::FAMILY:: Christmas Dinner

There's nothing more I treasure than family time, so once in a while we have the family over for a meal at our place. Christmas dinner this time round was a 5 (+2)-courser mix of east and west ;p

Readily available from our freezer - junk food to hold off hunger pangs

Extra mashed potato from shepherd's pie

Spicy tuna wontan

Kong ba bao in Korean sauce

The Sherpherd's Pie

Salted egg yolk French beans

 

Scallops with shitake and spinach in cream sauce

 

I must say my dad was pretty impressed with the spread he asked where I picked up my culinary skills from?! It's not from motherhood, dad, it's a natural talent not displayed when I was staying with you and the kitchen belonged to mummy ;p

::BABY:: Tasting Strawberries!

It's always nice to find ourselves in a baby-friendly restaurant whenever we have our little diner in tow. We make do with his pram otherwise, but it's always a bonus when he gets a high chair and be seated at the same level with us at the table.

 

DA PAOLO pizza bar is definitely very baby-friendly in this aspect!

D got himself a kids' menu, a colouring pencil and paper, a cup of cold water with straw - all of which he couldn't appreciate right now because he's too young for a kiddo sized meal (and I brought along his jar of Heinz food), cant hold a colour pencil yet and hasn't learnt how to drink from a straw (and who gives a baby icy cold water?)!

 

He also got A LOT of attention from the waitress, which he didn't reciprocate after a while and finally some free strawberries from the chef!

 

I figured the only thing my son could do to at least show his appreciation was to eat the strawberries! After all, that's something he is very adept in - EATING!

 

BUT. 

 

My little man didn't quite appreciate the strawberries too!

Excuse me while I go teach my son some manners ;p

::BABY FOOD:: Salmon Pasta with Asparagus

From 8-11 months, babies should be able to eat mashy food.

We have been giving D mostly pureed food and porridges which are easy to swallow. Even the treats we give him are the melt-in-your-mouth kind which doesn't require much chewing.

 

Made him some mashy food which required him to work his jaws over the weekend.

 

The macaroni wasn't soft-cooked enough, so I put them into our blender and it achieved a desired semi-mashed form ie not pureed

 

Found him doing some gummy chew for the asparagus which was quite cute to watch! Buy me some time for my own dinner while feeding him that night ;p

 

With the same ingredients, I added cooking cream into our portion.

 

And made a thin-crust pizza from leftover ingredients we had in fridge!

 

The new-found trick for a thin crust scored big points in the household! 

 Baby Salmon Pasta with Asparagus
(Prep and cook under 30 minutes)

Steam salmon and asparagus for 15-20 mins. Use only the top part of the asparagus as the surrounding skin is thinner and easier to chew and swallow. Save the bottom 1.5" for the adults.
Boil macaroni for 8 minutes. Blend.
Serve

Adult Salmon Pasta with Asparagus
(Prep and cook under 30 minutes)

Blanch asparagus
Boil pasta for 6 minutes
Pan fry seasoned salmon - we used salt and pepper and salted butter instead of oil
Put everything together and stirfry. Add cooking cream and salt pepper to taste.

I like to give D fresh food daily so we don't do bulk cooking, pureeing and freezing unless absolutely necessary. I feed him from the jar occasionally to prep ourselves for travels. With the limited time on hand to handle D and make meals, this is a good quickie to settle a meal for both baby and parents! :D

::BABY:: Yoghurt for Babies!

I remember seeing shelves of baby yoghurts in Woolsworth and thought why we didn't have any in Singapore.

 

But see what I found when I came back!!

I was actually trying to find a high calcium, plain normal yoghurt for D, but spotted this lying amidst the major yoghurt brands! It was just a little tray of about 12 cups and very easy to miss! And I didn't see any plain yoghurt that says they are hi-calcium. So....spent a little bit more on this - anything marked 'baby' usually come at a more premium price -_-"

S$1.55 for a cup

This was his 2nd cup and he still prefers the apple flavoured one!

 

D's food list at 9 months old:

Vegetables

1. Carrot  2. Broccoli  3. Cauliflower  4. Potato  5. Sweet potato  6. Pumpkin  7. Spinach  8. Chyesim 9. Sweet corn  10. Parsnip

 

Fruits

1. Apple  2. Pear  3. Banana  4. Papaya

 

Meat (Protein)

1. Beef  2. Cod fish  3. Threadfin  4. Salmon  5. Chicken  6. Pork  7. Seabass  8. Toufu

 

Staple (Carbohydrate)

1. White rice  2. Brown rice  3. Barley grains  4. Bread  5. Chwee Kueh

 

Dairy

1. Yoghurt  2. Cheese

 

Rubbish/Snacks/Food from our table

1. Yoghurt drops  2. Durian  3. Durian cake  4. Cheese soufflé  5. Ice cream

6. Pineapple (Cant give this fruit as it is too acidic. We gave him a bit to taste 'sour')