This blog was initially dedicated to my sons and daughters, when they were away from home and missing Mama's cooking.It was also intended for Malaysian students at home or overseas who wanted to dabble in the kitchen, now and then.Included are comments,health and cooking news and tips as I go along. I have also included health topics and parenthood tips as a guide as they are equally useful for young adults.
Someone presented us with a big box of frozen seafood caught off the coast of East Malaysia recently. Note the size of the fish compared with our regular "kembong" marinated in turmeric and salt.
My son and daughter, (Afif and Zaty) had to come home to enjoy the bounty. As fate would have it, Nurul (eldest daughter) is home this week and today we had 'asam pedas Jenahak'.
The Jenahak (note the size compared with the plate)
The Tiger Prawns
The Pomfret and Senangin, cut and washed, ready to be cooked
Balance of Curry after a meal
The Pomfret in Sweet and Sour Sauce
We had 'masak lemak Senangin' one day, Jenahak curry and Pomfret in Sweet and Sour Sauce the next. The prawns were fried and eaten with Sweet and Hot sauce.One is enough for one person.
There is still a balance in the freezer waiting for Afif and Zaty to come home for the weekend. Wish Ikmal was here...
Have you ever wondered why one child could so bubbly and full of vigour? While another is so lethargic and sleepy?The secret is in the food and the motivation provided by his environment. The saying, 'You are what you eat' is indeed true. Children eating habits are formed from a very early age.
Good nutrition is the key to good health even in toddlers. Instilling good and healthy eating habits by setting a good example goes a long way to influence children on the choices of food that is good for them.
Often, the effect of bad eating habits will only be evident upon reaching adulthood.Heart disease, diabetes and hypertension are common adult diseases that stem from bad eating habits from young. Obesity, undernourishment and constipation in young children are indications of bad eating habits.
Bad nutrition leads to bad skin tones, insomnia, unhealthy bones and skin and retarded physical development in children. This eventually leads to a lower immunity against infections. Due to the weakened defences you will find that you have to visit the paediatrician more often because your child is more often than not, always ill. Allergies and asthmatic children are also the result of weakened body defence systems. Constipation in young children can be prevented if they are fed a more fibrous diet of cereal, grains and vegetables. Prunes and bran or oats are great fibre food that make trips to the potty less trying for parent and child.
The secret in good nutrition is to provide a variety of food in small quantities over a week. In this way, not only different nutrients are served, the child is given something exciting to look forward to, at meal times. We should all realize that serving the same meals every day will create predictability and boredom. Boredom is a killer to the appetite. Hence, Mum have to develop interesting ways to tempt her child's taste buds. Mum should make the food colourful and easy to eat. Vegetables like carrots, broccoli, tomatoes, red spinach and fruits like bananas, apples, oranges and melons add colour to the table and should be eaten from young.
Toddlers are often fussy when it comes to accepting new foods. They must not be forced to eat but the parent has to make meal times a happy event and not a battle of wits. When food is enjoyed in a relaxed atmosphere, toddlers will cooperate more willingly. There are various ways to get toddlers to eat up and take to new tastes and textures of food:
Arouse your child's interest in a new food with a funny story behind it.
It is best to introduce new food when the child is hungry.
Serve only small quantities, paying attention to colour and texture.
Give your child a choice. It would make him feel like a grown-up. He would then choose one food rather than none at all.
Cut food into small portions so that your child will have fun feeding himself.
You can get your child to help you during the food preparation by letting him measure, stir, decorate and arrange in a plate. Allow him to be the first to taste as well.
Praise your child and don't be too annoyed if he spills and messes up the table.
Remove all food if your child throws a tantrum and shows unacceptable behaviour like throwing food.
Perfect eating habits are generally hard to achieve. You may have to give in during visits to grandma's but as long as grandma's diet is not followed most of the time, your child will be okay.Similarly, once in a while, you may treat your child at MacDonald's or Kentucky Fried Chicken's. Believe me, once your child has taken it to your diet styles, he would not be too wild about fast foods.
It is the parents' responsibility to develop healthy attitudes towards food in their children. If you succeed in teaching your child that he should eat a variety of food, he would grow up to be healthy, alert, active and will readily adopt a sensible eating pattern. This would stand him in good stead for a healthy adult life.
