Wolf-berries Yogurt bread

Was in d process of starting d machine for yogurt bread when I decide to add wolf-berries to it. Then I realised that I needed to adj d flour to balance out d liquid from d soaked wolf-berries. Thus, I added 7tbsp of flour into d dough.. Work out just nice with bread super soft!

• 250g bread flour
• 15g caster sugar
• 3g yeast
• 3g salt
• 100g flavoured yogurt
• 60ml fresh milk
• 1 egg
• 30g butter

Select normal bread w/light setting.

Pumpkin rice w/fish + 川贝&Pear dessert

Remembered something from Blessed Homemaker's blog on d goodness of pumpkin so I decided to give it a try. However, since Hayden does not like to see chunks of veg/food in his rice, I had to cook/mash up d pumpkin be4 cooking it with d rice/dried silver fish/minced meat/mushrooms.

Also managed to get some fresh snow fish steak today, so I put it into d oven for grilling to be serve beside d pumpkin rice.

N since whole family were coughing past few days, I also give this Sichuan fritillaria & pear dessert a go. Got d recipe off UW mzg. If served hot, it is supposed to be good for d throat. (give me a comment if u want d recipe cause I will need to translate it be4 posting)

Hayden finished 1 full bowl of d rice along with half d fish steak, & Hubby actually said "yr cooking has indeed improved!" HAHAHAHA

Berries bread & Hainanese Ckn rice

Blessed Homemaker pass this recipe to me to try & I decided to do it last nite. It's a very basic bread so I add blueberries (2tbsp) & cranberries (3tbsp) to make it more interesting. However, I think I put in 1/2tsp too much yeast, thus, d top fall flat after hiting d bread maker cover from rising too much. Lucky overall texture is still soft & nice.
Select basic bread w/light setting

• 1 cup warm milk (45C)
• 2 tbsp brown sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp yeast
• 1/4 cup veg oil
• 3 cups bread flour
• 1 tsp salt

As for tonite's dinner, I decided to try Hainanese Ckn rice. Of course, being lazy, I only prepare according to d rice portion. As for d ckn, I put all into d rice cooker & whoa la!

Stii-fry udon

Today is Monday, & as my friend said it, Udon Monday. Cause Hayden always asked for udon on Mondays. I was gg to make udon soup as usual, when my friend suggested stii-fry udon. So I give it a try. Not very successful cause udon turn out overdone. But looks colorful enough for Hayden to finish a whole bowl!

Hayden's Vest

I finally finished kintting Hayden's vest. Actually, I finished 2weeks ago but size not right, so I undo it & re-knit again. However, hubby thinks it's still too small. True enough, tried it on & Hayden's head is just too big. d rest fit ok but problem getting d head through.. sigh. guess I have to undo & re-knit again..

Update on yesterday's bread

Just a update on yesterday's bread. D pork floss bread was a bit hard this morning so I cut it up & heat it in d microware for 1min. After which it's as good as just out of d oven (or shd I said bread machine).

As for d H&C bread, I didnt taste it yesterday since it's so badly burned. But what a surprised this morning when I tried to cut it up. It was super SOFT & nice. I was very surpried by that. After peeling off d burned curst, it's actually very tasty! YUMMY!!!

金针菇芽菜瘦肉汤 & No-fail fish dish

For tonite’s dinner, I decided on 金针菇芽菜瘦肉汤 from DJ 粉樱's blog & a no-fail fish recipe from Prevention mag. Both super easy & healthy.

Whoa la! Super healthy meal with almost no added fat!!

Here's d english version of d soup for those who cant read Chinese.

金针菇芽菜瘦肉汤 (Golden needle mushroom, Bean sprouts, lean meat soup)

材料1 - 大豆芽 : 150g (洗净) Big bean sprout (washed)
材料2 - 瘦肉 : 200g Lean meat (Wash & sliced. Mix well with pinch of salt, sugar & corn flour. Put aside)
材料3 :
金针菇 : 100g (切去根部, 洗净) Enokitake/Golden needle mushroom (cut & washed)
番茄 : 2个 (洗净, 切块) 2 Tomatos (washed & cut into cubes)
粉丝 : 1扎 (用水泡软) Glass noodles 1 bunch(soak in water to soften)
姜 : 4片 Ginger 4 slices

1) 把大豆芽放在白鑊炒香, 加水煮开 (Fry d big bean sprouts in pot till fragrance. Then add water & bring to boil.)
2) 下其他材料拌匀, 再滾10分鐘, 加盐调味即可 (Add rest of ingredients into soup & boil for another 10mins. Add salt for taste be4 serving)

功能 (function of d soup)
健脾開胃, 去湿除煩, 更可消除疲勞, 暢通小便, 可日常经常食用
Improved appetite, helps eliminate fatigue, regulate urine flow, & can be consumed daily

Herbs

I needed some herbs for tonite dinner & found that most places dont sell in small pack. Then, I remember an article that I read in d mag which suggests freezing fresh herbs for later usage. I decided to give it a try & did 3 different herbs - Thyme, Rosemary & Spring onions. I blend them separately & freeze them up for future usage. Rosemary is d most difficult to blend so I added garlic to make d blending easier. This way, I can get d standard pack & still wont need to throw unused portion out.

