Creamy Avocado!

Last weekend was a very hectic one because we spent the whole Saturday at friend's aqiqah and then Sunday is spring cleaning day. With the gloomy skies and drizzles, not helping with my laundry. The house is really messy with lotsa clothes hanging here and there :(

By the way, I managed to puree avocados for Zahra! Bought the Philips chopper specifically for Zahra's food (I think she has more gadgets than me!) but my mom said it looks like I want it more than Zahra need it. Hahaha I guess it's true. I was pretty excited like kids got candy.

Pic courtesy from here.

Zahra's new gadget! Mak dia yang lebih2 ok :D

Avocados are known for its creamy texture and full of good fats for baby's brain and physical development. In fact, studies recommend to start solid with avocados instead of rice cereal! Anyway my father said there is another local food that resemblance avocados very much but he forgot the name. It's round and have the same creamy texture, used to find in the wild, bear on big tree. If you know the name, tell me k?

Two big fat dark green avocados. It was in lighter green when I bought but turn into this dark emerald green when it's fully ripe, about a week after. It's perfect for baby food when it's firm but yield a bit when you push it gently.

Slice into two and you'll see a beautiful green on the outer side turning into buttery yellow towards the pit.

How to take out the seed. Hit it with sharp knife, then wiggle a bit and voila! I learned this trick from youtube :P

Scoop out everything.

And mash! It's so creamy that you can mash it with a fork! I did with the blender for less than a minute and get this soft consistency and texture.

I store it in babycubes and freeze it. Two big avocados give me about 8 x 1oz which can last Zahra for a week. The one that I bought is in 2oz size. Very convenient and can save a lot of space in your freezer. As for today, I just took out one cube and babysitter will thaw it in warm water before use.

Another point why avocados is best as your baby's first solid because you don't have to cook it! :D


I plan to let Zahra try all the food that she can eat and put this notice at the fridge so that I'll remember.

Thinking of giving her sweet potato or carrots for next week..hmmmm, we'll see how.

Mistress of the Game

If you've been following my blog, you'll know that I'm a huge fan of Sidney Sheldon. I like the way he builds the characters and draw the suspense. It is simple, easy for me to digest and not too flowy. I have ALL his books and the last one is Are You Afraid of the Dark?. Yes, last because he died in 2007. I was quite disturbed when I know he's dead because I've run out his book to read.

Anyway just to recap my love affair with him, I was introduced to SS by my roommates in 1995, titled The Best Laid Plan. Since that, I am hooked with his books. My ultimate favorites will be Tell Me Your Dreams and Master of the Game. I re-read them like million of time and never get tired of it.

Ever since he dies, I rarely browse for books anymore, until I found Sophie Kinsella. But that one is on different genre. To date I still can't find another thriller writer that really suit to my liking.

I was waiting for MrComot at Menara Telekom when I saw MPH opened their space at ground floor and is giving 20% off. So I casually browse the books and almost JUMP when I saw this book!

Mistress of the Game by Tilly Bagshawe

I was confused at first because the cover is sooooo SS and so the title, obviously stating his name, but he's dead! How come?! I checked thoroughly then I understand, it is so famous that Tilly Bagshawe wrote a sequel for Master of the Game.

I never read Tilly and in fact never heard of her. I was contemplating to buy it because I'm afraid it will go to waste. But after hesitating like half an hour, I said, why not? After all it is related to SS! And I was really itchy to know what happen after Eve's face is ruined for good. Is she still up for the game?

I've read it for few pages, hardly can find time now with Zahra in hands, but so far so good. The way she writes more or less like SS (but still can note the difference) make me wonder if her other books also like this.


For Sidney Sheldon's fan, lets grab this book and immerse ourselves with a piece of him ;)

Cage Me Yes, Not?

I seriously think we need a play yard. You know, something like cage for kids. Ha ha ha. Ok, I laugh at myself because before this I think it is ridiculous for parents to 'cage' their kids. NOW I KNOW! I seriously need to KURUNG BUDAK KECIK ITU.

