Thursday, June 10, 2010

Celebrating My 100th Post with a Win from a GiveAway and My First Event Announcement

My 100th Post------It sure feels like an achievement.

My family, blog-pals and all the visitors of SUMADHURA have been there continuously supporting me in this beautiful journey of blogging .Thank you to one and all for your love and support.Please help me in continuing this journey and in achieving many more such milesones with your valuable suggestions and thoughts.SUMADHURA focuses on recipes that are low-fat, low in sugar , high in fibre and also emphasises on incorporating whole-foods like wholegrains ,legumes,beans,vegetables and fruits to our everyday meals(I do use white rice along with brown rice in my cooking but will try to introduce more posts with brown rice too).I will continuously try to add more nutritious and healthy foods to my posts.

Winner of Silk : Almond Milk GiveAway--------

This came as a pleasant surprise a little while ago when I was getting ready to post my 100th post .Yasmeen from http://yasmeen-healthnut.blogspot.com/  has made my day and this 100th post more special by letting me know that I won the GiveAway.Thank you Yasmeen and SILK for the Almond Milk GiveAway Coupon.

Introduction to My First Event Announcement-----------

I am very happy to announce my First Event and I would like to keep it as an on-going event as long as possible.This event will concentrate on whole foods like Whole Grains, Legumes, Beans ,Nuts, Fruits,Vegetables.As you know that I love to use whole foods in my cooking ,my first event theme is something related to this.Our ancestors were very strong and could live healthier than us because of the whole foods they consumed.With sophistication and modernisation we not only introduced ourselves to more refined foods but also to more unknown diseases.Along with adults we see little kids being affected a lot with allergies,diabetes,hypertension,obesity etc. to name a few due to unhealthy food habits and lack of exercise.As food is the main element that keeps all the living things going it is important for us to introduce whole foods in our diet .

It's hard to depart with our old habits but there is always room to entertain new habits. Eg: We love to eat rice and roti as a old habit but we sure welcome the new habit of eating pizza.Similarly we should try to encourage our kids and other family members to eat whole foods.

Whole Foods according to WIKI 
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Whole foods are foods that are unprocessed and unrefined, or processed and refined as little as possible before being consumed. Whole foods typically do not contain added ingredients, such as sugar, salt, or fat.[1] Examples of whole foods include unpolished grains; fruits and vegetables; unprocessed meat, poultry, and fish; and non-homogenized milk.

The term is often confused with organic food, but whole foods are not necessarily organic, nor are organic foods necessarily whole. Because of the lack of basic processing, some whole foods have a very short shelf life.


The United States Food and Drug Administration defines whole grains as cereal grains containing the bran, endosperm and germ of the original grain.[2] Federal Dietary Guidelines issued by the Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion in 2005 recommended the consumption of at least three servings of whole grains each day, as they are proven to help cut risk of cancer and heart disease.[2]


There are several ways to meet the body's needs with respect to whole foods. One way is to consume a variety of fresh raw fruits and vegetables every day.


"Diets rich in whole and unrefined foods, like whole grains, dark green and yellow/orange-fleshed vegetables and fruits, legumes, nuts and seeds, contain high concentrations of antioxidant phenolics, fibers and numerous other phytochemicals that may be protective against chronic diseases."[1].

Photo Courtesy :WIKI

In the above picture you can see some whole foods that we can add to our healthy diet ------------

 Cooking with Whole Foods(CWF) : Whole Grains,Legumes, Beans,Nuts,Fruits and Vegetables.


As this is going to be an ongoing event I would like to conduct this every 2 months that means we are going to host this event 6 times in a year everytime with a different whole food the host chooses. For this year 2010 this event will be hosted only 3 times as it is being introduced in the middle of the year in June.If you like this theme and would like to volunteer to host this event please send me an email to kjsumadhura@gmail.com


For the starting of this event I am choosing CWF-Whole Grains : BARLEY

Whole grains means using grains with the husk and bran.It would be great if you can use whole barley in your recipes in any form.If whole barley is not available use pearl barley in your cooking. Well ,introducing different healthy grains to our diet is important.Barley is good for the heart, and the entire body.Great coolant for summer time.Let's start cooking and sharing.

Source 1 : http://www.aaoobfoods.com/graininfo.htm

Much like rye, barley can grow in harsh conditions and poor soils where other grains wouldn't produce well. Being an ancient grain, barley was one of the first grains domesticated, even before wheat was cultivated. Not used as much as it once was as a food, barley is still a very important crop in today’s market place. Today, barley is primarily used as animal feed and for making malt in the making of beer. However, on a smaller scale, barley can be processed for human consumption in the form of pot or hulled barley, pearled barley and barley flakes.

