Wednesday 25 January 2017

Bento #145 - Baked mayonnaise cod fillet and seaweed egg roll

I am tired hence no charaben today..haaaa. Prepared baked mayonnaise cod fillet for both hubby and Rayson.

Garlic Mayonnaise spread:
-Minced garlic until it becomes paste like (as much as you want, sorry I use estimation)
-Garlic powder
-Olive oil
- Kewpie mayonnaise

Mix the above ingredients together and spread it evenly on the cod. Pre-heat oven 180-200 deg for 10 min and pop the fish into the oven for about 15-20 min or until cooked. For the last 5 min, I turned the oven to top fire so as to brown the garlic spread.

Hubby's set

Rayson's set
Anyway, the cod fillet doesn't taste like cod...hmmm....a bit disappointed but didn't it state "COD FILLET" on the package?

I'm going to take a break tomorrow so that Rayson can buy from his school canteen and then we are all ready to welcome Chinese New Year! And I have already thought of what to cook for Rayson's recess bentos next week, yea!

I hope 2017 will be a healthier year for me so that I can take better care of all my boys so I definitely have to level up my fitness. Home workouts and swimming have been on my to-do list and I do feel better only after weeks of starting this regime. Will I see my abs some day?




Kai Sin


Tuesday 24 January 2017

Sa.Yum Dining Room - Thai Food (Review)


I love weekends (who doesn't?)... and what better way is there but to spend a lovely relaxing weekend with our love ones and eating good food together? Our family seldom, seldom eat out nowadays as we home cook a lot so I'm pretty excited and looking forward to our Thai food fare today. 

Located along Club Street is our destination today - SA.YUM Dining Room


Rayson admiring a street artiste's work
We have reached! The yellow signboard!
                                              
Happy Rayson



Our table!

Amanda, upon knowing the size of my "village", kindly arranged a table right at the back for us so that there is ample space for our stroller without blocking the way. I can eat really peacefully as there is absolutely no fear of anyone or anything knocking into my stroller. She also kindly advised me that should we be going for dinner, there will be people smoking at the bar beside her restaurant and asked if I mind. Thumbs-up for being so considerate!


A glass of chilling Thai ice coffee and Lemongrass & Ginger to start our meal, perfect for the hot weather. Lemongrass & Ginger tastes so refreshing!


Rayden enjoying his apple juice
Green Mango Salad

1) Green Mango Salad for our appetizer. Green young mangoes, tomatoes, shallot, green onions and chilli-dried shrimp tossed in a palm sugar sauce. An explosion of spicy, sweet, sour and salty flavor.

However, I find it a bit too spicy for my liking, but that's me, it will be perfect for those who loves hot, spicy stuff.

American fried rice

Fried chicken skin! Yay or Nay?

2) Khao Pad American (Fried Rice) for Rayson and Rayden. The generous serving for 2 is too much for our boys and hubby and I got to help them out. I really have an issue with restaurants' kids' meal because they usually serve junk food and fried stuffs. Hence, I will usually avoid ordering from their kids' menu.

But I guess it's okay to indulge once in a while. Nothing can go wrong with Spam and Fried chicken skin! Even I can't help snacking on the skins, I love skins, all sorts of skins!!!

Tom Yum Soup

3) Tom Yum Soup Classic spicy and sour soup made with a generous blend of Thai herbs with a choice of either chicken or prawns. An option of either a clear or milk (thick) soup base is available.

This is one of my favorite dish because it tastes so rich and appetizing and we are also impressed with the generous serving of prawns which taste so fresh and crunchy (is this the right word?).

Thai grilled pork on skewers

4) Thai grilled pork on skewers - Bite-sized pieces of pork marinated with slightly peppery cilantro, garlic and peppercorn. Don't forget to eat it with the awesome Thai Nam Jim Jaew dip which tastes a bit sweet and spicy. Nice!

Our verdict? A picture speaks a thousand word.

Okay..maybe not a very good picture but Rayson loves the grilled pork!

Pineapple fried rice

5) Ray and I had Pineapple fried rice for our main. I heaved a sigh of relief when I saw the serving...whew....I was really worried it would be as much as the American fried rice. You won't be able to resist the sinfully delicious fresh pineapple fried rice with cashew nuts and chicken or prawns.

