I love to 'wear' my children

i miss baby wearing this little devil!

this photo was taken in Taiwan, last september, at 2+ yrs old.

Feels like the SSC (soft structured carrier) are too harsh for little Matty as they could graze his delicate skin wrapping his tiny body.

we have two SSC and in total they both cost over RM 1000. no regrets nevertheless as we use them instead of our almost RM 2000 stroller. sigh. our stroller is the white elephant ironically.

Matty will have his new babywear gear! darling, not everything will be passed down. poor chap.
i need more practice wearing him in the new gear hence it will be a while before u see photos of us in it!

Find out more about babywearing and its benefits and u may even dropped the idea of getting a stroller for your first born. ;)

Newborn at home!

Welcome home little one~

Day 6 of life

First day at home. wheee~

Day 6

The 3.5 years old brother is loving,

unfortunately not gentle.

Day 7 of life

looks pretty chubby?

wait till u see the current photos

(as of today, day 23 of life)

yellow patch on his cheeks quite apparent

upon discharge, SB was 220 mmol/dL

he will need phototherapy if it exceeds 250mmol/dL

there is a table where u can check the age with the appropriate SB level

i still think he looks pretty round here

too tiny to be clothed.

none of KJ's clothes could fit him.

nope, i did not buy any new newborn clothings.

nor did i buy any new baby items.

besides a few cloth diapers and 2 new Avent milk bottles.

big bro insisted carrying the little bro

i think he saw us taking turns cradling di-di hence he wants to take part too?

the di-di is becoming 'red'

i am unequipped.

despite having a second child. opsie!

no clothes that could fit him.

couldnt find the expensive Mothercare white beanie.

the beanie in the photo above was a handkerchief.

homemade soy milk

how to make soya bean drink?


 these are organic soy bean

wait. so it is soya bean or soy bean? hmmm...

i soaked for a night on the kitchen counter. they would swell and some skin will burst! :)

this batch of beans had all their skins removed.

previously i did not remove the skin but i have decided to do so after a while so that they wont produce that much pulp. the skin won't be contributing anything to the soy milk, will it?

 
 KJ does not like unstrained soy milk. so no choice, i have to strained it, using a cheap cloth strainer.

 

if the little one is not drinking, i could serve unstrained soy milk to the father, which is a hell lot simpler. and less washing :p

what i do is, soak the beans overnight, remove the skin, blend in the thermomix with water, strained, cook for 20 mins with pandan leaves (if i can remember) and some rock sugar or brown sugar. ready to be served.

somehow i find the taste of this home made soymilk to be a little raw. either they are not sweet enough to cover the taste or it could be due to the organic beans? means because it is organic? i have not tried on the normal soy beans.

well, drinking soy bean is so debatable these days that i don't think i would make them again. am i paranoid? not that much. but because i have lots of recipes on my sleeve that i dont think i can ever finish trying them.

google and read up more, especially if you are a soy lover. do not over do it.

some mothers share their stories which horrifies me.
the debate was:
-too much soy causes breast cancer : broadcast in a Breast cancer awareness talk
-could cause other cancers as well
-GMO soy vs non-GMO

i know, moderation is the key.

hence i will only permit drinking soy milk when they are outside (how frequent can it get?) and i'll make other nutritious drinks at home.

green-skinned banana

have u seen green bananas?

oh obviously u have.


but look! it is ripe inside!



the flesh is sweet and soft and it has ripen. albeit still wearing a green skin.

i have never seen this ever before in the west.

living in the east has given me vast tongue-tasting experience.

second bub!

Day 6 of life: Kay Shen, 

恺森

in NICU level 2, hwkk

DOB: 11 June 2013, 12.05am

green smoothies

the beginning of a new adventure!

green smoothies! 

ulam raja

Rm 2 / bunch

can plant this as it grows really easily, hence im gonna get the seeds soon!

 peppermint leaves

its considered a herb?

 can only get the peppermint in KK Market,

not the other markets which i usually frequent like Lido Market or Bundusan

our veggies for the week:

celery, carrot, ulam raja and peppermint leaves

 1 green apple, 1 carrot, a handful of ulam raja, 2 stalks of celery, 1 tsp of grounded flaxseed

remember to start consuming flaxseed gradually, from 1 tsp and slowly up to 1-2 tsb, as it is highly fibrous.

please google for the wholesome goodness.

or u can read from healthyflax or from webmd. 

 well, i find the smoothies too pulpy!

perhaps it was the carrot or celery or i did not add enough water? or i did not blend long enough.

all my smoothies were blended for less than a minute.

that is how quick you can prepare them ;)

hence i strained it to become juice!

 throw them away?

na-ah...

dont u ever!

store them in the fridge and cooked pasta sauce the next day! ;)

yin & yang baked macaroni

vege of the week would be ulam raja.

yes, the entire week i used the same vegetables.

consumption is little since there is only the 3 of us.

somehow the end product is only enough for 3 of us in each morning.

how i wish we can increase the frequency of drinking.

we'll figure this out later.

so the above was :

honey dew, 1 red apple, ulam raja, chia seed 

smooth green texture

GUIDELINES FOR GREEN SMOOTHIE CONSUMPTION FOR OPTIMAL HEALTH BENEFITS.

more recipes of green smoothies

someone else loves pancake too!

the father's idea. obviously i wont have the urge to make pancake this way on a saturday morning!



u saw that dirty piece of pancake beside the stove?

the father couldnt be bothered to throw it and guess what happened after a while? it was gone! how magical!

our house rat ate it! *grhh*


his favorite triceratops!


montessori says to allow the children to do what they can do for themselves.




i will never be satisfied with the pancake recipes. there are so many variation out there and i failed to keep track of which that i have tried was good and which was not.

the pancakes above are Scotch Pancakes from Little Teochew. originally from Gordon Ramsay.

