Dry Fruit Milk Mix for Elderly

Aged persons need more nutrients to aid the repair process of body. Their body needs more vitamins and proteins as it experiences continuous degenerative process. Elders‘ diet should be simple, nutritious and easily digestible.  Here is a recipe which help to supply good amount of vitamins, proteins, antioxidants , minerals and many more.

Dry fruit milk mix

Ingredients:
Almonds – one cup
Shelled Pistachios – one cup
Cardamom – 10 in number
Saffron- ¼ spoon
Ragi- ¼ cup

Method:
Roast almond, pistachios, ragi separately in low flame. Allow them to cool. Remove outer skin of cardamom and collect seeds. Blend all roasted ingredients, cardamom and saffron in a blender into a fine powder. Store it in an air tight container. Mix a spoon of this with a glass of warm milk. Stir it well. Sugar, sugar candy, jaggery or date syrup can be added to this for sweetening . This warm drink supplies plenty of nutrients to elderly. Here is a list of benefits of ingredients.

Milk: Milk contains nutrients like protein, fat, mineral matter, water and lactose. It is rich in calcium and vitamins. It is the natural food of all young mammals. Milk is a reservoir of nutrients and forms an important ingredient of a balanced diet. As it is rich in calcium it makes our bones and teeth strong. It helps to nourish the body with high quality proteins and vitamins. Drinking milk everyday helps to keep our body fit. Warm milk induces good sleep.

Saffron: Saffron acts as a cardiac tonic and is used to treat diseases which originate from vitiation of blood. It helps in easy flow of urine. saffron helps to increase appetite .It also reduces indigestion, diarrhea, vomiting and acidity. Saffron is used as an active ingredient in ayurveda preparations for diseases of central nervous system.

Almonds :Almonds are rich source of fiber, proteins, minerals, vitamins and heart friendly fats. The fiber in almonds gives a feeling of fullness when consumed and add up to roughage content of diet. Almonds contain good percentage of proteins.  Apart from these vitamins and minerals like vitamin E, riboflavin, magnesium, calcium, copper and manganese are also present in significant amount. All these nutrient components help to boost body immunity, energy and repairing process of tissues.

Pistachios :Pistachios are rich in antioxidants, heart friendly fats, phytosterols, carotenoids, vitamins and minerals. The nutrients of this nut help to lower cholesterol level and prevent absorption of cholesterol from food. Consumption of pistachios helps to prevent cancer and diseases of heart. Studies have shown that carotenoids prevent muscular degeneration. The minerals and vitamins of pistachio help to boost body immunity and aid in normal functioning of body.

Ragi:Ragi is minor millet which is a store house of nutrients. The bioavailability of nutrients in this cereal has increased its nutrition value. Ragi provides fiber, starch, minerals and vitamins.
Dry Fruit Milk Mix for Elderly

Prepare baby cereal at home

Parents will be under utter confusion when their tiny tot is 4 months old.  Now they have to introduce him to the world of solid foods. Numerous advertisements on TVs and magazines about baby formula foods aggravate the state of confusion. Did our parents and grandparents face the same dilemma when we were young? How did they react to this situation?

We discussed this topic with elders. We stumbled upon many easy solutions which were healthy, nutritious, devoid of any chemical preservatives and prepared at home with love and care.  Here are few recipes for your precious one.

After fourth month baby requires solid food to cater to its growing needs. For this various vegetables like beans, carrots, green leaves and pulses can be cooked in pressure cooker. The contents are mashed and strained. The soft semi solid food is fed to baby with small spoon.  Take care to select only one vegetable at a time. Cook only few small pieces of it and mash them well. A dash of salt and sugar can be added to enhance taste. Feed this according to baby’s needs. Do not compel him to consume more. Follow his instincts of likes and dislikes. (Usually in beginning baby may take one or two small spoons of this) continuing breast milk along with these is very essential as breast milk provides complete nourishment.

When baby is 7 months old the following cereal meals, prepared at home, can be fed.

Rice cereal:

Ingredients –

    Basumathi rice – 1 cup
    Moong dal or green gram-1/4 cup
    Jeera  or cumin seeds – ¼ spoon

Roast rice and green gram separately till they turn little golden yellow. Roast cumin seeds till they crackle. Turn off heat. Allow all the ingredients to cool to room temperature. Mix all ingredients and coarsely powder them in a blender. Store it in an airtight container. Required quantity of this has to be cooked well in boiling water (hardly takes 5-6 minutes to get cooked) along with little salt and sugar to bring it to a soft semi solid state. Boiled and mashed vegetables can be added to this to enhance nutrition value.

Instead of cumin seeds, powder of elaichi (cardamom) can be added to make a sweet variant of this. Mashed fruits enhance the nutrition value and taste of this cereal.

Ragi cereal

Ragi is minor millet which is a store house of nutrients. The bioavailability of nutrients has increased its nutrition value. Wash ragi and drain excess water. Spread it on a clean cloth and allow it to dry in shade. Roast it in a thick bottomed woke till one or two of it pops.  This has to be floured in flour mill. Sieve this flour to remove husk.  Store it in an airtight container.  This has to be cooked in boiling water to semi solid state. Boiled vegetables or mashed fruits can be added to increase nutritional value of this.

Caution:
1.    Please consult your pediatrician before introducing your toddler to solid food.
2.    Researchers advise to breast feed baby till he is 2 years.
3.    If he develops allergy to any vegetables, fruits or cereal  consult pediatrician immediately
This article is copy righted. The author Dr.SavithaSuri is an Ayurvedic Physician and web master of Know for Better Read article at Prepare baby cereal at home