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?

Annabel Karmel's First Meal: How It Helped Me.

I have slacked a lot in the cooking department, particularly nutritious home-cooked meal for my little darling. Although I have always cooked for her since the start of her weaning period, I remember being extremely lazy since we all came home from our UK vacation after we discovered tasty organic jar food which she totally loved! Guilty :D

But I think enough is enough... she has grown so much and I don't think turkey sandwiches or that favourite chicken rice from the nearest restaurant or even that plain fried chicken with plain rice she loves to eat or that occasional fast food just cut it. I hate to think that I've started so well on her diet plans with constant vegetables included in her meals get spoilt due to my laziness, making her picky in the things she eats.

Plus, I've been relying too much on just one recipe book before that I couldn't find the other one that would help me immensely at this stage when she should be given a more wholesome experience to her meal times. Thank god, I finally found it and I am so glad to note that it was definitely a priceless investment as it could still be used after almost 2 years...

i was so proud to own this piece of book that i bought from Kinokuniya online book store in November 2008.

This book is nothing to a local book allegedly written by a local celebrity which several moms rave about. First of all, this book isn't written by a celebrity but a trained Cordon Bleu cook who is also a leading children's food author. She shares firsthand experience with her three kids and her over 200 recipes are tried and tested by a panel of babies and toddlers, not just her children. And the fact that she's a trained cook, makes it natural for her to impart her knowledge in nutrition and provides valid nutritional advise for a balanced meal, everytime. The book is not like a story book that you can finish reading in 2 hours but one that you'd keep referring to because it is so nicely segmentised and spans for when your baby's 6 months til she reaches age 7.

Of course, I don't just love Annabel Karmel for the recipes she provide for the benefit of my baby but through the experience of preparing Jada's puree, I discovered that the meals could even be enjoyed by the entire family, with just a hint of additional salt or pepper. They are oh so delicious!

As you can see, the book is nicely segmentised for different age groups but she doesn't just go into recipes immediately. At every segment, she would explain the challenges, the tools and what to expect out of a toddler at a specific age group. There is even tips on healthy eating where you'll get valuable advise on how to reduce obesity and obtain a balanced diet for your children. And again, I'd like to reiterate that these sections are covered at every age group, not just in one general introduction section. Therefore, you'd learn of your baby's changing needs in different age groups, the importance of including fruit and veges, and how you'd want to include them in your baby's meals. Heck, there's even a small section on brushing your baby's teeth!

There's information on BRAT diet when a child is sick, which I find it very helpful when Jada fell sick 2 days ago. It was easier when I was breastfeeding her since breastmilk would always provide a good nutrition when a baby's appetite decreases but now that she's weaned off me totally, it can be a little worrisome when she rejects almost everything I feed her. So, that one's pretty much solved already :)

I especially loved the section on kitchen basic because I didn't cook much and has little knowledge on what's necessary for the preparation of a baby's meal or what to stock my pantry. When I googled up information, there were too many things in the market that made it sound like you need every one of them but through this book, I learnt the wisest options according to my cooking needs.

Before, I had a friend who told me how she'd serve her baby one ice-cube portion of frozen home-cooked puree but I had no idea what she was talking about... I guess more often than not, most mommies would relay their experience as if I'd already know what they're talking about. Through this book, the detailed description and images made it clearer to me on how things can be done and the guildelines of freezing baby's food.

Without this book, I would always thought finger food would be those teething biscuits suitable for a baby. But through this book, I learnt that there are just so many types of ideal finger food that I can vary and alternate for the entire 365 days of a baby's annual growth just so that she doesn't get bored with the choices of food presented to her. More importantly, I feel that it is our duty to provide as many different tastes as possible for her (within our means) so that she could explore different types of food in her lifetime and does not become a picky eater.

For the section on 2-3 years, I love that I can choose different types of food for her meal time... I mean, not only they're segregated into snacks or chicken or pasta, etc. but this section also include fun ways to prepare a meal to make meal time interesting for your children. After all, children at this age can be very playful. Therefore, grabbing your child's attention to want to eat rather than concentrate on just play or watching tv can be minimised with creative ways of preparing their dishes, if that is necessary for you, and time is on your side.