Pork Floss bread & Ham&Cheese again

Since I have some dough left from last nite, I decided to give d Ham & Cheese bread another attempt. I didnt put any cheese on top to avoid it being messy. This rd, I covered it with foil be4 baking in d oven @ 160C for 30mins. End result - both top & bottom are still badly burned. Havent cut it up to check d inside. Will only do so when having it for tomorrow's BF.

I also include Pork floss bread in this rd. Every step is same as d H&C except d baking step. With so many burned attempt, I decided to baked it in d bread machine instead. I started d baking process on d bread machine without putting in d dough first. After 1-2mins, then I put in d dough & let it bake for ard 15mins. Whoa la! It turn out GREAT! Everything abt it is just nice, texture, color & taste.

Maybe I shd really just stick to d bread machine... mmmmm..

泡芙包 & Ham_Cheese Bread

Thot I give this 泡芙包 another attempt. End result was horrible ;-<.. d buns r all hollow in d middle.. not sure what went wrong.
Since d buns didnt work out, I tried making Ham & Cheese bread instead. Qty as per original but method as per my friend's blog. I didnt managed to cut it into = portion. & as usual with this portable oven, d top part was burned while some bottom not cooked. But other than that, it's actually quite ok as long as I put it into d microwave for 1-2mins to cook d uncooked portion.

Blueberries cinnamon bread

With so many good reviews on this recipe, I gave it a try last nite. As usual, I changed it. Replace: water wtih low-fat milk, lard with 30g unsalted butter, bread flour with 2cup plain flour & 1/2cup self-rising flour. I also added 1tsp ground nutmeg & 2tbsp dried blueberries. Whoa la! Here's how it looks. Friends tried it & commented very nice! ;->

• 7 fl.oz warm water (45C)
• 2 tbsp butter
• 1 1/2 tsp yeast
• 2 3/4 cup bread flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon

Select normal bread w/light setting

泡芙包

After so many failed attempts to bake in d portable oven, I finally got 1 right today! Recipe r all in grams, which is diff for me on d liquid ingredients cause I dont have a weighting machine. So I changed it a bit.

Instead of 120g eggs, I used 2 1/2 eggs & only 50g sugar. As for d temp, since d oven burned so many of my past attempts, this time rd, I lower d temp to only 160C for 10-15mins instead of the stated 190C for 20-25mins.

However, it's not as soft as it shd be & 2nd batch didnt raise as good as d 1st batch.

Prune Honey Muffins

Saw this interesting recipe which requires a blender, so thot I give it a try. End result XXX. d mini ones looked great while d large ones looked burned. Both has VERY chewy top & bottom, so chewy that 1 cant bite through it. However, after peeling off d top/bottom, d middle is very soft & nice.. Wonder what went wrong???

Grain & Honey Bread

Just got back from SG & didnt have any eggs in d fridge, thus, thot I give d Grain & Honey bread another go after 1 failed attempt. This time, I added 85ml milk. I checked d dough serveal times & it actually looks really good, rising nicely. But on d last round of rise, I noticed that d bread doesnt rise as nice as previous rd. True enough, when I waked up this morning to take out d bread, it's flat. Still soft inside but didnt rise at all. sigh..

Bintan Trip (12-14Apr09)

Due to d long SongKran holiday in Bkk, we fly back to SG & took a short trip to Bintan with friends. D Villa that we stayed was really Great cause we had our very own pool! & Hayden had so much fun there playing with other kids..

Cranberries Muffins

Friends have been telling me to try out d portable oven from my landlord, so when I saw this muffin recipe, thot I give it a try. However, instead of strawberry, I used whatever I have on hand - cranberries. I half all ingredients & d result was horrible! 1st of all, when I took it out by 20mins, d top were burned; 2ndly, when I checked d bottom, it's uncooked! Guess I need to adj d temp if I do decide to try again. But believe it or not, Hubby ate 2 of it after I put it into d microware for 2mins & Hayden ate d top portion of 1 muffin..

