Sweet star cheesy and creamy puff pastry

Puff pastries are really yummy and we pay an average of $1-5 for 1 pcs of pastry. But it is actually very easy and fast to have yummy pastries at home. I use pampas pastry. I chose this brand as it uses butter. Butter based pastries will be more fragrant. It's frozen and all you need to do is to use cookie cutters to cut out the Shapes you want! Brush with egg wash and send into the oven!
My daughter loves prawns and cheese so I made her this cheesy creamy prawns in a star shaped puff pastry!
This is a very easy recipe and I hope you will try it out soon!

Ingredients:
Pampas puff pastry 2 sheets
1 tablespoon of cheddar cheese
5 tablespoon of full cream milk
6 prawns ( I used frozen prawns to have the crunchy effect.)
1 egg, beaten

Special tool:
Big and small star cookie cutters

Optional:
Faces cut out using Seaweed

1. Preheat oven at 180deg Celsius.
Do not defrost puff pastry. Only bring it out when you are ready to work with it. Slice pastries into halves and stack. You will have 4 layer of pastries.
2. Use a big star cookie cutter and press firmly through the pastries, followed by the small star cookie cutters.
3. Remove 3 small star pastries, leaving 1 in the bottom.
4. Glaze beaten egg over the pastries and send them into preheated oven for 8 minutes. Turn other the other side. And bake for 3 minutes so that both sides will be crispy. Remove and cool them.
5. In low heat cook milk till it bubbles. Mix in cheddar cheese and prawns. Turn off the fire after 3 minutes.
6. Serve the prawns in the pastry and watch your child with a big grin on their face as they see and eat it!

Inspiring yummy mummies
PoshPearl

Review: Yonanas ice cream maker

Wouldn't it be nice to have Ice cream with absolutely no trace of cream and sugar yet still taste creamy and luxurious?
Well, my dream came true when I got the yonanas ice cream maker!
At just SGD$118, this maker can make very smooth and creamy ice cream just by grinding frozen fruits!
All you have to do is to peel the skin of your favorite fruits and freeze them for at least 24 hours. Then, as and when you want it, you can pop and grind them into the maker and get ice cream
immediately! It is not only easy to use, it is also easy to wash and clean. Just wash the five parts with soapy water.

After getting the yummy ice cream
I like to mix in my own toppings to control the level of sweetness and crunchiness and freeze the ice cream in an air tight container. In that way My family will be able to eat guilt free ice cream anytime!

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PoshPearl

Mentaiko salmon tamago don

My mummy loves Mentaiko salmon served in restaurants. However after eating my version, she doesn't want to eat out anymore! You will be pleased to know how easy it is to prepare this dish that will make your guest grinning and asking for more servings! Thanks to Kew Pie Mentaiko bottled sauce and kikkoman hon tsuyu!

Ingredients listed is per serving
1 piece of sliced salmon
Kewpie mentaiko sauce Enough to drizzle on the top surface area of the salmon

Sliced onions, amount to your liking
1 teaspoon kikkoman hon tsuyu
1 beaten egg

Japanese rice. Ratio of water to rice 1:1

Optional garnish: seaweed and togarashi (Japanese chili powder)

1. Panfry salmon on medium heat, skin facing low, till fragrant and skin does not stick to the pan.
2. Flip over and till color change with a little brownish on the surface. Remove and set aside and drizzle Mentaiko sauce.
3. Using leftover salmon oil, sauté
onions till tender.
3. In a bowl, add hon tsuyu to egg and whisk well.
4. Add egg to pan and turn on fire on low. Stir egg continuously till it become scrambled. I like my eggs slightly runny so the eggs are ready within 1 minute.
5. Scoop cooked Japanese rice and place scrambled eggs, onions and salmon.
6. Add garnish and serve immediately!

