Ning’s Pasta

Recently, I received a private message from a lady offering to send me free pasta for my girl. Initially, I was excited about it. I asked more about the pasta and was told that the pasta was made  by flour, fresh veggie and water without any additives. It has high ratio of veggie so eating the pasta will give one the nutrients and fibers of veggie. But then I turned skeptical when she asked for my address and contact number plus her facebook profile picture was just a little hand playing piano (LOL!). It took me few days later that I replied her. I thanked her for the offer but told her truthfully I was skeptical because I barely know her. It was then she apologized for the “intimidating” private message and told be that it was for her business, where I could visit her business facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NingPasta . So, I was then less skeptical.

So, the parcel was sent out yesterday and I received the first thing this morning (even before my hubby went to work). It was frozen! Wow, I did not know that they could do that. It was packed very nicely too. I immediately replied the lady I received it and she asked me to store them in the fridge. I think the lady was a follower of my girl, she knew that my girl just turned 19 months! I was indeed surprise to receive the greeting “Happy 19^th month old!” That put a smile on my face!

 

Since my girl was not feeling too well today and I had remaining apple beet root soup, I thought of just cooking the pasta and served with the remaining soup. I added some mustard leaves and stir fried pork (marinated with orange). I just cooked the pasta in boiling water for less than 5 minutes before pouring the boiled soup with ingredients onto the pasta.

Before serving my girl, I tasted one of it. Well, it tastes like the usual flavoured noodles that I made for my girl. To my girl’s turn, she was “okay” with it – not totally like nor totally dislike. At one point, she was playing with it like she plays with ice cubes. In fact, when she saw me eating commercial egg noodles with the same soup – she wanted my noodle.

Overall, I like the shape of the pasta. But, I think I could make it myself if I had that special pasta making machine since it tasted similar to my noodles. But given that I don’t make extra of my flavour dough to be kept in the freezer, Ning Pasta that is stored in the freezer will come handy and better option to commercial pasta since it is homemade. It is an option for busy mummies who wish to serve their little ones homemade pasta.

Thank you again to the owner of Ning Pasta for offering my girl the homemade pasta for review purpose.

 

Inayou cooker

The Inayou cooker and my girl (while waiting for the ex-owner)

I finally got the Inayou cooker. Actually, my heart has been itching for one, but it is not cheap (for me), more than RM100. Then, I saw at the Preloved facebook page – someone was offering to sell hers off! And, the COD place is just the mall right behind where we live! So, I finally got it, second hand for RM70. According to the ex-owner, she only washed and used once, and for no particular reason, she just didn’t like it.

 

The whole set (except for the measuring cup, which was not given – but I was told that the measuring cup is the same size as the Avent cup) was in good condition. One thing that I found out that its socket head is different from Malaysia. Fortunately, I had a travel adaptor which fits into it. Also sadly, the instruction is in Chinese. I googled for the English instruction, but no luck – just got to find some recipes from blogs (that’s good!). Then, I posted on Healthy Food for my Baby facebook page, and there are some comments, which I want to save it here. They are certainly important notes for me.

 

From Anne Aw:

There’s no timer. The pot will auto off or auto keep warm mode when food is ready. It cooks rice well but not so for porridge. Don’t cover the lid tight if you cook porridge because it will spill out. Either you don’t cover or cover lightly so steam can come out. Also, cover the outlet with a cloth just in case the water spill out. I suggest you try cook something with the pot before you take it out for trip.

 

Some blog reference: http://thewondermummy.blogspot.com/search/label/Inayou?m=0

 

From Aikoon Law:

You must do trial cooking as if you are on vacation, if not later you have problem determining the cooking time, water level etc. Hard ingredient like carrot, potato are harder to soften in this type of cooker, may needs longer time.

 

From Amy David:

Cook porridge is easy, put water and cook till soft. I don’t measure water, will just add water and cook it dry till the texture I want. As for meat, I normally steam chic/beef/pork with spring onion and blend. Steam mix vege and blend. No salt added for my LO is 10mth old.

 

From Joanne Lim Khai Weih:

1 cup of the Inayou measurement cup is approximately 3/4 of the normal measurement cup. Not easy to cook porridge with the mini rice cooker as it takes about 1 hour. I use it to cook pasta and porridge (if I’m not in a hurry) to make sure I master it before travelling. Don’t cover or even put on the lid when cooking with excess water, it will spill. Even cooking pasta with minimum water it did spill. Red means cooking and Green means keep warm. Once the water is running out, then it will automatically turn to Green. However, in terms of cooking porridge, although it turns Green, it doesn’t mean the porridge is ready to serve! You do need to try and see if it is soft enough, otherwise repeat the procedure again. Add in water, Put on the lid and press it while push the button down, then remove the lid and continue cooking. These are what I usually do.

