(2009/07) July 2009 MTBs

Josephine, do u buy fish everyday? Cos, yes, u shouldn't put any fish or meat in normal refrigerator but freezer unless u are only keeping for that day or until next day or contamination can happen. This is ESP whn u open the fridge door frequently.. I usually portion the meat or fish, then freeze them. When u buy a whole lot of meat or fish, u can ask the seller to give you more plastic bags so u can use them for portioning (my mom does that) but I usually buy my own small plastic cos I keep k's spoons in them when I go out. K din like the fish aft cny, so what I did to the fillet was to cook it then portion into small plastic containers like those for bb's purée. I give a little each time if I rmbr..
 


Kim,

RE: Rice
I use a small claypot to cook rice nowadays. Find it quite wasteful to use the rice cooker since less than 2 cups of rice even with hubby eating. Steamed rice I assume is nicer? I use the Healthy Rice from NTUC.

RE: Cerederm
You still can cut into half width. I can't if not when I sit down my lump of fats will "eat" the plaster. haha

RE: Tiger food jar
Very tempted to buy but the price is $65 now. Saw it at Tangs and then the meat part is a prob.

RE: Fish
Gosh I think I sound like an idiot. I buy a slice of fish which can last abt 3 meals = 3 days. And to think I only put in the drawer compartment. I will take your advise to portion and freeze them but say if I buy the slice today afternoon or evening and plan to cook it for tmr lunch, do I need to freeze that portion too? How long does it take to thaw the meat? I also use those plastic bags for bottles and diapers when gg out. I buy everything from supermarket. From my place it just takes too much effort for a lazy me to go to a wet market.
 
Josephine,
Keep a lookout for maybe the 10% off (5% disc, 5% Everyday card rebate) promo at Carrefor. I saw it going for $47 last weekend that had the promo, as did HBB earlier. Not as cheap as isetan's previous member sale, but you aren't far off from it.
 
josephine
u dun hav to use a pressure cooker to do the porridge.. jus use a normal pot instead. jus need a slightly longer time to cook (mayb half hour?)

i portion the fish and put in zip lock bag n freeze FLAT so when i need i can take out the number of pieces easily same goes for the mince pork n chicken.
kim i agree w u that the tiger jar a bit too big for the kids now. evne for edna who eat quite a bit of porridge per meal i still find it big.. so i tink its more useful when she start eatign 2porridge meal...
yes edna is teething.. the left tooth refuse to come out!can see the line for weeks but not sharp enuff to cut thru LOL

sam/josephine.. the tiger jar at carrefour still selling.
 
Thanks Sam and hbb abt tiger food jar info. Still contemplating. Anyone can advise exactly how to use it? How abt the meat? How or when to add in?

hbb, if cook over the stove it takes me at least 60min for the porridge to be very very 滥. Not sure is it cuz I didn't use new crop rice. Don't dare to give not 滥 enough porridge to XY as she has this constipation problem on/off. Not sure if I used the correct chinese character. Just guessing hehe.

So how long before cooking, you need to take the fish out to thaw? I'm so bad at all these
 
ChiyoJade,

Glad to hear your grandma is finally home
happy.gif
 
thanks chiyojade for the link.

tje, i see and compare wif the worldofkorea and sms u for contact if decide to take from ssm. thanks ahhh...
 
Yeah, am so happy that Grandma is back home. She is still weak and is temporarily sleeping on a hospital type of bed which they rented for her but I'm sure she must be happy to be home. :)

Porridge:
I also use the slow cooker to make porridge. I haven't tried going out after turning it but I have tried leaving it for around 2 - 4 hours ( I was at home but I really forgot all about it). I did fill it with A LOT of water though and the end result was OK.

I'll now start to alternate between pasta, porridge and potato as carbs....forgot to get couscous/semolina! That one is super duper easy to cook!
 
josephine
nt sure if yr rice cooker can do the cooking porridge function. nowadays i get lazy already. i just dump everything into the rice cooker n set to the porridge function. at more water and the result is very smooth porridge.
 
chiyojade
how to cook couscous & semolina? had read that they are good for babies and a western recipes always incl that. can cook in morning and leave till afternoon type? i'm running out of idea what to cook already. so far hv tried lentils.... more for proteins.
 
edna is rejecting her milk and occasionally cereal..had hard time for bf n lunch today feeding her cereal.. now she gt no problem w porridge! is it a teething thgy again?
 
