Making them eat carrots...

(carrots from ones own garden - try growing them with your kid in your own veggie patch at home!)

Sunny boy loves to eat carrots raw. Usually he askes for his favorite 'dip' along with it which is nothing but a mixture of lemon juice and olive oil in 1:2 proportions with little mustard, salt and pepper added to it.
But eating them slightly cooked is actually even better as the good vitamin a get much more easily absorbed. Apart from fats /oils that it needs the softened texture makes it easier for the body to digest and absorb the goodies from this wonderful veggie. Of course, the carrots should retain their fresh colour - a good indication that they are not over-cooked.
But, how many of your kids like that. Sunny boy? It depends on his mood, but I HAVE to put it in his mouth usually.
Two things which however do make him eat them with pleasure on hiw own are:

1. dice them very very finely and cook with rice or cook/fry separatly and add to pasta or the vegetable which he likes. All have worked for me
2. make them into these good looking flowers and cook or fry them like in the following pictures (you can also add them to raw to salads)
   

The final products....
My tips on serving vegetables to kids:

1. Do not mix too many different things together and they will more easily eat their veggies!
2. Serve very small portions
3. give some funny or fascinating namesto the dishes you serve

Some old info lying in one draft , posting it finally:

Calcium, just like zinc reduces iron absorption and since iron is a very important mineral required by the body as well, one should avoid eating calcium rich sources along with the main meals.

A good report on the effect of calcium on iron absoption.

Another informative page on trace minerals required by our body.

Here are some good sources of calcium and iron at MedicineNet.com.

Healthy , Roasted Cutlets

Anirudh is unwell , so over the weekend I wanted to make something thats interesting to him (as you dont feel like eating in fever) and yet healthy.

The usual fried cutlets would be bad on his throat and so I recalled this one.

Ingredients:

Cottage Cheese : 50 gms crumbled
Carrot : 1 grated
Onion : 1 fine chopped
Wheat Flour : 2 tbsp
Broken Wheat : 1/4 cup
Coriander powder : 1 tsp
Chilli powder , salt as per taste
Water : 1 cup
Oil / Butter : 1-2 tsp

Steps :

1. Blanch the broken wheat in 1 cup water for 3-4 minutes.
2. Mix all the ingredients and make patties of desired shape
3. Roast with little oil on a non-stick tawa. It should be cooked for long on slow flame.

The recipe was inspired by a Tarla Dalal's recipe that I read sometime back. I don't remember accurately but it required to add soya sauce and chilli sauce as well. I forgot to add soya sauce and I skipped chilli sauce intentionally.


Anirudh had half cutlet , which can be equated to atleast 0.5 roti and some veggies too. So operation successfull. About the taste I cannot say , since I did not get to taste it , everything was over before I made it to the table :-P

Paneer Carrot Parantha

Ingredients :

Wheat Flour : 1 cup
Cottage Cheese(Paneer) : 100 gms
Carrot : 1 grated
Onion /green onion: 1 finechopped
Coriander leaves : handful , fine chopped
Chilli powder : as per taste
Coriander powder : 1 tsp
Garam Masala : 0.5 tsp
Salt : as per taste
Oil
Water

Steps
1. Mash paneer with hands
2. Knead all the ingredients like a roti dough.
3. Now roll out your parantha , like usual , and fry on a nonstick tava.

Tastes best with raita !

Variation : You can also use grated cheese for filling. I did but only for Aryan :D

Sooji cheela with carrots

Ingredients:

1. 1 cup sooji
2. 1/4th cup besan (optional) - it just gives different flavour
3. 1/4th cup grated carrots
4. salt - 2 tsp
5. water to make thick paste
6. Oil/Ghee to roast

Steps:

1. Sift sooji, besan and salt to mix properly.
2. Add water and make an even thick batter.
3. Add grated carrots and leave for 10 mins. Add more water if required. The amount of water to be used varies on the type of sooji being used.
4. Brush some oil in the tawa/girdle and pour a ladle of batter and spread.
5. Scatter few drops of ghee/oil on the visible side.
6. Once done, flip to roast from both sides.
7. Eat it with coriander-mint chutney or just plain ketchup.