Cajun Chicken & Wraps for Lunch

We gathered for another homecooked lunch at E's. She has been generously opening up her kitchen and larder for us to prep food, and host us to lunch at her dining table. 

On the menu today, there were stir-fried peppers with garlic, and tomatoes on the menu. Then there were Lousiana Cajun breast fillets from 68°Chicken. and Mexican black beans. We had it with low-carb wraps. It was quite delicious!

To be honest, chicken isn't my favorite protein. The breast cut isn't my preferred for sure. And I have to pop an antihistamine in order to eat it and not have my eyes swell or rashes flare. Still, today's lunch made for one healthy meal. 

I really enjoy the get-togethers. They're comfortable, leisurely and supportive. We chat in a safe space, and glean insights from one another since we have vastly different perspectives of situations and matters. We bounce ideas off of one another; we get a rounded idea of what we need to separately resolve in our lives.

Bittergourd & Eggs!

In order to have a homecooked lunch together, we had to clear dates weeks ahead. We did a grocery run at the nearest supermarket. It was really fun checking in with each other, and getting ingredients and meeting in E's kitchen. It was comfortable when you've known each other for years, and we are perfectly fine with whatever food we could do.

There was a bittergourd that needed to be eaten. We all love bittergourd. Easy! We did a stir-fry of bittergourd with omelette, and boiled up a bowl of edamame as well. Loads of fiber and such in the vegetables. 

For protein, we thawed out Japanese shoyu fillets from 68°Chicken. We ordered a bundle of three flavors from the brand. Chicken breast fillets are always a healthy option for many. S and E really didn't mind chicken breast either. I'm not a fan, but I'll eat it if it's well done. There was furikake and Japanese rice to complement the meal. And sambal belachan. Tehehehe. S and I can never move far away from chilli and spices.

This was a really precious meal when we cooked it in an orderly manner, and ate it over great conversation and companionship. It was a rather focused sort of prep; the eating was done unhurriedly, of which we didn't have to think anything else that didn't involve mastication and deglutition. We could shelve work and such till after lunch. That made the digestion so much smoother, I believe. My stomach was pleased. These sort of comfort meals meant that my irritable bowels are kept very happy. 

Loads of Dal and Homecooked Goodness

We had a meet and made lunch that day. Decided to sear fish and stir-fry some easy okra. S had made dal a few days ago and had loads frozen. She brought tubs over. We had that too. A tad odd, but we were too lazy to do fish curry, so this would do. 

Unfortunately, we didn't choose the right fish to sear. These are Nile pre-cuts. It's tilapia, so it would do best in batter as fish and chips. Or in fish curry, as what we had intended. At least it's not powdery like some weird dory. We marinated it enough anyway. They were edible. This sea-water farmed tilapia (from Indonesian waters, I think) oddly offers a high protein count.

The okra provided sufficient fiber. We didn't overcook it, so there was still crunch to offset the softer fish. E's helper had fried up sambal ikan bilis and peanuts. I loved it! That went great with the entire meal. E wasn't having rice. S and I needed some rice. We added furikake to it. Heheheheh. Very very weird I know. But I love furikake! The rice complemented the plant protein provided by the dal. 

If we're trying to eat healthier and do homecooked meals a little more, then this was a lovely lunch. We cooked it ourselves too. Heh. It's nothing gourmet, but it filled our hearts and tummies. Mmmmm.

Lunch with the girls.

I took home a tub of S's dal. She said that her pressure cooker can do another batch quite easily. So she generously gave it to me. I would not reject such a royal gift. She warned that it would be low in sodium (as it should be), and I could sprinkle additional salt if I wished.

That night, the husband and I decided to stay in for dinner. For these last minute decisions, we're glad for the frozen food. The freezer had basmati rice, S's dal and chicken breast from 68°Chicken. Thawed out the 'royal Indian masala' fillet, and everything else. 

I didn't care for the chicken breast. I had leftover mushroom masala for myself, so I thawed that out and ate it. Heh. That dal anchored the meal. It was delicious. The husband loved it. He was perfectly cool with the sodium levels. That made a really good meal. Healthy enough and satisfying. 

