Hijacked post! (or a visit to the Science Centre)

Packrat has the kids every Saturday morning while I'm at work.
All 3 of them. And here he is, writing about what he does while I'm at work. You will see how the Mommy rules don't count when Mommy isn't around i.e. Incriminating evidence of Muffin scarfing down a hash brown. But who am I to say anything when I'm not there?

For Father's Day, the Daddy Matters group invited mum bloggers to allow their husbands to "take over" our blogs and say anything they want for one post. Here's Packrat hijacking my blog.
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I've never really forgotten the Singapore Science Centre. I was brought there as a kid in Primary school and I remember being fascinated by the various exhibits that we got to interact with. I remember a pin impression exhibit that I was particularly obsessed by because of the weird feeling you got when you put your hand under it and I remember that being the one thing that I kept going back to.

Good times.

So I was thrilled when JED were finally old enough to be brought to the science centre and curious enough to geek out about the exhibits like I used to.

Boy, have things changed.

The Science Centre has upgraded itself completely and I'm glad to say that it's still a lot of fun.

Of course, there's a McDonald's there now where there is the obligatory hotcakes meal to begin the day with. And we had the great company of JED's Uncle Mark and Auntie Sylvia in tow, who they promptly took advantage of.

The focus of the day was the new Megabugs exhibition (On till the 18th of August, 2013). As has been the case with JED, Giant Bugs? Yes, Please!

The kids all got age appropriate activities books and they dived in immediately.

There was an interesting exhibit just outside of the annex hall where there were insect inspired fashion designs. Very cool.

We were taken through a "time tunnel" which brought us to prehistoric sized insects which both fascinated JE while making Muffin a little uncomfortable.

Well, they didn't lie about the mega bit of the megabugs. The exhibits were big!

While the exhibits did capture the kids' imaginations, the highlight for me was the guide that took us through it all. A retiree volunteer at the Science Centre, he was an engineer by trade but also a lifelong learner that supplemented what he had studied about the exhibits with nuggets of information that he had learned from other visitors to the exhibits. I was inspired by the man who had such a great passion for learning and teaching and I could see that beyond all the cool "stuff" that the Science Centre had for kids to play with, it was a place for learning...and I could see no better guide than the gentleman who took us through.

He engaged the older kids and was very informative about the various bugs that we saw there. If you have an opportunity to catch him there, ask him about the Madagascar Hissing Cockroaches or Stick Insects. He's quite the treasure trove of information.

All in all, the kids had a grand time going to the Science Centre. And as a father, I'm glad that I got to share this with them. I'm also glad to say that there's still a sense of wonder that bubbles to the surface when I enter the hallowed halls.

Technorati Tags: JED, JED, Mega Bugs, Fathers' Day

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Dear Papa Series: We have much sass

Dear Packrat,
You are on your way back and it has been a long and exhausting 16 days. But it has also been full of ticklish moments worthy of chuckles and a record for posterity. Before you left, you told Evan that he had to be the man of the house while you were away. He's been serious about the responsibility and has even tried to pull a quick one over me. It happened mostly when he ran out of cards and he would use it as his 'get out of jail free' card.

Evan: Can we have dinner in front of the tv?
Mommy: No. You know the rules. Dinner first. Then tv if there is time.
Evan: Why?
Mommy: Because I'm the boss and I say so.
Evan: But I am the man of the house.
Mommy: Really? Who made you so?
Evan: Papa said so. And Papa is bigger than you. So since Papa is not here, I am bigger than you. 

Sass.

There wasn't much of a retort after that because I figured I would add it to the long list of things that you need to deal with when you get back.

Then there is Muffin. His sass isn't as refined as his brother's yet but it seems to be headed in the same direction. His sass usually comes from his rubber face expressions he uses to show what he really thinks. But in the recent weeks, the increase in his vocabulary has translated into verbal sass.

Mommy: What is your favourite food, Muffin?
Muffin: Rice. Chicken.
Mommy: Carrots?
Muffin: Rabbit eat Carrot. Go hop hop. Muffin, boy. Go chicken, Mmm!

Mommy: Muffin, are you a boy?
Muffin: Yes.
Mommy: What about Mommy?
Muffin: Mommy is a shark. Snap snap!

Mommy: What animal is Papa?
Muffin: Bear!
Mommy: Why?
Muffin: Bear Big. Papa Big.

 

Does Jordan have sass? Definitely. That girl has sass coming out of her ears. But for the last few days, what's stood out about her has been more the fact that she is intent on (s)mothering her brothers in a bid to 'help' me. That's commendable on her part and funny to watch to, as her brothers swat her off like she were an annoying, buzzing fly!