She moves so fast nowadays even though she can't crawl yet. All she does is roll-turn-roll-turn-roll-turn and BAM! suddenly I see her no where and causing me this heart attack where is she, and I found her almost under the coffee table.

I was at the kitchen and put her in the hall like usual (tak berani letak atas katil dah) where I can see her and within seconds she's out of my sight - trying to 'eat' this table. Like really eat. She tried to hold the table with her both hands and nganga-nganga wanted to eat it.

And gives mommy this cheeky smile when I said "Hah! Ya Allah..apsal sampai bawah meja. Buat apa nak makan meja!"

MrComot and I were debating are we really in need of those fancy play yard, because that thing is freaking expensive! To me lah. It costs about 500 averagely. The good one with mesh and mat is about 1K!! Talk about being high-maintenance-kid nowadays. We won't really need it if we can take turn taking care of her but both of us are really busy especially in the morning. I can't even leave her for more than 3 seconds now or she will do macam-macam stunt. Oh ya, she can slide already! But at gear 6 = move backwards = gostan ;D

Do we really need it by the way? I don't like the idea of caging your child but MrComot said it can give us a peace of mind when we can't attend her, like doing our house chores. Ohhh don't give me the idea to wear Zahra because she's too heavy for me.

Anyway I did some research and found that Lindam is about 500, Haenim is 400, superyard is 500 and vee bee is 1k. All have their own pros and cons and of course la yang paling mahal paling best kan. But err..er...1k is too lavish to me. So still looking for other options.

How about you mommies? Any brands/types that you recommend? Or how do you tackle this situation? Is play yard really not necessary?

My First Solid Food

How fast time flies, Zahra Elena is already six months! Happy half a year old baby! And I managed to exclusively BF her for 6 months and going strong, alhamdulillah (campur sikit masa first week tak kira yer..haha nak jugak).

Anyway, I think she's ready for solid so dengan bersemangatnya I made her very first solid food last Saturday!

We still didn't buy the food processor but for porridge, normal blender will do.

The thick carbo liquid. Abaikan avocado as the backdrop. I plan to pureed it for next week's menu ;)

And look at her face!

"Look Ma! I'm big enough that I can eat real food now"

Sangat awkward and concious haha.

She took it well, knows how to swallow and sip from the spoon. Only that I can see that she finds it weird. Maybe the texture is a bit starchy and jelly-ish.

But after a while she regurgitates a bit so I stop after 3 spoons.

The next day, I wasn't very excited with my home-made porridge anymore because it's too hassle for me to handle (read: malas) so I just whipped out instant rice cereal from Heinz mixed with breastmilk, and Zahra likes it more than my porridge! Grrrrrrrrr!

Forgot to snap the box, already throw in dustbin. Pic courtesy from wisemint.

This cereal is the closest to most natural ingredient that I can find. It contains rice, vegetable oil (rosemary for antioxidant) and irons. I packed some for babysitter, so this week she's on this cereal.

I also feed her some mashed avocado for snack (at 9PM! Haha simply because I can't wait for her to eat the avocado. Sorry baby, tonite no more ok) .

Will try to do some home-made food this weekend!

Stand By Me

Zahra Elena just discovered that she has legs and can stand about a month ago, that she keep on asking me to lift her up. Asking here is by being cranky when I put her down and whenever I lift her up on her feet, she will make a very happy face - giggles sampai terjelir-jelir! Oh my...I really love her expression, sampai nak nanges! Haha. I find it funny at the same time. Banyak akal lah you budak!

Anyway her expression will be bolder if we clap our hands, it's like she knows we are praising her. My sister managed to video-d her expression and just look at her face!

Taken last 3 weekends, when we are ready to go to my friend's wedding ceremony.

But one thing about her, whenever she sees a camera or videocam, she will turn stiff ok and pause like nothing happen. Eeeiii pretender!


Mommy loves you baby!