Join World Moms Blog and MDG Momentum today – Help achieve the Millennium Development Goals

Momentum 1000 has kicked off on April 5th. It is in support of the UN’s Millennium Development Goals.

According to the Momentum 1000 website, “On that day, a community of individuals, organizations, and institutions will come together to celebrate successes to date, reinvigorate discussion on the MDGs themselves, and begin to advance a post-2015 development framework that builds on #MDGmomentum. Join the community and be a part of the 1,000-minute worldwide rally on April 5th!”

The MDG goals are below.

millenium_development_goals

MDG1: Eradicate Extreme Poverty and Hunger

MDG2: Achieve Universal Primary Education

MDG3: Promote Gender Equality and Empower Women

MDG4: Reduce Child Mortality

MDG5: Improve Maternal Health

MDG6: Combat HIV/AIDS, Malaria and Other Diseases

MDG7: Ensure Environmental Sustainability

MDG8: Global Partnership for Development

Today at 9 30 AM IST, there is a twitter chat on #MDG 4 which is child health. I plan to join this party, because it resonates with me so much. Why? Because I am a mother. I love my son. I know all mothers out there love their children so much and no mother ever should outlive their children.

In Aug 2010, my son had fever. We took him to the pediatrician, gave some paracetamol and allowed him to rest. The fever reduced. It again came back. We again gave some paracetamol. It kept fluctuating. It never became a very high fever. It was more a nuisance than life threatening. We did tests for Malaria and Typhoid. They came back negative. We did not test for Dengue. And guess what, he had contacted dengue and we did not know it yet.

Dengue could be life threatening if left untreated for a long time. It IS quite serious. One of my blogger acquaintances here in India lost her daughter to Dengue.

God was kind to me. I have a physician husband. One of my cousins is also a pediatrician. I live in a fairly developing nation, India. I have access to child care. I have knowledge at my finger tips at the click of a mouse and keystroke.

There are so many moms out there who love their children as much as I do, who want the best for their children as much as I do, who are not supposed to outlive their children, who should have access to child care and well, who should see their children grow up and be great men and women of this world. And they should all have rightly access to care to enable good health and long life for their children too.

And so, these Millennium goals resonate so much with me. No mother’s child should fall sick to life threatening, vaccine preventable diseases.

Mothers and citizens of the world, please unite in achieving this MDG 1 through 8. It makes this world a much better place.

MDG WMB Twitter Parties! -1

As part of World Moms Blog, I request you to join today’s twitter party! And help achieve the 1000 minutes of virtual conversation.

Recipe: Roti/Paratha for Ruth

This post is dedicated to Ruth @ The Mommy Café

She loves Parathas and so does her son Kenan.

So, well, lets starts treating them to a our very own Indian breads!!

Take some wheat flour in a bowl. Add salt and 2 teaspoons of oil and make a nice paste like this. If you find that Kenan is running low on his daily veggie consumption, then add some of it to the wheat flour before adding water.  I have added carrot paste.

Wheat flour and carrot paste

Then knead it well. It should not be very watery. Neither should it be solid tight. It should be of the below consistency.

kneaded wheat flour dough

Now take a small ball and roll it out flat on a board with a pin. The ball size could be slightly bigger than a lemon, but smaller than an orange. The thickness could be 2 or 3 millimeters. Check the below rolled out bread. Apply some dry wheat flour ont he ball while rolling it out, so that it doesn’t stick to the board or the pin.

Rolled out dough

Switch on the stove. You can either allow it to cook on a greased pan or you could cook it on the fire directly like this. I prefer this, because see, how fluffy it comes out. My son loves this. He calls it bubble roti or bubble paratha. And this consumes less fuel to cook. Economical on me!

Cooking the roti/paratha on flame

Remove it from the fire with tongs. Then grease it with some butter or clarified butter, whichever your son prefers.

Grease it with butter

You can add beetroot paste or any of the veggie paste to the wheat flour. You can also make them plain and simple. 

So, there, Ruth, you make your own Roti or paratha. I am sure they are going to come out yummy!!!

You can eat them with the most favorite vegetable of our home aka tomato ketchup ( ) or with any kind of gravy.

BlogHer : A piece of my heart on an article – Down my memory lane of childhood memories

My son posing on his great great grandfather’s chair. he was 2 years old and the chair is 100 years old!

http://www.blogher.com/creating-and-cherishing-childhood-memories-and-happiness

What is life made of?

Of beautiful memories, shared and cherished with our loved ones!

Of childhood stories which we tell and retell to our children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

Of memorabilia and junk collected over a generation, and in some cases if preserved over a century.

