Mothering Corner

 When my grandaunt was ill, my aunt hired a maid to take care of her as everyone had to go out to work. The maid was good, but she didn’t have medical knowledge like a nurse. She could take care of my grandaunt on simple tasks, but when it came to giving medication, my aunt would rush back from work to feed her the med.

We knew about home care nurses but it’s quite expensive here in Malaysia. Unlike the US, you might be able to find a home care assistant from Fort Lauderdale Home Health Care. I’m not sure about their charges, but if you are interested, you can check out the link.

Anyway, my grandaunt passed away a few years ago, and to me, I think it’s a relieve to her. She had been senile for many years and suffering from illness.

I really like my seaweed punchers collection. I haven’t used all of them but I’ve using the smiley punchers more often these days, even for dinner. But one of the punchers are not functioning well as the cutter can’t seem to “go back” in place after each punch. It gets stuck all the time, and I found that the cutter is not well aligned into the “holes”.

I emailed Veronica from NST for solution and she suggested that I used cotton bud and oil to remove the excess seaweed. So, if you are using seaweed punchers, this is a good way of cleaning them. But to me, the cutter got stuck, with or without the seaweed. LOL!

BTW, I always wash the punchers with water, but Veronica said they might get rusty, so make sure that they are totally dry before storage.

Let’s see what will the supplier say about this. I’m still waiting for Veronica’s reply. *Thanks for helping me, Veronica!*

My boy has been asking for sandwiches for days, so it’s time to fix him some. He’s easier with veggies, and he has no problem taking the lettuce “hidden” in the sandwiches. However, I think my gal will dig them out!!! Let’s see what will she do later when she’s taking her tea…

I’m using the lunch boxes from 100Yen Shop which are perfect for sandwiches. In the basket box, there are cheese and ham sandwiches, a sausage, some edamanes (the kids will have to remove the skin by themselves later) and 2 strawberries. In the lower tier, I packed some pineapples and grapes.

My gal loves pineapples, just like I do. However, I doubt that my boy will finish it. After having a few pieces, he will always complain about the itchiness on his tongue. So, hubby will take his share if he can’t finish the fruits. No point wasting them mah…

My boy has accepted cherry tomatoes and he said they taste like grapes. However, my gal still refuses to eat it and she will give the tomatoes away to me or her brother. Thus, I didn’t pack her any cherry tomatoes but gave her more red seedless grapes instead.

My gal’s bento with corns, quail eggs, red seedless grapes, and kiwi slices (hid before the barans)

Cherry tomatoes were added into my boy’s bento.

I didn’t give them any meat as protein today, so the eggs are their protein source. Too bad they can’t eat quail eggs everyday due to the cholesterol level, so I have to do some grocery shopping for tomorrow’s bento. Maybe I will fix them some sandwiches? Mmm…

My wisdom tooth is bothering me for 2 days now, and I’m still thinking if I should get it extracted. It’s a minor surgery, but it’s painful as I’ve done it before. Gee….not again!

I was a monster mommy yesterday, and I didn’t have mood to be nice to my kids. Thus, I wanted to show them that I’m sorry about my behaviour and try to show them that I love them a lot. Today’s bentos have lots of hearts, representing my love for them.

Each bento has heart shaped French toasts, 2 quail eggs, some sausages, heart shaped strawberries and 2 tiny citrus fruits which look like tangerine, but not tangerines! I bought the wrong fruit. I slotted in some strawberry jam in the mini mayonnaise containers.

I need to help the kids to peel of the skin of the fruit, and if you know what’s the name of it, let me know! I bought the wrong pack, and there are only Thai words on the label, so I’m not sure what they are. They taste sweet, but not as sweet as tangerines.

I used the multi cutters to shape a shape on the quail eggs. It’s pretty easy to be done, and as long as you have smaller cutters, you can try it out. I shall practice more in making faces on food since my kids like it and the “faces” are still in place by late afternoon if I keep the bento boxes upright.

I didn’t use lots of picks this time but just packed in a pair of fork and spoon by Ciao and strap the bentos with straps given by Arlene.  I wonder why I can’t find cute straps in various design here at Daiso and Sanrio?

We didn’t go out yesterday, and while my kids glued their eyes on the idiot box, I spent my time playing with my new tools.

 Some of my new tools

I got CP’s help to order the cutter for me and bigger punchers are from NST. My friend Arlene bought the smaller punchers for me (thanks ya!!!) from MPH. They are from Carl’s Craft, and I will only use them for seaweed. There are lots of designs, and they are cheap! So, go grab some.

 Art Punchers by Carl’s Craft

I decorated the grapes with seaweed and cheese and stored them in the Super Lock container for today’s bento.

 In my boy’s Tomica bento, there are some blueberries, cherry tomatoes, kiwis, corn, ham sandwich rolls and that little grape decorated as a bear (he said it’s a bear )

Same food with different arrangement for my gal’s HK bento. I’m still trying to introduce cherry tomato to my picky gal. 

