So, here is my menu for your reference. It may not be acceptable to some. So, do refer to the menu at your own discretion.
During my 2nd confinement (Lyanne's time), I prepared a menu too. My Confinement lady then took my menu back with my permission. She tried asking her other clients whether they want to follow my menu. They all shook their heads and said my menu is too modern for them, and stuck to Ginger Fried Rice and Ginger Wine Chicken. Much to the dismay of my confinement lady because she will be stuck to eat the same boring food as well. My confinement lady always enjoys her employment with me as she gets to enjoy variety and good food during these 4 weeks, and she always get to learn something new and brings new recipes back with her. My hubby says, I pay her to learn from me, haha. Well, depends on how you look at it. I'm pretty much ok.
Now, about my menu, I ate gingery, sesame oil rich foods during the day, and had less heaty foods for dinner. The reason is that, my whole family will be dining together, so the food must be more neutral for daily consumption. They will not be able to take in the same amount of ginger and sesame oil as much as I can. It's weird, believe it or not, if one is not in confinement, one will not be able to consume so much ginger and sesame oil on a daily basis for one month. You will be struck with sore throat for sure.
If you know people who don't believe in heaty or cooling foods, try this menu with them for 2 weeks, especially the lunch items. Then I'm sure they'd believe every word you once told them.
Most of the recipes are found in this blog. Please click on the dish's name to go to the recipe
Monday
Breakfast:
Homemade Steamed Buns (Yeah, I made my own )
Lunch: (alternate weeks)
Chicken with Oyster Mushroom Soup / Chicken with black fungus and wine
Dinner
Soup (alternate weeks)
Black Chicken Black Dates Soup / Shallot Pork Ribs/chicken Soup
Meat/Protein (choose one)
Turmeric Fried Fish / Sweet and Sour Fish / Ginger Fried Fish
Vegetable
Aubergine / Celery / Loofah
Tofu/Egg
Minced Meat Omelette/Egg FuYong
*****************************************************
Tuesday
Breakfast: (Alternate weeks)
Ginger Chicken Porridge / Peanut Octopus Porridge
Lunch: (alternate weeks)
Ginger Chicken Porridge / Peanut Octopus Porridge
*I purposely arranged for an easy meal cooked in the morning to give my confinement lady time to prepare pickled ginger and papaya. These 2 full moon treats are time consuming to prepare.
Dinner
Soup (alternate weeks)
Kelp and Beans Soup / Burdock Red Bean Soup
Meat/Protein (choose one)
Steamed chicken with Angelica / Fennel and Onion Chicken / Steamed chicken with red dates / Three Cups Chicken
Vegetable
Brocolli / Cauliflower
Tofu/Egg
Tofu with minced meat / Palak tofu
*****************************************************
Wednesday
Breakfast:
Cereal
Lunch: (alternate weeks)
Pork trotter in vinegar / Assam pork trotter / Black Vinegar Ribs
Dinner
Soup (alternate weeks)
ABC Soup / Apple Soup / Papaya Pork Rib Soup
Meat/Protein (choose one)
Braised Chicken with Mushrooms and Fungus / Braised Chicken with Ginger / Chicken with sesame oil and bencurd stick
Vegetable
Spinach / Sweet Potato Shoots
Tofu/Egg
Steamed Eggs / three cups tofu
*****************************************************
Thursday
Breakfast:
Sausage Eggs
Lunch:
Ginger Egg Fried Rice
Miyeok Guk
Dinner
Soup (alternate weeks)
Black Soy with Pork Ribs Soup / Pork Stomach Pepper Soup
Meat/Protein (choose one)
Cantonese Steamed Fish / Hot Bean Paste Steamed Fish / Mushroom Ginger Steamed Fish
Vegetable
Cabbage / Amaranth (bayam)
Tofu/Egg
Onion / Leek Omelette
*****************************************************
Friday
Breakfast:
Toasts
Lunch: (alternate weeks)
Fish Soup with rice/noodles
Dinner
Soup (alternate weeks)
Chicken Red Dates Soup / Chicken Feet Peanut Soup / Snakehead Fish Sweetcorn Soup
Meat/Protein (choose one)
Steamed Bean Paste Pork / Ginger Onion Stir Fried Pork / Turmeric Stir Fried Pork / Dangshen Pork Rib Stew
Vegetable
Long Beans / French beans
Tofu/Egg
Sunny side up eggs / omelette with minced meat gravy
*****************************************************
Saturday
Breakfast:
Dry Tossed Noodles
Lunch: (alternate weeks)
Ginger Steamed Chicken
Blanched vegetables
Dinner
Main meal(choose one)
Hainanese Chicken Rice
Bak Kut Teh
Claypot Chicken Rice
Vegetable
ChoySum / Siew Pak Choy
*****************************************************
Sunday
Breakfast:
French toasts
Lunch: (I wanted something family friendly for Sunday lunch, can be eaten anytime)
Fried noodles
Red Bean soup
Dinner
Soup (alternate weeks)
Lotus Root Soup / Lean Pork Soup with Arrowroot and Octopus
Meat/Protein (choose one)
Fennel Thyme Honey Roasted Chicken / Fermented Beancurd Fried Chicken / Lemongrass Roasted Chicken / Ginger juice fried chicken
Vegetable
Rommaine lettuce / Iceberg lettuce
Tofu/Egg
Silken Tofu / Steamed tofu with enoki and beech mushrooms
**********************************************************
And don't forget to have your daily dose of Chicken Essence for supper. A change of supper to Hasma with Red Dates will be nice. And some dessert like Double Boiled Papaya in Milk every now and then. And drink lots of Red Dates Tea to replenish liquids and vital nutrients.
