Tips For Mothers With Small Children.

   Often young mothers are heard complaining that the little ones do not like eating vegetables. Well first of all cook all type of vegetables at home even if you do not have a taste for them, and eat along with the children. As they say good habits are inculcated right in the childhood. 

Apart from this there are few tips which may be helpful.

• If your child has a dislike for Spinach/ Methi /Carrot then :-
• Grate the carrot/ Cut the washed spinach/ methi
• Add to whole wheat flour.

Carrot, flour,ajwain (caraway seeds) and salt for dough

• Add salt to taste, and 1 tea spoon of caraway seeds.(ajwain).
• Make dough from it.
• Make parathas out of the dough 

Dough for paratha

• Serve hot with tangy / sweet pickle / chutney/ sauce.

Palak paratha and carrot paratha

• Keep it in the lunch box with pickle or chutney

http://jyotsna-pant.blogspot.in/search?q=Tomato+Pickle

http://jyotsna-pant.blogspot.com/2012/06/tangy-mango-pickle-maharashra-style.html

http://jyotsna-pant.blogspot.com/2012/06/mango-pickle-north-indian-style.html

http://jyotsna-pant.blogspot.com/2011/10/green-coriander-and-mint-chutney.html

http://jyotsna-pant.blogspot.com/2012/06/hariyali-chutney-raw-mango-chutney.html

http://jyotsna-pant.blogspot.com/2012/06/spicy-mixed-vegetable-pickle-less-oily.html

They will love the colorful parathas and also develop the taste of the vegetable.

• Bottle guard (Lauki) is one vegetable very few children like. You are lucky if your children like its vegetable!
• But in summers bottle gourd provides with much needed nutrition and its juice is very cooling to our system. So what to do?

• Simply take a soft Lauki wash it.

•  Grate the required amount, add ajwain (caraway seeds ), salt, chopped coriander leaves, and besan and make loose dough.

•   Make small balls.

•  Fry these balls and let children enjoy them as snacks with chutney / sauce.

•  You can make gravy of your liking and dunk the fried balls to the gravy and presto! Nice vegetable is ready:)

http://jyotsna-pant.blogspot.com/2012/10/patta-gobhi-kofta.html

Do not squeeze water from lauki as it is cooling in summers. It will get absorbed in besan.

• Make milk shake from Lauki:

Pista-Shake Using bottle gourd

• Take a very tender Lauki do not peel.

• Wash it and grate it.

• Boil the grated Lauki with little milk till cooked.

• Cool and grind it in a mixer to fine paste.

• Take 150ml. of milk at room temperature.

•  Add 4-5 tea spoons of paste of cooked Lauki.

• Churn in mixer.

• Add pinch of cardamom powder mix, pour the mixture in a tall glass.

•  Cool it in fridge for 3-4 hrs.

•  Top it up with 1 tea spoon of finely cut Pista  (pistachio) and serve it as pista shake to the children.

• The green color of the peel will ensure it looks green like pista shake.

•  They will love it and lap it up till they do not see you Making It!!!!
• You can freeze it and serve as pista ice cream.:)

• Children love cheese : -
• so try to make parathas stuffed with cheese.

•  Uttapa topped with onion, cheese, tomato.

• Omelets topped with onions, tomatoes, cheese, and some greens.

• Little cheating with children for their good is not a bad idea so sneak some greens like methi, spinach, coriander.

 This will make sure your child is  hooked to homemade food. Remember occasional pizzas and burger will not harm the child but frequent use is not good for health.

• Make Sandwiches from whole wheat bread / multi grain bread instead of white bread : -

•  Use cucumber, onion , tomato, chicken,eggs, cheese and sneak in few shreds of Raw spinach / Salad leaves / Mint / Coriander/ Celery /Parsley.

•  Using different ingredients and herbs will change the flavor and taste of sandwiches and the child gets complete nutrition.
• Remember everybody likes change in the taste so surprise your children and entice them to eat homemade delicious, nutritious sandwiches.

• Noodles are another favorite of children so do not get worked up about their nutrition if they ask for noodles / pasta time and again.

• Instead just boiling the noodles/ pasta and giving them to the children.
• Cut cabbage, French beans, Carrot, Onion some peas, shredded chicken and sauté them
• Add to boiled noodles along with grated cheese, tomato sauce, soy sauce, chili sauce (optional).

This way child get the food they want along with full nutrition! Child is happy and Mom is also happy.

 MAKE SURE THE VEGETABLES ARE CUT VERY VERY FINE.

Neem A Gift from God (Uses of Neem, Indian Lilac)

Neem with fruits

Neem tree is great gift of God to mankind. It's uses are vividly mentioned in Ayurveda and naturopathy.With the passage of time, paucity of time and modernization we have started to make less use of it. The essential oil present in Neem leaves give them germicidal, pesticide, anti-fungal insecticidal and many many other medicinal properties. I wish to share few benefits of Neem.

Neem can be used for:

• For preserving Clothes from silver fish.

• Preserving Grains.

http://housekeepingexpert.blogspot.com/2012/10/preserving-grains-using-neem.html

• For curing dandruff.

http://housekeepingexpert.blogspot.com/2012/10/natural-cure-for-dandruff-neem-dandruff.html

• For curing Lice infection. 

 http://housekeepingexpert.blogspot.com/2012/10/neem-cure-for-lice-and-dandruff-anti.html

• As germicidal,Pesticide and Insecticide in garden.

• As mouth wash.

• As face pack for glowing skin

• For curing prickly heat and other skin infections. 

For The Garden : -

• Pluck 50 - 60 Neem leaves , make a paste of them and add to a bucket full of water.
• Cover the bucket and keep it over night to mulch.
• Pass the mixture through a fine sieve . 
• Take the liquid in a sprayer and spray on the plants .
• Your plants and trees will not be afflicted with pests and if any fungal infection has come onthe plants and trees it will get cured
• Do not spray the Neem solution while the trees are just about to fruit.
• The best time to spray is when the fruiting season is about to start.(before the flowers of the tree have appeared). 
• Take the mulched solid collected on the sieve and mix it with soil of your garden/pots for potted plants.This will a natural manure as well as pesticide for the soil and will not harm the beneficial bacterias and worms ( earthworm which is very useful for the soil).

For Face Pack : -

• Puck tender Neem leaves Grind them to thick paste.
• Add a pinch of Turmeric powder,1/2 tea spoon of lemon juice, and 1 tea spoon of Besan(black gram powder).
• Mix nicely and apply to the face, neck and hands.
• Leave for 15 min.
• Remove using wet soft cloth and then wash the face, neck and hands with warm water.
• Do not use soap or any face wash that day,at least for 5-6 hrs.
• Using this face pack once in every 15 days will give you a glowing soft skin as it acts as defoliator, cures acnes, cures the tendency to have acne , pimples and boils.
• Use and see the change. Compliments from one and all will follow.

Neem as Mouth wash and protector of Teeth from decaying: -

• Those who suffer from foul breath and have to use mouth freshener every now or then or suck on mint again and again to get rid of the foul smell, Neem leaves are very good.
• Take 
• 4-5 Neem leaves and 
• 10-12 mint leaves.
• 1 Teaspoon coriander seeds,
• 2-3 cm. Cinnamon piece
• Grated rind of one lemon
• 200 ml. Water
• Boil till the water reduces to half.
• Cool and filter.
• Use this extract to rinse your mouth early in the morning and before going to bed.
• After a months foul smell will be gone for good!
• The water will taste bitter, then pills which cure are bitter , some times sugar coated.