Saturday, July 30, 2016

Cooking times on IP


 http://instantpot.com/cooking-time/. Some cooking times shared by our members is below, note it would take couple of trial and error to get it exactly how you and your family prefer, this is just a suggestion based on their experience. Note: The cooking time also varies depending on the altitude of your location.
Basmati rice - Manual 4 minutes 1:1.5, QR
Sona masoori rice - Manual 6 minutes 1:2.5 or rice button, QR
Brown basmati rice - Manual 22 minutes 1:3, QR
Quinoa - Manual 0-1 minute, 1:1, QR
Moong dal - Manual 5 minutes, NR
Toor dal - Manual 12 minutes NR (There have been some known issues with certain batches/brand of toor dal, see https://www.facebook.com/groups/Ins...)
Chana dal - Manual 15 minutes, NR
Garbanzo/Chole - Manual 15 - 18 minutes, NR
Rajma - Manual 15 - 18 minutes, NR
Kala chana - Manual 20 minutes, NR
Eggs - Manual/Steam 5 minutes, see QR after 5 minutes https://www.facebook.com/groups/Ins...
Veggies - Most the veggies are cooked in Manual 0-1 minutes QR (broccoli, cauliflower takes only 0 minutes QR else they get mushy).
Beets - Steam 20 minutes, NR
Taro root - Steam 12 minutes (bigger ones cut into half) NR
Potato - Steam 5 minutes (bigger ones cut into half), see https://www.facebook.com/groups/Ins...
Pasta - Penne for an Al dente consistency 2 mins manual QR (Quick Release) Spaghetti 0 mins manual QR Shell pasta - small or medium - 1 min manual QR Any other kind - 1 or 2 mins manual QR Please note that the above are guidelines for pasta cook time, depending on the type of pasta, altitude you are in and the way you like your pasta cooking times will vary. If you play around with it once or twice you will know the exact time. Any where between 2-8 mins has been the average.
Semiya - ~3-4 minutes, QR
Rava Upma - 4 minutes QR.

Friday, July 29, 2016

Instant pot upma


I'm gonna share 3 of my tried and tested recipes for upma. My upma used to come out all sticky/gooey until I got it right with my friend Priya's Simple Rava Upma.

1) Vermicelli Upma
2) Rava/Sooji Upma with vegetables
3) Simple Rava/Sooji Upma

1) Vermicelli Upma (Kavitha Rangan's recipe on Fb Page - Instant Pot for Indian Cooking)

About 2 cups Vermicelli
3-4 Green Thail chillies - slit
Few Curry leaves
Coriander leaves
One onion sliced/chopped
In SAUTE high add 2 tsps oil.
When hot add 1 tsp black gram dhal, Channa dhal, 1 tsp mustard seeds, slit green chillies, curry leaves, and slit/chopped onion. 

SAUTE for 1-2 minutes, add vermicelli about 2 cups. 
SAUTE for a minute add 1 tsp turmeric, salt to taste and just enough water to cover vermicelli. 

Cover and cook in MANUAL for 1 min and after about a minute Quick Release the pressure (Vermicelli cooks very fast). 

Open and add  juice of half a lemon/lime (optional)
Add coriander leaves to garnish.
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2) Rava/Sooji Upma with vegetables

Dry roast 2 cups of upma/sooji and keep it aside. In IP it takes about 8-10 min in saute mode, stirring occasionally. While it is getting toasted, I chop half of an onion, 1 green chilly, 1/2 inch of ginger very finely. Followed by that i take a handful of green beans and chop it thin. I use one large carrot,  peel it out in layers using my potato peeler, and chop it finely. If you have a veggie chopper use that for beans and carrots - you get it done in under a minute.

While toasting the sooji/rava in instant pot, I keep the water to heat on my stove. Water quantity is 2X the amount of sooji. 4 cups in my case. By the time sooji is heated up, water will also be ready. I take about 1/4 cup of water in a separate vessel, and put chopped beans and chopped carrots in it for boiling. Add a teaspoon of coconut oil also to it. Let the water evaporate, so only the veggies remain.

Next, transfer the dry roasted sooji from IP into another vessel. Add 1 tblspoon coconut oil, mustard, and 1 tablespoon urad dal along with salt to your taste(I add 1 teaspoon) to your IP in saute mode. Once urad dal is light brown, add onion/green chilli/ginger/pinch of turmeric powder and saute for 3-4 mins. Next add the carrot/green beans which would have been half cooked. Mix it well. Next add the dry sooji, and mix well. Add water, stirring so it coats the sooji. Cover and keep for 4 mins in sealed mode. Open the lid after 4 mins, add small cubes of butter (1 table spoon), and start breaking apart the sooji, so the water vapor trapped inside will get out and makes it not sticky. Keep doing it till you feel it is fluffy soft consistency - about 2-3 mins. Keep it there for another 2 mins to settle, and enjoy.

