Back In Mongolia

We are now officially back in Mongolia. Have been back since 16 August 2009. It has been tough since we have been back. NO HOT WATER TIL 26 AUGUST! So I have been boiling pots and pots of water since we are back. Have not had a proper hot shower for a week now. Crap.

I have not found a full time babysitter to help me. So far, I have found a babysitter to help me from 9am to 1pm every weekday. She helps me with Cameron, so that I can start preparations for Cayden's lunch and our dinner.

My schedule goes like this:

6+am - Cayden and Cameron wakes up. Lester gives Cayden breakfast & Cameron his milk.
7.40am - I wake up and prepare for Cameron's bath
8am - Bath Cameron and feed Cameron remainder of milk
9am - Put Cameron down for morning nap.
9am to 10am - I take my coffee and do laundry, light housework.
10am - Cameron wakes up. Babysitter takes over.
10am to 11am - Prepare food
11am - Give Cameron his milk
11.30am - Start to cook lunch
12pm - Put Cameron down for afternoon nap
12.30pm - Give Cayden lunch.
1.30pm - Cayden takes his nap.
2pm - Cameron wakes up (on a good day)
2 to 2.30pm - Playtime with Cameron
2.30pm - Feed Cameron
3.30pm - Cayden wakes up. Give him a snack or hot drink
4pm - Put Cameron down for short nap
4pm - Cook dinner.
4.30pm - Cameron wakes up.
5pm - Give Cayden his dinner.
6pm - Bathe Cameron and put him to sleep while Cayden watches TV
7pm - Bathe Cayden
7.30pm - Dinner & give Cayden his bedtime milk.
8.30pm - Put Cayden to sleep
9pm - Bath
11pm - Night feed for Cameron
3/4am - Night feed for Cameron

This is absolutely exhausting. Not the best time of my life now.

Fingers crossed that I can find a good full time help to help with housework AND kids.

Cameron

This is Cameron. 3.4kg

Cayden's Latest...

Went to the peds and had Cayden weighed. He has lost weight.

Weight: 17.8kg

Hmmm... not too good. Time to start cooking for him again.

Jan 2009 - Cayden's Update

We brought Cayden to his pediatrician for his annual flu jab, and also for a general health check.

His latest stats is
Weight: 18kg
Height: 103cm

Peds noted that he can draw quite well. Our camera is spoiled at the moment, but will upload pics of his drawings after we get it fixed.

Matcha and Red Bean Butter Cake

Another cake. This time, I was really inspired by HHB. I love all green tea cakes - chiffon cake, butter cake, swiss roll etc... It did not turn out too sweet, like HHB's because I used homemade red bean paste instead of the canned ones. It has a subtle green tea flavour, but I couldn't really detect the red bean. Nevertheless, it was still delicious.

The recipe can be obtained here.

Cream Cheese Bread Loaf

I had a block of cream cheese left and I have to use it up before our trip back to Singapore. I remembered that I came across a cream cheese bread loaf recipe in one of the baking blogs that frequently visit. The blogger commented that its one of the softest bread she has baked so I decided to bake it! Its such a challenge to find soft bread here in Mongolia. The bread loafs here are all dry and crumbly. Not like the Gardenia bread that we are so used to in Singapore.




The bread turned out really soft, just the way I like my bread. Lester thought it was ok, but I discounted his opinion as he is not a bread fan.



This is the recipe I used, courtesy of KWF

Choc Chip Cookies

Had a craving for chocolate chip cookies the other day. Not the soft and chewy type, but the crunchy type. Went online and found a recipe from Allrecipes. They turned out really good! I substituted the all purpose flour with bread flour, as I read that it will help to make the cookies crunchier. I also do not have any shortening, so I used all butter instead.



Recipe from All Recipes site.

145 g butter flavored shortening (I omitted this and used butter instead)
150 g butter, softened
200 g white sugar
220 g packed light brown sugar
2 eggs
15 ml vanilla extract
440 g all-purpose flour ( I substituted with bread flour)
5 g baking soda
6 g salt
120 g chopped pecans (optional) - I omitted this
335 g semisweet chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
2. In a large bowl, cream together the shortening, butter, white sugar, and brown sugar until smooth. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the vanilla. Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt; stir into the creamed mixture. Stir in the pecans and chocolate chips. Use a measuring tablespoon to round dough into balls. Don't roll the balls, just make them rounded. Place onto ungreased baking sheets.
3. Bake 10 to 12 minutes in the preheated oven, or until centers are set and very lightly browned. Don't overbake. Cool 2 to 3 minutes before removing from baking sheets.