Sweet & Savory Roti Prata Bento (197)

Out of idea on what to prepare for little girl's bento last nite, then remembered there was 1 last piece of frozen roti prata in the freezer, I transformed it to the sausage roll and puffy pastry this morning.  Use about 15 minutes to prepare & pack the bento, time used mostly on baking.

2 sausage rolls, 5 elephant puff pastries, a heart silicon cup of nutella and a tube of HK jelly

Note of the day

Lastly, wish u have a happy holiday (Labour day) and a great weekend!

Mantou Rabbit Bento (196)

Sorry of the shadow below, it was so dark & cloudy, I had to turn on the light

Decided to have mantou for breaky and bento this morning, little girl had sausage with 1/2 of a mantou for breaky and for the bento, I just spread the other half with nutella.

Took less than 10 minutes to complete the bento, of course excluding the steaming time ;p

For top: plum slices, cheese cocktail hearts and a mantou rabbit

Note of the day

Songs that Little Girl Sings

Little girl loves to sing since she is a baby, especially those nursery rhymes like Twinkle twinkle little star, London Bridge, then after introducing her to TV, she loves songs from Little Einstein, Wonder Pets, Seseme Street, Elmo's World, etc.  I'd even altered the lyrics from the song Elmo always sing at the ending part of the show to my mobile number, she started singing my mobile number song at the age of 2 and whenever one asking her of my number, she will sing the number instead of telling! :p

Then, whenever I send or fetch her to/from school, I like to listen to the Light & Easy channel which broadcast mostly on the 80's songs, and she especially adores this song Eternal Flame (a song I like too).  She always demand to sing it in the car (hubby got it burned in the CD) for so many times til hubby had to limit her the times she may repeat b4 he turned on the song... hahaha...

Lately, with the influence of her teenage cousins, she surprised us so many times that she knew some pop songs that we don even hear b4, like this one:  (ok, I admit, I seldom listen to the pop songs, I'm old fashioned)

And this...

I think, there r more to come....

Boy & Girl Bento (195)

Other than the konnyaku noodles (leftover from dinner), the fish balls and drummette were bought from SS3 nite market last nite, everything just need to warm up in the morning and pack into box.

Took about 20 minutes for the heating, packing, cutting & decorating of the bento.

From top left: fried chicken drummette, konnyaku noodles, boy & girl made of assorted fish balls and pear slices

Note of the day

Animal Pasta & Chicken Nuggets Bento (194)

Stirred the cooked pasta with the leftover stewed mince pork and mushroom (again!), another lazy & easy pitsy meal ready in minutes :p  Used roughly 10 minutes to get bento ready.

Animal pasta with green peas, stewed mince pork & mushroom, 2 chicken nuggets and a bunch of grapes

Note of the day

Mille Crepe Cake 法式千層蛋糕

Pls excuse me of the ugly decoration :p

It is hubby's birthday today, I made this Mille Crepe Cake yesterday quietly, both hubby & little girl didn't get to see it til this morning :p

I googled the recipe, found one not too complicated and small portion here (it is in Chinese), seriously this cake is quite easy and fast to made, the only time consuming part is to assemble the cake.

Ingredients - Crepes

15g unsalted butter
20g sugar
100g flour
2 eggs
90g milk (used about 100g)
1 tsp vanilla essence

1. Melt the butter
2. Shift flour, add in sugar and salt, mix well
3. Beat in eggs into flour mixture one at a time, mix til well combine
4. Pour in melted butter, mix well then pour in milk til well combine
5. Let rest for 15 minutes
6. Strain batter
7. Heat pan, pour in batter into pan to form a thin crepe
8. Fry crepe for 1-2 minutes (just fry one side)

Ingredients - Custard Cream

(A)

30g sugar

1 tsp flour

1 tsp corn flour

1 tsp vanilla essence (used a small stick of vanilla bean)

1 egg

50g milk

(B)

15g unsalted butter

150g milk

100g cream (used non-dairy cream)

1. Mix ingredients in (A) in a bowl
2. Simmer milk (in B) with vanilla bean til reaching boiling point, strain milk
3. Pour (2) to (1) in 2 times, mix til well combine
4. Simmer (3) til turning thick.  Off heat
5. Mix in butter
6. Cover with sling film, let cool
7. Beat cream til soft peak, fold into (6), til combine

To assemble:

1. Spread a thin layer of custard cream evenly onto crepe, repeating the cream and crepe layering steps
2. Let the crepe cake set in fridge for at least 2 hours before serving

I tell u, this custard cream is so so so wonderful, I couldn't stop myself from licking it after cooking and while assembling the cake, yummy!

