Crunchy Cake Drops

Prep Time: 15min
Cook Time: 20min
Yield: 3-4 servings
Freezer-friendly: No

As strange as the title sounds, this is an accidental recipe found by a busy mama by over-cooking the mini cake drops. It's so crunchy that my kid loves it and requested it again!

Ingredients:

2 egg yolks
40g all purpose flour
1/4tsp baking powder
20ml grapeseed oil
15ml water/milk

2 egg whites
10g castor sugar
Few drops of apply cider vinegar

Steps:

1) Pre-heat oven at 160 Degree Celsius.
1) Mix egg yolk, flour, baking powder, oil and water until combined.
2) In another bowl, using an electric mixer, beat egg whites until frothy, then add sugar and vinegar and beat until the mixtures turn stiff peak.
3) Fold the egg white mixture to the egg yolk mixture gently in 3 batches.
4) Put into the batter into a piping bag, cut the tip of the piping bag.
5) Pipe the batter into mini cake drops of 2cm each onto a baking tray lined with parchment paper.
6) Bake for 40 minutes, cake drops should be brown at edges, lift a cake drop using a fork, if the bottom does not stick on the parchment paper, its done. If not, bake for another 2 min and try again. Repeat until you get the desired results.

Petite Hanjuku Cheesecake

Prep Time : 15 min
Cook Time : 60 min
Yield : 22 mini cheese cake

I literally fell in love with Hanjuku Cheesecake when I first tried in a newly opened Sushi King Restaurant at my area. Same goes to my princess. 

So I determined to make this cake at home as it costs me RM4.24 per cheesecake. And this 22 petite cheesecake? It costs me less than RM30. Though labour costs has yet to be factored in, but it does feel great to be able to enjoy this at the comfort of my own home. Coffee anyone? Haha.

Ingredients:

500g cream cheese
135g fresh yogurt
50g milk
5 large eggs
65g unsalted butter + more for brushing mushipan
1/2 tsp salt
35g corn starch
100g castor sugar

Little icing sugar for deco (Optional)

Steps:
1) Melt room temperature cream cheese in a bowl using double boiler method. Remove the mixture from fire.
2) Add in fresh yogurt and milk. Stir until combined.
3) Separate egg white & egg yolk.
4) Add butter, salt and corn starch to egg yolk, whisk until combined. Pour into cream cheese mixture.Whisk until combined.
5) Strain the mixture to remove lumps.
6) Pre-heat oven at 160 degree celcius.
7) Beat egg whites using an electrical mixer until frothy. Add sugar gradually and beat until soft peak is form.
8) Fold 1/3 of egg whites into the cream cheese mixture using a spatula. Repeat twice.
9) Brush mushipan with soften butter and pour the batter in until 3/4 full.
10) Turn down temperature to 140 degree celcius and steam-bake for 60 minutes or until inserted toothpick comes out clean. In order to do steam-bake, put a pan of hot water in the lowest rack. I use the hot water in Step 1.
11) Cool the cheesecake in the pan for 5 minutes, run a palate knife around the mushipan and drop the cake out, let cool on wire rack before transferring to an air-tight container and chill for at least 2 hours before serving. Sieve some icing sugar on top for decoration.

Double Chocolate Greek Yogurt Muffins

Prep Time : 5min
Cook Time : 20 min
Yield : 12 muffins
Freezer-friendly : Yes

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cup organic rolled oats
1/8 cup cocoa powder
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 large eggs
4 small ripe bananas
1 cup plain greek yogurt
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips
Little olive oil for greasing

Steps:
1) In a bowl, mix all ingredients except chocolate chips and oil. This is a great activity for my kid where she will help to put the ingredients into the mixing bowl and mix with a spatula. Alternatively, you can put all ingredients into blender directly.

2) Put the mixture into blender and blend for about 3 minutes, scrapping down the sides of the blender, until the mixture is smooth. Do not worry about the dry look of the mixture as it will become a cake batter consistency once blended.

3) Pre-heat oven at 200 degree celcius.

