Powerpacked Multigrain Porridge(Kanji)

Know what you Eat -Finger millet(Ragi) is a very nutritious food with a complex carbohydrate profile and low glycemic index. It is especially valuable as it contains the amino acid methionine which is lacking on staples like polished rice or maize meal. Mung bean, Black chick pea, Broken and roasted bengal gram are very good source of protein. Quinoa is a complete protein food with all the essential amino acids in them. Oats and barley are rich in fiber. Chia seeds are good source of omega 3. Almonds are good source of Vitamin E.



 Do you know even Kids experience stress? My elder one will be going to fourth grade from September. When he started preschool, before going to school he would refuse to have any breakfast. If we force him, he would throw up. I tried different things starting from pancake, waffle, toast, cereal, Idli and Dosa. He wasn't a fussy eater, but none of these things would work on a school day. I didn't feel quite comfortable sending him with a glass of milk and then the idea of giving this home made porridge stuck me. This porridge is made in lot of house holds in South India for years and even now. Many of you might me familiar with it , i just added few of the other grains to make it power packed. Now i give this porridge to my daughter every day for breakfast and i also have it some times to get some instant energy. To top it all, my Sister's younger one loved this porridge. She was visiting us with her kids for few weeks and i am posting this one especially for her as she wanted to make some for her toddler.





Ingredients



African Finger Millet (Ragi) - 4 cups

Whole green mung bean - 1/2 cup

Roasted bengal gram(Dalia) - 1/2 cup

Roasted Peanuts - 1/4 Cup

Quinoa - 1/2 cup

Sprouted Black Chick Pea - 1/2 cup

Almonds - 1/2 cup

 Chia seeds - 1/4 cup



 If going gluten free ignore the following two ingredients

Oats - 1/2 Cup

Barley - 1/4 Cup



  Method



 1) Rinse, drain and soak ragi grain over night in water. Then drain them and tie in a fine muslin cloth. Once ragi starts sprouting, remove from the muslin cloth and spread it out on cotton cloth to remove excess moisture. Sun or shade dry till they are dried. Now dry roast this sprouted ragi till you get a sweet aroma.



2) Do the same procedure for Green mung bean and black chick pea, leave them to sprout. Dry them and roast them till they are well roasted.



3) Dry roast Roasted bengal gram(Dalia), peanuts, Quinoa, Almonds, Chia seeds and (Oats & Barley).



4) Combine all the roasted grains and in a food processor grind them to fine powder and store in a airtight container.



5) I normally keep some outside and all the excess porridge powder in a freezer.



  To make the porridge



1) Take 2 tbsp of porridge powder and mix in 1/4 cup of water without any lumps, boil for 5-7 minutes till the porridge is completely cooked. Now add sugar or powdered jaggery and 3/4 cup of milk and mix thoroughly and enjoy.



2) If you don't want it sweet, add little bit of salt and some butter milk and enjoy.



3) To make a thick bowl of porridge add 4 tbsp of porridge powder and use 1/2 cup of water and cook it. Now add little bit of milk to the desired consistency.



 4) You can also add roasted cardamom seeds and saffron strands and grind along with porridge powder to get a nice aroma.



5) The variations you can make or endless with this one.



6) This is good even for people with diabetes because of the complex carbohydrate profile of ragi and the power packed protein content of the other grains. 

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Fruit Salad with Homemade Granola in Greek Yogurt

Know what you Eat - Fruits contain essential vitamins, minerals, and fiber that may help protect you from chronic diseases. Compared with people who consume a diet with only small amounts of fruits and vegetables, those who eat more generous amounts as part of a healthful diet are likely to have reduced risk of chronic diseases, including stroke and perhaps other cardiovascular diseases, and certain cancers. Yogurt promotes intestinal health, improves lactose intolerance, builds stronger bones, enhances immunity, lowers blood pressure, and may even have anticancer and weight-loss effects. Granola is packed with goodness of whole grains & nuts and is a good source of fiber, protein and omega-3.
We normally have a very strict diet pattern at our home, very balanced food with whole grains, pulses and vegetables. But had to attend few parties continously and were over whelmed with the food we ate. So on a Sunday after all the overeating on Friday and Saturday, we had couple of people for lunch and i made this sinless dessert. Everybody just loved it, it was tasty and healthy too. You can have this dish as dessert in small quantities or have a bowl ful as your breakfast, light lunch or dinner.

