Pizza night

Kayden's little best friend just returned from a long overseas trip away. As a welcome home party, 3 families on our street gathered at one house and we spent a whole evening creating our own pizzas and cooking them in a wood fire pizza oven which the host built himself! They tasted amazing!

Oh boy were the 2 little boys happy to see each other again! There were alot of noisy games of chase and racing each other on their trikes to be had. They giggled like little girls as they 'cheers!' themselves with little slices of pizzas. Too cute!

At the end of the night, we even had a loaf of bread from the leftover pizza dough to bring home. But the best part? Was it only took us 15seconds to walk home. How good is that! 

Down sold

Usually upselling involves getting a better and more expensive item. But last week, I found I was down sold by Coles. We were running out of pasta for the boy (I normally buy the small spirals, macaroni or shell) so as I neared the shelves I spotted this!

Well to be honest, not really. There was this other parent who was talking to his partner and he said, "Get the dino one!" as I was pushing my trolley near them. So just like that I got sucked into buying a pack. Normal pasta $3. Down sold pasta $1. Bargain!

When cooked every piece was a good size. K fits about 1 to 2 on his spoon when he scoops. They don't necessarily taste better, but CUTE don't you think!


P.S. In case anyone recognizes the flowers from my previous wedding post. The groom announced at the end of the night that we were welcomed to take them home. I was eyeing them all night long. So I pounced and grabbed them! So pretty!

Fruitfull!

Like most other kids, Kayden doesn't like his vegetables much. Green ones in particular. But he will happily munch on carrot sticks and cauliflower florets. Basically anything non green in colour.

And thankfully, to make up for the lack of fibres through his greens, he consumes a huge amount of fruits. He LOVES his fruits. Apples, oranges, watermelon, strawberries, grapes, mangoes, kiwis, pears, mandarins, bananas, the list goes on.

If I let him have his way, he will most probably only have fruits for breakfast, lunch and dinner! On average, he has 3 whole fruits to himself a day. He prefers them peeled or deskinned and will eat the apple down to its very core. As a result, our fruit bowl is replenished at least twice a week. But it is never empty.

Is there such a thing as having too many fruits? I don't know, but surely it can't do too much harm?

Weekend dining

Our little family have been enjoying our time together so much since we've been back. On the weekends, we kick start the day by heading out for a nice brunch. Yes. By the time we're ready to start our day on the weekends, more often than not, it is to some an ungodly 11am. Brunch it is.

Recently, we also attended the wedding of a close family friend. Despite being extremely well travelled for the month, the couple looked radiantly blissful. The groom is a close childhood friend of my husband. Their union could not have been any more appropriately celebrated with some fireworks! A private show of fireworks for a wedding!

Wow, definitely a first for me!  It was a cold, cold icy winter's night. But the skies were clear and starry. Most of the guests rugged up with scarves and coats and streamed out onto the balcony to watch the spectacular displays! It drew gasps and squeals of delight from most of us! Somebody said it was better than the New Year's fireworks!

Naturally, we were all wondering in hush tones how much that cost! We later found out from Richard, that it was actually alot more affordable than most of us thought it would cost! If the thought of ever saving up for that Chanel Jumbo ever crossed your mind, you can most probably enjoy a 15 minute display at the very least. I see that one tick off my bucket list for the future!

Best thing in the world

Have you ever wonder how true someone's words are when they tell you  that, it is the best thing in the world? I hear Celebrity chefs use that phrase all the time. I reckon its overated. Until the weekend just passed. Don't read this post on an empty stomach.

I had THE BEST SPIT ROASTED LAMB in the world.

Ok maaaybe not. Since technically, I've never actually eaten a lamb from the spit ,carved straight off it as it is cooking. But by God, it tasted devine. Look at it. How can it not? 

Granted that it took 3 hours to cook. Slow roasting it to a crisp moist perfection. It was so so worth the wait. Our friend had it on a powered rotisserie that turned the meat, so it cooks evenly. No plates nor cutlery were used. Just the carving knife and our fingers. The carved meat rarely made it to the serving platter!

It was an extremely addictive rosemary and vinegar concoction that had us all hooked. In the anticipation and excitement of it all, I FORGOT to take a photo of that basting sauce that was used! But take my word for it, it IS the best thing in the world!

Hours after the bbq, I swear I can still taste the lamb in my mouth. In a good way. If anyone happens to know the recipe for that basting sauce, please please please email me!!!

