January '15 - Bento Boxes

Some of the bento boxes I made for the Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. I did not want to spoil my own market. Hence, I start it simple. No joke to wake up at 5.30am. I do know of mums who wake much earlier than me. I guess I need more time for my body to tune to waking at 5.30 am.

I will leave my options open to 3 different type of lunch/Bento boxes,  depending on what I prepared for him.

Here are some bento boxes which I have prepared, hope it does help to give you an idea on what to prepare. Standby your ever so cute bread cutters and food picks ! 

My humble collection

My humble picks collection

Week 1 was a Friday when school began. He had a chance to buy his own food with the given allowance.

Bento Box #1 - Kaya & Butter mini-wiches & dragonfruit.

Bread into thick strips and secure them with space theme picks.

Week #2

Bento Box #2 - Peanut butter Pooh-wiches

Just use a pooh bear's head bread cutter, cut out the shapes and spread that peanut butter on.

Week #2

Bento Box #3 - "Fried Rice" with hard boil egg.

It may not be the freshest as I used leftover rice from dinner and fried it the next morning. Furikake, has became my best friend ! It  is a dry Japanese seasoning meant to be sprinkled on top of rice. But not advisable to use too often though due to the presence of Monosodium Glutamate.

Add some shredded seaweed and sesame seeds (I normally cut before hand and store in an air tight container )  By the side,  I added the sliced egg which I have prepared the night before.

Week #2

Bento Box #4 - Fried Rice with shredded omelette. I added frozen mix vegetables into it.

Week #2

Bento Box #5 - Just banana & milk

It can be quite filling, hence I packed one into the banana casing to prevent it from being squashed. You can get banana casing from Daiso easily.

Week #3

Week #3

Bento Box #6 - Prata roll with Peanut Butter.

Just simple, pan fry the frozen prate, spread on peanut butter and roll it up. Secure it with a pick and cut into bit size.

Week #3

Bento Box #7 - Mini porky chop burger

I kept a piece of marinated pork chop from dinner the day before. Pan fried the next morning, line the burger with lettuce and tomatoes slices. Squeeze some mayo onto the pork chop when you are ready. I wrapped up the burger with baking paper and pack into the lunchbox with some cherry tomatoes.

Week #3

Week #3

Bento Box #8 - Tamago sushi with mini wings.

He loves sushi and he loves eggs ! That gives me more reason that I have to make this for him. I made my own tamagoyaki. Just simple beat and egg and add in roughly about one tablespoon or slightly less sugar, pour beaten egg into pan and pan fry. When it is almost half- cooked , I rolled up the egg in the pan, cooked for a little while more, dish up and cut into chunks when they are cooled.

As for the mini wings, I cut the mid joint into halves to make the task of eating the mid joints easier. So that he will not need to struggle with his tongue to push out the meat between the bones.

Looks like a big portion ? He finished up the four pieces of sushi but not the wings as he claimed that he did not have sufficient time to finish up.

Week #4

Bento Box #9 - Apple pie, cherries & Yakult

Week #4

I bought Sara Lee's frozen apple pies, warmed it in the oven, pitted the cherries with a cherry pitter to prevent himself from the mess of trying to "dig" out the seed and stained his white shirt.

This week, I am unable to prepare for him as the younger one is feeling under the weather. This post summarized my lunch boxes for the month of January.

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Linking up with

Vaby Box - January 2015

Vaby Box for the new year  ! Thank you Vaby Sg ! I lam loving Aqueduck Faucet Extender the most and Vera hearts Biconi Tooth Fairy Natural Toothpaste ! Details and description are stated below.

Vaby Box - January 2015
 

1. Biconi Tooth Fairy Natural Toothpaste - Designed for children from 0- 6 years old, Biconi Tooth Fairy Natural Toothpaste is packed with antibacterial and antimicrobial properties for optimal oral health. It is natural and safe for kids to swallow.

2. Biconi Baby Massage Oil (Virgin Coconut oil) - This can be use for more than just a massage. Biconi Baby Massage Oil is also good for bug bites, diaper rash, cuts and bumps, open wounds and chapped skin. It can help to restore baby's dry or sensitive skin the safe and natural way.

3. Aqueduck Faucet Extender - Washing the hands of little Vera now is made so much easier with this extender. Just squeeze both side of the Aqueduck to install, it attaches itself to the faucet.

4. Efamol Pure Evening Primrose Oil - Containing rich levels of omega - 6 nutrient Gamma Linolenic Acid (GLA) to help with maintain of hormonal balance and healthy looking skin !

Monthly subscription for Vaby Box is at $18.90, if you are thinking of what to get for your expecting friends or new mums, sign up Vaby Box to be sent to you or your friend on a monthly basis. 

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Disclaimer : I have received a complimentary Vaby Box from Vaby Sg. No monetary is involved.

2014 Annual Family Photoshoot

Our new addition in the house, no not a baby but three canvas prints to be hang up before Chinese New Year, along the walkway and in the kid's room! No, this is #notasponsoredpost but we chose Orange Studios for our annual family photoshoot. When it comes to having a baby and a young kid in a photoshoot, having a friendly and patient photographer would be the best and Ryan is one of them that fits the bill.

Orange Studios  calledd us up for a pre- photoshoot briefing to advise on what colour attire to wear and what are the things to bring for the photoshoot session.

We decided on the following:
1. Location of shoot : Sengkang Riverside Park (Do check with Orange Studios on the location before hand)  I have to thank Ryan for accommodating the change  as the initial place was at Punggol Park but as we would be on our two wheelers to the location, we thought it was pretty challenging as Vera would probably be cranky by the time we reached Punggol. Hence we requested the shoot to be at Sengkang Riverside Park.

