Homemade Jam

I’ve always disliked how sweet the bottled jams sold in supermarkets are. So now that I have all the time in the world when the little one is in school, I decided to try making homemade jams.

Made a batch of blueberry jam and it turned out yums! So decided to make strawberry jam today.

The steps are really simple but it’s quite a tiring process (for me anyway :p) cos I have to stand by the stove and stir consistently for about an hour.

Ingredients
1. 2 boxes of blueberries / strawberries (I used the Korean strawberries that are so popular in the supermarkets these days)

2. 3/4 tablespoon of lemon juice / 1 tablespoon of lemon juice (respectively)

3. 1 tablespoon of honey / 2 tablespoons of honey (respectively)

[Tbh for #2 and #3, just add according to taste :p]

Steps
1. Mix all 3 ingredients into a pot

2. Turn on a low fire

3. Stir consistently, mashing up the fruits when soft
(I don’t mash them up till a smooth consistency cos I like my jam to have some bits of fruits. So mash according to your liking.
Also, I’ve tried mashing using a blender but somehow, the consistency is not as good as when you mash it up manually.)

4. Slow boil and stir till a thick consistency (like jam) is achieved.

5. Put into glass jars or baby food cubes (which I use) and cool.

6. Once cooled, refrigerate.
It can last up to 2 weeks but I usually try and finish it up within a week.

Tadah! Healthy homemade jam!

Ask and you shall be given :)

In this case, it’s bee tai mak which A requested for.

Instead of buying a MSG-laden one from the hawker centre, I decided to prepare a wholesome, home cooked bee tai mak for him. 🙂

It’s really easy and took only 20 minutes to cook.

General Ingredients
– Chicken broth
– Bee tai mak
– Pork (sliced or minced)
– Prawns
– Fishballs
– Organic baby spinach

Ingredients for marinate
– Soba sauce (I use this instead of light soy sauce as it’s less salty)
– Corn flour

Steps
1. Marinate pork with soba sauce and corn flour for at least 30min

2. Wash bee tai mak before cooking

3. Cook bee tai mak in chicken broth till bee tai mak is almost cooked

4. Add in pork

5. Once pork is almost cooked, add in prawns, fishball and organic baby spinach

6. Voila! Done and yummy bee tai mak for A! 🙂

He slurped up the whole bowl and a little more. Proudly told his granny that, “Mama cooked Bee Tai Mak! Very yummy!”

So sooo sweet la. *hee*

And that’s why when he asked me to stop working to cook for him, I did. 🙂

My dramatic boy

Brought A to school today and when he saw that his Chinese teacher has been replaced (she went back to get married) with another Chinese teacher, he literally collapsed to the ground and cried so dramatically.

I was shocked cos I’ve not seen him in this state. His form teacher, Ms E came out with a smile on her face and told me it’s cos he’s scared of this Chinese teacher. LOL! Yes, I laughed out loud literally as I’d always thought that he’s not afraid of any of the teachers.

The reaction he had was overtly dramatic and he when I left, he was on Ms E’s lap, sobbing sadly and saying, “I want Mama.” I waved goodbye cheerily while he looked on sadly. :p

One thing’s for sure – I don’t have to send him for drama classes. 😉

Pancakes for Breakfast!

Is the title of a book that Ansel brought home from school for the weekend.

They are exploring the topic of “Food” recently and have been making pancakes in school!

When I picked him up from school early on Friday, his teacher was getting them to pick a book and he immediately picked his book while saying, “This one!” excitedly.

Since Friday night, he has been telling me he would like to make pancakes for breakfast and so where else to go but Slappy Cakes! (I know… It’ll be more fun to mix the dough together, etc but I don’t think I’ve the patience to mix the dough. Lol! More of a cook and eat than mix mix mix, cook, wait and eat person. :p)

The little one had fun:

1. Ordering from the menu – Yes, he has been the one getting the wait staff’s attention these days and placing his orders on his own. They are all amused and always looked at me for confirmation of the order. One thing about Ansel, he knows what he wants and seldom over order.

2. Squeezing the mix from the bottle – Though after a while, he said that the stove was too hot and left me to make pancakes in the shape of bears, Mickey, rabbits, letters A and E.

3. Flipping the pancakes – His absolute fave activity and requested that “I want to flip it high!”, and proceeded to stare at the ceiling. Lol!

4. Eating his pancakes with maple syrup and fruits – I’m glad I’ve a little boy who chooses fruits over junk. 😉 Today, he picked his fave strawberries, raspberries and bananas. 

Totally fun especially cos he can compare it to his experience in school.

Never lose your sense of fun and curiosity my young padawan! 🙂

#ALsaysthedarnestthings

And so we went Taka sale today.

Clothes Shopping
#ALisateenager
Brought him for shopping:
Me – Which pair of shorts do you want?
Ansel – This one! *in a rush to get to the toys*
Me – Are you sure it’s this pair?
Ansel – I told you this one already! Don’t keep asking!
*with an annoyed teenagerish frown*

Asked if he wanted something and repeated myself again:
Ansel’s response these days – I said no already!

OMG! Have we just fast forwarded 10 years???
Actually, might be a case of #ALlikefatherlikeson -_-

CNY Goodies Shopping
AL decided that he wanna do some tasting and so we did!

