YOU ARE WHAT YOU EAT

    Having a toddler who has just started eating solid foods is always a struggle. My son prefers his meals with soup. His molar is sprouting out that's why he's having a hard time chewing. As a mother, I want to give him a natural healthy food. Healthy food means healthy body. Then my mother who is in the Philippines suggested me to cook laswa - an ilonggo dish made of mixed vegetables. The ingredients are just simple. You can even find or plant it in your own backyard. Squash, okra or lady finger, yardlong beans or string beans, eggplant, tomatoes, onions and saluyot and shrimp.

SQUASH

    Squash has vitamin C and beta-carotene which helps improve and strengthen the immune system of children to protect against body infections. This has also vitamin A for good eyesight.

Kumain ng gulay, pampahaba ng buhay. Kumain ng kalabasa, pampalinaw ng mata
Eat vegetables to prolong life, Eat squash for good eyesight

This is what we always recites during our classes when we were in grade school.

LADY'S FINGER
    Aside from good source of vitamins, okra is high in fiber which relieves constipation for children.
    I was diagnosed with gestational diabetis during my pregnancy and a friend told me to eat this vegetable every meal to lower my blood sugar which I believed really helped me cope with my GD.

YARDLONG BEANS
    Also called as asparagus beans. A vigorous climbing vegetable rich in fiber that helps promote healthy digestion, Vitamin C which is good for skin and boosts the ​immune system.

EGGPLANT
     Promotes healthy digestion, stronger bones, prevents deficiency in iron and improve brain functions are only one of the few benefits of eating eggplants.
    This is considered​ one of the healthiest food because of its compact vitamins and minerals.

SALUYOT
    Supports skin health, boost immune system that helps fights off cold and flu, prevents asthma.
    Saluyot is a family of spinach. It produces slimy syrup that's why most children don't​ like to eat this one. When there is no available saluyot in the market, I add more okra to the dish because​ it has the same consistency as of the saluyot.

These vegetables are all packed with vitamins and minerals which is good for active and growing toddlers like mine. Cooking this dish is pretty simple.

INGREDIENTS​:

1/4 kg of shrimp - fresh or frozen
1/2 kg of squash - cut into small cube
5 pcs yardlong beans - cut into 1 and 1/2 inch long
1 big eggplant - cut diagonally
5 pcs okra - cut it half
1 bunch of jute/saluyot
1 big onion - sliced
1 tomato - sliced
salt and pepper to taste

PROCEDURES:

1. Boil tomato and onion. Put the squash and let it boil​ for 3 minutes.
2. Follow the rest of the of the vegetables except the jute. Allow to boil for only 2 minutes. don't​ overcook the vegetables.
3. Put the shrimp and once the shrimp turns pink, adjust the taste with salt and pepper, then follow the jute, cover the pot and turn off the heat.

Cheap but delicious and nutritious​ dish.

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*First image is mine