Baby Food

EGGS ---------- Incredible Protein

2011-04-05T13:16:00.004-07:00

EGGS : I have known they are 2 types of people either they love eggs or they hate them never found any who say they are okk. AS they advertise its indeed incredible protein. I personally love eggs and so does my husband so we always have them in stock.

I love to make eggs for my kids too becoz Eggs are a ubiquitous part of breakfast and provide the highest-quality protein, versatility and convenience. Its easy to make a very low cost way to introduce them to the high quality protein. Just look at the Nutrient Content of a Large Egg and you will now how gud it is

the full chart is at
http://www.incredibleegg.org/health-and-nutrition/egg-nutrients/nutrient-chart

When can I start EGG :

This is the biggest argument that comes when i say egg to every one. White first or yoke first. When I started baby food for my son ( who is 3 now) they said that you have to give yoke as white can cause allergy now when i started it for my daughter my doctor allowed me to give her both at the age of
6 months and said that the latest research shows that you can give it to kids at small as 6 months both white and the yoke.

The best way to start egg is scrambled egg.

Scrambled egg:

you need:

Egg
milk
salt and pepper ( optional)

method :

In a pan heat some butter or ghee

beat egg and milk together and keep aside

when it is hot add in the mixture and keep mixing till they scramble and are nicely cooked .
remove off heat and mix in salt and pepper and serve.

Boiled EGG:

You need:

egg
water for boiling
salt and pepper (optional)
2tbsps milk

method :

boil the egg completely till hard. ( the eggs will spin if it is completely cooked from inside )
remove the shell and grate it on to the grater and add in salt and pepper if you like and milk for some consistency. it is ready for feeding your kids

http://indianbabyfood.blogspot.com/2008/04/baby-omelet.html#comments

French toast

2011-04-05T13:16:00.003-07:00

In my egg series this is the easy breakfast for the kids. easy to make and I guess every kids will love it.

You need :

2 slices of brown bread.
1 egg
2-3 tbsp milk
2 tsp sugar
cinnamon or cardamom powder as per choice .
ghee /butter

Method : Beat the egg with milk and sugar nicely till the suger mixes nicely with the egg.

Add in the cinnamon / cardamom (elichi) powder.

heat a pan with ghee or butter.

Dip the brown bread in the egg and toast on both sides. I preffer brown bread but you can use any bread you like. they are gud to eat.
Here are some of my creative ideas for serving them to fussy kids who do not like to eat it or if you want to serve them with fruits.

You can just serve them with fruits with them
or just cube up the bread after you toast them and skew them on to the kabob skewers alternating them with fruits of your choice.
spread cream cheese or jam inside and add in some fruits between 2 breads and then dip them in to the egg and toast.
Use cookie cutters to cut bread into different shapes or just cut triangles or rectangles and serve. Any fussy kids would love to eat it if the presentation is gud.

Anda paratha !!!

2011-04-05T13:16:00.001-07:00

This is the lovely recipe that I recently learned and my son loves it.
you need:

1-2 eggs
2tbsp cheese
salt
pepper
flour to make rotis.
Method:

Beat the eggs in a bowl and add in salt and pepper and cheese and keep aside. You can also make it more nutritious by adding in veggies or adding some cold cut meats too.

Mix the flour for the rotis as normal and set aside for atleast 15 mins.

roll out the rotis and apply the oil and fold them into a triangle or square and then roll them out again.

heat a tava and start to cook the paratha once you have cooked on one side then turn it bubbles start forming on the paratha and then separate the paratha and then pour in the egg mixture into it and close it and apply some ghee or oil on top of the paratha to cook. The egg cooks inside the paratha.

I learned this recipe from a you tube video adding in the link here so that you can understand it easily.

My Daughters schedule

2011-03-28T10:24:00.000-07:00

This is one thing that most of us keep thinking how to manage my child schedule, I am no expert in it as well as I also used to wonder how to manage it. The first thing I started doing was asking moms around and my friends how do they manage their time with their kids and try to get the best of them into my schedule ( this is the far best trick that worked for me and my son the elder one ) the second i did was read blog and forums for more details on how I can manage more time with them ( this is what actually inspired me to do what I am doing now :D ). Being a mom of two and the experience I have gained with it I have varied the schedule from time to time with the kids and my convenience ofcoz to put it in words for other to understand i would actually divide them into age groups that would help us. this is mostly the food schedule of my kids they are both a lil different for both my kids so i would just put in the general one that for food.

Newborn to 4 months breastfeed (BF)every 2 hours.

4-6 months: both my kids are late risers they get up around 8am-9am .

6 am : BF

8am : or the time they get up normally after my last breastfeed she gets up in 2 hrs her internal clock ticks i guess.

8:15/8:30 : between this time i make sure i give her breakfast that is ragi porridge or any other porridge .

she plays and then goes to sleep by 9:30 - 10 after I BF her.

12 noon : lunch would be any veggie puree with rice porridge, dal rice

2 pm : BF and put to sleep again

4 pm : I feed her some fruit puree/ or fruit yogurt/ if its cold then soups.

6 pm : dinner would be again some veggie pure with rice porridge

8 pm : BF and sleep

As she grew older I only changed the menu items. I made her lunch more of Dal rice and curd rice with veggies cooked with lil oil spices. Introducing them to blander Indian stuff. I pretty much give her all this till she turned one.

1yr and above: This is when I started to completely wean her from my breast and start her on the whole milk. They start geting out of their comfort zone. It took longer for me to put her to sleep. she got more active and more energetic.

