Sandwich Kebab

It's the kids' school holiday. Yeah, the whole of June. I thought I'll have more time to do my stuff (like blogging) since I don't have to fetch my kids to school anymore. Boy was I wrong!

I'm only saved on 4 trips but there are still the tuition classes and enrichment class. On top of that, with them at home most of the time, the house is always in a mess. To save the house, I bought them out. :P Either to window shopping (to enjoy the air-con), the newly open wet plus dry playground at a shopping centre near my place or to ride on their bikes. Unless, someone buys me a notebook, I won't be able to blog when I'm out. :P

I did however complete a few of my sewings. I hand sew my stuff so I don't need to carry the sewing machine (which I don't own one) with me in case you are wondering how I could sew outside. Since my husband is still at work (yes, it's past midnight now), I'm taking the time to make a quick post. Otherwise, he nag at me for stay up late just to blog. :P So, here it is.

This is something I did for a magazine sometime ago. I'm not sure if they will be using it. My son likes it, so I thought I'll just share it with you. It's basically sandwich presented in a fun way.




You just need the basic ingredients for sandwich. What I used here are bread, ham, cheese, lettuce, Japanese cucumber and cherry tomatoes. I used a flower cookie cutter to cut the bread, ham and cheese to cut them into smaller pieces. The lettuce is tear into size.

The Japanese cucumber are thin enough, so I just slice them to the thickness I want. The top of the cherry tomato must be cut off so it's easier to pierce through. You can use bamboo skewers if you like but what you see here is 'pokey sticks'. It's a little fragile.

I had wanted to get Mitsuya Tasty Bisuit Stick but it wasn't stocked up at the gocery store at my place. If you are making sandwiches for pinic this school holiday, try making these instead.

Rice Sandwich

Here's a kid's meal idea with the help with a cookie cutter.

I'm using luncheon meat (I only use Tulip Brand so no worries. hehe.) for the cut outs. But wait! Don't throw away the remaining. That's wastage! You can use that too.

After cutting out the shapes, lightly pan fried it without oil. Return the cookie cutter back to the cooked luncheon meat. Now, scoop some rice in the cutter and top it with another cooked luncheon meat.

Press it down while holding the cookie cutter to make the rice stick together and firm. If your cookie cutter has the imprint part, use that.

Remove the cookie cuter and you will have your rice and luncheon meat sandwich!



For the remaining luncheon meat, I stuff only rice in the cookie cutter to be fitted in it. Yah, this doesn't look like a sandwich. If you prefer only to use the cut out luncheon meat, the 'unwanted' part can be used for other dish like fried rice. So don't throw it away.

Swiss Roll for dinner?

I haven't make kid's meal for a long time. It's a good sign because this means my son has no eating problem. Then why did I make one today? Well, it because I was very pleased that he finished a whole plate of Chicken Rice this afternoon on his own and he didn't take very long to do it too. I have been waiting for this day to come. *smiles* So, I thought I will spend some time to make his dinner interesting like before, just for today.

What I had in mind was those swiss roll with cream and fruits inside. I should have chopped up the veggies and mixed it with the fish paste. It will look more convincing and nicer but but but ... my mistake. It didn't look anything close to a swiss roll. Still looked more like Sushi. But he still enjoyed it anyway. Oh well!

In case you are wondering, it's normal cooked rice (I didn't use Japanese short grain rice) wrapped fish paste roll and top with furikake.

Mr Happy Rice Ball

I did this for my son yesterday.

It's funny how some peas, carrot bits, tiny bits of ham and even more tiny cut out seaweed, with the help of toothpicks, can transform a boring rice ball to something totally different.

Mr Happy Rice Ball is relaxed and stretched out ... waiting to be eaten! LOL

* Steamed Veggies sprinkled with bonito flakes and a pinch of salt *

* Egg and Fish Paste Roll *

* the happy rice man *

Mini Prawn Cutlet Rice Burger

What happens if you want to eat burger and rice but it's impossible to finish both? Have a rice burger then! LOLz

I made this rice burger for my son with the Prawn Cutlet I did. Yeah, that's plain rice instead of buns. Just add some lettuce, tomato, onion, even cheese, squeeze some sauce and you have it.

