Milky Oats With Purple Sweet Potato for Breaky

I was having cravings for banana oats for breakfast this morning. To my disappointment, the bananas were too ripe & had turned brownish inside so into the rubbish bin they went. Since I've a pack of purple sweet potatoes on my countertop, I decided to try something new ;>

Ingredients (serve 2 adults & 1 toddler):

200ml of fresh milk

1/2 cup of organic rolled oats

1 medium size purple sweet potato, skinned & cut into small chunks

Directions:

1. Bring the milk to a boil. 

2. Add in sweet potato & oats then simmer for about 15mins. Serve warm.

What's the end result of my lil' kitchen experiment? The taste is kinda like a lighter version of bubur chacha. Fresh milk definitely doesn't have the strong fragrant of coconut milk but it also doesn't contain as much saturated fats present in the latter. Therefore, it's healthier too. The purple sweet potato gives the porridge a tinge of mild natural sweetness. What surprises me the most is the natural fragrant of the oats which fill my mouth as I chew on. I believe that without the addition of seasonings in my everyday meals, my palate has become more acute to the natural flavours or maybe because there aren't too much sweetness or saltiness to mask them.

Beneficial Combinations:

Milk + Oats = Has the effect of reducing fats & losing weight

Milk + Sweet Potatoes = Prevent hypertension & arteriosclerosis

Red Bean Oats Porridge - Another Immune Boosting Recipe

Another throwback recipe! The first time I tried something like this was in Seoul. Two big pots of red beans & pumpkin porridges outside a stall in a local market captured our attentions. However, to our surprise, it was salted, not sweet. Tasted equally yummy though. As I reminisced over the happy times in Korea, I recalled that I still had a pack of adzuki beans in my cabinet. Without wasting any time, I referred to my guide book for complements of these small red beans & found exactly what I needed..oats! So, here's my sweet version ^.^

Ingredients (serve 2 adults & 1 toddler):

1/2 cup of organic adzuki beans, soaked overnight (or at least 8 hours)

750ml of water

1/2 cup of organic rolled oats

Optional - 1 tsp of molasses or honey (pls exclude for babies less than 1yo)

Directions:

1. Rinse the soaked beans a couple of times then add into the pot of water. 

2. Bring the water to a boil then simmer for about 1hr 15mins or till the red beans soften according to your preference.

3. Pour in the oats & cook for another 15mins.

4. Add molasses or honey (best to wait till it has cooled down significantly before adding as high heat willl destroy some of the nutrients) to taste & serve warm.

Today's actually my second attempt & we still love this simple yet nutritious bowl of warm porridge in our tummies early in the morning. 

Beneficial Combination:

Oats + Red Beans = Enhance constitution & improve immunity

Banana Organic Rolled Oats Porridge with Strawberries

Similar ingredients as yesterday's breakfast but just let your creative juice flow & it'll turn out differently ~.^

Ingredients (serve 2 adults + 1 toddler):

1/2 cup of organic rolled oats

2 cups of fresh milk / water

3 big bananas, slightly mashed

9 strawberries, sliced

1/4 tsp of cinnamon

Directions:

1. Bring the milk / water to boil then add the oats in & cook for 3 minutes.

2. Add bananas & cinnamon in & cook for another 2 minutes. Top with strawberries & serve warm.

Yums!

Beneficial Combinations:

Banana + Milk = Improve the absorption of vitamin B12

Banana + Oats = Increase the levels of serotonin & improve sleep

Milk + Strawberry = Refreshing & thirst quenching

Milk + Oats = Has the effect of reducing fats & losing weight

My BB 1st Try on Huai San: Organic Rolled Oats Porridge with Garoupa & Chinese Spinach in 'Huai San' & Wolfberries Chicken Soup Base

婆婆 cooked a nice pot of fresh san yao or huai san (aka Chinese wild yam) with wolfberries & chicken soup and thus I decided to use it as a soup base for BB's oats porridge. According to my mum, there're two types of fresh huai san sold locally. They're either imported from China or Japan. The huai san from China are softer after being cooked. On the contrary, the Japanese huai san has a crunchier texture. In conclusion, the China ones are actually more suitable for toddlers' consumption. The following recipe is my mum's.

