B-L-D on 30th October 2014

B-reakfast: 

Cottage cheese topped with Cheerios & organic raisins

L-uncheon: 

The following were cooked simultaneously in my Tecno 3-Tiers Electric Steamer & shared between the 2 of us.

Organic ten multi-grains (Simple Natural brand found at most Cold Storage outlets) with red dates

5 tbsps soaked overnight in 100ml of water. Add some chopped red dates on top of the rice & steam for 35 minutes.

Steamed organic tofu with minced free-range pork, broccoli, organic zucchini & wolfberries

Marinate pork with some sesame oil, mix in the chopped zucchini & spread evenly on top of the tofu. Top with some wolfberries & steam for 10 minutes. Add the broccoli & steam for another 5 minutes.

A simple dish with lots of nutritional value! A pity the pork's texture is a bit on the tough side. I'm probably too used to my mum's smoother pork marinated with corn starch. With so many genetically-modified corn products in the market, I guess I'll have to start my search for the organic version. Hopefully, I can lay my hands on one soon.

Steamed 'mo pei yu' (pronounced in Cantonese) with shiitake mushrooms

Drrizle some extra virgin olive oil over the fish & top with sliced mushrooms. Steam for 15 minutes (10 minutes is usually enough but due to the recent incident of the enmasse deaths of fishes at the local kelongs, I was advised to cook the fish more thoroughly and so I increased the duration of the steaming).

D-inner: 

Organic pasta in yellow onion, organic pumpkin & baby spinach sauce with salmon

Cook pasta till al dente. Steam salmon, cubed pumpkins & halved onion for 10 minutes then add spinach & steam for another 5 minutes. Remove salmon before blending (I'm using my Avent Combined Steamer & Blender) the remaining ingredients. Pour sauce over the cooked pasta, top with salmon & serve immediately.

Chicky in Creamy Potatoes with Asparagus Soup

I recently bought some organic Dutch Cream potatoes. &, as the name suggests, they've a creamy yellow flesh. Thus, it struck me that I could try cooking a creamy potato soup. 

Ingredients:

1/2 of a corn-fed chicken thigh fillet

2 small organic Dutch Cream potatoes, skinned & cut into 2cm chunks

1 medium-sized yellow onion, cut into quarters

3 stalks of thick asparagus, 'skinned' & cut into 2cm long sticks

1/4 cup of Farmhouse Fresh Milk

Organic cheddar cheese, shredded

Directions:

1. Steam the chicken, potatoes & onions (I'm using my Avent Combined Steamer & Blender) for 10 minutes.

2. Add in the asparagus & steam for another 10 minutes.

3. Remove chicken and cut into bite-sized pieces. 

4. Pour in the milk & blend with the cooked ingredients. Stir in cheddar cheese, top with chicken & serve warm.

It turned out pretty successful for a first attempt \(^_^)/ The cheddar cheese actually added a different dimension to the overall taste. This recipe is definitely a keeper & by reducing or omitting the quantity of milk, it can probably even double-up as a pasta sauce too. As usual, my lil' connoisseur drank up every last drop of it!

Freeze-Dried Fruits as Snacks for BB

Vacuum freeze-dried fruits: a great recommendation by my girlfriend during the last Baby Market Expo Fair. They contain no preservatives & are made from 100% fruit with no added sugar either. Definitely a great snack to bring out to keep BB entertained at times..hee ;) I bought a packet of the Wel-B apricots ($10 for 6 small packs of 14g each) for BB to try & he loves them despite the slight sourness! Other than apricots, there're strawberries, strawberries with bananas & peaches. I was very tempted to buy the strawberries with bananas which is one of the bestsellers. Unfortunately, strawberries fall under the Dirty Dozen & they didn't have any organic versions. As I'm blogging this, I went to goggle for more information & realised they come in durians & mangoes selections too. I can't wait to lay my hands on some of them ;P

Knowing that I've started giving BB some healthier snacks, my MIL was so excited & couldn't wait to get in on the act and buy more for him. She bought some from the BabyOnline store located at Marina Square. However, one of the main sources of ingredients are from China which is not our preferred choice. Furthermore, I keep the remaining snacks in the same manner for the leftovers of both brands but these actually turned softer when I wanted to feed BB the following time. Lastly, when I poured out the oranges, a lot of orangey powder came out too. Much of the oranges seemed to have simply disintegrated on their own. 