Fish Broth for Choya!

I felt like having fish soup — my own. I also wanted to do a light fish broth for Choya, to add to her rotation of foods that wouldn't trigger her IBD. So I toddled to the supermarket to get some daikon, carrots and shimeiji, and tofu, kanpachi bones, and fillets of kinmedai. Since there were chicken back bones available, I got a pack too. The bok choi at home was totally ready for harvesting, so there was a bunch taken. Heh.

Separated the ingredients for two pots. One for Choya, and one for us. Choya's pot wouldn't hold salt and pepper; no soy, tomatoes or onions. I still popped in a piece of garlic and ginger; she can take those. Marinated the kinmedai fillets for the humans; Choya's fillet only had a touch of salt flakes.

Choya's broth went into two silicone trays for the freezer. They have been frozen into perfectly-sized cubes to be thawed out whenever. That one-cube volume would suffice for Choya for the day. It adds loads of nutrition and moisture to her meals.

The husband totally enjoyed his bowl of soup. He loves this type of soup. Something light, savory and easy. And this, you can't find it outside at the restaurants. I can boil up a superb version. The bigger pot for humans boiled down and yielded only enough for four bowls — for us to sip today, and a bowl to keep for the next day.

A Salmon Fillet

When I was nearer to the supermarket than N was, and I was headed to her home next, I told her I would get the ingredients for dinner. She was at the doctor's for a review for her injured elbow and shoulder; I didn't want her to be going to the supermarket right after, and be carrying heavy things. 

She wanted salmon fillets and a tub of yoghurt. The supermarket only had Tasmanian salmon fillets. Those would do. They were discounted too, but packed today and not even close to sell-by date. I threw in a fillet of threadfin as well. In case they needed more food. N could keep that for her lunch or dinner the next day. 

I'm not the biggest fan of salmon. I would eat them, and I have my favorites. But it's very hard to seek out a proper king (Chinook) or sockeye. It's an easy ingredient to prep for dinner for many people. When the dear girlfriend is so kind as to feed me, I won't quibble with protein in the form of fish. I'll make do with this salmon. But I wouldn't be able to stomach tuna or cod. I have lost all taste for cod and its associated sablefish marketed as 'black cod' or 'ling cod'. I don't mind haddock though. 

Tonight's dinner was great. The salmon was nicely seared in the pan. N prepped loads of vegetables as sides— grilled cabbage and blanched spinach. I ate so much vegetables. Nothing too heavy, and loads of protein, antioxidants and fibre. That was an absolutely perfect plate. 

Pumpkin Soup, Soba & Perilla Oil!

Stopped by J's to collect our bulk orders of bak zhang. Instead of simply doing a pick-up, she had also invited Choya and I to stay for lunch. Wheeeeee!!! I didn't want to put her out, but she said she would simply do a portion for me of whatever she was having for lunch, and it would be easy. OKAY!

She has been food-prepping loads for easy lunches and dinners, so I was glad that she didn't have to rush to cook things 'fresh' that morning. Except to boil up the soba. J didn't mind Choya having lunch at hers either; Choya was comfortable enough to eat too. So I brought along lunch for Choya in her little jars and her plate. She was happily slurped it all up. She was especially thrilled with pieces of cheese generously offered by J.

There was a rather excellent bowl of pumpkin soup. And a happy bowl of Korean soba noodles tossed in perilla oil, and topped with a giant heap of seaweed. I loved it! I was in an absolute food coma after that. 

Then I had coffee. That was a very lovely afternoon catching up. Sooo thankful to have a comfy space to hang out for a few hours on an afternoon that I had intentionally cleared for J. When we don't meet often, an afternoon like this after months of not meeting, is precious. 

Roasted Vegetables for Fibre!

I usually steam Choya's pumpkin. Today, I decided to roast it. Since I needed to roast a pumpkin for Choya, as well as a fillet of chicken breast, I offered to roast a tray of vegetables for the husband. He said 'yes please'. 

