Food Discoveries

INCREASING MY BREASTMILK SUPPLY WITH MARIAN’S LACTATION BOOST

October 10, 2018 by Little Miss Honey 3,369 Comments

When Baby Zeke reached 4 months and a half, I noted my breastmilk supply significantly dropped. I aimed to breastfeed Zeke, even if it’s mixed feeding with formula milk, up until he turns 1 year old. So I was ecstatic to collaborate with Marian’s Lactation Boost who is one of the lifesavers to my depleting milk supply. Marian is a homebaker who focuses on baking lactation goodies to help mommies in their breastfeeding journey. She bakes yummy lactation boosters brownies, cookies, muffins and ice cream delivered in your doorstep to address mommies’ specific breastfeeding issues. Marian would ask for the mommy’s usual amount of milk pumped and how much the baby is drinking.

I had my lactation boosters delivered in my home one Saturday morning. It includes chocolate chip muffins, Oreo muffins, chocolate chip cookies with walnuts and Australian Milo ice cream. It came with a regimen for me to follow to help boost my milk.

Morning: 1 pc muffin + 200 ml Oats Milk + 400ml water

Cookies: 2-3 pc when hungry

Tea Time (4pm): 1 pc muffin + 400 ml water

2 hrs before bed: 2 pc cookies + 1 full cream milk/ 1 cup water

There are 11 diff types of lactogenic foods in the boosters, and it is safe and healthy for both adults and kids. However, there should be a limit to 1 muffin per day for kids because the ingredient may be too potent for their young digestive systems. But the ice cream can be given a little bit more to kids.

These are the main ingredients for boosting that was used by Marian which are mostly organic:

-Brewer yeast

-wholemeal oats

-steel cut oats

-wheat germ

-ground flaxseed

-flaxseed

-home made oats milk

-virgin coconut oil

-chia seeds

-coconut flakes

-ground fennel seeds

I enjoyed the delicious muffins and cookies. You can taste the healthy goodness of the ingredients that would help in increasing my milk. Eating them in scheduled hours of the day has been my favorite new habit. On weekends, my 2 toddlers, Naj & Fynn, and I indulged in the Australian Milo Ice Cream. Together with Marian’s Lactation Boost, I also upped my water intake and do power pumping on weekends. I make sure I would unli-latch Zeke when I am home and I would pump after breastfeeding Zeke. I also drink a pack of soya milk together with my lunch.

After 2 weeks, I did notice a huge improvement in my milk supply. Previously I would just collect 2 oz per pumping session. Now I can collect 4 to 6 oz per pumping session and Baby Zeke is definitely very happy with my milk output. No need to supplement with formula milk at night. He doesn’t cry at night because his milk is adequate.

For those breastfeeding mommies like me who wants to boost their milk supply or having breastfeeding supply issues, you can check out Marian’s Lactation Boost Facebook or Instagram.

Disclaimer: This is a sponsored post in collaboration with Marian’s Lactation Boost. All opinions are my own. Regardless, I only recommend products which I personally believe will be good for my readers.

CAFE MELBA: A KID-FRIENDLY RESTAURANT IN EAST, SINGAPORE

August 4, 2018 by Little Miss Honey 984 Comments

Being a mom of 3 young kids, I am grateful that Singapore has many child-friendly restaurants that can be a blessing if you want to meet up with fellow mommy friends. I get to catch up with my friends and my kids are happy that I brought them along. It is a win-win! There are several child-friendly restaurant in the East for me to choose from when my doctor-friend and I planned to meet up, bringing our kids along with us. I heard a lot about Cafe Melba so I suggested the restaurant to her.

Cafe Melba is perfectly located in the spacious area of Goodman Arts Centre. It’s name is derived from influences of Melbourne and Asia. Melb + A, get it? Hehe! It provides a relaxed vibe perfect for family and friends to enjoy a gourmet Australian-Asian fusion cuisine. Customers can enjoy the restaurant alfresco or indoors. There is a huge lawn for kids to run around and a big bouncy castle available everyday as long as weather permits. On weekdays, it is available from 3 pm to 8 pm and on weekends and public holidays, it is available from 9 am to 8 pm. Oh, my active 2 older boys love the bouncy castle. And it looked like most of the kids who were there enjoyed it too.

My friend and I loved that the kids were having fun while my helper was looking after them and we were able to catch up. We ordered some Western dishes and coffee while we chatted away. The vibe in the cafe very casual and just perfect for families and friends to get away from the bustle of the city.

