Park, Tong & Cat

I just realised that I did not take any pix today of Kimi & Tong's toddler run at the gardens! It must be the heat but I did take this fabulous breakkie sandwich that Cath made for me! It had all my fave stuff - white button mushrooms in herbs, ham, cheese and eggs and of course her 'ai-xin'. Thanks Cath for making my day, it was soooooo delicious!

Drool, readers! Pardon my lousy photography, it didn't do justice to her sandwich...

Cutting of 8th Tooth

Finally! This long awaited no.8 has broken thru.. why is every tooth taking so long to erupt. I wished Kimi's tooth would come in 2s or 4s so at least he would suffer that 1 time and have 2 or more teeth at one go.

At this rate of 1 miserly tooth each time, he will have to suffer 20 eruptions collectively! My poor baby!

Lawns, Lakes & Swans

Today's morning park hop is again, yes again, the Botanic Gardens ... hee hee! Since Mother and son loves running on the lawns there, so why not?

Hey! The pigeons are there! Bye mum, I'm going to catch one for you!

Huff and puff, I'm almost there ...

Let me Breakdance for you mom

Lovely day, wind in hair...ahh, this is life ...

Kimi ecstatic after managing to run down the little slope

Swans again, Kimi never tires of them

Kimi almost wanted to grab the swans by their tails!

But when they got into the water, he changed target to the nearby pigeons

Enjoying a snack with hair sleek back

Multi-tasking - eating and reading! You are no doubt mummy's boy!

Grilled Cajun Salmon

More salmon? Yes, but this is not from the Jap Supermarket, just the regular one. But still happy to have my salmon for dinner.

I don't have all the herbs & spices I need for a good Cajun mix so I just used what I have. It turned out not too bad.

Ingredients

• 250-300g salmon fillet/steak
• Salt
• Pepper
• Ground Paprika
• Dried Mixed herbs
• 1 lemon (thinly slice 1/4 of it, leave the other 1/4 for final drizzle and leave the other half for marinating)

Method

1. Rub salt and pepper onto salmon.
2. Generously sprinkle the paprika and dried mixed herbs before squeezing half of the lemon on it.
3. Let it marinate for 30mins in the fridge.
4. Heat griddle till very hot.
5. Reduce to medium and place salmon top down and let it grill for 5 mins.
6. Turn and let it grill the skin side for another 5-8 mins.
7. Off fire and place a few thin slice on top the the salmon and cover with pan to rest for 10 mins.
8. Dish and squeeze lemon over salmon.
9. ENJOY

Tips

• Before cutting/using a lemon, roll it on the counter top to loosen the pulp so that it will yield more juice.

Gold Rush

Meant to post this last week but forgotten about it.

Kimi's favourite yummy goldies are back! Finally, no more crap kiwi and Kimi can enjoy his favourite fruit again.

Quick grab these for your babies as they are in store and in season now! Great boost of vitamin C!

Pasir Ris Park Romp With Estelle

Hey, no wrong ideas ok? It's a healthy play & run in the park with Serene's little girl, Estelle.

Think the kids had quite a good time. Silly me, forgot to bring my camera so these pix are courtesy of Serene.

The park has changed quite a bit with more pockets of play-area for different age groups. Serene has asked this to be a weekly affair, why not?? We shall be back soon I guess?

Is Estelle meditating?

Register? Let me see if I press those buttons, more milk wll come out?

Come, Estelle, let me show you a few driving tips!

Clever Estelle! 1 short lesson and she can drive this fire-truck!

Kimi, checking the coast?

2 Happy & Cheeky kids

All wet with sweat and thirsty

Messy wet hair, mummy says must wipe off and comb

At last I can enjoy my drink in peace!

Soyu Salmon With Udon Soup

Update post : Here's the Stock Base Sauce I'm using which I bought from Daiso.

I bought 2 pcs yesterday so today I have another salmon treat. We shared this for dinner so Kimi has it in his porridge. You can check out a yummy treat for your baby in BB Salmon Porridge.

Here's my dinner. It may look complicated but trust me, you can have this for dinner in under 15mins!