Everything in this book is so well organised. I love it to bits. Each recipe would tell you an estimation of the preparation and cooking time, how many portions you are able to make and whether the dish is suitable for freezing so that you can serve it again after a few days. Most importantly, it gives you an idea of the nutrition that your child will receive from the particular dish... the most important factor that brought me to purchasing this book.

Seriously, if you have the passion to cook for your little darlings but especially because you've only started to pick up cooking, this book will be a great help. It even has basic stuff like recipes for dips, stocks and soups, that you could either get from a can in your local grocery store or you could even experiment at least once in your lifetime on how easy it really is to make them... and, very delicious too! From then on, I will not guarantee that you would rather slave yourself in the kitchen than stock up on canned food, unless of course, you'd just buy them for emergencies, like moi ;P

And if you're really blur about what to feed for your child, the book has a detailed Menu from page 180-187, where suggested recipes for your child's meal plans are presented clearly, in case you need more pointers on what to serve your child. It lists down Day 1 - Day 7 and what you can serve for breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks. There's even one dedicated page on snacks and party food, to help you plan any sort of parties for your little angel.

Since I found this book again about 10 days ago, I've made about 4 dishes (I didn't take any pictures of 2 of them, though)... I realised that the recipes in the book are mostly very easy to make (as in minimal cooking time) and that the ingredients are fairly easy to find as you could also substitute certain ingredients for other types of the same family, which you will learn as you go along.

This is called 'Fillet of fish mornay with vegetables' - a recipe for 9-12 months. But instead of having to puree it, I fed Jada as is. Look at how colourful it looks, with peas, broccoli, cauliflower, carrots and leek.

This one may not look very appetizing when captured in this photo but I tell you, it tastes marvellous! I made this 'Cream of chicken soup with sweetcorn' on a whim when I saw that Jada was still down with fever and refused to get up by 9am yesterday. I prepared the ingredients and was done in an hour, which included having the concoction processed in a blender. She got up around 11ish, drank heaps of plain water and was already really hungry by the time I bathed her. Gladly, her temperature was already back to normal and she and I, had a healthy, tasty and filling lunch :)

Seriously, many friends have asked me on what they should feed for their weaning 6-month old baby and I would tell all them to get these books by Annabel Karmel. You'll fall in love with the books, even if you don't fall in love with cooking ;P

Annabel Karmel's Puree Recipe - cooking after a long vacation.

I have been extremely lazy with my updates. Since returning from our vacation, there has been way too many things to document and I just don’t know where to start…

All I can say is that the vacation was a much overdue one for me… my last break was in November 2007 when I was already in my very early pregnancy and didn’t even know it. From then on, it was work, work and work for me non-stop as compared to my usual habit of taking a short break twice a year from work.

I was afraid about the flight to London since I was all on my own… but my worries were unfounded as little jj behaved extremely well… of course, there would be those restless moments here and there, I mean who wouldn’t, right? Even an adult wouldn’t be able to sit still for a full 12 ½ hours flight. But she was alright… she slept when she’s supposed to, played on her own in her bassinet, sat in the bassinet nicely while I fed her the 2 meals given on board… and best of all, she let me ate peacefully when my meal came. There were not much interruptions from her except during those times she was awfully restless and I had to play Toy Story on the in-flight screen over and over again just so that she could focus on something instead of crying for no apparent reason.

But, if you were to ask me to do it again, I might hesitate… I wouldn’t be twice lucky and I think that belief may be true since little jj gave us a whole lotta nightmare during the flight home… it was either that her daddy was present and she knew there was an extra set of hands to take care of her, or she was very insecure with the darkness throughout the flight (as the flight home was a night flight). She barely slept 2 hours in 2 occasions, but that was also contributed by that drug we got from her paediatrician for her to relax during the long haul flight. So, basically, all throughout the balance of 10 hours when she's awake, I could clearly hear her crying and screaming in daddy’s arms while all I could do was to get better quick - I fell sick immediately as I board the plane and my body temperature shot up in an instant. Everytime I felt better, I took her away from daddy and all she wanted to do was to hold on to me.