He had loads of sous vide chicken breast prepped and frozen — they only needed to be thawed out. That would be super quick. It was a happy and colorful tray of pumpkin, fine beans and sweet potatoes. The husband's tray was seasoned, and lined with paprika, cheyenne pepper and such. #ImpieCooks2026

He really loved how the pumpkin turned out. Sweet and savory and totally yummy. The sweet potato would provide enough carbs and fibre for him too. That would be kept in the fridge for him to munch for the next three days.  

Choya was also pleased with her chimken. She doesn't mind pumpkin at all, and having it roasted taste a bit different from being steamed. At this point, she could have either pumpkin or psyllium husk to help with her microbiome. I'm opting for pumpkin this week. 

Gifts of Food from the Heart

The friends decided to feed me. They knew I was having it rough these few weeks, and while it's not as rough as what some other people are going through, I'm grateful for their kindness and friendship. 

They didn't exactly ask me if it's convenient to deliver food — they knew I would be home worrying about Choya and not going anywhere. Hurhurhur. When friends are being 'presumptuous', I don't view it as over-stepping boundaries. I see their concern and their lovely hearts, and I'm soooo thankful. My dearest friends are truly angels. 

I got cakes! Two cakes and a tub of rice! There's a cake as a dessert, and a savory one for meals. Ahhh... these friends know. I'm not too opposed to cakes, but many cakes are simply too sweet and not worth the calories or me bouncing off the walls. I only eat cakes that friends bake, and even better if they go low on the sugar.  

Asian Turnip Cake and Glutinous Rice

J realized that it's super hard to find Asian turnip cake (蒸蘿蔔糕) and glutinous rice (糯米飯) to deliver to friends outside of the lunar new year festive period. Teheheheheh. She cleverly found these items at Pine Garden and sent it over.

These were delicious! They were honestly better than Crystal Jade's versions. The sizes were just nice too. There was nothing to portion for the freezer. The portions went to the fridge and we ate everything in 2.5 days. Even the husband didn't mind these carbs at lunch — he was blown away by how delicious they were.

I was very extra, of course, and added lupcheong and yuncheong plus braised baby abalones to the mix. I had plenty of XO sauce and chilli at home to sort out a delicious few meals. Absolutely satisfying and filled my tummy. 

Chocolate, Banana and Walnut Cake

Dear D baked a cake and sent it over still piping hot. It had to sit on my counter to cool. Woah. This cake came loaded with rum-soaked raisins. I can't even... ... Her bakes are the best. She went low on sugar and was generous with the ingredients. It's a dense and magnificent cake that we ain't getting at the commercial bakeries. 

This is one dessert I'm not throwing out and eating up all the crumbs. We froze half the cake. Sowly ate the other half over the next three days. Even the husband decided to inhale 40g and 150 calories once a day. Hahahaha. 

No regrets. I still have a frozen portion to savor for the next week. Wheeeeeee. 

Protein! Oven-Baked Fillets of Chicken Breast!

I quite like the oven as a default 'cooker' at home. It doesn't involve crazy cleaning like when I cook on the stove. Since Choya was feeling poorly, I decided to do a fillet of oven-baked chimken breast for her. Choya's fillet always the tender version with a bit of water for the 'broth', and sprinkled with simple herbs, and just like six salt flakes. 

I'm wary of feeding Choya raw pork and chicken. I'd really prefer them cooked. I don't mind her chomping on raw chicken feet though. Choya loves her sous vide and grilled chicken breast. A whole fillet would be added to her food for the week. It should help settle and bind things in her gastrointestinal tract. 

Since the oven would be hot, chicken breast fillets were prepped for the husband too. Marinated his fillets in a tandoori sort of paste. They sat for about 25 minutes, and then they went into the oven for another ~25 minutes. The fillets were beautifully done, and still tender and juicy. You know how much of a challenge it is to have chicken breast fillets not turn out to be like rubber.

