Lentils Lentils Lentils (6 to 9 mths)

It's a cheap source of protein and iron. (good for brain development) Note: Can be difficult to digest and should be combined with plenty of fresh vegetables.

Try this recipe. Makes 8 portions. (Freeze the rest!)

What you need:

• 1/2 small onion finely chopped
• 1 cup carrot, chopped
• 1/2 stalk celery, chopped
• 1 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1/4 cup split red lentils
• 13/4 cup sweet potato, peeled and chopped
• 13/4 cups chicken broth or vegetable broth

Saute the onion, and celery in the vegetable oil till soft. Add the lentils and sweet potato and pour over broth. Bring to a boil, turn down heat and simmer for about 20mins. Puree and serve.

It's the first time I'm making lentils and I have never tasted it before... but the end result is good leh..
Sizzling HOT!

Fillet of Fish in Orange Sauce (6 to 9mths)

Tried this recipe.. not too bad! (If your little one can't finish, you will be happy to finish them!)
Tip: I used Malibut in this recipe but I thought it's better to use cod coz it has this melt in the mouth effect. Otherwise have to really puree the fish otherwise it's rather dry to swallow.

Makes abt 5 portions. Preparation time: 8 mins.

What you need:

• 1/2 lb white fish fillets, skinned.
• juice of 1 orange (about 1/2 cup) I prefer freshly squeezed. : )
  
• 1/2 cheddar cheese (grated)
• 2 teaspoons fresh parsley, finely chopped
• 1 cup cornflakes, crushed. (i omitted this coz don't have it)
• pay of butter or margarine (unsalted)

Put the fish in a microwave dish, cover with orange juice, cheese, parsley and cornflakes and dot with butter or margarine. Cover with lid and cook on high for abt 4 mins.

Flake the fish carefully, removing any bones and mash everything together with the liquid in which the fish was cooked. That SIMPLE!!
Before going into the microwave oven.Fresh from oven!Final product! But should mash it further...

Invasion

You know how it feels when your personal space is being invaded?

Got the picture? Ok.

So if it's physical personal space, you may just opt to move your arse right? But no. I'm stucked to my seat trimming my bangs in a salon when an AUNTIE is pouring out all her life time sad stories OUT LOUD! and the best part was she was just seated NEXT TO ME!! It came to a point where I started to suspect that she really was shouting so that the entire people in the salon could hear her. Ya know sometimes yu really just wanna relax, get your hair washed, scalp massaged etc... but it was a mistake right from the start to step into that place la. I don't welcome negative conversations or hearing negative stuff la.. it just sucks my energy away... energy suckers shoo! shoo! shoo!
What could I have done in that situation? sigh... now my brain is full of her sad stories.. washing dirty laundry (panties etc) for daughtes and son but only gets peanutz etc etc.. hahahha now Im the energy sucker!!! better shut my trap now manz... hahahha....

Quick Conversion Sites

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Good Old Fashioned Pancake

Ok first of all I have no idea why Im posting yet another recipe on pancakes. Was thinking of having this for breakfast or maybe Flo inspired me.

Definitely not for babies coz it has egg white added in it. Ready in 20mins! Fast and easy!

What you need:

• 11/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon white sugar
• 11/4 cups milk
• 1 egg
• 3 tablespoons butter (melted)

Directions:

• In a large bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. Make a well in the centre and pour in the milk, egg and melted butter; mix until smooth.
• Heat a lightly oiled frying pan over medium high heat. Pour the batter onto the pan, using approximately 1/4 cup for each pancake. Once brown on both sides, it's ready to be served!

variation tip: I added 1/4 vanilla into the mixture.

measuring tip: I bought measuring cups and measuring spoons from cold storage! That solves all measuring problems!

Baby Cereal Pancake

Finally I found this life saver recipe. Occasionally I have leftover baby cereal that I want to discard(almost 1 month old) but always find it very wasteful. Ever been in this similar situation?! Here's the solution! Pancakes make great finger food. kekekeke..

What you will need:

• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/2 cup baby cereal
• 1 cup milk
• 1/2 cup mashed fruit of your choice
• 1 tablespoon melted butter or margarine (unsalted)
• 3 egg yolks
• 1/2 cup baby oatmeal
• 1/2 cup apple juice or water

Add cinnamon, nutmeg or vanilla extract or other flavorings if you wish : )
Mix all ingredients together and add enough juice to make pancake consistency. "Fry" in a pan!

tips: may wish to add 1 tablespoon of baking powder to make the pancake fluffy as whole wheat flour will make pancake more dense and heavy. (rubbery)

pictures promised soon!

Salmon With Carrots and Tomato (9 to 12 mths)

Went to Kinokuniya and picked up 2 "cookbooktionaries" hopping to get more inspiration to cook yummy and healthy meals for Ern. Will be making this! and will post some pictures later!

This makes a good, creamy-textured fish puree! SALMON!