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PoshPearl

Fried wonton noodles

My family loves fried wontons. We would usually eat about 6-7 wontons per person! We also love the chewy hong kong style noodles to go along with it. You can use spinach noodles as well! In this recipe, I used a variety of condiments to make my noodle sauce and it's very successful!

1 pack of Round Wonton wrappers
2 beaten egg yolks to seal wontons
Fillings and marinate:
500g Minced meat
4 Diced chestnuts
100g Diced prawns
1 1/2tablespoon light soy sauce
1/2 tablespoon sesame oil
3 teaspoons of corn starch
2 egg whites
A dash of pepper

Fortune brand hong kong style noodles
1 bowl of water with ice.
1 big metal sieve
Noodle sauce for 5 persons (to prepare in advance):
5 tablespoon shallot oil( pan fry shallots on low heat till fragrant to get shallot oil)
2 tablespoon light soy sauce
2 teaspoon oyster sauce
2 teaspoon dark soy sauce
2 teaspoon sesame oil
50ml of warm water
Please taste it and adjust accordingly.
Optional:
AAA brand crispy prawn chili
Scalded Kailan or other vegetables
to your liking.

1. Combine wonton fillings and marinate at least 1 hour.
2. Seal wontons and set aside.
3. Deep fry at 140-160 deg Celsius. Flip to ensure both surfaces are fried well. It took about 2-3 minutes for 7 wontons.
4. Drain oil well and set aside.
5. Loosen a clump of noodles (1 serving) so that the strands doesn't stick.
6. In boiling water, place noodles and use chopsticks to continuously stir for 30 seconds. Turn down to low heat to prevent water overflowing due to reaction with noodles.
7. After 30 seconds, sieve the noodles and stir noodles in icy water for 5 seconds before placing back in hot water for 5 seconds and drain.
8. Place 3 tablespoons of sauce (and chili if needed) and toss the noodles well.
9. Add vegetables and fried wontons and you are ready to dig in!

Soup dumplings option:
Place dumplings in boiling water for 3 minutes or until cooked. :)

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PoshPearl

Taiwanese Braised Beef noodles

I have not been to Taiwan yet, but I had a chance to eat Taiwanese braised beef noodles cooked by my dear Taiwanese friend years ago. Many years later, I decided to recreate the taste I have eaten and it is very similar. My family enjoyed it and I hope you will try it too! I used pressure cooker in this recipe to speed up the time, if not, you could always boil the beef till tender and soft.

Here's the ingredients:

1 clove of garlic
1 large onion, halved
1 carrot sliced into chunks
4 tomatoes
1kg beef muscle.

3 bowls of water, about 1.5l
2 teaspoon dark soy,
2 teaspoon light soy,
2 teaspoon rice vinegar,
1 teaspoon sugar
1 star anise

Noodles from teabox, a Taiwanese store from sembawang shopping centre. Alternatively you can get dried packed udon, as long as the noodles selected is chewy.

1. Stir fry garlic, onions, carrots, tomatoes and beef until fragrant and slightly softened.
2. Add the rest of the ingredients and use pressure cooker cook. Alternatively stew the beef till tender.
3. Remove oil from the surface of the soup.
4. According to the instructions of your chosen noodles, cook it, wash in cold water and drain.
5. Add soup to a serving of noodles and enjoy!

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PoshPearl

Cooking Tip: an ingenious way to scrap yummy sauces off your wok

So after cooking the yummy dish, be it sambal stir fry or braised meat, there's always sauce or a little gravy left behind. How do you fully utilize the yummy sauces and not waste it soaking with soapy water in the sink?

For me, I will get hot steaming rice and coat the sauce onto each grain and make sure that my wok is clean as well. Killing two birds with one stone!

So what do you get? Easy to wash wok and flavorful rice!

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PoshPearl

Opinion on child raising

Baking bread now! 2 loaves, chocolate chip and fruit & nuts. I conclude that baking bread is like raising a child. Under proof or over proof will not maximize the bread's optimum texture, just like raising a child, nature and nature are both equally important and we have to nurture our children to their best potential.

