Baby food series - Part 3 - Rose flavoured cheesecake (kharvas)

My Aarya is 2 years old now and last month we had an amazing party on our terrace. I made a mickey cake for him at home and I promise to share the recipe soon!!
Now that Aarya's baby talk is getting more and more coherent, its becoming clear to me what he wants and what he doesn't! He is also becoming a very picky eater! Thankfully, when you have your mom not very far from you, some yummy food is just a phone call away!!!!!
My mom has always been a very creative cook and since Aarya started eating solids, every week, she comes up with a new delicious way to feed him!
This new recipe is completely her own and this blissfully soft cheesecake is so easy yet so yummy that i bet you, you will make it over and over again! It can also make a good dessert. Mind you this is packed with calories so be careful when you eat these yourself!!

Also when you are giving any food to your baby for the first time, do make sure to feed very little quantity - a spoon or two - in the first go. If your baby likes and digests this well.. increase the quantity next time.

Rose Flavoured Cheesecake (kharvas)

Ingredients Unheated milk - 1 cup Curd - 1 cup Milk powder - 4 T-spoons Condensed milk - 1 cup Gulkand (Preserved rose petal Jam) - 2 T-spoons

1. Mix everything in a blender and blend it into a fine puree.
2. Pour it in a rice cooker container. It should be filled only half-way. Cook it on steam for 20 minutes on a high flame.
3. Once done, let it set for 5 minutes at room temperature and then freeze it for about an hour in a refrigerator.

Thats it!! Can you believe it?? This is the easiest cheesecake recipe I've seen (thanks mom!!) It is unbelievably tasty and I promise it will be well liked by the little ones!!

Lots of love XOXO!

Baby food series - Part 2 - Oats and dates kheer (Porridge)!

This is a new recipe in the baby food series and its called Oats & dates kheer!

I hope my friends liked the first recipe in the series Wholesome veg soup.

Todays recipe is a delicious kheer and believe me, the dish is as good as it sounds. Of course it also fulfills our main criteria of feeding our toddlers with wholesome nutrition!

I've used packaged oats for this recipe and the dates used are common seedless red dates.
Dates are available in red and black colour in the market and it is believed that black dates tend to be more nutritious than red ones but I use either of the variety thats available.

A couple of facts about oats-
1) Oats boast of a healthy nutritional profile. They are actually a whole grain cereal so they are a good source of proteins.
2) Oats are a good source of dietary fibers so it aids in digestion.
3) Oats are known to lower the cholesterol and are helpful for people with diabetes. (Though it wouldn't matter for children as much!)

Some interesting things about dates-
1) Dates are the fruits of palm tree and are packed with minerals and vitamins.
2) Dates are an excellent source of iron .
3) Dates also contain potassium and calcium. Also they are a good source of energy because they contain 80% of natural sugar.

Also when you are giving any food to your baby for the first time, do make sure to feed very little quantity - a spoon or two - in the first go. If your baby likes and digests this well.. increase the quantity next time.

I've given this kheer to Aarya as breakfast, as evening snacks. I've also given it to him with roti for lunch or dinner. He loves it just about any time!

I hope this comes in handy for you someday..

So.. the second recipe in the baby food series is -

Oats & dates kheer (Porridge)

Ingredients Oats - 4 T-spoons Dates - 3 nos - soaked in water overnight Milk - 1 cup Desi ghee - 2 t-spoons Sugar - 1 T-spoon Saffron- for garnishing

1. Dry roast the oats in a pan but be careful to stir it because it gets burnt very quickly.
2. Cool the roasted oats by spreading them evenly on a plate. Once cooled, they will become a bit crispy. Ground them in mixer. We want a bit of grainy texture so do not make it very fine.
3. Grate the soaked dates very finely. Do not throw the water in which the dates were soaked. We'll use it later to cook the oats. If your baby can not chew still then you might want to run the dated through mixer and get a soft puree.
4. Put ghee in a pan and heat it up.
5. Lower the flame and put the oats powder in the pan while stirring continuously.
6. Put in sugar and the dates water. Mix it properly and let it boil.
7. After a minute or so or when the oats have soaked the water completely, put in milk and grated dates.
8. Stir it for a minute or two and thats it!
9. Garnish it with some saffron strands and watch your baby enjoying the fruits of your Labour!!!

