Helpful breastfeeding sites and pages

I mentioned that I would share with you some of the websites and forums that really helped me out when I started breastfeeding? Well, here goes! First, know that there’s a wealth of information out there on the topic. You can actually go crazy with the number of resources open to you when you go online. After spending so much time researching in preparation for breastfeeding, I found that some articles would conflict with the information that I would read in another article. I started to get confused: one would say pumping milk is bad, the other would say pumping could increase your supply. Or one would say don’t freeze your breastmilk while others would say it’s perfectly okay to store your stash in the freezer. When it started to stress me out, I decided to select only a few websites that I would check regularly for tips and news. And they are (tan-tan-an-an!) ~

Kellymom
– A very organized website that explodes with information! Everything from how to establish a proper latch, how to deal with sore nipples and even breastfeeding children with special needs.
The Boob Geek
– Similar to Kellymom, this is an evidence-based breastfeeding support website from certified lactation consultants. Very insightful on some issues such as milk supplements and stuff.
La Leche League of the Philippines
– Something closer to home, this site gives information on certified lactation consultants depending on the area you are closest to.
Breastfeeding Pinays
– I didn’t realize how important it is to have a support group when one decides to breastfeed. But honestly? The group of people behind Breastfeeding Pinays lend mothers so much support and encouragement and faith that they just bolster your confidence in breastfeeding. It is also another venue to air your concerns, and no matter how little you think your worries are, these moms freely share their tips, ideas and suggestions.
Mommy Mundo
– A page that basically shares information on events centered on breastfeeding, parenting, childbirth preparation, even seminars for your yaya or house help. These events also feature retailers and suppliers of things you may want for when your little one pops out.
If you’re a visual person (like me) and think that tutorial videos are a gift from God, this is the video series that worked wonders for me. Especially after giving birth and my baby and I were still trying to figure out the right latch.
http://newborns.stanford.edu/Breastfeeding/FifteenMinuteHelper.html
– I like the video on hand expression as well. Really, you won’t need to look at other videos on breastfeeding after watching Dr. Jane Morton discuss it because these are very comprehensive.
So there you go, I hope this helps you and eases you as it did for me. Happy breastfeeding!

Easy Breastfeeding Tips

There are so many women out there who beat themselves up for not breastfeeding their child. I know,  I was one of them. Hey, breastfeeding is tough. Not everyone can do it and if youre a parent and you choose to breastfeed you child – congratulations! If you decided to go with formula then I’m not going to judge you and will, in fact, support you all the way.

I had so many excuses, er, challenges with my firstborn, Z, and why I had to give her formula:

1. She wouldn’t latch on to my breast when she was born
2. I felt like she wasn’t getting enough milk
3. I felt so sorry for her when she would cry and fuss

For my second baby, E, I wanted to make sure that I stick with breastfeeding and not find a convenient excuse to fall back on. Basically, I didn’t give myself any other choice but to breastfeed. Here’s what I did:

Research like crazy.

I devoured breastfeeding blogs and articles. I copied the tips they gave out and compiled them into a notepad. I took note of the different positions they tried for breastfeeding success as well as the problems they encountered in the event that I would face them myself one day.

Reach out to other breastfeeding mothers.

Having a support group is invaluable. I was absolutely motivated by the wife of one of my closest friends, she exclusively breastfed her firstborn and had a couple of freezers full of her milk. She cheered me on. Gave me so many tips on her successful breastfeeding journey and she made sure that the gifts she gave me from the baby shower and the other celebrations after that, fully supported breastfeeding. She directed me to other breastfeeding sites/forums on the internet and these also helped me so much in terms of knowledge and support.

Don’t buy formula/bottles.

When Z was born we had a checklist of things we needed to buy, from diapers to crib sheets to baby bottles and cleaners, and we made sure we bought them and completed the list. This time around, we deliberately chose not to buy bottles for the baby or even formula. The very idea of having the formula and bottles close by would be too tempting for me to resist. And at the slightest hurdle, I knew I would cave and bottle feed the baby. So I decided to eliminate that temptation altogether. This was probably the best and easiest tip ever and it super worked for me.

Don’t put unnecessary pressure on yourself.

I told myself that my ultimate goal would be to breastfeed E exclusively. But I also told myself that if I did not get to reach that goal, then I wouldn’t punish myself or think of it as a form of failure. I told myself that I would give it my all and if there’s really nothing there, then there’s nothing much I can do about it. It would not make me less of a good mother if I cannot breastfeed.

Remember, the first few weeks after you give birth are already stressful. As a new mom, make it a point to focus on your lovely baby rather than obsess on breastfeeding.

I’m no expert when it comes to breastfeeding but these were what worked for me and I’m happy I stuck to my guns. I am still breastfeeding E and my volume or supply is still pretty good. How about you? How did you prepare for breastfeeding your little one?

I will share some of the links to the blogs and forums that helped me out so please check the next post for that!

Second baby! Back to blogging.

I’ve forgotten my password. It’s been that long since I last accessed this blog and thank goodness for password retrieval options, I’ve finally managed to get in!

