Hey, busy parents! Are you struggling to meet hectic schedules while ensuring your little ones get the nutrition they need? Then, you are not alone. Even though you want to give healthy foods to your children, which you got from your parents and grandparents, you may find little time to prepare them. Then what’s the solution?
One solution is to cook simple foods that don’t consume much time but are tasty and healthy with millet and cereals. Or even simpler, you can buy Millex Mother Root, a millet mix powder for babies packed with 10+ ingredients like cereals, pulses, nuts, and Ayurvedic herbs. It is a simple and effective solution for busy moms and dads. Here’s the recipe tips if you want to cook healthy foods for your children:
- Finger Millet Porridge
Popular in Southern India, especially in the farming state of Karnataka, this finger millet is called Ragi. As finger millet is highly nutritious and easily digested, it is often given to babies. Here’s the recipe you can try with finger millet.
Ingredients:
- Finger millet flour – 2 tbsp
- Wheat flour – 1 tbsp
- Water (Pre boiled) – 60 ml
- Ghee – ¼ tsp
- Powdered jaggery – ½ tsp
- Milk (if your choice)/ Breast milk or formula
Instructions:
- Whisk together the wheat flour and finger millet with water.
- Put the mixture in a pan and cook over medium-low heat until it takes on a form of sauce.
- Add in the ghee, cinnamon, and jaggery powders, and turn off the flame.
- Allow it to cool down. Add your preferred milk (breast milk, or formula) to change the consistency.
Health Benefits
Finger millet is a great natural source of calcium that supports healthy bones for growing children. Regular consumption of finger millet protects the bones from osteoporosis and other disorders and can reduce the chance of fracture which are common in children.
- Red Rice Cereal Porridge
A water-soluble pigment called anthocyanin gives red rice a long, grainy form of rice. Compared to polished rice, red rice has a higher nutritional value and a nutty flavor. So, here’s how you can use red rice to make a child's favorite porridge.
Ingredients:
- Red Rice - 1 Cup
- Bengal gram – ¼ Cup
- Cashew – 5
- Almonds - 10
- Pista – 5
- Ghee – ¼ tsp
- Powdered jaggery – ½ tsp
Instructions:
- Take a wide, thick-bottomed pan and dry roast red rice until its color changes. It usually takes around 10-15 minutes and adjust it based on rice texture.
- Once roasted, transfer the red rice to a plate and allow it to cool. In the same pan, dry roast the fried Bengal gram for a few minutes and then transfer it to a plate to cool.
- Dry roast the cashew, almonds, and pista in the same pan until fragrant, then set aside to cool.
- Once all ingredients are cooled, put them in a blender jar and grind into a fine powder.
- In a thick-bottomed pan, mix the required amount of fine powder along with jaggery powder.
- Add ghee to the mixture and then add the required amount of water.
- Mix all ingredients thoroughly to avoid lumps and switch on the flame.
- Continuously stir the mixture until it reaches a porridge consistency.
- Ensure the consistency is neither too thick nor too runny, then transfer the porridge to a serving bowl.
- Your nutritious red rice cereal porridge is now ready to be served.
Health Benefits:
Red rice is a fantastic grain for children because it is low in fat and high in vitamins and other minerals. It has a high fiber content as well, which helps with bowel movement and digestion. Apart from having high levels of calcium and magnesium, red rice can help strengthen bones and stave against osteoporosis.
- Green Gram Porridge
Preferred as a superfood, green gram dal is among the world's richest sources of plant-based protein. Whether served with rice or roti, green gram dals are a staple of Indian cuisine and enhance the wholesomeness of any meal. From green gram dal you can also make children's favorite Porridge.
Ingredients:
- Green Gram soaked for 2 hrs – ¼ Cup
- Rice – ½ Cup
- Cumin Seeds – 1 tsp
- Cloves Garlic - 3
- Ghee – ½ tsp
- Water – 3 cups
- Coconut milk – 1
- Salt as needed
Instructions:
- Soak and wash green grams for two hours.
- Drain the water from the rice and add the soaked green Gram in a pressure cooker.
