Bite On It!

Most carbo food like rice and noodles will let you pile up on weight - most of the time so these days I tried to consume less of such food though they have been my favorite all these while! Need to give a thought to our bodies mah!

Since Darrius has been a huge pasta fan, I tried to come up with more recipes that hopefully will entice him to eat more besides the pasta. I introduce a varieties of pasta both in shapes and types to him and let him enjoy his meals with fun.

This recipe I learned from an ex-nightschool mate which she prepared for one of the BBQ nite when I was in Singapore. A very easy to prepare and can be eaten cold… so perfect for Bento or lunch boxes!

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Ingredients

• 1 can Tuna (chunk) in water or brie
• 250g Elbow pasta/macaroni
• 1 Hard boiled egg (smashed into small pieces)
• Button mushrooms (sliced a few)
• 2tbsp Mayonnaise
• 1/2 cup Corn kernels
• Raisins (yellow) for garnishing
• Pepper, black pepper and salt for taste
• Lemon juice to kill the fishy taste/smell
• French beans for garnishing (optional)
• Bacon bits for garnishing (optional)
• Sunflower kernels for garnishing (optional)

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Method

1. Boil half a sauce pan of wate, add some salt and oil to cook the pasta/macaroni. When cooked, test the softness before draining the water away.
2. Boil another pot of water for cooking the French beans, corn kernels and button mushrooms slices.
3. Pour the can of tuna (drain away water/brie) into a bowl, smash them up and add in the mayonnaise and mix them well together with smashed up hard boiled egg. Add in sliced button mushrooms.
4. Sprinkle pepper, black pepper and salt to desire taste. Squeeze some lemon juice to kill the fishy smell of the tuna.
5. Toss in raisins, sunflower kernels and bacon bits to garnish. Top with some French beans for presentation. Voila!

When one cooks with a toddler in mind, there will always be pasta dishes as these are one of the kids’ all time favorite. Like any other toddler, Darrius has also started asking for pasta or any noodles dishes. As compared to rice vermicelli or rice sticks, pasta or spaghetti are the healthier choice.

Though preparing such dishes can be time consuming sometimes, but when you see your kids gobble them down, the work are all worth it!

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Ingredients

• 100g Spaghetti (I used the wheat based)
• 120g Chicken pieces (use the thigh part as they will be more tender)
• Small section of Red and Green Capsicum (coarsely chopped)
• 1 Red onion
• 1 Chinese mushroom (soaked and cut into small cubes)
• 5tbsp Pasta Sauce (I used the one with olives)
• Salt and pepper for seasoning
• Some oil

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Methods

1. In a medium stock pot, boil half a pot of water with some salt (1tsp). When it boiling, put in your spaghetti and cook until desired softness.
2. Mince the chicken pieces and put in a bowl. Add in the chopped capsicums, mushroom and onions and mix with some salt and pepper and oil. Stir till they are well mixed. Then roll them into small balls.
3. In a frying pan or sauce pan, heat up with some oil and pan fried the chicken meat balls till golden brown. Lift them up when all are cooked.
4. In another sauce pan, heat up some oil and pour in the pasta sauce and stir till it is cook.
5. In a dish, put some of the cook pasta with the chicken meatballs on top. Then pour some of the pasta sauce over and garnish with some chopped capsicums.

This is a delayed post… supposed to put it up on Sunday but only download the photos last night.

We have abundance of dried mushrooms (MIL brought bak from Germany where my SIL operate a Chinese restaurant) and if we do not finish them up those tiny beetles will start to invate as our fridge is over stuffed with so many things so we can’t keep them in there. Since we had another round of spring cleaning last Sunday, I decided to help by cooking.

Had a bottle of pasta sauce and a packet of clourful vege spiral pasta so came out with this idea… another east meet west dish!

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Ingredients

• 1 pkt Pasta (I used the 3 colours vege pasta)
• 1 btl Pasta sauce (tomato with onion base)
• 1 can Button mushrooms (sliced)
• 4pcs Dried mushrooms (cubed)
• 1 stick Carrot (cubed)
• 5pcs Onions (cubed)
• 4pcs Tomatoes (cubed)
• 1 or 2pcs Green bell pepper or capsicum (cubed)
• Water (add less for thicker sauce)
• Salt for taste
• Magerine or butter to loosen cooked pasta
• Mixed herbs
• Pepper (black pepper preffered)

Marinade

• 1 whole Chicken breast meat (deboned and cut into cubes)
• 2tsp Corn flour
• 1tbls Soya sauce
• Pepper for taste

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Methods

1. Boil pasta till soft then drained, add some magerine with a sprinkle of mixed herbs and stir till all loosen, put aside.
2. In a separate saucepan, boil the cubed carrots and dried mushrooms.
3. Heat up wok or large pot with 4-5 tbls cooking oil or olive oil and sautee the onions till soft and add in the sliced button mushrooms, capsicums, dried mushrooms, all stir for around 3 minutes each in between before adding the next item.
4. Next add in the marinaded chicken cubes, stir till 70% cooked, pour in the pasta sauce, stir and add desired amount of water, stir and covered for a few minutes. (I had 2 cups or 250ml)
5. Lastly, add in the cubed tomatoes, stir and add salt and pepper to taste and sprinkle some mixed herbs.