Constipation in toddlers!

Every Mom's nightmare is constipation in a toddler.Since my little girl is a bit better now so i thought to address this important topic and share my experience with those who are facing this difficult phase.It is worrying for every mother but more for me or mothers like me because my baby used to be a very good eater till she was 1 and a half years old approx and very regular with her bowel movements but bad days started and she got constipated with the loss of appetite.

Initially, it was quite difficult for me to understand that she was a good eater and suddenly she does not want to eat anything. I like any mother(especially desis) started with home remedies like olive and castor oil , prune juice, pear juice, carom seeds etc etc. and beside all these, i omitted bananas, rice , pasta , biscuits, potatoes, dairy from her diet, tried to increase her water intake but you cant force a child to drink water more than a sip or two. Her constipation started getting really bad and she would cry really really hard because of pain.I was feeling very helpless because i tried everything at my hand.SO finally, we decided to take her to the doctor, He gave us lactulose which normally people say works but it only gave her stomach pain. Doctor said it is common to have a little bit of stomach pain so continue giving her which we did but sadly it did not work at all.

Took her once to emergency because she got a little bit of blood while trying to relieve herself , doctor said it is common, give her lots of water, pear juice, apple juice, beans etc etc. NOTHING WORKED.

After a few weeks, we took her to the doctor again, he gave her another syrup(forgot the name)apparently it was strong and quite bitter in taste so had to dilute it with milk or juice. Once again, another failure awaited us.We did not know where we were going wrong but by the time, we knew what posture would help her relieve with a little ease.We would make her sit on our lap, pull her legs up towards stomach otherwise she would cross her legs due to pain and make it more difficult for herself to relieve.

I forgot to mention doctor also did her blood test to find out if there is something wrong internally but Thanks God everything was fine. Since all the laxatives failed, we decided to stop using syrups and let her stomach rest. Mean while, met some friends they recommended dried figs and fig syrup. It did not work again and this was my final try to do anything for her constipation.I know she was in pain but we tried everything possible so we decided not to give her anything and started including back food which we removed because of constipation.

My sister, friend and neighbor were a few people who told me that it was a phase and their kids had as well when they were around two and it shall pass with time. There were some people who tried to tell me that there was something i was doing wrong with her which is causing her constipation(like feeding her wrong food or what) .If there are such people around you then please ignore them, they only cause you worry and don't try every remedy suggested by random people.As for current status, F is doing fine mashaAllah without any medicine or remedy after a lot of months. She still feels pain but i think it is more of a fear associated with the previous experience, apart from that she is a lot better Alhamdulillah.

Tips 

Don't try every remedy suggested.

Try to include fruits and fibre in your child's diet.

Don't stop offering food to your child even when it feels like he/she has lost her appetite.

Avoid Junk food , sweets/chocolates etc.

If  nothing works for your toddler then please do not panic, take her or him to doctor and if he does not find anything wrong with the child then accept it. Many babies/toddlers suffer from constipation and this phase does pass esp if your child has suddenly started facing this problem.

When your child tries to relieve herself and crosses legs because of pain then pull legs up towards stomach and help her or him pass stool.

Beauty Blender

Hello beauties,

In my previous beauty blogs, i did mention that i am not great at makeup but i like to learn about it using different products without burdening my pocket.I do have a couple of makeup brushes but recently, i was kind of leaning towards buying a proper makeup brush set so had read quite a few reviews and surfed deals etc. While doing my research, i found out this sponge named as Beauty Blender. There are loads of duplicates available as well so i did not really know what's wrong with the cheap ones, what the original one does and if i buy Beauty Blender then should i buy the brushes as well.Anyway, the final decision was to get brushes and blender as well but first ordered Beauty Blender which looks like this

Firstly who do not know what it is and how to use it.

Beauty blender is a sponge to apply makeup and their website claims that it leaves you with professional and flawless finish. You won't need brushes to apply foundation, concealer, highlighter, cream blush, powder.

How to use it?(instructions taken from beauty blender website)

It's as easy as wet.squeeze.bounce!

• Wet  beautyblender® with water (it will expand to twice its size)
• Squeeze  to expel liquid, using a towel if available
• Bounce  makeup and skincare across face for perfect application every time!

