Domestic Goddess Wannabe

Wednesday, May 8, 2013

The Story of Some Left-Over Egg Whites.

When life gives you eggs, bake a cake.

When life gives you egg whites, make meringues!

I had some egg whites left over from making dumplings and they needed to be used. I did not have enough to make a pavlova, neither was there enough to dump into a hor fun gravy. While flipping through Easy Baking by The Australian Women's Weekly, I chanced upon a recipe for Cranberry Chewies and decided to have a go at making them since I had all the ingredients.

I started by preparing the almond flakes. I placed the almond flakes onto a dry pan and roasted them until they turned brown. The almond flakes must be moved around constantly in the pan because they tend to burn rather easily.

Once the almond flakes were brown, I placed them in a bowl and set it aside to allow them to cool.

Making a meringue starts with having a clean, clean, clean mixing bowl. You need to be very sure that there are no traces of fat (butter, etc) on the inside surface of your mixing bowl. Clean the surface of the mixing bowl by using a little lemon juice or vinegar. Make sure the bowl is dry before you start! Meringues are very sensitive and they don't like any moisture.

Also, you must separate the egg whites from the yolks very carefully. Cold eggs separate more easily than those at room temperature because the whites hold together better. Because there is fat in the yolk, even a tiny trace of egg yolk can ruin a meringue.

The egg whites are beaten at a high speed using a whisk. The paddle attachment from your mixer will not be able to whip enough air into the egg whites. When you have reached the 'soft peak' stage, start adding the sugar a little at a time, and continue beating until all the sugar has dissolved.

Once the egg whites have reached the 'stiff peak' stage (refer to the following picture), the egg whites are ready. Do not over beat the egg whites. If you overbeat them, they will liquify again.

Using a spatula, very gently fold in the cornflour, orange rind, cranberries and almond flakes.

Before

After

I lined a baking tray with baking paper and using a tablespoon, I simply dropped heaped spoonfuls of the mixture on to the baking paper. If you wish, you can pipe them onto the baking sheets. I left some space in between the meringues in case they expand while cooking.

The meringues were then baked at 160C for about 30 minutes. They were allowed to cool on a cooling rack,

and were dusted with some icing sugar before being served.

Sweet and Chewy yumminess.

RECIPE

Cranberry Chewies

Adapted from Easy Baking by The Australian Weekly

Ingredients:

3/4 (60g) cup flaked almonds

3 egg whites

1/2 cup (110g) caster sugar

1 tbs cornflour, sifted

1 tsp finely grated orange rind

3/4 cup (105g) dried cranberries

1 tbs icing sugar

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 160C. Grease baking trays and line with baking paper.
2. Dry roast almond flakes in a frying pan until browned lightly. Remove almond flakes from pan, set aside to cool.
3. Beat egg whites until soft peaks form. Add sugar gradually, and beat until all the sugar has dissolved.
4. Gently fold in cornflour, orange rind, almond flakes and cranberries.
5. Drop heaped spoonfuls of mixture onto baking paper using a tablespoon. Leave a 4cm space between the meringues.
6. Bake for 30 minutes. Leave on the tray for 5-10 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.
7. Cool completely before dusting with icing sugar.

NOTE: Meringues can be kept in an air-tight container (lined with paper towels) for up to 3 days.

The Easiest Spaghetti and Meatballs.

As a working mom, time is something we need to balance on a daily basis. I wish I had tons of time everyday so I can spend hours cooking something elaborate for every meal. The reality is though, the time I can allocate to cooking something is usually short and thus, very often I have to whip up a meal quickly.

I think the key to cooking successfully (and by that I mean to cook varied meals and on a regular basis) in a busy household is to master the art of substitution. It's fun to make pasta from scratch but it is quicker to use packet pasta. It is therapeutic for some (like the LAM) to make and bake his own bread but it is much easier to buy a loaf as and when is needed.

