I Won an Online Recipe Event

Nithu Bala from http://www.nithubala.com/ started an event called Healthy Food for Healthy Kids-Rainbow Foods for Toddlers. http://www.nithubala.com/2012/01/event-announcement-healthy-food-for.html.
Sara, from Sara's corner ttp://www.sarascorner.net/ had co-hosted the event http://www.sarascorner.net/2012/06/healthy-food-for-healthy-kids-rainbow.html.
I submitted 4 (four) healthy recipes for toddlers, which included Eggless Banana Muffins, Gobi Paratha, Khajur Rolls and Mixed Vegetable Cutlets, and I won the event/contest.

Here is my Winner Badge

Hope you like all of these recipes.

Thank you for visiting my blog. I would love to hear from you. I appreciate your time to leave feedback and help me improve this blog.

Eggless Banana and Squash Muffin

This was an experiment to use up left over things in the house:). It turned out to be pretty good though.
I had half spaghetti squash (baked) left after making spaghetti squash "pasta" for my daughter and husband. I also had 2-3 overripe bananas in the house. I had thought of making banana nut bread with the bananas, but at the last moment, I thought of adding the squash too. I also had dried basil in the house, which I had never used. So I created the recipe below to use up all the unused/leftover food in the house. Surprisingly, the muffins turned out soft, moist and full of flavor. Oh!, and they were a big hit at my work.

Ingredients:
1-1/2 Cups "spaghetti" from baked spaghetti squash, or any other uncooked squash grated
2 Overripe Bananas, Mashed
1-1/2 Cups Self Raising Flour
1/8 Cups Milk
1 Cup and 2 Tablespoon Sugar
1/4 Cup Oil
1/2 Teaspoon Salt
1 Teaspoon dried basil (optional)
1/2 Cup Chopped Unsalted Nuts, Any Kind (optional)
2 Tablespoon Oats (Optional), for Garnishing

Method:
Heat the oven to 350 degrees F.
In a bowl, combine the banana and squash. Stir gently to mix well. Then add the rest of the ingredients and mix well.
Prepare the muffin molds or loaf pan by spraying with cooking oil. Pour the mixture into the muffin molds and sprinkle the oats on top OR, if you are making a bread loaf, then pour the mixture into the loaf pan and sprinkle the oats on top. For muffins, bake for 30 minutes or until a knife comes out clean when inserted in the center of a muffin. For bread loaf, cook for 50-60 minutes, or by checking with a knife as mentioned above.
Take out of the oven, and let it cook completely before de-molding it.

This entry is a part of Sara's Corner's Healthy Food for Healthy Kids Contest  and Nithu's Healthy Food for Healthy Kids Contest  

Thank you for visiting my blog. I would love to hear from you. I appreciate your time to leave feedback and help me improve this blog.

Gobi Paratha for Kids

As I mentioned in my earlier post, I am always looking for some healthy finger food options (with different vegetables) for my 17 month old daughter. Yesterday, I made Gobi paratha with a slight twist for her. I added fresh spinach to the stuffing. Usually, I add pureed spinach to the dough while making any type of paratha, but this time, I didn't have enough time to boil the spinach and puree it. So,I decided to add uncooked spinach to the stuffing. The parathas came out very good, and my daughter loved it.

Gobi paratha is made by making a stuffing out of grated cauliflower and spices, and stuffing it between the dough and shallow frying with ghee. My variation here is, I cooked the cauliflower, so that when kids eat the paratha, they don't taste the raw cauliflower, and the paratha doesn't come apart because of the dry stuffing. Grate the cauliflower with a grater, or chop it very fine. Do not use food processor to grate the cauliflower. This process draws out a lot of liquid, which will cause the stuffing to be very mushy.

Here is the recipe for Gobi Paratha (with a twist:)).
Ingredients:
Dough:
1.5 Cups Whole Wheat Flour,
Salt to Taste
2 Teaspoon Oil
Water as required
1/4 Cup Flower, for Rolling
Ghee OR Unsalted Butter for Shallow Frying

Stuffing:
2 Teaspoon Oil,
1 Teaspoon Cumin Seeds,
1/4 Teaspoon Asafoetida,
1 Cup Cauliflower, Grated
1/2 Cup Spinach, Washed and Chopped into Small Pieces
3 Teaspoon Cilantro, Chopped
Salt to Taste
1/8th Teaspoon Chili Ginger Paste (or Per Your Kid's Taste Preference),
1/2 Teaspoon Cumin Powder,
1/2 Teaspoon Amchur Powder (Dried Mango Powder),
1/4 Teaspoon Turmeric Powder

Method:
Dough: Mix the flour and salt well. Add oil and combine again. Add a little water at a time, to form dough. The dough shouldn't be very stiff, or it will be hard to roll the stuffed bread. Apply some oil to the palms of your hand and knead the dough one last time. Cover with a container and set aside for 10 minutes minimum

Stuffing:
Heat oil in a pan. Once hot, add asafoetida and cumin seeds. Cook for 2 minutes, then add the rest of the ingredients. Cook uncovered on medium-low flame for 5 to 7 minutes, just enough to soften the cauliflower a little bit. Turn off the stove. Take the stuffing out into another container and let it cool completley.

