food Archives - My One Cent Worth of Thoughts

Home Made Soy Milk

July 16, 2017 Zhiwei Comments 0 Comment

Ever since I bought the Joyoung Soy Milk Maker about 1.5 years ago, I’ve been meaning to write about it. But it kind of got back logged. ? Then forgotten.

I bought it from Taobao at a fraction of what I would have paid in SG. The only difference is in the plug. Fortunately, I discovered that it can use the same plug as my rice cooker! So voila! Just plug it in!! Less hassle!! ??

I’ve been using it to make almond milk recipe for the kiddos. Just dump all the ingredients into it. Press a button. Wait for it to beep. Filter. Drink!

It’s the same thing for the Soy Milk. I bought organic soya beans from cold storage. It doesn’t say non GMO on the packaging though. Just can’t find one that says non GMO. If anyone knows where to find it, let me know.

Soy Milk Recipe

1 cup soya beans
4 cups water
3 pandan leaves (shredded)
8 dates (I use medjool dates)

1. Soak soybeans in 2-3 cups of water overnight.
2. Discard water and rinse soybeans.

3. Remove skins to your best effort. I rub them between my fingers.

4. Add all ingredients to Joyoung. Press button. Read a book. ?

5. When the machine beeps, filter it with a sieve or coffee sock.

6. Add honey or other sweeteners to taste. Or simply drink it straight up!

I use the pulp to make gluten free crackers!!!

Milk Kefir Food

December 27, 2015 Zhiwei Comments 2 Comments

Ever since I started milk kefir making, I have incorporated it into our diet. In order for the diet to work, it has to be worked into our lifestyle permanently. Milk kefir has over 40 strains of culture. Just google milk kefir and you will find that it’s a wealth of goodness! Anyway, it’s a lot cheaper and more natural to eat this, than to buy the multi-strain probiotics capsules. Besides, it is helping my 宝贝’s eczema tremendously. I will do anything for her!

So now, the whole family has been “gently persuaded” to have kefir for breakfast EVERY DAY! Yes! Every single day! Now, it’s just part of our diet. I will add on to the list… If you have any new ideas, please feel free to let me know!

Banana Raisins Kefir

Watermelon Kefir Popsicle

2 Ingredients Gluten free pancake

December 10, 2014 Zhiwei Comments 0 Comment

Oh great!! I ran out of gluten free pancake mix and the brand I usually use was out of stock on Iherb! After discovering Iherb I simply refused buy the gluten free or organic stuff from local shops anymore! It’s about 30% cheaper on Iherb, including shipping fees! I think I’ll write about Iherb when I’m free!

Anyway, I remembered vaguely that my cousin posted a link in our whatsapp group on some healthy easy-to-do recipes.

Ok… Time to test the pancake recipe. I was pretty skeptical about it because it only had 2 ingredients. Ya… Only 2… And you can find them in everybody’s home. Well… Almost! Maybe 90% of the people have them at home.

Easy peasy. Just egg and banana!!! Huh!! Do I hear you say “huh?!” My reaction exactly when I saw the recipe.

Aiya.. Even if 宝贝 doesn’t want to eat it, I will. I love bananas!

So the proportion is 1 banana (the big one. I use 2 small ones sometimes) : 1 egg

Mash up the banana. Add the egg. Beat them together. Drop a dollop of the mixture on a pan. Make sure your pan is not too hot. The banana burns easily. Once it solidifies, flip it over.

Ta-da!! Here they are!! Not scoring high in the looks department but they certainly were yummy!!

These were the 2nd batch of my 1st attempt. The 1st batch ended up in my tummy. Too ugly to be seen! It took a few tries to get them reasonably decent looking. ?

But hey! They are gluten free, yummy and easy to make if I run out of breakfast food to serve up.

Have fun!

*Enter TFZ557 at Iherb.com to get $5 off your first purchase!*

1 July 2018

Finally got around to updating the recipe. The batter was too soft with just 2 ingredients and I had a hard time flipping them. I tweaked it a little by adding some coconut flour.

1 big banana (or 2 small ones)

1 egg

1 tablespoon coconut flour

Homemade Almond Milk

April 20, 2014 Zhiwei Comments 0 Comment

Hmm… I seem to be doing a lot of posts on food lately. Trying to be more domesticated for the sake of the children.

The food stuff I do aren’t too adventurous… pretty idiot proof on the whole. Well, considering my less than illustrious track record in home economics, they are usually very simple to prepare. I should list out my home economics exploits one day…

I have been ordering almond milk (original and unsweetened) from Iherb. 2 liter bottles and believe or not, the children finish them within 2-3 days!! Ok I do drink some of it (figured that since I pay so much for it, I should benefit from the high calcium and low fat properties too!)

