KA - Beef Stew

Woo, we love beef... lolx.. Yes, its either duck or beef which pretty much stays our favorite ingredient for the weekends... ^^

With the KA pots and the thermo pot on hand, cooking beef stew is a breeze and pretty little time is needed to watch the pot and the fire... I just leave it to cook on slow fire for 2 hours and then transfer the stew to the thermo pot...

Near dinnertime, all I have to do is to continue simmering for another one hour. Soft and easy to chew...

Recipe can be found here: http://munchministry.com/recipe-archive/cooking/beef-stew/

Home Alone with 2 boys!!! - - AGAIN... =.='''

Shag sia to be home alone with 2 boys.. It is the Shichida's term break so Mommy Me is home alone half day with the boys.. Had parked the bois over at the grandparent's place in the morning so that I could cook the diner..

All my time whizzed past when I am home alone with the 2 of them...
But it is still enjoyable in a sense as I got to spend time with them... ^^

HCP - - Sweet & Sour Pork

Here is our dinner for tonight...

Did an edamame with rice, sweet & sour pork and a soup... ^^
Love this pack of edamame that I got from Taka Cold Storage.. Taste superb.. Fresh and salted just right... ^^
Can see my special Nemo and star... Swimming in a soup...

As for the Sweet & Sour Pork, I got this frozen pack from Giant.

Marinate them in soy sauce, pepper for almost half a day.
Cook with egg, then flour and some breadcrumbs..
Pan fried them till crispy.
Remove from pan.
Sautee the veg n add the sauce.
Return the pork to the pan.
Qucik stir and serve hot with rice... ^^

Sunday Sweat it Out

Bb Lewis was at Gymboree with Daddy Sky while Mommy Me brought Lucas to Singkids... A Sunday Sweat it out!!!! Check out Lucas...
We brought him to Ikea last weekend and he din enjoy himself claiming that no one plays with him... Today he made frens with other children including their daddy... lolx...
Made me stand on an inflatable to take this photo for him... ^^
Paiseh, no fotos of Bb Lewis in action cos Daddy Sky din take... =.='''

More Yummies

The benefit of being part of a cooking group is that once there is a sharing of recipe, everyone scrambles to try it out and modifications would be shared...

One of the latest craze in the MM - HC Group was ice cream... Check out my mango yogurt ice cream.. In fact, effortless, just need to blend ripe mangoes with whipping cream n plain yogurt.. Viola, done in less than 30 mins... Freeze it and stir it every other hour...
As usual, Sats are simple meals... Made pork porridge with smoked duck upon Lucas' request...
Made Daddy Sky go check out the Yong Tau Foo stall @ Henderson n found these lovely fishcakes..
With my KA pots, cooking porridge is always a breeze...

KA - Udon for lunch, anyone?

A super simple lunch... Modifications from the Jap hotpot.. Just change some of the ingredients and added udon.. Comfort food for a stormy day... ^^

Home Alone with 2 boys!!!

This may seem a good practice in prep for Daddy Sky's impending trip in April but Mommy Me almost dropped dead after looking after the 2 of them for 4 hours ALONE!!!

OH NO.. I am not optimistic now for the April stint.. Will I survive??

Bb Lewis fell asleep after 2 hours of tug-of-war with me.. =.='''
The little Shao Ye Lucas in the playroom hoarding the ipad and tv!!!
Alamak, I think I need to breathe harder....

Disney on Ice 2012

We skipped the Disney On Ice in 2011 cos Mommy Me found the program a little more suitable for gers than for bois.. This year, it seemed pretty much ok, so booked the tickets to bring Lucas.
As Bb Lewis might not be able to sit throughout the show, we decided only Lucas and Mommy Me to go for the show alone. We went for a 330 pm show and it was not too packed though.
We ran round the stalls many times and finally decided to buy a pack of popcorns.
When the show started, Lucas passed me the pack of popcorns to keep indicating he wanted to leave them for his Daddy Sky... aww, so sweet..He enjoyed himself pretty much at the show.. Though he insisted wanting to go home during the first 15 mins when all the villains appeared... =.='''

But overall, he was much able to react to the show and clapped & sing along... Impressive...
After the show ended, it was only 5.15pm. Lucas wanted to have a closer look at the skating rink so we walked down to take a good look...

btw, prelude to this outing, Mommy Me had been wanting to eat crab for a long time but tough to do so.. Since there is Jumbo at the Singapore Indoor Stadium and I have a common interest son, told him that we will go for crab after the show...

