What the Yams ate - macaroni soup edition

 

My parents are extremely fussy eaters. If it's not tasty, dad will eat very little. And he likes stuff that's extremely salty or sweet or spicy. Mum likes her food to be cooked in other ways rather than the way I've just prepared it. And she will be vocal about it and say she will just eat it because she needs the energy.

It is a challenge I face every day while trying my best to ensure that they get adequate nutrients at each meal. So I'm pretty happy when I sometimes get their tastebuds to agree on a meal. Like macaroni soup. :)

This one is squid and prawn macaroni soup. 

This one is char siew macaroni soup.

You know I make everything from scratch (except the macaroni) so it's nice when they finish everything up. 

P/s: Yes, I never get compliments, only complaints....caregiving is not easy.

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Wednesday's lunch...on a layout

 

Haven't scrapbooked my homecooking recently...so here is Wednesday's lunch!

Keeping things simple for 3 people..just 2 dishes.

Pan-roasted chicken breast...

Stir-fried veggies...yep, we eat a rainbow of veggies! 

Happy weekend friends!:)

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Friday night dinner - what the Yams ate

A look at what the Yams ate...on a Friday night. Stir-fried soba noodles with veggies in sesame peanut sauce served with pan-fried pork loin and a fried egg. :)

What are you having for dinner?

 

P/s: Happy weekend friends!

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What the Yams ate on 21 July

 

Yes friends, the girl is still cooking for the folks on a daily basis. 

Time and practice do make a person more competent in the kitchen..I spend less time and have less stress cooking because competence makes one more flexible. If I don't have all the ingredients, I just improvise. If someone brings home a food source that's almost dying, I will change my plans and "save" said food source from the jaws of death. *winks*

When time permits, I may spend a little longer on the meal. When I'm pressed for time, I go with the one pot meal. And my fave is turning leftovers into a totally new dish. *LOL*

The key is to have enough variety so that the family won't be bored but have go-to dishes to lean back on when time is tight.

What about you? How do you plan your family meals?

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The one about the dinner at Din Tai Fung

 

So we went to Din Tai Fung for an early dinner after mum's appointment at the hospital about the results of her thyroid ultrasound. One of the nodules has shrank significantly while the other remained the same size. Since she's not experiencing any discomfort, we will review in another 6 months. :)

Here are the folks with the obligatory shot for the scrapbook...before the arrival of the food. *winks*

Apparently mum has been to this restaurant with my sister previously and knew what to order! 

Din Tai Fung is a Taiwanese restaurant best known for its Xiao long bao (steamed minced pork dumpling)...with outlets in many countries around the world.

The parents enjoyed the food and your gal was just happy that she had one less meal to cook for the week. *LOL*

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Workspace Wednesday - Quinoa bowl for lunch

 

These days I'm into this one bowl meals for lunch so that the picky one (aka dad) knows that all the food he's going to get is in his bowl. *LOL*

This week I wanted to do a variation (with minced pork) of the Poke bowl (traditionally raw fish) we had the other day since dad seemed to enjoy it a lot (but cost me $40 for a meal that was eaten out of disposables). 

The folks really enjoyed it...so it might be one of those meals on rotation. :)

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Documenting a family day out

 

Life has been busy these days and even a day out with the family is linked to a doctor's visit of some sort. Just last Sunday, we went out for lunch and coffee before bringing mum for her TCM visit. 

That is the reality of having to take care of ageing parents. They are like your "kids" who need you to take care of them but can scold and nag at you because they are your parents.

Really had fun with this layout using the bits and bobs from my stash.

And yes, even the stencil and gesso came out to play (as I get back into mixed media). :)

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The one about rice bowls

 

These days I'm into making rice bowls for lunch and dinner. Because I have a troublesome "kid" (aka dad) who just wants to eat the protein and eat very little veggies (unless it's okra or eggplant which are his faves)...and very little rice.

He already gets 1/2 of what everyone else gets (we want him to finish and not waste food) but he will have  a few grains of rice with a huge chunk of meat (instead of a small piece of protein to a spoonful of rice). And he will keep taking protein to eat...and then struggle to "finish" his rice. 

But the house rule is if you can't finish your rice, you can't have fruit or dessert. It's okay to put the rice back in the p if you haven't started eating but you have to finish what's on your plate once you start. And did I mention that dad loves fruit and dessert? *LOL*

Anyway, the rice bowls mean that dad cannot add any more of the food he wants to eat. He gets the rice bowl with all the food and that's it. As you can see, very little rice and a lot of other yummy goodness. So it's been working so far. *winks*

Lots of fun bits on this layout....this gal is using up her stash! *triumphant music plays in the background*

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Keeping meals simple

 

These days I'm all about keeping meals simple to minimise time spent in the kitchen doing prep work, the actual cooking and cleanup.

Since I'm in it for the long haul, I want to make it easier on myself so that I don't suffer from burnout.

The upside of spending the last 2 years trying out recipes is that I actually have developed some competencies in food prep and now rely more on my taste buds than actual step-by-step recipes. Right now I'm down to 45 minutes if I do 2 dishes and 60 minutes if I do 3 dishes (served with steamed white rice) with cleaning up done in between so that lunch service is about 90 minutes total.

And I have all my trusty friends to help out too - regular oven, steam oven, rice cooker and air-fryer.:)

This was the other day's lunch - air-fryer fish fillet and stir-fried mixed veggies.

What about you? How long do you spend on a home-cooked meal?

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Afternoon tea at The Marmalade Pantry

 

We haven't been to town for some family fun on a weekend ever since 2020 when the pandemic started. Since my sister and I were attending a Sephora event, we decided to bring the folks along and made it a family day in town! :)

And yes, we had lunch, afternoon tea and dinner out...which was a happy day since I didn't have to do any cooking!!! *high fives all around*

The folks were pretty excited to eat the $12 carrot cake at The Marmalade Pantry. Check out the fake smiles! *LOL*

A really quick layout because I used a pretty and colourful patterned paper for the base. Tried to slip in as many bits and bobs to add texture and interest to the piece.:)

Happy weekend friends! :)

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The one about the CNY Krispy Kreme doughnuts

The other day I brought home some CNY Krispy Kreme doughnuts from my trip to Kuala Lumpur Malaysia. :)

I've always enjoyed the glazed doughnuts as I found the assorted varieties to be a tad too sweet for my liking. But they had some "special" flavours for CNY so I bought some back for the family.

Mum went straight for the one with the Kit Kat bar on it! *LOL*

I was pleasantly surprised that the doughnuts were not that sweet anymore *yay* and I might just buy them again for an occasional treat when I travel (these are 3x more expensive in Singapore).

Just the usual packaging, scrap bits and stickers. So happy to use my Miffy sticker on the page. So cute, eh? This is the year I will use up my bunny/rabbit stash! *happy music plays in the background*

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