4) Mix chocolate chip into the batter using spatula. Arrange cupcake liner on the muffin pan, grease the liner before pouring the batter until 3/4 full.

5) Bake for 20 minutes or until inserted toothpicks come out clean.

6) Serve warm. I love to serve with my homemade 3 ingredient green tea ice cream.


Original Recipe : www.runningwithspoons.com/2015/05/08/double-chocolate-greek-yogurt-muffins/

3 Ingredient Green Tea Ice Cream

Prep Time : 15min
Freezer Time : 6 hours-overnight
Yield : 8 servings
Freezer-friendly : Yes

Ingredients:

4 1/2tsp green tea powder
3 tbsp hot water
1 cup ready to whip topping
4 tbsp chilled sweetened condensed milk

Steps:

1) Mix green tea powder with hot water and let cool. Add chilled condensed milk and mix till combined.
2) Whip topping until stiff. If you are staying in a hot country like Malaysia, place a bowl of ice water beneath the mixing bowl filled with whip topping while whipping.
3) Gentlly fold in the green tea mixture using a spatula.
4) Transfer into glass container or baking pan, cover with cling wrap and freeze for at least 6 hours.

Original recipe: http:///eugeniekitchen.com/green-tea-ice-cream/

Steamed Yellow Onion Juice (Home Remedy for Cough)

Prep Time : -
Cook Time : 1 Hour
Yield : 1 adult serving
Freezer friendly : No

Ingredient:
1 big yellow onion


Steps:
1) Cut the top and bottom part of the onion and peel.
2) Put onion in a bowl, steamed for 1 hour.
3) Pour the steamed onion and its juice through a sieve, using a spoon, press steamed onion so that the juice will go through the sieve.  Using the spoon, flip the steamed onion and press again. Repeat until you do not see any onion juice seeping out when you press the steamed onion. This step is crucial to extract more onion juice.
4) Serve while it is still warm.

While this remedy is written for kids, it is also working well for myself. I have a tip for those who cannot stands the smell of the onion like me. Pour the onion juice into a wide-mouth bowl or a plate and consume while its still warm, at least it does not smell too onion to me and I am able to make it down my throat. Storing the onion juice in a small container or jar will make the onion smell stronger especially the moment I open the lid. My 4 year old does not seem to have this issue, she drinks it as if its a delicious little bowl of soup and I am quite happy with this haha.

If I am not going to consume immediately, I would keep it warm for few hours and do Step 3 when I am ready to consume. In the case of kids, if they cannot finish in 1 serving, keep in the fridge and warm it up for other servings but within a day.

This has helped my 4 year old to reduce cough and phlegm. The results can be seen after 3 days of consumption of 1 serving daily. I also applied Baby Balsam Vicks on the chest, back and under foot area with socks on thereafter before going to bed each night. The application of Baby Balsam Vicks had reduce a lot of the night time coughing.

Here are the step by step photos:

 Cut & peel onion, place in a glass bowl

Put water into the inner pot

Place the steamer rack & bowl with onion into the inner pot

Insert the inner pot into the smart cooker, select steam (1hour)

  

Take out the bowl, be careful, it's hot!

Spoon the onion and put onto the sieve, which was place on top of the glass bowl, 

press the onion using a spoon

Flip the onion using the spoon, press again, notice that juice will 

seep out along the edge of the spoon

Repeat until you don't see any juice seeping out. 

 Another tip is to hold the seive with one hand so that there is gap in between the sieve and the bowl. Press with spoon with another hand, if you see juice going through the seive to the bowl, repeat the step until no more.

Tadaaa, my onion juice, extracted with love...

Store in a container with lid and chill. Warm it up when ready to serve. 

Consume the same day.