Took this recipe from annabel Karmel!
MAKES 4 PORTIONS

what you need:
21/4 cups carrot, peeled and sliced
5 oz salmon fillet
1/2 tablespoon milk (or enough to cove the salmon)
2 tablespoons butter
2 medium, ripe tomatoes, skinned, seeded and chopped
scant 1/2 cup cheddar cheese, grated

• Put the carrots in a steamer set over a pan of boiling water and cook 15-20 mins or until tender.

• Meanwhile place the fish in a pan, pour over enough mil just to cover and simmer till cooked.

• Melt the remaining butter in a saucepan and add tomatoes and saute till softened and slightly mushy.

• Remove from heat and stir in cheese until melted.

• Blend the cooked carrots with the tomato mixture. Drain the cooking liquor from the fish, remove skin.

• Flake the fish and mix together with tomatoes and carrots. For younger babies, blend for desired texture.

The picture in the book looks damn yummy la. Try it if you have the time and have fUn!! : )
Sauteed tomatoes with cheese.Salmon immersed in milk and butter. I cooked it in microwave instead. And this is the end result! The picture in the book still looks better. : ) Hubby tried it and said ern will love it... we shall see....

East Coast Park

Woke up at 6.30am and off we went to East Coast Park. Daddy F went for his run while ern and mummy went for a long stroll. Think we walked for more than an hour. It's the same old familiar surroundings which brought me back to our good old bayshore days...

We used to wake up in the morning and bring our dogs to the beach for a run and breakfast. We decided to move out 6mths earlier than expected; rented a place at bayshore for 6months before moving into out unit in UE sq. But atlas I got pregnant and have to shift back with my in-laws as UE sq was a little small. (so we thought) Frankly, I think it's a decent space for a family of 3. (but can't accomodate the dogs : (...)

Yesterday hubby and I took ern to Lawrys (paragon) for high tea. It was surprisingly quiet, (we literally had the whole hall to ourselves) and the price was atonishingly cheap manz! It's like $12 ++ per pax!!(it's not buffet style) so we decided to order lotsa other stuff and the total bill is less than 50 bucks! Highly recommended! Will definitely go again!

Ok, it's recipe time again.
Noticed that she loves to eat Toufu. Just throw anything undesirable to her palette into toufu; she will finish up everything.
If your baby loves tofu, can also try these combi:

• tofu + applesauce + squash
• tofu + avocado + pears
• tofe + blueberries + bananas
• tofu + sweet potato + carrots
• tofu + broccoli + parsnips

Things I love to do

Life will never be the same again. : )

Things I love to do then was:

• scrapbooking
• grooming dogs (yes I took up a course for that)

Things that I indulge in NOW:

• cutting her nails (hahha I know you won't believe it)
• cooking for her
• cracking my head over what to cook for her or doing some research on it.
• playing with her
  
• showering her
• taking her out with me
• breastfeeding her (yes! im still breast feeding!)
• dress her up!
• grocery shopping
• COOKING
  

You see... everything revolves around her. What to do... I laugh when she laughs... same goes for my hubby too.

Every minute with her is so precious to me. Sometimes I just wish I have more time with her. But I really shouldn't be complaining as I'm still spending most of my time with her now that I'm working from home and occasionally taking a few hours to meet clients and all..

This November is particularly special. Lotsa events coming up.

1st week of November: Hong Kong trip with some friends and babies!
Last week of November: ern is going for Julia Gabriel class for the entire week! It's some holiday program thingy.
28th of November: My birthday and also happens to be my cousin's wedding! Double bliss!

And then comes Christmas! Though we never really celebrate Christmas but it always feel so special... so joyful. Hopefully can bring her to see some light ups. (things that I have never bothered in the past)

What do you love to do?

Deepavali or Diwali

How did you spend the holiday?

We decided to take little ern out to this new hotel "Klapsons" at Tanjong Pagar for brunch. It's quite a nice boutique hotel. Ern enjoys the little surprise that the chef whipped out for her! Find out in a while...
The food is superb for the price we paid so YES it is highly recommended! The waiters who served us were all "poached" over from other restaurants like Ritz Carlton... etc.. so service wise is efficient and attentive : )

15 hoe chiang road Singapore 089316
T: 6521 9030
www.Klapsons.com

The restaurant we went to is apparently named after the grandson. So this family who opened the hotel is really rich! Hubby told me that on the day of it's officially opening ceremony ALL the banks representative in Singapore were there!This is part of the restaurant with daddy posing with ern ern. See the huge wine bottle behind them? They opened the same kind of bottles for the opening! hahhaa... I have never tried drinking from that kinda bottle before... wonder if it taste better? : )

I had this!! "blackened blue fin tuna" looks like steak hor? I have never really liked tuna coz I find the meat always too dry... but this one changed my opinion on tuna. : )~

hubby had this "wagyu beef burger" - his favourite beef!Foei gras hmm... hope I spelled it right.. slurps... still thinking about it : )
This is for ern ern! mashed sweet potato! See the stae it's in now... its yummy for OUR tummy too!

Cheesy Potato and carrot (6-9 months)

This is a really fast and simple yet yummy recipe that ern loves!
Here's how to prepare.

