A Gift {Recipe: No Sugar, No Egg, No Milk Banana Bread}

Barely five years ago, whilst finding myself elbows deep in mixer rumblings, greasy butter and flying flour, traipsing alone in the kitchen in the dark of the night working on orders, a thought that would constantly fill my head was the day when, God willing, I will have someone to bake for. A little someone, to be precise. That the day will come when all this practice of working on adorable cartoon-themed, rainbow-coloured sweet treats topped with hand-moulded sugary figurines will come in handy for my own little one. The day I will get to see the tiny-toothed smile, cheeky grins my clients had always told me of; only this time, it will be the best gift to myself, to see my own child enjoy my work.

Fast forward four years later, whilst finding myself pinned down on the stomach by a determined one-year-old trying to snatch my glasses by the bedside, yanking my hair and nose in the wee hours of the morning, a thought that plays in my head is that the day has come, all praises to God, when I have my own little someone to bake for. And as fate would have decreed it, those years of practice did not exactly come to play the way I had imagined it to be ever since I donned the mommy badge. With my oven dead and replacement plans on halt till our new place comes along, and with the realisation that I am not exactly comfortable with loading my child with refined sugars, food colourings and dirty dozens, baking for my little A comes with a twist; from the airfryer, and with no added (refined) sugar, and no egg and dairy (under one year old).  And with every baking day, I get to see that tiny-toothed smile, cheeky grin, and excited hand-flapping action accompanying “Mmmm!”, and deep inside, I know that I have given her the best gift I can, a healthier (yet still fluffy and delicious) version of one of my favourite baked goods.

Put an Oat On it [Recipe: Oat-Crusted French Toast with Strawberry Compote]

The last few weeks had been whizzing past, with the days merely denoted as pre- and post- Baby A’s birthday. That’s right, it has been a year (and a week now) since I became a parent, and what a wonderful year it has been! Needless to say, a great birthday celebration was in order, though really much more down-scaled and intimate than it might sound, since the birthday parties (yes, two) were really just with my immediate family (A’s the youngest of tiny lil cousins!), and the mister’s. Amidst handmade decor and birthday cake(s) by yours truly, and self-designed birthday invites and goodie bags by the mister, along with being on 24/7 baby watch, it is no wonder that the past month felt like it flew before its time. But enough of the birthday for now, I hope to share with you more soon, once I’ve filtered through photos. Rookie parent mistake: too busy preparing for everything, not enough proper photos!

Now on to today’s recipe: I know what you’re thinking. Either I really love my french toast, or I really love my breakfast food. The former, not so much, though I have to be honest it has really gone up the list of things-to-do-when-your-bread-is-expiring, knocking my much beloved bread pudding off its pedestal, thanks to the ease and quick gratification. The latter, a huge resounding yes, I do love my breakfast food, and given a choice, I would probably have it for every meal of the day. That is, until you tempt me with something along the lines of pasta, or chicken, or pasta with chicken; owh yeah.

Oats, or specifically rolled oats, has become such a large part of my life that I’ve started to Nutella it. That’s right, I’m using Nutella as a verb, because it is that important. Much like Nutella, I’ve begun to add rolled oats in practically everything;- my morning smoothie, my nightly warm malted drink, my pantry-clearing salad, and my sweetest desserts. And so it shouldn’t come as a surprise that I had inadvertently decided to throw in some rolled oats one morning while preparing my french toast. Now, I know french toast is somewhere up there with eggs;- every one has a specific type they prefer. Some prefer their french toasts fluffy and soft, some like it moist and almost gooey, and others prefer it with just a bit of bite to it. These oat-crusted french toasts would satiate the tastebuds of the first and third camps. The crisp crust promises a grainy, nutty flavour with every bite, concurrently easing you into the smooth fluffy bread itself. As for the strawberry compote? It really is just the proverbial show-stopping icing on the cake.

Rise & Shine Carnival – A Giveaway! (Recipe: Cranberry Oatmeal Muffins)

Rise & Shine is a movement started by a group of mothers with the mission to provide parents and educators an opportunity to learn, share and identify holistic approaches in raising healthier and happier children. The Rise & Shine Carnival – Singapore’s Largest Breakfast Fiesta is happening this March 3rd, and in true blue Singapore fashion, it will be an attempt to set the new record for the biggest breakfast picnic turnout. With a fun-filled line-up of gigantic bouncy castles, balloon sculpting, face-painting, and sports tryouts (fencing, golf, soccer and wushu) for the little ones ones, as well as pediatric massage and nutritional food demonstrations for parents, there is surely something for every one at the Rise & Shine Carnival.

The Rise & Shine Carnival kickstarts the movement’s efforts which include outreach to parents at public libraries and preschools, access for parents to a panel of experts, extensive online resources, and its flagship activity – the Rise & Shine Expo, the only children’s healthcare and development expo in Singapore held from 27 to 29 September 2013 at Suntec Singapore International Convention & Exhibition Centre Hall 401.

Now, in my previous post, I had mentioned about the inaugural Rise & Shine campaign;- or more specifically their breakfast campaign which resulted in that yummy granola berry parfait;- along with a little surprise for my readers. As some of you might have guessed, I have a little giveaway: TWO sets of TWO adult tickets for the upcoming Rise & Shine Carnival!