Ingredients

• 1pc salmon fillet
• Handful xiaobaicai (green veg)
• 1 packet of small fresh udon (I got mine from NTUC)
• 4 tbsp of corn kernels (you can use the canned version but not the creamed one)
• 5-6 tbsp Japanese Stock Base Sauce
• 2 tbsp Bonito flakes
• 2 tbsp mirin

Method

1. Marinate salmon lightly with stock base sauce.
2. Boil water (approx amt like making instant noodles).
3. Once boiling add stock base sauce & bonito flakes.
4. Boil for 2 mins and add in veg & udon.
5. Further bring to a boil for 3 mins before adding mirin.
6. Stir lightly and dish. Spoon the corn on top of udon.
7. Heat oil in pan and sear salmon on both sides for 1-2 min each.
8. Remove place on top of udon carefully.
9. Reduce fire a little and pour some stock base sauce in pan.
10. Move pan continuosly as the sauce caramelises and bubbles very quickly.
11. Once bubbles, drizzle over salmon. Serve hot.
12. ENJOY

Tip

• Dependent on amount of udon/water used, add the stock base sauce accordingly. For the above amount, 5-6 tbsp is sufficient.


• Adding bonito flakes makes it more fragrant and mirin gives it a little sweet taste to balance the soya sauce.


• The salmon fillet I used was quite thin so I only needed to sear it 1-2 mins max. Pls adjust accordingly to the thickness of fillet used.


• You can also add Japanese fish cake or mushrooms as you wish.

BB Salmon Porridge

With such fresh salmon, how can I not make salmon porridge for Kimi? I only added some kelp and basil to the salmon about 10mins before putting into the slow cooker.

I sliced the filler thinly and added just before serving, leaving it in the slow cooker for about 5mins. Normally I'd prefer to keep fish whole as I would serve the fish first. In this way, even if Kimi do not finish the porridge at least he's eaten all the 'goodies'.

But for this, I wanted it to be just cooked so it will be tender and soft. Hence I sliced it thinly so it will cook quickly. There was absolutely no fishy smell and Kimi finished the whole bowl!

Ingredients

• 50g salmon fillet thinly sliced (sashimi cut)
• 1 bunch baby chinese cabbage cut in half (wa-wa cai, dolly cabbage)
• 2 slices of 1 inch corn (cut into quarters)
• 1 small chicken drum (skin & fat removed)
• 2 tbsp white rice, 1 tbsp brown rice
• Sprinkle of kelp and basil
• Water

Method

1. Add hot water to slow cooker.
2. Put in chicken, corn and cabbage and switch on high for 2 hours.
3. Stir occasionally and check that water do not dry up.
4. Once porridge is of desired texture, remove chicken and corn and discard.
5. Remove cabbage and set aside.
6. Carefully put in salmon slices and close cover.
7. Dish and serve after 5 mins
8. ENJOY

Tips

• These Baby Chinese Cabbage (wa-wa cai) gives the porridge a fragrant and sweet taste. Sometimes, I will discard these and add other veg but you can still eat these as they are soft and easy for baby to swallow. I use scissors to cut it up further to ensure they are of bite size

Think In Pictures

Does any of these make sense to you? Well... it does to Kimi and it just means roar and roar and roar like a lion or blow your trumpet like an elephant!

I think kid's brains are so amazing! We have those real-life looking lions or tigers in the books at home which I show Kimi and teach him to roar like one. Now, he can just pick out outlines like the Esso Tiger at pump stations, images on buses, even a folk design put together in a puzzle form on a t-shirt and what have you that have nary a semblance to the cat or elly.

It's so cute cos whenever he roars or blow his trumpet, we will have to scan around to find what he has seen and acknowledge with a clap before he stops. So cute right?

Really Food From The Sea ... Fresh!

Today Cat brought me to this place where she gets her freshest salmon and scallops. And, Yes! They are simply divine!

Frankly, there was hardly any need of seasoning. I just used black pepper and basil for both and then drizzle a little of this Japanese Broth Sauce and it was ready to be DEVOURED!

I wanted a smoky bbq flavour to the scallop so i seared it in a really hot pan till the edges were slightly burnt and let it rest on an ice-cold lemon slice. SIZZLE!

Same for the salmon, seared till burnt but with a tender centre. The flesh melted in my mouth.

Thanks Cat for such a wonderful recommendation! It made my day. I'm still so hungry.