Barley's nutrition is much like wheat's. There are a few minor differences, however. Barley contains twice as many fatty acids as wheat which accounts for its 10% higher calorie count. And as great as wheat’s fiber content is, barley contains about 40% more, or over 17%. Barley contains vitamin E; wheat contains none. And barley contains 68% more thiamin, 250% more riboflavin and 38% more lysine than wheat, giving barley a more balanced protein.

Whole barley must be prepared for human consumption because of it’s hard, fibrous hull that is not easily removed. Only buy barley in it's whole form if you want to sprout it and eat it as barley grass. Processors use an abrasive machine to remove the hull making it safe to eat. At this stage it’s called hulled or pot barley. In this processed form, the germ has been damaged to the point that it will no longer sprout. Pearled barley, which is hulled barley with the ends of the kernel removed so it’s round in shape is another popular way you can get barley. Pearled barley has it’s germ and much of the bran around the endosperm removed. This is where many of the vitamins and minerals are found and because of this, it’s nutritional qualities are down about 25%-33% from what you generally find in hulled barley. But pearled barley cooks up much quicker which is it’s big advantage. Both pearled barley and hulled barley are primarily used in soups and stews where they fluff up to almost the size of a pea. Some people also cook a pot of hulled or pearled barley and eat it as a breakfast cereal. It's also sometimes an ingredient in vegetable stuffing or used in pilafs.

You can make barley flour at home by putting hulled or pearled barley though your grain grinder. Barley flour has a weaker gluten than wheat flour so when making yeast breads, you will not want to add more than 50% barley flour to your wheat flour. In some parts of the world such as Scotland and Ireland, barley flour plays a predominant part in their baking. Barley flour adds a nutty and appealing flavor to your baked goods. When making pancakes, biscuits and rolls, you can use 100% barley flour and still get good results.

Barley 'flakes' are made by rolling hulled barley. It looks almost identical to rolled oats and can be used like rolled oats in making cooked breakfast cereal. Barley flakes are also a perfect ingredient for granola. A few barley flakes mixed with bread dough gives your breads a unique texture and makes them even more healthy with a robust appearance and an enhanced flavor.

For the qualities barley possesses it is far under-used in North America today. Inexpensive in price, barley in it’s many forms can be used to add wholesome, nutritional goodness to the vast majority of foods you cook every day.

Source2 : http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=127 This page has wonderful information about the Health Benefits of Barley .


Source 3 : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barley.

Simple Rules for Participating in this Event :

1) Use your creativity and make a healthy  dish with the main Ingredient : BARLEY   (soups,salads,smoothies,breads,cakes,Indian Dishes etc...)


2) Link your recipe to this event page and my name and my blog name.


3) Send in as many recipes as you can with the main ingedient.( All Vegetarian , No Eggs ).


4) Archived recipes are accepted, link your main recipe to this event page ,my name and blog name.(Need not repost).


5) You must post the logo of this event on your homepage if you are participating in the event during the duration of the event ,this helps to spread the word.You can save the logo by left click.(Once the event is done you can remove it).

6) Late entries are not accepted.

7) When you mail me the recipe in the Subject mention :CWF -Whole Grains:Barley


8) Please send your recipes to  kjsumadhura@gmail.com by August 10th with the following details :

Your Name :
Recipe Name :
Recipe URL :
Photo of Recipe :
Your Location :

Non-Bloggers can send in their recipes too by sending me the recipe and a picture(optional) of the recipe and your location to kjsumadhura@gmail.com .

For recipe ideas you can see here and here .

Dear Friends waiting for you all to fill my inbox with your delicious and healthy recipes with Barley.I would like to invite my fellow bloggers to join me in continuing this healthy journey by participating in the event as well help me by volunteering to host this event.

Let's all work together and make this event a success , for a healthier you and for a healthier me.



29 comments:

  1. Congrats Kiran, keep rocking gal..COngrats for winning the give away..

    Beautiful event, will send my entries..

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  2. Congats on Milestone and wiining giveaway..

    Nice theme of event..Happy hosting.

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  3. Kiran, firstly congratulations on your 100th post. I love your blog and recipes and wish you many many more such posts.

    Secondly congrats on winning SILK giveaway.

