Si En's Weaning Diary: Meesua Soup with wolfberries

Ingredients:
- One knot of mee sua
- Soup stock, about 50ml
- Water, 30ml
- Wolfberries, a handful.  Rinse and pre soak in water. Keep the water for later use.

Method:
- Bring the water to boil then add the soup stock.
- When its boiling, add the mee sua and stir it to disperse and cook evenly.
- When meesua is cooked, off the flame and add the wolfberries with the water.

*Depending on how heavy your child's tastebud might be, you can increase the soup stock or water. 

Note:  I'll personally like to cook it with more soup as the mee sua will absorb the soup quite quickly over time and there might not be much soup left for the child.

As this was given during her early weaning journey, I kept it very basic.  But as the child grows you can always add other ingredients like vegetables or meat to give a more well balanced diet.

Si En's Weaning Diary: Brown Rice

As I was starting her on her weaning journey, porridge would be one of the first few items that we'll offer as a Chinese thus the hunt of the most "healthy option" started. 

My mum has always been advocating eating brown rice as a healthier option as compared to white rice.  She has always stated that's the reason why my maternal grandma has lived to a ripe age of 98 despite having taken opium before in her younger days.

Here are the benefits:
1. Rich in Selenium
Brown rice is rich in selenium which reduces the risk for developing common illnesses such as cancer, heart disease and arthritis.
2. High in Manganese
One cup of brown rice provides 80% of our daily manganese requirements. Manganese helps the body synthesize fats. Manganese also benefits our nervous and reproductive systems.
3. Rich in Naturally-Occurring Oils
Naturally occurring oils are beneficial for the body as these healthful fats help normalize cholesterol levels.
4. Promotes Weight Loss
The fiber content of brown rice keeps bowel function at it’s peak since it makes digestion that much easier. Brown rice is the perfect addition to the daily diet for those seeking bowel regularity. In addition, brown rice also makes the tummy feel full which translates to smaller meal portions.
5. Considered Whole Grain
Brown rice is considered a whole grain since it hasn’t lost its “wholeness” through the refinement process. Wholes grains are proven to reduce the buildup of arterial plaque and reduce the risk of heart disease and high cholesterol.
6. Rich in Anti-Oxidants
This is one of the best kept secrets regarding brown rice. We usually associate anti-oxidant rich foods with blueberries, strawberries and other fruits and vegetables. The antioxidant capacity of brown rice is right up there with these super stars.
7. High in Fiber
Brown rice is high in fiber and on top of the list for foods that can help prevent colon cancer. This can be attributed to the high levels of fiber naturally contained in brown rice. These fibers attach to substances that cause cancer as well as to toxins in the body, thus eliminating them and keeping them from attaching to the colon wall.
8. A Slow-Release Sugar
Brown rice helps stabilize blood sugar levels; therefore, it’s an excellent food choice for those suffering from diabetes. Studies show that those who consume one half cup of brown rice daily reduce their risks of developing diabetes by 60%. On the other hand, those who consume white rice regularly increase their chances of developing diabetes 100 fold.
9. Perfect Baby Food
Brown rice cereal or brown rice itself is the perfect baby’s first food due to the dense natural nutrition and fiber it contains. This is a much better choice than refined white rice cereal products as rapidly growing babies and toddlers require nutrient rich diets to help maintain rapid growth cycles.
10. Candida Yeast Infections
Brown rice is the perfect adjunct for  candida yeast infection treatments given that high glycemic and otherwise sugary/starchy foods are prohibited during most candida treatment protocols. The natural digestibility of brown rice coupled with the high fiber content can help sensitive digestive systems heal from an overgrowth of candida organisms.
Extract from: Veg Kitchen

When she was younger,  I would gind the rice with a bullet grinder and cook it with as porridge.  As she grew older, we skipped the grinding part and let her have it as rice.

Groceries Shopping for Si en's Weaning Journey

Usually I like to go Meidiya supermarket to shop for Si en's weaning food.  There is a wide choice of imported items as well as organic food items which are also fresher then local supermarkets. 
Did a google search recently and realised that now they even have delivery service.  So you might want to consolidate and order for delivery once a while.  Here's the link:  Meidiya.

Sharing some good buys that I'll usually get there:
Yoplait yogurt which is suitable from weaning onwards which is after 6months.  They have a variety of flavours, the ones in the pic is apricot & strawberry, raspberry & strawberry. I prefer not to let the child have cold food when she's still so young, so I'll leave it outside for about 1hr before feeding it to her.

 

I also chanced upon japanese soup base for her noodles too.  I tasted it before feeding her and it wasnt salty at all.  The one on the left is vegetable soup stock for 5months old and above.  The one on the right is udon soup stock for 7months and above.  Its pretty good, she's still having them now as soup stock for her udon or ramen noodles even though she's already 3!

Groceries shopping trip for her weaning journey at 7months old.

