Solid Food for My Precious Gem: Chicken Fruity Kurma

Bibik cakap,
Ibu Tisam, makanannya Aira udah habis. Mau dibagi apa ya buat Aira ini hari?

Ha?? Cepatnya! Rasa cam baru je buat satu batch besar minggu lepas.

So, cepat2 kejut En. H ajak ke Mydin Mall utk beli barang masak. Boleh jer gi beli sendiri tapi syok sikit kalo boleh dating2 sekali. Killing two birds with a stone omputih cakap..

Actually, resepi ni dah pernah buat before, but this time I improvised the ingredients with varieties of fruits. Rasanya, wallah!!!

I used:
2 red apples (peeled and thinly sliced)
1 green pear (thinly sliced)
1 sweet potato (peeled and thinly sliced)
1 carrot (peeled and thinly sliced)
1 small can of green peas (the thin skin removed)
1 large chicken breast (thinly sliced)
1 packet of kurma powder (mixed with a bit of water)
1 glass of coconut milk
2 glasses of water
Grated cheese
1 bulb yellow onion (thinly sliced)
Olive oil

How to go about it?
1.  Saute the onion with olive oil until golden.

2.  Add the kurma paste. Saute until fragrant.

3.  Add the chicken. Stir until golden.

4.  Add water and bring to boil.

5.  Once boiled, add in all the fruits and vegetables. Simmer until they tender.

6.  Add a dash of salt and the coconut milk. Turn off the stove.

7.  Puree the dish. Before storing, stir in the grated cheese.

Even Nisa enjoy it!!

Solid Food for My Precious Gem: Fruity Kurma

I made another batch of food for Aira, simply because I felt like it. This is another fantastic, achievable recipe from Annabel Karmel. The original version is called "Fruity Chicken Curry with Pasta", but I made some changes in the ingredients and steps here and there. So, my version is called as stated above. But the credit still is for you Annabel Karmel. *Peace*

So here are the things we need:
1 packet of kurma powder
2 partitions / shells of pumpkin (skinned and thinly sliced)
10 dried apricots (sliced)
Olive oil
Half bulb of yellow onion (thinly sliced)
1 inch of ginger (finely grated)
2 chicken breast (thinly sliced)
200 ml of chicken stock
1 glass of coconut milk
Salt

Forgot to place the kurma powder which is the MOST important ingredient. Hehe

1.   Saute onion and ginger with the olive oil until fragrant.
2.   Put in the kurma powder, chicken stock, coconut milk. Heat up and stir occasionally until boiling.
3.   Add in the pumpkin, dried apricot and chicken. Simmer until the chicken is cook and the pumpkin has soften. Put in a pinch of salt.

Simmering nicely

 4.   Done!!

I puree the dish and served it with soft rice which was coarsely blended. As usual, I packed them into small servings and they went straight into the freezer.

White is the rice and brown in the fruity kurma. 

To be honest, I was a bit skeptical and nervous as this is my first attempt preparing food with cococut milk (ala... santan ler cakap Melayu) for the kids. Not to mention, the addition of kurma powder. Will it be too spicy for the Aira? Is spicy food an OK thing or a NO-NO thing for children? After tasting it myself, it was a THUMB UP! It is not stingily spicy (pedas). The spiciness is only a bit of warmness that comes from the kurma powder, which is a total change on what Aira is used to. My Aira gobled it down to the last spoonful. So I guess it is an OK thing :)

Solid Food for My Precious Gem: Pasta with Tomato, Sweet Potato and Cheese

Aira is a good eater. Cuma kesian dia hari2 Aira makan bubur nasi.

Then I recall the name Annabell Karmel who created a lot of delicious, easy to prepare food for children. Maka, mulalah sesi mentelaah one recipe after another. After reading through her blog, I chose this because it has sweet potato which is Aira's favorite. Besides, the soft pasta is suitable for her to start on solid food since she's almost 1 year 3 months.

Bahan-bahan:
1L vegetable stock
Olive oil
2 carrots (hiris nipis)
3 tomato besar (buang biji, cincang). Boleh juga guna tomato puree tin
2 medium sized sweet potato (cincang)
2 bulbs of yellow onion (cincang)
4 ulas bawang putih (cincang)
1 chicken breast (thinly sliced)
cheddar cheese
4 sudu besar susu segar
1 pack Heinz baby pasta

The ingredients

Cara-cara:

1.   Tumis bawang besar dengan olive oil sampai lembut.

2.   Masuk bawang putih. Tumis lagi sampai naik bau.

3.   Masuk dada ayam yang dah dihiris tadi. Goreng sampai kekuningan.

4.   Masuk tomato, sweet potato and vegetable stock. Kalau takde vegetable stock, guna air biasa pun ok. Panaskan sampai menggelegak. Then, simmer until the vegetables are soft.

