Dry Fruit Balls ~ Snack for Pregnant women and Lactating moms

Pregnancy is a beautiful thing. It is a great miracle to have a baby growing inside of you.  Women need to be taken care of during this time.  One of the most important determinants of the baby’s health and development is the mother’s diet. Proper nutrition and rest is required for the baby’s development.  Most Indian mothers & grandmothers make all kinds of healthy and tasty laddoos especially for the expecting and lactating mother!

Dried fruits are very good for are excellent for any pregnant and lactating mothers, unless she is severely allergic to them. It is loaded with calcium, iron, protein, potassium basically all essential vitamins and minerals, which is good for mom and her baby.

I am sharing dry fruit ladoo today. These ladoos are very good for pregnant women and new moms.

Ingredients:

• Walnuts ½ cup
• Almonds ½ cup
• Seedless Dates chopped 2 cups
• Pumpkin seeds ½ cup
• Figs chopped 1 cup
• Dry apricot chopped ½ cup
• Cashews ½ cup
• Cardamom 1tsp (optional)

Directions:

1. Chop almonds, cashews, walnuts. Dry roast all the nuts and pumpkin seeds till very light gold brown and set aside. After cooled add these nuts to the blender/mixer and turn on just once to twice (don’t make fine powder)
2. Chop all seedless dates, fig and apricot. (Use good quality dates to make this laddoo, try to use fresh ones as those as moist and helps to bind laddoo well).
3. Add the nut mixture to dates, fig, apricot, cardamom and mix it thoroughly.
4. Take the mixture and make balls and enjoy every morning with a glass of warm milk.

Notes:

• You can use any nuts of your choice.
• Dates should be of equal/more quantity compared to dry fruits.

Specific Ingredients and their Nutrition for this recipe

Walnuts: Walnuts has good supply of proteins and omega-3 fats. It is good for your baby’s brain and eye development. Walnuts help breast-feeding women to maintain a healthy milk supply too.

Almonds: Almonds are a nutritious source of protein, iron, vitamin E and heart-healthy unsaturated fats. These nutrients help support a healthy pregnancy.

Dates: Dates are high in potassium, which helps you maintain the electrolyte balance in your body as your blood volume expands during pregnancy. Dates also supply zinc, niacin, folate, vitamin B-6, manganese and magnesium. Dates also contain calcium that helps support fetal bone growth and iron that prevents anemia and keeps you from becoming overly fatigued.

Pumpkin seeds: Pumpkin seeds are highly nutritional loaded with iron and protein.

Figs: Figs are a great nondairy source of calcium; Figs are also a good source of iron. Iron deficiency can cause anemia, especially during pregnancy.

Apricots: Good source of iron. They also contain folic acid, potassium, calcium and magnesium. They will also help keep your bowel from becoming sluggish as your pregnancy progresses.

Cashew nuts:Cashew nuts are a great source of iron. Pregnant women as their bodies produce more blood in order to nourish the fetus. Cashews are easy to eat and can help stave off fatigue caused by the lack of iron.

You can store them in air tight jar for several months however, it would be better to make a fresh batch every month! All you need is an undisturbed 15 – 20 mins and the delicate Ladoos are ready to eat.  This is surely an energy booster and can be eaten by anyone.

Enjoy !!!!!!