His Sweet Tooth

There are some foods, which Chubbs is unable to resist. At the top of this privileged group (mainly sweet stuff) of foods stands vanilla or chocolate ice-cream and certain biscuits and cookies. He could have just eaten a full meal, be in the midst of playing with toys or reading a book, and he'd still be able to devour large quantities of his favourites.

He loves these Organix wholemeal currant cookies. They come in these great small packets for little hands, and the round cookies are the perfect size for kids to pop into their mouths. He can't get enough of them; always looking sad when his hand digs around and finds no more cookies in the packet.

McDonald's Initiation

Believe it or not, Chubbs is now three months to three, and today was the first day Chubbs had a taste of Maccer's offerings. He was excited by the general buzz of the fast-food joint, and liked the hotcakes neat, with a carton of milk. But the thrill came with the Po and Tigress figurines he got with the Happy Meal (He's currently fascinated with Kungfu Panda). I was a happy Mommy too, getting my first Maccer's hit since mid '08.

The slow but sure downward spiral to nutritional oblivion begins here :(

Feeding Himself

People ask me all the time, "Why don't you let him feed himself? He's so old already!" Fact is, I do. But he just won't get very much eating done, which to me, defeats the purpose of the meal itself. Unless it's one which comprises wholly of ice-cream, chocolate, cookies, biscuits, cheese and fruit; he would gladly wolf everything down before the minute is up. But give him a bowl of rice with chicken and broccoli? Forget it!

But of late, I've been trying to make him as many yummy meals as possible, that hold a slim chance of him actually being willing to pick up the spoon and put food in his mouth. Managed to get a few shots of his drinking his morning milk (usually a chore to get him to drink) and eating a hearty meal of chicken, carrot and potato stew. I was very happy that night.

More Kiddie Menu Ideas

Chubbs has a new favourite dinner. Pasta with Barilla's bottled pasta sauce, which has zucchini, aubergine/ eggplant, carrots, celery, onions and tomatoes. I used to turn my nose up on bottled sauces, but this one is fabulous because he gets veggies that I don't use often. Check the sodium content of any bottled sauces and make sure there's no MSG, starch, preservatives, etc. I serve a big bowl of this either with some grilled chicken, a substantial piece of cheese, or just on its own. But always with a huge splash of the best extra virgin olive oil.

Macaroni with Barilla zucchini and aubergine pasta sauce and 1 chopped up grilled honey-soy chicken drumstick. He finished it and had a bowl of watermelon for fruit.

Another meal that's always a favourite of Chubbs is soba noodles in miso soup. Fuzzy searched the supermarket to find an instant miso soup base that doesn't contain MSG. I whipped up his dinner in 10min. And thankfully for me, Chubbs loves frozen mixed veggies.

Grilled chicken thigh with soba noodles, miso soup and frozen mixed vegetables. After finishing his meal, he had watermelon for fruit and as a treat, a frozen juice pop.

Pizza margherita with cherry tomatoes. His fruit with dinner was a bowl of grapes.

Pizza has a weird bad rap for being unhealthy and it's often labelled as junk; something which I can't understand why. It's basically bread + tomato puree/ paste + cheese. I guess if you put oily toppings like salami, pepperoni or both on, then yes it turns out rather greasy. But I keep it very simple and healthy. I often just spread a piece of wholemeal bread with tomato paste and put a handful of grated mozzarella on, toast or bake until the cheese is thoroughly melted and slightly golden brown, and serve with tomatoes on the side and fruit. Or I'll order extra plain cheese or four cheese pizza when we eat at a pizzeria, and freeze the leftovers for Chubbs' instant dinners. Easy peasy... as Chubbs likes to say.

Kiddie Meal Ideas

When moms get together for a chat, we inadvertently start discussing our child's diet, his/ her likes and dislikes, and sometimes share our exasperation to make the little one's meals more interesting, and how to get them to eat. Chubbs is definitely fussy when it comes to food. To name just a few, he hardly tolerates egg yolk, will sniff out a single flake of fish in his rice and abandon the whole bowl of food, green leafy veg are almost always too tough for him to chew and swallow, and he hates formula milk; so I have to feed him using a teaspoon, 480ml of it everyday. Not the most enjoyable thing.

