Homemade Fruit Leather 【果干卷】

My son A loves fruits. His favourite snacks is fruit leather or Fruit snacks. I used to buy organic fruit snacks from the store. He goes through them so fast that it got me worried that he will be fructose overdose sometimes.

Some friends came home yesterday with their kids yesterday, I made a big fruit bowl for the kids and was left with about 1/3 of it. Since it was close to bedtime and none of us want more fruit. I blended them into a thick paste and place it into the oven to bake at low temperature. 

We have got ourselves fruit leather in the morning! 

俊宝很爱吃水果，他最爱的零食是水果软糖和果干卷。之前我经常到超市买有机软糖和果干卷给他吃，有机的软糖和果干卷不便宜，含糖量又太高，我就一直想在家给他做。

昨天朋友带了两个小朋友来我们家玩，我准备了一大盆的水果，小孩子们食量不大，剩下不少。晚上我也不想再吃水果了，就在睡前和俊宝一起把水果都丢到搅拌机搅拌好，然后丢到烤箱里低温烘干。

第二天一大早就有了这款好吃又好看的果干卷啦！

Banana Alphabets【香蕉字母松饼 】

每次把俊宝和俊爹送出去买东西他爷儿俩铁定会给我带两梳香蕉回来，根本不顾及吃不吃得完的问题。说了好多次都没用，厨娘只好变着花样做香蕉美食了。

俊宝这阵子迷上拼字，天天拉着爸爸妈妈和老师练习拼字。我这次就给做了26个字母的松饼，他高兴得直拍手叫好，我一边煎他一边吃，吃到N的时候就饱了，一共吃了14只。平时做圆的松饼他顶多只能吃3-4只而已。下桌前还不忘了吩咐说：“妈咪，你要多做一些ABC哦！我下午还要吃！”

结果他还真的遵守承诺把剩下的字母下午茶点心的时候给吃完了。

One of the "advantages" of sending daddy and son for grocery shopping is that you ended up with too many of something and too little of others. It is quite clear that both father and son have the wrong notion of the amount of bananas we can eat in a week, they brought two bunches of bananas back and without fail are all ripen in less than a week, leaving me with tens of overripe bananas to work on!

My son A has been tirelessly playing with alphabets lately, he spent most of his time spelling and learning spelling of words. So I made this alphabets banana pancakes over the weekend to encourage A to eat more and to upkeep his learning spirit. He was thrilled and was eagerly waiting for the next alphabet even before it is done cooking!

Pumpkin Pan Mee & Shape Pan Mee for Toddler

I wrote about how I was left with plenty of vegetables and a big butternut squash yesterday when I posted recipe of Butternut Squash Scallion Pancake.

I did steamed extra butternut squash to make this yummy Pan Mee (Pulled noodle) for lunch today, it tasted great and is more nutritious comparing the normal Pan Mee.

I also made a toddler version for my son A. I rolled the dough out into a thin layer and let him cut out different shapes using cookie cutters and cook the shapes the same way I would with the pulled noodle.

He loved to worked with the dough and ate a lot more by counting shapes!

Banana Bread Baked By my 3 year old

My son A has been showing a lot of interest in baking lately. Since I have a few ripe bananas lying around at home, I decided to let him bake a simple banana bread.

We had a lot of fun baking and video taping!

Toddler Meal -- Mini Turkey Bagel Burger

This homemade Mini Turkey Bagel Burger is low in fat, healthy and delicious!
Serve it with apple "fries" to make it a wholesome and yummy meal for toddler.

Toddler Meal -- 3 minutes Microwave Milo Cake

This infamous milo cake has gone viral on our Malaysian in USA group on FB. I made this for AS over the weekend with a little twist of my own.

This cake is so easy that even my 3 year old can do it. (With mommy's assistant of course). I let him measure out the ingredients and do all the stirring work, it was a fun filled math and cooking lessons and great family activity, not to mention yummy and quick!

Toddler Meal -- Homemade Flaxseed Turkey Nuggets

My son AS is all about shapes and play dough recently, he will try to make out shapes of his foods and will eat a lot more if he recognises shapes in his food. He has also started getting more interested in chicken dishes as nuggets being one of them.

I have been wanting to try making something healthier than frozen nuggets for sometimes. Since work is a little relax these days, I made these yummy (and hopefully healthy) turkey nuggets for dinner. 

