Dual Berry and Yoghurt Lollies

Lollies are the perfect summer treat for kids. Delicious, healthy, easy to make using handful of ingredients they are a great way to give kids fresh fruit and yoghurt.

Lollies are definitely better than giving readymade ice-creams to kids plus children can prepare lollies on their own making them forget the store bought ones.
I have used 2 berry flavours; Strawberry & Blueberry but any combination is possible.

Dual Berry and Yoghurt Lollies
Makes 8 lollies (as seen in image)

Ingredients
2 packs Danone Blueberry flavoured yoghurt (80gms pack)
1 pack Danone Vanilla flavoured yoghurt (80gms pack)
½ cup chopped Strawberries
1 tbsp honey (might need more in case the fruit is sour)
A pinch of salt

Method

Step 1 – Mix strawberry, salt and honey in a bowl. Lightly mash to make pulp yet retaining few fruit chunks.

Step 2 – In another bowl, empty the yoghurt packs and whisk them well.

Step 3 – Mix the strawberry pulp with the whisked yoghurt.

Step 4 – Pour the mixture into lolly / kulfi moulds and freeze overnight or for minimum 6 to 8 hours. If you don’t have moulds you can make lollies in paper or plastic cups, insert wooden candy sticks and then tear the outer covering once the lollies have frozen.

Here’s another fresh fruit summer treat for kids that you could try Real Strawberry Pops 

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Till then, Love Being a Mommy!

Snack on Yoghurt

Snacking has become a way of life for kids these days given their rigid schedules. Kids rarely have time to savour and gain from the basic meals of the day, their 3 full meals are essentially broken down into 5 to 6 quick snacky meals out of which 2 are usually grab and go kind of meals.

For most kids’ breakfast is just a glass of milk before heading to school followed by a light Tiffin snack during a short timed break, mostly packaged and lacking good nutrition.
For the after school, after play, before activity class, TV time munching, etc kind of snack breaks kids usually enjoy quick fixes in form of semi-prepared convenience foods or chips and other packaged stuff which tastes delicious but satisfy for a short period.
Lunch and Dinner might be nutritious home cooked meals but they are consumed in small portions because of the many breaks that precede and follow them.

To sum it up, kids eat a lot during the day but does it help them in anyway? Was the consumed food nutritious along with being yummy and convenient? You may prepare the best of and the healthiest stuff for lunch and dinner but are you ensuring their other meals are nourishing, too?While a child may not ask such questions with regards to food, we as mothers need to.

Snacks can be healthy too and nothing like freshly prepared homemade snacks to munch on. However, preparing something fresh every time is not very practical and one does have to rely on food stuffs outside of the kitchen. Nuts, fruits, yoghurt, dried nuts and fruits, etc are great snack options which are very healthy and convenient, one of my past article lists all such healthy snack options that one could consider.

It is important to concentrate on the snacks kids consume during those little hunger breaks as it makes a lot of impact on their overall daily consumption.

Yoghurt as a Healthy Snack

The Indian consumer has quite a few variety of packaged yoghurt to choose from. Danone India has fruit flavoured yoghurts on offer and it recently launched a healthier version called “Greek style Yoghurt”. Danone’s Greek Style Yoghurt is one of its kinds for the Indian consumer. It has higher protein content, low fat and is much creamier. The protein is almost double and is ideal accompaniment for the carbohydrate rich Indian diet.

We were at the product launch of the same and there were some unknown insights shared by Nutritionist Naaznin Husein on yoghurt and how it can be a great snack option.