Making paratha:
Divide the dough into 4 equal potions. Take a portion and roll in between your palms to make a ball. Press lightly to flatten it. Dredge with flour and roll a 3-4 inch thik disc.

Take about 2 teaspoons of the stuffing and place it in the center of the disc. Lift up the side surface of the roll disc and bring it together on the top to cover the stuffing completley. 

Lightly press with hands. Gently dredge with the flour again. Roll again very gently by applying very light pressure. You don't want the dough to break and filling to spill out. 

Heat a griddle. When it is hot, Place the paratha on the griddle, pinched side up. Cook on medium low flame for 1 minute, or until the underside turns pink/light brown. Gently flip to bring the pinched side down. Change the stove setting to medium high. Apply 1/2 teaspoon ghee on the top (cooked) surface of the paratha, and gently press with a flat spatula to cook all sides. Now flip the paratha again to bring the pinched side up. Apply ghee and cook for 30 more seconds. Flip again, cook for 15-30 seconds and take off the stove. Do the same for the rest of the dough and stuffing.
Cut into equal pieces with a pizza cutter. Serve with ketchup or your favorite dip.

This entry is a part of Sara's Corner's Healthy Food for Healthy Kids Contest  and Nithu's Healthy Food for Healthy Kids Contest 

Thank you for visiting my blog. I would love to hear from you. I appreciate your time to leave feedback and help me improve this blog.

Mixed Vegetables Tikki (Cutlets)

My 17 months old daughter is not very picky eater when it comes to trying different types of food. I really hope I didn't jinx my self now:).Her only requirement is that the food shouldn't be pureed or soft. She likes to bite and chew:), and she likes to snack on some food and run around. So, I am constantly trying out different healthy food recipes, which taste good, fills her up, and can be eaten as finger food.
Last weekend I made mixed vegetables cutlet. I hadn't really planned in advance to make the cutlets. I just grabbed whatever vegetables I had in the fridge that day. The cutlets turned out very good. They were very colorful because of the different vegetables (mainly beets), and they tasted great too. Here is the recipe for the cutlets I made.

Ingredients:
1/4 Cup Grated Beets, Uncooked 
1/4 Cups Grated Zucchini, Uncooked (you can substitute this with bottle gourd, or any other type of gourd)
1/8 Cups Grated Carrots
1/8 Cups Frozen Green Peas,
1/8 Cups Frozen Corn Kernals,
Salt to Taste
2 Teaspoon Oil,
1 Teaspoon Butter,
1/8 Teaspoon Chili Ginger Paste (Adjust per Your kid's Preference)
1 Teaspoon Cumin Seeds Powder,
1 Teaspoon Amchur Powder (Dry Mango Powder),
1/4 Cups Gram Flour, for Binding (Depending on the quantity of the vegetables you use, you might or might not more) OR 1 Large potato, boiled and mashed
1/8 Cup Bread Crumbs
1/8 Cups Shredded Cheese of Your Choice (Optional)

Method:
Mix the corn and peas in a deep microwave safe bowl. Add enough water to immerese them. Microwave for 2 minutes, so that the peas get cooked, and corn gets softened a bit. Drain and add the vegetable in a mixing bowl. Add the rest of the ingredients except the gram flour and butter. Slowly add the gram flour a little at a time to the veggies and start combining the vegetables. You want to add just enough flour to bind the veggies. Test a small portion by lightly rolling it between your palms. If the mixture sticks together, do not add more flour. If you add more flour, than you won't taste the vegetables. If you are using boiled potato, do not add flour. Add the potato to the mixture and then add a little flour, only if needed. Take ping pong ball sized portion of the mixture in your hands, roll them and slightly press them to form cutlets. you can also cut them in different shapes with cookie cutter.
In a shallow dish spread the bread crumbs in a thin layer. Dredge both sides of cutlets with the bread crumbs.
Heat the butter in a non stick pan. Once the butter is hot, place the cutlets in the pan in a single layer. Cook on medium low heat for 2-3 minutes, or until the underside turns brown and crusty. Flip the cutlets. If you are using cheese, spread it on each cutlet. Partly cover with a lid or Aluminum foil and cook on low for another 3-4 minutes, or until the underside is cooked and the cheese on the top is melted. Make sure not to completly cover the pan, otherwise the cutlets will become soggy.
Take off the stove, and server with ketchup or your choice of dipping.

This post is as a part of Sara's Corner's Healthy Food for Healthy Kids Contest  and Nithu's Healthy Food for Healthy Kids Contest 

Thank you for visiting my blog. I would love to hear from you. I appreciate your time to leave feedback and help me improve this blog.