Baby food storage

I can't recall when was the last time i did a proper blog post on this blog. Besides the giveaway and an advert. I hope there are still readers reading this blog because without you, this blog will never exist! (and nuffnang wouldn't give me money :P)

Anyway, there are sooo many things to blog about. I used to blog about Hariz's monthly milestones but when it comes to Sara, things got pretty hectic and I got this Design Blog  to look after. Well for starters, Sara just turned 7 months recently. She's been in complete 3 meal a day since she's 5.5 months. Just like Hariz. I had so much fun making Hariz's food before and after almost a year 'retiring' from making baby food, now I'm back doing all the routines.

I don't want to go into details here on what are the menu etc. But it's about food storing equipment. Before it was Hariz's the only food storage I know is the Baby Cubes (4oz) RM39 for 8 cubes. Which I still keep for making Sara's food.

And also there are avent via cup that I used when Hariz was bigger and consume more. The Avent cup size is 6oz. I usually cook their food for 2 weeks period. Some people used ice tray to freeze the food and transfer it into a sealed bag/container once frozen. But with Baby Cubes, you can just freeze and store the food in the cubes. It's most convenient and I will just pop one up into the microwave for feeding. I know people said heating up food using the microwave is not good. Well its not bad either. You can google more on this. Sometimes I heat up with just hot boiled water. Depending on the food.

Lately I've been doing some browsing and saw a few food storage yang cantik lagi menarik. :P One of them is this Beaba Multiportions freezer trays.

The best thing about this food storage is it comes with lid to cover your food. You can just store your food without removing them into a proper container. It has 7 spaces to store 7 kinds of food at 2oz each. The silicone material made popping out the food easy. The price is RM89. A tad pricey for a baby food storage don't you think?

I just found out Fabulous Mom came out with a new food storage from Jungle Jingle.

It looks like an ice tray but with lid. Each slot can fit 0.5oz of food and 6oz in total. This is great as the portion is small and best to freeze foods like veggies, chicken, stocks, etc. and maybe the bigger cube (Baby Cubes 4oz) is for main meal like rice, oats. So later you can mixed from both container before feeding it to your baby. It is made from silicone (something similar like Beaba). And the best part, it doesn't cost a fortune! Selling 1 tray for RM12.90 and all 3 for RM36.90! That is why I am soo going to get it :P

So what's your method in storing your baby food?

Chicken , Veggie & Rice & everything nice

I've been doing a lot of cooking last weekend so there'll be a few entries on just recipes. So please bear with me :P

Hariz is almost 9 months now so I started to look for new recipe to add to his little menu like chicken and eggs.

What to feed
• Breast milk or formula, PLUS
• Small amounts of soft pasteurized cheese, yogurt, cottage cheese (but no cows' milk until age 1)
• Iron-fortified cereals (rice, barley, wheat, oats, mixed cereals)
• Mashed fruits and vegetables (bananas, peaches, pears, avocados, cooked carrots, squash, potatoes, sweet potatoes)
• Finger foods (lightly toasted bagels, cut up; small pieces of ripe banana; well-cooked spiral pasta; teething crackers; low-sugar O-shaped cereal)
• Small amounts of protein (egg, pureed meats, poultry, and boneless fish; tofu; well-cooked and mashed beans with soft skins like lentils, split peas, pintos, black beans)
• Non-citrus juice (apple or pear)

 source

But for this time, I'll skip the egg and go with chicken because I myself not quite ready to feed him eggs (boleh ke? :P)

Chicken, Veggie & Rice

info : 1/3 veggie&chicken + 2/3 rice

- Chicken breast

- Celery - diced

- Carrots - diced

- Broccoli - diced

- Brown Rice - cooked in pot

- Pumpkin (Hariz's favourite! must haves in every meal!) - diced

>Masukkkan ayam dalam periuk. Rebuskan dan masukkan sekali celery, carrots, broccoli dan pumpkin.

