Sesame Coconut laddu

In our recent trip to India, my mother in law made these awesome healthy laddus. I immediately bookmarked the recipe in my mind. And ofcourse after coming back I made these 2 weeks back. My baby loved them. Here is the recipe

INGREDIENTS

1 cup Sesame seeds ( Black or white, I used white )

1/2 cup grated Coconut

1 cup Jaggery

PROCEDURE

1. Take a pan and roast sesame seeds on low flame for 5 minutes. Keep them aside and let them cool down completely.

2. Grind all the ingredients together into a fine powder.

3. Use your hand to make a lemon sized laddus out of the sesame coconut mixture. Oil which is oozed out of the sesame seeds is sufficient to make the laddus.

 

Whole Wheat Banana Bread

Nowadays I started baking.  At first i tried a simple whole wheat bread. It was a disaster. Bread turned out like a brick..:) I started looking for other healthy bread  recipes and found one. This time the bread turned out delicious. Even my daughter loved it. This recipe is definetly a keeper. It has no eggs and butter involved.

Source: Spices and Aroma's Banana Bread

INGREDIENTS

 2 ripe bananas peeled and mashed well till no lumps remain ( the riper the bananas the stronger the banana flavor.)

 1/2 cup coconut oil (or any other oil)

1 cup honey

1/2 cup apple butter or apple sauce

2 cups whole wheat flour

3 tablespoon water, 3 tablespoon coconut oil, 2 teaspoon baking powder,1/4 teaspoon baking soda (all mixed together in that order and kept aside for about 5 minutes prior, not much more ahead else it may lose some of the fizz require to make the cake rise)

2 teaspoon vanilla essence

PROCEDURE

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Grease a 9X5 inch loaf pan.

3.In large bowl, mix all ingredients in order given ( if you don’t follow the order, things may not work so its VERY IMPORTANT!). Pour into pan and bake 40 to 50 minutes.



 

Ragi Mudda with Brown Rice

 My baby is introduced to brown rice ragi mudda in her 10th month. She loves the dish...:)  I always try to feed my baby more nutritious food. So, I substitite brown rice in the place of white rice in which ever dishes possible. I believe in soaking the rice for atleast 8 hours before cooking because it helps our bodies to absorb the nutrients more. If you wanna prepare ragi mudda for tommorows breakfast or lunch, you need to soak the rice tonight.Here goes the recipe..

INGREDIENTS

Brown Rice 3/4 cup

Water  5 cups

Ragi Flour 1 cup

PROCEDURE

1. Fry the rice for 2 minutes. Let it cool down then  grind it into a coarse powder(like ravva). Soak the powder in 2 cups of water for overnight.

2.  Bring the remaining water to boil in a thick bottomed vessel, then add the soaked rice powder along with the water in which it is soaked in. Stir continously on a medium heat to avoid lumps. Once it starts boiling reduce the heat to low.  Cook until the rice is soft.

3. Then add the ragi flour and just leave it on top of the cooked rice without mixing it for 5 minutes. This step helps to avoid ragi flour lumps in your ragi mudda.

4.  Now add salt and stir the  whole mixture with a wooden stick until well combined.

5. Serve hot  with  ghee on top of it.

 You can find my recipe for ragi mudda with white rice here

7 Cups Sweet

This is the most addictive kind of sweet for me. I just cant stop with one piece. My mom is a mysore pak and 7 cups sweet expert. I used to ask her to make these for me all the time. Even my childhood friends remembers my mom by her 7 cups sweet..:)

INGREDIENTS

Gram flour( Besan) 1 cup

Melted Unsalted butter or Ghee 1 cup
Shredded Coconut 1 cup
Milk 1 cup
Sugar 3 cups 

PROCEDURE

1. Take a wide pan and roast gram flour on a  low flame for a few minutes.

2. Add all the remaining ingredients to the pan and mix well on a medium flame.  Stir continously until the mixture becomes thick. When the mixture starts to leave the sides of the pan, reduce the flame and continue stirring for a few more minutes. Be careful not to burn the mixture.

3.  Apply ghee on a plate and transfer the mixture to the plate. Let it rest for 3 to 4 minutes, then cut it into squares or diamonds by using a knife. When they are completly cooled down, store in a air tight container.

Pureed fruit for babies

At first I am a bit confused on what kind of food should I feed my baby. After some brousing on the internet for baby food recipes, I decided to make fresh fruit and vegetable purees. And the whole process of preparing her food like picking up fresh organic fruits and vegetables, cooking them and feeding my baby...it makes me happy. And my baby loves her food too..:)
Pears

Pears is rich in fiber. It helps as a remedy to a constipated baby.