    Thirdly, congrats on hosting the first ever event. What a great theme. I too think that we should use more and more whole foods in our life. At home as such, I cook very less with maida, so most of the time, it is whole wheat, legumes and fruits/veggies. But, never used Barley (mom and MIL make stuff with it, but I never did), so a great challenge. I will surely try to participate. I would love to host it as well in future. So, let me know in email whenever I can.

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  4. Congrats 100th post and giveaway win. congrats once again starting whole grains event. Sure i will some recipes. Happy hosting

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  5. Congrats on the 100th post and on winning the giveaway, Kiran! A great event, will try n send you something. Happy hosting!

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  6. Congratulations on reaching your 100th post. I look forward to participating in your whole grains event, sounds like a fab idea. Hosting is going to be a challenge. I am sure it will be a popular event.

    I just read your comment on my blog re my tiny garden plot. I re-wrote the line you highlighted as I appreciate it can be mistaken for something else. The disease is related to the soil that may harm the plants. Thanks for pointing it out. Warmest of wishes.

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  7. Congrats on hitting the milestone and winning the giveaway. Nice event. Will participate!

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  8. hi kiran,

    congrats dear,count me also in...will send my entry...

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  9. Congrats Kiran on your 100th post and for the win. Best wishes for the first event..sounds great..will send you entries..

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  10. congrats dear for ur milestone...hopw u hv 100000000000000000000000000000posts soon...
    congrats on the giveaway as well..lucky gal..
    its a challenge for me to cook wtih barley...my mom cooks many dishes with it..wil surely try to participate..thanks for letting me knw abt the event..all the best
    it wil my pleasure hosting it in near future...

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  11. Ahaaa...It's a double celebration for you, congrats on winning the giveaway and reaching 100th post, love to see even more healthy recipes in near future ..

    All the best for hosting "barley" event, will try to send my entry but I rarely use this in my cooking, thanks for the elaborate and informative post on this wonderful grain. Happy hosting!

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  12. Congrats on ur 100th post and winning the giveaway. Would try to participate in the event hosted by you.

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  13. Hearty congrats Kiran, and surely a nice theme for the event. way to go girl.

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  14. congrats on your 100th post. wondeful event. will try to send a few entries

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  15. Congrats on Milestone and winning giveaway..Nice theme of event..Happy hosting.sounds great..will send you entries..

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  16. Hi Kiran,
    Thanks for the comment in my blog. I always wait for your comment.
    my kids are feeling better.
    I liked the ridge gourd chutney. We too prepare the same way.
    I have never tried anything with barley. I can not promise but sure will try to send at least one entry If I can.
    All the best for your first event.

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  17. Congrats Kiran.
    Wishing you many more success...

    Healthy theme, I'm not familiar with barley recipes. Your event made me think of new healthy food. Soon i will post my entries.

    keep on rocking.

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  18. Kiran i would like to host CWF for the month of august with oats as whole grain, do let me know if its possible dear, thanks in advance

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  19. Congrats Kiran on winning the give away, lovely event, will try to send some:-)

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  20. HEY Congrats kiran on ur 10th post...and u r so lucky that the give away also came to u at that spl time to make it more spl....really a very good event....i came to knw abt ur event frm my fellow bloggers and came here...its so nice to see this...really very healthy one....

    My mother used to do so many but dnt knw how far i can prepare nice dishes with it....Will surely try to participate in ur event....

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  21. Congrats on tasty 100!.Hope to participate in the event :D

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  22. Kiran, I added this event to my events' list. Sorry, now sure how I missed it, I thought I added. Thanks for reminding :)

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  23. Congrats and I wish you and your blog many more such milestones in the future.
    As I mentioned earlier, I have to learn about barley recipes. I will try to send some entries after buying it. :)

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  24. Lovely choice of wholegrain Suma and Happy hosting of your first ever event.

    I added your event details to -

    http://events-n-roundups.blogspot.com/

    Cheers,
    Siri

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  25. Congrats Kiran on your 100th post.Wish you more success and awards...

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  26. First time on you blog - Love the theme you started - will be contributing to the oats theme hosted by Priya
    http://priyasnowserving.blogspot.com/

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  27. congrats on your win and lovely event--will sure participate !

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  28. Congrats Kiran for the 100th post.
    I am a new blogger in blogosphere.
    Visit http://rakshaskitchen.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete

Dear Visitor,

Thank you for visiting SUMADHURA and for your valuable comments and suggestions.

Kiran

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Unless otherwise noted, Sumadhura is the legal copyright holder of all the written material and pictures posted in this blog .The content here may not be used , reprinted or published without the written consent of the author. All the recipes posted here are made according to the tastes of my family and the measures used in the recipes here are approximate.