Making nut butter from scratch is pretty easy. Once you have learned the basic blending techniques, you can easily whip up any kind of nut butters (such as peanut butter) or mixed nut and seed butters, in small or big batches, as and when you like.   This “so heavenly good” almond chocolate butter is truly the almond version of Nutella, as described by Love and Olive Oil, which I can’t agree...

  In the blink of an eye, it’s already March. Chinese Lunar New Year has passed and the first quarter of the year will soon be over. March is also a month where seven of my family members celebrate their birthdays. This includes my not-so-little boy (who is turning eight soon) and me. As usual, we don’t hold birthday parties but will celebrate in a simple way. On my recent birthday, my hubby and...

  Does your child like muffins? My son does. He will beam from ear to ear whenever he sees me busy making muffins in the kitchen. He has been my loyal muffin supporter from day one I learned making homemade muffins. Sometimes, he will request me to bake some for him to bring to school which makes me love making muffins even more.   Making muffins is indeed easy and has the highest rate of success...

  This school term, my son is required to take up swimming lessons as part of his PE curriculum. While attending one of his swimming lessons, I had a casual chat with my son’s class teacher. She suggested that I packed some light snack for my son to bring along to eat after his swimming lessons. My first thought was to make those healthy, energy-boosting oat bars that I posted awhile back. However, these...

  I, being a big fan of Malaysian-style satay, love the peanut sauce more than the satay. Having said that, they still complement each other perfectly.  To have one and not the other, it won’t be a complete meal to me.   A while back, I chanced upon a satay dip recipe in Annabel Karmel’s Family Cookbook Magazine. I truly liked her brilliant idea in using this satay dip as a way to encourage...

  Have you ever thought of making your own peanut butter? Just imagine this. Put roasted peanuts into your food processor. Add some sugar, salt and oil to your liking. Relax and let the machine do the wonder. After a couple of minutes, you will get to taste your  fresh creamy dreamy or even crunchy munchy homemade peanut butter!! How cool is that? It’s something you and your kids can have loads of fun...

  Although toddlers eat smaller portion than adults do, they definitely need more energy and nutrient to support their rapid growth. From this aspect, snacks can play a significant role in fortifying their dietary requirements. Hence, parents and caretaker need to prepare snacks that are as healthy as possible. It’s also important to keep the serving size small and plan the serving time well too so...

If you have been following my blog, you will notice that I have not used nuts in all my previous baking and cooking posts, with the exception of “how to roast cashew nuts”. The reason is that my son was not ready to consume nuts. In one instance one and a half year ago, he developed asthmatic cough after eating a small slice of pancake with grounded peanuts filling. His conditions worsened...

Beside apples, oranges are the most common imported fruit that my mom usually used to buy for the family when I was a child. But, I disliked oranges then, as more often than not they weren’t sweet but rather sour. I thought I was the only one who had this bias against oranges until I discovered that my hubby also disliked oranges. Maybe, we might also have influenced our son who also didn’t show much interest...

  My son loves a variety of fruits, be it sweet or slightly sour. Does that mean he is not picky about fruits? Not really. In fact, he can be outright picky. He clearly likes some (a lot) and dislikes many as well. One particular fruit that is near to the bottom of his preferred list is Chinese pear, especially when served as freshly cuts. He would only take one small bite and give me the standard “Mummy,...