Kiddie's curry - Pumpkin, chicken and tomato curry

I may be a multitasking mom, but I do not take my cooking lightly. I love my cooking to be flavorful (flavored with naturally available spice and ingredients) and presentable, as it improves one's appetite. I make effort in cooking nice delicious food for my family, especially little J. Even if it means waking up at 5am to prep for our lunch, I would still think it's all worth the time and effort. I am a working mom, so I try my best to wake up earlier everyday to prep my own breakfast and lunch for both little J and I. I am very fortunate that I get to take long lunch break to enjoy nice homecooked lunch at the comfort of our home. 

I prep for this dish ahead (the night before) by 

1. Marinating the chicken with dash of liquid amino (or soy sauce), pinch of salt and sesame oil 
2. *Mincing the garlic, shallots and onion in blender and store in fridge for use the next morning. 

Ingredients (serves 2-3): 

• 1 chicken leg or half a chicken, chunked 
• 3 cloves of garlic* (See prep no. 2 above)
• 4 shallots* (See prep no. 2 above) 
• 1/2 onion* (See prep no. 2 above)
• 2 medium sized tomatoes, quartered 
• 150g pumpkin, cubed 
• 2 sprigs of curry leaves 
• 1tsp turmeric powder
• 2-3 tbsp tomato puree (if you dont have this, then use more tomatoes) 
• 2-3 cups of freshly squeezed coconut milk (or stock) 
• Salt and pepper (season accordingly) 
• Optional: 3x Fresh brown button mushroom and a small bunch of enoki mushroom

Method: 

1. Heat up 2-3 tbsp of cooking oil (I use grapeseed oil for cooking for LO) in a wok/ pan. Pan fry cubed pumpkin and curry leaves till pumpkins turn golden color on the outisde. Set aside. 
2. Heat up 1tbsp of cooking oil in a wok/ pan. Stir fry garlic, shallots and onion mince with chicken until chicken turns brown. 
3. Add in mushrooms, tomato, pumpkin and curry leaves. Cook for 2-3 minutes. 
4. Add in turmeric powder, tomato puree with coconut milk (or stock). Simmer for 20-30 minutes. 
5. Season accordingly. 
6. Serve with rice. 

Salmon and Quinoa Pasta / Pie (Gluten free)

Salmon & Quinoa Pasta

It's been some time since I've last blogged about recipes for my toddler son. I think I have been less adventurous with recipes now and more occupied with his daily activities. Happikiddo had recently launched a contest searching for an all-time thumb-up recipe for our little cutie pies. I have decided to enter my son's favorite fish pie recipe into the contest. It's a very healthy and balanced meal as each serving alone meets the recommended vegetable intake for a child aged 1 to 4 years. In addition, I incorporate 'quinoa' the illustriously known supergrain in making the creamy pumpkin sauce for the fish pie. It is so creamily delicious no one would suspect it is actually this 'healthy'! At least my husband never suspected it. 

I am sure I have written or blogged about quinoa some time back, but there's no harm talking about this good stuff, as good stuff like this always need a gentle nudge. Quinoa (pronounced as 'keen-wah', is in fact not a grain, but a complete protein in the form of amino acids, in other words, they are very easy to digest and are essential for development and growth. If your diet lacks of protein eg fish, tofu or meat, then consider adding quinoa into your diet.

Quinoa for babies and kids 

Quinoa is hypoallergenic (less likely to cause an allergy), thus making it suitable for young infants. Quinoa may be introduced to baby from 8 months onwards although many babies do tolerate it prior to 8 months. This nutritious-dense ingredient makes a great addition to your little one's diet and it is very versatile. You can cook and serve it as puree, or congee (porridge) or in this case, a creamy sauce. It is packed with fiber, calcium, iron and folate, making it a great option for parents who find it tough to get their kids to eat vegetables.

I have made this creamy quinoa and pumpkin sauce many times and have served it with mashed potato topping (as salmon & quinoa pie - somehow the presentation makes the entire dish very attractive to a little kid), or pasta or even rice.

There is no need to add thickener like cornflour to thicken it up as the addition of quinoa turns it into a perfect consistency, somewhere between a creamy soup and a sauce.