Cooking Time - 20 mins(If making homemade granola ) otherwise none
Preparation Time - 10 mins
Serves - 6

Homemade Granola

Old fashioned Oats - 1/2 cup
Grated Coconut - 1/4 cup
Chopped Almonds & Walnuts - 1/4 cup
Chopped Raisins & Dates - 1/4 cup
Chia Seeds - 1 tbsp
Wheat Germ - 1 tbsp
White sesame seeds - 1 tbsp
Canola or Sunflower Oil - 1 tbsp
Baked Sweetened Banana chips - 1 tbsp(optional)
Sunflower seeds - 1 tbsp(optional)
Honey - 1 tbsp
Water - 1 tbsp
Salt - 1/4 tsp
Cinnamon powder - 1/4 tsp

Method

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
2) Combine all of the above ingredients except the raisins, dates and baked sweetened banana chips and bake in baking tray covered with parchment paper.
3) Keep stirring the contents continously and bake till the Oats slightly brown and nuts turn crunchy.
4) Once baked add the chopped dates, nuts and sweetened banana chips.
For the fruit Salad

Ingredients

Organic Oikos Non fat plain yogurt - 16 0z(2 cups)
Apple, Orange, Mango - 1 each
Strawberries - 1/2 cup
Orange juice - 2 tbsp
Grated Orange rind - 1 tbsp
Honey - 1 tbsp(optional)
Granola about - 1 1/2 cups

Method

1) Chop Apple, Orange, Mango and strawberries into small pieces.
2) Add Orange juice, orange rind, honey to yogurt.
3) Now add the chopped fruits and granola to the yogurt and combine thoroughly.
4) Serve chilled and have this as a wholesome breakfast , dessert or a as a nutritious snack anytime of the day.


Event Participation

The granola goes to Low fat eggless baking event hosted by Madhu.

The fruit salad with granola goes to Food for 7 Stages of Life - Healthy Fast Food hosted by Radhika and Sudeshna.

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Black Bean Burger & seeking your suggestions on Soy Products

As a health freak, i was so obsessed with favorite health food(Soy). I was extensively using soy milk, extra firm tofu replacing paneer(cottage cheese), silken tofu to fortify roti dough, soy chunks, soy crisps, soy burgers, soy bars and what not for couple of years. As you all know in this country you have the whole sale clubs so that everything can be bought in bulk and your basement can be filled with them. Well i was one too, i used to buy cartons of soy milk and store in my basement as buying in bulk worked out cheap if you are living on it. All this continued for years until year and half before. My younger one was having lot of feeding issues and we were struggling hard so that she comes atleast in the graph(0-5 percentile of the growth chart) and through a common friend met with a doctor. He suggested certain supplements and asked us to give protein rich food to her. I proudly talked about our protein rich diet habit with soy milk and all the products i listed above. He immediately said don't give her soy milk and tofu and you also better stay away from it. He said commercially manufactured soy products/protein is not good and may even cause cancer. We were shell shocked and googling more found the following

Soybeans in fact contain a large number of dangerous substances. The act of fermenting soybeans nullify the anti-nutrients & toxins , cooking and precipitation do not. Although hese enzyme inhibitors are found in reduced levels within precipitated soy products like tofu, they are not completely eliminated. For this reason, if you are going to consume soy, USE fermented products only, like tempeh or miso. Only after a long period of fermentation (as occurs in the creation of miso or tempeh) are the antinutrient and phytate levels of soybeans reduced, making their nourishment available to the human digestive system. There is lot of information available on this when you google and my head was swirling, so as a layman what i decided was to throw away the 2 packs with a dozen each of soy milk from my basement in the trash and not to go for tofu or soy burger any more. If you gals have more information to share on what all soy products are safe to use and a safe quantity to consume, please enlighten. So that was the reason i started making my own burger in batches and freezing them. Now coming to the recipe.

Know what you Eat - Black beans are a very good source of cholesterol-lowering fiber, as are most other legumes. In addition to lowering cholesterol, black beans' high fiber content prevents blood sugar levels from rising too rapidly after a meal, making these beans an especially good choice for individuals with diabetes, insulin resistance or hypoglycemia. Oats are an excellent source of iron, dietary fiber and thiamin. They also contain antioxidants that are believed to protect the circulatory system from diseases such as arteriosclerosis, which affects the arterial blood vessel. Chia seeds are very good source of omega - 3, dietary fiber, antioxidants. They also contain calcium and protein.