This is a good recipe to give your baby a filling food thats great for his health and tongue alike!
once your baby adapts to external foods, try this recipe with fresh grated fruits like banana, Apple, pear or other dry fruits like almonds or apricots to create a new flavour each time!

Bon appetit to your little one!

Baby food series - Part 1 - Wholesome veg soup

When my baby boy Aarya was about 6 and a half month old, I started feeding him stuff other than milk.
He has always been a foody since then and I have to constantly keep thinking of ways to bring in good nutrition as well as different taste and texture in his diet.

I do rely on packaged baby food at the times when we travel and it is not possible to prepare fresh food...
but there is no comparison when it comes to freshly prepared food with seasonal vegetables/fruits and all the goodness of home hygiene and most importantly your love for your baby.

Babies do have tastes and choices of their own and you have to go on a trial basis to check his/her likes/dislikes.

Also when you are giving any food to your baby for the first time, do make sure to feed very little quantity - a spoon or two - in the first go. If your baby likes and digests this well.. increase the quantity next time.

Like every other mom out there, I've developed some simple recipes of my own. Aarya loves almost all of these and I hope your babies will too.

This one is dedicated to all my friends who are proud parents of their lil ones..
I hope this comes in handy for you someday..

First recipe in this series is -

Wholesome veg soup

Ingredients bottle gourd (dudhi) - 4/5 diced cubes red pumpkin - 4/5 diced cubes carrot - 4/5 diced cubes Potato - 4/5 diced cubes Spinach leaves - 3/4 Desi ghee - 1 t spoon Jira - 1 or 2 pinches Hing - 1 pinch Turmeric powder - 1 pinch a bit of ginger finely cut coriander

1. Cook all the vegetables other than spinach in a pressure cooker till they become very soft.
2. Wash spinach leaves thoroughly and put them in some boiling water. Let the water boil for about 3/4 minutes till you can see the leaves cooked.
3. Do not cover the pan as it changes the leaves colour.
4. Run all the vegetables through blender and form a very soft puree.
5. Heat some desi ghee in a pan. Add jeera powder, hing and turmeric.
6. Stir in the vegetable puree. Mix it well and add some water.
7. Let the soup boil for a minute.With a fine grater, grate some ginger (only 2/3 swings should be good enough).
8. Add salt.
9. Add very finely cut coriander and mix it.

This is a good recipe to give your baby a boost of vitamins. Hing aids in digestion and turmeric is a good antiseptic, but both should be added only a pinch or two! You can also put some very fine pepper powder (just a pinch else it'll make it very hot) to give it a new flavor.
once your baby adapts to external foods, try this recipe with different veggies everytime.

Hope your little one eats this as happily as mine does!!

lantern baby mobile!'

Everything just so damn cute and innocent and precious in a baby's world!! They just touch your heart in a way that you can't help but feel thankful to God for his wonderful gift!!

I'm on a spree to create
baby stuff!!  I went one step ahead this time and created a lantern mobile. This idea is a borrowed one from http://justsomethingimade.com/2012/12/paper-house-luminaries-and-mobile/

Just love her blog..

The instructions are straight forward..

Take 12 copies of the house template on the reverse side of the printed sheets of your choice. Cut out the edges. Fold on the dotted lines. Stick the open ends together. That's all!!! Hang all the houses on an embroidery hoop.



 I did struggle a bit finding the right paper but in the end decided to go with various shades and patterns of sky blue..

It looks fab just as it is....

...or you could add some lighting.. which makes it even more beautiful..

I used string light rather than battery operated candles.. But everyone at my house loved it all the same..