To be honest, i did not have much expectations from it but wow what a difference and how easy it is to use.Earlier, i used to use my fingers to blend foundation and concealer, never really felt satisfied but since last two times, have been really really happy with the application of foundation and concealer.Blending is so smooth, quick, and equal and one sponge is doing the job  for various brushes. How cool is that.It is definitely worth every penny!!!

Tips:

Keep it clean so that it can have a longer life.

Wash it with beauty blender cleanser or you can use baby shampoo as well.

Dry it properly after every use.


If (like me)you plan on buying brushes then give this sponge a try first and trust me,you won't be disappointed. 

Tea bag /Herbal Tea Strainer!

If your folks are one of those who like to pick things on their plate and have trouble ignoring tiny cloves or whole black pepper or bay leaf  etc then this post is here for your help. In some dishes, you can simple grind whole spices but some dishes don't allow you to do so for that matter, we do have an option of making a pouch(made of muslin cloth preferably) of spices and pop it in the pan and once lets say yakhni is done, you throw that pouch out in the bin. But you don't always have a clean muslin cloth available and sometimes that pouch can leak and you end up having all the garam masala scattered in the dish.All of this had happened with me and i always used to dread looking for muslin cloth while making yakhni n stuff, this used to be my least favorite part.

One day while browsing internet, i found this little strainer which can be used for multiple purpose and i was so happy to find it that i thought this must be shared with those who don't know about it because i have not seen anyone use it around me.This is actually a tea bag/herbal tea strainer but i do not have any trouble with squeezing teabag with a spoon , my husband likes to drink qehwa and i would give him tea along with herbs ( dont call me pohar, i did not have strainer) anyway,in one of the pictures i saw some one had put dried spices as well which gave me an idea to replace it with the muslin cloth pouch. 

Soooo if you are a desi who uses a lot of spice in your cooking and your husband or kid or brother (usually they are the fussy ones) find it hard to pick things out of their yummy pulao or qorma then use this beauty and give them no reason to fuss about

 

There are basically three sizes available: small, medium and large. I thought small would be okay if you want to use it specifically for milk tea or herbal  tea but since i wanted to use it for contain spices to put it in the pot or pan so i got myself medium sized which is perfect for our desi cooking. You put whatever spices you want to use like i did in the picture above and then

You just lock the strainer and pop it in the pot or you can hang it with this chain. I do it the former way and when the job is done, you can simply take this strainer out, throw the content in the bin and wash it with washing liquid and water,easy peasy.

I found it on ebay for about 3 pounds(yep very cheap). I am sure, Pakistan/india will have something of this sort in the crockery or cooking utensil shops. 

Now find yours and make your cooking easy.

Halwa Poori Chanay

Halwa

Source:Cook with Faiza

Prep time:5 minutes   Cook time:20 minutes

Ingredients:

Semolina/Sooji: 1 cup
Sugar: 2 cups
Green Cardamom:3-4
Water:4 acups
Ghee: Half cup
Food Color: a pinch of yellow color(optional)
Almonds:7-8

Method:

Put Semolina in a pan and stir it on a medium heat until you start smelling fragrance. Be very careful,sooji gets burnt very quickly so stir continuously for 2-3 minutes


Put Butter/ghee in the pan, mix well on the low heat.

Prepare sugar syrup on the side, put water in the pan when it comes to boil, put cardamom,sugar and food color, dissolve sugar fully, remove it from the stove.

Put sugar syrup in semolina(be careful, dont burn yourself while doing that because syrup goes crazy when it is combined with semolina)

Cook till you get the desired consistency.

Sprinkle crushed almonds on top of halwa.

Chanay

Source:Internet(apologies for losing the actual link)

Prep time: 5 minutes  Cook time: 30 minutes 

Ingredients

Chickpeas:1 cup

Onion:1

Potatoes: 2

Salt: 1 teaspoon

Black Pepper:1/2 tea spoon

Red chilli powder: 1/2 teaspoon

Coriander powder: 1 teaspoon

White cumin seeds: 1/2tea spoon

Black cumin seeds:1/2 tea spoon

Bay leaf: 1

water: 2 cups

Oil:  half cup

Method:

Soak chickpeas over night. Boil them in pressure cooker or slow cooker and set them aside.

