Lunchbox- Sambar rice/ A healthy combo veg dish for all age groups

Lunchbox- Sambar rice/ A healthy combo veg dish for all age groups

Lunchbox- Sambar rice/ A healthy combo veg dish for all age groups
Preparation time- 10 mins
Cooking time- 10mins 
Total time- 20 mins

Ingredients for sambar rice:

1. Oil/Ghee-2 tsp
2. Onion chopped- 1 no.
3. Garlic chopped- 1 tsp
4. Turmeric powder- 1/2 tsp
5. Chili powder- 1/2tsp
6. Sambar masala-1 tsp
7. Tomato chopped- 1 no.
8. Sliced vegetables (beans, carrot, pumpkin, coccinia, drumstick, potato)- 1 cup in total
9. Curry leaves- as needed
10. Washed and soaked rice and toor dal in water for 10 minutes- 1 cup in total
11. Salt- as needed

Method:

Step 1: In a pressure cooker, pour oil, add onion, garlic and curry leaves and sort it well. Add turmeric, chili and sambar masala powder too. Add tomato and sort it well for a few minutes. 

Step 3: After that add vegetables, salt, and water and allow it to boil. Add 2 1/2 glasses of water for 1 cup of rice. Then, add rice and allow it to boil.  After that cover with pressure cooker lid and cook it for 2-3 whistles. 
Switch off the flame and allow it to cool for 15 minutes. Smash the cooked items using a wooden spoon very well. You can garnish with coriander leaves too. 

Lunchbox- Sambar rice/ A healthy combo veg dish 

To know the preparation of lemon pickle, please visit: Lemon pickle with preservation of Vitamin C

Tips and warnings

• Do not pack warm foods in the lunch box.
• Put all vegetables including onion in the water for 1 hour for dilution of pesticides. 
• For easy peeling of ginger, garlic, and onion, soak in water for a few minutes. 
• You can chop all vegetables and keep it in an airtight container in the fridge in the night for next day lunch. You can peel onion, garlic, ginger and keep it the fridge too. Do not slice it. 

Suggestions

Diet for kids

• Reduce chili, as it contributes to acidity
• Reduce oil and salt also
• Suggested very limited intake of pickle

Antenatal diet

• Reduce chili, as it contributes to acidity
• Reduce oil, as it increases cholesterol level
• Reduce salt, as it increases blood pressure
• Add plenty of curry leaves, as it helps to increase the hemoglobin level
• Suggested very limited intake of pickle

Diet for lactating mothers

• Reduce chili, as it contributes to acidity
• Reduce oil, as it increases cholesterol level
• Reduce salt, as it increases blood pressure
• Add plenty of curry leaves, as it helps to increase the hemoglobin level 
• Suggested very limited intake of pickle, as it contains acidic vinegar and it may reach to the baby through breastmilk.

Postnatal diet

• Reduce chili, as it contributes to acidity
• Reduce oil, as it increases cholesterol level
• Reduce salt, as it increases blood pressure
• Add plenty of curry leaves, as it helps to increase the hemoglobin level 

Diet for diabetic persons

• Reduce chili, as it contributes to acidity
• Reduce oil, as it increases cholesterol level
• Reduce salt, as it increases blood pressure

Diet for hypertensive persons

• Reduce chili, as it contributes to acidity
• Reduce oil, as it increases cholesterol level (It's a precautionary measure)
• Reduce salt, as it increases blood pressure (It's a precautionary measure)
• Suggested very limited intake of pickle 

Diet for cardiac persons

• Reduce chili, as it contributes to acidity
• Reduce oil, as it increases cholesterol level (It's a precautionary measure)
• Reduce salt, as it increases blood pressure (It's a precautionary measure)

Milky banana rice porridge for babies 1-2 years old/ A complete calcium and fibre rich food

Milky banana rice porridge for babies 1-2 years old/ A complete calcium and fibre rich food

Milky banana rice porridge for babies 1-2 years old/ A complete calcium and fibre rich food

Why should you include milk, rice and nendran banana in toddler's diet?

Benefits of banana (Nendran)

• High in fiber content and prevents constipation among babies
• Helps to ease digestion
• Contains essential vitamins and minerals and helps in optimum physical growth and development for the baby
• Iron content in banana stimulates blood production.

