Peanut Ladoo/Sweet Balls

Here's another addition to my Toddler Treat Series and Toddler Lunchbox Series! Becoming a mother has made me delve even deeper into the wealth of information that's out there in books, the Internet, magazines, people, television, etc...Peanuts/groundnuts are something I've had all my life and known are a high source of protein, but it's only now that I went deeper into it and discovered the following facts-they are higher in antioxidants than fruits like strawberries and vegetables like carrots and beetroots, have a very high content of niacin which is good for brain health, are high in fiber and vitamin E, and have more than 30 nutrients in them! And did you know that roasting them increases the antioxidant level by more than 20%?! Of course, there's no use rattling off all this to a 2+ year old toddler! My son doesn't like peanuts and so I had to find ways to include them in his diet. I first tried the obvious choice-peanut butter, which he rejected outright....I was looking around for other ways when I found this recipe on a popular TV show (Lakshmi Nair's Magic Oven). This seems to have hit all the sweet spots with my son, who gobbles them up with glee, much to his mom's relief and delight! So now that I've got one more nutritious and delicious snack/sweet to include in his school snackbox, I'm sharing this here hoping it might be of help to some other moms out there. Even if you don't have any toddlers to feed, I can assure you that this will be a winner with adults too! So here goes....

Multigrain power-packed dosa

In a continuation of my Toddler Treat series and Toddler Lunchbox Series, this recipe is one of my son's and my personal favorites. If your child is a little older and doesn't like to experiment with new tastes, it might get a little rough to have this included in her/his diet, but it's still worth the effort! I have been giving this to my son since he was almost a year and a half, so he's kind of used to the taste now (which I personally find delicious anyway!). This truly is a powerhouse of all the goodies that you would want your little one to have. The clincher is that it doesn't require any overnight fermentation or heavy grinding like conventional dosas and can be called "instant". This is a combination of carbohydrates (from rice flour), calcium and vitamin E (from soy flour), once again calcium and carbohydrates plus proteins (from ragi flour), again vitamin E, vitamin B and folic acid (from almonds) and did I mention the addition of yoghurt too? So you get an extra dose of calcium and proteins and vitamins B6 and B12! What more do you need now? So here's the recipe!

Pachadi with a Tomato Twist

Did you know that the humble "pachadi" has a Wikipedia entry of its own? Well, I didn't and was pleasantly surprised to see it come up when I googled it just for larks. I learnt quite a few things that I didn't know....like the fact that pachadi simply means "food which has been pounded"? For most of us South Indians, a pachadi is simply a delicious side dish, somewhat like the North Indian raitha, but with fried vegetables or boiled vegetables. The vegetables most commonly used are ladies' finger, pumpkin, cucumber, green papaya, etc. A fashionable entry into the wedding sadya menu has been the pineapple pachadi-one of my favorites!

The recipe I have here today for you is one that my mom often makes for my son to take to school and which he loves (so you could add this to your list of "Toddler Treats!).  It's one of the recipes I've "bookmarked" from her and hope to make myself someday. It is different from the usual pachadi and yet familiarly comforting. Of course, it has the trademark of all the recipes featured on this blog-it's healthy, super easy, super quick and delicious!

Kid-friendly Chicken Nuggets

Baby fingers crawling towards the nuggets-can't wait for mommy to photograph it first!

These chicken nuggets are currently my son's hot favorite-and they are a hit with my parents too, so calling it only "kid-friendly" might be a misnomer! Although frozen chicken nuggets are easily available and all the brands proudly claim to be preservative and other-chemical free, for my own peace of mind, I make them at home. I do this on weekends and freeze a batch that lasts for a week. You don't have to thaw them out when it's time to fry them-just take them straight out of the freezer and either deep fry or shallow fry them on low heat. 

