DIY confinement

Just because time has passed doesn't mean that all is fine. My sadness, and my grief hasn’t diminished with time.However, life still goes on and I have to put on a happy face for those close to me. With that said, nourishment during this period is as important as when one gives birth. It's no excuse to torment my health just because of external factors. I'm able-bodied and fully capable of doing my own confinement and I'd like to share:

First and foremost, the star of the show:

 

 I made a trip down the medical hall and got a whole lot of stuff: 

• Wolfberries; 
• Nan Dates (supposedly not that heaty as black dates and it's to invigorate the spleen, nourish the blood and calm the mind -- HOPEFULLY!); 
• Red dates; Chinese Yam; 
• Chinese Angelica Root (Dang gui which is heaty in nature and is used in most confinement recipes due to it's qualities as a uterine and blood tonic); 
• Dried Longan (used to boil my daily dose of confinement tea); 
• Cordyceps sinensis (dong Chong Cao which is so freaking expensive --one tiny bunch cost SGD500, thus I had to go for the lower grade ones. It is used as a treatment for a variety of ailments from fatigue to cancer. It is an excellent strengthening tonic for women after childbirth to strengthen the body which is susceptible to cold and flu; 
• Rehmannia (Shou Di, which is a nourishing tonic and generally used to nourish the blood and hormonal system); 
• Eucommia ulmoides (Du Zhong, which is a kidney-tonifying herbal medicine. Best used to treat postpartum backache which i'm having and chronic knee pain); 
• Ligusticum wallichii (Chuan Xiong, which promotes qi and blood circulation. Relieves headaches, abdominal ache and muscle age, regulates menses, treats amenorrhea and get rid of blood stasis

 

My trusty double-boiler which I used two years ago when I had lil K. 

 

The off-the-shelf stuff which includes Huiji Waist Tonic that my MIL said was good (yup, she told me to get it myself); essence of chicken -- loads left over from my last confinement namely because i hate its taste and Yomeishu which I used to take and alternate with Huiji Tonic.

 

Decided to whip myself a mean bowl of mee suah for breakfast. Here are the ingredients:

• A bunch of mee suah
• 80 g lean meat (sliced and I marinated it with a bit of soy sauce and corn starch to tenderize it)
• 1 egg 
• 2 tbsp sesame oil
• 10g ginger (juliennes)
• 1 bowl of rice wine or in my case i used Wincarins
• 1/2 bowl of water (but i probably added a bit more coz I'm not quite a wine person)
• 1 tbsp soy sauce

Tip: Do not overcook the mee suah otherwise it will turn too soft and does not taste nice. This breakfast meal is said to rid the body of the early morning "wind".

Method: 

Heat sesame oil, saute the ginger till golden brown, add meat and stir-fry then pour in the seasoning and bring to boil. Meanwhile blanch mee suah in boiling water, drain and add to the soup. toss in an egg and the dish is ready to be served.

 

TA DAH! The hubs said it was delicious! In fact, he helped me finish half a bowl coz it was too much for me.

That day, I cooked dried scallop chicken porridge (with ginger of coz) and steamed a fish (with ginger slices again) for lunch and dinner respectively. It's really challenging to have to cook all three meals by myself, thus I had foresight and ordered catered food whilst in the hospital. Talk about efficiency! I had to. Everything came oh-so-fast 

 

After some research, I decided to give Chilli Padi a shot. Namely because it's near where I stay thus I'm quite sure the food will be delivered warm.

   

 Some of the dishes I had thus far: Papaya with fish soup (which is more to stimulate breastmilk which in my case isn't applicable); Black bean pork soup (which was a tad too oily); broccoli with mushroom (I was told by my TCM that mushroom is a fungi thus we shouldn't be eating too much); Spinach with carrots (I was again, told by the TCM physician that carrots will neutralise other vitamins and medication); Liver with red and green bell pepper and some preserved veg sesame chicken (which is terribly oily and so bony! I had a hard time searching for the meats!)

But, beggars cannot be choosers. At least these are more nutritious than the economical rice at the kopitiam right?