I still had the last bits of gorgeous heirloom tomatoes left from the friends' gifts. It was enough for two servings. So I added asparagus and roasted them together as a side to the chicken fillets for the husband. I had parmesan sourdough crotons sprinkled atop upon serving. Extra cheese is optional. Heh. #ImpieCooks2026

The husband was absolutely pleased with lunch. He husband has gone on a low-carb tracking diet thing again. He's trying out a new app to track his macros and protein intake, so prepping food to keep in the fridge this way at home would be great. He could have these for lunch, as an add-on to lunch the next two days or simply chomp on them as a snack. 

Gorgeous Gifts of Zucchini, Tomatoes & Pesto!

We were soooo lucky to be blessed with so many gifts of food from our friends. We had so much things delivered over that would supply us for a few meals! Our friends came by to drop off a basket of items just flown in from Italy! 

There were oranges, grey zucchini (this species is also known as Lebanese squash or Mexican grey), cherry tomatoes and cooking tomatoes. Wow!

Then there was a big jar of homemade pesto all rich and thick from D and N. They grew so much basil at home that they made this huge batch of pesto and gave it to friends. We were lucky to be allocated a jar too. We love pesto, especially good iterations!!!

Roasted the zucchini and tomatoes. Easy prep for lunch. The husband had a tub of dal and prawn biryani, and those were heated up. The roasted tomatoes went well with the Indian spices. He had the roasted zucchini as a starter mixed with pesto. He loved lunch so much. 

There was plenty left and these would go into the fridge for the next two days. Gotta go get a slab of bread. Foccacia or ciabatta. The zucchini and tomatoes would go well with toasted bread and anchovies too. #ImpieCooks2026

I wasn't going to have biryani. Made a pasta for myself. I made orecchiette with pork sausages (salsiccia toscana) because these go so well with pesto. The zucchini and tomatoes went well with my pasta too. Mmmm. All right, I think did justice to the friends' gifts. These are precious and should never be wasted. 

Lunch Was Perfect

I'm touched to receive gifts of food this season. The dining table was piled full again. It hasn't quite emptied out since Christmas. When I don't bother hosting, I obviously use the dining table to place all sorts of gifts of food on it. 

However, I am so biased. I appreciate the salty and savory over sweets and sugary tarts or bakes. I don't have a habit of taking a cookie or anything sweet in the afternoons or with coffee. I'd consider a small salty dark chocolate cookie though. Heh. I like pineapple tarts, but it's very very very hard to find the ones I want. Nothing comes close to the tarts I have in mind, or that I have tasted and love. It's about the balance of butter vs a rich thick tart pineapple jam that isn't commercially made in big batches. 

That day, my lunch at home was made up of gifts and people's thoughts. Aunty J had given me her home-pickled belimbing and achar. M gave us two jars of her Mum's chilli. And that day, as I was wrapping up my visit, one of my old folks (on the roster) handed me a box of rice, pork chop and egg tofu. She cooked the batch for herself and the neighbors and saved me a portion by way of a Lunar New Year gift.

I heated up all these for lunch the next day. How lovely. I added all the gifted condiments to this heartfelt bowl of care. The achar is soooo good. It's very hard to taste good achar nowadays. I don't even know how many people get what good achar is. I'm so lucky to get this small precious jar.

The pickled belimbing, as always, is friggin sour. But that went well with M's mum's super hot chilli. I dunno if that's counted as sambal belachan because it tasted like super spicy chicken rice chilli to me. I don't like putting lime with any sort of chilli, but paired with belimbing, that was perfect. This chilli is likely too spicy for many people. But the husband and I are chilli fiends, so it's just right for us. 

Lunch was truly perfect. It made my stomach really happy. 

年三十晚 :: 年夜飯

I was really pleased that I heated up my own dinner and stayed in with the floofs. That was my peace. The kiddos were even happier to chill out with me and eat noms. Sent the husband to rep us on his maternal side's reunion dinner. I straight-out declined since I wanted to stay at home with the floofs. Nowadays, I have no issues saying no. I make it very clear that my priority is with floofs, not humans. And the husband absolutely understands that. 

