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Food Diary Day 2 – More Brown Rice Cereal

June 21, 2013 Zhiwei Comments 0 Comment

Still Brown rice cereal?! Of course! The 3 days food test. For all new food introduced to the baby, the proper way is to feed him with the same food for 3 consecutive days. In this way, if the baby develops a reaction, I can easily pinpoint the root of it and even trace it back to the previous food.

With my first child having a history of food allergies (luckily I did the 3 day food test with her), it pays to be super duper kiasu. The allergies come and go. Initially she was allergic to formula milk and berries.

Today I gave him more brown rice cereal as compared to day 1.

2 teaspoons of brown rice cereal
4 teaspoons of freshly prepared breastmilk (gosh! I sound like a cow.)

There he is. Sitting up, prim and proper, armed with his bib, eagerly waiting for his food.

Today I managed to take photos…

Kind of blurry because…. I took them with my feet….

Hahahaha. Of course not! I was trying to balance my phone with my left hand and trying to feed him at the same time, making sure that I didn’t thrust the spoon into his nose while taking photos. =.=”

He has learnt how to suck the cereal off the spoon today. Great learning curve. He must have got a kick out of it because he finished everything in a jiffy and whined for more…

I prepared one more teaspoon of cereal for him while he threw a tantrum during the short wait. Men are so impatient when it comes to food… Even 5.5 months old ones. Sigh. So typical.

He guzzled it down too. But with some hesitation near the end. Looks like 3 teaspoons is the right amount, for now.

Stay tuned for yet more brown rice cereal feeding. :)

Food Diary Summary…

Food Diary Day 1 – Brown Rice Cereal

June 20, 2013 Zhiwei Comments 0 Comment

This marks a milestone in 小小宝贝’s life, the beginning of a whole new world of food, apart from Mommy’s yummy ultra nutritious breastmilk.

I started with the least allergenic food – Brown rice cereal with fortified minerals (he needs iron. According to the pd, he looks pale. Since I’ve paid him handsomely, I just have to trust his professional judgement. Although I’ve adamantly defied his orders to supplement 小小宝贝’s milk feeds with formula milk. He kind of gave up ordering me after 2 visits. Well, he did try.)

Healthy times brown rice cereal. Prepared in anticipation of this all important day.

I started him off with just 1 teaspoon of cereal mixed with 2 teaspoons of freshly pumped breastmilk.

He wasn’t used to being fed with a spoon. His little tongue kept thrusting at the spoon and cereal dribbled out of the corners of his pouty mouth. Of course, the precious freshly pumped fresh milk mustn’t be wasted. I scooped up the leftovers from the sides of his face and returned them back up his mouth. No wastage starts from day 1!!

I wanted to take a photo of his first feed to commemorate this memorable day. But with one hand holding him back against his bumbo (he was more intent on transferring his mouth fluids to his bumbo seat by licking it vigorously), the other hand holding the spoon, busily scooping up the cereal, there’s no way I could snap a photo. Unless I grew 2 more hands or my feet can handle the phone. Hmm… Maybe I can train my feet to take photos like how Daniel Day Lewis painted with his feet… Now, THAT’s a thought!!! Think of the numerous things I can do with my feet.

Sorry… I digressed….

At the end of the feed, he was able to eat the cereal beautifully without dribbling and even protested with a little whine when I showed him the empty bowl.

A promising start.

Food Diary Summary…

Starting on Solids

June 19, 2013 Zhiwei Comments 0 Comment

小小宝贝 is now 5.5 months old. I was trying to hold off the introduction of solid food to him til 6.5 months old. (宝贝 started on solid food at 6.5 months.). However, after the visit to the pediatrician this morning, it seems that it’s not possible anymore.

The pd thought that he looked a little pale and checked the underside of his eye sockets, suspected that he may need more iron. So he was prescribed iron supplements and I was instructed to start him off on his solids as soon as possible.

As I sniffed his sweet smelling hair (after his bath of course!), for the last time, I would be missing that. Even his poo (which smells sweetish because he’s fully breastfed) will start to stink.

