Baked Frittatas

As a continuation to the post on Cheeses, I'd like to share one of my favourite snacks to bring out for BB on days when we're gonna be out for many hours - Frittatas! There're so many different flavours you can create from one basic recipe. Here u go!

Ingredients:

2 egg yolks or 1 egg (if your LO has passed the 3 or 4 days rule for egg white)

Any combinations of vegetables or meat you desired, finely diced or shredded

Shredded cheddar cheese

Virgin coconut oil (VCO)

Directions:

1. Mix all the ingredients together, leaving some cheese for later.

2. Apply a thin layer of VCO on the muffin tray & pour the mixture into each individual hole, ensuring that there's sufficient egg to cover the ingredients. Top with more cheese.

3. Bake at 180°C for about 15 minutes till golden brown.

Tips: 

- the smaller they're, the nicer they'll taste.

- do not use muffin liners as they'll cause the frittatas to become soggy (refer to the last picture).

These are some of the varieties that I've created so far ;)

Organic potato, asparagus, carrot & onion

Carrot with organic spinach

Organic pea sprouts & parsnip

Salmon & peas

Organic cherry tomatoes & onion

Nutritious Teething Biscuits for 9MO BB

Backtracking to share my favourite teething biscuits for BB when he was 9mo. This is a recipe adapted from Wholesome Baby Food, one of the most informative weaning websites which I've found myself constantly referring to during BB's food journey for the past 7 months.

Ingredients:

1 egg yolk, beaten
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1.5 tbsp of Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1/4 cup breast-milk

1 tbsp uncooked organic rolled oats

1 cup organic unbleached flour

1 tbsp wheatgerm (optional, soy flour or nonfat dry milk may be added for extra nutritional value too)

Directions:

1. Whisk wet ingredients together before adding in the dry ones (dough will be stiff).

2. Roll dough into a thin layer ( I rolled mine on a cookie tray for easy cleaning up afterwards) & cut into strips or use cookie cutters to cut into desired shapes, like I did.

3. Bake at 175°C for 15 minutes on an ungreased cookie sheet. 

4. Let them cool down completely on a cooling rack then store in an airtight container. Best consumed within 2 weeks.

These teething biscuits are rather crispy so supervision when feeding is required at all times. You can tell how much my boy enjoyed gnawing on them from the collage below. To be honest, I couldn't resist snacking on them myself too ~.^

Double-Boiling Porridges

One of the most useful tips that I've learnt from a Facebook group 'Healthy Food for My Baby' is on double boiling oats (a big Thank You to the mummy who shared it whoever you're) which I've improvised & used it to cook BB's porridge. Why double boil u may wonder? It ensures that the temperature stays almost constant at around 100 degrees Celsius which is essential as some nutrients may be destroyed at too high a temperature. Furthermore, through this method of cooking, most nutrients from the food will be retained. For me, another added bonus would be that I won't have to 'watch' the fire to prevent my porridge from getting burnt. If you've a slow cooker at home, you probably don't need to do this but even the slow cooker at my mum's place needs the occasional stirring or else the porridge would end up sticking to the bottom. 

I have chosen to make use of my existing kitchen appliances to create my "personal double boiler" instead of buying one to add-on to the clutter on my countertop. The appliances include:

Ikea metal pot & pot strainer (any large metal pot with a steamer stand will do just as fine)

Ceramic pot (can be purchased from NTUC)

Induction cooker (stovetop of course can too)

I shall share how the above method is implemented, with the porridge recipe that I have just cooked today.

Ingredients:

3 tbsp of Simple Natural Organic Ten Multi Grains (found at most Cold Storage outlets)

3/4 cup of water

1 piece of cod fillet, thawed & deboned (I bought a big packet of cod fish chunks & defrost the required chunks whenever I need them)

1/2 of a small purple sweet potato, peeled & diced

A handful of chopped spring onions

Directions:

1. Soak the grains in water within the ceramic pot overnight to remove phytic acid.

2. Place the ceramic pot into the metal pot with the pot stainer (or on top of a steamer stand) & fill it with water to match the height of half the ceramic pot.

3. Bring water to boil, then let it simmer for between 1 hour to 1.5 hour depending on the strength of  your fire (please check occasionally to ensure that there is water left in the metal pot, especially for the first few times that you are attempting this method until you're certain on the required amount of water that would be needed without steaming away completely during the cooking process).

4. After 20 minutes, add the diced sweet potatoes into the ceramic pot & give it a good stir together with the grains. 

(Note: My rule of thumb is to double the respective cooking time for the ingredients as the fundamental of double boiling is cooking with indirect hear, thus implying an increased cooking time).

5. At 15 minutes to the countdown (10 minutes if the fish is not very thick), place the fish into a bowl / plate before putting it on top of the ceramic pot to steam. I prefer to steam the fish separately so that I can double check for any fine or small bones as I flake it after it's cooked.

