Cuddles and Crumbs

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Bangus Sisig

Published by Abigail

This month’s Kulinarya theme “Sisig”

is hosted by Jenn of Storm In My Kitchen and Iska of ISKAndals.com.

Sisig is one famous Filipino appetizer which is enjoyed with either an ice cold beer or coke. After a days work my friends and I would share a plate of sizzling sisig and laugh out our daily stress in life.

I can’t remember the last time I made sisig, but whenever I do I always use pork ears & liempo. For this month’s challenge I’m making a healthier version using fish – bangus (milkfish). I prepared 2 kinds of sisig (pork ears & fish) for dinner but the boys preferred the fish version.

You need to cut your bangus butterfly style, season with salt and pepper and fry it to crisp. Remove bones from fish and shred/mince/chop meat. Once that’s complete let’s get on to making Sisig.

Bangus Sisig

1 large Bangus, fried and minced
1 medium Onion, minced
2 tbsp Soy Sauce
4 cloves Garlic, minced
1/3 cup each of Red & Green Bell Pepper (Capiscum), diced
1 tbsp Lemon juice
1/3 cup Mayonnaise
1 tbsp Oil
1 birds eye chili (optional)
Salt & Pepper

Procedure:

Saute garlic and onion till translucent.
Add bell pepper, fish, chilli, and lemon juice.
Turn off heat and add mayonnaise and mix.

Taste and season with salt & pepper according to you taste.

Check out what my fellow Kulinarya members prepared for this month’s challenge

Kulinarya was started by a group of Filipino foodies living in Sydney (Kath, Trisha, and Trissa), who are passionate about the Filipino culture and its colorful cuisine.
Each month we will showcase a new dish along with their family recipes. By sharing these recipes, we hope you find the same passion and love for Filipino Food as we do.
If you’re intrested in joining our Kulinarya Club, please feel free to drop by our blogs and leave a note. We would love to hear from you.

Breastfeeding Week 2012

Published by Abigail

Chloe and I just came home for our first Mama meeting at City Hospital and we also celebrated UAE’s breastfeeding week with all the Mums & Bubs.

Breastfeeding Week 2012 Celebration at The City Hospital

It was nice to see Sameera & some Nurses who was a great help to us during our stay at City Hospital. I will be forever grateful for the care and support (especially for breastfeeding) they gave us during and after our stay.

All Mum’s who managed to exclusively breastfeed their babies till 6 months was awarded a Certificate of Appreciation & The Golden Bow.

I didn’t know that there is an official symbol for breastfeeding which is the Golden Bow, read more about it here.

If you’re wondering whether mothers can breastfeed in public places here in UAE, the answer is YES!

“Islam promotes and protects the right of a baby to breastmilk”

I breastfeed Chloe everywhere (cafe, restaurant, grocery, & mall) with a feeding cover and sometimes just using a burp cloth or shawl. If you do want to feed your baby privately you can do so in baby rooms (but not all malls have one).

Breastfeeding can be hard to some women and a good support from your family or a group like Breastfeeding Q&A UAE on facebook really helps.

Here’s some breastfeeding article in UAE:

Breast feeding: Natures food for thought

Support for breast feeding families

Emergency Pediatric Response Course

Published by Abigail

As parents we try to do our best for our children. Provide them the best care and safe environment. One of our ultimate goal is to keep them healthy and safe at all times.

When I had V my sister Bernadette who is a nurse stayed with us and supervised over V’s nanny whenever I’m in the office. One of the things that she did was teach V’s nanny basic things on what to do in an emergency, I myself really didn’t bother learning any well since my sister was with me at all times. We moved to Dubai no more Tita B to help me out with V, it was just me, Vierte and Daddy C.

Being a mum (a parent) you have a lot of what if’s…What if my newborn fall from the bed? What if my baby chokes? What if my kid drowns? What if my child stops breathing?

In case of emergency, are you ready?

My answer: No, I’m not ready.

