Today is one of those days where I'm so tired that my eyes are shutting while I type. #2 lunch has to be quick n minimal "eye power" since eye power wants to go sleep you know. So this is what I came up with and she loved it!! hooray!
Butter Rice
1/4 cup uncooked rice
1 inch carrot, deskinned, chopped into tiny cubes
8 raisins, chopped into tiny cubes
1/8 dry bay leaf
1/4 teaspoon butter
2/3 cup water (or unsalted chicken stock)
Wash rice. Place all ingredients in a bowl and steam for 30mins.
Note: This cooks 2 serving of butter rice for my 12 month old.
Steam Fish in Breast Milk
1 serving of threadfin (#2 takes 2-3 oz of fish)
30ml breast milk (or fresh milk)
1/8 dry bay leaf
pinch of salt
pinch of pepper
Place all ingredients in a bowl and steam for 5-7mins.
Total Time away from baby: 5mins
Total Time to cook: 30mins
#2 yum rating: Thumbs up!
Tuesday, December 17, 2013
Friday, November 1, 2013
Chicken Porridge
What a month! #2 is going through a phase of rejecting food. What she use to love is pushed away. Oh she does the cutest "hands block mouth! shake head!" move when she does not want to eat or is full. If you try to make her eat, left hand will swing n push your spoon to the floor. What a cutie!
I've been cycling through all her previous favourites in different textures but nope, she has decided "I'm done. Find something else to entertain me with." So it's a month of creating and experimenting new menus. And finally, oh finally, found something that she totally loves. Good bye Pork! Good bye Beef! Good Bye Fish! It's Chicken time!
Chicken. I had wanted to give her chicken or chicken stock since she was 7 months old but was stopped by my mother. Her reasons was chicken are often injected with hormones and antibiotics that are bad for the baby. Then my neighours introduced me to Sakura Chicken, supposedly grown without growth hormones or antibiotics. I can't find such statements on the manufacturer website. What I found are other sites and blogs that says it is so. Until I can find a better chook within my budget, sakura chicken will be used in the chicken recipes for #2. So here it is, chicken porridge recipes #2 loves.
Chicken Porridge - Chicken Breast (Makes 2 servings for a small eater)
100g chicken breast
1/4 cup uncooked rice
salt
suger
water
Vegetable of your choice
Wash rice and place it in a non-plastic bowl. Measure 1/2 cup water and remove 2 tablespoon of water. Pour the water into the bowl of rice. Put into the steamer and steam for 20mins
Remove any visible fats from chicken. Rinse chicken in a bowl with 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon sugar. Remove and place in non-plastic bowl/plate with 2 tablespoon of water. Steam for 12mins.
Steam vegetable of your choice. Root vegetables - 15-20mins. Leaf of green vegetables - 3-5mins.
Strain the juice from the steamed chicken into the bowl of rice and continue steaming for 15mins.
Finely chop half of chicken breast and mix into rice when it is done. Add vegetables. Serve.
Chicken Porridge - Chicken Thigh and Wolfberries (Makes 2 servings for a small eater)
100g chicken thigh meat cut into 1 inch
1/4 cup uncooked rice
8 wolfberries rinsed
soy sauce
salt
suger
water
Vegetable of your choice
Prepare rice as per recipe above.
Remove any visible fats from chicken. Rinse chicken in a bowl with 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon sugar. Rinse again with water. Remove and place in non-plastic bowl/plate with 2 tablespoon of water, 5 drops of soy sauce, a pinch of sugar and wolfberries. Steam for 20mins.
Strain the juice from the steamed chicken into the bowl of rice and continue steaming for 15mins.
Finely chop half of chicken thigh and mix into rice when it is done. Add vegetables. Serve.
I've been cycling through all her previous favourites in different textures but nope, she has decided "I'm done. Find something else to entertain me with." So it's a month of creating and experimenting new menus. And finally, oh finally, found something that she totally loves. Good bye Pork! Good bye Beef! Good Bye Fish! It's Chicken time!
Chicken. I had wanted to give her chicken or chicken stock since she was 7 months old but was stopped by my mother. Her reasons was chicken are often injected with hormones and antibiotics that are bad for the baby. Then my neighours introduced me to Sakura Chicken, supposedly grown without growth hormones or antibiotics. I can't find such statements on the manufacturer website. What I found are other sites and blogs that says it is so. Until I can find a better chook within my budget, sakura chicken will be used in the chicken recipes for #2. So here it is, chicken porridge recipes #2 loves.
