What to pack/cook for my 7 year old daughetr

What to pack/cook for my 7 year old daughter?

Hi I’m a working mother to two children and currently I’m running my own design studio and a blogspot that shares healthy recipes and living. Being a mother is not easy at all, and if you are one of us then you will understand what I’m going through. Motherhood is intersting and I enjoy this journey so much, nevertheless all the broken nights and cracking your head for what to feed your picky eater.

I have passion for delicious food and a desire to make healthy, easy, tasty and fun meals for my children, mostly my 6 year old daughter. She is always picky on food and I guess it's something good since she only put good and nice things or food in her mouth and tummy. 

To me it is a good challenge, and I have set some targets for myself like how fast I could make her finished her meals, perhaps we could have a record breaking time tonight by serving sushi? I don't mind the hassles of going through websites, cooking books and classes but to come up with new recipes. Actually this has benefits me as well, as I has polished my cooking skill from a beginner to the intermediate. So her meals will not be so boring anymore and 

I will pack her lunch or I will make something fancy for her lunch or dinner.

Most of my cooking will include the balance pyramid which consistent of Vegetable (fiber), Meat (protein),

She loves soup, pasta and soft solid food. So what I will do is, make something that hits her taste bud and don’t forget the presentation are very important as well. Just like us adult, we prefer nicely presented food as well.

Bunny Burger

Ingredients

o   Bread

o   Mince meat for patty

o   Spinach

o   Tomato sauce and mayonnaise

Seafood Marinara Soup

 

If you love seafood as much as we do then this is the dish you might wanna try. Marinara or tomato base soup with seafood. My children love this soup specially when I serve with a plate of warm rice. They preferred rice instead of bread maybe because we are Chinese. (laughing)

Ingredients are simple, you could use whatever you could find in your fridge. I use Scallops, Squids, Dory and Mussel mostly from the frozen section. And this is so convenient.

Ingredients

Seafood

Scallops - 10pcs

Mussels - 10 pcs

Dory - 1 Medium fillet

Squids - 1 Medium size

*Marinate the seafood above with:

2 tbsp white wine

1 tbsp sugar

1 tsp thyme

1 tsp oregano

1 tsp rosemary

1 tsp salt & pepper

TOSHIBA Microwave Oven - Chicken Patty Recipe

Orange Cod Fillet

If you like orange or citrusy then you can try this dish. I used orange but you can replace it with lemon. Citrus will go well with fish, I use cod fish because my kids love the smooth textured flakes.

Kids will definitely appreciate the sweet and sourish gravy. It's very appetising. 

Ingredients

1 fillet of cod fish (apx 300g)

1/2 cup corn flour

1 egg 

1/2 tsp Salt 

1/2 tsp pepper

Sauce

1 orange (squeeze juice, keep pulp)

1/2 cup water

1 tsp sugar

1/2 tsp corn flour

Salt & pepper to taste

Olive oil for frying

Methods

1. Cut fillet into small pieces. Mix corn flour, salt & pepper in a bowl. Beat egg in another bowl.

2. Dip fillet in egg mix, then coat with corn flour. Dap away excessive corn flour.

3. Heat pan with little olive oil, fry fillet that has been coated with corn flour. Fry both side till golden. Set aside.

4. Use the same pan without cleaning, pour in Orange Juice, water, corn flour, sugar, salt pepper to taste that has been mixed well in a bowl. Till boiling, add in fillet. Mix well till fillet is nicely coated with sauce.

5. Serve with white rice. Bon appetite!

Spinach Ball cooked with Hairy Gourd

Spinach Ball cooked with Hairy Gourd

Ingredients for balls

1/6 cup chopped spinach

100g mince pork

80g fish fillet (chopped) I used Garoupa

1/2tsp chopped garlic

11/2tsp soya sauce

1/2tsp corn flour

2tsp water

For Hairy Gourd Gravy

1/2 medium Hairy Gourd (peel & clean seed, cut in small cubes)

1/2tsp chopped garlic

2tsp Oyster Sauce

1/4cup water

Methods

1. Mix all ingredients for spinach balls.

2. Use a saucepan, boil water. Put balls in boiling water for 2-3minutes or till balls floating on water. Set aside.

3. Use a clean pan, when it's warm add oil and then add in chopped garlic. Stir fry, add in chopped hairy gourd. Keep stirring for 1-2minutes add in oyster sauce and keep stirring. Add in water, cover with lid, turn flame to medium. Let it cook for 5 minutes or till gourd is soft.