Burnt Toast

Couple of years ago, I think it was on Oprah that Teri Hatcher was a guest on. She was there to promote her book. It has made an impression on me because it was titled "Burnt Toast". It is her account of motherhood and other experiences she's had in life. "Burnt Toast" being the metaphor that the woman takes the leftovers or the least appealing parts for themselves.


Now as a mom, I can totally relate to that because I found myself eating the crusty parts of the bread when I gave Kayden this! A start to things to come I'm sure.

What is THAT raggedly square with holes you're eating mom?  Mine tastes waaaay better!

The boy was eyeing my plate I had in my hand, while he was happily munching on his pretty jam and butter bread cutouts I gave him one rare breakfast morning. He had one in his hand, then decides to multitask and picks up another one in his other hand. Nom nom nom! Yummy!

Colourful food

 

Every now and then, we should stop and smell the flowers. But, I think with Kayden around, it may not be such a good idea for now. This pansy came as a pretty garnish in hubby's iced mocha at brunch over the weekend. It was pretty, so we took it off and gave it to Kayden to hold and look at.

While he did admire it for a couple of minutes, its beauty was lost on him in no time.


The boy was too quick for us to stop! He plucked a petal off, shoved it into his mouth, chewed it alittle and it was GONE. All within a couple of seconds.

From the moment the petal touched his lips, I had my finger in his mouth trying to fish it out. All I managed was a sharp bite from his 2 little toothies.

It was a beautiful sunny day to spend at the local park after. And despite what you see here, no. He didn't get a second chance to eat (maybe a taste) it again, this time a daisy. We yanked him off the ground as soon as he started it put it to his mouth! Oh no you don't!

You know how they say make children's food colourful so it is more appealing for them to eat? Well, here you go. Perfect example.

And I'm thinking, if they used the pansy as a garnish, its not poisonous. Right?

Souffle cheesecakes!

A teaser photo. The other day I baked some souffle cheesecakes! Taste wise they were to die for! They tasted and felt exactly like the ones I used to buy back in Singapore.

Everytime I bake it so far, the cake fairies devour it really quickly. I love it when people (and fairies) love my bakes and ask for my recipe. I have never said no, I always share!

I am still going to play with the recipe abit more because it didn't keep its height after I took it out of the oven. I am about to go and try another batch sometime soon with cream of tartar in it. If anyone knows the trick to the problem, please email me and let me know.

A foodie in the making

To date, at 8 months of age, Kayden has tried a variety of foods. Mostly purees so far, but I have been told by the maternal nurse to stop doing that now. Instead, I should try mashing them with a fork if needed, and to give him finger foods.

I am glad she pre warned me that when some babies first eat non pureed food, they tend to gag. But we will BOTH get used to it I am sure.

He has been eating solids for 2 months now, and he has tried these foods (not in chronological order):

1. Commercial rice cereal (which he reacted to)
2. Pumpkin
3. Apple
4. Pear
5. Banana
6. Avocado
7. Broccoli
8. Corn
9. Chicken
10. Porridge
11. Sweet potato
12. Carrot
13. Cheese
14. Broccolini
15. Fish
16. Wholemeal toast

At his most recent allergy test, he had a positive reaction to eggs (u poor thing, I hope you grow out of it quickly, you won't know what you are missing out on!) and dustmites (who doesn't?).

So I read the labels carefully when purchasing commercial baby food for him and avoiding contamination of it via common utensils we use to serve and prepare his food at home. 

Until recently, he was quite happy with any combination of the food above. But I get a feeling he has finally realised that the steaming hot food we are eating from our plates and bowls are not quite the same as the colourful moosh I am stuffing into his mouth! We don't feed him with the usual food we eat. I think it is abit young to introduce seasonings to a baby's diet at the moment.

Over the past week, he seem to have lesser interest in his baby food. Many a times, he would rather go hungry than to have it. Talk about stubborn!

But the other night, Kayden decided after 3 or 4 spoonfuls of his chicken and potato moosh, that he wanted something else! He got sooo cranky and whiney, and if he could talk, I am almost certain he was screaming " I don't want to eat this! I want McDonald's!". Haha, maybe not quite. But it was that look in his face and his cry that meant he wanted to eat but just not what I was feeding him.

Then, a lightbulb went up in my head. I made him a grilled cheese toast.

