Super Dessert for Babies: Cranberry & Raisins Rice Pudding

The boy gobbled down today's meal so quickly that I knew I had another winner on hand.

Since he had a nice bowl for dinner shortly ago, I thought I will make him dessert instead. It smelt so nice that I tasted it myself. Pass on adult's palate too. Ha. He ate the first serving fast and asked for more, so this mother gladly fed him 10 tablespoons of this nutritionally and calories dense meal. And he had another 2 tablespoons (estimate) of raw blueberries.

Ingredients:
1. Organic cranberry: is incredibly high in phytonutrients, antioxidants, anti carcinogenic, optimises the balance of bacteria in our digestive tract. Likely blueberry, cranberry is low allergenic and suitable for babies.
2. Organic Raisins: amazingly high in calories,raisins also provide relief from constipation, electrolytes and polyphenolic antioxidants.
3. Baby Nat basic rice cereal
4. Organic raw wheat germ: should be used more often in our meals. Raw wheat germ is the most vitamin and mineral-rich part of the wheat kernel.
5. Water

Instructions:
1. Blitz raisins and cranberries till it is paste like
2. Add rice ceral, wheat gèrm and water. Add water and stir to delight.

Super Immune Pesto Chicken Pasta

My 3 year old and husband ate tonight's dinner so quickly I knew I have a winner on hand.

Ingredients:
Free range chicken breast, diced
Spinach
Garlic, one whole head
White sesame seeds (I happen to have this at home, would have loved pine nuts)
Lemon Balm (home grown, great for sore throat and cognitive development)
Lemon Thyme (home grown)
English parsley (home grown, super food, best known for its healing property)
Sage (home grown, immune booster)
Teddy bear pasta
Olive oil
Kelp powder
Sea salt
Cottage cheese (optional)

Instructions:
1. Boil pasta. Probably takes 8-10 mins.
2. Blend spinach (90%), herbs (10%), handful of sesame seeds, head of peeled garlic and olive oil.
3. Heat some olive oil in pan. Fry diced chicken breast.
4. When chicken is almost fully cooked, add in blended vegetables puree. Stir for 10 mins or till chicken is thoroughly cooked.
5. Stir in pasta. Season with organic kelp and sea salt.
6. Add cottage cheese if desired. Gives the extra calcium. My girl is a cheese monster and expects cheese with her pasta.

Total time: 20 mins

15 mins Immune Boosting soup

The husband came home from work feeling under the weather. It appears to be viral, considering the symptoms came on quickly. His head feels woozy, congestion builds up quickly and I know just the thing to whip up for tonight's dinner.

Soupy stuff is great when you are under the weather and your digestive system starts slowing. Plus it hydrates the body when your body has to work harder to get you better. Loaded with crucial vitamins and anti oxidants, think of this soup as your imported soldiers to help your immune fight whatever it is fighting.

Ingredients:
Cauliflower (decongestant, thins mucus)
Red capsicum (decongestant, thins mucus)
Purple carrot (high in beta carotene, anti oxidants)
Celery (decongestant, thins mucus)
English parsley
Garlic
Onion

Instructions:
1. As with most phytonutrients, I like to use as little heat as possible. In this case, I chop up the ingredients, fill with just enough water and chicken stock to cover and blend using a hand blender. You can easily blitz up in a food processor beforing transfering to a pot.
2. Bring to boil. I boiled for 10 mins. You can probably get away with less if your chicken stock is flavourful enough. The longer you boil, the sweeter the soup is from all the vegetable. But the heat kills the nutrition.

That's it. Easy peasy dish which takes them 15 mins to make. I will be serving with brown rice as a soupy rice main course, and grilled salmon as a protein.

I keep aside some portions for the baby. I don't fill up the jars (meant for freezing) so I can add carbohydrates and protein in later. This allows me to vary the menu for the baby easily.

High Iron Pasta for the family, including the baby

I try to cook every meal for the family. Cooking nutritious meals for my child is probably one of the reasons I set up a school, ha. I am often asked how do I find time to cook when I am working? I don't know, I find eating out takes up more time. Slow cooker is my best helper for soups, stews, braised meals etc. But sometimes I prefer to cook certain ingredients only briefly to preserve as much nutrition as possible.

Anyway, here's a quick pasta I whipped up last night. My version of Beef Bolognaise with English parsley, lentils, millet, red capsicum, spinach, tomato and pasta of course. 

