Beef Pizza

Ingredients:

1. 1/2 red pepper bell

2. 1/2 packet of grated mozzarella cheese

3. A few slices of Ermmentar cheese

4. 90g beef sliced

5. 1 TBS tomato ketcup

6. 1 wholemeal pizza dough (bought from supermarket)

7. A few ruccola salad leaves

Directions:

1. Pre-heat oven to 150 degree C.

2. Unroll pizza dough on a baking tray lined with baking paper

3. Spread a layer of tomato sauce on pizza dough as base.

4. Sprinkle grated mozzarella cheese as base.

5. Add toppings such as red pepper bells, ermmentar cheese, sliced beef

6. Bake in oven for 20-30 mins or until beef is cooked and cheese is melted.

7. Remove from oven and sprinkle with ruccola salad, cut and serve :-)

Additional Information:

This is our favorite pizza at the moment :-)

How to Make Popcorn Without Oil?

Makes 1 dinner plate amount

Ingredients:

3 TBS popcorn kernels

Directions:

1. Heat pot at medium-high heat at no. 7.5 out of 9 stove (I am using a Siemens electrical stove). Cover and heat for 5 minutes (it takes 5 minutes for my stove to heat ready for the corn kernels to pop, experiment with yours accordingly)

2. In the meantime, scoop 2 TBS of corn kernels into a container ready to be used.

3. When the pot is heated after 5 minutes, add 2 corn kernels into the pot for testing, and turn the heat down to no. 7.

4. Cover with lid, shake the pot and wait for them to pop. It should start popping within 1 minute.

5. Remove the 2 popped kernels to prevent burn.

6. Add in the rest of the corn kernels (2 tablespoon of corn kernels), cover with lid and gently shake the pot constantly to prevent burning the kernels.

7. Once the kernels start popping, reduce heat further to no. 5 immediately and continue to gently shake the pot to prevent burning the popcorn.

8. Once there is no more popping sound, turn off heat and immediately transfer to a plate to prevent burn. The whole process should take you approximately 10 minutes. Enjoy :-)

Additional Information:

At 7 years old, J is at the age where he asks for popcorn. It is cozy to eat popcorn, while watching a film or visiting an amusement park such as Legoland or Tivoli. I first made popcorn drizzled with syrup. He loved it. But being health conscious, he asked me to make popcorn without adding any syrup or salt. He said he would still like it and would eat it. I made it today (27/06/2016, 7Y3M22D) and he ate them. And he suggested bringing our own homemade popcorn to amusement park, so we can have popcorn that is tasty, without having to pay for overpriced popcorn those places charge which at the same time compromises our health.

Although making popcorn at home feels healthy, the smell that the oil gives at high heat makes me doubts its goodness. So I googled to find out more.

Popcorn is actually wholegrain, and in itself is healthy and nutritious. But the way popcorn is made makes it unhealthy, since it is believed that "heating olive oil can cause it to oxidize and damages its delicate polyphenol antioxidants" (The World's Healthiest Foods) However, all the recipes I found on the internet didn't quite work for me as they either burn all the popcorns or recommend using non-stick pan to make popcorn without oil. I am not so comfortable to heat an non-stick pan to such high temperature, as it may give off some chemical residue. So I experiment with using an ordinary stainless steel pot.

Hope this recipe will work for you too :-)

We could buy organic popcorn that cost 40 DKK per pack at Urterhuset.

So now we can soon have a cozy time with popcorn, without compromising our health :-) This feels super good :-)

The link below explains what popcorn is made of:

https://www.popcorn.org/Facts-Fun/From-Seed-to-Snack

References:

http://www.veganhightechmom.com/how-to-make-stovetop-popcorn-without-oil/
http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=dailytip&dbid=76
https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/popcorn-nutrition-and-health#section9
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Popcorn

1. Heat stainless steel pot at medium high heat (no. 7.5) for 5 mins to the temperature ready for the corn kernel to pop.

2.  In the meantime, scoop 2 TBS of corn kernels...

into a container ready to be used. 

3. When the pot is heated, test with 2 corn kernels

4. Cover with lid, shake the pot and wait for them to pop.

It should start popping within 1 minute.

5. Remove the 2 popped kernels to prevent burn.

6. Add in the rest of the corn kernels (2 tablespoon of corn kernels) and cover with lid and gently shake the pot constantly to prevent burning the kernels. 

7. Once the kernels start popping, reduce heat to no. 5 immediately and continue to gently shake the pot to prevent burning the popcorn.

8. Open the cover of the pot occasionally to let off steam and hot air.

9. Once there is no more popping sound, turn off heat immediately and transfer to a plate immediately to prevent burn. The whole process should take you approximately 10 minutes.

