Musings

Hannah should be eating lumpy foods now as 1) she has more teeth and 2) chewing helps (indirectly) in speech.

Just the other day, I made cream of mushroom soup for our dinner and used some of the soup to mix with steamed rice for her too. I’m glad she took to the taste of mushrooms positively as both Yang and I love mushrooms. :)

Okay, dinner tonight. I heated up 100 ml of frozen, homemade tomato sauce and added minced beef. At the same time, I had a small bowl of rice steaming in another pot. The whole process of preparation and cooking took no more than 30 minutes.

Once the minced beef tomato sauce was ready, it was poured over the steamed rice (I added more water to get very moist rice). Just before feeding Hannah, the rice is mixed thoroughly with the sauce.

She enjoyed it :) Yay.

Just some random sampling of cute and endearing moments with our little girl. Such behaviour of hers might not repeat again.

• When I squat down, open my arms and call Hannah’s name, she would giggly make her clumsy baby walk towards me and hug me.
• She’d let us hold her hand and walk with her.
• When she stood up on her high chair to play, I would give her a displeased look and told her firmly to sit down. It might take her a while but she would eventually ‘guai guai de’ squat down. I would continue to stare at her and say “leg leg” and then she would slowly put her legs down to a sitting position. She might avoid my glare and then afterwards check whether she had gotten my approval by making some eye contact.
• Hannah would shake her bum bum to the beat of songs played to her.
• She would walk over and sit on my laps when I hold out a book to read to her. Sometimes she would look up to me and make eye contact while I was reading to her.
• She would laugh at us when we make funny sounds.
• She would put her little finger to dig my nose and poke through my lips.
• She would sit at the entrance to the kitchen where I prepare her meals and ‘wait’ for mommy to play with her.
• She could understand the meaning of my words even though she could not utter them herself yet. For example, I have asked her to hang her towel back on the rack where she had pulled it off (I didn’t expect her to do it actually) and she understood me and tried in her own messy manner to spread the towel on the rack.
• She would blow me a kiss after I put her down to bed for the night.
• She would open her mouth widely and say ‘ahh’ for ‘amen’ during our bedtime prayer.
• She plays ‘hide and seek’ with me when it is time for bath. She would disappear from my sight and then reappear to check whether I’m still around. Upon seeing me, she would giggle and go back into hiding. :)
• She yaks on her pink diaper cream tube (pretends it to be a mobile phone).

Of course, we had our share of exasperating moments with her too. For instance, she would sometimes cry without apparent reason.

Below is a recent video taken of her trying to get her hands on her wet laundry and her latest play-thing (green cushion). :)

Since Hannah came into our lives, I have been doing a lot of grocery shopping just to prepare her meals. There are certain types of veggies and fruits which I would usually go for when I do marketing.

Vegetables

• Potatoes: Brastagi Hertha (NTUC) – flavourful for making mashed potatoes (Note: Brastagi mini potatoes were really really bland)
• Sweet potatoes: Orange ones from Australia (NTUC & CS) – they have a higher moisture content as compared to local ones
• Carrots: Australian (NTUC) – less than $1 per pack
• Corn on cob: Malaysia (NTUC & CS) – cheap and sweet (Note: consume corn within 3 days of purchase as its sugars will turn to starch over time)
• Pumpkin: Zenxin’s organic Japanese variety (CS) – very sweet and moist
• Broccoli: Australian (NTUC)
• Cauliflower: China (NTUC & CS) – the organic ones are either too expensive or not fresh
• Spinach: local hydroponic farm (NTUC) – no pesticides!
• Cherry tomatoes: Sakura (NTUC) – no pesticides!
• Garden peas: frozen big pack (NTUC house brand)