It turned out really juicy and tasty, AS had fun sorting out shapes and eating!

【日式溏心蛋】 Ajitsuke Tamago/味付け玉子

我是温泉蛋和溏心蛋的爱好者，每次去吃拉面都必须要另加一颗溏心蛋，在家乡的时候温泉蛋/半熟蛋也是我喜欢的早饭选择。 

俊宝自小受妈妈影响，也很喜欢吃卤蛋和溏心蛋，我们家附近有一家拉面馆，冬天我懒得做饭时经常带着宝宝去吃拉面，俊宝能吃小半碗的拉面再加半颗溏心蛋，母子俩一碗拉面再加一颗溏心蛋就是一顿饭了。 

这蛋我想自己在家做很久了，这周工作不忙，在家实验了两次，做出很满意的溏心蛋。昨晚给俊宝当晚饭，他说很牙米哦！ 

 When I have egg in whole, I love my egg yolk runny, be it fried or boiled. It is no doubt that this Japanese soft boiled egg that normally accompanying ramen could have my fancy from the day we met, I liked it so much that I will go for Ramen just for the egg!

My son AS probably get it from me, he too, loves soft boiled egg, whenever I don't feel like cooking, especially in winter time，I will pick him up from the daycare and go straight to a nearby ramen store and shared a good bowl of ramen with him, with one extra Ajitsuke Tamago.

Talking about that ramen store, it is currently closed for renovation, I am really hopeful that they will make it in time to re-open in winter so that I can have my hearty bowl of ramen again!

Toddler Food -- Scissor Noodle

I made this Scissor noodle for Arjun when I made Pan Mee/Mee Hun Kueh, this noodle is made using scissor, much easier to shape than pan mee, and it is just nice in size for a toddler to scoop or handle.

He loves this meal so much that he keep pointing to the noodle when I fed him!

Japanese White Stew/日式蔬菜浓汤（ホワイトシチュー）

My son A will be 3 in a few months, I can't believe how fast he grows into a toddler with a lot to say! This summer is one of the best as he is interested in learning differently kind of vegetables and fruits, we had so much fun planting and weeding together in the garden.

I also brought him for grocery shopping a lot nowadays and let him pick whatever vegetables that he like.We had much fun learning different kinds of foods and veggies before buying.

This stew was made in last winter after one of our shopping trip, he picked the frozen vegetables and I wanted him to have some protein so I added some organic chicken in the stew.

This soup is so warming and satisfying, one pot could serve the whole family well.

俊宝再过两个星期就30个月大了，看着他嗷嗷待哺到牙牙学语，到现在能够相当完整的表达自己的意愿，当妈妈的心里即安慰也不舍，好像还没有把他抱在怀里疼够呢！他就长这么大了。

两岁以后他的食量骤减，再没有小时候的狼吞虎咽，对食物的兴趣也没有那么大了。我和俊爸都是放养派的，自他会自己吃饭后，就再没有喂过饭。我都是做好了摆在饭桌上，他能吃多少就吃多少，吃饱了洗手后就让他去玩。因为还在母乳，所以我也从来不担心他营养不足。只要他活泼健康就好。

这阵子俊宝很热心学习蔬菜和水果的名称，我除了经常带他去菜市场一起买菜，一起认识蔬菜水果之外，也在时间允许的情况下让他参与厨房的运作。还想着春天来临的时候，和他一起种些蔬菜，建立他健康的饮食习惯，从食物的来源到制作，慢慢地培养期待和幸福感。

这款日式蔬菜浓汤是俊宝蛮喜欢的一道菜，冬天的时候我常做，蔬菜的内容经常变化，通常都是冰箱里有什么，让俊宝自己选择了加到汤里炖的。做一锅全家吃，心里和胃里都暖暖的哦！

Toddler Meal -- Teriyaki Salmon Bento

I made Fish Tikka as afternoon snack yesterday over movie, the thicker cuts of the huge salmon fillet N bought were all made into Fish tikka and I turn the thinner cuts into this yummy salmon Teriyaki Bento for A, he had this for dinner and enjoyed it very much.

Toddler Meal -- Goldfish Breaded Fish Fingers

I have tried to avoid giving shop bought snacks to A with some exception like goldfish crackers, it is not that these crackers are any better than other stuff kids normally have.  