If you like this healthy and delicious recipe, kindly give me a LIKE on the following facebook photo link. Huge thank you in advanced.

https://www.facebook.com/Happikiddo/photos/a.821843814580232.1073741866.330671603697458/837824239648856/?type=3&theater

Here's my recipe for my salmon, quinoa and pumpkin sauce
(By all means, replace salmon with other fish or meat)

• 150g salmon, cubed 
• 1/2 small onion, cubed
• 100g pumpkin or butternut squash, cubed 
• 1/4 cup quinoa, rinsed 
• 1 1/4 cup vegetable stock, homemade 
• 2 cloves garlic, finely minced 
• 1 knob of butter / grapeseed oil to pan fry the garlic and fish 

Instructions: 

1. Steam-cook cubed onion, pumpkin, and quinoa in a pot / rice cooker with the vegetable cook (about 20 minutes). Once cooked, transfer all to a blender, pulse for 2-3 minutes or until the sauce turns creamy. Set aside. 
2. In a frying pan, heat up butter or oil. Stir in finely minced garlic and sautee till fragrant. Stir in cubed salmon. Cook for about 2 min. 
3. Pour in creamy pumpkin and quinoa sauce. Simmer for another 2-5 min. 
4. Serve with mashed potato, pasta or rice. 

To make the salmon and quinoa pie: 

Boil potato till tender. Mash with salt or pepper (optional) and butter, milk and cheese. 

To assemble the pie, divide the salmon and quinoa pumpkin sauce between 3 ramekin dishes. Top with mashed potato. To achieve a nice golden color, brush top of pie with beaten egg mixture and bake in a preheated oven at 180deg C for 10 to 20 min. 

Creamy paprika chicken and chickpea casserole

Can you see those little fingers there? J can't wait to have a bite at it.  

Off late, I have not been trying out any new recipes at all! Our lunch has been quite monotonous, so last night I blog-hopped a little to find inspiration for something different. I came across a fellow blogger mommy friend, Joyce who shared recipes for a very delicious looking chickpea ragout and chilli con carne. I have always loved chilli con carne, but I don't have any red kidney beans in stock, and I felt chilli con carne would tastes better off with minced beef and that's something I don't usually have in my freezer neither. Perhaps I can make the chickpea ragout. 

While cooking mine this morning, I felt that something is missing in terms of its flavor, so I added in ground cumin and ground paprika, and I served it with yummy yummy sour cream. When having it, I felt this dish is a cross between a ragout and a chilli con carne! Nonetheless, it turns out to be super yummy, much nicer beyond my expectation! Even little J (my little 31mo) loves it. He finishes everything on the plate. I thought he would like the crispy potato wedges, but he wasn't too keen this round. Instead, he loves the chicken and the casserole. This is definitely a 'must try' recipe, if you ask me. 

Oh, and I shouldn't forget to mention, it isn't hard to make. I think it took me around 45min from preparation (cutting the veg etc). I even had enough time to bake some banana and cinnamon cupcakes this morning, after preparing this casserole dish. 

Recipe (serves 2, one adult, one toddler, with some leftover that can be served with pasta for the toddler) 

• 2 chicken drumsticks 
• 4-5 cloves garlic, finely minced 
• 1/4 tsp ground cumin 
• 1/4 tsp ground paprika 
• 1/2 cup to 1 cup chicken stock 
• 3-4 tbsp cooked chickpeas* (Check method of cooking below) 
• 4 tomato, skin peeled and chopped into cubes 
• 1/2 onion, chopped into cubes 
• 3 fresh brown mushrooms, chopped into cubes 
• 1/2 carrot, peeled and sliced 
• Sour cream, about 2-3 tbsp, to serve (the more sour cream added, the more creamy it gets)
• Seasoning eg salt and pepper 

*To cook the chickpeas (the non pressure cooker way)

First, soak the chickpeas for around 6 hours in normal temperature water. Boil in hot water for about an hour or more, or until the chickpeas turn soft. 

1. Season the chicken drumsticks with salt, minced garlic, pepper and a little oyster sauce. 
2. Heat up about 2tbsp of grapeseed oil (or any cooking oil) in a frying pan. Brown drumsticks (about 5min). Remove from pan and place into an oven-proof casserole dish. 
3. Using the same heated pan, gently fry minced garlic, chopped onion until fragrant. Stir in carrot, tomato and mushrooms. Cover with lid and leave to brown for about 2-5min. 
4. Add in chicken stock. Season with ground cumin, ground paprika, salt and pepper. Simmer for about 15min. 
5. Preheat oven to 180degC. 
6. Pour the veg and sauce into the oven-proof casserole dish. 
7. Bake in oven for about 20min or until the drumsticks are thoroughly cooked. 
8. Serve with sour cream, pasta or rice, or potato dishes. 

With much delight, I am linking this post to the event, Little Thumbs Up organised by Bake for Happy Kids and My Little Favourite DIY, and hosted by Diana from the Domestic Goddess Wannabe. 

