When to start Weaning?

A friend recently adopted a baby girl. Her daughter is now 8 months old. She has started weaning but it seems that her baby is frequently falling sick. She was keen to get some tips from me on the food to feed her baby.

As my last baby is now an adult, I had to look up my Motherhood and Childcare magazines and other references to refresh my memory even though I could still remember how I used to prepare the baby food every weekend to be frozen in small jars and reheated as required by the maid during the week. I was adamant that my babies were fed the proper food as only with good nourishment, could they thrive. I would not rely on the maid because she would feed what is easiest for her, such as giving the 20 sen sweet buns which consisted only of carbohydrates.Moreover, the first year in a baby's life is very important as the body grows three times its birth weight and it is also the time when the brain develops at the fastest rate. Giving brain food is a priority because you need a good brain to excel.

Right from the start, my children were accustomed to eat balanced meals. I would alternate meat, fish and chicken as their source of protein; rice, potatoes and baby cereals as in Nestum for their carbohydrate; and different vegetables for the vitamins and minerals in their main meals. All these were mixed and steamed before being blended in milk or water and stored in sterile jars. The glass jars are also boiled to sterilize them.

For breakfast, baby could be given instant baby cereals with milk and for tea, a baby biscuit will teach them how to chew.

Sick babies could be due to two reasons: One, they have low immunity due to low quality food given or the food is not clean.

For me, FOOD MUST BE PREPARED IN A CLEAN ENVIRONMENT AND EVERYONE, NOT ONLY BABIES, MUST EAT BALANCED MEALS ALL THE TIME.

I also believed that they were babies only once, and as a mother, I must not shortchange them due to my laziness. I must do my best as their well being depended on me.

If you think your baby is always unwell due to low defence against diseases, then you should consider supplementing with multivitamin syrups when they are babies and graduate to maybe fortified Cod-Liver Oil when they are toddlers.

For breastfeeding mothers, they have to ensure that the milk they feed their babies are of good quality by eating balanced meals themselves. I remember I was the only mother who expressed her milk in the office surau and kept the milk in the fridge for my second daughter.

I would certainly recommend feeding human babies with human milk as it has been tailor made for them in the right proportions of fat, water and other nutrients. My youngest daughter thrived on breast milk for three years and she was one baby who never had to nurse from a bottle. When she was weaned from breast milk I supplemented her with DHA. I can proudly say that her academic performance beats all her other siblings. Being the last, she had the advantage of all my mothering experience put together.

Now, what is weaning? A baby is totally dependent on milk for the first 3-4 months of his life. Soon, milk alone does not provide all the nutrients needed for him to be healthy and active.Weaning is a gradual process and starts at 4-6 months depending on the baby's milestones of progress. Weaning is an important stage of emotional and behavioural development where Mum experiments and introduces baby to new tastes and textures. Baby learns that food does not only comes from a bottle and feeding is not only by sucking while reclining or lying on your back but one can eat by chewing in a sitting position.

At first semi-solids are introduced. Never feed semi-solid from a bottle with a big hole cut at the nipple. This would encourage baby to be lazy because he does not have to make much effort to be satiated and he will end up obese.

Giving baby semi-solids will help strengthen and develop his gums and jaws and teach him to chew before swallowing. Mum must be patient as all this are new to baby and he must enjoy the experience.

As the baby grows and begins to indulge in more physical movements such as rolling, moving forward, sitting and crawling, he will spend less time sleeping and need more nutrients. At this stage, weaning food will slowly begin to be the baby's primary nutrient source and milk should be the secondary source. Milk should not be stopped and baby has to be taught to drink from the cup. I believe that milk drinking should be from cradle to grave and children should not be fed with sweet condensed milk.

Weaning should not be too early at 2-3 months because the baby has not developed the ability to swallow properly, and feeding will not only be difficult but frustrating.

On the other hand, weaning should not start too late as baby will be undernourished and fail to achieve the right milestone. His social and physical development would be stunted and his lifelong eating habits will be affected.

One thing for sure, no seasoning (salt and sugar or their derivatives ; honey, syrup, condensed milk, soya sauce, ketchup, etc) should be added to food for babies below 12 months. Their kidneys are too immature to be burdened with salt and sugar. Babies should not be treated as adults by feeding them adult food too soon. They do not know the taste of sweetness and saltiness and would not miss them.

Cooking Liver and Chicken Meat

Cooked liver

Liver is not a favorite in our house. However, after my anaemic episode, my husband bought some liver for me. It has been in the freezer for quite some time. Last night I decided to thaw it and then cut in to small pieces and marinate it overnight.
I ground some onions, garlic, ginger, cardamom seeds, coriander seeds, cinnamon, fennel seeds, black pepper, and star anise, in a blender and use it as a marinade.
This morning, I dumped the marinated liver plus its marinade into a hot ladle of oil in the wok to start cooking the liver for about 20 minutes.I then added the balance of the sambal I had cooked a few days earlier (without using belacan or shrimp paste). I also added some soya sauce. The result was rather yummy. Even Afif who do not really fancy liver ate some.The marinade is the same I would normally use when cooking beef slices.





