Berry Lassi|Berry Yogurt Smoothie|Summer Coolers|Kids Delight|BM #15

Another summer coolers with yogurt and berries today. I had lot of yogurt in my house and had to consume it fast. I thought this was the right time to this Lassi/Smoothie because it will fit the topic for the Blogging Marathon week (Kids Delight- Fruit).
I used Blueberry and Strawberry to make this Lassi. It is very simple to make it. All of us in our home loved it. My son is also a yogurt and blueberry lover. So just thought of making it today.

Ingredients
1/2 cup Blueberry (frozen, fresh or dried)
1/2 cup Strawberry
1/2 cup Honey (I used Clover Honey)
2 cups Yogurt (cold)

Method
In a blender add all the items and blend it until smooth. Either serve it immediately or refrigerate for sometime and serve it cold.

Check out the other Marathoners doing yummy dishes here

Yogurt

16

Watermelon Juice |Summer Coolers| Kids Delight |BM #15

Watermelon is a great fruit to have during summer. It is very good for health. This is a perfect thrist quencher. There are couple of recipes we can do out of watermelon during summer (Juice, Granita, Popsicles and many more). It has lot of vitamins and is one of the easiest juice to make. Watermelon rind (white part) is also edible and many recipes are made out of them. Some people use the seeds also to make some powders to mix with rice and eat. These days we get the seedless version of it which is also pretty good. Here in the US, we get smaller size watermelon which is also seedless. They are very useful in making juice like this. My son is 17 months old and i don't offer many juice yet.
Only once in a while i have given him Coconut water or Apple juice till now. But, today when he saw me making this colorful juice. He was so interested in having it. Since this juice does not need any sugar as it is naturally sweet. If you want Honey can be added. I thought there is no harm in offering him. He just LOVED it. I was very happy.

Now here goes the recipe,
3-4 cups of Watermelon pieces
1 cup of water
1 cup of pear (optional)
2-3 tea spoons Sugar/ Honey (optional)

In a juicer add the watermelon pieces,water,pear and sugar/honey (if needed) and run the mixer. Strain the juice if there are seeds and serve cold with ice chips whoever needs it. I did not use ice chips. Simple Watermelon juice is ready to serve.
                           

Check out the other Marathoners doing the Blogging Marathon 15 along with me, which is hosted by Srivalli.
This also goes to Srivalli's Kids Delight which is hosted by Nupur this time.

Watermelon

17

Pazha Panchaamritham|Mithai|BM#14

I had lot of banana at home which were starting to get black spots on top and none of us were consuming it. I thought instead of wasting them, i had to either make banana bread or this sweet. This sweet is much easier i felt for today. I did not want to switch on the stove or oven for making any sweet today. This is usually made and sold in temples. I just love them a lot. This is a very famous sweet in south side temples, of course they add more items to it. This is my version of it.

This is simple and can be made in 5 minutes if all the ingredients are available at home. This is also a quick sweet for neivedyams(offerings).

2 Ripened Banana
5-6 Raisins
2 table spoon powdered Jaggery or Brown sugar
1 tea spoon Ghee
1/2 tea spoon cardamom powder
2-3 Dates (optional)
few kalkand (sugar crystals)

In a bowl mash the banana. Add the brown sugar, ghee and all the other ingredients and mix well and serve.

Check out the other Marathoners here

Sweet

14

Peas Rice |Indian Food Palooza

Peas rice is one of the simple and quick rice to make and can be served along with some semi spicy side dish. I made Aloo-Gobhi along with this for our dinner today. I used less spice since i feed my son as well. If you want more spice, you can adjust the spice level accordingly.
                    
Ingredients
1 Cup Basmati Rice (If you don't have, use any plain white/brown rice)
1 Cup Green peas
2 Cloves
2 Cardamom
2 Bay leaves
2 tea spoon Jeera (Cumin seeds)
1 tea spoon Ginger paste
1 Green chilli
Salt to taste
1 table spoon Oil
1 spoon of ghee
1 1/2 cups water

Method
Soak the rice in 1 cup of water for 15-20 minutes.
In a frying pan, add oil, Cumin seeds, Cloves, Cardamom, Bay leaves and allow the cumin seeds to splutter.
Then add ginger paste,green peas, Green chilli and saute for few seconds.
Add the Rice, salt and ghee and saute for 2-3 minutes.
Transfer the contents to a Rice cooker and add 1 1/2 cups water and allow to cook.
Once cooked mix well and serve hot with side dish.

