Swimming!!

The pictures don't really tally with the post title? However Mummy could only take the pictures of us in the swimsuits at home. Daddy had forbade her to bring the camera along cos he didn't want to end up being the only one taking care of us at the pool and it becomes a photography session instead of swimming.



Waiting to go off ...

Our dinner #16

We must say that we are in for good treat lately cos Mummy's in a mood for cooking.

Today she pan-fried the salmon instead of the normal poached teriyaki salmon. Though the same sauce used but the tastes are quite different. The poached salmon will have a lighter taste than the pan-fried one cos water had been added to the sauce to dilute it. And the texture would be softer with the poaching. However though pan-fried stuff tend to be drier, there's abit of crisp on the outer layer of the salmon and it tastes stronger of the teriyaki sauce. Guess it all depends on the taste of the kid.

The other dish we had is the stir-fry pork with spinach (refer to recipe below). Mummy had long wanted to add greens to our diet but it had not been easy cos we don't take vege as it is so she'll either have to add into the soup or blend it well into the dishes she cooks. Seeing that she's cooking the stir-fry pork with spinach for their own dinner, she scooped out a portion of it and cut into smaller pieces for us to try out. Well, not that we finished all but at least 75% of it were gone from our plates.

p.s: Mummy didn't have time to make nice cartoon characters for our dinner deco cos she need to prepare those dishes in a rush after we came back from our swim.


Our dinner - Rice, Stir-fry pork with spinach and pan-fried teriyaki salmon. The wolfberries you see on the rice are from the sharksfin melon soup that was poured onto our rice.


Close-up of it

Stir-fry pork with spinach
Ingredients:
400g spinach
2 cloves garlic, chopped
2 stalks of spring onions, cut
400g pork fillet, cut into thin slices
2 tbsp oil
2 tbsp sesame oil
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tsp of sugar
A dash of mixed herbs (optional)

Method:
1. Heat oil and sesame oil in frying pan.
2. Add in garlic and spring onions and stir-fry till fragrant.
3. Add the pork in and stir-fry quickly in 3 bathes over very high heat. Remove the meat and set aside.
4. Add the soy sauce, sugar and spinach and toss lightly. Cook for 2 minutes or until the spinach is just soft.
5. Return the pork to the pan. Add in the mxed herbs if desired.
6. Toss well and serve immediately.

Broccoli with dried scallops and crabstick sauce

This is for the adults but Mummy gave us some of the broccoli forets from it too. It acts as grass for our little lamb. :)



Ingredients:
1-1/2 teaspoons cornstarch
1 teaspoon sugar
1 big fresh broccoli
1 garlic clove, minced
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 tablespoon of shaoxing wine
3 big dried scallops
3 sticks of crabstick, shred
1 tablespoon of oyster sauce
Pepper

Method:
1. Put dried scallops in a bowl with water and steam it till becomes soft. Drain and shred the dried scallops and leave them and water aside.
2. Boil some water and blanch the broccoli, drain and leave broccoli aside.
3. Put some oil in a pan and add in garlic and fry till fragrant.
4. Pour the dried scallop and the water used to steam it into the pan. Add another 400ml of water and boil till dried scallops became softer. Add in the sugar, oyster sauce, shaoxing wine, pepper and stir well.
5. Mix the cornflour with little water (20ml) and pour slowly into the pan. Stir as you pour.
6. Bring the sauce to boil till it thickens and adds in the crabstick and cook for 1 min. (Do not cook the crabstick for too long else it'll turn very soft.)
7. Lay the broccoli on a plate and pour the sauce over and serve hot.

Our dinner #15

Mummy was very much inspired by a mummy from a bento website to do a lamb for our dinner. The lambs that the mummy made for her kids were so cute and sweet. However Mummy couldn't do an exact same one cos of the lack in her cutters therefore we'll have to make do with these 1st. She'll do another one for us when the cutters she just ordered come.


Reyden's dinner - steamed toufu with fishballs, chicken yakitori (see below for recipe) and brocoli


Reyes's dinner - same as above


Closeup of the lamb

p.s: Pardon her for the badly taken pics cos the camera ran out of battery and she had to use the hp camera.

Chicken Yakitori

Ingredients:
2 chicken breasts
1 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp sake
3 tbsp mirin
3 tbsp soy sauce
*Bamboo skewers (soaked in water to prevent burning)

Method:
1. Cut chicken breasts into bite-sized pieces.
2. Skewer the chicken.
3. To make yakitori sauce, mix sugar, sake, mirin, and soy sauce in a small bowl.
4. Grill the skewered chicken in oven, apply sauce on chicken in between until the chicken is cooked.

Our interesting dinner #14

Pikachu dinner with steamed threadfin and toufu plus vege soup

Spaghetti Bolognese with Honey Glazed chicken wings

This is what Mummy had prepared for our zoo trip this morning. The honey glazed chicken wings was recommended by Waipo and it tastes great with minimal cooking required. Just put them into the oven for 15 mins and it's done.



Ingredients
For the sauce (serves 4) You can choose to buy the mushroom sauce or beef bolognese sauce off the shelf from supermarkets

300g Minced beef
450g Onions, chopped
2 400g tins of chopped tomatoes
150g tomato concentrate
6 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
2 tablespoons oregano
two cloves of garlic
1 tablespoon honey
one splash of worcester sauce

Ingredients
For the spaghetti

Spaghetti
Water
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons butter
Freshly chopped basil
Parmesan cheese

Preparation
1. Press the garlic.
2. Pour olive oil into a large saucepan, add the onions and fry them in the olive oil until they change colour.
3. Crumble the mince into the onions and fry it until it is completely done (no red bits left).
4. Continue frying the mince and the onions while stirring to let some of the water that has accumulated evaporate.
5. Now add the tomatoes, the tomato concentrate, the honey and the spices.
6. Let the whole lot simmer for an hour with no lid on the saucepan - this is to let some of the water evaporate so that will make it tastier.

Preparing pasta

1. Roughly 150g of pasta per head (reduce accordingly for kids)
2. Boil a lot of water (1 liter per 100g), add some olive oil and salt. When the water is boiling, add the pasta.
3. Boil 10 - 12 minutes for spaghetti.
4. Drain away the hot water and rinse the spaghetti under the tap water for a min.
5. Put the saucepan back onto your hob and add 2 tablespoons of butter.
6. Melt the butter.
7. Put the pasta back into the saucepan and heat it up while turning it until it's hot. The pasta will taste great, not stick together and be just right!

Lastly, pour the pasta sauce over the spaghetti and add some of the parmesan cheese and it's done!!!


CP Honey Glazed Chicken wings

A day at the zoo

Daddy and Waipo are on leave today therefore they planned for a zoo trip but the weather wasn't quite cooperative. It started to pour the moment we reached there. The rain didn't stop totally even after our breakfast but we went ahead anyway. Luckily it was a weekday today and we could take the free tram rides around. The trip ended with lunch at Ah Meng restaurant and some "chasing" of the pygmy hippos.


Winnie The Pooh cutters that Mummy bought from BentoMarket
Her stuffs run out fast so got to grab the moment you see anything you like.


Cute Piglet and Pooh mini ham & cheese "sandwiches"
Mummy had wanted to bring this to the zoo for our breakfast but we finished them at home.


Rain, rain, go away ...


Breakfast at Ah Meng restaurant


Monkeys that scare the wits out of Reyden (forgot what's the name)



Kisses from RR


Yummy Spaghetti bolognese with honey glazed chicken wings. See here for recipe.



Meal time


1st time on the new stroller




Fun with the hippo


Umbrella kids