One sad incident happened in one of the emirates where 2 nannies died while trying to save a toddler from drowning and his mom was trying her best to revive the boy by doing a CPR (she copied what she saw on TV). Read more about it here.

Reading news of children falling from the balcony, injured because of car accidents, or in the news above drowning. If I am in any of the situation I wouldn’t know how to respond.

After reading this post from Ginger&Scotch I was once again reminded how important it is to know how to respond on emergencies. I’ve been trying to organize a private class with some friends but sadly we still lack participants. Hopefully I get to organize one before the year ends.

Last week I received an email from Layla of the Back to Basics team informing me that I was one of the winners of their facebook competition which entitles me a place on Parents Emergency Pediatric Response Course (EPR).

I won after answering this question “following a UAE University study in Al Ain, what percentage of children in the UAE were identified as travelling unrestrained (not in car seat/not wearing seatbelt) when they travel?” answer is 98%

Our lovely instructor Rim started off by asking if we knew Dubai’s emergency number, which by the way is 999. The challenge on the receiving end of your 999 call is when the caller panics and fails to properly describe the situation and give proper directions.

She did a fantastic job explaining topics on preparing home for an emergency, respond to unconscious infant/child, recovery of infant/child, and responding to choking & drowning; patiently assisted us during our hands-on training on rescue breathing, CPR for infant and child, and recovery position, all done using a demo baby & adult (half body) doll.

Rim ended the course by reminding us to prepare an Important Documents folder/bag (I already have this place near our main door with extra cash) and an In case of emergency card with contains information on what numbers to call, your address with landmarks (especially important if you have visitors or babysitter).

After our 3-hours course I am empowered with the knowledge on how to respond during emergency. Looking forward to take the next course which is First aid for infants & children.

Back to Basics offer courses catered to home help as well and available in 5 different languages. The team is also available for private classes at the comforts of your chosen place.

Once again my question to you is – In case of emergency, are you prepared?

***

Please visit Back to Basics website for information on courses available as well as schedule and pricing, you can also like their facebook page here.

Paksiw na Isda

Published by Abigail

Last week I received the award for drama queen, was feeling really sad, alone, tired, and didn’t want to talk to anyone. My poor husband was left guessing what was wrong, he would find me crying along with our baby.

Really missed my siblings, mom, and friends back home. I miss being in the office and earning but my heart breaks at the thought of leaving my kids with a nanny while I go back to work.

V saw me crying myself to sleep and my husband suggested that he accompany V till the bus came so I can get more sleep. They both kiss us bye and V whispered “Don’t be sad na Mama. Let’s eat fish later okay.”

He greeted me at the bus stop with a kiss “I’m home mama. You’re happy now?”

We talked about school and what kept me busy that morning. V showered me with hugs & kisses. Re-assured me that everything will be ok.

We shared our favorite fish dish – Paksiw na Isda. Eating using our hands we enjoyed each bite with steamed rice.

That’s all I needed. Yes I was happy.

Paksiw na Tilapia

2 pieces large Tilapia, cleaned and scales remove
1/2 cup Vinegar
thumb-size Ginger, sliced
1 medium Onion, quartered
5 cloves Garlic, crushed and skin removed
3 Eggplant, sliced
5 Okra
2 tbsp Fish Sauce
1 tbsp Oil
1/4 cup Water
Salt & Pepper to taste

Procedure:

Arrange fish in pan. Add vinegar, fish sauce, oil and water.
Top with Ginger, Garlic, Onion, Eggplant, and Okra.

Bring to boil and simmer over low heat until fish is cooked.

Eat using your hands and enjoy with steamed rice.

Chloe Isabelle – 4 months old

Published by Abigail

Oh October what a busy month that I almost forgot to post that our Chloe turned 4 months old. Time is flying fast but each day we are full of joy. Chloe is such a happy baby that just lights up a gloomy day! His Kuya V loves to cheer her whenever she tries to roll to her tummy and back. Although she would sometimes shower her brother with vomit kisses he just adores and love her to bits.