So hello…again 🙂 My eldest, Z, has just turned 3 and I gave birth to my second girl, E, last April 12th.Isn’t she lovely? I got back to reading a lot of parenting blogs and they have inspired me to write once again.

Being a parent is never an easy thing. Personally, I find motherhood to be the most terrifying, rewarding, exhausting ‘job’ ever. And when, last December 2014, we found out that we were going to have another baby, I realized the 2 girls would be three years apart and I had completely forgotten about the sleepless nights, the colicky baby, the fussing, diaper-changing, the various baby cues I had researched to no end with my firstborn. Now, it’s back to scratch. (Yet another reason for me to ‘start’ again with this blog, seeing as I was spending so much time reading so many.)

Let me share with you some of the dilemmas and solutions I have encountered, some tips for would-be parents and some funny stories of my kids as well. Let me offer you a peek into the life of an average, middle-class family and how we make it work.

And if you’re a parent and would like to share your experiences, well, I would love that too!

New Blog Project!

I’ve created a new blog to chronicle my baking adventures and mishaps! 2013 is the year for me to organize my blog, after all. Please do check it out, its https://onenuttybaker.wordpress.com

The first entries are all re-posts of the baking posts I’ve already published here, I will be adding more of my baking ramblings in that blog and I would love it if you visit 🙂 Thanks!

Royal Red Heart Cupcake Toppers

I’ve got a couple of new stuff I’ve baked recently and am extremely happy with. For peanut butter lovers and chocolate lovers alike. Problem is, it is almost midnight as I write this, I have to wake up early tomorrow morning and my recipe book happens to be on the top shelf of a cabinet about 12 feet away. So I’ll post the pictures and recipes some other time.
Instead, I want to share with you pictures of these vivid red cupcakes toppers I made out of royal icing.
It’s almost February and a lot of people are already busy with orders for Valentine’s! Personally, I don’t treat Valentine’s Day any differently, it’s NOT a non-working holiday so it certainly feels like a regular day. Plus, the whole bouquet of flowers on V-Day? It doesn’t really work for me.
But give me a box of chocolates or cupcakes…and I will instantly follow you like a lovesick puppy!

These photos show my first attempts at royal icing. I piped the hearts on acetate that I wiped a bit with shortening. I didnt realize the toppers would take so long to dry! I made the hearts for my sister-in-law’s birthday dinner the following night and the royal icing was still very soft and terribly fragile. I should have let them dry for at least 2 days. Oh well.
I managed to get all the cupcakes decorated and that’s what counts. I am tempted to do this again for Valentine’s day to give to my relatives. Apart from the drying time, you finish so much in less than an hour!
You don’t even have to wait for Valentine’s Day to make these!
Because everyday should be Valentine’s Day! (Cheesy, I know haha!)

Creamy & Dreamy Cream Cheese Frosting

I know I’ve mentioned that Cream Cheese doesn’t seem to agree much with me, but after making so many red velvet cupcakes over the holidays I have finally found my go-to recipe for tasty cream cheese frosting that hasn’t failed me so far.
I don’t even have to put this in the chiller since it holds its shape after piping. That means I get to finish decorating my cupcakes sooner without compromising the taste of my frosting.

So I hope you try this out and if you’ve ever had problems with cream cheese frosting, you can now kiss them a sweet goodbye with this recipe!

What we’ll need:

1 cup cream cheese
1/4 cup unsalted butter
1/2 cup shortening
 3-4 cups icing sugar
pinch of salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

 

Cream butter, shortening and cream cheese. Once well combined add the vanilla extract and salt. Add the icing sugar gradually. You don’t have to use up all 4 cups of icing sugar, if you like the consistency of the frosting with 3 cups you can stop there. 

 

My cousin likes a sweeter frosting so when I made her cupcakes I used 5 cups of icing sugar and added 1/2 teaspoon milk.

But that’s basically it! Cream cheese frosting that’s stiff and rich and oh so delicious! 

Now I never have to worry about making cream cheese frosting! In fact, I now come up with all sorts of excuses to make this kind of frosting!

Garage Sale Treasures

Everyday on my way home from work I would pass by this street a couple of blocks from where I live. Its your usual street lined with houses and cars parked out front, not really a busy street and not super interesting. Except for this one house. A brown house with a high gate and a small stall in front with a sign that read “Garage Sale”. I normally go straight home after work so I could be with the baby but this time around I decided to check it out, especially since I keep seeing these colorful bowls and jars on display.
Look at the treasures I found!
They were all in really good shape too. A little bit of cleaning and they looked practically new! The set of green bowls even had the price tag attached to it.
The red baking dishes really made me happy because when I peeked underneath…
What a find! A Paula Deen baking dish!
And another excellent find at this garage sale was this…
It’s an 8-inch cake stand with a cover and a christmas village design. Absolutely lovely! I was ecstatic over my finds!
Do you want to know what the best part about the garage sale was? I bought 5pcs soup bowls, 2pcs baking dish, and a cake stand with a cover and everything cost me only 15 dollars!

You can imagine how HUGE my smile was when I got home!