But the scallops and salmon did not come cheap. 2 pcs of scallops for S$8 and that small pc of salmon was S$9.80! But it's worth every cent! Shared 1 pc with Kimi - sliced thinly and added in his porridge just before serving. He ate it without any protest.

Just for info, this salmon is very fresh and is actually a sashimi cut so it is ok that the centre is pink. If getting those frozen and for cooking ones, pls remember to cook well.

BB Salmon Fried Porridge (Stewed Rice)

Coincidentally discovered that Kimi likes his porridge done this way. Meaning, pre-fry ingredients till fragrant and then add to rice to be stewed till porridge like.

It's really tasty and fragrant. Another way to prepare porridge for your tots.

Ingredients

• 50-80g salmon sliced
• 8 baby asparagus chopped (de-skin the lower portion)
• A few Brown Shimeji mushroom chopped
• 2 inch fresh corn (shaved)
• Chopped garlic
• 1 small shallot thinly sliced
• Pepper, kelp & basil
• Soya sauce & sesame oil
• 2 tbsp white rice & 1 tbsp brown rice

Method

1. Marinate salmon with basil, kelp and pepper for 15mins. Add the corn flour and leave for another 15mins.
2. Shave the corn and with the fresh kernels, add a little water and blend till smooth.
3. Heat a little oil and fry shallots till fragrant then add in the garlic.
4. Add the salmon and fry lightly before putting in the asparagus & mushroom.
5. Top with the fresh corn puree and fry, turning slowly and constantly.
6. Once fragrant, drizzle some sesame oil. Remove and add to uncooked rice in slow cooker.
7. Add hot water to rice as per usual proportion for porridge.
8. Cook on high for 2 hours or lesser if bb likes harder texture.

Tips

• You can use other forms of protein like chicken or pork.
• Play with the different ingredients. You can use broccoli, carrots or pumpkins. Use whatever your bb likes or whatever you have.
• If you prefer, you can use stock instead of water but pre-frying it makes it tasty and fragrant enough so can omit using stock.
• Aportion your water to the texture that your bb likes.
• Using hot water in the slow cooker cuts down cooking time by almost half

Morning Walk @ The Gardens

Had been feeling quite down recently so I told myself I need to snap out of this or it will get worst and Kimi will be affected by my moods too. And I know going out for fresh air and running in the open makes me feel better.

So, I brought Kimi to Children's Garden again, reaching there at 8.30am. We had such a fun time! After abt an hour plus at Children's Gdn, we walked over to Eco Garden where Kimi fed the black swan, ran after the bubbles I was blowing, catching a small dog and well, basically having a blast!

I can walk over this shaky bridge on my own mom, trust me!

I'm an elephant blowing his trumpet

Climbing the stairs to the tree-house on my own!

Hey there, welcome to my garden house

Hi mom!

Taking a short break under the cabana

I love turning these panels cos mummy said it has her favourite fruit, Durians.

Ok, enough of reading this book. Where's my biscuits mom?

The Black Swan at Eco Lake

Oops, Kimi saw it and is running towards it happily

Hello swan

Mom, I want to feed the swan too like that boy! Pass my cheerios pls! Hmm, this swan likes Cheerios too ...

My favourite bubbles ...

Having a drink and rest

Soon, I'll be as tall as this lamp post

Smile for the camera? No way! But I'll give you a cheeky grin

Down to serious business - my biscuits!

Going Green Over Tea

Excuse the frosting on the doughnut - the girl did not pack it properly. I was a little upset ... but, well it tasted good so it made my day!

Suddenly I had craving for everything Green Tea today. So I bought everything in Green Tea flavour.

I'm not exactly 'crazy' over donuts but I really like Munchy Donuts' http://www.munchydonut.com/index.htm as the dough is soft even after a day and their frostings are not just sugar and overly sweet. My first choice is Green Tea, Oreo and then Cinnamon. In fact, I'd prefer those simple donut with sugar dusting.

I like the way they prepare their Green Tea frosting as I can taste the slightly bitter aromatic tea. Unlike others (I shall not name here) which just taste like a sugar overload with colourings and dough that turns hard once it's cooled.

It's yummy time the next few days! Wakakakaka!