6. Once the time is up (my induction cooker has a timer), remove the steamed fish to cool slightly. Add spring onions to the porridge & stir them in to allow it to be 'cooked' by the piping hot porridge. Flake the fish & serve it warm with the porridge.

My Beloved Avent Combined Steamer & Blender

If anyone is to ask me if I ever regretted buying my Avent Combined Steamer & Blender, my answer is a definite NO. It's a worthy investment & I'll strongly recommend it to working mummies who want to prepare homemade food for their babies but are yet too strapped for time. Some mummies may feel that it'll become a white elephant once their babies start to take less purees after 2 or 3 months. On the contrary, I'm still using mine frequently although BB is almost 13.5mo. In fact, my mother who is an experienced cook (after cooking for her hubby & 4 kids for the past 40 over years) told me she's keen to get one too as she saw how easy it was to prepare a cheesy mushroom sauce for our pasta lunch during one of her visits. Other than the steam function, I use the blender to make the following:

1. Purees

2. Soups 

3. Sauces for pasta

4. Smoothies / Milkshakes (I haven't introduced fresh milk yet so gotta KIV milkshakes for now)

Moreover, I like the fact that there are only a few parts to wash. I did come across some mummies complaining about the hard to reach corners as well as frequent staining on the lid.. To overcome these problems, I've some tips to share.

1. After pouring out the food, always rinse off the residual bits immediately. This will help prevent them from drying up & sticking onto the appliance.

2. Use an angled-head brush (I'm using NUK Deluxe Bottle Brush) for hard to reach corners.

3. Use a straw brush (mine is from Kiddy Palace but I can't recall the brand) to clean the holes on the lids.

I believe I'll continue to use this product for as long as it can last! Hope this review will be helpful if u're contemplating to get one ^_~

Oats: Nutritious, Fast to Cook & Good to Eat

During my confinement, I was blessed with a superb nanny. Other than taking good care of BB & me, she even imparted some of her recipes to me. One of them was savoury cooked oats. Such a simple but yet nutritious food. It even turned out to be a saviour for me during the month after she left as BB was going through his growth spurts & I could barely find time to cook myself a decent meal.

Upon doing more research, I realised that oats are in fact packed with more nutrients than the usual brown rice cereals. This chart was shared by one of the mummies in one of the FB groups which I'm following & oats is actually ranked as the third highest in nutrient points.

The only preparation you'll need is to blend 2 weeks' worth of organic rolled oats which is to be kept in the fridge, ready to be used anytime. Sweet or savoury, the sky is the limit for any creative variation that you can conjure up. 

Ingredients:

Ratio of blended rolled oats : amount of liquid 

= 1 tbsp of oats : 1/4 cup of bm / water / milk 

Directions:

1. Bring liquid to boil then add oats in.

2. Whisk away to get a smooth texture & simmer in a low fire till the oats look expanded & have achieved your desired consistency.

3. You may then add on fresh fruits as toppings or vegetable purees before serving.

As your baby grows, you can add on other ingredients like fish or meats (Beefy pumpkin oats with broccoli) to serve it as porridge.

Organic Beef & Pumpkin Soup (can be used as a sauce for pasta too) topped with Granny's Homegrown Spring Onions for my 1Y 12DO BB

Such a cool & lazy afternoon, especially after the heavy downpour. BB had an early nap today & by the time he woke up, it was already almost 2.30pm. Therefore, I decided to just cook a simple soup for his lunch.

Ingredients:

50g of organic minced beef

1/2 a chunk of organic pumpkin, cut into 1 inch cubes

A handful of chopped spring onions

Directions:

1. Put the beef into steamer (I'm using Avent Combined Steamer & Blender) & steam for 5 minutes.

2. Add the pumpkin cubes in & steam for another 15 minutes.

3. Blend to desired consistency. Top with spring onions, stir them in then serve warm.

It was really sweet with a slight beefy taste to it. However, BB wasn't his usual self & needed some coaxing to finish his usual portion. Guess he wasn't that hungry since he was comfort nursing while he napped.

Banana Eggies Pancakes

Pancakes was one of the topics discussed today in my July 2013 mummies group chat. Thus, the recipe of the day will be the super easy banana eggies pancakes. As the name suggests, the only ingredients needed are bananas & eggs. Yes, you heard me right. Only 2 simple ingredients to give your lilttle one a nutritients-packed breakfast.

Ingredients (yields 8 small pancakes):

1 big ripe banana, mashed

2 beaten eggs (I usually buy kampong or free range eggs)

Virgin coconut oil (VCO)

Directions:

1. Mix the ingredients together.

2. Pour some VCO into a non-stick pan on low heat. Add a small circle of batter to the pan. Let it cook & set for about 1 to 2 minutes then flip & repeat on the other side till it cook through.

 

I served them with a dollop of Farmers Union Greek Style Natural Yogurt & some organic red grapes. BB actually cried for more after finishing the 3 I gave him. In the end, he ate 5, leaving me unsatisfied with only 3 pieces :(  I'm definitely going to make more the next time round.