Whirlwind In A Mama's Head

This dish is more like a fritter since it's not saucy like a typical meatball, but technically it's still meat in a ball shape. :) I made these in hopes that my picky little one would eat them since she's obsessed with anything ball-shaped. Sadly, she didn't even want to try... :'( Maybe tomorrow..... On the brighter side, the hubby loves it, so I thought it's still worth sharing the recipe ;) What you need: 1lb lean ground beef 0.5 lbs ground chicken 1/3 cup parmesan cheese 1/3 cup panko (or any breadcrumbs) 2 pinches salt ground black and white peppers to taste The How To: Preheat oven to 350 Fahrenheit Mix all ingredients well Roll into balls about 1 tablespoon size each place into a baking dish cover with aluminum foil Bake for about 25 minutes or until inside temperature reaches 185 Fahrenheit Enjoy!

This family of mine is like a family of owls. We go to bed late, and we wake up late whenever we can. Yes, including our baby owl who turns into a monkey when she's actually up. With this schedule, we eat brunch during lunch time, we have dinner, and then we hunt for food in the kitchen closer to midnight. This article features a recipe that saved us many times from starvation. When I make this dip at home, I put enough garlic to ward off any vampires from miles away. Although, Twilight have made it known to the world that vampires are NOT afraid of garlic. Sigh..... there goes my theory. Anyway, I wouldn't want to scare Edward Cullen away if he does come this way.... Hoohohoho... So the garlic in this recipe has been reduced for normal people. You can add or subtract to taste. What you need: 2 cloves or garlic, crushed and finely minced 1/2 cup cream cheese, softened 1/4 cup mayonaise ground black and/or white pepper to taste optional herbs like dill or basil cho...

On our recent family visit to Ontario, Miss Kiki found a new love for Danino drinkable yogurt that her cousin drinks. Since we came back, she kept asking for the 'red' yogurt, referring to the cute little red slim Danino bottle. I don't mind giving them to her once in a while, but these are loaded with sugar and a bunch of other unnecessary stuff. What would be better than making your own yogurt, one that you know exactly what you put in it? I already know how to make my own yogurt, now it's a matter of making it more attractive to a picky almost-2-year-old. So this is what I came up with.... It's a glass jar from one of her baby food that I collected, with a cute sticker and her name on it. The sticker is waterproof so it's perfect for a drinking jar. She is still able to drink it with a straw like the Danino, and her favourite pig is on it too! Anyhow, even without this particular sticker, any attractive 'thing' on it would work just as well. No...

This is a fun recipe that I got a hold of from one of the Indonesian parenting magazine "Ayahbunda". Ingredients 8 slices of white or whole wheat bread, diced 1/2" 8 small eggs 100 grams shredded cheddar 2 tsp finely chopped celery leaves The How To Preheat oven to 180 Celcius or 356 Fahrenheit Butter your muffin pan Fill your muffin pan with bread Beat the egg and pour it over the bread to fill the cup Top off with cheese and celery Bake for about 15 minutes or until golden brown Let cool. Serve with ketchup. Enjoy!

It's always encouraging to find that someone out there is actually reading my blog, and enjoying it. I know I've been MIA lately and couldn't think of anything to write about. (Or can't really decide on what to write about!) One of my friends from out of town sent me a message asking questions on cloth diapers and mentioned that she reads my blog! Well that makes me very happy :D Since I responded to her questions with some elaborate descriptions, I thought I might as well post it here too.... Hi again! I'm excited to hear that you want to give cloth diapers a try. They are wonderful! It is easier for you that you start now because a 1 year old doesn't require changing as often as a newborn would. Brand I use AMP Diapers and I love it!  http://www.ampdiapers.com/ There are a lot of brands out there and you want to be selective when you buy. Some can be leaky. Type AMP diapers have many different types for different people. For the closest to disposa...

My 'younger' friend Nick who happens to be my friend's son was helping me with editing some videos. They were videos from when Salsa Tots was featured on Breakfast TV a little while ago. As a thank you gift, I made him one of my laptop sleeve for his 13" Macbook Pro. I hope he likes it. Thanks so much, Nick!