Today I am going to share with you my recipe for Spaghetti with Meatballs. I can cook this dish in a really short space of time. Yep. I cheat. I use store-bought meatballs. Now, for those who pooh-pooh the idea of store-bought, by all means, go ahead and make the meatballs if you so wish. I have also included my recipe for home-made meatballs for those who would like to make them from scratch (see recipe below).

I buy my meatballs from Ikea.They are sold frozen in 1kg bags (about $15). For 4 people, I would usually use half a bag of meatballs. This is a really simple recipe - and if you like, you can add carrots, zucchini, eggplant or red peppers to the sauce. Simply grate the vegetables or chop them into small cubes so they cook faster.

The first step is to cook the spaghetti according to the instructions on the packet in a pot of boiling, salted water. If you are REALLY in a hurry, use instant spaghetti. They cook up in less than 10 minutes! When the pasta is cooked, reserve a mug of pasta water (very important!) before draining the pasta.

Once the pasta was in the pot, in another pan, I added the bacon. I cooked the bacon until it was crispy. I then set it aside. I left about one tablespoon of bacon fat in the pan and added chopped onions and cooked them until they are soft. Once that happened, I added one red pepper and a zucchini. and sauteed the vegetables until they were soft, about 3-4 minutes.

Once the vegetables had softened, I added the minced garlic and gave the mixture a stir. The garlic was added at this stage so it did not burn. I used store-bought garlic that was already minced so as to save even more time. Then I added the red wine, scraping all the brown bits at the bottom until most of the liquid had evaporated.

Lastly, I added the tomato puree, tomato paste, parsley, salt and pepper, as well as the frozen meatballs. I covered the pan with a lid and allowed it to simmer for about 10 to 15 minutes. Because the meatballs were already cooked, there was no need to cook for prolonged periods of time. If you are using meatballs that you have made, cook the meatballs for 25-30 minutes, or until they are cooked through.

Once the pasta sauce was cooked, I added some of the pasta water I had reserved earlier to the sauce until I got the consistency that I wanted. Apparently, this also helps to bind the sauce to the pasta.

I served the meatballs on the spaghetti, with grated Parmesan and the reserved chopped parsley, as well as garlic bread that I had made last week and kept in the freezer.

Enjoy!

RECIPE

Spaghetti With Meatballs (Serves 4)

Ingredients (Meatballs):

800g minced pork or beef - you can also use 400g beef, mixed with 400g pork
1 cup bread crumbs (store-bought)
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 tsp sea salt
1 tsp coarsely ground black pepper
1 tsp ground nutmeg
2 tsp chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1 large egg, beaten
1/2 cup water

Method:

1. In a mixing bowl, place all the ingredients.
2. Using your hands, mix the ingrdients and form meatballs about the size of ping-pong balls.
3. Either
(a) Shallow fry the meatballs in batches in olive oil until they are brown on all sides, and set aside
or
(b) Place the meatballs on a lined baking sheet, spray with vegetable oil, and bake at 180C for about 20 minutes, or until the meatballs are brown and cooked through.

NOTE:
If you are using Method 3(a), cook the meatballs with the sauce for 25-30 minutes to ensure that the meatballs are cooked through.
If you are using Method 3(b), cook the meatballs with the sauce for 10-15 minutes as they are already cooked and only need to be heated through.

Ingredients (Sauce):

100g bacon, cut into small strips
1 onion, chopped finely
1 carrot, or zucchnni, or small eggplant, grated (optional)
1 red pepper, chopped finely (optional)
2 tsp minced garlic
1/2 cup red wine - I prefer Shiraz or Merlot but use whatever wine you are drinking (nor Rose).
1 can tomato puree (29oz)
1 tbs tomato paste
1-2 tbs chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1 1/2 tsp sea salt (I use Kosher)
1/2 tsp coarsely ground black pepper

To Serve:
1 packet spaghetti, or instant spaghetti, or linguini
Parmesan, grated
Some flat-leaf parsley, chopped

Method:

1. Place pasta into a pot of boiling water, cooked according to manufacturer's instructions.
2. Fry bacon until crispy. Reserve.
3. Leave about 1 tbs of bacon fat in pan. Add onion and cook until soft.
4. Add vegetables. Saute until soft.
5. Add minced garlic, and continue to stir for about 1-2 minutes.
6. Pour red wine into the pan and cook until most of the wine has evaporated. Scrap the bottom of the pan to loosen any bits.
7. Add tomato puree, tomato paste, parsley, salt and pepper. Combine.
8. Place frozen meatballs into sauce. Cook 10-15 minutes.
9. Add the reserved pasta water a little at a time until the desired consistency is achieved.
10. Serve meatballs and sauce over pasta. Garnish with grated Parmesan and parsley.

Tuesday, May 7, 2013

The Best Ayam Goreng... EVER!

I remember years ago, when I was studying in the old NIE (the one at Bukit Timah), there was this Malay stall that sold the yummiest fried chicken I have ever tasted. It was definitely "limited edition" fried chicken because once the chooks were sold out for the day, the stall would close.

The stall owner would start frying his second batch of chicken at around 3 in the afternoon, and a queue would form before the chicken was even cooked. It was so juicy and so flavourful. Once I happened to be first in the queue (haha) and I asked the owner why did he not just buy more chickens to sell since business was so good. He said he was happy with the way his life was, and he loved to go fishing in the afternoons, so why the need to work so hard? Wow, what a great way to live one's life!

It has been years since I last tasted his fried chicken, and for years I regretted not asking the nice old man for the secret to cooking such a delicious ayam goreng. On hindsight, maybe that is not such a bad thing after all for imagine how much rounder I would be if I knew how to cook like him!

About 6 months ago, I was looking around various books and blogs for inspiration, and I chanced upon this little recipe. What caught my attention was how easy it was. The actual cooking time is quite long - almost an hour, but for most of this time, the chicken is left bubbling in a pot.

The other great thing about this recipe is that the time for frying the chicken is really quick. And because the chicken is already cooked through, there is no need to worry about serving bloodied fried chicken. I tend to avoid frying chicken the traditional way (frying raw chicken in oil) because unless one is really good at controlling the heat, at most times the chicken would be overcooked on the outside, and undercooked on the inside. A short frying time also means that the chicken remains juicy, which, to me is very important.

So I tried making this chicken, and man, oh man, when I took my first bite, it was as if I had just left that queue back at NIE, biting into that delicious ayam goreng again!!

The first part of the recipe is easy - I simply chopped everything, dumped them into a food processor (or pestle and mortar if you prefer) and blend until I had a paste that was not too smooth. I then mixed this with the coconut milk. I got all my ingredients from the wet market - I love wet markets, but you can get them just as easily in supermarkets like Sheng Shong and the bigger Fairprice outlets.

Before

After

The skin of the chicken must be left on. I mean, this is fried chicken at the end of the day - as with everything, if it is going to add inches to your waist, eat the real thing, just don't eat it frequently. :) I used chicken drumsticks and bone-in thighs (just because I had some hanging around in one of my freezers) but you can use breasts, thighs, wings, or even a whole chicken, chopped into pieces.

Then I added the chicken pieces to the mixture and simmered over a really low fire for about 35 minutes for the chicken to absorb all the flavour from the sauce. If you are using bigger pieces of meat, increase the simmering time a little, maybe another 10-15 minutes.

At this stage, I would leave the chicken to bubble away and give it a gentle (!!) stir once in a while. After this time, the chicken is definitely (1) cooked through; (2) flavourful; and (3) very juicy!

I then placed the chicken pieces (very gently) on a cooling rack. I used a cooling rack instead of a plate because I wanted the exterior of the chicken pieces to dry a little. I believe that a dry exterior = more crispy yumminess but by all means, stick them on a plate if you wish. At this stage, you can leave the chicken until about 10 minutes before you are ready to eat them. There were times when I would cook the chicken to this stage, keep them in the fridge and fry them the following day.