>Agak-agak ayam dah masak, keluarkan, biar sejuk sikit dan koyakkan isi and letakkan dalam bekas asing seperti di bawah untuk di blend :

{chicken + veggies}

> untuk brown rice, masak di dalam periuk sehingga lembut tapi tak terlalu cair (sebab akan di blend jadi lagi lembut)

{brown rice after cook}

>kemudian, campurkan brown rice yang sudah di masak dengan campuran ayam dan sayur tadi. Blendkan sehingga hancur sedikit. Untuk Hariz, he likes a bit of a texture in his meal and ready to eat!

Hariz food supply

I still can't picture myself being away from my little one especially for more than 1 day! There is nothing more I worry of than my little one being without his mother! Will he be okay? Will he eat? Will he sleep well? Will he cries for no reason? All these questions have been on my head since the 1st day I got the news that I have to be away for few days.

Not I don't trust my husband to take care of Hariz on his own but I think it would be best for both Hariz and Wan if Hariz be with my parents at my hometown in Alor Setar. 

Even though my mom will prepare all the food for Hariz when I'm gone, I just can't help myself from preparing his food and make sure that the supplies suffice. (so I will feel better when I'm away later knowing that I have made all the food) :)

Anyways, today I had a bit of a time to prepare 3 types of baby food for Hariz :

(one) : brown rice + broccoli + carrots

(two) : brown rice + broccoli + salmon

(three) : potato + carrots

This is pretty much what I need to prepare the food. 

1.brown rice - to be cooked on stove until it turned to porridge 

2. carrots cut into cubes

3. potatoes cut into cubes

4. broccoli - removed the stems because it could cause gas. (that explains the farting :P)

5. Item 2-4 to be steamed for about 45 minutes to cook.

Put them together according to your liking (I basically followed my instinct (ikut suka)in this matter. janji sedap :P) Owh i don't use salt or sugar in making this food ya. Try using friend anchovies (ikan bilis goreng) instead.

I usually made them in large amount because to prepare baby's food, kinda takes time. So I made it in one shot and store them in baby cubes (2oz each). It's really convenient. You can store the food up to 2-3 months in the freezer. But normally, Hariz will finished them in 1 months time :)

 I'll be away for 4 days but I think the food could last for more than 1 months! Don't you think? :P Owh remember to labelled them accordingly so you won't missed the expiry date.

 

A little guide for travelling with baby food my way :)

First of all, make sure the amount of food needed and days of travelling. As for Hariz, he had 3 meals in a day, breakfast, lunch and of course, dinner. Say if we were to travel for 3 days, I will pack 9 baby cubes. Put the cubes in a sealed plastic bag so in case the food spilled, it won't spoil your luggage. So far we have travelled by plane and car. The methods are pretty much the same whether you are travelling either plane or car. But if the travelling time is longer than 6 hours, you might consider putting the food with ice packs to keep them cool longer. and make sure the place you're headed has a fridge. If not, you may need to bring a cooler with you.

When it is time to feed your baby, just take 1 cube and dip it in a hot water for a while and it's ready to be consumed! Wasn't that easy?

If you have any other recipe for baby, please share with me!Sharing is caring right? :) Thanks love!

Preparing baby's Nasi lecek

I had a little extra time for me to snap all these photos while preparing Hariz's Breakfast & Lunch. I don't think I could do this with all the food preparations cause it will take forever to have the meal ready! :P

Anyways, this is my own version of Nasi Lecek for Hariz. He started eating solid when he was 5 month and a half. 

For time being, Hariz only been fed with Carrots, Potatoes and Bayam in his porridge. I use a steamer to cook all the veggie intead of boiling them because the less they get contacted with water, the less likely they loss it's nutriens.

I use Phillips hand blender to blend the carrots when they are tender. Bought it for RM198 at Best Denki (RRP : RM209). But I saw in Giant, they are selling for RM180! Darn!

This is how it look's like after blending for a few seconds.

 

 Very fine.

I use brown rice for Hariz's because it's whole grain and more nutricious.

Use a strainer to strain the rice for easy digestion.

 

And I added a bit of anchovies powder to the rice (serbuk ikan bilis yang di blend) 

instead of salt. It tastes way much better!

Rice is ready to eat!

 

Hariz loves it!

Open wide... aaaaahhhhhh...