This Daily Mail news caught my attention:http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1170860/Two-mothers-charged-neglect-feeding-malnourished-babies-left-junk-food.html
Two mothers charged with neglect after their babies were left malnourished from feeds of left-over junk food
Two mothers in Cairns, Australia, were charged with neglecting their babies by feeding them pureed pureed pizza, potatoes, pork crackling and other non-nutritious foods leaving their babies weak and malnourished.
The court heard that a girl now aged two, and a boy, now 21 months, were fed using a milk bottle, diluted blended form of adult leftovers including pizza slices, calamari, prawns, pork crackling and other takeaway food.
It would not be surprising had this happened in a developing country where mothers are illiterate and uneducated.But for it to happen in Australia is a shame.
As I have commented before,having babies comes with responsibility.You cannot simply have them and neglect their needs with your couldn't care less attitude.Babies have rights too. Their never asked to be born anyway!
I was delighted to watch an episode in Army Wives on TV tonight.That was the first episode that I managed to catch.In that episode, a dad to be was trying to learn all the theories of baby care and even volunteered at a local hospital to get the hang of it.If only, all future Dads and Mums were like him.
I dug out my old copies of the ‘Motherhood and Childcare’ magazine from January, 1987 and found this interesting piece on feeding a family on a lower budget. Nowadays, I could not find such a magazine in KL stores anymore. I don’t know if it is still available in Singapore as it was then published in the republic.
The suggestions in the article are still relevant today as it was 22 years ago.
One needs to be extra creative now, when the same amount of money you had one year ago cannot buy the same value of goods today. Now, how do you feed your family with the same budget without sacrificing either taste or good balanced meals?
During the good times, we became accustomed to ‘good ‘food. Our tastes expanded with improved lifestyle patterns. We loved eating out, spending on convenience food and as we spend on fast foods, steaks and not forgetting our local commercialized delicacies, our diet became poorer. We forgot about balanced meals and ate whatever our palates desired.
The recession may be a blessing in disguise if we looked at it positively. With less money to spend, more families have no choice but to cook and eat at home. Cooking it yourself need not be a chore as there are lots of appliances and ways to save time and efforts nowadays. You may end up being wiser on the choice of cheap and nutritious meals you can prepare if you do a bit of homework before you shop. Comparing prices and deciding on the menu for a whole week may save on trips to the supermarket.
Knowledge on what makes a well balanced diet also helps. Knowing the sources of proteins, carbohydrates, fats, vitamins and minerals, fibre and water , what they do and how much we should eat each of them daily also helps. We may end up obese after consuming too much of the wrong thing and yet we are undernourished!
Now is the time to change our ways. By cooking yourself and adopting the following tips you can take charge of what goes into the mouths and the stomachs of your loved ones and not forgetting into yourself as well. You can control the amounts of the essential food types in your food and encourage good eating habits in your family. Here are some tips you can adopt:
Reduce Eating Out
Hawker and quick service restaurant food are often fat laden and full of refined carbohydrates. Eating a lot of them leads to obesity, constipation and the incidence of high blood pressure, heart disease, diabetes and bowel cancers.
Increase Fibre
High fibre can prevent constipation, haemorrhoids and even colon cancers. Fibres satisfy us for longer as they take a longer time to chew and digest and stay longer in our stomach. Insoluble fibre is not digested and is passed out of the gastrointestinal tract while soluble fibre passes into your blood stream and reduces bad blood cholesterol and at the same time increases good blood cholesterol. Whole grains, (brown rice, whole-wheat flour), beans and pulses are good fibre sources.
Reduce on Soft Drinks and Sugar
Most soft drinks are full of excess sugar. These empty calories are not only expensive but lead to insatiate thirst.
Stop adding sugar or half the sugar when cooking your food and buy fewer sweets, cakes, ice-cream and soft drinks for your children. Reduce on canned foods and don’t add sugar to cereals.
Increase Fresh Fruits and Vegetables
Fresh fruits and vegetables are relatively cheap and not only are good sources of fibre but a store house of vitamins and minerals as well. They are also lower in calories.
Reduce on Proteins
We tend to eat too much protein when our body only needs about 60g a day. Excess proteins get converted to carbohydrates and fats.
Increase Water Intake
Since our bodies are made up of 70% water, it is natural that we replenish the water content of our bodies. Insufficient water put our kidneys under a great strain. Children should be encouraged to drink unsweetened water and consume thin, clear soups or broths.