Personally, I believe in nurturing. Just a child born in a family of doctors, if abducted by thieves and raised by them, he will never get a chance to be a doctor if he doesn't have the means to proper education and learning from his real family.
Similarly, a child who is adopted by a family of educators will be raised to be a person of good values.

Of course one may argue about peer influence and that one might go astray, but peer influence or pressure, my friend, is a form of "nurture" as well, in my opinion, "Nurtured" by friends to become someone else. In another words, as long as a person is under an
Environment with certain people, after sometime, that person will be "nurtured" or influenced to become like the people around them.
But is it possible not to be influenced?
Yes. With a strong and firm foundation of values, beliefs and knowledge, one is rooted and will not be easily strayed. This is because the person has his own identity and need not succumb to unnecessary pressure to become someone he doesn't like.

So start nurturing your children from birth. Believe in their ability to learn. Never underestimate a child's ability and potential and they will never fail to
amaze you!

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PoshPearl

Refreshing Thai Seafood vermicelli salad in homemade Thai spicy sauce

As promised, I will be showing you how to whip up dishes using the homemade Thai spicy sauce I have made.
When I think of thai food, i think of fresh tiger prawns and squids! Hence I paired them up with vermicelli and U used Korean vermicelli instead to add texture to the dish.
I have tried a few brands and I like it that Sing Long's vermicelli doesn't turn soggy or sticky. I also made sure my seafood is not over cooked by tasting it and soaking it in icy water to ensure it is crunchy!

I hope you will like this recipe as much as my family do.


Here's the Ingredients:

2 tablespoon of homemade Thai spicy sauce
Recipe for sauce can be found
here:

http://mummyposhpearl.blogspot.sg/2012/08/thai-sweet-and-spicy-sauce.html

Other ingredients:
1 can straw mushrooms sliced into halves
500g sing long brand vermicelli (avail at Sheng Siong and Giant)
500g tiger prawns deveined and tail-on
500g squids sliced
12 cherry tomatoes

1. In boiling water cook vermicelli for 5 minutes, drain and wash in cold water and refrigerate.
2. In another pot of boiling water, cook prawns and squids for about 3 minutes, or until cooked.
3. Drain and set seafood in a bowl of cold water with ice.
4. Reboil the seafood water and place
Straw mushrooms in for 2-3 minutes, drain in cold water.
5. Remove refrigerated vermicelli and drain under cold water to prevent clumps.
6. Drain and toss everything together in sauce and chill in the refrigerator for another 10 minutes.
7. Serve with lime and fish sauce of you desire.

Inspiring yummy mummies
PoshPearl

Ever felt condemned?

INTENSITY. What is like when there are no grey areas? This is what it's like.
You LOVE like there's no tomorrow and you HATE till you can visualize the person ripped into two. The PAIN is so great till you feel blood gushing out from your side when the cold metal pierces right into your organs with no apologies.
You TRY your best to balance your love and hate but to only FAIL and feel utterly USELESS.
SELF EFFORT is FUTILE and you have fallen from GRACE when you realize the HURT you have caused to the one you LOVE MOST.
You feel like DYING and the emotional PAIN is much greater than the physical pain. So much so that self mutilation is redundant and serves no purpose. So much so that you wish by injuring yourself can salvage the HURT you have inflicted onto the one you LOVE most.

You JUMP. You jump into this dark hole. SO LOST and SO CONDEMNED. Screaming but there's no voice. Crying, but there's no tears. Fresh dark blood continues to flow and soon your clothes are stained and wet. It's cold in the PAIN is getting more and more intense till you feel numb. You have forgotten how much wounds there are. As you jump mid way, you noticed a rope. Is it too late? You decided to grab hold of the rope, clinging on.

