Healthy Morsels - Baby and Toddler Foods

The excitement, the careful planning, amidst the underlying fear when you introduce the first morsel to your toothless baby, is an unforgettable developmental milestone of the still fresh parents. The joy and the enthusiasm with which this ceremony began slowly starts to fade when your fast growing tiny tot gets pricky about eating and you have less control over his/her eating habits. It is quite a common scenario that the kiddo reluctantly takes in the food, takes 10 minutes to swallow down that morsel, starts spitting just because he/she is not in a mood to eat or throws away the food, being hooked up with a new toy lying around, messes up the floor with those grains or half eaten vegetables and your dinner table suddenly becomes a battle ground, a rather sweet tender one!

An ancient tamil poet Thiruvalluvar has beautifully captured this scenario in two lines

அமிழ்தினும் ஆற்ற இனிதேதம் மக்கள்
சிறுகை அளாவிய கூழ்.

meaning, the food that has been messed up and scattered by the tiny hands of a child is sweeter than nectar !

It is a sweet challenge and a huge responsibility for every mother to feed the baby healthy, for it is the first three years of life that are very important in the development of a child. Nourishing the baby with the essential nutrients, slowly planning the introduction of every type of food, checking against possible allergies are all very critical.

Amidst this, making the toddler eat is a very big challenge. What not she does to make the food more interesting? From selecting the child's favorite food, cutting it in more interesting shapes and forms to presenting it on his plate colorful and attractive!! Apart from these, there needs to be stories told, songs sung and birds or animals shown!! It indeed takes a lot of patience, time and creativity to handle a child. Especially, if there is more than one child at home, then it adds up to her thought process of providing all the essential nutrients to satisfy everyones palates. The joy when your "mission" is accomplished is indescribable!

With this theme in mind, we, Healthy Morsels, are embarking on our next series "Baby and Toddler Foods". So, let's share our experiences, tips, advices and knowledge especially with all those new mothers who are new to this challenge and let's get benefitted from each others life experiences! Maybe your own child would some day love to hear about the fuss and foodie pranks he/she created and how, not the baby but rather you, managed to win this battle with the food! We love to hear all about your experiences.

The rules for sending your entries have been consolidated here:

• Food items (breakfast ideas, mid-meals snacks, soups, purees, etc.) that can be given to babies and toddlers until the age of 3 years can be sent.
• Vegetarian and non-vegetarian entries are allowed.
• Bloggers are requested to link your entries through the linky tool given below.
• Non-bloggers are requested to link your entries to our FB Healthy Morsels group page or send per e-mail to: healthymorsels at gmail dot com
• Your recipes must be linked back to either one of our announcement pages.
• We highly appreciate the use of our logo, so as to spread the word.
• Archived posts should be updated with the link back to the event announcement.
• Strictly avoid linking recipes which include pork, alcohol and gelatin.
• Last date for sending in entries: June 20th, 2012.

Rush in your entries, share with us your experiences with your little prince or princess and make this series as exciting as the previous one !!!

Healthy Morsels Team
Taste of Pearl City
SchmetterlingWords
Lecker and Yummy Recipes

Healthy Morsels - Pregnancy Roundup !

A BIG heartfelt thanks to everyone for your invaluable contributions to Healthy Morsels - Pregnancy. We are extremely happy about your overwhelming response, amazing tips, interesting facts about pregnancy and postpartum diet. We thank each and everyone for sending your recipes relevant to the theme and making it a grand success! As said, Healthy Morsels is an event with you all for us all ! We really felt connected and enjoyed your company during this entire sail.

Also, we are extremely pleased with the lively interactions, question-answer sessions, useful tips being shared in our Healthy Morsels Facebook group. We highly underestimated its role when it was created. But thank you buddies for your enthusiasm, involvement and sharing your thoughts with us :)


Now it's time for the most awaited round-up of Healthy Morsels-Pregnancy. Our special thanks to the non-bloggers who have joined us with their mouthwatering recipes.


Simi Ethiraj has sent a healthy Avocado spread ! She says....
"We have heard a million times that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. But not many of us have the time in the morning rush to prepare a good breakfast, sit down at the table and enjoy it. Here is a recipe that takes hardly any time, yet tasty and nutritious.
1       ripe avocado
4-5    walnuts (chopped)
4-5    cherry tomatoes (chopped)
1 tbsp olive oil
Freshly crushed black pepper
Herbs of your choice (cilantro, parsley, chives, etc.,)

Cut the avocado into half and scoop the flesh out with a tablespoon. Mash it with the back of a spoon. Add the remaining ingredients and mix well. Spread on warm toast and enjoy.