Simple Sandwich Toast

Prep Time : -
Cook Time : 12 min
Yield : 2 servings
Freezer Friendly : No

Ingredients:

1tsp butter
2 slices homemade raisin bread
1 chicken sausage,sliced
1tbsp shredded mozzarella cheese
Sprinkle of pork floss (optional)

2 tsbp olive oil
2 eggs
Sprinkle of Italian seasoning (optional)

2 bananas

Steps:
1) Heat 1 tsp butter in a wok under small fire. Spread the melted butter by swirling the wok.
2) Put a slice of bread into the wok. Spread sliced chicken sausage onto 1 slice of bread, then top with mozzarella cheese and another slice of bread to make a sandwich.
3) Place a ceramic bowl on top to keep the sandwich neat. After about 2-3 min, the bottom slice of bread turns brown, flip the sandwich with a spatula.
4) When the bottom slice of bread turns brown, serve by cutting the sandwich into 2. Sprinkle sandwich with pork floss and serve with sunny side up.
5) While the wok is still hot, under small fire, put 1tbsp olive oil and crack an egg onto the wok. It is important that the oil is cold to get a smooth looking egg. Close the lid, wait for 1 min, sprinkle Italian seasoning and serve. There is no need to flip the egg as the heat will be evenly distributed to 'cook' the upside of the egg when the lid is closed. Repeat with the other egg.
6) Serve with banana to make a complete meal.

Mini Cake Drops

Prep Time: 15min
Cook Time: 20min
Yield: 3-4 servings
Freezer-friendly: No

Recipe adopted and modified from Mummy Yen Li on FB page 'Healthy Food for Baby'.

Ingredients:

2 egg yolks
40g all purpose flour
1/4tsp baking powder
20ml grapeseed oil
15ml water/milk

2 egg whites
10g castor sugar
Few drops of apple cider vinegar

Steps:

1) Pre-heat oven at 160 Degree Celsius.
1) Mix egg yolk, flour, baking powder, oil and water until combined.
2) In another bowl, using an electric mixer, beat egg whites until frothy, then add sugar and vinegar and beat until the mixtures turn stiff peak.
3) Fold the egg white mixture to the egg yolk mixture gently in 3 batches.
4) Put the batter into a piping bag, cut the tip of the piping bag.
5) Pipe the batter into mini cake drops of 2cm each onto a baking tray lined with parchment paper.
6) Bake for 20 minutes, cake drops should be a little brown in colour, lift a cake drop using a fork, if the bottom does not stick on the parchment paper, its done. If not, bake for another 2 min and try again. Repeat until you get the desired results.
7) I packed this with jam for my pre-schooler's morning snack, she told me she loves it and would like to have it again! Yay!

Here's another one which I have added a tsp of cocoa powder and additional 5ml of water into the batter to make a chocolate version.

Chinese Style Fried Mee Served with Stir-fry Egg

Prep Time : -

Cook Time : 15 min
Yield : 2 servings
Freezer friendly: No

Ingredients:

3 squares of A1 wantan noodles
5 tbsp of grapeseed oil
1 shallot, peeled and cut into slices
3 eggs, beaten

Soy sauce mixture, mix together
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp thick soy sauce
2 dash of ground white pepper
Pinch of salt

Steps:
1) Boil the noodles for 3 minutes, drain and rinse with water to stop the cooking process, set aside.
2) On high heat, put 2 tbsp oil into wok, move the wok in circular motion to make sure oil coated the wok. Then put the drained noodles and level it with a spatula. Just ensure the noodles touches the wok as much as possible because this step is to remove the excess water so the noodles will not be soggy.
3) Wait for 2-3 min, check by lifting a part of the noodle, if it you see the noodle starts to brown, you can turn to the other side. Put 1 tbsp of oil by running a spoon by the side of the noodle around the wok. Wait for another 2-3 min until you see signs of browning, you can remove the noodle from the wok and set aside.
3) Put 1 tbsp of oil in wok, on high heat, put shallot into the wok. When shallot turns brown, add noodles and soy sauce mixture. Continuously loosen the noodle with a spatula and a chopstick, make sure noodles has even brown colour. Place on plate
4) Put 1 tbsp of oil in wok, add beaten egg and stir-fry quickly. When all liquid dries up, but the mixture still looks soggy, turn off heat and stir fry for another 10 seconds. This way you will have soft stir-fry egg that is suitable for toddler and kids.
5) Serve egg with noodle.