Do you know
- Spinach, lentils and beef are high in iron, but iron is best absorbed if taken with Vitamin C? Tomato and red capsicum contain Vitamin C and pairing these food together help the body utilise iron better.
- Red capsicum is a decongestant, thins mucus and phlegm and has anti-cancer properties.
- Lentils are legumes, packed with fiber and protein. My favourite thing about this is that it stabilises blood sugar and is awesome for young children. It evens their sugar level and prevents mood swings from sugar high sugar low effect.
- English Parsley has wonderful healing properties, and I love it so much I have it growing t home. It purportedly neutralises carcinogen, is packed with anti-oxidants nutrients and vitamins B, C.

Instructions:

1. Heat olive oil and add in chopped garlic and onions. Boil pasta separately.

2. Add lentils, millets and ground beef. Season with salt if you wish. I don't add any salt.

3. Add canned tomato pomodoro, red capsicum and finely chopped English parsley. Add two cups of water.

4. When beef is cooked, add in chopped spinach. I turn off the flames as soon as the spinach wilt because I don't want the high heat to kill the nutrients. Actually the whole cooking process probably took me 20 mins or less.

5. Serve with pasta. 

Yes, this portion is for my 3 year old girl. She has a hearty appetite and is blessed with a high metabolism.

When I am prepping ingredients, I like to put aside those that is suitable for my baby. Food high in iron is added bonus for breastfed babies. In this case, I set aside the pasta (boiled a little longer so they are softer), spinach, red capsicum, onion, garlic and millet. I dropped them into the boiling water after I scooped out the cooked pasta, did a quick hand blend when cooked. My 9 month old baby has moved on to chunky food and loves this. He ate 8 tablespoon (4 ozs) easily and I am a happy mother. :)

Food that gets rid of phlegm

My 9 months old baby started the sniffles and I could hear the phlegm building up.

Congestion in a young baby is a mother's nightmare because he only knows how to breathe via the nose. If the nose is blocked, everything comes to an abrupt halt. Can't breastfeed. Can't eat. Can't sleep. What's worse is the phlegm tickling the throat, and triggering the body's natural response to cough it out.

To get rid of phelgm, there are 3 things to keep in mind. 
1) Mucus and phlegm creation needs to be reduced. Dairy products and sugar are the two biggest culprits in phlegm creation. You need to limit or eliminate such food to slow down the creation.

2) Dissolving or thinning the phlegm. Drinking plenty of fluids thin the mucus. Food such as cauliflower, red capsicum, celery, asparagus, onion, garlic, ginger help to dissolve mucus too.These are natural mucalators. There are synthetic ones you can get from pharmacy but not that I will feed that to my children.

3) Dispelling the phlegm. I said earlier the body coughs to get rid of the phlegm. But our children do not how to spit the phlegm out. Instead, they frequently trigger the gag reflex and end up vomiting when coughing.

What I find work best is focus on 1) and 2), then the phlegm is controlled enough for the child to swallow and poop out. I get a lot of satisfaction when my baby poops out mucusy slimy poop. Haha, the avenues a mother derives satisfaction from!

An additional tip for sleeping at night with a phlegm cough is to let the child sleep on an inclined angle. When we sleep at night in a horizontal direction, the backflow of the phlegm and the accumulation of the mucus at the head worsens congestion. Sleeping elevated helps mitigate this. Using a diffuser with a decongestant essential oil such as eucalyptus and lavender help too.


Here's a meal that reduces phlegm and helps combat flu. Cauliflower (50%) rice porridge (15%) in chicken broth (15%) and poached chunky salmon (20%). Salmon contains anti-inflammatory properties and protein, which are essential in the recovery process.

Ingredients:
- Salmon fillet, choose the tail end which is the part of the body which contains least mercury
- Organic cauliflower
- White rice porridge (white rice is easier for digestion when one's body is under the weather. By all means, use other grains)
- Home made chicken broth. Baby friendly with only antibiotics free chicken, no salt

Instructions:
1. Poach salmon fillet. Mine is loosely flaked because my baby likes textured food.
2. Steam cauliflower. Steaming helps retain heat sensitive vitamins. Mash with fork or with a food processor.
3. Heat rice porridge, add in home made chicken stock. Please see separate recipe for my porridge.

Poached Salmon, Cauliflower mash

I fed this for dinner and didn't hear a single throat-tickling cough all night. Thank God.