"I'm here!" A familiar voice calls out. A voice that is so calming and secure. A voice that makes your tears flow. A voice that gives you strength to find your own voice back. You see the familiar figure at the top of the hole.
"Help me! Pull me up!" You say. The person refuses to pull you up. Instead, the person JUMPED into the well together with you, as you stare with shock, in disbelief.

In the process, the person broke his ribs. The sharp concrete edges of the hole cause great damage to his skull, piercing through like a crown of thorns. His flesh torn off like stripes of flesh for the tigers. His blood gushed out. More profusely then yours. It kept on flowing like a river.

"What are you doing? Stop hurting yourself!" You say.

"I LOVE YOU." With that, he STRETCHED out his arms and DIED.

You realize that his blood has covered you. From the crown of your HEAD to the soles of your FEET. Suddenly, you do not feel the pain anymore. Still holding on to the rope, you turned round to check. Your wounds are GONE. You are HEALED! But you have not more strength left in you. You are so TIRED. SO, SO, TIRED. You give up. You had enough. You have NO CHOICE but to let go.

"Goodbye." With that, you release your rope. You thought you will plunge to your death. Only to find out that you have landed on ground. You were only inches away from the ground all this while. But because you refuse to let go, that caused your depletion of energy. You looked up and muttered to yourself that the opening is not that far after all. In fact, it is getting nearer and nearer! You feel light and BOLD. You feel energetic. What is happening?

This is when you realize that you are on the shoulders on the familiar figure! Not only is he not hurt, he is flawless and without blemished. He seemed..INVINCIBLE and there's this GLOW. This MIGHTY AURORA around him. He walked on air and walked his way up on reach the opening. He carried you and brought you to a lake and gives you food and water, because he thought you must be hungry and thirsty.

Still in amazement and finding it too good to be true, you wanted to ask if this was a dream. That is when you realize that it is not. It is reality. The wounds are still there. But you have been healed. You are not condemned. All the wrongs have been forgiven, PAST, PRESENT, and even FUTURE. You hug the familiar figure and ask, " I wanna return to be with you. Can I still love you again?"

He says," It is not your love for me, but MY LOVE FOR YOU."

And that marks the beginning of your new journey. A journey that is different. A journey that is PROTECTED in HIS BLOOD. From the crown of your head, to the soles of your feet. HIS BLOOD, from he who is PERFECT but took on flesh, to BLEED and to be hurt and to DIE for you.

And you rejoice. For he has been RESURRECTED. WHOLE and INVINCIBLE. And he did it JUST FOR YOU. Just because HE LOVES YOU.

What's His name? His name is Jesus Christ.

Be loved today!
PoshPearl

The voice of a child

You said I was creating a mess,
Actually I was learning to feed myself.
You said I was wasting your time,
Actually I was learning to wear my shoes.

You said I was trying your limits,
Actually I was trying to tell you I need to sleep.
You said I was slow and incapable,
Actually I was not given any chance to prove my worth.

You said there's no point in reading to me as I am still too young for it,
Actually I will be your no. 1 fan no matter how inexperienced you are in storytelling.
You said that I am misbehaving because I was smearing the juice on the table,
Actually I was doing hand painting and exploration.

You said I was making way too much noise,
Actually I was just imitating you.
You said I was wrong to hit others,
Actually I was just imitating you.

You said I am stubborn and rebellious,
Actually I am just determined to
Accomplish my task.
You said I am too young to learn,
Actually My brain is developing faster than yours.

Brain development is the fastest from 0-3 years old and every child ought to be given a chance to learn.

Never underestimate your child's ability to learn. Your child is a Reflection of you and his or her level of capability depends on how much you believe in him or her.

Inspiring Yummy Mummies
PoshPearl

The big sister

On the day we found out we were expecting Tiffany at 19 weeks ...

Everytime when we have shopping trips with Trini and we look at children's clothes, Trini will tell us if it is nice or not. But today, after we know that we r expecting Tiffany and was looking at baby clothes, we picked up a piece of clothing and the first words that Trini said wasn't "nice" or "not nice." instead, she said? "For me?"

