toddler food ideas Archives - Happy Pinay Mommy

Can babies and toddlers eat Durian?

happypinaymommy — Tue, 12 Mar 2019 15:40:46 +0000

Can babies and toddlers eat durian?

I grew up in a home that adores the taste of Durian. My parents believed that if you drank water from the pulp you would grow accustomed to the odor, would not mind it, and would be open enough to appreciate the sweet creaminess of this fruit. Now dont ask me where they got this notion or what age i started eating it but what is important is i got to love it even as a little girl.

And while my dad only goes to Davao a couple of times a year for work, he makes sure that everytime he goes home he would have a boxful of durian fruit as pasalubong. Yes, with the rind and all. Kabog ang lamp bergier ng sinaunang titas of manila aka my mom. Hahaha.

Anyway, i was suddenly transported to my durian loving childhood days when my graciosa next door neighbor chimed in to give us this baby:

Ahahahay! Pasalubong pa more. my Davaoena next door neighbor came by to drop off this durian and we are so thrilled! It is rich, sweet and super creamy! Kabait ng aking kapitbahay, napa pledge ako na iwan nya bunso nya dito sa amin if magpa salon siya

Durian for babies?

So as soon as the neighbor left, we “butchered” the durian and I am just happy that at least one of my children loves it too! Kilala nyo na siguro kung sino? Si Shobe of course. I need not make her deink water out of the pulp. I credit baby led weaning for her live for durian (i have a full section on baby led weaning so click here if youd like to know more — we also have a facebook album full of BLW meal ideas and recipes for babies and toddlers).

Going back to the topic, this method of introducing solid food has been so effective on shobs because she does not think twice about exploring food including fruits of whatever texture, like the durian. I remember she had her first taste of Durian when she was 10 months old. Someone gave us Durian and I froze a portion of it. The next day when I served shobe her breakfast of rolled oats, i added frozen durian bits so it could cool off asap because she was tooexcited to eat already! Haha she so enjoyed it.

Since Shobe consumed not much, i decided to ask our pedia if it is ok to feed her durian if it is available, and as always our pedia’s answer is “all fruits as long as in moderation.” So there, when it is available she gets to have it. Now she eats durian like a pro – tuwang tuwa pa pag maliliit ang buto

Benefits of eating Durian

And while most would shun Durian because of the odor, it is actually very good for the body (as long as consumed in moderation and you do not have hypertension or blood sugar issues). It is rich in antioxidants, Vitamin C, and dietary fiber. There is really a reason why you should try it and go past the weird odor.

Anyway I hope this little blog post of mine has convinced you to give this fruit a try. Till next post!

A happy homemaker is a Happy Pinay Mommy!

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Baby and toddler food recipe: Ginataang tinadtad na sitaw at kalabasa

happypinaymommy — Thu, 24 May 2018 12:14:43 +0000

Ginataang tinadtad na sitaw at kalabasa will be perfect for your toddler or kid who may not like eating sitaw.

First of all i would like to thank my social media sister @super.momma for inspiring me to chop sitaw in this fashion to make it all the more appealing to kids. Thank you sis! Im telling you fellow moms, it makes for a yummy ginataang sitaw at kalabasa that most kids will like (mine liked it a lot!).

Surprisingly, sitaw served this way is more appealing to all my three children.

So why not give it a try? After all it is another P100 Budget ulam idea that is both nutritious and delicious.

Im sure most veteran moms are familiar with the drill of cooking ginatan but for newbie cooking mamas, here’s your guide:

GINATAANG TINADTAD NA SITAW AT KALABASA RECIPE

The ingredients are simple and can be easily prepared. In fact this dish can be prepared for less than P100!

Ingredients:

Small wedge of kalabasa (squash), chopped

250 grams cubed pork (i use menudo cut for my panggisa meat)

1 cup coconut milk (doesnt matter if it is cream or milk, fresh, canned or powdered — use what you have and do not stress yourself, mothering is hard enough!)

Pinch of ground pepper

For adults you may use salt, patis or bagoong to season this dish. Your choice.

2 cloves of garlic, chopped

1 medium onion, chopped

Procedure in cooking ginataang sitaw at kalabasa:

The cooking procedure for the ginataang tinadtad na sitaw at kalabasa is not complicated as well. It is a quick dish to prepare especially for those days when you have a lot of chores to do.

1. Saute garlic and onion

2. Add the pork, and wait until it has browned (I usually preboil ours).

3. Add in the squash and the sitaw (string beans)

4. Pour in the coconut milk. Bring to a boil then simmer in low fire until coconut milk thickens and the squash has been cooked.

5. At this point you can now set aside an unseasoned portion for your baby.

6. Season the dish for adult consumption — i use patis.

Yummy and easy: ginataang sitaw at kalabasa!

This is how i served it to my toddler:

My toddler loved this dish! Try it, it is best served over white rice.

So there you have it. Hope you and your kids will like this version of our ginataang sitaw at kalabasa recipe. For more toddler food ideas please browse our recipes section here in the website or browse our facebook album of over 100 toddler and baby food ideas that are blw-friendly, nutritious, yummy, doable on a daily basis, and pocket-friendly!

Family meal recipes, budget ulam ideas and filipino meal plans check out our mealplans are also available in out recipes section. You may also want to check out our facebook album of family meal recipes and budget ulam ideas under P100. Hope you can also follow us on IG and Pinterest where we regularly post our family meals, toddler and baby food recipes and other local parenting information. See you there!

A happy homemaker is a Happy Pinay Mommy!

Here’s a video on the nutritional benefits of eating squash:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gapCP8R0KeQ

Easy Chicken Sotanghon Soup Recipe (Vermicelli Noodles)

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Meal Ideas for Filipino Babies and Toddlers

happypinaymommy — Wed, 18 Apr 2018 06:22:26 +0000

Check out our meal ideas for Filipino Babies and Toddlers in our Babies section in the website, and in our Facebook Page.