 

From Veronie Liew:

If you happen to travel back to Taiwan, make sure u get a voltage converter because I brought my seed there and didn’t manage to use it due to the voltage difference. My cooker never gets boiling for the whole night l0lz!!! Hong Kong and Singapore was alright though.

 

I tried using it today since my girl is not feeling that good today. So, I made pork, carrot and tomato porridge using short grain rice. I find that I need to stir it from time to time in order to avoid it from burning below. Then, it is then I found out that red light means cooking while green light means keep warm.

I was told that even when it turns to green light, it is not necessarily that the porridge is done – sometimes the ingredients not too cooked yet, and we would need to add more water for it to start cooking again. Overall, I find it just a normal cooker, but the size is ideal for travelling. I would need to try out more recipe, but not too often though (as there was someone saying that we should go slow on the frequency – though some say that they use it on a daily basis. Two persons that commented say that their cooker knocked-off; one even showed that it exploded! Yes, I have conflicting reviews from people but I think it bogs down to the manufacturing “luck” – which day and who assemble it? LOL!)

 

Anyway, this is how my porridge turned out to be:

 

But, my girl didn’t want to eat it!

And cried:

Rather eat hami melon:

And, I made her cheese omelette:

 

 

 

 

 

 

A bit of few vegetables into a dish

When we cook for the little one, there’s always the case of a bit of few vegetables left. I had a little of broccoli, zucchini, button mushrooms and green pepper. So, I just cooked them all together with chicken.

Ingredients:
1 chicken breast, sliced and marinated with fresh grape juice for at least one hour, remove pulps and add 2 tbsp cornflour
1 onion, diced
4 button mushrooms, sliced
1/3 broccoli, cut
1/3 zucchini, sliced
1/2 green pepper, cut
1 bowl stock (used celery, tomatoes, carrots, potatoes and onions stock)
Rice Bran oil (or any cooking oil)

Steps:
1. Sauté marinated chicken with oil until cooked. Set aside. Leave the brownish remainder in the wok.
2. Stir fry onions in oil until fragrant.
3. Add in mushrooms and zucchini. Stir fry for a minute.
4. Add in the stock, broccoli and green pepper. Cook for 3 minutes.

We also had apple beet root soup; recipe: https://17chipmunks.wordpress.com/2014/06/24/pasta-in-apple-beet-root-soup/

Dessert: Watermelon and coconut water

 

Cantonese style fried kuay teow

ver the weekend, I saw a mummy posted how to cook “wan tan hor” for the long who refuses to eat. Hope that particular mummy finds this. You actually gave me an idea on cooking this for my girl. It’s an attempt without soy sauce, salt and oyster sauce again. And, my girl’s first time eating kuay teow too! It is easy steps too!

Ingredients:
Kuay teow (pan fry with one tbsp grape seed oil and set aside)
Vegetables stock (I used celery, tomatoes, carrots, potatoes – boiled for an hour)
2 stalks celery, finely sliced (I used celery because of its natural sodium)
Some mustard leaves, finely sliced
Pork or any meat (marinated with grape juice and corn flour)
Corn flour water (1 tbsp cornflour and water)
Two eggs, lightly whisked with black pepper and 1 tsp cheddar cheese)
Minced garlic and onion
Rice Bran oil (or any cooking oil)

To cook sauce:
1. Stir fry onion and garlic until fragrant in oil.
2. Add in pork and celery. Stir fry for 2 minutes.
3. Add in stock and let it come to a boil for a minute.
4. Add in mustard leaves, egg and corn flour water. Let it come to a boil for a minute.

Done! Pour it onto the pan fried kuay teow. Isn’t it easy?

My 19m1d is not really a fan of kuay teow. But I am happy that besides chicken, she is chewing and swallowing pork too! She didn’t eat much of her serving but nimble on the button mushrooms I cooked for dinner (which she asked for it). =.=”

Wholemeal spinach bread loaf

Not exactly wholemeal as bread flour and cake flour are still the ingredients.

100g spinach puree
200g bread flour
200g wholemeal flour
50g cake flour
30g skimmed milk powder
2 tsp instant yeast
2 tbsp molasses sugar
30ml water
1 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp fresh farm natural yogurt

Bread maker: Cornell
Weight : 2 llb
Crust : Light
Mode: Wholemeal

Tuesday’s meals – the second day of Hari Raya holidays!

Back to eating breakfast at home & her favourite: Dragon fruit & hami melon yogurt topped with cheerios

Lunch: Leek and pork fried rice for my 19mo

I feel so weird typing “19”! I just can’t believe how time flies and my girl is now 19mo! LOL! We went to have Sukiyaki buffet and I brought along leek and pork fried rice. I knew that she will be snacking on some sushi and ice cream cone just like she did the previous rounds. So, lunch prepared for her was fairly simple.

Just stir fried leeks in grape seed oil. Add in the pork that was pre-marinated with star fruit juice. Stir fry until cooked. Add in mixed grains rice and cheddar cheese.

