'One-Pot' Dish

Am having 'blog posting fever' as I have nothing much to do at home (well only for 2 more weeks anyway before I go back to work). So I will keep on posting about what I cook or what I do everyday.

Anyway, just finished cooking this in the morning when baby Gavin has fell asleep. I could not sleep when baby sleeps as I have house chores to do. This is what I called the one-pot dish ~ braised chicken with carrots and potatoes. Tonight, I will just need to boil rice, that's all. Or quick-boil a spinach soup with ikan bilis and wolfberries. Chuck in some assorted balls if desired. Simple heh?

Once I go back to work, will consider cooking a large batch of one-pot dish like this during the weekend (if I have the mood) and freeze it so that we can heat up and have home-cooked food for dinner on weekdays.

East Meets West Dinner

1) Spaghetti with smoked bacon & bean sauce
2) Spinach & cheese puffs
3) Barbequed meat with sweet sauce

I found a can of Baxter's smoked bacon and bean soup in my kitchen cabinet and decided to make a spaghetti dish out of it.

My puff pastries have been sitting in the fridge for about 9 months already, yes, when I was just pregnant. Decided to make use of it by combining spinach, tomatoes, onions (fried in olive oil) and then baked with cheese.

The two dishes on top are not enough for us for dinner as we are usually big eaters. So I marinated two pieces of meat with black sauce, salt, pepper and brown sugar. Fried it and then baked it until fragrant. My simple version of 'barbequed' (char siew) meat.

1 In The Oven, 1 In The Pot, 1 In The Can

Oven - roast chicken, the chinese style
Pot - abc soup
Can - baked beans

Tried roasting chicken the chinese style today for dinner. I used two chicken chops, marinated with oyster sauce, soya sauce, thick black sauce, pepper and wee bit sesame oil. Upon roasting, I threw a blob of butter on top. Baked for about 1 hour at 220 degrees.

I also cooked simple minced meat baked beans and boiled ABC soup. I fried garlic, minced meat and used Heinz brand baked beans. As for the ABC soup, well who doesn't know how to prepare this soup? I boiled with chicken bones, potatoes, carrots, tomatoes and one big onion.

Ooohh, and there was sweet potatoes tongsui for dessert too using my leftover confinement Bentong ginger. Picture not taken. It was just water, Bentong ginger, rock sugar and sweet potatoes, no pandan leaves though, but it was still delicious.

Loving every minute of my maternity leaves (only on weekdays though as I have to takecare of two on weekends). Now, on weekdays, I could clean the house, vacumn everyday as I like or when I see a single strand of hair on the floor and change as many times bedsheets as I want.

Chinese style roast chicken, abc soup and minced meat baked beans

Phobia Saturday

I have a confession to make. I hate fear Saturday morning very much and that is the time I (secretly) wish Kenzie is at the nanny's or sleeping over at my mum's place. My hubby works halfday on Saturdays and will only be back around 2pm. So I am left alone with two of them and time seems to pass very slow during the daytime. Kenzie usually wakes up around 8am (sometimes earlier). I will bathe him, prepares his breakfast and let him watch tv/ play the tablet until his naptime which is around 12pm. As much as I hate letting him watch so much tv and youtube, I have no choice. The earlier he gets up, the more I dread as time will pass more slower and I need to entertain or find activities for him to do longer. Not to mention, it's getting hard to make him sleep now, unlike previous times where he will just sleep when he sees me sleep as well.

I have to bathe two, feed two, entertain two, put two to bed, check two of them in different rooms at the same time (I can't put baby Gavin on the same bed when I am making Kenzie sleep as he will jump on the bed), and when one finally asleep, the other wakes up or doesn't want to sleep, when one cries the other one wakes up, the list goes on.

I used to say I hate to work and only like to stay at home to be a housewife and takecare of my kids. But sometimes I wish to start work soon as working is the only time and place for me to dress up, eat out and take a breath. At least nanny takes over 50% of the day. Currently I still have about 3 more weeks maternity leaves and everyday I look haggard - hair up with my hairband and in my pyjamas without bra.