I know. Not exactly 'dinner' type food. He loves cheese. And, he gobbled it up. Close to 3/4 of a whole slice of  grilled cheese toast. So he obviously enjoyed it.

He even smelled like cheese afterwards. Much better than regurgitated milk.

Kayden at 8 months

My little munchkin is 8 months old! Over the past month, Kayden's development has progressed somewhat quite quickly.

Within the space of a week, he learnt how to sit up on his own. He is however still wobbly, which I am not concerned because I was advised by his maternal nurse that children learn to crawl before learning how to get into a sitting position themselves. Propping them up with cushions is apparently not advised! So we have stopped creating a pillow fort around him now.

And speaking of crawling, when on his tummy like above, he scoots backwards during tummy time.They go backwards before they go forwards. But to get him used to the idea of going Forwards, I place him with his feet against the side of a wall so he launches himself forwards when he kicks.I have caught him balancing on all fours doing a rocking motion a couple of times this week already, so I think it won't be too long to see him in action!

This little man loves his vegies! I have also started giving him finger foods to feed himself with. Carrot sticks, toast fingers, chicken cubes, cheese, cruskits, and pieces of fruit are on the menu here. At the moment, he LOVES broccolini (a cross variety of chinese broccoli-gai lan, with the normal broccoli). He stared at it when I first put it on his tray, then he gingerly picked it up, swung it around in the air for abit, then mooshed it in his fingers before putting it to his lips. A minute later I hear loud sucking sounds and the florets on the broccolini were almost all gone!

These days I am starting to realise my baby isn't such a baby anymore! I visited a friend's new baby girl earlier this week. It was the first time I held a newborn after I had Kayden. It took me by surprise how teeeeeeeeeeeeeny tiny newborns are! Was Kayden ever that small I thought out loud. And my friend and I realised that there was only 200 grams difference for their first weigh ins!

I am making a more conscious effort to cuddle Kayden alittle more these days. It won't be long until his first birthday!! It's going too quickly!!!!!!!! Somebody slow the time down!

Recipe: Crepes with a berry and chocolate sauce

 A handful of leftover frozen berries in the freezer was calling out to be used. And so I did.

Before Kayden, these soft warm crepes made regular appearances as impromptu after dinner desserts. It was my thing to make for a special occasion . The norm was with just a drizzle of lemon and sugar on top, or for a special day I would be organized and will usually have a more decadent strawberry chocolate or banana caramel sauce to go with it.  But really the options are endless! You could even try filling it with ham and pineapples, or a bolognese sauce for a savoury take on it (which I may try someday).

To me, these crepes remind me of my maternal grandmother, because she was the one who taught me how to make them. I don't know where she got the idea from, it certainly isn't an asian thing to do. And I am sure she knew nothing about those lace like french crepes they serve at posh restaurants at the other end of the world. I never asked, but I am guessing it is one of those things you make from the most basic of ingredients you can get your hands on during hard times. World war 2? I am not sure.

But I remember I used to look forward to my school holiday breaks because I get to go and stay with my grandmother. Both my parents were working long hours and I was in mama's (hokkien for maternal grandmother) care during the weekdays for the first 7 years of my life. Not surprisingly, I was extremely close to her and up till today, I still remember that floral powder scent she puts on, the feel of her soft skin, her laughter and stern words, and of course the many dishes she used to cook.

I digress.

On some days, very often while I am still napping, I am awoken by a very distinctive sweet fragrant smell. I wake from my slumber to find on the dinner table a pile of these soft golden crepes on a plate, protected under a netted cover like in the older times. She would spot me up and awake, appear with a cup of hot Milo and sit down with me to eat them. Mama likes to eat them plain, none of these fancy schmancy sauces we see served at restaurants. If I asked nicely, sometimes she gives me a small saucer of sugar to dip them in and I am as happy as can be! Ahhh... life's simple pleasures!

Sadly, she passed on nearly 13 years ago. But I have managed to watch her make it a handful of times.

I don't have a recipe for it because as most seasoned cooks do, she told me to use 'some' eggs, a few spoonfuls of plain flour, a pinch of salt, and to 'thin it out' with milk. They always make it sound so easy. AS IF!

After enough crepe disasters to set off a choking cough from burnt pans, blackened, thick cardboard tasting or soft soggy limpy crepes, I think I finally got the consistency she was trying to tell me. Today, I don't use measurements anymore, instead going by what she first told me to add some of this and a few of that!