On the way to the restaurant, she had dried cranberry.

She behaved fairly well in the restaurant today as she was occupied with the cone(s) and the boy beside our table.

Dinner:

Stir fry zucchini chicken, stir fry siu pak choy & tofu and mushrooms soup for the family (including my 19mo)

My dishes look like they contain soy sauce/oyster sauce. But, it definitely doesn’t!

Stir fry zucchini chicken:
1. Sauté marinated chicken (marinated with grapes for 4 hours, remove grape pulp, add one egg and 2 tbsp cornflour) in oil until cooked. Remove chicken and set aside. (there will be brownish remainder from sautéing the chicken, just leave it there).
2. Stir fry onion until fragrant.
3. Add in sliced zucchini and one bowl of stock (ingredients of stock below).
4. Add in the cooked chicken. Stir well and let it come to boil. (Done! Remove and leave aside some sauce on the wok for the stir fry siu pak choy)

Stir fry siu pak choy:
1. Add on some oil in the wok.
2. Stir fry some garlic until fragrant.
3. Add in the siu pak choy and some stock.
4. Add a dash of pepper and let it come to boil.

Tofu and mushrooms soup:
Soup/stock based: celery, tomatoes, carrots and potato – boiled for 1 to 1 1/2 hours
Other ingredients: silken tofu and shiitake mushroom

My 19mo now takes other parts of chicken and not just chicken wings (chewing and swallowing them). I need to pinch out the chicken flesh for her. She enjoys eating the tofu.

She had watermelon smoothie after dinner: blend watermelon and fresh farm natural yogurt

little 17chipmunks turns 19th month old

My fully bf girl turns 19th month old today. And, today is my second time doing marmet hand expression when my girl was napping. So happy to see her enjoying the chilled breastmilk – makes me feel like pulling out the stored pump to pump extra for her – she is fully dl since 13th month (but, nah… not doing so, seriously no time & need to rest and focus on her during leisure time).

Wild life & splash, splash, splash at Sunway Lagoon Theme Park

It is our girl’s second time in the theme park and we thought of going here as it is her 19th month old tomorrow! The last time we been there was during hubby’s company’s family day (she was less than a year old and I could remember we put her on the neck float). Thanks to a mummy who offered to get us discounted tickets. We managed to save RM46 (I couldn’t thank her more as she gets nothing from this as I still pay directly at the ticketing counter!)The original ticketing price for an adult is RM90 (with mykad) and it is free for children below 90cm.

Our girl seems excited with the dry park rides, but once there, she was nodding her head. *gosh* So, at the end, we only sat on the ferris wheel, where she also clings tightly to hubby.

There’s a major revamp in the theme park especially its bird and wild life section. It is like a bird park now! We managed to catch the tiger feeding show.

When she saw the water park, she just can’t wait to get into the water. She had a great, great time there. She even showed her swimming skills in the wave pool! LOL! All in all – it was an enjoyable day for her!

Monday’s meal on a public holiday

We will be celebrating our girl’s 19th month old early this month. She will turn 19th month tomorrow and we decided to bring her to the theme park. And, mummy is sneaking in food for her!

For brekkie which we going to have before entering the theme park at some hawker stalls, fruit yogurt, cheerios and hami melon (bottom right pic). I am putting in a separate cooler bag, which I will leave in ghd car when it is done.

For lunch, I cooked her zucchini and carrot fried rice with prawns. I am also bringing raisins, cheerios, heinz teething biscuit and hami melon plus water (middle right picture), which will be placed in our back pack.

Sha had some happy puffs before we start our journey!

Dinner: Steam chicken with button mushrooms and mustard leaves soup with mixed grains rice

Steam chicken with button mushrooms: Half chicken marinated with orange juice, button mushrooms, celery, tomatoes, carrots- steam on high heat for 10 minutes, low heat 30 minutes

Mustard leaves soup: Soup based – potatoes, carrot and tomatoes

My first marmet hand expression

My girl’s turning 19 month old tomorrow. So, we brought her to the theme park today. Her last latch was around 12pm. After playing none stop, she decided to latch on my right side around 4pm whereby she eventually knocked off. My left breast was engorged (I noticed that it was kind of hard when I was showering). I have stopped pumping since my girl is 13 month old and I have stored my pump. I tried to dream feed my girl but she was too deep in her sleep (and I know it will take more than an hour before she wakes up as she played like crazy just now). So, I decided the marmet hand expression (my first time – as I rely on my pump so much those days). At first I did it in the toilet and then I thought it was just so wasteful of me to just ‘spray’ it out. So, I decided to express it into a little container. And, that’s how much I get in 5 minutes after I am feeling more relief. To me, that’s a lot – since I have not pumped for close to 6 months. LOL! I ln fact, I am so happy to see the amount. Not sure if my girl will take it, but I am leaving it in the fridge and serve her chilled later!