To get fresh ideas for his meals, I often look at blogs and cookbooks for inspiration. A lot of them use fancy presentation, lots of ingredients, and frankly, quite a bit of time. However, if Chubbs is willing to eat the food at the end of it all, I'd happily do as told. But I've come to realise that with him, simple is best. So I'd like to start sharing some of Chubbs' winner dinners with you guys, and hopefully, they'll give mummies out there some new dinner menu ideas. Everything is prepared with minimal ingredients and seasonings, to make cooking really easy and quick. The few guidelines that I have for myself, is that his three main meals of the day have to at least consist of a carbohydrate (wheat preferable only once a day), a protein and a lot of fruit. Veggies are a big bonus.

His daily time-table for food goes something like this.

9am- breakfast: A bowl of wholegrain cereal with fresh milk and fruit.

11am- 240ml milk before school.

He skips lunch in school everyday, preferring to play with toys undisturbed while other kids eat.

3pm- heavy snack: 1 piece of cheese/ boiled egg, 1 slice of wholemeal bread with jam/ honey, fruit and 240ml milk.

6pm- dinner.

7pm- snacks on whatever Fuzzy and I are eating for dinner. Usually some rice, veg and fruit.

So here's what he had for dinner over the past few days.

Wednesday: Oven-baked red-skinned potatoes, with egg omelette and ketchup. A big handful of grapes.

I leave the skins on the potatoes because the skins contain half the fibre in a potato. I cut them to resemble French fries, pat them dry, toss in extra virgin olive oil, and bake them in an 180C oven for 20min. He finished everything except for a few of the chips.

After dinner, he still managed to eat a scoop of vanilla ice-cream, and a small bowl of rice, and Stuffed his face with some freshly cooked potato chips.

Thursday: Steamed corn on the cob, with honey soy grilled chicken wings. A bowl of yellow watermelon.

As corn is a grain, I treat it as the carbo component to the meal. He ate all the meat (sans skin) and fruit, but couldn't finish the corn.

Friday: Chicken stew with potatoes and carrots; accompanied by a bowl of yellow watermelon.

He finished everything, and also had some choy sum when Fuzzy and I had dinner later. He had lots of energy to help Tai-Gong water all the plants in the garden after.

Broken Again

Today, Chubbs broke Fuzzy's glasses for the XXXth time. Honestly, I cannot remember how many times we have visited IEC in VivoCity to get them repaired. Chubbs even told our resident specs guy, "Uncle Danny, I broke Daddy's glasses again."

Since we were there, we thought we'd let Chubbs indulge in his favourite sweet treat, one that he hasn't had in a long time. It was actually also an excuse for us to snag a couple of Swensen's sundaes for ourselves :/ Our dear mini ice-cream fiend picked out his dessert, demolished three decent sized scoops of ice-cream, and even wanted more from Fuzzy and I!

He also loves wafer biscuits.

Mopping up the last bit of his treat. I had to pry the plate away from him.

Chubbs' Ultimate Snack

Everybody I know loves popcorn; especially the kids. But too often than not, the popcorn is made with bad and excessive fat, sugar, salt and colouring. What's meant to be a whole-grain, healthy snack has gained a bad reputation as an artery-clogger. So when Chubbs asks me for popcorn in the late afternoons, several times a week, I make a pot of it, with extra virgin olive oil, and nothing else. And it is delicious! Chubbs and I easily polish off a big bowl of it, and feel very happy, and strangely virtuous afterwards. So guys, give this a try at home (if you haven't before). It takes the merest of minutes, and you'll feed yourself and your kids something yummy and nourishing.

Ingredients:-

Extra virgin olive oil- enough to lightly coat the base of a heavy bottom pot

A large handful of dried popcorn

Method:-

1) Lightly cover the base of the pot with the EVOO.

2) Scatter the dried popcorn all over the base of the pot; making sure that there is a little room between each kernal, so that they can absorb the oil and have space to pop.

3) Cover the pot with the lid, and turn the flame on to medium.

