Archives for May 2012

So take that, Wild Honey

May 16, 2012 · By ·

The other motivation to start making my own breakfast every other morning, is due to first and final visit hb and I will have at Wild Honey at Mandarin Gallery.

Screen Shot 2012 05 12 at 5 43 19 PMMy Norwegian breakfast

I saw Avocados, Asparagus, salmon slices, some cream cheese, topped with some mozzarella cheese on two slices of thick white toasted bread from this dish that I had at Wild Honey. And it tasted bleah, very bland in fact. Hb had Eggs Benedict and we both had a coffee and soft drink each. This meal cost us SGD$85.00.

Hb and I felt totally ripped off.  Thank goodness we paid with vouchers we claimed from credit card points, so dissonance from Wild Honey was a lot more manageable.

I still cannot understand why there are crowds queuing outside their restaurant every weekend. The regular profile of people who goes to Wild Honey are young adults between the ages of 21-30, decked out in their hip clothes and bags, with some tourists thrown into the mix.

And the service is far from being desired. We had to order from the counter and we were charged service charge, for what in particular I wonder?

So, this visit to Wild Honey is our first and last. I know I will never ever go back there again. Even if a naive friend willingly wants to buy me a meal there. Anywhere but Wild Honey!

So I decided to embarked on the Breakfast Challenge to start eating healthy and to prove that my breakfast can taste as good, be alot healthier and look just as nice as a $85.00 breakfast meal at Wild Honey.

Screen Shot 2012 05 12 at 5 54 49 PM

I made poached eggs for hb, with shaved ham on Danish bread, without the rich Eggs Benedict sauce. If u know that in a dish of Eggs Benedict, you will be ingesting a total of 5 egg yolks at one sitting, you probably will not want to ask for Cholesterol-laden Eggs Benedict anymore in a typical breakfast place. This is my very first time making poached eggs, and I wasted 1 egg (which got stuck in the pot during the poaching process).

 

Screen Shot 2012 05 12 at 5 47 20 PM

I made pancakes too, making some changes to a recipe that I found on allrecipes.com, here’s the recipe if you want to explore making your own pancakes.

Ingredients

(for 8 servings)

  • 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 3 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 3/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 tablespoon white sugar
  • 1 1/4 cups milk
  • 1 egg
  • 1 teaspoon of vanilla essence
  • 3 tablespoons butter, melted

Directions

  1. In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. Make a well in the center and pour in the milk, egg and melted butter; mix until smooth.
  2. Heat a lightly oiled griddle or frying pan over medium high heat. Pour or scoop the batter onto the griddle, using approximately 1/4 cup for each pancake. Brown on both sides and serve hot.

Screen Shot 2012 05 12 at 5 50 32 PM

Instead of using maple syrup, you can also make your own fruit compote. Here’s some Apple and Blueberry compote on top of the pancakes. All u need to do is to slice up the apple thinly, without the skin, simmer in a small pan until some of the juices start to emerge. Then add about a tablespoon of brown sugar, and throw in the blueberries.

For a quick pancake breakfast, I divided the dry ingredients into 4 for 2 servings each. Put the dry ingredients in 4 plastic bags and keep them in the fridge and only added the wet ingredients in the mix, when I was ready to fry the pancakes in the mornings.

Apart from these slightly more rich breakfasts, I tend to go for these regular healthy options daily.

Screen Shot 2012 05 12 at 5 54 27 PM

Toast again, with grapefruit, cherry tomatoes and salad with Wafu dressing

 

Screen Shot 2012 05 12 at 5 55 12 PMWalnut danish, fruits and salad

 

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Ham on boule bread with jam, fruits and salad

 

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More variety of fruits and a Passion fruit butter with cheese on boule

 

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Hot lemon tea, it actually tastes just as good as cold ice tea.

 

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Smelly yummy cheese with crackers, dried apricots and nuts to share with hb on weekends. To make sure that he does not reach for the packet of Doritos for that morning.

 

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Just a simple breakfast of a sunny side up with ham on bread.

 

So did I manage to prove that my meals are healthier and look just as good as what they have in Wild Honey?

I think I did.

