What To Expect when you are Pregnant - Part 1

The big topic currently it seems as recently a Few friends asked me questions about pregnancy, just to declare I am no expert with only one pregnancy but think it would be good to write it down my expereicne so that other can share on my version of "What To Expect when you are Pregnant" 

After many attempts of getting pregnant, the moment you missed your period/menses or see a 2 line from the pregnancy kit you would be in for a emotional ride. You would wonder, am i pregnant as you are few days late or feeling different for eg having craving etc etc... and the moment you use the pregnant kit and it is showing 2 lines - you would like to go to a Gynae to confirm your pregnancy and to only get told, ohh its too early (if you only missed your menses for a week), go to your normal doctor or GP and get tested - which is the same as what you just did at your home with a $10 kit. However as procedure you need to get to the GP to do a test to "confirm".  1) Go GP to do a urine test to confirm 

Once you done the test as the GP doctor clinic, congrats where given by the doc, off you go home feeling anxious to tell the whole world. Ahhhh here it is. As Asian, we believe first trimester is a crucial period where the baby is very "sensitive" and wish not to be announce.  In plain simple words meaning if you annouce to the whole world, the baby is sensitive and you may lose your baby. In scientific words, as 1st trimester the embroy (aka your baby) is still fraqile and many aspect can cause miscarriage, with that, by not telling a lot of people, and if you do miscarriage, you will be easier of emotinally and won't feel needle pricking your heart each time someone ask you .. hows your baby when you have lost it. Many believe in it and would tend to keep low profile for this stage, but seriously, you need to tell someone. Off you tell your parents and tell them not to annouce.  Some parents would know what to do but if your parents are modern or westernise, then remind them. As you won't know whether your partner side is superstitous and you won't want to start a fight over this. 2) Share your good news with your parents but remind them to keep quiet. 

If you are working, from workplace law i think you need to inform your direct manager but each country has it own regulations. So check out whats in place in the coutnry you reside to ensure you are covered. I personally think it is good to tell early so that if you feel sick or anything, at least it is understood easier. 3) Inform your direct manager 


Join a forum. Yeah maybe you are not such a person, but you will meet new friends that would best understand every stage of your next 9 months of pregnancy. Discussion on when to have scan and checks, or even best buys going on in town and even food individual takes. Of course, you may have real friends that you have known for ages which would too share their experience with you but somehow friends you meet on baby websites which we call "groups" or "forum" is different. You don't need to be a extrovert to join one, you can just be a silent reader but in time you will definitely participate in the conversations that is going on and find that they who you totally do not know from school or work may become you closest friends that you will "chat" and sms throughout the days. 4) Join a Baby forum/website. 


Well you would find it hard to ask for gynae recommendation if you are worried being known of your pregnancy but don't worry, most asian moms know of the "belief" and would ask you indirectly whether you are Pregnant. 5) Start to ask around or even search online for gynaes  (For Singapore only - am not to sure on how the system goes for in Australia but this would be one of the thing I would definitely look into as it seems from what i know it is confusing here.. there are gynae, obstetrician and mid wife which help you to deliver your baby in australia ... confusing.....)


Alright thats it for Part 1 - if you just found out you pregnant ~~ congratulations~~ 

Recipe: Chicken Nuggets (Mayonnaise)

It is easy indeed with the least ingredients and the taste - Nice !! Well maybe not as healthy as using the egg to coat the chicken but sure worth a try if u have mayo at home =)

Tigerbaby was skeptical over it but she ate it without spitting it out so for me, it is a success as she dislike meat!

Ingredient:
Chicken tenderloin (or breast would work as well), cut into bit sizes
Mayonnaise
Bread crumbs

Method:
1) Have the bite sizes chicken dip into the bowl of mayo (give it a bit of a bath ~)
2) Roll it over the Breadcrumbs bowl.
3) Baked it in a oven at 180c for 15-20mins.

A Crying Wailing Toodler... what do you do?

Little miss fussy today she is... Toast with Bread was provided for breakfast but she just nipple 1/4 of it and then pretty much don't want it. Fine.. offered some komato (smaller tomato which skin is brownish greenish).. she sucked the juice and nibble a bit and pretty much squash on her hands and repetitively ask her hands to be cleaned and back in nibbling her food. Maybe she isn't hungry? Oh well, as experts advice if it is breakfast time then offer the food and if she don't want to eat it let her know the meaning of "hungry" till the next meal.  breakfast: 9.30am.

off we went out for a walk seeing it is a sunny day and little miss fussy decided she wants to eat but i was at a chinese doctor waiting for my turn for consultation. Well it wasn't planned.. i just walk pass and thinking to go check out some medical condition of mine. What you know?! She wants to eat! giving me a hand sign that she wants to eat. hmm i could give her crackers but that would spoil lunch appetite so i hang on till we got home and served her lunch.  Lunch: 12.30pm cereal. ohhh and she rejected asking for PUFFS!! As she didn't have much breakfast so i gave in to her and added puffs (aka SNACK in another term) into her cereal and she ate the bowl of cereal.