Check out these other rice burgers I made too.

Oh! Just in case you are wondering how the rice cakes were made, I cooked the rice as normal except I added slightly more water (1 cup rice with 1 1/2 cup water) to make it more moist and sticky.

If you don't like to use your bare hands to make the rice cake, scoop the rice onto a cling wrap. Cover it with the same cling wrap and roll it with a rolling pin or similar. Lift up the cling wrap and 'fold' the flatten rice. Cover it and continue rolling. Repeat till the rice sticks together. Use a round cookie cutter to cut out the rice.

Using your hands will be much easier. *wink*

By the way, these prawn cutlet rice burgers were only 7cm in diameter, hence ... mini.

Flying Hearts

We went Cold Storage and I bought a block of Kamaboko. I call it high class fish cake. Why? Because a block of Kamaboka cost me $4. That's equals to 40 fish balls or 400g of fish paste! What to do? I'm a sucker for pretty food. If you go to their branch at Bugis Junction, you can even get those with Pokemon and Hello Kitty imprinted. キユ一ト。かわいい。可爱！Cute!

Anyway, I used a few slices to make the wings for the sausage heart. Now they can fly! Catch them quick before they fly away! *giggle*

I included Stir Fried French Bean and Fish Fries with the meal.

* the flying sausage hearts *

* Fish Fries *

• Marinade sliced fish fillet with some salt and pepper.
• Coat with batter.
• Fry till golden brown.
• Dish and drain.

* French Beans *

• Stir fry garlic till fragrant.
• Add french beans and carrot.
• Stir fry till you see the french been turned into darker green.
• Add light soy sauce to taste.
• Mix well.
• Dish and serve.
  

Edible Othello

My son was so crazy about the Othello that it gave me the idea of making this for his dinner. The white seeds were Rice and the green seeds were Spinach Tofu with Fish Paste. I used a melon baller to scoop the balls out from the Tofu. My poor daughter had to eat the messy left-over but she still enjoyed it.

You should see how my son 'played' with his food. He ate the losing seed and replaced them with the winning ones. I had to tell him to play both sides otherwise he will end up eating one of the two colours first. Then it will be to plain to eat just the remaining.

So you see, we CAN play with food. *giggle*

Hearty Dinner

This was my kids' recent dinner. Rice with Sakura Denbu and eggs.
The side dishes were :

• Cheesy Potato and Tuna Balls
• Blanched Broccoli and Cauliflower with Creamy Soup

My daughter love the cheesy balls so much she ate 4 of them and she finish her rice with soup over it.

* the Hearts *

* Cheesy Potato and Tuna Balls *


* Blanched Broccoli and Cauliflower with Creamy Soup *

Vegetable Rice Balls

This was done recently for my son. Of course he doesn't eat this alone for dinner. There are other dishes to go with this. This was in place of the usual white rice he had and also to get him to eat more vegetables (again).

I steamed one tablespoon each of chopped carrot and broccoli to mix with plain white rice. Topped them with a sliced of star-shaped egg and luncheon meat and served. *wink*

* Broccoli Rice Ball *

* Carrot Rice Ball *

Simple Egg Flowers on Rice

.:: Egg Flowers on Rice ::.

I dropped my camera while it's on and damaged the focusing and flash! Boo-hoo! Now I have to take tons of pictures to get some clear one. Sometimes, I can't even get a single clear picture. So pardon me, if you see pictures that are not so clear and dark. Bear with me till I save enough money to get a new replacement. Or maybe you would like to sponsor me? *wink*

Okay, this a very simple dinner I made for my son yesterday. The flowers were made from eggs with a spot of tomato sauce. The other two dishes served were Shredded Sweet Peas with Sliver Fish and Deep Fried Tuna Balls.