Reduce on Animal Fats
Reducing animal fats in meat, fish and dairy products and halving the amount of oil used in preparing meals go a long way to promote good eating habits and a healthy lifestyle.
Increase on fat substitutes
Using substitutes like vegetable oils for butter and yoghurt for coconut milk are healthier and cheaper choices. It is often better to steam, roast or grill over low heat.
By adopting the above tips, you not only cut your food bills, but you will find that you are more alert and feel so much better. With the money you saved, by discarding refined and processed foods, you can now afford a new recipe book on healthy cooking. Or better still; look up the Internet for great recipes.
Suddenly I just felt the need to pen this all down. Even though I have yet to be bestowed with grandchildren, I am a constant witness to how young parents bring up their tiny tots.
Some people conceive readily, after one episode and they find that their bodies have changed. But for a minority few, conception is a challenge. They may have been married for years before getting any children. Children are God's gifts to us. They are meant to bring lots of joys and sorrows too. Well, ups and downs are all a part of life. However, often having them means putting their needs above our own.
But whatever you do, the results must be worth for all the efforts made. Therefore to succeed in anything even parenting, one must have plans and strategies. You have only one lifetime to do it. The life of your offspring depends on you. The human offspring takes a longer time to be detached and become independent from the parent unlike some infant animals that can walk or swim from birth.
As parents, it is our responsibility to produce quality children not just quantity. I salute those parents who have many children and all of them succeed. This group of parents is in the minority.
Each child must be planned and given the best chance to reach his/her full potential. Why bring a child into this World, only to abandon him and not guide him to be the best that he could be. Good parents beget good children. That is the general rule. Some people take it as fate that determines the future. That is nonsensical thinking. Whatever fate gives us is the result of whatever decisions and actions that we have taken.
So, for young parents out there, set out a plan on your parenthood targets.Most people only say how many children they want and stop at that. Most people cringed when I said my children must all seek academic excellence up to tertiary levels and they will all be beautiful. By beautiful, I meant, great and positive in attitude and good moral values. Beauty is not only physical, though it helps; but the beauty of a great personality is everlasting and exudes confidence.
From young you must care for your child's every needs.Some people just let their child decide everything for himself thinking that the child knows. Never take for granted. I was amazed when a friend told me that he once overheard from his children's conversation and learn that they could not tell a dog from a goat. It was then, he said, time to take them to the zoo!
Children has to be guided to make the best decision for themselves. They too have to be encouraged from young to be independent and to want to excel. By meaning to excel does not mean having a kiasu attitude. They have to be exposed from young to the imperfect World full of the unfortunate which they have to feel sympathetic to and not scornful off.
Modern parenthood starts before you conceive, as only a good healthy body can conceive and bear healthy babies.
Once they are born, it is more planning. You must not simply ride with the tide or listen to old Wife's Tales. Superstitions are out. Learn from books and magazines. Nowadays, it is even easy with lots of parenthood portals on the Net.
The first year of an infant's life is most important as it is at this stage the foundation is being laid. The first five years are equally important as habits and values are inculcated during this period.
Good nutrition is the basis of good health and optimum physical and mental development of a child. Besides this, you have to monitor the physical milestones to check for any abnormalities. Early detection and education may save a lot of future heartaches. Once you know the stage at which your child is at, you can encourage his capabilities and improve them.
More targets have to be set to stimulate their development even before they go to school. My targets were set at a level that is above the rest of their peers. So, even before they went to school, my children were already reading and counting easy numbers, not just knowing the alphabet.
You may have heard of the Food Pyramid. But have you heard of the Food Square?
The Food Square is useful in determining the right ingredients for weaning recipes. As a baby grows older, he needs more nutrients and energy which cannot be readily obtained from milk alone. From 4 months onwards, Mum is anxious to introduce baby’s first solid food.
Solid foods differ from milk in taste and texture. Swallowing solids involves a different technique from sucking at a bottle or breast. Your baby is being introduced to eating using a spoon for the first time. Often the Asian mother prefers to use her fingers to feed her baby. Thus is acceptable as long as her fingers are clean.
Normally, a baby’s first solid food constitute of cereals mixed with milk. Rice is the cereal of choice for most babies as it digests well and does not trigger allergic reactions in babies. You have to be alert on possible allergic reactions when starting baby on solid foods. Allergies can be detected after baby has had the same new food for at least three times in a row.