Sa.Yum coconut ice-cream with red ruby


6) Rayden has been waiting for their Sa.Yum coconut ice cream with red ruby since he entered the restaurant. Well, he has been feeling unwell and did not have much appetite. Thanks to this dessert that we can see him eating happily.

The coconut ice-cream tastes just nice, not too sweet but leaves a really fragrant coconut taste lingering in your mouth. I am really looking forward to their red rubies, however, they taste pretty normal to me. I would skip the red rubies in future and take the ice-cream only.

Pretty red ruby
Now, I think one of the most important factors I consider when choosing a restaurant for our family is none other than the - WASHROOM. And yea! They have a relatively clean washroom! (you will understand if you know how frequent my boys use it).



I don't harbor any hopes of finding a changing diaper table but I changed baby Rayes' diaper in the stroller without any worries and also breastfeed him in the restaurant before we left for home. 

Breastfeeding in progress......
At the end of the day, our family left the restaurant happy and filled. And if you ask me if it is family friendly, I would say to me, it is! 

Thank you Sa.Yum for such a great dining experience and I am pleased to inform that they will be offering Bento For Love's readers 15% off their food orders, valid till 24 April 2017. Please quote discount quote "HAMIKO2017" to enjoy this offer.


SA.YUM Dining Room
42 Club Street, Singapore (069420)
Call Tel: +65 62211180 to make reservations
Kai Sin

Disclosure: We have been invited to SA.YUM dining room for a food tasting session. No monetary compensation has been received. All opinions and pictures are ours.

Bento #144 3D gutedama breakfast sets


And I'm still not over Gutedama yet...it's such a cute lazy egg and I super love its "nua" look..haaa. So I decided to try making some 3D Gutedamas today. 

The Gutedamas are made from mashed potatoes mixed with some curry powder and mayonnaise. I did not add too much mayonnaise because I do not want the mashed potatoes to be too soft and mushy as that will make moulding more difficult. I was hoping the curry powder will give the mashed potatoes a more orangy colour but it didn't. No black pepper added as the mashed potatoes will then have black specks all over. 

Alternatively, I could also used steamed pumpkin to make the Gutedamas and they will be a lovely bright orange but although Rayson does eat steamed pumpkin, I guess he will very much prefer mashed potato as his recess snack.

Lazy egg yolks lazing around......
Rayson's set
The egg white is just plain white bread. I also pan fried some shabu pork slices which had been marinated with some soy sauce and black pepper. Nuggets, starry hash brown and veges to complete this recess bento.

Hubby's set
I prepared one breakfast set for Ray as well but he took it for lunch instead. I love his Gutedama's pose the most!

Colleague's set

Prepared one more breakfast set for my colleague who likes Gutedama. I love cooking for others but because I'm not that great a cook and not too efficient, there is a limit to how much and how often I can cook. Practice makes perfect I guess and I look forward to the day when I can host gatherings and cook all the food myself.

Colleague's breakfast set in this cute box
I love this box which I bought from DAISO, not sure if it's still selling though. You definitely can't put this in your bag, it'll get squashed and ruin the food. I hand delivered this set to colleague after sending Rayden to school.

Hope all of you enjoyed your breakfast!


Kai Sin


Monday 23 January 2017

Bento #143 - Bunny Tuna Mayonnaise sandwich and lava egg

I love this Bunny sandwich and it is really easy to prepare.

Added kewpie (Rayson only eats this mayonnaise) mayonnaise, black pepper, garlic and flaxseed powder to tuna flakes (in water). I prepared this the previous day and kept it in the fridge.

For the sandwich, you just need to find a small bowl or anything that is round in shape and press it down hard on the bread, this will seal the edge of the sandwich which keeps the filling nicely inside the sandwich. Cut 2 ears out from the remaining bread and slot them into the sandwich.

I used Nutella to draw the eyes and mouth. I think the lines can be finer. With more practice, I will be able to use Nutella to draw and write many more things! So excited!

The lava egg isn't very pretty though but I guess it's okay, most importantly it tastes good...=P



As requested by Rayson, he will be bringing his Mickey Mouse Rice rusk lunchbox today. I hope he brings it back........