• Yoghurt has been a traditional food item and every Indian household consumes in it some form of the other for its wonderful benefits
• Yoghurt is great for your gut and helps aid digestion, something very much needed for our kids who eat so much during the day.
• Young and adults alike need to consider snacking on pre-portioned yoghurt packs as a replacement to unhealthy options like chips or fried food with empty calories.
• Yoghurt is high in proteins and helps curb hunger while keeping the calories at minimum.
• Yoghurt works wonderful as a low fat dessert, late night snack or T.V time snack.
• Yoghurt adapts well to recipes and there are many ways you can use it to create mouth-watering dishes.
• Yoghurt packs are ideal as on the go snacks and can be carried in lunch boxes.
• Yoghurt based smoothies are the ideal breakfast item for kids.

 

Chef Varun Inamdar demonstrating few recipes using Danone Yoghurt

I found one of the breakfast recipes interesting for kids, below is an image of the recipe card as shared by Danone.

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Till then, Love Being a Mommy!

5 fun breakfast ideas for kids

Breakfast is an important meal of the day for both adults and kids. Kids, in particular, need to eat a wholesome breakfast to face the challenging day ahead. We all know about the cold war between food and kids and how difficult it is to get the right thing in their system; unless of course the food is presented in a very attractive manner to them or when they whip up treats on their own. Here are some fun ways kids can make their own breakfast, with little help from parents, and relish it too.

5 fun ways to involve kids in making their breakfast and eating it too!

Read through the 5 fun breakfast suggestions involving kids to bring a stop to all your kids breakfast woes.

Chocolate Pancake Pizza

1) Chocolate Pancake Pizza – Want kids to eat pancakes in a fun way? Let them convert pancakes to yummy chocolate pizzas. Kids can layer pancakes with maple syrup, sliced fruits and then grate oodles of chocolate over it before lightly baking it. The goodness of wheat pancakes, fruits and chocolate will make your child happy and ready to face the day.

Rainbow Toast  (Image credit:  www.learnplayimagine.com )

2) Rainbow Toast – I found this incredibly good looking breakfast idea on the net. With some edible rainbow food colours, the humble bread slice can be turned into something so appealing that kids will always look forward to breakfast. Mix some edible colors with milk and paint a rainbow on a bread slice, toast the slice and enjoy. For detailed procedure read here.

Flavored straws are a great way to perk up a boring glass of milk

3) Strawesome Milkshake – Have you bought flavoured straws for your kids, yet? Yummy flavoured straws from Sipahh are a wonderful way to spike up a boring glass of milk at the breakfast table. All that the child has to do is rip open the individual straw packet, dip it in milk and sip through to enjoy instant delicious milkshake. Available in 10 exciting flavours, kids get to indulge in a different milkshake every day.

4) Assembling Quesadillas – Mexican quesadillas stuffed with vegetables and kidney beans make for a wholesome breakfast that will keep the child full for hours. Let your child build his own quesadillas by laying out its ingredients in different bowls on the breakfast table. Things required are tortillas, sautéed mixed vegetables or boiled shredded meat of your choice, mashed kidney beans, grated cheese, herbs and seasonings. Once the quesadillas are layered, help the child lightly toast or grill them in a pan.

Fruit Skewers for breakfast – artistic & fulfilling

5) Fruit Shashlik – Fruits are the most ideal thing to consume for breakfast. Lay an array of fruits at the table and ask kids to arrange them in an artistic way on skewers to make Fruit Shashlik or Fruit Kabobs. Instead of diced / cubed pieces of fruits use special cutters to cut fruit and make the entire breakfast activity interesting and fulfilling. Honey or maple syrup can be drizzled on the fruit skewers for added flavour.
Do try these simple yet interesting breakfast ideas involving kids this holiday season and let me know how your kids enjoyed them. Do you have any breakfast idea involving kids? If yes, then please share in the comments below.

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Till then, Love Being a Mommy!

Chickpea & Fruit Chaat

Something that will help keep your body and mind cool this summer is this extremely delicious and juicy Chickpea and Fruit Chaat. A tangy amalgamation of flavours and wholesomeness, the chaat is packed with protein and goodness of fruits which can be eaten as a snack, salad or even a light meal.