The evening rains are back, and while we've lucked out with no thunder so far, I wouldn't be able to predict when it would roll in. If it rained and thunder came, I would have be really upset that I went to this dinner that I didn't care for instead of being there for the floofs. 

I got the kiddos a small bowl of poon choi (盆菜) from MumMumGourmet. Cooked, not freeze-dried. I have nothing against freeze-dried, but if I have options for freshly cooked items, I'll take that. Fresh is always better, in a way. The bottle of pork broth would be put to good use too, and not be inhaled in one shot. I wasn't intending to heat up the poon choi in the traditional manner. 

This poon choi is the floofs’ little pot of toppers.

By now, I'm well aware of what food intolerances both Ryo and Choya have, and what might trigger a one-off diarrhea or mushy poop. The ingredients in the poon choi were fine, but I wasn't going to let them eat all of it. These were to be toppers to their raw base. The floofs were so pleased with their dinner and supper. Hahahah. 

I decided not to cook udon or noodles this year. I had gotten a takeout from Kizuna — an osechi box (おせち料理) and a miso-nabe (味噌鍋) with pork loin. Kizuna actually gave pork belly, but they thought that I would prefer the less fatty pork loin, so they gave me that instead. Ahhh, the pork loin was much appreciated. The miso paste was included as well. All I needed was to add some water to dilute it. #ImpieCooks2026

I also had plenty of XO sauce and chilli as dips to accompany the soup. I loved this light and clean meal. Absolutely satisfying. Yes, I'm aware of the irony of having Japanese food for a lunar new year reunion dinner, and considering 15 February was the fall of Singapore in 1942. BUT. Well...... culture versus heritage versus history. You pick one. 

I kept a small portion for the husband who didn't mind some soup when he came home. He had a nibble of the osechi box's prawns, tamago, abalone and clams, and garlic before going out. Dinner was at 8pm, and he needed some food before that. 

These are for humans.

Pork Congee with Ama-ebi

I had a small pack of chicken stock in the freezer that should be used up soon. I found a free morning to cook lunch, so I decided on pork congee. I could easily get the ingredients the day before at the supermarket or the wet market, depending on where I passed by. 

Besides minced pork, the husband also likes his congee/porridge with innards. Of course I didn't have to clean or slice any innards. I simply went to the supermarket to get a pack of sliced mixed innards. All I needed to do was to slightly marinate and sear them before putting them into the boil with the rice. #ImpieCooks2026

Decided to add on ama-ebi (甘エビ). It wasn't really for the husband. It was for Choya. Hahahaha. It's good for her to have a variety of proteins and vitamins going in. But she can't finish a tray in two days. She can have two pieces raw on the day of purchase, and two pieces cooked the next day, but no more. So the husband will always take her leftovers. 

For the husband, I didn't exactly include the ama-ebi as sashimi. I blanched them quickly before serving. That kept its crunch and sweetness. I fried up an omelette with spring onions to go with the meal. Extra protein is always welcomed. 

自家暖心暖胃滋補養顏魚片湯

I had a craving for fish soup. Not any iteration at the restaurants. I wanted my own. So I made that. Yes, I quite like my own fish soup; I'm persnickety like that. I don't like it too salty, and I like it hearty. I don't want it to taste of shitty fish, powdered stock and ginger. Ugh. 

I didn't have time to meander to the wet market. The fastest option was the supermarkets. Great World City had CS Fresh and Meidi-ya, and Ryan's — the combo is always perfect for my needs. The supermarket had lovely Japanese madai head and bones on sale, as well as a slab of easy tai on half price too. Those would be seared to form the base of the soup, in addition to chicken back bones and pork ribs.

The shelves didn't offer madai fillets today. Only tai. Will do. There were plenty of ikan kurau as well. These would be the fish marinated and seared to preserve their tenderness instead of being boiled to death in the soup. I could also crisp the fish skin with all its collagen. The husband loves fish skin. That goes for kyabetsu and bok choi too. The carrots and vegetable stems go into the boil, but the leaves would remain simply blanched at the end. The daikon is popped in somewhere in between. 