Chicken Porridge - Chicken Breast (Makes 2 servings for a small eater)
100g chicken breast
1/4 cup uncooked rice
salt
suger
water
Vegetable of your choice
Wash rice and place it in a non-plastic bowl. Measure 1/2 cup water and remove 2 tablespoon of water. Pour the water into the bowl of rice. Put into the steamer and steam for 20mins
Remove any visible fats from chicken. Rinse chicken in a bowl with 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon sugar. Remove and place in non-plastic bowl/plate with 2 tablespoon of water. Steam for 12mins.
Steam vegetable of your choice. Root vegetables - 15-20mins. Leaf of green vegetables - 3-5mins.
Strain the juice from the steamed chicken into the bowl of rice and continue steaming for 15mins.
Finely chop half of chicken breast and mix into rice when it is done. Add vegetables. Serve.
Chicken Porridge - Chicken Thigh and Wolfberries (Makes 2 servings for a small eater)
100g chicken thigh meat cut into 1 inch
1/4 cup uncooked rice
8 wolfberries rinsed
soy sauce
salt
suger
water
Vegetable of your choice
Prepare rice as per recipe above.
Remove any visible fats from chicken. Rinse chicken in a bowl with 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon sugar. Rinse again with water. Remove and place in non-plastic bowl/plate with 2 tablespoon of water, 5 drops of soy sauce, a pinch of sugar and wolfberries. Steam for 20mins.
Strain the juice from the steamed chicken into the bowl of rice and continue steaming for 15mins.
Finely chop half of chicken thigh and mix into rice when it is done. Add vegetables. Serve.
Thursday, September 5, 2013
Apple Pork Soup for baby & preschooler
As #2 moves into stage 2 of weaning, I start to find myself exploring recipes that is suitable for both a baby and a pre-schooler. Time is a constraint as #2 transforms from a sleep all day baby to a nap for 30 minutes super light sleeper. To add to the challenge, #1 is a very picky eater who insists on eating the same thing everyday.
Today, I've decided to try out noobcook's recipe Apple Pork Rib Soup with some tweaks of my own to make it baby friendly. The original recipe is found here: http://www.noobcook.com/apple-soup/.
Here's my version of Apple Pork Soup for baby & preschooler.
Ingredients
300g pork for soup - I used 龙肉 aka 龙骨. A wet market vendor will know what this is.
3 red organic apples
1 onion
1.2 liters of water
Method
Thermos Thermal Cooker
Time
10 mins prep, 6 hours total. Time away from baby - 15 mins.
Quarter and removed the core of 3 apples. Quarter and remove outer layer of the onion. Bleach pork in hot water and set aside. Place all ingredients and water into the thermal cooker's inner pot. Bring to a boil for 10mins then lower the fire to a small boil for another 20mins. Remove from heat and place pot into thermal cooker and wait for 5-6hours. Before serving, bring to a boil for 10mins.
I would do this at night after the kids are asleep and the soup will be ready in the early morning for me to convert it onto what the menu was for the day or served as-is with a pinch of salt for #1.
The result was 2 happy kids who wolfed down their lunch and a very satisfied mummy.
Today, I've decided to try out noobcook's recipe Apple Pork Rib Soup with some tweaks of my own to make it baby friendly. The original recipe is found here: http://www.noobcook.com/apple-soup/.
Here's my version of Apple Pork Soup for baby & preschooler.
Ingredients
300g pork for soup - I used 龙肉 aka 龙骨. A wet market vendor will know what this is.
3 red organic apples
1 onion
1.2 liters of water
Method
Thermos Thermal Cooker
Time
10 mins prep, 6 hours total. Time away from baby - 15 mins.
Quarter and removed the core of 3 apples. Quarter and remove outer layer of the onion. Bleach pork in hot water and set aside. Place all ingredients and water into the thermal cooker's inner pot. Bring to a boil for 10mins then lower the fire to a small boil for another 20mins. Remove from heat and place pot into thermal cooker and wait for 5-6hours. Before serving, bring to a boil for 10mins.
I would do this at night after the kids are asleep and the soup will be ready in the early morning for me to convert it onto what the menu was for the day or served as-is with a pinch of salt for #1.
The result was 2 happy kids who wolfed down their lunch and a very satisfied mummy.
Basic Pork Stock
#2 loves her porridge and she likes it made with fresh stock. So I've been exploring how I can provide her with what she likes yet still not be a slave to the stove.