Well, I will tell you no more, go and click this link and read my entire article

It is after all my first article on BlogHer.

INDIA: The Key to Successful Relationships

My latest post at World Moms Blog talks about the key to successful relationships.

Check it out here – http://www.worldmomsblog.com/2013/03/11/india-key-successful-relationships/

Loving the daughter I have not met!

I love babies. I love baby boys and baby girls in no definite order. I have a son and I love him the most. Obviously!

And our family is a small family with the two of us, (my husband and I) and our dear darling 7-year-old son. No, we do not have a daughter. Hey, I am not pregnant either, in case you are wondering. So, what is with the title of this article, you may think.

As much as we would love to have a daughter too, I should say, nature has other plans. The three of us is going to be our family and I would like to think we are complete and happy. Yes, we most definitely are.

Now nature decided to bestow upon us a daughter too, a daughter in a different way. I became an aunt to the most beautiful adorable baby girl in the whole world. Yes, that is the mommy (aunty) in me talking! This beautiful baby girl was born almost two months ago and I have not met her yet. And here I write an ode to her and about her.

The pictures I have seen make me want to meet her ‘once’.  Not just once. But at least once.

My niece holding her mother’s fingers

Her eyes are fiery, like the tempest. Her forehead is broad and shines with intelligence. She has a lot of jet black hair. Her father wishes for her to have hair like mine, straight, soft and docile. But no sir! I do not want her or her hair to be soft and docile like me.

I would like to think of her as a go-getter of the things in the world she wants and aspires for. Cheeky and audacious, bold and vivacious, like all the things and more I was in my younger days.

I wish for her not to be the stereo type-casted woman of India, nor like certain modern-day woman with minimum ethics or morals, but for her to have a delicate balance and show the world what a true woman is to be.

This beautiful baby niece of mine was born and stays just 230 miles away (6 hours’ drive) from where we stay. But I haven’t met her for over two months due to certain personal glitches. Now you may ask, don’t you meet a niece, your own sibling’s child, because of a ‘glitch’? Well, that is an entirely different long story. It requires a separate post(ok, maybe a book) in itself. So, the long and short of it, we planned twice to go see her, and we had to cancel our trip both the times. And now here I whine about not having met her.

I most definitely have the sun and moon of my entire being, my darling son. But now, I also have a daughter, thanks to nature, in the form of my niece. My sibling’s child is my child too in some ways and it is the closest to my having my own daughter. And I have to thank nature (or God if you may call it so) for this gift.

But I hope beyond all the hope that someday I get to meet her, see her for real in person, hold her, feel those tiny palms and fingers which you can see in the picture, and cherish her.

Like I got the daughter which I was never destined to get, I know I will also get to meet her soon too even if fate has other plans.  (???!!!!)

Hey, isn’t it the International day of women today?

Divine Blessings, Ample Happiness, Best Wishes, Great Hopes, Spiritual Grace, Bounteous Joy and all the best of the Universe on this women’s day to the woman (who is yet a baby) and to all the other beautiful women of the world!

Isn’t it Kismet which has made me write about her, today, instead of all the other days, which in itself makes me feel an unusual sense of calm about this beautiful day of today.

Sweet Potato Recipes from India as part of World Moms Blog and ONE Moms

World Moms Blog is proudly working with ONE Moms as a community partner. As a Senior Editor at World Moms Blog, I would like to share a few Indian recipes made from sweet potato for this initiative.

ONE is a grassroots advocacy and campaigning organization that fights extreme poverty and preventable disease, particularly in Africa.

Backed by over 3 million ONE members, ONE achieves change through advocacy.

To read more about ONE, click here.

Malnutrition claims the lives of well over three million children a year.

Sweet potatoes have the power to provide much-needed nutrients like vitamins C, A and B6 to undernourished children, helping to avert stunting and ensuring proper growth. On top of that, sweet potatoes are relatively cheap to produce and easy to grow in uncertain conditions, perfect for regions prone to drought and famine.

Sweet Potato

Check out some sweet recipes from India. India is famous for its desi curries, spicy side dishes and mouth-melting sweet pies. I have collated three of my favourite dishes here. I have taken help from Awesome Cuisine in preparing this. Yes, that is one awesome recipe site.