8 am : 5-8 oz milk

10 am : ragi or kanji porridge ( with fruits and milk if sweet or milk and salt)

12 noon: lunch time dal and rice or any thing I think I can feed her with less spices with rice

3:30 pm : milk shake or plan milk

5:00 pm : juice / , soup

7:00 pm : dinner that would be more of porridge initially but as she grows will change it.

8 :00 pm sleep

Back to the blogging world....

2010-09-22T23:19:00.000-07:00

had been soo busy for so long that could not blog at all so I am starting again now. As i am making food for my daughter now i can surely hope to upload my recipes with photos and also update my old recipes with new pics as I will have to relook and learn them all over again to make for her.

Soyabean Dosa

2009-05-01T23:06:00.001-07:00

Ingredients:

Soyabean-soaked in water for 8 hours,
followed by sprouting which increases their vitamin E content.
Ginger
jeera
Salt
Chillies (optional)
Rice Flour-1-2 tsp,

Method :

1. Grind the soyabeans in a grinder, with ginger, jeera, salt and chillies to taste.
2. Add water till the consistency is of idli-atta.
3. Heat the coated pan. Pour soyamixture on the hot pan, about 2 large spoonful. Spread with a spoon. Cover. Cook for 2 min, on medium heat.
4. Invert and cook other side, without cover.

Additions: Adding Onions, Tomatoes, Grated Carrots, Grated Raddish, Cumin seeds make the dosa more delicious. Oil can be sprayed on pan while cooking, but is not a must.

SPINACH DOSA

2009-05-01T23:05:00.000-07:00

Ingredients

Par-boiled rice: 1 1/2 cups
Chana dal, Tuvar dal, Moong dal and Urad dal (combined) : 1 cup
Curry leaves: 5
Jeera 1tsp
Dry red chillies: As per taste(optional can be made without them too)
Spinach : 1/2 cup, chopped
Onion: 1/4 cup, finely chopped
Salt: to taste

Method:
Soak rice and dals seperately for 4 hours. Grind rice and spinach and make a smooth batter. Coarse grind the dals along with curry leaves, jeera and dry red chillies. Mix dals, finely chopped onion to the rice batter. Then make dosas (pan cakes) out of it.

Soups .........

2009-04-25T14:50:00.000-07:00

Soup is an easy and delicious way to combine healthful ingredients such as whole grains, vegetables, and protein choices. Its super easy to make and very less time taking . It makes the whole process of cooking food for your baby enjoyable and easy and not to forget full of wholesome ingredients.

You can me a broth and freeze so that you can use it later. The broth by itself is a clear soup and can be given by themselfs.

Vegetable broth:

3 cloves of garlic; pealed and smashed
2 celery ribs chopped
fresh sliced mushrooms
1 cup carrot chopped
2 cups leeks
2 large potato cubed
10 springs of parsley
2tbsp of rosemary, dill or thyme
1 bay leaf
10 black pepper corn
1 large onion cut in big slice
water
1/4 tsp ground clove

Method:
Rinse and put all the above in a pressure cooker with water and cook them for 20 mins. After it cools remove and strain them ... use into any soup.

you can use the carrot and potato in other dishes

Palak soup

2009-04-22T13:31:00.000-07:00

Ingredients:

1 cup of palak,
1/2 potato
1/2 onion
1 clove of garlic
salt to taste
half tsp butter
pepper little
1 tsp cream for garnish

Method:

wash and cut the palak, potato and onion into small pieces and pressure cook them with some salt and water and garlic for 2-3 whistles. After it cools blend them and let it boil with some butter and pepper for 5 mins. The spinach soup is ready.. serve it with some cream on top of it.

the potato in the recipe helps the soup to get thick. You can serve this with a toast of brown bread or rice.

Mixed Vegetable soup

2009-04-22T13:20:00.000-07:00

Ingredients:

Half carrot
1 potato
1 Onion
3-4 pods of garlic
1 tomato
1 small size floret of clauliflower
small piece cabbage
small piece of lauki(bottle gourd)
few leaves of palak
salt to taste
half tsp butter
pinch of black pepper

Method:
Cut all vegetables in small pieces. Put them in pressure cooker along with salt and water (water level -so much that all vegetables are soaked) Pressure cook for 3-4 whistles. Allow to cool put the content in the blender along with water and make a puree.Let the puree boil in an open vessel(u may add water if u feel the soup is thick) once boiled, check for salt, if needed add more along with butter and black pepper.

the soup above is a very good option for the bigger children as they fail to eat vegetables normally even half a cup of this soup would be great for the child's nutrition. It is not always neccessary that all the above vegetables should be there you can add or substract any veggiee ...
you can add any number of vegetables to this soup.

PEA'S SOUP

2009-04-22T13:15:00.000-07:00

Ingredients:

500 gm shelled peas or you can use frozen ones
1 onion finely chopped
2.5 cup vegetable or chicken stock
1 tbsp olive oil
2 tsp fresh creamsalt
and pepper to taste

Method: Heat some ghee in a pan then add the onion and saute till pink. Then add the peas and saute or a further 5 minutes. Add seasoning and vegetable stock. Boil and simmer till the peas are cooked. Puree in a grinderor if your kid is a little older you can just mash it with a laddle and serve. Serve hot topped with fresh cream.