The second part of this recipe is just as simple - simply fry the chicken pieces in some vegetable oil until they are golden brown, drain them on a paper towel and serve immediately.

Try making these super-delicious chicken. Trust me, you will be making them again!

NOTE: I would love to link this post to the blog where I had originally found the recipe but unfortunately, I did not note which blog it was. :(

RECIPE

Ayam Goreng (Serves 4)

Ingredients:

Chicken parts (1kg) or
one whole chicken, cut into 8 pieces

500ml Coconut Milk
6 Shallots
1 1/2 tsp Ground Coriander
2 tsp Fresh Turmeric, roughly chopped
2 tsp lemongrass, roughly chopped
2 tsp galangal, roughly chopped
5 Candlenuts, roughly chopped
2 tsp Sea Salt (add more if needed)

Oil for frying

Method:

Blend shallots, ground coriander, turmeric, lemongrass, galangal, cadlenuts and salt until a paste is formed.
Mix paste with coconut milk.
Add chicken to paste, stir to thoroughly coat the chicken.
Cook over a low fire for 35 -50 minutes, until the sauce has been absorbed by the chicken.
Allow the chicken to cool.
Deep fry chicken until golden brown.
Serve immediately.

WHAT is in my bag?

I read with interest the linky started by Adeline (http://accidental-mom-blogger.blogspot.sg/) - what's in my bag?

My everyday bag now is my neverfull, for the reason that it is never-full. With 2 kids, there are always extras of everything that I need - from wet wipes to tissue to plasters. Plus, my bag has not had a good sorting out for ages, so this is a good chance to go through the junk and give it a good clean! :)

So, what is in my bag?

A - Pouches for letterbox key, discount cards and name cards. I had to get a second pouch to keep discount cards for kiddy shops. Too much shopping, I think!

B - Tissue. Usually loads of tissue. It just happened I was down to my last pack this morning!

C - Cook book. An obsession. And I always need some inspiration, no? :)

D - Transit-link card and house/gate key.

E - Mints. Very important as they help to keep me awake, especially when I am in a cab and cannot read.

F - Wet wipes for my snotty boy, Cream for mozzie bites, Koi food. Well, it is a daily ritual for Aden to feed the fish at the mall near his school each day. If I were to buy the food at the dispenser at the mall, it would cost me $40 for 40 packs. I went to the pet shop and bought a bag of them for $7 and the packed them into smaller bags myself.

G - Phone and Mini-Ipad. Cannot live without.

H - Wallet and bag for groceries or any other purchase so I do not have to ask for plastic bags. Trying to do my part for the environment.

I - Hand disinfectant spray.

J - Sunglasses, Hand cream (not sure why I have it in my bag since I always forget to apply), Plasters of all shapes and sizes for my boy who is very drama. Every little scratch (imaginary or otherwise) needs a Pororo plaster.

Missing - at least 3 types of snacks for the boy. That's about it!

What is in your bag?

Monday, May 6, 2013

The Not-So-Humble Fried Rice

One of the first things I cooked for the LAM when we first started dating was fried rice. In fact, the first thing I learnt to cook when I was 10 was fried rice. I remember I would stand by the stove to watch my mom while she cooked. And that was how I learnt to cook - my mom never actually taught me in a systematic, step-by-step manner. It was all observe-and-pick-up-what-I-could. I think in hindsight, it was really the best way to learn. The only draw-back I can think of is that because my mom never measured anything - it was all "agar-agar" (guess work) measurements, in order to blog these days, I now need to measure and write everything in cups and grams. BUMMER! :P

I remember there was luncheon meat, eggs, and char siu in the fried rice I made for the LAM. It has been 8 years and even today, if I were to exclude any of these 3 ingredients when I cook fried rice, he would ask, "What is this? This is NOT fried rice!!"

Of course, my husband is a stickler for the familiar. He believes that once a combination works, why change it? To a large extent, he is right. While I had at times substituted roast chicken for the luncheon meat, it never really worked. It was OKAY, but the luncheon meat really makes the fried rice.