Chicken Meat in Lazy Sauce

I was too lazy to cook the chicken tonight. I didn't feel like frying or grilling it as it would take some time and I was running out of time. We needed the chicken because there was only a bit of liver cooked earlier today.I had already refilled the vegetables in the chicken bones soup I had cooked earlier, with root vegetables (carrots, radish, and potatoes), mixed with Chinese cabbage leaves. For the chicken, since I had thawed the fleshy breasts, I sliced them up and seasoned with a little salt and turmeric powder. I then stir fried some onion slices and chopped garlic and added the chicken pieces. Next some cherry tomatoes were halved and added with chopped bird chillies in the wok. To top the lazy dish, I finished off about 1 tablespoonful of oyster sauce and 2 tablespoon of chilli sauce. The picture above is the balance left after our meal. I will use it in the fried rice I am preparing tomorrow. Lately, we have not been able to finish the rice even though I only cooked a little. Everyone seems to limit their food intake these days.

Wholewheat Apple Pie

(Picture from Google images.)
Chef Michael's apple pie crust is made from wholewheat flour. Wholewheat flour is not easily available in Malaysia. You may find them at health food shops or organic corners of the supermarket. In the West, where wheat is a staple diet, it is easily available. I remember baking wholewheat bread when I was in England but have never done so at home in Malaysia.

Making the Pie Crust and Apple Filling:

1 1/2 cups of wholewheat flour, instead of normal flour
1 cup oats
2 tablespoon brown sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil, instead of shortening

The above dough is mixed and lightly kneaded. You don't need to let it stand.Start with about a handful of dough and make it into a ball. You would need a bigger portion for the bottom crust.
The dough is rolled out with a rolling pin and placed inside a round baking tin.

Meanwhile, dice some golden delicious apples without peeling them.Toss 1 tablespoon wholewheat flour, 1 tsp cinnamon powder, a little honey and mix the filling. Be easy on the honey as it is sweeter than sugar.

Scoop the apple filling on top of the crust in the baking tin. Roll out a second dough ball to add as the top crust. Place the crust to cover the pie. Poke a few hole on the top crust to let steam out as the pie cooks.

Bake at 200 degrees C for about 45 minutes to 1 hour, as close to the bottom of the oven if you wish the bottom crust to be crispy too.

The apple pie is served as a dessert with yoghurt beaten with maple syrup and vanilla extract to replace cream.

Turkey Meat Loaf

Turkey can be substituted for beef for meat pate' and meat loaf. It is a better choice as it is low in cholesterol and salt.

The way Chef Micheal, the Chef at Home cooked looked so easy. Ground turkey meat could be bought at the supermarket in his country but here in Malaysia, you have to mince the turkey meat yourself or get the butcher to do it for you.

I learned that as meat cooked, the water is drained out. So you need to soak up the meat flavours. Flour, breadcrumbs, milk and eggs would do this.

So in the turkey meat loaf preparation, flour, milk, eggs and breadcrumbs are added to the mince turkey meat.

Meanwhile, some chopped onions and garlic are sauteed and added with sliced button mushroom. The mushroom is optional to add to a meaty flavour. 2 tablespoonsful of Worcestershire sauce is then added with some tomato paste and dried thyme.

Thyme is a French herb. If you prefer Italian, you may add basil and oregano instead. You can also put grated cheddar cheese if you prefer.

The whole meat loaf mixture is put into a loaf baking tin and baked in an oven at 180 degrees C or 350 degrees F for 1 hour.

Meat loaf is best eaten with bread or with quinoa.

Quinoa

Photo from quinoa.net


Last night, Chef Michael, (that's his name), the Chef at Home on the Asian Food Channel cooked quinoa with vegetables, a turkey meat loaf, a healthy apple pie and mashed potatoes to go with all the above.

I looked quinoa (pronounced “keenwa”) at www.quinoa.net and discovered that it is an ancient food now in the process of being rediscovered by modern eaters. It originates from South America, (Peru and Bolivia) and was the food of the Incas before the Spanish conquest practically killed the crop. A renewed respect for indigenous crops and traditional foods has since reversed a 400-year decline in quinoa production.

Quinoa is a small seed that in size, shape, and color looks like a cross between sesame seed and millet. It is disk shaped with a flattened or depressed equatorial band around its periphery. It is usually a pale yellow color but some species may vary from almost white through pink, orange, or red to purple and black.

Quinoa is a great health food, a zero cholesterol food for people with wheat and gluten related food allergies as well as a great diet for vegetarians, seniors and diabetics.

It is a balanced-amino-acid source of high quality protein.

It is a high-iron food that raises the hematocrit, delivers more oxygen to the brain, fights senility, great for senior citizens

Its a very low-glycemic-index cereal type food (35 on the glycemic index)

They say it is quite delicious. Can be used in a purple (not green) cabbage & romaine & onion salad, with a stalk of chopped celery & celery leaves, salt & pepper and a pinch of cumin, with ranch dressing.

Quinoa is a rice substitute. You cook it similarly to rice, 1 cup quinoa with 2 cups water and a pinch of salt. You can use a rice cooker and it cooks between 15 to 20 minutes.

Chef Micheal grated a carrot and cucumber, shredded some lettuce and added them to the cooked quinoa with a dash of pepper, salt and lemon juice.

Meanwhile, I am off to the supermarket to see if they stock quinoa in Malaysia.......