Manu's Medley

Noodles is an all time favorite for kids as well as adults. I generally make noodles with lots of vegetables to convert it into a healthy treat. This recipe will be slightly soupy making it even more enjoyable on a cold winter night!!!                                  Ingredients: Maggi Noodles Pack - 1  Water - 2 cups Onion - 2 tbsp (finely chopped) Tomato - 2 tbsp (finely chopped) Beans - 1/4 cup (chopped) Carrot - 1/4 cup (chopped) Peas - 1/4 cup (chopped) Capsicum - 1/4 cup (chopped) Spinach leaves - 1/3 cup (chopped) Garlic - 1 tbsp (finely chopped) Green chili - 1 (finely chopped) Coriander powder - 1/2 tsp Pepper powder - 1/4 tsp Butter - 1 tbsp Oil - 1 tbsp Salt - as per taste Procedure: First heat 1 tbsp oil in a pan and saute capsicum for a minute and set aside. Do not overcook capsicum, it should retain its crunchiness  In the same oil, saute spina...

I am sure, looking at the title of the post, you would have guessed what I am going to discuss today. When we were expecting our baby, we were living in the US. Though we had an opportunity to know the gender of our baby, we chose not to, to retain the suspense and have the guess work on by us and everyone around us, till the moment the baby arrived.  I remember my friends, relatives, colleagues, strangers at grocery stores, passers-by on my way to work and routine walks, used to predict the gender; few backed by science, few based on old wives tales and few based on their personal experiences. Needless to say those conversations were quite interesting and funny.                                         I am sharing few of those fancy predictions here. Read it with a notion to have fun and do not take it too seriously.  Follow me on  Instagram  and  Facebook ...

Ontario is the most populous province of Canada and is geographically very vast. Due to the vastness, one can experience variation in temperature across the province, northern part being the coldest. December 21st to March 19th is the official winter season at Ontario. However, the atmosphere turns cooler starting mid September every year, with night time temperatures dropping to a single digit. The winter reaches its peak in January and the temperature gradually goes up from April onwards.  The average winter temperature in Ontario is -4.6 °   C. In peak winter, the temperature can drop up to -50 °   C in Northern Ontario. We live in Southern Ontario and the winter here is comparatively milder. This year, the lowest we experienced till date is -22 °   C, which was a few days ago.  We can expect first snowfall anytime in November, starting with few flurries. Snowfall will be the highest in the month of January and the last will be in April. Occasionally, there w...

This post is in continuation to the overview of gestational diabetes (GDM) published few days ago.  Click  here to read the overview post. It has most of your questions covered regarding gestational diabetes. In the previous post you would have read that I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes in my second trimester. My nutritionist put me on a diet plan with low glycemic food and suggested to walk for at least half an hour, twice a day. I tried multiple meal combinations for the first week, to arrive at the right diet to limit glucose release into blood after every meal. Primary change I tried is to replace rice; I tried brown rice, millets, quinoa, rotis as an alternate for rice - amongst these brown rice and millets shot up my blood glucose, so I had to stick to quinoa or rotis for lunch and dinner.  Below is the diet plan I followed till the end of my pregnancy. This is just for illustration purpose and should not be considered as my recommendation. Consult your do...

Diabetes diagnosed during pregnancy is known as gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM). During pregnancy, placenta generates hormones which causes glucose levels to rise in blood and if the body doesn't produce enough insulin to handle this additional glucose, it results in GDM.  The intention of this post is to create awareness and let you know you are not alone or the first to experience gestational diabetes.  Just to quote few examples, one of my friends who had gestational diabetes, was able to control her glucose levels just by modifying her diet; my cousin, who was diagnosed in her first trimester, got rid of it completely within a month by following strict diet regimen. In my case, I was diagnosed with GDM in early 2nd trimester. Doctor advised me to follow low glycemic diet and walk at least half an hour, twice a day. In spite of following these, I had to take insulin shots till baby's birth to control the glucose levels. So point to remember is, every person's experie...

             To all those who celebrate, wish you all a very happy Bhogi and Sankranthi. May the Sun God bless you with abundant prosperity.  Makara Sankranthi is a harvest festival celebrated by Hindus across India. It is celebrated on the day on which Sun transitions into Makara (Capricorn) on its celestial path. This day marks the beginning of the spring season. Predominantly, Makara Sankranthi falls on 14th January every year and occasionally on 15th January.  This festival is celebrated with different names and rituals in different parts of the country. In Andhra Pradesh and Telangana it is known as Sankranthi or Makara Sankranthi; Tamil Nadu as Pongal; Karnataka, Maharashtra, Odisha, Goa and West Bengal as Makara Sankranthi; Maghi in Punjab; Bihu in Assam etc. As it is a harvest festival, farmers worship the Sun God, as a way of saying "Thanks" for blessing them with good harvest and prosperity. Bonfires, rangoli, kite fl...

Sakkarai Pongal (Sweet Pongal), as it is known in South India, is a traditional South Indian sweet, prepared using rice, lentils, jaggery and dry fruits. Sakkarai Pongal is usually prepared as an offering to the Sun God, during Pongal/ Sankranthi festival and as prasad in temples around the year.                Ingredients: Rice - 1 cup Moong dal (split green gram) - 1/2 cup Chana dal (split chick peas) - 3 tbsp Milk - 1 cup Water - 5 cup Jaggery - 1.5 cup diluted in 1 cup water Ghee - 1/2 cup  Cashew nuts (chopped) - 2 tbsp   Raisins - 1 tbsp  Cardamom powder - 1/2 tsp Edible camphor - a pinch Procedure: Wash and soak rice and dals in water for half an hour In a pressure cooker, heat 3 tbsp of ghee and roast cashew and raisins and set them aside In the same cooker, add the soaked rice, dals, 1 cup milk and 5 cups water and cook until 5 whistles, so that it is mushy Meanwhile dissolve jaggery in 1 cup of water and strain to rem...

I received few emails requesting to share a diet chart to follow while pregnant.  I am sharing a sample which I followed during pregnancy, based on my health condition then. This is just to give you an understanding to plan your diet and not to be considered as my recommendation.  Your doctor/ nutritionist will be able to provide a plan that best suits you. Meal Time of the day Food Comments Breakfast 7.30am to 8am Carbs: 2 serving Milk: 1 serving Protein: 0-1 serving Fat: 1-2 serving Protein intake is optional, as milk variety contains desired protein Mid-morning snack 10.15am to 10.45am Milk: 1 serving Fruit: 1 serving   Lunch 12.30pm Carbs: 2 serving Protein: 2-3 serving Fat: 1-2 serving Vegetables: Any amount   Evening snack 3pm to 5pm Fruit: 1 serving Milk...

Due to my professional commitments, I wasn't able to focus much on reading for sometime. So in an attempt to revamp my reading, in 2019 I planned to read 6 books. As I met the goal, I aimed to complete 12 books every year henceforth. I met my target in 2020. However in 2021, I ended up completing only 9 books and made half way through the 10th!!  Below is the list of titles I read in 2021. I began the year with few select topics and added others in due course. Here is  an overview of all those . Tuesdays with Morrie -  A memoir (philosophical) written by Mitch Albom. Like most of us, Mitch got lost in his professional life. One day, he knows about his Professor Morrie (suffering from a rare neurological disease) through a TV news program and meets him. Mitch pays 14 visits to Morrie, who is in his last stage of life. Through his interactions with his professor, Mitch learns many valuable life lessons and experiences. Later he publishes those into a book. Mu...