Calling all Expectant Mums & Breastfeeding Families
BreastFeeding Q&A UAE Group will hold the next meet-up this February 9 (1:00 pm – 3:00pm)
at Inspire All Childrens Nursery.
A great opportunity for parents to discuss advantages & difficulties on breastfeeding, weaning and to just have fun  with other families.
More details on the event here.
My husband C is not fond of lamb meat the strong taste (& lingering taste) turns him off, I have to do extra measures like marinating it in turmeric rinse then cover it with turmeric again and to some extent discarding the first juice extracted when boiling/frying. I however absolutely enjoy eating lamb dish.
I’ve been planning to prepare a tagine dish for us but I want to cook one in an actual tagine, I bought one on sale at Home Centre.
I got this Moroccan Lamb Tagine  from foodnetwork.com site, recipe by Emeril Lagasse – click here.
 The thick gravy was so yummy that I ate leftover sauce the next day for lunch! I made another batch of this using beef shanks and it was still yummy but I still prefer using lamb.
We ate this Lamb Tagine with steamed rice and mix green salad, it was divine! I did made some minor changes from the original recipe doubled the amount of onions, add ginger (I love eating ginger), more broth and the next time I’m making this yummy dish I might add some veggies.
Recipe here from Emeri Lagasse
Ingredients:
1 kg Lamb Chops
1 tsp ground Turmeric
1 tsp ground Ginger
1 tsp Salt
3 tbsp Oil
2 cups Onion, chopped
4 Garlic cloves, minced
1 thumb size Ginger, peeled & sliced
2 cups Beef broth
a handful of Cilantro
1 cup dried Apricots
1/2 cup golden Raisins
2 tbsp Honey
1/2 tsp ground Cinnamon
1 tsp ground Pepper
*1 tbsp ground Turmeric (to wash lamb meat)
Procedure:
Rub lamb meat with 1 tbsp of ground turmeric let sit for 30 minutes then rinse with water, dry each meat with paper towels.
Mix turmeric, ground ginger and salt. Rub mixture to your lamb pieces, set aside while you heat your tagine.
Heat tagine on high, add oil and fry each meat till brown. Remove cooked meat and set aside. Repeat with the remaining lamb.
Saute 1 cup of chopped onions till transparent then add seared lamb making sure to stir in the brown bits that settled in the bottom. Add minced garlic and sliced ginger, simmer for 1 minute. Add 2 cups of beef broth and a handful of cilantro on the side bring to boil, reduce heat to medium low. Cover and cook for 2 hours till meat is tender to your liking.
Remove enough liquid from the meat to soak dried apricots and golden raisins let sit for 2 minutes.
After 2 hours remove cilantro bunch (discard) and meat from the pan, set aside. Simmer remaining liquid then add 1 cup onions, apricots, golden raisins, honey, cinnamon, salt and pepper. Boil liquid till slightly thickened then add back lamb meat cook for another 2 minutes.
Garnish with chopped cilantro. Enjoy!
Visit the original recipe here if you want to pair it with vegetable couscous and yogurt lemon dip.
Ice Age Live Musical – Burjuman
Last Friday we surprised V with Ice Age Live Musical Meet & Greet at Burjuman Centre.
Ice Age Musical was about 45 minutes long and right after kids get to meet and have a photo taken with the characters.
Thank you Burjuman for all fun free shows for our kids. Looking forward to the next one.
As a mom you only want the best for your children, looking for the best brand to use that will work for you and the baby is a priority. It has always been a hit and miss when it comes to looking for that perfect disposable diaper that is worth every penny and makes your baby’s bum happy.
I was given the opportunity to try out the leading diaper brand in Japan – Merries Diapers.
I am using cloth diaper for daytime and disposable for night, and although we are happy with the current brand that we use I am much happier after a week of trying out this magic Merries Diaper!
Let me list why:
1) Absorbent – LittleMiss C’s bum feel dry even after using the diaper for almost 9 hours.
2) No stinky smell even if it is full pee.
3) Soft that it’s inside feels like my cloth diapers.
4) Holds its shape. Have you notice that when a diaper is full it’s sagging when the baby stands up. Well Merries doesn’t sag at all that it still looks pretty snug even when full.
5) No leakage. Even if it’s full of pee plus a bomb of poo the diaper didn’t leak at all.
6) Merries has a wetness indicator that tells us parents when it’s time for a nappy change.
7) LittleMiss C’s bum is happy since it didn’t develop any rash and even after using it for more than 9 hours no sign of redness at all.