BUT, it was only 530pm!!! The restaurant will only open at 6pm. Told that to Lucas, he insisted walking over to the restaurant to take a look...

True enough, it hadn't open but this gungho boi pushed open the doors when the kitchen staff were having their dinner and told them he wanted to eat crab... I almost fainted in embarrassment. The captain walked out and told us that the restaurant can be opened in 10 mins' and got another waitress to show us the menu.
The power of this gungho fellow... We got our dinner in the end... ^^But of cos, we could not finish it... Therefore packed them for Daddy Sky...

One more little incident that happened... Lucas and I managed to figure out that whenever there is a bell ting sound, it means a dish is served.. So after quite a few tings and we still dun see our precious crab.. Lucas got off the chair and marched to a waiter and asked: WHERE IS MY CRAB??? =.=''''

Then he refused to give up and stood near the kitchen asking everyone where his crab was.. It was such an adorable sight... I know I will miss this cute part of his as he grows up and conforms to the acceptable behavior of the society.... ;(

Daring Boi

Bb Lewis is very daring.. Despite falling off the bed a couple of times, he will still attempt to scale past the obstacles and climb over the bed.. Check this out

Its a HCP & KA Sunday... ^^

As the boys have to be administered fever medicine every 4 hours, Mommy Me was awake at 5am. Since I was awake, might as well start the preparations for dinner... Check out the ingredients:
Viola, after one hour, the prep had been completed:Well, supposed to be 2 dishes and one soup... After posting on Happy Call - Closed group in FB, group members thought I was making claypot... lolx... I decided to make the change... Soup with claypot rice.. muhahahaha....
p/s: Here is breakfast as well... Scrambled eggs with Japanese sausages on the banana & walnut bread... Yummy...

Hiding in Play Yard

The 2 of them were running fever since yesterday... Mommy Me woke up at 5am to administer the medication and started preparing the ingredients for dinner...

When Daddy Sky woke up at 7.30 am, Mommy Me passed the baton to him and soon knocked out for the next 1.5 hours...

In the meantime, the boys were up and about and playing in the play yard while watching Nick Jr.
Awww.. so sweet.. Lucas insisted that he should be in the play yard as well to look after his didi
Daddy Sky captured this special moment... so sweet.. awwww...

KA - Japanese One Pot ^^

After reading some positive feedback on this Mizkan sauce, Mommy Me decided to give it a try too... Bring about 200ml of this with 1 litre of water to boil and make a Japanese one pot... ^^
Ta-da.... Added some wa wa veg, egg tofu, shimeiji and enoki mushroom and boil it for another 3 mins before adding the shabu shabu pork.
Turn off the heat and cover the pot... Ta-da, within minutes, Dinner is done...

Check out this conversation I had with my little boss:

Lucas: Mommy, is my dinner served yet?
Mommy: Nope, give me a couple more minutes.
Lucas: Why? Mommy, I am hungry.
(Note: Just finish one bottle of milk)
Mommy: I need a couple more minutes to make some french fries.
Lucas: Ok, hurry pls....
Mommy: =.='''

Lucky, he polished his whole bowl of rice with soup. Else I knocked his head for rushing me.. HMPH!!!

Amazing Vending Machine

Daddy Sky made me guess what is the latest vending machine on the estate... Frankly I had zero idea. To me, vending machines usually are for soft drinks and junk food.. lolx..

To my surprise, we have a NEW bread vending machine on the estate!!!! Hurray and kudos to the people of Gardenia who actually thought of this... Now I dun have to worry if I forget the bread cos there is the vending machine right there.. Though a slight premium is required, still it's a happy problem...

Daddy Sky was most pleased as that would solve his potential supper issue when he cant find food at all... =.='''
Brought the boys to check out the machine... Unfortunately, I did not have enough coins with me to buy the bread..
Daddy Sky and Lucas went to check out the machine again after dinner and brought home a loaf of banana walnut bread... Cool... ^^

Connecting with each other

Sometimes, it's very interesting to see how the 2 boys connect with each other...These photos were taken before we left the house in the morning.