Sweet Potato Halwa (Sweet dish)

Ingredients:

Sweet Potato – 1 cup
Sugar – 4 to 5 tsp
Milk – 1 cup
Elaichi – 1 tsp
Cashew nuts – as required
Raisins – to garnish
Almonds – to garnish
Ghee – 4 tsp
Saffron Strands – 1 tsp, dissolved in 1/4 cup milk
Water – 1/2 cup

Method:

• Pressure the sweet potatoes for 3 to 4 whistles.
• Remove the skin, mash well and keep aside.
• In a pan add a little ghee.
• Add the mashed sweet potato and milk.
• Mix well.
• Add 4 tsp of sugar and mix again.
• Add 1/2 cup of water and elaichi powder. Let it simmer.
• Once it has thickened add the saffron strands with the milk and mix.
• Garnish with cashew nuts, raisins and almonds.
• Serve.

Sweet potato paratha (Indian bread made with Sweet potato)

Ingredients:
Sweet Potato – 1 cup, boiled and mashed
Wheat Flour – 2 cups
Lemon Juice – 1 tblsp
Salt to taste
Oil for frying

Mince Fine:
Green Chillies – 4
Ginger – 1/2 inch piece
Coriander Leaves – little
Mint Leaves – a few

Powdered Masalas:
Coriander Cumin Powder – 2 tsp
Dried mango powder – 1 tsp
Garam Masala – 1/2 tsp

Method:

• Mix together the flour with a pinch of salt, 2 tsp oil and make a very stiff dough, using very little water.
• To mashed sweet potato, add green chillies, ginger, coriander leaves, mint leaves, coriander-cumin powder, dried mango powder, garam masala along with lemon juice and some salt.
• Make a soft dough, break off small balls, keep aside.
• Take a small portion of the dough, make it into a cup using oil for doing so.
• Place a ball of sweet potato inside the cup, close, flatten on a floured board and roll lightly into a paratha.
• Transfer parathas onto a tawa on medium heat, cook on both sides.
• Apply ghee, raise the heat, and cook further till browned and crisp.
• Serve hot with chutney.

Sweet potato curry (spicy side dish for breads and rice)

Ingredients:
250 gms Sweet Potatoes, boiled and sliced
1 medium Onion, minced
3 Green Chillies, minced
2 big Tomatoes, grated
1/4 tsp Turmeric powder
1/2 Coconut, grated
1 tsp Cumin seeds
1 tblsp Coriander seeds
3 Garlic Flakes
few Curry Leaves
4 Red Chillies
handful of Coriander leaves, sliced
Salt to taste

Method:

• Grind coconut, red chillies, garlic, cumin and coriander seeds to a fine paste.
• Heat 2 tblsp of oil and fry the onions and green chillies till soft.
• Add tomatoes and spices and cook till the oil comes out.
• Once the oil comes out, add sliced sweet potatoes and ground paste.
• Put in 2 cups of water along with the remaining ingredients.
• Cook till the curry turns a little thick.
• Serve hot.

That is my favourite sweet potato dish. Yes, Spicy curry to have with my leavened Indian bread.You can just boil rice and have it with this curry. That is the best!!

There are scores of Sweet Potato recipes here in this link from INDIA.

Go ONE Moms!! You are doing a great job through this advocacy. As part of World Moms Blog, I am proud share this Social Good work!

Photo Credit/Recipe Credit: Awesome Cuisine

$5 saves 2 lives in Laos. Learn how!

What would you do today with INR 266 (US $5)? I came up with a list of things I would do if I had US 45. Check them out.

 

• I would book two tickets at INOX for the movie Vishwaroopam
• Or I would go to Express Avenue and splurge it on a T-shirt for DDH or a kurti for me.
• I would buy a Bey-blade (those fancy electronic tops from Cartoon Network) for DDS.
• Heck, I would just buy this week’s grocery – plain and simple if I was not in a mood for splurging away that money.
• Maybe I would hire a domestic help and get all the window panes and grill doors dusted and cleaned and scrubbed.
• I would even get my unstitched dress materials stitched into chudhidhars.

I know, I know, I can get so many things done with INR 266 (US $5). But what I chose to do today is, donate to CleanBirth.org.

This week World Moms Blog and CleanBirth.org have partnered to raise 1000 birthing kits. I am in. Are you?

How much difference will $5 make in your life? And how much difference will it make in a mother’s life, in the screams of her labour pain, in the throes of sweat and panic, lying on a bed of leaves in the middle of a dense jungle, just about to give birth to her darling baby.

I gave an extra hug to my little one thinking about a mother out there giving birth under such conditions in the village of Laos. What about you?

World Moms Blog and CleanBirth partnered to donate their FB status

You can do a lot more things too. Check out this article on World Moms Blog. You can even donate your status on FaceBook and do a lot more. (http://www.worldmomsblog.com/2013/02/05/social-good-saves-lives-laos/)

If you are interested in donating to CleanBirth.org, please do so by clicking this CleanBirth.org. You would have made a great difference to some mama and baby out there.