I heart BLW

Bee is a bit more than six months now and I can’t really put into words how glorious these past couple of months were. I’m scared and excited and thrilled all at the same time each time our little family embarks and reaches a new milestone for our little angel. I think one of the most exciting things we have done so far is introducing Bee to solid foods.

When it comes to my Bee’s growth and well being, I always want to be armed with as much information as I can. That is why when Bee reached her 3rd month, I started to peruse books, websites, magazines and what have yous to research on how to best introduce solid foods and what type of foods should I give her. After a lot of digging, I came across a website which fosters a non conventional way of introducing adult food to babies, the method is called Baby Led Weaning (BLW). I was intrigued!

I started to search my trusted shopping site to find books that will give me more details on how to go about BLW and I found this little treasure.



The idea of BLW is quite simple. Since kids love to explore and since at six months (or from the time babies can sit with very little or no support) babies are mature enough to hold finger foods and put it in their mouth, instead of pureeing the food that we will give to babies, we should give them finger foods to start with. To simply put it BLW encourages parents to just let our babies get on with eating.

I tell you honey and me were so nervous the first few times that we let Bee eat coz she enjoyed it a lot and she would shove carrots and broccoli into her mouth and would start to gnaw at it. There were times when she would gag and my heart would really thump so hard but then after she gags for a while she would just move on to pick up the next piece of food that grabs her attention and would happily suck, gnaw and chew on it like nothing happened.

I further researched and consulted Bee’s doctor on what food I should give her and what she can’t eat yet. After knowing those things, I just gave Bee everything and she gladly tries everything we put in front of her. We bought her a high chair that has a big detachable plate of sorts and we would put her food in front of her and our entire family will eat together, I love it!

Apart from making our mealtimes more fun, with BLW there is less fuss in preparing food for our little one, she normally eats what we eat (but for her share, I don’t put salt). She gets to exercise her grip and hand and eye coordination coz she is also the one who picks the food from her plate and she is the one who decides whether she’s had enough of not. I must say, I’m a bit relaxed and I don’t stress on how much or how little she eats coz at this age, eating is more like playing for her and her main source of nutrients is still breast milk and she still drinks her milk as she always did. So far, Bee has tried so many kinds of fruit, veggies and meats but her favourites are carrots, oranges, shrimps, broccoli, strawberries, pumpkin and cauliflowers.

I will definitely recommend this method of weaning to my mom friends.

Eggplant heaven

(via)

I’m not sure what came over me yesterday but as early as lunch time, I made up my mind to pass by the vegetable market a block away from our place and buy several eggplants. I was really craving for Tortang Talong (eggplant frittata)!

So off I went to the vegetable market and I chose good eggplants. After that I have to head to the supermarket adjacent to our home to buy some tomatoes (you’d think that the vegetable market would sell them, but no they don’t). I was debating with myself weather I should peel and boil the eggplant of broil and peel. I decided to do the latter so on the stove top, I placed a wire rack and allowed the eggplants to broil just until they’re soft enough to be peeled by hand and squished. After I have broiled them, I allowed them to cool for a bit, and then I peeled them off by hand, it’s quite easy to peel them off coz the skin comes off easy if they have been broiled to the right softness.

After peeling, I squished them all flat and set them aside. I took some eggs, beat them well and season them with salt and pepper. I poured some olive oil over a hot skillet, I took the squished eggplants and dipped them well in the eggs and fried them on hot skillet. Depending on the size of the eggplants, but I used an egg for each eggplant. Other people I know add minced meat to this viand, others add onions and tomatoes but I prefer mine simple and satisfying. Oh, I almost forgot, the tomatoes serve as side dish, you have to chop ‘em up real nice and add a spoonful or so of fish sauce or fish paste. Presto, super yummy dinner.

I had to close my eyes each time a take a bite, I’ve missed this comfort food a lot!