Choya likes fish too. And often, cooked fish is nice. I made two pots of soup. One small pot for Choya and a bigger one for us humans. This isn't exactly fish bone broth. I didn't cook it long enough to extract all the essence, but it's pretty nutritious broth. #ImpieCooks2025

I also got a pack of scallops and a pack of prawns. These would be seared in butter, drained, and then served atop the soup. It's umami too. The husband loves shellfish and never minds extra protein. Neither would the dog. 

Seared the ikan kurau and tai for Choya, along with one scallop and one prawn. The fish and some skin would go into the little cubed trays to be frozen. I'm not fond of freezing shellfish too long. If it's just one scallop and a prawn, she can finish it over two meals. Yes I'm very conservative with her intake because the goal is NO MUSHY POOP.

For the humans, one pot of soup was boiled down to three generous bowls over three hours. It would be our dinner tonight, and one bowl left for the husband's sipping pleasure the next day. We had a ton of fish, and so much cabbage. That would do nicely to fill the stomach. Neither the husband or I felt like having rice or noodles with the soup. 

The piping hot bowl of fish soup with all its gorgeous protein and omega-3 oils perfectly complemented the thunderstorm tonight. Husband was so thrilled with dinner. He loves soup lah, and can appreciate a superb bowl. Yup, I would totally and shamelessly say 'superb'. Mmmmmm.

Thanksgiving 2025 :: Sous Vide Chicken!!

My aunts are in town. They said they're visiting ME and Choya. LOL They're not technically incorrect. But on a flight itinerary, Singapore is a stopover on their way to their actual vacation in New Zealand. They're also 'stopping over' here on their way home. It has become a 'new tradition' of sorts since Choya came along. I'm appreciative of their love for us. 

I had suggested eating out on Thanksgiving Day. They would not hear of it. They said they would eat my cooking. They didn't mind simplicity. They claimed that they would rather eat my food than any restaurant's items that might be too rich and induce the runs for them, rendering them in agony for their 9am flight out the next day. I was like..... 'and you think MY food won't give you the runs?'

Anyway, I succumbed and agreed to cook them dinner. Very few people can coerce me to cook. Accccck. Now, I'm not a cook. I can provide edible food, and that's it. Chicken it is this year too! It was chicken curry last year. No more of that. I shall do it sous vide. Nobody is that fond of turkey in this home. I most certainly do not want to deal with a slippery butterball that can't quite fit inside the oven. Imagine the cleaning of the burnt grease after. Ugh. 

I certainly didn't mind doing sous vide chicken since I was prepping that for the floofs too. But for the humans, I marinated the meat for a bit and seared it in the pan first before sous-viding. Searing it would lend that brown loveliness to the tenderness of the sous-vide meat. 

I didn't do a whole chicken. I did chicken breast for floofs and humans. All these people like chicken breast. They wanted to tank up on protein as well. To be honest, they can't get 2-kg of chicken breast at restaurants unless they pre-order it. This morning, I had no issues buying 2.5-kg of chicken breasts at the grocer's for tonight's dinner. 500g were apportioned for the floofs. Teheheheheh.

Dinner turned out pretty edible. The easy marinade was lovely — with fish sauce, garlic, shallots and spices, and the meat was sooooo tender. I didn't bother with a salad. I did throw coriander on the side since some weird people like coriander. I made Asian stir-fried greens with store-bought broccoli, homegrown nai bai and shanghai greens, and carrots. I did feed them carbs. Made two pots of rice — a plain basmati, and an autumn-flavored rice with a bit of mushroom dashi, pumpkin, mushrooms and chestnuts. It was an odd little meal that nobody seemed to mind. 

I also quietly heaved a sigh of relief and whispered a prayer of thanksgiving that Choya is okay without symptoms of tick fever. It's been a week and a half since the clean removal of that damn tick. I know clearly that the preventives would work as they are supposed to. But I still worry. 

