Monday, September 28, 2009

Food, book and such

I've been making babyfood every 3-4 days...usually its chickenstocked bubur with veges and ikan bilis which Dahlia absolutely love it...

if i'm a bit rajin, i would be cooking 2 types of food for her - one for lunch and the other, dinner...i try to bring variety to her food. if i only make bubur, either she'll have it for both meals or one meal bubur and the other farley's with banana or pet*it gem's babyfood (dalam jar)....



at times, i ikut buku recipe above....i suka gila her food! not only its yummy for dahlia, but i love it as well..hehehe....of course for dahlia takdelah the usual salt, pepper, seasonings...but then, if makan as it is for us pun sedap ok?

apart from carrot, banana puree so far i only tried a few recipe which include sweet potato and broccoli, butternut squash, cinderella's pumpkin, sweet potato with spinach and peas (dahlia tak gemar sangat this one, i think she doesn't like peas), chicken with sweet potato and apple, easy on-pot chicken and pasta with butternut squash, tomato and cheese.

some of the food pun i tak pernah makan ok? hehehe...tu yang buat best when i cook for her.... :-)

of course, i also use the chicken stock recipe in this book for most of the food i made...except that ada lah some ingredients yg tak i masukkan sebab takde di rumah or susah nak cari...

this book is really a good book esp when u baru nak start bagi food for the lil' one...it has the info on the importance of nutrition for the baby, what should be avoided and whatnots....i love it sebab dia bahagikan the recipes according to the baby's age...

i will try to post a few recipes in this blog sikit-sikit and i will start with the chicken stock :-). please take note that i tak lah ikut 100% from the book and tend to masukkan more air and masak lama sikit so pekat, tak buang any sediment lemak if ada.

Chicken stock
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Carcass from a roast chicken or about 2 pounds chicken bones, chopped into pieces (i just beli from the kedai, masukkan dalam stockpot terus sekor)
3 large carrots, peeled
1 parsnip (tak pernah letak pun)
2 onions
1 stalk celery, trimmed
small bunch of parsley (i just use dried ones)
sprig of tyme (again, dried ones)
1 bay leaf (dried lagi)
4 black peppercorns (tak pernah letak)
8 cups boiling water

Put the carcass into a large, heavy bottomed saucepan.
Roughly chop all the veges and add to the pan together with the
herbs and peppercorns.
Pour in water, bring to boil and then remove all the surface sediment with a slotted spoon.
Half cover the pan and simmer gently for 1 1/2 hours or until liquid is reduced by half (in my case, sampai ayam hancur)
Allow to cool. (I strain terus at this stage and terus masukkan dalam plastic bag, about 1 to 2 cups each bag and masukkan terus dalam freezer)
Then leave in the fridge overnite.
Remove any congeaqled fat from the top in the morning.
Strain to make stock.

Kindly take note, do read carefully on what kind of food is suitable for your baby as bila u baru intro food, kenalah the basic food dulu sebelum buat bebenda yg lebih complex and jgn lupa on food to avoid and whatnot....

lepas ni i share the chickestocked bubur recipe pula ya? :-) OR any recipes you would like to share with me?

Monday, September 14, 2009

Bfeeding and such

"Dapat berapa?" asked a lady while i was pumping milk in the surau.

"Dapat 2-3 oz jer," i answered with a weak smile....

"Oh, i dapat 5 oz je..sikit kan?" answered the lady...

*smack in the face for me kejap*...aiyoh! i only got 2 oz+ for my precious after like an hour of pumping and she dapat 5 oz in 10 mins...and yet dia kata sikit?

since when does pumping milk became a race on who gets the most?

personally i think breastfeeding is the most wonderful thing you could give to your child if you are able...tho, i have to admit, since 3rd april 2009 dahlia has been mixed fed.....

i would like to think that dahlia is receiving the best of both worlds..rather than cussing myself and thinking that i'm a failure for not able to exclusively bfeed my baby...

i wasn't producing as much milk as i hoped due to time and work constrains...and stress...*sigh*

some might think it as an alasan for me tak dapat susu banyak, but then, try stting in my position and feel for yourself lah...isk.

but doesn't mean i'm not dissapointed when tgk susu sikit or when i was too busy to pump.... :-(

i remembered an online conversation i had with a friend long time ago...when i first introduced formula to dahlia...

"bagi susu formula doesn't mean you are a bad mother....dahlia will still be a smart and healthy baby ok!" said my friend who her name matches with my lil' miss - bee...(something like that la sebab the conversation dah lama dah kan??)...

that short conversation with bee and an sms sent by hubby did help me a lot...it made me feel better....thank you!~

oh, dahlia now pandai kalau nak nenen...she would call me 'mama' (other times tak pun) and sebut 'nenenenenen' or when she's crawling and i tgh dok baring, she would terus pergi ke situ...

i'm so proud of my lil' bunga... :-)

for those yang exclusively bfeeding, keep up the good work...
for those yang dah mixed, well we tried kan?
for those yg dah totally formula, not bfeeding doesnt mean you are a bad mother....everyone has their options...

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to all,

i'm so sorry for not updating for such the longest time....sibuk teramat sangat...more updates soon!