My BB 1st Try on Huai San: Organic Rolled Oats Porridge with Garoupa & Chinese Spinach in 'Huai San' & Wolfberries Chicken Soup Base

婆婆 cooked a nice pot of fresh san yao or huai san (aka Chinese wild yam) with wolfberries & chicken soup and thus I decided to use it as a soup base for BB's oats porridge. According to my mum, there're two types of fresh huai san sold locally. They're either imported from China or Japan. The huai san from China are softer after being cooked. On the contrary, the Japanese huai san has a crunchier texture. In conclusion, the China ones are actually more suitable for toddlers' consumption. The following recipe is my mum's.

Ingredients (serve 3 adults & 1 toddler):

1 fresh huai san, sliced into 1/2 inch thickness

1 chicken, excluding the drumsticks & wings

1 big handful of wolfberries

3 litres of water

Directions:

1. Blanch the chicken first by placing it in a pot with enough water to cover it. Bring the water to boil then remove from heat, drain & rinse.

2. Place all the ingredients except wolfberries into a big pot, bring to boil & simmer for 45 minutes.

3. Add in wolfberries & simmer for another 15 minutes.

The fresh huai san has a texture more similar to tapioca rather than yam unlike its dried counterparts. Even though huai san is quite bland, the soup is very light yet sweet tasting. 

Ingredients:

250ml of soup with huai san & wolfberries

3 tbsps of organic rolled oats

1 piece of garoupa

60g of Chinese spinach, roughly chopped

Directions:

1. Transfer the soup to a smaller pot then add the fish in & cook for 10 minutes.

2. Remove fish to cool slightly & to check for bones. Add oats in then cook for another 5 minutes before adding the Chinese spinach & cook for another 5 minutes. 

3. Top with fish & serve warm.

Surprisingly, BB liked the huai san despite its blandness. He actually pointed to it & asked for more. Another addition to my collection of soup recipes >.~

Beneficial Combination:

San yao + Wolfberries = Good for spleen & stomach, benefit lung & tonify kidney as well as concentrate one's attention

Organic Fusilli in Organic Pumpkin & Spinach Soup, Topped with Cod

Ingredients (serve 1 toddler):

1 piece of cod fish

50g of organic pumpkin, cut into small chunks

50g of organic baby spinach

3 tbsps of organic fusilli

Directions:

1. Cook pasta in a pot of simmering water till al dente. Drain & leave aside.

2. Steam both the cod & pumpkin together for 10 minutes (I'm using my Avent Combined Steamer & Blender).

3. Add in the spinach & steam for another 5 minutes. Remove cod & flake. Blend the pumpkin with spinach to desired consistency. Pour over cooked pasta, topped with cod & serve warm.

Beneficial Combination:

Cod + Pumpkin = Prevent dry skin & cold

Homemade Chicken Mushroom Balls in Carrot, Spinach & Egg Drop Soup

Being inspired by another mummy blogger who has been using her homemade mushroom powder (her recipe can be found here) as a natural seasoning, an idea struck me. Adding freshly diced mushrooms to minced chicken sounds delicious to me too ;) The initial plan was to steam minced chicken mushroom with tofu but as it was quite a chilly day & I had some spinach in the fridge, I changed to cook one of my fave childhood soup, the spinach egg flower soup!

Ingredients (serve 1 toddler & 1 adult):

50g of minced probiotic fed minced chicken

1 big emperor shiitake mushroom (bought directly from Mycofarm), diced finely

1 tsp of Bob's Red Mill All Natural Cornstarch (new addition to my fridge & it's non-GMO)

1 tsp of sesame oil

750ml of water

1 medium sized carrot, sliced thinly

60g of organic baby spinach

1 egg, beaten

Directions:

1. Marinate minced chicken with sesame oil & cornstarch for at least 15 minutes while you prepare the remaining ingredients.

2. Bring water to a boil in a pot, add in the carrots & cook for 15 minutes.

3. Mix the diced mushrooms evenly into the chicken, roll into 12 twenty-cents balls before putting into the pot & cook for 10 minutes.

4. Add in spinach followed by pouring egg in a slow & steady stream. Let it cook a while before stirring slowly to create the ribbon-like egg flower.

5. Once the egg is cooked, can remove from heat (to prevent overcooking the spinach which can actually be eaten raw) & serve warm.

My lil' food critic seemed to like every single ingredient in the soup, even the spinach! He has never voluntarily pointed to any vegetable other than peas & asked for more but yet he did that more than once for the spinach (which is not even new to him). The chicken balls were tasty with the fragrant mushroom bits & even the meat texture is quite smooth, likely due to the addition of the cornstarch.

I also steamed a pomfret with some sesame oil with ginger strips. To be honest, my palate is getting used to appreciating the natural taste of food without any salt added. I've heard people commenting that the food would be tasteless. On the contrary, my taste buds have in fact become more sensitive to the different natural flavours embedded in each food. Sometimes when we dine out, I seem to be the only one who find the dishes too salty. Mummies & Daddies, you'all can try eating the same food as your little one too. Gradually, you'll become healthier with them too!

Beneficial Combinations:

Carrot + Chicken = Promote the absorption & utilisation of protein

Egg + Spinach = Improve the absorption of vitamin B12 as well as help to treat insomnia & upset caused by yin asthenia

Portobello Mushrooms with Onion Cheesy Pasta Sauce

We were out for lunch last weekend & I cooked a pasta sauce with onion, portobello mushrooms & spinach but I didn't add in cheese for fear that it may turn bad. BB accepted the taste but I somehow felt that it was missing something. Therefore, I decided to retry again today as Daddy-O had to work late & dinner would be just for the both of us.