Toddler Lunchbox Series-Menu #2-Sandwich Fest or Canape Carnival! (Creamy Egg Diamonds, Spicy Chicken and Peppery Liver)

For today's post, I'm going to give you 3 different recipes for sandwich fillings, which you can use as a topping for canapes too. You could also use them for stuffing tortillas, dosas, rotis, etc. I am thankful to Vrinda chechi (in Chennai) for the egg and chicken recipes. We made the egg sandwich today and it was delicious. She says these are great to make in large quantities, freeze and store in small tubs, and just microwave and spread on the bread slices when it's time to use them. I guess it's better than buying the readymade bottled sandwich fillings-at least you know what's inside when you make them yourself! The third recipe is one I came up with myself, modified a little from a snippet I read in a magazine sometime ago. It's better to use brown bread (wheat) or multigrain bread whenever possible, even if you like the taste of white bread better :-). For my son, who is not yet 2, I found that presenting the food in attractive shapes and colors enhances the appeal, so when I make sandwiches, I cut out the shapes using cookie cutters. Hence the two ways of presentation in the photograph. With a little improvisation, these are things you could easily serve up as starters too!

Banana Butterscotch Muffins, Awards, and a Tag!

Those of you who have been long-term friends of my blog will recall that I'd once started a Kiddie Party Menu Series, which I had to abandon after one recipe because I'd misplaced my recipe files and books. Well, I've got them back so I'm posting the second recipe on that menu here-Banana Butterscotch Muffins. This banana muffin has been a hot favorite of my toddler and his best friends. But don't jump to conclusions and think it's only for toddlers-oh no! It's much loved by grownups too! Whenever I bake a batch of these, they get over in no time, and it's great to pack as a snack for both school and office lunchboxes....or have them for breakfast. They freeze well and all you have to do is thaw and microwave them when you're in a hurry-a healthy wholesome breakfast in a jiffy!

Before I go into that, let me mention, with a lot of pride AND humility (if that combo is ever possible!) that this past week, I've received a load of blogger awards from my fellow blogistas. Emreen, who blogs about all things beautiful at Liven Things Up, presented me with the "Stylish Blogger Award" and Biny, who blogs about all things delicious at Biny's Recipes, presented me with the "Best Blogger" and "Kreative Blogger" awards. Thank you so much, Em and Biny....An important part of both the awards is that I have been "tagged" to reveal 7 facts about myself. Now I have to admit that whenever I used to see this tag plus award combo in the blogosphere, I used to wish for the award but fear the tag! Now I've got both and can't escape, so here goes the random 7 things about me which you may or may not know about....But first, here's the recipe for the muffins - you can read the "7 facts about me" tag at the end of the post, if you're so inclined!

Pancakes and "Ottayappam"-Classic English and French breads!

Pancakes

I'm going to give you two recipes in this post-both by women (other than my mom!) who've influenced my love for good food-my grandmother and Nigella Lawson!

Pancakes must rank among the most popular breakfast options in many countries and one of the fastest breakfast dishes you can rustle up (perfect for singletons!). Apparently, it was even eaten in prehistoric societies in a rudimentary form. They are also called flapjacks in the US, pikelets in Australia (a smaller version), and crepes in France (a thinner, lacy version).

A Warm Winter Soup That's Good For Body and Soul!

Sometimes I don't know where my food blog begins and where my personal blog ends...the lines begin to blur after a while.

Like today, my recipe is for a soup that I make for my son, and I thought about it because today was a sort of landmark day for me-in the 16 months since he's been born, I was away from him for nearly 8 hours today, for the first time ever. Up until now, I've only been away from him for a maximum of 2 to 3 hours, but today was an exception as I had a class to attend, and so with my husband holding fort, I bravely set out, but with my heart in my mouth, all along thinking about them and calling up whenever I could. I needn't have worried, because apparently father and son had a great bonding time, with Riyaan eating and sleeping like a model baby-maybe he understood I was away and he shouldn't be any trouble for his dad! But the moment I walked into the door and he saw me, the way he came running and crying, "mummeee mummeee"....whoa! I was hit with a whole truckload of emotions I never even knew I had in me! Every little thing I've done for him till now seemed worth it, all the so-called "trouble" and "efforts" I take to give him the right foods, the right nutrition, the right upbringing, values, etc. etc...And of course, the right soup!

This soup is great to have in the cold, winter months. It's great for adults too and is packed with the goodness of cereals, proteins, leafy greens and vegetables. Its an amalgamation of recipes I got from two friends, Anita and Priya, with the end result being a new, but equally hale and hearty soup, which has been certified delicious by Riyaan and his friend Prathulya (Priya's son)...So here's the recipe, to serve 2.

