Friday, 5 November 2010

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Vegetable Soup/Grønsager Suppe/蔬菜汤[shū cài tāng]


For babies from 8 months.

This is very important to introduce to baby soon after solids are established (when you don't have to worry about solids anymore). It will save you a lot of headaches when you need to nurse a sick baby :-)

Ingredients:
- 1 packet of frozen vegetables with carrots, leeks, parsnip
- 1 bunch of parsley
(If you cannot find such a frozen package from where you live, you will need:
- 1 large carrot (scrubbed and cut into ½ inch slices)
- 2 large celery stalks (cut into ½ inch slices)
- 1 medium onion (cut into large pieces)
- 10 sprigs fresh parsley (left whole)
- 8 cups of water)

Directions:
1. Place vegetables in a large pot filled with cold water, cover and bring to boil. It's important to cover the vegetables with water before heating, so that the nutrients from the vegetables will go into the water.

2. When broth boils, reduce heat to low and continue cooking, covered, for 45 minutes to 1 hour. It's important to keep the pot covered during this time so the broth won't evaporate.

3. Serve to baby and freeze the remainder to use as vegetable stock for your cooking or for baby to drink.

Tips:
1. You can also stire in 1 egg or 1 egg yolk. Egg yolk is very nutritious.

2. You can also add in chicken. Chicken is also very nutritious. The nutrients from the chicken will go into the soup. Baby doesn't have to eat the chicken if he/she doesn't want to.

Storage:Freeze the remainder in ice cbue tray. Can freeze up to 8 weeks.

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Additional Information:
I realise that it is very important for me to train Joshua to like to drink clear watery soup. This is especially so when he is sick and refuse to eat solid food.

This realisation came also while I was hospitalised recently in the Danish hospital. An old lady was in the same ward as me. She was very weak, and has been in the hospital for months. The only problem is that she could not eat, since she is recovering from stomach problem. However, the only food the hospital serves is Danish rye bread and thick European soup. I see her everyday trying hard to eat the food, but really could not. She had to have food drip into her veins.

When I recovered, I brought her baby puree food, but she could not eat as well. Then one day Joshua fell sick, and Joshua too refused to eat even puree. I think God has answered my prayer to this question. I realise that when one is sick, even semi-solid food such as puree can be hard to stomach.

Joshua loves clear soup (probably due to his Chinese genes!) and it was the only food he is willing to "eat" when he was ill recently. He only wanted milk, but milk is not sufficient to provide the nutrients he required. Thank God he is also taking his nutrients from this vegetable soup.

For busy working mothers, it is very easy to prepare with frozen vegetables.

I once thought that only Chinese drink clear soup, as the Danes don't. They only use it as vegetable stock. However, I read an American book called "What to expect in the first year" given by my friend, Grace. It teaches the readers how to make chicken soup to nurse babies back to health after an illness. So it is not just some traditional Chinese beliefs that clear soup is good, the Americans believe it too!

I hope I will be able to go back to the hospital and bring some clear watery soup to my old ward mate. However, I am worried if she would not like it. Drinking clear soup is an acquired taste, mainly by the Chinese, and I am glad that Joshua has acquired this taste. This means that in his old age, he will have the good old vegetable soup to fall back on. Trust mommy's forward planning way into the future in taste-bud shaping!

You can be sure that my up-and-coming assignment is to train the Danish daddy to drink clear soup!

References:
- What To Expect The Frist Year by Eisenberg, Murkoff and Tathaway

- http://whfoods.org/genpage.php?tname=george&dbid=240#answer

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