Rice Pudding - Sutlijas

Quick and healthy, dessert, quick breakfast or without sugar  perfect baby food  and you have all ingredients in your cupboard; traditional Turkish rice pudding is definitely one of my favourite desserts/snack. But finding the right recipe took some time because there's loads of recipes for this simple food out there.

Ingredients:

-  1 cup rice
- 2 cups water
- 1 l  full fat milk (if you use skimmed milk it'll affect consistency of the pudding)
- 2 tbs corn flour
- 1 cup sugar for dessert is the original measure but I prefer it less sugary so I put just 1/2 cup of sugar,  no sugar if you're making a baby food
- 2 tbs vanilla extract
- 1 tbs of raw coconut oil
- Cinnamon/lemon zest/nutmeg/fruits to serve

Preparation:

- Wash and drain the rice then boil it with 2 cups of water until water is absorbed and rice softened.

- Add milk  to the rice and stir frequently until boils.

- Add 3 spoons of cold water to corn flour; mix it well then add few spoons of boiling pudding mixture to this and then add this corn flour mixture to the pot. Stir until it boils and continue cooking for 5 more minutes until it's thicker and creamy.

- Add sugar (if using) and continue cooking for 2-3 minutes.

-  Remove it from the stove, add vanilla extract and coconut oil and stir until well incorported.

- Pour hot pudding into small bowls and leave them at room temperature to completely cool.

- Keep them in the fridge and sprinkle with cinnamon or lemon zest/ nutmeg before serving, or serve with fruit of your choice.

- If desired the pudding can be poured in ovenproof bowls and baked. Put bowls in the baking tin filled with water and bake  until top is golden.

Enjoy!

Stokke Flexi Baby Bath & John Lewis Bath Support

Baby bath was one of the items on my baby shopping list that I bought in last minute. I bought bath support from John Lewis long time before bath because it I loved it straight away.  It was washable, practical and safe. It was a good decision, I'm still using it and it makes bath time much easier which is very very important for me because bath is part of our bedtime routine.  I don't have to hold my son while bathing (although I NEVER leave him unattended) , I don't need help for bath, he's safe on the support, not slipping and he can move and play comfortably while on it. I'm machine washing it once or twice a week, and letting to dry on it's metal frame. Perfect buy!

                                       

When it comes to the bath it was a last minute buy as I said. I wanted something to use at least up to one year but all baby baths were looking too small and taking too much space. These factors are very important especially if you have only walk in shower and are short with storage space. Stokke Flexi is large, suitable for children up to 3 years and doesn't take too much space because it's foldable -actually you can keep it in the drawer or in the cabinet!-. And it's nice because you can fold it up and take with you on your holiday if needed.

My son's first bath was in Stokke Flexi and few after that but later we were taking showers together because it was much easier and he felt more secure while close to me. After two months we were back to Stokke because he became more active and playful. He's taking bath every evening and it's pure joy for him! This turned out to be perfect purchase and I think we'll be using it for long time to come.

Stokke has original  Flexi Newborn Support which looks very practical too and I like that it lefts more space for legs to move around but I didn't bothered to buy it since I already had mine.

Stokke Flexi Baby Bath 

John Lewis Baby Bath Support 

Things For Cooler Days

1. Reiss Textured Shirt 

2. GAP Denim Shirt Dress

3. COS Wool Cardigan

4. M&S Body 

5. Desa Leather Jacket

6. Clarks Originals Desert Boots

7. Dr. Hauschka Rose Day Cream

8. Geox Ballerinas 

9. MIH The Ellsworth Jeans

10. H&M Wool Hat

A Different Kind Of London

London is usually associated with historic places but last week we spent a day in the very different neighbourhood, very modern and non-London like. It was our first time at Royal Docks and it was a really nice and pleasant change. Chilling by the Thames, sipping a coffee, walking around... Perfect place for a different atmosphere and unusual relaxing day.