Ingredients (serve 3 adults & 1 toddler):

1 fresh huai san, sliced into 1/2 inch thickness

1 chicken, excluding the drumsticks & wings

1 big handful of wolfberries

3 litres of water

Directions:

1. Blanch the chicken first by placing it in a pot with enough water to cover it. Bring the water to boil then remove from heat, drain & rinse.

2. Place all the ingredients except wolfberries into a big pot, bring to boil & simmer for 45 minutes.

3. Add in wolfberries & simmer for another 15 minutes.

The fresh huai san has a texture more similar to tapioca rather than yam unlike its dried counterparts. Even though huai san is quite bland, the soup is very light yet sweet tasting. 

Ingredients:

250ml of soup with huai san & wolfberries

3 tbsps of organic rolled oats

1 piece of garoupa

60g of Chinese spinach, roughly chopped

Directions:

1. Transfer the soup to a smaller pot then add the fish in & cook for 10 minutes.

2. Remove fish to cool slightly & to check for bones. Add oats in then cook for another 5 minutes before adding the Chinese spinach & cook for another 5 minutes. 

3. Top with fish & serve warm.

Surprisingly, BB liked the huai san despite its blandness. He actually pointed to it & asked for more. Another addition to my collection of soup recipes >.~

Beneficial Combination:

San yao + Wolfberries = Good for spleen & stomach, benefit lung & tonify kidney as well as concentrate one's attention

Organic Rolled Oats Porridge with Garoupa + Organic Pumpkin & Zucchini

We decided quite last minute that we would go out straight after our usual Sunday lunch at my Mum's, instead of coming home to prepare dinner before heading out again. Thus, I had to cook a double portion of oats porridge instead of preparing 2 different menus for lunch & dinner which I do when time permits.

Ingredients (2 toddlers serving):

500ml of water

6 tbsps of organic rolled oats

1 piece of garoupa

100g of organic pumpkin, diced

1 medium sized organic zucchini, diced

1 egg (omitted this time round as we had an 'overdose' off eggs the previous day), beaten

Directions:

1. Bring the water to boil then add the fish in & cook for 10 minutes.

2. Remove fish to cool slightly & to check for bones. Add pumpkin, zucchini & oats in then cook for another 5 minutes (will usually cook the pumpkin & zucchini for 10 minutes before adding the oats but as I would be transferring the porridge to a thermal flask to bring out, they would continue to 'cook' inside it.)

3. Add in egg, stir evenly & simmer till it's fully cooked.

4. Remove from fire, add in the flaked fish & mix well. Serve warm.

Beneficial Combination:

Egg + Zuchhini = Effectively relieve pain

Oats Porridge with Mummy's Homemade Corn Soup

Today, I had the honour of learning one of our favourite soups from the culinary master in my family, who is none other than my mummy ;) My younger brother loves the corn soup from MOS Burger so my mummy tried to replicate it at home. It has since become a regular item on our dining table.

Ingredients (yield 4 bowls of soup):

4 cobs of corn (Tip from my mummy: choose the yellowest ones you can find as they'll be the sweetest.)

4 to 5 bowls of water, depending on the consistency you prefer

Salt (omitted for BB's portion)

Directions:

1. Grate the corns.

2. Add 2 bowls of water to the corn purée, mix well with hand then sieve into a pot.

3. Repeat the process till you get your desired thickness of soup.

4. Put the pot over a fire, stirring constantly to prevent the bottom from getting burnt. Bring to a boil while keeping a close watch as once it boils over the pot, it will all be gone in an instant! Look out for the rising soup level as it means that it's boiling (you don't really see a lot of bubbles unlike boiling water). Turn down the fire immediately to a simmer while stirring constantly (this is an important step as my mummy highlighted that the corn will separate from the water if you don't do this while boiling).

