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.

Breakfast Fruit Bowl

It makes a great morning breakfast. Take any kind of fruit you like, chop them into small pieces. Mix them in a bowl, drizzle some honey over it. Mix well and enjoy...:)

Fruits that I used are

Grapes
Oranges
Cherries
Apple

And honey

It is a perfect healthy way to start your day.

Kalakand ( Contributed by Shilpi)

Shilpi is my cousin. She contributed her Kalakand recipes to this blog. It looks yummy!! We used to spend our summer holidays together in our grand parents house. Our grandma bought us few earthernware utensils for us to play with. I remember preparing sweet pongal in those clay pots and forcing everyone to taste it...:) Those were also the days I started learning to use sewing machine. Shilpi used to gather all the sarees(even new sarees) from our auntsand our mom's, I used to sew the ends of the sarees for my practice. And then Shilpi packs each saree in a newspaper and distribute them to their owners. We used to collect 2 rs for our work...hahaha. I cant stop laughing now by remembering all those fun days. Atlast our elders banned us from touching their sarees.

INGREDIENTS


Ricotta Cheese -150z


Condensed Milk - 14oz


MilkPowder - 1/2 cup


Almonds for garnishing


Unsalted Butter 4tb spoons.
Sugar - 1/4 cup (Add only if the milk powder is unsweetened)
Cardomons - 5

PROCEDURE

1. Take a microwave safe bowl add butter and microwave for 1 minute. Mix Ricotta Cheese, Condensed milk, Milkpowder, sugar and mix properly as shown in the below picture.


2. Microware for 9 minutes, stirring every 3 minutes. Add Elaichi powder and mix properly.



3.Take a plate and grease with little butter.Pour the mixture and spread.


4.Garnish with almonds. Let it cool down and cut in to square or dimond shaped pieces.

Mail Organizer with card board and fabric

I have been searching to buy a simple mail organizer in white color so that it can match with the other things in our living room. I couldnt find one which i am looking for. And i thought why not i make one with some card board and fabric. My husband got a white XXL T-shirt from his office with his office logo in the front. I used it in the process. Here is how to make it.




Take a card board cut it in a rectangle shape. Cut it in a way that one small side of the rectangle is pointed in shape. See the picture above. Cut the fabric and sew it to the entire card board by pulling it tight. Then to make 3 folders, take 3 fabric pieces of same length. Here i used the fabric from the lower part of the T-shirt. So that we can already have some finished look. First sew the top folder on the 3 sides, leaving open on the top. Sew the second folder from 1 inch on the bottom of the first folder. Sew the third folder from 1 inch on the bottom of the second folder. Take 4 inches of fabrric with 1 inch width to make a hanging loop. Sew it to the pointed edge of the finished organizer. I painted some nail polish here and there to add a bit of color to it. Hang it on a wall to a push pin. I hanged a pista shell flower on it. It gave a more attractive look to the mail organizer.

Mirchi Bajji

INGREDIENTS

2 cups Gram flour
1/2 tbsp Red chilli powder
1/4 tsp Baking soda
1/2 tbsp Cumin Seeds
Long Green Chillies
salt
Oil for deep fry

FILLING INGREDIENTS

2 Tbsp Sesame seeds
2 tbsp Corriander Seeds
2 tbsp Cumin seeds
1/2 Lime
Salt

PROCEDURE



1. Wash green chillies and dry them. Make a slit vertically to remove the seeds to reduce the heat of the chillies.

2. Roast all the filling ingredients seperately and grind them all the together, add half a lime juice and mix well. Stuff this mixture in the chillies.

3. Combine Gram flour, red chilli powder, baking soda, cumin seeds by using some water. Add some hot oil to it while mixing, it helps to get crispy bajjis. Make a medium thick batter consistency.


4. Heat oil in a pan. Dip the chillies into the batter and drop in the hot oil. Deep fry until you get golden brown color. Serve hot.

Wall decor with cardboard boxes and fabric

Recently while cleaning the house, i found a few cardboard boxes which occupied a lot space. We really dont need them anymore. So, I gathered them all and thought of doing something useful with them. I came up with the idea of wall decor with cardboard and fabric. I have some clothes which i no longer prefer to wear. So, i tore them up used in the process.

These pieces are made with shoe box, cereal box, diaper box, camera box etc.

MATERIALS REQUIRED

Cardboard boxes
Fabric
Cellophane tape
Stapler
Scissors

Using scissors,Cut the cardboard in a way that it has 2 inch sides on all the 4 sides. Use the tape to seal the edges. It should look just like a canvas. Cut the fabric an inch more than the cardboard. Pull the opposite edges tightly and staple them. Fold them nicely in the corners and staple the other 2 opposite edges. Ta da...ur wall art is ready.

Make a bunch of them in different sizes. Hang them on the wall by using push pins. It gives a colorful look to your room with no cost.

Vegetable Manchurian

Life is a bit busy with my baby. She wants me to entertain her all the day. She screams even if i leave the room. Now a days i get to cook only while she is sleeping or only when my husband takes care of her. I made this this veg manchurian a few weeks ago. It is a perfect dish for a relaxed evening in the weekends.

INGREDIENTS FOR VEGETABLE DUMPLINGS

Carrots
Cabbage
Celery
Cauliflower
Capsicum
Beans
Chopped Chilli
Chopped Garlic
Chopped spring Onion
Boiled Rice
Pepper powder
Soy Scuace
Chilli sauce
Ajnamoto
Corn Flour
Salt

MANCHURIAN SCUACE INGREDIENTS

Pepper powder
Soy Scuace
Chilli sauce
Ajnamoto
Corn Flour
Salt
Chopped Chilli
Chopped Garlic
Chopped spring Onion
Chopped Ginger
Sesame oil
Sweet and sour scuace
Pepper powder
Soy Scuace
Chilli sauce
Ajnamoto
Corn Flour
Salt

PROCEDURE


1. Blend all the vegeatbles coursely. BOil these vegetables with some water until they are almost done. Drain the vegetables. Squeeze them and save the water to make manchurian scuace. This water is called vegetable stock.



2. Add all the remaining ingredients to the cooked vegetables and mix it well and make small dumplings. Deep fry them until golden brown colour. Keep them aside.


3. Heat Oil in a pan, add chopped garlic, ginger, onion and Chilli. Fry for a minute. Then add pepper powder, soy scuace, chilli scuace, sweet and sour scuace, ajnamoto and salt.
Add the vegetable stock and mix well.

4. Now,mix corn flour with some water to make a thin liquid. Add this to the pan to thicken the scuace. Let it boil for 2 minutes.


5. Add the fried vegetable dumplings to the boiling scuace. Switch off the heat. Serve hot.

Wall art with Onion bag netting

This Wall decor with Onion bag netting is my mom's idea. Just cut some flowers and leaves and use a glue stick and some push pins to make your wall art.

Crochet Baby Poncho with a matching hat

Youtube is such a great help with all the videos for crocheting. Especially for beginners like me. One can easily follow some videos and make beautiful things which gives us a lot of happiness. We made a poncho for my baby. Its a big size for her but she will soon grow up and wear the poncho made by her mom and grandmom.