A Mishu interlude

For the little people pining for a Mishu update, here are a couple of snapshots of what he’s been recently up to…

Not quite a sewing post

There’s been a mini hiatus on my sewing exploits lately. Things have definitely been happening in that department… though not necessarily at the workstation. Will let you in more on that when the time is right.

Anyway I’ve still been receiving the occasional expression of interest in my slings and nursing covers. The big question is always around the choice of fabric. I don’t keep a huge stock of fabric to select from, so I really need to read the person well on the fabric pattern/style they’d like if they want to leave it up to me to choose for them.

There’s always plenty of new selections coming in at the fabric store near my area. But I snapped these photos some time ago and thought I might as well post them up just to share some of the ones that caught my interest.

Planning to go out

Having a kid really changes your life. Not just the ‘big things’ like your outlook and philosophy in life. But mostly little things. MANY little things. Which I suppose all add up to become a big thing too.

For one thing, leaving the house requires planning. Maybe I’m just a little on the obsessive side, but sometimes I have to start thinking and planning ahead the night before.

6-month update

Hello! Who’s turning 6 months old tomorrow?

The Chocolate ‘Mug’ aka MacGyver Cake

It’s a chilly winter evening and I’m curled up on the couch in my favourite turtleneck, licking a spoon of chocolate cake which I whipped up 60 seconds ago in just 60 seconds. Yes, you heard me… SIXTY SECONDS!

They’re calling it the ‘Chocolate Mug Cake’… and it’s NOT a typo… when I say ‘mug’ I really mean MUG.

Some of you are aware of my minor obsession with four-ingredient recipes but this one beats them all.

Just THREE ingredients.

To assemble one serving:

Start with one mug

Then add…

A quarter cup of sugar (I used just under a quarter)

1-2 tablespoons of cocoa

And one egg

Whisk everything together until it’s nice and frothy. Then pop into the microwave for one minute (or just under if you like it more gooey).

And voila… CAKE!

I was amazed at how cake-like the texture turned out despite the fact that there was no flour… soft, fluffy and moist. I topped it with some whipped cream and it was like eating a mug of pure hot chocolate in cake form.

I handed hubs his mug of cake and he was all mmms and yums.

When I told him that it comprised of only three ingredients (which did not include any flour) he was very intrigued.

Then when I told him I just zapped everything together in the microwave for just one minute, he was blown away.

He now refers to it as the MacGyver cake… because let’s say you show up at cell group and they’re like “where’s the refreshments?” and you’re like “whaaat? is it my turn tonight?”… you can then proceed to roll up your sleeves and say “what have you got? eggs? sugar? chocolate?”… work your magic and tadaa! refreshments for everyone in a minute!

It’s seriously too deliciously simple not to try.

Linky treasures #2

Nothing in particular to update you guys on today… so here’s another round of linky treasures to keep you occupied. They’re all good!

 

First off, I came across these darling little three-dimensional heart cards.

I haven’t made these, but they’re so adorable someone out there please make them!

There’s a tutorial in the link.

A movie meme

It appears that memes are a great way to fill space on this blog. So here’s another one which I got from here

This one is very similar to the Top 100 Books idea, but with movies. This list is from AFI’s list of top 100 movies. I’ve marked the ones I’ve watched in bold and for an extra touch, decided to add a star next to the ones I really liked.

So here we go…

More bandanna bibs

After my discovery of the uber cool bandanna bib, I went on to make a few more for the drool patrol…

They were a big hit in church today - most people remarking how cute he looked in his ‘cowboy bandanna’.

First foray into solids

After all that gearing up for the solids plunge, Nathan’s first dipstick test into the wonderful new world of solids was actually somewhat anticlimactic. I was bracing myself for an onslaught of protests, spitting, messes, food faces and other such antics.

But once he took that first mouthful of rice cereal…

I think he was hooked!

Childhood smells

A friend recently posted a status update on fb sharing about how the smell washing her cast iron pan suddenly evoked strong memories of her mum washing her old wok in the kitchen.

Studies have shown that smells have a strangely strong link to memories from our distant past… more so than sight and sound.

It got me thinking about what familiar smells I sometimes come across that immediately transport me back to a specific place or time from my childhood.

Here are five which I randomly thought of…

Gearing up for the solids plunge

Just the past couple of nights, Nathan has been suddenly waking up an hour after he goes down for the night. This was unusual as he has been sleeping through the night from 7pm till 7am the next morning for some time now.

We’ve been cracking our heads trying to figure out what’s wrong… too hot? too cold? teething? sick? hungry? We run through the whole list trying everything we can think of to help him settle back down again.

Perhaps he just wants to be held or had a nightmare… so eventually after running through everything, we just hold him and rock him gently until he’s calmed down enough to go back to sleep.