On a weekend, the place was pretty crowded. We had to queue and wait for a table. We noticed a lot of Caucasian expats in the restaurant. The food wasn’t really spectacular and it was a bit expensive that the usual dining options. But then again, we are probably paying more for the ambience. Here are some of the foods we ordered:

Beef Burger

Chicken Bites

Hawaiian Pizza

Fish & Chips

It is good to note that on Mondays, kids can eat for free!

After a few hours, it rained so they need to deflate the bouncy castle much to the disappointment of the kids who came seem to get enough of it. We console them with ice cream which brought back the smiles into their faces.

Cafe Melba is a good venue for get-togethers, events, kids birthday party, and weddings. They have their own event coordinator with a tailored package for everyone. When we were there, the restaurant was actually preparing for a kids party. My kids were eyeing the purple and fuschia balloons for the party, hoping they can get hold of one. Hahaha!

If you are looking for a nice chill kid-friendly cafe in the East, you might want to check out Cafe Melba. If you are located in the West of Singapore, you can check out Cafe Melba at Mediapolis.

Cafe Melba at Goodman Arts Centre

90 Goodman Road

Goodman Art Centre

Block N #01-56

Singapore 439053

Tel no. 6440 6068

Website / Facebook / Instagram

TAMOYA UDON LAUNCHES TONKOTSU SPECIALS

July 14, 2018 by Little Miss Honey 1,692 Comments

I am recently obsessed with all things Japanese because I got hooked on this Japanese reality show called Terrace House. And that includes indulging in Japanese cuisine. I started getting familiar with Japanese dishes besides the usual sushi and Ebi tempura. There are lots of wonderful Japanese dishes that I have yet to try.

Last week, I went to Liang Court and meet with some fellow bloggers / instagrammers to try out the Tonkotsu Specials at Tamoya Udon.

Tamoya Udon was first established in 1994 by sanuki udon champion, Tamotsu Kurokawa. Tamayo is known to be one of most popular and loved Udon restaurants in Asia. Currently, it has 31 outlets across Japan, Taiwan, Vietnam, Indonesia and Singapore.

This May, Tamoya Udon launched their Tonkotsu Specials. Tonkotsu is a ramen dish that has originated in Fukuoka, Japan. It is a soup broth based upon pork bones & other ingredients with ramen noodles topped with a slice of pork belly. The Tonkotsu in Tamoya Udon boast of their creamy & rich broth from boiling the pork bone for many hours. We were privileged to try 3 Tonkotsu Specials that night:

TONKOTSU NEGI CHAR-SIEW UDON

($10.80)

This is a perfect dish on a cold drizzling day with its rich yummy broth, the wonderful texture of the udon noodles as your teeth bite into it and the generous portion of tender braised pork belly chunks (chashu). The chashu was braised in signature soy sauce. It is marinated until tender. The dish was garnished with Japanese green onions (negi) stir-fired until fragrant, crisp seaweed and a flow ajitsuke tamago. This dish was so flavourful and fragrant. It was very filling too.

SANUKI BEEF ONSEN UDON

($11.80)

This is my absolute favourite and I can’t get enough of this tonkotsu. The Sanuki udon was perfectly ardent texture. The tender beef slices are coated with golden umami goodness of onset egg and the broth is made of shoyu soup stock. I love the taste of this dish. I can have it for lunch every day if I want to.

ODEN

with Daikon, Attu-Age, Chikuwa, Tamago, Konnyaku

($1.20 per item, 3 item for $3.00)

Oden is a popular one-pot winter dish in Japan. It is a bowl of dash stock with ingredients like white radish, deep fried tofu, fishcakes, hardboiled eggs and konnyaku. FYI, konnyaku is close to no calories. So this dish is a comforting, guilt-free meal option. Customers in Tamoya can also enjoy the open as part of the set with Kitsune Udon which includes 3 open its and a regular-sized Kitsune Udon at $9.80.

It was great to know that Tamoya’s soup and udon dishes are all handmade on site with ingredients imported from Japan. Also people who prefer healthier meal options but still loves a good tempura, fries their tempura with Dr Fy machines which produces crispier tempuras whole reducing up to 50% oil. Their tempuras have over 10 varieties and cost from $0.80.

I love the fuss-free casual dining atmosphere in Tamoya Udon. I would be great to bring my kids along in my next visit because they have kitchen utensils for children and the causal setting wouldn’t intimate them.

If you love Japanese cuisine like me, head to Tamoya Udon to try their Tonkotsu Specials as well as their other yummy dishes.

Tamoya Udon

177 River Valley Road

#01-32 Liang Court 1F

Singapore 179030

Website / Facebook / Instagram

Disclaimer: This was a food tasting event in collaboration with Tamayo Udon. The food tasting was free. No monetary compensation was involved. All thoughts and opinions were 100% mine.