Cooking and simmering nicely

5.   In another pot, boil the pasta according to the instructions on the packaging.

Boiling pasta

6.   When the pasta are cooked, drain the hot water. Wash the boiled pasta under running water until cooled. This will wash out the starch that caused the pasta to stick and clump. Then, add a tablespoon of olive oil to the cooked, cooled pasta to further avoid them from sticking to one another. Put aside.

7.   Back to number 4, turn off the stove. Let the dish cool slightly. Then, add in the milk and stir.

8.   Blend it to a puree. This is the sauce to our pasta.

Almost done

9.   Grate the cheddar cheese into the sauce and stir until the cheese melts.

10. We are done!!

As usual, saye masak utk stock makanan Aira lebih kurang 10 hari. Caranya, pack makanan dalam bekas kecil dalam jumlah sekali makan. Bila nak dimakan, cairkan dan panaskan je. Siap.

Tada!!!

Aira's response: LOVING IT!!

Aira Is One

And the little lady is ONE!!

We celebrated her big day on 9th Mac 2014 at our own place.

She had Nemo cake chosen by the Ayah.

Received lots of presents.

Most importantly, SHE had a great time!!

Here are some snap shots of her upon reaching 1 year old.

Enjoy!!

Ada peningkatan!!!

Sehingga hari ini saya masih berjaya bf Aira. Alhamdulillah... ESP Shaklee dah habis sebalang. Hari-hari saya ambil sesudu besar ESP Shaklee 3 kali sehari. Tiap-tiap kali minum ESP ni saya makan 3 biji Alfafa Shaklee. Setakat ini saya sangat berpuas hatilah :) Seronok rasa bila pam dalam 10 minit, dah dapat 1.5 ounce. Kadang-kadang dapat sampai 2 ounce. Itu pun rasanya kalau Aira tak selalu "melekat" kat saya, sempatlah susu nak kumpul dulu dan maybe boleh dapat lebih dari itu.

So kerana stok ESP dah habis, segeralah saya order lagi. Cuma kali ni beli trial set 3M Shaklee pula. Kenapa nama dia 3M wallahualam.. Oh by the way, saya bukan agent Shaklee ek.. Saya beli dari kenalan Facebook. Ariel Damia Farhana namanya. Back to the story just now; Dalam set ni ada 1 ESP, small bottle of Alfafa, B Complex and Calcium. Jadi pagi semalam saya start makan. Sepanjang hari semalam saya feed Aira directly. Waktu malam je baru dapat pump. Dan ini hasilnya selepas pam pukul 12.30 mlm selama 15 minit..

Wahaha!!! Almost 3 ounces!!!

Alhamdulillah... Syukur dan happy sangat! Naik sekali ganda dari normal. This week was a bad week for me, but this really makes my day. Rasa berbaloi sesangat melabur sikit beli supplement. And I'm already looking forward for my next session of pumping :) Inilah rezeki Aira... Syukur alhamdulillah...

Aira and Breastfeeding

Ramai yang dah tahu saya dulu tak dapat nak breastfeed Nisa sebab Nisa sakit and masuk NICU, then susu kering sendiri then langsung takda... Kesal sangat rasa. Doctors, nurses, kengkawan semua selalu cakap susukan anak dengan susu badan supaya anak tak cepat sakit. Maybe orang lain tak tahu betapa bersalahnya saya rasa setiap kali Nisa sakit and I know deep in my heart if only I CAN breastfeed her, she would not be sick so often..

So bila dapat tahu saya pregnant sekali lagi, I told my husband "I berazam nak breastfeed baby ni no matter what..". Hari-hari saya berdoa semoga Allah SWT berikanlah satu nikmat menjadi ibu ni kepada saya. Waktu mengandung lagi saya amalkan minum susu Hi-Goat sebab ada kawan cakap susu dia banyak sebab minum susu kambing. 

I'm still taking this, and so far it works!!

Then, sebelum bersalin haritu, I was given a rare chance to talk to the doctor who attended me during labour. I told her my problem of not being able to breastfeed Nisa. So immediately after labour, she placed Aira on my chest and instructed me to start feeding her. Alhamdulillah... Ada susu... Seronoknya saya rasa hanya Allah SWT yang tahu.. 

