the queen wrote:Hi all!
May i have your guidelines for simple dish to be cooked on weekdays? i am a full time working mum with the elder DS gg to primary school and yonger DS gg to childcare, may i know, for those in the same situation as me, how do you cope ? can cope?
I want to acknowledge you really wanting to provide a home-cooked meal for your children. It's wonderful because your nutritious food will go a long way to your kids having childhood memories of their mummy's cooking, even if it's very simple.
I'm blessed to have a maid now but in the past, when I was a younger FTWM with 2 young children at home & no maid, I would go home to cook. It takes planning but it's doable. I've suggested these dishes based on the consideration that the preparation should be simple and these are one-dish meals that have sufficient nutrition.
Here are some suggestions for one-dish meals:
1. Claypot chicken rice (But cooked in a rice cooker) - put in marinated cut-up chicken (from one whole chicken) together with the rice to cook. Half-way through, throw in sliced chinese mushrooms, chinese sausage, salted fish. Put in the vegetable at the last 2 mins to allow the steam to cook it. If you can, prepare the chicken the night before you sleep and have the chicken ready in the fridge together with the other ingredients. Chicken only need to be marinated with soya sauce, oyster sauce, sesame oil, pepper and a little black sauce for colour)
2. Chicken stew cooked in slow-cooker or cook when you come home in a stew pot. Put in carrots, potatoes, leek, and dried herbs such as oregano, tarragon. If you cook with a stew pot, do the following. Fry the cut-up chicken with chopped large onions & garlic in olive oil. When the onions are soft, you can throw in the carrots, potatoes, leek and fry a little, then pour in chicken stock (you can buy ready packets) or water and simmer for about 30-45mins. Sprinkle dried herbs when the stock is boiling and add some white cooking wine. To thicken the gravy, you may mash up some of the cooked potatoes or add corn-flour mixed with some water. Again you can prep the chicken the night before by marinating with a bit of oyster sauce, a little salt and pepper.
3. Chicken macaroni soup. Make the stock with a whole chicken. When the chicken is cooked after about 45mins, take the chicken out, debone and throw in the bones to cook the stock for another 45mins. Add salt to taste for the soup. Parboil some vegetables separately. Boil the macaroni separately. Serve with macaroni with soup and vegetables. Sometimes, to make it more attractive to my young kids, last time, I would make toasted small bread croutons for kids to garnish on their macaroni. Just cut up old break into small cubes & toast it. Your kids can help too!
Other one-dish meals that are great to try are shepherd pie, lasagne, yong tau foo soup, dry mee tai mak, fried rice.
Happy experimenting and most important, your children will appreciate you for it, even if not now, they will later in their life.
