Sesame Oil Chicken Rice with Organic Pumpkin & Red Dates Soup

This is another of my all-time faves - "one-pot" chicken rice imparted by my mummy! The usual ingredients include Chinese sausages & dried shiitake mushrooms but we're all aware that sausages are not exactly a very healthy option due to high sodium levels & the addition of preservatives. Thus, they've been omitted. As for dried shiitake mushrooms, i've asked my mummy where I could buy good ones but she told me she also can't really find them nowadays & advised me to use fresh ones instead. That was quite a dampening news as I've always like their richer flavours as compared to the fresh ones. To compensate for the missing aromas, I subsituted normal oil with sesame oil instead & the results were great!

Ingredients (serve 1 toddler & 1 adult):

1 chicken leg + 1 small drumstick

1/2 cup of organic 10 multi-grains

4 tbsps of sesame oil

1 tbsp of Bob's Red Mill All Natural Cornstarch

1/2 cup water

50g of white bunashimeiji mushrooms

8 stalks of organic French beans, diced

Directions:

1. Marinate the chicken pieces with the cornstarch & half the sesame oil, and marinate the rice with the remaining sesame oil for at least 1 hour.

2. Add water to rice, top off with the chicken pieces & mushrooms then steam for 30 minutes (I'm using my Techno 3-Tiers Electric Steamer but rice cooker would do too).

3. Add the French beans & steam for another 5 minutes. Remove chicken pieces & give it a good stir to mix the ingredients evenly. Serve warm.

We both love the fragrance of the sesame oil in the rice. Be warned though that the rice is kinda wet & sticky partly due to the fact that it was cooked in my steamer where more moisture is added during the steaming process. Think along the lines of mui fan (which I happened to like too). Cooking it in the cooker should give you the usual rice texture if you're not a big fan of rice with lotsa gravy.

Ingredients:

240g of organic pumpkin

6 red dates, seeds removed

750ml of water

Directions:

1. Add all the ingredients to a pot & bring to boil. Then, simmer in low fire for 2 hours.

Nothing fanciful but just a bowl of comforting sweet-tasting soup.

Beneficial Combination:

Pumpkin + Red date = Invigorating spleen & replenishing qi as well as restraining & inhibiting qi of lungs

Organic Penne in Creamy Pork with Portobello Mushrooms Sauce

After we came home from our second trip to the library today, I needed to whip up a quick luncheon & I knew just what to cook as I've been having this craving since the bottle of Bulla cream has been siitting in my fridge...hee! I had wanted to prepare this dish much earlier, however, due to unforseen circumstances (almost an entire pack of shiitake mushrooms turned mouldy), I wasn't able to cook it last week :(

Ingredients (serve 1 toddler & 1 adult):

100g of Alce Nero Organic Penne Rigate

100g of Australia corn fed minced pork

6 medium-sized portobello mushrooms, sliced

1 medium-sized purple onion, diced

1 clove of garlic, finely chopped

150ml of Bulla Thickened Cream (red label as shown in picture below)

100ml of pasta water

1 big handful of frozen peas

3 tbsps (sauce) + 1 tbsp (topping) of shredded organic cheddar cheese

Some freshly ground black pepper

Extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)

Directions:

1. Bring water to boil for pasta & cook in simmering water till it's almost cooked.

2. Simultaneously, heat up some EVOO in a pan then add garlic. When it starts to brown, add in the onion followed by mushrooms & black pepper then sauté till the mushrooms start to shrivel & 'sweat'. 

3. Add in the pork to stirfry then pour the cream & pasta water into the pan & mix well.

4. As soon as pasta is ready, add the pasta, peas & cheese to the pan. Toss around to evenly coat the pasta with the sauce & let it simmer a while for the pasta to absorb the goodness.

5. Top with more cheese & serve immediately.

Burp! Absolutely satisfying meal but super fattening. Well, I'm sure it's alright since we don't eat cream everyday, not even once a month in fact. &, I know most people would tell me that I can afford to put on some extra kilos..lolz! This is so good that I think I'm going to tweak the recipe slightly to make a creamy mushroom soup one of these days. Thus, do stay tuned & happie grubbing!

Beneficial Combinations:

Garlic + Onion = Detoxification & anti-cancer effects

Garlic + Pork = Eliminate fatigue, improve attention & help enhance immunity

Peas + Pork = Diuretic (promotes the production of urine), stop diarrhoea & aid digestion

Pepper + Pork = Favorable for digestion & absorption of nutrients

Open Faced Sandwich with Avocado & Cheddar Cheese Scrambled Egg

I was brain-storming as to what I could do for breakfast with the remaining few slices of my bread. When I came across the ripe avocado on my countertop, this idea came to me instanteously!

