Homecooked meals for your little ones

the front cover

foreword from the publisher

foods for optimal growth

nutritional need in the first 2 years

preparing & cooking

complementary feeding

how to make vegetable stock

how to make chicken stock

how to make homemade fishballs

let’s masak masak!

claypot chicken rice

stir fried vegetables

cheesy chicken brushetta

sweet & sour chicken

loaded beef baked potatoes

cabbage rolls

fruit skewers

egg fritata

feeding frustrations

what’s in a serving?

recipe index

What is it?

Nutritionists’ Choice Cookbook

What’s the price?

RM20

Where to buy it?

https://www.facebook.com/luz.clarita.9849

http://ibzatech.com/?p=658

What are the special features?

• Printed in English & Malay, side by side to suit Malaysian readers
• Lots of information on nutritional needs of kids of different ages, how to prepare & cook for your child, meal planning, smart snacking and lots of healthy recipes, suitable for the whole family

Review

I have two kids, a 4-year-old daughter and an almost 3-year-old son. My son is a wholesome eater – he loves food and eats pretty much anything. He’s a little small for his age, but you wouldn’t believe how much this little guy can eat. I’ll give just an example – he could eat three bananas in one sitting. Not the local, little bananas. The Dole bananas which are as long as the palm of an adult’s hand. He could also eat two whole apples in one sitting, with the skin on.

My daughter is exactly the opposite. She thinks of eating as hard work, something unpleasant that needs to be done, not something to be enjoyed. A necessary evil, if you will. She can survive on ten bottles of formula milk a day, some crackers and a couple of chicken nuggets. Getting her to eat is a tiresome feat that can really stress me out.

So I decided to have a look at this book, which was recommended by a school friend of mine, Anne. The book is published by Nutrition Society of Malaysia and sponsored by Shell Gas, Pfizer, Maggi, Nestle, Yakult and Zespri. It covers nutrition and meals for a baby’s first year up to a pre-schooler kid.

The book is divided into three chapters, and I’ll give brief points in each chapter.

Chapter 1 – Your Baby’s First Meals

This chapter tells the basics for introducing solids to a baby. It explains the nutritional needs of an infant up to two years old, when to start feeding solids, what and how much to feed your baby, followed by the recipes section. The recipes here are also divided up by introductory recipes for 6-8 months old, cereals mix for 9-11 months old and solid food for 12 months old and above. It also shows how to make basic chicken and vegetable stock to mix into baby’s food for more taste, which I think is very useful.

Chapter 2 – Toddler’s Tiny Bites

This chapter tells of the additional nutrition needed for 2-4 year old toddlers, during the formative years as the physical and mental abilities grows and develops. There is an emphasis on feeding frustrations and challenges of a picky eater, which is quite common at this age. This is followed by the age appropriate recipes categorized by mealtimes i.e. breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks.

Chapter 3 – Feeding Small Tummy

Apart from the even more nutrition needed, since the child is starting pre-school now, the chapter also emphasizes on regular, healthy snacks, hygiene matters before and after eating, eating together as a family and involving the child in preparing and cooking meals. The recipes in this chapter are suitable for the whole family and are also categorized by mealtimes.

All chapters include sample menus or meal planners and are loaded with cooking tips for moms. There are also lots of informative advertisements from sponsors, most of them in the food industry, therefore giving additional recipes using their products.  There is a recipe index by age category in the back for quick and easy reference.

What I like about it

I like it that the book was printed in both English and Malay, side by side. This is especially useful in reading the recipe ingredients, when sometimes you know the word in English and you want to know what it means in Malay, or vice versa. It makes it easier for the reader i.e. time-starved moms, instead of flipping the book back and forth to find a recipe in English, and then trying to find out what turmeric or galangal means in Malay.

What I don’t like about it

Can’t find anything to dislike.

Conclusion

I know there are tons of free recipes online, but the compilation of all the nutrition information and appropriate recipes, presented nicely in a book, makes this a great investment, at an affordable price. A must-have!