And omg… Was my boy honest with his opinions!

If he liked the goodie, he will exclaim while nodding his head like a connoisseur, “Yummy!”

If it didn’t sit well with him, he actually frowned and went, “Ee! So funny (tasting)!’ (Which I secretly concur… LOL)

And after tasting a few, he made his choice and I must say we have the same taste (and shopping style – the sales lady was the friendliest of them all. LOL)

My young padawan, shopping with you is really paisey but fun! 😉

PS. This boy made me carry him while we shopped. Almost broke my back and I had three huge Taka bags with me while making our rounds at the CNY goodies fair!

PPS. Much to many people’s amusement, the boy was excitedly exclaiming, “Chinese New Year!” when he saw the fair. :p

Anyway, thankfully I did my first round of shopping before heading there with him. Else I would never have gotten the necessities out of the way. Dearest AL, please start walking on your own again and don’t bully me (though I must say, I do like carrying him. :p I mean, there’ll definitely come a day when he will not want to be carried anymore right. :p).

#ALsurprisesme

And so before A turned 3, he pooped in a toilet bowl in the mall on 17 Sep 2014. The handicapped toilet beside Vivo’s Bakerzin.

The little one told me he had a tummyache post dinner and I rushed him there. Thankfully, the toilet was really clean and this OCD mum didn’t freak out. LOL.

I can safely say that Ansel is fully toilet trained when he’s not sleeping and when he’s in his underpants. However, if he’s in his diapers, he will still pee and poo happily into it. -_-“‘

Now wondering if I should take the plunge and let him go without diapers when he’s sleeping. Hmmm… Will #ALsurprisesme?

#ALsurprisesme

A does the funniest and most amusing stuff at times.

Was gonna get him for dinner last night when I saw him throwing his megablock in the air with one hand and swinging his toy bowl to hit it with the other.

First reaction was why is he throwing his toys but decided to take a step back and asked why he did that.

Am I glad I did!

A told me that, “I cannot play badminton!”

And proceeded to mimic throwing a shuttlecock and swinging a racket.

I seriously have no idea where he learnt that from. Might be from his P.E. classes in school? Cute max. Lol!

Shortly after when I was showering him, he saw his rash guard and said, “Swimming pool clothes!” Lol!

Then pinched his nose with one hand and said, “Must pinch the nose then can swim. In the river!” while making swim strokes with the other hand.

I’m so tickled and amazed by the new stuff he does!

Milestone!

And so A has been going through toilet training in school since late June this year. (Only when he’s awake.)

The teacher kept asking if we have started and eventually, we started after our BKK trip – 12 July was the fateful day.

A has been pretty good but he just refuses to poo in the toilet. So he has been waiting for night time or early morning to poo. -_-“‘ Otherwise, he would ask for his diaper to poo. *sighs*

To be honest, I’m chill about this and don’t mind waiting till he’s more ready. But his teacher is so enthusiastic so I oblige.

Last night, he suddenly exclaimed that he wanted to poo so I rushed him to the potty (something I bought since he was only 6 months old? Lol).

He sat on it and…. POOPED!

Omg. We were both so happy and proud. Lol!

Great job A! Keep it up. 🙂

P.S. Looks like we MIGHT be able to travel end of year after all. :p Was thinking of cancelling the year end trip as I cannot imagine putting him in a diaper fast enough in winter for him to poo! :p

#ALsaysthedarnestthings

A have been speaking in proper sentences for a few months now and he’s really quite funny. Takes us by surprise, the things he says!

And so there was this day when our washing machine went haywire and made a really loud noise, much like the sound effects in Transformers which he had caught in the cinema.

A declared, “It’s washing machine Transformers!” LOL (Perhaps he might have just conceptualised the next gen of Transformers for it’s next blockbuster!)

No amount of persuasion could dissuade him from being afraid of the washing machine Transformers so we just left it at that.

One day, A was sucking his thumb (AGAIN!) and so I decided to pretend to call my mum to summon the washing machine Transformers to come into the car. That we will stop the car by the side and invite it in.

After I pretended to hang up, poor A said mournfully to me, “Why you call Ah Ma?” With a puppy dog look on his face. And repeated himself a few times.

Then he went on to explain, “I am not sucking thumb anymore… :(”

We just burst out laughing while the poor boy was looking really sorrowful. LOL

Seriously, #ALsaysthedarnestthings :p

Dealing with A’s tantrums @ 35 months old

With me being really busy these past two months, A has been closer and stickier to the dad.

So when the dad stepped away for a work call during lunch, A decided that he only wanted the dad and not me. Started pushing me and all while I was seated at the restaurant.

I kept my cool as usual and wait it out for him to be done. Talking to him in calm tones, asking him what exactly he wanted/needed me to do as the dad will NOT be appearing any time soon, and we are certainly not going anywhere till he finished his lunch.

Eventually, I decided to use 苦肉计 and told him he scratched me and I was hurting. That totally worked and he apologised and sat on my lap and finished his lunch. Guess he was tired from throwing a tantrum and not getting any reaction out of me as well.

I always believe in waiting it out when A’s throwing a tantrum, then talking to him after he has calmed down on why he shouldn’t do that. So far it has worked beautifully and I hope the little one will soon outgrow his tantrums!

Zen, I shall remain! *ooooohhmmm*