Here's a pic of her enjoying her first experience of having yogurt.

Quote of the day

Just love how apt the description is to my motherhood journey.

Si En's Weaning Diary: Vegetable Soup Stock

Everytime I'm cooking this, I feel like I'm a witch brewing a cauldron of potions away. Haha!!!
Anyway, I simply love to stock vegetable stock in the house as Si en's always coughing and she has to abstain from chicken.  So I thought I'll just let her have double boiled chicken soup on days that she's not coughing instead. 

I find soup stock very useful in weaning kids, especially cooking porridge or using for stir fries.  I guess not many kids would reject a much more flavorful soup?

Here's my recipe for the stock:

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon of olive oil
2 Leeks(white part)- Slice into chunks
2 Stalks of celery- cut the stems into chunks
1 Large white onion- Cut into slices
2 Large Carrots- cut into slices
2 Corns- I like to slice of the corn kernels from the kob as I find it much sweeter
10 dried mushrooms- pre-soak
4 Tomatoes- cut into chunks and remove seeds
2 Litres of water

Method:
- Heat oil, saute the onion, celery, carrot, leek.  
- Place the remaining ingredients into the pot and boil for 2hours
- Sieve the soup and set aside for cooling
- After cooling, u can place in stock bags or ice cube trays to freeze and store. 

Here's how I keep my soup stock:

 

After I've discovered the thermal pot, I've changed to using a thermal pot to boil the soup stock instead.

For thermal pot, usually I'll boil over the stove for about 20mins at night and place it in the outer pot to let it boil overnight. 
Wake up the next morning and boil it for another 20mins. 
About noon time, when my girl naps then I'll take it out to cool and store.
Maybe you might want to consider working around that timeline if you're usually busy with work or handling the child alone like I do. :p

Si En's Weaning Diary: Beetroot Puree

Beetroot! It's another vegetable that I've never eaten all of my life but discovered it during Si en's weaning journey.

I was so happy to stumble upon it as it would have made the rainbow diet so much easier. 
If you havent heard of it before, rainbow diet means choosing fruits and vegetables of every color in the rainbow.

Eating the full rainbow of foods regularly helps give your body the nutrients it needs. In addition to fiber, vitamins and minerals, naturally colored foods contain what are known as phytochemicals. These powerful nutrients are the disease-fighting substances that also give fruits and vegetables their array of colors.
Research has shown that eating a variety of these nutrients can work together to:

• Strengthen your immune system
• Lower your risk for certain cancers
• Help ward off type 2 diabetes
• Reduce high blood pressure
• Prevent some eye diseases
• Maintain urinary tract health
• Maintain heart health
• Improve memory
• Help build strong bones and teeth

Another thing that I stumbled upon is that beetroot has high soluble fibre content, making it the most ideal natural laxative.  So if your child has constipation problems while adjusting to semi solid food or bad digestion days you'll know what natural remedies you could take.

How to cook:
- Skin the beetroot
- Dice into small cubes and steam for 15mins
- Remove the water and blend/mash it into puree.
- If you would like to freeze it, wait for it to cool down before spooning it into the ice cube trays to freeze.  Try to finish the frozen food by a week if possible.

Sidenote:  Please do not be alarmed to see your baby's poo red colour the next day though.

Si En's Weaning Diary: Rice Cereal

I delayed her weaning even though she had obtained the pd's clearance at 4mths old that she could have started on semi solids.  Partly because we were intending to bring her travelling at taiwan when she was 5mths old.  Also I felt that there was no rush to let her start on semi solids since I was enjoying the convenience of breastfeeding and a lighter diaperbag. Haha!

I guess for most of us we'll start the weaning journey with cereals, but with so many types and brands of cereals we'll probably be too overwhelmed by what to choose and give. 
Generally I'll usually follow my guideline of organic food, especially since she just started trying the food and also of the convenience of getting organic food in small amounts too since its so expensive!

I started out with Bellamy's rice cereal:

I would prefer to start on rice cereals for the following reasons:
- Provides the necessary iron as its iron-fortified
- Less allergenic
- Easily digested
- Easy to blend with milk or formula 

I tried before Nestle's rice cereal too, but I didnt give it to Si en as I found it too sweet for my taste buds.
In Singapore we could usually request for samples during food fairs, and bb fairs so you might want to collect samples or email the manufacturers for some samples that both you and your baby could taste or try before you get the full packet.

Si En's Weaning Diary: Butternut Squash Puree

I've never taste butternut squash before and was to amazed to have stumbled upon it when I was looking for suitable food ingredients to wean Si En when she was 7months old. 

If you are as puzzled as I was to how it looks like, here's a picture for you:
 

After cooking I realised that it tastes as similar as a pumpkin because, it comes from the family of pumpkins. Haha!

The nutrient value of a butternut squash exceeds the pumpkin though. 

