Monday made: Crunchy oatmeal cookies

We baked cookies across the weekend. :)  I decided that I'll try to let the boy help me during the process, but I was rather worried that I'd not be able to manage him AND bake at the same time, so I roped in hubby to help.  Turned out my little baking buddy was eager to help, but ended up flinging alot of cookie dough onto the floor (which of course, made the dog very happy indeed!).

Anyway, the recipe is really really easy to prepare and if you're fast, you can have them cookies ready, piping hot from the oven, in about half an hour!  I liked that the recipe uses whole wheat flour and rolled oats, which are healthier options.

I had wanted to make them in teddy bear shapes in the hope of getting the boy interested, but I think the dough isn't really suitable for cookie cutters, and I spaced them too closely, so they ended up like this:

I put the raisins as eyes, and the hubby said they looked like fat hamsters!
The next time I try this, I'd add more raisins since they really go well with the cookies...

However, they turned out really yummy.  For those who like really crunchy cookies, this is a recipe to try (get it here), and I most certainly would be baking these again soon.  But I'd probably halve the amount of sugar added as I prefer cookies that are not too sweet!

Happy baking!

Week(end) wanderings: Toilet training and tiredness

The week (and weekend) that's passed has been a busy one.  The hubby has been busy training up for his triathlon that's coming up this weekend, and I also decided to start toilet-training the boy since he seemed to have some indicators that he might be ready for it.  The whole process didn't go too well, since the boy kept trying to run away almost every time we brought him to use the potty.  We did manage to score a few "hits", so we just "Yayyyeeed" (something the boy now loves to do) and clapped every time that happened.  He also had all sorts of reactions to wearing underpants... and sometimes refuses to wear them.  Now, he willingly wears them only if I let him choose between two different ones (and thankfully he chooses Tigger some days, and Pooh some days, and sometimes when he's feeling like a superhero, he takes the plain red one).

Just before potty training started on Wed, we brought him to the lantern festival:

The boy got to carry his own lantern (my mum gave him 3 and we opted for the battery operated one lest he set us and himself alight)...

The boy was too distracted by his lantern to look at the camera.  Ah well.

... and generally enjoyed looking at the lights, until he cut his hand.  It was dark, so I didn't notice that he'd cut his hand pretty deeply (and the boy didn't seem to feel it too), and it was only when we went to buy ice-cream from Haato that I saw he had blood all over his T-shirt.  Odd thing was, I was carrying him the whole time, and he hadn't touched anything, so we were puzzled at how he could have cut himself.  Anyway, he only started crying 10 minutes after we found the cut, and had to go home to clean him up.

Junior J enjoying himself, before he got cut!

I wasn't feeling too good across the weekend, and had a tummy upset too, so I ended up staying at home with the boy while hubby went for dinner with our DG on Sat, and hubby brought the boy to church on Sun where he learnt that God made everything:

The kids learnt about the 6 days of creation and got to eat different snacks for each day.
According to the hubby, the boy loved all the snacks, except for the marshmallows.
(Never mind, my boy, mama can eat your marshmallows for you, anyday!)

Aside from that, we managed to:

Celebrate my dad's birthday on Sunday night and feasted on a seafood dinner (erghhh, too much bamboo clams in my case)...

Explore the Bishan Active Park on Monday evening:

Couldn't do much since there was a light drizzle,
but the boy loved turning the wheel...

Catch falling raindrops...

Make oatmeal cookies together...

Baking buddy, at the start, before the mess started...

Make pee puddles everywhere at home (like I said, the toilet-training didn't go too well!)...

And make secret phone calls while looking out for clown loaches in the fish tank.

Hello papa?  I think you need to clean the tank.  Its murky!

I must admit, having to stalk the little boy with the potty and cleaning up all those accidents, plus all the other activities have really made me really tired out, which may explain those headaches I've been getting during the weekend.  I think I'll be taking things more easy this week, plus I'd gotta work more on my dissertation... Nonetheless, have a great week!  (Or what's left of it!)

Weekend wanderings: Simple things in life

This weekend, the hubby was on call on Saturday, so it was just me and the two boys (the furry one and the small one), plus my mum who popped by to babysit so I could study for my exams.  Aside from reading my notes, Junior J and I managed to:

- Hang out with furry friends, both stuffed or living...

- Bake oat bread using a recipe from an ex-colleague...

- Make zucchini and carrot muffins... (Using the recipe I've blogged about last time)

- Toddle around with Grandma's help...

- Observe Earth Hour, along with others in Singapore, by switching off the lights at 2030 hrs for an hour...

- Learn how to pretend feed others with a spoon...

The hubby came back this morning, and between the 3 of us, we've managed to:

- Eat the muffins as well as the oat bread, drizzled with honey...

- Brave the hot weather to have lunch with some churchmates and a new church friend (we missed church as the hubby had to rest, and I was having a really bad headache in the morning, thanks to insomnia the night before!)...

- Slurp down a bowl of ramen each for lunch...

- Exchange a couple of head-butt-kisses...

- Pretend feed a giraffe friend a drink of water...

- Nap while cuddling a favourite bolster...

:)  It was a nice weekend, though I regret having to miss church... How was your weekend like?

Foodie Fridays: Making muffins and cooking party

We attended a "cooking party" today, so I couldn't resist postponing the Friday food post til today so that I could blog about the food we made!  The "Cookyn with Mervyn" sessions are run by one of our bible study mate's brother-in-law, so she organized a session for some of us.

So anyway, the cooking party was filled with lots of good cooking tips and fresh ingredients...

You can put garlic cloves in the green contraption in the background, roll it between your palms, and voila!  Peeled garlic!

... and it was lots of fun!  The menu for the day:

Home-smoked salmon with Japanese cucumber yoghurt 

(the salmon was really moist!)

Salmon, all ready to be smoked

Spaghetti and prawns tossed in laksa and cashew nut pesto 

(this was so amazingly yummy, and surprisingly easy to make...)

Roasted Kurobuta pork with miso orange sauce

Chocolate mousse with fresh berries

Berry berry good... (just that I only could eat one mouthful thanks to my non-dairy diet!)

Oh... and mentioning my non-dairy diet reminds me, Ariana over at Becoming Mom recently blogged about some veggie muffins that she made for her son.  The recipe was non-soy and non-dairy, so I couldn't resist baking some on Friday, and let Junior J try one this morning for breakfast.  The muffins turned out super moist and pretty yummy (and you would never know that there was no dairy in them, plus that it had zucchini and carrots in there!), and the boy ate part of his muffin and seemed to like it. That means they have to be pretty good, since he's so fussy about his food, and usually spits new foods out when he tries them (no spitting this time!).  We put less batter in each cup since the boy has a small appetite, so they ended up looking like this:

The recipe is a keeper for sure, and I think I'll probably bake another batch next weekend!  Thanks Ariana for sharing, and have a great weekend everyone! :)