Cup cakes & fruit bread

Made some cup cakes and fruit bread o’er christmas!!!

Here’s wishing you all a Merry Christmas & a sparkling new year!!

Healthy breakfast option for kids

Well, feeding kids is the most difficult task, especially healthy food. Kids are somehow allergic to them but happily gorge on chips, doughnuts, fried stuff, colas and what not. It’s every mom’s nightmare and they make every effort to feed them with some healthy options, to balance their nutrient values and enhance their immunity system.A few healthy options for kids that I could think of:

(Pic courtesy: Google)

Fruits, green veggies, whole grains, protein, dairy products are the primary sources of all the nutrients. Let’s see how we can make interesting options so that kids not only eat them but enjoy eating them thoroughly:

• Fruits / Milk / Yoghurt – Fresh fruit salad, smoothies, milk shakes with fruit puree and nuts
• Green Veggies – Make vegetable pulao using soya chunks or make khichdi
• Whole grains – Healthy stuffed paranthas with potatoes, daal, peas..puree of palak or some shredded veggies. Make pancakes and cupcakes that has milk, nuts, eggs…and kids love them
• Meat / Eggs for the protein content / Bread – Use lean meat, boil some shredded chicken and use them for sandwiches mixed with shredded veggies like carrot, cucumber, cheese and a dash of mint chutney / mayo. Boil eggs or fry them to make sandwiches using whole-grain bread
• Beans – Try making tikkis of soaked and boiled kidney beans. Rich source of nutrients
• Nuts – Try giving cereal with milk and mixed dry fruits and fresh fruits too.
• Yoghurt – Try making some yummilicious dessert with low-fat yoghurt…like whip them with sugar, add some strawberry puree and serve chilled garnished with chopped fresh fruits and nuts.

Sometimes indulge them with fritters using veggies, alu chaat, burgers made of whole wheat buns and veg patties, tea cakes, etc to cater to their ever-changing taste-buds.

This is our special post towards Children’s Day :-)… A very very happy children’s day to all the little ones out there!!!

Healthy Breakfast!

Every morning we wake up worrying – Now what to cook for breakfast? There’s undoubtedly a whole variety that we can try every day, but the question is – are they packed with wholesome nutrients required to kick-start your day? Breakfast is the most important meal, so it should be a balance of all the essential nutrients wrapped with absolute goodness of health.  An ideal platter should have a mix of carbohydrate, proteins, essential oils, necessary vitamins and fibre.  Some healthy breakfast options could be;

• Cornflakes added with milk, seasonal fresh fruits , almonds, raisins, walnuts and a dash of honey
• Poha (beaten rice) with lots of vegetables and groundnuts
• Upma, with veggies like cauliflower, French beans, green peas, capsicum
• Toasted multi-grain bread with boiled eggs and some low fat cheese
• Toasted brown bread sandwich with eggs / fresh cottage cheese, peanut butter spread, lettuce leaves, cucumber, tomatoes
• Stuffed paranthas made of wheat flour , served with curd (Leftover daal can be used to knead the dough to make it more nutritious).
• Grilled veggies and fresh fruit salad with low-fat yoghurt

You can round off your breakfast with Green tea / Fresh vegetable juice/ fruit juice and plenty of water, preferably after a gap of half an hour.

Happy breaking your fast!

Meal Menu

Alu posto is a hot favorite at home. It simply works for a simple veg affair. Though, making the paste is slightly messy but cooking is ultra easy. So, this sunday I decided to make it with a slight difference, made Deem-Alu Posto i.e. Potatoes and eggs in a gravy made of Khus-Khus /Poppy seeds. There was a beetroot lying somewhere in the corner of my fridge, waiting to be cooked, so used that as a side dish with some chopped carrots, a simple stir fry. Here is a quick recipe;

Deem-Alu Postu

Things you shall need;

• Hard boiled eggs – 2, (remove the shells and marinate it with a hint of turmeric and salt)
• Medium sized potaotes – 2, peeled and cubed
• Medium sized onion – 1 (finely chopped)
• A paste of poppy seeds, green chillies and a little salt – 2-3 tablespoons
• Nigella seeds – very little just for tempering
• Green chillies – slit into two halves (to be added, towards the end)
• Mustard oil

(I soak the poppy seeds in water for nearly 3-4 hours, it becomes very easy to grind it in a mixie that way and do not make a fine paste, but leave it slightly coarse)

Process

• Heat the mustard oil to a smoking point in the wok.
• Now add the boiled eggs and fry them till they are nice and golden.
• Remove the eggs once fried and keep it separately.
• In the same oil, add the nigella seeds. Then add the chopped onions and a pinch of sugar to get a beautiful color. Once the onions turn slightly pinkish add the potatoes and fry them for sometime.
• Add half cup of water to the potatoes and cover and cook until the potatoes are tender
• At the final stage, add the paste made of poppy seeds and mix it well. Once it comes to a boil, add those boiled and fried eggs to them and season it with salt. Remember not to add too much of salt, since the paste already has some.
• Add the chillies, simmer and cook for another 5 minutes.