BbEthan,
For adults, I have made tabbouleh (a salad with couscous/semolina) a few times. Just put in a bowl, pour in hot water (I think it's 1.5 times the amt used) cover with a plate, wait for maybe 10 mins (can't remember time - must read instructions) and it's done.

I bought my organic packet from a shop at Chip Bee (forgot the name!) Gardens.

So I would think that the kids' version is the same method. Prob need to get kid's version from Vitakids/Brown Rice Paradise....

The salad I make is a cold salad/room temperature, so I think you can cook in morning and leave till afternoon. I would just cook it, mix it with puree and keep in thermos...

I haven't done lentils... Did the kids fart a lot with the lentils? Y's fart is a silent killer. STINKY-POO. Some of the mums who have smelt it will agree with me! So if kena fart a lot more, we can die from his smell!

hbb,
Risotto must stir, no? Then cannot stir too much as will become starchy? I saw this on TV and thought so troublesome to cook??
 
chiyojade, what pasta u use?
i use the bellamy one and it's so sticky that Mia is rejecting them, maybe i overcook?
what did u mix the pasta with?

josephine, for thawing of fish, usually i will transfer from the freezer to normal compartment the night before if i am going to use it for Mia's lunch. if for her dinner, then i will do it in the morning 7am when i wake up.

kim, Mia also only like to take hot food. which i am now worried that it's not good. later she's too used to hot food, next time normal warm food she reject how? how to train her not to take hot food huh...
 
josephine for cooking porridge in slow cooker. i use the small cooker by the way.
i usually on it at 7.30-8am then by 11am it's done. i will go out then come back it's ready.
Mia usually eats her lunch at 12pm, and i just keep the slow cooker on until she has her lunch.
i use 1 chinese bowl of soup stock + 2-2.25 tbsp of grinded rice.
 
chiyojade..ya stir too much become starchy..i dn hv habit of stirrin edna food thou...mayb try nxt time... let her eat e baby pasta first.have u pick ur pasta?

japa..wah like tat she will hav many episode of nt eatin rite?cos teeth r sprouting slowly!
 
Josephine, If you get the fish today, you can still freeze it in the freezer, but do remember to take it down for thawing tonight so it'll be ready for cooking next day morning. As the freezing time is also shorter, the thawing time wont be too long. Different size cut of meat/ fish require diff thawing time, and diff fridge setting also thaw food at diff duration. I usually take the portioned meat/fish in the night for next day's use, however, if I have a whole lot (e.g. 900g minced beef I used for Sloppy Joes and Bolognaise), then it wont be ready for use until afternoon. I suggest you try a few times to guage your fridge. What I learnt from my gf was to portion everything into ONE peron's portion, and if cooking for hb & I then it's easy to take 2 out, and on top of that, it's faster in thawing. Sometimes if I had a change of mind of my menu, I will take the frozen food out and leave in the kitchen sink, and it usually takes 20-30mins for minced meat/ fish fillet, and 30-40mins for steak/ whole chicken thigh/ whole fish.

RE: Cooking porridge, I din need 1 hr to cook my porridge leh. I even use frozen stock. I wash the rice and place 2 blocks of frozen stock in the bowl size claypot, place it on the cloth in the smallest WMF heavy pot (mom says such pot takes a long time to heat up, but retain heat very well). Then turn the fire to high until the water starts to boil, then bring down to simmer until the rice is "bloated", add chopped veg, turned off, rest 5mins, put in the food jar, use my whisk to stir and Viola! Porridge (not congee). If you are worried about constipate, you can use barley water for feeding during her meal, can also make milk with them. I was afria that the pearl barley may be cooling, so I add red dates. The new batch of stocks I made has wolfberries and red dates. Once he turned 9mth, I will be adding the krill oil in his diet.

