Manu's Medley

Though I explained about diet in my  last post , I wanted to elaborate more on the eating habits during pregnancy in today's post, as it has a significant impact on your baby's growth. Your little munchkin is eagerly waiting to absorb all the nutrients you are going to offer it. So let us go through few tips to have a healthy and well-nourished pregnancy.                                                     Tracking and maintaining nutritional needs seems to be overwhelming, but cannot be ignored as it is essential for both mom and baby. Ensure your food is rich in proteins, carbohydrates, fats, vitamins and minerals, which are required for the proper development of baby. Plan your meals to include fresh fruits and vegetables, low-fat milk products, healthy fats, whole grains, and protein-rich beans, fish and meats. Diary: Include diary products like milk, buttermilk, yogurt (curd), cheese and paneer to get your daily dose of protein and calcium. But choose low-fat version of t

Dry fruits are nutrient dense and have numerous health benefits. They aid in hair, skin, bone and heart health, help in weight management, reduce bad cholesterol, increase hemoglobin levels and the list goes on.  I am sharing a simple and delicious laddu recipe with dry fruits, without sugar or artificial sweeteners. I call them "Protein Bombs" as they are loaded with protein and healthy fats. Not only kids, but adults will equally love them.                                                    Ingredients: Almonds - 1 cup Cashews - 1/2 cup Walnuts - 1/2 cup Groundnuts - 1/2 cup Pumpkin seeds - 1/3 cup Sesame seeds - 1/4 cup Flax seeds - 1/4 cup Raisins - 1/4 cup Figs (chopped) - 1/4 cup Dates (chopped) - 1/4 cup Cardamom powder - 1/2 tsp Jaggery powder - 3 tbsps (optional) Procedure: Dry roast all the nuts individually on low flame and allow them to cool completely Powder them individually in mixer grinder, so that they have even consistency Grind raisins, figs and dates and a

Is baby on the way? As a mother, your responsibility of nurturing the baby starts from the moment you are expecting. The overall development of the fetus depends on your lifestyle. So it is imperative to make few changes to your habits. I am sharing few tips as what to do and what not as an expecting mother. This article is compiled based on what I learnt from my obstetrician, nutritionist and diabetologist.                                                         (Source:  "Pregnant Lady"  by  Worlds Direction  is licensed under  CC0 1.0 )                                   Eat healthy Baby's nourishment in the womb is wholly dependent on what you consume. So follow a well-balanced and nutritious rich diet. The food you intake should be rich in protein, folic acid, iron, calcium, healthy fats, complex carbohydrates, which are vital for baby's development. So ensure your diet includes legumes (i.e., dals), green leafy vegetables, lean meat, fish, eggs, multi-grains, dai

It's been a very long time since I read a romantic novel. I came across this book and looking at the title, felt it should be interesting. True to my intuition, "To all the boys I've loved before" written by Jenny Han , was an enjoyable read.                                                               Just to give a sneak peak into the novel, it is the story of a teenager named Lara Jean. She is the middle one amongst three sisters and has a habit of writing love letters to the boys she has a crush on. Instead of giving it to the boys, she secretly stores them in a hatbox in her room. One day her younger sister, posts all those letters to the boys. Amongst those letters, one was addressed to their elder sister's boyfriend. Rest of the story is how Lara handles the consequences and stops the impending damage to the relationship with her sister. The narration was very entertaining, filled with teenage innocence, friendship and romance. If you are looking for a li

Life with a baby is full of laughs, cuddles, kisses and hugs!!! This is just the brighter side. One who is planning to have a baby should be aware of the other side too. While the thought of having a new addition to the family is exciting, parenting is a long and exhausting journey. I somewhere read that "Parenting is a 20 year project", but I would say it is an endless project. At any stage of life, don't we lean on our parents for advice and assistance? Once we commit ourselves to parenthood, their is no turning back.         (Photo source: www.istockphoto.com) Lets go through few major aspects to consider before making the life's biggest decision. Physical readiness:  Every pregnancy is unique and so are the physical challenges. Morning sickness, carrying a child for 10 months, unlimited doctor visits and medical tests, long wait hours at the hospital, backaches, swollen legs, frequent bathroom trips, sleepless nights, pregnancy related medical issues (like gestati

Dil Bekaraar, is a comedy family drama series, released this November on Disney+ Hotstar. The trailer which appeared to be set up in 1980s background was compelling. It is the adoption of novel "Those Pricey Thakur Girls" written by Anuja Chauhan. These two reasons were convincing enough for me to watch the series.                                                      (Photo credit: Disney+ Hotstar) Directed by Habib Faisal, the story revolves around the family of retired Justice LN Thakur and his five daughters, based at New Delhi and love story between the protagonists.  The cast includes Raj Babbar (LN Thakur), Poonam Dhillon (Mamta, LN Thakur's wife), Akshay Oberoi (Dylan Singh Shekhawat, protagonist), Sahher Bambha (Debjani aka Dabbu - one of Thakur's daughter and Dylan's love interest), Padmini Kolhapure (Thakur's brother's wife), Chandrachur Singh (Health Minister). Dylan is a journalist, striving hard to prove himself by writing a powerful byline. H