At that moment, it dawned on me that Trini has a revelation that Tiffany is joining our family and from now on, Trini will be considering about things, whether it Is for Tiffany or herself.

There is this indescribable feeling that I have towards my 2 year old daughter. I'm so touched and amazed at her level of wisdom and understanding.

I feel that Tiffany is so blessed to have an awesome and gracious sister named Trinity and this journey of sisterhood covenant will only get closer and sweeter.

Inspiring yummy mummies
PoshPearl

Reflection on Love

"I love you." 3 simple words with various degree of depth and intensity to every individual. Many a times, love is selfish. To love, to possess, to even manipulate a desired outcome.
But, you see, love in this way will never lead to true happiness. Temporal satisfaction from each other cannot lead to eternity. In fact, the more you demand, the more insatiable you become. In the process, you become greedy and even when you have full possession of the person, you are still empty.
But when love is selfless, it becomes beautiful. The true love of never expecting anything in return makes one appreciate you more. Perhaps the world may think that you are, plainly speaking, stupid. But, you have won over the person you love wholly. That is because when you were selflessly allowing yourself to be hurt and vulnerable to the outside world, you were actually using yourself to protect and save the person you love the most.
Just like when Jesus hang on the cross to die for our sins because he love us so much. Don't you think so?

Child led weaning: a special and exclusive journey I shared with my first born, Trinity, from 8th Sept 2009- 28th Feb 2011

It is finished.

Finished. Not to symbolize an end but to mark a new developmental milestone.



And so I swore that I would breastfeed till at least when Trinity was 6 months old. However, the initial period was so terrifying, I'd thought I would have never made it through.



Severe low milk supply that cause Trinity to have Starvation Jaundice. She was hospitalized for 3 days 2 nights and I cried for 6 hours on that day she was admitted, forcing myself to eat so that I could still have milk for her.



Stress was the main reason for the low supply. That was when I decided to focus on Jesus and let him take over. I went to Mrs Wong at Thomson Parent craft and she helped tremendously in assessing and providing tips for increase of milk flow. (Thank you Mrs Wong, Lilian and Team!!! Eternal gratefulness!)



By the time Trinity was 2 months old, she only needed 1 side per feed. By the time she was 5 months olld and I was going back to work, I had more than 150 packets of frozen breastmilk on reserve for her.



I continued to pump at work and let her feed on demand after work and started supplementing her with formula when she was about 11 months old.



After 12 months old, I felt that she will need to stop eventually but I prayed and believed for a child initiated weaning as I did not want any tears, agony and pain. I wanted her to be ready herself.

2 weeks ago, she started to tell me that I didnt have milk. She asked for Formula and she started to sleep throughout the night. She didn't need to latch on to sleep. She didn't need any comfort feeding.

Though I was sad as this exclusive bonding journey has come to an end, I am happy for her!

We had communion and prayed over her that the journey ahead will be even better. :)



Genesis 21:8 And the child grew, and was weaned: and Abraham made a great feast the same day that Isaac was weaned.



Thank you Trinity for this special journey, Mummy will never forget this , :) I love you.p

Thai sweet and spicy sauce

I love Thai food for the sweet, spicy and sour taste! It's very appetizing and appeals to many Singaporeans like myself.
This recipe shows you how to prepare a Thai sweet and spicy sauce that can be used as a sauce for salads, fried fish, chicken and seafood stir fry.

Recipe:

Part 1
10 shallots
2 cloves of garlic
15 red chilies
3 coriander roots
4 tablespoon oil

Part 2
4 tablespoon palm sugar
6 tablespoon Thai fish sauce
10 tablespoon Assam(tamarind) water


Part 1
1. Mince garlic and shallot.
2. Add coriander roots and chili and dice finely.