Fat with diapers and clothes inside.  I'm not one to carry around a dedicated diaper bag so all these times I've just Ziploc the diapers and change of clothes and carry it around altogether with her food in a reusable shopping bag. It works fine, until you actually need something from it and everything else turns inside out and upside down. Thus my search for a good diaper pouch begin. As if my wish was granted, Lia from Liaspace  posted about her diaper pouch gifts and I found her older post with the tutorial for it. I made my pouch that same night and it took me about half an hour to make one. The only difference is that I added a velcro for it to close. I made a mistake of matching the velcro when it closed flat and now I'm having a hard time closing it when the big fat cloth diapers are inside :P All and all, I still really like it. On top of that, it can double as a pillow if I'm in a pinch. Thanks for posting the tutorial and for answering my email, Lia! ...

Curling up on the couch at the end of a long day, I play catch up with my Google Reader, e-mails, facebook, and twitter. Oh, another post from indietutes ! I always look forward to reading her posts. This time, it's called colour me my own  which talks about living your life to the fullest. Even with kids?! Yes!! It's late night and the day is almost over, but what have I done today? What have I achieved? How can I be so tired?! Um..... I had a business meeting, then I went to the mall to let Miss Kiki play slide, then we came home, folded a pile of laundry, rinsed diapers, tried to put Miss Kiki to bed, and now I'm on the computer again.  Way too many times I go through a day  feeling unproductive, and using Miss Kiki as an excuse. Oh, she's cranky, demanding, didn't want to nap, wants attention all the time, being difficult, and so on and so on. But really, does she need all that attention? Or is she just bored out of her mind because I'm too busy doing thin...

If you read my previous post, you know that I've recently obtained the new iPhone 4 by Apple .  It's day 6 now, and I am loving it! The display screen is absolutely stunning and it takes beautiful pictures and videos. There were mentions about connectivity problems due to the antenna positioning but it seems to have been taken care of simply by putting a case or bumper on. Compared to my iPhone 3G, the display and camera is far superior. They've also added a built-in flash and a front camera so you can take a picture of yourself without having to stretch the arm and guesstimate your aim. It also makes video calling possible. I should check if Skype already hass an app for it. It is as easy to navigate around as the 3G version, plus the added multi-tasking feature makes it even better. With the not-so-new regulation about cellphones and driving in Manitoba, I am taking full advantage of the voice command feature. Press the head set, "dial Jessica". Press again,...

My hubby has been talking about getting the new iPhone4 for a while. Since I was happy with my 3G version, I paid no attention to it. Until I saw it in real life, that is. It has the most beautiful screen from all the phones out there. Camera on the front and back, and well, it's the hottest iPhone right now! Let's just say I like looking cool too. So I quickly became obsessed with it and since I am already able to upgrade through my Rogers plan, why not? It's Tuesday morning. Here I am, sitting on the floor in the middle of a mall in front of the only Apple Store in the city which won't be open for another hour an 20 minutes, with 14 people ahead of me and many more behind, typing this post. Will it be worth it? I'll let you know!

In my previous post I mentioned that I was going to make butter for my cookies using my KitchenAid. How cool is it to make your own butter?! Well, I assume that a lot of people doesn't know how to do that, because I didn't know until one the moms in Winnipeg Baby Wearers Group forum shared it. It's so simple yet satisfying! All you need is whipping cream. 1 litre will give you about 1 lb of butter. A good mixer like KitchenAid would make your job a lot easier. First, whip the cream until stiff. Make sure it's cold to start with. Keep beating until the whole cream separated to liquid and butter. Strain the butter using cheesecloth. The liquid is the 'original' buttermilk. You can save it for drinking or baking. Rinse the butter with cold water and you can salt it to preserve, or you can use it right away if your recipe calls for unsalted butter. Tip: For organic butter, you can buy organic whipping cream.

