Charlotte's Meal (18 months old)

I've been meaning to document Charlotte's food journey but I'm not a very adventurous mom myself wtf. As in, there are still many things that I'm reluctant to let Charlotte eat. For examples, cakes or biscuits with cream, fast food, butter and sugar bun cause there's visible sugar on the bun wtf. Don't get me wrong, I've already given up the "No Salt and Sugar till 3 Years Old" rule. I've introduced desserts like cheese tart, cheesecake, chocolate raisin toast and etc. But still not feeling comfortable for her to eat certain food containing visible sugar and cream. I've also let her try various savory food, as long as they're not too salty and oily.

Since Charlotte is not a fan of porridge, she's been eating rice since she turned One. I used to feed her rice with soup. Now that she has got more teeth and is better at handling chunky food, I try to offer her variety of dishes, though I might still need to cut some using a food scissor.

The things that I cook are not fancy at all because, really, ain't nobody got time for that. But they're always consist of carbohydrates (rice/ noodles), fibre (vegetables) and protein (meat/ egg). The pictures you're about to see are also not Pinterest or Instagram ready as my main focus was to get them (the food) all down to her tum tum. Plus, she doesn't know how to judge based on how the food look. Yet. But I hope it gives you some idea of what to feed your toddler. Of course there're plenty of other mummies out there who are doing/ cooking better than me. But the main objective of this post is to tell any full-time working mom who is as busy as me, that it's ok to feed your toddler the same food you're eating, as long as it's a balanced diet. And it's also ok even if you're feeding them canned food. Just try not to do it too often, though.

Below are some of the food I've cooked recently for our little family.

1. Stir-fried tomato and scrambled eggs + Stir-fried Broccoli.

The left one is for mama and the right one is for Charlotte. As you can see, I've already cut her dishes into smaller chunks. From now onward, you will see Charlotte's meal in the IKEA KALAS Bowl.

2. Fried Egg with Toufu + Stir-fried Romaine Lettuce

3. Steamed Egg with Taufu and Minced Pork + Stir-fried Broccoli

4. Braised Pork and Potatoes with Fermented Beans + Stir-fried romaine lettuce

5. Four C's Soup (Chayote, Carrot, Corn and Chicken hahahaha)

6. Steamed Luncheon Meat + Stir-fried Romaine Lettuce. I sometimes fry the luncheon meat as well but when I'm lazy, just steam saje la.

7. Fried Rice with Stir-fried Romaine Lettuce. I cook the stir-fried Romaine Lettuce separately because I wanted the gravy from the stir-fried Romaine Lettuce to soften the fried rice. But if I do not have enough time, plain fried rice it is. Charlotte will still be able to eat, just might take a little longer time to swallow.

8. Stir-fried Romaine Lettuce + Fried Egg with Onions

9. Stir-fried Meehun with egg and vege.

10. Garlic Bread with Cheese. I prepare this for her as breakfast.
This is mama's portion, though, so don't worry, I didn't stuff her hahahaha.

Sometimes when I get caught up with work and am not able to cook, we'd eat out.

At a mixed rice stall. We'd usually share food. I'm so glad that we can finally share food, actually. I can now go back to eating half a bowl of rice haha.

From the list above, you could probably tell that I (a) use almost the same vege (romaine lettuce) all the time and (b) use a lot of eggs lol. I like to use romaine lettuce because it's the easiest vege to handle. Just rinse with water and it's ready to be cooked. I do give her other kind of vege, too, such as spinach, zucchini, cabbage and radish. I like to use eggs because it's the cheapest protein, and also my favourite lol.

And if you think that Charlotte eats a lot from the portion you see shown in the picture, yes, she does. But I feel alright with that because I never let her munch on snacks as I think snacks are empty calories and unhealthy. She eats 3 proper meals a day and she's active, so that's really fine with me. And if you've seen video of Foodie Xiao Man, then you'd know that the portion of Charlotte's food is just normal. Besides, sometimes she might not even finishes her food when she's full. So ya, as a mother, I know I'm giving her enough food. I also know when to stop her from eating too much, which I don't really need to do, actually, cause she would just push it away when she has had enough.

The dishes above are actually really easy to cook and can be prepared within 30 minutes (Thanks to the husband who would usually help me cook the rice when he's taking a break from work and rest at home. Saves me half of the cooking time). I don't really like to do complicated, time consuming dishes cause most the time, there's only both of us at home. If you're wondering what does Charlotte do when I'm cooking...

There. She just sits right outside of the kitchen waiting for me.

Here she's talking to herself haha.

Sometimes she stands. And whine haha. "Mama, faster!"

And sometimes, she grabs a new toy (in this case it's my MIL's pot) and play by herself.

Honestly, I feel guilty most of the time. But mama's gotta do what mama's gotta do to keep both of us well-fed.

If you're a full-time working mom like me, and you need to take care of your little one yourself, I want to let you know that you're not alone. And it's possible to care for your little one with minimal effort (in cooking). Just know that you're already trying your best.