Monthly Archives: May 2010

Dental Care For Kids

Posted by Antoniette Sellaro on May 31, 2010 1 comments

Oral hygiene really starts from infancy.  We clean the baby’s mouth usually by wetting a piece of cotton with water and wiping the inside of the mouth.  It is very important to start the oral hygiene routine early in life and allow our kids to grow up with it.

Ivana had her first visit to the dentist when she turned five.  Kids are advised to have their teeth checked and cleaned professionally by the dentist before they start school.  It is alarming though that Ivana’s dentist have patients younger than her age and need dental treatment.

Here are some important points that are worth emphasizing regarding kids’ dental routine and oral hygiene:

*Brush your teeth two to three times a day.  Parents should assist in brushing the kids’ teeth to make sure that all areas were brushed properly.

*Floss; parents must floss their kids’ teeth.

*If the gum bleeds during brushing, do not stop brushing.  Instead, continue brushing until the bleeding stops.  This sounds ironic though as parents are worried that brushing bleeding gum will aggravate it and may cause ache.  But the dentist’s advise on continuous brushing when the gum bleeds works!

*Avoid sweets.  Even brushing teeth right after eating sweets would not help.

*Fruit juices are known to be good for us and it helps strengthen our teeth.  The thing is, fruit juices contain high amount of sugar as well as acid which is not good for our teeth.  If you want to give your kids juice, let him drink it all at once, preferably at the end of the meal – not in between every spoons of food during the meal.  This lessens the teeth’s exposure to acid.

*Encourage kids to drink water and avoid sweet drinks.

Home-Made Tomato Sauce Recipe

Posted by Antoniette Sellaro on May 30, 2010 1 comments

Tomato-Basil Sauce

The Italian tradition of making home-made tomato sauce takes place every month of February in my in-laws’ place.  A garage full of a hundred of boxes of tomatoes is one of the most amazing sight that I have ever seen in my life as a cook.  The challenge of making my own tomato sauce really tickled my thoughts.  I have only used canned tomato sauce back home in Manila.  In fairness, my tomato sauce is delicious and I love preparing it on pasta for my family most of the Sunday afternoons.  But when I moved in Australia, my taste changed.  I think I cannot be fully satisfied anymore of any pasta recipe that requires tomato sauce if the latter is not home-made.

How they do it: The first step is to steam all the tomatoes in a huge steamer.  Tomatoes are cooked when they are already soft and the skin can be easily peeled.  Cool the tomatoes.  Peel them one by one.  Put them in sterilized bottles.  Seal the bottle.  Sterilize the bottled tomatoes for an hour or so – this is the preservation process.  That’s it!  Sounds easy?  Not really…We usually finish all the tomatoes in two days!  Then, the year-supply of tomato sauce for the entire family is ready.  We produce two to three hundreds of bottled tomato sauces.

But for a busy mom like me, and if I don’t have this supply of tomato sauce, this is How I do it: Pour olive oil in a deep pan.  Saute one to two heads of garlic until they are soft.  Don’t brown the garlic.  Put the 1 kilo sliced tomatoes in, stirring continuously for a minute.  Put the lid on and leave it simmering in medium heat.  After a couple of minutes give the tomatoes a stir.  You can see here that the tomatoes are already soft and starting to juice.  No need to add water as the tomatoes will cook in its own juice.  Lower the heat and put the lid back.  Make sure to stir it once every five minutes.  When the tomatoes are already in its sauce-like consistency, it’s ready for seasoning. Season with salt and put in a handful of fresh basil.  Ground black pepper is optional.

The sauce is ready when it is not watery anymore.  You can bottle the sauce (and do the preservation process by steaming it) or keep it in a container and refrigerate it.

Blenderize the tomato sauce before bottling it or you can do that right before preparing your pasta.

It is worth making your own home-made tomato sauce once in a while.  I love using my sauce not only for pasta but for chicken, meat or seafood recipes.

Pointers In Choosing Primary School For Your Child

Posted by Antoniette Sellaro on May 24, 2010 1 comments

I remember more than a year ago when I was reminded by my sister-in-law to inquire at the parish school nearby.  Ivana was just about to turn five and it was not in my thoughts that I needed to get ready for her kindergarten.  Oh how time flies.  All of a sudden my baby was few months away from big school.

Here are some pointers that I can give moms, especially moms who are sending their first child.  Tips from those who had experience already are always helpful.

*Think about the convenience as to distance and availability of transportation.  Choose from the schools located within your town, suburb, municipality or city.

*Decide on whether you want to send your kid to a private or public school;

*From among those schools, choose at least few alternative options;

*Set an appointment for parent & child interview or book for application for enrollment;

*During the parent and child interview with the Principal or school administration, be analytical about the school’s curriculum and academic goals for their students.  These are usually discussed by the Principal or school head during the interview.  Don’t hesitate to ask questions on other matters like security in the campus, student’s activities, grading system and school policies.