Chocolate Chip Muffkies With the Taco Soup success a couple days ago, I felt adventurous enough this afternoon to play with my baking skills. Well, sort of. The hubby requested cookies a while back and so I bought whipping cream to make unsalted butter for the cookies. Silly me, I forgot that my good ol' KitchenAid is already sitting in my sister's future kitchen in Vancouver. There goes my plan! Well, I didn't want to make muffins again, so I decided to make a hybrid muffin-cookies with what I have. It turned out pretty good, I think. It works really well with the Kahlua Icing from the Stout Cake  that I posted a while back. Ingredients (makes a dozen) 1 small egg 1 cup pancake mix (I use 6-Grain Pancake Mix from Costco) 1/3 cup whipping cream (not whipped!) 1/3 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips The How To: Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit In a medium bowl, beat egg. Mix in pancake mix and whipping cream. Mix in chocolate chips. Drop by the teaspoonf...

Rrriiiiing! "Hello?" I answered my iPhone. "Baby this soup is soooo good it's going to make me fat!" said my husband over the phone of the taco soup that I had left for him on the stove. "Well, I'm glad to hear that!" no, not about that he's about to get fat, but because my taco-resenting husband actually likes my taco soup! Well, Babe, the key is LOVE.... and the rest of it are: 1.5 lbs lean ground beef 1 medium onion, diced 3 large tomatoes, diced, or 1 can of diced tomatoes with juice 1 can (10 oz) condensed tomato soup 1 can red beans 1 can kernel corn 1.5 cup water 1 pkg taco seasoning salt and pepper grated cheese (tex mex or cheddar) nachos/tortilla chips First you cook the ground beef, stirring often. Drain the oil, add the onions, continue cooking until soft Put everything else in, stir, and add salt and pepper to taste Let simmer for 15 minutes. Serve hot with grated cheese and tortilla chips over top Enjoy! ps: ...

What you'll need: Exterior fabric (it's a great way to use medium fabric like canvas or upholstery, but pretty cottons work well too). Interlining (fusible fleece works fine, you can double it up for more padding. Or you can use an old towel). Interior fabric (flannel or cotton would work well) Optional decorations like rhinestones or appliques. The how to: Measure the length (L), width (W), and height (H) of your laptop. My sister's netbook has different heights on the front and back and it has supporting legs too. Note both heights and make sure you include the legs. Cut your exterior, interlining, and interior fabrics according to the diagram below, with 1/2" seam allowance. Attach the interlining fabric to the wrong side of the interior fabric. If using fusible fleece, simply follow the instruction that came with it (usually steam ironing). If using something else, baste circumference with 1/4" seam allowance. If desired, you can top stitch the whole ...

Red canvas on the outside, flannel on the inside, felt Paul Frank applique. As a laptop mat. Update: Here's the quick link to the tutorial Since I bought my new 13" Macbook Pro, I've been searching for the perfect laptop sleeve for myself. I wanted one that looks unique and suits my personality. After many visits to the malls and computer stores, I considered making my own and came across this cool Red Maloo laptop sleeve that can be opened and used as a laptop 'mat' and mousepad. My search was almost over... Originally, Red Maloo made these sleeves from kimono fabric, only available in Japan. Now they make them using thick wool felt. Since none of the local fabric stores carried thick wool felt and I didn't have enough patience to order online and wait for it to arrive, I decided to use regular fabric interlined with fusible fleece. I really liked the way it turned out and my sister was quite impressed she asked me to make one for her as well. ...

If you haven't checked out Indietutes yet, you should. This is a fun blog to read with a lot of ideas. I would say that this blog is one of my inspiration to start my own. Maybe one day my blog will be as good. They just posted a free pattern for a Solar dress so I tried making one right away with the fabric that I had available. I think it's a bit too long for Miss Kiki so I'm going to chop it off tomorrow to make it shorter. It's very easy to make so it's good for a starting project!