Fruits

• Apples: US organic Red Delicious (CS) – CS doesn’t carry it anymore :(
• Pears: as long as it looks and smells sweet :) (NTUC & CS)
• Oranges: Australian Navel (Citrus brand is very sweet when in season) (NTUC) – 1 year old onwards
• Strawberries: Organic ones, seasonal (NTUC) – 1 year old onwards
• Golden Kiwi: New Zealand (NTUC) – these are sweet and juicy
• Banana: (NTUC & CS)
• Watermelon: (NTUC, CS or parents’)
• Rock melon: Australian (NTUC)
• Hami melon: China (NTUC)
• Mangoes: Thai yellow honey mangoes (NTUC)
• Papaya: any variety as long as it is sweet :D

Meats

• Fish: salmon, threadfin & cod (NTUC & CS)
• Beef: tenderloin & minced (parents’, NTUC & CS)
• Chicken breast: NTUC
• Pork: fillet minced (NTUC & CS)

Dairy Products

• UHT Fresh Milk: Marigold Plain (it has vitamin D added to its NZ fresh milk to help in absorption of calcium) (NTUC usually have discounts)
• Cheese: Laughing Cow Plain party cubes (NTUC)
• Yoghurt: Pauls original (NTUC) – the only plain version with the simplest, workable ingredients (includes live probiotic cultures)
• Mamil Gold Milk Powder for 1-3 years (NTUC)
• Eggs: Sakura Eggs (the yolks are very tasty!)
• Tofu: Organic silken tofu (NTUC & CS)

I have yet introduce pasta in tomato sauce to Hannah. It is long overdue. Sigh, I must get down to it someday! :)

Ya, yet another porridge recipe! :D

The reason for posting this recipe here is because I discovered a nice addition to the usual fish porridge ingredients. It is tofu. Besides the usual slice of ginger, the fishy odor is less strong in the presence of tofu. Personally, I felt that it gave the dish a balance of flavours.

Threadfin (wu yu), as many locals are aware, is a popular fish used in baby foods due to its few bones. It is also not cheap. To buy it fresh, skip your neighborhood supermarkets for the wet markets’ fare.

Okies, here’s the recipe:

Ingredients

• brown rice grains (1 Chinese soup spoon)
• hot water (250 ml or 1 Chinese rice bowl)
• threadfin (small, thick slice of fillet, minced with knife)
• carrot (1 stick, peeled and chopped into chunks)
• ginger (1 slice)
• silken organic tofu (1 small block: 2" cube, cut into tiny cubes)

Method

1)  Add washed brown rice grains, ginger, carrots and hot water into the slow cooker and cook on ‘high’ for 2 – 2.5 hr.

2) Once the porridge is cooked, remove all the carrot pieces and mash 2 of the carrot chunks in the serving bowl. Set it aside for later use.

3) Add threadfin and tofu and stir for a few seconds.

4) Cover for a minute, then remove the slice of ginger and scoop out the porridge into the bowl with mashed carrots. Stir to mix all the ingredients well before feeding :)

Hannah was all dressed up to take her first steps outside home this morning. We brought her to the top floor of Hougang Mall where there was less human traffic for her new venture. Walking with shoo shoo on her feet must be a new experience too. It was wonderful feeling just to see her toddling about and discovering new environment and experience :)

Another cute moment when Hannah had fun with her handkerchief! :)

I often repeat words when I talk to Hannah. E.g. “leg leg”, “sit sit”, “nap nap”, “come come”, “hug hug” and “walk walk”.

Hannah is rapidly gaining confidence in walking since the last time I videoed her in her play yard. Here’s a video capturing her walking about the house. Just yesterday evening, she started opening my drawers in our workroom! Ahhh, our girl is getting busy with her hands and legs. :)

It’s the weekend again! That means I have more time to do cooking at home :D I decided to give tom yum soup a shot after getting inspired by another local blogger.