In conclusion, I'll definitely be stocking up more of the Wel-B ones during the next baby fair! I might even give the strawberries & bananas a try since it contains 70% bananas & only 30% strawberries ^.~

Note: It's printed on the packet that it's for 15mo & above toddlers.

Packed Basil Baked Chicken Thigh for BB's Weekend Lunch

A special treat for BB last weekend - basil baked chicken thigh with button mushrooms & tomatoes! I simply love using herbs to enhance the natural flavours ;)

Ingredients:

Half of an organic chicken thigh fillet

A dash of dried basil

Extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)

2 button mushrooms (white or brown)

3 organic cherry tomatoes, halved

Directions:

1. Pre-heat oven to 180°C.

2. Sprinkle some dried basil onto the chicken & drizzle some EVOO over. Rub the mixture over the chicken including under the skin.

3. Drizzle some EVOO over the mushrooms too.

4. Put both the chicken & mushrooms into the oven & bake for 20 minutes.

5. Put the tomatoes into the oven 5 minutes before the chicken & mushrooms are done.

(Tip: Instead of adding more oil, I dipped them in the golden essence, which comprised of the rich flavours from the chicken oil, EVOO & basil, that flowed out from the chicken during baking.)

BB totally enjoyed his luncheon that day! Kept asking for more by saying 'Mum-mum-mum!' when he had not even swallowed his last mouthful of food. Furthermore, he did the gesture of 'Please, please' (which I had taught him to do to ask for snacks instead of crying for them) on his own accord..lolz! I tried one piece of the chicken & omg, it was indeed good! A nice aroma of basil filled up my mouth as I chewed it. Who says healthy food without seasonings can't taste good? *Wink* To complete the meal, I also brought out a golden kiwi as well as some freeze-dried orange slices for him to snack on (will be sharing more about this healthy snack in my next post so do stay tuned).

B-L-D for my 15M5DO BB

B-reakfast: 

Bananacado milkshake with toasted wheat germ topped with Cheerios

My closest family & friends all know that I'm a very strict mummy when it comes to food. I didn't even give any commercial puffs (not even the organic ones) to BB during his 1st year. However, since he has already turned one, I'm gradually loosening the reins. Other than giving him the freeze-dried fruits, I decided that it's time to introduce breakfast cereals to him but definitely not the sugar loaded unhealthy ones. I've been following one of the mummies' posts on the Healthy Food for my Baby Facebook group & she shared that she's giving Organ Multigrain O's with Quinoa. It actually contains 80% wholegrains, 15% protein rich legumes & no added cane sugar. With all the healthy ingredients, there is not a single doubt that it fits all my criterias so I bought a box for BB. Oh boy, did he like it! It has since become one of his favourite breakfasts & a good snack to keep him occupied while we dine outside too. 

This particular morning, instead of giving him his usual Farmhouse Fresh Milk to go with it, I gave it a lil' twist. As I've some nicely ripen avocados & bananas, I blended an avocado, 2 medium-sized bananas with half a cup of milk. To further up the nutritional value, I added some toasted wheat germ to the milkshake. Last but not least, I topped with some Cheerios. BB, being the usual anti-fan of avocado, only opened his mouth after much scrutinising to ensure that there's a 'Ball, ball' (what he calls them for now) in each & every spoonful -_-lll His dear mummy here, on the other hand, prefers the plain bananacado milkshake..so good even on its own..slurp slurp!!

L-uncheon: 

The following were cooked simultaneously in my Tecno 3-Tiers Electric Steamer & were shared by the 2 of us.

Organic ten multi-grains (Simple Natural brand found at most Cold Storage outlets) with wolfberries

5 tbsps soaked overnight in 100ml of water. Steam for 20 minutes then sprinkle some wolfberries on top of the rice & continue to steam for another 15 minutes.