Fruits and oats porridge

2009-01-07T13:15:00.000-08:00

you will need :-

2 tbsp of rolled oats
150 ml milk
1 banana
1 apple
1tsp honey/ jaggary

method:-

cook 2 tbsp of rolled oats in150 ml milk in a microwavepeel n core an apple and microwave it on high for 1 minchop 1 banana ann add to the cooked oats along with the cooked apple
mix it and make it to a smooth paste according to your childs need ( as per age) adjust consistency by adding more milk according to the child's needadd 1tsp honey to sweeten or jaggary

Finger Foods

2009-01-05T12:25:00.000-08:00

Finger foods are any small size food bites that your baby can pick and eat by themselves.

This is one thing that we keep thinking about giving our kids and keep thinking when to start. Finger foods can be started as early as they can hold any thing in their hand and can eat. That would be around 7 to 9 months. Initially to start with you can start with
1> Murmura Or What You Can Say Puffed Rice.
2> Parle G Biscuits or marie biscuits Broken Into Small Pieces

I prefer to start with puffed rice because they get mushy in their mouth immediately when they put in their mouth and can’t chock them.

As they master to eat then we can try lot more stuff like
1> Potato cut into fingers and baked or boiled
2> Boiled carrots, green beans , sweet potatos
3> Toasted brown bread with cheese
4> Small cut fruits like apple banana
5> Roti cut into small pieces
6> Soup sticks , Rusk or toast which we eat with tea
7> Small cut pieces of paneer/tofu and cheese
8> Nicely boiled pastas.. they come in nice different shapes

Health mix

2008-12-16T13:54:00.000-08:00

Kanji / health mix … it’s a mixed grain porridge high in nutrition for your kids .. it can be started as early as 8 months and be given to older kids or even adults. Its called a health mix as it has all the essential components for good health and overall child development.
The different porridges I have in my blog are
http://indianbabyfood.blogspot.com/search/label/Porridge

I already have a kanji mix recipe in the blog
http://indianbabyfood.blogspot.com/2008/02/kanji-mix.html#links
but this one has more added ingredients
Both of them are good and can be given at different stages of child development. If you are in the USA you can get most of the ingredients in whole foods or sprouts where you get bulk grains and you can buy in little quantities. As we are using lot of ingredients we need only need 100 gms each.

1. Ragi … you can use ragi powder if you don’t get the whole ragi
2. Bajra
3. Maize
4. Jowar
5. Wheat
6. Fried gram
7. Brown rice.. I preffer brown rice you can use the normal ones
8. Green gram
9. Soya beans
10. corn

all in equal quantities say 100 gms then the below items you need in less quanties say 50gms
11. Sago
12. Barley
13. almond / badam
14. pistachios
15. cashew / kaju
16. peanuts
17. cardamom for flavor just a few. Its optional and can be avoided.
Dry fry the above all the items and grind them fine and store it in an air tight container.

sweet Kanji

Take 1 Spoon Of This Powder And Add 1 - Cup Of Boiled And Cooled Water To It. Dissolve It Without any Lumps . Keep This On The Stove And Stir Continusly Till U Get A Shining Coat On Top it Will Become Pasty Add Sugar And Milk To It . Cool To Room Temp And Feed Ur Baby.

Salt Kanji

Do The Same Procedure Instead Of Sugar And Milk U Can Add Salt And Curds And Feed Ur Baby. you Can Make The Consistancy Thick And Feed The Baby In A Spoon (Will Last For 3 - 4 Hrs

Daliya ... Broken Wheat!!!

2008-10-24T22:42:00.001-07:00

For most of us who wonder what daliya is and can we give it to our kids/babies must know that daliya is nothing but broken wheat or the rava form of wheat .
it is high source of energy and a easy dinner for kids/babies.
Wheat can be introduced to babies as early as 6 months but better consult your docter. My doctor was always fine me giving any thing for my son from 6 month only to make sure he does not chock himself. I give this as a dinner for my son and he loves eating it. Making food enjoyable is the key aim as they get fussy after they normally turn one and start getting a fussy eater.

Sweet Daliya Pongal

2008-10-24T22:28:00.000-07:00

You will need :

½ cup of daliya
2tbsp if ghee
Jaggery
water

Method :-
Take around 1/2 cup of daliya roast well in around 2tbsp of ghee on a slow flame in a pressure cooker. Till you get a nice aroma. Add jaggery to it around same quantity or as per taste your kid takes. Let it melt. Add 3-4 cups of water and cover the cooker and cook for at least 2 whistles on fast and 2 on slow flame. Open once cool it should be like smooth and shiny formation. You can either serve this like this only or with milk it is great source of energy and kids who love sweet simply love this.

Veggie Daliya

2008-10-24T22:18:00.000-07:00

To make you need:-

Veggies ...French Beans, Onions, Tomatoes, carrots, spinach, potatoes, Gourds, tomatoes ...etc...All Grated
2tbsp Daliya
green gram dal soaked or normal moong dal
1/2 Tbsp- Ghee
1 Tsp - Chili Powder(Optional)
1 Tbsp - Cumin Seeds
Salt To Taste

Method:-
Take half spoon of ghee in a cooker,Add cumin seeds after it spluters now add daliya(dont wash daliya) to it and roast it for one minute,when it starts changing color,add washed dal,and vegetables to it,and add 4 times water the amount of daliya+dal to it,add pinch salt .cook on sim flame in cooker for 6-7 minutes and here is nutritious and tasty daliya ready.....

Precautions For Winters and Healthy Eating.