Note:
If you do not have rice cooker, you can also cook in pressure cooker or cook them directly in the pan by adding the same amount of water.
You can also add Garlic paste if needed.

This recipe goes to Prerna, Kathy and Barbara for their Indian Food Palooza

South Indian

3

Jeeraga(Cumin) Kashayam| Home Remedies| Postpartum Diet|BM #13

Kashayam is a drink made at home very easily, which is very helpful for digestion, gastric problems, stomach bloating and also for all the pregnant and nursing moms. I learnt this from my mother-in-law and she knows a lot of home remedies.
This drink is made using 'Cumin Seeds' known as 'Jeerga Kashayam' in tamil is mainly helpful during labor and after delivery.
During Labor pain if we make this Kashayam and drink. If the pain subsides then it is false labor and if the pain still increases then it is true labor pain. My mom made this for me everyday after delivery for few months and she used to force me to drink. Since i hardly drink water:-)

Here goes the recipe,
Jeera/Cumin Seeds- 3 tea spoons
Water- 2 cups
Palm Jaggery- as required [Optional]
Ghee- 1 tea spoon

• In a small frying pan dry roast Jeera/Cumin seeds until it almost turns dark brownish in color and has a nice aroma.
• Add 2 cups of water to the Jeera and allow it to boil until it reduces to half.[The water turns into golden yellow color]
• Add palm jaggery if required and allow it to melt and mix well.[It tastes good even without jaggery]
• Add 1 tea spoon of ghee and switch off the stove.
• Drink this when it is hot/warm.

Note:
The Jeera/Cumin seeds has to be roasted well until it is dark in color. Only then it gives a good effect.
This is good to have everyday after meals or at bed time.
This can be given to anyone in the family.
You can substitute Cumin seeds with Saunf (Fennel Seeds)
This helps for people who have constipation also.
You can avoid ghee if you do not have any pain. Drinking Jeera water everyday instead of plain water is also very good for health.


This goes to Srivalli's Blogging Marathon 13
This also goes to 'Taste of Pearl City' Healthy Morsels

postpartum diet

11

Keerai Masiyal| Postpartum Diet|BM #13

Ingredients
1 Bunch Spinach or 2 cups of chopped spinach
1 Green Chilli
1/2 Lemon
1 1/2 tea spoon Asafeotida
1 tea spoon Mustard seeds
1 tea spoon Urad dhal
1 tea spoon oil
salt to taste

Method
Chop spinach.
In a pressure cooker add the chopped spinach,green chilli, salt and very little water. Cook up to 1 whistle.
Once cooked, mash well with a masher.
In a small pan add a little oil, mustard seeds,asafeotida and urad dhal and allow it to splutter.
Mix well with the spinach and then finally squeeze the lemon and serve with rice or roti.

This is the most simplest recipe ever to make.


Note:
This is very high in fiber and contains no fat at all.
This is very good for postpartum women since it contains lot of fiber.This is good to have a cup everyday.
It can be cooked with any kind of greens. I used spinach.
Green chilly can be avoided if necessary.

This goes to Srivalli's Blogging Marathon 13

This goes to Tickling Pallets- Let's cook Green

This also goes to Healthy Morsels- Pregnancy

 

spinach

16

Milagu Kozhambu- Pathiya Samayal| BM #13

Milagu Kozhambu, where 'Milagu' is called 'Pepper' in English. This Kozhambu helps a lot in digestion of food after delivery of  a child.It is good for anyone at home. I make this pretty often. I learnt it from my aunt.Even my mother and mother-in-law make it the same way.