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3) Simple Rava/Sooji Upma

This is my friend Priya's style (the original one :)

1. Roast Rava in a bit of oil or ghee (you need to do this even if you buy roasted Rava)  you can roast it in bulk and keep it in pantry too.  You need to roast it till it starts to turn light brown                    
2. Crack mustard,  then saute half an onion. After few minutes,  add chopped green chilies, ginger and curry leaves. After a minute add any chopped veggies and salt. Saute for another minute. Then add few cashews                    
3. While you are doing the sauteing,  boil water in a separate pan.  Add enough salt to the water too.
For 1 cup of Rava, I use 2 cups of water                    
4. Add roasted Rava to sauted veggies.  Now add boiled water and cover it for 1 or 2 minutes  



5. Add a bit of ghee,   reduce the flame, stir well and cover it for another minute


We have the rava upma with ripe banana, or pappads, chutney powder, chutney, sambar, chole etc.. whats your favorite combination?

Saturday, July 23, 2016

Reading Program - Summary

Goals:
1. Long word decoding skills
2. Develop fluency
3. Build comprehension
4. Become strong independent reader

Class rules:
1. Polite
2. Participation

Today Tasks

Chapter 1
2
3
Vowels, consonants - short sounds
Reading long words
4
5
6
Parent Meeting


Reading Strategies: 

Chapter 1:

main character - has a goal. What is it?

After each CHAPTER: 
Tell back - what do u remember happens next (we know they go looking for... See a mount... Go there looking for bones .. They find bones.. What kind of bones do they find? They were fossil bones. What kind of animal bones were they? Open book - go to page over here - ehat kind of bones were thry? Cattle bones. Are cattle bones exciting? No! Are dino bones excitjng? Yes! How do u think character name feels about getting cattle bones? He gets frustrated. If youfind cattle bones can u still be a dinosaur hunter? 

* who are the other characters? What is each one like - nice, not nice?  

* what kind of person is this character?

* do they like to do  anything together?

* Think about what makes someone a really good friend?


CHAPTER 2

Go ahead and read chapter 3. What do u find in there?
  

CHAPTER 3:

Tell back
Remember it is taking long time to find those bones. 

Do u think g is a good person. What makes u think he is a good friend? Probe... What r some of the nice things he has done? He doesn't lie; asks for permission all the time, if it is ok with doing the things they r going to do; 

Now that they have found real dinosaur bones, how do u think Ned feels now? Feels proud. Why? He is proud because he has been looking and didnt find dino bones until now.

Did he get to his goal? 

Now, close book. Whwnever u read book, there r fe books u wouldnt have read. I am going to help u find out what words they r.

How many vowels r there? 5
What r the 5 vowels? A, e (another one), o (last one..), u

Raise hand: have u ever heard of a syllable. If i say matt, how many syllables r there? 1. How do u know? U clap once - one sound. M
1 vowel sound is the same as one syllable.

Map - how many syllables it have? 1. How many vowels? 1

Pen - how many syllables it have? 1. How many vowels? 1. Which one is it? One vowel makes one syllable sound.

I have the word 'run'. Vowels make short vowel sound, and one long vowel sound

N is a consonant. If a word ends with consonant, it will make a short vowel sound. 

If there r two syllables, how many vowels would it have? 2

Win-ter
If i dont know the word, how do i know if it is a short or long vowel sound?

How many consonants r between the vowel? VccV - short vowel & short vowel sounds
Win-ter

Trum-pet VccV break after consonant - short vowel-short vowel

Go to Workbook- "Syllables ending in consonant makes a short vowel sound"

Kaboom, kablam, kapow
Shout once to erase the tasks we have covered. Raise ur hand for kaboom.
Raise hand for kablam.
Raise hand for kapow..
Ok, kapow wins. When i say 1, everyone shout kapow.. one.. "KAPOWWWW'

Restroom break. Form a line, quite indoor voices as u walk out. Kids follow instruction - pin drop silence!!

Walk to ur seat. All seated.

Next part. Im gonna help u read long  words. Three steps:
1. Count the vowels
2. Sound out slowly
3. Say it fast

"I had a fantastic day!"
How many vowels - 3 show ur fingers
VccVccV
Short vowels

Three syllable word. How many vowels? 3
September. How many vowels? 3
Next, i am going to sound it out. What am i missing here? Consonants
VccVccVc
Sep-tem-ber short vowels - say it slow - say it fast

If we get chance at end if class, we play hangman. 

Lets do kabaam now that we r end of chapter 3. KABAAM!!

Lets go to chapter 4.


What is he trying to do?
What happens if he gets tricked? What u think? He will lose his bones. Will he get his money? Not many dinosaur hinters r nice.

Go to chapter 5. If u finish reading chapter 5, continue working on ur blue workbook - page 79.

What is a tellback? Do u remember?
Goid job! When u read part if a story, and tell someone what u remember aboutthe story to ur partner.

