Cooking on holiday?

Its been 3 weeks since we returned from a wonderful holiday in Florida and as you can imagine being back to drizzle and grey is rather depressing! I've been going through the holiday photos and wish we were back there in the sunshine. In Florida, we got accommodation with a kitchen so that we could eat meals in our apartment which meant carrying a few essentials. When I suggested the idea to my hubby he laughed and we both couldn't believe we had become one of those Indian parents who carry everything but the kitchen sink on holiday. So I settled for the essentials including some cumin seeds, coriander powder, red chilli powder and 2 cups of basmati rice! I feel embarrassed sharing this now! As we went for 2 weeks, I could see my daughter (my son is not eating solids yet) getting tired of restaurant food. A number of meals were made including chicken curry, rajma, some vegetables and all with yoghurt and rice. The person who most appreciated it was my daughter, and though it took planning, it was done while my son had his morning nap.

I know it's a holiday and us parents deserve time off, but the one thing that worries me is not eating proper meals whilst on holiday. There is always room for ice cream and pop corn but at least if the one meal is substantial then I too can enjoy myself!

Early Days Weaning Recipe: Kichdi (Lentils with Rice and Vegetables)

Kichdi is a staple in many households and it is introduced early on in a child's diet. Very healthy, and very easy!

Ingredients:

4 tablespoons of rice (basmati rice or long grain rice preferred)
4 tablespoons of small yellow lentils (moong dal)
1 clove
1 inch cinnamon stick
1 green cardamom
2 tablespoons of finely chopped carrots, beans and potato.
Pinch of tumeric powder

You can use any vegetables you like.

1. In a pan, add a teaspoon of oil and add the whole spices.

2. Once fragrant, stir in the rice, lentils and the vegetables. Add the tumeric powder now and stir through.

3. Add half a cup of water and put the lid on and put on medium fire. Keep adding water till the kichdi is cooked. The kichdi is cooked once the lentils are soft and the rice and vegetables come together.

4. Remove the whole spices and mash with a fork and serve.

If you are using a pressure cooker, after closing the lid allow one whistle and turn off the gas. Let the kichdi simmer and open the lid once it has cooled.

Lemon Cake on a Rainy Morning

My 2 year old and I are stuck in at home this morning while my son has his morning nap. So we decided to make a cake together...It was a fun activity for both of us! Bring on rainy days I say!

Ingredients:
4 eggs
1 1/2 cups of white sugar
1/2 cup of vegetable oil
2 cups flour
4 tspns baking powder
1/2 tspn salt
1/2 cup of milk
1/2 juice of lemon
zest of 1 lemon
1 tspn vanilla

and lots of icing and sprinkles for your toddler to decorate with!

1. Preheat the oven to 180 C and grease a large 20" cake tin.

2. Mix together the eggs ans sugar.

3. Now beat in the oil

4. Add the flour, baking powder, salt and finally the milk. Beat until smooth and then mix the lemon juice, zest and vanilla.

5. Add into cake tin and cook for 40-50 mins. Use a toothpick in the middle of the cake to test if its cooked through, it should come out smooth.

6. Leave in the tin for 7-10 mins to cool, then loosen the cake and remove onto a rack to finish cooling.

7. Ice and decorate

Enjoy!

Healthy Eating, Healthy Children

On Monday, the Guardian posted an article about the increase in eating disorders in children, saying that '..more than 2,000 young people were being treated by NHS hospitals in the past three years, with 98 aged between five and seven years old'. The contributing factors according to the article were genetic factors, cultural factors and body image. All three had a large impact on how children perceive food.

I wish to bring up my children with healthy choices, but don't most parents want the same thing? So how do we do this in today's society without jeopardizing our child's emotional being so they don't fall down the path of having an unhealthy relationship with food?


Food is often used to treat oneself, but what happens when we associate these pick-me-ups with an emotional upheaval? A piece of cake to make all the difficult feelings go away often does the trick. But something has gone wrong when a child is gorging on chocolate cake till they make themselves sick. Where is our responsibility as parents to teach our children to manage their emotions rather than 'eat' their emotions?


Then there is the issue of body image, young girls way before their teens aspiring to size 0 models on glossy magazine covers. They are becoming conscious of their bodies at a younger age. And this is not just the case in girls, the number in boys is rapidly rising. The demands society places on youth, beauty and weight affects even the youngest.


As a psychotherapist, I have worked closely with young adults who have struggled with food due to a result of unhealthy relationships with their parents. And now as a mom, I see how difficult it is trying to balance food choices on a daily basis. So Moms, Dads, and Moms to be out there--If you too feel anxious about these statistics or about your kids eating, please share.

Spaghetti Bolognese Indian Stylee

This recipe is for children over a year and you can use either lamb, beef or chicken mince. I tend to use 250 grams of beef mince.

Ingredients:
250 gms of mince
1/2 large onion
2 plummed tomatoes skin removed
2 cloves crushed garlic
1 inch grated ginger
Chilli optional
2 cloves
Small stick of cinnamon
2 tspn dhaniya or coriander powder
1 tspn jeera or cumin powder
Handful of macaroni or penne pasta

1. In a pressure cooker, add 1 tablespoon of oil and then fry the cinnamon stick and clove. Then add the chopped onion, garlic, ginger and chilli.
2. Once browned, add the mince and cook till the colour changes.
3. Now add the coriander and cumin powder and salt and cook for a few minutes.
4. Finally add the tomatoes and once cooked through add the raw pasta and a cup of water. Now close the cooker and put the flame on medium heat.
5. After one whistle and 7 minutes on low flame, turn it off.

Delicious!

Cake anyone?

Not sure if any other mommies out there are experiencing this, but for my 2 year old, 'birthdays' = 'cake'. Let me explain further, we were at a friend's son's birthday party a few weeks ago, and between each line of 'happy birthday', you could hear her whisper the word 'cake' which only got louder and louder with impatience, that by the end, the entire party could hear her! And lately, we have been attending many birthdays, and it seems that children around this age are obsessed with cake and it goes beyond just taste. There is what the cake looks like, and the excitement of candle blowing and cutting it and finally of course tasting it. Extra brownie points if it's chocolate! So now whenever I need to reward my daughter, it's followed by 'you'll get cake if you finish this'. Whether I choose to reward her is different but it certainly gets her attention!

Soon after cake, came ice cream and it has the same highly pleasurable affect. The different flavours, the cold texture in the mouth which eventually dissolves and once again if it's chocolate then even better! And this is just the beginning of a lifelong love of sweet things...

I'm back...

I have been away for several weeks now since having my little boy at the beginning of May and its been a huge adjustment in terms of recovering, nursing, sleep deprivation, and hormonal changes. My daughter has taken well to her brother, with many kisses and cuddles on a daily basis.

As far as 'feeding' is concerned, the biggest eye opener is how different my two children are. When nursing my first one, I experienced it as difficult, painful and my daughter was simply not a big eater so her weight gain was slow and steady. Waking her up to nurse ever 3 hours was a common occurrence in the first six weeks. I found it stressful and I was constantly worrying about her weight. Now take child number 2, from day one fed every two hours to the extent he would wake up from his sleep and feed and go back to sleep. I was so anxious that this baby would be very much like my daughter that from day 1, I kept a log of all his feed times. I am happy to say that after he was weighed on day 10, I no longer keep the log and I am a stress free mama! I am pleased to learn that each child is different and perhaps being the second time round, nursing does get easier? So far so good on that front...