The End Of My Search For Plastic Free Kettle

I was looking for a sturdy plastic free kettle for a while since it became a real need with the baby. BPA free or not I'm trying to avoid all plastic especially in utensils which are heated but it's not an easy task. Finally I decided to go for the Cuisiniart CPK17U stainless steel, multi temperature kettle which includes 3 year guarantee.

It's sturdy and very stylish, I love how it lookst on my kitchen counter but it's not completely plastic free, which is a real shame. The mesh filter and the part which is holding the filter are  plastic. Those parts are BPA free and not in touch with water during the boiling process, but again this would be the perfect kettle without them. I'm thinking to remove those parts but it looks a bit tricky and I'm scared that I might damage it.

This is a really nice item especially if you're tea lover looking for a kettle to make speciality teas! It's great that it shows the temperature of the water inside it.

These are the features:

• 1.7-liter capacity
• 6 preset temperatures
• One-touch controls with blue LED indicators
• 30-minute Keep Warm option
• Memory feature allows kettle to be lifted off base for 2 minutes without shutting off or losing its place in the brewing process
• 1500 watts for fast heat-up
• Blue backlit water window
• 360° swivel cordless connector
• Stay-cool nonslip handle
• Concealed heating element to prevent mineral buildup
• Removable/cleanable scale filter
• Auto shutoff and boil dry protection
• Limited 3-year warranty
• BPA Free
• Weight 1.830 kg

Cuisinart CPK17U Multi-Temperature Kettle

Another plastic free kettles or with a bit of plastic which is not in contact with water that I liked are these but unfortunately I  didn't managed to find the retailers for two of them in the UK:

1. Breville One Touch Tea Maker

2.  Ottoni Fabrica Alice Kettle

3. Sabichi Glass Kettle 

4. Bonavita Goosneck Variable Temperature Ketle

Eastpak Backpack: 14 Years Together

Yes, it's been 14 years since I bought my blue Eastpak backpack as a high school student in Istanbul. Since then it was with me on countless trips and occasions. High school, university, holidays, marriage,  moving to London and now with my son I didn't need to look for another option for baby changing bag, my old Eastpak is perfect for that purpose as well.

Since my son is born I'm not taking another handbag with me, everything is in my backpack; my purse, makeup, keys, books and all baby stuff...  It's a classic and practical item that goes with all my casual and sporty outfits. My husband got one for himself 4 years ago and I'm now using it  sometimes because his grey one is perfect match with our black melange Stokke Scoot.

I'm washing mine in washing machine and I have to say that I've been using it quite harshly, carried very heavy stuff inside (mainly books!) but it's still in very good condition. It's been with me for very long part of my life and I'm planning to use it for a long time to come.

Egg And Potato Scramble

This time I'm sharing a simple and delicious  recipe from my mother-in-law. This is one of our favourites for long weekend brunches but also a saver as a quick lunch. It requires no special ingredients; it's all in your cupboard and it's open to add any other ingredients (onion, green onion, cheese...) you prefer.

Ingredients:

- 5 small potatoes - peeled and cubed
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 4 eggs
- dash of milk
- 1 teaspoon dried mint
- 1 teaspoon chili flakes
- salt & pepper
- freshly chopped parsley

Preparation:

- In non stick pan cook potatoes on olive oil until soft.  Cover the pan to speed up the process but don't forget to mix them time to time.
- In a bowl mix eggs with dash of milk.
- Pour eggs over potatoes and cook until eggs are set.
- Season with salt, pepper, mint and chili flakes.
- Serve with chopped parsley and tomatoes (optional).

Enjoy!

The best feeding bottle for babies

Whether for breast milk or formula milk but finding the right feeding bottle for your baby may be confusing. The bottle which helps with colic, the bottle which helps avoiding nipple confusion, the bottle that your baby who is refusing bottle will take... Unfortunately we skip very important part while making our decision: the material of which bottle is made. 

Although almost all brands have glass bottles as an option unfortunately now the feeding bottle market is dominated by plastic (polypropylene) bottles. Most of them have the indication "BPA free" but it doesn't mean that  plastic is the best material to keep your baby's food in.

