Body Parts Snack Bento

Do eye balls (rice balls), monster fingers (cheese frankfurter and edamame), pointy noses (grape tomatoes) and blood (tomato sauce) tempt ur appetite?

I believe little girl will say "Yes!"    Happy halloween!! 

P/s  I'd send this into this week's Bento Challenge.

Jalan Alor's Name is Retained!

Hurray! No more Jalan Kejora! We have our Jalan Alor back!

See here for news from The Star.

Eryngii Mushroom and Prawn Fried Pad Thai Noodle Bento

It's nearing autumn now, windy, falling leaves, romantic...  But here, it's becoming hotter and hotter with the super "poisoning" sunlight, romantic?  How can one turn romantic with all the sweats lah!

Ok, back to autumn, it's the season of matsutake mushrooms in countries like Japan, Korea and China, it's expensive there, thus don think the importer wanna import them here.  Well, I got this eryngii mushroom, they look alike matsutake mushroom though, lets make do with it!

Top tier: fried pad thai noodle with bamboo shoot n bean sprouts (at bottom), top with microwaved sliced eryngii mushrooms marinated with soy sauce n olive oil, and fried baby prawns with garlic.

Bottom tier: grape tomatoes, sliced orange and champagne grapes.

I bought the champagne grapes at Jaya 3 yesterday, little girl loves it and she kept saying they look so cute!  Hence, gave her more with orange too for her snack treat at pre-school.

Whatever and Anything

I found these at Shell petrol kiosk this afternoon, and immediately thought of using them to trick/disturb little girl, hehehe....

Me:  Baby, wanna drink "Anything"?

LG:  Yeah, mummy! 

Me:  * passed her the "Anything" *

LG:  What is this?

Me:  Anything lah!

LG:  ???  *  a face full of ??? *

That was cute and fun.  

Ok, so "Anything" is a carbonated drink, and it is actually root-beer lah!  

Whereas "Whatever" is a non-carbonated drink, and is either ice lemon tea or apple tea or jasmine green tea or white grape tea or peach tea or chrysanthemum tea, I still haven't open it, so don know which yet, cool huh!

Monster Eyes Snack Bento

This week's theme is scary.  

I asked little girl what does she think is scary for her, she told me ghost and monster.  Cracked my head last nite, still couldn't think of anything scary.  Managed to figure something out this morning, I don wanna make something too spooky til she dare not eat, thus this was what I did, the monster eyes sandwich.

It was ham and cheese sandwich, top with cucumber and raisin as the eye balls. The green face was stacks of ham slices, 2 quail eggs, and more cucumber.

The little container kept some honey mustard moyo dip for little girl to have dipping fun.

After completing the bento, asked little girl whether it is scary, she said no, not at all! Sigh!  Yeah, I thought so too, so not going to send to Bento challenge, shy lah!

Fun Picnic

I passed by this park (sorry, I don know the name of the park, it is at TTDI) everyday after sending little girl to her pre-school, but I never know that it is so big, such a wonderful, kids-friendly and comfortable place.

Last Sunday, my god-brother invited us to have a picnic at this park.  It is truely a heaven where we able to get away from the city life which is so near to our house.

There r lot of ppls practicing dance nearby our picnic spot....

Kids enjoying themselves at a small stream, playing water, sand and even netting tiny fishes....

playing with their full equipments :) ....

a long but safe stream where they able to explore...

All po-pohs, kon-kongs and kakak-s enjoying breakfast ...

... with the food we brought: nasi lemak, , sambal petai prawn, sambal chicken, tuna sandwiches, "chi chong fan", "yao cha kuei", chicken nuggets, cocktail sausages .... so many til I couldn't recall now... also had steaming hot coffee, milo, and lots of water .....

We were there from 8+ til 11 +, all left with happy faces and full tummy, a wonderful and great day out.

For those interested to go to this park, see the map here.

Roti Telur Bento

5th version of roti canai dough experiment :)   Roti telur with cheese this time.

The ways to make it:

1. Shallow fry mold roti canai dough both side til golden brown (don have to use oil)

2. Beat an egg, pour over to heated pan, off fire

3. Spoon cheese (I used mozzarella cheese) on to the egg

4. Stick roti on to the cheese and egg

5. On fire, cover the frying pan, cook til egg set

6. Cut out roti telur and cheese, ready to serve

So, these were what I placed on the top tier: Red and yellow grape tomatoes, roti telur with cheese.