We have been attending a baby massage class and she just loves every stroke. It’s also our first mom-baby group activity, there’s just some joy when you are around babies and listening to stories of other Mum assures one that we are doing the best thing we can for our babies.

At four months old:

Weighs 6.2 kgs and is 63.5 cm long
Received her 2nd dose of DTap, PCV, and Rotavirus vaccines
Manages to sleep on her own (I put her down on the crib half awake).
Sleeps on her back or tummy and no more swaddling
Laughs! (Just gives so much joy to her brother)
Responds with coo’s and giggles when we talk to her.
Rolls to tummy
Reaches for toys

We have been out on most weekends attending birthday parties and she’s such a people person giving each who greets her a smile (except when it’s her sleeping time).

Thank your for giving us so much joy my love!

Pwera Usog

Published by Abigail

Usog is a similar concept to a evil eye hex which usually affects a child who is greeted/praised by a visitor or stranger. According to our elders once affected by usog the baby/child gets sick or would just become restless and would cry for hours.

To prevent this visitors are requested to (“lawayan ang bata” ) put his saliva in a finger and rub this on either the baby’s tummy, forehead or feet and say “pwera usog” before leaving. I just find it utterly disgusting to mark a baby with saliva! Whenever someone did this though I would secretly (didn’t want to offend the elders) wipe the area with antiseptic wipes.

Another practice is to let the newborn where a red bracelet (some a mix of red & black) called corales (beads are made from corals). The beads is believed to catch/block away the usog and would draw the visitors attention to the bracelet first before the baby.

When Auntie Bing found out that baby #2 is a girl she suggested to let the baby wear a corales bracelet, I requested a gold corales but they didn’t find any to their liking (they were looking for a design which was similar to what I wore when I was a baby). Her Lola Bing (grandma) bought her 3 bracelets and yes she wears them everyday.

I defied a lot of pamahiin (traditions) when V was a baby. He didn’t wear any corales and to the horror of my MIL didn’t even put aceite de manzanilla (believe to prevent baby from getting stomach ache) before and after bath time. The only thing I did though was to not let V out of the house (except for doctor visit) till he was baptized.

And when all of the option above fail they say that boiling the clothes of the baby worn on the last place you came from will cure the restlessness and crying. Coincidence or not but I did this 1 time for V – When we reached my Aunts place after attending a New Year celebration on my husbands side my poor baby who was sleeping on the way home was suddenly crying (he was 3 months old). I tried everything from feeding to bathing him but he was still restless and already vomiting from crying and finally after 30 minutes my Aunt mentioned “baka na-usog ang bata” so she ask C to call his mom and ask for help. My MIL suggested we boil V’s clothes worn on the party when the water started boiling with his clothes V stopped crying and slept peacefully.

Do I believe in any of them? Well I can’t say that I don’t; let’s just say that there is no harm in following traditions as long as it doesn’t hurt the child or would ask me to do something really crazy/disgusting.

*Sahar from our baby massage class told me that I need to cleanse the beads daily by soaking them in salt and water mixture.

What are the practices that your family/elders do especially with a new baby?

Drowning in dirty clothes

Published by Abigail

We are a family of four and I have to our dirty clothes everyday and I still can’t keep up.

I was almost in tears when my ever reliable 4 year old washing machine gave me 7 blinks (telling me that something is wrong), the handy mommy in me walk to my husband’s tools took the long nose pliers and cleaned the filter. Turned it on and it gave me a loud chug. My usual fix didn’t do the fixing!

Patiently I waited for the service guys to come only to deliver the sad news that they have to take my friend back to the warehouse and replace the motor.

I feel so helpless my friend is leaving me (for a while) I don’t really know how to wash clothes by hand and don’t have the time to do so with a demanding baby in my arms. Since we are celebrating the Eid holidays I have to wait for 6 days till she comes back home.

I’m drowning in dirty clothes and stinky cloth diapers!

*by the way our car also got sick and needs to see the mechanic and stay with them for 6 days as well!

I guess we are stuck at home this Eid drowning in dirty clothes.