It’s fun to have more tools to play with, but I don’t have time to do so in the morning rush. I wonder how the Japanese mothers can get things done in 15 minutes, maybe with more practice?

 We have lots of plan for December. Firstly, it’s my boy’s 4th birthday, and then we have vacation plans to 3 different places in Thailand. However, we don’t have any plan for Christmas yet. Last year, we celebrated Christmas in Bangkok too, but the day was spent with food and shopping. I wonder if we should do anything special this year?

If SIL is not doing anything special, maybe we can just organize a mini Christmas party at home. There are a few Christmas Party Ideas which I can easily searched from the internet, and we will have to pick one that is suitable for our kids. If you are running out of Christmas party ideas, check out Celebration.com for more details. I guess there should be someone pretending as Santa Clause and giving out presents to the kids under the Christmas tree huh? LOL!

I hardly organize parties at home because I hate the cleaning up afterward. Furthermore, I hate cooking for lots of people. LOL! But it’s easier to plan a Christmas party now, as long as you order your turkey in advance or maybe just cater the food. It will be less hassle than spending hours in the kitchen!

Let’s see if SIL is interested to organize a mini party. If not, we shall plan for something else.

After days of waking up late, it’s a bit hard for me to get up at 6.30am. LOL! But then, I had planned what to prepare this morning, so it’s not hard to get things done in an hour. I didn’t have time to do anything fancy, and furthermore, I packed my kids’ lunch in thermal food container, which is such a bliss!

My kids’ lunch at the office

I boiled “winter melon” soup the night before and just reheated it again. I wanted to do something with Shinkansen and Hello Kitty stencils, but the furikake came with seaweeds, and it’s too big to outline the stencils. I should get a new pack of furikake once I finished this pack.

 There are chicken cubes fried with sesame oil, half an egg, some spinach and 2 cherry tomatoes.

The Thermos sets

My boy has finally agreed on eating cherry tomatoes but I’m still trying for my gal. I’m not sure if she will take it, or just give them to her brother. I can’t seem to cut the egg nicely, and blame it on my laziness to dig out the egg cutter from the cupboard!

After their afternoon naps, my kids will have these bentos as snack.

 My kids will have edamame, blueberries, a banana and ham sandwich rolls for tea.

I really like the ham sandwich rolls and I’ve found a way to roll them up so nicely. You need to flatten the white bread with a roller first, then it’s easier to roll the bread up without tearing it.

See? I only have time to “beautify” a set of bentos, but not all four individual bentos. LOL!

P/S: My boy left some egg and a cherry tomato only. But my gal left 2 cherry tomatoes, half an egg and some soup. I should pack a smaller portion for her next time instead of packing in same quantity for both of them.

 A friend of mine is trying hard to cope with a new baby and her work. It’s not easy to do so, especially if you don’t have help at home. I can still remember those early months with a baby, breastfeeding, taking care of a toddler and struggling to lose weight. Gee… I seriously don’t feel like having another baby now, unless I lose my mind.

I guess the best thing to do is forget about the work first. I’m glad that I didn’t have to work at that time, but only running my own business at my own pace and schedule. I would normally time my work about my kids, and I had a maid at home to help me out. It’s not too hard for me…

Most mothers can go back to work once everything has settled down, even if we don’t know when will it be. But one day, our kids will grow up in front of our eyes, without we realizing it. And then, you’ll know it’s time to submit that Austin resumes of yours and apply for a new job.

 We are back in Bangkok, and hopefully my kids will be able to get back to their routines soon. It’s colder these days, as comparing to 2 weeks ago when we left. I really like the weather, and I can feel winter and Christmas in the air.

No bento for my kids today as my fridge is bare. I have to do some grocery shopping later as my kids need to have their lunch at the office tomorrow. Saturdays mean heavier bentos for them due to the long hours at the office. I’m still thinking of what to cook for them…

I have added a lot of items to my bento tools, and I’m still clueless on how to use them. LOL! A few more items will arrive in December, and after that, I better stop shopping for bento tools as I’m out of space to keep them! But I found that packing food for my kids is not only fun, it’s great to ensure that they eat well. Even MIL agreed on my bento-ing effort, but my mum said no need to do so many cutie stuffs la.

I might also pack food for myself if I manage to cook in the morning. I’ve overeaten for the past few days, especially when I stayed in Penang. I can rely on diet pills but I want to eat well to get back in shape. I have a beach vacation, a trip to Chiangmai, and another vacation to a horse club resort all in December. Besides that, we need to find time to squeeze in a trip to the waterfall too. Gosh, so busy and packed! I need to get back in shape so that I can fit in my swimsuit and don’t look bulky in my thicker clothing. LOL!

Eating well and moderate is always one of the best ways to get back in shape, agree or not?