Sunday, June 28, 2009

Yummy Lentil

1 Medium White Onions, finely cubed
2 Medium Carrots, peeled & cut into small pieces
4 stalks Celery, cut into small pieces
60g Red Lentils
250g Pumpkin or 2 medium potatoes
500ml Vegetable stock or chicken stock
1 tbsp Vegetable oil

Method

  1. Briefly sauté onions, carrots & celery in vegetable oil for about 5mins or until the vegetables are softened.
  2. Add the lentils and sweet potatoes/potatoes and fry for about 2mins.
  3. Pour in the vegetable stock/chicken stock.
  4. Cover the pot & bring the mixture to the boil. Reduce the heat and continue to simmer for about 30mins, stirring occasionally.
  5. Once the lentils and vegetables are tender, you can take it off the stove to cool.
  6. Once lentils are cooled, puree & serve immediately or freeze.

    Tips
    · I read that lentils can be hard to digest so it is best serve during lunch.
    · Do wash the lentils prior to cooking as it can be quite dirty (dusty)
    · You can also use other vegetables such as sweet potatoes, parsnip instead of pumpkin.

Bryan goes swimming at the jacuzzi!







More Chicken Delights :)

1/2 tbsp Vegetable Oil
60g Leeks, washed & chopped
180g Minced Chicken
180g Carrots, peeled & chopped
60g Frozen Peas
250ml Vegetables Stock / Chicken Stock

Method

  1. Heat oil in the frying pan and stir fry the leeks for about 2-3mins.

  2. Add minced chicken and saute for about another 2-3mins.

  3. Add carrots & pour veg. stock/chicken stock, then bring to the boil. Lower heat and cover with lid to simmer for about 20mins.

  4. Add peas and continue to cook (uncovered) for another 5mins. Save the cooking liquid.

  5. Puree the content and add the balance cooking liquid to achieve the appropriate consistency.

Monday, June 22, 2009

Versatile Vegetable Stock

The stock can be stored in air tight containers for up to about
2 months in the freezer.

1 Large yellow onion – cut into quarters
2 Medium carrots – washed, peeled & cut into small pieces
2 Ears of Sweet Corn – Chop into small segments
5 stalks Celery, washed trimmed and cut into small pieces

½ cut Chinese Cabbage (Wongbok)
3 Litres Water

Methods

1. Thoroughly wash all the vegetables.
2. Peel the onions, carrots and remove the husk/silk from the sweet corn.
3. Bring the water to the boil and add all the chopped vegetables. Cover the pot.
4. When it starts to boil, reduce heat and simmer for 2 -2.5 hours.
5. Once the stock is done, strain the stock and allow to cool before storing.

Notes:

  • I use small glass containers (lock n lock series) to store the stock. Each container is approx. 220ml.
  • My suggestion is to store the stock in 2 types of containers. One around 220ml for mixing into cereal etc and the other in 500ml for cooking porridge etc.
  • I used this stock to mix into the plain rice cereal and my son loves it J The stock can be used to cook baby porridge to give it a better flavour. Enjoy!

Bryan having rice cereal with carrot



Heres bryan having his rice cereal mixed with carrot during lunch. Mummy is trying real hard not to stuff the spoon up his nose as she aims for Bryan's mouth. He is so easily distracted by our meow meow jie jie. hahahaha

Sunday, June 21, 2009

Fathers day 2009

Bryan loves his rusk biscuit. His face shows a lot of satisfaction from slowly wearing away the hardness of his food with his gooey saliva, till his hands, mouth and nose are all smothered with crumbly ruskiness. But.... it got so slippery it dropped on the floor.. thus the following face.....

aaaaaawwwwwwwwwwwwwww........1 second after Bryan let slip his gooey Rusk biscuit, he looked down at the floor in sudden shock and disappointment.... after which followed a pitiful whine. At this point daddy goes "hahahahaha, there goes your biscuit, there goes your biscuit, time to clean the messiness. lalalalla" So bad one hor.

Mummy's present for us. The same T-shirts! its the sweetest thing to be wearing the same T as my son. Awesome mummy! Incidentally, grandad wore the same color scheme as well. Color coordinated family chain.
Heres Bryan who pespires so easily all the time, so i plastered his hair to his head for this pic.

Daddy and son lazing on the playmat on sunday afternoon. After a while daddy becomes bryan's gigantic bolster.

Vegetables & Brown Rice

For 7 months old

1 cup Broccoli florets, washed and discard yellow bits.
1 Medium Carrot - washed, peeled and diced
2 cups Vegetable stock or water
1/3 cup Organic Brown Rice, grind to a finer grains.

Methods

  1. In a saucepan, add 2cups of either vegetable stock or water and boil the carrot & broccoli for about 10-15mins. Simmer with the lid on to prevent evaporation of stock.
  2. Once the vegetables are tender, use a slotted spoon to remove the vegetables. Save the stock.
  3. Pour the organic brown rice into the saved stock and cook to a boil. Stir once and reduce heat.
  4. Cover the saucepan and simmer for about 50mins. Once done, remove from heat and let it stand for 10mins. Save the stock again.
  5. Use a hand held blender or food processor, puree rice & vegetables. Add a tablespoon of left over stock at a time to achieve the desired consistency. If you find that the puree is still too thick, you can add more stock.
  6. Pour the puree into the baby cubes or ice cube trays and freeze.

