Zespri Kiwifruit Yoghurt Parfait

Today is 7th day of my "Zespri® 14 days Daily Scoop of Amazing Challenge (#14daysofZespri)" and it feels really wonderful and amazing on how these "brown fuzzy fruits" could actually benefit our health and improve our daily intake of Vitamin C and etc.

And as you probably will know Yoghurt is nutritionally rich in protein, calcium and etc so by making a dessert using yoghurt and kiwifruit is definitely a awesome choice as it has all the goodness in a cup. So rather than using "cream cheese" plus yoghurt to make the parfait, I have omitted the cream cheese and used only yoghurt and kiwifruit for a lighter and healthier dessert.

KIWIFRUIT YOGHURT PARFAIT

This quick and simple recipe can also be prepared a few hours ahead and served after meal. And you don't have any "kiwifruit jam" (recipe HERE) you can replaced it with some honey or store bought blueberry jam which taste equally good too.

(Makes : 3 | Preparation: 10 minutes | )

Ingredients:
6 Pieces Digestive Biscuits
1 Zesperi® Gold/Green Kiwifruit
250ml Vanilla/Plain Yoghurt
Some Kiwifruit Jam/Compote

Method:-

1. Place the digestive biscuits in a ziplock bag and crashed it coarsely with a rolling pin or glass bottle.

2. Peeled the skin of the kiwifruit and sliced it to  about 0.5cm thick (6 - 8 slices).  

3.To assemble the yoghurt parfait, place some crushed digestive biscuits on the bottom of the serving cups.

4. Spoon in 1 tablespoon of yoghurt, top with a slice of kiwiwfruit, another spoonful of youghurt follow by a teaspoon of kiwifruit jam on it.

5. Lastly top with some youghurt and another slices of kiwifruit on top as garnish and serve.

After sharing this quick and healthy dessert over the Social media platform such as Instargam and Facebook, it did received quiet a number of "Likes" and "Comments" too.

Other than using Kiwifruits to make the "Yoghurt Parfait" shown above, you can also cut it into cubes and mix with some canned fruits such as Longan, Lychee or Fruit cocktails and served it as a refreshing after meal dessert. My this version was inspired by Keropokman's "Longan Dessert", I added some mixture of cubed Zesperi® Gold/Green Kiwifruit which gives it twist to contrast the sweet and sour flavour kiwifruits and Longan in syrup (Instagram photo HERE).

For more interesting recipes using Kiwifruit, you can visit their website @ http://www.zespri.com.sg/

Wildlife Reserves Singapore (WRS) Food Trail 2012 - Singapore Jurong Bird Park

Continue from my previous WRS (Wildlife Reserves Singapore) Food Trail 2012 post, here is the second part of the food trail journey where we headed over to the east side, Jurong Bird Park to have an interesting Lunch with Parrots.

The concept is quiet similar to the one we had for "Jungle Breakfast with Wildlife" at Ah Meng Restaurant mentioned in the previous post here.

"Lunch With Parrot" is an Asian-style  Buffet which starts from 12 noon to 2.00pm whereby the showtime is allocated at 1.00pm in order to let the guest enjoy their lunch before the show. Reservation or enquiry can be made by telephone call at (65) 6360 8560.

Although the lunch buffet does not have more varieties like breakfast we had over at Ah Meng Restaurant, but you still can find some local delight such as fried rice, fried noodles, fried chicken, prawns, curry, fresh fruits and etc along the buffet line.

Surprisingly their Laksa taste quiet good with a fragrant broth that is not too over powder with the coconut taste.

Yummy Cereal Prawns which is fried and coated with crispy aromatic cereal that makes you crave for 2nd or 3rd helping.

Fried Chicken (original) and Spicy Mexican Chicken

These are our lunch spread while enjoying the interesting Parrots performance. Overall the buffet items were quiet good based on the price and it do served with coffee/tea and dessert such as ice-cream too.

While enjoying our buffet lunch, we were also able to watch the 1.00pm Parrot Show which was  very entertaining especially for little kids. And for those who are keen, you could also be a volunteer and have fun performing together with the parrots.

Pikasso is the one and only Sulphur-Crested Cockatoo that paint and guests can also purchase one of Pikasso’s works while the proceeds of the sale will go to the conservation and upkeep of the birds in the Park.

Ippy is the Scarlet Macaw that loves to teach the audience how to keep fit by doing back flips and sit-ups

After lunch we walked over to the "Southeast Asian Birds Aviary" opposite Songbird Terrace where it has the largest collection consisting of 260 Southeast Asian species and showcasing 100 of the region’s most exotic and endangered birds.

The Birds N Buddies Show (11.00am and 3.00pm; daily) at the Pools Amphitheatre is one of highlight programme among visitors. In order to grab a good seat for a better view of the show, remember to be there at least 15 minutes earlier to avoid the crowds.

Little Audience enjoying her participation of the show.

After the 3.00pm show we went over to "Kings of the Skies Shows" (10.00am and 4.00pm) at Hawk Walk. Here we were able to see the most of the majestic birds such as eagles, hawks, falcons, vultures and owls in one arena.