*School security is one thing that should concern parents.  It is good to ask how parents or relative of students can gain access to the campus.  If the school’s policies on this is strict, the better for your child.

*It is definitely alright to ask about the amount of annual school fees and terms of payment.

*If the principal will show you around or if you get a chance to roam around the campus, you will have a peek of the environment and gives you sufficient basis to judge if the environment is one that you would like your child to be in.

Easy Way To Relieve Baby’s Nasal Congestion

Posted by Antoniette Sellaro on May 23, 2010 1 comments

One of the scariest sights a first time mom can have is the sight of her baby having difficulty breathing.  This might be caused by colds, runny nose and congested or blocked nostrils.

I was one in this situation.  It scared me.  It was so worrisome.  The fact that I have asthma and finds myself grasping for breathe during my attacks gave me a real scare thinking that my baby is feeling the same.  Thank God though it was a mere nasal congestion due to colds and not asthma.  My baby was just few months old at that time.

For first time moms, make sure that you always have saline solution in your first aid kit.  This is a solution that can be brought over the counter.  My sister bought me a saline solution ‘Salinase Drops’ for my baby.  And I tell you, that was the most wonderful thing that I used for my baby to be able to relieve her nasal congestion.  Also make sure that you have the nasal aspirator or suction that you need to help clean the blockage in the baby’s nose after a minute of administering saline solution.

Procedure: Make sure that the baby is lying down and movement restricted.  This is to make sure that saline drops will be directed to the nose.  Put a couple of drops for each side of the nose.  Wait for a minute to make sure that blockage had soften and ready for cleaning.  Use nasal aspirator to clean all the dirt in the nose.  Use cotton buds to make sure that the nose is thoroughly cleaned.  Administer saline solution as often as needed.  This will do no harm to your baby.

To read related article and review click here.

Worldwide Survey Site Free To Join!

Posted by Antoniette Sellaro on May 22, 2010 2 comments

I highly recommend this survey site because aside from the fact that this survey community is being brought to worldwide members for free, earning is very easy.  This site sends members direct links to survey and notifications on ads to be read or viewed in the site and get credited after.  This company is a good payer and is  reputable in the internet online earning community.

If you are interested to join this survey site, click here, Register & Be A Member.  For queries and advice send me an email at adroitwriter@hotmail.com .

Please note though that with online surveys, you have to join several survey communities to be able to earn more.  I would also like to advise those who are interested to earn online while at home to register first with Paypal for a free account.  Most sites in the web use Paypal as their payment processor.

There are lots of earning opportunities in the internet.  Why waste time surfing and playing games for long hours when you can spend part of that time earning?  The great thing about most of these sites is that you don’t have to pay for membership.  Remember that sites who charge fee for membership are, more often than not, spam sites.

Stay-at-home-moms, retirees, unemployed individuals and students are taking advantage of sites like this to earn a bit of income.  There are also some who are lucky enough to make internet earning opportunities their source of income.  I personally know lots of women who are earning well while being full time housewives and moms.

Have a great and productive day everyone.  Cheers!

Thai Salad Steak For Dinner, Want Some?

Posted by Antoniette Sellaro on May 21, 2010 1 comments

Then, prepare this for yourself and your family in less than 30 minutes!

I love the combination of steak and salad; any salad.  But this Thai salad really captured my palate.  The blend of all the flavors from the dressing is so delicious that I keep on craving for more.  I tell you, I can finish a whole big bowl of this salad.

How To Prepare: First, buy a slice of scotch fillet from a good butcher shop.  Scotch fillet is my favorite meat cut for steak.

Second, prepare all the veggies that will go to your salad bowl:  sliced carrots, sliced French shallots, bean sprouts, parsley, red/green/yellow/orange capsicums, red onions.  Optional:  coral lettuce, julienned green beans, snow peas.

Dressing: Mix in the following ingredients with a whisk:  soy sauce, vegetable oil, finely chopped garlic, finely chopped parsley, grated ginger, a spoon of low fat mayonnaise, a spoon of sesame oil, chili flakes, ground black pepper, salt and a pinch of sugar.

Grill the steak and toss the salad with the dressing.  Serve.  That easy.  This is ideal for a quick lunch or dinner.  You can prepare the dressing ahead of time and keep it in a container or bottle.  Keep the dressing in a fridge pre-mixed and the same will be as good for a week.

Note:  The photo attached here is not as colorful as it should appear.  I prepared this salad without planning ahead so I just put in it whatever I have in the fridge.  I love how my steak came out of the grill though-  still juicy inside.  Bon apetit!