Ingredients (serve 1 toddler):

1 piece of cod fish

3 small portobello mushrooms

1 small yellow onion, cut into halves

1 handful of organic baby spinach

3 tbsps of organic baby pasta

Directions:

1. Cook pasta in a pot of simmering water as per instructed till al dente. Drain & leave aside.

2. Wipe the mushrooms clean with a damp cloth & tear them into smaller chunks.

3. Steam the cod, mushrooms & onion for 15 minutes (I'm using my Avent Combined Steamer & Blender).

4. Add in the spinach & steam for another 5 minutes. Remove cod fish & flake. Blend the mushrooms, onion & spinach to desired consistency, pour over cooked pasta & serve immediately.

The improvised recipe is shown below.

Ingredients (serve 1 toddler & 1 adult):

2 pieces of corn-fed chicken thigh

3 small portobello mushrooms

1 small yellow onion, cut into halves

2 tbsps of organic cheddar cheese

1 cup of organic fusilli pasta

(Note: Cod & spinach to be omitted if you're adding cheese.)

Directions:

1. Cook pasta in a pot of simmering water as per instructed till al dente. Drain & leave aside.

2. Wipe the mushrooms clean with a damp cloth & tear them into smaller chunks.

3. Steam the chicken, mushrooms & onion for 20 minutes.

4. Remove chicken to cut into smaller chunks. Add in the cheddar cheese to the mushrooms & onion & blend to desired consistency. Pour over cooked pasta & serve immediately.

Note: I usually cook the pasta & prepare the sauce concurrently to save time.

Yeah! This time round the taste is just right! Adding the cheese does make a significant difference to the taste. It was another satisfying meal for both BB & me ~.^ This is also the first time BB is having fusilli. I used to cook his baby pasta before cooking mine but since he's older now & can chew pretty well, I decided to let him try our adult version. The same ingredients are used for both types of pasta anyway. He ate them without any difficulty. Seems like we can stop buying the more expensive baby pasta..hee

Beneficial Combination:

Chicken + Onion = Moisturise body, warm stomach & strengthen waist

Harmful Combination:

Cheese + Cod = Cause diarrhea or abdominal pain

Cheese + Spinach = Affect the digestion & absorption of calcium

B-L-D on 30th October 2014

B-reakfast: 

Cottage cheese topped with Cheerios & organic raisins

L-uncheon: 

The following were cooked simultaneously in my Tecno 3-Tiers Electric Steamer & shared between the 2 of us.

Organic ten multi-grains (Simple Natural brand found at most Cold Storage outlets) with red dates

5 tbsps soaked overnight in 100ml of water. Add some chopped red dates on top of the rice & steam for 35 minutes.

Steamed organic tofu with minced free-range pork, broccoli, organic zucchini & wolfberries

Marinate pork with some sesame oil, mix in the chopped zucchini & spread evenly on top of the tofu. Top with some wolfberries & steam for 10 minutes. Add the broccoli & steam for another 5 minutes.

A simple dish with lots of nutritional value! A pity the pork's texture is a bit on the tough side. I'm probably too used to my mum's smoother pork marinated with corn starch. With so many genetically-modified corn products in the market, I guess I'll have to start my search for the organic version. Hopefully, I can lay my hands on one soon.

Steamed 'mo pei yu' (pronounced in Cantonese) with shiitake mushrooms

Drrizle some extra virgin olive oil over the fish & top with sliced mushrooms. Steam for 15 minutes (10 minutes is usually enough but due to the recent incident of the enmasse deaths of fishes at the local kelongs, I was advised to cook the fish more thoroughly and so I increased the duration of the steaming).

D-inner: 

Organic pasta in yellow onion, organic pumpkin & baby spinach sauce with salmon

Cook pasta till al dente. Steam salmon, cubed pumpkins & halved onion for 10 minutes then add spinach & steam for another 5 minutes. Remove salmon before blending (I'm using my Avent Combined Steamer & Blender) the remaining ingredients. Pour sauce over the cooked pasta, top with salmon & serve immediately.

Baked Frittatas

As a continuation to the post on Cheeses, I'd like to share one of my favourite snacks to bring out for BB on days when we're gonna be out for many hours - Frittatas! There're so many different flavours you can create from one basic recipe. Here u go!

Ingredients:

2 egg yolks or 1 egg (if your LO has passed the 3 or 4 days rule for egg white)

Any combinations of vegetables or meat you desired, finely diced or shredded

Shredded cheddar cheese

Virgin coconut oil (VCO)

Directions:

1. Mix all the ingredients together, leaving some cheese for later.

2. Apply a thin layer of VCO on the muffin tray & pour the mixture into each individual hole, ensuring that there's sufficient egg to cover the ingredients. Top with more cheese.

3. Bake at 180°C for about 15 minutes till golden brown.

Tips: 

- the smaller they're, the nicer they'll taste.

- do not use muffin liners as they'll cause the frittatas to become soggy (refer to the last picture).

These are some of the varieties that I've created so far ;)

Organic potato, asparagus, carrot & onion

Carrot with organic spinach

Organic pea sprouts & parsnip

Salmon & peas

Organic cherry tomatoes & onion