Next missy fussy refused to have her afternoon nap.. well she did wake at 9 am which why i thought probraly 1.30pm is reasonable for her to sleep. Ohhh she didn't think so and ended up I put her in playpen where she wailed and cried and still didn't want to sleep. Guess after dramatic crying for 10 mins at least she sulk and sulk till she went down..

As being a stay at home mom, after reading the above you may kinda understand what i am going through or you may not. Nevertheless, there are times when you really get so frustrated that you just want to dump your kid somewhere and let them cry till they are satisfied.  However, with asian chinese belief that would cause "wind" aka colic as they suck in air.. logically isn't it? But there is so much a person can take moreover a dog. Poor crystal was so scared of her crying and wailing that she was shivering!!! Tell me about it.. i felt so sad so see crystal in that state due to a misbehaving toodler.

There are many articles that kids get beaten up or abuse by young mothers. I don't think myself as a young mother.. i do hit the 30 mark but then the anger in me can pretty much compare to a 18 year old young mom. When there is no one to turn to with a wailing toodler what do you do ? Call you husband who is at work? No it won't help and instead you may get told off. Call your parents who are miles miles away? No it is not logical.  Pray to God? Ok it does sound workable but come on be realistic, god ain't gonna stop a crying or fussy toddler. It is only you who can do the job so damm it...

Off we get out butt up, Take a deep breath, Slowly breath out. Walk to your toodler. And speak in a soft tone: <name>, please stop crying. I have already fed you etc etc and it is now time to xxxx please be understanding and don't cry anymore. Mummy is not feeling well either. Thhen,  Hold on to your toodler, give her a gentle pat in the back.

 It does work sometimes whereas a big shout: What do you want??! You driving me crazy.. Arghhh may backfire more. As all is said everyone have their own way of handling their child. Nevertheless it may seem i am giving a soft approach now but i think i am a supporter for the "cane method" When she is old enough, approx 4 years old and gets over my head , i would definitely introduce the "cane"~~ hmm but where to find one in Melbourne Australia??! oh well, guess it owuld be under my wish list then lolz lolz

Recipe: Strawberry Jelly Cheesecake

Verdict: Tigerbaby loves it!

I saw this strawberry jelly cheesecake done many times on facebook and it keep lingering on my mind to try to do it. Finally, I decided to get it done. I made sure I follow the recipe ingidients closely and even made 2nd trip to supermarket to get things when i realise I am short of some. 


Here it goes.. the original author / baker for this recipe Bing's Strawberry-jelly-hearts-cheesecake but I did a little slight changes on mine and the results are Good... will update later on how tigerbaby likes it..  =) 

Makes 20 to 24 jelly hearts.

Ingredients

For the crust -
300g digestive biscuits  (*i use only 250g Shortbread biscutts- as one packet only 250g)
150g melted butter (*left with 125g so thats all i used - couldn't bother cutting a new one for that extra 15g)

For the cheesecake layer -
500g cream cheese (placed in room temperature for 2 to 3 hours to soften)
1 & 1/2 tablespoons gelatin powder
1 & 1/4 cups boiling water
2/3 cups sugar (*i only use 1/2 cup Pyrex)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
About 10 to 12 strawberries

For the jelly layer -
160g strawberry flavoured jelly
1 & 1/2 cups boiling water
1 & 1/2 cups cold water

Method:

1) Make the crust first - line (butter or oil the base of the tray/container), process the biscuits and then pour in melted butter and give it a good mix. Layer into a container or a baking tray for about one inch or less. Put in fridge to cool.

2) Prepare the cheesecake layer - put cream cheese into a bowl , add in sugar and blend them together till soft and fluffy and creamy looking.  Add in vanila extract and blend it a bit. Leave aside or put in fridge first in case get dirty.  

3) Make the gelatin - put gelatin powder in a bowl, add in boiling water and stir it to it gets well blended. Let it cool down. 

4) Take the biscuits tray out from fridge, use fork port little holes around it. Why this step? no idea seriously. Pour in the gelatin to the cream cheese and then blend it slowly. I made it by 3 parts. Pour blend pour blend pour blend with a electric whisk. 

5) Slowly pour in the cheese into the pan. Let it rest in room temperature (don't put in fridge first) for about 10 mins 

6) While waiting for it to rest, cut out the strawberry into love shape. Press it in to the cream cheese approx 2 cm - 3 cm apart or whatever size u like but of course smaller is nicer i think.  So u need to estimate the size of your pan with the amount of strawberries you have and the size of your strawberries as well. :)  Its pretty much deco on this part so if you don't have strawberry - u can skip this part. It still looks good *have a little pic below to show what i mean*  continuing.. when u put the strawerry in , push it in half into the cheese mixture or in other wise let it sink it a little so it stick there and not move around :)

7) Cover with glad wrap or a cover and fridge it for at least 4 hours or overnight. I fridge it  for 8 hours.

