Baby Friendly Complete Nutrition Fish n Chips

This dish is a little tedious than my usual dishes.

It was London theme day on school and I was going to make fish n chips. I was thinking about how I could work in the vegetables when I decided to switch to fishcake instead. It was convenient since my 10 months old baby was going through a phase of self feeding finger food. This fishcake is baby friendly if your baby would gnaw and chew on his food.

Here goes. London inspired fish(cake) and (sweet potato mini) chips.

Prep time: 10 mins
Steam time: 15 mins
Bake time: 20 mins (if you bake together.  I was cooking in big batches and had to do twice)

1. Steam lemon sole, sweet corn, potato and purple cabbage.
2.Mash above ingredients together, add corn starch to bind and coat with a layer of bread crumbs. Bake at 175 degrees Celsius for 15 mins, or till crunchy and golden.
4. Shred sweet potato to desired. In my case today, these are closer to flakes. Add extra Virginia olive oil,  a dash of paprika, toss and bake at 170 degrees for 20 mins.

This dish was well received by both babies and the older kids. So the extra effort is worth it. :)

Super Brain and Immune Booster Pasta

It has been incredibly busy recently, hence for the lack of updates. Obviously, busy or not, duties as a mother continue. The dishes I have been preparing had to be more efficient.

Here is a super quick and nutritious meal I whipped up for the family last night.

Prep time: 10 mins, 5 mins before cooking and 5 mins there after.
Cook time: 12 mins

Ingredients:
-fresh cod fillet
-garlic
-spinach
-pasta
-kelp
-extra virgin olive oil
-fresh rosemary
-fresh English parsley
-fresh lemon thyme
-Broccoli Sprout powder
-Chia seeds
-sea salt

1. Dice up a head of garlic, pinch of sea salt, rosemary, English parsley and lemon thyme. Add these to olive oil to infuse and coat the cod.
2. Steam the cod, with spinach with the infused oil and its herbs.
3. Boil pasta simultaneously for 10 mins.
4. When pasta is cooked, drain the water. Add in a dollop of butter. My daughter and I love love love butter, hence why we go through copious amount of butter in the house. Stir in steamed spinach and the gravy from the cod (2).
5. Sprinkle on Chia seeds and Broccoli Sprout powder from the Super Sprout series. I prefer to serve cod on the side.

The beauty of this quick dish is that I was busy with the kids half the time it was cooking on his own. This was served to the entire family, including my almost 4 year old and 10 month old baby (salt was omitted for the baby).

Giving our children a good Head start

I love my food and have been head over heels in love with food since I was a little girl. Food not only fuels my body, it serves as a daily inspiration for me. I live to eat and am blessed with a hearty appetite.

When I was pregnant, I pray that DD will love food as much as DH and I do. I don’t have any particular craving and exposed her to a variety of food. After DD arrived, I breastfeed her and am still breastfeeding her at 15 months. According to the parenting guides, breastfed kids are unlikely to be picky eaters. The theory is that the child is exposed to a smorgasbord of tastes through the breast milk from a young age, as opposed to the homogeneous taste of formula milk.

Well, as I have discovered through my parenthood journey – take what I read from parenting books with a pinch of salt.

Each child is unique. As a child leaves infancy behind and moves in toddlerhood, he/she starts forming his/her opinion and preference in everything, including the food.

DD is no exception. She was doing great, eating well until she neared one year old. There are days when it is just harder to feed her. Through trials and error, here’s some tricks that work for us:

• Offer variety. Mix it up. Don’t feed the same thing day in day out.
• Make a nutrition packed soup/stew. It’s easier to sneak in a few mouthfuls of power food every now and then. For instance, I boil spinach, broccoli, lentils, carrots etc, blend it up and add a protein such as minced beef or fish.
• Offer distraction. I have tried video, feeding her while she is playing with toys and feeding her while taking a walk.
• Let DD feeds herself. The mess can always be cleaned up later.
• Offer competition. Sometimes I pretend to feed her doll. Or when we are out with friends’ kids, we find that she eats as heartily as the next kid.
• Offer a change of location. Don’t always feed at the high chair. She loves it at Fitfor2 at Bangsar Village or Kidzsport and never fails to finish her meal there.

Then there are days when all above fails. I will resort to feeding DD her favourite food – cheese and tomato. I would tell myself that some food is better than no food and try to focus on the big picture, i.e. her diet throughout the week.

In recent years, the diagnosis for hyperactivity (ADHD) and dyslexia in children has been increasing. Leading nutritionist, Patrick Holford, found in his book ‘Smart Food for Smart Kids’ that in many of these cases, the learning disabilities can be eliminated simply through an improvement in diet. Holford explains the positive link between eating nutritious food and a child’s brain power.

I strongly believe in the importance of wholesome food for a growing child. This is why I go out of my way to ensure our school feeds nutrition-packed food. Our nutritionist works on IQ-boosting food to improve the children’s attention and learning ability.

Parents are not charged a leg and limb to select the meal option. Instead our nutritionist team source actively for the right suppliers and  works within budget. The children comes first at our school, before any talks of profit and margins.

Unfortunately in Malaysia, our preschools and daycares do not know or care enough about this. Many of the schools continue to serve sugary drinks, pandan cakes, doughnuts, nasi lemaks etc. 