.:: Shredded Sweet Peas with Sliver Fish ::.

Ingredients:

• 15 Sweet Peas, tips removed
• 1/2 handful Silver Fish

How to do it:

1. Split open the sweet peas.
2. Remove the peas.
3. Shred the sweet peas.
4. In a wok, heat 1 teaspoon oil.
5. Fry the sliver fish till golden brown.
6. Remove and set aside.
7. Add the sweet peas and the peas.
8. Stir fried for 1 minute.
9. Add in the sliver fish and mix well.
10. Dish and serve.

Note:
No seasoning is required as the sweet peas are sweet and sliver fishes as salty.

.:: Deep Fried Tuna Balls ::.

Ingredients:

• 1 canned Sandwich Tuna (I used Heinz Brand)
• 2 tablespoon Mayonnaise
• Breadcrumbs
• Oil for frying

How to do it:

1. Drain tuna from the can.
2. Mix with mayonnaise.
3. Spoon some tuna and coat with breadcrumbs.
4. Deep fried till golden brown. Don't fry them for too long.
5. Scoop out using a small sieve as it will be too soft to pick up using chopsticks.
6. Drain and serve.

Note:
Instead of using breadcrumbs, you can used diced bread too.

Bread Sushi

Is your sandwich always either in the shape of triangle, triangle or square? How about making it in the shape of circle the next time you do it?

This is great for primary school kids as snack for canteen breaks. Great for picnic too!

Ingredients:
makes a roll

• 2 slice Bread of your choice
• 1 sheet Nori aka toasted seaweed
• 1 Egg, beaten
• 1 Lettuce Leave
• 1 slice Ham of your choice
• 1 piece Crabstick
• 1 stick Japanese Cucumber
• Mayonnaise
• Butter
• Batter
• Breadcrumbs
• * Cling wrap

How to do it:

1. Heat pan with a few drops of oil.
2. Fry egg like crepe till cook.
3. Set aside.
4. Dip crabstick in batter and coat in breadcrumbs.
5. Deep fry till golden brown.
6. Set aside.
7. Trim off the skin of bread.
8. Flatten both bread with rolling pin or any other ways.
9. Cut the nori to the size of 2 bread laid side by side and with an extra 4cm in length.
10. Have piece of cling wrap on the tabletop.
11. Lay nori on top of cling wrap.
12. Lightly butter the bread on both sides.
13. Lay bread on the nori.
14. Lightly butter the nori that is not covered by the bread
15. Place egg crepe on the bread.
16. Either fold in or trim off extra egg.
17. Place lettuce over the egg.
18. Place ham which is cut to size over lettuce.
19. Place cucumber and crabstick on top of ham.
20. Squeeze in some mayonniase.
21. Now start rolling the bread.
22. Lift the cling wrap as you roll.
23. Use the extra nori to secure the roll.
24. Wrap the roll with the cling wrap.
25. Cut the bread roll into smaller pieces.
26. Remove cling wrap before eating.

Note:

• You can use any other ingredients you like.
• Butter the nori so it can 'stick' together.
• The cling wraps helps hold the bread roll together and makes cutting easier.

* Place all ingredients together *

* Roll the bread, lifting the cling wrap as you do. *

* Wrap bread roll with cling wrap to secure it before cutting. *

* Bread Sushi - the unconventional way to eating sandwich *

Finger Food for Kids

You know kids love cocktail sausages. I don't remember eating so much of it when I was a kid. My kids just can't seems to have enough of them.

I sometimes served this as a tea-time snack for my kids. And when I'm preparing it, I munched on them too. Haha ... Not much left in the end. I think they make a pretty nice party finger food too.

What you see here are cocktail sausage wrapped with lettuce and ham. You can have other varieties like using cheese, cucumber, cherry tomatoes, bread, etc. The combination is endless.