Bottom tier: Stir-fried long bean and mushroom, dhal curry(in container) and 2 mini drumstick (1st part of chicken wing in actual). 

Little girl is having cough now, thus I didn't give her any fruit in this bento. Her appetite was not very good, left plenty today, 3 pieces of roti, bit of stir-fried long bean and 1 mini drumstick.

Emily, this is the roti canai/paratha dough I used, "Kawan" brand, they have a few types too: plain, wholemeal, and onion.

Crocodile Snack Bento

A very simple and small bento for little girl's snack time in school.  I'm following this week's Bento Challenge theme "Animal with bites" and was inspired by the ways of making cute sandwiches by Little Nummies.

The crocodile was made of wholemeal bread with cream cheese spread and cucumber slices.  The eye was quite obvious, made up of a half piece cucumber and the pointed teeth were also of cut cucumber.

There is a little fish near its month, notice it?  It was made of grapes tomatoes and cucumber.  

The rest of the grapes and grape tomatoes are filling the gaps in the box, however, it is still very loose, hope it'll survive til little girl's snack time.

Will u marry me?

I like to disturb little girl by asking her some silly questions sometimes.  These was one conversation we had last Thu after her pre-school in the car.

Me:  Baby, I have my darling, tell me do u have a darling?

LG:  Daddy?

Me:  No, daddy is my darling, u should have ur own darling.

LG:  ....  * thinking hard *

Me:  Is LYY (the boy who likes to play with her in pre-school) your darling?

LG:  No...  * giggling *

Me:  Why?  I thought u like to play with him?

LG:  Mummy, I tell u something...  u know-ah...  LYY asked me to marry him

Me:  WHAT!  * nearly stopped the car at the middle of LDP *  When did he say that?

LG:  The other day when he played with me.

Me:  Ok, what did u tell him?

LG:  I forgot.

Me:  Never mind, let's tell daddy tonite, ok?

So, skyped with hubby at nite, I reminded little girl to tell her dad...

LG:  Daddy, LYY asked me to marry him

D  :  Huh?  What did u say?

LG:  I told him I'm still small, wait til I grow up 1st

Smart move, little girl didn't reject the proposal directly, hahaha....  

Can u imagine, these kids are just 5 yrs old?  Sigh!  I can't imagine when she turns 16....  20....

Launching of "Making Patanjali Palatable"

Went to "Making Patanjali Palatable" book launching last nite at MAS Academy Auditorium.  This book is written by Mr Manoj Kaimal, the founder of Manasa Yoga in SS2.  Actually I don know him until last nite, he is the "sifu" of my yoga instructor.  I learned a lot about yoga last nite and after watching those yoga performances, I'm more determine to continue my yoga practices now.

Here are some pictures I took from the yoga performances:

They are children age from 4 til 12, look at their flexibility...

look at their back-bend, so perfect!

the one on right is my instructor, a very talented young girl!

... more difficult pose from them.

they r mother and son, just look at their "super" back-bend, respect!

she is 6 months pregnant!  Ok, this pose "down dog", don look so difficult rite, see below...

a perfect head-stand ....

and this ....

sigh!  I'd practiced since Mar this year, still can't get myself balance, but look at them, balance with baby in their tummy!

father as flexible as daughter ...

another back-bend, no problem for a 4 years old, not even for her grandma! 

finally, a short speech from the author, Mr Manoj Kaimal.

No more Jalan Alor

Read this from newspaper few days ago, there is no longer Jalan Alor, now the new "Jalan Kejora" (photo taken from The Star), what do u think?

Peanut Butter French Toast

It's going to be weekend and I still have 3 pieces of bread, I don wanna store them in fridge, decided to make little girl some french toasts for her after school snack.

