Nancy Ho

Studies have shown that the emollient in oatmeal has been found to be helpful to eczema sufferers. There are many products out there which are made from it. Here's one simple remedy shared by a mother from AP (asiaparents).

Instant oat x 250 g
Old nappy x 1pc
Hot water

Method
1. Put instant oat into the old nappy and tie into a pouch using rubber band
2. Put the whole pouch into a bowl of hot water, cook the oat for 15 min
3. squeeze the nappy in a bathtub to remove the starchy oat (that's what u want to get)
4. Bath your child in the water with starchy emollient, sometimes i will rub the nappy on my child's body too.

Hope that helps

Itch goes hand in hand with eczema.
Its usually a cycle - inflammation with redness followed by flaky dry skin then scratch then the skin gets infected ....
Doctors always recommend medication at night to stop the night itchiness and recommend moisturiser in the day.
Medication and moisturiser cannot beat the occasional urge to scratch.
Mum said, its always easier to bear with Pain but when it comes to itch its impossible to control your hand to scratch.

To stop my toddler its really a tiring task.
Upon the advice of the chinese doctor, we found ourselves a tool to help espcially before sleep - bamboo.
This bamboo stick is older than me, my mum used to use it as a rack (with 3 other stick) whenever she steams on the wok.
Bamboo was recommended over finger as nails has bacteria in it and can cause abrasion.
So, whenever Chloe complains of itch, its always Bamboo.

Another place that we can get bamboo ware is from Daiso.

I have been wanting to write down and record some simple tips on managing Eczema.
My girl had full blown eczema on her body after i went to a chinese doctor when she was 1.5 yrs. In the hope that she will get out of it total it became full blown. It was something thta till now i felt so bad about putting her through the whole ordeal.
Initially, she had redness only on her creases but after seeing that horrible chinese sinseh .... the eczema became full blown with broken skin all over the body.
Sleeping at night became a huge problem to the point that i have problem sleeping having to stop my girl form scratching and crying.
We even went to the extend of putting on bandage for her upp and lower limb so as to prevent her from scratching.
I had since found the correct doctor to treat my girl and she had been seen for about 1 yr and she has indeed improve to the point of being under control with no redness but occasional dryness.



Having learnt so much about eczema, i have decided to share and add to this body of knowledge. This knowledge came mainly from both chinese and western perspective.

One of the best thing that can helped with sleeping at night is the use of a special pyjamas.
It was a life saver for me as it was almost impossible to keep changing and buying bandage when the wound is weepy.
Through my search in internet i found this company "Pure cotton comfort" with special eczema clothing.
Its made of pure cotton with mitten like design for the hands and a special reinforcement on the elbow to wrist and back of knee to feet which prevent contact on the creases.
The 2 piece design also prevented my girl from scratching her tummy or back.
They provided worldwide delivery. I cannot say its the cheapest clothes around but its definitely worthwhile as my girl was able to sleep through without crying.
That to me was the biggest relief!!

The theme for this year's PD anniversary is about Nature. With Mary's suggestion, here's what i had came up with Mary's suggestion - Mushroom made out of recycle materials like disposable containers, kitchen towels, newspaper, plastic cups and PVA glue

Thanks to mary's idea:




Simple invert a styroform bowl
Paint it in green, outline with black marker
Use yellow paper to form the head and legs

Yong Tua Foo has always been a very healthy hawker food .... . What's more if its homecooked.
I made the whole thingy from scratch, its simple to make and definitely more tasty.
Please pardon my poor photography skills, most of the ingredients are done in estimation.



Ingredients
Ladyfingers 10
bean curd 4 cut into half to form triangles
tua pok 5 pieces
Chye sim 250g
mee hoon

Meat paste
fish paste 250g
minced pork 250g
pepper 1 tsp
sesame oil 1 tbsp
I omit the salt as fish paste is saltish
grounded "tee po" (flat fish that is pan roast and grounded)

Yong Tua Foo Sauce
Hoi Sin sauce 2 tbsp
Oyster sauce 1 tbsp
Soy sauce 1tbsp
sugar 2tsp

Method
1. Mix all the ingredient for meat paste together and stuff it into ladyfingers, tua pok and bean curd by making a slit.
2. Boil a pot of water/stock, add oil followed by chye sim on boiling. Add in all the stuffed ladyfinger, tua pok, bean curd.
3. Mix all the sauce ingredient together to form the sauce
4. Cook mee hoon in boiling water. To save time, i boil the mee hoon on the soup stock for about 3 to 5 mins till cooked. Dish it up and pour in the sauce, garnish with toasted white sesame

A simple lunch that is both nutritious and tasty. You get more when its homecooked

I never really make any bread when i had the bread machine, the bread was just too hard. That's why i sold my white elephant.
Now that i see how other people make bread with bread machine .... i drool.
However, i have decided not to have too many things at home ... so i use my KW cake mixer instead
I tried making bread after seeing how others made their bread - beautiful, soft fluffy ......
I always prefer making cakes, with the increase in bread price, here's what i tried





This was done the 6th nov

Mine was a little bit dry and probably temperature a bit too high

I had no chance to use the famous "Chocolate Dessert by Pierre Herme" recipe book since i bought it as my girl cannot take chocolate.
Since its the last PD meeting, i have decided to make a "balck forest cake" for gretchen and mini baked doughnuts for the children. Here's the result:


My helper helped to make the doughnuts and decorations .... not bad for a start



The black forest cake was soft and moist, it just lack a tinge of kirsch .. will get it soon!!