We had an early dinner because the husband was heading out for a jam session. Suited us fine. The Aunts woke up early and were still kinda jet-lagged, and the earlier meal complemented their stomachs. They stayed on for a bit before they returned to the hotel to pack up. That was a most lovely evening.

May we be blessed by God as we share this food and as we work and live together for the good of all.

Protein & Fibre for Everyone

Left tray: For humans. Right tray: For floofs.

It was time to steam up another batch of broccoli, pumpkin and carrots for the floofs. I decided to also steam fish for them. I didn't have time to go to the wet market, so to Meidi-ya it was for pure convenience. 

There were lovely fillets of threadfin (ikan kurau) and sea bream (tai). Got both trays of fish. Humans would settle dinner with these fish too. Tai stands up to being frozen better than kurau. But they would both do. The floofs would enjoy it. They do love fish, and by now, they have rather discerning tastebuds when it comes to fish.

The carrots, pumpkin and broccoli were done super fast and neatly placed into soft silicone trays to cool. They would be frozen. Some of those trays would be going out to a tiny floof. Choya wouldn't take that much broccoli or carrots. Her usual BOMBOM packs of food held enough fibre. For Choya, I mainly steam pumpkin to stock in the fridge. #ImpieCooks2025

For us humans, our steamed fillets were done with spring onions, salted plums, chillies and soy sauce. Ahhhhh.... the fish was gorgeous. Worth eating the skin too. I added a stir-fried kyabetsu with dried shrimps and fish sauce, and oyster mushrooms. We didn't need rice or noodles. So this was a rather filling high-protein low-carb dinner.

Food for Floofs!

Spent an afternoon at the stove. Steamed the usual pumpkin, broccoli and carrots for a little Ozi. I kinda do it monthly since I needed to keep a stash of pumpkin the freezer for Choya and Ryo. That's the magic ingredient for the dogs. It provides fiber and soothes the gut. Thankfully all the floofs like pumpkin, although they are picky about what type of pumpkin used. LOL

I made a batch of sous vide chicken breast for the husband. Marinated them thoroughly and added paprika. He's back to a low-carb diet, so I might as well keep some extra protein in the fridge every now and then. Since the sous vide box is out, I might as well do a bag for the floofs. That would just hold herbs and a touch of salt flakes. 

Choya doesn't take to raw chicken. She likes sous vide chicken a lot better. Or when we do roast chicken. Heh. So I try to put a bit of water into the bag to have some 'broth/gravy' for the floofs. Also thawed out the last three cubes of kangaroo and seared them for her. 

I even bothered to fry up some cabbage in fish sauce and peppers for the humans. I already have all the ingredients from things for the floofs. There would be no wastage. Added dried shrimps too, since the husband likes that. I always prefer to eat the vegetables I cook, rather than the over-salted versions at restaurants. So I do try to keep a few servings of vegetables at home weekly. Done in an easy Asian stir-fry, they're really tasty. 

Ryo was staying with us this week. He can't do chicken, and obviously no chicken eggs. So I seared him a flank steak. 200g would feed him over four meals — that's like a topper to his raw base. This boy is into grain-fed beef, and lightly cooked. He's somehow not very interested in gamey meats like kangaroo or venison. He's not even that keen on grass-fed beef. When I seared this flank steak, I could only put a wee bit of salt on it, and absolutely no herbs. He doesn't like vegetables or herbs either. Ugh. 

I technically only have Choya, but I tell people that I feed three dogs. Hurhurhur. I know all their food preferences and intolerances. Well, I can have Ryo and Ozi too since they're all approved to stay in my home, just not at the same time.

Teochew Fish Soup for Choya

I was quite tickled by all the businesses in Singapore doing their thing and trotting out SG60-branded products and food items. The Grateful Pet put out a 'Teochew Fish Soup'. They included cuttlefish and seaweed in there too. Excellent!

I hopped out to buy it at a store. I didn't bother with delivery because the brand's delivery timings don't match my schedule and I'm not buying that many packs. Vanillapup now located at the convenient Cluny Court stocks the soup packs and buying it from them is convenient.  