2. Theme : Nature

3. Focus : Family and Siblings shots (Mainly because there will be no chance for any couple shots at least for another 2 to 3 years ? )

4. Attire : White / Bright coloured. I decided to have 2 sets of attire for the kids instead of 3 as I don't want them to get tired out by the changing of so many outfits especially for Vera. I think I get tired too from changing her at times when she can't keep still.

5. Props : Our very own bicycles and not forgetting bubbles ! I kept the props really minimal as I don't think we can manage to lug bigger items there. Ryan would have to make use of the greenery and whatever is available there.

Other stuff which I packed along / good to have for an outdoor shoot :
1. Additional sets of clothes for the kids.
2. A big piece of plastic "table cloth" as our mat if the grass is wet from the rain. At least something to put down our barangs.
3. Wet wipes and small hand towels.
4. Portable fan for the kids should the weather be too hot. ( I did not bring mine though)
5. Timing would be good between 8 - 10.30 am or late noon after 4pm to avoid that scorching hot sun !
6.Water for everyone.
7. Mozzie patches if you are prone to mozzie bites like us.
8. My bag of essential oils (My first aid kit should there be any falls) and yes, Purification works great to repel mozzies !

Last but not least, bring on that SMILE , SMILE & SMILE !

Here are some of my many favourites to share. =)  It's pretty hard to get Vera to smile at the same time as Xav ! Thank you Ryan for being able to capture the both of them with their best smiles.

The blissful ones

Loving daddy's cuddles !

Daddy & his girl

Daddy, a kiss for you !

Daddy and his little loves

My Family

Daddy & his son-shine

Mummy & her little dot-ter

Over there mummy !

Just US

Me & my little ones

My loves, who mean the world to me

Us and our two wheelers

 Xav & his two wheeler

My little biker

 

 

 

Vera's turn for her solo pics. I find them all quite naturally taken !

 

A really sweet & natural pose solely by herself, I am mad loving this !

Now the fun part ! Bubbles always have magical effects !

Seems like Vera is blowing bubbles too !

Another lovely shot of the siblings

 

 

Here it concluded our family shoot for 2014. Thank you for taking time to view the pictures!

Was scrolling back, this was Vera taken one year plus ago. Read about the review HERE for our family photography & HERE for Vera's Newborn Photography.



Other review : Christmas Mini Photoshoot 2014

You may be keen in a Mini Photoshoot for this coming Chinese New Year, check this out as well.



Photo Credit : Orange Studios

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Disclaimer : This is NOT A SPONSORED POST and it's fully paid by your truly. All opinions are of my own.

His "Happy Space"

His first assignment brought from school, no not those English / Math worksheets. He told me he needed to draw a cover for his art journal.

He came back with a rough sketch of small mini objects in the background and he told me that it was an outer space scene and I noticed he coloured the background black as he mentioned it is dark in space. My next question to him was "Is your cover going to be filled with black?" as the objects were tiny. Is he going to colour the rest of that big space patiently ?

I told him why not enlarge what he has drawn. I passed him a picture of an astronaut, taught him how to estimate the size to be by drawing grid lines, told him to be bold and draw it big ! Fill up the space so that he don't need to colour so much of the back ground.

 

I left him to do it on his own and was surprised to see a cute, smiley face in an astronaut suit ! He told me he was happy, he wanted a have a happy astronaut and wanted more happy colours to be filled into the picture and if he could colour the background in blue instead of black. I replied "why not if it makes you happy, space does not necessarily needs to be in black, shades of blue is totally cool as well."

So here it is, his completed piece. I LOVE IT, his happy drawing ! And hope he remains as happy throughout his schooling journey, just like the astronaut he has illustrated, carrying a smile on his face always.

I hope and wish that I will not be too hard on his grades. So far he has no enrichment classes apart from Mindchamps (Read my previous reviews HERE) for creative writing and swimming on the weekends.

During my employment with Institute of Mental Health, I have seen plenty of young children, youths and even adults, broke down mentally from facing stress. I would not want my children to be faced with such pressure and be on medication for the rest of their life.

Being happy would be the most crucial factor towards learning and I really hope I can keep him enrichment free (minus the creative writing class) as long as I can and not being into the rat race of kiasu-ness. To me academic success is not everything, the character of the child needs to be moulded, their interpersonal skills. If you have a high IQ and low EQ, it's not going to make you a happier person in the workforce in the future. I would choose and hope Xav to grow up into to be a person well liked by all.

His completed "Happy Space"

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Go light ! Homecooked Cold Soba

I know it will not go wrong if I were to feed Xav with his favourite food daily, it would mean that I do not need to keep nagging him "Xav, can you please eat faster ? ". Cold Soba being one of his favourite, he will always order this without fail whenever we visit Itacho Sushi. I was thinking about his lunch menu and thought of this.

Perfect for the ridiculously hot weather, when you don't feel like taking any hot stuff.

What you would just need:
Eggs
Cucumber (I bought the organic Japanese cucumber)
Seaweed

Crab meat

Soba & Soba Sauce

Method :
1. Cook the soba in boiling water, drain away and add room temperature water and ice cubes to soak the soba in. I fridge it as well. Drain it away when you are ready to serve the soba.

2. You can make your own Tamagoyaki. You would just need to beat eggs with sugar and pour it over the hot pan like how you normally cook the omelette. Dish up and allow it to cool before you start shredding it.

3. Dip the crab meat into a pot of boiling water, drained and set aside.

4. Shred the cucumber and set aside.

When you are ready to serve, just simply pour the amount of soba sauce, diluted with the same amount of water over the soba, add the above ingredients and garnish with some shredded seaweed and sesame seeds, you are ready to serve lunch ! 

I find it pretty light, healthy and refreshing with minimal oil used (when  cooking the egg).

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