Hi guys! Today I am writing this blog post as a mom finding solutions to build my child’s immunity. With the changing weather, children catch cold & flu easily. This made me think about how I can improve my child’s immunity and make her strong.
Food plays a very important role in improving health as well as recovering from any diseases. There is a strong connection of food with nutritional elements and immunity system. We need to make sure that kids get proper balanced diet with all the nutritional elements needed for good immunity.
What are these elements and how do they affect our immune system? Nutrients are broadly divided into the following categories:
Protein (1gm protein provides 4 Kcal energy) Some of the constituents of protein can’t be made by body so it needs to be taken directly from food. Milk, cheese, meat, fish, poultry, pulses contain proteins.
Fat (9 Kcal per 1gm of fat) Fats are an important source of energy for the body and kids need this to stay active.
Carbohydrates: ( 4 Kcal per 1 carbohydrate) They are mostly starch and sugars of vegetables origin and a major component of cereal.
Vitamin & Minerals Vitamins are needed for adequate functioning of body. Vitamins consists of mainly two groups: water soluble vitamin ( B1, B2 & Vitamin C) and fat-soluble vitamin ( A, D,E & K). Minerals such as zinc, selenium are also needed for proper immunity, cell development, etc.
Maintaining a Balance Balanced diet is defined as one, which contains a variety of food in such quantities and proportion that can provide the needed energy, amino acids, vitamins, minerals, fats, carbohydrates and other important nutrients that are required to maintain good health and proper immunity.
I am happy that I found PediaSure with this balanced nutrition to help boost immunity in children. I make sure to give my little one home cooked food that includes cereals, vegetables, fruits, and milk products. Adding PediaSure in milk also helps in boosting her immunity.
We are vegetarians so we try to maintain the protein balance by adding pulses, chick peas, sprouts, and paneer to our daily meal. Apart from this, we add dry fruits with black pepper, chia seeds and fennel seeds in shakes that we drink early morning as part of our routine. You can also add banana in this shake as it gives a sweet taste to it. (If you need detailed recipe for this shake, please leave a comment, and I will share with pictures)
With proper food it’s equally important to teach kids to maintain proper hygiene such as washing hands properly for a minimum of 20 seconds before eating anything. Most importantly right now, we should take care that our kids don’t go out to play until things get okay.
I hope these small changes can help make them stronger. Do share your valuable views and tips that you follow at home to improve your children’s immunity.
Today I am sharing a healthy and yummy recipe of Broccoli paratha. One of the best way to hide nutrition in regular food as it’s hard to let kids and even elders eat it easily.
I would say I was not sure how broccoli paratha would taste but we all loved it. Even the one who says no to broccoli had three parathas. So before I share recipe let me share some details and benefits about this super food.
Broccoli is an edible green plant in the cabbage family (family Brassicaceae, genus Brassica) whose large flowering head and stalk is eaten as a vegetable . Broccoli is a great source of vitamins K and C, a good source of folate (folic acid) and also provides potassium & fiber.
There are many ways to cook and eat broccoli. You can have it raw, steamed, stir fried, baked and roasted. Here we are making broccoli Indian style .
Ingredients for filling
1 big Broccoli One medium sized onion ( finely chopped) One tablespoon butter One tablespoon olive oil ( cooking parathas need oil separately you can use normal oil if you don’t have olive oil) Salt as per taste Red chili powder 1 tsp ( or more as per you liking) Black pepper powder 1 tsp Coriander powder 1 tsp Mozzarella cheese ¼ cup ( optional)
Ingredients for Dough
Two cups whole-wheat flour Salt as per taste or 1 tsp Water for kneading Oil for cooking parathas
Process First we will prepare our dough and keep it aside for rest. • Take two cups whole-wheat flour in a big bowl and add salt • Now you can add water slowly and start kneading until you form sold dough • Apply some oil so that it doesn’t dry and keep it covered for rest
Filling • Now we will grate our washed and dried broccoli with the help of grater • Add some oil and butter in kadai and heat it • Add chopped onions in the kadai and cook properly until it turns transparent • Add Grated broccoli and all spices in kadai stir continuously • Turn off the gas when broccoli turns soft • Let the mix cool down • You can add grated mozzarella cheese to the filling, this is completely optional
Parathas • Take your dough and knead again for few seconds and take a small ball of it. • Roll it in small puri and add 2-3 spoons of the broccoli filling • Closed the puri nicely with the stuffing inside • Roll it again with help of some flour into bigger round • Now heat your tawa and once it’s hot put the paratha on it • Cook the paratha applying oil/ghee/butter till it’s little crispy • Serve hot with achaar & curd
We were planning trip to Statue of Unity from quite some time. This year in Holi holidays we finally visited Worlds tallest Statue standing tall at a height of 182 Meters.
It is around 420 Km from our home. We took NH 48 till outskirts of Bharuch and then took diversion on State highway 165 towards Statue.
Different routes and the one we took
We usually start our road trips early morning, this time was no different. We left around 5.20 AM from our home. I think this was the first time we got lost at the start of the trip.
Not exactly lost as we have Google but we took 1 or 2 wrong turns, due to this we went inside Biwandi. Maps showed us this route as there was some accident or work on NH after Thane.
As it’s National Highway there are tolls but the roads are in great shape. We misplaced the receipts so won’t be able to tell how much total toll we paid.
But due to Fast Tag we went in wrong lane and paid double the toll in one of the toll plaza. Most of the time there are clear signs for Cash lane and Fast Tag lanes but some how we missed it at one of the plaza.
Our experience with cash lane was like it was fast at most of the tolls, as most of the travelers have opted for Fast Tag so the rush on those lanes were little more at some tolls and took more time to clear.
