Manu's Medley

Hello Readers, Hope you are doing fantastic.  *** Long post alert *** But definitely worth reading. The intention of this post is to create general awareness, as this is indeed the first time I or anyone in my known circle had such a freakish experience with an injection!! I have been off the writing wheel over the last few weeks, which wasn't something I wanted to. I had my blogging calendar well prepared, before I set off to India on a vacation. After years of wait due to covid and visa related issues, being away from my family for the longest period of time, missing the most important event in my life and innumerous functions, festivals and get togethers, this was the much awaited trip to my home country. It eventually turned out to be the most unforgettable too, due to an unexpected event, which changed the trajectory of my entire trip.  I tripped off at the Abu Dhabi International Airport, during the layover of my onward journey and sprained my ankle. Somehow I managed to...

This is the third and final part of the food recipes I offered my baby between 6-12 months of age. If you haven't read the previous two parts, I would ask you to do so. Especially, check the notes section of Part 1, to know about few important aspects on feeding the baby. I am providing the links here -  Part 1  and  Part 2  .  Rasam Ingredients:  1/2 tomato, 2 garlic cloves, 1 sprig curry leaves, 3/4 cup of water, 1/8 spoon jeera powder, 1 pinch of pepper powder, 1 pinch of jeera, 1 pinch of hing (asafetida), 1.5 tsp of ghee, salt to taste How to make To boiling water, add tomato, cook for a minute and leave it immersed After 5 minutes, peel tomato's skin   Heat 1/2 tsp of ghee in a vessel and roast the garlic cloves and few curry leaves  Blend the tomato, garlic and curry leaves to a smooth paste Add the paste to water (used to boil tomato) along with salt, hing, pepper and jeera powder and boil It's time to take off rasam from the stove wh...

Diwali is around the corner and I am back with yet another delicious festive recipe. Of course, you don't need a reason to prepare this dessert. Preparing and savoring it, turns any normal day into a special one. Perfect sweet dish for any type of party - birthday, family get togethers, new year etc. and none of your guests could resist themselves with just a single serving🤤.  You can check out the recipe of other varieties of sweets like basundi, rava laddu, dry fruits laddu and sweet pongal in "Recipes" section of this blog. You can find the links to those posts at the end of this post.  Kheer/ Payasam is a sweet dish, very popular in Indian households. It is made with milk, rice/ vermicelli/ tapioca/ dal/ bulgur wheat/ semolina, dry fruits, sugar or jaggery. Today's recipe is rice kheer or rice pudding, prepared in the North Indian style. With slight variations kheer is made in South India too and called as paramannam or arisi payasam or ari payasam or akki payasa...

Manu's Medley turns ONE!!! It was exactly the same day, last year, I published my first post. You can read the post here . I took more than an year contemplating about blogging, primarily unsure whether I will be able to write consistently. But somehow I took the leap, worked on identifying a suitable blogging platform, designed the look, published my first post and shared with my very close circle of cousins and friends. Then, I started circulating with others through watsapp status, Facebook and Instagram posts. Whoever came to know that I write, their direct and indirect reactions/ questions were: Why blogging?  Why this blog (without a specific niche)?  Why not vlogging?  You have good writing skills She doesn't have anything great to do, so she writes It is very easy to write  Let us see how long she blogs How much do you earn out of this?  In what way blogging helps you? And the list doesn't stop here.... I will publish a dedicated post to explain "Wh...

Hello Reader, This post is a continuation to the Part 1 of homemade recipes that I prepared for my kid (when he was 6 to 12 months). The previous post also has few essential points to consider about offering solids to infants. So I recommend you to go over that post first, by clicking  here . Rice-Lentil Cereal/  Porridge Rice can be offered to babies right from the 6th month, as it is super light on tummy and not allergy prone. Gradually you may start including dal i.e., lentils to it, making it more nutritious and filling.  This cereal is completely home-made and you don't have to worry about what ingredients went into the making as in the case of store bought cereal. And of course, it costs lot lesser than the ones you buy from market. You may prepare this cereal and store it for 2 months. If you wish to increase the shelf life, you may store it in the refrigerator. But I prefer to use it within 2 months and a make fresh batch again. You can offer this cereal to your k...

When you are clueless what to do on your holiday, consider spending it amongst the nature. You will definitely not regret. Talking about nature, doesn't the idea of roaming amongst the wildest of wild animals, sound exciting? Animal Safaris are just such places.  African Lion Safari in Cambridge, Ontario, is a must visit if you hadn't had prior experience of navigating amidst a natural set up of the wild life. At this park, we can drive through the Games Reserve (the animal safari), which is approximately 9 kms, in our own vehicles. The tour takes close to 1.5hrs and if we are lucky we could get a closer view, as close as few meters away from deer, giraffes, lamas, baboons, zebras, lions, rhinos, wildebeests etc. We just have to keep the car windows closed throughout the drive, to avoid getting knocked off by those mighty animals. I am just exaggerating😆The safari guards will be patrolling in their vehicles all the time to calm down the wilder ones. But to be safe, have your v...

In my last post of the "Mom & Baby" series, I shared how to start solids for infants, what to feed and the foods to avoid. You can check out the previous post  here . Based on couple of requests, I am sharing some simple recipes that can be made at home. Hope this helps the new moms.  These are the recipes I offered my kid and I am not a licensed practitioner. So always consult with your pediatrician before introducing any new food to your baby. Fruit Purees Fruit purees are simple to make. At this stage, choose fruits that are easily digestible by the baby like banana, apple and pears.  How to make:   Take a ripe banana, mash it to a mushy consistency and feed If you are using apple, wash and peel off its skin, cut into small pieces, steam for 5 minutes, mash and it is ready to be fed Once baby turns 8 months, he will be accustomed to eating fruits and its texture, so you may offer him pears prepared in the same fashion as apples Avocado is full of healthy fats....