I posted an anecdote about this on fb and got a huge response… the majority of the respondents suggested that it could be a sign that he’s ready for solids.

I’m not wanting to rush him into solids but if it really is the reason why he’s been waking up, I don’t want to hold him back from it if he needs it. So I’ve started making some preparations to gear up for the plunge.

Two things

Stumbled across this story of The Two Things

A few years ago, I was chatting with a stranger in a bar. When I told him I was an economist, he said, “Ah. So… what are the Two Things about economics?”

“Huh?” I cleverly replied.

“You know, the Two Things. For every subject, there are really only two things you really need to know. Everything else is the application of those two things, or just not important.”

“Oh,” I said. “Okay, here are the Two Things out economics. One: Incentives matter. Two: There’s no such thing as a free lunch.”

Ever since that evening, I’ve been playing the Two Things game. Whenever I meet someone who belongs to a different profession (i.e., a profession I haven’t played this game with), or who knows something about a subject I'm unfamiliar with, I pose the Two Things question…

It got me thinking about my “two things”… so just for fun, here are a couple from off the top of my head…

Photographic interview

Came across this photographic interview post and thought it was a nice idea. So I thought to just quickly do up one using existing photos I have on my drive…

1. The first thing you see in the morning:
My phone - when I reach over to switch off the alarm (this is just a random picture of my phone… the first thing I see is certainly NOT fb!)

The little gnome and his guests

Late Sunday afternoon, our home was graced by the presence of two lovely ladies. He was a little grumpy after his nap, but he eventually warmed up and allowed himself to be carried by the girls.

The coolest bib ever

I just stumbled across the coolest discovery - Bandana Bibs!

I tell you I’m so loving this idea. I just can’t get over how ingenious it is.

Right after I came across the pattern, I immediately went through my fabric stash, hauled out my sewing gear and made one of these little babies…

My little boy is a major dribbler, especially with the teething, so I can never have enough bibs. I’m gonna make a whole heap more of these.

Things I’ve been working on

Oh dear… I was quite determined to keep the daily blogging streak I’ve been having. But seems like I just can’t get past the mid-week monster - particular when it’s right smack in the middle of a peak period at my day-job.

I confess that my addiction to pinterest has also been a major distraction. I’ve been more obsessed with pinning cool projects and crafts I would like to do than actually doing some of those said projects.

But today being one of my free-days, I gave myself a big kick in the butt and finished off some of the things I’ve been working on…

Linky treasures

Since my discover of pinterest, I’ve spent hours trawling through all sorts of online treasures. So much so I haven’t had time to do anything particularly interesting worth mentioning today. But the linky treasures I found are definitely mention-worthy. So I thought why not share some of these goodies with you… there’s something for everyone!

Something hot and red to counter the chill

Yesterday I mentioned a tomato soup recipe I tried out. With the onset of chillier days, I felt like making something soupy and stewy and warming. This recipe I came across in a magazine seemed like a quick and simple fix.

We’re not big fans of tomato soup but I think it turned out quite nice. I like the touch of chilli for a bit of heat.  If you’d like to give it a go, here is the recipe…

800g canned tomatoes
1 small carrot, chopped
4 garlic cloves, chopped
1 chilli, chopped (optional)
1 tspn sugar
2 tbsp olive oil
250ml water
Salt and pepper, to taste
2 tbsp fresh basil, chopped
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
2 slices sourdough bread (I just used ordinary bread)

Place tomatoes, carrot, garlic, chilli, sugar, olive oil, water, salt and pepper in a pan and bring to the boil, then simmer for 15 minutes.

In another bowl, soak bread in balsamic vinegar for about 10 minutes.

Add the bread and basil to the soup and simmer for another 10 minutes

Then blend in a food processor or with a stick blender.

7 things I did today

Day 2 of this long weekend so far was spent…

#1. Agonising over two new scratches on my little boy’s nose… “Hooooooney, trim those nails!”

#2. Letting Nathan have a run on the high-chair for the first time... Although he’s not quite mastered the sitting-up-on-his-own skill yet, he was able to sit up with plenty of support from the Ikea high-chair-cushion-thingy accessory - I think the padding provides a kind of bumbo-seat effect

#3. Exploring my newly discovered playground - pinterest (you need an invitation to join - I have five to give out if you’re interested)

#4. Trying out a tomato soup recipe I found in a magazine - just for fun as our household is not generally a fan of tomato soup

#5. Enjoying a slice of sticky date pudding drizzled over with butterscotch caramel, which I made using this recipe

#6. Getting affirmation that I’m now back to my pre-pregnancy weight - discovered I’m able to fit my ao dai again which I bought while on holiday in Vietnam seven years ago and wore as one of my outfits in my wedding studio photo shoot

#7. Composing this blog post for your reading pleasure.