I had all these grand plans to cook something a little more elaborate today, but since my helper cooked extra rice last Saturday, the rice has been sitting in the fridge, begging to be dealt with. And over-night (or in this case, nights) rice simply begs to be fried.

You can cook fried rice from beginning to end in 15 minutes flat. EASILY. I started by placing a bag of frozen vegetables into a pot of boiling water. I cooked that for about 5 minutes so that the vegetables would soften. While the vegetables were cooking, I simply chopped the luncheon meat into cubes and pan fried them until they turned brown.

In the meantime, I cut the fish cake, also into cubes. Whenever I go to the wet market, I will visit my Char Siu lady. She will cut the char siu for me - into little cubes for fried rice, or strips for fried noodles. All I do when I get home is to divide the char siu into bags and place them in the freezer until I need them.

I also found half a bag of frozen cooked shrimps in the freezer. They are handy to have around as well as they come de-veined and with shells already removed. I also use them when I make Pajeon but they might as well go into my fried rice today.

The last thing I needed to do before I could fry the rice was to cook the eggs. I simply beat the eggs with the soy sauce and some white pepper, and fried them in some oil in a really, really hot wok. There is no need to cook the eggs until they are dead and gone. Just until they are scrambled. Then I removed them from the wok.

In the same wok, I added some oil, and fried some minced garlic until they are almost brown. I then added the ingredients (from raw to cooked, if you have any raw ingredients) - prawns, vegetables, fishcake, eggs and luncheon meat. Since everything I had used today was already cooked, mixing the ingredients took me about 3-4 minutes.

Now, this is what I always do when I cook fried rice. Once I have mixed the ingredients that I am using, I will take half of it out to store in the freezer. In this way, when I am in a huge hurry in the near future, I will be able to cook fried rice in 5 minutes. If you do not like to store food in the freezer, then use less of everything.

The rice was added to the ingredients, together with both the light and dark soy sauces and the ground white pepper. I turned the fire down to low and mixed everything together. If you like the rice to be darker, add more dark soy.

Once everything is mixed, it is ready.

Bon Appetit!

RECIPE

Fried Rice (Serves 4)

Ingredients (makes 8 portions)

1 can Luncheon meat, cubed
250g frozen vegetable, thawed
200g fish cake, cubed
200g char siu, chopped
250g prawn, shells removed, and deveined
3 eggs, beaten with 1 tsp light soy sauce and a pinch of ground white pepper
1 tbs garlic, minced
1 tbs vegetable oil
1 1/2 tbs light soy sauce
3 tbs dark soy sauce
1 tsp ground white pepper

3 cups cooked white rice (kept in the fridge over-night)

Method:
1. Boil vegetables for 5 minutes, or until softened.
2. Fry luncheon meat in a little oil until brown. Drain and reserve.
3. Fry eggs until just scrambled. Reserve.
4. In the wok, add the vegetable oil. Add garlic and fry until almost brown.
5. Add all the ingredients, except the rice. Toss.
(At this stage, take half of the ingredients out if freezing for later use.)
6. Add rice, light and dark soy, and ground white pepper. Mix until all the rice has turned brown.
7. Garnish with chopped chives (if desired) and serve hot!

Thursday, May 2, 2013

My new love.. MUFFIN TINS and the Impossibly Easy Mini-Pies!

I love baking. I love looking at pretty pictures of food and browsing through recipes. I love cook books - I have shelves full of them. Most times, I bookmark recipes that I want to try some time in the future. Once in a while, something really intrigues me and I print the recipe so I can try making the dish in the next week or so.

I am always on the look-out for recipes that are super quick to put together because there are days when I simply do not have a lot of time to cook. While I love spending loads and loads of time getting something right - like a good sambal balacan or a beef rendang recipe, I can only work on complicated recipes occasionally. So when I chanced upon this recipe, I was very skeptical. How can anything be so simple, and yet so versatile? Of course I had to try it out immediately - ok, in this case, the very next day!

