to medium heat


3. Turn lightly occasionally


4. Once prawns are fragrant and browned, push them aside or remove and set aside


5. Add oil and once oil is hot, add in the chopped garlic


6. When garlic is slightly golden brown, add the prawns or move the prawns so that it 'fries' in the oil and garlic


7. Turn gently so that the prawns will coat the garlic. Sprinkle the salt and turn. Cover the wok/pan for 1 min. Stir lightly.


8. Once fragrant, remove and sprinkle freshly cut parsley.


9. Serve immediately. ENJOY

Tips

• Always fry prawns esp those with shells and head in a dry, hot pan. If you add oil, it will take a much longer time to dry the prawns and hence the prawns will not be as fragrant.


• This is because prawns emit alot of fluid which will bring down the temperature of the wok/pan and compromising the cooking process. This also helps to seal in the juices

CNY 2008

Although this is not Kimi's 1st CNY, but this year felt extremely special - complete is how I felt. Last year was exhilarating cos we just had a baby. Everything went in a blur and very quickly. Then, haven't really felt the warmth of family life yet.

This year, I wanted to make it really special for Kimi. I put up additional CNY decor around the house to make all of us merry. This year feels very warm and fuzzy. I felt motherly and did motherly things ensuring I cooked for the first few days so we can eat and then go out to 'bai nian'. It feels nice when the 3 of us can enjoy a meal together.

I felt really complete and blissful. Although I must admit it was tough and tiring but I enjoyed it. I look forward to next year when Kimi can talk, life is getting exciting!

Kimi, getting impatient & sian with the waiting

Hmm, maybe play with my ears to pass time

Finally, our 1st meal on the 1st Day of CNY -

We had vegetarina Bee Hoon and steamed

Rabbit Fish aka Fa Cai Yu (Propserous Fish).

Teochews believe in eating this fish for propsperity

& wealth. Since hb is Teochew and loves fish, I

decided to make this so that Kimi can try some too!

At Grandma's (my mom's pl) place. See my

smart Kungfu suit that Grandma bgt!

Happy Duo

Having prawns are a must during CNY.

We had this on the 2nd day of CNY. Recipe here.

With Nainai (hb's mom) at KJ Gugu's house

We wait 1 year for this unbelievably delicious

Shark's Fin Soup - year after year after year!

Back dated Posts

Hi all dear blog readers!

Finally managed to do some posts.. still got quite a no. more to go. Below are the latest back-dated posts, hope you enjoy them! Click on the title to bring you straight to the post!

Kimi's First X'mas
Baby Tomatoes & Mushroom Omelette
Seoul Holidays
Cutting of 5th & 6th Tooth
Travel Feeding Tips for an 11 month old
Simple Roast Chicken
Baby Teriyaki Grilled Fish