5. Let it simmer for another 10 minutes while stirring occasionally. Add salt (optional) & serve warm.

The taste differs slightly from the original one at MOS Burger but I definitely prefer this with its natural sweetness & goodness in every drop! I used it as a soup base to cook oats for BB's lunch & it kinda reminds me of a plate of Italian risotto. I'll probably cook a thicker one as a pasta sauce the next time round.

Ingredients:

1.5 cups of corn soup

4 tbsps of organic rolled oats

1 piece of grouper

1 big handful of Chinese spinach, chopped

Directions:

1. Add the fish into the simmering soup & cook for 10 minutes.

2. Remove fish to cool slightly & to check for bones. Add oats into the soup & cook for another 5 minutes.

3. Add in the Chinese spinach then cook for another 5 minutes.

4. Remove from fire, add in the flaked fish & mix well. Serve warm.

My mummy actually threw the corn residue away. However, I think it can be used as a filler for pancakes or muffins, etc. Definitely something worth trying out ~.<

My 15M20DO BB Self-Feeding Sweet Potato & Organic Apple Purée with a Spoon

I prepared one of BB's favourite purees for breakfast - steamed sweet potato with apple! Sweet potatoes are packed full of nutrients but can be a tad too dry though. Apples seem to be a perfect complement to them as they introduce more moisture to the purée. This purée can also be added into oats porridge, used as a dip or even as a jam to be spread onto bread.

Ingredients:

1 sweet potato, peeled & cubed

1 organic apple, cubed

Some toasted wheat germ

Directions:

1. Steam the sweet potato cubes for 10 minutes.

2. Add the cubed apples & steam for another 5 minutes.

3. Blend (I'm using my Avent Combined Steamer & Blender), top up with wheat germ & serve warm.

After feeding BB a couple of mouthfuls, I noticed that the mixture sticks on to the spoon which made it an excellent choice for him to learn how to spoon feed himself. I hesitated no further to let him give a go at it. He did manage to scoop some to feed himself but still tends to fall back using his hands many a times. It was a wonderful sensory exploration experience for him but I couldn't say the same for myself. Yes, you probably guessed it. The cleaning up of the aftermath was certainly no joke. As the purée dried up, it actually stuck to whatever surface it was on, which happened to be almost everywhere..lolz! Straight to the showers he went, of course. Well, it could have been worse, right? At least it wasn't oily..hee ~.<

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.

Weaning from 6MO

The list of foods you can consider giving your 6MO baby is as follow:

Cereals - barley, oats, rice

Fruits - apple, apricot, avocado, banana, mango, nectarine, peach, pear, plum, prune & pumpkin

Vegetables- acorn / butternut squash, carrot, green beans, parsnip, peas, sweet potato & yellow squash / zucchini 

Dairy - plain whole milk yogurt

There's a new school of thought when it comes to weaning known as Baby Led Weaning or in short, BLW. I first saw it in practice when a girlfriend of mine gave her then 6MO gal a slice of apple to gnaw on. As the date drew nearer to the recommended weaning of 6MO for BB, I started doing more research online & I stumbled upon it again. Upon reading more about it, I decided to give it a try but decided to adopt a two-pronged approach. I would let BB explore & 'play' with his food but would feed him some purees if he still wanted more subsequently.

2 weeks before he turned 6MO, I started spoon-feeding him some breastmilk to test if he had lost his tongue-thrust reflex as well as to let him get used to drinking from a spoon. He showed more & more signs of readiness & with advices from some experienced mummies, I decided to start him off a few days short of him reaching 6MO.

His first encounter with solid food was actually avocado mixed with breastmilk. Avocado is one of the best food for babies as it has a high nutrient content & good fats too. I'm actually blessed as my boy turned out to be a food lover just like his parents & he accepted it readily. 