Sigh! He’s going to stop smelling like a sweet baby. He’s growing up ever so quickly. He doesn’t even fit into the curve of my body when I cuddle him now. To think he was so little when he was born.

I miss my little baby. You are growing up way too quickly!

Air Fried Salmon Bits Tomatoes

June 11, 2013 Zhiwei Comments 0 Comment

My folks are away on a holiday and I’m home alone with my 2 宝贝s!! *gasp*

Meals at home must involve the least bit of preparation, washing and yet still be nutritious. Not easy arh!!

I came across a picture of this in pininterest. I made a few minor adjustments to reduce processed food and minimize dish washing. The pininterest recipe called for bacon (which has a high salt content but undeniably yummy!) which I replaced with salmon and it was baked. I did everything in the air fryer so that I only needed to wash the one and only baking tray.

I chopped up a huge piece of salmon. Air fried it for 15 mins at 160°C in the baking tray, stirring it once in a while. The pieces were merrily cooking in salmon oil. Once the pieces were crisp, I chopped up a large tomato into 2 and top them off with cheese then put the salmon pieces on top of them. Still using the same tray, I air fried them for 10 mins at 140°C.

宝贝 walked herself home after alighting from the school bus at the pick up point. She appeared at the door just as the food was done.

Served right up to her nice and hot. *V*

As usual, it’s condiment free. Served with a slice of pumpkin bread we made together yesterday and finished off with a banana.

Yummy and simple. ~signed off by a very hands full temporary sahm. Can’t wait for grandma and grandpa to come home…

Fried Crabsticks – Air Fryer

April 13, 2013 Zhiwei Comments 0 Comment

Made myself some fried crabsticks snack before they expire… Not the healthiest thing on earth but at least I air fried it without oil. So it’s a jiffy healthier. (I like to console myself with that.)

The air fryer is really the most idiot proof appliance around. You won’t burn the house down, you probably just end up with charred food. And with no oil involved!

Well, it’s a breeze to make this. I didn’t use up the whole packet of crabsticks because 小小宝贝 was wailing halfway through my food making. The only chore is to peel the plastic off the crabsticks and to “unravel” them.

I used 160°C and fried them for 15 mins. I turned up the heat to 180°C for the last 5 mins. Every 5 mins you have to stir them and separate them from sticking to the tray and to one another. I didn’t manage to do that as I was changing diapers, so the top few were a little chow dar. And some underneath were still whitish and not very crispy.

But overall, still yummy!!

Apple Crisps!

April 5, 2013 Zhiwei Comments 0 Comment

An attempt to “dewhiten”, I just coined the word, one of my many white elephants in the kitchen.

This is an idiot proof (I’ve proven it! Even I can do it!) recipe. No oil involved, natural food, totally yummy!!

Just slice your apple thinly (you don’t even need to core it) if you are skillful and patient with the knife. I’m not equipped with the skill nor the temperament, so I chose to do it with the shredder. I ended up with various shredded sizes, thickness of apple slices. But I’m chin chai lar. So I find it ok.

Spread them out on the wire mesh of the air fryer. Set the temperature at 160°C for 15 mins. Just stir them every 5 mins to keep them from sticking together.

Voilà! Apple crisps! Mine don’t score too high on the looks department but they are yummy!! Don’t judge my apple crisps by their looks!!! The small slices are crunchy n sweet. The bigger slices have crunchy edges and sponges middles. Thumbs up from my 宝贝!

They are easy to prepare and definitely healthy! Not only that, economical too! You don’t have to pay the exorbitant price for apple crisps from the supermarkets.

Milk – How Much Should the Baby Drink??

March 4, 2013 Zhiwei Comments 0 Comment

I learn something new everything. Well, after waiting for 2.5 hours at the pediatrician, I told myself, ‘die die’ must ask a lot of questions!!!!

The first thing I learnt – never visit a pd on Mondays or Saturdays. Unless it’s for a matter of life and death!!