Pumpkin and cashew pesto

Here's a superb creamy pasta sauce for your toddler if you're out of idea for his meals. I love making my own pasta sauces for my little J because this way, I can control the amount of seasoning that's added in, and I know exactly what's inside the sauce. The usual ones that I make are the bolognese and the creamy mushroom sauce. The pasta sauces I make are usually very simple cos I don't have too much time in the morning to prepare them, and other than these I also needed to make another dish for his breakfast. This morning, for an example, I made this delicious pumpkin and cashew pesto for his pasta lunch and I have also made a nice soft and fluffy pandan kikaku (hei pan) for his breakfast and late afternoon treat.  

I usually make extra portion of these pasta sauces, so that I can use them again for another pasta dish later on in the week. These pasta sauces are also okay to be kept frozen and are usually consumed within a week or two. 

For this creamy pumpkin and cashew pesto sauce, I have added in lots of garlic for seasoning purpose and also for a boost to his immune. Here's the recipe: 

• 3-4 tbsp raw organic cashew nuts, dry dried in a frying pan until they turn golden brown. Leave aside. 
• 2tbsp cooking oil, I used organic grapeseed oil 
• 3-5 cloves of garlic, finely minced 
• Seasoning eg herbs and salt 
• 200g pumpkin, cut into little cubes 
• 2 tomato, skin peeled and cut into little cubes 
• 1/2 cup of water 

Method: 

1. Heat the oil in a cooking pan. 
2. Stir in garlic, fry until fragrant but not too brown, stir in cubed pumpkin and tomato. Cover with lid to simmer for a few minutes. 
3. Pour in water to simmer for another few minutes. Season accordingly. 
4. Cool down and blend with toasted cashew nuts until it reaches a creamy consistency. Serve with pasta. 

A toddler's Zha Jiang noodle 一个幼童的炸酱面

'Mien mien is black in color', he told me when he saw this. Deep down inside, I was nervous, but I hid my wrecking nerves, cos I wasn't sure if he would accept it, I have heard many kids who doesn't accept non-ordinary-looking color noodles or pasta. I took the risk today in making this black charcoal noodle topped with zha jiang (minced chicken with finely chopped pumpkin and apple in organic fermented red yeast bean curd sauce 有机红曲豆腐乳酱）。 Yummm.. I uttered out while slurping the noodle. He then said, mien mien hou sik (the noodle is delicious). Tada!! I was a happy mom he loved this! 

Today's theme for his tot schools is bat, inspired from the CVC words that he's learning this week, ie Bat, Cat and Hat. Even his meals today are inspired by today's theme, black color charcoal noodle that resembles the color of bat. Pumpkin and apple are bat's food. 

I personally love zha jiang mian a lot, I love to have lots of the zha jiang that gives flavor to the noodle, but I don't know what flavoring or sauces are used to cook those sold outside. I am just trying my luck with this organic  fermented red yeast bean curd sauce, it turns out to taste very yummy. 

Recipe (serves 2-3)

• 1/4 or 1/2 chicken breast, minced, marinated with pinch of salt, toasted sesame oil and 1/2 tbsp cornflour 
• 2tbsp cooking oil, I used organic grapeseed oil
• 3 cloves garlic, minced 
• 150g finely cubed pumpkin 
• 1/2 apple, finely cubed 
• 1/2 tbsp fermented red yeast bean curd sauce, dissolved in 3tbsp hot water 
• pinch of salt and white pepper powder (optional) 
• noodle, boiled to bring to cook 

Instructions 

1. Heat up 2tbsp cooking oil in a hot frying pan. 
2. Stir in minced garlic and minced chicken. Stir fry until chicken gets brown. Stir in cubed pumpkin and apple. Stir fry for another 2-3 minutes 
3. Pour in fermented red yeast bean curd sauce, close the lid and simmer for another 5-10minutes, make sure the pan doesn't gets too dry, add in more water if needed. Season accordingly. The red yeast bean curd sauce itself is fermented, thus is quite salty. 
4. Optional, thicken the sauce with cornflour if needed. 
5. Serve with cooked noodle. 

**Organic fermented red yeast bean curd sauce 有机红曲豆腐乳酱 is available for sale at Just Health, Sandakan. Contact: justhealthsandakan@gmail.com 

Chocolate hokkaido chiffon cupcake

This March is gonna be a very busy and packed month. Few days ago, my parents and sis were around in Sandakan to clear out our old house which we're ready to let go. It seemed impossible but we successfully cleared the house in a few days including majority of its furniture and electronics. Most of the items were discarded (sadly), some were transported to my place, out of those loots, I managed to complete my study room/ play area for the little fella, which I am very happy with. Balance of the items were given away free to friends. Now that my parents and sis have gone back to JB, I need to work my ass on the accounts of Just Health so I can submit to my accountant by the end of this month, and I still have an event to work on for this month, that event is happening in about 10 days and I still haven't done much about me. Arghhhhhh!! (Yes yes I am working on it now, while blogging). 

