Cooked dinner

It’s been a long long time since I cooked. Been too tired; too lazy; want to give up on my life; feeling shitty; feeling moody. 

22nd Apr (Tue) 

Hubby offered to pick lil’ one from school as he needs to go somewhere first. I love this kind of splitting jobs between two of us. 99% I have to be the one picking her up from school, so I gotta rush my cooking by cooking way way in advance that I only need to re-heat or maybe no need to re-heat. If my Grab duties is not needed, I can always cook and have the food ready on the table the moment any of the girls steps home. 

Still, today’s dishes are not the restaurant elaborate kind. I was trying to clear stuffs in the freezer and fridge. Mom gave us so many pomfrets, which is lil’ one’s favourite but been trying my best to clear our 5-6 pomfrets. So it seems the last few times I cooked pomfret as well 🤣. 

I’m getting a hang of this steam 2 dishes together with rice. Then I heat up the sauce over the stove and pour into the broccoli and fish once it’s done. Less messy. Maybe … but coz I had to deep fry the chicken so my kitchen was greasy and all. 

I hate it when blood oozes out from the chicken joint wings. Yucks! Bought another chicken seasoning. Feedback : prefer the one we bought in last holiday but still both cannot compare to what we ate there. I air fried some nuggets for che-che coz she has one less dish to eat. 

Solo days are coming up soon. I’m so tired just thinking about me doing everything all by myself. 😭 

Sometime in early May - before the next dated entry

So I haven’t been able to blog about the food I cooked. I haven’t cooked much (maybe only 4-5x) since hubby left for his holiday. I chose to pack, Grab most times. Sometime too I thought I did the smart thing to cook more rice but it turns out that the next 2 days after that day (4th May), I didn't get to use much of the rice. I junked them away. Wasted but no choice, coz last minute one of them not eating then dunno what..end up I didn't cook as much as I thought I would. Since I can't predict the future the next time I will just cook extra rice if I'm 100% sure I'm using it by mid day the next day.

20th May (Mon) 

When I didn’t leave the house the whole day coz everyone’s at home. 

Steamed everything all at one go while cooking rice. Meal prep took me less than 10mins from washing rice to putting everything in varoma. Dinner was ready in 18mins with no greasy mess. I bought these separator containers quite some time back and they were finally put to good use. Bought 6, I can put 3 in each tier.

Before

After

My broccoli with oyster and garlic chilli 

Pre-marinated pork (on 8/5) with oyster sauce, soy sauce, black soy sauce, sesame oil, sugar. 

Lil’ one likes this 👍, says it’s the best she’s tasted of all my cooking. Yah you tell me why? SUGAR!!!

Can never go wrong with chawanmushi, the girls favourite. This container is small, can only fit one portion.  Next time will have to make 2 containers so they don’t fight. 

I really like the idea of steaming food. I even feel like mixing the sauces into one bottle and then pour out from the bottle to marinade the meat or prior to steaming. Sounds like a good idea? That’s how lazy I feel now. No wonder I like watching those single japanese ladies vlogs, it's different when I have a family and it's even more 'headache' when I have fussy people.  

28th May (Wed)

Ok… so in between my last post 8 days ago I cooked twice but just didn’t blog it down. It’s another easy steamed-dishes dinner. 

I prepared all the dishes and rice in Ms Thermie at around 2pm, will cook when lil' one is in the shower. The baby seal always take a long time in the bathroom. But then things always take an unexpected turn, lil' one messaged to me just after I put down the phone with mom not long after that she's already dismissed from school. What?! More cham than being activated from SB.  

Initially only prepared 3 dishes (minus the egg tofu). chawanmushi, cod in oyster + sesame and mince chicken in Japanese seasoning style. But last minute had mom to come over to stay over so just steamed the egg tofu without mince pork as I ran out of it. 

Had to cook che-che's dinner separately - mee-hoon kueh with collagen soup.   

29th May (Thu)

Not a cooking post, but since I bought mince pork I marinated

Lunches for Y3T2

It’s the final term before lil’ one starts her internship and then onward to the next path. 

9th Apr (Wed) 

Porridge cooked the night before. Always the easiest to settle one meal. 

Using the leftover yellowtail fish. Quite a lot of leftover actually, I didn’t use the full portion of this marinated fish. This marinated fish includes the Japanese garlic and ginger paste, I’m really beginning to love the paste. So easy to use. Kept the half for another porridge, maybe next week 🫢. 