It was truly very tiring.

little jj's bad hair day - 10hours of crying, screaming and struggling

while sweating profusely once we touched down at KLIA

But, despite her usual nature of not trusting strangers and unfamiliar environment, she warmed up instantly to London’s cold air and allowed us to toughen her up by taking her out almost an entire day, every day thru the entire week of our stay… I fed her where ever we decide to take a rest from our journeys that she has somehow gotten used to being fed out of the comfort of her home instead of every time wanting her usual chair and that familiar environment at home.

little jj and abang noah, warming up with the battle

of the pacifier, just after we reached their home in London.

I guess that vacation somehow wasn’t just a good one for me but brought out the best in her as well.

For more details on our vacation, I would rather let little jj update her blog, yah ;D soon… she says ;P (update: little jj has updated her blog)

When we got home, I got busy with unpacking and doing the laundry in so many batches… there were those of the one’s from the pile at home, those from the trip, my clothes, little jj’s worn clothes and little jj’s new clothes. I practically only managed to finish everything in 4 days! It helped a lot that my parents were kind enough to volunteer taking care of the little munchkin that day we arrived so that we could all get our rest.

Then, there was cooking for little jj as her puree stock has either depleted or expired and so I turned to Annabel Karmel again for the next phase of puree recipes – 9-12 months.

As we all recovered from jet lag (with little jj affected the worst), I could only prepare them purees after 10pm with only 2 days to whip up her food as the home made chicken stock could only last for 48 hours in the fridge. With jet lag, and a baby who’s cranky all the time, coupled with bags and stuff strewn on the floor of our living room, cooking 2-3 types of food after 10pm was a chore for me. But, we’ve all lost weight from the amount of walking that we’ve done, and I just had to take that step so that we could stuff little jj back to her normal baby fatness (eheh!).

So… as you’re all always eager to see what I whipped for little jj, enjoy the photos….

First, there was that 'First spaghetti Bolognese' which I didn't manage to take any pictures since it was already after midnight when it was ready and I was dead tired. I only made one meal the first day due to tiredness...

Next was...

Yummylicious 2: Carrot, cheese and tomato risotto

clockwise from top: onions, tomato, rice, carrots & chicken stock

not in picture: cheese & unsalted butter

Yummylicious 3: Creamy chicken & vegetables

clockwise from top: all-purpose flour, milk, button mushrooms,

carrots & chicken stock (onions at center)

not in pix: vegetable oil, cooked chicken & cheese

the result...

Yummylicious 4: Tasty chicken Bolognese

clockwise from top: chicken, chicken stock, onions & garlic,

grated carrots, dried thyme on spoon, tomatoes in a can

not in pix: olive oil, pasta

as usual, i used alphabeto for the pasta hehe...

Yummylicious 5: Chicken with tomato & rice

clockwise from top: chicken, tomatoes in a can (cooked rice on top of can),

chicken stock, carrots, potatoes, apple juice, onions & garlic

the result...

More to be made this week - which entails fish and lotsa vege...

my little cookie in the jar... a tough cookie indeed.

don't i look better now?? mommy had just trimmed my fringe...

Annabel Karmel inspired: Yes, anyone can cook!

Yup... I have been one busy woman the last couple of weeks... Alhamdulillah... a few jobs came pouring in, one after another and my schedule looks pretty tight til early April.

This weekend was a mad one due to this sudden hecticness, coupled with the fact that little jj's puree stock and pounded fried anchovies are depleting. So... while finishing up this financial translation job due for tomorrow, I had to juggle precious time for my precious pwincesh's tummy needs ;P

And since it is already 2.45am right now, I guess I'll just tease you with some yummy pictures of Annabel Karmel's delicious recommendations... a continuation from the previous puree adventure!

It all started with the basic - preparing chicken stock before other yummy meals can be prepared, and fried anchovies (without oil) for that extra natural saltish taste to add to little jj's every meal.