I have grown up eating the tangy, spicy Chickpea and Fruit Chaat, mostly during summers in a chilled icy avatar. While I relished the juicy fruits and the lip smacking taste of the masalas, Chickpeas were usually ignored and left behind in the bowl. It’s a pity I realized the goodness of this wonder food only now and am determined to use it at least once a week in my kitchen.Along with the Chickpea Tikkis and Chickpea dip, Hummus, the Chickpea and Fruit Chaat is something I whip up frequently, these days for Nabeel who is busy holidaying. Nabeel likes munching on roasted chickpeas and is just getting used to savouring the boiled ones. He helps me in preparing the chaat; washing and peeling fruits is his duty.

The soaring temperatures make one lose appetite, giving kids one more excuse to reject food. The chaat is a good meal alternative for kids and ideal when they are in no mood to eat a typical roti-dal meal. Chickpea and fruit nutrients are good enough to provide them the nourishment of a meal. To make it more summery, one can even add beaten curds to the chaat. The tamarind chutney is an excellent coolant and perfect for summers. Chill the chutney in refrigerator, if you do not wish to serve frozen chaat to your child. Keeping boiled chickpeas handy makes the chaat a quick fix for anytime hunger.

Chickpea & Fruit Chaat Recipe

Ingredients
2 cups, freshly cut fruits, use a range of colors in this mix (strawberry, guava, grapes, pomegranate pearls, and orange)
1 cup boiled chickpeas
½ cup Sweet n Sour Tamarind / Imli chutney (recipe below)
1 teaspoon Chaat masala
Salt as per taste

Method
Step 1 – Place tamarind chutney in freezer for 10 minutes.
Step 2 – In a clean bowl, put fruits, boiled chickpeas, chaat masala and salt. Mix well.
Step 3 – Lightly mix in the tamarind chutney.
Step 4 – Serve immediately or place in freezer to chill further.

Sweet n Sour Tamarind / Imli chutney Recipe

Ingredients
½ cup Tamarind / Imli, seedless
1 cup dates / khajoor
Grated Jaggery / Gur as required to adjust sweetness
1 teaspoon roasted cumin / jeera powder
Red chilli powder as required
Black salt as required

Method
Step 1 – In a heavy bottomed pan, take 2 cups of water. Add in the tamarind and dates and boil till the tamarind is soft and pulpy.
Step 2 – Strain the mixture through a soup strainer to remove date seeds and any other tamarind particles.
Step 3 – Check for sweetness and add the jaggery accordingly. Check the chutney consistency, if it seems thin then boil for few minutes.
Step 4 – Cool the chutney, add roasted cumin powder, red chilli powder and black salt.
Step 5 – Transfer to an airtight container. Refrigerate or Freeze for further use.

Disclaimer: This recipe was originally submitted on Babychakra and published

here. 

Till then, Love Being a Mommy!

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Banana Walnut Bread

I have been baking Banana Walnut Bread for years now and it’s one of our breakfast favourites. The method involved is very simple, so I often whip it up in the mornings to treat everyone with freshly baked Banana Bread for breakfast. Although, it’s possible to feast on this “fresh out of the oven” indulgence only on weekends, on few exceptional weekdays I bake the bread so that Nabeel can carry it in his Tiffin.

Bananas are so lovely and hassle free to cook with; they are available anywhere, anytime of the year and in abundance. Unlike other ingredients, where you procure them first and then decide what to make using them; for Bananas and especially this recipe it’s the other way round.

What I also love about Banana Walnut Bread is the fact that most of the sweetness is lent by the fruit which cuts down the requirement of processed sugar, something I avoid in my cooking as far as possible. Walnuts, as we know are the healthy nuts that are recommended for daily intake so there goes one more reason to consume this bread for breakfast. The bread has a very low shelf life say about 2 days from when it’s baked. But, honestly it doesn’t last more than a few hours in my house.

