Tomatoes Beefy Rice with Eggs

Previously, this was a very popular 1 pot dish for LOs. The reason is simple. Fast to cook & good to eat. Furthermore, the variations for this dish is endless as long as you add in the main lead, which is of course TOMATOES. Since I happened to have 2 big tomatoes in the fridge so decided to cook it again today. Here's my version ;)

Ingredients (serve 1 toddler + 1 adult):

2 medium-sized tomatoes, top & bottom slitted

1/2 cup organic brown rice, washed

100ml of water

100g of minced organic beef (can replace with pork too)

8 organic French beans, diced

2 eggs, lightly beaten

1/2 tbsp of sesame oil

1/2 tbsp of Bob's Red Mill All Natural Cornstarch

1/8 tsp of freshly grounded black pepper

Directions:

1. Marinate beef with sesame oil, cornstarch & pepper for at least 15 minutes.

2. Mix beef into rice & water, top with tomato & steam for 20 minutes (I used my Techno 3-Tiers Electric Steamer but can use rice cooker alternatively).

3. Add French beans & continue steaming for another 15 minutes..

4. Once rice is cooked, add in eggs & mix evenly, mashing up the tomatoes simultaneously. Optional: remove the tomatoes' skins then add more sesame oil & black pepper. Serve immediately.

Such a hassle-free meal yet so healthy & satisfying..I especially love the moist & juicy rice <3 BURP!!!

Homemade Sweet Potatoes Mooncakes with Mung Bean Fillings

I did a trial run today since I had to prepare the mung bean fillings in advance for tomorrow.

Ingredients:

1 big purple sweet potato (abt 200g after skin peeled which yields 4 small mooncakes), cut into big chunks

1/2 cup of split mung beans (still have leftovers for making of more mooncakes tomorrow)

1 tbsp of organic Simple Mill raw virgin coconut oil (VCO)

1/4 cup of Billington's molasses (can half it if prefer less sweet for LOs)

Some boiled water

Directions:

1. Steam mung beans for 30 minutes (I used my Avent steamer & blender) or till soften.

2. Blend to desired texture (BB likes more textured food so I left it quite chunky). If mixture is too dry, add a bit of water till it can blend smoothly.

3. Heat up the VCO then add in mung bean purée & sugar.

4. Mix evenly over low heat till sugar has melted (can add some water if mixture is still too dry to prevent it from getting burnt). Cool the mixture completely before using. Can also leave overnight in fridge once it's cooled if you're preparing it in advance too.

5. Steam sweet potato for 20 - 30 minutes till soften then mash, cool & put into fridge for at least 30 minutes.

6. Put a thin layer of sweet potato purée all around the mooncake mold.

7. Fill with the mung bean filling then cover it with another thin layer of sweet potato purée.

8. Invert mold over a plate & slowly push down the plunger (firmly so that the design is imprinted). Slowly lift up the mold while continuing to push down the plunger gently to remove the mooncake from it.

I did the first 3 mooncakes using the method shown in the video I've shared earlier on Grub n' Grow's FB page but it's quite difficult to get a thin outer layer of sweet potato as the purée breaks up quite easily. This resulted in very little filling in the centre as shown in the picture below.

Unsatisfied with the end results, I put on my thinking cap & came up with another method. Using the remaining ingredients, I gave it 1 more try & it looks much better now >.~ As for the taste, I really do like the stronger flavour in the mung bean filling due to the usage of molasses instead of normal sugar. Actually, they'll be a nice snack for normal days too if you use molds of other designs instead of mooncake ones.

Hope everyone'll hv a Happie Mid Autumn Festival celebration with your loved ones tmr!!!