“What I say is that, if a fellow really likes potatoes, he must be a pretty decent sort of fellow." - A. A. Milne (Popular children's author)

My 15 months old baby is a somewhat picky eater. I mean, many other toddlers his age would have started makan nasi macam orang tua by now, but not my baby. Bolehlah rasa nasi, tapi 3-4 suap and sudah. My friend’s baby started on nasi berlauk as early as 12 months dan makan semua, semuapun suka, but not mine.

There was a phase when he was so into anything potato. Mashed potato, potato rebus, fried or baked, semua suka. Then that phase stopped and replaced by pureed congee. Chicken or fish, blended with some vegetable and rice. OK bukan blended. Pureed to perfection. Kalau ada satu ikan bilis yang tak blended habis, nanti dia akan usaha keluarkan. Then the macaroni/spaghetti phase started. With soup or cheese, 2-2 pun suka. He still likes pasta as of now.

Foods he always seems to like are sweet bread, lempeng telur, cheese and fruits! He loves fruits! His favourites are mangoes, bananas, strawberries and tomatoes. Yes tomatoes. Makan tomato macam makan epal. Especially the cherry ones. Which is good, I guess.

And now the potato craze has started again, hoyeah! I envy mothers to kids yang suka makan tak kisah apa. Mesti seronok masak. I hope my baby will grow out of this picky stage. Your Mama and Papa are foodies lah, you gotta be one too, Hadi!

Anyways, untuk memberi purpose kepada entry ini, I’d like to share my foolproof mashed potato recipe (because I think I saw someone tweeted asking for the best mashed potato recipe for baby). It’s not necessarily the best, but my baby (and his Papa too!) likes it.

Cheesy Mashed Potato for my little picky eater.

- This recipe is for 2 medium size potatoes. You can opt to peel off the skin but I usually don’t. Dice and rebuslah, apa lagi. Sampai empuk. Lalu buang air rebusan.
- Add 2 keping cheddar cheese.
- Add about 1 sudu besar butter. Or margerine will do.
- Add about 1oz of milk (breast milk/ pasteurized fresh milk/ formula milk).
- Add some black pepper (not too much! Nanti yak yak)
- Add some salt to taste (you can opt not to if you’re not comfortable about giving salt to your little ones. Tapi garam bukit bagus tau, boleh cuba)
- Blend! Done. Yums. Seriously yums.

There you have it. Simple, fast and yummy home-cooked meal for your little one. Oh and do you know that potatoes are source of Vitamin A, Vitamin C and potassium? But be cautious though, the starch component is kinda high so yeah, emak dan bayi jangan makan banyak sangat, gemuk bam bam bam nanti. But yes, awesome for picky little eaters. Do try.

I totally approve, dudes!