Put oil  and sliced onion in a pan, fry till golden brown.

Add all the dried spices and fry till you start smelling their fragrance.Use a splash of water so that they don't  burn.

Put boiled chickpeas in and give them a stir.

Add potatoes, water in the pan and mix.

Cook until potatoes soften up.

You can keep the consistency thick or thin as per your requirement.

When you have reached the desired consistency, put them in a serving bowl and serve.

Poori

Source:Internet(apologies for losing the actual link)

Prep time: 20 minutes  Cook time: 30 minutes 

Ingredients:

Plain Flour: 2.5 cups
Salt:1 tea spoon
Yogurt: 2 table spoons
Oil: 2 table spoons for kneading, for frying: use as per wok size
Luke warm water:as per requirement

Method

Mix all the ingredients and knead well
Dough should be soft but should not be sticky, brush a little oil and cover.

Put oil in a pan, when its hot, bring the flame to medium

When you are going to roll out poori, dont use dry flour, brush a little bit of oil on your hands and make a small ball.

Flatten it with the help of rolling pin and put it in the wok for frying.

As you put poori in the wok, press it little with the spoon, turn the side and take it out. (this process should take less than a minute, longer you cook, crispy your poori will turn out to be)

Serve them with Halwa and Chanay

Peshawari Namkeen Gosht

Source:Saima Anwar's youtube channel
Prep Time:  Cook Time       yield

Ingredients:

Mutton or Lamb : 1 kg
Onion: 1 (optional)
Ginger and  Garlic paste: 2 teaspoons
Tomatoes:3
Freshly ground black pepper: to taste
Salt: to taste
Green chillies: 7-8
Butter or desi ghee:100 gm

(original recipe does not have onion  but my folks like to eat a little bit of gravy so i have made a little addition of onion to make masala, you can totally skip onion and follow the original recipe)

Heat butter in the pan,put ginger, garlic paste, meat and salt and mix well.

Cover the pan with its lid and cook on low flame for 25-30 minutes.Do not add any water, meat will be cooked in its own released water).

Now chop tomatoes in big chunks or blend tomatoes and put them in the pan, cook for ten minutes.When tomatoes soften up, take the peel out because some people don't like it

Dry out the water, put salt, ground black pepper and green chillies. Cover the pan for 5 minutes.

Sprinkle chopped coriander and green chillies.

Serve it with naan and raita.

Enjoy Kehwa afterwards.

Chicken Shami Kebabs

I personally have a special place for beef safami kebab but i know  many people who don't eat beef so for them i have a very delicious recipe which never fails.

Source: My Mother
Prep Time: 20 minutes   Cook Time: 2 hrs 

Ingredients:

Chicken with bones/boneless :2 whole chicken(If you do not have a problem with going through a hassle of de-boning chicken when its cooked later on then go with bones because it adds to taste otherwise you can have boneless chicken)

Channa daal/Chick pea lentils: 1 Cup

Onions: 1 

Garlic: whole bulb

Ginger: 2 inch

Potato: 1

Pepper corn: 5-7

Cloves: 5-6

Cinnamon stick: an inch long

Black Cardamom: 1

cumin seeds: 1 tea spoon

Coriander Powder:1 tea spoon

Bay leaf: 1

Salt: 1 tea spoon

Red Chilli Powder: 1 tea spoon

Other Ingredients:

Onions: 2 medium sized

Dhania: 1 cup 

Green Chillies 5-6

Salt: If needed

Black Pepper: if needed

Cornflour: 2 Table spoons

Eggs: 1

Method:

Soak Chana daal for half an hour.

Grind pepper corns, cloves,black cardamom, cinnamon stick, bay leaf, cumin seeds.Now put chicken, ground garam masala, salt,red chilli powder, ginger and garlic paste,sliced onion, potato and 3 cups of water.

Bring the water down to boil and lower down the heat. Keep a check on chicken because it does not take much time to tender where as daal will.Use more water only if you needed.

Skip next step if you are using boneless chicken.

Take chicken pieces out of the pan and put them on the plate, let them cool down a bit and start de-boning chicken, make sure there is no bone attached. once done put boneless chicken back in the pan, by the time daal will also be cooked if not give it some more time.

