Cooking For Toddlers and Feeding Them

As Baby O approaches two years of age, she is.. hmm, how should I put it... more adventurous with her food. What I really mean is she is not eating what she is supposed to eat! She is born with the ability to pick out a finely chopped piece of green vegetable leaf! What is worse, Baby O was exposed to all sorts of forbidden food during the recent Chinese New Year break. So if you are blessed with a toddler who eats everything under the roof, you can probably skip this post. Otherwise, here are ten ways I use to get some of those vital vitamins and minerals into the little one which you may want to try.

1. Present a different form
There were occasion when Baby O would chewed on a piece of cold, raw carrot when she won’t give a cooked one a second glance. Food like eggs can be cooked in many different ways too: hard boiled, bullseye, scrambled... Tried a banana + cinnamon + yogurt + milk + wheatgerm + a little carrot and celery (sshhh!!) smoothie? Or does a pumpkin muffin with cream cheese frosting sounds better?

2. Make it look interesting
Cut toasts with a cookie cutter. Press some rice in a cookie cutter before removing the cutter and decorate it. No one says you can’t have a white gingerbreadman with peas as buttons, sweetcorn as eyes and a slice of tomato for his mouth. Then, there's pancakes. They are so versatile! You can make them sweet or savoury too! Grate some carrots and zucchini into the batter and pour some in the middle of the pan with two smaller amount at the side to make it into the shape of Mickey Mouse!

Heart-shaped Valentine's Day Pancakes

3. Mask the taste with some favourite food

Cheesy Toast (click to see how it was made)

Cheesy Pasta Bake (click to see how it was made)

Pita Bread Pizza

My favourite option: add some cheese! Besides adding taste, they provide some calcium too. You can melt it on rice/ brocolli/ bread/ etc., cook it as a sauce, spread it or just grate some on top before serving.


4. Add flavour
No, not sugar and salt. Lots of ingredients actually tastes sweet or savoury itself. Cheese is a favourite as mentioned above. How about tomato based pasta. Add some tomato paste or canned tomatoes in water or even just plenty of fresh tomatoes itself! I often add fresh tomatoes in soups or pasta or salads. Baby O loves munching on cherry tomatoes like how she munches on grapes.

Have you tried mash or baked sweet potatoes instead of the usual potatoes? Offer cream cheese, peanut butter and yogurt as dips. Don't forget spices like the cinnamon and herbs like mint can do some wonders too!

5. Make it look beyond recognition
If blending works, then it’s great for soups and sauces. Otherwise, try grating. Just watch those fingers!

Grated carrots

6. Conceal it
If I hadn’t told you what’s inside, you probably wouldn’t know! Cleverly hidden are: grated carrots, finely chopped lettuce and tomatoes, pieces of toasted bread, cheese and beaten eggs with a dash of pepper. Pan fried lightly with some butter. Everything is pretty much hidden so no chance of picking them out!

All-In-One Egg Bites

7. Mix the ingredients, or not

Baby Pork Burgers with Cheesy Surprise (click to see how it was made)

Try cooking everything together as above, as a meat ball, in savoury pancakes, in porridge but also try leaving them all separate sometimes as different ingredient actually tastes good on its own too.

Cherry Tomatoes & Edamame (for Baby O) and Fried Crabsticks (for me!)

8. Get a substitute
Not a big fan of carrots, how about pumpkin? No leafy greens, peas are a good substitute. Edamame (Japanese soy beans)? How about fruits? Don't just change the ingredient, have a variety of meals too! I don't know about you but I would very much prefer not having chicken and carrot porridge everyday, thank you. Carbohydrates come in many forms including bread, pasta, and noodles. So go for a homemade sandwich, cheesy bake or meehoon soup somedays too!

Chicken Vegetable Soup (click to see how it was made)

9. Cook with child
Baby O loves being the kitchen helper. She's an expert in stirring and mashing up stuffs. In the process, she may pick up little pieces and nibble away. Toddlers just love to know how it all works and what better way to see how their food is being made. Great way to explore the textures of the ingredients, smell them and see how they all look like before being chopped up!

Chief Stirrer

10. Eat with child
When the child watches you eat, hopefully he or she will participate in the activity too. Don't give him or her too much pressure though as toddlers this age are still very much in their discovery stage. It is also best to eat at the same appropriate place during meal times. We try to stay away from the TV and dine at the dining table with Baby O on her high chair or at Baby O's little children table in the kitchen when it's just the two of us.

