Cool cucumber garden drink

This drink is excellent to cool the system and to give an elegant touch to your garden party.

Ingredients

• 3 cucumbers, peeled, seeded, and coarsely chopped (6 cups)
•  1 cup water
• 1/2 cup fresh mint leaves
• 1/2 cup fresh coconut milk or water
  

Hot and sweet chilli wine

This deep red fermented chilli paste gives colour and taste to any dish. It also promotes digestion. good circulation, heals ulcers and reduces pain. The intense red makes for an attractive addition to soups, salads and rice. I even put the sauce on my hot morning cereal to aid digestion and get my blood circulation going. Good for Vatta and Kapha. My pitta friends can also enjoy, but in moderation. Learn more about the medicinal properties of chillies.

Wild Rose and Mint Lassi

The lassi is a smoothie of India. Lassis are usually made with yogurt and fruit - not the best combination as it can produce acidity. However, lassis can be a very nourishing drink and an easy way to satisfy hunger. This cooling lassi will add an exotic touch to any part of your day.

Ingredients:

2 tsp yogurt — optional

½ cup coconut milk, fresh if possible.

1 cup water, adjust to the desired consistency  

¼ cup fresh mint leaves, chopped or torn into small pieces

¼ cup rose petals, dried or fresh — make sure they are organic. 

        Do not use commercially grown roses.

1 tsp lime juice

1 pinch         salt

1 pinch      stevia

10 drops rose water

Blend to desire consistency.  Strain to remove the rose dust.

Great for pittas. For my vatta friends: add a pinch of ginger and change coconut milk to organic cow milk.

Thai Carrot Cream Soup

Creamy, elegant, decadent and invigorating is the description I can give to this soup. It  goes very well with beet salad, and a fresh green salad. This really is all you need to feel satisfy. You can also change the amount of carrots with beets, parsnips or sweet potatoes. At the end is a rich soup that satisfy all doshas.

Ingredients:
3 big organic carrots
1 large parsnips
1 cup of water

Ginger and Lime Sauce

This fearless Thai flavored sauce takes 5 minutes to make and can be used in many dishes, salads and dips. This warming sauce can be prepared ahead and kept in the fridge for 5 to 10 days. You can also serve it cold as a strong dinner complement. You can substitute the  olive oil with coconut milk, almond milk, or sesame oil.  I like to make mine with coconut milk if I am using it immediately.  If I want it to be preserved longer in the fridge, I use sesame oil. This sauce is an excellent digestive medicine for Vata and Kapha doshas. Pitta can make this sauce with coconut milk to balance out its heating properties.

Makes: 1 ½ cups

Ingredients:

3     small green limes

2     small garlic heads

½ cup     ginger

5 tsp     palm sugar or jaggery-sugar cane

2 tsp     sea salt

1 cup     oil or coconut milk

3     small hot red chili peppers

Directions:

Cut the limes in half and the ginger in small pieces.  Put them in the blender with the rest of ingredients and blend for 3 minutes at a high speed or until forming a smooth sauce. Bottle in a glass jar and refrigerate. 

Hot ghee

The medicinal properties of chilli and ghee are extensive and good for all doshas. The secret is how to combine them and use it in your daily cooking in a balance way. This sauce can last for many years and use in your daily cooking. Excellent for vattas and kapha doshas, and surely a temptation to my pitta friends.

Ingredients:
2 cups of melted ghee
1/4 cup paprika
1 cup red chilli powder.

12 Foods to use with caution in children

* Roasted nuts or popcorn should not be eaten until after the six-year molars have come in. Such foods, when not properly chewed, can become lodged in the digestive tract and cause severe problems.

* Soy milk is a concentrated protein food. It is too heavy for most children, so use only under doctor's orders. (The same should be applied to soy-based infant formulas).

14 Power food for children

•       Almonds increase Pitta and Kapha, and reduce Vata.

•       Bananas are an ideal first food to feed your child. They are high in vitamin A and potassium and, when not overripe, high in calcium. The stringy white lining of the banana peel is especially nutritious.

•       Basmati rice means “fragrant pearl”. It is the grain most easily digested by all. It is the food for the gods. By itself, it holds one of the highest quantities of absorbable protein; combined with split mung bean, it forms a complete protein.

How to introduce new food to children

The first solid food given to a baby will determine what that infant will desire later on. If you primarily give your baby sweets, oil, or salt, he or she will always crave that.

Below are some general guidelines to help you and your family make a transition to an energizing whole foods diet. Make these changes gradually. In Ayurveda, there is a saying that when letting go of a food that is no longer supporting you, “decrease it by one quarter, by one quarter, by one quarter.” For example, if you wish to reduce or omit salt, begin reducing your daily salt intake by one quarter.

Vitamins, children and ayurveda

Under normal conditions, Ayurveda suggests children receive their vitamins through foods and herbs because they are easier to digest and absorb. Each dosha requires a few vitamins, so naturally some will become depleted more rapidly. If vitamin pills or liquid are taken, take them with coriander or cardamom to help digestion and absorption.