Notes:
· I pack each baby cube with approx. 60ml of puree for convenience.
· You may double the potion to achieve more.
. I find that it is a lot easier to cook when the rice grains are grinded.

Beefy Mash


For 7 months old

1 tbsp Olive Oil
1 small Onion
2 Large Tomato, diced
1 Medium Carrot, washed, peeled and diced
1 Clove of Garlic, mashed
150g Minced Lean Beef
2 Medium Potatoes, washed peeled & diced
1/2 cup Frozen Peas

1/4 cup Vegetable stock /water

Methods

  1. In a saucepan, heat oil over medium heat and sauté onion until fragrant and translucent. (about 5 mins)
  2. Stir in tomatoes, carrot, peas and garlic. Continue to sauté for another 5 mins.
  3. Add minced beef and stock/water; bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer partially covered for about 25-30 mins. (until meat is thoroughly cooked). Save the stock.
  4. In another small saucepan, boil potatoes until tender; drain.
  5. Once all the ingredients are cooled, use a hand held blender or food processor, puree meat mixture and potatoes. Add a tablespoon of left over stock at a time to achieve the desired consistency. If you find that the puree is still too thick, you can add more stock.
  6. Pour the puree into the baby cubes or ice cube trays and freeze.

Notes:
· I pack each baby cube with approx. 75ml of puree for convenience. Yields 8 cubes
· You may double the portion to achieve more.
· This stew is like our shepherd’s pie but baby version :P

Chicken Macaroni Stew

For 7 months old

100g Minced Chicken
½ tsp Tarragon leaves (optional)
1 Medium Carrot, washed, peeled and diced
1 cup Broccoli florets, discard the yellow bits
1 stalk Celery, washed trimmed and thinly sliced
1 small Onion, cut into quarters
1 Large Potato, washed peeled & cut into cubes
2 ½ cups Vegetable stock or water
1/3 cup Macaroni

Methods

  1. In a medium pot, place chicken & tarragon in water and bring to a boil.
  2. Add macaroni, celery, carrots, onion and potato; reduce heat and simmer for about 25mins or until the vegetables are tender. Keep the pot partially covered.
  3. Stir occasionally, the consistency should be that of a thick stew and if there is too much liquid, remove the lid and continue to simmer for 5-10mins more.
    Once the vegetables & macaron
    i are tender, use a slotted spoon to remove. Save the stock and leave the macaroni mixture to cool.
  4. Once cooled, use a hand held blender or food processor, puree macaroni & vegetables. Add a tablespoon of left over stock at a time to achieve the desired consistency. If you find that the puree is still too thick, you can add more stock.
  5. Pour the puree into the baby cubes or ice cube trays and freeze.

Notes:
· I pack each baby cube with approx. 60ml of puree for convenience. Yields 8 baby cubes (60ml each)
· You may double the potion to achieve more.
· This stew is so fragrant that I feel like eating it myself :P

Chicken & Apple Delight

For 6 -7 months old

2 Small Organic Fuji Apple, cored and quartered. Leave the skin on.
50g Minced Chicken
1 cup Vegetable stock or water
2 tbsps Apple Juice (approx.)

Methods

  1. In a steamer, steam apple with the skin over boiling water for about 15 mins. Leave it to cool.
  2. In another small saucepan, add 1 cup of either vegetable stock or water and boil the minced chicken for about 5-10mins. Ensure that the chicken is fully cook (no more red bits and meat should be white). Once the chicken is cooked, leave it aside to cool.
  3. Scrape the flesh of the apple with a teaspoon and discard the skin.
  4. Use a hand held blender or food processor, puree the chicken& apples. Add a tablespoon of apple Juice at a time to achieve the desired consistency. If you find that the puree is still too thick, you can add more apple juice.
  5. Pour the puree into the baby cubes or ice cube trays and freeze.

Notes:
· I pack each baby cube with approx. 45ml of puree for convenience.
· Yields about 4 baby cubes (45ml each).
· You may double the potion to achieve more.
· Good introduction of meat to babies as it is mixed with their familiar fruit. Really Yummy !

Thursday, June 18, 2009

Done to satisfy Chin Fee's craving


These carrot jellies on the cake look like those magnetic diagrams from the old science text book. When i used to eat those biscuits where there were yummy icings on top, i'd eat the plain biscuit first and save the icing for last. Some people like Ade do the reverse - wallop the icing first. This time round, i didnt know what to do because both the carrot jelly and the cake were super delicious.

Yeah and they came about because Godma had a craving for them.

Sunday, June 14, 2009

Get well soon baby


Poor Bryan has been down with flu and cough the recent week. Its a real heart break to see him in such misery. Just today, he seemed to be in much higher spirits. He now follows us everywhere we go on his new walker.

Our Little Cheeky Monkey :)