I've been MIA for over a week now because I caught Miss Kiki's viral infection. It hasn't been fun at all. It started with a fever on the long weekend, and when we got to the doctor three days later, she diagnosed strep throat. Due to a possibility of penicillin allergy, I was prescribed prescribed a $40 antibiotic, which didn't help at all. A whole week later,  the swab test result finally came out and it was NEGATIVE. It was viral infection after all, and at this point, the infection was already in my mouth, which caused the gums to swell and bleed. I was so miserable. I thought back to what Miss Kiki had to go through if this was the same thing, she sure didn't look as miserable as I was! I was the spoiled one, I guess. I'm now on day 12 of being sick, but it seems to get better the past two days. Regardless, I'm so sick of being sick so here I am composing a post here. So here are a few things I learnt these past couple of weeks. If your baby's ...

4 days of fever, and 2 days of antibiotics. Can't be fun for anyone, especially for a wee one under two. My poor Miss Kiki still had a high fever last night and this morning, despite the Tylenol and Advil we had given her. Since her body weight was borderline the dosage brackets we decided to up her Advil dosage and it seemed to have worked. This afternoon she was playful and smiling again, although still fussy for most of the day. This whole illness and worry and fussiness have been wearing all of us thin, and things can't seem to go back to normal soon enough to me. The constant whining, crying, wanting to be carried everywhere and screaming is normal for any kid, sometimes they don't even have to be sick. But Miss Kiki has been an exceptionally easy going girl that we, as parents, were very spoiled. We're not used to this crying baby business... On top of that, our home was upside down, laundry had been neglected, and I had a long list of 'to do' things. W...

Poor Miss Kiki had a fever since Wednesday. I noticed her warm body since that afternoon, but I had blamed it on the hot car, hot air, and the overall hot everything that day. Then that night, in our cool air conditioned little apartment, we were surprised to find her still warm. Aaaah! I went straight to the thermometer and took her temperature. Over 38 celcius! Good ol' non-dyed Infant Tylenol usually helps. Lucky that she actually likes taking it. Fever went down. Phew! Thursday afternoon. Fever is back. This time almost 29 celcius. Time to call the doctor! Not sure what's wrong. Ear slightly red, throat seems fine, no rash, no swells. Doctor prescribed antibiotics and urinalysis. It's pretty cool how they do it for babies. The Lab lady gave me a plastic pocket with a sticker to stick to the baby to contain the urine. 3 am Friday. "Mama, jusss, jusss...." Cried Miss Kiki asking for juice. My wonderful husband got out of bed to get her juice. She almost fini...

Making tutus for babies and tots is surprisingly easy, but tedious. The good news is, it's a lot cheaper to make it yourself unless you get a really good deal when you buy one, and you can almost multi-task when making it. In this tutorial, I will explain how to make an adjustable tutu and a fixed one. Miss Kiki all danced out What you need: Spools of 6" wide tulle (1 or 2 of 25 yard would be enough, depending on how fluffy you want it) Elastic measuring the wearer's waist minus 3". Ribbon (for adjustable tutus) Decorations like flowers, beads, rhinestones, ribbons (optional). The How To: Decide how long you want your tutu to be, multiply by 2 and add 1/2". For example, if you want the tutu to be 7" long, then 7" x 2 + 0.5" = 14.5".  Lets call this "x". Cut your tulle into many strips of x length. In my case 14.5" long. For adjustable tutus: Cut your ribbon to get two 20" long strips. Sew a strip on each e...

One of many things my late mother-in-law was really good at was making cakes. One of her specialties was this 12 (yes, twelve!) layered cake, made from dough, whipped cream, and some fruit (pineapple or sour cherry), and walnuts. This "Winnie The Pooh" cake, that's how she called it, was always a hit at parties, and she was nice enough to share the recipe with me. Her recipe calls for making 4 very thin dough, and then you layer each of them with whipped cream and fruits, with walnuts on top. As for me, I don't have the time nor patience to make the dough, so I quickly figured out a shortcut by using lady fingers biscuits instead. Update: I've tried this recently (enough) with malkist crackers instead of lady fingers. They worked well too, if not better! Ingredients: 2 packages of lady fingers biscuits or malkist crackers 250 ml carton of whipping cream or sour whipping cream 1 small can of pineapple or sour cherry, chopped to 1/4" cubes, save the j...