When chana daal is cooked, take the lid off. Increase the heat to medium and cook on high flame so that water gets evaporated fully. There should not be any moisture left otherwise you wont be able to make patty.(you can also check salt and chilli status at this point and adjust according to your own taste here because mixture is hot and salt and red chilli powder will be easily dissolved).

Now It's time to use your arm strength to mash up the mixture with the help of potato masher or you can simply use blender to make the mixture smooth.

Add chopped onions, coriander and corn flour ,mix well. you can check salt and pepper by frying a small kebab and adjust according to your taste).You can either add egg in the mixture or coat the kebabs with beaten egg before frying.(i have coated kebabs with egg before frying in the picture).

Make round shaped kebabs and freeze or fry them. Serve it with Green chutney.

Notes:

• Always adjust salt and pepper according to your own taste.
• If the mixture feels runny and you are not able to make kebabs then you can add a slice of bread or more cornflour.

Chicken Chow mein

Chicken chow mein is one easy dish to feed your kids vegetables and of course it can be used as side dish when you are making Chinese .It is quick, easy, colorful and yummy.

Source: My mother

Prep Time: 20 minutes Cook time : 20 minutes yield : 5 servings

Ingredients:

Egg Noodle: 1 packet ( no of serving is usually written on the back of noodles pack which may vary to my pack, so kindly do check out what it states and then adjust the ingredients accordingly)

Chicken breast fillet: 1 large 

Carrots: 2

Capsicum:1

Garlic:2 cloves

Soya sauce: 2 Table spoon

Sugar :1/2 tea spoon

Freshly ground black pepper: to taste

Salt: to taste

Oil: 2 Table Spoon

Method:

Boil Egg noodles as per your packet instructions, it is usually boiled for about 5 minutes.Drain the water once boiled, rinse it with cold water so that it does not stick together.

Cut chicken fillet in strips and vegetables in julienne. 

Take a wok, put oil and finely chopped garlic in(you can add more garlic if you like the taste), fry for 30 seconds.

Add in chicken strips and fry till its golden brown then put vegetables in and give a quick stir on high flame.

Put in salt, sugar, black pepper and soya sauce and mix.Since we want to keep vegetables crunchy so this process will take only 2 -3 minutes otherwise vegetables will go soggy.

Now add the noodles and mix well so that noodles are well coated with sauce.

Put it in the serving dish and enjoy:)

Note: you can add whatever vegetables you like, there are endless options. i did not have many vegetables available at home the day i cooked this dish but i really like to have  mushrooms, green onions, bean sprout, red onions, brocolli in spaghetti etc.Remember! there is no hard and fast rule in cooking. You can always innovate dish as per your taste and requirement.

Makeup for Beginners!

I am not pro at makeup but i am learning a little bit of makeup skills with time, at least that's what i think haha anyway,  i consider myself a beginner so i thought why not share whatever tips i have with you girls too and explore the colorful world of makeup together. lol it sounds quite dramatic

Firstly  DO NOT spend loads of money on expensive makeup brands unless  you know what you are doing rather than practicing experimenting. My sister and i used to use makeup before getting married very rarely, just lipstick? we didn't know own much. Most of makeup at shadis were borrowed from cousins(yes we were very dumb).My cousin from US had been staying in Pakistan during the time when we actually thought of buying some makeup products because it was our wedding and we wanted to buy a few bits for us to use later and she came to our rescue.There were many foreign makeup brands available in Pakistan when we we surfing for makeup products.Out of all we chose The Body Shop® because they were the only one who had their franchise opened in Islamabad at that time and secondly what i knew of body shop that they make their products naturally and are quite reasonably priced.

My sister, cousin and myself went to their outlet in F-10 Markaz. It was a considerably a small shop but it had what we wanted.Following is the list of things we bought.(Buy whatever brand you like because this is just a guideline to let you know what are the must haves in beginner's makeup bag)

1. Skin Primer-Matte It

Primer helps you create a smooth base for foundation and trust me this product does what it states. I had initially done makeup without primer out of laziness but when primer is applied before foundation, it shows the difference.

2. Concealer

Concealer is to conceal blemish, redness or uneven skin tone.It can be used before or after foundation. I use it after because i think it helps me cover my blemish better.This pencil concealer from Body shop gives an okay coverage but variety of good concealers are available in the market. You just have to find the right one for you.