What if none of the above works? Check for other culprit such as teething. Consult a paeditrician to see if the child is within the good and healthy weight range and is his or her own usual active self. If the answer is yes, I probably wouldn’t fret too much. Just chill and cook less as this means they are getting their nutrients in somewhere, somehow from all those snacks and such throughout the day!

Baby Cawanmushi (Steamed Egg)

Baby O usually has a 2 to 3 hour nap in the afternoon after lunch. Today was an exception as she was knocked out before noon! Instead of doing house chores like I really should, I did what I did best, I had ME time. Before I knew it, 90 minutes have whizzed by. Baby O is about to wake up anytime now without any lunch! Panic. Good thing I had an idea of what I wanted to prepare today. Another easy and quick but nothing lacking in the nutrition department meal. Best part is, it can be prepared with staples found in my fridge.

So here is what I did:

1. Defrost a small fish. Because our fish doesn’t come as a fillet, I steamed the fish for about 3 - 5 minutes and let it cool before removing the bones.
[Alternative to fish - minced chicken or pork or even tofu!]

2. Grate or finely chop a small carrot and cut the florets off about four branches of broccoli.

3. Remove skin and crush a piece of ginger the size of a small thumb. This can be easily removed later before consumption. Alternatively, pound the ginger under the mortar and pestle and just use the juice.

4. Crack three large eggs. Add about two to three eggshells of clear soup (from last night’s dinner).
[Can be substituted with just water or even milk.]
 
5. Add a crack of black pepper to enhance flavour.
[You now have two options: steam everything in a flat bowl together or separate it into two bowls. I did the latter as I can then add more ingredients like garlic which Baby O doesn’t fancy at the moment. I also added some crab filaments into my bowl.]
 
6. Put about two to three tablespoons of steamed rice leftover from last night’s dinner into a ceramic bowl (or any bowl which can withstand heat).
[Again, the amount is subjective as you can have as much or as little rice you want. You can even substitute rice with torn up pieces of bread, noodles, etc!]

7. Add in carrots, broccoli, fish and any other ingredients you wish like shitake mushrooms etc before topping up with the egg mixture.

8. Steam in slow fire for 15 minutes.

Yummy!

Chicken Vegetable Soup

Another easy lunch (or even dinner) to prepare for Baby O and me! Managed to whip it out in less than half an hour! And mainly with whatever I managed to gather from my fridge. Who says wholesome nutritious meals are difficult to prepare???

Again no salt required. I can taste the natural sweetness from the onion and carrot as well as the chicken meat together with the zing of the tomato and the aroma of the freshly cracked black pepper. Mm mmm...

If I had any, I would have buttered up some wholemeal bread or even spread it with cream cheese and toasted it for some croutons!

Anyway, this is what I did:

1. Dice:
    2 small chicken breasts
    1 medium carrot
    1 medium tomato
    3 baby corn

2. Finely chop 1 clove of garlic.

3. Heat up 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a saucepan. Fry onions till fragrant. Add chicken and garlic. Fry till brown.

4. Add carrots and stir. Add baby corn and tomato. Cover with about 500ml water. Do not add too much so soup remains flavourful. Boil for about 10-15 minutes.

5. Add about a fistful of frozen peas and boil for another 3-5 minutes.

6. Serve with a crack of black pepper.

The verdict: ‘More! Chi-ken!’

Note: If you are not comfortable giving your little one bits, you can always blend the soup up to the right consistency. I can imagine it to be every bit as tasty!

Baby Pork Burger with Cheesy Surprise

So pleased with the success of this no salt added pork burger that I can’t wait to share it with those looking for a fast and easy but nutritious meal to prepare for your little toddler and the family! Took me just about 30 minutes (with defrosted minced pork) to get this on the table. This is what I did:

Yields: 4 baby pork burgers

1. Cut up a slice of wholemeal bread into four pieces and toast in the oven.

2. In a medium bowl, grate 1/4 carrot. Add 1/2 chopped tomato, 1 chopped romaine lettuce leaf, 1 chopped mushroom, a dash of dried oregano, 1 small egg, crushed crumbs of toast, 200g minced pork.