I shall get a fillet of fish and steam some slices for Choya to match it with this pack of fish soup. That would save me some effort in boiling down fish bones. Muahahaha. The Grateful Pet used barramundi. Choya isn't a fan of barramundi. I didn't have time to hunt down ikan kurau. Bought a slab of buri (鰤). Choya loves it as sashimi; the rest would be steamed and frozen to be saved for the next few weeks. 

Thawed out the pack 'Teochew Fish Soup' for a few hours in the fridge. This broth can be refrozen. The whole 240ml pack is too much for Choya to finish even in a week. I squeezed out 120ml of jellied blobs out, and chucked the rest back into the freezer. This 120ml can stay in the fridge and last Choya for three days.

Choya ate the buri as sashimi on the day I bought it. It was simply as a topper to her food. She does love her fish raw. The next day, it was time for lunch. So she can't be having all fish as lunch. She would need her usual base protein of venison, plus all the different offal and bone grind. That would go on one plate.

I placed the fish in the fish broth and heated it up for 20 seconds. It smelt divine. Choya obviously smelt it too, and from being fast asleep in her room, she zoomed to the kitchen and promptly laid down to wait for her meal.   

Choya loved this combination of her base meal, and a separate little bowl of fish and broth. She eats fairly daintily, and doesn't usually make a mess at all. She likes being neat, and she doesn't eat fast. I don't need need to use a slow feeder on her. She was pleased with what she saw. She carefully smelt both plates to discern what's for lunch, and went for the fish first. Hehehe. 

Dunking broccoli and carrots in broth is the only way to convince Choya to eat them. And she did. Although she still left them to the last bit because she doesn't like them. She ate them to taste more of the broth. Tehehehhe.

Grilled Chicken Rice & More!

N didn't even bother listening to me and told me and the husband to just turn up with empty stomachs. When she was flying out the next day, we didn't want her to cook. But she did. She said it was easy chicken rice. Riiiight, with a ton of side dishes. Okaaaaay. Our stomachs are happy about it, but we felt bad that she made so much effort. To appreciate that, we ate LOADS. Teheheheheh. 

N was experimenting and the chicken was grilled instead of steamed. That worked too. Prawn omelette, stir-fried greens, tofu and a soup. There was even a plate of Hakka abacus that I had no idea why it was included, but it was rather tasty. Wheeeee. The homecooked food was fabulous lah. What a feast!

We had drinks — champagne, reds and whisky as a digestif. Might have overdone it a little. I was so stuffed that I couldn't really finish the dessert of homebaked brownie with Hokkaido milk ice-cream. I ate all the fruits though. Heh. Before we knew it, it was 10.45pm! Totally time to go home, otherwise our poor friends would have to stay up till 2am to clean up. The kiddos were just faffing around being derpy. They were quite happy to chill out near us. And asked for bits of cheese.  

Kangaroo Medium-Rare

I was so tickled when S delivered a small pack of kangaroo meat in small cubes for Choya. Apparently she didn't pay for it. She was just having a regular chat with her usual butcher, stocking up on her meats and all for the home, and the dude decided to give her some lean cubes of kangaroo for the Choya. Ahahaha. 

The meat was fairly lean — they weren't off-cuts — they were good quality. I also had radish and some bell peppers and coriander. Alrighty. That would add loads of nutrients and flavors to the dog's meal. Yes, dogs can have bell peppers, perhaps not raw, but cooked, for sure. Heated up the pan to sear some roo for the dog. Took out four cubes; I seared them medium-rare. 

Choya doesn't fancy raw kangaroo for some reason. She doesn't mind it, but not as a daily base. She likes it seared for texture. Today, she had the roo as an afternoon snack. Wheeee. The rest of it would be added as a topper to her meal the next day. She loved it. She deigned to have a slice of radish and a bit of bell pepper. She slurped up the coriander. This girl loves coriander. 

Sent S a bunch of photos of Choya's meal and the prep. She was so so tickled too. She was like, 'WHUT — are you sure y'all not stealing her food?' Thank yooooou, S. Choya is such a blessed floof lah.