BPA (Bisphenol A) is synthetic compound which is used to make certain plastics.Plastic which includes BPA is  used to make a variety of common products including baby and water bottles, sports equipment, medical and dental devices, CDs and DVDs, household electronics, eyeglass lenses, etc. The major exposure to BPA is diet, and it's especially likely to leach from plastics when washed with harsh detergents and exposed to heat. It's found that BPA's effects on human bodies varies from obesity to different types of cancers, reproductive  disorders, heart disease.  

BPA is one of many synthetic compounds found in plastic and one that's known to be harmful. But BPA free plastic is still leaching different types of chemicals in the food kept in plastic containers or lined with plastic.

Otherwise glass which once was the only material used for baby bottles  is natural material made of sand, limestone and soda ash used for thousands of years and it's the safest material to keep food inside. Here are the pros and cons of glass and plastic feeding bottles:

GLASS VS. PLASTIC

Glass Bottle Pros:

- Glass is all natural, non toxic material.
-  It keeps the food free of any chemicals.
- Glass has an almost zero rate of chemical interactions ensuring that the product inside a glass bottle keep their  aroma and flavour.
- Glass is durable, it's one-time investment and saves you money in the long run.
- Cooling milk in glass is much faster process.
- Glass is 100% recyclable and can be recycled endlessly without loss in quality or purity.

Glass Bottle Cons:

- Breakable.
- It's heavier to carry around.


Plastic Bottle Pros:

- Unbreakable.
- Plastic bottle is lighter and easier to carry around. 

Plastic Bottle Cons:

- Plastic realise chemicals into the food stored in them (even the BPA free ones), especially when heated.
- Plastic is easily scratched therefore is more prone to contamination.
- You need to renew the plastic bottle regularly because of the contamination risk.
-  At the end it comes more expensive than glass because you have to renew it.
-  Plastic is recyclable but it loses its integrity and  is “downcycled” and turned into other types of products. 

Weight wise it's approximately 150 gr. difference between 240 ml (8 oz.) plastic and glass bottles. I think it's not a huge difference to put me off especially when you think how many pros glass have.

     1. Dr. Browns 240 ml plastic bottle: 99gr.

     2. NUK 240 ml. plastic bottle : 245 gr 

When it comes to fragility  you should just be careful when handling it. And you can get one of these silicone sleeves to be on the safe side. 

How to set your child's biological clock?

I've always heard stories about babies and toddlers who are not sleeping during the night and exhausted and desperate parents. During my pregnancy everyone was telling me to rest and sleep because it'll be a dream once the baby is born.

Now my son is three months old and he's sleeping through the night since he was six weeks old and I had to wake him up for feeds. All babies are different and they don't respond to the same things the same way but I believe that these methods helped me to set his sleeping habit so I wanted to share them:

- GOING OUTDOORS EVERYDAY: First  six weeks it is difficult to go outside everyday I agree but as soon as you have kind a routine and feel ready to go, just go. Even a fifteen minutes walk around counts. Fresh air and light helps him to distinguish day and night. Except very  extreme weather conditions like very strong wind we were outdoor everyday after fifth week and these days sometimes we're out twice a day.

                                                       
                                                                       Walk in the rain

- DAY NAPS IN BRIGHT  & NIGHT SLEEPS IN DARK ROOM: I never darken the room for his naps and this way avoid confusion. If your baby has difficulty to sleep in the bright room you can try to make him sleep in dark and then open the blinds. But for night it's opposite; I make the room completely dark.

- BEDTME ROUTINE: For us it's play time, bath, massage and feed. We're very lucky that Edin loves bath because even the quick soak  has an amazing effect. He's having a bath every night since he's 10 days old and we skipped this routine maybe just five times since then.


-  LIGHTS DIM & NO TALKING DURING THE NIGHT FEEDS: This rule helps to keep baby sleepy and makes it easier to fall asleep again.

Raspberry & Blueberry Cake

This is my mum's recipe usually made with cherries, sour cherries, peaches or apricots but in this season when berries are abundant I decided to try it with raspberries and blueberries and it turned out delicious. It's simple to make and delicious to serve with coffee or tea.