Can u see those tiny vanilla seeds?

My piece of Mille Crepe Cake

Lastly, wishing u a happy birthday, darling!  Also, wish u having a successful career (just like the cake, stepping higher & higher), love u...

Baked Rice Bento (193)

Made the simple baked rice with leftover minced pork & mushroom this morning.  Used about 10 minutes for the baking & packing.

Baked rice, 2 cheese cocktail and plum slices

Note of the day

Sausage Rolls & Apple Bunnies Bento (192)

This was another lazy n simple bento, just blanched 4 cheese cocktails, wrapped them with bread, and ta dah....  4 sausage rolls!  Use most time crafting the apple bunnies :p  Total time used for this bento was about 15 minutes.

4 cheesy sausage rolls, 4 apple bunnies and 2 marshmallows

Note of the day

Nutella Sammy, Drummette & Jelly Bento (191)

Don know what to prepare for little girl's bento today, simply threw in the Nutella sammy and the leftover drummette into the box.  Took less than 10 minutes to get the bento ready.

4 pieces of nutella sammy, a drummette, 2 jelly and some grape tomatoes

Note of the day

Cabbage & Bacon Okonomiyaki

Ingredients: (Make 2 okonomiyaki)
For the batter
100g flour
60g Chinese yam, grated (I used 120g)
160cc milk (I used 180cc)
1/2 tsp baking powder
Pinch of salt

Cabbage, shreded (u may put in additional vegetables like chives, spring onions and even kimchi)
6 pieces bacons
2 eggs

For the batter:

1. In a big bowl, pour in milk, mix in flour, baking powder and pinch of salt, mix til combine
2. Add in grated Chinese yam, mix til even
3. Rest for 30 minutes

For the okonomiyaki:

1. Lightly fry 3 pieces of bacons in a non stick pan
2. Meanwhile, mix 1/2 portion of vegetable, an egg and 1/2 portion of batter into a big bowl, mix well
3. Flip the bacons, then pour the vegetable mixture onto the half cooked bacons
4. Cook for about 3 minutes, carefully flip over the cake, continue cooking for another 3 minutes
5. Place cooked okonomiyaki on plate, drizzle with okonomiyaki sauce, mayo and sprinkle lots and lots of katsuobushi (bonito flakes) and aonori (nori flakes), serve.

Okonomiyaki Bento (190)

Cooked a real okonomiyaki this morning, with Chinese yam (aka huai shan, shan yao or nagaimo in Japanese).  I got the recipe from a manga which I don remember which, but I'll post it up later at the next posting.  Took about 15 minutes for the preparation, 1/2 hour for resting the batter, 15 minutes for cooking and 3 minutes to pack, a long process :p

Okonomiyaki, cucumber cubes and grass jelly cubes

Note of the day

Radish Cake & Sweet Potato Bento (189)

Bought 3 pieces of the radish cakes from SS3 nite market yesterday, I had 1 for breakfast, 1 for lunch and the remaining was put into the bento box for little girl.

Used about 10 minutes to pack the bento, time was used mainly on molding those sweet potatoes :p

6 pieces of cubed radish cakes, 6 pieces of sliced cucumbers, a few grape tomatoes, some rabbit & flower shaped sweet potatoes and a container of ketcup

Note of the day

Fried Potato with Onion & Bacon Bento (188)

Simply fried this potato cubes with diced onion and bacon, then sprinkled with cheese powder and dried parsley flakes. Used about 15 minutes for preparation and cooking, then additional 5 for the packing.

Contains of bento: fried potato with onion & bacon, fish steak (leftover from dinner last nite), grass jelly (bottom of pink cup), mango and a container of ketchup & mayo.

While having dinner...

LG: Mummy, why u don put in note for me now?

Me: I was lazy... Ok, I'll put in one for u 2moro, can I write a short note?

LG: No, I want it very long, like last time, ok, mummy?

Me: Ok, ok...