Especially Aarya is really fond for lights..so this one has become his favorite...

More baby stuff is coming  soon!!.

Baby mobile!!

ITS BEEN A YEAR!!! one whole year... !!
I know it because my baby Aarya turned one on March 27 and all of us with the babies can vouch for the fact that the time just flies with them...!!

I was on a kind of sabbatical from the world of crafts and other hobbies for past one year... what with changing diapers, long sleep-deprived nights, keeping tabs of vaccination timings, preparing baby food for weekdays.. and ofcourse juggling between home and office...  I was just not crafting!! It was nowhere on the list of things to do!!..

but now its been a while.. and the I'm back!!! This time with a whole new set of crafts and handmade stuff for babies!! I'm planning to do a round of all the baby food recipes that I used for Aarya... I think they might come in handy for couple of friends of mine!! but thats for some time later..

Today is a time for baby mobile!!
Some time ago, during my pottery stint, I had made a few ceramic charms.. like birds, flowers, leaves etc... These were perfect for a small mobile that I could hang in Aarya's room..

With a set of those charms.. and a couple of key-rings that my BFF Janhavi had gifted to me.. I created an adorable mobile..
It even contains a couple of key-rings that I had bought from Swaziland...

All the charms are hung on two embroidery hoops that are embellished with ribbons... and I've used multi-coloured string rather than fishing line to give it more kiddo look!!

It sways and swings and twirls and the ceramic charms even make some tinkling sound....
Aarya just loved it.. and so did I.. his reactions and the way he adoringly looks up at it.. makes me think of so many things I can make for him!! This is something new for inspiration....

I'm planning to put together yet another mobile that I saw on pinterest..  so thats something coming soon!!

Till that time... prachodayam!!

Before & After!! A mosaic makeover!!

Before and after! A stool makeover!

Some time back, when we got the house painted, the contractor used a wooden stool from our furniture.. and left it in such a messy state, that it used to take an effort to look at it and not feel disgusted. Poor piece of furniture must have suffered loads. (sigh!!)

One fine day, when the stool was lying in the corner of the dump-area of the house, I started wondering if only I could change its appearance and make it a piece of art. My brain started whizzing with all its might and came up with a design from the scrap items available easily at my home.

My dear hubby has got a beautiful, small workshop where he gets custom ceramic tiles designed, printed and processed. There are always scrap pieces of ceramic leftover taking their space in the workshop's frontyard. So I decided to a little mosaic design on the stool.

I started exploring the scraps and came up with a simple design of spiral with a light contrast background.

I sandpapered entire stool first and then pencil-sketched the design directly on the top.

The pieces of tiles were cut and pasted with glue adhering the sketch.
The inner design was done first and then the background.

After the pieces were set properly, I applied the cement mixture on to the pieces. The slurry had to seep into all the rough edges and gaps and then it was left to dry for about 10 hours. About midway through the drying process, I sponge-wiped the extra cement layer off the top of the ceramic pieces.

After the top was ready, the legs were wood-polished.

A closer look of the mosaic design!

And here is a before and after look!

So, yet another mosaic piece is ready to add to my collection!!!
Mosaic inspiration is still on and who knows what could be done next!!

Ceramic wall plaque

This one has stayed longer than others!!!! My ceramic love has not only stayed longer than other things that I've started doing in the past.. but also it is growing by each passing day!!
The fact that my ever-growing body is not allowing me to do much of it, I still managed to put together a sample plaque along the lines of Italian name plaques.

The photo of the raw sample is -

And the photo of the finished sample is -

Ceramic colours can be soo tricky and you are never sure what will the final result look like till you actually see it!! Same thing happened with me while working on this but still I was pretty satisfied with the end result. I think thats the beauty of handmade.. the runtime inspirations make each work so unique!!

As I've already told many of my friends, another mosaic piece is ready and I'll post it soon in the next blog. Till then keep the inspiration flowing!!!