The Mongo Seed Experiment

I love to see the excitement on my son's face when he achieves something new. It is not only an encouragement for me to continue to teach him new things but it is an unexplainable happiness that I have when he gets to learn something new. 

Mongo Seed Experiment
Day 1

My hubby loves gardening and JS loves to be around to help out (or just to play in the garden). I thought that it would be an exciting experience for JS to see a plant grow from seed but a child's patience may not lasts long and planting a flower seed would not be a good idea. As I ponder upon this, I recalled the mongo seeds experiment we did during school days and thought: "this would be it!". 

So I gave my son a few containers, some mongo seeds, a few pieces of facial cotton, a bowl of water and a syringe. (I was too excite about the idea that I forgot to soak the seeds for sometime before hand) We lined the containers with the facial cotton and arranged the seeds in them. Then I told JS to water the seeds using the syringe (to prevent him from pouring too much water into the container). We then put the containers by one of the windows at the car porch and I told him to observe the changes the following day. 

The next morning, after breakfast, we went to check out the seeds. There wasn't much excitement on JS' face as I showed him the roots that were growing from two of the seeds. However, the fun started the following day when JS went to check up the seeds on his own, without being told. I assumed that he was expecting to see something different from the day before. 

JS with the mongo seed plants at different stages of germination.

He put his head out of the window and after checking them out, he came running to me and said with a wide smile on his face, "Mommy, come! Come and see my mongo seeds!" Upon hearing that, I knew that the other parts of the seeds must have grown. This time, a tiny stem with a small leaf was already growing on that two seeds. 

Day after day, JS would not  fail to check out the mongo plants as they grew taller and the leafs, bigger. 

Now, we have planted some shallots in a pot and he loves to see the leaves grow. 

I hope that this would encourage him to grow some flowers in our garden. They may not grow as fast as the mongo seeds or the shallots, but I hope that he will have the patiences to wait. 

Salmon, Salmon, Salmon

Salmon is often on our family's menu so I got the chance to experiment with different ways of cooking it. 

Here are some of our favourite ways to enjoy this tasty and nutritious fish. 

Salmon with lemon, thyme and honey
Ingredients: Salmon, ginger, garlic, onion, thyme, lemon, honey, salt, cooking oil
Sprinkle some salt on salmon and pan fry it with all other ingredients except honey. When the fish is cooked, turn off the heat and top fish with some honey before serving. 

Salmon eggroll
Ingredients: Eggs, salmon flakes, cheese, soy sauce, spring onion, rice (optional), cooking oil
Beat eggs and add in some soy sauce. Heat oil in pan and pour the eggs in (make sure it is wide enough to roll all other ingredients in it). Add all other ingredients on top of the egg. Slowly, roll the egg from one side of the pan to the other.   When it is ready, place eggroll on a plate and sprinkle the spilled ingredients (if any) on top as garnish. 

Rice patties with salmon flakes
Ingredients: Cooked brown rice, salmon flakes, spring onion, mashed steamed potato,  toasted black sesame seeds, salt, flour, eggs, cooking oil
Mix all ingredients (except cooking oil, eggs and flour) in a bowl. Roll them into large rice balls. Dip the rice balls in the egg and flatten them to make into patties. Sprinkle some flour on both sides of the patties and pan fry them until golden brown.  

Keeping My Toddler Busy (and Happy)

My elder child, JS, was the only child in the family for 3 years and 3 months before his sister, JE, came along. He is an active child, so being alone is not a good thing for him. In order to keep him busy (and happy), I have to work hard on coming up with different activities for him to kill his time.


Here are some of the things we love to do together.

Play shopping
Some of the things he learnt: Counting and vocabulary (names of the items he 'bought')

Having friends around/visiting friends
Some of the things he learnt: Social skills and sharing

Art and Craft: Party Hat
Some of the things he learnt: Colors, drawing straight lines with a ruler, peeling stickers, cutting paper using a scissors

Playing Dough
Some of the things he learnt: Being creative, being imaginative, motor skills

Play Dress Up
Some of the things he learnt: Being creative and self confidence

Practical Life Skills For Toddlers

My son, JS, is a very active person who could hardly take a rest when he is awake. Keeping him busy is a major task so one of the things I often do online is to search for activity ideas suitable for his age. I came across the Montessori way of teaching where it emphasizes a lot on practical life skills. Since JS has been the only child for 3 years and 3 months (before the arrival of his sister this September), it is not easy to come up with activities for him to do on his own. Most of the time I have to keep him company to prevent him from wandering around the house and behaving mischievously. So, I came up with a plan to include him in my daily chores. Anyway, I would be killing two birds with one stone - I get to finish my chores, and JS gets to learn practical life skills. This includes taking him into the kitchen with me while I prepare food for lunch and dinner. 