GENERAL POINTS TO CONSIDER
Every meal must consist of the right combination of ingredients to provide optimum nutrients mix. The simplest recipe is having two ingredients. This could be adding a legume to the cereal. However, to make a meal balanced, one needs to combine 4 basic ingredients, one each from the quadrant A, B, C, and D above.
When these 4 basic ingredients from each of the quadrants are combined in the right proportions, they would constitute a balanced meal. As milk by itself can be considered a complete food for babies below 4 months old, it is put in the middle of the square. This is also to emphasize its importance during the weaning process and milk still provides a valuable source of energy and nutrients. Milk is often used as a base for weaning foods.
Salt and sugar are not used in baby foods as too much salt can lead to dehydration and hypertension in later years. Also, in younger babies, their kidneys are still immature, and adding salt in their diet may overload the kidneys and lead to their early damage.
Too much sugar will lead to a sweet tooth and cause tooth decay. Do not add ketchups and sauces to baby food as they contain a lot of sugar, salt, spices, mono-sodium glutamate and artificial flavourings which may also be harmful to baby.
BABY RECIPES
Most baby foods can be made using a blender or liquidiser. Baby’s liquidiser should be separate from the one used for preparing adult food as it needs to be clean and free of chillies and spices. Busy working mothers may find ready pre-cooked, tinned cereals are a good base to use when introducing other solid foods. Tinned cereals provide a hygienic, wholesome, and nutritionally balanced meal for baby as they incorporate all the nutrients needed to baby’s healthy growth.
Here are two recipes that can be used with tinned cereals:
Chicken with Rice or Wheat Cereal
4 level tablespoons of precooked cereal (rice or wheat)
60g finely sliced or shredded plainly cooked chicken breast (steamed or roasted)
1 tablespoon warm water or milk
Mix all above ingredients in a bowl and baby using a plastic spoon. This can be baby’s lunch .
Easy Pre-Cooked Cereal Mix with Milk and Fruits
Papaya
4 level tablespoons pre-cooked cereal (rice or wheat)
65g (6-7 heaped teaspoons) mashed papaya
6 tablespoons lukewarm water
Mix together in a bowl and serve while warm.
Orange/ Carrot
4 level tablespoons pre-cooked cereal (rice or wheat)
4 ½ tablespoons (70ml) orange juice or carrot juice
1-2 tablespoons lukewarm water
Mix all ingredients in a bowl and serve warm. The papaya and orange/carrot mixed with cereal can be baby’s breakfast foods.
Please note that babies should always be fed warm food when starting to wean as they are already accustomed to warm milk. Cold or iced drinks are not introduced to babies until they are over a year old.
This soup is a blend of Indian and Chinese cuisine.It serves 6-8 people.
Ingredients:
50 g barley 50 g yellow split peas 10 ml sunflower oil 1 medium onion, finely chopped 1 clove garlic, crushed 5cm freshly grated ginger 2.5 cm fresh turmeric 1/2 teaspoon coriander seeds, crushed 1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds 1 medium cooking apple, cored and chopped. (If not available use, Granny Smith apple) 1 medium carrot 1 fresh green chilli, deseeded and finely chopped 900 ml vegetable stock (or use water and soup stock cube) 1 sprig cauliflower, divided into florets 30 cm finely fresh cilantro (coriander leaves) salt, black pepper 25 g cream coconut
Method:
Soak the barley and yellow split peas in a bowl of hot water for 1 hour. Drain. Heat the oil in a saucepan and gently fry onions and garlic for 4-5 minutes. Add ginger, turmeric, coriander and cumin seeds, and cook for 3-4 minutes.
Add the apple, carrot, barley, split peas and fry for 2-3 minutes.
Pour over the stock, bring to the boil, cover and simmer for 1 hour.
Place the cream coconut in a bowl and pour 150 ml of hot boiling water and stir to dissolve. Alternatively, put warm water and cream coconut into a liquidizer and blend. You may also use fresh coconut milk. Mix the coconut liquid to the soup.
Add the cauliflower, chopped chilli and cilantro to the soup and cook for a further 3 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
If you do not fancy the richness of the creamy coconut, you can use skimmed milk instead.
Use less portions if you are cooking for a less number of people.
This soup is great when served with parathas, chapatti and wholemeal breads.
Someone presented us with a big box of frozen seafood caught off the coast of East Malaysia recently. Note the size of the fish compared with our regular "kembong" marinated in turmeric and salt.
The Jenahak (note the size compared with the plate)