So take that, Wild Honey. I definitely do not need to pay for a $85.00 breakfast meal and think that I am eating so well.

 

P.S

All photos in this post were taken with my iPhone 4s, using Instagram filters and natural light from the windows. No other DI were done to these photos.

 

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Categorized: Lifestyle · Tagged:

A Healthy Breakfast Challenge

May 14, 2012 · By ·

I had a bad breakout last month.

I tend to have clear skin, except for one or two teeny zits during PMS, but apart from that, relatively clear skin.

Until last month, little red bumps that looked liked acne started popping up all over the face (horrors!). I had a tough time looking at myself in the mirror (yes, I am vain like that), and even a tougher time telling myself never to pick on those zits.

Maybe it was the hormones that went berserk last month, or stress, but I decided that I should do something about my diet and see if it improved things. So I gave myself a challenge, to start with breakfast.

My breakfast used to look like that :

Screen Shot 2012 05 12 at 5 42 40 PM

Screen Shot 2012 05 12 at 5 45 34 PM

 

The most, after a weekend of over-eating, I would have a guilt-free detox breakfast like that (but over-compensate it during lunch)

Screen Shot 2012 05 12 at 5 46 05 PM

 

So, I tried to improve my breakfast, by eating mom’s freshly baked Hot Cross Buns during breakfast and some fruits.

Screen Shot 2012 05 12 at 5 46 36 PM

 

Then I figured I should try to reduce process foods out of my diet, stopped buying Betty Crocker’s quick mix pancakes. Made some changes to a recipe that I found online, and started making my own pancakes.

Screen Shot 2012 05 12 at 5 47 47 PM

Here’s some home-made pancakes on a healthier day with yogurt and nuts. I still allow myself some maple syrup and fruit compote over the pancakes some mornings.

 

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Breakfast got a bit healthier, when I discovered Wafu sauce, a Japanese Soy Sauce and Sesame dressing from the supermarket. That sauce makes any type of fresh vegetables taste better.

 

Screen Shot 2012 05 12 at 5 48 41 PM

And I discovered that cream cheese on bread with cherry tomatoes actually tasted quite good.

 

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And experimented with some Bento-style arrangements by using cookie cutters on leftover pancakes from K. Don’t try bolled Lotus in your salad though, it might look quite interesting on the plate, but tasted quite vile with Wafu dressing.

 

Screen Shot 2012 05 12 at 5 49 46 PM

I still can’t do without tea or decaffeinated coffee every breakfast though, and a spot of butter on my toast.

 

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And started to make that consistent effort to have a good balance of fruits and fresh veggies every breakfast. Even K was convinced that Mommy’s breakfast looked alot more interesting than his, and starting sharing my breakfast on some mornings :)

It was when I started adding a fresh salad and a mix of fruits, the process of setting up breakfast every morning got a lot more fun. I started trying different combinations of fruits, different spreads for my toast (I still can’t cut out white bread from my diet, as I am not a fan of whole-meal).

Screen Shot 2012 05 12 at 5 53 41 PM

And the result after a month?

My skin is now clear. Only with a teeny little zit during PMS recently, and I am feeling alot more energetic through the day.

Do give this healthy breakfast challenge a try, or try adding more fresh fruits and vegetables into a meal daily. I am quite sure you will start feeling the difference to your skin and energy levels after a few weeks.

Do share what does your regular breakfast consists of?

 

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Open ended art – Exploration with Water-colours

May 9, 2012 · By ·

K was introduced to water-colour paints for our next open-ended art activity.

When he first dip his brush into the watercolor palette and applied the brush on the drawing paper, he frowned at what he saw, and told me that he did not like water-colours. As the paint colors could hardly be seen (we have been using tempera paints, and the color pigments on paper is a lot darker)

I had to spend some time explaining to him that watercolors are usually very light and transparent. Did a sample creation of my own artwork with watercolors to demonstrate that watercolors have a very different outcome on paper, compared to the tempera and poster color paints that he was used to.

After he was convinced that watercolors were different and not so bad after all, he went on to paint an ‘abstract’ creation of gradation shades of green and orange. Then he ran into his room and came back to the hall with a pack of markers, and started adding on to his artwork.