2008-09-12T13:21:00.000-07:00

Winter is here and the nice weather also gets lot of things other than festivals with it. Our children are more likely to get cold, cough, flu, viral with the change in weather. We need to take special care of them as their immune system is not yet built totally. So I guess we need to take care of lot more things like clothes, food, ready medicines and home remedies.

Clothes:-

• Make them wear many layers of clothes. Multiple layers of thin clothes are much more effective then a single layer of thick clothes. Multiple layers help keep the body heat insulated, and protect them from outside cold.

• Make sure that you cover their three vital heat leaking parts of the body: the head, the hands and the feet. let them wear a warm woolen caps at all the times ( I know they are fussy about it but we have to make them wear) . socks, preferably woolen, and never expose the hands. If you are going out, make sure that they wear gloves, or at least keep your hands inside the jacket packets to help them keep warm

Medicines:-

Take a Doctor appointment for flu shots. Make sure you have the kids medical boxes full with the medicines they use as prescribed by the Pediatrician. I always prefer them in a box handy near the bed so that it is accessible any time you think you need it. NEVER USE ANY MEDICATION WITHOUT THE DOCTORS CONSENT.

Healthy laddu

2008-09-12T13:07:00.000-07:00

Winter is here and this is a very good way to start for our kids to have a great immunity towards the cold and can be given any time. But this should be taken with a glass of milk. I used to eat this daily as a kid and loved it. This was kinda bribe for me to have the glass of milk as I used to hate drinking it. So for fussy moms this is my moms trick to give me milk. Another thing I remember eating as a kid is soaked almonds overnight and drinking the water first in the morning after you brush and eat the almonds they help in regulating the body temperature.

Healthy laddu ... healthy snack..
3 spoons of ragi flour
2 spoons of whole wheat flour
1 tps of olive oil ( good for health when eaten raw)
2 tps each of cashew nut powder, almond powder and
4 tbps groundnut powder
3tps of cornflakes and oats powder
3 tps spoons of roasted moong dal powder
2 tps of pure ghee

grated or crushed jaggery as per your sweet taste please try to put jaggery then sugar as jaggery is good for health.
you can also add some more things as you feel like raisins, small small pieces of dry dates, some more dry fruits powder. All this should be fine powder so as children should not find lumps while eating it. Mix it well and you can roll them into small laddoos and not big ones so that the children will hold them in their hands. if they are not consistent to be rolled in laddoos add more ghee and jaggery . they will form into laddoos. and give 1 in morning and 1 in evening for healthy n nutritious snacks.

Ragi Idly

2008-09-12T12:57:00.000-07:00

You will need:-

Whole Ragi Grain- 1 cup
Idli rice (parboiled) – 1 cup
Whole skinned Urad dal – ¾ cup
Methi seeds -1 tablespoon
Salt to taste
Oil- to grease idli moulds

washes soak the ragi for 3-4 hours (longer than you soak the rice) Soak the rice, urad dal and methi seeds in separately 4-6 hours or overnight.
In a mixie /blender, grind the urad dal till light and fluffy.
A test for fluffiness is to keep a bowl ofwater and drop a tiny pinch of batter. If it floats, it is light enough.
Then add and grind the Ragi grains and Methi and finally the rice.
The rice should not be ground too smooth. It should be of Rava consistency. Alternatively, you can use rice Rava instead.
Take the batter in a vessel, add in some salt to taste and leave it to ferment. Next morning, lightly stir the well-fermented batter.
Grease Idli moulds and steam in a pressure cooker for 12-15 minutes till done.

OATS... AND ITS GOODNESS...

2008-08-20T12:00:00.000-07:00

Oats are a supergrain – they have all the goodness of other wholegrains plus extra benefits.
Oats are the only wholegrain recognised to actively lower cholesterol
Oats provide soluble fibre (called beta glucan) which acts like a sponge during digestion, soaking up and removing cholesterol from the body. This can help to lower the blood cholestrerol, so eating a diet containing oats, as part of a diet low in saturated fat and a healthy lifestyle, can help to maintain a healthy heart.
Oats are one of the most filling grains
The beneficial combination of soluble and insoluble fibre found in oats helps to fill you up and helps to keep you going.

source: http://www.quaker.co.uk/Benefits.aspx

To read more about oats http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oat

With so many goodness of oats . It makes a very good first food for babies. Oats porridge is the best first food to start with for babies other than rice cereals. Here are some of the recipes of oats which will surely help you moms for some fussy kids for some healthy and tasty evening snacks or morning breakfasts. My kido and me both like these recipes especially the oats uthapam we love it at our place and all of us have it.

Oats Upama

2008-08-20T09:35:00.000-07:00

Ingredients for Cooking
500 gm instant oats
3 cm piece ginger minced
3 tsp ghee curry leaves
2 tbsp sesame oil
41/2 cups water
1 tsp urad dall
13/4 tsp salt
2 tsp channa dall
a pinch of asafetida
1 tsp mustard seeds
3 green chillies sliced
2 dried chillies
1 onion sliced
Method:
1. Heat ghee in pan and dry roast oats till fragrant. Keep aside.
2. Heat oil. Add mustard seeds, urad dall,channa dall and dried chillies. 3. When dall has turned golden brown add sliced onions, ginger and curry leaves.
4. Saute onions till limp.Add water salt asafoetida and green chillies
5. When water is boiling add oats a little to prevent lumping. 6. Keep stirring uppuma till water is absorbed and the oats are thoroughly cooked.
7. Serve hot with coconut chutney.
in a kadai tamper some rai,urudh dhal and mix all the veggie and oats .. add little ghee and salt to taste..

