Mummy Joyce's Super Grain Porridge Recipe - Quinoa Seeds

Our TCM doctor told us to feed Quinoa seeds to our kids as a staple food to stop them from getting sick easily and after months of searching, we finally found organic Quinoa sèeds from an NTUC in Punggol.
These seeds fly of the shelves very fast and they take ages to replenish stocks once sold out so once we saw them, we bought a packet to try straight away. A packet costs $7.50.

If you do a Google search on these grains, you will find plenty of good things people have to say about this super food.
Quinoa seeds are basically gluten free super grains packed with plenty of good stuff like protein and vitamins for the body and both our kids love it.

So here is how I cook it - I boil in water till soft, 1/4 cup of quinoa seeds with a little white rice, some rolled oats and/or barley and a sprinkle of Chia seeds, which happens to also be another super food packed with lots of omega 3 and vitamin B.**

I then add fish meat or pork/beef and bovril/fish sauce (optional) into the water together with broccoli or any other veggie of your choice for more fibre and flavour.

The grains, although almost tasteless, emit a fresh grainy fragrance and the quinoa seeds have a bit of a nice soft crunch to it when bitten on.

Do feel free to improvise on the recipe to your liking.

I truly find this mix of super grains better for health than the usual white rice porridge we always make.
Must try!

**Chia seeds can be bought from shops selling organic food products and a packet of about 400g can cost up to $15 - $20 per packet.

Stew on It Beef Stew

My mummy made us beef stew for dinner and I love her stew so much, I want to share her recipe with everyone.

As we are Chinese, her recipe has a little Chinese twist to it but that is, I feel what makes it, the ultimate comfort food on a cold and rainy night.

This picture doesn't do the stew any justice at all by the way...besides by the time I whipped my cam out to take a picture, my daughter had already eaten half the bowl. Lol.

Here is our family's beef stew recipe:

Before you start, go to your local market and buy about 1kg of beef from the butcher. We usually buy the leg portion of the cow. If you really don't know which part of the cow to buy, tell your butcher you want to make stew and he should be able to recommend the best parts for that to you.

Step 1:

Slice the beef into cubes about 5cm x 5cm in size and season with 

Some basil, 1 small teaspoon of black pepper, about 2 teaspoons of salt and some oyster sauce. A little light soya sauce can also be added if you want.

Step 2:

Fry about 5 big onions (roughly chopped), 

6 cloves of garlic (finely chopped) together in some oil until fragrant before adding the seasoned beef cubes,

3 carrots (sliced into rough cubes) and 

about 4-5 potatoes (sliced into cubes) in to fry some more.

Fry all for about 5 mins. Make sure all sides of the beef have been pan fried before you move on to step 3.

Step 3:

Add half a cup of red wine,

 1 star anise, 1 small cinnamon stick, 1 bay leaf and the *bottom end portion of a chinese celery stalk to simmer for a few minutes before

Adding about 2 cups of hot water into the pot/ wok.

Continue to simmer for 1-2 hours on low heat.

Step 4:

After about an hour or two,

Add a tablespoon of corn starch mixture into the simmering stew.

Leave to simmer for another few minutes before turning fire off.

Before serving, sprinkle chopped chinese celery leaves on top.

*The chinese celery stalk end is not a must but we find that it enhances the taste of the stew a lot more.

Hope you like our version of beef stew as much as we do.

Princess #2 @ Talent Plus Playgroup

Our younger daughter started play school at Talent Plus in Punggol this week and she loves it so far.

Her 2 hour lesson starts with her teacher taking her temperature and disinfecting her tiny hands and usually ends with a story telling session.

Each 2 hr session includes song and dance, art and craft and story telling as well as play time.
There is also 1 session taught solely in Mandarin per week. There are no classes on weekends, during school holidays and on public holidays.

Her teacher does not speak very good English but she is nice to the kids and I am pretty happy with their curriculum. Most importantly, princess #2 seems to be enjoying the activities very much.

Our main objectives are for her to socialise and play with her peers as well as to exhaust some of her forever going energy level. :)

There are a teacher and a teacher's assistant per class and her class has about 10 - 15 children.
The monthly fee is $155/month. Material fees are $95 paid every half yearly. 2 sets of uniform are $50. And a non-refundable 1 month deposit of $155 is required upon registration. This deposit is to be used to pay school fees for the last month of school of the year.

Because it is not a childcare, they will call you to come change your child's diaper if she/he happens to poop during the 2 hr class.

Bye bye 2013

I started 2013 with a resolution to begin a habit of writing a little something, anything I wanted to each week of the year so that when I look back I would know whether it was a fulfilling one or just another one of those years and I am happy I did because my year though simple, was filled with happy memories of outings with the kids and my husband.
I may continue to write, I may not. Whatever it is, I am glad I recorded most of the happy moments of 2013.
Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!

Ah Chiang Traditional Charcoal Porridge Day

Had famous Ah Chiang's Cantonese porridge at Toa Payoh and the kids loved it.
Not too bad but I still prefer Joe's at Smith St.
Ah Chiang's porridge is smooth but has this strong soya sauce taste to it.
There wasn't a lot of pork in my porridge either. However, I couldn't have done a better job myself, especially since its apparently traditionally boiled over charcoal fire.

2 Outlets:
190 Lorong 6 Toa Payoh
#01-526
&
65 Tiong Poh Rd

Korean Pancake Day!

Mummy made Korean seafood pancake for lunch!!!
After she makes the batter with salt, pepper flour, water and eggs, she adds squid, prawns, vegetables like bean sprouts and onions to the batter and then pan fries the concoction.
For the dipping sauce, she uses fish sauce,
garlic, shallots, chilli and sugar.
Super yummy. Gotta be the best pan fried Korean pancake in town.

Festive Joys

Highlight #1
Mum made tiger prawn red thai curry with papaya tonight and it was so so so yummy.
The sweet juicy papaya in the fragrant curry together with the freshness of the prawns is what makes this dish so tantalising.
I will put the recipe up soon.

Highlight #2

Christmas came early for me because the husband bought me a Panasonic pore cleanser.

This device rids surface pores of your skin of dirt by suction. Suppose to use 2x weekly.

Only $66 each.