Then, the rest of them came...

Yummylicious 1 - Eat Your Greens

It's main ingredients are potato, peas, broccoli and spinach.

I have to tell you that it tastes sooo delicious, surprisingly. Much better than the last spinach recipe I made in the last puree adventure.

The next few meals have similar colours when they are pureed since they all contain carrots... lots and lotsa carrots.

Yummylicious 2 - Mini Minestrone

This recipe wasn't a planned one. But as I was preparing the rest, I thought the recipe looked so simple and I had all the ingredients for it.

What I like best about this recipe is that it reminds me of my best friend, Sue, out there far away with her hubby in Abu Dhabi... whenever we'd meet up at Dome, she would usually order Minestrone Soup... in a way, she was the one who introduced me to this delicious meal. And now, I thought it would be lovely for little jj to have her first taste of it too ;D

the best part is, mommy went a little overboard by using
alphabet pasta hehe... with hopes that little jj will be reading
in no time since she has eaten up all the alphabets ;P


Yummylicious 3 - Chicken with leek, carrot & peas



since little jj loves chicken, i had to make sure i try another
variety...


Yummylicious 4 - Braised beef with carrot and potatoes



actually, the recipe includes parsnip and sweet potatoes but
parsnip is a little difficult to find and little jj doesn't quite
like sweet potatoes. so, i've eliminated them from here.


Yummylicious 5 - Fillet with carrot, cheese and tomato

I was mighty surprised with this recipe... the fish fillet is cooked separately in the microwave with just additional unsalted butter and milk but it came out tasting so delicious, even on its own! This gave me an inspiration in case I am lazy to cook in the future, just chuck in that fish into a dish, take some chopped onions and a few bits of peppercorn for additional taste, milk and butter... in 3-4 minutes on high and walah... a creamy tasting fish...

Yummylicious 6 - Salmon surprise

salmon dipped in orange juice with cheese spread on top...
doesn't it look the same as the picture in the book?

I didn't do all of them within a day because that would be really crazy. They were all spread throughout the weekend, with the last one just completed around 1am earlier today. I'd want to prepare one more dish but I am out of carrots... hehe.

mommy, the alphabets in the mini minestrone will be
blended into a puree... how do you expect me to
read the alphabets...

I am still wide awake from that dose of strong coffee but I think I shall head to bed soon. Nighty nite.

Annabel Karmel Inspired: Really, anyone can cook!

I have plenty to update but not much energy to write ;P so, I guess I'll just post some pictures of my 'interesting' adventure last long weekend (in addition to the previous 2 photos posted earlier) while I rest and try to catch my breath (yup, believe it or not, I still haven't caught proper breaths since the last weekend)...

Tadaaaa...

yummylicious 3

spinach, leek, potato & carrot + homemade chicken stock


yummy delicious topped with fatty creamy after-taste
from the unsalted butter used to saute the leek.


yummylicious 4


apple and peach (the recipe has strawberry added but
madame dearest eliminated it from the list for fear of allergy risks)


tantalising and juicy. strawberries can be added when little jj's a little older


yummylicious 5


chicken, apple and sweet potato


for little jj's first taste of chicken


yummylicious 6


carrots, potato & corn


placed next to the spinach-leek-potato-carrot puree

6 yummylicious weaning tastes, delicious enough even for us adults. I am especially surprised at how tasty the spinach concoction tasted. The little munchkin even licked his bowl. Suddenly, I was inspired to improvise the recipe for a creamy, tasty spinach soup ;D

Chech, I think I probably am ready for a puree party... only that it would be down-sized as puree-tasting session hehe.

And Sherie, don't worry... anyone really can cook since you don't need to measure the amount of salt or those little little things adults always want to have in their meals. These are really simple recipes and the unsalted butter giving you such nice aroma.

I am so glad that my next puree adventure will be repeated not until another 3-4 weeks. I'm tired still.

Hmmm... madame is thirsty. mebbe madame could curi a cube
or two of those nice looking mango cubes from little jj's stock and
add some of those live full fat natural yogurt >:)