So the following day, I bought a pack of Bisquick and a bag of Tatter Tots - they were a lot more easy to find than I had anticipated!! (I got them at Fairprice, no less!)

All I did was to mix the batter (see recipe below), spray a little oil on each muffin cup, and place a scant tablespoon of the mixture at the bottom of each cup before placing 3 frozen tatter tots (or puffs, as they are known here) in each cup. If you cannot find tatter tots, you can always chop up some hash brown into small pieces and use them instead.

Then I placed ham, corn and cheese in each cup.

Add another 1.5 tablespoons of batter over the top. And bake them.

Because I was making this for kids, I did not add any herbs or pepper. For adults, I would include some thyme, or rosemary and definitely some coarsely grounded black pepper.

That took me all of 10 minutes. Seriously, can it get any easier?

Once they are golden brown, they are done. Just let them cool in the tin for about 10 minutes before taking them out and placing them on a cooling rack so they can cool completely. These babies can be kept frozen for up to 3 months, and all you need to do is take them out of the freezer, thaw and reheat them in the microwave oven as and when you need a snack!

You can use any ingredients that you like. I have made these with roast chicken, tuna, mixed vegetables, sauteed onions, with sauteed mushrooms, cubed and boiled potatoes... and anything else I could find in my fridge/freezer. Easy, peasy. :)

RECIPE:

Ham, Corn and Potato Mini-Pies (makes 12)

Ingredients:

Ham and Corn Mixture

5 slices ham, cut into small pieces

1 cup corn (frozen)

1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese

36 Tatter Tots (frozen)

Baking Mixture

1/2 cup Original Bisquick® mix

1/2 cup milk

2 eggs

1/8 tsp sea salt

Method:

1. Combine all ingredients in Baking Mixture list.

2. Mix using a whisk until the mixture is relatively lump-free.

3. Oil muffin tin with cooking spray.

4. Place a scant tablespoon of mixture into each cup.

5. Place ingredients (that you are using) into cups.

6. Top with 1.5 tablespoons of mixture each.

7. Bake for about 30 minutes at 170C, or until golden-brown.

Wednesday, May 1, 2013

The Picky Eater

Aden has been going to play school since he was 20 months old. While we still have to drag him out of bed on some mornings, he is generally very happy to go to school to play with his friends.

The main reason why the LAM and I decided to put Aden in school at such a young age was that he was an only child at that time, and we did not plan on having another child. One thing we noticed was that Aden was very shy and did not know how to play with the other kids whom he had met at playgrounds or the pool. It was very important to the LAM and I that our little boy was able to play and interact with other kids and adults too (ideally).

Added to that, there are not that many kids in our estate that Aden could play with. Most of the kids are either way older, or younger. Aden did not like sand so playing with other kids at the sand pit down the road was out of the question.

Looking at our rambunctious boy now, no one would guess that he used to be shy and timid. It was a tough decision for us - I spent my childhood playing with my sister at home, and the LAM's childhood was spent playing on the beaches in Perth. I remember on so many occasions the LAM would remark, "He (Aden) is not even 2 and he is going to school!!!" At the end of the day, looking at how confident Aden is now, both the LAM and I feel that we had made the right decision.

Aden at school

While we are generally very pleased with Aden's progress, one of the things that exasperates me to no ends, though, is the marked difference in Aden's eating habits in school and at home.

Because I love to cook and cook a lot, I used to make most of what Aden ate. The rest of the time, my mom would cook for him. When he was younger, he would eat everything - pasta, noodles, meat, vegetables. Since he started going to school, he only eats dinner at home as both breakfast and lunch are catered for at school. Apparently, while he not only eats everything that is placed in front of him at school (Spaghetti, Pizza, broccoli...), he does so pretty quickly and even clears up after himself when he has finished eating!!!

At home, he would pick and choose, refusing not only vegetables (except carrots, because they are "not vegetables") but meat as well!!! He does not even like french fries. I mean, a kid not liking french fries??? How weird is that?? *SIGH* There were even times when the LAM and I gave up out of frustration and exhaustion and allowed him to eat only white rice - his favourite. (Yes, shame on us!)