I am sending this entry to Srivalli's Blogging Marathon 13

Here goes the recipe,

To Grind
2 tea spoons Channa Dhal
2 tea spoons Dhania (Coriander seeds)
1 tea spoon Urad dhal
2 tea spoon Black pepper
1 Red Chiili (You can avoid this if it is just after delivery)
1 tea spoon Asafeotida
2-3 Sprigs of Curry leaves
1 tea spoon oil
For the Kozhambu(Gravy)
2 cups water
1 tea spoon Tamarind paste
salt to taste
1 tea spoon Turmeric powder
To Tempering
1 tea spoon Mustard seeds
1 tea spoon Methi seeds
2-3 Curry leaves
2 tea spoon Sesame oil

Method
In a small frying pan, add a tea spoon of oil and fry for a minute the items to grind from the above ingredients and grind to a smooth powder.
In a vessel pour a little oil and add the items to temper and once the mustard seeds start to splutter.
Pour 2 cups of water,tamarind paste,turmeric powder,asafeotida,salt and allow it to boil till the raw smell of the tamarind goes away. (May be for 10-15 minutes)
Once boiled well, add the ground powder and boil for atleast 5 minutes.
The gravy will start to thicken and once it is thick. Milagu Kozhambu is ready to serve.

The way to eat this.
In a plate, add the required amount of rice, add 1-2 tea spoons of Ghee and a little of this gravy (Kozhambu). Mix well and eat. This will taste really yummy.


Note:
The shelf life for this Kozhambu (Gravy) is pretty long. At-least 1-2 weeks.
This can be taken atleast 2 times a week after delivery of a child. 
This is good for digestion. 


This also goes to "Taste of perl City" Healthy Morsels-pregnancy event

South Indian

15

Pathiya Samayal| Postpartum Diet| BM #13

Pathiya samayal is generally special cooking  for mothers after Delivery of a child.

Mainly only black pepper is used and green chilli and red chilli are avoided in most of the food for few days after delivery. This is followed to help the mother recover from her pregnancy and also to serve nutritious food to the baby. When i had a baby one year back, i followed some of them for few days.

Gastric vegetables and food are to be avoided for few months until we feed the baby.

It was really helpful to follow this rule after delivery.There are lot of recipes for pathiya samayal. I will be listing few of them.

This goes to Srivalli's Blogging Marathon 13 Day 2

Manathakkallika vathal Saadham

Manathakkallika vathal 2-3 tea spoons

Sesame oil- 2 tea spoon

Ghee - 1 tea spoon

Cooked Rice- 1/2 cup

In a pan add the sesame oil and fry the vathal until it puffs up.

Take some hot cooked rice, mix the fried vathal and ghee and eat this when it is hot.

Note: We can do the same with Dried Sundakkai also.

This is good to eat at-least once a day for 2-3 months after delivery.

Benefits

This is very good for stomach and will keep the stomach light and prevent from in-digestion.

This does not affect the breast milk in anyways. It is rather good for baby's digestion too which passes through mothers milk.

This also goes to Healthy Morsels- Pregnancy

Rice

14

Postpartum Diet - Methi Seeds|BM#13

After a long break in Blogging, I am glad to be back and hoping to come back to form again and post many recipes for this year. My 14 month old Toddler keeps me on my toes.

I am also glad to be back to Blogging marathon by Srivalli. When i saw the topic "Postpartum diet" for this marathon. I thought of taking this one and post useful recipes and tips before i forget about them, since it has just been a year.

For today Day 1, We will just see a simple thing to follow everyday for all the breastfeeding ladies.

Fenugreek Seeds (Vendayam in tamil or Methi in Hindi)

Method 1

Take about 2-3 tea-spoons of Fenugreek seeds and allow it to soak in a glass of water for 4-5 hours.

Drink the water and the eat the seeds together.

Method 2

Dry roast the Methi seeds and grind to a smooth powder.

Add to all possible dishes or tea.

It can also be added to dishes like Dosa, Idli, Roti, Sambar, Rasam, tea or any side dishes.

Benefits

This helps in increasing the supply of breast milk if had regularly.

This really helps to cool our body or is very good for skin.

We can start doing this right from the day of the delivery.

This herbal seeds does not affect the baby in any ways.

Enjoy and i will see you with more tips and recipes tomorrow.
This also goes to Healthy Morsels- Pregnancy

postpartum diet

15