The buttery taste of avocado with crunchy walnuts and sweet cherry tomatoes makes it a tasty spread. According to whfoods.org, avocado is a good source of folate and walnuts of omega-3 fats. This makes it an ideal breakfast or snack choice for expecting mothers and others alike."


Yasmin has sprouted mung beans for us

2cups sprouted mung beans
1tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 tbsp canola oil or maize oil
Salt pepper to taste
1cup diced red bell pepper
1cup grated carrot
2 spring onions
1/2 cup fresh minced coriander leaves
Juice and finely diced zest of 1/4of a lemon
1/2 tbsp vegetable stock powder
Procedure
Boil the sprouted mung bean with veg stock till just done.
Do not over cook as sprouts get cooked faster than the unsprouted beans and just use as much water just to immerse the sprouts
Mix cider vinegar with oil to the cooked mung sprouts after it has cooled down
Add lemon zest  ,salt , and pepper to taste and mix carefully so not to break the sprouts
Add capsicum ,spring onions , minced coriander and carrot
Give a slight  toss to mix all the ingredients.
Garnish with fresh coriander


One of our facebook group members, Souha Kamand has sent a Syrian Tabouli Salad with parsley.

Ingredients :
3 bunch fresh parsley
4 tablespoons fine bulgur (cracked wheat )
2 medium onion
2 medium tomato
½ teaspoon all spice
1 teaspoon salt
¼ cup lemon juice
¼ cup olive oil
½ tablespoons dry mint or fresh mint leaves
Preparation :
1. Wash the parsley well .
2. Chop the onion finely ,add ½ teaspoon salt and all spice rub onions with your fingertips ,set aside for 10 minutes, soak bulgur in lemon juice set aside until softened .
3. Meanwhile chop parsley very finely ,put in a deep bowl ,chop tomato finely, add to parsley add mint , the rest of salt ( keep some diced tomato for decorating ).
4. Squeeze chopped onion with your hand ,add squeezed onions to parsley, olive oil and bulgur , Stir to combine ,taste Tabouli add more salt and lemon juice if necessary .
5. Put Tabouli in a serving dish decorate with tomato .
Tip : Tabouli is best made as close to serving time as possible.
Thank you Simi Ethiraj, Souha Kamand and Yasmin.


Well now, lets take a look at the collection of our dainties in Healthy Morsels-Pregnancy.Your knowledge and wisdom are safely preserved here, here and here.
Please take time to go through the blogs for foods advisable for increasing the milk supply, foods that strengthen the pelvic muscles and the backbone, veggies that help lowering blood pressure during pregnancy or traditional healthy treats for the new moms. They are just a few examples from many other interesting recipes we received.
We would like to thank you all once again for your love and support, without which we definitely could not have achieved this success. Please accept our sincere and heartfelt thanks by collecting this badge.

Congratulations all, you are now a member of the Healthy Morsels crew !! Hope and wish you continue your contribution and support on the oncoming exciting themes as well :)


Without much waiting, let's now get straight to the nominees for the Healthy Morsels Finals. For those of you who are new, please refer our  announcement page for details. It definitely was a tough job in selecting three nominees from a whole batch of 170! We had zeroed in to 3 entries based on 
* the close relevance to the theme Pregnancy 
* bringing out the nutritional benefits in the posts and finally,
* the number of entries contributed.
So working it out carefully, we came up with the following nominees for the finals, who are honored as a "Member of Hall of Fame" in our Honors Board page in all our three blogs and also in our Facebook group page. 
The Hall of Fame members in alphabetical order are.....


Archana Vivek of "My Culinary Endeavours" for sharing useful recipes related to Postpartum diet like Milagu Kozhambu

and as a token of appreciation from the Healthy Morsels Team, she is getting this:

Asiya Omar of "My Healthy Happy Kitchen" for sharing her wealth of knowledge, documenting her pregnancy experience and sending recipes like Moringa Flowers Egg Fried Rice

and as a token of appreciation from the Healthy Morsels Team, she is getting this:

and Jaleela Kamal of "Samaiyal Attagaasangal" for sharing essential tips and recipes like Mutton Soup.

and as a token of appreciation from the Healthy Morsels Team, she is getting this:

Many many Congratulations Asiya, Archana and Jaleela !!!!!! Cant appreciate your efforts and your involvement more!