I'd make 2 types of french toasts here:

the normal french toast

filled with peanut butter

I didn't use any measurement when making these french toast, all agak-agak (rough estimation) only. The ingredients I used up are:

3 breads

2 eggs

melted butter

3 tsp sugar

milk

peanut butter

1.  Cut breads into small bite size, 9 pieces cube size of each bread

2.  Spread peanut butter on 1 piece of bread and cover with another bread

3.  Mix melted butter, sugar, then egg and milk, whisk them well

4.  place breads into egg mixture, let them soak longer to absorb more egg mixture

5.  Heat pan, fry the breads with butter til golden brown

Other than peanut butter, I think we can experiment with more flavors in the french toast, like, fruits, fruit jam, cream cheese, nutella spread, etc or for savory type with bacon, cheese, ham, etc.  Ooh! This is going to be endless of experimenting....

Cha Soba Sushi Bento

This is a vegetarian bento and best eating cold too!  It is also following the theme for this week at Bento Challenge.

Top tier: pear, orange, pineapple, cucumber, red and yellow grape tomatoes.

Bottom tier: cha soba sushi with cucumber filling, blanched french beans n hon shimeji mushrooms, cold tofu with chopped spring onions in penguin silicon dish and lastly a packet of kikkoman soy sauce.

Little girl left 5 of the cha soba sushi, think due to the packet of chip she ate in the car, filled up her little tummy oledi.

She had the bento with yakult, the yogurt drink.  As for the blue container, it kept a ice cold wet hanky to wipe her hands and to chill up the bento too.

This is little girl's snack box contains only fruits today: pear, orange and pineapple.

Braised Chicken Wings

I had cooked this dish a few times when hubby was at home, we just love braised stuffs.  Got 4 wings from SS3 pasar malam last nite and decided to cook this again.

Where I get the recipe from?  See below:

Yeah!  From manga, "妙廚老爹".  I got the recipe photocopied and pasted in my recipe bible. :)

Fyi, I'd cut down my portion of ingredients as compared with the original above cos I had 4 wings only.  Ok ok, the translated recipe is below.  

Ingredients:

12 - 15         chicken wings

1 cup           soya sauce

1 cup           cooking wine

1/2 - 1 cup  sugar

a few           sliced ginger

little            cooking oil for frying

Method:

1. Put a little of cooking oil to heated pan, shallow fry wings til slightly brown.  (wings don have to be cook now)

2. Place soya sauce in pot, heat with medium fire

3. Once soya sauce is boiled, put in ginger, sugar.  Pour in cooking wine once boil again.

4. When mixture is boiled, throw in all the wings

5. Cover wings with a wooden lid or aluminum foil, and put on the pot cover (just like (6) of manga), let it simmer for 30 - 40 minutes in low fire.  Remember to turn the wings during simmering.

6. Let the wings cook thru til looking shinny (In my case, I let them simmered til the sauce became less and thicken)

Another closer look of the wing, yummy huh!  Little girl likes the sauce, mixture of salty and sweet.

Rice Cracker 仙貝

Have any left over rice (cooked) at fridge?  Good, u r able to make this rice cracker within 30 minutes. Got recipe from "Good Idea" (生活智慧王).

The ingredients are simply some cooked rice, a splash of soya sauce and sugar.  You may need rolling pin, sling film, cute molds, grease paper and a microwavable plate.

1. Preheat rice in microwave on High for 1 minute

2. Mash rice in between 2 sling film (best usuing hand)

3. Use rolling pin to roll mashed rice to very flat and thin, about 0.1 cm (still in between the sling film)

4. Mold out small pieces of mashed rice

5. Place mashed rice on oiled grease paper (the rice is very sticky)

6. Microwave for 3 minutes on High

7. Turn rice over, microwave for another 3 minutes

8. While rice cooking in microwave, mix soya sauce and sugar until sugar dissolve

9. Brush sauce mixture over rice, microwave for 1 minute

10. Turn rice over, brush sauce, microwave for another 1 minute.  Let cool, done

Be careful over (8) and (9), u may need to stand guard in front of the microwave oven, use less time if rice cracker turning dark.

Little girl let me had a piece only, she loves it, though she said it was very hard before that.

P/s   Hm....  U need very strong teeth to chew these cracker, be careful of your teeth ya!  