Kai Sin


Friday 20 January 2017

Bento #142 - Totoro cold soba with grilled saba

Our boys rarely snack, what with all those food colorings used, we are spending money to posion ourselves. Soft drinks is a definite NO-NO for them as well. However, they still do eat some now and then, in moderation. 

Now to prevent an outburst from Rayson because of his new found freedom in primary school, we have set aside a day - Friday - as his "Snack" day. This means that he will be able to buy snacks that he likes at his school canteen, Only on Friday. 

So I do not need to prepare any recess bento for him, I shall prepare one for hubby. This is the first time I'm preparing cold soba and I will definitely prepare it again because it is so convenient. The only problem is I can't really estimate the amount of noodles to cook hence I spent a bit more time cooking another batch of noodles. This bento is well received by hubby. 

I also had some fun making a Totoro out of the soba, cute? =)


Kai Sin


Wednesday 18 January 2017

Bento #142 - Grilled miso Chicken with gutadema

Prepared Rayson's favorite grilled miso chicken for his recess today. Cooked brown rice instead of sushi rice for a healthier alternative, added vinegar, olive oil, garlic powder and flax seed powder to the rice and also a bit of tumeric powder for the bright yellow color.

We often see hard boiled quail eggs, but do you know we can fry a mini sunny-side-up with quail egg? I think it looks so cute! And it's the perfect serving size for Rayson as he might be too full and won't be able to finish his bento using the usual egg.

I'm not very familiar with the character gutadema except that it's a lazy egg..hee..But it looks pretty cute though and most importantly, easy to recreate at home. So today, we have one gutadema for hubby and a mini gutadema for Rayson.

Rayson's bento

Added chilli flakes to hubby's grilled miso chicken

Kai Sin


Tuesday 17 January 2017

Bento #141 - Kitty Curry mashed potato

As requested by Rayson, I prepared his favorite Kitty curry mashed potato for his recess today. Made a Kitty out of it, but I guessed I should have tried Winnie the Pooh instead because I have not tried it before. A mini cherry apple for his fruit. 

Happy Tuesday!



Kai Sin


Monday 16 January 2017

Bento #140 - Golden fried rice with shrimps

I have a new toy......ta da!!!! A new lunchbox (2 actually....) to add to my collection. This is made from wheat husk (or something like that) and can withstand high temperatures (just unsure how much I can trust China products......). It comes with a compartment on top for holding your utensils..cool right?? 


The fried rice isn't very well done today, a bit mushy, I guess there is too much egg yolk and too little rich. Definitely needs improvement.....

Rayson's bento with grapes
Glad that I can finally prepare bento for hubby today, have not cooked for him for quite some time, after the arrival of baby Rayes.

Hubby's bento


Kai Sin


Wednesday 11 January 2017

For my loves - When you are searching for love, remember Mat 6:33 "But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be added to you." Part 4

For my loves, Rayson, Rayden and Rayes,

Ray continued to attend church on Sundays with me. His one-to-one sharing with the brother is on Creation

If you are reading this, do think about it too.

In the Bible, in the first book of Genesis, in the first chapter and the first verse, it writes:

Genesis 1:1 In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.

So, our almighty God created everything in 6 days and rested on the 7th day. On the 6th day, God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.

Heb 3:4 For every house is built by someone, but He who built all things is God.

If you find it absurd that buildings aren't built by someone but exist by itself, then why can we accept that the Universe exists by chance? There is evidence of design everywhere in nature. Mother Nature is all but the works of God.

I observed Ray during each sharing session. He listened intently but I wondered what went on in his mind. I didn't want to discuss with him because I thought I wanted to give him some time to think through it himself. Or maybe, a part of me was worried that I would not hear what I want if I asked and then everything would end again. 

We have come this far.

However, the day still came, I forgot how the conversation came to this...but....(Note: We converse in Mandarin)

(In the car, driving me home......)

Me: So, what do you think after attending the sessions?

Ray: Erm, I find it hard to accept that the Universe is created in 6 days. How is that possible?

Me: Of course it's possible. He's God, He can do anything He wants. How do you think the Universe came about then?

(Background: Ray is a researcher and very "science"....)

Ray: It all started with a single cell and over time, they evolved...................( aka evolution)

Me: That's absurd. How can our whole Universe and mankind with such intricate designs be evolved? By themselves?!

Ray: Now, I accept that the Bible is a very good book with great teachings. Can I accept the teachings but not the Creation part?