Despite all these, I am still cooking and baking for the little fella. I try my best to wake up at 6am every morning, so I have sufficient time to make him a snack and a lunch. 

This was something I have made two days back ~  very yummy chocolate hokkaido chiffon cupcakes which were our breakfast for two days. They kept very well in the fridge. On the third day, they are still edible, but they tend to be drier. 

It was a recipe adapted from my little favorite DIY, here. 

Ingredients A 

• 60g grapeseed oil
• 80g fresh milk
• 85g superfine flour
• 2tbsp cocoa powder 
• 5 egg yolks 
• 1tsp pure vanilla extract 

Ingredients B 

• 5 egg white 
• 80g brown sugar

Instructions: 

1. Combine oil and milk in a bowl. Place over a double boiler and cook with low heat, stir well. (I zap the combo in microwave for 40secs) 
2. Add egg yolk, mix with a whisk. Add in vanilla extract. 
3. Sift in flour and cocoa powder. Combine till smooth. Do not overmix. 
4. Using a hand electric mixer, whisk the egg white and add in sugar in three batches until stiff peak. 
5. Add 1/3 of egg white meringue into the egg yolk batter. Combine well. Fold in the remaining egg white meringue into the egg yolk mixture. 
6. Fill up 3/4 of the cupcake liner. Gently knock once or twice. Bake in preheat oven at 150degC for 23min. 
7. I let the cupcake lie on its side on a metal rack when cooking. You may also knock the cupcake on table top once before setting aside to cool. (Apparently this is a must to prevent the cupcakes from shrinking, I didnt do this and my cupcakes did shrink a little). 

Honey banana muffin

I ran out of sugar at home, but I still wanted to bake some muffins for little fella's friends at school. So I searched for a recipe that uses honey instead. These turn out nice and sweet (sweet enough even with just 1/3 cup of honey), they are also nice when steamed (for 12min) instead of being baked. I steamed 3 cos the oven tray couldn't fit more in.

It's lunar new year day 7 today, also known as 人日, translated as 'people's birthday', or 'birthday of men'. So here I am wishing everybody 'Happy Birthday'. 

Here's the recipe I adapted, from Kitchen Treaty

Ingredients (makes about 15-18 small size cupcake) 

• 2 cups of all purpose flour, sifted 
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• 1 tsp cinnamon powder 
• 1/2 tsp salt 
• 4 medium sized bananas, chopped
• 1/4 cup grapeseed oil (instead of butter) 
• 1/3 cup honey 
• 1 large size egg 
• 1 cup milk 
• 2 tsp pure vanilla extract 

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 175deg C. 
2. In a large bowl, sift in flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. 
3. In another bowl, combine oil, honey, egg, chopped bananas. Add the milk and vanilla extract and combine thoroughly. 
4. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredient bowl, with a spatula, mix until just incorporated. I used a hand mixer to mix until just combined. 
5. Divide batter between muffin liner, until about 2/3 full. 
6. Bake for 15-18min. 

I'm linking this post to 'Cook and Celebrate CNY 2015' organized by Yen from Eat your heart out, Diana from Domestic Goddess Wannabe and Zoe from Bake for Happy Kids. 

Sweet & savory german cookies

When everyone is relaxing having done their 'bah bah sheep' cookies marathon, here I am just starting to burn midnight oil baking my version of CNY cookies. The pre-CNY period is usually quite busy as I tend to my businesses, ie 128 boutique and the organic shop, Just Health. CNY is usually the busiest period for us, but we never complain, cos it's a good sign. Due to time constraint, I am not gonna shape the cookies into sheeps nor any other animals' shape. They are just gonna be the conventional shape. This round, I made some sweet ones, using the same old recipe I've been using for these melt-in-the-mouth German cookies, and I have also made some savory ones, recipe adapted from Joyce's cream cookies cookies. I do like the savory ones cos they are not that sweet, yet its creamy and savory notes make it morish. I felt it would be a great gift to my in-laws as they don't favor sweet stuffs. Best of all, I wouldn't have problem letting my little fella munching on them when we are at the in-law's cos they are made by myself with less butter and less sugar, so they pass the 'toddler' cookies requirement. 

