Soup Stock! Again!

Let's revisit Soup Stocks!

REF: http://weaningyourlittleones.blogspot.sg/2012/08/porridge.html

Soup stocks make naturally healthy and yummy tasting bases for cooking so that we need not add seasonings or artificial flavours into baby's food.

It is difficult to be cooking a small quantity of soup stock. Thus, we normally batch cook. Cook up a large pot to maximize ingredient usage and also gas! 

This is how Mummy Fiona stores the soup stock:

Soup Stock in Baby One Breast Milk Bags!
Order here: www.thelittleonesinmylife.com.sg

The soup stock in the picture is vegetable soup stock. The natural goodness is all in the stock!

Don't waste the vegetables. Mash them and feed them or freeze them for later. :)
If you have a dog at home, they'll love the additional treat if there's too much for you to store. :)

Product Review: thelittleonesinmylife Disposable Bibs

I LOVE DISPOSABLE BIBS!

Why?
1. No washing! Can't imagine trying to wash clothes/bibs with beetroot stain!
2. It's LARGE enough to cover the front of the body
3. It has very sticky tapes which hold it in place (not just behind the neck but also hold down the bib onto the chest)
4. Crumb catcher!!! I'll try to post a video of what the little monster did with food that drops into the crumb catcher.
5. It's affordable! $5.90 for a pack of 10pc at Kiddy Palace.
6. Great quality! Non-woven top layer (SUPER SOFT), absorbent paper middle layer (WITH CUTE PRINTS!), waterproof bottom layer (yay!!!)
7. You can reuse it if it was a pretty mess-free meal. We've done that many times :)

Available at all KIDDY PALACE outlets for $5.90 (pack of 10pc).
Or purchase online: www.facebook.com/thelittleonesinmylifeshop

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<3 Audrey
(Don't forget to like my FB page: www.facebook.com/thelittleonesinmylifeshop!)

 

Contest end date changed to 30th September 2012.
Results will be announced on 1st October 2012.

Oopsie! PD says baby's a little too yellow!

Mummies do take note if your baby looks too yellow.
I quote the PD,"Babies should look PINK in the cheeks, not yellow!"

To me, I didn't notice as I'm pretty yellow myself. Oops! Bad mummy!
PD highlighted that he probably has too much food high in carotenes continuously.
So we were instructed to stay off them for 2 weeks.

Anyway, I relooked his diet the past 2 weeks and realised that my helper has been serving orange vege on a daily basis! No wonder! *piak forehead*
Pumpkins, sweet potatoes and the main culprits (HIS FAVE!).
And... we've totally forgotten then brocolli and spinach has the same effect! (Again, HIS FAVE!)

So poor boy has to cut off his fave veges for 2 weeks. Oh well. Time to explore new veges for him.
We are sticking to potatoes, zucchini, old cucumber and the colourless veges for now.
Thankfully, he is a trooper and slurps up his food.

And pumpkin, sweet potatoes... are going into my porridge.

Home Made Yogurt (Breastmilk or Formula) - All the Goodness, minus the sugar!

Why HOME MADE YOGURT?
Before you read on, here's why I chose home made over commercial yogurt.
1. For babies under 1yo, it is not recommended to give cow's milk due to increased possibility of allergy. Commercial yogurt (even if designed for babies), are made from cow's milk.
2. If your baby is a TBF baby, why introduce other milk products not made from your own breastmilk?
3. Using the FM that your baby is used to reduces any risk of allergy from new food product.
4. No artificial flavouring!
5. No added sugar!
6. Commercial yogurt is mostly for 1yo and above (I think currently only 1 rare brand that has for 6 mth onwards). Home made yogurt is suitable for babies once they start weaning! Mix it with avocado *YUMMY*!

Read about why yogurt is good for your baby here: http://www.livestrong.com/article/246154-can-babies-eat-yogurt/

How is it made?

Buy a pack of starters. It's pretty hard to find powdered starters in SG which are plain and not flavoured. You can try ordering from overseas if you can wait. Else, get a small pack of natural plain yogurt and use a tsp of it as starter.