Hope you people are enjoying your weekend or long weekend for those in Australia.

Super easy sweetened condensed milk cake

In case some of you were wondering “will there be a blog post today?” I decided since I’ve been having such an excellent blogging streak, I shall not let you down. Yes, even in the midst of this lazy long weekend.

Today I took a break from sewing and decided to get busy in the kitchen (I think my hubs has been feeling rather neglected lately).

Here is something I recently tried out in the baking department: sweetened condensed milk pound cake. Crazily easy to make and still able to generate plenty of appreciative ‘yums’ from your audience.

The recipe calls for:

120 grams butter
½ cup caster sugar
½ cup sweetened condensed milk
1½ tspn vanilla essence
1 cup self raising flour (or 1 cup plain flour + 2 tspn baking powder)
2 large eggs

Then to assemble:

Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy
Add vanilla and condensed milk and mix till well combined
Add in flour (mix in gradually in 2-3 additions)
Add in eggs and mix everything together well
Pour into cake/loaf pan
Bake at 180ºC for 30-45 minutes or until it passes the clean toothpick test (your oven may be different, so check after 20-30 minutes to see how it’s going)

My first attempt was such a success, I decided to make another one - this time with chocolate flavouring. This is my chocolate version… I didn’t add a lot of cocoa powder as I wasn’t sure how it would affect the texture. Next time I’ll add more but also up the moisture a little as well.

I think a coffee flavoured one would also be fantastic… can be like a kopi-tiam version, especially with the sweetened condensed milk.

Questions people ask me about cloth

Today is cloth nappies laundry day. Various people have also been asking me questions about it offline, so as my mind is on cloth nappies today, I decided to do a post on the subject and answer some of those questions.

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1. How long can they hold up?

Modern cloth nappies can actually hold up very well for long stretches. I always use them when I’m out for this reason (as well as for the cuteness factor).

Although I aim to change him at least every 2-3 hours, I have however gone for a stretch of up to 6 hours with my itti bitti d’lish nappy (pictured on the right) with no problems at all.

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2. How often do you need to change him?

At home I use traditional muslins/prefolds and usually change him twice during each wake-time - once when he wakes up, and again before he goes down for his nap. If he does a poo I change him immediately.

So altogether, his bum receives a fresh nappy between 7-10 times throughout the day.

I love the liberating fact that I can change him as often as I like with no reservations over cost or waste.

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3. How do you deal with the poo?

I think this is a big concern which causes a lot of hesitation for moving to cloth. I actually don’t find it a big deal - I just change him into a fresh nappy, rinse the soiled nappy in the laundry sink and dump it in my nappy pail.

As Nathan still fully breastfed, his poo is still the soft-runny consistency which rinses off fairly easily. Sometimes I use a liner in which case I just need to take the soiled liner out of the nappy and throw/flush it away.

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4. Isn’t it more unhygienic and bad for his skin?

The context of this comment/question was around the concern that there’s always some pee/poo residue left in the cloth which could lead to rashes on baby’s skin. In my laundry day post, I talked about the wonders of sunlight and the modern washing machine - both of which are really perfectly effective at banishing any stains and residue.

All my cloth nappies are still in pristine white condition and I can honestly say that rashes became almost a non-issue since I switched to cloth - whether it’s because I’m able to change him super often or whether it’s the better breathability of the cloth material - either way we’re rash-free! In fact I still have not finished the tiny sample pot of sudocream that came in my bounty bag from the hospital.

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5. How do you find the time to manage with cloth nappies?

People have the impression that cloth nappies require a lot of extra work and imply that I must be some kind of wonder-woman/super-mum - puh-leeeese… spare me all that lah!

It’s true that going cloth requires a bit more organisation, but I don’t think it takes a great deal out of me - just an extra load of laundry during the week.

Altogether I launder three times a week - two for Nathan and one for me and hubs.

I integrate the laundry activities around Nathan’s wake-time - he hangs out with me while I hang up the laundry, and later when taking them down, then afterwards he sits next to me as I fold them and put them away.

I also find it to be a great way to vary his routine.

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So there you go. Hopefully I get another convert or two. I love talking about cloth nappies but sadly I only know one other mum in Perth who uses cloth and she lives waaay down south. If this topic generates enough interest, maybe I can host a cloth nappy party one day!

Cream and red nursing cover

Latest project…

Cream nursing cover with a classic red pattern, attached with red strap and brown lining.

A dose of Nathan

Today is officially the first day of winter on this side of the globe! What better way to kick-start the new season with a good dose of Nathan.

My little boy has been polishing his back flipping expertise over the past couple of weeks. He is now very adept with this trick and happily spends his tummy time flipping onto his tummy and back again the other way over and over.

When he first started out, he encountered the usual rough spots…