I have made these in different colors. Now that the little fella is at the age where he's recognizing colors, shapes and alphabets, I thought I could use this as an opportunity to reinforce his color recognition. For the pretty fuschia pink color ones (it was intended to be a light pink, I guess I went OD a little on the food coloring) I added about 2 drops of red food coloring onto half of the cookie dough. For the brownish color ones, I added about 2tsp of cocoa powder into the dough. 

Here are the recipes for the savory cream cheese german cookies. adapted from Joyce's 

Ingredients (makes about 70-80 small cookies) 

• 250g salted butter, room temperature (I used 220g unsalted butter and added 2tsp salt to it) 
• 50g icing sugar (I used brown sugar which I have blitzed into powder form) 
• 100g cream cheese, room temperature (I used 120g cream cheese) 
• 250g potato flour/ potato startch 
• 160g all purpose flour (I used Japanese superfine flour) 
• 2tsp black sesame 

For the sweet german cookies, here's the recipe I've always been using, from my old post: 

• 125g unsalted butter, chopped
• 40g icing sugar (I used brown sugar which I have blitzed into powder form) 
• 125g potato flour
• 80g all purpose flour (I used Japanese superfine flour)

Method

1. Beat butter and sugar till fluffy
2. Sift in potato flour and superfine flour, mix to form a soft dough. 
3. Roll into small balls (about 2cm in diameter), arrange on baking tray and press lightly with a fork, dip the fork in water so the cookie dough wont stick to the fork). 
4. Bake in a preheated oven at 165degC for 15min. 

He loved the colorful cookies, he kept on stealing from my baking tray. 

I'm linking this post to Cook and Celebrate: CNY 2015, organized by Yen from Eat Your Heart Out, Diana from Domestic Goddess Wannabe, and Zoe from Bake for Happy Kids. 

Easy 5 ingredients spaghetti bolognese

This morning for my 1breakfast1lunch project, I made a quick fry egg to go with multigrain and seeds bread as breakfast, and this easy 5 ingredients spaghetti bolognese for lunch.

To prepare the chicken bolognese sauce: 

• 2-3 cloves garlic, finely minced 
• 1/2 onion, finely minced 
• 4 tomato, roughly chopped
• 1 chicken thigh meat, minced and marinated with dash of orange juice, pinch of salt and liquid amino 
• 1/2 cup of water
• Seasoning eg balsamic vinegar, salt, pepper etc (optional) 

Instructions: 

1. Heat up a pan with 1-2 tbsp of cooking oil, I use a choice of rice bran oil or grapeseed oil. 
2. Stir in minced garlic and onion, fry till aromatic, about 1-2min. 
3. Stir in minced chicken. Stir fry for about 1-2min. 
4. Stir in skinned and chopped tomato. 
5. Pour in water. Gently simmer for about 15 to 20min for flavor to develop. 
6. Season with choice of seasoning.  
7. Serve with spaghetti or pasta. 

Organic pumpkin ramen with tofu and minced chicken

Ingredients
*about 300g minced chicken, marinated with seasoning (see below)
*3 pieces of soft tofu, cut into small cubes
*2-3 cloves garlic, finely minced
*seasoning: salt, organic toasted sesame oil and organic "oyster" sauce, vegetarian (made from mushroom)
*bok choy, boiled for 2min in boiling water.
*Soft boiled egg (boiled for 7min)
*Organic pumpkin ramen

Method

1. Bring a pot of water to boil. Cook pumpkin ramen until tender. Drain and put aside. 
2. In a wok, heat up 2tbsp of grapeseed oil. Stir in minced garlic, minced chicken and tofu. Cook through. Season according to taste. Add in water and cornflour mixture to thicken the sauce (optional). 
3. Serve minced chicken dish with ramen, vege and soft boiled egg. 

Crispy hash brown

Every morning, I had to make a breakfast and a lunch dish for myself and for my little boy. Our lunch is gonna be a simple one, organic pumpkin ramen with minced meat and tofu, with soft boiled egg, so that leaves me more time to make something different for breakfast. We have loads of potatoes left in the fridge, so I wanted to make a potato cake or hash brown. I haven't made hash brown for a very long time, so I thought I shall make some crispy ones for the little boy, so he can bring one to school as tea-time snack too. 

