As we move closer the half point of 2017, I looked back and thought that it's been a hectic year for me so far. Taking care of a newborn and a primary one kid with no helpers - which consist of: everyday school fetches (no school buses running the route anywhere near my house and no slots for after school care!), meal preparations, marketing and running errands, endless housework and laundry - is no easy feat with little and/or broken sleep.
I might have mommy-insomnia already because tonight I woke up gave up sleeping again (baby shifts/wakes every hour, waking me up. Sometimes, the bigger kid talks/cries in his sleep too). And so, here I am having 'breakfast' at 2~3am and typing this very blog, not knowing when is the next time I can have a proper nap. My eyes are so dry they can hardly open and I need to stock up on more eye moisturising drops.
So, when it's time to introduce my 5-month-old baby solid foods, I thought I'll do anything to save the time and effort for the food preparation. (see my baby's recipe for my first child and check out this great website for baby first foods).
Let me present to you: the 4-in-1 Baby Food Maker. It steams, blends, reheats, and defrost, all in a nifty jar! And you only need to wash ONE gadget. How's that for saving time and effort? I bought it for $169 at Kiddy Palace and here's my review.
First, cut 300g of pumpkins (with skin removed) into 1 cm cubes.
Then, fill up water into the steamer. Water level indicator with corresponding heating time is indicated clearly at the side. Recommended steaming time for different types of food are listed in the manual. Next, steam the pumpkin for 15 mins. Three gentle beeps would be heard at the end of 15 mins. It may be fine for you, but I find the pumpkins too overcooked. Next time, I'll steam for 10 mins or cut pumpkins into 2 cm cubes instead.
After steaming is done, manually turn the knob back to zero and flip the jar, lock it in place and start blending by pressing the grey round button in the middle of the knob.
Wait for a while for the jar (hot!) to cool down before unlocking it and removing its cover. Pour pumpkin puree into the special containers as shown in picture above (one comes in the package, I bought the other 2 separately). Then, refrigerate or freeze them after they cool down in about 30 mins to an hour. Of course, you can also pour puree into a separate bowl and feed the baby 😋
When it's feeding time, take out one container to reheat/defrost. Fill up water into the steamer. Use the given 'special hook' to place the special container into the jar PS: you must remove the cutting blades from the jar when you reheat/defrost. and turn knob to reheat (at 15/25 min mark depending on the size [small/big] of your container) or defrost (at 30 min mark) setting to start the steamer. Can you see the special container inside the jar?
After steaming, flip the jar, remove its cover and take out the container (hot!) from jar using the 'special hook' again.
Wait for container to cool, remove its cover and use the other side of hook which now doubles as a spatula to scoop out the puree into a serving bowl. But I think it's more hygienic to wash the whole spatula before using it or use another spoon altogether to scoop out food. #OCDmom
Finally, serve it to your darling with love (This is my 5 month plus old Bean Bean and he looks so 'silly-cute' I'm so smittened already 😍)
I exclusively breastfed my baby for 5 months, thereafter, I began to feed him baby cereal, which made him constipated for about 4 days! He just kept going erh..! erh..! (as if trying to defecate) for that few days without any bowel movement. I stopped solid food for a few days, waited for his bowels to be normal while breastfeeding him, and then later began feeding him little servings of fresh mashed bananas and steamed pumpkins as in the above pictures. He loves bananas but somehow was resistant about having another teaspoon of pumpkin.
So, after all the buying, washing, cutting, steaming, blending, storing, reheating and finally cooling the pumpkin puree for his consumption, he ate just ONE teaspoon. The rest end up in the tissue, table, floor, clothes, bib, face, nose, ears, mommy's hands, hair and face (because he keeps blowing out his spit) and wherever else! Thanks bean. But it's a good start, at least.
Don't give up mommy!
And so, the verdict is: this 4-in-one gadget makes baby food making so effortless and way much faster as compared to doing it the traditional way. I only have to fiddle with and wash ONE gadget. Reheating food using steam instead of microwave makes it safer for baby's consumption too. I would have bought this for my first child if I can turn back time. No regrets buying this. It'll be even better if I can reheat or defrost 2 containers at one go, though - since it cannot steam certain foods (small/tiny food e.g. rice) which have to be prepared separately.
Don't give up mommy!
And so, the verdict is: this 4-in-one gadget makes baby food making so effortless and way much faster as compared to doing it the traditional way. I only have to fiddle with and wash ONE gadget. Reheating food using steam instead of microwave makes it safer for baby's consumption too. I would have bought this for my first child if I can turn back time. No regrets buying this. It'll be even better if I can reheat or defrost 2 containers at one go, though - since it cannot steam certain foods (small/tiny food e.g. rice) which have to be prepared separately.
Updates: The other day, I bought 3 medium sweet potatoes, cut all of them into 1-2 cm cubes and tried to cook them all at once but I can't! One thing about this gadget is that it cannot process a whole lot of food at one go. So, what I did was I divided the sweet potatoes into 2 groups and processed (steam, blend, feed one portion, store the rest) for the first day, and then process the other group of sweet potatoes the next day. In this way, baby gets to eat fresh for 2 days and then eats the rest on later days. If I want to feed him the same food for that morning and night, I'll just feed him one portion in the morning and then fridge (not freeze) one fresh portion for that night so that baby can eat immediately after a quick steam.
Note too that if food gets too sticky, as for very starchy vegetables like potatoes, you'll have to add water while blending so that it is of a smooth and pourable consistency.