Cooking With Kids - Making Fried Wantons

 The kids love to help around the house. They especially love to help in the kitchen. Recently, I made fried wantons and got my two little helpers to help out. They enjoyed it very much. They love putting the filling into  the wanton wrappers, then 'gluing' them up with the egg white 'glue' and arranging them out on the plate like a flower. It is rather like playing, only better. They get to eat up the 'toy' afterwards.

Cooking With Kids - Making Fried Wantons

 Here is my girl laying out the finished wanton on a plate

 All the wantons are neatly arranged onto the plates by the kids. They each had a plate but fought over the skins, the fillings etc.

Into the frying pan goes the wanton.

So many wantons for so few of us but we managed to clean out both the plates. 

We used store bought wanton skins. As for the filling, we used minced chicken and chopped carrots. That was all the ingredients we had in the house at the time. Mummy forgot to add salt to the filling, so everyone had to eat the wantons with some sauce for taste. 

Cooking with kids is a fun activity. We can only do this during the school holidays as during school days, the kids schedule are full ...... with homework.

Kids Role Playing

The kids had fun role playing to the max at Kidzania recently. First, they got to don pilot uniforms and use a flight simulator to pretend at being pilots. Then, they got to pretend to be electrical technicians and worked with a team to repair a faulty street lamp.

Then they became investigators to investigate the case of some stolen data from a laptop, they got the clue to key in a computer and when the fingerprint was matched, they found the culprit.

They also joined a city parade and went Christmas caroling with some other kids. They sang "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town" to a guitarist strumming with Santa and an Elf in the parade too.

They also got to become reporters and had to interview a bank staff about how to open a bank account and get an ATM card. They were given a real digital camera to take a photograph of the bank employee too and got to publish their news on a real newspaper and take it home. Oh yes, before they became a journalist, they went to college to study journalism so that they would get paid extra for having a degree.

This was their second trip to Kidzania. Most of the activities they selected were the ones which they get paid a salary, they didn't want to go for those others in which they had to pay to attend an activity. Finally, when they had to leave, they didn't want to buy any souvenirs with their hard earned kidzos. They banked it all in for their next trip.

"Mom, we don't want to buy those silly stuff which cost so much. We want to use it for activities the next time. It is more worth it."

I wish they had places like these when I was a kid. It is so much fun. When my girl heard that, she said they should have a Kidzania for adults too. Now, that would be interesting. I wouldn't mind 'working' in a beauty salon or jewelry shop and I want to try making an ice-cream from an ice-cream machine or making chocolates or yoghurt and...

Dad said they would be bored after one or two more trips when they have tried it all but I don't think so. There are still quite a few other activities they have not tried and they have already expressed the wish to do some of those they have tried once again.

Frugal Living As Parents

Once you start a family and when your family grows, so do your expenses. This starts from the time your children are babies. There are so many things a baby needs, baby food, baby clothing, baby diapers, baby bathtubs, baby cribs, baby strollers, baby chairs just to name a few. None of these things come cheap.

So, how do you practice frugal living as a parent? One way is to try to get free baby stuff. You can get diaper samples, free baby clothing, free baby bottles and more from sponsoring companies. Besides free baby stuff, another way is to shop using coupons. So, make sure you hunt for and shop using coupons. This is another good way to live frugally as parents. In fact, shopping using coupons is useful for everyone, not just parents.

Besides being frugal, sometimes you can get quite useful stuff for your babies like free baby planners, baby growth trackers and others. All of these little things go a long way and will be very useful for bringing up baby.

Quick Tips on How To Live Frugally As A Parent

• Get free baby stuff
• Shop using coupons
• Accept and use hand me downs or second hand stuff
• Recycle baby stuff for your next baby

Do you have any other frugal living tips as parents you would like to share?

Drawing Up A Will And Testament Online

Drawing up a will and testament can be a really daunting task. So, I am happy to know that like everything else these days, you can now draw up a will and testament online. I love doing things online. It makes life so much more easy and convenient.