3. Lightly saute 1/2 chopped onion in a tablespoon olive oil and add into bowl. Leave the grill pan on low heat.

4. Mix everything together with your clean hands. Divide them into four balls (or two if you want bigger patties).

5. Make a well in the middle of the patty and place one of the 4 cubes of cheddar cheese in it. Cover the cheese with the patty around it and pat into shape.

6. Gently place the patties on a low-medium heat grill. I have a phobia of uncooked homemade burgers. I found out the trick is to cook each side for 5 minutes on low-medium heat, turn them over for another 5 minutes, and repeat the procedure again. This also leaves a pretty criss-cross grill mark on your patties!

7. Cut open one patty to double check that it is cooked right through. If it is still pink in the middle, place it back on the grill. Otherwise, they are ready to be served! With yummy cheese waiting to ooze out!

Serve with toasted buns or on its own with a slice of lettuce or a spread of mustard... whatever you wish! No salt needed as it is already full of flavours on its own just like that!

These ingredients were found in my fridge and can be readily substituted with absolutely anything! For example, you can use minced chicken instead or pork, broccoli instead of lettuce, fresh basil instead of dried oregano, white instead of wholemeal bread and so on!! Told ya it was easy!

Cheesy Pasta Bake

Takes only minutes to prepare especially on days like today when I absolutely don’t feel like cooking but I can’t leave my Baby O starving. This Cheesy Pasta Bake is such a random thing which is the best part of it! You can add or take out whatever ingredient you like.

This is what I did:

Boil a handful of pasta shapes according to instructions on pack.

While pasta is boiling, grate a handful of carrots into a baking bowl.

Chop a tiny clove of garlic finely and place into bowl. (Will omit next time as Baby O didn’t like the raw taste of it.)

Add half a teaspoon of mustard and crack some black pepper into bowl.

Score the bottom of a small tomato and place into boiling pasta.

Pour a handful of frozen garden peas into boiling pasta.

Roughly chop two baby corn and place into boiling water.

Switch heat off and remove tomato. Rinse with tap water and peel skin off before chopping roughly and add into bowl.

Drain pasta, peas and corn and mix all ingredients together in bowl.

Grate as much or as little cheddar cheese on top before baking in an oven toaster (or a preheated oven) for about 5 minutes and we have a little bowl of Cheesy Pasta Bake packed with red, orange, yellow, and green goodies topped up with calcium!

Other alternative ingredients: tuna/ salmon flakes, lightly sauteed onions, broccoli, cauliflower... basically whatever you can think of or available in your larder. You can also cook a tablespoon of flour in about a teaspoon of butter in a pan and then add a small cup of milk and bring to boil together with the grated cheese before baking it the proper way.

Lunch sorted.

This Mama would really like to know: Do you have any other lazy-day meal suggestions to share?

Food Strike

Ok, it's not really a strike but Baby O has been EXTREMELY fussy with food these days especially after her bout of flu. She used to eat everything under the sun! Meal time used to be so easy! My pride swells each time someone comment on how easy it is to feed her. Recipe books for babies and toddlers made me snicker thinking 'I don't need that!'. Oh, how things have changed!

The most drastic would be her formula milk. She absolutely refuses to drink any milk now when she used to gulp them down. I feel so sinful throwing all the expensive milk down the drain! I tried concealing it in scrambled eggs, cooked with oats, made banana milk shake but nothing worked. Hang on, the one time it worked was when I put the milk in the fridge in order to keep it from going bad so that I can try it on her again later. She actually drank the lot! Hmm... Anyway, I have meanwhile made sure she has enough calcium in her diet by adding cheese into my cooking or giving her a pot of yogurt. We bought Kraft's Cheezels Biskitz for the first time as an alternative snack to just cheese alone because it says it is made with read cheese. Baby O seems to enjoy them.

Baby O is also currently not into most foods she used to eat - carrots, pumpkin, brocolli, sweet potato. I suppose she had too much of a good thing? These were kind of like her staples since she started solids. Maybe she got bored? On the bright side, she still gladly eats plain steamed rice and plain toast and will gladly take 'Na-na'  (bananas) or other fruits - 'Pa-po' (apple), 'Pa-po' (yes, they sound the same but this time it means pomelo!), 'Gwaek' (grapes) and 'Sss' (raisins).

Meanwhile, this Mama has a lot of homework to do to search for recipes for the little one! Let's start with some all time favourite - pasta!