Somehow I manage to find my inner crafty self again today, and made Miss Kiki a twirly skirt using one of my old t-shirt. What could be more satisfying than a huge grin from my 19-month old when she saw her brand new fashion piece, and when she immediately tried to take her shirt off to try the skirt on. :) You will need: An Old T-shirt. Mine was an XS ladies t-shirt from Garage. A strip of fabric twice as long as the shirt's diameter, about 3" tall. 1" Elastic Leftover T-Shirt and ruffled bottom tier ScoobyDoo fabric for the bottom tier The how to: Cut your t-shirt parallel to the seam at the armpit level. Discard or put away the top part. Decide how long you want the skirt to be, minus 3", add seam and elastic allowance (about 2.5"), and cut the t-shirt to that height. This would be the base skirt. Cut the leftover into 1" tall strips, cutting out the side seams. Ruffle the t-shirt strips at the centre and set aside. Ruffle the strip o...

If you have a wee one in your house and you spend some 'online' time everyday, you've probably heard of weelicous before. It's a website by Catherine McCord, who shares healthy and mostly simple and easy recipes that is great for all ages. A recipe that I tried today and turned out really well was inspired by her Baked Zucchini Coins, but I used eggplant instead. This time, I used half of the flour called in the recipe, but more egg and panko-cheese mix.  Yummy! Recipe adapted from weelicous 3/4 Cup Panko or Bread Crumbs 3/8 Cup Parmesan Cheese, grated 1/2 Tsp Salt 2 small Eggs 1/8 Cup Flour 1 long Indian Eggplant, cut into 1/4 inch coins (about 2.5" diameter) 1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees and coat a large baking sheet with cooking spray. 2. Mix the first 3 ingredients in a bowl. 3. Whisk the egg in a separate bowl. 4. Place the flour in another bowl. 5. Make an assembly line with the bowls, and first dip the eggplant coins into the flour, ...

There are a few blogs that I follow and excitedly wait for new entries to arrive on my Google Reader. One of them is Lia's Crafty Journey . A couple of weeks ago she blogged about receiving this Chocolate Stout Cake that was made from a stout beer and she was nice enough to share the recipe which was from a blog by Kevin in Toronto. From the original recipe, I substituted sour cream with yogurt, Guiness with Jamaican Stout, and Irish Cream with Kahlua. And instead of baking them as a big cake, I made them cupcakes. The recipe makes 18 cupcakes. I used cupcake papers and I didn't find that I needed to grease them. At 350C, I baked them for 25 minutes.

Today, we are celebrating Canada Day. How did July 1st get to be Canada Day? This is something I've always wondered about but never bothered asking... or wiki-ing. But today, with some Canada Day spirit in me, I took a few minutes of my very rare free time to read about it. This is what wikipedia says Frequently referred to as "Canada's birthday", particularly in the popular press, [1] [2] [3] the occasion marks the joining of the British North American colonies of Nova Scotia , New Brunswick , and the Province of Canada into a federation of four provinces (the Province of Canada being divided, in the process, into Ontario and Quebec ) on July 1, 1867. Canada became a kingdom in its own right on that date, [4] [5] [6] but the British Parliament kept limited rights of political control over the new country that were shed by stages over the years until the last vestiges were surrendered in 1982 when the Constitution Act patriated the Canadian const...

Baby leg warmers are one of the very few baby clothing which will last you for a long time. They can be worn since newborn all the way up to their toddler years. They are great to keep those tiny limbs warm without the hassle of putting on tights. Miss Kiki wears them from Fall to Spring on top of her socks under her pants, to keep the small opening between the pants bottom and her socks warm. Considering that it snows from October to May where we are, I think that's a pretty HOT idea! The best known brand for baby leg warmers in North America is Babylegs , but there are a lot of other manufacturers that make them and a lot of times a whole lot cheaper. Unfortunately, though, I can not get those where I live easily. I found this tutorial online on how to convert a pair of socks or knee highs to a pair of baby legwarmers. It's so easy to follow the instructions! Have fun!