KIDs need to Learn

Being a perfectionist mom, and also a mom with limited patience at times, I tend forgot that kids need to learn.

The other day, my 3 year old wanted to fill in her cup with water and took it to the sofa. On the way, as I never expect, spilled the water on the floor as she moved too quickly in my opinion. I made a fuss over that and subsequently feel terrible for not letting her to LEARN. I realize that I have been unreasonably expect her to get things done right the first time.

Being too busy with life, work and chores has made me forgetting this very important thing, that kids need time to learn, and they learn from mistakes. I am writing this post to remind us parents that this time shall pass, and we will definitely miss those moments when our kids did mistakes, those time we guided them on the right way of doing things while we cleaned the mess. All these are temporary. Looking forward, when we reach the day our kids leave our home for studies or to pursue their very own lives, leaving us with a quiet & clean home to take care of, you know that you miss those moment, the moment you are living in now, the moment you child is still clinging to you, talking to you, holding your hands, begging you to read another bed time story.

We do not want kids to just listen to instruction, we want to raise them to be independent, and in order to do so, mistakes are inevitable. Mistakes are so inevitable and important as it forms a part of the learning process. We as adults do learn new things in our lives, and we do expect ourselves to make mistakes before we can master the new skills. So we should not expect our child to master a skill the first time doing it, just because we think that it is easy.

In short, we have to remind ourselves the followings:

EXPECT : Mistakes, a lot of them.
EMBRACE : Our kids is still attached to us right now
EXTRA : Praises when they learn from mistakes

How to handle frustrated toddler in public

Yes, it happen again and again despite telling them in a calming voice that they are not suppose to climb the racks, to play with the pasta sauce jar and take whatever they think is theirs. They ignore, continue with their exploration happily. Then you say 'No' in a firm voice. Next second, they decided to grab the public attention by lying on the floor and whine. They try to test your limit.

I did a lot of reading on this, admit and know that it is perfectly normal for a toddler to behave like this, that I have to stay calm, to use a firm voice etc etc. None work for me personally. I feel that she is over-powering me time after time. So I decided to use my very own way.

1) REASON : I will of course try to reason with her, tell her in a firm voice, that racks are for groceries, that we do not need pasta sauce right now, and that the barbie does not belong to her.

2) TELL CONSEQUENCE: She ignores me, continue with where she is. I will tell her firmly 'No, if you continue your act, I presume that you do not like grocery shopping, and we will go home together.

3) WALK YOUR TALK: Then she enters into the whining stage. I will hug her and carry her (while she is crying) to the car, put her down while she is struggling, and remind her that we will go home together and will go grocery shopping the next time. This is the most difficult step. Just remember you need not feel embarrassed being watched by public because you are one of the parents who just reaches the junction of public parenting where all other parents will reach or has reached at the different point of time and at different place. Keep reminding yourself that you did this for the sake of raising your child.


I did this for 2 times before she understand I mean what I say and that she will not get what she wants if she acts poorly. Not long after that it happens again, I use the same method and by the 4th time, she learns that she is not going anywhere if she does not listen. Now, she loves grocery shopping as much as I do and the stress is gone. At times, I will still have to remind her not to touch some items, but not a struggle anymore.

I strongly believe that we parents know our child best, and that no one method works for all children. I decided to share this so that my girl knows how naughty is she when she was young, alright just joking. I am trying to share one of the thousand methods which may work with your child. If you think this may work, then by all means try it. But if you feel this will not work, just move on and find another way.

Steamed Milk Cake

Prep Time : 5 minutes

Cook Time : 15 minutes

Yield : 3 small cupcakes

Freezer Friendly : No

  

Steamed cakes becomes my new favorite when it comes to preparing fresh cake for my pre-schooler as it consumes less time compared to conventional baked cake and it produces cake that is airy and fluffy enough for my pre-schooler to handle. 

I ran out of Milo powder today, so decided to replace with Mamil's formula milk (sample pack which my pre-schooler reject). See my earlier post on Milo cupcake here.