Happy Confinement to those who are going to go through this period of time.
Enjoy yourself and not abuse yourself.
I would say this is a month for you to enjoy. So many yummy confinement food.
ReplyDeleteU have made my confinement day cos I won't be bored and keep browsing ur blog every day during my confinement time in Oct. *_^
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing! Will be really useful for my first experience with a confinement lady in November! Congratulations by the way! :)
ReplyDeleteWow! The menu looks great, wish I was there too.
ReplyDeleteI would have passed this to my MIL if I had it 5 yrs ago. Love your menu and its variety! I'm definitely not one of those who like traditional confinement foods...and I totally agree to your comments of traditional beliefs. Keep up the good work..hope u get enough rest too!
ReplyDeleteWow, u're a very well organized person. I'm the ' lembik ' type that always goes by the ' leave it to the profesionals ' phrase, ha ha.
ReplyDeletethanks for sharing, i will need this list within a couple more months' time :)
ReplyDeleteI wonder if my confinement lady will agree or not, but no harm asking.
Thanks again!
wa...so fabulous menu. Jealous
ReplyDeleteYou sure are making some mother-to-be's life much easier with your list of confinement dishes! I wish I had such help online last time. ;P Anyway, happy eating and confinement!
ReplyDeleteOMG, 1st time seeing a mother that enjoy so much during confinement , look at the foods you eating, so many varieties, no wonder you enjoy so much.
ReplyDeletei think this is really useful for some who has no idea what to eat besides the normal confinement food. no copyright, eh?
ReplyDeleteHi there I found your blogsite from Google. Your confinement menu sounds great. I hope to use them after delivering my baby this August!! Thank you for sharing! I never knew about fenugreek consumed during pregnancy could cause early contractions ...because in curries im sure they use fenugreek in their cooking isnt it?
ReplyDeletehehehe i love confinement food. once very infamously said that i would gladly get pregnant (i'm only 20 now, single) just so i can eat pork trotters and sesame oil chicken everyday.
ReplyDeletehttp://mummyicancook.blogspot.com/2011/01/pork-trotters-with-vinegar.html
wow, thats a pretty elaborated food, it almost sound as if your confinement period is a pure food enjoyment feast
ReplyDeletecute and curls,
ReplyDeletea lot of food will cause early contractions.
It's the amount that you eat.
I'm sure in curries, the amount is much less significant in the amount of fenugreek you pop in as capsules.
atlantisian,
Actually, I do cook dinner 'this way' for my family. 3 dishes one soup. So, I'm only asking the CL to do as I do, nothing extra.
Thanks Wendy for sharing! Such a variety of food everyday. Your confinement lady sounds very good, is she available end of Nov and willing to work in Singapore? I don't mind as during my first confinement I went through 4 different ladies in the space of 1 week (including 1 which never turn up!). Luckily the final one was a good one but she is unavailable during that period.
ReplyDeleteJoyce
Joyce,
ReplyDeleteMy CL even works in UK if someone there calls her to go. But pay in Pounds of course. LOL.
Email me if you want her contact. I don't know her schedule.
My CL didn't come up with this menu, but she is willing to follow.
Hi Wendy! Have sent you an email. What I meant is that your CL is good in the sense she takes instructions from you and is kind of 'modern'. I don't eat pork or internal organs, ended up eating fish soup noodle and rice wine chicken for lunch and dinner for 1 month! So the variety your menu gives is very welcomed! Hopefully I can get your CL or whoever is doing it for me is willing to cook other things.
ReplyDeleteJoyce
My CL don allow me to have chicken only till 2weeks later.. My saliva are like drooling when I see your menu... Least your CL will listen and exchange advice.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous (pls leave a name),
ReplyDeleteCan eat chicken la, just eat hen and not cock.
But I dunno about other dialects, we Cantonese will eat. But avoid eggs and seafood for 2 weeks. Err.... I avoided eggs until I felt the stiches are no longer painful only.
Hi Wendy
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing. I really like your menu. I wondering if u could share with me the contact number of your confinement lady? Thanks
Joeannbey@gmail.com
Hi wendy
ReplyDeleteDon't mind sharing ur confinement lady contact number if you still have it.
Onghkee@gmail.com
HuiQi
I'm doing my confinement now. Was all okay for 3 weeks till yesterday. I came down with sore throat. Does that mean its getting too heaty for me? I should have followed your schedule. Heaty during the day and less heaty at night!
ReplyDeleteAnonymous,
ReplyDeleteI think you are overheated oredi.
I don't know how potent was your food, but not all people are the same.
Make sure the seeds are removed from whatever dates you consume and I do drink plain water as well.
Hi! Glad to have found your post on confinement. As I'll be doing it alone this time(EDD in Nov'13), don't really recall what I ate the last time. Maybe only my hubby to help. I need to check with you somethings. Did you start the menu after 2 weeks? If so, what do you eat during the 1st 2 weeks? I heard for the 1st 2 weeks, we must eat light and not suppose to take tonic or so, until all cleared. Is that so? Thanks in advance.
ReplyDeleteJess,
ReplyDeleteFor me, Just no tonic herbs until day 12.
I don't take much tonic herbs anyway, hehehe.
I eat according to the menu right after discharge and I eat everyting served to me in the hospital.
If you noticed, my menu is actually quite neutral.
I love learning about what other mummies have during confinement! I didn’t get a nanny, so I booked confinement meal catering instead. I can’t stand having food with strong ginger and sesame oil for every meal, and I find Tian Wei Signature’s fusion and traditional confinement food menu just right for me. Their confinement menu Singapore has great variety, and I get my meals delivered daily, even during public holidays!
ReplyDelete