 This time round, I put a dash or two of cinnamon in, hence the brown specks.  

You want to achieve a maple syrup like consistency.

My crepes usually end up crisp around the edges, but I like them that way.

But before I mastered that, I used to go by these basic measurements and thin it out with more milk to get the right consistency for soft velvety crepes almost like what mama used to make. Make or prepare your sauces or condiments first so you have them ready to serve as soon as your crepes are ready.


                                                                                                                                                                                                           
Crepes with a berry and chocolate sauce


Berry sauce

1 cup frozen berries
6 tsp sugar (or to taste)
dash of vanilla paste

Crepes
125gms plain flour
a pinch of salt
2 eggs
1 cup of milk (more to thin it out to the right consistency later on)
butter

vanilla paste (optional)
cinnamon powder (optional)
1tbsp sugar (optional - I use it only if I am eating them with lemon and sugar. But watch your crepes with this, because they will burn more easily)


Method: Berry sauce
On a low flame, heat up the berries until the juices start to flow. Add the sugar and stir it in until it dissolves. You may need more sugar depending on the tartness of your batch of berries. I usually prefer to use frozen berries because it means I don't have to thin out the flavours by adding water to it, the frozen berries produce enough liquid to make a sauce.

Method: Chocolate sauce
As how you would make a fondue. With chocolate and milk. That's how I do mine anyway. In a microwave safe bowl, put in the amount of chocolate (normal eating chocolate, not the cooking kind) u think u will need and about half the amount of milk. In my opinion, there is no such thing as too much chocolate sauce. You can make hot chocolate with leftovers anyway.

Zap it in the microwave until the milk is just hot enough to melt the chocolate, not too hot! If its not hot enough, just heat it up again. Its better under heated than over heated. Or you might end up burning and wasting your chocolate.

Stir the mixture until the chocolate fully melts, add more milk if you think it is needed.

Method: Crepes
1. In a deep bowl, break the eggs in and lightly whisk it. Pour in the milk and mix it in with the eggs.

2. Add the  flour in little by little, whisking them into the batter until it is smooth without any lumps. I know most chefs do it the other way around, adding the wet ingredients to the dry. But I find it easier to get a smooth batter this way, without the lumps.

3. Add in the salt, and your other optional ingredients and mix them well.

4. Heat up a small pan (mine is slightly bigger than my palm) on low, and add a small amount of butter (about 1/4 teaspoon). Use a spatula to swish the butter around so it coats the pan.

5. Using a soup ladle, pour in the first ladle of batter and swirl the batter around to cover the pan. Don't worry about making a perfect circle at this point. The first crepe never turns out good. I always throw out the first one. Then, without adding butter again, (the pan will have the tinest amount still left from the first crepe), take the pan away from the flame and add the batter, swirling the batter so it makes a nice round circle.

6. Place the pan back on the flame and a cook it until it is a light golden brown. Flip it over and cook it for another 10 seconds or so.

7. You can either fold your crepes like I did, or place your sauces onto a crepe (golden side down) and then simply just roll them up. Or really, if you can't wait to eat them, you can just spoon the sauce on top and eat it as it is. But make sure you serve and eat it straight away while it is still warm.


NOTES

• Halfway through using the batter, I always find that it thickens up, so I add more milk to thin it down to a maple syrupy kind of consistency. Too heavy a batter will result in a thick crepe with burnt edges, undercooked and mushy on the inside. 
• What you are after is a paper thin (as they say on masterchef!) crepe that is still soft and mallable enough to wrap or fold to contain your fillings or sauces.
• I don't put alot of butter to oil the pan, probably a tiny speck of it is enough, just make sure you use your spatula to spread it roughly around the pan. On a non stick pan, I find I don't even need it most of the times. It is however needed to produce that golden swirl pattern you see. Otherwise, it just turns out in 1 monotonous shade. Boring. So, I put a little bit of butter every 4 to 5 crepes.
• Lemon and sugar, banana, strawberry, chocolate, cream, honey,etc I could go on and on about what to go with the crepes. The list is endless, it all just depends on how decadent you want it to be! A splash or two of liqour wouldn't hurt either I am sure.
• Practice, practice practice! If your first attempt don't turn out good, adjust your batter and try again. Up till today, I still adjust it as I go along. 

Birthday celebrations

A BIG Thank You to all my dear family and friends who made this birthday extra special! I got spoilt all throughout the day with lovely messages, gifts and gestures right from the stroke of midnight!