Cooking Time : 20 - 30 min
Preparation Time : 10-20 min
Serves : Makes 6 patties

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups(12 oz) - Cooked black beans, rinsed and drained
1 cup finely chopped red,yellow,green bell pepper
1 small onion finely chopped
1/2 cup chopped celery
1 tsp Onion powder
1/2 tablespoon Oregano powder
1 tsp or taste cayenne pepper
1/2 Cup of Powdered Chia(Powder Chia in a food processor into fine powder)
1/2 cup of Oats powder (Use quick cooking and make a fine powder in your food processor)
Salt to taste
Oil - 1 tsp

Method

1) Rinse and drain black bean thoroughly and let it drain compeletly without any water.
2) In a food processor run the celery through you will get a coarse paste
3) Heat Oil add chopped onions and saute till translucent, now add the chopped peppers, celery paste, 1/4 tsp of salt and saute till the peppers are well cooked.
4) Now add the drained black beans, onion powder, oregano, salt and cayenne pepper saute for 5 minutes and then switch off the stove
5) Using a thick spoon mash the black bean, once well mashed add the powdered chia, oats powder and combine thoroughly.
6) Preheat oven to 375 degress.
7)Divide the mixture in to balls and flatten them with your hand and place them in parchment paper in a baking pan and bake for 10 minutes on each side and then broil for 5 minutes till the pattie is well baked.
8) Serve in a burger bun with vegetables and ketchup of your choice.

Event Participation

This dish goes to Low fat eggless baking event hosted by Madhu.
This dish goes to My legume love affair twelfth helping event hosted by Annarasa created by Susan.
Original Recipes - Monthly Round up hosted by Lorie.

This dish is our contribution to AFAM-Bell Pepper event, hosted by Priya orignially started by Maheswari.

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Nutritious Oats and Peanut Butter Cookie

Know what you Eat - Contrary to what their name implies, peanuts are not true nuts but a member of a family of legumes related to peas, lentils, chickpeas and other beans. Peanuts are a very good source of monounsaturated fats, the type of fat that is emphasized in the heart-healthy diet. Studies of diets with a special emphasis on peanuts have shown that this little legume is a big ally for a healthy heart. Peanuts contain oleic acid, the healthful fat found in olive oil and are rich in antioxidants. Roasted peanuts do rival the antioxidant content of blackberries and strawberries, and are far richer in antioxidants than apples, carrots or beets. Oats are an excellent source of iron, dietary fiber and thiamin.

It is summer break for the schools now. Kids when at home, like to snack more than eat proper meals. I know every Mom has to scratch her brain to come up with healthy snack ideas and i came up with this one. It was little sweet for me, but was great hit amongst the kids.

Preparation Time - 10 mins
Cooking Time - 15 mins
Serves - Makes 12 cookies

Ingredients

Quick Cooking Oats - 2 cups
Peanut Butter - 1/2 cup
Honey or Maple Syrup - 1/2 cup
Canola or Sunflower oil - 1/4 cup
Salt - 1/2 tsp
Cinnamon powder - 1/2 tsp
Baking Soda(aluminium free) - 1/2 tsp
Chocolate chips or nuts - handful

Method

1) Take 1 cup of Oats and grind into a flour in your blender.
2) Toast 1 cup of Oats slightly till the raw smell is gone.
3) Combine Salt, cinnamon powder, baking soda, Oat flour, Quick Cooking oats thoroughly.
4) Now add peanut butter, maple syrup, oil to the above mixture and knead into a dough.
5) Roll into small balls and flatten them into circles using the center of your hand.
6) Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
7) Place parchment paper in a baking tray and place the cookie one by one leaving enough space to expand.
8) On top of the flattened dough place chocolate chips, nuts etc of your choice and bake for around 10 minutes.
9) Once baked remove it from the oven and let it cool completely as they will be soft and crumbly when hot.
10) Store in an airtight container and enjoy.

Event Participation

This dish goes to Spill the beans- Sunday snack event hosted by Priya.

This dish goes to Low fat eggless baking event hosted by Madhu.

This dish goes to My legume love affair twelfth helping event hosted by Annarasa created by Susan.

Original Recipes - Monthly Round up hosted by Lorie.