I have long been posting about meal ideas for Filipino babies and toddlers. After my bout with picky eating care of my eldest, I tried a different approach to introducing solids to my second child Shobz. And since it turned out great, I carried on with the same approach to my youngest.

If you have been reading my blog for sometime, you would know that I am advocating the Baby Led Weaning Method and that I regularly post my children’s meals in Instagram and in our Facebook Album. If you are new here, I invite you to browse over our kids and baby section, or check out our FB album for these meal ideas.

Meal ideas for Filipino babies and toddlers

In fact, I have posted additional meal ideas for your toddler and babies this week and we now have about 115 meal suggestions in our Facebook album. I am inviting you to revisit our Facebook Page and browse our nutritious, affordable and BLW-friendly baby and toddler meal suggestions. As i always say, these are all doable in the Filipino setting and is easy on the pocket.

For those who may be wondering why my children’s daily food are just like what I serve to the rest of the family, well this is because we subscribe to the BLW (Baby-Led Weaning) approach in introducing solids to our children.

One of the key advantages of this approach for young and busy (and yayaless) families like ours is that the baby or the toddler gets to eat what the whole family eats except that their portion does not come with added salt and sugar. Their meal portions are also sliced/prepared for their safe and easy handling — that is why the patola, patatas, and veggie portions in our ulams are all sliced in finger strip-sizes because that is the recommended size for easy gripping especially for babies younger than 10 months. No need for special food for them that are either store bought or homecooked.
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So yes, we do not do purees as indicated in the concept developed by Gill Rapley. Our freezer baby/toddler food are usual freezer meals served to the rest of the families — frozen solid. We do not have anything against other methods of intoducing solids, it is just that it is what works best for us

BLW resource. Research is key in applying BLW concepts.

If you are interested to know more about BLW from the person who developed it I would like to share with you the resource that we rely upon in our Baby Led Weaning journey. It is important to be abreast of what the whole concept is since there could be safety concerns when shifting or going back and forth with another weaning or food introduction method. All these of course is best explained by THE Gill Rapley

BLW is not easy — it is in fact tiring because of the kalat, but the journey is rewarding. IT WAS WORTH IT. My two younger kids eat whatever I offer them and I credit their being adventurous to BLW. So here I am advocating (not shoving, haha) this weaning method to whoever cares to ask. After all we do have a lot of options and we all know what is best for our kids.

So cheers to life and mommyhood’s many choices! Hope you can follow us on Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram. Feel free as well to share your other Pinoy baby food ideas with us!

The post Meal Ideas for Filipino Babies and Toddlers appeared first on Happy Pinay Mommy.

How to cook easy beef sopas

happypinaymommy — Mon, 26 Mar 2018 18:13:45 +0000

Here’s.how to cook easy beef sopas, which is perfect for the rainy days.

Actually, this easy beef sopas that i cooked is more “what is available in the pantry” sopas.

I lost track and thought we still have elbow macaroni for traditional sopas but we ran out of it apparently and we only have salad macaroni. It will still work though so I pushed through. Then we apparently ran out of carrots and only had pechay baguio for sopas so there. I also used native onions instead of white.

My kids, including our littlest enjoyed it just the same. A tip though for moms with younger babies though (ten months below), cook through this type of smaller pasta PAST AL DENTE stage but not naman soggy so that it can easily be chewed and can almost be real soft in the baby’s mouth.

Easy beef sopas recipe

For newbie cooking mamas who may want to replicate this recipe here’s a rough guide:

You.can actually use pantry vegetables for this dish – carrots, potatoes and cabbage are great for this easy beef sopas dish.

Easy beef sopas ingredients:

1 to 1 1/2 cup uncooked elbow macaroni, cooked according to package instructions
1 tbsp butter or vegetable oil
1 medium sized onion, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1/4 cup chopped celery
3/4 cup shredded cabbage
1 medium sized carrots, chopped
1 medium sized potatoes, chopped
250g Lean ground beef
2 cups of milk (fresh, full cream, evap or soy are all fine)
3/4 to 1 cup beef or vegetable broth
Salt and pepper to taste

Procedure in cooking beef macaroni sopas

1. Preboil pasta and set aside — it will be best if you cook it less than two minutesof the cooking time indicated in the package directions.

2. In a pan, melt the butter or add your cooking oil. Saute onion, garlic, and lean ground beef (or whatever ground meat of your choice).

3. Once the meat is cooked, add in the celery, carrots, and potatoes (please note that i ran out of potatoes and carrots at this time, so you will not see these in the photo).

4. Add in a cup of fresh or full cream or evap milk (depending on your preference), and 1/2 to 3/4 cups of beef or chicken or vegetable broth or drinking water.

5. Bring to a boil then simmer for about 10 minutes or until the carrots and potatoes are quite tender.

6. Stir and add in your cooked pasta and chopped cabbage.

7. Bring to a boil and cook for another two minutes.

8. AT THIS POINT YOU MAY NOW SEPARATE A PORTION FOR YOUR BABY AND TODDLER SO THEIRS GO UNSEASONED.

9. For adult consumption, you may use patis or salt to taste, and then some ground black pepper. Serve.

My children enjoy beef sopas. I can even serve it to them during breakfast!

Hope you and your family will get to enjoy this recipe. For more doable, affordable, nutritious and Pinoy friendly BLW meal ideas for your toddler and baby please feel free to check out the meal plans and recipes section of our website, or browse through our album of more than 100 BLW meal suggestions for your little ones.

A happy homemaker is a Happy Pinay Mommy!

Sharing with you this video on yet another macaroni recipe:

How to cook easy Ginataang Manok

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