Lactation cookies recipe

Heyya readers! How's it going? My days aren't so bad, in fact every day is a fun day.. be it with my kids or my fellow housewives here..

When I got Fahim, I really wished that I could breastfeed him fully, as long as I want. Alhamdulillah until now he is on breast milk like 95% of the time (100% from birth to 10 months). Right now he is showing keen interest in finger food. So yeah, I give him occasionally baby biscuits and fruits that he doesn't really have to chew.

Okay, I wanna share something that I took for months when breastfeeding Fahim. This is a good kind of snack. Very healthy for the mom and the baby. It's called lactation cookies. This helped me a lot in getting enough milk for Fahim. I'm proud to say that I managed to donate my milk to 3 different babies too. Alhamdulillah this time around Allah made it easier for me.

Yeah, exactly we can always purchase. But 500 g of lactation cookies costs about RM50 RM60 in Kuala Lumpur, so it definitely burnt holes in my purse as I eat my cookies like munching peanuts, lol. I got this recipe after a lot of browsing and watching Youtube videos. I love this recipe as it is easy and crunchy for me :)

The main ingredients for lactation cookies are rolled oats, flaxseed meal and brewer’s yeast.. I bought the items online at:

www.littlegreenplanet.com.my

www.organic4u.com.my 

Group A 

• 4 eggs
• 4 tablespoons of butter (can substitute with low fat Vitalite margarine)
• 2.5 cups of brown sugar (the sweet toothed ones can add more if they like)
• 1 teaspoon of salt
• 2 tablespoons of vanilla extract 

Group B (mix all these ingredients together in a bowl)

• 2 cups of whole meal flour
• 4 tablespoons of flaxseed meal (increasing this will not affect the taste of the cookie)
• 3 tablespoons of brewer’s yeast
• 1 tablespoon of baking powder
• 1 teaspoon of soda bicarbonate

Group C

• 3 cups of rolled oats, grounded
• Other GOOD ingredients of baker’s choice (pick any 2 or 3, or even better, all!)

a. 1 cup of Raisins

b. 1 cup of Almonds (Coarsely grounded)

c. 1 cup of Walnuts (dubbed as the brain food) (Coarsely grounded)

d. 1 cup of  Dates (chopped)

e. 1 cup of  Hazelnuts (Coarsely grounded)

• 2 cups of Chocolate chips (so far Hershey’s chocolate chips are the best)

Method:

1. Preheat the oven for 155 deg C (oven with fan) or 170 deg C (oven without fan)
2. Beat Group A together in a cake mixer, until all are mixed well 
3. Add in Group B bit by bit until the batter is even.
4. Pour in bit by bit the grounded rolled oats and your chosen good ingredients. Stir well with a large spoon.
5. Lastly, add in the chocolate chips. Mix well.
6. Scoop the mixture bit by bit onto the baking tray to form like a biscuit (size is up to you). 
7. Press the individual scoop with a fork to flatten it (if you like it to be flat)
8. Put the baking tray in the oven and bake for about 15-20 minutes (the smaller the cookie size the faster it will bake)

I so love these cookies.. only nowadays I don't really make them cuz I haven't found flaxseed meal and brewer's yeast here yet..

Do give it a try.. you won't be disappointed!

Happy baking, and happy breastfeeding!

Dubai kitchen: Jom masak nasi lemak!

Ha, dah namanya homemaker kan.. what is the fun of being a homemaker without some noise in the kitchen, haha.

Ok today I wanna share with you nasi lemak recipe. I've been cooking several times already, but I think this one I'm sharing is my fave way of doing it.

Nasi lemak comes with a few condiments. They are really simple to make, really. Trust me :) 

Let's prepare the rice first. We will need:

• Rice (depends on how much you wanna cook.. for more people, cook more rice)
• 1 red onion, chopped
• 2 cloves of garlic, chopped
• 3 centimeters of ginger, chopped
• 1 stalk of lemongrass, finely chopped (some just like to hit it and directly put it into the cooker. Well, lemongrass is one of the most effective herbs to prevent cancer. So, please, eat it!)
• Coconut milk; amount will be of the same level as the rice in the cooker (if you like the rice to be softer, add in coconut milk slightly more)
• 1 tsp of salt
• 2-3 pandan leaves, tied together

Some may prefer diluted coconut milk, and some may prefer it to be more 'milky'. I like it to be a little diluted.

Method: Put all ingredients in the rice cooker. Give them a stir. Then turn on the cooker and just let the rice cook.

Ok. Next let's prepare the 'sambal' or chilli gravy. We will need:

• 3 red onions + 2 cloves of garlic + some anchovies + some water (grind them together in the blender)
• 4 tablespoons of chilli paste (or chilli boh as they usually call it). If you like hotter sambal, you can add in more chilli paste
• 2 tablespoons of tomato ketchup (you can replace this with tamarind extract) Tomato also has the sour taste so using it kinda meets the same purpose of using tamarind extract. Oh, my husband doesn't like it when I use tamarind extract. That's why I use tomato ketchup instead.
• Some fried anchovies
• 4 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil (use it because it's anti-cancerous and anti-inflammatory!)
• Salt and sugar to preferred taste
• You may add 'belacan' (anchovies paste) if you like. I don't because husband doesn't like it. Oh well..

Method: 

Pour the olive oil in the pan and heat up the pan

Pour in the blended ingredients and stir. Wait for the oil to surface

Add in the chilli paste. Stir well. Again, wait for the oil to surface again

Put in the fried anchovies and tomato ketchup. Stir. If you think that the mixture is kinda thick, add in some water.

Put in salt and sugar according to your liking. I like it to be a bit sweet.

The condiments:

Eggs: You can choose sunny side up or hard-boiled eggs. I like hard-boiled eggs. Less fat.

Fried groundnuts

Fried anchovies

A few slices of fresh cucumber

Easy peasy, don't you think?

 Macam nak bawa bekal pergi sekolah pulak kan.. haha