Ingredients: 

*3 medium sized potatoes (I made 3 hash browns from this) 

*3 tbsp grapeseed oil (for panfrying the hash brown)

*2tbsp grated Cheddar 

*Salt and black pepper, for seasoning 

Method 

1. Peel and wash the potatoes. Grate them. Sprinkle with salt. Drain and use a thin cloth or sieve to further press out the juice. (I drank the juice that got squeezed out, cos raw potato juice is very good for people with gastric. It heals inflammed stomach lining. I have been having gastric and bloatedness for a couple of days). 
2. Combine with grated Cheddar, and season with salt and black pepper. Use the thin cloth to mould the grated potato and cheese mix into a ball shape. 
3. Heat up grapeseed oil in a flat frying pan.
4. Pan fry the hash brown. Press the potato ball and cheese ball mixture flat, till about 1cm thickness. Fry until it turns golden brown. Then flip to the other side until it turns golden and crisp as well. 
5. Remove from pan and serve immediately. 

Stir-fried organic pumpkin ramen

Every morning, I felt like I am racing with the ticking clock, to prepare his breakfast snacks (for school) and lunch in an hour and then get myself ready and him ready for school by 8am. I wasn't as disciplined as this prior to this. Before this, if I woke up late, I can just let him eat whatever that the nanny eats. But now that he isn't going to the nanny's anymore, instead he comes home after school, I gotta make sure he has his lunch prepped ahead. 

This morning, I made him stir-fried organic pumpkin ramen. He loves noodles and pastas. He eats rice, but his favorites are noodles and pastas especially when cooked soft. So I love these series of organic ramen. They turn tender, yet still maintain their texture when cooked. 

Here's a simple recipe for the stir-fried pumpkin ramen (serves two to three) I always make extra for my own lunch 

*Organic pumpkin ramen
*Black bean soy sauce (thick) as seasoning 
*2-3 cloves garlic, minced
*Shredded vege like carrot, taugeh, onioin etc 
*1-2 eggs
*Salt
*Meat eg chicken, pork etc

1. Boil noodle in a pot of boiling water until tender.
2. In a wok, heat up 2tbsp grapeseed oil. Stir in garlic and sliced vege. Stir-fry until aromatic.
3. Stir in meat and stir fry till brown and cooked through.
4. Stir in boiled ramen. Season with black bean soy sauce (thick) and salt. Push the fried ramen to side of wok. Break in 1-2 eggs. Gently fry. Combine with ramen and veg.

The other breakfast snacks that I've prepared for him for school was a simple roast sweet potato. They are easy to make and delicious eat. So easy, I forgot about them. Gotta thanks my buddy Fei Tseh for sharing with me what she prepared for her little girl H. I peel the sweet potatoes, cut them into long chunks, place on roasting or baking pan, drizzle with organic grapeseed oil, season with salt. Preheat oven to 180degC and roast for about 15-20min. 

Steamed pandan milk cupcakes

Happy New Year peeps! 

I haven't blogged for so long. Been busy. Vacation. Work trip. Busy in shop. Little one started going to playschool. Etc etc. Anyways, despite all these, I managed to kick my own butt to make some nice treats for the little fella. The hubby has been away for a few days so it was just the lil' fella and I during the weekend. He has been behaving so well, I got surprised. I realized that he's especially well-behaved when there's not many of us around. When the grandparent, the aunties and uncles are around, his mischievous side reveals. 

I made these steamed pandan milk cupcakes for our Sunday treats. It smells so good. I plucked those pandan leaves from my garden and blitzed them with milk, was intending to make pandan chiffon cake w/ them, but was disappointed to realize I haven't got cornflour at home to make the cake flour required to make chiffon cakes. Oh, by the way, if you have not known, to make cake flour from all purpose flour, here's how you can do it - to make 1 cup of cake flour, just take 1 cup of all purpose flour, take away 2 tablespoon of all purpose flour, replace with 2 tablespoon of corn flour. Cake flour renders a soft and cotton-y texture to the chiffon cake. I have tried making chiffon with all purpose flour. Failed terribly. The cake rose nicely, but it collapsed when I sliced them, and wasnt as soft as the ones baked with cake flour. So I randomly picked a recipe for pandan steamed cakes from google and found this, which to my surprise, it tastes good! It was a surprise to me, cos when preparing it, I felt that the batter was a little on the thick side, almost like the texture of creamy peanut butter, yet it turn out quite soft and crumbly. I had some extra left over, so I kept them in the fridge. The next day, I steamed them for another 5 min and had them for breakfast. Tastes as good! 