Ready to scoop into the slow cooker. This tastes a little different as I added sole powder

10th Apr (Thu)

Back to Fight-Do means whatever I prep in the morning must have minimal mess, coz nobody helps me wash up, by the time I get home it’ll be hours later.  

Thermos flask and teriyaki chicken taken out the night before. Rice washed and Ms Thermie prepared for next morning. If only Thermomix has such function where I can set a pre-set timer. 

Still in a zombie mode walked into the kitchen. Transferred the chicken into the bowl and prepared chawanmushi. Maybe next time I’ll try pre-bowl everything the night before and fridge it? Not sure if will spoil the eggs 🤨…

Set Ms Thermie and went to get myself ready. Yawn…..🥱

Her lunch - rice with CP’s teriyaki chicken and chawanmushi 

16th Apr (Tue) 

It’s pastaaaaaaa!! Quick but messy coz can only be cooked on the day itself. Sianz! I’ll think to clean the kitchen mess up later. 

Fried with picnic ham. I tried and it’s not bad altho I did add a little extra onion (50g more) to this sauce. I had to cook the whole pack of 220g pasta sauce, I hope it won’t be dry by the time she eats it at 1pm (about 6hrs later)

After I scooped out her lunch, I had a little pasta left for myself to try, I love mine a little spicy so added chilli sauce. Maybe I’m hungry … I can’t deny this sauce is nice. This recipe is a keeper. 

23rd Apr (Wed)

Simple fare. (1) Chawanmushi with oyster + sesame marinated shiitake and scraps of yellowtail fish (2) popcorn chicken with extra rice from last evening. 

Chawanmushi look so mor-peng-diao-deng 🤣

24th Apr (Thu)

I wonder, I really wonder how the Japanese mummies can have the energy to prepare nice beautiful bentos daily and wake up always looking so fresh. I always grouchily zombie-walk into the kitchen 😂 in the mornings.  Not a morning person, not an afternoon person generally not a whole day person 😜. 

Lunch cooked the night before. Porridge! Using the last bit of marinated yellowtail fish meat and mushroom. And into the slow cooker it goes. 

30th Apr (Wed)

Marinated pork the night before with oyster sauce and fish sauce

In the morning. Super loving this style of steaming food, though for now I’m only packing for one kid I’m more than welcome to pack for che-che if she wants / if she doesn’t fuss with food. 

Done! 10 more meals ! 10 more meals to pack then I’m done packing for the year and hopefully for a longer time too or no more. 

7th May (Wed)

Cooked the night before 

Scooped out the next morning 

8th May (Thu)

The mince chicken I marinated on Monday night

Took a portion out from the freezer to defrost last night and this morning into the pan for steaming

Another easy meal settled for lil’ one’s lunch. Too bad the girls have a lousy cook as their mummy. They grow up eating shitty food 🤣. 

She likes this chicken. I seasoned with Japanese pantry items. 

14th May (Wed) 

Packed this on Tuesday. I realised my laziness has made me a smarter person. I decided to pack x2 portion. Pasta meant for Tuesday’s dinner for lil’ one and me. Fried rice for her lunch for school. 

The two portions fit into one glass container

Night before, I portioned out some into the slow cooker for the rice to be heated up and kept warm. Yup! Another smart move so I can sleep in 10mins longer. 

This morning - done in 3 mins. But pity that I can’t adjust my slow cooker to LOW setting, the fried rice and (usually) porridge forms a crust on the sides the next morning. 

15th May (Thu)

The last portion of Hanis fried rice 😉 She says it’s not nice but I don’t care.

21st May (Wed)

The easiest yet not rubbish unsustainable meal for my girl 

The night before, took out the extra rice and the marinated pork which I had thawed since morning 

Dished them into a bowl and cling wrap and put it back in the fridge

Prepared the pan with water. So tomorrow will just leave a small opening in each bowl and steam. I might steam chawanmushi for her. See what time I wake up tomorrow 🤣

22nd May (Thu) 

Prepared last night. Didn’t know the x1 portion of pre-marinated basil chicken is too little, I must have been so tired when I was packing and when I took it out last night to thaw  . 

This morning ….. ok really pathetic amount of food for the same amount of time needed for steaming 🤦🏻‍♀️.  