When I question these schools, the principals would tell me that 'it's part of their effort to ensure the child gets accustomed to a Malaysian diet.' Erm, I don't think so.

We are what we eat. The stuff we put in our mouth affects our mood, our health and learning ability. Depriving your body of vital nutrients can be detrimental.

A child’s brain goes through exponential growth in the first 6 years and is 97% of adult size by age 6. Hence we should all give our children best head start in life with a wholesome diet.

How to select a preschool/nursery/daycare

Over the course of last few weeks, I have got two friends asking me how to select a preschool for their children.

One’s not based in KL (or I would have asked you to send your child to my school dear) and the other friend’s child is under one year old. So I thought I will write an entry for all parents who are looking for a preschool/kindergarten/nursery/daycare.

I would like to pat you on the back for deciding to send your child to any form of formal learning setting.

A child is born with a tremendous ability to learn. Do you know that a child’s brain is 97% developed by the time he/she is 6 years old? Their brains grow and create new synapses through new learning experiences. Hence, the more you stimulate your child during the early years, the greater the learning potential your child might realize.

Firstly, consider the amount of exposure for your child and weigh it against your current arrangement. Perhaps you would your child to be placed in a learning environment all day while you work – Full Day. Or you have suitable care arrangement at home and only want a half day school – Half Day.

Once you have decided on the frequency of classes, here’s some other factors to consider in selecting a school:

1.Curriculum

This is the approach the school bases its curriculum on. It not only serves as a guide on how they run the school but also sets the syllabus for teaching content.

The most commonly heard of school of thought is Montessori, but many parents do not realize what Montessori philosophy entails. Maria Montessori recognizes that each child has great learning potential but learns at his/her own pace.

A newer school of thought is the WholeBrain learning system which is a science/logic based approach. WholeBrain learning believes that all babies are born geniuses and we just need to unlock their potential with appropriate stimulation of both left and right brains.

My ideal school is one which offers good curriculum that stimulates the right and left brains, a conducive environment for languages (English, Mandarin and Malay) and promotes social interaction.

2.Values System

No doubt as parents, you are most qualified to instill the right values in your child. But as your child spends a considerable amount of time in school, it’s important to choose one who shares similar core values as you.

For instance, I once interviewed a daycare whose principal thought that infants are ‘too young to know anything. When they grow older, then we teach them stuff.’ Uh huh no.

At our school, we teach our children the value of money, manners,  social graciousness and how to be a helpful contributing person.

3.Diet

You are what you eat. A good diet is especially important for very young children. As a child’s body undergoes tremendous amount of growth in the early years, what he/she eats has a strong impact on his/her physical growth.

Unfortunately, in KL, many schools feed our children processed food loaded with sugar or a porridge based diet high on simple carb but low on nutrition.

Child nutrition expert Patrick Holford said that many children are misdiagnosed with ADHD and dyslexia. A simple change in diet to include brain food affects the development of the brain and the child’s learning ability.

A good diet should consist plenty of good fat, complex carb, protein, calcium, fruits and vegetable. At our school, we have an in-house nutritionist who dedicates a huge amount of time and research into designing our menu. We also supplement our children with multi-vitamins and DHA (subject to parental sign-up).

4.Environment

Is there ample space for the child to roam? We want our kids to grow up in a ‘free range’ environment, not cooped up in a small hole all day.

Scrutinize the level of hygiene. If the school does not practice good hygiene, your child is more likely to fall sick.

Safety is something that Malaysians cannot take for granted. At our school, our security is enhanced with secure tag entry and regular patrolling provided by the building.

5.Convenience

This is a factor that tends to be overlooked. You don’t want to have to park, climb a flight of stairs yanking a stroller and struggle every morning just to get your child to work.

Instead, look for a school near your home with convenient drop-off points. If they are indoor, make sure they have escalators and lifts for accessibility. You will thank yourself when school starts.

6.Rules

The school should have a rule books and adhere strictly to it, such as sick child policy and designated eating area etc. Children thrive in a structured environment.

7.Honesty and Openness of the School

Have you ever encountered schools who will only meet you if you place an appointment? Or schools who are hesitant about parents observing sessions?

Schools which operate in a secretive manner may have something to hide.

Go with your intuition (yes, your innate mommy’s and daddy’s instinct) on the sincerity of the staff. Are they child-centric and genuinely care about your children? Is your child comfortable and happy?


I always recommend dropping in spontaneously when scouting out a school. If the principal or teacher is unable to give you the full attention then, they can arrange a follow-up full visit.

8.Involvement of parents

Personally I like to know what and how my child is doing in school. Parents would know how hard it is to find out from the kids themselves.


We hold regular meet-the-parents session to update them about their child, give an educational talk on a specific topic (right brain activity, diet) or engage their feedback in general. We are your partners in educating your children and it’s a two way process.

9.Licensing

There are an appalling number of preschools, daycares and nurseries in Malaysia without license. It’s not expensive nor complicated to obtain one. If the school scrimps on a small fee to avoid registration, consider what else they are scrimping on in educating and caring for your child.

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Remember, each child is different and it’s important to find a school which fits your child’s personality and your family. Doing the homework in finding the right school for your child does reap its benefits. For one, your little one will look forward to going to school everyday and meet his/her teachers and friends.

At the end of the day, all we want is our child to be happy, healthy and balanced.