As parents, one’s idea of healthy satisfying meals might include plain grilled chicken, fish, steamed veggies and plenty of salads. But, kids could find these food items unappealing. Thankfully, there are ways to jazz up their meals. Play around with shape, colour and texture. Serve raw veggies with dips, top poultry and veggies such as cauliflower, broccoli and asparagus with sauce, low fat cheese and skim mozzarella. Strawberries with whipped cream. Cut fruits and vegetables into fun shapes. Mix chopped or grated veggies into meatloaf, soup, casseroles and other such dishes.
Celebrate the small victories even if it is just getting your kids to try a few bites of the new healthy food. Control what you can and allow the kids freedom of choice within reason.
Here are a few recipes of dishes that blend fun and health for your kids.
Roti Kheer
Ingredients
4 chapattis
Half apple, 1 banana, 1 ripe mango (cut into small pieces)
A pinch of cardamom powder
2 cups milk
2 tsp sugar
2 tsp honey
A handful of chopped nuts for garnishing
Method
Keep the chapattis in an oven for one or two minutes. You’ll get crispy chapattis. Break them and put them in a mixer. Grind till they become a fine powder. Transfer it to a bowl. Add milk, sugar, honey and cardamom powder and stir well. If it is too thick you add more milk. Add fruit pieces and mix well. Garnish with chopped nuts. Serve chilled or at room temperature. You can add other fruits of your choice that go well with the milk.
Oats Cookies
Ingredients
250 gm refined flour
85 gm powdered sugar
100 gm butter
1 egg
A few drops of vanilla essence
Quarter tsp baking powder
25 gm oatmeal
Half tsp cinnamon powder (sieve it with flour)
Method
Mix butter and sugar. Beat the egg separately and add to the butter and sugar mixture. Then add flour, vanilla essence, baking powder, oatmeal and mix well. Make round balls of dough and flatten them gently with your palms. Place them on a greased tray and bake them for 30 to 40 minutes at 150 degree C. Serve with a glass of milk.
Stuffed Paneer Puris
Ingredients
For the dough
1 and quarter cup whole wheat flour
Quarter tsp turmeric powder
Half tbsp ghee
Salt to taste
For the filling (to be mixed into stuffing)
Three-fourth cup finely grated paneer
Quarter cup grated, boiled potato
2 tbsp roasted and coarsely pounded peanuts
1 tsp finely chopped green chillies (optional)
1 tbsp finely chopped coriander
Salt to taste
Oil for cooking
Method
For the dough, combine all the ingredients and add enough water to make soft dough. Knead for five minutes and keep aside. Mix all the ingredients of the stuffing together. Divide the stuffing into eight equal portions. Divide the dough too into eight equal portions, and using a little oil, roll out each portion into thin round puris. Place the one part of the stuffing in the centre of one puri and bring the edges together to seal the stuffing. Roll them all out again into small puris with a little oil. Deep fry them. Drain on absorbent paper. Serve hot.
Bean And Cheese Burger
Ingredients
4 burger buns
4 lettuce leaves
1 cup kidney beans
4 cheese slices
Half tsp ginger-garlic flakes
1 onion chopped
2 tbsp tomato paste
4 garlic cloves minced
Quarter tsp turmeric powder
Half tsp red chilli flakes
Half tsp garam masala
1 tbsp butter
Salt to taste
Method
Clean the beans and soak them in water overnight. Pressure cook with enough water for four or five whistles or till beans are tender. Cook with butter, onion, garlic, tomato paste, spice powders and salt. Keep aside. Preheat the oven at 200 degreeC. Slice each bun horizontally into two halves and place them on a baking tray. Bake for five to seven minutes. Remove from the oven and transfer the bottom half on to serving plates. Place the lettuce leaves on the bottom half of each bun and then spoon out cooked beans on it. Top with a slice of cheese and sprinkle ginger-garlic flakes over it. Cover each with the top half of the bun and serve.