However, the supply has been erratic because Iherb decides every other day to discontinue it!!! Gah!

I had to turn to a more expensive local source – silk almond milk from cold storage or market place. And even that source isn’t too reliable either. We buy up all the available stock (just 5 packets) at any branch whenever we see it!

I googled on the almond milk recipe and decided that it’s within my idiot proof skills to make it. So I started stocking up on organic almonds, for rainy days….

It doesn’t come any cheaper than the store bought ones (not factoring the p$ per hour of my time that I used to make it) but it’s awfully tedious!!! And messy… Maybe it’s just me… ?

Anyway, here goes …

2 packets of 213g of almonds yielded just about 2-3 liters. Only….

Soak the almonds in water, just enough to cover them for 1-2 days to remove the phytate. By removing the phytate, the body is able to absorb more of the goodness in the almonds. Basically, the longer the almonds are soaked, the more water they absorb, thus yielding a higher quantity of creamier almond milk.

My fat almonds – after being soaked for almost 2 days…

Add the almonds into the blender. For every cup of almonds, I use 2 cups of water. If you don’t like the original unsweetened taste of almond milk, you can add maple syrup / honey / other sweeteners to taste. Or you can even add pandan juice to make pandan almond milk!

Anyway it’s for the children, so no sweetener was added.

Then… Blend… Pretty no brainer right??? Hehe.

I pour the blender almond milk into a soup cloth to strain the almond bits out.

Looks yummy eh?? Why is it in a plastic container… I wasn’t quite prepared for it. No glass bottles at that point of time. So I just “hum tummed” any empty container I could turn out in my cupboard!!! Made a mental note to pick up proper glass bottles from Ikea. And a funnel too. I used to have one, but don’t know where it disappeared to. Sigh…

It’ll probably last 2-3 days.

I air fried the leftover almond bits at 160°C for 15 minutes. Quite crunchy and fragrant after that. 宝贝 has been eating it during snack time. Healthy snacks! I’ve been adding it to my breakfast cereal. Probably it can be added to cooking and even baking! So no wastage!

But damn! It was hard work!!! I drank a big cup of it to reward myself!

Weaning off Breastmilk – Almond Milk

March 12, 2014 Zhiwei Comments 0 Comment

My target for breastfeeding 小小宝贝 was 12 months. He’s now 14 months old. Hmm… Seems like I’ve exceeded expectations (in corporate terms ?). Anyway the breastmilk has been dwindling and he’s deriving more nutrients from solids than BM anyway. So it’s more like a good to have but not a necessity.

And it’s more of an emotional connection for me. It’s great to feel needed. ☺️That’s why I’ve been delaying the weaning. For 宝贝 I wasn’t given a choice. She refused to latch on after I was away for one week. We will see how it goes for him.

I’ve reduced my pumping to just 12 noon lunch time and evening 6pm.

Due to experiences with 宝贝’s food allergies and eczema, I’ve been reading up a lot on nutrition, diet and whathaveyous. So instead of formula milk (cow’s milk) which has a lot of additives, I’ve decided to go with plant milk, almond milk.

Although it’s low in fats, but it’s extremely high in calcium and other forms of nutrients. In fact, even higher than animal milk. Fats can be easily replaceable through other food.

The only concern is – is he allergic to almond which falls under the high allergenic group, nuts.

I bought this from Iherb, original, unsweetened almond milk.

I tried it myself… Eh! Quite nice!!

So I gave both of them some, in the morning. In case allergy develops, I’ve time to bring him to the clinic for anti histamine.

And guess what, both of them were fighting to drink it. Good news!!! After 3 days, it’s been confirmed that he’s not allergic to almonds. Time to try other nuts which are full of wonderful stuff! ??

The bad news is, Iherb discontinued this right after I bought my first packet. Sheesh!

So it’s off to cold storage to buy the expensive Silk brand almond milk. $15 per packet.

Food diary summary

My homemade almond milk recipe

Food Diary Day 19 – Sweet Pea Purée

July 8, 2013 Zhiwei Comments 0 Comment

This is the first store bought purée (well, minus the Heinz apple one which was unintentional) for 小小宝贝.

We had prepared sweet pea purée for 宝贝 a few years back. After our first attempt, we vowed not to do it again. It simply wasn’t worth the hassle.

In case, you are interested in the preparation procedure…
Buy a bag of frozen green peas from any supermarket.
Steam them for 10 mins.
Blend them.
Press the purée against a sieve to get rid of the hard skin.

