Nasi Kurma

dates boiling. do not over-cook. they cook easily.

combination of dates + rice puree

puree yang dimasak dengan penuh kasih sayang..

We can never doubt the nutritions and benefits of dates. Why not extend it to our babies? Too lazy this time, I simply combined dates puree with rice puree right away and store.

gendang gendut tali kecapi
kenyang perut, tido camgitu sekali!

Apple Puree

apples.. apples.. and more apples


lovely, eh?

**Photos above - credit to Wikipaedia. The flowers are actually apple blossoms.

Info below is taken from University of Illinois Entension in Urban Illinois webbie.

You've heard, "an apple a day will keep the doctor away." While it will certainly take more than a daily apple to keep you healthy, it is a step in the right direction. Apples are delicious, easy to carry for snacking, low in calories, a natural mouth freshener, and they are still very inexpensive.

Apples are a source of both soluble and insoluble fiber. Soluble fiber such as pectin actually helps to prevent cholesterol buildup in the lining of blood vessel walls, thus reducing the incident of atherosclerosis and heart disease. The insoluble fiber in apples provides bulk in the intestinal tract, holding water to cleanse and move food quickly through the digestive system.

It is a good idea to eat apples with their skin. Almost half of the vitamin C content is just underneath the skin. Eating the skin also increases insoluble fiber content. Most of an apple's fragrance cells are also concentrated in the skin and as they ripen, the skin cells develop more aroma and flavor.

There are hundreds of varieties of apples on the market today, although most people have only tasted one or two of the most popular such as Red Delicious or Granny Smith. Apples can be sweet, tart, soft and smooth or crisp and crunchy, depending on the one you choose. There is an apple to suit almost everyone's taste, so why not choose one. Have an apple today!

Apple Nutrition Facts
(*One medium 2-1/2 inch apple, fresh, raw, with skin)

Calories 81
Carbohydrate 21 grams
Dietary Fiber 4 grams
Soluble Fiber
Insoluble fiber
Calcium 10 mg
Phosphorus 10 mg Iron .25 mg
Sodium 0.00 mg
Potassium 159 mg
Vitamin C 8 mg
Vitamin A 73 IU
Folate 4 mcg

*The nutritional value of apples will vary slightly depending on the variety and size.

Source: USDA Nutrient Data Laboratory -- Apple

i use granny smith green apple. good combination of sweet and sour.

combination of rice puree and apple puree

keep the puree in lidded-ice cube-tray. bought these from Parkson, Alamanda

Carrot Puree

Yes. The photo (taken from Wiki) above has connection with Carrot Puree. Those are carrots flowers. Lovely, aren't them?

Anyway, here's some info I got from Wiki..
The carrot gets its characteristic and bright orange colour from β-carotene, which is metabolised into vitamin A in humans when bile salts are present in the intestines.[3] Massive overconsumption of carrots can cause hypercarotenemia, a condition in which the skin turns orange (although hypercarotenemia is not itself dangerous unlike overdose of vitamin A, which can cause liver damage). Carrots are also rich in dietary fibre, antioxidants, and minerals.

Lack of Vitamin A can cause poor vision, including night vision, and vision can be restored by adding Vitamin A back into the diet. The urban legend that says eating large amounts of carrots will allow one to see in the dark developed from stories of British gunners in World War II who were able to shoot down German planes in the darkness of night. The legend arose during the Battle of Britain when the RAF circulated a story about their pilots' carrot consumption as an attempt to cover up the discovery and effective use of radar technologies in engaging enemy planes.[4][5] It reinforced existing German folklore and helped to encourage Britons—looking to improve their night vision during the blackouts—to grow and eat the vegetable.

Ethnomedically, the roots are used to treat digestive problems, intestinal parasites, and tonsillitis or constipation.

Another lovely photo from Wiki

Anyway. Where was I? Oh... carrot puree. Carrot has its own natural sweetness that appeals to baby tastebud. At least my baby. Making puree is actually a breeze. I scrape off the outer layer of skin, cut into small pieces. Simply boil over high heat until it boils then lower down the flame. Give these guys another 10-15 minutes or until soften. Leave to cool then blend. The stock can be used for cooking rice for puree.

carrot puree. seen in ice-cube tray. i term this as 'sayur'. why? look below..

carrot puree+rice puree.
note of caution - please feed your baby carrot puree first for 3 days before attempting any combination. If he/she is okay, then you can introduce new puree/new combination.

Batch Cooking Baby Food

one happy baby, isn't he?

(Adam at 5 months)

As I said in my last entry, I batch-cook. I use this method since 2005 when my 2nd child, Iman was small. I don't have the luxury of time to spend everyday cooking babyfood. Instead, I spend say, 1/2 a day cooking in large quantity. After blending them up (at this point, still finely blended to suit Adam's age), I freeze them. Later on, I just take out a small quantity as per Adam's need and reheat. Yes,.. reheat and feed.

You can check Ms Annabel Karmel's website for more information on batch-cooking. She offers great ideas and recipes too.

This is from her site as well...

As a baby only eats tiny amounts especially in the early stages of weaning it saves time to make up larger quantities of puree and freeze extra portions in ice-cube trays or small plastic freezer pots for future meals. Thus in a couple of hours you can prepare enough food for your baby for a month using the weekly menu planners.
• Once food has cooled down, freeze as soon as possible.
• Freeze baby food in a flexible ice-cube tray with a lid, which you should label clearly with the contents and expiry date.
• Thaw foods by either taking them out of the freezer several hours before a meal, heating gently in a saucepan or defrosting in a microwave. Always reheat foods thoroughly, allow cooling and testing the temperature of the food before giving it to your baby. If reheating in a microwave, make sure that you stir the food to get rid of any hot spots.