Part 2
3. In a big bowl use 2 tablespoon of Assam and hand knead it with 10 tablespoon of water.
4.Add in palm sugar and mix it till it is dissolved.
5. Add fish sauce and set the mixture aside

Part 1+2
6. Heat oil.
7. Add in part 1 ingredients and stir fry in low heat till fragrant. (about 5 min)
7. Add in part 2 ingredients and bring to a boil and it's ready to be used!
8. For excess, store in a bottle and refrigerate after it is cooled down.

I will be using this sauce to do a variety of dishes! Stay tuned!

Inspiring Yummy Mummies
PoshPearl

Review: Mediya Gyudon Kit

Your kids and hubby is hungry. You have just spent 2 1/2 hours baking breads and your family is hoping for a yummy Japanese meal. What do you do?
Well, the mediya Gyudon kit came to the rescue! Serving size is just nice for 2 adult and 1 child.
Just sautéed the onions with a little oil until fragrant and add the beef. Stir fry with a pair of chopsticks for 2-3 minutes or until 70% of the beef has turned brown before adding the sauce provided. After the beef is totally cooked, switch off the fire and serve with scrambled eggs (beaten with hon tsuyu) over steaming hot japanese rice if you like.
Like it to be spicy? Add lots of S&B brand togarashi (Japanese chili powder) and you got yourself a yummy and satisfying meal. Not enough? Pick up a sashimi platter and a pack of green tea sachets to complete your meal and you will have your hubby and child telling you how yummy it is all night long!

Review on Daiso's 4 in 1 bread cutter mould, seaweed face cutters and tweezer

Ever thought of creating bentos? These items from Daiso can help you!

The bread cutter mould is lovely as it ensures that no bread is wasted. Apply adequate pressure and press down till you can feel the mould scratching the plate as you move it. The cut is pretty and there's no problem for 2 pieces of bread with cheese in between. However, there's a small hole in the intersection point and bread will get stuck to it. Make sure you use a tweezer to remove the pieces!
The seaweed cutters requires pressure to press down fast and more effective when seaweed is crispy. The more intricate the design the more strength is required.
The tweezer is easy to use and really helps in picking up tiny pieces.
To stick on the seaweed, I use a tooth pick to apply some mayonnaise on the desired spot and pick up each seaweed detail with the tweezer to stick it. :)
Daiso has great stuff to start bentoing however pls note that these items sells really fast so get them before they disappear!

Inspiring yummy mummies
PoshPearl

Review on Daiso mini ball scoop, long bento sticks, silicon dish and lunch box

A quick review for parents who would like to prepare a fast and fuss free snack bento!

The mini ball scoop is easy to use for both adults and children. My daughter scooped the persimmon balls easily and enjoyed herself.

I also found the long bento sticks useful to make fruit skewers which are appealing to young children. I used persimmons today, but could foresee sticks of kiwi, apple, grapes, oranges etc... Yummy!

The silicon dishes are easy to wash and the malleable shapes makes it a breeze to suit all kinds of bento boxes.

The snack box is small and suitable for children to maneuver independently.

Overall, the items are all value for money and it value adds to your child's packed bentos!

Inspiring yummy mummies,
PoshPearl

Tiffany's child led weaning journey begins!

So, we decided to start Tiffy her weaning journey on solids after much research on the differences between weaning at 4 months VS 6 months. Reason being, she is just so ready! Her body language screams "I'm so ready for food! I can't wait to try everything!" plus she has strong neck control and able to sit up with minimum assistance. She had her first taste of plum baby organic 4 grains super porridge with breast milk and she kept asking for more! She also kept pushing the spoon into her mouth and waited the feeding pace to speed up!

http://www.babymeals.net/blog/when-to-wean-the-recent-debate/

Dining out with your baby

Dining out using fresh food can be possible too. Opt for fresh fruits that ca n be scrapped using a spoon and only peel open the fruit during meal times to ensure that vitamins are still locked in!