I stand up them using a bell pepper top which I had saved from a dish I'm cooking for dinner. Of course you can just lay them on a tray, can't be cutting all the tops of bell peppers to do this. *giggles*

Having a party tomorrow to celebrate Singapore's National Birthday? Why not serve one of these? A time saver and easy to prepare.

Happy Birthday, Singapore! And Happy Holiday to everyone in Singapore!

Kid's Fish Meal

I haven't post kid's meal for a while now. Well, here's a new one I did last week. The fishes were a bit 'rough' though. I really need to learn to be more skillful.

The fishes were made from rice, cocktail saugsages, cheese and a tiny bit of seaweed.

The other two dishes that comes with this were Colourful Tamago and Deep Fried Fish with Seaweed

* Fishy No.1 *

* Fishy No.2 *

Strawberry for Afternoon Tea

Now that my son doesn't nap in the afternoon, I have to prepare afternoon tea for him. He sometimes take only fruits and milk for tea. Sandwich is another thing he likes.

So now other than cracking my head to think what to cook for dinner, I have to also think what to make for afternoon tea.

Strawberry Ice Milk ... A glass of Strawberry Milk with a scoop of Strawberry Ice. It's actually Strawberry Sorbet I made but minus the lime juice, so it's not sour at all.

Strawberry Cheesy Ham Sandwich ... Bread with cream cheese and ham topped with another slice of bread with Strawberry Jam. All my son's favourite, rolled up together.

Kid's Mui Fun aka Thick Gravy over Rice 儿童式绘饭

My kids love Mui Fun 绘饭. I'm not quite sure if there's a English word for Mui Fun. Probably not. In fact, Mui Fun is a Cantonese word. It's actually thick gravy over rice. It's an easy one dish meal for lazy mum like me.

The usually Mui Fun we had, had only fish slices or pork and Chinese Flowering Cabbage in it. Since this is for my kids, I tweak it to make it more enticing for them.

Ingredients:

• Ham, cut into smaller pieces
• Carrot, sliced
• Corn
• Chinese Flowering Cabbage aka 菜心, chopped
• 300ml Broth
• 1 Egg White
• 1 teaspoon Light Soy Sauce (for colour and sweetness but optional)
• Salt to taste
• Cornflour Mixture (thickener)
• a bowl of rice

How to do it:

1. Bring broth to a simmer.
2. Add in ham, carrot, corn and bring to a boil.
3. Add in the Chinese flowering cabbage.
4. Add light soy sauce and salt to taste.
5. Gradually add in the cornflour mixture to thicken the gravy.
6. Stir in the egg white.
7. Pour gravy over a bowl of rice.
8. Serve immediately.

The Meal using Leftovers

Most the dishes here were cooked using leftovers. Not leftovers leftovers. *blur* We don't take leftover food. The ingredients used were part of the ingredients used for other dishes. I didn't want to waste them so I used them here.

Let's see what we have here .....

Snakehead (fish) marinated with a teaspoon of light soy sauce, wrapped with a basil leaf, dipped with batter and pan fried. Crispy on the outside and juicy inside with a light aroma from the Basil.

Reserve egg ... have you seen white egg yolk and yellow egg white? No egg white were used here. Got my son thinking which bird lay this type of egg. Nah, he knew I made it!

These flowers were really Squid. The squid was cut into thick rings and sliced close to the edge then stuff with minced pork with some fish paste. Decorate with vegetable and steamed till cooked. Add a pinch of salt before you steam it if you like. The leaves here were (slightly) pan fried Basil. Crunchy!

Baa Baa Crabstick Sheep

I had in mind this sheep when I did this for my son. It didn't turn out as what I had in mind but since my son could tell from a look that it's a sheep, then it's still not as bad lah. *bleh*

I used 3 1/2 crabstick to shaped the suppose woolly coat, shrimp for the horn and asparagus (yes, we had asparagus for dinner!) for the legs and eye.