Brownie cupcake

Saw what Shopoholic2802 did with her left-over batter & decided to give it another go since my 1st attempt failed. I half all d stated ingredients in Blessed Homemaker's recipe & baked it for only 30mins @ 160c. Am I glad I took it out after 27mins cause d top is starting to blacken. Result not as smooth as Shopoholic2802's but still taste as good.

• 90g melted butter
• 90g brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 tsp vanilla essence
• 60g self-raising flour
• 35g cocoa powder

1. Mix melted butter w/brown sugar till well combined;
2. Add in eggs 1 at a time, mixing well. Stir in vanilla essence;
3. Fold in flour & cocoa powder till smooth;
4. Pour batter into pan & bake in preheated oven @ 170C for 40mins or till cooked.

Milk Pudding

I tried this pudding last nite & it didnt turn out right due to few reasons:
1) I cant find gelatin powder, only gelatin leaves;
2) Hayden only drinks plain junior milk, thus, I added cocoa powder which is bitter in taste;
3) problem removing it from d mould.

In d end, Hubby said it's tasteless & Hayden mashed it all up & didnt even take 2nd bite.. sigh.. :-<

Yogurt Bread

Due to d high elec bill, I have stop making bread for 3day. Then hubby ask if I can make again cause he missed having bread for BF. So I tried out a new yogurt bread recipe from Blessed Homemaker. Recipe asked for 2tsp butter but since I have only 20g bal left, I put all in. Big mistake to do that, dough turn out too wet because of it. & since I run out of bread flour, I had to add 4tbsp wheat flour to even out d liquid. Result was ok, bread rise to d max height of my bread pan but it's a little crumpy on d top.

Thunder Storm & Frog

It was raining so heavy that I had to wait downstair my appt for it to soften be4 gg to d child-care to pick up Hayden. While waiting, 2 frogs decide to jump near me to wait too!

九层糕 (9 layer kueh)

Since I have time on hand today, I want to give this kueh recipe from my friend's blog another go. Everything was gg fine, till d last step where I forgotten d last note in my friend's blog - "leave to cool completely be4 cutting into pieces." I took it out of the pan way too soon, thus, d kueh didnt sit well & it's very, very sticky. But taste alright & I got d 9 layers! Hurray! ;->

Baked Ckn wings

Blessed Homemaker sent this recipe to me 2nites ago & I tried it today. As usual, I changed a bit by adding more garlic & omitting d chili. Result - very NICE! Hayden had 5 pieces even though d garlic taste was very strong!

500g mid wings
10 cloves garlic & 2 slices of ginger, brend together
2 tbsp oyster sauce
2 tbsp light soya sauce
1 tbsp tomato sauce

Mix all together & marinate overnite. I baked them @ 100C for 35mins.

Water Chestnut soup & 九层糕 (9 layer kueh)

Saw this recipe from 1 of d website my friend visited & thot since both Hubby & Hayden having sore throat & coughing badly, why not give it a try. I added udon to it so that I don’t have to make another soup for Hayden’s dinner. Turn out really well, very tasty without any seasoning added at all.

马蹄 : 100 – 300g waterchestnut (washed & cut up)
白萝卜 : 100 – 300g white radish (washed & slice up)
鸭梨 : 1 – 3个 pears (wash, de-cored & diced)
瘦肉 : 200 – 300g lean meat (washed & scalded)

方法
1) 将所有材料放入锅内，加清水适量, 用大火煮沸，改为文火熬约 1－2 小时
put all into pot & cover with enough water. Bring to boil be4 switching to low heat for another 1-2hrs
2) 用盐适量调味, 喝汤吃肉
season with salt be4 serving.

* 有清热生津的功效，适合脾胃热盛，可见面红或见粉刺痤疮，口渴想喝冷饮，食欲超常，口舌干燥或痰黄粘稠，或见口舌易生疮，尿黄、大便硬或便秘等
1) have efficacy to clear heat/sweat,
2) suitable for :
a) spleen/stomach heat,
b) acne,
c) thirst for cold drink,
d) abnormal appetite,
e) dry mouth or thick yellow sputum,
f) easy-to-c tongue sores,
g) hard stool or constipation,
h) yellow urine, etc..
* 天气炎热或过食燥热食物时，可煮此汤，预防发热。
Cook this soup to prevent or emit heatiness when :
a) weather is too hot or dry; or
b) too much heaty food is consumed

Then saw Hayden’s note from sch that he’s supposed to bring a dish for tomorrow’s SongKran party. Since its alrdy 9pm & all shops r closed, I thot I give this kueh recipe from my friend’s blog a try. D kueh didn’t turn out right due to 2 main reasons – I used brown sugar & half all d ingredients thinking it might be too much. Ended with a rather small piece. Looks ok but taste very sweet..