Recent cooks

What a week of noodles... the rice in my rice container can last longer as you know it is not auspicious to have a near empty rice bucket during CNY. LOL what a great reasoning.

Great start of the week with the simplest noodle meal anyone can cook come up with in minutes. Cold noodles in Japanese style. I bought the noodles from Daiso some time back. When I finally cooked it, I realised it came with dipping sauce which only needed to mix with cold water to serve. I added some Korean sesame oil (yeah Korean one more fragrant) to mix and even K kind of liked this dinner. *Went back to Daiso in search of this noodles but no one seems to know about its existence or past existence.*



I made chicken mushroom noodle soup the previous week and it was quite close to the one my late mum used to make. I loved it so much that I had to do it again the following week. In fact I can eat it every week and I don't think I will get sick of it. To make dinner more interesting, I decided to do a dry-noodle version instead. There we have jade noodles tossed with sesame oil, light soya sauce and Sun brand shredded scallop (my new secret weapon which is something like XO sauce but sauceless), topped with shredded chicken and mushroom slices. Instead of having quail's eggs and 福州 fishballs, I put mini Korean dumplings in the soup.

炒粿条 on my new frying pan. Whoa I need time to adjust to my new toy. It heats up so fast that I couldn't catch up. I love how evenly the heat is distributed.

Bean's menu: The most interesting week of her solid meal life!

Fried bee hoon. 1st time making this for her. She quite like it although she didn't finish up everything. Mama didn't mind eating the leftover though.

While daddy and mummy had the dry-noodle version, she had the soup noodle version. She loved it. Mama loved it too cuz cook 1 pot soup can feed the entire family from lunch to dinner :)

She also had 炒粿条 but with fish instead of prawns. She can't bite very well yet so still fish for her for now. Slightly burnt but still edible.

It was porridge lunch again and I tried to make a new side dish for her although not very successful. Had attempted to make pan fried potato patty but too lazy to dip in egg and coat with corn flour, resulting in very chui patty. I made her eat it anyway.

Steamed tofu with fish. Very beautiful I think.

Fried bee hoon again when I had no idea what to cook. No more greens in the fridge and weather too wet to go to the supermarket. Luckily there was a backup tomato in the fridge (given by my buddy cum neighbour) so she still gets her carbs, protein and vitamins as I always make sure she does in every meal.

In her favourite seat

湘颖's favorite all-time seat is the kiddy ride.

XY the garang tomboy wannabe

We were at the playground one late afternoon before dinner. As usual XY doesn't like to interact with the kids at the playground. She usually walks away when a child walks towards her direction. She's a loner as K and I term it. I'm not sure if it's anything to worry about but there was one time she actually did show some affection towards the cute Japanese girl (4 months older than her) after lots of encouragement from the Jap mummy and myself. Ok out of the many times, she only played along once...

This particular day, I found out what she is really interested in. Boys' stuff! Just as the other kids at the playground adjourned home, she insisted to stay on by sitting very near to the bunch of new-comer boys. See the below pic she seems to be one of the gang but actually no one paid attention to her haha. I was so amused by this scene - toddler girl very interested in big boy toys and big boys played among themselves without acknowledging her presence. I guess boys this age don't bother about babies or toddlers much. Oh by the way, those were Beyblades with a "stadium". My bro also played Beyblades when he was around this age. I still remember Aaron Kwok sang the theme song in Cantonese version haha.

Another view of how much she wanted to be part of the gang. I just let her sit there and make sure the Beyblades don't hit her when they are in operation.

Day out with Mummy

Our weekly "Us time" out for lunch and shopping.
This is her just yawned and me with wet hair (yes... I went out with WET hair) and unruly brows.

My little girl looks much girlish now :)

My new toy is here

Yes yes, my Berndes non-stick fry pan has been used to death by me and so I decided to upgrade to a ceramic coating pan this time round. No more Teflon! I'm not sure which brand is good but I did consider The Green Pan as well. As it happens, Robinson's was having a very good sale for the Neoflam one (they don't carry The Green Pan) and so I had to get it rightaway. It is not very expensive considering the material composition and it came with a glass cover.

Got it delivered this morning. Super happy max!!
Frying pan also must camwhore!

P/S: K hasn't gotten his bonus if you are wondering haha...

Chinese New Year Sale - Ameda Lactaline Personal Dual Electric Pump

Pre-order now on. Pls expect about 2 working weeks for delivery.

Price: SGD265/unit inclusive of free delivery to local address.
*Price match if you are able to find a lower price in sg.*
*Self-collection at Buangkok MRT gets $5 off.*
Email me: pinkdew@singnet.com.sg
Sms: 9842 1275
*Local departmental stores selling at $388*



The latest generation mains and battery operated breast pump from Ameda has been completely modernised, with bigger, better control knobs and new BPA-free Hygienikit ™ milk collection sets supplied with standard 25mm breastshields.