10. Wait for the popcorn to cool and enjoy.

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

Adapted from The Healthy Chef

Ingredients:

1. 200g (2 cups /7 oz) rolled oats
2. 100g chopped strawberries (optional)
3. 60g (2 oz) olive oil or butter (melted)
4. 60g (2 oz) honey or maple syrup
5. 1 egg
6. 100g (3 1/2 oz) block good quality dark eating chocolate 70% (see notes)

Directions:

1. Preheat your oven to 150 C / 300 F.

2. Add oats, olive oil or melted butter, maple syrup and egg into a mixing bowl and mix well.

3. Squeeze the dough with your hands for a few minutes until the cookie starts to come together.

4. Let the mixture rest for 5 minutes so the oats soften a little more and hold together.

5. Chop up the chocolate with a large knife.

6. Add chocolate and strawberries into the dough and mix through.

7. Form into balls and and flatten slightly.

8. Bake for 20 minutes or until golden, checking half-way through the cooking so as not to burn them.

9. Remove from the oven and cool completely.

Additional Information:

I tried this today 26 June 2016 (7Y3M21D), and J and my mum liked it. According to The healthy Chef, "Oats are a great source of soluble fibre that will keep you regular, lower cholesterol and fill you up for hours. According to studies, the beta-glucan fiber found in oats can help regulate your appetite for up to 4 hours as well as help lower cholesterol. I’ve also used macadamia nut oil in this recipe which gives it a lovely buttery flavour and is also heart healthy and anti-inflammatory to the body. Cocoa from dark chocolate is rich in Magnesium, iron, copper, manganese and riboflavin, essential micronutrients for health and vitality. The high flavenoid content of cocoa has been scientifically linked to a reduced risk of heart disease, stroke and diabetes. Cocoa also contain theobromine that boost endorphins and increases mental alertness."

References:

https://www.thehealthychef.com/2015/05/oatmeal-chocolate-chip-cookies-2/

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Recipe from The Healthy Chef

Makes 20 cookies

Ingredients:

1. 150 g almond ground (1 1/2 cups / 5  1/4 oz)
2. 2 TBS macadamia nut oil or olive oil (40 g/ 1  1/2 oz)
3. 2 TBS honey (40 g / 1  1/2 oz)
4. 1 vanilla pod bean (or 1/2  teaspoon vanilla bean extract) (optional)
5. 45 g dark chocolate chopped (1  3/4 oz)

Directions:

1. Pre-heat oven to 130 or 150 degree Celsius.

2. Mix the first 4 ingredients together and form into a dough (if necessary, add 1-2 tps water to help form a dough).

3. Add dark chocolate and mix well.

4. Use a spoon or a small ice cream scoop to form into a ball and press to flatten into cookies.

5. Place on a baking paper in a tray and bake for 15-20 minutes or until golden.

6. Cool completely before eating. Enjoy!

Additional Information:

Almonds and macadamia nuts are a fantastic are  a good source of heart healthy anti-inflammatory  fats and antioxidants such as vitamin E.  Cocoa is high in minerals and antioxidants.

To make it more nutritious, you can add 1-2 teaspoon of brewer's yeast.

J complained that I only do academic stuff with him (Montessori, Maths assessment books, Chinese spelling, etc.) and it wasn't so fun. There is only so much time in a day, and now that we have a new baby, and J is in school, it is hard to carve out time. I felt sad. J asked to bake cookies. He took out the picture of a mummy baking with the kid. Thankfully, my mum is here, so she could help to carry Baby C, when she woke up and we were in the middle of baking cookies. I love the recipe from The Healthy Chef, because they are so nutritious made with real ingredients and less unhealthy. I showed him 3 different cookies, and he chose to bake this chocolate chip cookies. This is the first time I made "real" cookies with J, so that we can serve his friends too for play date. In the past, the cookies I baked are a lot reduced in sugar and only fit for our own consumption and not to be given away. He is thus 7 years old, when we bake real cookies.

References:

https://www.thehealthychef.com/2011/01/the-worlds-healthiest-chocolate-chip-cookie/

 Cookie dough

 21 June 2016 (7Y3M16D): Forming into cookies

The cookies before baking

Show Baby Colorful Lights

Age: From 0 month old

In a dark room or dark corner, show baby colorful lights to stimulate her senses.

Let Baby Track Object

Age: From 4 weeks old

Babycenter.com:

"Your baby's world is becoming clearer: She can probably focus on and track moving objects now. If you move a toy slowly back and forth in front of her, she'll follow it with her eyes."

Let Baby Rock on Gym Ball

C: 9 June 2016 (4W4D)

Age: From 0 month old

Objective: To stimulate Baby's balancing sense.

Let baby rock on gym ball during the early months. This stimulates baby's balancing sense. I learned this from the baby exercise class that I joined when I was on maternity leave with J 7 years ago.

J: 21 May 2009 (2M16D)

Look & Smile At Baby

Age: From 0 month old

Look and smile at baby and get baby's eye-contact.

Tickle Baby with Feather

You can be creative and use different things to dust your baby. You could also use a feather to tickle your baby.

I got many of the ideas from this book "Play & Learn:  1001 activities for baby and child" by Dr. Roni Cohen Leiderman and Dr. Wendy Masi. Instead of using a feather duster as mentioned in the book, you can use a feather.

This book is available from Amazon:

http://amzn.to/1sZxPEs

7 June 2016 (3W2D)