What is the cause of his diarrhea?

He would die for a cone of ice-cream. He asks for it whenever I take him out, whether it's for grocery shopping, for breakfast, lunch, dinner or any outing.  At times, when Mom had bought him one, he would ask Daddy for it on the same day.  So, he got 2 in the same day! It's like oxygen to him.  It's like candies to most kids. He never gets bored of eating ice-cream.

Well, ice-cream is still better than the junk potato chips or even candies, Mom will buy a tub or two of ice-cream and store in the fridge.  Taking it on a daily basis, sometimes 2 cups in a day if I don't stop him, the tub is gone quickly.

Still perplexed as to the reason Wyng still complains about having sporadic diarrhea at school, it struck my mind that he takes ice-cream at least once a week. At times, he could be taking it once daily for a few days consecutively especially when there is storage in the fridge.  Now, the puzzle seems to be solved.

Ice-cream is made of dairy products! This boy is mildly lactose intolerant and no wonder he still gets diarrhea despite stopping him from his breakfast milk. This is definitely going to be bad news for Wyng.  From now on, ice-cream is a 'controlled food'.

When the kid's eating habits change

From preschool days, Wyng had always shunned egg yolk each time I serve him hard-boiled egg.  It came to a point when he totally rejected hard-boiled egg.  He didn't even like soft-boiled egg until recently, something like last year.  He slowly was able to accept soft-boiled egg.  Ironically, he has no problem with omelette or scrambled egg.  Maybe, he just didn't like to see egg yolk separated from egg white!

Then came one fine day, when there was an extra omelette that Mom cooked for Qo Qo.  I had asked him to take the egg since Qo Qo would not be back home for lunch.  He already had his egg, by the way.  He proceeded to scoop the watery egg yolk and sipped it. And he did that until he finished all the egg yolk!

Wyng doesn't take cheese but when we went for pizza the other day, he sprinkled a lot of cheese powder on his pizza after watching Qo Qo and Daddy did so.  In fact, he loved it. Funny, there was a table not far from us where the middle-eastern guy actually poured cheese powder straight from the bottle by removing the cap so as the cheese powder poured freely right onto his pizza.

So, Mom had to make sure he promised to take cheese the next time Mom serves him anything with cheese.

Spaghetti..he wasn't crazy about this food until this year when he asked me to cook it for him for his lunch. Previously, he didn't want to even try whenever we had spaghetti outside.  He had home-cooked spaghetti a couple of times at his aunty's house, out of no choice as that was the only food being served by aunty. Since then, I believe he started to develop a liking to it.  Now,he seemed to be crazy about it.  He frequently asks for spaghetti as his lunch.  But, he hates the mushroom that goes with it.

For dining out, he used to love claypot chicken rice. Now, he rejects it. Oh gosh...His favourite food at hawker stalls now is dried pan mee (flat noodle), minus the anchovies and black fungus.  So crazy is he about this food, that he will ask for it each time we stepped into a hawker food eatery, whether it's for breakfast, lunch or dinner.

Looks like this boy's eating habits are going through some changes, again.  Lesson for Mom is to keep trying to offer him food which he used to reject.  He may have developed some liking to certain food.  Once, he has tasted it and likes it, there'll be no stopping him, based on his pattern, so far.

Simple chicken recipe for busy Moms

I tried cooking this simple oven baked chicken recipe for lunch. Instead of marinating for 1 hour, I marinated them overnight and I've added more spoonfuls of honey for sweeter flavour. I've also omitted ginger since I couldn't find any in the kitchen.  It still tastes good.

It's so fuss-free, you don't have to worry if the chicken overcooked, too much of oil or smoke and grease everywhere in your spotless kitchen. And because my kids love gravy to go with their rice, I've concocted my own gravy.  The potatoes and carrots are used as these are the only types of food that Wyng like and has no complaints about.

Water (quantity is up to your preference), oyster sauce, a little soy sauce are all I used. Just stir all these in a pan until it boils. Add the cut potatoes and carrots and simmer for at least 20 minutes or longer if you prefer your potatoes and carrots to be softer.

Wyng gave me a rating of 8 whereas Hoe said it's good for a first-timer. I'm satisfied with my performance.  Not of chef standard but the kids love this nutritious and simple home-cooked chicken dish.

How to make ice-cream warmer?

"I want to make my ice-cream warmer."

Wyng made a fuss when Hoe bought him a plain vanilla cone sundae instead of chocolate fudge as topping for his sundae. He said the chocolate fudge will make his ice-cream warmer as he doesn't like his ice-cream too cold!

What are you talking about, Wyng?

Enjoy the ice-cream and save money

He savours it as though it is his last.  He will take his own sweet time to eat his favourite ice-cream.  He enjoys it, licks it and doesn't bite until he really has to.

When I tell him to hurry as it will be melting very soon, his answer will be, "Enjoy ma.. Why eat so fast? Waste money!  While he was licking the ice-cream in this video, Mom,Dad and Qo Qo had already finished theirs much earlier.

If only Mom can save money when the kids enjoy and eat their ice-cream ssslowwwly.

My kid's latest favourite food

Roti tisu (literally called tissue bread) which is available in most mamak stall, is Wyng's latest favourite food.  Because of the sweet and crunchy sugary texture, he falls in love with this delicacy when I ordered it for him.  No longer does he have to stick to his faithful roti telur for his breakfast.

I can foresee that he will be asking for the same old food for a while until he gets bored with it.

Mom's own recipe for the kids

Sweet and yummy steamed chicken with potato

It's really not easy having picky eaters like my younger one, Wyng. Bored with cooking him the same old dish for his lunch, I was kind of adventurous and think of a way to vary this fussy kid's appetite.  Potato is not his favourite. Anyway, this kid's appetite can be really erratic. In fact, he doesn't fancy french fries. Neither does he eats the potatoes in the ABC soup (potatoes and carrot soup) Mom boils.

Steamed chicken is his regular menu since steaming is so much healthier than deep frying which most kids love including mine.  And steaming is cleaner to the kitchen, leaves no trail of grease on my kitchen wall.  Instead of adding ginger (which Wyng doesn't like), I vary the flavour of steamed chicken and experimented with potatoes.  I adventurously added strips of potatoes knowing that potatoes are known to sweeten soup and porridge.  Since potatoes are not his favourite, I didn't expect him to eat the potatoes.  I just needed the sweet flavour.

Surprise! Surprise! He loves the potatoes and the chicken.  True enough, the steamed potatoes are so tender and sweet. Mom likes it too though she's not a potato lover. This dish is Wyng's favourite now. He not only gobbles the potatoes, he loves the 'sweetened' gravy to go with his rice.

Mom's lesson from the kids is 'It's worth the effort when the kids love something you created for them.'