Main features
CustomControl ™ - Independent cycle (0-60 min) and suction (215mm Hg max) controls for complete control of the let-down reflex.

Easy to maintain - Compatible with all Ameda electric breast pumps, the supplied HygieniKit Milk Collection sets feature a patented silicone diaphragm that prevents milk and bacteria from entering the tubing and pump motor.

The HygieniKit is dishwasher safe and can even convert to a manual pump. There is no need to sterilise the Ameda Hygienikit tubing.

Professional performance - Comparable to the Ameda Elite 'Hospital' breast pump but for domestic use.

Use anywhere - The Ameda Lactaline Personal dual electric breast pump is supplied with a UK 3-pin mains adapter, and will operate effectively on battery power (6x AA alkaline batteries). Ameda's 12v adapter adds further versatility, enabling use in the car, caravan or boat.

And above all - It's a double pump. Double-pumping is believed to raise the body's prolactin levels compared to expressing on one side only, leading to an increase in the quality and quantity of expressed breast milk. It's quicker than a single pump too!

SALE: Pre-loved Ameda Lactaline Dual Breastpump

I'm selling my used Ameda breastpump.
Used for about 9 months, motor not as strong as newly bought but working well.
Selling at $40.
Self-collection at Buangkok MRT. Other locations can be arranged to my convenience.

Pls sms me Josephine at 98421275 or email pinkdew@singnet.com.sg

Recent cooks

Start with XY's menu first. Why? Because I uploaded in the wrong sequence and too lazy to drag them down. Haha.

Fried rice with Worcestershire sauce (I took out the bottle for the spelling) and tomato sauce. 1 of her 1st meals with no soup/gravy. She seemed to like it. Finished almost the whole serving. This was a family meal - meaning everyone ate the same food.

Pancake for lunch? Am afraid so. LOL. Yep Sat lunch is kinda "special". She gets either KFC/Mac pancakes or Yoshinoya beef bowl cuz by the time we return from our weekly market trip, it'll be too rush to prepare her lunch. Pancake is my new experiment the night before and using the batter, I made her fresh pancakes. Sadly she doesn't seem to like it much.



蛋花汤 with yellow noodles. A good thing I often have chicken stock in the fridge (usually cook a batch enough for at least XY's 4 meal portions). She loves chicken. She loves noodles. She loves soups. No further explanations needed. Period.

I was contemplating what to cook and somehow came up with a "pirated" version of my mum's mushroom chicken soup and so the family had this for dinner. XY and me had this for lunch as well. I will be cooking this very often now. Everyone likes it. Though K said still a long way to go before reaching my mum's standards.

Now to the adults' menu.

Remember the 炒年糕 I cooked the previous week? Well I promised to cook the same gravy over plain rice since K likes the gravy but not the 年糕. But I think I overdid the ingredients. Too much of everything. K said he couldn't make out what I was trying to cook. See, I have a 美食专家 at home.

Pancake craze. Got this nice and simple recipe from Rasa Malaysia - a Malaysian who resides in US. She's got a very interesting blog with very simple and easy comprehensive recipes and I love them all.

K's supper. Pancake with banana. He didn't really feel hungry but I WANTED to make him these. Haha. Not bad for a 1st timer :)

Mine with blueberries.

Ok I got so addicted that I made them 3 consecutive days. This happens when I found something new to make - I make them in consectutive batches. After the sweet flavours, I tried savoury ones.

With cheddar cheese.

Served ala "Marche crepe-style". The thickness of this pancake is too thick though.

Actually it's good even with just maple syrup :D

Ah another recipe from Rasa Malaysia. Mee Soto. I followed mostly but added in lemongrass for more fragrance. I have been craving for a nice Mee Soto for weeks but there isn't any Malay stall at my neighbourhood. When I finally got down to cooking this, I realised it is soooo easy to make.
K said it's delicious. Well, most things served in yellow noodles tastes good to him... I also made inpromptu begedils thanks for my buddy cum neighbour passing me corned beef and a russet potato. XY and K loved the begedils. I made those based on my own estimation. Not authentic hehe.



A close-up of the soup. I followed RM's recipe and added some cocont milk but I saw in some other recipes they don't.

Since my version of begedil was popular the day before, I decided to replicate it for dinner the next day.

New soup on the menu. Followed noobcook's Chinese cabbage soup recipe. Very simple. Just add on long cabbage to the usual corn and carrot soup I cook and there I get a even sweeter and delightful soup. I never knew cabbage can make that soup taste so nice. Will be cooking that very often now.