Oats Soup

2008-08-20T08:56:00.000-07:00

you need :
oil or butter 1 tsp
oats 1 cup
finely chopped onion 1/2 cup
green chillies slit 1 (or you can avoid if your kid does not have chilli)
cilantro leaves finelychopped 1/2 tsp
veggies as per choice grated 1cup
milk 1 cup
water 1 cup
salt to taste
pepper powder to taste
corn flour 1 spoon

Method:
In a pan add oil and fry the onions and green chilies then add in the veggies cook for a min.
Then add in the oats and fry for 1-2 mins and water and cook for 3 mins. Mix the corn flour with ½ a cup of milk and add to the pan and cook till it thickens and then add the remaining milk.
Garnish with coriander leaves and salt and pepper to taste and serve.

Oats Pancakes

2008-08-20T08:43:00.000-07:00

Pancakes
1-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup Oats (quick or old fashioned, uncooked)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt (optional as per the stir ins)
1-1/4 cups fat-free milk
1 egg, lightly beaten (optional)
1 tablespoon vegetable oil

Stir-ins (optional)
· 1 medium-size ripe banana, mashed, and pinch of ground nutmeg
· 1 cup of pureed strawberries
· 3/4 cup finely chopped apple, 1/4 cup chopped nuts and 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
· 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
· Or to make it uthapam style you can also add finely chopped onions tomatoes and grated carrot
· Or make it your style uthapam

Method
In large bowl, combine flour, oats, baking powder and salt; mix well. In medium bowl, combine milk, egg and oil; blend well. Add to dry ingredients all at once; stir just until dry ingredients are moistened. (Do not overmix) Add one of the stir-in options, if desired; mix gently.
Heat a tava over medium-high heat. Lightly grease the tava. For each pancake, pour 1/4 cup batter into hot tava. Turn when tops are covered with bubbles and edges look cooked. Turn only once.

Oats Paratha

2008-08-20T08:41:00.000-07:00

Ingredients:

Old Fashioned Oats -- 1 cup ( grounded into a fine powder)
Wheat Flour -- 2 cups
Onion -- 1 medium finely chopped
Carrot -- 1/2 cup grated
Spinach -- 1/2 cup
finely chopped Mint -- 2 tbsp
finely chopped Cilantro -- 2 tbsp
Salt to taste
Turmeric powder -- 1/4 tsp
Coriander powder -- 1 tsp
Jeera powder -- 1 tsp
Amchur powder -- 1 tsp

optional for kids: Garam masala -- 1/2 tsp
Ginger -- 2 tsp grated
Chillies powder -- 1 tsp
Oil/ ghee -- few tbsp

Method:

Mix all the above ingredients to a stiff dough without water. Add little milk if needed. ( adding milk makes the paratha's softer).. Divide the dough into 8 ball and roll out..Cook on a griddle until golden brown on both sides sing ghee or oil..Serve hot with curd.

for babies from 4 months you can give oats porridge. not repeating the recipe again

http://indianbabyfood.blogspot.com/2008/02/oats-porridge.html#links

Yogurt

2008-07-23T14:52:00.000-07:00

One thing which we forget to give our babies which is very good for us as well as kids is yogurt.. It is really high in calcium and a good source of healthy fat to the kids. Though it is told that we have to avoid cow milk for babies up to one year yogurt and cheese are exceptions and can be given in large amounts to the babies as they are easily digested by babies.
Yogurt…
Even though you get many brand of baby yogurt in the market I still prefer the home made one. I make it at home and my son loves it. I add fruit puree to it or even veggies at time and trust me they love it though it may seem yak to us adding veggies to yogurt. My best combinations are adding apple sauce or peach puree with yogurt or you can just make a smoothie with them like adding banana or avocado with yogurt and mixing them off in a blender this makes a great evening snack for your babies.

Yogurt recipe!!

Though its dumb of me to put in a recipe like for yogurt which is made every day at our homes but for kids I like to make it a little special.
I use one cup of full fat milk and 2 tbsp of cream and warm the milk and and add lil curd and let it set for the night.

You can add any fruit or veggie to the yogurt but remember you need to steam the veggies and make puree. For fruits most of them u need to steam like apple, pear, peach though avocadoes and banana’s don’t need to be cooked ever. (citrus fruits not till 9-10 months).

Fruit Facts

2008-06-20T11:29:00.000-07:00

In my series of the topic of fruits I would like to discuss about One fruit which Indians don’t eat but very good for babies is Avocado’s
This fruit is full of nutrition. Avocados are high in fat or to say healthy fat and many health promoting properties. A good source of vitamin K, dietary fiber, vitamin B6, vitamin C, foliate, copper, and contain more potassium than a medium banana- 877 grams of potassium in one avocado vs 470 grams in a banana. And much less sugar

For most of us who want to know more about the fruit

Here are the nutrition facts
Serving Size 1 cup, pureed (230g)

Amount per serving
Calories 384 Calories from Fat 319

Total Fat 35g 54%
Saturated Fat 5g 25%
Polyunsaturated Fat 4g
Monounsaturated Fat 23g
Cholesterol 0mg 0%
Sodium 18mg 1%
Total Carbohydrates 20g 7%
Dietary Fiber 16g
Sugars 1g
Protein 5g

Vitamin A 7% Vitamin C 34%
Calcium 3% Iron 8%
Thiamin 12% Riboflavin 19%
Niacin 22% Pantothenic Acid 34%
Vitamin B6 33% Potassium 33%
Phosphorus 12% Magnesium 17%
Zinc 10% Copper 20%

To read more about it please check

http://www.peertrainer.com/DFcaloriecounterB.aspx?id=2022

Avocadoes

2008-06-20T11:27:00.000-07:00

Avocadoes can be started as early as 4 months (please consult your docter for the age.. As the recommended age to start solids is 6 months).
The best part of giving avocadoes is that it saves your time it need not be cooked at all. My best recipes of avocados is the Avocado smoothie. My kiddo loves this one.