Steamed corn-fed chicken thigh fillet with organic grapes

I marinated half a chicken thigh with 10 small grapes overnight. Steam for 20 minutes.

Steamed pomfret with organic cherry tomatoes

Drrizle some sesame oil over the pomfret & top with 10 cherry tomatoes cut into quarters or eighths depending on their sizes. Steamed for 15 minutes (10 minutes is usually enough but due to the recent massive deaths of fishes at the local kelongs, it was advised to cook fish thoroughly so I increased the steaming duration).

Steamed Australia asparagus

Shave off the fiberous exterior layer & dice 3 thick stalks of asparagus. Drizzle with a bit of extra virgin olive oil & steam for 10 minutes.

The chicken marinated in the grapes had a light sweet taste to it. Another great tip learned from the same mummy mentioned above. BB finished almost all the rice, asparagus as well as 1 pomfret & 3/4 of the chicken. Not forgetting the bowl of grapes in chicken 'broth' (essence from the steamed chicken as I accidentally poured the water droplets formed on the lid during the steaming process into the bowl when I opened it) which he finished all ;)

D-inner: 

Organic rolled oats porridge with broccoli, free-range pork, organic capsicum & kampong egg (no picture as Mummy forgot to take..heehee)

Ever since BB prefers food with more texture, I've stopped blending his oats. Therefore, it takes a slightly longer time, about 15 minutes, to cook them nowadays. I brought to boil 3/4 cups of water & then added 3 tbsp of oats. Let it cook for about 5 minutes under low fire before adding 40g of minced pork, 1/6 diced capsicum & diced stalks of 3 florets of broccoli. Cook for another 5 minutes. Pour in the rest of the broccoli as well as the kampong egg. Stir in the egg & cook till its fully cooked. Serve warm.

My 3 Dishes + 1 Soup for BB's Dinner

Beet, corns with onions soup: Cut 1 beet & 2 corns into quarters. Cut 2 yellow onions into halves. Add all the ingredients to 2 litres of water & bring to boil. Then, simmer in low fire for 2 hours.

The following were cooked simultaneously in my Tecno 3-Tiers Electric Steamer.

Organic ten multi-grains (Simple Natural brand found at most Cold Storage outlets): 4 tbsps soaked for 7 hours in 1/2 cup of water. Steam for 35 minutes.

Steamed kampong egg with free-range minced pork: 40g of pork marinated with some extra virgin coconut oil. Beat 1 egg (approximately 50ml) with 100ml of water (I've tried 50ml before but found the texture too firm but too soft this time round so I'll try 75ml the next time). Halve the pork & put each portion into the bottom of 2 chawanmushi bowls (mine are from Diaso) then pour half of the egg mixture into each of them. Steam for 20 minutes

Steamed threadfin with wolfberries: 1 piece of threadfin fillet & a small handful of wolfberries. Steam for 10 minutes.

Basil organic cherry tomatoes & lettuces: 3 stalks of lettuces torn into smaller pieces & 6 to 8 cherry tomatoes cut into quarters. Sprinkle dried basil sparingly over the vegetables & drizzle some extra virgin olive oil. Steam for 5 minutes.

BB ate half of the rice, fish & egg but finished the vegetables. Being the soup lover he is, he asked for another serving of soup & drank up every drop of it ;)

BB's Fave 2-Ingredients Mushroom Cheesy Pasta

This is one of the easiest pasta sauces which both BB & I enjoy tremendously. Only two key ingredients are required - mushrooms & cream cheese. I've used shiitake, portobello & a mixture of trio mushrooms (brown & white buttons + portobello). The tastiest of them is the shiitake version as it has the strongest fragrance of them all.

Ingredients:

2 brown buttons

2 white buttons

1 big portobello mushroom

2 tbsps of cream cheese

Directions:

1. Wipe the mushrooms clean with a damp cloth & tear them into smaller chunks.

2. Steam them for 5 minutes (I'm using my Avent Combined Steamer & Blender). Add in the cream cheese & blend to the desired consistency. Pour over cooked pasta & serve immediately.