This is actually a tea time bread recipe but works equally good for breakfast. The reason it’s called bread is because unlike cakes it’s not very dry and spongy but moist with a compact texture and can be enjoyed on its own without any icing or frosting.

Weekend’s approaching and you could consider baking this for breakfast or tea time. Variations like Banana-Raisins, Banana-Chocolate chips, Banana-Almonds are possible.

Banana Walnut Bread Recipe
Makes 1 loaf (as seen in the images)

Ingredients
3 Ripe Bananas
180grams Powdered Sugar / Icing Sugar
2 eggs
30 grams curds, whisked
75grams walnuts, chopped
200grams refined flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
60ml oil

Method
Step 1 – Mix curd and soda in a bowl and keep aside.
Step 2 – Peel bananas. In a bowl, mash the bananas using a fork; if possible, keep a few lumps. Add in icing sugar and mix well.
Step 3 – Add in an egg, curd-soda mixture. Mix well.
Step 4 – Immediately, fold in the flour.
Step 5 – Add walnuts, oil and mix well.
Step 6 – Pour the batter in a greased loaf tin and bake at 180C for 45 minutes. If you do not have a loaf tin, then pour the batter into a muffin tray to make muffins.
Step 7 – Cool the bread completely before cutting and serving.

Till then, Love Being a Mommy!

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Strawberry & Guava Juice

Continuing with our series of winter special ingredients I am back with not one but 2 ingredients – Strawberry & Guava.

After playing with Pineapple and creating a luscious jam using it, I picked up some attractive strawberries from the market. Jams and Desserts is what one would think of creating using them but for me that was not working, Jam..I just did with Pineapple so it was not exciting enough and Desserts..well this is for Nabeel and he definitely is not a dessert person. Last year, I made him Strawberry Pops which were a hit and he couldn’t get his tongue off the stuff licking till the last drop. It was such joy to watch him slurp and lick the pops all through!

My boy is a juice loving person, especially the ones that come in a tetra packs and bottles (for him even the aerated drinks are juices). To get him out of this tetra pack habit I juice fruits frequently and that is what exactly I planned to do with the batch of Strawberries lying with me. Simple Strawberry juice was too challenging for my creative mind so I decided to add in some sweet smelling Guavas to it. The two fruits make a rare and unique combination and I have been toying with the idea of using them in a recipe together for a while now.

Strawberry and Guava Juice Recipe is as simple as it can get. I stewed my fruits a little before juicing as opposed to blending them raw simply because; A – I had a feeling the rustic flavour of Guava would overpower the humble strawberry, stewing them would allow the flavours to mellow down and blend well. B – As far as possible, I always prefer cooking sugar instead of using it raw, as cooking makes the sugar less damaging (Raw Sugar? Harmful? Well, let’s save this for another post).
The juice is strained to get rid of the hard Guava seeds, no fiber is lost in the process you can be rest assured. Spike up the drink with flavours like fresh mint, cinnamon powder, chaat masala, honey, roasted jeera powder and even some orange strands, if you like.

DID YOU KNOW?
For some inspiration I looked up the net for Strawberry and Guava recipes. No luck with recipes but I did learn that the pink variety of Guavas is commonly known as “Strawberry Guavas” because of the light pink hue of their flesh. Logical enough!

I served the juice to Nabeel as a mid-morning snack minutes before he left for school. The drink energized him and he was all set to face the day. You can make pops using the juice (considering its thick enough) just like I did with some leftovers. Look up the method here.

Strawberry & Guava Juice Recipe
Serves 2

Ingredients
1 cup Fresh Strawberries, cut into pieces
1 cup Fresh Guava, cut into pieces
1.5 cups water
1/4th to ½ cup sugar

Method
Step 1 – Put all ingredients in a thick bottomed pan and stew them on a low flame till the fruits are soft.
Step 2 – Once cool, blend and strain the juice. Check for taste and sweetness. The juice is going to be thick adding water may dilute the flavours. If you want to adjust the consistency then do so using orange or pomegranate juice.
Step 3 – Cool and serve immediately. Avoid storing the juice for long, consume it the same day.