The day couldn't have started out any better with baby Kayden waking up before I did and playing contentedly by himself, without having me jumping out of bed, startled from my deep slumber from his cries like most morning. (Usually because he is demanding a feed!)

A lovely surprise early lunch celebration was first on the agenda from the closest around me, right in the comforts of home. Warm and toasty, Roast duck, tulips and chocolate in my tummy!

And as you can see, Kayden was more interested in the candle flame than singing Happy Birthday to me. Oh well, at least there was no one else to fight with for the chocolate mud muffin.

Hubby and I stopped giving each other gifts a few years ago. No Christmas or birthday gifts. But certainly our 30th was an exception? I bought him a BBQ unit and for mine, he got me personalized car licence plates! So, really, I was not expecting him to arrive him early from work that day with more flowers and cake in hand!

That night, grandma and Aunty Stef babysat Kayden. Des and I had a reservation to a new restaurant in town called Maze, of the Gordon Ramsay fame.

All dressed up and about 10 minutes after kissing Kayden our goodbyes, we commented how we have not been out on a date like this for a long time. Just the two of us going out, because we can and want to, not because we have a friend's wedding to attend or errands to run! We held hands and smiled to each other in the car. And there's no baby in the back seat going "Da da da da daah!". Woo hoo!!!!

When first told I was up for a treat and going to Maze, I was beyond excited. We sat in traffic for almost an hour before we actually got to the restaurant. I haven't been to fine dining place quite like this. And, as we inched closer and closer to our destination, I got even more excited and even felt a little bit sick with anticipation!

What if I didn't like the snobbish atmosphere?

Or what if I didn't like or know how to tackle eating the food?

Or worse yet tip my glass over!?

I had read mixed reviews of the restaurant prior to going, and from what I read, I was probably going to be dead blind in there because it was said to be dim. (I have a bad night vision!)

But I am glad I was so wrong! The staff were friendly and welcoming. We were ushered to our table near the floor to ceiling windows. We sat underneath these lights and, Des commented that the lights look like dead
corpses hanging off the ceiling. Whatever, I can see what I am eating!

I relaxed. And the night went off without a hitch.

This was my favourite dish of the evening. I could smell the aromas of the applewood smoked kingfish even before it came to me! That white fluffy ball you are seeing is actually FAIRY FLOSS! Who would have thought it would pair perfectly with the flavours on this dish! IT WAS AMAZING!

We each had 4 dishes and a dessert. It obviously wasn't a cheap place to go to, but for the quality of the food and I might even add, a pretty decent portion for a place like that (they were pretty generous sized tasting portions), we were surprised and more than happy to pay 100 per person (wine and drinks included!) for the gastronomic experience! We will be sure to revisit Maze again.

When we got home, Kayden was none the wiser that we have been out for almost 5 blissful hours!

Jim's pancakes

 

 Photo taken from Jim's Pancakes

  

 

Photo taken from Jim's Pancakes

Hubby sends me random links about things all the time. But this recent one, I HAVE to share!  This guy Jim who is a graphic artist,  has been making some really cool pancakes for his daughter Allison. The bacon and eggs version is my favourite! He also made a 3D looking ferris wheel, a biplane, a construction crane, ones. And then there's also the JP sushi, pancake bling, the golden gate bridge, 'pancake cereal', etc.  So cool!  Be sure to check out his website and Facebook for more of his pancake creations! You know you want to!

It makes me wonder, after reading the website, what Kayden will get up to with Daddy when he gets a little older!

I hope I never attempt to actually eat like THIS

I have always been known to have a thing for chocolates, if not then a sweet of some sort. After a meal, I need that something sweet to finish off, be it a fruit, a mint or a full blown belgian waffle drizzled with chocolate sauce, topped with whipped cream and a massive scoop of vanilla ice cream, PLUS a hot chocolate to top it off. (yes, we've ever gone straight out to the waffle place at westfield after dinner, just to do that. No sharing. Hubby gets his own dessert. It's a bit crazy when we do that.)

But hey, there are crazier fruit loops out there!

 I still prefer the REAL variety, thank you very much.

No, I won't EVER be making this for christmas

and to really top it off..................

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 Although it is potentially time saving, so I can catch more rest before Kayden is up again...

I prefer having several courses rather than just a single course of this

Spaghetti frosted chocolate cake topped with Ferrero Roche 'meatballs' smothered with raspberry sauce.