Lucas will first hug n kiss Bb Lewis and say good morning to him... Den he started to monkey around... Bb Lewis will always react towards the camera without realising what his brother is up to.
Still din realise and full focus on the camera:
Then he realised what his brother is up to....
Amused, I guess...
It's very sweet to see the brothers hug and sayang each other.. In fact, I am impressed with Lucas' high level of tolerance towards his bb brother at this moment. He will allow Bb Lewis to pull his hair but not make any noise about it... Usually we are the ones who will scream at Bb Lewis to let go.. Of cos, Bb Lewis is another smart fellow who will know when to watch out for my mood swings... ^^

Yakult!!!

Check out this conversation between Me n Lucas...

Lucas: Allo.
Me: Who is that?
Lucas: Mommy!!!
Me: Yes, Lucas. How are you today?
Lucas: Mommy, can I drink Yakult?
Me: No, dear.. You are coughing...
Lucas: Bye bye, Mommy..
Me: Hey, wait.. Are you still having a fever?
Lucas: Oh yes, so can I drink Yakult??
Me: No, you cannot drink cos you are drinking...
Lucas: Bye bye Mommy (hangs my call...)
Me: =.=''''

Parmesan Encrusted Pork Chop & Soy Custard

Mommy Me got a new set of pots and now with the Happy Call Pan, have to be more careful with the cookware cos I DUN WAN to scratch them... ^^

So I did some homework and read that Silicon cookware is the best, other than the wooden spatula...
But somehow, I dun quite like the wooden spatula cos after a while, food bits get stuck on them and it just dun feel clean even though I scrubbed it... So I settled for the above... Mind you, they cost me a whooping $60!!!!

Daddy Sky was shocked cos the above cost half the total cost of the pots.. oops... ^^

Anyway, here is Sun's dinner... Parmesan Encrusted Pork Chop, Aglio Olio with Basil Leaves and a salad on the side. Yum yum...

Dessert was a Soy Custard with Bird Nest... Ooooh.. making soy custard is so easy with recipe being shared around...

500g of Vitasoy Milk
1.5 tsp of creamer
1.5 tsp of jelly powder

Bring the mixture to boil and stirring it occasionally.
Leave it to cool for 5 mins.
Scoop into the containers and let it sit in the fridge for 4 hours...

Done!!!

Shower Time

Lucas is lying down in the bath tub... And he asked me to take a foto of him enjoying his bath... ok, done...

Some days I wish they dun grow up too fast.. I am so afraid of missing out all the important parts of their lives given my increasing busy schedule... ;(

HCP - - Thai Basil Chicken

For Sat's evening, here is our dinner.. Thai Basil Chicken...


Recipe can be found here:

250 gram of minced chicken - Marinate with pepper & 1 tablespoon of fish sauce (for 30 mins)
2 cloves garlic (finely chopped)
1 shallots (finely chopped)
1/2 tablespoon fish sauce
2 tablespoons kecap manis (sweet black soy sauce)
1 big bunch of Thai basil leaves (stems removed)
2 big chilli (i used 1 red n 1 green with seeds removed)
2 dashes ground pepper
2 tablespoons oil

1. Sautee oil with chopped garlic and shallots until fragrant.
   
2. Add the minced chicken meat into the wok.
3. Break the ground chicken meat into small lumps.
   
4. When the chicken meat turns whitish, toss in the chilies and the seasonings (fish sauce, and sweet soy sauce) and continue to stir-fry.
5. Add in the basil leaves and close the pan for about 3 mins.
6. Sprinkle two dashes of pepper powder into the dish, do a final stir, dish out and serve immediately.

Recipe is adapted from here:

http://munchministry.com/recipe-archive/thai-basil-chicken/

I modified it a little where the seasonings are concerned.

My New Pots

Now that Bb Lewis is slightly more able to self-entertain, Mommy Me resumes my working full time on weekends.. ^^

To satisfy my own demands for my cookware, I have purchased a brand new set of pots.. (lolx, rather to satisfy my fetish for kitchenware la..)

Waited a good 7 days and ta-da, they have ARRIVED!!!!
I was so excited to receive the box from my security guard who had received the items as I was out to fetch Lucas... Of course, Lucas insisted that it was a prezzie for him and helped me to open it.. When he realised they were all pots, he walked away in dismay.. =.='''

Anyway, my excitement continues... Check my pots out...
Made my kitchen so bright and cheery.. ^^

p/s: This is a way in advance birthday prezzie for myself.. woots...