Wouldn't it be nice if all meals were so easy?

Recently, however, the LAM and I decided that we have to put a stop to this once and for all, and apart from meticulously planning each and every meal for Aden, I have also put a stop to him walking around or playing while Por Por is trying to feed him. Instead, he now has to sit on his high chair until he has eaten at least 90% of the food on his plate.

This means a serious battle of wills - Aden is as stubborn as his Mommy, but it NEEDS to be done.

I was talking to a friend not too long ago about the non-existent good eating habits in my boy, and was told the story of how this man managed to get his 6-year-old son (who refused to eat most things) to eat everything that was placed on his plate within the space of a week.

The boy was given a plate of food for lunch, and 30 minutes to eat. At the end of that time, the plate was taken away, regardless of how much was (or was not) eaten. Since he was a super picky eater, a plate consisting of the same items of food was placed in front of him again at dinner time, and again he was given 30 minutes to eat. The boy was not given any snacks in between meals. This was repeated for a week, after which the boy ate anything that was given to him.

A bit harsh? Perhaps. But then again, I think of those kids in Jaime Oliver's School Dinners - you know, those who would not touch anything green, who only would eat fries, or chicken nuggets and nothing else day in and day out? - and I think perhaps the method used to teach this boy to eat properly, and healthily, is not so harsh after all. At least he would not have serious nutritional problems in the long run.

I understand that many of us are working mothers - just because I work from home does not mean that I do any less work - and it is nearly impossible to cook so many different things for our kids at every meal. Hence, I plan menus that can be tweaked so that the kids do not feel like they are always eating the same thing, yet they are meals I can whip up relatively quickly.

I made 2 meals for Aden today as he was home all day. Lunch was macaroni soup with fishballs, quail eggs and carrots, and dinner was soupy rice with meatballs, quail eggs, and toufu. This means I only had to do the cooking once, change a little of what I had placed in the first meal and I got 2 meals in one.

Aden ate 90% of his lunch. It was our second attempt at enforcing the new sit-down-till-the-food-is-finished rule, and it took an hour for him to eat, but he managed to remain seated all that time and finished most of his food. I think that this is a good beginning. I am sure there will be a lot more drama in the days to come, but I am hopeful that we will get there. Hopefully sooner, rather than later! *fingers crossed*

Recipes:

Macaroni Soup

Ingredients:
6 large anchovies, with head and guts removed
2 small pieces of seaweed
2 fishballs, halved (I bought the handmade ones at the wet market, but any fishball would do)
4 quail eggs, boiled and peeled
1 organic baby carrot, peeled and chopped
1 handful of macaroni
Method:
1. Place anchovies and seaweed in a pot, add water to cover. Boil 20 minutes, and remove both anchovies and seaweed.
2. Place carrots into pot, boil 5 minutes, or until carrots have softened. Add fishballs and cook for a further 2 minutes.
3. Remove from fire, add quail eggs. Season with a pinch of sea salt (optional).
4. In another pot, bring water to boil, cook macaroni until soft, then drain.
5. Add macaroni to already prepared soup.

Soupy rice

Ingredients:
6 large anchovies, with head and guts removed
2 small pieces of seaweed
3 meatballs (mix minced pork with a dash of light soy, white pepper and corn starch)
4 quail eggs, boiled and peeled
1 organic baby carrot, peeled and chopped
6 pieces of toufu, cut small
Method:
1. Place anchovies and seaweed in a pot, add water to cover. Boil 20 minutes, and remove both anchovies and seaweed.

2. Place carrots into pot, boil 5 minutes, or until carrots have softened. Add meatballs and toufu and cook for a further 2 minutes.
3. Remove from fire, add quail eggs. Season with a pinch of sea salt (optional).
4.Add soup to cooked rice.

Aden's simple soupy rice dinner (he ate all of it) :)