Ingredients (serve 1 toddler & 1 adult):

3 slices of homemade purple sweet potato bread

3 kampong eggs

3 tbsps (for eggs) + 1 tbsp (topping) of shredded organic cheddar cheese

1 avocado, pitted & mashed

1/2 tsp of lemon juice

A dash of freshly ground black pepper

Some organic extra virgin coconut oil (EVCO)

Directions: 

1. Add lemon juice to the avocado & mix well. Spread generously onto 2 pieces of bread (may lightly toast the bread if desired) & set aside.

2. Beat eggs with the cheese. 

3. Heat up some EVCO till hot. Pour in the eggs & lower the fire to lowest heat. Use a spatula and push inwards to the centre from around the edges. Switch off the fire when the eggs are softly set but yet slightly runny & scoop out the adult's portion. Continue to stir fry the remaining eggs till fully cooked for BB. 

4. Scoop on top of the avocado spread, top with some more cheese & pepper then serve immediately. 

BB finished his with a dollop of plain yogurt & some organic raisins in no time at all. It was a blessing in disguise that BB was having a bit of running nose & I decided not to let him drink the fresh milk which is supposed to create more mucus.

(Note: best not to consume milk with this meal. Refer to 'Harmful Combination' below) 

Healthy & delicious homecooked breakfasts always make the start of our days a better one...I hope they'd have the same greatness on you too! Enjoy!

Beneficial Combination:

Egg + Milk = Improve memory skills

Harmful Combination:

Lemon + Milk = Can affect gastrointestinal function

My Mummy's Bestest Wantons, Ever!!!

These are without a doubt my favourite wantons in the whole wide world. As people always say "Mummy knows best!" Regardless fried or soup, hot or even cold, they will still taste so gooooooood! Anyone who has had the privilege of savouring them would certainly attest to it. Well, at least to me they will & would always be ;P" 

Ingredients (serve 1 toddler & 1 adult): 

240g of Australian corn fed minced pork

5 prawns, shelled & diced

8 water chestnuts, skinned & diced

Generous amount of chopped spring onions (missing in mine as I've forgotten to ask my hubby to buy when he did the groceries)

1 tbsp of Bob's Red Mill All Natural Cornstarch

1 tbsp of sesame oil

1 pack of wanton skins

360ml of thawed salmon stock

A dash of freshly ground black pepper (can replace with a few slices of ginger)

3 stalks of organic xiao bai cai 

Pot of water

Directions:

1. Marinate the pork with cornstarch & sesame oil for at least an hour.

2. Add in the prawns, water chestnuts & spring onions then mix evenly.

3. Put a tsp of the mixture onto the centre of a wanton skin (the side with more flour facing outside), fold it half & slightly press the edge of the filling to close it up properly. 

(Note: May have to wet the wanton skins slightly if they've dried up & hardened.)

4. Repeat till all the wanton skins have been used up.

5. Bring the pot of water to boil & add in the wrapped wantons to cook.

(Note: By not cooking them in the stock, it will ensure that your soup won't have a strong ghee taste.)

6. Meanwhile, add the pepper to the salmon stock & bring it to boil in another pot. Form meatballs with the remaining mixture (I actually kept about 100g of it for his dinner as the portion was a bit too much for both of us) & cook them in the stock. Add in the xiao bai cai when the meatballs are almost cooked & cook for another 2 to 3 minutes.

7. Remove the cooked wantons & put into a bowl. Top with the salmon stock & xiao bai cai then serve immediately.

The efforts in prepping this dish is definitely worth the while. Trust me on this. My boy finished everything in his bowl & even asked for more which I gladly refilled with more meatballs & soup. The salmon stock which I've frozen previously really came into good use too. With all the preparations required for the wantons, I'm glad that I didn't have to prepare seperate ingredients for a broth to go with them. Especially when you've a clingy BB for the day. One thing I will like to improve on is the skins as they're not homemade. My only consolidation is at least they don't contain preservatives. Maybe I'll be more advantageous & up to the 'challenge' one day. But, not today..hee ~.^ Let's wait a few more months till my boy can be Mummy's lil' helper in the kitchen.

Beneficial Combination:

Pepper + Pork = Favourable for digestion & absorption of nutrients