Um.. that's my lonely dinner before K got home from work.

Ah lian at the playground

Each time on the way back home from MRT station or the neighbourhood supermarket, we will walk pass the playground adjacent to the basement carpark and she never fail to dash towards it for a round of play... These days she gets more garung. Very rough play!

See the metal bar she's holding on to? She can now climb the 1st step without any help, with both feet resting on the lowest metal bar and 2 hands holding the vertical bars. And she's not even turned 18 months. Scary!

Another of her favs is the spinning triangle (don't know the name la).

Can sit down not bad already. Her latest trick is to stand up there.

Random ah lian shots...

Day out with mummy

I try to bring XY out during weekday at least once a week. Usual places we go are Orchard, NEX and Compass Point (as if it's any surprise?). Ok eversince NEX opened I even dread going to my favourite place - Orchard, due to NEX so super convenient, just 3 stops away by train. Ya even now become auntie I still love going to Orchard.

Anyway happened that I have a buyer for my Fridge-to-go (that heavy cooler bag I used to lug to and fro work everyday to store my ebm) so I went to Cityhall which was near her work place. After some mis-communication which resulted in time delay, I was very desperate to find a not crowded eating place (wayyyy past XY's lunchtime and I was panicking). Ok after about a year of not working, I'd almost forgotten how crowded Raffles City is during lunch hours. Out of desperateness, I settled for a small shop selling sets consisting of any 3 dishes of your choice + rice/bread + coffee/tea. Actually the concept reminded me of the little Paris trip K and I took years ago. (We had chap cai png for breakfast, lunch and dinner on some days. Not cheap but somehow it was all we wanted to eat!) The dishes were displayed deli-style and you select what you want, they would microwave it and serve it to you. Exactly like what we had in Paris. Haha.

See this cute signboard hung up on the wall...



Btw, the tea they served was a good Earl Gray. I wasn't having high hopes since it was "FOC" with the set but the tea was in a silk bag and served in a nice glass cup and saucer :) Also, for the record, XY shared the meal with me. She is officially OPENED to non-homecooked food now. Not that I will openly announce to K yet. I still want her to eat healthy for now although she has now eaten many times Yoshinoya beef bowl for lunch and a couple times at Food Republic. I no longer bring porridge when just the 2 of us out. Imagine I leave at about 11am still have to prepare porridge!!

There she sits while waiting patiently for our lunch. Her patience soon wore off cuz she was simply too hungry and sleepy. BUT after having her fill, she was happy again and thankfully, stopped screaming. (The office lunch crowd were STARING at us when XY screamed and whined. I was too embarassed to look at them. It was probably not often they witness such scenes during lunch time.) We survived a meal without highchair. I am so proud of myself. *beams* Some friends tell me they can't bring the kid without hubby but I do it all the time. Not that challenging!

湘颖五连拍

She was sitting on the stool, watching Miss Electrolux at work but got distracted when she saw mummy with a camera.

In love with Kiddy Ride

At our usual hangout - Compass Point :)

Dressing up the BTP bag - step by step pics

My buddy bought a ST bag with a nice bling bling Hello Kitty charm. I cannot lose out to her! I must also be hardworking to zhng my bag! *EVIL*

Ok la I'm not that competitive. The fans of BTP, some of them want to know how to tie the ribbon on the handles and so I decided to be a kaypoh and do a step by step mini tutorial :D

As shown on previous post, this is one of the ways to dress up the handle. This ribbon sat inside the drawer for more than 1.5yrs. I bought this to tie on my belly while doing my pregnancy shoot (week 37) and now my little girl is coming 18 months. I'm putting this pce of neglected ribbon to good use eh ;P



A close up of the ends.

Now comes the step by step pics.
Firstly, divide the length of the ribbon into half and put in onto the middle of the handle. (Lace ribbon is found in the same drawer and bought for the same purpose - meaning it is also at least 1.5yrs old.)

Step 2: Twirl the ribbon around the handle relatively tightly, ensuring no gaps in between.

Step 3: Twirl all the way to the end.

Step 4: Upon reaching the end point, twirl an additional round around the handle.

Step 5: Slot the end of the ribbon into the additional twirl of the ribbon and tie it tightly.

The handle is half done. Do the same for the other side.

Viola! Completed! You can cut the ends shorter to make it more proportionate to the bag if you like.

However, I thought of some variations that can be done. Just a simple knot (eg. reef knot) makes it nice and presentable too.

Don't like long loose ends? Tie a small butterfly knot :)

And here, I have 2 contrasting handles.

If you have some extra ribbon of the same kind, you can also tie a separate butterfly knot at the end. Pretty too.