Somebody please bring me a bucket.

See many more crazy food photos via thisiswhyyouarefat.com. Some are just bizarre! And a few are actually being sold out there at the shops!

Recipe: 5 Minutes Chocolate Mug Cake

It is rare I get a chance to test out new recipes I find ever since Kayden came along. I luuurve chocolate, anyone who knows me will tell you that. And ever since after my pregnancy, my sweet tooth is coming back, at full steam!

So, sometime ago, when I came across a recipe on Ju's blog that will yield me chocolate+cake in 5 minutes. The little chocolate hormones in my head went bersek. And just simply reading and looking at the scrumptious one she made left me salivatating! I skipped to my pantry as soon as Kayden took his afternoon nap and made it immediately.

 One for me, one for hubby

It was delish! And definitely a keeper! Moist with a molten center. Oh my god, it was soooooooooooooooooo good! It is a very useful recipe to have, I gather most people have the ingredients in your kitchen pantry.

It is something quick and easy to make, only 4 things to wash (2 mugs, a spoon and a bowl to mix it in, that's it!) and 5 minutes to make! Although, as with all my baking, I take ingredients out from my fridge to let it cool down to room temperature first. (hubby got used to seeing a slab of butter sitting on the window sill out of nowhere LOL) But that's just me.

5 minutes Chocolate MUG Cake
(adapted from The Little Teochew)

Ingredients
- 4 tbsp flour
- 5 tbsp sugar
- 2 tbsp cocoa
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp coffee powder
- A pinch of salt
- 1 egg
- 3 tbsp milk
- 3 tbsp oil
- 1 tsp vanilla paste
- 2 microwave safe coffee mugs


Method
1. Mix all the dry ingredients in a bowl.

2. Add the milk, egg, vanilla and oil. Mix it well.

3. Pour the batter into 2 mugs. (They should each only come up to the halfway mark as the cake will rise, and you don't want it overflowing!)

4. Microwave 1 mug at a time. Cook it for 1 full minute and then leave it for a couple of seconds, then cook it again for a further 30 seconds. Microwaves differ, so I suggest you cook it for 1 minute and see how you go.

5. Voila! and we have CAKE!! I would say dig in! But I learnt that the hard way, it was VERY HOT! So let it sit alittle first and enjoy.

Kayden 6 months : Starting solids

Kayden has started on his first solids.  So far, we HATE apples and pears, except for when Mommy sneaks it in together with the yummy pumpkin which he LOVES. So, the carrots pretend to be pumpkin and I get away with feeding him with it anyway.

 About to get his first taste of banana mush...........

 

................ and he decides it tastes disgusting. 

I tried giving him a 2 or 3 more spoonfuls after this picture, but he spits it all out every single time!

 in the end, the cheeky monkey purses his lips shut and refuses to have any more of it!

Kayden spits out mushed bananas and gives me that incredulous look on his face as if to say "You call that food??? It's DISGUSTING!". Potatoes are a touch and go.

He has gotten the hang of swallowing the purees, sometimes even holding my hand to push his spoon into his waiting open mouth if he likes the combination I give him. Babies of his age still have the tongue thrust reflex, but it looks like he is getting the hang of eating solids.

I give him the same food for 3 to 4 days, just in case he gets a reaction and if so, I know exactly which food is causing it. Which was the case with plain old packaged rice cereal. He developed a dry rash around his lips the morning after.

So really, the food that are going into him are orange, and not surprisingly so, it comes out exactly the same colour! Quite bizarre! So perhaps next week, we might try some broccoli. (green poo? haha)

He now giggles and laughs when spoken to, cries and growls with displeasure, and kicks and pulls at almost anything in sight. And everything, I mean EVERYTHING goes into his mouth! Somebody remind me WHY I am still sterilizing his bottles?

Kayden is also teething! His bottom left front tooth is cutting through. Yay for tooth but nay for the entire household. We had screaming attacks in the middle of the nights. So. Not. Fun. He wakes up frustrated and clutching his gums, the poor baby. Thank god for baby panadol and Bonjella . As the checkout lady at Coles told me earlier this week, it works wonders!

But at other times, where his tooth isn't bothering him, he gives us all plenty of his gummy smiles.

at 5.5 months

Recipe: Spaghetti meatballs

This post is for a dear friend who has asked for the recipe sometime ago, here you go D!