One of the brave audience who had a close-up encounter with the magnificent falconry.

On that day, my boy also had a chance to have such a close encounter with the Owl.

After the Kings of the Skies Show, we walked over to the Breeding and Research Centre which was just next to it.

The Breeding and Research Centre (BRC) is where the incredible journey of life begins for some of the Park’s resident birds. And here we are able to go behind-the-scenes and get a first hand glimpse into the growth process of these birds.

In the Incubation Rooms, eggs are kept snug and warm in their special incubators which equipped with automatic egg turners to keep the temperature and humidity of each egg constant. At maximum capacity, each incubation room can hold up to 180 eggs of various species.

Next at the Nursery is the place where the hatched chicks are to be fed and looked after. The hatchlings are housed in brooders, a temperature and humidity-controlled environment in order to keep them safe and warm. And from the clear glass panel, you can also see how these adorable juveniles are fed by their “bird nannies”.

From the brooders, chicks move on to the Weaning Room when they are fully grown to help them acclimatise to the environment as well as get ready to join the rest of their family in the respective exhibits.

Photo credit:- Celes

Our WRS Food Trail 2012 day programme ended with a happy "nest and egg" photo taken outside the Breeding And Research Centre before we headed back to Night Safari (upcoming post) for the evening programme at Ulu Ulu Restaurant.

Till then have a great weekend ahead. Stay tune for the last post of our WRS Food Tail 2012 at Ulu Ulu Restaurant, Night Safari (updated on 21 Aug 2012).

Wildlife Reserves Singapore (WRS) Food Trail 2012 - Singapore Zoo

Two weeks ago, I was delighted to be invited by the Wildlife Reserves Singapore to join their Food Trail 2012 which is organised in conjunction with the Singapore Food Festival. It is a full day event from 9am - 8pm where invited media, bloggers and lucky members of the public are being hosted in the various wild dining experiences at their parks, including popular programmes such as Jungle Breakfast with Wildlife and Lunch with Parrots (upcoming post).

Furthermore in the evening we were also being brought behind-the-scenes for an exclusive kitchen tour at Night Safari’s Ulu Ulu Safari Restaurant (upcoming post) together with the company of Chef Kelvin Low.

{Bento} Happy 47th Birthday Singapore

Today is eve of Singapore National Day where most of the local schools are having short sessions in the morning for Pre-National Day celebration. And because of this special day, I have prepared this easy and yet meaningful snack box for my boy to bring to school. 

This unique lunchbox is one of the items from my recent Zespri® Introductory Bag for the Zespri®  14-Day Daily Scoop Amazing Challenge event. And for a bento accessories collector like me, this is definitely a "gem" to add into my collections whereby I can prepare yummy snack plus safe keep the kiwifruit.

NATIONAL DAY BENTO

As you can see the size of this unique lunchbox is about the size of our normal sandwich bread and you can also make use of it to put mini packet of juice, cookies and etc as sides. Mostly important thing is, there is a special compartment for storing kiwifruit which is a plus point that I love. In this way I can keep the fruit as whole without cutting to retain it's freshness,  at the same time kiwifruit also helps to add extra Vitamin C to my kid's daily diet.

(Serves: 1        | Preparation: 10 minutes    | Cooking: 3 minutes)

Ingredients:
2 Slices Sandwich Bread
1 Slice Picnic Ham
1 Slice of Sandwich Cheese
1 Zesperi® Gold/Green Kiwifruit
1 Mini Packet of Juice or Milo
Some Cheese Cubes
Some Cookies or Seedless Grapes

Method:-

1. Either blanched the picnic ham in boiling water or lightly pan-fry it for 20 seconds on each side, remove and set aside.

2. Using a 8cm pie cutter or mug, cut out round shaped from the bread slices. Repeat the same steps for the cooked ham and with a knife cut it into halve length wise.

3. Next with the round and star shape food cutters (read more on cutters HERE), cut out the crescent and five stars that represent our Singapore National Flag and use a tweezer to assemble them on the ham shown above.

4. When done, sandwich the remaining the ham and cheese(trim a bit) with the cutout bread. Top with the decorated Singapore National Flag Ham and place it in the prepared lunchbox.

5. To complete the bento box, add in some sides such as mini packet of juice or milo, cookies, cheese cubes or etc.

6. Lastly remember to put in either Zesperi® Gold/Green Kiwifruit in the special compartment allocated for it.

If you still remember, last year I also made a "National Day Bento" using Chicken Rice, Putu Mayam, Ondeh Ondeh and etc to represent the multi-races in Singapore. But this round indeed I made something more simple which I believed you can also pack something similar for your kids snack box.

One of our breakfast with Zespri® Gold Kiwifruit shared via my Instagram

Since now is the peak season of kiwifruits, you can be assured that both Zespri® Gold and Green do taste sweet when they are ripe. So remember to include this wonder Zespri® Kiwifruits which has 5 times the nutritious of apples in your family daily diet too!