This dish goes to JFI-Peanuts August 09 hosted by Pavani and started by Indira.

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Tomato Onion Chutney & Idli(Steamed Rice & Lentil Dumplings)

Know what you Eat - If you are looking for a fat free food Idli(Steamed Rice & Lentil Dumpling) is the top food on the list. Idlis are made from a combination of rice and urad dal which is fermented and then steamed. Both these processes are very good for the digestive system and involve cooking with no oil at all. Most restaurants however use baking soda to speed up getting the idli batter ready and while too much baking soda does destroy nutrients and affects the digestive system in the long run. This is a very popular breakfast item in South India.



Now coming to the nutrition in this food, the carotenoid lycopene found in tomatoes (and everything made from them) is a very useful antioxidant and has cancer-preventing properties. Urad Dal(a type of lentil) is a very good source of dietary fiber and protein. Parboiling rice drives nutrients, especially thiamine, from the bran into the grain, so that parboiled white rice is 80% nutritionally similar to brown rice.

From yesterday's Chole puri from the North we are travelling down to the traditional Idli chutney of South. I always have Idli batter in my refrigerator and this is one of the quick breakfast item on a time crunchy day.

Tomato Chutney

Preparation Time - 1o mins
Cooking Time - 15 mins
Serves - 4


Ingredients

Tomato - 2 big ones ripe and firm but not over ripe
Onion - 1
Red chilli - 4 or to taste
Oil - 2 tsp
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
Split Urad dal - 2 tsp
Asafaoetida powder - pinch

Method

1) Chop tomato and onion into small pieces and corsely grind in a blender along with red chillies(do not puree, otherwise it will become like tomato ketchup).
2) Heat oil, add mustard seeds. Once they stop spluttering add split urad dal, asafoetida powder and saute till urad dal becomes slightly brown.
3) Now add the tomato, onion, red chill paste and simmer in the gas stove for 10 to 15 minutes till the water evaporates.
4) Add salt to taste and serve with hot idlis.

Idli


Ingredients

Urad Dal(whole) - 1 cup
Idli Rice(Puzhungal Arisi/ ParBoiled Rice) - 2 1/2 cups**
Salt to taste

Method

1) Rinse and drain Urad dal till you get a clear water. Now soak in enough water for 2-3 hours.
2) Rinse and drain Idli rice and soak in enough water for 6 hours.
3) Using a stone grinder/blender grind the urad dal adding the soaked water little by little till you get a smooth fluffy batter.
4) Now grind the rice into a fine paste adding water little by little.
5) Mix the Urad dal batter, Rice batter and Salt and mix them thoroughly.
6) Leave it over night for the batter to ferment nicely, on cold winter days switch on the oven light and leave the batter inside the oven overnight. The heat from the light will make the batter to ferment.
7) The trick to get a soft spongy idli is proportion, the grind urad batter and rice batter should be in equal quantity, so based on how much batter you are getting from the urad dal adjust your rice batter.
8) Now use cooking spray and grease the idli plates, thoroughly combine the fermented batter and pour the batter in the greased plates and steam them for 15 minutes on medium heat in a pressure cooker or pan till they are cooked.
9) Serve with Chutney.

Event Participation

This dish goes to My legume love affair twelfth helping event hosted by Annarasa started by Susan.

This dish goes to Delectable Combinations hosted by Kamalika originally started by Sunshinemom.

This goes to EFM June Breakfast series hosted by Srish.

*This rice measurement depends on how much batter comes out from the urad dal, for most of the varieties available in India you can add as much upto 5 cups of rice. But the ones available here i use anywhere between 2 1/2 to 3 cups of rice. The fluffy urad batter and the rice batter should be in equal quantity to get a soft idli. So adjust according to the quality of your urad dal)

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Apple Pecan Multigrain Pancake

Know what you Eat - Apples are rich in antioxidants , fiber, flavonoids and help to maintain a heart-healthy diet. Flavonoids unique to apple - including phloridzin - are thought to play a potentially key role in the special ability of apples to support lung health. Pecans are a very good source of Vitamin E. Oats are an excellent source of iron, dietary fiber and thiamin. Whole wheat is rich in dietary fiber and is good source of iron. Brown rice is good source of complex carbohydrate. It provides 15 essential nutrients, including B-vitamins, niacin and potassium. Buckwheat contains almost 86 milligrams of magnesium in a one-cup serving. Magnesium relaxes blood vessels, improving blood flow and nutrient delivery while lowering blood pressure-the perfect combination for a healthy cardiovascular system. Chia seeds are very good source of omega - 3, dietary fiber, antioxidants.