Manageable

Everything is manageable after my confinement. I'm on my own everyday after hubby goes to work (after sending Kenzie down to the nanny's).

I wakeup around 7am, do housework, baby Gavin wakes up by 8am, I bathe him, feed him and play with him until he dozes off. In between I sneak out to have breakfast, hang clothes, marinate meat to be cooked for dinner and boil my herbal soup. Usually after his 1pm feed he will sleep and this is the time I prepare for dinner (pre-fry marinated meat, chop up onions or/and garlic, cut up, wash and soak vegetables). Then I rest and doze off until he feeds around 3.30pm. At about 4.30pm I boil rice and start cooking dinner. By 5pm I'm done.

 See, told you I could manage the house, the baby and cook a meal. But after I go back to work next month, it's a different story. Don't think we will cook dinner everyday.

Anyway the food I cook for dinner tonight:
1) Onions pork chops with garlic & butter sauce (Marinade chops in soy sauce, pepper and corn starch. Fry them and leave aside. Fry onions and leave aside. Fry lots of garlic in butter, add in the chops and onions, coat them well in the buttery garlicky sauce, pour about half a cup fresh milk, stir and coat everything quickly)
2) Fried eggs with onions in sweet soy sauce (Fry 4 eggs, leave them aside. Fry onions, prepare in a bowl few tablespoon soy sauce, sugar and water, pour the concoction and add in the eggs)
3) Fried choy sum (Who doesn't know how to fry vege?)

Lunch Date

Finally I had my first outing and lunch date with my hubby today. Left Kenzie and baby Gavin at my parent's place and we sneaked out for some quick 'us' time.

Ever since having Kenzie, we never had meal dates alone. When we bring Kenzie to visit my parents during weekends, my mum will ask us not to eat anything outside as she will cook lunch. Of course I won't deny mum's cooking is the best.

Anyway here's our lunch today: Monster 12 inch burger, curry laksa and cendol. Buurrpppp!

Please ignore my hubby's mouth at the back of the monster burger

(.)(.)

Baby Gavin is taking the (.)(.)

He is sucking but I think he is sucking for comfort because he will close his eyes and fall asleep after 5 minutes.

Nonetheless I will still and need to latch him so that the (.)(.) continue to be stimulated for milk production. The more I latch, the more production. I know the science.
*I do not want to explain again why I did not direct latch from day 1 and introduced the bottle so soon. Please read my previous post on breastfeeding challenges if you want to know.

With the bottle, I can see with my own eyes and confirm 2.5-3oz milk goes down his throat but with the (.)(.) , only a few drops go in I am sure as he already fall asleep before the other side of (.)(.) leaks.

As I am typing this post he has already zzz. Will pump and store the milk for the lady to feed him later.

She Goes Today

It's her last day today.

I am talking about the daytime lady who helps me with my confinement. She comes in the morning and leaves after her chores are done. I mentioned 9am-6pm, she comes 9.20am and leaves at 5pm.

There goes my RM2k+RM100 angpau. Like 'money dropped into the sea' (wasted, in Chinese proverb).

She is good for nothing except cooking (and helping me to bathe Gavin once a day) only. I feel she cannot and did not help me much for the past 1 month. I stopped asking her to boil my bath water (ginger+serai) after 2 weeks and I never requested her to handwash my clothes and baby Gavin's.

I still did everything myself in the morning - all before she comes. I vacumn the house, mop the floor, change bedsheets, wash clothes, hang clothes, change baby Gavin and feed baby Gavin.

If I did not have her, I could just boil my own dates drink and herbal soup (and eat with rice) myself. Easy peasy. Only no proper gingery confinement food, that's all. I've broken all the rules of confinement from day 1, I bathe 5 times a day and wash my hair 2 times a day. So, confinement food or not, is already nothing to me at this point. Or should I say, having a confinement helper or not, is already not important to me. I can manage the baby, the house and even cook a simple dinner for my hubby when he comes back from work.

Anyway here is how she looks like everyday from 12pm onwards. She will laze on the couch like this until 4pm. Wipe baby Gavin's body at 4pm, cook dinner, speed-mop the floor with plain water after that and leaves at (or before) 5pm.