The very first stock made for her is pork stock. It's super simple with 2 ingredients and can be done in many ways.
Here's my Simple Pork Stock for baby's porridge.
Ingredients
150g pork - I used 腰肉 or 肉头
water
Bleach pork in water. Set pork aside. Now choose the method of cooking and it's done!
Method - Boil over stove. Time away from baby - 20-30mins.
Place meat and 800ml water into a pot and boil for 40-50mins. During cooking, check the water level and add water if too much water has evaporated.
Method - Slow Cooker. Time away from baby - 3mins.
Place meat and 500ml hot boiling water into slow cooker. Set on high for 3-4hrs or on auto over night.
Method - Thermal Cooker. Time away from baby - 5mins
Place meat and 800ml water into a inner pot and boil for 15mins. Place in thermal pot and it will be ready in 4-6hours. Bring to a boil before using.
Each method I tried yielded stock that are slightly different in taste. In short, the longer the stock is over the stove, the more intense the flavour is, the yummier the porridge will be. This also translate to longer time away from the baby, higher chances of burning the pot because I fell asleep nursing #2 and too much risk when number #1 is at home jumping around.
Thus, my preferred method of cooking stock is my trusty thermal cooker. I would cook the stock at night after the kids are asleep and bring it to a 2nd boil either before I sleep or in the morning before cooking the porridge. This would yield a favourful stock that will rival the one cooked 1 hour over the stove.
There are lots of other stuff that can be added to the basic stock and turn it into a yummy soup for baby. So far I've only used food that has already been tasted and confirmed as non allergen for #2. She been loving my experiments and that makes me happy.
The very first stock made for her is pork stock. It's super simple with 2 ingredients and can be done in many ways.
Here's my Simple Pork Stock for baby's porridge.
Ingredients
150g pork - I used 腰肉 or 肉头
water
Bleach pork in water. Set pork aside. Now choose the method of cooking and it's done!
Method - Boil over stove. Time away from baby - 20-30mins.
Place meat and 800ml water into a pot and boil for 40-50mins. During cooking, check the water level and add water if too much water has evaporated.
Method - Slow Cooker. Time away from baby - 3mins.
Place meat and 500ml hot boiling water into slow cooker. Set on high for 3-4hrs or on auto over night.
Method - Thermal Cooker. Time away from baby - 5mins
Place meat and 800ml water into a inner pot and boil for 15mins. Place in thermal pot and it will be ready in 4-6hours. Bring to a boil before using.
Each method I tried yielded stock that are slightly different in taste. In short, the longer the stock is over the stove, the more intense the flavour is, the yummier the porridge will be. This also translate to longer time away from the baby, higher chances of burning the pot because I fell asleep nursing #2 and too much risk when number #1 is at home jumping around.
Thus, my preferred method of cooking stock is my trusty thermal cooker. I would cook the stock at night after the kids are asleep and bring it to a 2nd boil either before I sleep or in the morning before cooking the porridge. This would yield a favourful stock that will rival the one cooked 1 hour over the stove.
There are lots of other stuff that can be added to the basic stock and turn it into a yummy soup for baby. So far I've only used food that has already been tasted and confirmed as non allergen for #2. She been loving my experiments and that makes me happy.
Wednesday, July 17, 2013
Ngor He and Heng Chye Porridge
My parents have been very excited about feeding #2. My dad, especially, have a good track record in getting #1 and #2 to eat when others have failed. One of the staples for chinese babies in my generation and my children's generation is Ngor He and Heng Chye. In english, Ngor He is threadfin and Heng Chye is spinach. My dad would buy Balai Ngor He and baby Heng Chye. My mum will cook porridge for #2. #2 loves this porridge since she was 6 months old.
Here it is, My Dad n Mom's Ngor He and Heng Chye Porridge
1 spoonful of rice
hot water enough to cover up to 1 inch above the rice
2 fifty cent sized ngor he without skin n bones
8 leaves heng chye
sesame oil
salt
Cook rice with hot water in mini slow cooker for 4 hours.
Chop heng chye very very finely.
Season fish with 1 dab of sesame oil and 1/2 dab of salt
When porridge is done, add heng chye. Cover and cook for 20-30mins.
While this is happening, steam Ngor He til it is cook. This will take 5-10mins depending on the size and thickness of fish. Finely chop the Ngor He.
Add Ngor He to porridge, Mix, dish and serve.
Serves: 1 Baby for lunch and dinner
Time: 4.5hrs cooking, 30mins for preparation.
