I’m part of a Facebook group in which mothers from Malaysia and Singapore post questions or share experiences, though I’m mostly a lurker who enjoys the breadth of responses on it. Often, the posts are related to food, and the sorts of things that some mums do for their children astound me. These range from a painstaking process of soaking vegetables in some sort of rinse, and then hot water, and then lukewarm water (it made my head spin so much I can’t even remember the order now), to providing salt- and sugar-free homecooked food to their little ones since the time they started solids.
Needless to say, while I’m admiring, even in awe of these domestic goddesses or women devoted to the profession of motherhood, I recognise my own limitations and don’t aspire to the same ambitions. Partly this is because I work, but mostly — and this probably sounds incredibly selfish to the parents who are tireless in their pursuit of ultimate health and well-being for their kids — it’s because I really cannot be bothered.
At the same time, I can’t help but wish I could be that über parent. Ideally, all of Alex’s food would be well-balanced and free of preservatives and artificial additives. Luckily for us, though, the pre-school that Alex goes to serves ‘organic’, ‘gluten-free’ meals with ‘super foods’ (the more items in quotation marks, the more reassured I feel), which I check off as a couple of healthy offerings a day at least. I also, in the end, cook one or two meals a week, rotating and freezing the same dishes to minimise the cooking I have to do.
For what it’s worth, here are my shortcuts:
Meatballs
I get some minced pork or beef, or both, and mash it up with diced ginger, garlic, onions, carrots, broccoli, cabbage, an egg and then add in sesame oil, soy sauce, oyster sauce, pepper. Then I ball them up and bung them in the oven for about 20-25 minutes. Sometimes they still look pinkish when they’re done, which has lead me in the past to overcook them. But they’re pretty much done at 20 minutes.
Fresh out of the oven, I serve it to Alex with white rice and either soy sauce or ketchup to dip in.
I freeze the leftover meatballs (Alex’s dad doesn’t really get to eat very many since my sole purpose of cooking is to feed Alex) and then use them, one by one, to mash down and mix into various sauces with various carbohydrates: bolognese with pasta, stir-fried noodles, toasty sandwich with cheese, fried rice. And it’s easy enough to chop up some extra vegetables to throw into the mix to give it a bit more variety. Frozen meatballs have revolutionised my life.
ABC Soup
I think most Malaysian Chinese mothers make some version of soup for their kids, especially toddlers. Mine involves carrots, radish and pork, along with wolf berries and dried scallops. I boil it for hours and then serve it to Alex with rice. Then I freeze it in jars and use them to make the stock for noodle soups. On the way I home as I mentally make the decision to unfreeze one of these jars for this purpose I also consider the possibility of adding vegetables and little slivers of meat into the soup.
Vegetable Fritters/Pancakes
This was my first way of making Alex eat vegetables. I blanch some carrots, broccoli and corn in hot water, blend them into little bits and then mix them with flour and egg before scooping spoon-sized to flatten and fry in the pan. More flour makes it more like a pancake; less flour and more oil makes it a fritter. Either way it’s a bit on the oily side, but works a treat.
Roast Chicken Legs
Elsewhere on this site is a more complete recipe, but I boil potatoes and carrots, put them on a tray with corn, along with garlic cloves spread liberally along the bottom, and season the chicken legs under the skin with a marinade of olive oil, Italian herbs, honey, lime juice, salt and pepper. I bake it covered in aluminium foil in high heat for about 40 minutes, and then remove the foil and turn the heat down and cook it for about 40 more. Roast chicken with gravy and potatoes is a winner in our house, every time.
French Toast
Yes, this counts as dinner in my household. As does waffles and crepes, with Nutella and bananas, jam or butter. I tell myself it has eggs and milk to make myself feel better.
The above list isn’t the best of meals that one could serve to one’s toddler, but it’s also far from the worst, and that middle ground is probably where a lot of us fall under; doing the best we can in our circumstances without driving ourselves crazy with anxiety, exhaustion and guilt. Here’s to middling meal mums!
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Uma is a Malaysian working mum with a French husband and a toddler named Alex living in their fourth country together.
Image Credit: Flickr user Donnie Ray Jones
