Baon And Sharing

assembled her baon kit - tuna sandwich and a few pieces of grapes

Kid proudly munched on a piece of lettuce leaf this morning. I didn't notice so she had to call my attention and point it out to me. Healthy ako mommy, kinain ko yung dahon!

Well, it wasn't easy convincing her to try it. I can only count with my 5 fingers those very few instances where Maia gave in to my request for her to share a plate of greens with me. She still remains a picky eater to this day. And she seems to be quite proud at being that judging from how she would always refuse the healthy things I'd offer to her. But some days, she still manages to let us feel that we matter to her by indulging our requests for her to eat the food on her plate.

This morning I offered her that leaf. I tried several times to trick her to eating it but she was adamant. So I just gave up and resolved to just try again some other day. But when I was assembling tuna sandwiches for our baon today, she probably got piqued at my sudden change of mood so being the attention-seeker that she is she just went ahead and munched on a leaf thinking probably that I'll shower her with praises after. But I missed that moment. Lucky me, it didn't seem to bother her at all. What mattered was she finished the leaf. 

After we've high-fived that moment, she went to surprise me even more. She asked that I pack her a sandwich to bring to school as well. "Please slice it into 4 parts, Mommy. I am going to share my sandwich with N and A at lunch later!" Did I hear that right? My normally self-centered kid finally wanting to share something with someone? (cue triumphant cheers in the background). 

Some 4 years ago, my mornings have changed from good to better. But there are days in between where they happen to be one of the BEST! Mornings like today makes my painfully early wake up calls all worth it. And it all started with just a piece of lettuce.

Maia's Fave: Malunggay powder and Yakult

If you're thinking that your toddler is the pickiest eater there is on this side of the planet and is close to pulling your hair in frustration, well fret no more because I'm telling you I once thought the same and yes, it's highly possible that it will come to pass. My guess is most parents really go through that stressful phase of having to deal with picky eaters. Ours was a really long  period of a tug-of-war at the dinner table and we still would encounter it from time to time but I'd like to believe we are already over that phase. Graduate na kami (I REALLY, REALLY HOPE we won't get jinxed with me saying this in print)

One thing though that sort of gave me the assurance during our picky eating phase was this wonderful combo of Yakult and Malunggay capsule that Maia loved to drink. We get our malunggay capsule supply from Mercury Drug Store for about P7-P8 per capsule. Usually we buy prolacta or natalac whichever is available (yes I'm talking of the same capsule that you take to increase your breastmilk supply). Sometimes, when we go to trade fairs we'd also get a month or two's supply because the capsules are usually cheaper by P2-P3 here. I can't remember the brands that we've already tried from the trade fairs but generally they're all BFAD approved so they're safe. 

Maia has since been quite voracious during mealtimes (especially when there's fried chicken and brocolli) so she rarely drinks this concoction anymore. But I could say that the malunggay capsule was a better alternative than those commercialized vitamins. This combo was by the way also approved by our pediatrician so I was quite confident to give it to Maia.

p.s. Just to give you a rough idea of the nutrients that can be derived from a tbsp of dried malunggay (moringa) leaves, here's what I saw in Wikipedia:

One tablespoon of leaf powder provide 14% of the protein, 40% of the calcium, 23% of the iron and most of the vitamin A needs of a child aged one to three.

1 capsule = 1 bottle of yakult or a small tetra pack of juice. I just break off the cap and pour the entire powder contents into the bottle. Shake shake and voila! A healthy concoction for your little picky eater.

Maia's Fave: Stir-fried broccoli and carrots with diced chicken

I usually post my recipes in my other blog (our family blog) but I thought it would be a nice idea as well for me to share with you some of Maia's favorites. I'll start with sharing her favorite foods since I'm still overwhelming with pride seeing her empty her plates during mealtime this past weekend.

We had this for lunch yesterday and this was a special dish I especially cooked for Maia. She's been a broccoli monster since she got introduced to this vegetable when she was just less than a year old (I think, I couldn't really remember now). Maia could still be picky at times but what we usually do to curve that is we refrain from giving her snacks especially if she's had a full meal during breakfast and lunch to save her appetite for dinner. This works most of the time, but I really couldn't say right now if it's THE long term solution for us.

Anyways, I've tried making this with left over litson manok, fish fillet and shrimps (just substitute the chicken with whatever meat or seafood you have). It's a really flexible dish and you can add in your kid's other fave vegetables (as long as it won't alter the taste so much - i.e. sayote, cabbage, cauliflower)

Prep time: 15 mins (mostly chopping duties)
Cooking time: 15-25 mins 


What I used for this recipe:

• 2 pcs of breast fillet, diced/cut into bite size pieces
• 1 cup of broccoli florets 
• 1 medium carrot, cut into 1/4 inch strips
• 1 pc small white onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tsp oil (you can use whatever you have but of course olive oil would be the healthiest), I used coconut oil for this one because I wanted to stir-fry the chicken so I needed something that has a higher smoking point 
• 1 tsp cornstarch, diluted into 1/2 cup of water (this is optional. you can use plain water  if you don't have cornstarch)
• 1/4 teaspoon, light soy sauce
• salt and pepper to taste
• a few drops of sesame oil (for the chinese taste hehe)
• chopped leeks (this is optional because we had to pick them out of Maia's plate anyways), for garnish

How I did it:

1. Blanched the broccoli florets and carrot strips in boiling water for about a minute, drained and set aside

2. Sauteed garlic and onion. I usually let the onion sweat (because I find my dish a lot more tasteful when I do)

3. Add in the diced chicken. Stir-fry till chicken turns whitish (I like it when the chicken gets a little brown of the side, it gives me assurance that it's really cooked). Season at this point with light soy sauce, salt and pepper (I usually season my meat and not the veggies)

4. Add in the veggies, stir-fry for 2 mins. 

5. Add in the cornstarch slurry. Then stir till sauce thickens. Simmer for 2 mins.

6. Serve with hot, steamed rice. Enjoy!!!!

This recipe was able to feed 4 hungry stomachs at lunchtime. We were able to set aside a small bowl for the little miss's dinner and we were rewarded with 2 clean plates on both meals. Yay. We were happy parents!

BEFORE AND AFTER (well actually on the left was her lunch plate but I wasn't able to take a photo of the plate after. Right plate was from dinner and it was just a repeat of the lunch plate so I figured this would do *lol. That was more than a cup of red rice, mind you!

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