Recipe adapted from Peng's Kitchen

This recipe yields 8-9 cupcakes 

• 2 eggs, medium size 
• 100g sugar (I used 80g brown sugar) 
• 1/4 tsp salt 
• 60g corn oil (I used virgin coconut oil) 
• 100g pandan milk (taken from the pandan milk I have made from blending together 8 pandan leaves and 200g fresh milk)
• 200g all purpose flour, sifted 
• 2tsp double action baking powder (I omitted the baking soda, and used 2.5tsp baking powder) 
• 1/2 tsp baking soda  

Method 

1. Using an electric whisk, beat eggs, sugar, salt and oil until thick and frothy. 
2. Beat in pandan milk till combine. 
3. Sift in flour, baking powder and fold till smooth batter is formed. 
4. Fill up cupcake liner till 3/4 full. 
5. Steam for about 12min. 

I was supposed to blog about my trips. But there was so many backlog on the trips to update, I get lazy when I think about it. Anyways, here's one of my favorite photo from my trip to Taiwan with the little one. Here's my babywearing little J with my I-angel hipseat carrier (model name: Josh). 

  

Buttery cornflake cookies

It's my son's second day at preschool today. Tell me if you're like me. I have a feeling I'm the one more excited than him. I wake up early to prepare two special treats for him to bring to preschool. Well, not that he's not excited. He loves being in school. Everytime asked, he told me, school is fun! (oh well, I shall keep track and we'll see how long he'll think school is actually fun!). After he got home from his preschool, he has been singing all day long! I asked him, do you wanna go to school tomorrow? He said YES! So I guess it's only fair to say we are both equally excited about him going to school. 

Yesterday, I prepared him pasta with minced chicken in creamy pumpkin sauce, and a pot of yogurt. Food like that may be messy, and I do wonder what the other parents prep for their kids. Anyways, I shall make something that's easier and less messy to eat today, ie buttery cornflake cookies (a recipe shared by a mommy from Healthy Food for My Baby facebook group) and banana muffin with chocolate chips and cinnamon streusel, recipe adapted from Sally's Baking Addiction's blog. Both are delicious and very moorish!! When the cookies were just done, I have been munching on them, and I shouldn't cos they would give me sore throat but they are too delicious!! (Note: They are a little soft and chewy when fresh out of the oven, after about 15 to 20min when cooled down, they will turn crispy). For the muffin's recipe, please refer here. 

Here's the recipe for the buttery cornflake cookies, recipe shared by Yvonne Woi from Healthy Food for My Baby facebook group. 

This recipe yielded about 30 cookies

• 125g unsalted butter, chopped and softened to room temperature
• 60g brown sugar 
• 1/2 tbsp vanilla essence 
• 1 1/4 cup self raising flour (or replaced with all purpose flour plus 2tsp baking powder) 
• 1tbsp milk
• 1 1/2 cup cornflakes, lightly crushed 
• 1/2 cup craisins/ raisins/ chocolate chips (I omitted these)

1. Preheat oven to 175deg C. 
2. Cream butter, sugar and vanilla until fluffy. Sift in flour. Add in milk and combine the dough. 
3. Add in crushed cornflakes. 
4. Line baking tray with parchment paper. Scoop the dough using a teaspoon, roll into balls, flatten very lightly with folk or finger (just very lightly, in face, if you want your cookies to be thick-ish, you wont even need to flatten it). 
5. Bake for about 15min or until cookies turn golden brown. 
6. Leave to cool. 

Banana muffin with choco chips and cinnamon streusel

It's my son's second day at preschool today. Tell me if you're like me. I have a feeling I'm the one more excited than him. I wake up early to prepare two special treats for him to bring to preschool. Well, not that he's not excited. He loves being in school. Everytime asked, he told me, school is fun! (oh well, I shall keep track and we'll see how long he'll think school is actually fun!). After he got home from his preschool, he has been singing all day long! I asked him, do you wanna go to school tomorrow? He said YES! So I guess it's only fair to say we are both equally excited about him going to school. 

Yesterday, I prepared him pasta with minced chicken in creamy pumpkin sauce, and a pot of yogurt. Food like that may be messy, and I do wonder what the other parents prep for their kids. Anyways, I shall make something that's easier and less messy to eat today, ie buttery cornflake cookies (a recipe shared by a mommy from Healthy Food for My Baby facebook group) and banana muffin with chocolate chips and cinnamon streusel, recipe adapted from Sally's Baking Addiction's blog. Both are delicious and very moorish!! When the cookies were just done, I have been munching on them, and I shouldn't cos they would give me sore throat but they are too delicious!! (Note: They are a little soft and chewy when fresh out of the oven, after about 15 to 20min when cooled down, they will turn crispy). For the cookies' recipe, please refer here. 