Beetroot stir fry

Things you shall need;

• 1 Beetroot
• 1 Carrot
• Green chillies
• Pinch of turmeric
• Salt
• Nigella Seeds

Process – In a wok, heat some oil and add the nigella seeds and chopped green chillies. Now add the chopped beetrot and carrot, mix it well. Add some turmeric, salt and cover and cook until done. You may also add some boiled and fried soya nuggets.

Serve the two with steamed rice, papad and some plain daal!!

Dinner menu?

Why is it always very intriguing to plan a meal? I normally try to rummage the kitchen to see what’s there to cook and the results are not bad 🙂 Last evening I had a few pieces of rohu fish in the freezer, a few leaves of spinach and a brinjal. I wanted to have a good hearty meal,

So went ahead and roasted the brinjal for a bengali style begun pora, and masoor dal with spinach. Made Rui Macher Do Pyaza with a slight variation to go with steamed rice. Thanks to Spice & Curry for her post. It turned out to be yummm 🙂

How I made the Begun Pora / Roasted and mashed brinjal?

• Roasted one medium sized brinjal and mashed them. (Tip: Slit the brinjal and insert 1-2 garlic pods for an amazing flavour)
• Chopped some onions, green chillies, 1-2 garlic pod, green cilantro, and mashed a hard boiled egg
• I mixed the chopped ingredients with salt and a hint of raw mustard oil. And, then added the mashed brinjal

How I made the Palak-dal?

• Pressure cooked masoor dal with washed and finely chopped spinach leaves, turmeric and salt
• For the tempering, I heated mustard oil and added cumin seeds, a couple of dry chillies and a few crushed pods of garlic. (Combination of spinach and garlic goes well)
• After tempering I normally close the lid of pressure cooker and bring it to another whistle for a beautiful fragrance and taste

Rui Macher Do Pyaza

• I made it almost the similar way as mentioned in the post, but did not add the meat masala and cream (actually had none of that at home :p). Instead, added some finely chopped tomatoes. Also, I did not use chopped ginger and garlic, I added some freshly made ginger paste to the fried onions.

Eat breakfast like a king!

Some days I prefer having a wholesome breakfast. A lavish one, with breads, cheese, jam, marmalade, eggs, juice, muffins, and of course round it up with a cup of English tea. It kick-starts my day and keeps me energized all day long. Though, it’s important to eat a heavy breakfast but it’s ideal to watch out on the nutrients, preferably a healthy-combo, otherwise the day can turn out to be really slow & sluggish. Once in a while it’s okay to indulge however!

In India, breakfast constitutes an important meal of the day and interestingly it offers a wide variety of dishes… right from the northern region to down south. Up north, it’s Stuffed Parathas (Flat breads), Chapatis, Puris, served with veg-curries, pickle, curd etc. Down south, it’s Dosas, Steamed Idlis, Upma, etc served with a wide variety of chutney and sambar.

What do you prefer having…for breakfast?

 

Soft and fluffy pancakes

This is such an easy-weasy breakfast that is sure to fill your tummy and help you kick start your day packed with nutrition and energy. The mildly powdered cinnamon fills your senses while pancakes are cooked in the pan and you would want to have more and more… munching every bite with sheer delight.

Ingredients for the flour mix

• Refined Flour – 1 Cup
• Baking Powder – 1 tspn and a little more
• Soda bi-carb – 1/2 tspn
• A pinch of salt
• Powdered sugar – 1/2 cup
• Powdered cinnamon – A pinch

Sieve all the above ingredients together and keep aside.

For the batter

• 1 Egg
• 1 Cup milk
• 1 tbsp melted butter

Take the flour mix and add the egg, milk and the melted butter and keep it inside the fridge for half ‘n hour. Now take a non-stick pan and heat it properly. Pour the batter into the pan with the help of a ladle. When you see bubbles appearing on the pancakes, flip them until nice and golden brown.

Serving Tip – You can easily get maple syrup in the super markets. You may either serve them plain or pour the syrup onto the pancakes and serve with chopped fresh fruits(Banana, apples, blueberry, strawberries etc), and a dollop of cream. Nice, fragrant fruity syrups can be made at home too. Shall share the recipe soon.

Enjoy….!