Hot and Sour Soup 酸辣湯

I got the recipe from Sin Chew Daily (星洲日報) a few months ago.  The recipe:

Ingredients:

6 mushrooms, shredded (substituted with hijiki)

1/2 carrot, julienned

1/2 box tofu, shredded

200g pork, shredded (substituted with steamed shredded chicken)

1 packet preserved mustard (榨菜)

Corn starch, mixed with water

(1 egg, I added before scooping to bowl)

Seasoning:

1/2 tsp salt

1 tbsp sugar

soya sauce to taste

Cooking method:

1. Boil a pot of water, put in preserved mustard, simmer for a while

2. Gradually put in pork (i put in chicken last in my case as it was precooked), tofu, mushroom (hijiki in my case) and carrot

3. Stir in seasoning, then follow with corn starch water to thicken the soup

4. Scoop soup to bowl, put in bit of black vinegar, sesame oil and chili oil, served

This was my bowl of hot and sour soup, with spring onion?  No no, look closer, they r chili padi cos I don have chili oil at home :)

This was little girl's, with 4 pieces of Hello Kitty fish cake I bought at Jusco Midvalley this afternoon. Little girl said the hijiki looked like tadpoles, she was happy fishing the "tadpoles" from the soup!

Talking of soup, I'd a silly encounter with little girl, it happened last friday after her pre-school while driving to mum's place  She was savoring her left-over piece of pizza ....

LG:  We had red strawberry soap at school today, mummy!

Me:  Ooh!  Is it nice?  Did u eat it?

LG:  Mummy, it is strawberry soap, soap ah!

Me:  Ok, ok!  Did u drink the soup?

LG:  No, I didn't, mummy, it is strawberry soap!  * showing a funny look *

Me:  Why?  Why don u try the soup?

LG:  Mummy, it is strawberry soap!  * rubbing her hands *

Me:  * Slapped forehead *  Sorry, sorry!  What a silly mummy!

So, it's the red strawberry soap for washing hands!

Ham n Cheese Melt

We had Ham n cheese melt for breakfast this morning.  Very simple, just stuffed ham and lot of cheddar and mozzarella cheese into pita bread, spread butter on outer layer of bread and put on heated non-stick pan for about 3 minutes each side.

Ooh...  The pita bread turned very crusty outside and still soft inside with the gooey melted cheese, hm... 

This is little girl's snack box, a quarter of ham n cheese melt, 3 red grape tomatoes, 3 yellow grape tomatoes, 5 grapes, 1 Ferrero Rocher chocolate ball, and 8 flowery candy (from Bento Pet's bento competition).  

Little girl reminded me that teacher don allow candy and choc in school, and I told her "Sh...  Don tell your teacher huh!"  Isn't this mummy bad?

Simple Pizza made with Kid

This morning, little girl was eating her favorite kitty cake (bought from SS2 pasar malam) and I was busy in front of macbook.

LG:  Mummy, I finished my cake, I want bread now.

Me:  But I don have bread, I have pita bread only.

LG:  I want bread!

Me:  Hm....  Why don we make pizza, what do u think?

LG:  Now, mummy?

Me:  Only after u bom-bong (shower).

LG:  Mummy, bom-bong now pls!

Me:  Ok, good!

I usually have to beg/drag/yell little girl to get her shower in the morning, she'd give me tons of reasons for delaying it, then would play in the bathroom for so long til I gotta beg/drag/yell her out.  So, it's so easy for me this morning to lure her into an early shower!

I prepared very simple ingredients, like:

top left: sliced red n yellow grape tomatoes, pineapple

top right: sliced ham and frankfurter

bottom left: cheddar cheese and mozzarella cheese

bottom right: green peas and corns

Tomato sauce, mayo and pita bread.

Let little girl made the the pizza herself, started with spreading tomato sauce on half of pita bread ....

... squeezed in mayo, sprinkled on the ingredients ....

She made the 1st one for me!

And this was hers.  

Let's look at the end result after placing each at oven toaster for 5 minutes.

This one belong to me, yummy n crusty!  Had with a cup of coffee.

Little girl's, she had it with more tomates and a glass of pineapple juice.

She made this for her snack in school along with more grape tomatoes.

Me:  Baby, this is the best lunch I ever had, do u know why?

LG:  Why, mummy?

Me:  Because u make this pizza for me, it's so delicious!

Little girl grinned and said she'll make it again for daddy when he return.  Isn't she lovely?