Me: NO you can't. Because God is our One and Only Creator. If you refuse to acknowledge this, you denied His existence. I cannot accept this because it's an insult to Him.Besides, the Bible is not JUST any book. It is God's written Word with a Salvation plan.

Ray: Why can't we just be together and I accept the teachings of the Bible?

Me: NO it's not possible. Let me give you an example. I rely on God a lot, especially so if I meet with difficulties in life and I always feel very encouraged by His Word. His Word is an anchor to me to tide over the difficult times.

We also communicate to God by praying. I believe that praying is very powerful and anything can be done (if God is willing) through it.

Should you feel down in future, I will really like to encourage you using His Word and saying to you "I will pray for you". However if you don't even acknowledge His existence, I will be thinking if you're laughing at me in your heart "Oh, she and her God again. What can praying do?" You might or might not think this way but I will always be guessing. This is just one of the many problems I foresee and this will really affect our relationship greatly.


(Note: Praying is doing everything we can according to God's will and let God decide on the outcomes. 
Praying isn't just doing nothing and hoping that our problems will be solved.)


Me: Well, it's okay if you can't accept. We can still be friends.


And so, we reached my home. For the next few days, there was no sms from Ray. Nothing.

So, it's the end?

This time round, I felt unusually calm, no sadness or disappointment. In fact, there was a tinge of happiness in my heart because I was glad I made the right decision. I was a bit sorry though when I saw my Mummy's disappointed face, like, uh-oh..there goes my potential son-in-law.

It's okay, life still goes on.

If I have God, I have everything.

However, one day Ray asked me out for a talk. He had thought through and would like to give ourselves another chance. 

The good thing about Ray is that he's a man with principles. I know he will never become a Christian if he is not convinced. However, he also has a humble heart and always willing to listen to God's Word with an open heart. 

Most importantly, after listening, he seriously thought it through and analyse on his part. And so it happens that, his friend, who is also a Christian gave him this book- The Case for a Creator by Lee Strobel.

In this book, Strobel, an investigative journalist writes about evidences that purport to show that the universe and life are designed by an "Intelligent Designer". He reexamines the theories that once led him away from God. Through his compelling and highly readable account, you will encounter the mind-stretching discoveries from cosmology, cellular biology, DNA research, astronomy, physics and human consciousness that present astonishing evidence in The Case for a Creator.

Ray never turned back and baptised to become a Christian in 2008. Today, he always quote Einstein "The more I study science, the more I believe in God." and continued to share with people around him on why he believes in Creation.

Though I have been a Christian for a much longer time than him, he has greatly influenced me in our every day lives and also spiritually.

Just one example that leaves a deep impression on me. 

He was then just a new convert, after attending Bible class on a Wed night and driving me home, it was already 10+pm. He went back to his work place to continue with his research work. He has unfinished work but left his work to attend Bible class and continue thereafter. 

I started to reflect, how often did I use work and tiredness as reasons to miss Bible classes. Did I really try my best to attend? Attending Worship, Bibles classes and fellowships is really the very least to do from our part.


Looking back, I'm thankful for the lesson learnt. I shudder at the possibility of me being married to someone who isn't even willing to learn more about my God. It'd be a disaster and I would most probably be trapped in an unhappy marriage. There will definitely be many problems because of the difference in our values and priorities in life. 

Now, I understood that it isn't just a matter of respect because Christianity isn't just a religion, it is forging a close and ongoing relationship with God everyday.

I'm thankful for my life now because we can grow together spiritually and serve God as a family. Problems are easier (easier, not easy) to resolve because we have a common authority to turn to. So can Christians accept non-Christians as partners?

Amos 3:3 Can two walk together, unless they are agreed?

Rayson once asked me if it's okay for him not to marry in future. I told him it's perfectly fine as he could be like Paul, he'll be able to serve God without any distractions. It's better to stay single than to marry the wrong person. However, I'm sure God will definitely help him to find his partner if he trusts and obeys God.



I never know when tribulations will befall but should the day come, I hope I will always remember that we can always rely on God to fight the battles in our life.

Heb 13:6 
So we may boldly say:
“The Lord is my helper;

I will not fear.

What can man do to me?”



If I have God, I have everything.

~The End~


Kai Sin