RE: Slow Cooker
Reason I dun use slow cooker for porridge and even rice cooker for my rice is that I am trying to reduce the electricity usage as the tariff is heavier from this mth!! I use slow cooker for soup/ stock and sometimes turn on air con whole day, and I still use dish washer (occasionally) and dryer.. Too heavy consumption. Furthermore, if I wan to use small slow cooker, I have to buy, more $$ spent and after bb grow up, then wat? Tin-teh leh!

Chiyojade, praise Jesus!!! He conqured death yesterday and bring forth health for your grandma (and all of us)!!! IT's a GREAT (only only good) Friday!

BBEThan, I ahve not cook Semolina before but for couscous, it's super easy, I just pour boiling water over the couscous and soak until it's cooked (according to the instructions of the box I got from Carrefour)..

Japa, that day, I forgot the apple sauce was straight from the fridge and I fed to K, he gave me that "no, I dun wan" face and even shake his head, but bcos apple sauce is his favorite, he continue to take, but still give me the "dun wan" action after every spoon, until the temp was acceptable. So these days when I give him his dessert, I take it out of the fridge and rest it on the counter, after he is done with the main, the temp of the dessert is not so cold. You may wan to try only to warm until room temp and let her get use to that level of cold. And if you can bear the "pain", give her something she likes in a colder form.
 
Thanks mummies for inputs for porridge and thawing
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I used to cook 1 tbsp rice for XY but reduce to 1/2 tbsp now so that porridge will be thinner and she won't be too full for her milk. XY actually dropped her milk intake drastically last 2 weeks so I'm trying to give her less solids so she can drink more.

RE: Red snapper
Now I understand what the mummies have been talking about. The slice I bought recently was VERY RUBBERY and though. First 2 times I die die mashed up to give XY but the remaining ones I think I will just cook with it for taste and not give her the meat. Will buy threadfin the next round.

Bbethan: I don't use rice cooker now. Kept it and use a small claypot to cook since only hubby and me eating. Don't think my rice cooker has that function anyway. Cheap low end model.

RE: Oats
Anyone giving oats to baby? I have this Four Leaf brand baby oats with barley bought from four seasons. XY used to hate it but i tried again recently and she loves it. Very smooth and easy to cook. Just need to cook over the fire for 10-15min. Add veg or meat when almost ready.

RE: Millet
I'm still trying to think of a way to cook it. Anyone has any tips to share?
 
RE: Drop in milk intake
Although the recommended level for our bb's age is min 500ml, K also does not take this much. Since Mar we have been battling his yo-yo FM appetite. From 7oz/feed (3 feeds per day) dropped to 4 and sometimes 2.5. Finally climbed back up to 6 and just before his #7&8 teeth, it dropped again to 4.. now it's 4 and at times 5oz.. and he doesnt need dream feed anymore, tried a few nights and he only took 2oz and throw the bottle aside. One night he actually "placed" the bottle at the corner of his pillow and fell back to sleep. Now I do is add a scoop (meant for 2oz) in his oatmeal breakfast.

RE: Oat
K dislike the adult oat (sticky), so I continue to give him the Gerber oat cereal. It has the plain or banana added, but I still add prunes into them to prevent constipation.

RE: Sleep
Any mommy experience difficulties putting bb to bed for nap? I dunno if K is getting insecured bcos of what we did, it's very difficult to make him nap these days. Yesterday I battled with him for more than 2 hrs until I had to call hb back. Today was a good 1hr, and also ended up hb took him into our room then he nap..
It started when hb & I sneaked out for a movie couple of weeks ago. Then I was advised to stop rocking him to sleep so I did and now I feel he is very insecured like he is afriad when he falls asleep, we are going to leave. Last night at CHC, he was restless, and I can't find my anointing oil.. Had to ask from gf and after applying, he was alot peaceful!!
 
hbb, yesterday and today Mia only took half of her usual food intake, which i suspect all due her teething. she has another 4 coming, though 1 has came out!
and she's drooling worse than a doggie haha...
so YES many episodes of not wanting solids days will be coming.

kim, i tried giving her cold papaya and she take 2 bites and reject the rest!
i will continue persever on this.
 