The first thing that attracted him into the kitchen were onions that I placed on a shelf about his height. He would follow me into the kitchen and started to peel the onions for as long as I cook. A few days later he got tired of just peeling the onions and began to explore the utensils within his reach. He got himself a pan and a wooden ladle and started to stir fry the onions. 

JS cutting tomatoes for his Tomato Sauce Pasta

Not long after that, he was 'cooking' his own dishes and would proudly present them to me. Well, his ingredients would usually be bits and pieces of left over vegetables and fruits that I use to prepare our meals of the day such as pumpkin skin and the tough part of asparagus. However, I allowed him to use vegetables that I could wash again and cook for our meals such as dried Chinese mushroom (shiitake mushroom), diced carrots and bell peppers. After 'cooking' he would carefully arrange them in a bowl or a cup which he finds from the shelf before serving the dishes to me. Sometimes, I would find him eating the vegetables instead of 'cooking' them. Once, he used a stalk of leek as his microphone and started singing! I could only say that having a toddler in the kitchen is fun. Of course I have to make sure that he stays away from the hot stove. 

To date, he has tried out many jobs in the kitchen including washing the vegetables (of course I have to do them again before cooking), cutting tomatoes (to be blended, so it doesn't matter if he did not do a good job), peeling onions, cooking rice and making barley drink. 

JS helping out with the laundry.

No doubt cooking is one of the important practical life skills that one should learn in order to be independent. Other practical life skills that JS has learnt so far includes washing his own cup, vacuuming the floor, keeping his own clothes in the wardrobe and operating the washing machine. These activities does not only keep him busy but also instill in him a sense of responsibility. 

Food We Enjoy At Home

I have not cooked for a while and so, did not have any pictures of homemade dishes to share here. Well, that is because my mother-in-law came to help me with the cooking when I was 30 weeks pregnant and then I went into labour two weeks later. For Chinese families, we usually would engage a "confinement lady" to do the cooking for us, for 28 days from the day of delivery. This is because we believe that women who just gave birth must go on a special diet and take a lot of rest. 

I was told that I prawn is among the foods that I need to avoid in the coming months due to C-Section. However, I will still be cooking it for my family since it is one of my son's favourite. Here is one of our favourite dishes with prawns. It is very easy to prepare. 

Steamed egg with prawns
Ingredients: eggs, prawns, goji, ginger, onion, garlic, water, cooking oil, sesame oil, salt

- Peel prawns and devein, add in some sesame oil and sprinkle with some salt. Set aside.
- Soak goji in water
- Heat cooking oil in a pan and stir fry onion, ginger and garlic, set aside
- In a bowl, lightly break the yolk of the eggs with a fork or chopsticks. Make sure that you do not create any bubbles
- Pour the eggs into the plate which you will use to steam the dish
- Add in water (should be the same amount with the egg)
- Add in the onion, ginger, garlic, goji and prawns
- Steamed until egg is firm but still soft

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Stir fry Lotus Root

Ingredients: Lotus root, leek, carrot, shiitake mushroom, onion, garlic, salt, water, cooking oil

- Heat oil in a pan.
- Add garlic and onion and stir fry until they turn golden brown.
- Add in lotus root, carrot, shiitake mushroom, leek and salt.
- Stir fry for a few minutes. Add water and simmer for 20 minutes.

Steamed Okra

Ingredients: Okra, shallot, salt, cooking oil, soy sauce

- Cut off both ends of okra. Sprinkle with some salt and arrange on a plate and steam until soft (approximately 8 mins)
- In a pan, heat cooking oil and fry shallots until they turn golden brown. Add in soy sauce and turn off the heat immediately.
- Top okra with the fried shallots and serve immediately.