I normally don't use all purpose flour and try to come up with different recipes substituting it, when i first tried this recipe i was little hesitant to mix all these flour together as there is no all purpose flour and sometimes they might stick to the griddle, but the Chia powder i added binds it together and makes it easy to prepare the pancake. I use powdered chia in most of these mix grain/flour experiments and it really helps. I have made this multigrain pancake couple of times and it comes out really great.



Cooking Time - 15 mins

Preparation Time - 10 mins

Serves - (Makes around 12 pancakes)



Ingredients



Brown rice flour - 1/2 cup

Buck wheat flour - 1/2 cup

Oat flour - 1/2 cup

Whole wheat pastry flour - 1/2 cup(use pastry flour not the regular whole wheat)

Chia powder - 2 tbsp (I used this as an Egg substitute for binding)

Yogurt - 1/4 cup

Milk - 1 1/2 cups

Apple - 1(small)

Pecans - handful chopped

Raw sugar - 2 tsp

Baking soda - 1/2 tsp

Salt - 1/4 tsp

Cinnamon powder - 1/2 tsp

Oil - 4 tsp



Method



1) Wash apple and chop into small pieces and steam for 5 minutes till they are tender

2) Combine Brown rice flour, buck wheat flour, oat flour, whole wheat pastry flour, Chia powder, Salt, Sugar, Cinnamon powder, Baking Soda, Pecans and the apple pieces.

3) Now add the yogurt and milk and make a smooth batter.

4) Heat a griddle and pour a ladle full of batter into a circle and add 1/2 tsp of oil around the batter.

5) Cook both the sides on the griddle and serve with maple syrup and fresh fruits of your choice.



Event Participation

1) This goes to EFM June Breakfast series hosted by Srish.

2) Original Recipes - Monthly Round up hosted by Lorie.

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Baked Pakoda(Healthy Bengal Gram Flour Snack)

Know what you Eat - Besan (Bengal gram flour) is very high in protein and very low in glycemic index. This bean from which this flour is made looks just like yellow split peas, but is quite different because it doesn't readily boil down to mush. It's more closely related to garbanzo beans, or chickpeas. The differences are that Bengal gram is younger, smaller, split, sweeter, and has a much lower glycemic index, in fact much lower than the Garbanzo(not the dark colored chick pea but the light one). Onions are a very good source of chromium, a molecule that helps cells respond appropriately to insulin. Clinical studies of diabetics have shown that chromium can decrease fasting blood glucose levels,improve glucose tolerance, lower insulin levels, and decrease total cholesterol and triglyceride levels. Chromium levels are depleted by the consumption of refined sugars and white flour products. High fructose corn syrup decreases this trace mineral too, so check for your labels when you buy food products in the store next time.

Bengal Gram Flour(Besan) is available in Asian Indian grocery store, or you can find it in the International Food Isle. Ever since i saw this recipe in Uma's blog i have tried it out several times. I atleast bake this once a week and it is awesome. Comes very handy for a after school snack for the kids as well as for moms to recharge.

Cooking Time - 20 mins
Preparation Time - 5 mins
Serves - 4

Ingredients

Chickpea Flour (Besan) - 1 cup
Rice Flour - 2 tbsp
Red onion (medium sized) - 1
Cayenne pepper - 1/2 tsp or to taste
¾ tsp Baking Powder
2 tbsp Butter, melted
Fennel seeds - 1/2 tsp
Salt as required
Little bit of water

Method

1) Preheat baking oven to 400 degrees.
2) Mix besan, chopped onions, cayenne pepper, rice flour, butter and salt. Add little bit of water and make a thick dough, you should be able to spoon it in a baking pan.
3) Grease a baking sheet and spoon the batter into small portions, leaving enough room for them to expand while baking.
4) Bake till the pakodas turn golden(not brown for around 15-20 minutes).
5) Serve it hot with ketchup of your choice and enjoy these protein rich guilt free snack.

Event Participation

This dish goes to Spill the beans- Sunday snack event hosted by Priya.

This dish goes to Low fat eggless baking event hosted by Madhu.

This dish goes to My legume love affair twelfth helping event hosted by Annarasa created by Susan.

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