Ingredients:

3 eggs

3 tbsp Mamil formula milk powder

3 tbsp all purpose flour

1 tbsp brown sugar

1 tbsp pomace olive oil

1 tsp baking powder

Steps:

1) Mix everything except eggs in a bowl. Remove lumps by mashing action with fork.

2) Beat eggs and add to 1). Mix well using by mashing action with a fork.

3) Pour into stainless steel bowl (the lazy version) or cupcake liner (the cute version) and steam under high heat for 15 minutes or until inserted toothpick comes out clean. Cover the bowl with a clean tea towel to avoid steam water dropping on the cake when the lid is open. Just ensure the bowl is high enough that your mixture only reach half of the bowl after pouring to allow enough room to rise.

Tips for successful steamed cakes:

1) Ensure eggs are thoroughly beaten to trap enough air for fluffy texture. I found that using chopsticks is the best, yes, it yields better than a whisk. (Update: I prefer to use fork now as the same fork can be used to remove lumps in Step 1,which works well too)

2)  After adding the beaten egg into Step1, just mix well, there is no need to "beat".

3) Ensure the batter is steamed right after mixing. Waiting will make the baking powder lost its power, the cake will not rise as much.

Lunch Platter

Menu:

Fluffy raw wheat germ yogurt pancake (Note : just add 2tbsp greek yogurt to this recipe)

Carrot sticks

Potato wedges

School Lunch (Mar'16 Week1)

MONDAY

Steam cream cheese cake

Dried blueberry

TUESDAY 

Plain bread with wild blueberry jam

Dried blueberry

Banana

WEDNESDAY

Easy potato macaroni

(just replace brocolli with diced potato)

THURSDAY

Pumpkin porridge with ABC soup base

(Replace carrots with diced pumpkin, vegetable stock with ABC soup base)

FRIDAY
Steamed milk cake
Dried blueberry

Stock Congee with Carrots

Prep Time : 5 min
Cook Time : 1 hour 30 min (Inactive)
Yield : 1 toddler serving
Freezer-friendly : No

Well, as it was the first week after the Chinese New Year holiday, as expected, late wake-ups, rushy mornings etc etc.

I have found a quick way to cook fresh congee for my pre-schooler everyday, the trick is to use frozen stock/soups. It makes the congee/porridge taste amazing without much preparation work. You can actually wake up, throw in everything into the smart cooker, and go back to sleep.

I have not taken a photo out of the rushy morning but hope I am able to do so in the coming weeks if this congee is back on demand.

Here is my quick & easy recipe:

Ingredients :
350ml of frozen vegetable stock (stored in breastmilk bag)

1/4 cup of rice
2 tbsp of diced carrots
Water

Steps:
1) Run the breastmilk bag under tap water until you can 'move' the frozen stock by squeezing it.
2) Squeeze out the frozen stock into a small pot under low fire to melt it.
3) Wash rice and diced carrots. Put into rice/smart cooker.
4) Once the frozen stock is half melted, pour into the rice cooker, add water until the level of cooking 1 cup of rice as marked in the cooker.
5) Select 'Congee' mode and go back to sleep!

School Lunch (Feb'16 Week3)

MONDAY

White bread with wild blueberry jam
Hard-boiled egg

Dried blueberry

How to make hard-boiled egg soft enough for toddler:

Put egg in a pot of water, bring to boil, wait 1 minute, turn off fire, close lid, wait 20 minutes. Peel & serve


TUESDAY

Stock congee with carrot



WEDNESDAY
Stock congee with carrot (well, my toddler asked for it again)


THURSDAY
Stock congee with carrot (still not yet bored)


FRIDAY
Stock congee with carrot (Is this a chef recommendation?)

School Lunch (Feb'16 Week4)

MONDAY - Holiday (Chap Goh Mei)

TUESDAY 

Easy brocolli pasta

WEDNESDAY

Milo cupcake with psyllium husk

Cooked ham

Hard-boiled egg

How to make hard-boiled egg soft enough for toddler:

Put egg in a pot of water, bring to boil, wait 1 minute, turn off fire, close lid, wait 20 minutes. Peel & serve.