8) Part 2 Jelly part - dissolve jelly powder with boiling water, mix it well and then add in cool water, let it cool for a while *pretty much gets cool down once u add the cold water but jsut give it a couple minutes more. Gently pour into the cheesecake , make sure it cover the strawberry and fridge it for another 4 hours at least - i did it Overnight. 

Ta...Da.... Strawberry Jelly Cheesecake is done :) For me I made 2 boxes, One Long box as you see and one normal sandwitch box which holds 1 liter. I try take a pic and update later ; however do refer the orginal author blog for picture demostration. I find her picture guidance is very good so didn't took too many on mine. 

This is not hard to do, pretty much blending and mixing and patience of waiting to get to part 2 and a lot of washing lolz but no oven required for this and it looks great *appetizing* and the cheese taste is more light like tofu instead and with a jelly it helps minimize the "jieliat" feeling of too many cheese; plus with the biscuit a bit of cruchyness - the taste is Heavenly~~ hope tigerbaby likes this for a her teabreak today! 

  

Recipe : Tiramisu (Baileys)

As i started making cakes for a while, I always wanted to try making Tiramisu. Guess probraly by the name it sounded "complicated" but finally, with a few practices with other cakes, I got the courage to finally try making one.. and of course hubby aunt was nice to help get my a bottle of bailey as i know my hubby would give me the look if i wanted to buy one bottle just to make tiramisu hahahaha

So here it goes, i started researching and somehow this blogger recipe caught my eyes.. trust me i have been researching for the Right recipe to try for a very loooong time; i guess the pictures she took made it really simple :) chocolatesuze Eggless Tiramisu

Ingredients:

1 cup thickened cream (approx 250ml - 300ml is fine; i used 300ml as the bottle is with 300ml and i didn't wanted to waste keeping a little in the fridge)
1/2 cup caster sugar ( i think next time i reduce it to 2/3 cup )
2 cups strong coffee or espresso, cooled
4 Tbsp Bailey (or coffee liqueur)
250g mascarpone cheese
Cocoa powder or chocolate shavings for decoration ( i just use milo as i don't have any cocoa powder)
20 lady fingers or sponge cake for the layers
20cm springform pan 


Methods:
1) Whipped the thickened cream till it looks stiff which in other words like Creamy cream. Place it in the fridge. 
2) In a separate bowl, whip the 250g mascarpone cheese, 1/2 cup of sugar and 4 Tbsp of Tia Maria (liquer) until the mixture is smooth and creamy..
3) Fold the cream cheese mixture into the whipped cream.
4) Get your coffee from the fridge and dip the lady fingers or sponge cake for about 5seconds into the coffee before placing into lined springform tin. I like em squishy and filled with coffee so I tend to leave it in there longer just before it disintegrates
Note: For espresso, i suggest you add some sugar in it as many testers of mine find the coffee too strong. Or simple instant coffee should do. 


5) f you’re gonna use the lady fingers for a pretty decorative edge set some aside now to line the tin with unsoaked lady fingers! Then layer your soaked lady fingers. Don’t worry 
about the gaps it’ll be filled with glorious cream.
6)Spread half the cream + cheese mixture over lady fingers
7) And repeat! Place remaining coffee soaked lady fingers on top
8)And place remaining half of cream + cheese mixture on top
9)Top with sprinkled cocoa or chocolate shavings. 


Important: Refrigerate for at least 3 hours before removing from springform pan. Highly recommend it to be refrigerate Overnight. If you don't have a springform pan feel free to use any baking dish but don't choose a too wide one or else u won't get to make 2 layers or else just double the ingridients. 

Iron Rich Food for Toddlers

As some say, is your toodler having enough iron? Iron is important... blah blah blah.. so i went to research what food contains iron.. here is the list:

Heme iron-rich foods:
Lean beef
Lean pork
Poultry (dark meat, in particular)
Scallops
Shrimp
Salmon
Tuna
Eggs

Non-heme iron-rich foods:
Prunes and prune juice
Raisins
Figs
Peanut butter
Beans (black, kidney, lime, pinto)
Tofu
Hummus
Leafy green vegetables such as turnip greens, kale, and broccoli
Oatmeal or cream of wheat
Enriched breads, pastas, and cereals

After going through the list, I realise tigerbaby is still Passed with her iron. She has at least 6 eggs a week, one serve of salmon a week, 4 bread serves a week and 3 serves of pasta. However as expert say, the best source for iron is MEAT - with that REd Meat so if your child does not take beef, pplease pump her iron with other things. Good Luck in trying out iwth your toodler as my toodler hates meat!!