This concludes the Dear Papa series because you're home in a couple of hours. Methinks you should totally receive 'spousal hardship' allowance because I'm taking you bling shopping!

Technorati Tags: pre-schoolers, Things preschoolers say

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Dear Papa: We ate quinoa today, willingly!

Dear Packrat,
Today has been a long day. We had a play date with Godma Cat in the morning, followed by a speedy lunch and then make up and costume for the twins' first stage appearance. To top off all that, it was Hari Raya Haji so Kakak was off. This meant, I was on my own with JED from the point that the concert was over.

Thankfully, it doesn't panic me as much as it would have 5 years ago and in fact, I was actually looking forward to just hanging with them and unwinding after the extremely frenetic day. The only thing was that I wasn't entirely keen on cooking after we got home. Tired kids meant volatile kids which would ultimately mean crying kids. That combination basically meant that cooking at that point was out of the question. In fact, being out of whichever room they were in at that point was out of the question as well.

The 2 options were buy in, which would have meant chicken/ char siew rice or having to cook it early in the day. I picked the latter option. Of late, I have been trying to come up with easy-to-pack meals so that I could start sending packed/ bento lunches to school for the twins; especially these two weeks with dress rehearsals and excursion days. And I've been thinking of the frittatas that we had eaten in Melbourne, pre-kids. The problem was that I couldn't remember the recipe we used then. Thankfully, with Google and Allrecipes.com, I managed to cobble together a recipe that I thought might work. My only worry was whether or not JED would eat it. It would be a first for them.

And by making this, it was a first for me in many ways
1. I added quinoa to adult cooking. JED have had quinoa hidden in the porridge for the better part of the year but I have never cooked a dish that had only quinoa in it.

2. I cooked with bacon. Which sounds like an inherent contradiction with the quinoa. The bacon wasn't really necessary but I do miss the smell of it and I thought that might entice the kids to eat it.

3. I used my HappyCall pan for the very first time. If I use it often enough, I will get very muscular arms. Heavy.

The outcome?

JED loved it. Perhaps it was bacon. Perhaps they were hungry. Or perhaps, just perhaps, it was that good. It will definitely go into their boxes next week when they go out with the school.

JED call it ham pie. Fritatta is just too weird a word for them. I'm happy they ate it. It took away a lot of stress from a long exhausting day, especially to see them so happy to eat it and asking for seconds. I made enough for my dinner but I ended up only eating the crusts and bottom bits because all three demanded more.

For posterity, I shall record the recipe here, just so that I won't lose it again.

6 eggs (for those who worry about cholesterol, this isn't a recipe you  to try)
Diced up grill meat (Chicken thigh fillets, thinly sliced beef, ham, turkey, crocodile if so desired!) 
1 bowl of Shredded zuchinni (We shredded the yellow ones and there was enough for 2 different frittata occasions)
1/4 bowl of shredded carrot
1/4 bowl of chopped up broccoli
2 tablespoons of olive oil
1/3 cup quinoa grain (boiled in water separately till all the water has soaked into the quinoa. That takes about 15 minutes)

50g (3 slices) of streaky beacon (if you don't intend to eat it, the back bacon type if you do!)
Chopped up garlic and onion

Topping
Mozzarella Cheese
Cheddar Cheese
Parmesan Cheese

Instructions 
In a bowl, using a fork or whisk, beat eggs, olive oil, diced up meat and the shredded vegetables altogether.  Heat pan, add olive oil, fry the onions & garlic till fragrant, add bacon. Fry for a bit till smell of bacon wafts!
Add the egg mixture to the pan. Don't add in the cheese till the mixture is almost cooked.
Close pan. Shuffle pan every 3 mins to left, right then centre. Once the egg mixture has firmly formed, flip pan. Shuffle pan again but a minute each position. Flip pan again. Open pan, insert toothpick to check for doneness.
Sprinkle the cheese on to the top of the cooked frittata and then DO NOT FLIP the pan anymore.
Allow cheese to melt and brown before turning off the fire. 
To take egg frittata out of pan, hold down a large enough dish onto the egg. Flip it out (you probably need 2 people to do this).

Without the pan, the oven works as well too. Just heat oven to 200 degrees C and put the fritatta in. But sprinkle cheese on before putting the whole pie in!

Of course, Evan had to be weird and ask to eat it with ketchup and tartar sauce. It is his new sauce of choice. He eats everything with tartar sauce.


Technorati Tags: lone parenting, healthy eating, Child Friendly Recipes

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