japa
alyo.. poor Mia.. she not hungry ahh... i tink if edna dun fin her food i will bang wall.. i realy understand wat u mean manz
my concern if she dun eat all is that she willw ak eup at nite n cry hahaa im selfish hor..
 
tje
i tink e lotus root fold r slowly disappearing cos the start to grow taller n losing baby fats ..my pigsy face seems smaller too
 
TJE,
Juen seems to hv put on quite a bit over the past couple of mths leh. She's probably a high-efficiency baby, only needs little bit of food, 很好养 :p

Kim,
How many naps is K taking now? Is he trying to drop 1 nap? Char only naps twice for 40 mins ea. Yah, I agree wif not rocking the bb to sleep cos they will depend or associate rocking to sleep. It'll take some time for him to get used to the "no rocking" sleep routine.
 
Kim,
I haven't been rocking J to sleep as much as I used to for maybe a month since I have given her a room instead of sharing the playarea with the living room. I want her to develop self-soothing ability to go to sleep although I still had to tolerate her having to get herself tired enough to sleep. She usually tosses herself back and forth in my bed. I have pillows on 4 sides of her, and she'll get up, and flop herself on either sides, until she gets tired and falls asleep, that's when I put her back in her cot. At this point, as much as I wish she can go to sleep in her cot, she's just too determined to behave like a caged animal, persists to cruise around it and roar but not go to sleep at all. For the cot part, I have moved her back into my room, so that she feels less insecure about going to bed.
 
RE: Baby sleeping / nap
I believe baby sleeping pattern changes at every stage. Sometimes it's hard for us to gauge although we do try our best. On XY's 2nd month (after CL left), we had the worst time. Very hard to make her sleep. Afternoon nap, we can try for 6hours and she still not sleeping. There was this day when she finally slept after 6hours of coaxing and my mil came over and don't know did what made her wake up. I was mad!!! Then subsequently it became better. Ard 3 months time, just give her pacifier and she can fall asleep on her own. Good times only lasted about less than 2 months cuz later on she needed me to rock her to sleep and some days it can take over 1hour cuz if she's not deep sleep enough, she'll open her eyes the moment I put her down. Only me, Daddy can't do the job. Was till around cny or after, she changed again. Just leave her in her cot ard 9pm+-, she will roll and self soothe to sleep ranging at about 10-40min. There was some rare occasions over half hour she still not sleeping we bring her out for play but usually she's fine on her own. Naps: XY takes 2 naps each day. About 2hrs each am and pm. Usually. But when I bring her out, she tends to miss her timing and I don't like it. This is 1 of the reasons why I'm staying home a lot these days.

RE: Threadfin
Anyone can advise what's the average price for threadfin? Is $5+/100g considered reasonable? I'm talking about supermarket pricing.
 
RE: Nap
Noelle, I am not sure of the amount of sleep for bb at this stage (age).. I can see that he is sleeping lesser. Even at night, he can sleep at 9 (half-1 hrs later, and still get up at 6am). For nap, he still needs two but they are alot shorter on some days.. Usually about 1 hours. Only one day last week where he napped for 3 hrs in the morning..

Today, we sort of tired him out and then put him to sleep. He still fall asleep better in the bb Bjorn though. It's now clpse to 9 and he is still crawling after the cat, changing between handphones n cameras...
 
Sam, I always think J is such a sweet baby.. U know I hve to lower the bed again, K is standing up now!!! and he is doing the 4 legs, i.e. palm & sole of feet. I think in no time, he's gonna "crawl" on those 4 and stand up.. Arrrrgh... Please dun be so fast can? sigh!
Oh yes, today, he managed to wiggled out of the buckled high chair!!!! BOYS!!
 
hbb,
Pasta - two thirds of one packet is already gone!!! Thank goodness I bought 2 boxes! Think I have to get some more really soon!

japa,
Yeah, I bought the Bellamy's pasta. Hmmm. I don't find it sticky. I also don't cook it al dente, but am more kiasu, so I cook it a bit longer. Have mixed it with peas, carrots, carrot and potatoes (I didn't have enough potato/carbs, so, that's why he had carrots, potatoes and pasta.
I also mixed it with one of his Happy Times Stage 2 stuff.