On the whole, it was a most exciting journey with the theme Pregnancy. Stay tuned for the next event very soon!! :) 


Healthy Morsels Team
Lecker and Yummy Recipes 
SchmetterlingWords 
Taste of Pearl City

Wirsing Rouladen (Stuffed Cabbage leaves)

Wirsing Rouladen (read as Ru-laa-den), a German name given to the cabbage leaves wrapped around a filling which is usually based on minced meat, or rice, seasoned with herbs, spices and onions. The rolls are then baked, simmered or steamed in a covered pot and eaten warm accompanied by a sauce. It is found in the cuisines of former Ottoman Empire from the middle east to the Balkans and Central Europe.

Its so much interesting to discover about the great health benefits and the nutritional value the Cabbage has! This leavy vegetable called the "drug of the poor" in medieval times, is unfortunately rarely added to our daily menu these days. With its high fiber content and anti-cancer properties, it is known to reduce the risk of colon cancer, boosts the digestive health and lowers cholesterol, reducing the risk of cardiovascular diseases. The juice of the cabbage stem is a good cure for ulcers. The vitamin C and sulphur in it purifies the blood and removes toxins. Some of the chemicals present in cabbage accelerate the body's metabolism of estrogen thereby reducing the incidence of breast, uterine and ovarian cancer in women ! Also, cabbage being very low in calories makes it a perfect diet food. 

After reflecting upon such health benefits of Cabbage, who will be having any second thoughts in including this nutrient rich vegetable regularly in our daily foods like soups, stews, salads, sandwiches?
Coming back to my recipe, I've stuffed ground meat and egg to make it rich and more filling and to satisfy my meat-lover :)

Ingredients:
Green Cabbage (Wirsing) - 1 head
Ground Meat - 500 gms
Eggs 4-5 + 1
Rolled Oats - 2 tbsp
Onion(chopped) - 1
Mustard paste (optional) - 1 tsp
Salt - 1 tsp
Ground pepper - 1 tsp
Spices of your choice
Parchment/Baking paper
Aluminium foil

Method 

1. Boil the eggs and peel off the shells. Set aside.

2. Remove and separate the desired quantity of cabbage leaves. Soak them in the boiled and salted water for 2-3 minutes. Drain the water and let it dry.

3. Combine the ground meat, chopped onions, mustard paste, spices, rolled oats and 1 egg. 

4. Make them into small oval balls.

5.  Place this ground meat filling and a boiled egg on each leaf.

6. Wrap it firmly.

7. Repeat the procedure for the remaining leaves. Closely pack the stuffed leaves in a dish lined with parchment paper. Cover it with aluminium foil.

8. Preheat the oven at 175°C and bake the stuffed leaves for about 45 minutes. Remove the aluminium foil and then bake again for another 15 minutes.

9. Serve the Wirsing Rouladen with tomato sauce or any sauce of your choice.

Note:
Alternatively, you could place the cabbage rolls in a large pot, pour water or tomato sauce, just enough to cover them and few drops of lemon juice(optional), close the lid and slow cook it in low flame for about an hour. Care should be taken every now and then not to burn it.


Wirsingkohl Suppe (German Cabbage Soup)
The left over cabbage could be used in preparing a thick soup using fresh cream which is very common in German Cuisine. Since unfortunately I didn't have enough time to take pictures of it, I could not share it with you :(. Shall update this post when I click it the next time. But, the recipe follows.... 
Ingredients:
Cabbage leaves(Wirsing)
Butter or Margarine - 2 tbsp
Onions (chopped) - 1
All purpose flour - 3 tbsp
Fresh cream - 200 ml
Vegetable stock - 2 tsp
Water - 500 ml
Salt - to taste
Pepper - to taste
Parsley for garnishing
Method
1. Cut in strips the left over head of the cabbage, discarding the inner white stem. Set aside
2. Melt the butter in a large pan. Saute the onions and the cabbage for about 5 minutes. 
3. Sprinkle the flour over it. Add the water, vegetable stock, cream, salt and pepper. Mix well and let it cook for about 15 minutes until the stew thickens.
4. Garnish with parsley.
5.  Serve the Cabbage cream soup with boiled potatoes or steamed rice or fresh bread !
This recipe takes part in the Gimme Green event, hosted at Chef Al dente.