4. Add in spinach balls into the gravy. 

5. Serve with white rice.

Roll the meatball in between palm. (Make sure wet palms with water so the meat will not stick at your skin)

Blanch meatball in boiling water. Set aside when balls started to float.

Ultra-Moist Banana Cake with Greek Yogurt

Ingredients

3 cups all purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup butter, room temperature

2 cups sugar

3 large eggs

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 tbsp vanilla extract

1 cup plain Greek-style yogurt

3 Big banana (mashed)

Method

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Grease and flour a 10-inch bundt pan.

2. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

3. In a large bowl, cream together butter with sugar until well combined. Beat in eggs one at a time, followed by the vegetable oil and vanilla extract.

4. Stir one third of the flour mixture into the sugar mixture, followed by the yogurt. Stir in another third of the flour mixture, followed by the mashed banana. Stir in remaining flour mixture and mix until no streaks of dry ingredients remain.

5. Pour batter into prepared pan.
Bake for 60-65 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.

6. Allow cake to cool in the pan for 15 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Papaya-Banana Smoothies

Ingredients

1/4 cup Greek yogurt

a few drops of vanilla extract

2 medium ripe banana, peeled and sliced

1 cup of ripe papaya )peeled, seeded and chopped)

1/2 cup ice cubes

Methods

Combine the milk, yogurt, vanilla, banana, papaya and ice cubes in a blender and blend until smooth. Pour into a large glass.

Creamy Curry Prawn

I have 3 prawn lovers at home. My husbands and 2 kids! Conjunction with this cool rainy weather, I have decided to cook Curry Prawn for dinner. 

I usually skip coconut milk but use evoporated milk instead. It's healthier and I love the creamy milky taste of it.

Ingredients

6 Tiger Prawns (clean)

1 Tomato (cut chunk)

1 Clove garlic (chopped)

1 medium size Onion (chopped)

1/2 Cup Olive Oil

1/4 Can of Evoporated Milk

2 Cup Water

1/3 Cup Curry Powder (if u prefer thicker taste, u can add more)

1/2 Teaspoon salt (to taste)

Method

1. Heated olive oil in a deep saucepan. Quick fried prawns for 1 minute each side using medium flame. Set aside.

2. Keep the oil.

3. Use a clean wok, and drizzle about 2 tablespoon of the same oil that used to fried prawn into the wok. Put in garlic, onion and tomato, stir fry till onion, garlic and tomato are soft, use medium flame.

4. Mix water, curry powder and salt. Add in to the wok, mix well with garlic, onion and tomato. Cover lid, let gravy boil. Add milk, stir well. Add in prawns, cover lid for 3 minutes, not too long because this might overcooked the prawns. Serve with white rice.

Hokkien Mee

If you are a Hokkien Mee lover like me, you will surely want to try it out in your kitchen one day. Yes, thank to my dad which allowed me to cook this dish for his lunch last Saturday. Oh did I mentioned that he is a great cook? Yes indeed..

Ingredients 

1. Pork Fat/Lard (to be fried)

2. Yellow thick noodle

3. Pork Shoulder (sliced)

4. Shrimps

5. 2 tbsp Garlic Chopped 

6. 3 tbsp Oyster Sauce

7. 4 tbsp Dark Soya (if U prefer darker, add more)

8. 2 cups water

Methods

1. Heat wok with 1tbsp cooking oil in medium flame, add in pork lard. Fried till crispy. Once fried, Pork lard will produce grease/oil. Remove oil access oil from wok. Remain 3 tbsp oil from pork lard oil in the work, add in garlic, stir fry. Add in sliced pork. Keep frying. When pork is semi cooked, add in noodles. Keep frying. Add in oyster as use and dark soya. Stir well till noodles are coated with sauces.