Bed height:
We lowered Y's bed this year, but am wondering can they bend over and jump and fall out - i.e. because of the momentum of jumping? Y cannot pull himself up yet, but sometimes, I like to put him standing in there because he likes to stand and can stay there for quite a while.
 
Chiyojade,
how does the Bellamy's pasta taste? Okay or nasty? A few times I was tempted to get it when I came across it at Cold Storage.

I think I must let J watch Y in the cot some day, so that she knows it's okay to stay in the cot without getting angry :D She throws her paci out of her cot sometimes in defiance lol, so I just say you don't want? okay lor. then I go wash the paci and put it on bedside table, okay bad idea, she actually gets more angry.

Kim,
K can probably start cruising as soon as you set up your sofa around the playmat. Cos it's the next most challenging and satisfying thing to the kiddos after they get the hang of pulling up to stand. That's why I got the sofa around her playmat as you see on my fb. I think maybe in a few weeks, J might attempt to walk, cos she's been doing the let-go stunt when she stands for a week already. My cot is on the lowest setting already, having difficulty lowering the drop gate, cos the platform is in the way, but the drop gate when up, is higher than her, hence the caged animal look when she stands and holds the rails.
 
OMG! Just after I posted my last entry, I heard Y crying and dh went to see and he was standing! He got himself up! Hm...now am wondering if I should bring it down to lowest level.!
If J's is already at lowest level, then I think I will do his soon.

The Bellamy's pasta tastes OK. But the thing is, I only took like one teeny tiny piece, so very difficult to say. I kinda just tasted it to make sure it was cooked.
I find it really easy to do, esp if I don't have time. Just throw in pasta, grab a frozen puree or a HT jar and done! Unlike porridge, because I don't go to the market often enough - although I have a good one just downstairs my place - to get the fish or pork or whatever!
I have also done the pasta with the HT and then popped in the thermos and it's OK.

BTW, Vitakids has the pasta but no discount with the card. I think it's $8.50, if I remember correctly. Is it same price at CS?

Sam,
Sure, can let J come and see Y in his cot! Actually I think he's OK with it because he's not at lowest level, so it's a novelty. Can stand (because he likes to stand) and not caged in, BUT I don't know if he'll be like that if I lower the bed height! He doesn't really like being in his H play yard..

BTW, I thought I saw you with your BabyCubes purees at E's place - were they the frozen ones? How did you take them out? Did you put them in thermos - i.e. the whole Baby cubes?? Or maybe I was mistaken?!
 
Chiyojade,
I popped the frozen babycube container into my thermos cup when I left for E's place in the morning. So when I feed, I throw hot water into the thermos to defrost it, just happens that the container fits nicely in the cup, and I just slide it out when it is warm, and the thermos does a pretty good job of defrosting and warming it up if I close the lid. Just bought another one in red from Isetan Parkway on Friday, for heating/keep warm purposes, so I can use the old one for general uses. I kinda bluff J by not mixing the puree into the cereal, so sometimes she get a nice spoon of apple puree and then later another spoon of cereal thinking it's puree lol. So yar, I can put 2 babycubes containers in the thermos, 1 cereal and 1 puree, so I just feed from 2 containers, and forget about packing a feeding bowl.
 
Re: cruising
Sam, yes, yes! He already started doing this on Thu night!! Then on Fri, I had a dreamt he stood and walked 3 steps!! I even yelled at hb to look, but a usual, by time hevturned to look, k already fell. But it's all a dream.

Chiyojade, did Yann cried bcos he doesn't know how to sit back down on the mattress? Hb said he allowed k to experience a 'fall' so he knows that he could fall fr holding on the couch. He also delibrately let k 'fall' off the bed yesterday, so k will know if he crawl to the edge, he could 'tumble' down. But this dare darling dun seem to understand though..
 
kim
nt oniy boys wriggle out of the high chair..girls do tat too LOL
edna even try to wriggle out of ther stroller!

chiyojade
wahh then shld hav got all the 3 box for u tat day!!!! i yet to start erh on it.. soon soon i promise ot start her soon.. now i wan start her on egg yolk! mayb on weds i shall start!
 