Umur Aira dah 28 hari, maknanya dah 28 hari jugalah saya berjaya susukan Aira. Masuk hari ketiga dulu, dah mula rasa sakit masa menyusukan Aira so husband dah cakap "Kalau tak boleh tahan dah sakit, stoplah dulu". Dia dah siap belikan susu formula standby kat rumah in case saya sakit sangat. At the same time, he bought nipple shield brand MAM. So far, susu formula masih belum buka lagi dan nipple shield tu really helps when nursing. 

Boleh sterilise and ada carry case so very convenient bila travelling. And teats dia sangat soft so baby rasa comfortable bila nursing

Now dah start fikir nak express susu untuk simpan sebab takut susu kering awal. Sementara tengah ada ni baiklah mula buat stock. I actually have a manual pump brand Avent but bila express susu macam tak keluar apa pun... Banyak lagi susu keluar bila Aira suckle. Kotlah sebab saya yang tak pandai teknik / rhythm mengepam. Jadi skrg dah mula intai-intai online electric pump. I have the feeling bila pakai automatic pump baru boleh dapat susu yang banyak (pump tu ada program rhythmic pumping that mimic baby's suckling). Lepas survey2 sana sini, we finally bought Spectra 3. So far it's worth it! I pump every 3 hours and at average I'm getting 1-1.5 ounces per 15 minutes session of pumping which is enough with Aira's current feeding.

Kopak poket... tp apa saja untuk anak kan?

 I know.. I know.. Setakat 1 ounce je mana boleh buat stock kan? Actually, 1 ounce tu saya bagi Aira masa saya tgh ada kerja (makan, dlm toilet, etc) or going out sekejap (hehehe dlm pantang tp dah jalan2 merata..). I was told by my sister, the amount will increase with time. Yang penting katanya kena continue pump and directly feed Aira. Tapi dalam hati masih risau kalau2 amount tu tak meningkat. Jadi, I'm taking all the below untuk tambahkan susu besides eating lots of vege and drinking plenty of plain water...

Susu S26 Mama, Horlicks, ESP Shaklee and Alfafa Shaklee

So rasanya almost all method dah digunapakai untuk bagi Aira minum susu badan yang cukup. Niatnya at least sampai 6 bulan nak breastfeed Aira insya Allah.. Cuma yang jadi kebimbangan skrg, dgn segala extra suppliment yang diambil, takutnya susu tak bertambah, tapi berat badan pulak yang naik. Tak ke haru nanti. Huhuhuhu....

Sempurna sudah akikahnya..

Alhamdulillah pada 31 Mac 2013 yang lalu, pada hari ke-25 Aira dilahirkan, sempurna sudah akikah buat puteri kedua kami. Sayangnya kami tak sempat nak buat pada usia Aira 7 hari sebab memang sangat sibuk.  Terima kasih diucapkan pada semua ahli keluarga dan sahabat handai yang sudi hadir ke majlis serba ringkas kami.

Tis Aira Sofea Binti Ridzuan : Our Story

Proudly announcing the arrival of my second princess:

TIS AIRA SOFEA BINTI RIDZUAN

( respectable with wisdom )

She was born on 7 March 2013 (3 days earlier than EDD) through normal delivery. I was actually warded a day earlier as my birth canal has dilated 3 cm but with no pain (alhamdulillah...). By 5 am on the 7th, I could barely sleep because the pain was getting stronger. At 8 am the doctor broke my water as I have dilated 4 cm. Then, the real, painful contractions started. By 9.15 am I was wheeled into the labour room, with my husband standing right next to me the whole time (thank you so much sayang...). I took the epidural jab to ease the pain (it ACTUALLY reduce the pain compared to not taking anything), but the procedure was really painful. 3 hours later, at 12.16 noon Tis Aira Sofea is safely cuddled in my arms (nangis2 dah time ni tgk muka Aira. Hahaha!!!). Her birth weight is 3.19kg. I even managed to nursed her while the doctors stitched me up (kurang sket tumpuan I pada sakit jahit tu). Then my husband qamat and azan her. Alhamdulillah.... 

Now I am on my fifth day of confinement at my own house. Since I don't have any confinement lady to take care of me, my wonderful husband (Super Hubby!!!) is taking care of me, Aira and Nisa. Well, my mother does the cooking larrr kan, but he really takes care of us. So memang layaklah diberi gelaran Super Hubby!!!

Our first picture together 3 hours after delivery

Super Hubby on duty

Two princesses in the house!!!