You will need a thermal container or something which can help to keep the temperature constant for the bacteria to work its magic. I use an electric yogurt maker which ensures success everytime (breastmilk is too precious to experiment with). I bought mine for around $50 at Tangs (the same brand that sells a machine to make soy milk).

1. Wash & sterilise all containers & utensils you will be using.
- Thermal container (or your yogurt maker)
- 1 long spoon

2. Pour warm milk into container.

3. Stir in the starter.

4. Leave it to work its magic.

5. It typically takes 6 to 8 hours. The duration will depend on how acidic you want it to be. For breastmilk, you can expect it to be more watery.
I typically leave it for 7 hours so that it's not too sour until baby will reject.

6. It is recommended to portion into smaller containers so that you will not contaminate the entire batch when you scoop out to serve. You can use glass bottles or airtight containers. I prefer using Tupperware's airtight containers. Where to buy TUPPERWARE containers? Check this out: http://practilicious.blogspot.com

7. Serve with fresh fruit puree or chopped fruits. Yummy!
You can also use it for cooking or add it into oat porridge, cereal, snacks!

You can keep home made yogurt in the fridge for 2 weeks.
After 2 weeks, use the last scoop to redo a new batch! That's your starter!

It should look like this when done - Slightly foamy (from the bacteria's carbon dioxide), creamy & thick

Transferred into Tupperware container for storage!

Did your baby enjoy it? Share a pic or video with us!
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<3 Audrey
(Don't forget to like my FB page: www.facebook.com/thelittleonesinmylifeshop!)

Batch Cooking

Traditional Chinese will tell you,"NO! You cannot do that! It will cause wind in baby's tummy!"

Honestly, I've never thought much about this. I've been batch cooking and freezing 5 years ago for my elder boy. I'm doing the same for my younger boy now. & we've never had problems with 'wind in tummy'.

The key is to heat up the porridge till it is piping hot (I use steaming).

To make cooking convenient so that we have time for the boys, we use a thermal cooker. (Read more here: http://thermalcookware.com/)
By using it's own heat to continue with the cooking process, we don't have to watch the fire or worry about burnt porridge!

This is what we do:

1. Rinse rice
2. Place washed rice and water in metal pot of thermal cooker
3. Boil vigorously for 10 to 15min
4. Cover and place metal pot into thermal sleeve5. Cover and leave to cook for a few hours

When it's ready, you can choose to boil it again if you wish, or simply portion out into freezing trays.
I'll post more about freezing trays later.

For fruits & vege, we normally cut into cubes, steam, then blend (when still at the puree stage) or mash, then freeze. We have been giving small cubes of soft food for self feeding (carrots, potato, etc).

Usually, it is recommended that you allow it to cool before popping the trays into the freezer. However, impatient as I am, I will dump them straight into the freezer. The key is to ensure that you put it AWAY from other frozen food and leave adequate space around the tray for cool air to reach it. Also, set your freezer to the coldest possible.

Why batch cook?
1. It's convenient. We don't have time to cook separate meals for baby daily. Especially when we need to ferry the elder one for classes.
2. It's easier to manage ingredients. Fresh vegetables spoil rather quickly. By batch cooking and freezing, we can extend the shelf life. Frozen food can last up to 1 month in the normal home freezer, but we recommend max 2 weeks for baby's food.
3. Variety! Imagine, we batch cook 20 different ingredients on Sunday and we play mix and match for the next 2 weeks. :) With fresh ingredients, it's pretty hard to do that.

Of course, we try to give fresh whenever we can (e.g. weekends when daddy is the driver).
Fruits are mostly fresh & breakfast usually consist of cereal and fresh fruits (mashed).

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<3 Audrey
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How to start on porridge?

How to start on porridge?

1.       Cook porridge using chicken/pork/vege stock.

2.       Blend or mash. (Make sure your baby is ready for the texture!)

It is best to serve the porridge and other ingredients (meat/vege) separately to allow your baby to enjoy the textures and flavours before mixing into the porridge. You can give 1 spoonful of each item, followed by some water when feeding.

How to prepare batches for freezing?

