Hairy cucumber soup (毛瓜汤)

I think the name of this vegetable is hairy cucumber or green marrow or something... but I'm really not too sure. :P

It's usually cooked in soups and it contains carbohydrates, protein, vitamin A, vitamin B1, vitamin B2, vitamin C, riboflavin, fructose, carotene, phosphorus, calcium, iron and other minerals. It's considered 'neutral' compared to wintermelon which has 'cooling' properties.

I actually cooked this soup last Thursday but had no time at all to blog about it and am finally doing so today!

Hairy cucumber soup

*Skip the dried scallop for tots below 18mths*

Ingredients:

• 1 hairy cucumber
• 250g pork ribs
• 3 chicken breast bones
• 1 dried scallop
• 1 handful red dates (pitted)
• fish sauce to taste
• 1 soup pot water

Method:

1. Blanch the pork ribs and chicken bones.
2. Rinse and place dried scallop in a small soup bag.
3. Remove the skin and seeds of the cucumber and chop into chunks.
4. Place all the ingredients (except the hairy cucumber and fish sauce) into a pot.
5. Bring to a boil and simmer for a few hours.
6. Sieve out the bones and place everything else back into the soup, including the dried scallop.
7. Add the hairy cucumber and boil for about 20min.
8. Add fish sauce to taste before serving.

For toddler's consumption:

• Skip the dried scallop for tots below 18mths
• Cut hairy cucumber into small pieces before serving or allow the tot to bite off from the adult's portion since it's so soft! :)

Review: FairPrice's Roundies (Corn pops with honey)

Brand: FairPrice

Origin: Germany

Where to buy: NTUC

Product: Roundies (corn pops with honey)

Weight: 250g

Allergen advice: Contains soya products (soya lecithin)

May contain traces of cereals containing gluten and milk products

Here's our latest breakfast food which we alternate with Cheerios to give ourselves and Alicia some variety for breakfast cereals.

Taste-wise, I find that it's really quite nice and you can serve it with or without milk. Personally I munch on them without milk as a snack (and so does Alicia)... haha... it's that tasty and addictive. :P

Though a sweetened cereal, it is not too sweet in my opinion though I wouldn't advise that children below 1 consume this product as they should not be introduced to salt or sugar at that age. :)

If you really find it too sweet to eat on its own, eating it together with milk definitely helps as the corn pops soak up the milk relatively quickly. Hence, if you are going to take some time to eat the cereal, make sure you don't pour all the cereal into the milk at one go or you'll have to eat soggy cereal (which is gross, in my opinion). :)

Besides the great taste, the cereal is a source of vitamins E, B6, B12, B1, B2 and B3! :)

Give it a try! Who says housebrand stuff aren't good? :)

My article for myplayschool

Some time in late April/ early May, I wrote an article for myplayschool to share how I teach Alicia the alphabet upon Pauline's request/ invitation. (Myplayschool is a newly set up site to share activities and ideas for teaching the toddler and preschooler at home.)

You can view my article here. Essentially, it's really one of my old posts but I have included some of my teaching philosophies and the approach I take for teaching little tots.

I think it's crucial to read this article of mine there, especially if you happen to have the misconception that I stress my little one out by trying to teach her so early. Certainly, that is not my intention. And that is definitely not what I have done. I go through learning aids only when she wants to and I never force her to learn when she doesn't want to, simply because trying to do so would be fruitless anyway. :P

Have a good read and I hope to finish part II of this instalment by the end of this week! (I've promised Pauline! haha... :P)

Fun at Go Go Bambini!

I've been really busy lately so some of these posts are really backdated...

My sister-in-law drove Alicia and I to Go Go Bambini to have fun last Wednesday... of course Alicia's playmate (my niece, Natalie) went along. It was an outing that both kids looked forward to and enjoyed thoroughly. I was so worn out after running around after Alicia at the indoor playground and I have to salute my 61-yr-old mum for being able to do so too!

Here are some photos I managed to take - without being too blur because the kids could hardly stop moving for me to get a proper photo!

Wow! So colourful!

Higher, Grandma!!! :P

Wow... look at the playground grandma!

Wow... I can make music with my feet!

Down we go!

My sil and my cute, super cheerful nephew

I'm luving this place!

Watch me cross this bridge mummy!

Dancing....

Lotsa steps for me to climb!

Wait for me, jie jie!

I love balls... but hate ball pits.

I only came in because jie jie came in...

Tunneling!

Mummy says it hurts her knees soooo much to crawl through with me!

Mummy's growing old!

More tunnels!

Time for a break! Egg-peeling exercise with grandma...

but she hardly ate... was only interested in the peeling... :(