Thank you for telling me this was what you really needed to read. If you’ve missed it, here’s the original post.

And now I have included a quick summary of the post, and added a few more tips on how to keep sane while making sure my baby still gets all the good stuff in him as much as possible. As a second-time mom, I have learnt a lot from my past experiences. I now find it possible – and more time-efficient – to do away with many things I used to do before, like steaming and blending baby food in a blender and freezing them in ice cube trays in advance. I don’t do these now, but if it works for you, why not?

I no longer use an electric blender, but I do find a manual baby food masher handy.

Top tips for feeding your baby:

• I don’t bother with stock. To cook porridge, simply scoop rice in a pot, add water and veg & meat and simmer till soft. Mash with a the back of a spoon (or use a manual baby food masher) to the consistency suitable for your baby. Of course, if you have some home made stock on hand, use it in place of water.
• Don’t make feeding your baby a chore for you. It shouldn’t be so hard! I just ensure there’s a carb, a protein, a fibre in each meal. Ok, sometimes, in at least one meal.
• Vegetables: fresh or frozen – doesn’t matter. I stock up on frozen carrots, spinach, broccoli, cauliflower, squash and corn often. Sometimes they’re even better than the ‘fresh’ versions as they’re quick frozen (and nutrients preserved!) from source.
• Play around with different textures. If your baby rejects the peas today, it doesn’t mean he doesn’t like it. Try adding more liquid, or some breast milk or formula milk to alter the consistency. Sometimes, a familiar taste in the form of milk may make him more ready to accept new foods.
• Don’t fret if your baby hates that expensive fish that is supposed to be super good for him. Give an alternative protein – some other types of meat, a milder fish, eggs, or even beans?
• Stop trying to be ‘perfect’. Everyone has crazy days. Your baby will survive for one meal without having all the nutrients from the 3 food groups. On busy days where I just make it in time to cook dinner, I open a yummy baby food pouch and that’s it! Lots of goodies in those, too! There’s no need to feel any guilt over this.
• Try and reduce the number of appliances involved in making meals for your baby. I feel this is really important. Instead of setting up multiple contraptions and washing up the blender blades, jar, cover, etc and putting away the base, wires and more things, now I just use a pot and stove. Or airfry that fish in the nifty baking pan of my Philips Airfryer for easy clean up.
• Which brings me to my next point. You don’t need to make SPECIAL FOOD for your baby. The style or texture can be different, but the core ingredient should be the same as what the rest of your family eats. If we’re eating salmon today, my baby’s eating salmon today. If we’re having peppers and roasted potatoes with that salmon, my baby’s having the same – just in a softer texture suitable for him. Then what happens if I want to eat mala hot pot? It’s obvious my baby can’t eat it right? Yes, but what you can do is fry all the vegetables first, scoop up a portion for your baby, THEN add the mala spices. Problem solved.

So that’s it for now, I think!

I will update again if I think of something else that will make ALL our lives easier. Have fun exploring the many ways you can make eating fun for your little one!

The post Staying sane when introducing solids to your baby appeared first on Budgetpantry | Singapore Mummy Blog on Food, Recipe & Baby.

To achieve the white, milky colour, you need to boil the pork ribs for 5 minutes, remove from heat, then rinse with tap water. This will remove the gunk and impurities that would adulterate your soup. The total cooking time over the stove top is 3-4 hours.

I usually combine chicken bone with pork ribs. If you don’t have chicken bones, using chicken stock is fine. If you want to cook entirely with pork ribs, that is ok too. The soup will taste better with some chicken bones, but it’s still optional. I’m using Local Chicken Stock from Sasha’s Fine Foods for this recipe. They also have great quality pork bones and other amazing ingredients for our babies. Just do a search! (Remember to use my code “Budgetpantry10 for 10% off!)

Now for the veggies and other ingredients. Don’t skip the garlic! Nor the honey dates. Honey dates are my must-haves in Chinese soups as they impart a thick, savoury flavour. In fact don’t skip any of the vegetables in the recipe below.

To ensure your broth becomes milky and thick with fall-apart meat, there are two key things: choose pork ribs that have some fat, and cook your broth on a low simmer. Boiling for long hours gives you tough meat. Simmering results in meat that is fall-apart tender.

So there you have it – a super simple recipe! Have it with macaroni, rice, noodles, whatever tickles your fancy!

The post How to make milky pork bone broth (or stock) for your baby appeared first on Budgetpantry | Singapore Mummy Blog on Food, Recipe & Baby.

Mine’s rice for sure.