1. 1 chicken breast, or 2 large pieces of chicken, chopped into chunks
2. 1-inch piece ginger, slit fine (julienned)
3. 1/2 cup quick cooking oats
4. 1 medium carrot, washed, peeled and diced
5. Half a bunch spinach leaves, washed and chopped
6. 1 teaspoon cornflour (optional), dissolved in 1/4th cup warm water
7. Salt and pepper to taste
8. 1/2 cup milk

• In a pressure cooker, put in the washed chicken pieces, ginger, salt and pepper.
• Pour enough water to cover.
• Close the lid, place the weight on, and after the first whistle, simmer for 8 minutes.
• When cool, open, and if you've used chicken pieces with the bone, remove from the cooker and debone it, then put it back into the cooker.
• Now, into the broth in the pressure cooker, add in the rest of the ingredients (with the already cooked chicken also), except the milk.
• Pressure cook again for 10 minutes, if making for toddlers, and for 5 minutes if it's for grownups.
• When cool, puree the mixture in your blender, adding the milk to make it smoother.
• Warm again if necessary.
• Transfer to a soup bowl and slurp away-feel the soup warm up your cold-battered bones!

TIPS:

For grownups, garnish with a dollop of cream and croutons.

You could also add other dried herbs as seasonings, like oregano or thyme.

For my friends who are novices in cooking-To make croutons, just cut bread slices into cubes and saute them in butter on low heat until golden brown on all sides. Dunk them into the soup when you're ready to eat...adds an extra crunchy yummy texture to the soup.

Vegetarians can make this soup by substituting the chicken with a cup of mixed vegetables instead.

Apple Crumble

I'm starting a new tag on this blog-Toddler Treats or kid-friendly recipes. I had this idea when some of my friends asked me to put up recipes of dishes I cook up especially for Riyaan. This recipe, apple crumble, is a quick dessert that is generally made with refined flour and served with fresh cream or icecream. Here, I've modified it only slightly to use wheat flour or multigrain flour instead of the refined flour.

It's funny how becoming a parent can suddenly make you health conscious, reading up on vitamins, food groups, organic foods, multigrain flour, etc.! There have been days when I have survived on macaroni alone...but now after becoming a parent, I find it imperative to feed my little one something from all the food groups daily (even if my own food habits are still somewhat erratic!). While I know that being a good role model is more important, I'm keeping that on hold for the time being, at least until he gets to be 2 years old :-). 

For Riyaan, I make sure that, on a daily basis, he gets his carbohydrates (doesn't matter if it's from rice, wheat, pasta or a mashed potato!), proteins (as of now, only eggs, chicken, lentils/pulses and paneer), vegetables, fruits, dairy (doesn't matter if he doesn't like milk-lots of smoothies, yoghurt, and cheese will also do!), and of course, fats (ghee, butter). Plus lots and lots of water (no harm in starting good habits too early, is there?). This recipe, by the way, is a great way to serve both a fruit and a carbohydrate together. Its super quick to make and delicious to boot!

For two servings

For the base:

One apple, peeled, cored, and diced roughly.

1 tablespoon sugar (I used brown sugar)

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon powder

For the topping:

Half cup wheat/multigrain flour (you could also add a couple of tablespoons of crushed wheat/corn flakes or crushed quick cooking oats)

2 tablespoons sugar ((I used brown)

25 grams butter

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon powder

First, tip in all the ingredients for the topping in a mixing bowl.

Rub the butter into the flour with your fingers, to make it into a bread-crumb like consistency (or if you've made "puttu", then puttu consistency!).

In the baking dish, add the ingredients for the base.

Sprinkle the topping on it.

Preheat your oven to 180 C and bake 20 minutes, or until brown on top, or until a wonderful apple aroma wafts out of your oven.

Serve as it is, or with milk, custard, or cream.

TIPS:

If you are cutting the apple beforehand, sprinkle with lime juice to prevent browning.

I cut the apples directly into the baking dish, only at the last minute (some kids don't like the tangy lime taste on the apple).

I also mashed the apples using a potato masher, just to make it smoother.