It was the last step that “killed” us.

After sieving one big serving of green pea (the sieving took at least 15 minutes), we ended up with just 1/3 of it. Pathetic. After all that hard work….

So, while I shun off the shelf purée, the Healthy Times sweet pea purée is good enough for me.

Food Diary Summary…

Food Diary Day 13 – Sweet Potato Purée

July 2, 2013 Zhiwei Comments 0 Comment

小小宝贝’s purée repertoire has expanded. I’ve introduced him his first root – sweet potato.

Sweet potatoes are rich in complex carbohydrates, dietary fiber, beta-carotene (a provitamin A carotenoid), vitamin C, vitamin B6, manganese and potassium.

I’m slowly adding on food from every category and colours. I love colourful food!

Preparation :
Steam the sweet potato for 15-20 mins.
Skin it. After steaming, the flesh detaches easily from the skin. Blend it.

Food Diary Summary…

Aftermath of Spinach Purée Consumption – Explosion!

June 27, 2013 Zhiwei Comments 0 Comment

I knew it was going to be green. Angry hulky green… I waited and waited. Nothing happened yesterday. He’s decided to keep it in for the day.

This morning it was explosively green!! It practically exploded out of his diaper. Luckily his pajamas contained the effects or it would have been unimaginable. Think hulk!

The result was a great big pile of green ooze plus green powder everywhere. Guess there simply wasn’t enough liquid poo to stick everything together. I did contemplate taking a photo of it. But poo was everywhere. Didn’t want risk dirtying the phone.

Hope you are not reading this while having your breakfast.

Have a green day!

Tofu Cheesy Fish Cake

December 9, 2012 Zhiwei Comments 0 Comment

Laundry done. Check.
Dishes done. Check.
Extra fish cakes stored. Check.

Yes! All done. Hub has brought 宝贝 to her grandma’s place. 1.5 hours of reprieve. Time for blogging!!

It’s the time of the week again. Once a week, it’s cooking time for me. This week, it’s Tofu cheesy fish cake, using the air fryer. Sounds really healthy right??

Ingredients (whatever is in the fridge, again…)
Organic tofu (what’s tofu fish cake without tofu?!)
Fish fillet (you can use salmon)
Shredded mozzarella and cheddar cheese
Mixed vegetables
Fresh button mushrooms
Flour
Egg
Salt, black pepper, spices (thyme, parsley etc) (I omitted these for 宝贝’s portion and added for mine)

Dice everything and dump them in a bowl and I aga aga all the quantity. It’s always aga aga and minimum washing for me!! Make sure everything is well mixed.

Add flour until the mixture is sticky and you are able to shape them into balls.

My not very shapely balls. :) I used the air fryer baking tray. It’s so small that I could only fry 4 balls at one time. Temperature : 200 degrees Celsius. Time : 10 mins

They turned out to be really crispy and puffed up. 宝贝 loved her non salted version. Everything’s done without oil!!

Check out her happy smile!! It’s actually quite filling. She ate 4 cakes and I ate 6. Her praises have inspired me to start thinking of next week’s menu!! Hmm… What should I cook next week??

Curry Chicken and Baguette

November 11, 2011 Zhiwei Comments 0 Comment

Yesterday I didn’t know about the existence of Valley Point at 491 River Valley Road, but now I’m sitting here, enjoying my lunch, blogging in peace and basking in solitude.

I had a meeting here 2 hours ago at Starbucks. Nowhere to go, as it’s raining lions and wolves outside, I slipped into a little cafe (after checking the prices of the food on the menu. I’m a cheapo yah!) as I wasn’t too keen to eat sandwiches at Starbucks. It’s named Cafe in Action at #01-06. The rest of the patrons looked like they were enjoying their food -a good sign to me.

I ordered a curry chicken with baguette. The baguette was warm and crispy. The curry was spicy but not overly so (great for me as I am, somewhat allergic to spicy food and get a stomach upset after it. I pay dearly for it after every single indulgence.) but for spice lovers you probably wouldn’t like it. It had just the right texture, not too thick nor too thin like some curries that I’ve tried.

Best of all, the cafe was quiet and cozy, great for reading, blogging and simply get away from the hustle and bustle. Run by very friendly aunties, I doubt that I’ll come again though. It cost me a hefty $17.80 cab fare to get here and it’s not in the vicinity of my usual haunts.

But if you are here, give it a try! I’m sure the other stuff on the menu must taste just as yummy.

My One Cent Worth of Thoughts

An Extremely Valid Reason for Skiving

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