A month back we entered the world of messy food fun in baby world!
Carrot & Potato mash
Her first official food on the table with us was boiled pumpkin, she was not too happy eating it but she did have fun squeezing the mash and putting some on her hair, face, arms and to the floor. It was such a big mess but the little miss sure did have fun.
She can now sit up for more than an hour but I still surround her with pillows since we had an incident of her falling. We also have to say bye bye to her bouncy chair since she’s always leaning forward to grab things.
As of today she is 6 months and 18 days, she manage to move around doing a belly crawl + turning to back & front. She one noisy little miss with all the screaming, moaning and oohing, when this happen V calls her a dinosaur – Chloe-saurus.
I find myself very busy attending to her needs as she seem to be more clingy to me, to the point that she would sometimes demand to see me even when I’m taking a bath! During her nap I spend time with Kuya V as I’ve been a bit impatient with him.
Happy New Year from MyNappyBabies!
At least once in our life we have all experienced the magic of touch. Touch in the form of that one single pat in the back that congratulates your for doing good job; when a friend holds your hand after crying out all your troubles assures you that she’s always there for you – the magic of touch.
Chloe and I along with other Mum’s from the Breastfeeding Q&A UAE group won a complimentary baby massage course from The International Association of Infant Massage and Infant Massage U.S.A. with Nurse Midwife and Trained Instructor Sahar at Loving Care.
Everyday life can be so stressful. We may sigh and say “I need a good massage.” It’s not only us adults who feel stress but our young ones as well specially our babies who’s only way to communicate with us is with a cry; oh how frustrating can it be when no one seems to understand what you need little baby.
Benefits of Infant Massage:
Comfortably we choose a spot in a circle with our babies and talk about our week (talking to other mom’s somehow re-assures one that you are not alone); Sahar our lovely instructor talks to us the benefits of each massage stroke we are doing, we then get our grapeseed oil carefully rub it between our palms and before we start we look our babies eye-to-eye and ask “Can I give you a massage?”Â
The course is 4-5 sessions for about one and half an hour each. We have spent 5 wonderful Saturdays with the group and we all have seen how each baby has changed from a fussy one when started to a more calm behaviour with each massage stroke. Chloe and I have a much better bonding after class; we both look forward to 10 am for our massage time before she takes a bath. I tell you she demands one; well she gets all fussy when the clock strikes 10 am but when I ask her “Would you like a massage” I get a little smile of YES.
I did notice that she gets better sleep after I give her a massage and when I’ve done just every trick I know to calm her down the one thing she needs is a good tummy massage along with her favorite song with it –Â skid a ma rink a dink.
***
Loving Care:  is a comprehensive program to empower women with knowledge, tools, and experience to connect with themselves and their baby, as they become centered themselves. These are done through consultation
and programs we offer. Loving Care prenatal and breastfeeding sessions, postnatal home visits and lactation consultation/breastfeeding support, and Baby massage classes. These can be done in private or as a group.
Lovingcare@inspiratus.usÂ
Sahar Alhusseini is a U.S. Certified Nurse Midwife and lactation consultant with experience in women’s health,
childbirth, lactation consulting and infant massage. As Loving Care’s resident prenatal and postnatal health
practitioner, she provides education, and support in many different areas of women and baby’s health including
breastfeeding and baby massage. Sahar holds a Masters of Science in Nursing from University of Illinois Chicago
and a Bachelors of Science in Nursing from Johns Hopkins University, USA.
very happy with his medals (team and individual)
Most kids living in UAE get stuck playing indoors with all the gadgets available to them, that’s why we encourage V to do some extra activities. We first enrolled him to take karate lessons but he didn’t enjoyed it and beg us to stop. C found out about the Filipino Youth Basketball League from the referee of their game, we asked V if he wants to play basketball with a happy face he replied
“I want to play basketball like my Daddy.”Â
He just finished his 2nd season of basketball league and he has improved a lot from the 1st season. Every Saturday he looks forward to spending time with Daddy – both of them head off after breakfast to his league and his Dad patiently waits for 2 hrs.
While eating they talk about basketball moves and spend quality time browsing shoes (I hope he doesn’t collect shoes like his dad)
Parents cheered for the final game V’s team the Falcons led on the first quarter but Might Tigers worked hard and won 1st place.
He’s so happy with his two medals: Silver for Team and Most Improved Player.
He approached us in the bench very happy
“Look Mama! I have medals Just like daddy!“
Cuddles and Crumbs 