Egg Omelette

Baby O is almost back to her old self after being down for more than a week! I am so glad to see her gaining her appetite back and with a vengeance as well! She is happily gobbling up her usual rice/porridge with veg, fish/meat/tofu and sometimes asking for more! But before that, I had to ‘trick’ her into eating just that little bit more to keep her nourished through this period.

My Cheesy Toast was a success but the Egg Omelette was hit! What I used this time:
One tablespoon each of onion, wholemeal bread, broccoli, tomato, and chicken meat all chopped finely.
One egg - beaten
30ml formula milk
One teaspoon unsalted butter
One slice cheese - cut into pieces
A crack of black pepper

The milk, bread and black pepper were added into the beaten egg. Melt butter in a non-stick pan (perfect for omelettes and pancakes!) on low heat. Fry onions till fragrant before stirring in the broccoli, tomato and chicken for a quick fry. Pour in the egg mixture and give it a little stir till the egg forms pieces here and there. This is to ensure the omelette cooks through without having the outsides burnt and insides uncooked. Sprinkle the cheese on top. Flip the omelette over to cook other side. If you can’t flip the omelette over without it hitting the ceiling and landing on the floor (like yours truly!), try sliding it onto a plate (should be easy-peasy with a non-stick pan) and then cover the pan over the plate before flipping it. The other side should cook in another 5 minutes or so.

The result is a savoury egg omelette packed with wholesome goodness and a little twang from the pepper even a sick baby can't resist! Baby O ate more than her portion of it and I gladly finished up the leftovers! Mmmm.....

Cheesy Toast

Since her flu a few days back, Baby O’s appetite dropped tremendously and she lost 300g. I can feel less of her and have been trying to get her to eat by offering her everything under the sun. I managed to leave a bowl of toast, raisins and cheerios (the only thing that she will eat at the moment) on the coffee table for her to pick and place into her mouth as and when because she will not sit in her high chair and finish them up like how she would normally do. Surely she can’t survive on a toast-raisins-cheerios diet! Had my thinking cap on and stormed into the kitchen to prepare something that she’ll hopefully not refuse - Cheesy Toast!

I chopped up some onions, about two florets of organic broccoli, a strip of organic red bell pepper and a tablespoon of free range chicken drumstick. I fried the onions with very little olive oil in a non-stick wok. (I know non-stick woks are a no-no to chefs but they make life so much easier and a little healthier!) Added the drumstick and fried for about 3 minutes till brown before adding the pepper and broccoli. Fried them for another 3 minutes. I then spread the concoction onto a slice of wholemeal bread and put slices of cheese on top before popping it into the oven for 2 minutes. When ready, I cut the slice up into bite-size pieces. Baby O chomped up all the carbohydrate, protein, iron, vitamins, calcium and left only two little pieces which is a vast improvement compared to what she has been eating the last few days! Ureka moments like this (although just plain common sense to others) makes me feel like such a genius sometimes! :-D

p.s. Beware of cheesy fingers all over your furniture!

A great way to get 10 minutes valuable time off your baby!

I was browsing through the aisles of Tesco to stock up for our new place when I noticed a promotion for Cheerios breakfast cereals at one end. Since not being able to find Baby Yoplait yogurt (or any other Yoplaits for that matter) anymore and the avocados here takes forever to ripen, I was left with very few breakfast choices for Baby O. So I was mightily glad with the Cheerios promotion (Retailing at RM8.49/box at ). On top of that, this is a multigrain Cheerios made of corn, rice, wheat, oats and barley enriched with vitamins and iron. A healthier variety? Sounds good to me anyway! Off to the cashier with two boxes.

When I opened one of the boxes this morning, I was delighted to see two separately sealed packs instead of one to keep the rest of the cereals fresh. Maybe all cereals should be packed this way in places with high humidity to maintain the produce freshness and reduce waste. Food for thought.

Back to getting your 10 minutes... So after placing some Cheerios in a plate for Baby O and some in a bowl with milk for myself, I sealed the rest tightly in a Tupperware container. Popped the plate in front of Baby O and voila! She sits there picking up these tiny little O's and placing them daintily in her mouth munching away while I check some mails and type this post! :-)

NOTE: Baby O is 54 weeks old at the time of this post. I would have been comfortable to introduce her to Cheerios at around 50 weeks or 11 months old.