1.       Steam/boil ingredients.

2.       Puree/mash to desired texture.

3.       Portion out into freezing tray.

4.       Allow to cool.

5.       Cover with lid once cooled and keep into freezer.

Heating up frozen puree/baby food

1.       There is no need to defrost/thaw the frozen food.

2.       Cook immediately by steaming. DO NOT USE MICROWAVES as there are hotspots which might burn your baby’s mouth!

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<3 Audrey
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Starting to Wean!

What to introduce?

Recommended brands (organic):

1.       Bellamys

2.       Organix

3.       Healthy Times

4.       Happy Bellies
5.     Plum Organics

** Purpose of giving organic brands: No added preservatives or flavouring. It is not sweet so your child will not develop a liking for sweet foods and end up rejecting other foods.

You can purchase them from Vitakids, large supermarkets (CS or NTUC Finest) or email me at thelittleonesinmylife@gmail.com and I will help you to place an order.

Age	Food	Can I freeze this?	Remarks
4 – 6mths	Rice cereal	Yes. You can pre-prepare cereal/blended porridge and freeze.	Homemade: Wash & dry rice (under sun or in oven) Ensure that rice is thoroughly dry Blend into powder To use, add 2 parts water to 1 part powder, cook over fire until thick. Allow to cool then add milk (EBM or FM). Or, cook porridge and blend the porridge into smooth puree. Add milk as desired. Or buy organic brands.
4 – 6mths	Oat cereal	Yes. You can pre-prepare cereal/blended oats/multigrain porridge and freeze.	Start with powdered cereal first. When baby is able to progress to mashed instead of puree, you can do the following: Buy organic instant BABY OATS (smoother and less insoluble fibre). Add 1 part oats to 2 parts hot water. Mix well and allow to cool. Add EBM or FM as desired to the texture you want.
4 – 6mths	Multi-grain cereal		Buy organic brands. Can do home-made, same process as rice cereal.
4 – 6mths	Sweet potato	Yes. Freezes well.	Choose the yellow/orange versions. Do not feed continuously/daily. Carotene (orange/yellow pigment) will cause your baby to look yellow/orange if taken continuously. Carotene is also broken down by the liver, so too much of it will tax the young liver. Good to mix with cereal after initial tasting of pure sweet potato.
4 – 6mths	Potato	Try not to. Oxidizes easily (changes colour to a greenish colour)	Choose baby potatoes. The starch is easier to digest. Wash the skin, then boil or steam the potatoes whole. Remove the skin before blending/mashing. Add some EBM or FM to make the potato puree smooth.
4 – 6mths	Avocado	Does not freeze well. Can keep remaining (untouched portion) in airtight container in chiller for up to 2 days.	Choose ripe avocado (black & soft). Just scoop the flesh out and mash. No cooking required. Take note to feed fast as avocado oxidizes quickly.
4 – 6mths	Banana	Does not freeze well (becomes very watery).	Choose small/short banana (petite or ‘pang chio’). Mash and serve. No cooking required. Take note to feed fast as banana oxidizes quickly.
4 – 6mths	Papaya	Does not freeze well (becomes very watery).	Choose soft and ripe papaya. Scoop the flesh nearer to the seeds (softer). Mash and serve. No cooking required.
4 – 6mths	Pear	Yes. Freezes well.	Choose gourd shaped green pears (soft flesh). Remove skin and seeds. Steam till soft then blend till smooth (minimal water needed for blending). Serve fast as pear oxidizes quickly. China pear (brown pears) are very gritty and known to cause tummy upset.
4 – 6mths	Apple	Yes. Freezes well.	Choose Red Gala apples (softer). You can steam the apples or choose not to steam. Steamed apples are better for freezing. Raw apples oxidize easily.
4 – 6mths	Peach	Yes. Freezes well.	Choose very soft peaches. Try to remove the ‘veins’ before blending. If the peach isn’t very ripe, you can steam it to soften it. DO NOT USE CANNED PEACHES!
4 – 6mths	Pumpkin	Yes. Freezes well.	Choose BUTTERNUT SQUASH (also labeled as BUTTERNUT PUMPKIN). Steam & blend/mash.

ADD ON: Sweet Potato may cause constipation. Please ensure loads of liquid intake when giving sweet potato!

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<3 Audrey
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