Australia's Top 10 Child-Friendly Cafes

If you haven't been on Kidspot, you probably are not aware of the vast amount of information up there for parents, especially.

One of the articles claimed the top 10 kid-friendly cafes in Australia. Most of have some sort of play equipment or cordoned off safe play area for children. Some have children's food menu and Tulip's Cafe in ACT has a potting workshop that children can be booked in to have some potting fun. And for the busy mums who need their laundry done, TAS has a Machine Laundry Cafe for you to wash clothes, play chess and enjoy a meal.

NSW :
Bitton Gourmet on Copeland Street, Alexandria
Flying Fox on Mona Street, Mona Vale
Nosh @ Newport on Hall Street, Newport

QLD :
Breathing Space Cafe on Lambert Rd, Indooroopilly

SA :
Bugs Cafe on Norwood, Adelaide

ACT :
Tulip's Cafe on Beltana Rd, Pialligo

VIC:
Happy River Cafe on Moreland Street, Footscray

NT :
Blue Marlin Bistro on Atkins Drive, Fannie Bay

WA :
Stickybeaks Playground on Kings Park Road, West Perth

TAS :
Machine Laundry Cafe on Salamanca Square, Hobart

Egg and avocado

My little princess has recently decided that she would not eat egg yolks. The only time she'd eat them would be if they were scrambled. Hard boiled and poached eggs don't work.

Yesterday, I thought I'd try something new with her. I put the eggs in the rice cooker to cook and shelled them when they were cool enough to handle. Cut the eggs in half and scooped out the yolks.

I also scooped out half an avocado and mashed the yolk and avocado together to form a paste. Spread it back into the egg whites and served her.

She ate them!! Avocado egg yolk. Yum. Problem solved and it was a no mess hard boiled egg too.

If you have any other healthy and child-friendly methods, let me know too!

Cutting and Chopping Onions

Onions are not the best vegetables to chop up and I avoid them at all cost, until recently when I discovered that they don't make me cry anymore!

If I had the time, I'll peel off the layer of skin and leave it in the fridge overnight.

Otherwise, if I forgot about it, I'll still do the same with the skin, chop it up into quarters and rinse it in cold water for a few seconds.

No more problems with my onions anymore!

Try it and let me know if it worked for you!

Eat to Live or Live to Eat?

I'm in Singapore. With family. Singapore is a food haven to me. Authentic Chinese and Malay food, not to mention a variety of international cuisine!

Somehow,over the last few weeks, we've been eating at different places, for different meal times. Breakfast, morning tea, lunch, afternoon tea, dinner and supper.

Had plenty to drown myself in!

Just had sashimi for lunch. It was a buffet at Hanabi. We went to the Katong Mall branch. We were there early : 11:35am. For a while, we were the only customers there. Mum, dad, sis, hubby, little P and myself. For $27++ per person, it was a good deal! We ordered a sashimi platters, tempura, chawanmushi and sushi. Our 18month old ate for free.

Boy, did she eat! Her favourite was chawanmushi, cleaning it up by slurping up the leftovers in her bowl.

All these eating really led me to think if how people survived without food. We are very fortunate to live in a developed country with clean water and safe food to eat. For some others in some parts of the world, food is a luxury.

Hanabi charges a $5 for every 100g wastage. Some people find it unreasonable, but I think that it's a good habit forced on the society. Think of all the others who dont' even have enough for a day..

So, the next time you decide to throw the leftovers away, remember the less fortunate. Ask for a takeaway of the leftovers, or just order less.

Fun foods for children

Do you have picky eaters? Children who would only eat certain colours of food or vegetables only or meat only or must-have-milk...

I'm fortunate to have a little one who eats all the food that we place on her tray as long as she can chew them.

Have found a few websites that have very interesting food that will appeal to children. Easy to make, appealing and fun to eat. Well, could be a little too nice to eat. =)

1. Familyfun.com
This site has just about everything from main meals to desserts to snacks and finger foods.

2. Milkdeliveries
Have children who can't have enough of dairy or don't want to have anything to do with dairy? Try these.. Main meals, desserts, shakes, smoothies and more.

3. Pork 4 Kids
Well, the name of the site said it all. Pork recipes for children. They're categorized by age group, so starting from 6 yrs old to 15 yrs old.

4. Kidspot
An Australian social networking site for parents, it has foods for all occasions and ages.

Hard Boiled Eggs

I've boiled eggs countless times. I've been disappointed and annoyed by them just as many times.

The traditional way of boiling eggs was to put the eggs in cool water, then bring to a boil Depending on the hardness of the egg, you boil for certain amount of time. Some egg lovers have also poured boiling water over raw eggs, cover up and wait about 7 minutes for a half-boiled, very soft egg.

This method is very costly in many ways:
1. Water wasted.
2. Time wasted.
3. Energy wasted.

I was sent an email some weeks back and since then, I cooked my boiled eggs differently.

Try this and you'll love the simplicity and efficiency!
1. Place a paper towel in your rice cooker.
2. Depending on the hardness and number of eggs, either sprinkle water or put in 5tablespoons of water.
3. Turn on the rice cooker to cook.
4. Once the rice cooker indicates it's keeping warm, you can remove the eggs and enjoy!

There's a bit of trial and error here with the number of eggs and how cooked you want it to be.

Try it, test it and you'll come to see what I mean.

Not going back to the water boiling method anymore.

Tips for the day - Plastic Bags and Pizza Cutter

Plastic bags : other than being useful for garbage, they're a ceasaerian mum's best friend apart from the painkillers. Lay them on chairs, car seats, anywhere that you'll be sitting, and you'll find that it's easier swivel yourself out of the position. The cut for birth will take time to heal and these plastic bags are real handy for those tough-to-get-out-of spots.

Pizza Cutter : What other things can they be used for other than cutting up your pizza? Omelettes, of course! When you want them in strips. It's faster than running a knife through them.