Here's the recipe for the banana muffin with chocolate chips and cinnamon streusel

This recipe yielded about 8-9 muffins 

Muffin

• 1.5 cups all purpose flour 
• 1.5 tsp baking powder (I omitted the baking soda from the original recipe) 
• 1/4 tsp salt 
• 1/2 cup brown sugar 
• 50g butter, softened to room temperature, chopped
• 40g grapeseed oil 
• 1 large egg
• 3 ripe bananas, mashed 
• 3tbsp plain yogurt / milk

Streusel topping (You may opt out the topping, but I felt that the topping makes it extra yummy!) 

• 1tsp cinnamon powder
• 1/4 cup dark muscovado sugar
• 3/4 cup chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts 

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 185deg C. 
2. Make the streusel first by combining all ingredients in a bowl. Set aside. 
3. In another bowl, sift in flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside. 
4. In another bowl, beat together sugar, chopped butter, oil and egg until fluffy. Beat in mashed banana and yogurt. Sift in dry ingredients until everything is just combined. Do not overmix. 
5. Fill muffin liner with about 3/4 full batter. Top with streusel topping.
6. Bake muffins for 10min at 185deg C. Lower temperature to 175deg and bake for another 10min. 

Cheese and mushroom muffin

My nanny is off for a whole week. So I'm a full time 'working' mom, taking care of my son in the shop, while looking after my shop, dealing with the clients with the little cheeky fella roaming around the shop. Phew! It's not easy, but surely fun to spend so much time with him daily. He's with me in the shop till about 3pm, then I bring him home for a bath and his dose of sedative - his MILK! and off he goes for his nap. I then return to the shop for a final hour before I call it a day. So what does he do in the shop? Everything! He reads, he draws, he plays with his playdough, he plays with his toys literally everything, other than napping in the shop. All in all, I'm still appreciative of this week. I got to get up close with him on a few issues, his temper, his basic manners and some other stuffs. Now that he's a 2 year old, he communicates and understands instructions pretty well. So I better start these early than later. 

Anyways, enough about my story. Here's the breakfast I made for us this morning, a savory breakfast muffin - cheese and mushroom muffin and a creamy pumpkin soup. I'll be sharing more about the easy 5-ingredients creamy pumpkin soup later on this month during my class in PJ (see this link for info), so do pardon me as I won't be revealing the recipe here in this blog, yet. 

Back to the muffin. I wanted to make cheese and mushroom scones. But I realized I didn't have any butter nor cream in the fridge. So instead, I searched for a recipe on savory muffin and adapted it to make it my own. It's a great recipe for a savory soft muffin if you don't like too much of sweet stuffs for breakfast. 

 Ingredients:

• 250g all purpose flour, sifted 
• 1tsp baking powder 
• 1/2 tsp salt 
• 50g cheese 
• 1 medium size egg 
• 50g oil, I used grapeseed oil 
• 150g milk 

• 4 brown button mushrooms, cleaned and slice (about 120g) 
• 2-3 cloves garlic, finely minced
• 1/2 onion, finely minced 
• pinch of salt 

Instructions: 

1. In a frying pan, heat up a tablespoon of oil. Stir in minced garlic and onion, followed by sliced mushrooms. Seasons accordingly. When mushrooms are soft and juices are drained off the mushrooms, they are ready. Keep the mushrooms, not the juice. Chop the mushrooms into small cubes. This step can be prepared in advanced. 
2. Combine dry ingredients, ie flour, baking powder, salt in a bowl. 
3. Beat together egg with oil and milk. Sift in dry ingredients. Add in the grated cheese and chopped stir-fried mushrooms.
4. Fill the batter into muffin cup to about 2/3 full (this recipe makes about 5 muffins). Option: top with an onion ring and more grated Cheddar. 
5. Preheat an oven to 175deg C. Bake for about 20-25min.  

Ten healthy kids lunch box recipes

My little 2 year old will be going to preschool soon. So if you are like many others, stuck for easy and healthy lunch box ideas, here's a compilation of my recipes for some kids' healthy lunch box that are easy to make and practical to eat. These will surely get your little one's face light up.  

Super moist and healthy carrot cupcakes

Mini Mulberry Scones

Chia seeds bun

Spaghetti stir fry

Easy fried rice

Oat milk mantou

Chicken Sheperd’s Pie

Pasta with creamy mushroom and oat sauce

Orange and mango chiffon cake

Steamed moist chocolate cake 

If you're keen to know more about food and nutrition for your baby or toddler, join me at the following classes in Petaling Jaya end of this month (November 2014). For registration, please kindly email justhealthsandakan@gmail.com. Advanced registration is required.