Avocado smoothie

Avocados
Yogurt
Jaggary

Cut and depit the avocadoes and then add yogurt and the jaggary to it and blend them together.

Avocado-Banana

Avocado
Ripe banana

Cut and mash both banana and avocado together. You can add cereals to it. Or is a best evening snack.

Fruits ...

2008-06-05T12:11:00.000-07:00

Fruits can be a great source of nutrition for you babies.
We normally introduce fruit to our babies in from of juices which I say is not a good start for the infants... As in juices you remove all the gudness and feed only the sugar so the best way to feed your baby with fruits is by pureeing it and then giving.
You can start giving fruits to your babies from the age of 4 months ( please check with your pediatrics ). To start with you can start with apple sauce, mashed banana, mashed mangoes if in season … almost all fruits can be taken with out cooking for babies but a few like apple pear bearries need to be cooked before you serve them to your babies. you cn find a lot of recipes of fruies in the blog here is one which my baby loves....

Apple sauce:

½ cup water
2-3 medium size apples(pealed, deseeded and diced )
pinch of cinnamon powder

Method:

mix all the ingredient and oil in a large sauce pan till the apples are nicely cooked.
Remove it after cooling puree it and serve to the baby hot or cold as they like.

Can be frozen and stored in the fridge.

SPROUTS kichidi

2008-04-15T14:58:00.001-07:00

Ingredients
2 tablespoons rice, washed
2 tablespoons sprouts (moong or matki)
1 teaspoon onion, chopped
1 small clove garlic, chopped
1/4 teaspoon cumin seeds (jeera)
1/2 teaspoon ghee
a pinch asafoetida (hing)
salt to taste

Method
1. Heat the ghee in a pan and add the cumin seeds. When they crackle,
add the asafoetida and garlic and sauté for a few seconds.
2. Add the chopped onion and salt and sauté again for 2 to 3 minutes.
3. Add the rice, sprouts and 3/4 cup of water and pressure cook for
3 whistles.
4. Coarsely mash the khichdi and serve lukewarm with fresh curds or raita

BABY OMELET

2008-04-15T14:52:00.000-07:00

2 Egg Yolks
Milk or Formula
Puréed Chunky Veggies
Cheese

METHOD:-Prepare a small frying pan with a pat of butter or ghee and heat

Beat Egg Yolks & Milk or Formula in bowl

Pour Egg mixture into heated pan

Scramble Egg mixture until almost cooked and add Veggies

Cook until Egg mixture is no longer runny

Add small bits of shredded cheese (Swiss, American, Cheddar or Parmesan)

Scramble again when cheese has melted .

Teething Biscuits

2008-02-15T10:13:00.000-08:00

Ingredients
1 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 cup jaggery grated,
1 teaspoon poppy seeds,
1/4 teaspoon cardamom powder
1 teaspoon desiccated coconut (optional)
5 tablespoons ghee, melted

Method
1. Sprinkle the poppy seeds on a greased round plate. Keep aside.
2. Melt the ghee in a frying pan and add the wheat flour, stirring continuously till it turns golden brown in colour.
3. Remove from the flame and add the jaggery, cardamom powder and coconut. Stir well.
4. When the jaggery melts and the mixture is still warm, pour it into the greased plate with poppy seeds and spread it evenly.
5. Cut into diamond shapes while still warm.
6. Store in an air-tight container when cool.

APPLE PORRIDGE

2008-02-15T10:01:00.000-08:00

Ingredients
3 tablespoons quick cooking rolled oats
1/2 cup milk
1 tablespoon jaggery,
grated1/4 apple,
1 teaspoon butter

Method
1. Heat the butter in a pressure cooker and saute the oats for 2 minutes.
2. Add the milk and 1/2 cup of water and pressure cook for 2 whistles.
3. Add the jaggery and apple pieces while the porridge is hot and mix well, using a whisk. Serve lukewarm.

Ragi / Raagi Porridge

2008-02-15T09:03:00.000-08:00

Ingredients;-

Ragi
Ghee
Jaggery
Milk

Method:-
You can soak it for 12 hours, then drain and put it in a cloth. Keep it moist so that it gets sprouts. This will take another 12 hours. Then dry roast it or dry in the shade in a hot place. Then powder it finely, sieve well.

If you get fine quality powder, that is best.
Take 2 or 3 spoons of powder, add water and make a smooth, watery paste. Then keep over slow flame and keep on stirring. This will start to cook and solidify. The color will change, you will know. A nice aroma will come. Take off from fire. Add a little ghee, jaggary taste. If you are feeding him semi solids you can add milk to it. Feed when warm to the baby. You can add a little boliled and mashed potato, carrot and other veggies the same way or with a little salt instead of jaggery

Dates walnut halwa

2008-02-15T08:14:00.000-08:00

Dates 3 cups

walnut 1 cup(1/2 plus 1/2)

ghee 2 tsp

milk 2 to 3 cups

Boil milk well and keep in sim for 30 mts so that it will reduce a bit which is enough.