The 2nd thing I learnt – how to calculate the intake of milk for an infant. The mathematical formula is :
Amount of milk per feed (ml) = empirical no x body mass (kg) / no. of feeds in 24hours

The empirical no is 120 to 150.

Simple right??

QED

Tofu Cheesy Fish Cake

December 9, 2012 Zhiwei Comments 0 Comment

Laundry done. Check.
Dishes done. Check.
Extra fish cakes stored. Check.

Yes! All done. Hub has brought 宝贝 to her grandma’s place. 1.5 hours of reprieve. Time for blogging!!

It’s the time of the week again. Once a week, it’s cooking time for me. This week, it’s Tofu cheesy fish cake, using the air fryer. Sounds really healthy right??

Ingredients (whatever is in the fridge, again…)
Organic tofu (what’s tofu fish cake without tofu?!)
Fish fillet (you can use salmon)
Shredded mozzarella and cheddar cheese
Mixed vegetables
Fresh button mushrooms
Flour
Egg
Salt, black pepper, spices (thyme, parsley etc) (I omitted these for 宝贝’s portion and added for mine)

Dice everything and dump them in a bowl and I aga aga all the quantity. It’s always aga aga and minimum washing for me!! Make sure everything is well mixed.

Add flour until the mixture is sticky and you are able to shape them into balls.

My not very shapely balls. :) I used the air fryer baking tray. It’s so small that I could only fry 4 balls at one time. Temperature : 200 degrees Celsius. Time : 10 mins

They turned out to be really crispy and puffed up. 宝贝 loved her non salted version. Everything’s done without oil!!

Check out her happy smile!! It’s actually quite filling. She ate 4 cakes and I ate 6. Her praises have inspired me to start thinking of next week’s menu!! Hmm… What should I cook next week??

Shepard’s Pie – My Way!

November 30, 2012 Zhiwei Comments 0 Comment

I haven’t been cooking much at home lately. Well, strictly speaking, at most, I only cook once a week. So you can imagine how many number of weeks that has been. So Shepard’s Pie it was. As usual, no salt, no condiments etc. And you will be surprised that it can still be yummy (by my low standards. :p) filled with the natural taste of the ingredients.

Ingredients (basically whatever I can find in my refrigerator :) )

Minced beef (1 Ntuc packet size)
2x potatoes
1x Onion (diced)
Mixed vegetables (corn, peas, carrots etc)
1x celery (I didn’t add this as I didn’t have it handy) (diced)
Tomatoes (I added a lot as this is 宝贝’s favourite) (diced)
4x fresh button mushrooms (diced)
Unsalted Broth (you can use beef broth. I just conveniently used one of the various unnamed broths stored in my refrigerator)
Unsalted Butter
Milk
Cheese

Boil a saucepan of water for the potatoes. Once it’s boiling, put in the potato pieces. Cook until soft. It will take some time.

Meanwhile cook the rest of the ingredients. I used my happy call pan that can retain the juices and flavor of the food. Cook the diced onions first. Once they are soft, add the minced beef. Next, add the rest of the ingredients – vegetables, tomatoes, mushrooms etc. Add the broth. Cover the happy call pan and let the ingredients absorb the the broth.

Once the filling is cooked, line the tray with them.

Spread cheese all over the top of the filling.

The potatoes should be done by now. Mash the potatoes with unsalted butter and milk. Spread the mashed potato over the top of the cheese.

I wrote 宝贝’s name on it to surprise her. ;) I brushed a layer of olive oil over the top so that it would brown in the oven. Unfortunate it didn’t quite work. The pie remained “pristine white”. Later on, I consulted some experts. The tip was to spread cheese over the top to brown it. That’s what I’ll do the next time.

Bake the pie in the oven for 15 mins at about 200 degrees Celsius. If you have spread cheese over the top, then bake til it’s slightly browned.

Anyway it still earned praises from the family that it’s yummy!! That’s enough for me. I’m no Michelin chef after all. Hehe.

My One Cent Worth of Thoughts

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