For the Scotch pancakes
- 100g plain flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- Pinch of salt
- 80ml buttermilk (pour 80ml of whole milk and add 2 tsp fresh lemon juice)
- 50ml cold water
- 2 large eggs, beaten
- Sunflower oil (or any neutral flavoured oil), for frying

i dont quite like it, maybe because of my ingredients? i estimated them however trying to stick as close to the measurements given.

i prefer my pancake to fluffy and thick, like american pancakes.



this was on another occasion. used simple recipe, one cup of each.

beginning to pose in front of the camera these days ;)

toddler spinach and macaroni

 blended spinach. olive oil, garlic, onion and spinach. no other flavouring.


 cooked for 4 minutes


store them in cubes and refrigerate a few and freeze the rest.

i passed them to babysitter so that she can add them into his meals, either porridge during lunch or served with rice for dinner.

typical chinese family, and a fussy-eater, KJ only eats a few types of vegetable namely broccoli and soft green leaves. i mentioned typical chinese family because aunty feeds him with more carbohydrate than proteins and greens.

i prepared these blended veges for him when he was younger but ive stopped since then. guess i should continue doing this till he eats like an adult!

the child himself is so picky that he can eat soft stir-fried cucumber this week and not eat it the next. he still does not know what is KFC-kentucky fried chicken. he does not eat burger which tells you that he does not eat big pieces of meat. i have sneaked in small pieces of stir-fried bittergourd in his rice with no objection.

he likes he likes to 'check out' what is in the spoon before it enters his mouth.

 
mushroom soup with macaroni

claiming to love the powder cheddar cheese (milled ourselves from blocked cheese, much healthier choice than processed sliced cheese).


he do not usually like pieces of mushroom but he loves this dish. by the way darling, both mom and dad love mushrooms! that is how finicky he can be. he dived into the bowl and towards the end, he started to protest. pointed to the mushroom. huh?

 
notice his enthusiasm? asked for more cheese.

so a week after this (he eats home with us on weekends and on non-working days), we had baked paste with chicken bolognese sauce, topped with shredded gouda cheese.

"i dont like the cheese!"

-____________-

quickly, i asked the father to remove the bowl and do some magic > cut up all the cheese and mix thoroughly into the sauce and pasta.



this is our Gouda Cheese. the father said it tastes good! of course darling. 
i would love to bring him to Netherlands simply because i had my best there.

my oat adventure

this is steel cut oat. uncooked. they said this is not exactly raw, also cant refer to this as uncooked. but since i am still a noob in the raw world, i would just refer to this as uncooked. well, atleast it is uncooked from the packet.

do u know that we need to soak our grains and nuts before consuming/cooking?
i have shared in the previous post the links on why we need to do so.

after gaining this knowledge, i have since soaked my brown rice and now i am soaking my oats and eating them uncooked!

i have always soaked my oats before cooking ever since i was in UK. but now i am soaking them and eating them raw. ROARS!

this steel cut oat is too grainy though, maybe i am still not accustomed to it.

what i did was soaked them in warm water with a little apple cider vinegar and leave them in room temperature for about 24 hours. then i rinsed them and portion them before transferring into the fridge, soaked in milk and dried cranberries.

since i dont have the luxury of blueberries or strawberries sitting in my fridge, i usually eat my oats without fresh fruits. not much toppings as i love plain oats on its own. you can add agave nectar or raw honey or manuka molasses or even salt it. i dont add butter as well , which you can.

for my children, i WISH to make oats with butter and molasses and banana? that is my fantasy. because kj hates oats. well, he has not tasted them before, or maybe he did. but if he did, he sure as hell has good memory because i dont remember preparing oats for him (baby food does not count) and on sunday when he saw me preparing the oats for coming weekdays, he says "i dont like this". ouch.


anyway, back to oats, i went back to the store last night and bought Organic Rolled Oats by Country Farm. very limited choice here as compared to KL. u can practically get just anything under the stars in that urban city these days.
yes, i don't eat quick cooking oats. it has to be at least cooking oats, if not rolled. told you im a health conscious person, therefore the reason of me venturing into steel cut oats.

the rolled oats should be soft upon soaking and more palatable eaten uncooked hence i should make a gradual move from here before moving on to steel cut oats, which is more nutritious.

i cant find other brands here besides Bob's Red Mill. 

u can read here on how they freeze oats from New Nostalgia, or how to prepare steel cut oats in 2 minutes from here and here.

i hope i would be able to eat my oats uncooked like her.