She can eat an entire bowl of plain rice if I let her! To balance her love for rice with better nutrition, I often let her have more protein (fish, beans) than rice during meal times. In this recipe, I added airfried salmon seasoned with garlic powder and mixed herbs, plus 16-grains, corn and edamame. The optional ingredient is cream cheese. It adds flavour and acts as a binder. It’s so good that even adults love this!

I have a picture of the multi grains I use over in this blog post. The last time I checked, it was still available on Redmart.

This recipe is really easy and requires no effort at all. Just cook rice, add in ingredients, bundle up in cling wrap for a minute or two and serve! Although it’s just rice, kids usually find finger food more fun to eat. Mix and match your kids’ favourite ingredients in this! Some ideas: prawns, scrambled or hardboiled eggs, peas, carrots, pumpkin all work well.

Leave me a note if you’re making this!

The post Recipe for kids: Salmon rice cakes with 16 grains appeared first on Budgetpantry | Singapore Mummy Blog on Food, Recipe & Baby.

When it comes to preparing meals for cbb, there’s one method I especially like: Throw everything into the rice cooker, press ‘Cook’, and walk away!

This is another of those one-pot rice cooker recipes that satisfies all nutritional needs in a meal: meat, vegetables, rice. To ramp up the flavour, I like to use chopped up leeks (the white part) and a bit of ginger-garlic paste. I often cook this for dinner for the entire family… I don’t add salt to our portions also, but you could if you wish.

I’ve got many pms asking me which rice cooker I am using. I can’t live without our Tefal Spherical Pot Rice Cooker. It’s super easy to use and practically fool proof. I can cook one-pot meals like this, or make a comforting porridge or congee. The included steamer rack also means that I can steam fish/meat/eggs while cooking rice. Saves me so much time! I reviewed this product last year, along with a recipe of multi-grain rice. Click on this link to read more.

It’s not a super-must to add leek, but I had some in the fridge that day and used them. I must say it really enhances the flavour a lot. This recipe also calls for ginger-garlic paste. You can make your own by blending 2 cloves of garlic with 3 slices of ginger in the food processor, or simply smash the garlic and grate the ginger. It’s more work but it means less things to wash. Or you could use store-bought paste, preferably with no salt added.

Tip: Click here to see my other baby food recipes. Will be adding more soon :) Like my Facebook page or follow @budgetpantry or @chuabeebee on Instagram to be updated on new recipes!

The post Toddler-friendly rice cooker mushroom chicken rice appeared first on Budgetpantry | Singapore Mummy Blog on Food, Recipe & Baby.

Before we know it, we’re in the final month of the year! It’s crazy how fast the year has gone by. This year, I’m thankful for the chance to explore different recipes for cbb, and I feel really lucky that she welcomes my creations with her open arms mouth!

I’ve always believed that coming up with new recipes for kids aren’t really difficult – I mean, what can they eat right? Lai lai qu qu also those few things. The core ingredients are the same fish, meat, veg, rice.. it’s just the presentation and textures that are different.

I could easily use these ingredients to cook a chicken, broccoli and potato soup and serve them with rice… cbb loves her soups but it’s also nice to create something different for her. So instead of chunky potatoes I decided to blend them into a creamy mash, then add some quinoa cos she loves to chew, and of course we can’t leave out the protein (chicken) and vegetables (broccoli and cherry tomatoes).

I love cooking this dish in my CorningWare® casserole. Did you know that CorningWare® can go straight from the freezer to stovetop or oven? Yes, you don’t need to worry of the glass shattering due to a sudden change in temperature. Made of a revolutionary glass ceramic material called Pyroceram®, CorningWare® was developed by scientists to protect the nose cone of the space shuttle from incredible and extreme temperature changes. It comes with a 10-year warranty for the base vessel and 2-year for the lids against thermal breakage too.

CorningWare® has always been a large part of my childhood memory; my 82-year-old aunt is an ardent fan – her CorningWare® still cooks well for the past 50 years. CorningWare® proudly celebrates her 60th anniversary in 2018.

I served this dish in our Corelle® dinnerware, which is made through a unique patented hub lamination process that thermally bonds three layers of glass; core glass in the middle with top and bottom layers of very clear ‘skin’ glass. The lamination results in glass dinnerware that far exceeds the normal strength possible for any single glass composition. I love it that it’s super durable and non-porous, resistant to permanent staining, breaking and chipping – Corelle® is backed by a one-year warranty against chipping, crazing, and cracking.

The design featured here is called ‘Moonlight’. Take advantage of the year-end promotions now to fill up your kitchen!

Tip: Click here to see my other baby food recipes. Will be adding more soon :)

The post Kid-friendly chicken quinoa casserole with mashed potatoes appeared first on Budgetpantry | Singapore Mummy Blog on Food, Recipe & Baby.