Either you can grind the entire amt of nuts with dates or grind dates with one portion of nuts. Rest of the nuts, grind and keep aside to sprinkle finally.

Now, take the milk, add ghee, ground mixture and keep in cooker for a whistle and sim fire for 20 to 25 mts so that the milk color and flavor will change like we put some condensed milk. Switch off the fire and when it is cold, add the remaining ground nuts and stir for a min on the stove, switch off. The consistency should be thick like halwa.

No sugar or extra ghee and hence, the elders too can take it a tsp everyday as dates is rich in iron and walnut, read that it will help to fight disease and promote health. Not only that, was told that it helps to reduce bad cholesterol and to decrease blood inflammation.

You can substitute almond too in the place of walnut as badham too has very good properties.

Since it has nuts, better start from 1 to 1 1/2 yrs

BARLEY WATER

2008-02-15T07:10:00.000-08:00

Barley is a protein rich cereal and is very good for your baby when weaning begins. Flavour the barley water with jaggery which is a rich source of iron. Also squeeze some lemon juice into it to provide the much needed vitamin C that protects your baby from coughs and colds.

Ingredients

1 tablespoon barley
2 tablespoons jaggery grated
1 tablespoon lemon juice

Method

1. Pressure cook the barley with 2 cups of water and the jaggery.
2. Wash, cool and liquidise it in a blender.
3. Strain and allow to cool completely.
4. Add the lemon juice.
Mix well and serve lukewarm.

Oats Porridge

2008-02-13T11:26:00.000-08:00

2 heaped tbsps of Oats
2 badam pieces and
1 cashew piece ground to smooth paste (Note : These Nuts Only for 1 yr plus)
1 cup milk1 spoon sugar or
2 spoons honey (Please dont use honey for 1 yr below babies)

Cook the oats in low flame in milk for 4 minutes & when the milk is heated put the finely ground smooth paste of the nuts & sugar or honey and let it be in the low flame for 1 more minute.Let it cool to room temperature.
Ready to feed !

For those using formula milk :

You can cook the oats in water & then once 4 minutes cooking is over , you can add the nuts paste , flavouring sugar & the formula milk and switch off. After it comes down to room temperature its ready to feed.This oatmeal is very tasty and healthy not only for babies , but for elders too. Its very rich in fibre content also.

The oats porridge recipe, you can mix cooked mashed apple, pureed/mashed banana pieces also while feeding the kid. It gives variety tasty flavour to break the monotonous taste everytime.

Sweet potato kheer

2008-02-13T11:14:00.000-08:00

Ingredients:

Sweat potato
Jaggery
Elaichi Powder
Milk
Ghee

Preparation:-

- Peel sweet potato-cook in pressure cooker
- add jaggery and mash them- add elaichi
-while serving add milk till it becomes a paste.
-add ghee if you want.

Kanji Mix

2008-02-13T10:31:00.000-08:00

Ingredients:

Fried Gram - 3 Cups
Boiled Rice - 1 Cup
Wheat - 1 Cup
Raagi / ragi - 1 Cup
Sabudhana - 1/2 Cup
Cashew Nuts - 15- 20
Badam - 15- 20

Dry Roast All The Above Seperately In A Kadai Till U Get The Smell . Let It Cool Down To Room Temp And Grind It Ito Fine Powder( Or Use Mixie And Seive It ) U Can Store This Powder For 2 - 3 Months Also

sweet Kanji

Take 1 Spoon Of This Powder And Add 1 - Cup Of Boiled And Cooled Water To It. Dissolve It Without Sny Lumps . Keep This On The Stove And Stir Continusly Till U Get A Shining Coat On Top it Will Become Pasty Add Sugar And Milk To It . Cool To Room Temp And Feed Ur Baby

Salt Kanji

Do The Same Procedure Instead Of Sugar And Milk U Can Add Salt And Curds And Feed Ur Baby.U Can Make The Consistancy Thick And Feed The Baby In A Spoon (Will Last For 3 - 4 Hrs) Or Add More Milk And Put It In A Feeder (Will Last For 2- 3 Hrs) When The Baby Is > 1 Yr U Can Start Adding Grouind Nutsgreen Gram Etc.. To The Mix.

Veg - Dal soup

2008-02-13T10:29:00.000-08:00

Ingredients :
1 piece carrot,
2- 3 beans
1/2 - potato peas-
2- 3 white pumpkin ,
yellow pumpkin -
1 piece moong dhal -
1 spoon cabbage -
little jeera -
2 - 3 pinch ghee
2 - 3 drops salt to taste

Preparations:-

Take all the above in the cooker pressure cook for 2 -3 whistle . cool down to room temp and add grind it in a mixie add a drop of ghee and salt and feed ur baby.

Apple Milkshake (for babies above 1 yr)

2008-02-13T10:26:00.000-08:00

Ingredients:

1 apple - peel off the skin ,

throw away the middle seed containing portion & chop it fine

2 glasses milk

4 tbsp sugar.

Preparation:

Put apple, milk and sugar in mixie, till apple is crushed completely.Chill the shake and Serve it cold.