Happy New Year!!!

I know the toppers are for Christmas but hey, it’s still under the ‘holiday’ theme so please let it slide.
I feel like 2012 just breezed by me. Having a baby puts everything on fast-forward and last year, no matter what I did, it was like I couldn’t catch my breath.
There are so many things I am truly thankful for – a husband who supports me, a healthy and happy baby, work that fulfills me and family and friends who make me feel like the luckiest woman on Earth.
May 2013 whisper wonderful moments in your ear, may every experience promise joy and hope and love for you and your family. May every glorious second last forever.
Wishing you the best this new year!

Vanilla Coconut Cupcakes with Coco Cream Cheese Frosting

The recipe I use for my carrot cake calls for dessicated coconut and coconut cream. For a three layer 8″ carrot cake I only use about 1/4 cup of the coconut cream and since it does not keep for a long period of time I always worry about what I will do with the leftover cream. I hate letting things go to waste! Finally, I started looking for something easy I could make with the leftover coconut cream.
I asked and the internet giveth! I honestly can’t remember where I got this recipe from. I just googled coconut cupcakes, copied all the recipes that came out and edited all of them into one recipe that sounded right. (If you have any idea where this recipe came from, feel free to let me know!)
These coconut cupcakes are extremely delicious! Moist, light, with a hint of vanilla. I like coconut but I know a lot of people who don’t and that’s fine, the coconut flavor in these beauties is not overpowering at all. It’s a delicate kind of cupcake because it crumbles quite easily but it also kind of melts in your mouth.
I also made coconut cream cheese frosting which is your basic cream cheese recipe with a little bit of the coconut cream (1/2 cup) instead of milk. Another way to use up my extra coconut cream and still have that subtle coco frosting. So good!
Now my only problem with this recipe is that the batter can shrink quite a bit when it bakes. Some of the cupcakes separated completely from the cupcake liners. I have no idea why it did that. Maybe you could help me out?
Coconut Cupcakes

Ingredients:

2/3 cups sugar
1/2 cup butter
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 and 1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup dessicated coconut
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 cup coconut cream

Procedure:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 12-count cupcake pan
2. Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy
3. Add the eggs one at a time and beat well after each addition
4. Add the vanilla extract
5. In a separate bowl, whisk the flour, dessicated coconut, and baking powder
6. Beat half of the flour mixture into the bowl with the wet ingredients
7. Pour in coconut cream
8. Include remaining flour mixture and beat until smooth
9. Fill the cupcake liners 3/4 full and bake for 18-22minutes
10. Cool completely before frosting

Hope you like making these!

I’m seeing Red…Velvet Cupcakes

I’ve mentioned in this post how much a fan I am of Bake Happy and a while back, she posted this recipe for Red velvet cupcakes that I knew I just had to try. I am CRAZY about red velvet cupcakes! They were my mother’s favorite and every time I see them or taste them I am reminded of her. When I first started baking, red velvet cupcakes were the very first ones I started to make. Needless to say, I had a lot of failures and so, I was on the quest to look for the best red velvet cupcake recipe floating about. I’m happy to say the search has finally ended.
These red velvet cupcakes are divine! The old recipes I’ve tried produced dry cupcakes, dense cupcakes, bland ones or ones where you don’t really get that chocolate flavor. This recipe solves all those problems. The cupcakes that came out were very light, moist and had that chocolate-y taste to it that lingers in your mouth. They smell so good too!
The original recipe was posted on cupcakeblog.com and Aikko tweaked it by substituting Yakult for the buttermilk. I chose to use the buttermilk powder that I purchased at a local health store, I use it all the time for recipes that ask for buttermilk and so far it hasn’t failed me. I also doubled the amount of cocoa powder to really get the chocolate taste and I divided the recipe by three so I wouldn’t have to stay next to my oven for days.
For the frosting, I stuck with Bake Happy’s recipe for cream cheese frosting. Perfect combo!
Red Velvet Cupcakes
Ingredients:
1 and 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon liquid red food coloring
170 grams sugar
1/4 cup unsalted butter
1 egg

Procedure:
1. Combine buttermilk, red food color, vinegar and vanilla extract. Set aside.
2. In a bowl, sift the all-purpose flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Mix well and make sure there are no lumps.
3. In a mixer bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
4. Add eggs one at a time.
5. Add one third of the dry ingredients and mix slightly.
6. Pour in one half of the wet ingredients.
7. Alternate mixing the dry ingredients with the wet ingredients, end with your flour mixture and mix until everything is incorporated.
8. Divide batter into cupcake liners and place inside pre-heated oven, 350’F and bake for 15 minutes.
9. When toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, remove cupcakes from the oven and cool on a wire rack.

Cream Cheese Frosting:
1 cup cream cheese
1/4 cup unsalted butter
1/4 cup shortening
454 grams icing sugar
pinch of salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/8 cup milk

Cream butter, shortening and cream cheese until smooth. Add the vanilla extract. Gradually add the icing sugar. Add the milk and beat until smooth. *I put the cream cheese frosting in the chiller for several hours so I can pipe them on the cupcakes*