Beef with Broccoli in Oyster Sauce

Again another recipe from my momma's old book!

Ingredients:
2/3 lb beef tenderloin (marinate in 1TBS. cornstarch, 1 TBS soy sauce, 1/2 TBS DOM, 1/2 TBS water - for 1 hour)
2 TBS oil
200g broccoli
1/2 white onion (sliced)
6 slices of ginger

Mix:
3 TBS water
1 1/2 TBS oyster sauce
1 TBS soy sauce
1/2 TBS Taucheou
1 teaspoon cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon sugar
dash of pepper and sesame oil

1. heat wok and add oil
2. stir fry onion and ginger till fragrant
3. add in meat and stir fry till colour changes
4. add in broccoli
5. add in sauce mixture and simmer for a few minutes
6. serve hot!

Our Little Green Ambassadors!

Jedidiah's school took part in the Little Green Ambassador campaign and the kids had to collect a sticker for every plastic bag they refused when they bought stuff. We helped him to get the little stickers and had to make sure to get some for Krisalyn too or else she would feel that it was unfair. Thankfully, Keziah dosen't understand a thing! It was thanks to mainly Dan and his colleagues who helped to give him the little stickers that helped him get this award. He was really proud of himself and Krisalyn kept nagging why hers hasn't come yet as hers will be given later in school.

Well done our little Green Ambassadors but more thanks to all the nice aunties and uncles who helped to get the stickers for Jedidah and Krisalyn!

Happy 2nd Birthday Keziah!

Our littlest is a BIG 2! :)

Happy Birthday Keziah!

Our youngest turned 2!! Had a simple family celebration with her and went to New York New York for some munchies!

Japanese Butter-Fried Salmon

Found an old Japanese recipe book my mum's friend gave her a loooooong time ago in 1987! Saw it was an easy recipe and with minimal steps! (I Like!) Thanks mommy! :)

4 slices salmon
2Tbsp Butter
1/2 tsp salt
2 Tbsp soy sauce
pepper

1) sprinkle salmon with salt and pepper
2) melt butter in frying pan. Add salmon slices one by one. Turn from time to time and fry for 7 min or until brown
3) Add soy sauce and turn off heat

Adding a few drops of olive oil will prevent butter from burning when cooking.

Jedidiah Turns 6!

Had a quiet birthday this year for Jedidiah. Having just recovered from the dreaded HFMD and his other  little friends also down with it, we decided to just have some family time amongst ourselves to celebrate his birthday. Though it was a quiet one, found it the most meaningful compared to previous years as it was some time alone with him. Since he hated cakes, we got him his favourite colourful-sprinkled doughnut and put a candle on it for him to make his birthday wish. As the girls were sleeping already and he had a late class, it was some precious time with our first-born. We said a prayer for him and he made his wish which is a secret to all but himself. :)

Happy Birthday Jedi dear! We love you very much and pray you will grow to love the Lord and be a boy after His heart. Don't grow up so fast ok? :)

The toughest week ever!

This week marked the toughest week of my life as a mommy! The dreaded HFMD hit our family just the day after we came back from our church camp on the 17th of June. Our kiddies had got it from another friend's child who also fell victim to the virus after getting infected by another kid. The scary thing abt this virus is that you don't know you have it till you manifest the symptoms. It incubates for five days and infects its victims quietly! scary!

Krisalyn started having high fever on the 17th of June as our coach was setting off from Kuala Lumpur back to Singapore. We already had a bad feeling that this could be one of the symptoms as she was complaining of a sore throat all the way home and couldn't eat during dinner when we arrived home. True enough the next morning, she had an ulcer on her tounge and small spots on her fingers and on her knees. We had to cancel our weekend plans....went to the doctors to check and brought Jedidiah along just to check and found that he too was down as he had a sore throat too depsite not having a fever and some spots on his feet. All home confined! Thankfully they got a mild one perhaps due to them being older.

My next worry was Keziah as she is still young and is under two years old. It was hard to keep the older two away from her as they all lived in the same house after all. Despite my best efforts of changing their clothes often and daily disnfecting the contact surfaces as well as sanitizing the toys in batches and keeping them away, Keziah came down with a high fever three days later! The good thing was by then the older two had recovered quickly and they were still able to eat and drink even during the sickness although it was painful. So I could focus my time on Keziah. But it was really torturous as she continued her fever for two days and her whole body was covered with numerous red spots. Worse she would scream whenever she drank water and I saw under her upper lip that it was covered with large ulcers. Her upper and lower tounge had huge ulcers too and I suspect her throat too. It was really stressful and trying for me especially since I was at home looking after them in the daytime. She would be sreaming and crying almost the entire waking hours. She would be hungry and thirsty yet in pain whenever she took anything in her mouth.

This is one sickness that has taught me many lessons:

Due to the nautre of it being a virus with no medication, it was a hard time for me as I had to entirely rely on the Lord and not on my own strength or knwoledge on what medication I could give to make them feel better. I had to learn to let go and just let God heal them in His time. A lesson on Trust.

I struggled with much anger and frustration at the helpessness I felt and the stressful cries and discomfort of the children and I think the Lord was teaching me the lesson on: Patience.

I struggled with much anxiety and worry and also felt furstrated on why this had to happen and why they had to get infected. I struggled with thoughts of unfairness and felt disgruntled with the Lord. I had not much help in the day time yet I had to struggle with this sickness and battle it on my own when Dan was not at home.Then this verse came to me as I did my Quiet Time:

"And Gideon said to Him 'O my Lord, if the Lord is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all His miracles which our father told us about.... But now the Lord has forsaken us..." Judges 6: 13

Then I got my reply:
"Then the Lord said to him,"Peace be with you, do not fear, you shall not die." Judges 6:23

A hard lesson on "Faith".

One more lesson" Gratefulness": Had much prayer from my family and loved ones. despite being far away. Thanks Lynda too for your help that night. :)  A much needed short break for me! And esp to my mum-in-law's radish and carrot soup that soothed the kids during this time of pain and discomfort. And to Dear for being patient and hearing out my rantings and ravings...pateintly...hee! :)

The good news is that Jedi and Krisa are fully recovered and are cleared for school. Though Keziah has two more days of home confinement, she can finally eat and drink without screaming. She has stopped drooling and drenching her little shirts probably due to the pain from the ulcers. Thank you Lord for your healing.

Perhpas its when we are truly helpless that the Lord can show that He is faithful and walking beside us through it all.

Oh yes! U Mian with minced pork and soup is the best! was the staple food for them as they went through this...soft and easy to swallow! Thank you Uncle from the cofeeshop!