4) The kernals will start popping soon. Wait until you can't hear anymore popping, open the lid, pour the fluffy popcorn out, sprinkle with a tiny bit of salt if really necessary, and serve warm!

Au Petit Salut Again

My aunt, Yee, very kindly bought Chubbs and I lunch at Au Petit Salut at Harding Road earlier this week, and we had a most lovely lunch. It was rather eventful afternoon too, as nature decided to bless us with a torrential rainstorm as we were reaching and we got rather drenched just getting into the restaurant. We were seated in the al fresco area, and because of the cracking lightning, booming thunder and relentless heavy rain on the roof, it was difficult to carry out any conversation, and I had to order by pointing at the menu. A plus side that came with the storm, was that it was unusually cool, dinning outdoors.

For starters, we ordered a tuna tartare and escargot to share, and they both turned out fabulous. The tuna was tender and seasoned well with mustard, lemon and extra virgin olive oil. The garlic and herb butter that the snails were cooked in, was a delight with the hot, crusty bread rolls that accompanied the meal.

My aunt ordered the ever popular onglet with caramelised onions and fries as her main course and I had the risotto with scallops, squid and prawns. The steak was great, as always, but the risotto was over-seasoned, and the texture, a bit on the wet side. I'd have preferred it a little creamier, and oozier. I also didn't quite understand the rather odd spinach garnish.

Chubbs tried fries for the first time, and even though he's never fancied potatoes, he seemed to enjoy the crisp novelty of them very much.

Chubbs constant and loyal partner-in-crime, Buzz, was very kind to join us for dessert of creme brulee and profiteroles. Chubbs polished off quite a bit of the profiteroles, and was most pleased to have had such a rich and indulgent end to his meal. The mighty strong Illy coffee that came at the very end is always good, sending us on our way with a light buzz.

Chubbs loved running around the garden compound when the rain finally let up, and the weather was cool. The ambience and lush tropical garden setting is what keeps us coming back, and I fear that they'll see more of me when Chubbs goes to school just next door when the new year begins :/

Chubbs at 2-years and 2-months...

... is a complete bundle of energy. He wakes up at 7am every morning, and doesn't stop running around, singing, fixing stuff around the house, playing cars, assembling puzzles, etc, until around 7pm at night. That means I'm his care-giver for at least 12-hours straight every day. I love spending this time with him, but it's super challenging finding ways to occupy and entertain for such long periods of time, since toddlers have a rather short attention span. Thankfully, he's really into books, so he can sit for at least 30-min per stretch reading. We keep his books in several large boxes on the floor in his play area, and on his own, he goes through at least one box of books per day.

He speaks well, and his vocabulary is vast, I think. I'm not really sure how many words he's supposed know by now, but he impresses me with the many four-syllable words his knows, and by being able to tell between octagons and hexagons, for instance. He knows every tool in a toolbox, and knows when to use which tool. He'll look at the screw to decide whether he needs to employ a Phillips or slot screwdriver, he uses a wrench to loosen bolts, pliers to take nails out, etc. His eye for detail seems rather amazing to me (I admit I'm a little biased), but it could very well be the case with every other kid out there and I just haven't compared notes :/ He also knows the tunes and lyrics too all the cartoons he watches, and entertains us daily with his cute renditions. He loves animals and we show him interesting creatures like narwhals, monitor lizards, otters, and he surprisingly remembers them all.

Food-wise, I began to completely wean him off breastfeeding about a week ago (up till then, he was still nursing at least twice a day). He was naturally very resistant to it at first, considering he has been nursing for over two years. But I repeated that I had not much milk for him anymore, and he's already a big boy who doesn't need Mommy to give milk. I could see the hurt in his eyes when I refused him. But I need to stick to my plan because the main reason I'm weaning him off is so he can learn to be more independent now that he's older, and be able to be in control of his own emotions. Breastfeeding was a source of comfort and it calmed him down before bed, etc. Since he's much older now, he needs to start mastering emotional stability and regulating how he's feeling. To compensate for the breast milk, I give him two feeds of about 8-ounces of formula milk, and one average cup of fresh milk (with his morning cereal) per day. With his, he also eats about two servings of cheese daily.