Ingredients:

1/2 of a ripe (brown & slightly soft when pressed) avocado, mashed

Breastmilk (or formula milk)

Directions:

1. Mix some milk bit by bit into the avocado till you get the desired consistency (mine was quite watery for the first try & I gradually thicken it for the next 3 days).

I also followed the 4 days rule when introducing every new food to check for any allergies & it always seemed like an eternity >.< For his first month on solids, I only managed to introduce 5 foods, namely avocado, butternut pumpkin, sweet potato, peas & oats, to him (partly he was unwell during the CNY period so I stopped his food intake temporarily & instead directly latched him throughout).

Ingredient & Direction:

A small piece of organic butternut pumpkin, diced & steamed by my Avent Combined Steamer & Blender.

(Note: easily squashed)

Ingredient & Direction:

A small Japanese sweet potato, cut into long strips, steamed & half blended by my Avent.

(Note: may be a bit dry so get ready some water to feed in between)

Ingredient & Direction:

A small handful of Watties frozen peas steamed & half blended by my Avent.

(Note: add a bit of room temperature water for it to be blended more smoothly)

Ingredients:

1 tbsp of blended organic rolled oats

1/4 cup of breast / formula milk or water

1/2 avocado, 1/4 sliced & 1/4 mashed

Directions:

1. Oats cooked as per normal. 

2. Add in mashed avocado, mix & serve warm.

BB's Puffs

I've tried baking my very own baby puffs (adapted from an original recipe) for BB when he was 9mo. However, I wasn't quite satisfied with the texture eventhough he loved munching on them.

Ingredients (1st Attempt):

2 tbsp of Virgin Coconut Oil (VCO)

2 egg yolks

1/2 cup of breastmilk (may be replaced with either formula or water)

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

1 tsp baking powder

1.5 cups of blended organic rolled oats

Directions:

1. Mix all ingredients by adding enough breastmilk to form a dough. 

(Note: add more oats if you have added too much liquid)

2. Load the dough into a whipped cream dispenser (from Daiso). Pipe out either 0.5cm or 5cm (easier for his little hands to hold) length segment of dough & cut off with the back of a small knife. You won't need to worry about the segments sticking to each other for now as they'll separate easily by shaking the tray after baking.

3. Bake at 170°C for between 7 to 10 minutes.

4. Allow them to cool completely before transferring to an airtight container to be stored in the fridge.

My hubby was recovering from a flu & had knocked off early from work yesterday so I decided to give it a second try. The changes made are in bold & italics for easy reference.

Ingredients (2nd Attempt):

2 tbsp of Extra Virgin Coconut Oil (EVCO)

2 egg yolks

1/2 cup of freshly squeezed orange juice from 2 medium-sized oranges

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

1 tsp baking powder

1.5 cups of organic unbleached flour

Directions:

1. Mix the wet ingredients together, except the juice.

2. Sieve in the flour.

3. Mix all ingredients by adding enough juice to form a dough. 

(Note: add more flour if you added too much liquid)

4. Load the dough into a whipped cream dispenser (from Diaso). Pipe out a 0.5cm long segment of dough at a time & cut off with the back of a small knife. You won't need to worry about them sticking to each other for now as they'll separate easily by shaking the tray after baking.

4. Bake at 170°C for between 7 to 10 minutes till some parts are a light golden brown (this would give a much nicer, crispier texture).

5. Allow them to cool completely before transferring to an airtight container. I've decided not to store them in the fridge as there'll be condensation when I bring them out.

I also did a batch without using the whipped cream dispenser & it turned out to be easier though not necessarily faster. In fact, the smaller the balls, the better the texture.

BB has yet to try them as he's down with a slight fever & flu, probably gotten the virus from his Daddy-O who has just recovered >.< To my slight disappointment, the desired "melt-in-the-mouth" texture has still proven to be elusive after this attempt. Perhaps I could double the amount of baking powder during the next attempt to achieve a puffier feel. But for now, this will pretty much suffice as both a handy & healthy snack to keep him occupied at times..hee ;p