Ingriedients:

• 3 eggs
• 1 cup sugar plus one one tablespoon sugar to sprinkle over fruits
• 150 gr melted and cooled butter or 1 cup olive/sunflower oil and extra butter to grease the pan
• 1 cup milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• lemon zest
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 2 cups multi purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon (optional)
• 200 gr raspberries
• 200 gr blueberries  
• Icing sugar to serve

-Or approximately  400 gr of cherries/sour cherries/peaches/apricots/blackberries...

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 180 C and grease the pan. I used 32x22 cm pan.
• Wash fruits and pit them if needed. Sprinkle them with tablespoon of sugar and teaspoon of cinnamon.
• Beat sugar and eggs, and gradually add butter, milk, vanilla extract, lemon zest and finally flour and baking powder. Beat all together until smooth. 
• Add fruits in the mixture and mix with spoon trying not to crush them.
• Pour mixture in greased pan and bake for about 50 minutes or until a cocktail stick pushed into the centre is clean when removed.
• Sprinkle with icing sugar before serving.

          Enjoy!

Review: Medela Mini Electric Breastpump

I was planning to breastfeed my baby and I never considered buying a breast pump or anything related to feeding. Then it was unthinkable that eventually after the first month I'll have to go somewhere for a while and  I'll have to leave my baby with my husband and in that case I'll have to express and store some breast milk. I was determined to breastfeed and never considered another options and another scenarios.

In first days babies lost weight and it was then when my midwife told me that it'll be a good idea to express some milk and give him as a top up for a while.  I decided to try expressing and sent my husband  to buy feeding bottles.

Well, I was not good at expressing. Not good at all! And again my husband went to buy  hand breast pump. It was a quick purchase (just as feeding bottles mentioned above!). I didn't had time to explore and read reviews, and anyway I just needed it for a few days.

And again, the hand pump was disaster. Pumping was painful! Pump was difficult to clean and not practical at all. Wasted money! And it was then that I realised that it'll be a clever thing to buy a good solution because I'll need it in the future. Then I remembered the nurse at the hospital talking about Medela Mini. It was the first time I heard about the brand but I decided to order it.

I own this pump for about two months. First I was using it occasionally because I was breastfeeding constantly - I mean constantly!  But in last two weeks I'm using it excessively because I have to  give top-ups every three hours on the strict schedule for a while.

To be honest I thought that this pump will not be suitable for excessive pumping  but it's doing the job with massage and expressing although  I wouldn't recommend it for mums who are planning to express excessively for long periods.

Pros :
- It's very easy to use, switch on and adjust the vacuum control.
- Very easy to clean. It consists of five parts of which  three are washable,  plus bottle. I  sterilise them once a day and wash in soapy water after every use.
- It is removing milk efficiently, but of course you shouldn't expect anything close to hospital grade  pumps.
- With correct sized breastshield it's not painful or discomfortable to pump.
- It's small and it's easy to carry  around if needed.
- It's easy to find all spare parts on the market.


Cons:
- The breastshield is very small (size M, 24mm), I had to buy new one.
-  Requires compressing and massage to extract the most milk possible form the breasts.
-  It's quite noisy. It is disadvantage especially for night pumping but after a while we get used to it.
- The bottle doesn't come with teat so you need another bottle for feeding or you can buy teat separately.


All in all very satisfied with this product and I'll recommend it for mums who need to pump milk occasionally. To increase your milk supply and to pump excessively I'll recommend buying more advanced models or hiring a hospital grade pump.

Hi From A Different Dimension

Every second with this little guy is precious! It's blessing! I'm so  busy I don't even have time to eat but slowly things are settling and I'll be back soon!

He's growing very fast. Every single day I can see the difference  and I'm trying to enjoy every moment.

Having a baby is like entering in a a different dimension of this world that I was not aware of before. There is a lot of products on the market  and choosing one can be really confusing and difficult. Before shopping I'm trying to read reviews of other mums and deciding which one to buy. That's why I decided to write reviews about products that I'm using and the first one is coming very soon.

                                                   

                                                                     Sweet dreams