Look out for more recipes using Winter Ingredients, here.

Till then, Love Being a Mommy!

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Homemade Pineapple Jam

Winters create such a happy environment. What I love most about them is the array of fresh and colourful farm produce they bring along. One is spoilt for choice and before you realize these beauties vanish from the market. So, I decided to experiment with all of them one by one. The first ingredient of the season I picked was a Pineapple which was easily transformed into a luscious Homemade Pineapple Jam.

Pineapple jam smells heaven besides being tasty. It has a balanced sweet and sour flavour making it a good spread for a variety of products.

Recently I started making Fruit Jams when I realised Nabeel found them missing in his life after exchanging Tiffin’s with classmates. Jams are any child’s favourite. Surprisingly Nabeel is not fond of them, simply because I never served jams to him initially. The cavity creating, loaded with sugar, artificially flavoured & coloured, wobbly mass of “so called fruit jam” packed in attractive jars and sold in the markets, is definitely not a jam in my opinion.

December is a good time to make Homemade Jams as the most jam friendly fruits like strawberry, pineapple, apples, guava, etc are found in their freshest forms during this month.

I try my best to give homemade versions of popular kid’s favourite to Nabeel so that his taste buds learn to identify the authentic delicious flavours versus the artificial crap. My husband is a jam lover; especially the Homemade Mango Jam prepared by his mum. He rarely eats the store bought ones and that is what I want Nabeel to follow.

The cavity creating, loaded with sugar, artificially flavoured & coloured, wobbly mass of “so called fruit jam” packed in attractive jars and sold in the markets, is definitely not a jam in my opinion.

December is a good time to make Homemade Jams as the most jam friendly fruits like strawberry, pineapple, apples, guava, etc are found in their freshest forms during this month. Before this I did a Strawberry Jam, but for today, it’s a Homemade Pineapple Jam. With a ripe yellow Pineapple and some sugar you are good to go!

Pineapple jam smells heaven besides being tasty. It has a balanced sweet and sour flavour making it a good spread for a variety of products like tea-time cakes, toasts, few Indian breads like rotis & theplas, assorted cookies, etc. I often use Pineapple jam as a topping for ice-creams, which Nabeel just can’t seem to get enough of!
My pineapple jam has cinnamon, which can be omitted if you wish to. Small bite sized pieces of dry fruits like cashew, almonds and raisins take the jam to another level. Try adding them!

Happy Jamming!

                        Homemade Pineapple Jam – The Real Jam
    Fills a 500 gm Jam Jar to the brim. Stays good up to a month, if refrigerated.

Ingredients
2 cups pineapple, coarsely grated
¾ to 1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon freshly ground cinnamon

Method
Step1 – Choose a ripe yellow pineapple, peel and cut into small pieces. Churn it coarsely and use 2 cups of the pulp.
Step 2 – In a bowl mix the pineapple pulp along with ¾ cup sugar. Let it stand for 30 minutes, till the sugar melts.
Step 3 – Cook the mixture in a thick bottomed pan on a medium flame till the entire mixture turn into a brown mass. You need to keep stirring continuously. This step may take 20 to 30 minutes.
Step 4 – On lifting the mixing spoon sticky sugar threads should be seen, this indicates the jam is ready. At this stage add in cinnamon powder and dry fruits, if any.
Step 5 – Take off flame and cool the jam.
Step 6 – Transfer it into a dry jam jar and refrigerate. I did not use a sterilized jar and even after a month the jam tastes the same.

Tip 1: Allow one day refrigeration before eating the jam, this helps the flavours come out.

Tip 2: Always add less sugar first. Depending upon required sweetness more can be added later.

Till then, Love Being a Mommy!

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