Barely Enough

This is my miserable supply of breast milk from yesterday 3pm until today 9am.

Total: 9oz

Pumping breakdown sessions: 3pm (1oz), 4.45pm (2oz), 6pm (1.5oz), 9pm (0.5oz),
11.45pm (2oz), 3am (few teaspoons but I still collected that few drops anyway), 9am (2oz).

My breasts somehow could only give me maximum 2oz for each pumping session, no more than that. Only enough for Gavin's feed for daytime only. Once the sun sets, he will be on formula until the next morning. Meanwhile I will be busy pumping and storing pathetic drops of breast milk every few hours for the next day's stock.

Yep, here is my precious gold drops of breast milk. 9oz in 18 hours. Pathetic? You bet.

*For those wondering why I pump instead of direct latch, please read here

Counting Down

No, I'm not counting down the days for my confinement to be over. I'm counting down the days for the lady to leave! I can't wait for that day. I can't wait for her to leave! It's very eyesore for me when:

1) She eats non-stop my food from morning til evening. She helps herself to breakfast, sits comfortably at my dining table, makes coffee and treats my house like a hotel which offers free food (I did not know I need to provide her breakfast and tea, I thought just lunch)

2) She comfortably takes food from the fridge without asking my permission on whether that can be eaten (although I mentioned before she can eat anything in the house, I still prefer she asks first instead of just taking it freely like this is her own house (because certain food are in containers cooked by my mil/mum and those food are meant to be for me and hubby)

3) She is so free and has nothing to do from 12.30pm til 4pm everyday. She lazes on the couch like a corpse during that time but knows how to get up from her corpse position at 3pm to make her teatime food. It makes me feel my money is not worth it

4) She sits on my bed or her body touches my bed when she carries baby to the bed or when she comes in to check on baby. I have mild OCD and because of this I wash my bedsheets once every two days. She can come in to check on baby but please don't sit on my bed (and sometimes with feet up) and treat like it's your own house. I very don't like!

5) She dirties my kitchen and causes ants to come. My kitchen has so many ants everywhere ever since she came. She pre-fried ginger, garlic and ikan bilis in advance and store them in containers so that she doesn't have to prepare them each time she needs to use them. I don't mind this 'convenient' method of hers but because of the smell and oily containers, it has attracted the ants to come. I hate the sight of ants and I get so stressed!

6) She keeps saying "baby wants to eat" whenever he makes a single noise. Usually I would wait a while to see if he really wants to feed but most of the time he will sleep again after making some noise. I just can't stand it when she walks in like a zombie and says "baby wants to eat". Get lost, woman!

7) She really has nothing much to do and I am beginning to wonder was it a mistake hiring her or was I too independent? Without her, I could do everything myself (except cooking proper confinement food). I mean, come on, I wash clothes+hang clothes+vacumn+mop+bathe Kz+prepares Kz's breakfast and feed him+feed baby Gavin+change baby Gavin - all before she comes! Do I that need her?

8) She reaches at 9.20am in the morning and can't wait to leave before 5pm. Again yes, I can't wait for her to leave each day and I am more than happy to open the door for her to leave, but at the same time I am paying her RM2k, I feel she is not worth the price

9) She spoiled my bathroom shower hose

10) She does not do any housework except cincai mop the floor with plain water after she cooks

What can I do? Nothing. I could just wait she leaves as soon as possible, that's all. And get over it.

Lesson learnt: Go stay at a confinement centre if you have OCD, independent and still do housework everyday (coz you will feel you can still survive without the cl), don't like strangers in your house, don't like people dirtying the kitchen and causes ants to come and lastly, if you can afford. Confinement centres cost RM6k including meals. In my situation I am paying this daytime lady RM2k. Herbs (soups+dates drink) cost about RM600. Food (meat and vege) cost about RM500 (including stuffs like Bentong ginger, yellow wine). So you do the Maths. I save half of the market price (not yet included gas+electricity bills) but I don't get help during night time and still have to do housework.