You will need:
1 potato (peeled and chopped)
1/2 large carrot (peeled and chopped)
your baby's usual milk (amount would depend on the consistency you want)
knob of butter
mild cheddar cheese (shredded)
(you may wish to add broccoli and / or chicken to give it more texture)

To prepare:

1. Steam or boil the vegetables till soft then mash them up.
   
2. Stir in milk.
   
3. Add butter, cheese and microwave.

Hope you love it as much as I do too! I hope the next recipe would involve baking coz I went to get a mini baking dish! hiak hiak hiak~

Chawanmushi

Loved Chawanmushi since day 1 and I finally got down to doing some research on it's preparation. For those who also love it just like me here's the recipe:
What you need:

• 3 eggs
• 1.5 cup dashi soup stock
• 0.5 tsp salt
• 1 tsp soy sauce
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1tsp sake
• 1 chicken thigh (cut into bite size)
• 4 shiitake mushrooms
• 1 oz mitsube (trefoil)
• 8 slices kamaboko or narutomaki fish cake

Preparation:
Lightly beat the eggs in a bowl. Try not to bubble the eggs.
Add cool dashi soup stock, soy sauce, salt, sake and sugar in the egg.
Strain the egg mixture.
Put shiitake, chicken tigh and kamboko in 4 chawanmushi cups. Cover the cups.
Preheat in a steamer on high heat.
Turn down to low and carefully place the cups in steamer.
Steam for about 15 minutes. There you have it!!

Macritchie Reservoir

Took ern ern to Macritchie reservoir the moment she wakes up this morning hoping to capture some monkeys! real monkeys I mean. (She loves the two monkeys (woo and ah) on playhouse disney.) Was a little hot when we reach there, daddy F went for his run and I carried her in my carrier and all set ready to go! BUT... we didnt see any along the way...Weekends are all packed with people strolling... running... brisk walking... tai chi... some just gather around for a chit chat session... some settles happily with a little picnic under shady trees. It was quite comforting to see people actually taking the time to relax; slow down a litle and smell the roses.Rather scenic huh? When I was walking along the track some aunties saw me with a baby and said some passing remarks "aiyoh... why bring a baby here" with a face that kinda implied "what's wrong with parents these days"?! To which I replied with just a smile. : ) Their intention was kind but I guess no explanation was really necessary. : )

Ok. When I saw this I just had to shoot it. Isn't this a classic one? I bet your parents would have come to this very same spot for their wedding picture!
We continued walking back to where we started kinda resigned that we are not able to capture any monkeys today and then it happened!
The first monkey we saw. I was a little wary of this monkey coz it was staring at me when im taking it's picture! After I blast m shutter i just stood still hoping it won't attack! hahahha... ern ern didn't see this one..She saw this one! Then there were more running about; totally oblivious to the crowd of humans!
Daddy met up with us after his run and took a picture with ern ern inhis "slimy arms". hee hee...
Next stop... BREAKFAST!!!Went to six avenue - Guthrie haus for one of daddy's monthly craving - WAFFLES!
Looks not bad right?! I just stick to my old fashioned poached eggs with sausages served with freshly squeezed OJ. : ) and ern ern ... her boring cereal. wahahhaha...
That was how we started our Sunday. Hope yours kicked off well too! Enjoy your weekend... or whatever that is left of... ahhaha

At Mummy Florinda's

mummy took me to auntie Florinda's place to meet baby Victoria. Haven't seen her for the longest time and I can't remember how she look like anymore. I overheard mummy saying that they are planning a getaway thingy! wheee..... can take aeroplane again!
Aunt Joey came slightly later and hence we met baby jeanette! She is the on on the extreme right and baby Victoria is the one in the centre! She sure knows when to take centre stage!
mummy saw that I had some difficulty trying to learn how to crawl so she took off my shorts! Felt soooo comfy after that. And airy too! You see, we were sharing toys. baby Victoria took my rattle and I took her comb!
See what I mean? It's tight!

this is mummy's favourite shot! Aunt Florinda took all the pictures! Thank you aunt Florinda!
We were baby talking. Good that the adults don't understand! Let's just stay this way for now. And by the way; Victoria is a damn good listener to all my sad stories! : P

Bonding

Bought this piano from SMF which costs quite abit. Thought it's worth it though. She plays with it everyday and enjoys "jamming" it which will lasts for about 10 to 15mins. I sure hope that she will develop an interest in piano when she grows up! Daddy F says that his observation with most people that plays piano is that they have a better temperament - which I kinda agree too.

In these pictures daddy is teaching little ern to play some simple notes. Well; I call it BONDING!

From daddy F to mummy to you

Daddy decided to give mummy a surprise by giving a bouquet of flowers. Though it's not mummy's favorite flowers; the thought is definitely 100%! Didnt know what to do with it hence decided to give it to little ern. She decided took it to bed with her. (Of course... its staged.)

November is gonna be event filled month! Will be taking ern to Hong Kong together with aunt Flo and Joey together with baby Victoria and baby Janette! That will fall on the first week of November. The last week of November will be taking little ern for Julia Gabriel's holiday program for consecutive 5 days! And not forgetting another wedding dinner that we will have to attend which coincidentally falls on my birthday! Looking forward to November!