THURSDAY (NO SCHOOL)

FRIDAY

Porridge with potato and lotus root soup base
(use the same recipe but replace carrot with potato)

Brocolli Pasta

Prep Time: 15min

Cook Time : 10min

Yield : 2 adult n a toddler serving

Freezer friendly : No

My toddler serving is not in the photo as I have already put into the thermos to keep warm. Saw this recipe on pininterest yesterday and thought of giving a try today, but internet is not working at my house this morning, so I just guess...here is my steps.

Ingredients:

1 cup or 8oz pasta

1/2cup of brocolli florets 

Water and pinch of salt

Ice water

1 tbsp pomace olive oil

1 clove garlic, diced

1/2 cup of grated cheddar cheese

Salt and pepper

Steps:

1) Bring water and pinch of salt to boil in a pot. Add pasta and brocolli florets and cook according to pasta cooking time, in my case, 8 min.

2) Drain pasta and brocolli, reserve 1 cup of the water, put pasta and brocolli into a bowl of ice water. After cool for about 1 min, drain pasta and brocolli.

3) Heat oil on wok on high heat, add garlic and fry until fragrant and starts to brown.

4) Add pasta and brocolli, then cheese, stir until combined, add salt and pepper to taste, lastly add 1/2 cup of the reserved pasta water.

5) Stir until all heated through, serve or keep in thermos for a warm school lunch!

Note : I would soak brocolli florets in  distilled white vinegar and water solution to remove impurities. 1 part of vinegar to 10 parts of water. Soak for 20 min and rinse with filtered water and use in cooking.

Original recipe:

http://www.skinnytaste.com/2011/07/easiest-pasta-and-broccoli-recipe.html?m=1

Psyllium Husk Wholemeal Pancake

Preparation Time : 15 minutes

Cooking Time : 30 minutes

Yield : 16 pancakes (6cm diameter)

Freezer Friendly : Yes

This round, using the fluffy raw wheat germ pancake recipe, i replace portion of the all purpose flour with wholemeal flour and replace raw wheat germ with psyllium husk for a boost of fibre. 

Ingredients:

3 eggs

35g brown sugar

1 tsp honey

1/2 tsp baking powder

80g all purpose flour

40g wholemeal flour

2 tbsp psyllium husk (Optional)

50g fresh milk

10g pomace olive oil

Steps:

1) Crack egg, add sugar and honey. Beat with electrical mixer for 3 minutes.

2) Fold in sifted baking powder and flour using spatula.

3) Turn non-stick wokto low heat.

3) Add psyllium husk, milk and oil into mixture, use folding motion to mix well.

4) Use a big spoon (about 3 tbsp)drop batter onto centre of wok slowly from distance of 2 inches, let the batter spread into circle naturally.

5) When bubbles are seen ( about 40 seconds), flip the pancake to the other side. You will see the pancake rise (Do not flip/touch the pancake at this point). After 40 seconds, flip the pancake to see if it's cook, it should have the same colour as the other side.

Fresh Orange Juice

Prep Time : 10 min

Cook Time :-

Yield : 4 glasses

Freezer friendly :No

Ingredients:

2 fresh oranges

2 cups filtered boiled water

1 packet probiotic (optional)

Steps:

1) Squeeze the juice of the orange using a juicer. Strain the juice to remove pulp.

2) Add water and stir.

3) Add probiotic and stir.

4) Serve chill and finish within the day.

2 Ingredients Sweet Potato Pancake

Prep Time : 2 min

Cook Time : 5 min

Yield : 6-8 mini bites

Freezer friendly : No

Ingredients:

1 small sweet potato (steamed)

1 egg

Little olive oil

Steps:

1) Mashed sweet potato, add in egg, mix till combined.

2) On low heat, heat some oil, use a table spoon, drop a spoon of batter into wok, repeat until pan is full, fry for about 1 min each side.