For breakfast, he takes cereal in the morning with fresh milk, fruit and sometimes a wedge of cheese. I give him organic whole grain cereals such as puffed buckwheat, puffed quinoa, honey-coated cornflakes, cocoa-coated puffed brown rice, etc. I love Nature's Path and New Morning cereals because they are made with whole-grains, usually gluten/wheat free and are 100% natural. Great for the body, and these cereals cost the same as Post or Kelloggs!

Lunch would usually be pasta/ soba/ sandwich, depending on which he chooses, with a protein, some vegetable, and finished with a fruit. Tea time for him is some biscuits/ home-made cake or muffin/ ice-cream and maybe some more fruit, together with his formula milk feed.

He eats dinner with us, and I'd normally prepare him meal with with soup of the day (watercress, lotus root, chicken, pork rib, etc.), put some rice, shredded steamed chicken and chopped vegetables in.

So that's what my little 26-month old boy's eating and doing. I don't realise how fast he's growing up and he catches me off guard when he uses sarcarsm on me, or when he chuckles at witty humor on TV. My baby is most definitely no longer a baby :/

Faking a smile for the camera.

Playing with Toy Story lego, and making up voices for the characters.

Crazy for Sushi and Coconuts

When Fuzzy and I are home alone on Sunday afternoons, our favourite lunch is very simply, take-out sushi. And now that Chubbs has jumped on the sushi-bandwagon too, it makes for a very fuss-free meal. Recently, Chubbs has also acquired a taste for fresh coconuts; he drinks almost all of the juice in one, and will even finish all the creamy flesh. Leaving not much for Mommy :(

Toasting with Californian handrolls.

Like I said before, the hubby likes to take very unglamorous shots of me :/

Taking a huge gulp of it first, then offering Daddy some.

Lunches with Shu

My secondary school friend, Shu, and I meet for lunch once in two weeks on average. Some days, she'll ta-pow something for us to have at home, other times, we head out for pizza at La Nonna, which is just around the corner from me. We chat, laugh, reminisce about the good old days of school, voice our frustrations with daily living, etc. But truth is, I put in the effort to maintain a relationship with her because she's a dear friend with a great heart, and I want to be a relevant part of her life, just as much as I like her being a part of mine.

She's been off to Nepal and India on vacation for one month, and I missed her dearly. To relieve her of her recent deprivation of luxury and to celebrate her return to civilisation, we pigged out at La Nonna again. Our order of soup, appetiser, pizza with truffle emulsion, half-cooked egg and asparagus, tiramisu and pannacotta went down very nicely indeed.

The little one loves the fresh bread there, which he normally pairs with a wedge of cheese. This time, slurped up a small portion of Shu's minestrone. For dessert, he ate half of my pannacotta, which he thinks is a less cold form of vanilla ice-cream. Ma ma mia! Bravissimo!

Thinking of what to do/ eat next.

Ah ha! Dip bread in minestrone soup.

Devour bread!

Shu was well tickled by his antics.

Jealous much, Cheryl?

"Happy Birthday to Ah Gu!"

My brother, Niel, turns 23 today. For many years, when people asked my brother age, I'd say he was 18. But he was actually already in adulthood. It's like no matter how old he gets, I can't wrap my head around it. He seems to have frozen in time. And it was only when I was preparing the candles to bring for his cake, that I stopped to literally count the years, and realized that my brother was old. Enough ramble... Happy "18th" Birthday Niel!

Dinner was miso soup and chawanmushi that my mum made, and I made a sushi run and brought handrolls, salmon belly sushi and other assorted sushi to the table. Chubbs had handrolls for the first time and he loved it to bits. Together with the handrolls, he ate two bowls of chawanmushi and a bowl of soup with tofu, and fruit and cake after. He's my little Jap baby!

After dinner, he got to play with a new toy, even though it wasn't his birthday. My mum got him a toy guitar, which he totally enjoyed strumming.

Jamming with my dad, who's playing the real mccoy.

Of course Chubbs got to "huff puff" the candles out and cut the cake too. He even sang the Chinese version of "Happy Birthday" to my brother. Great singing, little darling.