Annabel Karmel's What To Feed When - another gem for mommies!

I never meant for this blog to be solely on beauty. So this week, let's talk about other stuff, particularly cooking.

A lot of people have asked me about the food that I prepare for my babies when they started weaning. Now, I can't say much about what I prepared for my eldest because at that time, I was probably ignorant and I either fed him rice porridge or baby food from the jar. The thing is with rice porridge, you don't allow the baby to have a first taste of every single ingredient like carrot or chicken... and you are probably putting ingredients that the baby may be allergic to, which you may not be able to identify later because there are so many things in it.

Hence, learning from my mistakes with my eldest, I was adamant to make it right even when I was pressured by my MIL to start feeding Jada before the age of 6 months. Knowledge is key and as long as you know what is right, I believe that a mom should go with her gut feel on what is best for her children.

Therefore, with Jada and Jebat, I got help from many useful tools but I am especially thankful to the books by Annabel Karmel. A trained Cordon Bleu cook, the books she wrote include a lot of research on nutrition and how best we could prepare the food. Her books are most suitable for parents who are concerned about food allergies and whether we are bringing up our kids the right way, in terms of diet. The advice in her books are based on the latest medical research from the UK's top experts and the experience and knowledge that she had gained devoting her life to researching children nutrition. A lot of peadiatrician had also recommended her books to some of my friends and I am glad to have made that choice.

Since the time I started preparing solids for Jada, I have now accumulated 3 books by Annabel Karmel. If you want to know the reason as to why I am such a big fan of her books, you can read all my archived postings on the food that I was able to prepare weaning Jada. For a mom who's quite new to cooking (yes, I am still green), her books gave mommies like me so much hope.

To recap, these 2 books have been my constant source of reference that they have both become a permanent fixture in my kitchen. If you are new to cooking and know nuts about cooking for babies, do give this book a go (Top 100 Baby Purees) because it is so basic and teaches you up to the most basic cheese sauce, chicken stock and vegetable stock. The instructions are written in the simplest way so that each step can be understood easily. I got both books because I couldn't make up my mind and the book at the back gave me more information on what I should expect in a weaning baby to a toddler til kids 7 years of age.

Annabel Karmel's What To Feed When contains some of her delicious recipes that you can find in the 2 books above and some newer ones but I guess I was pulled to get this book for its additional recipes for breastfeeding moms (and they're delicious!!) and the so many questions that you might have about your baby, be it on breastfeeding, sleeping or weaning.

Here, I give you some snapshots of what you can find in the book...

now, i am sure that your entire family would enjoy this, don't you think?

super duper yummy, nutritious and easy to prepare too.

part of the content.

questions about your baby...

questions about breastfeeding...

I love her books because everything is made so systematic and it makes life so much easier for me knowing that I am doing things the right way. As I believe knowledge is key, I do feel that even if you are on your way to 3, 4 or even 5 kids, there must be a lot of information still that you might not have known and no one is an expert. Hence, I keep reading and gathering information from the right sources, and even share my views with fellow mommies. Of course in the case of cooking, since I have only really started to cook 5 years ago, I think there are so many things that I still need to learn. And along the way, I improvise.

This is broccoli, cauliflower and potato that both Jada and Jebat loved, fed to them from 6-7 months.

And this is how systematic the freezer compartment looks like with Jebat's food kept tightly in ziplock and lasts 8 weeks. I can go overboard cooking like crazy for an entire weekend so that I can relax for the next 2 months, taking 1-2 cubes for every meal in the initial stage. Now, Jebat takes 5 cubes at every meal, eats much more than Jada did and I am extremely happy with this investment.

I bought What To Feed When around November last year from Times Bookstore, BSC at RM57.50. She also has a website where you can get some recipes to try out. Oh no... I just saw another book from her website that I'd like to have! >.<

now this shall be in my next wish list ;P

Have you heard of Annabel Karmel?