-> Never refreeze meals that have already been frozen. The exception to this is that raw frozen food can be returned to the freezer once it is cooked. For example cooked frozen peas can be re-frozen.
-> Do not reheat foods more than once.
-> The temperature of your freezer should be 0F (-18C) or below.
-> Baby purees will keep for 8 weeks.

As seen in photos below, I use Avent's Via Cups for storing. These cups can easily be bought in deparmental stores. Check out onlines stores as well as sometimes they offer much cheaper price. These are 5oz cups but I fill in just 3oz. Adam doesn't eat that much (yet) I guess!

Always, always label the content and date for easy tracking. Frozen baby food keeps for 8 weeks but I don't keep that much stock in my freezer. I need to reserve some space for adults' food as well. Usually the stock lasts for 1 week. The most pun 2 weeks only.

6 hari punya stock. He eats twice a day.

cups tak cukup, botol pun jadi...

Adam's First Solid

Before I start ranting about babyfood, let me introduce you to this little guy, Adam. He was born on 11th May 2009 (on Mother's Day that is), at 3.20am. The fairest and heaviest among his siblings. He was 3.74kg at birth. Previous gynea has warned me about having baby with estimated birth-weight of more that 3.5kg but Allah has other plan for me. Despite his size, this is the shortest and easier labour among the three.

Adam, seconds after birth

To cut the story short, came October, Adam is 5-months old. He was interested seeing others eating long ago, he turned and toss in bed despite nursing every hour. I was excited to feed him solid (excitement that came along with the expectation to buy eating bowl, cute fork and spoon, the bibs and whatnots) But based on my readings and recommendation, I postponed solid until he is 5-months old.

His first solid is Plain Rice Puree
See, I got them lined up real nice for the photo-shoot.

In pom-pom mode somemore (staking on one another)

To ease things up, it is recommended to soak the rice overnight. It will take shorter time to cook. Once cool, blend into fine consistency.

Then try feeding your baby. If he/she rejects, then wait for another 2-3 days. Then introduce back. From what I read, if he/she thrusts his/her tongue out, he/she is simply not ready for solid so.. please keep your excitement at bay (but you can always shop for the cute feeding bowl, fork and spoon, bips and whatnots despite that).

Another thing is that, I always batch-cook. This is something I will blog later. I am a working mom and at the same time a traditional-and-conventional one. I am a strong believer of 'khasiat air tangan'. Especially we mothers'. To strike a balance, I batch cook. It may not appeal to some (I am not saying this is the best method as well, ain't I?) but this is how I do best in feeding my Adam with homemade food.

By the way, I don't have a maid.

As if that matters eh?

*eyes roll*

Puding Roti

Uihh... lamanya saya tak update blog yang ini. Bukan tak masak.. tapi kurang mencuba resepi baru. Minggu lepas, sedara dari Tgg datang ke rumah saya. Bimbang laparr, saya beli roti bantal Gardenia. Beberapa hari lepas tu, saya terbeli lagi sebantal. Sudahnya ada 2 bantal yang sekeping pun tak berusik. Sayang nak buang. Nak makan sampai 2 bantal tak lalu rasanya. Jadinya saya buat Puding Roti. Memandangkan hajat saya nak beli oven belum kesampaian, saya buat versi kukus.

At first, saya bercadang nak guna nnisang kerek as pemanis tapi malaslah pulak nak parut atau cairkan. Saya guna gula perang saja. Tebby kata, kalau guna brown sugar, layaklah namanya Puding Roti.. ala-ala mat salleh gitu. Kalau guna nnisang kerek, alamatnya eloklah dinamakan Koleh Roti Bata (bata = bantal in Terengganuspeak)

So here goes...

1. Roti putih - 6-8 keping. Buang kulit tepi.
2. Mentega
3. Susu segar - 3-4 cawan
4. Gula perang - 1-2 cawan
5. Telur - 2 biji
6. Epal hijau - 1 biji. Kupas, buang biji dan dadu kecil
7. Kismis - secukup rasa (saya guna sunmaid hitam)
8. Esen vanila - 1 sdt

• Sediakan kukusan dengan api sederhana.
• Campurkan susu segar, gula, perang , esen vanilla dan telur dalam mangkuk. Pukul sedikit hingga sebati.
• Sapukan mentega pada roti putih. Sapukan nipis sahaja. Potong-potong roti menjadi cebisan kecil.
• Rendamkan roti dalam bancuhan susu dan biar lembut.
• Masukkan kismis dan epal ke dalam bancuhan.
• Masukkan dalam bekas yang sesuai untuk mengukus. Lengserkan sedikit mentega supaya kuih tidak melekat.
• Kukus 20-45 minit, bergantung kepada saiz loyang.
• Setelah masak, sejukkan dan kemudian pindahkan ke dalam peti sejuk.

Anak suka.. Ibu setuju. Abah pun kata sedap. Abahnya is not a dessert guy. Kalau dia puji sedap tu, maknanya sedap betullah tu. Acecewahhh... apa kata orang ni.. masuk bakul angkat sendiri!