    The moment a child is born, a mother is also born!!!                                                (Photo credit:  "Mom's hand"   by  Serge Melki  is licensed under  CC BY 2.0 ) When I was expecting my child, I was very nervous and had tons of questions in my mind. I heard lots of personal stories, advices, dos and don'ts from cousins, friends and colleagues; and read loads of content on the internet. Those who weren't new to the process, had better awareness and dealt their second pregnancy with greater confidence. Another thing I observed in common was that no one's journey was the same. It is this uniqueness that makes every MOTHER unique.  Mine too, was different than what I had learnt from all the wonderful moms I knew. So I always had this urge to share whatever I knew with others. In this series, I will be publishing weekly posts about pregnancy, postpartum and nurturing a baby. I wish my posts will be of some help for the expectant and new moms.

Hello Readers, I am sharing a very easy to make recipe today - "Banana Muffins". The entire procedure from "Prep to Bake" takes hardly 40 mins. This recipe doesn't contain all purpose flour and vegan friendly too.  Ingredients: Banana - 2  Wheat flour - 1 cup Oil - 1/3 cup (any oil with neutral taste)  Brown sugar - 1/3 cup Baking powder - 1 tsp Baking soda - 1/2 tsp Salt - a pinch Vanilla essence - 1 1/2 tsp Chocochips - 2 tbsp (optional) Follow me on  Instagram  and  Facebook   to read my latest articles!! Procedure: Mash the bananas well along with brown sugar in a bowl Now, add oil and vanilla essence to the mashed bananas and give a good mix Mix all dry ingredients - wheat flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in another bowl Add dry ingredients mix to the wet ingredients in 2 to 3 batches and mix slowly in a single direction, until there are no big lumps Finally, add two-thirds of the chocochips and mix the dough one last time Scoop in the dough and f

* This post doesn't include any paid promotion "Instant Pot" - It has become a household name and per survey, 1 in 3 houses in North America have an Instant Pot in their kitchens. Robert Wang along with his colleagues from Nortel, Canada designed Instant Pot in 2009. Since it was introduced in the market, varied models have been released and it combines multiple functions of pressure cooker, slow cooker, yogurt maker, steamer, food warmer, saute pan into one appliance, making it versatile. Few models include options for baking, air frying, sous vide.  Though I came across this appliance when I was in the US, I didn't really find the necessity to buy one. I use pressure cookers and rice cooker for my cooking needs. Recently, I wanted to upgrade to a 5litres pressure cooker and then thought why not give Instant Pot a try, to check if it is worth all the hype. During last week's black friday sale, I found Instant Pot Duo Gourmet (6 quart) at Costco for a special pric

Hope you all had a great thanksgiving !!! It's been snowing since yesterday ❄❄❄  When I woke up to see the snow laden roads, cars and trees, I wished I could laze out reading a book and have piping hot spicy pulao. But my little one's shrills brought me to reality and reminded me of my mommy duties.  Nevertheless, I will treat myself with my favorite mushroom pulao today and try to carve out some time to continue with my current read - A memoir by Barack Obama. It is voluminous and I might take couple of months to finish it. Will definitely publish a detailed post on it!!! How do you like to enjoy your snow time??? Do comment. Follow me on  Instagram  and  Facebook  to read my latest articles!! Follow me on  Instagram  and  Facebook  to get notified about my latest articles!!  

Hello Readers, I received few requests to post the recipe for masala vada. There are multiple ways to prepare this yummy tea time snack. I am sharing how it is made in our house. Ingredients: Split chickpeas (chana dal) - 1 cup Fennel seeds (saunf) - 3/4 teaspoon Cloves (lavang) - 2 Cinnamon stick (dalchini) - 1/4 inch Coriander powder - 1 teaspoon Green chillies - 3 Onions - 1 medium sized (chopped) Ginger - 1/2 inch Garlic - 5 cloves Mint leaves (pudina) - 1 tablespoon (finely chopped) Coriander leaves  - 1 tablespoon (finely chopped) Salt, as per taste Oil, for deep frying                               Follow me on  Instagram  and  Facebook   to read my latest articles!! Procedure: Soak chana dal for at least 2 hours Grind the dal without water (or by using maximum of 2 tablespoons), till it attains coarse texture. See to that at least 10% of the dal is not well ground. Yes, you read it right. This gives a good crunch to the vada while eating Powder fennel seeds, cloves and cinnamon

First snow fall at our place, was technically yesterday. But all we had was only flurries (light shower of snow). Today though we had flurries since morning, the real deal started now. Yay, it is snowing. This is just the beginning for the season. Sharing a glance of the snow fall for my readers.  I had my first snow experience in the USA and it was surreal for a person like me, who hails from one of the hottest places in India. First time snow is always fun. But honestly, it isn't as enticing as it appears. Especially, commutation becomes really challenging during and after snowfall and this season witnesses a lot of road accidents. Cleaning snow is a very critical task and physically tiring. It is a punishable offence if we don't clean up snow on our cars before hitting the roads. Personally I am not a fan of bundling up, but we are left with no choice, if we have to step out.  Irrespective of all these, year on year I look forward to snowfall and marvel at it.  Follow me on 

