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I bought chayote the other day from the market as it was recommended by the vegetable seller. I had asked her for recommendations for any remedies for ridding phelgm and she suggested this (though it wasn’t the first option – she had something else in mind but apparently it was already sold out so chayote was the next best choice).

FYI, I saw this in NTUC and it was labelled as Chokos.

I got some information about chayote from this site:

“Chayote (pronounced chai-yo-tay) is a member of the cucumber and squash family. Though it is eaten both in raw or cooked forms, it is actually a fruit. In both forms it is a good source of amino acids and Vitamin C. It is also low in calories, sodium, contains no cholestrol and is a good source of fibre. You can peel it or prepare it with the skin on. The seed is tender and edible as well.”

Here’s the pic of the chayote from that site:

And here’s the cut version of the chayote:

After a bit of reading up about the chayote in Mandarin, this is what I’ve gathered:

Chayote’s health benefits:

Boosts immunity against diseases
Lowers blood pressure
A good choice of food for heart patients as it’s a low sodium food
Has 2-3 times the protein and calcium in cucumbers
Has a significantly higher amount of minerals and vitamins compared to other melons
Alleviates indigestion, wet cough, chest tightness, flatulence, vomiting, liver and stomach gas pains and bronchitis.
It is high in selenium (selenium has a strong antioxidant effect that protects cell membranes from structural and functional damage).
Aids patients with fertility problems.
High in zinc which stimulates intelligence in children.

How could you not give this vegetable/fruit a try? 😛

It is a versatile veg/fruit and can be eaten raw as in salads, cooked in savoury soups or desserts.

This time, I’ve decided to make a dessert out of it:

Double-boiling in progress…

I’ve made several stir-fries:

Chayote barley dessert (佛手瓜薏米甜汤)

Ingredients:

1 chayote (skin and seed removed, chop into chunks)
2 candied dates
1 handful Chinese barley
less than 1 teaspoon sweet and bitter almonds (combined)
2-3 rice bowls water
rock sugar (optional)

Method:

Rinse the herbs.
Add all the ingredients (except the rock sugar) into the double-boiler.
Double-boil for about 2 hours.
Add rock sugar to taste (it’s already quite sweet so this is entirely optional).
Sieve out the candied dates and barley. Consume only the soup and the chayote.

Alicia had some of this though she wasn’t particularly fond of it… in fact, she didn’t quite like the chayote but was quite ok with the taste of the soup.

For toddler’s consumption:

Cut the chayote into smaller pieces before serving or allow the tot to bite off from the adult’s portion.

Julia Gabriel PlayClub (Term 2 Week 9 & Graduation)

Last week Alicia went for class with her daddy while I stayed home to clean the blinds, windows and do the routine vacuuming and mopping. The theme of that week was pink so lotsa things were in pink that day, including Alicia’s dress, and of course her artwork:

Cute little pig eh?

The kids had strawberry milkshake and Alicia had some too… I can’t really remember what else happened that day but apparently she made a mess in the car after class because she insisted on having her milkshake in the car and in the carseat all alone, while hubby was at the wheel. lol.

Week 10’s party week as usual and the kids will collect their ‘graduation certificates’. 🙂 The theme of the week was ‘fizz‘ and so there were lotsa bubble-related activities, including art!

For this piece of art (below), the teacher blew bubbles into the paint (with soap solution added of course) and used the piece of paper to scoop up all the bubbles for each kid. The kids could then burst the bubbles with their hands/fingers or just wash them pop. Then they used cotton buds to draw ‘bubbles’ near the fish… well, they’re supposed to be bubbles but of course Alicia had other interpretations.

This abstract art piece was done by sprinkling coloured powder with baking soda added then spraying vinegar at it using a spraycan. Due to the chemical reaction, there will be little bubbles! Of course that amused the kids. The only drawback of this activity was the excess vinegar which gets onto the paper so in order for the painting to dry properly, I had to tilt the paper so that the excess vinegar could be removed (which explains why the artwork looks like this) 🙂

Here’s Alicia receiving her graduation cert (she wasn’t as excited as she was compared to Term 1, in fact she was rather apprehensive):

This is Alicia before the party began… she went to survey the food first! haha.

Alicia playing the keyboard with her teacher during the graduation ceremony (she’d received her cert already so she was bored and checking out more interesting stuff):