Hubby finds it amusing that I won't eat spaghetti bolognese, yet I will have spaghetti meatballs. Haha! Technically the same thing, just presented differently. I just prefer something to cut into, rather than digging into a plateful of slush.

We usually have beef mince in the fridge and canned tomatoes in the pantry. It is a no brainer and really quick to whip up. I happened to have carrots and some bacon this time in the fridge too, but you don't have to. It could be just as simple as mince and onions really. Just based on my own estimation on things as usual, so really, taste as u go ok?





Me and my pregnant brain forgot to include the bay leaf and egg in the photo LOL....AND I forgot to take a photo of the actual dish itself! *slaps head!*But u guys know how spaghetti meatballs look like right?

Seriously, this pregnant brain thing had better not be permanent!

Spaghetti meatballs

serves 4

400gm beef mince

1/2 brown onion diced

1 egg

splash of worcestershire sauce (I use Lea & Perrins)

bit of sugar

bit of flour

bit of water

1.5 tsp mixed herbs (I use masterfoods)

pinch of thyme (masterfoods)

1 bay leaf (optional)

carrot diced (optional)

bacon diced (optional)

1 can italian whole peeled tomatoes in juice (u can use diced ones as well)

salt and pepper to taste

olive oil

1. Mix the mince with the mixed herbs, egg, water, worcestershire sauce, sugar, salt and pepper. I see how the mixture looks like and then I put in some water and flour if necessary, it gives it more bite with the flour and prevents the meatballs from falling apart, and the water makes the meatballs alittle bit juicier. (sometimes I cheat and I also use sausages from the supermarket into the mix, I just squeeze out the meat from the skins!)



2. Roll out into golf ball sized meatballs and set aside for abit.



3. Cook spaghetti in a pot of salted boiling water until al dente and set aside.



4. Heat generous amount of olive oil in pan, throw in all the meatballs and cook it until it browns. It does not have to be fully cooked inside at this point. Remove and set aside.


5. Drizzle abit more olive oil and sautee onions for a minute or so, throw in carrots. Cook until just starting to brown or softened. Add bacon and wave it around for a little bit.



6. Add the meatballs, canned tomatoes and moosh up the whole tomatoes. Throw in a couple of pinches more of the herbs, worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper to taste. Also throw in the bay leaf now if you are using it. Leave it to simmer, until the sauce thickens. If you have some fresh basil leaves from the garden, here's when you throw a couple of them in as well.



7. Plate up your spaghetti and plonk the sauce on top.



8. Serve.

Double yolks

I have heard of eggs having double yolks, but have never seen it for myself! But look what I got for breakfast one morning! =)

Recipe: Lemon peppered chicken pasta

Hubby doesn't cook often, but when he does, he usually whips up something really tasty! He made this chicken pasta the other day for dinner. It was soooo good, I had seconds even though I was so full!

Lemon peppered chicken pasta

For 4 servings

5 chicken thigh fillets chopped into chunks

2 cloves garlic minced

1 red capsicum julienned

2 cups fresh button mushrooms sliced

a light sprinkling each of:

- lemon pepper

- cajun spice seasoning

- cayenne pepper

1 can diced tomatoes in juice

spiral pasta (however much u need)

salt to taste

olive oil

1. Marinate chicken chunks with some salt, all the peppers and a drizzle of olive oil. Leave for 30minutes.
2. Prepare pasta according to instructions. Remember to add salt to the water, no oil though! It coats the pasta preventing it from absorbing sauce later on.
3. Heat olive oil in pan, sautee garlic until fragrant. Add capsicum and wave it around for a minute or two, and then add in the chicken and cook until it just starts to get some colour.
4. Pour in the can of diced of tomatoes including the juice. Mix well until it starts to boil again. At this point, if you can add alittle water if it looks dry, not too much though, you don't want to end up with a soupy pasta and also because you're going to...
5. Add the mushrooms and mix it through until the mixture starts to simmer again.
6. Add salt to taste. If you think it needs more kick from any of the peppers you can put some more in again now.
7. Pour in the pasta, mix it through the sauce.
8. Serve.

So good! =)

Early bird breakfast

What does one do when her baby gets the hiccups at 6am and starts kickboxing? She wakes up grumbling, and makes a quick breakfast.

Hubby wakes up almost 2 hours later and is pleasantly surprised (trust me, it doesn't happen like this all the time).

9.30am now. Is it time for my nap yet? I think so.

Good night.