Toddler Lunchbox Series-Menu #1 (Peanut Butter Oatmeal Muffins & Cheesy Tomato Rice)

Yes, I'm starting a new series today, one that I will be adding to frequently over the next year. This series is my way of recording and keeping track of recipes my son likes as well as helping anyone out there who is in a similar predicament like me, having to pack a variety of delectable lunchboxes on a daily basis (and I know there will be many!). My dear reader friends who are already veterans in this lunchbox routine, please feel free to send me your suggestions/recipes/tips-it would be more than welcome!


The first recipe is one among my son's favorites. I like it particularly because it sneaks in everything we mothers would like our kids to eat - oats (high in fiber and vitamins), bananas (high in fiber, iron, vitamin B6), peanut butter (very high protein and calorific value), yoghurt and milk. The second recipe is something I made up and packs in a goodie bag of betacarotenes (with carrots), lycopenes and vitamin C (tomatoes) calcium (from cheese) and of course carbs (rice). Of course, the muffins and rice is something even grownups can take in their lunchboxes :-)

Sometimes I wonder if this blog is a food blog or a memoir, a journal or a recipe log. The lines do blur after a while and although I try not to ramble on (too much!) and get to the recipe as soon as possible, somehow that doesn't happen...There's always a story behind a recipe and food is so intertwined with our lives that it is impossible to blog about food without a snippet about ourselves, families, and lives sneaking in somewhere...I have to admit that I read a lot of food bloggers because I like the way they write and I end up feeling like I know them like my own friends, even if we haven't met...So why should we limit our food blogs to only recipes, eh?

So the background to today's recipe is...I've enrolled for a one-year full-time Montessori teacher cum early childhood development course, which I've been passionate about for quite some time now. My about-to-turn-2-years toddler will have to be in a daycare/playgroup/nursery. Although my classes start only tomorrow, I've been taking him to the daycare for two hours a day for the last week so as to familiarize him with the place and he seems to love it, other than the heartbreaking cry at the moment when I have to hand him over to the teacher there. He loves the company of the other kids and the teachers say he likes to spend his time in the nursery section rather than in the daycare group, listening attentively to the kids reciting rhymes, alphabets, whatnot...


So from tomorrow, I will be packing his lunch and evening snacks and dropping him off before going to my classes, and this thought alone has been enough to give me sleepless nights! What to cook? What to pack? What will stay warm and fresh till lunchtime, snacktime? How can I pack in the required vegetables, fruits, carbs, calcium, vitamins, etc., etc., in as tasty a way as possible? So I fell back on my age-old organizational practices and drew up a list of recipes for lunch and snacks, made a list of ingredients to buy according to the particular day, and hopefully will stick to it so I don't have to think, plan, and forage for recipes every day! Here's the first menu in the series:


Peanut Butter Oatmeal Muffins (for evening snacks)
(I got this recipe from one of my favorite food blogs, Culinary Escapades, of Arundati's. Check it out here). 

(Makes 12)

1. 1/2 cup flour (wheat or all purpose or multigrain)
2. 3/4 cup quick cooking oats
3. 1/3 teaspoon baking powder
4. Pinch of baking soda
5. Pinch of salt
6. 4 + 2 tablespoons brown sugar (or demerara-I didn't have this at hand, so used white sugar instead)
7. 2/3 cup bananas, mashed
8. 3 to 4 tablespoons peanut butter (the creamy variety is better)
9. 2 tablespoons yoghurt
10. 1/2 cup milk
11. 1/2 cup water

• Preheat oven to 190 C.
• Put the first 5 ingredients in a blender and give it a good whizz. Remove and transfer to a mixing bowl.
• In the same blender jar, put all the remaining ingredients (only 4 tablespoons of sugar) and blend until it becomes like a smoothie.
• Make a well in the dry ingredients and tip in the wet ingredients in the center. Stir with a wooden spoon until well combined.
• Now prepare your muffin tin. Either grease the muffin cavities or line with cupcake liners.
• With a tablespoon, drop in about 2 tablespoons of the batter, leaving space for it to rise.
• Sprinkle the remaining sugar on top.
• Bake for 25 minutes.
• When cool, this can be stored for upto 1 week in the refrigerator.

Cheesy Tomato Rice (for lunch)

1. 1/2 cup jeera rice or basmati rice, washed, soaked for 10 minutes and drained
2. Half carrot, diced fine or grated
3. Half an onion, chopped fine
4. 1 flake garlic, chopped fine
5. A small piece ginger, chopped fine
6. 2 cloves
7. 1 teaspoon cumin seeds or roasted jeera powder
8. A pinch of turmeric powder
9. A pinch of black pepper powder
10. Half teaspoon garam masala powder
11. 2 teaspoons ghee
12. 1 tablespoon cilantro, chopped fine
13. Half cup tomato puree + half cup water
14. 1 slice or cube of cheese

• In a saucepan, heat the ghee and add the cumin, cloves, and pepper powder and wait till it sizzles.
• Then put in the onions, garlic and ginger and fry till translucent.
• Now add the carrot, turmeric and garam masala powder and fry for 1 minute.
• Then add the drained rice and fry for another minute.
• When it starts to sizzle a bit, pour in the tomato puree-water combo and salt.
• Cover with a lid and simmer until almost cooked.
• Now add in the cheese and cilantro and stir well until combined.
• Transfer to the lunchbox and keep your fingers crossed that your lil' munchkin will love it!

I'm linking this to the following blog events:

1. Keep It Simple Sunday Blog Bash

2. Decidedly Healthy or Horridly Decadent
3. Friday Potluck
4. Family Friendly Fridays