• Butternut squash contains many vital poly-phenolic anti-oxidants and vitamins. Similar to other Cucurbitaceae members, this too is one of the low-calorie vegetables, which provides just 45 calories per 100 g. It contains no saturated fats or cholesterol; however, is rich source of dietary fiber and phyto-nutrients. Squash is one of the common vegetables that often recommended by dieticians in the cholesterol controlling and weight reduction programs.
  
• It has more vitamin A than that in pumpkin. At 10630 IU per 100 g, it is perhaps the single vegetable source in the Cucurbitaceae family with the highest levels of vitamin-A, providing about 354% of RDA. Vitamin A is a powerful natural anti-oxidant and is required by the body for maintaining the integrity of skin and mucus membranes. It is also an essential vitamin for good eye-sight. Research studies suggest that natural foods rich in vitamin A help the body protected against lung and oral cavity cancers.
  
• Furthermore, butternut squash has plenty of natural poly-phenolic flavonoid compounds like α and ß-carotenes, cryptoxanthin-ß, and lutein. These compounds convert to vitamin A inside the body and deliver same protective functions of vitamin A on the body.
  
• It is rich in B-complex group of vitamins like folates, riboflavin, niacin, vitamin B-6 (pyridoxine), thiamin, and pantothenic acid.
  
• It has similar mineral profile as that in pumpkin, containing adequate levels of minerals like iron, zinc, copper, calcium, potassium, and phosphorus.
  
• Butternut squash seeds are a good source of dietary fiber and mono-unsaturated fatty acids that benefit for heart health. In addition, they are rich in protein, minerals, and numerous health-benefiting vitamins. The seeds are an excellent source of health promoting amino acid, tryptophan. Tryptophan converts to health benefiting GABA neuro-chemical in the brain.
  

The upper part of the tray contains the butternut squash puree.

How to do:
- Peel the skin and remove the seeds
- Dice into small cubes and steam for 7mins
- Remove the water and blend/mash it into puree.
- If you would like to freeze it, wait for it to cool down before spooning it into the ice cube trays to freeze.  Try to finish the frozen food by a week if possible.

Drunken Cockles 醉酣

Ingredients:

500g Cockles
2 Red Chilli, de-seed and chop finely
2 tablespoon Minced Garlic
1/2 tablespoon Sesame oil
1/2 tablespoon Mirin or Chinese Cooking Wine
1/2  tablespoon Fish Sauce
A sprig of spring onion

Method: 

1- soak the cockles in salt water to let it spit out the sand
2- scrub clean the shells of the cockles
3- in a bowl, mix the seasonings; sesame oil, cooking wine/ mirin, fish sauce, spring onion and chop garlic.  Set it aside.
4- Boil a pot of water that is sufficient to cover all the cockles.
5- Throw in the cockles when the water is boiling
6- Count to 5 and drain away all the hot water.
7- Submerge it straight into a pot of cool or tap water
8- Remove half of the shell and arrange it nicely facing up in a container.
9- Place the prepared seasonings on top of the cockles
10- Leave it to chill in the fridge for about 1/2an hr before serving

Thermal Pot

The thermal pot is also otherwise known as the magic cooker.
I found it especially handy for the working mum who wishes to have home cooked food for their family, thus I wish to promote the use of it as well as how to cook with the thermal pot as I start to explore it.

How does it work?
The thermal pot comes with an inner pot and an outer pot.
Place the food ingredients into the inner pot and bring to boil for about 15mins and then place into the outer pot to let it continue cooking.

Some bigger thermal pots come with a small inner pot that allows you to even steam rice or cook an additional dish at the same time.

Feel free to explore my blog for recipes that I attempt to cook with thermal pots. 

here's how a thermal pot looks like:
 
The benefits of the thermal pot
- There's no need to have long hours of monitoring the pot over the stove or worried that the crockpot will dry up.
- No more washing up of burnt pots either!
- Saves electricity or gas as it only requires 15mins of cooking time over the stove.
- You can prepare meals ahead of time and let it cook which is useful for working mums or even SAHMs who are alone at home.  *Tip as a working mum: I usually boil the ingredients at night after my girl sleeps, and heat it up again over the stove in the morning while I wash up.  By the time I knock off, we'll have good quality boiled soup/ stew for the dinner.
- You can also use it as a warmer as it can keep food warm for 8hours.

Baked crabsticks

Baked crabsticks

Method:

1) roll out the crabsticks and tear into strips. 

2) lay it out flat on kitchen towels and air dry. Alternative methods, place under direct fan to blow dry to speed up drying.

Or place them into the fridge uncovered overnight. 

3) preheat the oven at 180 degrees.

4) Place the crabsticks flat across baking tray on baking paper. Bake at 180 degrees for 10mins

5) flip the crabsticks and bake at 180 degrees for another 7mins. 

6) leave it to cool before storing in an airtight container.