I haven't gotten round to drawing a will yet but as parents, I think this is something we all should think about doing. I'm glad that now drawing up a will and testament can be done online. For example, in one online wills service website, all you need to do is to fill up a questionaire, then your relevant documents will be drawn up by a law firm. After that you will receive your texas will and last testament by mail or email followed by instructions on how to sign it. You can draw up a will as an individual and there are couples wills too. I didn't know about that.

Doing things online has not only added convenience to our lives, it also has made what was once a daunting, tedious and difficult process much more easy including difficult paperwork and legal issues like drawing up wills. I love technology! However, one caution when doing things online. Always look for secure sites and those that maintain high levels of security especially if you will be giving away personal information.

Origami Santa Claus Craft For Kids

Christmas is just around the corner. I can hear and see Christmas in the air when I visit the shopping malls filled with Christmas decorations and holiday music. If you are a parent to young kids, now is the time to spend some time with them making some easy Santa Claus crafts for kids. Making crafts together with kids is a special bonding moment that shouldn't be missed. At 8 and 10 years old, my kids have almost outgrown this special time where they want to sit down and do crafts together. I surely miss those early years when we used to do that a lot.

Anyway, here is an easy Santa Claus Craft for kids which I found online. It is an adorable origami Santa Claus Craft. It is easy enough for kids to do but adults may enjoy it too so you will have fun making it for your kids.

The instructions for this Origami Santa Claus can be found here on the Hoikuakira blog. It is a Japanese blog but don't worry if you can't read Japanese, the blogger has given very clear step by step pictorial instructions on how to make this cute little origami Santa Claus.

You can place this Origami Santa Claus on homemade Christmas cards or use it as a homemade paper Christmas Ornament. You can even add it to a Christmas scene picture and frame it up. Use your creativity and have fun!

If you or someone you know has been asked to be Santa Claus this year, then do check out my Squidoo Lens on How To Be Santa Claus. Otherwise you can hop over here to have a look at what modes of transportation Santa can use apart from his usual reindeer in 10 Fun Inflatable Santa Claus Decorations For Your Yard.

Doctor, Lawyer Or Accountant?

The kids were having a conversation about what they want to be when they grow up. Usually, the girl wants to either write a book or sell something. The boy on the other hand wants to be a builder or the person who sells books, or the one who opens the restaurant. I guess, it must come from the building toys he likes to play with and the restaurants we visit after our weekly trips to the book store. That is why one wants to be an author and the other one wants to be a publisher because he thinks he will make more money selling than writing books.

Neither of them wants to be a doctor, lawyer or accountant though. I guess papa wants them to be a doctor because he says it is good to help others and doctors help others. Mama on the other hand is thinking about all those long hours they will have to be keeping or being kept on their toes from being on call all the time and the depression that may set in from seeing sick people all the time.

Oh dear, perhaps a lawyer or accountant may be a better thing. These days its even easy to get continuing legal education online. West Legal Ed Center is an example of that.

Whatever it is, whatever the children choose to become when they grow up, the most important thing to me is they are happy and healthy.

Artificial Turf Is A Good Idea

I like some greens around my house but all I have are tiles and concrete. Courtesy of the previous owner who removed the turn and tiled up the whole porch area. This is good for parking cars but it makes the house lack character. I place potted green plants around the porch but they are not the same as green grass.

However, one thing that I can't keep up with is the grass cutting. If I have grass in my porch, then I have to trim it. I was thinking that artificial turn is probably a good idea. It'll give the house some green and I don't have to trim, especially now that the maid is gone. With teaching the kids and keeping the house clean, I hardly even have time to water my potted greens on my porch, not to mention having any turf real or artificial.

Unfortunately, we have two cars and only a small space to park them. So I guess, installing artificial turf is just an idea I'll have to shelf for now, not unless I want to install the artificial turn inside the house. That would be nice too but only if I have a big house with an indoor garden, and a pond and a water feature or fountain. Yes, dream on girl, dream on.

New Furby Colors

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