2. Add in water. Cover with lid and let it boil. Turn flames to low. Braised for 8-10minutes or till water reduces to 1/4. Stir in shrimps, do not over cooked it. Add salt to taste (if needed)

3. Remove from wok, served Hokkien Mee with crispy pork lard.

Pork Lard

Bacon Egg Cup

Have you ever thought of eating breakfast at dinner? Why not? And what is more rewarding than an "all in one cup". When you could have toast, bacon and egg all in one bite. This is a very easy  dish, simple and cheap. 

All you need is toast, bacon, egg and cheese. I replaced toast with puff pastry because that's all I have in my freezer.

Make 9 cups

Ingredients 

1. 2 7x7cm Puff pastry

2. 9 eggs 

3. 1/4 cup grated cheese

4. 9 strips smoked bacon

5. Salt to taste

Methods

1. 

Step 1

Preheat oven to 180 °C. Lightly grease 9 muffin cup. Cut pastry sheets into round. Gently ease puff pastry into each muffin cup.

Step 2

Wrap the bacon strip around the edge of each muffin cup. Sprinkle cheese on top of puff pastry slices. Crack the egg in to a separate cup and then slide carefully in to muffin cup. Sprinkles cheese, some salt and herb on top of the egg.

Step 3

Bake for 20-25 minutes until the whites have set and yolks are done to your liking.

Step 4

Remove carefully from cups, best served with Salad & Sour Cream.

Oat Banana French Toast

If you are a bread lover and will be having toast for breakfast every morning, you may wanted to try this. Oat Banana French Toast, a healthy recipe for both adult and children.

Ingredients

1. 1 egg beaten

2. 4 tbsp oat 

3. 2 tbsp nestum (baked oat)

4. 2 slices of bread 

5. 1 banana sliced

6. Maple syrup/honey to drizzle

Methods

1. Put beaten egg in a plate with a little height. Soak both sides of the bread with egg.

2. In another plate, put all dry ingredients.    Transfer the bread that soaked with egg here and coat both sides with oat.

3. Heat a non stick pan with some cooking oil. Place bread in and fry till golden, flip over. 

4. Done, served with banana and some apple syrup or honey.

Quiche Lorraine by yogurt

Have you ever thought of baking a Quiche that is less guilt? Yes, I just did it. (Giggle) I substitute the sour cream with yogurt. All you need to do is to strained the yogurt or you may use Greek yogurt because yogurt contains more water than sour cream. You may need to eliminate the excessive water provided to bake a nice quiche.

Ingredients

Puff pastry to cover the base and side of the baking bowl (9inch of diameter)

100 gm Prawn chunks size

2/3 cup yogurt (Greek style)

2 Eggs

1 cup Mozzarella Cheese (grated)

6 Cherry tomato Slices

Salt & Pepper to taste

Oregano & Parsley

Method

1.  Line puff pastry at the base and side of the oven proof baking bowl.

2. Pre-bake them in a 160°C Oven for 8 minutes. You don't want to toast them brown, just light yellow.

3. Cut the prawn . Marinate them with salt & pepper. Precook the seafood, to avoid sogginess when baking because seafood then to release liquid when cooking.

4. Mix Greek Yogurt & Eggs together, whisk them well and add salt & pepper to taste.

5. Take out the baking bowl, the puff pastry is slightly puffed by now. Pour 1/2 of the egg & yogurt mixture on top of the puff pastry. Then followed by prawn & 1/2 cup cheese. Then put all of the remaining of the mixture. Place sliced tomato nicely and lastly distribute all the remaining cheese.

6. Bake for 30 minutes. Use a sharp knife, cut the middle of the quiche, if knife comes out dry then your quiche is done.