Please avoid this recipe if your baby suffers from constipation.Most paediatricians dont recommend apple for constipated babies

Tomato Soup

2008-02-13T10:24:00.000-08:00

Ingredients:

3 Tomatoes
Salt to Taste
Pepper fine powder
Chopped Mint Leaves

Method:

Peel away the skin of tomatos and boil them in 2 cups of water.Add chopped mint leaves and salt to the boiling mixture. Boil for about 10 minutes.Cool and blend the tomatoes with the help of a mixer.Using Sieve, filter the blended mixture & serve the soup.

Poha Kheer

2008-02-13T09:34:00.000-08:00

Ingredients:-
½ Cup Poha (Flaked rice)
• ½ Cup Sugar
• 4 tbsps Ghee
• 1½ Cup Milk
• Cardamom Powder

Preparation:-
• Fry the aval in ¼ cup ghee till it changes color.
• Later boil the same in 1½ cup milk.
• Add sugar.
• Add cardamom powder and stir well and boil for 10 mins.

You can add raisins and powdered badam for flavour. But take care that you dont feed your baby nuts or raisins as they have choking hazard.

Veggi Upma

2008-02-13T09:22:00.000-08:00

Ingredients:-
1. Vegetables like beans,capsicum,tomato,Onion etc...Grate finely
2.1/4 spoon of Ghee
3. water/milk
4.salt to taste
5: Rava

Preparation:-
Take some oil/ghee in pan,saute all the vegetables till they are soft,than add Soji(salmonila),or Rava,mix rava by constantly stirring it and than add water and stir it for five min,add salt,and your Rava is readyNote(If u dont add these,and baby is below one year mkle it without vegetbles or blend vegetables properly in blender)

carrot kheer

2008-02-13T09:14:00.000-08:00

Ingredients :-

1tbsp ghee

1cup grated carrot

2cups milk

2spoons sugar

pinch of elichi powder

Preparation :

Heat ghee in a pressure cooker add carrot to it andlet it cook for some time and then add the milk suger and elichi powder and pressure cook for 2 whisles. Let it cool and serve.

Rava Kheer

2008-02-13T08:35:00.000-08:00

Ingredients :
½ cup of Rava (suji)
4 tablespoons of sugar
3 cups of milk

Preparation:-
First boil the milk and then add suji. Cook it in simmered flame, and keep stirring on to make sure rava doesnt form lumps.It should be uniform mixture. Cook until the consistency is semi-solid. Now,put the sugar sugar to the rava and sprinkle a pinch of powdered badaam(avoid badam if kid is below 9 months old) or elaichi. Let it cool to temperature acceptable by your baby and serve while mild warm.

Moong Kheer

2008-02-13T08:32:00.000-08:00

Ingredients :

4 tbsp Moong dhal (Husk removed)
1.5 tbsp finely powdered Jaggery
1 tbsp finely grated coconut
1 tbsp ghee
1/4 tbsp elachi powder

Preparation :

Switch on the stove & place the cooking container. Add a cup of water & add the jaggery to it and let it mix uniformly.Once it is mixed, add the moong dhal & grated coconut and let it boil until very soft. Add elachi powder 2 mins before switching off. Add ghee on top after its cooked.

Serve after the temperature is correct for your baby to consume.

Jaggery is rich is iron & moong in proteins. Very Healthy for babies.

Mashed Banana Custard

2008-02-12T10:23:00.000-08:00

Ingredients

1 cup Milk or Formula
1/2 spoon of Custard powderSugar to taste
Finely mashed banana - 5-6 nicely cut pieces (which would amount to 1/2 a banana)

Preparation

1st make a smooth custard paste by adding 5 spoons of milk to 1/2 spoon custard and then boil the rest of the milk (cow's milk) . When the milk is just warm add the custard paste & sugar.Let it mix nicely. Warm in sim flame for 5 minutes. In the meantime you can slice and mash the bananas. Add the flavoured sweetened milk to the banana mash and mix thoroughly

Ready to serve !

Dhood Kheer

2008-02-12T10:19:00.000-08:00

Ingredients :
1 cup of softly cooked rice
1.5 cup of milk
3 tbsps sugar
Elachi/Custard powder for flavour (you get baby custard powder)

Preparation :

If it is formula that you are using :-
=========================
Mix the softly cooked rice & formula milk sweetened with sugar and add just a little quantity of elachi powder for flavour.If you use custard powder be sure to add a little more qty. of water to the formula milk as custard powder will have a thickening effect.

If it is cow's milk that you are using :-
===========================
Boil the sofly cooked rice & milk+sugar together under sim for 8-10 mins on the stove. 2 mins before you switch off , add the cardamom (elachi) flavour. If it is custard you are using for flavour, mix 1/2 tbsp of custard powder to 1/4th cup of milk & make a smooth mixture and then add this mixture to the rest of the milk + sugar and do the cooking.

Mixed Vegetable Khichdi

2008-02-12T10:13:00.000-08:00

Ingredients

4 tbsps of raw rice
2 tbsps of moong dal (Husk removed)
1/2 tbsp of Finely grated Carrot
1/2 tbsp of Finely grated potato
8-9 pieces of Green peas

Preparation:- Put all of the contents in a container - Add required water & cook softly.Once it is nicely cooked, use a spoon to mash the greenpeas (carrot and potato will be already so soft) and the rice together. Add a tbsp of ghee over the cooked mixture and a pinch of salt to taste.Ready to Serve !!

Note : Beetroot contains high amt of nitrates and is not recommended until your child is 1 yr old.