Meat Balls & Green Peas Pasta (187)

The pasta was cooked with Prego's Cheese & Herbs sauce, some leftover meat balls and baby green peas. Used about 15 minutes for the cooking and 5 minute to pack the bento.

Contains in bento, from left: meat balls & green peas pasta, 2 cheese cocktails, some cubed grass jelly, grapes and grape tomatoes.

Quadruple Chocolate Muffin

By adding a Kisses (dark chocolate) into the same batter from previous posting (the Triple Chocolate Muffin), I produced this lovely and most sinful Quadruple Chocolate Muffins.

These babies may look similar to the Triple Chocolate Muffins but each of them carrying a deadly bomb that will surely weak your knees

Little girl has declared this as the best muffin in the world!

Triple Chocolate Muffin

Warning, warning, warning..... Beware: this posting contains lots of chocolate & fat which may cause fattening! Read at your risk.

Little girl complained that I kept trying new muffins/cakes instead of baking her favorite chocolate chips muffins, therefore I promised to bake her a batch, not only chocolate chips but triple chocolate!

Actually, I googled and found the recipe here, however, I altered it so much that I am claiming it my own recipe now, hehehe.... hope the original recipe holder don mind :p

Ingredients

1 3/4 cup flour

3/4 cup chocolate chips

3/4 cup white chocolate chips

1/3 cup brown sugar

3/4 cup milo

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1 egg

1 cup butter milk

? cup melt butter (I forgot to measure this, I think it was around 3/4 to 1 cup)

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp salt

1. Preheat oven to 190C
2. Mix chocolate chips with white chocolate chips, reserve 1/3 cup for later use
3. Sift flour, baking powder and baking soda
4. Mix in brown sugar, salt, milo and chocolate chips
5. In another bowl, beat egg, vanilla, butter milk and melt butter until well combine
6. Pour wet mixture into dry ingredients, fold lightly til just combine, do not over mix
7. Spoon batter into muffin cups til 3/4 full, sprinkle remaining chocolate chips (from the reserve 1/3 cup) on to each muffins
8. Bake for 20 minutes.

The silly me forgot to measure the melt butter, I just pour it directly into the egg mixture, then only I realized, but everything was too late, I had to proceed as I don wanna waste the ingredients. Sigh... these may surely causing a few extra inches or grams, I am definitely not jumping onto the scale for the next 1 week, that will save me from a foresee heart attack :p

I tell u, this baby is very moist, rich, chocolaty, oily, messy and sinful! Have it with a cup of warm milo, that will surely be a taste of heaven (or hell since it is sinful lol).

Ham Rosti Bento (186)

Took about 1/2 an hour to prepare this ham rosti, little girl had a piece for lunch and I put the remaining 2 pieces into the bento box.

2 pieces of ham rosti, some cucumber slices, each container contains mayo & ketchup

Note of the day

Halve Flowers Maki Bento (185)

Asked little girl yesterday, what will she like for bento: fried rice, sushi or veggie rice, she chose sushi and specifically mentioned the cucumber sushi. She also asked whether she may share with her friends, since sushi is so easy to make, I let her have a bigger bento to share with her fellow friends.

I was slow this morning, doing everything in slow motion, thus took me 45 minutes to complete the entire bento :p

Cucumber & furakake maki and corn sausage (bro bought from China) to form into 2 halve flowers. More cucumber sticks, corn sausage, a container of mayo and a tube of soy sauce squeeze into the remaining space

Grapes, yellow and red grape tomatoes

Note of the day

While little girl was having her lunch just now...

Me: Girl, do u like rice?

LG: * shaking her head * (mouth busy munching and she was reading her favorite "Weird Wildlife Sea Creatures" book)

Me: Then, do u like sushi?

LG: * nodding her head *

Hahaha.... funny girl, don like rice but adore sushi, aren't they the same?

Traffic Lights Bento (184)

This is another mix of leftover & speedy bento, just reheat the wantons (the last 2 after about 1 week) and fried chicken drummette (little girl had it leftover from dinner) in the toaster oven, meanwhile skewered the red, yellow grape tomatoes and cucumber into animal skewers. All ready in the box in about 10 minutes (plus heating time).

Do u notice the skewers of red, yellow grape tomatoes and the cucumber resemble the colors of traffic light, I didn't realize until little girl pointed it out to me, what a coincident :)

Were in a rush this afternoon, took only 1 pic and didn't write any note for little girl :p