Nutritional Content of 1 medium Pears:

VITAMINS:

Vitamin A - 38 IU
Vitamin C - 7 mg
Vitamin B1 (thiamine) - .2 mg
Vitamin B2 (riboflavin) - .25 mg
Niacin - .26 mg
Folate - 12 mcg

MINERALS:

Potassium - 198 mg
Phosphorus - 82.4 mg
Magnesium - 12 mg
Calcium - 15 mg
Sodium - 0 mg
Iron - .26 mg

(source of information: internet)

1. Cut the fruit in pieces and boil them in a pan with a little water until tender. Let it cool down and puree it to the desired consistency. Use any left over water in the process of pureeing. Serve lukewarm.

You need to boil fruits for babies under 8 months old.

APRICOTS



Apricots are a great source of nutrition for babies.

VITAMINS

Vitamin A - 674 IU
Vitamin C - 3.5 mg
Vitamin B1 (thiamine) - .04 mg
Vitamin B2 (riboflavin) - .01 mg
Niacin - .21 mg
Folate - 3 mcg

MINERALS:

Potassium - 91 mg
Phosphorus - 8 mg
Magnesium - 4 mg
Calcium - 5 mg
Sodium - 0 mg
Iron - .14 mg




Halve the fruit, remove the pit, steam it boiling water until tender. Remove skins and puree it. Serve warm.

You can also make apple, nectarines, peaches and many other fruit purees. I didnt get to take pictures of the other fruit purees as my baby will be hungry by the time her food is ready.


I bought the Baby Bullet for pureeing and milling grains. It is a great machine, but all those storage boxes are not that useful for me because i dont refrigirate purees, i make them fresh for my baby's every meal.

Brown Rice Cereal For Babies

After my baby's annaprasna in her 6th month, i started feeding her Brown rice cereal. I chose brown rice in making the cereal because it is a whole grain and is more nutrious than white rice. It is also rich in fiber.

The difference between brown rice and white rice is not just color! A whole grain of rice has several layers. Only the outermost layer, the hull, is removed to produce what we call brown rice. This process is the least damaging to the nutritional value of the rice and avoids the unnecessary loss of nutrients that occurs with further processing. If brown rice is further milled to remove the bran and most of the germ layer, the result is a whiter rice, but also a rice that has lost many more nutrients. At this point, however, the rice is still unpolished, and it takes polishing to produce the white rice we are used to seeing. Polishing removes the aleurone layer of the grain--a layer filled with health-supportive, essential fats. Because these fats, once exposed to air by the refining process, are highly susceptible to oxidation, this layer is removed to extend the shelf life of the product. The resulting white rice is simply a refined starch that is largely bereft of its original nutrients.Sally Fallon, Pg 25

You can find more information on brown rice here


Nutrients in Brown Rice (one cup, cooked)

Protein - 5.03g

VITAMINS

Vitamin B1 (thiamine) - .18 mg
Vitamin B2 (riboflavin) - .04 mg
Niacin - 2.9 mg
Folate - 8 mcg

Contains some other vitamins in small amounts.

MINERALS

Potassium - 84 mg
Phosphorus - 162 mg
Magnesium - 84 mg
Calcium - 20 mg
Sodium - 10 mg
Iron - .8 mg

Also contains small amounts of manganese, copper and zinc.

PREPARATION:

How to make rice flour:

1. Rinse 1 cup of brown rice and soak them in water for overnight. Next morning drain the water and spread the rice on a dry cotton cloth and let them dry completely.

2. Heat a pan and roast them to make sure that there is no moisture left in the rice.

3. Let them cool down and grind the roasted rice into fine powder. Use a sieve in the process to make a fine powder.



How to make rice cereal:

1. Mix 1 tbsp of rice flour in 2 tbsp of water and keep it aside.

2. Bring little amount of water to boil in a pan and add the above mixture to it. Allow it to boil for 5 minutes. Simmer it until it is well cooked. Make sure to check on the water level to avoid burning.

3. Once the rice flour is well cooked, mix it with formula milk and feed it to the baby luke warm.

I never get to take pictures of the cooked cereal, as my baby will be hungry by the time it is done...

Cut Mirchi

This is one of my favourite childhood snacks. My dad used to bring this for me on his way back from work from a mirchi bajji wala near our house. Sometimes when I am upset or feeling kind of low, my dad would bring this or Kurkure(Indian Cheetos) to cheer me up...:)

INGREDIENTS

10 Mirchi Bajjis
1 Onion (chopped)
1tbsp Corriander Powder
1 tbsp Cumin Powder
Chopped Cilantro.
1/2 Lime

PRECEDURE

1. Cut mirchi bajjis into 1 inch pieces. Heat oil in a pan and deep fry them until they get crispy. Transfer them onto a paper towel.

2. Take a mixing bowl, add fried mirchi bajji pieces, corriander powder, cumin powder, chopped cilantro and 1/2 a lime juice. Mix well and serve.