The only reason he gets this "treats" once in a while is because no matter how we try, he is going to eat some junk foods anyway. So savory ones is better than the sugar filled stuff. Besides, he starts liking goldfish as he gets it in the daycare for snack.

I saw this ingenious idea of making goldfish breaded chicken sometimes ago while searching for ideas to make A's food.  I have been wanting to introduce fish to his diet for sometimes. He definitely doesn't fancy salmon and have no interest in any type of steamed fish. 

So I came up with this idea to make goldfish breaded fish fingers, with the hope that his liking for goldfish will lure him into eating some fish. He did liked it and had 4 sticks at dinner!

Toddler Food -- Meatballs in Tomato Sauce 【茄汁小丸子】

A started a new daycare last week, he protest every morning and got really worked up with the fact that he has to go to daycare everyday, this changes of his routine literally turn his life and mine upside down. He didn't sleep well, wakes up multiple times at night and nurses more than ever. 

But there aren't all that bad, his appetite increases after daycare and he eats more real foods now comparing pre-daycare time. And I have more time preparing his dinner before picking him up everyday!

He loves this meatballs so much that I was surprised, I initially made only 5 meatballs for him and thought to myself that if he could finished them all, that would be great. But then I can't be more wrong! He asked for more twice and ended up eating 11 pieces of meatballs with all the peas, carrot (I cut into star shapes which he really appreciate!) and vegetable. He had only a spoon of the rice but I was already out of the world.

俊宝三个月大的时候因为我妈回国了，俊爸又经常出差，俊宝又是个睡觉困难户，我一个人带着他经常累得不会说话。俊爸在我妈走之前就查好了我们家附近的一个daycare，用他公司的名字登记还有百分之十的折扣。所以当时就安排了一周三次每次三个小时让俊宝去玩玩，也让我能休息休息。后来他daycare自小看着他的老师辞职了，我们也刚好那段时间要回国看爷爷奶奶和外公外婆，就直接取消了daycare。

回美之后我和老师联系上了，她也一直很疼爱俊宝，我就问她肯不肯帮我在家看俊宝几个月。我每天送去她家半天，俊宝就这样在老师家里一直待到上个星期，老师要去新的daycare上班为止。我也就顺其自然的把俊宝也送到新的daycare了。

然而小子一点都不喜欢daycare的大环境，和其他小朋友一起作息他也不习惯，天天载他到daycare一看见大门，在车里就开始嚎，第一个星期连声音都哭哑了，让我心疼得不得了。可我得上班，所以也不敢不送去，就希望他赶快适应了，会喜欢在学校的活动。

不过，去学校也不完全都是坏事，他胃口变得更好了，老师天天给的报告都说他吃得很好，水果和蔬菜还经常会加一两次呢！我这个星期比较不忙，就经常给他晚餐做好吃的，盘子里五颜六色的他很喜欢，吃得很开心。

这道茄汁小丸子我做好拍了照片就去学校接他，给他系安全带的时候我给他看手机里的照片，问他要不要吃，他马上大力点头。结果晚餐是我本来只给准备了五只小丸子，他又让我给加了两次，一共吃了十一只！就连配菜胡萝卜，青豆和油菜心也吃得干干净净的。只有米饭吃了两口就不肯吃了，但是妈妈已经够高兴的啦！

Toddler Meal -- Cashew Pesto Pasta

A become thinner by the day ever since he started walking, it gets worse in the summer as we spent so much time out door doing physical activities. He just burnt more energy than he consumed!

I had hard time getting him eat more, so the next best thing is to give him high calorie foods so that whatever he manage to eat will give him more energy and nutrients.

The other day when I was going through my pantry I saw this packet of cashew nuts that I keep basically for Indian sweets and cooking. Since I had some Fussili boiling on stove, I went out to my neighbor's backyard and harvest a bunch of sweet basil that he told me to feel free to use and made this cashew pesto Pasta, A had almost a full plate, which is a good sign.

Toddler Food -- Apple Crepe

A just recovered from fever couple of days ago and yet to regain his appetite. He refused most of the foods I offered and will eat only fruits in the last few days. He looks a little better today and was playing like his normal self. So I decided to make something different with apple, hopefully the apple in this crepe will lure him into having few more bites.