So it was to NTUC to shop for all the necessary ingredients this morning. I enjoy buying fresh produce… :D The sight of fresh vegetables and fruits makes me happy. :)

I bought the Dancing Chef’s Tom Yum paste. I supposed any brand will do as long as you have chili and lime on hand to adjust the spiciness and sourness according to personal preference. :) It’s quite a simple dish to prepare and cook. Just follow the instructions on the package, especially the ratio of paste to water. Always add seafood last as they cook quickly. I added coconut milk for a change. :)

Ingredients

• Tom Yum paste (Dancing Chef: 100g)
• Water (according to the paste package, it was 400 ml)
• Coconut milk (200 ml)
• Prawns (8 big ones, shelled and deveined)
• Fish fillet (any white fish will do, about 200 g, sliced)
• Button Mushrooms (1 box ~25og, cut in quarters)
• French beans (5 stalks, sliced into 1-inch pieces)
• Lemon grass (1 stalk, remove outer 2 leaves, wash, chop off the 2 ends, slice only the bulb section, the green portion reserved to be thrown into the soup with the slices)’
• Chili padi (1 – cut into slices with a pair of scissors)
• Lime (1 – cut into halves)
• Mint leaves (garnishing – optional)

Additional ingredient: Carrots (2 medium sticks, peeled and sliced) – I added this root veggie as we have a big ‘bunny’ at home “P

Method

1) Boil a pot containing the paste + 400 ml water + lemon grass + carrots (optional).

2) Once the water has boiled, simmer in medium heat for the carrots to soften partially – about 10 minutes.

3) Add French beans and mushrooms and simmer for another 10 minutes.

4) Taste the soup. Add chili padi and / or lime juice if desired. A bit of lime juice gives a refreshing taste to the soup. :)

5) Add coconut milk, stir well and bring the soup to a boil.

6) Add fish slices and prawns just before the soup starts boiling.

7) Once the soup starts boiling, turn off the flame, add mint leaves for garnishing and serve immediately with steamed, white rice.

If you’d prefer to omit the coconut milk, skip step 5. :)

I liked the unique taste of coconut milk in tom yum flavor but Yang found it strange. Anyway, as long as there are carrots in any dish, he can be satisfied. :)

I felt like Linguini in Ratatouille when trying to cook Hannah’s and our dinner simultaneously tonight. The last thing I wanted was a messy kitchen with injuries and broken porcelain wares.

I was browsing through the Internet for easy recipes again and chanced upon this Japanese dish Nikujaga. It is said to be a comfort food for the Japanese. The dish is essentially a vegetable stew with some meat in it. It is a sweet, savoury kind of food which goes down well with many people. Here’s the recipe:

Ingredients

• 200g lean pork or beef, slice or cut into chunks (we used more meat as this is the only dish for dinner)
  
• 1 white onion, cut into wedges
• 3 large carrots, cut into large chunks (because Yang loves carrots)
• 1 potato, cut into chunks (original recipe calls for more potatoes than carrots)
• 1 Chinese bowl (250 ml) dashi stock / chicken stock / water
• 2 tbsp mirin
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 4 tbsp light soy sauce (adjust according to one’s preference. I used Kikkoman premium blend)
• 1 tbsp ginger juice (squeezed from freshly grated ginger)

Method

1. Heat up some oil in a medium-sized metal pot. Brown the meat.

2. Add vegetables, and saute for 3-5 mins.

3. Add stock and the rest of the seasonings. Stir well.

4. Leave the pot uncovered and allow everything to simmer in medium heat for about 30-40 mins, or until the meat is tender and the hardy vegetables are softened sufficiently. The gravy should be reduced to a mere thin layer which is thick and full of flavour.

The verdict? Oishi! :P

Hannah’s supply of pumpkin comes from Cold Storage’s organic fresh food section. This is a regular item on the shelf. It is of a Japanese variety and hence its sweetness is guaranteed.

Pumpkin is one of the easiest veggy to puree. It can be easily mashed with a spoon after cooking. I like to puree it with garden peas and chicken breast meat. No water is needed. The preparation is really simple: chop the pumpkin into small cubes and steam them together with garden peas for 15 minutes. Boil chicken meat for 10 minutes. Mash the veggies and shred the chicken into tiny bits. Mix the veggies with the meat and stir well. Serve warm :)