We too have Fast Tag but the site was not working a day before so we couldn’t recharge it. The state highway in Gujarat is not in good shape, there were many patches which were in bad shape but manageable.
Our first stop was for B/F at Silver Miles restaurant. This is one of the most rated place on this route. It is big place with ample of parking, clean but not properly maintained restrooms.
Food was good and fresh and they accept card payment. Cost was little bit on higher side for normal Idly dosa but it’s Ok. It was around 100 Km from our place and took around 2 hrs.
After this we didn’t stop any where and directly stopped for Lunch around 12.30-1 PM at Hotel Narmada. It is around 400 Km from our place and around 20 Km from Statue so it was good point to stop.
Our visiting slot for Statue was 2.30 to 5 PM, so we had ample of time for lunch and relax before visiting the Statue. Food was Ok, not bad nor that good but it was fresh and service was fast as it was not that crowded at that time.
We reached the Statue at around 2 PM. There is ample of parking available around the Statue, there are different type of parking available like one w/o any shade.
It was more like a empty ground converted into parking. Then there is parking which has shade and tar road.
Parking with shade is little far from the Statue. No need to worry as the bus ride from parking to Statue main entry gate is included in the ticket price. Parking fee for both the parking is same i.e. Rs 150 no time limit.
First pose with Status from the parking area
You can find a detailed guide about this place here. Other then the statue there are lot of things to do here.
Now we entered the compound, there is one security check at the main entrance. Then you have to walk around 100-120 meter to the gate where the tickets are scanned.
We have taken Rs 350 ticket which include the entry to the viewing gallery which is at the height of around 124 meters i.e. in the chest of Sardar Vallab Bhai Patel.
If you don’t want to stand in line for ticket purchase book your tickets here well in advance. As there are limited tickets for each slot.
Other types of ticket are general ticket which cost Rs 150 and does not include entry to viewing gallery. Then there is express entry costing Rs 1050. If you buy this ticket then you don’t need to stand in any line.
Waiting for Lift to viewing gallery
Here you will find a long queue if you are going in season or say weekend evening time. As we booked the slot for little odd time we didn’t find that much of crowed but it took us around 10 min to enter.
Travelator
There are Travelators on each side and is covered from the top so you will have shade most of the time. There are escalators every where which is wonderful and very thought full.
This will reduce the overall tiredness and keeps you fresh which is necessary to explore other things. Best part is you can come with full family as escalators are really nice facility specially with elders and kids.
When we first saw the Statue it was like WOW, this is simply a architectural marvel and a great tribute to Sardar who united India.
The Architectural Marvel
There is museum at the bottom of the statue. This is the only place which is air conditioned.
Entry to this place is given as per slots. It has huge metal head of Sardar and other details of the full construction. It also contain pictures and videos related to Sardar providing more details about his work and his life.
In the middle of this museum there is big wooden circular shape which contains the lifts to take people to the viewing gallery. There is big line here, bigger then the one we get on the main entry.
Behind this beautiful wooden wall are the elevators
Museum is made with proper sitting areas and benches all over the place. Their is two movie theaters where you can watch small documentary on Dam and Sardar’s life.
Relaxing a bit after the visit to viewing gallery
It took us 15-20 min to reach the Lift and then few seconds to reach the viewing gallery.
Viewing gallery
The view is amazing but you will enjoy more if you visit after rains. There will be water in Narmada and if you are lucky enough you can witness the open gates of the Dam.
View of Narmada and Sardar Sarovar dam from 124 mtrs
There not much to do here, you can enjoy the view for some time, click some pics and then again get in line to get down. All these lines can be skipped if you purchase express entry ticket.
For us it was too costly and didn’t justify the price as we were visiting in a kind of off season.
After getting down you can again enjoy the museum or relax a bit. After getting out of museum we climbed to the feet of Sardar. They are so huge and one can’t even see the face of the Statue from the bottom.
Gigantic feet of Sardar’s StatueView of entry while coming down
The view is great from here as well. You can enjoy some time here click some pics. As I said earlier there are escalators so you don’t have to climb a single stair 🙂
After all this we started walking(basically standing on Travelator :)) to exit. It was great experience and one should definitely visit this. There is food court in the campus which is quite big and has different options to eat.
Sitting area front of food court
Note – there is free water available in the premises, you can either refill your bottle or buy one as a souvenir. Do carry sun glasses and sunscreen in case you are visiting in day and if it’s sunny
There are other places to see near by, I’ll give more details about them in my next blog so stay tuned 🙂
Parents nowadays are so busy in their lifestyle that we are not able to spend quality time with kids.
How to engage kids with daily home activities
Whether it’s working parents or stay at home, taking out time to relax and play is a real task. So why not involve kids with you in helping your daily chores!!
She loves to play with water and tissues so teaching her the use of both while cleaning the glass
It’s always better then giving them phone or tablet as this is the easily available option we see nowadays!
How to involve kids in Home chores and how it is helpful?
Kids love to explore and easily bored doing same activity again and again. They love to do new things and enjoy learning it as their curiosity level is really high.
Helping mamma with folding her cloths
Involving kids in daily chores like dusting, putting clothes in washing, folding clothes, arranging utensils etc. will help in there overall growth.
They love to do what you do so it’s really easy to involve them
Helps in learning new skills
Improve concentration
Helps in improving hands and eyes co-ordination and strengthen muscles.
Helps in improving vocabulary as they learn to express themselves by asking questions
Creativity– they show their own way of doing the activity
Helps in boosting their confidence as they are doing work on their own
Helps in personal bonding as you get to spend quality time with them
Helping hand, fours hands are always good then two doing same work!
Cleaning the grill and watering the plants
Explain them what they are doing and why it is important.
Note – always make them do things under your supervision so that there is no damage to things or kids.