3. Foundation

Liquid Foundation gives  light to medium coverage and give a flawless finish. The best thing about body shop foundation is it does not make my face orange or pink, the shade goes quite well with my actual skin tone.Although, they don't have a lot of  shades variety in this range but it worked for me.

4. Pressed Powder

Okay now i do two things with pressed powder. First i use powder over foundation to give it a finish look and its a must when i am using liquid foundation but Sometimes when i am in a rush or just taking my girl to a nearby park what i do is i use concealer to cover whatever spot i have on the face and then cover it with powder so that it blends well and gives a finish and smooth look, quickly stain my cheeks and lips and i am readyyyyy.

4. Blusher

Blusher is very important i think. Just a little bit of color on cheeks can make your face bright and fresh .When you are doing complete makeup then of course you can not avoid it but if you are in a rush then add a little bit of color to your cheeks, bared faced or like i do when going to park with concealer and pressed powder and voila. you are ready to face the world with your beautiful rosy cheeks:D

Apart from the above mentioned things there are two/ three more must haves

6. Lipsticks 

3-4 basic colors(pink, peach and one darker shade of your choice i use usually). You can choose colors of your choice.

7. Mascara

There are so many kind of mascaras available in the market that it can make your mind go crazy. I would say choose a simple one. When you are learning it is better not to go overboard with products which will eventually make you hard to handle them.Know how to use them first then buy and experiment with whatever product you want.

8. Eye Pencil

Eye pencil can be used as kajal or eye liner as well. It is actually easier to use as eye liner than a liquid one.

The list can be made longer and longer because makeup has endless options but for beginners i think things mentioned above are enough to practice on their face without going too much wrong or adventurous. Sooooooo enjoy making yourself look pretty and comment if you found this read any helpful.

Window Sill and Plants

Window sill decoration is one thing that after coming to UK i found very interesting.we dont know much with the sill back home, our windows are most used to put curtain on. But i never knew this space could add so much to the room.Personally, I feel it is the best place to incorporate plants in your room, one because of natural light and second they look so pretty on the sill, even from the outside and I LOVE INDOOR PLANTS.They give a fresh and soothing effect to your room,the key is to find plants that grow fine inside and don't require much of sun light or air outside.A couple of years back,the only indoor plant i was familiar with was money/jade plant and i could vouch for its growth without putting any effort at all.If anyone of you still want to know, It can grow in water bottle or you can put in a pot and just water it (yes no hassle plant it is). I'd never thought of any other plant to be placed indoor until...

source:google images

My husband got me two very beautiful plants, peace lily and the other one's name is still unknown. I tried googling its name but in vain anyway they like light however, direct sunshine can damage plant leaves. A mixture of light and shade is great, if you can provide it. i had put peace lily in one corner of the sill, paired it with a jar filled with pot pourri and forest candle which i already had and fortunately their colored coordinated so well with the plant.
                             

In the middle of the sill, i have put the un-named plant(if anyone knows the name, please leave a comment below) i have paired it with two candles again.I kind of like plant and candle combo for some reason and these scented candles is quite a rave these days but i like candles for the aura they create, very dramatic and cosy feel. I might find something else to pair it with,so far there is plant and candle theme going on. Btw this plant surprised me with a purple flower a few days back and i was like what no you are not meant to do that. I will post its picture some other time.

And i was still left with one corner of the sill,here i thought of  incorporating books which is the best decorating item, be it antique, new, hardcore, paper back , small , big.  This idea is inspired by www.desiwonderwoman.com, credit should be given where its due.I have used my husband's old books and actually put the cover of black one on the book below it because its cover was brown and in little rough condition.

 Sooooo one fine day, on our trip to local super market, while grocery shopping my husband found this pink beauty called Tillandsia cynea and he knowing my newly found love for plants instantly asked me whether i wanted this or not, it was an instant love. You can see the pictures below, it looks like a desert flower because in the midst of thick grass like leaves, there is this pink bract where purple color flowers emerge from and gave me a pleasant surprise when i saw it the first time.

SO HOW DOES THE SILL LOOK WHEN THESE THREE BEAUTIES ARE COMBINED?

Let me know do you like it or not and share the pictures of your plants or window sills?