Tell what u remember about chapter 5. Who is the stranger? Wgat was he trying to do? How much money was mr read trying to give ned? Is it s lot if money? Is that going to get u the bones in a museum? What is ned trying to do when he knows he is going to get silver coin.? He takes him to cattle bones - mr readwalks  away pretty angry.
If he tricks mr. read, what dies that tellabout  ned? Smart, clever.

Now we start chapter 6. How does story end? How does ned get to keep bones in the museum? I want u to read and tell us what happened, ok? 

In chapter 6, ned tells his dad everything that happens. They go to george's home. His dad says there was a spy asking for dinosaur bones. Now neds dad tells how ned met that spy. G's dad asks ned can i still buy those bines. Ned says yes, as long as u put them in the museum. G's dad says yes, and that he would put his name in there as well.

Tell what happens in the beginning middle and end of the story.

Beginning: Ned looks and finds dino bones and cattle bones

Middle:
Mr read tried to trick ned, but ned tricks him back

End: What gappens at the very dnd of the story? Ned gets his bones to the museum and is a dinosaur hunter. 

Remember in the story ned merts many guys who helps him and is nice. And one mr read who is not nice.

Tell ur partner who is one person who is nice to u, and helps u get to ur goals.

Alright, good job! Tell me who is someone who is nice to u, u can really count on. 

Raise ur hand if y want kabloom, kabam, kapow..

1 2 2.5 2.75 3
KAPOW

Next read longer chapter books with longer words. 
Have 2 books in the oacket - for u to keep. 
Watch welcome video - read intro in program guide - guidance & prog overview. 
Have homeworks - they have to do tellbacks. At this age, lot wont remember all drtails. We r here to inderstand how to read and remember what the story is about. There r four sessions. Make sure u do it before end of next week. If u have questions asknat end of the class

At end of 5 weeks i will give them their book level recommendation. It will be a book like
Dinosaur hunter, tornado, or a longer chapter book.
Lets give a round of applause for hiw great they have been!!!




Friday, July 15, 2016

Dosawich Minis - Healthy snacks for School

Dosa/idli batter - 2 cups
Coconut oil - 2 teaspoons
Peanut butter - as desired
Non-stick pan/Pancake Griddle
Heat your griddle on medium high. Pour two tablespoons each of dosa batter onto the griddle to the size of a medium cookie. Add 2-3 drops of coconut oil on it. 

Wait until one side is cooked/golden brown to flip it. 

Cook until well done. If you have space on your pan, you can cook a few others along side.

Flip it back, and spread peanut butter on one  side, and sandwich it with your next mini dosa.


Dosawich minis are ready to snack!!


Try it, and don't forget to lemme know if you liked it!




Monday, July 4, 2016

Quick 'n Easy Home-made Granola Bars

Today, my 10 year old big boss decided to make healthy snacks for himself, and for his not-so-little-anymore-brother.

I supervised the whole process from where he looked up several different youtube videos on healthy snack preps, to finally nailing down his recipe (after I vetoed on butter, and refined or brown sugar, and no baking to make it a healthier and easier choice for my time-pressed mommy friends). Two many cooks did not spoil the granola bar. We had visitors at home, and they were amazed that kids made this awesome treat in under 30 minutes.

2 cups regular oats (dry roast/toast it lightly in a pan - make sure it doesnt burn!! I supervised this part. We added 1/2 cup at a time and roasted it in medium for a minute or so on hard-bottomed stainless steel pan. Transferrd it into a bowl before adding the next 1/2 cup).

25-30 regular sized dates pitted and made to a fine paste in food processor (without adding any water. I had date paste that I bought from indian store, so I used 1/4th of the 1kg packet. 10 pitted dates make approximately 100gms, so 250 grams is around 25 dates).

3 tablespoons of honey (add one more if u want more sweet or stickiness)

2-3 tablespoons of peeled thinly sliced almonds or coarsely ground (chunky) peanut butter

Optional - 3-4 cubes of trader joe 72% cacao dark chocolate - grate it ( kids and I are big time chocolate lovers, so they put chocolate or cocoa powder into most of the goodies they bake)

Use your hand to mix in all the above ingredients in a large bowl until it forms a big sticky mass.

Take an 11x7 inch stainless steel baking tray, line it with aluminium foil covering the base and all four sides of the tray, before transfering  the mixture into it.

Press the mixture it with a flat bottomed stainless steel spatula or use the base of small recatangle snack boxes to press the mixture - this makes the surface even. 

Now fold in the rest of the aluminum foil to cover the granola sheet. If not fully covered, add some foil to cover the open space (I used a seran wrap instead of foil).

Now turn the granola sheet upside down and put it back in the tray. Keep the tray in the freezer for 20 minutes.

Take it out, and cut into desired shapes using a sharp knife, or large pizza cutter.
Tasty granola bars are ready for kids and adults to enjoy!


Chocolate granola bars


Peanut Butter Granola Bars



Once u try this, will you please let me know your feedback?