Macaroni and Cheese
I've always loved Mac n Cheese. So when the time came to test recipes on my picky eater #1, I decided give Mac n Cheese a go. First recipe test was Annabel Karmel's Macaroni & Cauli Cheese. #1 loved it, #2 was allowed a lick n wanted more. But the Daddy refused to touch it, calling it baby food.
So when Ina Garten started cooking her Mac and Cheese on TV, I thought "why not"? I've got the cheese (v expensive!) and #1 did say "I want cheese sauce" for dinner.
I followed Ina's method, added in Annabel's cauliflower and came up with a "Daddy thumbs up" recipe.
Here it is, my Macaroni Cheese with hidden Cauliflower.
250g macaroni (I used chifferi rigati)
handful of cauliflower, cut into florets
150ml milk
2 dessert spoon corn flour
2 dessert spoon butter for the sauce
1 dessert spoon butter for the bread crumbs (optional)
3 slices of white bread, crust removed (optional)
3 oz Gruyere, grated
3 oz Mature Chedder, grated
Salt to taste
Pepper to taste
Water
Cook macaroni and cauliflower til al dente. While that is happening, grate the gruyere and chedder til you get 2 oz each.
Drain the macaroni and blend the cauliflower with a little water.
Add milk and cauliflower in a saucepan and heat (do not boil).
In a non-stick pan, melt 2 dessert spoon butter and add corn flour. Mix and cook over low heat for a minute. Pour heated milk into the butter/flour mixture and mix over low heat til it is slightly thickened.
Switch off the heat and add grated cheese, salt and pepper. Mix til cheese is melted.
Add macaroni and mix. Put macaroni in a baking tin if you are making the topping. If not, dish and serve.
For the topping, make bread crumbs by adding white bread to chopper/food processor. In a pan, melt 1 dessert spoon of butter and add the bread crumb. Mix and top the macaroni.
Put into oven and set it to grill on high for 2-3mins or til bread crumbs are golden brown. Dish and serve!
Serves: 1 Preschooler and 1 Hungry Daddy
Time: 45mins
Preschooler Rating: Thumbs Up
Hungry Daddy Rating: Thumbs Up
Links to Recipes that inspired me.
Annabel Karmel's Macaroni & Cauli Cheese
Ina Garten's Mac and Cheese
So when Ina Garten started cooking her Mac and Cheese on TV, I thought "why not"? I've got the cheese (v expensive!) and #1 did say "I want cheese sauce" for dinner.
I followed Ina's method, added in Annabel's cauliflower and came up with a "Daddy thumbs up" recipe.
Here it is, my Macaroni Cheese with hidden Cauliflower.
250g macaroni (I used chifferi rigati)
handful of cauliflower, cut into florets
150ml milk
2 dessert spoon corn flour
2 dessert spoon butter for the sauce
1 dessert spoon butter for the bread crumbs (optional)
3 slices of white bread, crust removed (optional)
3 oz Gruyere, grated
3 oz Mature Chedder, grated
Salt to taste
Pepper to taste
Water
Cook macaroni and cauliflower til al dente. While that is happening, grate the gruyere and chedder til you get 2 oz each.
Drain the macaroni and blend the cauliflower with a little water.
Add milk and cauliflower in a saucepan and heat (do not boil).
In a non-stick pan, melt 2 dessert spoon butter and add corn flour. Mix and cook over low heat for a minute. Pour heated milk into the butter/flour mixture and mix over low heat til it is slightly thickened.
Switch off the heat and add grated cheese, salt and pepper. Mix til cheese is melted.
Add macaroni and mix. Put macaroni in a baking tin if you are making the topping. If not, dish and serve.
For the topping, make bread crumbs by adding white bread to chopper/food processor. In a pan, melt 1 dessert spoon of butter and add the bread crumb. Mix and top the macaroni.
Put into oven and set it to grill on high for 2-3mins or til bread crumbs are golden brown. Dish and serve!
Serves: 1 Preschooler and 1 Hungry Daddy
Time: 45mins
Preschooler Rating: Thumbs Up
Hungry Daddy Rating: Thumbs Up
Links to Recipes that inspired me.
Annabel Karmel's Macaroni & Cauli Cheese
Ina Garten's Mac and Cheese
Monday, April 8, 2013
What is more satisfying than eating? My family enjoying the food I cook
Food. Recipe Testing. A record of recipes that my family enjoyed. Maybe my kids will ask me to teach them how to cook their fav food when they leave home for uni. I'll then point them to my blog.
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