"First They Killed My Father" was on my To Be Read (TBR) list for sometime. Finally, I read it as part of my book goals for the year 2021. It is a heart wrenching memoir written by Loung Ung, who survived the Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge Regime in Cambodia.  The story starts off with Loung narrating her family and life at Phnom Penh before communists took over Cambodia; their family fleeing Phnom Penh due to Khmer Rouge’s attack; the struggles their family encounters while travelling from one village to the other, concealing their identity for survival; their ordeal working for Khmer Rouge. In the due course, Loung’s father gets killed, her family gets separated with Loung ending up in the Khmer Rouge troop as a child soldier. By the time Cambodia is liberated, Loung also loses her mother, 2 sisters and finally unites with rest of her siblings. The books ends with Loung migrating to the United States along with her elder brother and sister-in-law. It is a very well written book

We attended a Halloween party, organized by Schneider Haus National Historic Site along with our friends, in their neighborhood. Entry was based on pre-booking, with timed slots and limited to only those who are fully vaccinated. They decorated the place with haunted forest, cemetery, ghosts, witches and vampirinas. You can find few photographs from the venue, here. It was held outdoors and due to heavy rain, the place was muddy and slippery. But it didn't stop the kids from enjoying the evening. They put up their best show in spooky costumes and played trick-or-treat.  Just to give a little background, Halloween is celebrated by many countries on 31st October of every year. It is the time of the year dedicated to remember all those dead. Initially, Halloween was celebrated in Ireland and Scotland. As people started migrating, it was brought to the US in 19th century and to other countries in 20th and 21st centuries. When it originated, Halloween's rituals were influenced by an

Basundi is a very famous dessert, made in India. It needs few ingredients that are readily available at home.  Ingredients: Full fat milk - 1.5 liters Sugar - 2 tablespoons Cardamom powder - 1 teaspoon Dry fruits (almonds, cashew, pista) - 3 tablespoons (finely chopped)                                              Follow me on  Instagram  and  Facebook   to read my latest articles!! Procedure: Boil milk (on high flame), in a heavy bottomed pan Once it starts to boil, reduce the flame to medium and keep stirring every 2-3 minutes, to avoid burning of the milk Scrap the milk solids from sides and put it back to the pan Once the milk starts to thicken, add sugar and continue boiling Add cardamom powder and dry fruits after the milk reduces to half and switch off the flame Refrigerate and serve cold Tips: Those who are in short of time, you can replace half the quantity of milk with condensed milk (approximately 200gms). This helps to thicken the milk soon. Skip sugar when using condensed

As the fall has set in, options for outings get limited, especially when we have kids. We recently visited a Butterfly Conservatory, at Cambridge, Ontario. It is completely indoor, so a plus for us to visit during fall and winters. It was re-opened in July 2021, after Covid-19 restrictions were relaxed. Entry is based on timed tickets (to be purchased online, as walk-ins aren't entertained these days due to Covid-19). 2 hours slot is allotted per ticket and face masks are mandatory, to ensure safety of visitors.   Now, coming to the Conservatory, it is set up in a tropical environment, which is essential for the survival of butterflies. It houses large varieties of free-flying butterflies and moths, tropical plants, birds, turtles, waterfalls and pond. Highlight is, one gets to see the four metamorphosis stages (i.e., egg, caterpillar, pupa and butterfly) of few varieties of the butterflies at the center. There is also a live display of insects and arthropods in the rooms adjacent

It was 6am and the sky was pitch dark outside. I woke up to another lazy and gloomy day. For those who are wondering why, it is currently fall season here at Canada, followed by winter. So the upcoming 4 to 5 months will be so, except for a very few sunny days in between. If it had been India, by now I will be in the kitchen helping out mom for Durga Pooja!! Since it is Vijayadasami at Canada today (though we are nine and half hrs behind India, almost all the festivals arrived a day in advance at Canada this year) per astro-calendar, I pushed myself out of the bedroom and got ready.  Initial plan was to make a small portion of sweet for prasadam and pav bhaji for lunch (as it is quick to make). Another reason is the guilt of eating lot of sweets and cakes over the last couple of months.  Before entering the kitchen, I texted my friends at Canada and US. Surprisingly everyone responded the same - "Thank you. But it is tmrw". We exchanged couple of texts, mostly me explaining t

Hello Friends, Welcome to my blog!!! Apparently this is my first post.  Why a blog, while Vlogs and Instagram are ruling the cyber space? If you had read 'About Me' section, by now, you know that I am fond of reading. So I chose writing to present my views and experiences. I am sure, it is the same passion to read, brought you here. You can expect posts on parenting, cooking, books, life experiences etc. in short, "A Medley of my Life" !!! Though I planned to launch a blog, almost an year ago, I was skeptical whether I will be able to provide enjoyable, readable and consistent posts for my readers. Everything needs to begin somewhere and someday. So finally, I am here today, publishing my first blogpost.  Follow me on  Insta  and  Facebook   to be up to date about my articles!!!