Benefits of rice

• Is a source of energy for growth and development of the baby
• Helps to ease digestion
• Provides magnesium and selenium which is essential for the maturity of the organs
• Contains fiber 
• Contains copper for brain development

Benefits of milk layered cream

• Rich in Vitamin D and calcium, help in bone growth
• Rich in potassium and keeps the blood vessels healthy
• Rich in calorie and protein, essential for baby's physical growth
• Rich in Choline, boosts the memory power of the baby

Preparation of articles

Articles needed are:

1. Cooking pan-1
2. Wooden spoon-1
3. Feeding bowl-1 
4. Feeding spoon-1 
5. Mixer grinder jar-1 (Only for baby)
6. Scrubber-1 

• Keep all articles separately for the baby and do not use for other purposes. (Rationale- To prevent bacterial contamination)

• Mixer grinder jar is the best source of bacterial growth, so that mother should clean it well. Take the white paper, dish wash solution and 50 ml of water in the grinder, grind it for 1 minute and wash it very well (do it weekly) (Rationale- To remove food stain and dirt). Then, pour boiling water and cover it with lid for ten minutes (do it early morning every day) (Rationale- To kill bacteria completely). And keep it dry.

Preparation of porridge

1. Cooked rice- 1 cup
2. Nendran banana- 1 no.
3. Boiled water- as needed

Method:

Wash hands with soap and water.
When you boil the full cream milk, collect the fatty layer of the milk and keep it aside for this preparation.
Wash cooking pan and spoon very well. Then add rice and sliced banana and water and keep it on the flame for five minutes. Allow it to cool.
In a cleaned mixer jar, add the cooked items and milk fat layer and grind it as a thick paste by adding lukewarm stock water(already boiled with the items) slowly. Transfer to cleaned feeding bowl. This porridge has the sweet taste because of banana, so that no need to add sugar.

(I prefer grind foods during this age group. Because, even if you give mashed foods, it will cause indigestion and the nutrients are not well absorbed by the stomach. Thus, it will result in a lack of appetite and poor weight gain for the baby. Moreover, you can see the undigested food materials in the feces of the baby. So, for proper absorption of nutrients, ease digestion and healthy weight gain, please give grind foods as the main course and other mashed food items can be given as supplementary. You can continue the process until the complete teeth development of the baby to chew the foods properly.)

Preferred feeding time: 1-2pm

The position of the baby:
Wash hands with soap and water.

Best position is- Make mother sit on a floor with supported back and stretched legs. Keep the baby on your legs and head of the baby facing towards your legs. So that you can get a control on face and arms of the baby. Keep the head of the baby slightly elevated.

OR

Allow the baby to engage in activities and give a spoon of food and allow ample time for the kid to swallow it. If the kid does not open the mouth, give a mild pressure on one side of the cheek and give food. You can feed the full amount of food by keeping the baby engaged with toys. Avoid the third person with you otherwise, you and baby might be distracted.

OR

Allow the baby to engage in activities. You stand behind the baby. Then, you can have control on his/her head and hands to avoid spilling of the food and you can feed the major portion of the food in the spoon by keeping in the posterior part of the tongue of the baby. This technique is possible only when you stand behind the baby.  

Feeding issues: Spitting the food or not swallowing the food by the baby
In this case, give food about one-fourth of the spoon and waiting for the baby to swallow it. Don't feed the baby until it is swallowed, or else the baby will collect the food in the mouth and finally the baby spits the food out.

To be noted: While feeding the baby, make sure that food should not spill over the nose and eyes. If it is spilled on the nose, gently wipe the food with a towel. If it is spilled on eyes, immediately wash the eyes until the baby is comfortable.

Aftercare of the baby: Keep the baby in the same position for at least 10 minutes in order to prevent projectile vomiting. Wash the face with clean water and dry with a towel.
If the baby vomits, stop giving the food and discard the entire food. When the kid gets hungry next time, you prefer to give mashed fresh banana, as it is rich in fiber, cools the stomach and eases the digestion process.

Aftercare of the articles: After feeding, immediately wash the articles with the soapy solution and rinse it very well and, keep it for dry till the next feeding to prevent bacterial growth.

To be noted: 

• Watch the stools of the baby for any color change and you can see the level of digestion of food. 
• Do not compromise on cleaning and hygiene of the food, otherwise, you have to see the little one is suffering from infections.
• Continue breastfeeding along with solid foods (as you wish) till 2 years of age.

Reliability of the information 

"We live in the midst of so many answers, suggestions, and options to one question itself. During my motherhood period, I found very difficult to opt the best do's for my baby, despite being a professional nurse researcher. After a lot of readings, observations, brainstorming discussions with my colleagues who are nursing experts, health professionals, and experienced mothers, and I have opted the best things for my baby, implemented and succeeded to have a happy motherhood period without a single episode of fever, cold or diarrhea for the baby and sleepless night too. And the baby demonstrates a progressive weight gain +/- 400gm monthly. In spite of committing trials and errors during your parenting time, you can read, understand and implement it. If you have any queries or suggestions, a great welcome to my blog."

                                                                                  Mrs.Ponnambily Jobin

                                                                                    (Public health nurse researcher)