I am feeling so sianz! *big sigh*
Shanna has been down with flu since last thurs, was ALOT better on fri but not sure why, ytd the cough gt worse & the phlegm followed. Poor lil' ger... i told my hubby earlier on dat at least the mucus not green anymore, den who noes, the green mucus flowed out!! Got so "pan tang" not? Haiz...

The eyes having some discharge too, was like dat before the flu came, but was ok when we visited PD on thurs, did mention to him though. Now the discharge is back again! Need to go back PD tmr... zzzzz...

may the notti ger gets well soonest!!
 
winnie
usually whn flu...cough will set in later cos mucus flow dn to throat irritatin throat causing cough..s mayb tt y... and whn flu is recovering watery mucus will turn thicker.... so mayb she is getin better... hope nana get well soon!u tk care dn fall sick ok...rest well
 
Mummies who give minced pork to your babies, do you use the minced pork for cooking only or do you also feed the meat to them? Are babies this age able to swallow and digest minced pork?
 
hbb,
LOL! When I went to collect the boxes, I called Yuli to ask if she wanted, so I did swipe all 3 boxes, but one was for her! LOL!

Kim,
Dunno why he cried and dunno how come he stood up!!!!!! He was already fast asleep!!! Never done that before!! Sleepwalking?! ;-P

He has fallen a few times in the cot - when he's standing and holding on, then suddenly...plop, falls backwards/sideways, but luckily didn't hurt himself.
He did that once in the play yard and fell on the foam mat. That one he cried. That was really like fall backwards, right on the head!!! OUCH! I reached out to to grab him but too late! :-(

Winnie - hope nana gets well soon!!!
 
Josephine,
My mom has done porridge with minced pork and he has eaten the meat. He has also eaten chicken - very tiny pieces. No minced chicken. I actually cooked the two pieces of chicken breast in the slow cooker and then shredded some pieces for him to eat.
 
chiyojade
so far they are ok with lentils. no smelly poo or farts.

josephine
i've been giving minced pork to my gal since the day she started meat. i don't buy the usual ready minced ones unless i buy from supermarket. if i get to go to the market, will ask the aunty to give me meat suitable for babies & ask them to mince 2-3 times. meat chosen are leaner & finer after 2-3 rounds of mincing.
 
Josephine,

i give minced pork and chicken. i will cook everything done and blend it together with veg. I must blend it well if not she will take a few mouth and votmit everything out.

Hai, I fall sick.... flu bug

Anyone interested buying below item, pls let me know by today.
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Thanks






1. Saba Fillet - $14.00/kg/7pcs
2. Unagi - $26.00/kg/5pcs
3. Salmon Fillet - $18.00/kg
4. Edamame - $3.00/pkt/500g
5. Snow Fish Fillet - $13.50/kg
6. Black Cod Fish Whole - $29.00/kg
7. Sea Bass Whole - $31.00/kg
 
Ok I bought a pc of lean meat from ntuc last night. The chilled from australia type. Will mince till very fine. Thanks all
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josephine

i feed my gal the minced pork. but she doesn't seem to fancy it very much.

kim
my gal also same thing. Sometimes really difficult to get her to nap.
sad.gif
She's now so mobile! yesterday when i was preparing her dinner, she crawled her way from the living room to the toilet to look for me! sigh. She's also cruising about and grabbing remote controls on the sofa to gum.
She fell backwards a few times already when she was holding onto the back of my boy's little chair.
 


chiyojade, i tried cooking pasta 3 times and it's really sticky! what did i do wrong?
then Mia hates it cos i think part of the pasta stick to her gums haha.
if we hv chance to meetup, PLS PLS cook some for her to try! i would so very much like her to like pasta...sigh.
shld i change pasta brand? maybe it will help? what other brands of pasta is there for babies?

minced pork:
i will cook slices of pork then blend it using ulike blender before adding into porridge.

chicken:
i will tear/rub the chicken into small small bits.

mummies, how many times of meat/fish do u all give yr babies? both lunch and dinner? or one meal with meat, one meal just veggies? then everyday?

hbb, me dying to give egg yolk too! how will u cook it huh? because personally i HATE egg yolks hahaah...
 

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