504 02

Again, all I saw was stick people, differentiated in groups of different colors, with speech bubbles coming out of their heads and lots of numbers. Sure looks like his usual style of drawing, I thought. But boy, was I blown away when I asked him what was this artwork all about.

He told me to write all that he will dictate to me. As this dictation will be a write-up for his ‘Masterpiece’ (in his own words), next to his drawing. Very much like how art museums always have a short explanation of the artwork displayed next the artwork itself.

“It is in Japan because of the flag, the Japanese people (referring to the stick people in blue) are looking at the art piece in the museum. And the tourists too, the American guy cut his leg when he was kicking the sign (the stick people drawn with a pencil). The Turkey people (the ones in red) just love the art, they are saying, “Is this a good artist? But if you don’t see and don’t make this, you are a bad artist.” The ones in orange are from Malaysia, they just love cupcakes and they think that this is a extinct cupcake.

But actually the sign says that it is extinct guns and weapons and extinct volcanoes too, and some extinct dead people. The art is made in 1963. The purple numbers means that the people can be any age to look at the art piece. 5 and 6 years olds can also look at it. There is a TV on top so that the 5, 6 year olds can watch the TV and be distracted away from the violent art piece.

The statue has extinct buildings and houses and dinosaurs too. The house is 700,000 years old and they are extinct and crushed. The blocks inside the art piece (I think he meant apartment blocks) has the numbers 65 and 75. There are extinct animals and people. When the people are 100 years old, they die, but the animals only die when they are 200 years old.

Outside the museum there is a sign that says, the museum opens at 7 o’clock. And the outside of the door says ‘Open and Close at 7 o’clock’. The museum advertises robots fighting but the robots will explode in 1963.’

Then he loudly exclaimed, “That’s it. This is my masterpiece and I am an artist today – not an author and illustrator, so you have to write for me.”

I was quite amused by what he said. The word ‘tourist’ was explained to him two days ago when we spent an afternoon at Sentosa. Hearing the story that he created behind this art piece gave a good glimpse into the things that he tends to spend a lot more time thinking about. While others were learnt through new picture books that we read the last 1 month. From dinosaurs, weapons, volcanoes, dead people, people from different countries, violence in art, signs, time and year, and advertising.

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What I learnt from this experience :

– There were facts addressed in his story that did not correlate with the facts that he learnt; i.e, about buildings and people being extinct, but I made a point not to correct him. This activity was meant to encourage higher level of abstract thinking through his creations (thinking out-of-the-box) and not correctly answer factual information.

– This demonstrated how art can help with a child’s self-expression, create opportunities for problem solving and creative stories behind the art work. There have been research studies done to prove that art therapy works in children to bring out suppressed emotions to the surface, where parents/teacher can help address them.

– It proves that parents should never under-estimate the simplicity of symbolism used in open-ended art. Free-expression can be encouraged in open-ended art, and children can be given the freedom to add any symbols that they want in their creations; words, numbers or anything abstract. Most importantly, ask open-ended questions after the child have finished the artwork and encourage the dictation of the stories behind their creations.

– Visiting art museums can be beneficial for children. Children exhibits may be beneficial as it gives children the avenue to play and interact with the displays that are set up, but I think what is more beneficial is for the child to experience the regular art exhibits in the museum.

Screen Shot 2012 05 09 at 3 38 43 AMfrom Roubs Production Flick

Visiting the art museum is a wonderful way to encourage your child’s appreciation and understanding of the arts. But do let them enjoy the art themselves. By all means, read the description of the art piece, the interpretation of the work by the artist. But let them enjoy the art, taking in the colors, the emotions behind each creation and the artist’s inspiration. Don’t feel pressured that you will need to interpret everything for them and have to ask them plenty of questions on each piece.

After experiencing such interesting outcomes and watching the process from our home-learning art lessons, I am so motivated to pursue more art experiences moving forward. K is not the only one who is learning from his art experiences, I am learning just as much from these art experiences too!

Do give this method a try with your next open-ended art experience with your child, and I am sure your child will delight you with their little interesting stories behind their art creations.

An edited version of this article was published on myplayschool.net

And here is how I incorporated open ended outcomes to a structured art experience.

 

 

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