- Mix in cumin seeds and garlic.
- Add salt and water as needed. For babies younger than a year old, omit the salt.
- Add half a teaspoon of ghee. Once the pressure cooker is closed, cook everything on medium heat for two whistles.
- After the pressure is released, carefully mash the porridge using a masher after opening the cooker. Instead of smashing the porridge, you can also blend it with a blender or mixer. Include the coconut milk.
- Keep the heat low and boil it for three to five minutes. Once completed, turn off the flame.
Health Benefits:
Green grams are good for kids' growth. It is high in protein and vitamins. Millex Mother Root, a millet mix powder for babies also has a significant amount of green gram along with 10 other traditional ingredient. It gives children’s all type of nutrients necessary for their well-being.
- Wheat Pancakes Recipe
Wheat is one of the grains that Indians have consumed for ages, it has been cultivated for 10,000 years. India grows a lot of wheat, and the natural gluten found in wheat causes no harm for human health. Usually, wheat is processed into flour to prepare a range of dishes. Here’s a wheat flour pancake recipe you can prepare for your children.
Ingredients:
- Wheat flour - ¾ Cup
- Ghee/oil - for making dosas
- Jaggery powder - ¼ cup + 1 tbsp
- Coconut scrapped - 1 tbsp
- Small banana - 1 mashed
- Cardamom - 1
- Water - 2 cups
- Salt - a pinch
Instructions:
- Measure jaggery and wheat flour and keep it prepared. Put the jaggery in a saucepan and add water.
- Heat the jaggery until it melts.
- Mix the mashed banana, jaggery water, scraped coconut, and wheat flour in a container.
- To prevent the formation of lumps, gradually add water and mix thoroughly.
- The batter should be not too thick nor runny.
- Add a ladle of batter into a hot dosa tawa and spread it out into a circle. Avoid dispersing too much. Add a little oil or ghee.
- Fry for five minutes on one side until browned, then turn the dosa over. After cooking for a minute, take off the tawa. Follow the same procedure with the leftover batter.
Health Benefits:
Apart from being high in energy and fiber, wheat also contains critical minerals for a child's growth and development, such as iron and vitamin B. A baby's overall nutrition can be improved, and their growing energy needs can be supported by wheat.
- Toor Dal Soup
De-husked split green gram is called toor dal, and compared to other forms of green gram, it is easier to absorb and contains more nutrients. Toor Dal has a low-fat level and boils rapidly. It is rich in protein. As toor dal helps the infant's digestive tract in the early stages of weaning, it's always the first choice when it comes to dals to feed children.
Ingredients:
- Toor dal – 2 tsp
- Ghee – 1tsp
- Water – 1 cup
- Pepper powder – A pinch
- A little bit of turmeric powder.
Instructions:
- Use a pressure cooker for one whistle, or fill it with water and marinate it for fifteen to twenty minutes.
- Add pepper, turmeric, and ghee.
- Stir continuously and cook for approximately 10 minutes.
- Cook the lentils until they are easily mashed with a fork.
- Transfer the mixture to a jar.
- Blend everything until the cooked mixture is smooth.
- The toor dal soup is done.
Health Benefits:
This dal provides all the amino acids needed to build muscle mass and repair tissues, and when mixed with cereals, it provides a complete protein source. Incorporating toor dal in the diet is one of the best ways to meet the protein needs of children.
Millex Mother Root is Your One-stop Solution for Children’s Nutrition
Do you eat superfoods and would like to include them for your baby? Homemade Millet Baby Cereal from Millex is your solution. Packed with natural vitamins, minerals, proteins, carbohydrates, and healthy fats, Millex Mother Root helps to maintain digestive health and energy levels.
It is a nourishing blend of ten traditional ingredients including sprouted green gram, finger millet, dry fruits, red rice, and spices. For children between the ages of six and thirty months, it offers the best nutrition possible.
This nutritious food, which boosts immunity and promotes growth, is a daily must for your children who are growing quickly. Visit the Millex site and order healthy Millex Mother Root now!