Know your fuzzy/micom/microcomputer rice cooker to make QUICK DINNERS

I love the Japanese brands of rice cooker for they can make very fluffy and yummy rice.

But! It takes 40 minutes to cook one and a quarter cup of white rice.

So!

Go to the user manual of your rice cooker and look for Quick Cook settings. That takes just 20 minutes to cook the rice.

We need our dinners done under 30 minutes (the most realistic amount of time we need, as working mummies)!

5 minutes to wash the rice, 20 minutes to cook (while you prepare other dishes) and 5 minutes to serve! 🙂

Get home by 7pm and dinner can be ready by 7.30pm.

Mind off / Time off

All of us need that 10 to 20 minutes time off from our hectic life. Probably twice a day at the very least.

Blog, read or just play mobile games for that 10 to 20 minutes.

I know mummies who smoke so that they get that short break.

Why not just lock yourself in the bathroom (make sure the kids are safe, sleeping in a safe place, infant in the playard with nothing in the bassinet, doors and windows are locked, kids are engrossed in a safe activity that can last 10 minutes and / or someone whom you trust is watching the kids), and blog, read or play mobile games.

Why within 4 walls and a door? Do you have anyone else at home who tries to talk to you whenever you seem free or look like you have nothing to do? (Actually you just want a break, isn’t it)

Alright, not the bathroom then where?

The kitchen or the living room sofa then, if there’s no one else at home other than your kids and you 🙂

Grab an ice cream or a popsicle. Savour it and relax.

Worried? Then, time yourself. Give yourself 10-minute break by setting an alarm. When the time is up, just get back to your kick-arse-self mum mode.

Bread pizza (4-ingredient)

Get ready:

3 slices of white or wholemeal bread

Butter or Mayonnaise

Leggo’s Squeezy Pizza Sauce

Shredded Mozzarella or Kraft Sliced Cheese

Aluminum foil that can fit 3 bread slices with gap between the slices

Bread knife

Oven (pre-heat at 180°C for 10 minutes, I use top and bottom heating with wire tray at middle level)

Method

Cut/scoop out desired amount of butter or mayonnaise using the bread knife and spread it on both sides of each bread slice

Squeeze out pizza sauce on each bread slice and spread a thin layer on each slice (just use the same bread knife that was used for the butter/mayonnaise so that you have one less item to wash)

Sprinkle desired amount of shredded cheese or break into small pieces one piece of sliced cheese per bread slice

Bake for 8 minutes

Start washing up i.e. the bread knife

Minced Chicken porridge (5-ingredient)

Get ready:

Tools/Utensils

4L soup pot (I prefer to use the Thermos Shuttle Chef as it is tall and the porridge won’t bubble over easily when cooking)

Rice cup to measure water

Rice cooker

Soup scoop/Ladle + a bowl (to rest the ladle)

A gallon-sized Ziploc or Glad bag

A 1-tbsp scoop

**You will first need to wash the 3/4 cup of rice (rinse around 3 to 5 times till water is quite clear)

Then, soak the rice in 6 cups of water (for 20 minutes) using the 4L pot.

While the rice is soaking… Work on the ingredients. Set an alarm for 20 minutes.

Ingredients

Lee Kum Kee Freshly Minced Garlic

Tai Hua Light Soy Sauce

Woh Hup Oyster Sauce

330g – 350g minced chicken (You can easily buy this from NTUC Fairprice if you live in Singapore)

1 carrot (optional; if you have time or don’t mind having to wash the peeler, knife and chopping board)

1 egg (recommended; wear gloves to crack it when porridge is almost ready so that you don’t need to wash your hands just for this)

Method

Scoop out 1tbsp of minced garlic and dump into the gallon-sized Ziploc or Glad bag.

So as to not dirty your hands, use the clear transparent sides of the bag as a psuedo glove to dig out the minced garlic that are stuck to the scoop.

Pour 1tbsp of light sauce into the bag

Shake and pour out 1tbsp of oyster sauce and dump it into the bag.

Once again, dig out any sauce that get stuck inside scoop.

Massage the bag of marinade to mix well.

Place the minced chicken into the bag.

Massage the bag again to ensure the marinade and minced chicken are thrououghly mixed.

If you are adding carrots, wash, peel and cut the carrots into 1cm x 1cm quadrants or 2mm-thin slices.

Now, pour the bag of marinade into the 4L pot of rice and water. Mix well with a pair of disposable wooden chopsticks (one less item to wash). Ensure you break the minced chicken apart, they should not be clumping together.

Cover the pot.

Place the pot on a medium sized burner. Fire up the stove. Fire should not be surrounding your pot. The rings of fire should be right under the bottom of the pot.

Once the porridge boil, turn down the fire (smallest possible fire).

Start washing the used utensils e.g. tbsp scoop and/or peeler, knife, chopping board.

Simmer (cook on small fire) the porridge for 20 mins or until water is almost drying up. Crack the egg in when water is almost drying up and keep stirring till egg is cooked.

**When simmering, you will see bubbles climbing up the tall pot around every 5 minutes, open the pot and stir using the ladle – scrape the bottom every time you stir. I use a Teflon scoop so it doesn’t scratch the pot.