28th May (Wed)

I kept some clean mee-hoon-kueh soup from last night coz I wanted to make my life easier today. Cooked udon with marinated minced chicken 

29th May (Thu)

Will this be the last packed lunch for lil’ one forever? Mince pork with all the sauces ('' the best one you've ever cooked'') + chinese sausage

I had mixed feelings as I pack her food today. I have been packing food for her since primary school, that's 13 years! Holly molly! 

I can now post this out and let's see if in the future I'll have to pack food for her again. Running out of ideas what to pack for her. 

Oops! 我忘了！

Almost forgotten 🤭 about the mango yoghurt ice cream I made in October 2024 . Many times when I open the freezer to get food and all, I just look at the container but not craving for it. 

Reading back on my post, did I do the last two steps of taking it out and mixing for the second time? Nope! Was busy after that and couldn’t find any time to do so. 

7 months later when I’m suddenly wanting to eat mango 🤭. Doesn’t have that creamy texture when I tried to scoop, there were ice crystals on the inner cover 🤣. 

Still edible, I didn’t lao-sai. Has the thick thick 🥭 pulp. Quite yummy actually.  

Fail in presentation coz I couldn’t scoop properly. Haha! 

Che-che loves mangoes BUT she’s very selective. Everytime she will tell me she likes sweet mangoes - Indonesian mangoes are sweet, Indian mangoes are sweet so will always ask her to try. She will always refuse to try. The only mango she loves is Miyazaki mangoes. Yah! Like that is only after she tasted once or twice in Miyazaki. She regretted not buying back when we gave her the chance to. Too bad! We hardly see Miyazaki mangoes in SIN, not even during the countless Japanese fairs that Isetan brings in. 

Where is safe?

Came across my blog dated last Jan. 

Where in the world is safe to travel now? 

1) Europe? - pickpockets has transversed from Italy/Paris to any European land they can go to with no border control. One needs to have a rbf, a thunderous voice and a super thick skin like mine to be able to stay clear from them 80%. I can’t imagine myself on guard 500% when I’m holidaying. Holidays are meant to be fun and stress-free. My friends all laugh at me when I tell them what’s my normal behaviour whenever I travel. I’m always the one who is so stressed while the man and lil’ one is stress-free. Yah, they can tell me “but we never get pickpocketed before what?!” That’s coz I was extremely alert and watch out for everyone else and myself and shouted the people to get away from us. 

But I really do miss Europe. Will I get the chance to travel there again? 😢

2) Australia? - nothing really appeal to us in Oz. And it has been years since we went, not sure how prejudiced do they still treat Asians. 

3) NZ? - NZ is safe, at least safer than Europe and US, however one should never let your guard down from pickpockets and snatch thieves anywhere one travels. 

4) USA? - ehh….. I think for the next few years we will not go there. They can suddenly sukat sukat want to deport you immediately. With the facism racism stirred up again, I'd rather not travel there for the time being.

Che-che exclaims "China"! I think next few years we will just travel to China, Japan 🇯🇵 and maybe Korea. China 的志安还比美国欧州好多多。And with the country so advance now, I feel many foreigners who were told weird stories about China can finally see for themselves how the media in their country have tricked them. 

  

Indulgence for Mio

 22nd May (Thu) 

I managed to find the satay premix yesterday, I bought another 2 more today. 8 in total, each box is for 4 servings and I know Mio won't share with her family. Should be able to last her till (maybe) if I resume the FUK pilgrimage in Jul 2026. x2 chicken rice premix and x2 chilli crab. I need to get her Lee Wee Brothers sambal and then I'm done shopping for her. The girls will pass it to her for me when they meet her. Haha! I can't imagine what she will think "I see Athena in Dec 2022, July 2023, July 2024, June 2025". And I think the girls will also gossip and complain that I didn't want to have them with me in my trip.  

Mio. please ration the satay 😁 and please drink your beer sparingly. They expire in 2026.

25th May (Sun)

Girls went out to tampines for lunch. I sent them on an errand to get sambal for Mio 

The next day, I bubble wrapped them up

All ready for them to pack it into the luggage. 

Eustoma n rose

 21st May (Wed)

No time to head to FEF so I can only make do with this. Bought this when I was with N

22nd May (Thu) 

While waiting for the guys to service the aircons, I plonked myself on the sofa and admire the flowers. 

Love how the yellow lighting warms up the area.