Meal times

Quite a number of people have been asking me how our meals are settled, and what I cook for the toddler. As we transited into our new place, one of the things I had to pick up once again was cooking for the family. Though it isn't something entirely new to me since I've done it for so many years in Australia, working full time in Singapore did become tad bit challenging since I no longer end work at 5pm (and as compared to 1 year+ ago in Australia, Janice no longer eats pre prepared puree that was frozen and reheated.

Since I realised that cooking meals for the family that includes a toddler, without helper at home and working full time is not too common, I thought I could blog down some simple routines and recipes. Recipes has to be pretty simple and fast since there is a toddler, hence meals have to be done before 7pm so that she doesn't "faint" of starvation, and also because we want some time to wind down and have her in bed before 9pm.

I would also need to give credit to a very supportive husband who firstly do not mind simple, healthy meals; and helps out to clean after meals, without fail. Then there is also my mom who is always ready to appear at my place with a spread of food every now and then which gives me tremendous respite, because her version of 1 meal can often last us 3-4 meals!

So here goes, I hope to be as coherent as I can be:

When cooking for the family:

Defrost meat in the fridge the night before

Morning:

Put the meat (e.g. Chicken) with some chopped veges/potatoes/black fungus/chinese mushrooms into the pot for stew. I use a thermos shuttle chef, so I will only need to quick boil is for 15mins (which during the time I can take my morning shower) and put it into the warmer. This way is super efficient for me because you come home to a pot of (still nice and hot) stew. My shuttle chef can contain 2 pots, so I can also cook a pot of soup (be it some old cucumber pork soup, radish, lotus root, variety of herbal soup) at the same time. So we come home to 2 pots of yummy stuffs.

This method has worked for me for its efficiency and you can have a huge variety of different stews depending on what you have in the fridge.

Sometimes I just marinate the meat and come back and steam/stir fry.

I set my rice cooker to cook rice the rice by 6pm. I usually throw in either pumpkin or sweet potato into the rice for added taste (Janice loves that, esp pumpkin(. And oh, have I mentioned that we have also switched to eating the healthier and yummier (in my opinion) unpolished rice.

I make it a point to finish work at 6pm and zip home by 6.30pm(I drive while Kelvin will pick Janice up from Childcare riding a bicylce, or they take a stroll with J in the stroller)

Once I get home, I will take out the portion of fish fillet (Usually Cod, threadfin, Salmon) and either steam it or throw it in the toaster oven with either soya sauce and ginger, or teriyaki sauce, or salt and pepper. Its very fast. The portion is usually a single portion enough for Janice, so it takes about 6-7 mins of steaming, or 10 mins in the toaster.

Meanwhile, I will also chop up a variety of vegetables and either stir fry or steam. I think I steam more often than anything because its cleaner and healthier. Vegetables range from Broccoli, cauliflower, baby corn, , Chinese/English Spinach or any green leafy vegetables, french beans... I will try as far as possible to have at least 2 kinds of vegies and the all time fave combi is Broccoli and Cauliflower. Janice normally has them just steamed and mixed into her rice (that already has the pumpkin or sweet potatoes) and we will have ours tossed in pre-made fried onions and some seasoning.

Dinner should be ready by 7pm. Janice will eat first while daddy washes up the pots, and we will have our dinner at around 7.30pm while Janice plays around the us.

The stews normally last Kel and I for 2 days, so with the other alternate days, I don't have to prepare anything in the morning, just set the rice cooker to cook the rice, and come home for the fish and vegetables. Sometimes I steam minced pork with stuffs like Zucchini.

When I visit the market (usually alternate weeks - I can buy the vege along the way in NTUC), the rule is simple: Vegetables with a variety of colors and I like veges that keeps longer); Meat wise I go for fool proof Kampung Chicken Thighs, Pork ribs that can be used for steaming, tender lean pork and Chicken rib cage that comes with either breast meat or meat on the back (for soup). Fish I will ask the fishmonger to go for larger fish so that bones are minimal and portion them into small portions enough for Janice (around 6x3cm) fillets. Occasionally I will buy a whole fish for the entire family. Meat and fish, I buy enough for at least 2 weeks. Everything will be packed into portions before I freeze them.

As you can see, everything runs pretty much clockwork because I don't usually have time for frills. 6-7pm every evening is my critical time. Therefore, as you can see, there aren't any photos of the food I cook, which I will try to take some to document it, so that the recipes make more sense. Ok, I must also admit that my recipes are not much of a recipe because there are no instructions. So before I find time to document recipe by recipe, if you have any questions, just drop me an email (or comment).

Though it is tiring at times, but it has been awesome to have family bonding time through meals at home, and knowing that it is tasty with healthy goodness is an added bonus :)