Luckily my kids have most of my foodie habits! (masha allah) we all are big fans of paratas  - veggie or non veg, any type – any color SO twhen ever i say parata? both of them are ready to eat. The only demand is they want yogurt with it.

Spinach is their favorite veggie and i make it at least 3-4 times a week. Here is a simple parata easy to make and good to eat. This recipe will be going for the Kids Cooking Event – Wheat

Palak/Spinach Paratas

makes 9 medium sized paratas

1 bunch of spinach leaves (only leaves discard the stems)

1 3/4 – 2 cups wheat flour

1/4 tsp cumin and ajwain

salt to taste.

Grind the spinach to a fine paste with very little water. It should be around 1 cup of paste. Mix the rest of the ingredients and knead into a dough.

I make this as normal phulkas. It puffs up and become very soft.  Adding ghee on top of the parata after cooked gives a different taste. But my kids dont like it so i use less ghee  in my cooking.

Green Peas Curry

1 and half cup green peas socked overnight

1 cup each finely sliced onions and tomatoes

1 tbsp ginger garlic paste

3-4 tsps of coriander pwdr

1-2 tsp of red chilli pwdr

1/2 tsp turmeric pwdr

1/2 tsp garam masala

1/2 tsp ajwain

corriander,curry and mint leaves – a small bunch

oil for frying

2-3 cups of water

Heat oil in a pressure cooker and add onions to it. Once it is browned add the ginger garlic paste and keep on stirring for 1-2 mts. Then add tomatoes ot it. Once the tomatoes are cooked and well mixed to the onions add the dry masalas, ajwain and mix well. Add sufficient water to it (i added around 3 cups) and pressure cooked for 20 mts. Garnish with the green leaves.

(the water needed and cooking time might vary from pressure cooker and the peas you are using. I dont think mine was a good quality peas and also my pressure cooker has already shown signs or retiring!)

Today morning when R woke up she asked me what i was making special today. As kids grow up almost everyday is going to be special and everyday they demand something special or some kind of goodies!

Here you go sweeties.. Double chocolate chip cookies for my dear daughter who loves any form of chocolate and blueberry muffins for my dear son who think boys should eat everything ‘blue’. I wonder from where he got the idea! LOL! And what all things he will learn like this when he goes to school next year!

To Die For Blueberry Muffins!!

These muffins came our soft and moist and it really tasted good. i didnt think it would be this good with frozen thawed berries but it is yummmm!

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup white sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/3 cup melted butter

1 egg

1/3 cup milk

1 cup frozen thawed blueberries

For the topping:

1/4 cup plus 1 tblsp white sugar

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 cup butter, softened

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

How to make :

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Grease muffin cups or line with muffin liners.

Combine flour, sugar, salt and baking powder. In another bowl combine butter,egg and milk  and mix well. Mix this with flour mixture. Fold in blueberries. Fill 3/4th of the  muffin cups and sprinkle with crumb topping mixture.

To Make Crumb Topping: Mix together sugar, flour, butter, and cinnamon. Mix with fork, and sprinkle over muffins before baking.

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes in the preheated oven, or until done.

Double Chocolate Chip Cookies

This cookie recipe was given to me by my friend Jen. But as R wanted double chocolate i added cocoa powder to it. Still it came out so soft and moist!

1 cup all purpose flour

1 1/2 tbsp cocoa powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 cup plus 1 tbsp melted butter

1/2 cup white sugar

1 tsp vanilla

1 egg

1 egg yolk

1 cup semi-sweet chips

Preheat oven to 325.

Combine flour, baking soda and salt.  Set aside.

Cream butter & sugars.  Beat in vanilla, egg & yolk until light and creamy.  Gradually mix in dry ingredients.  Stir in chocolate chips.

Drop dough onto greased cookie sheets. (Mine was around a tbsp) Bake for about 10-15 minutes.  Cool for a few minutes on the sheets, then finish cooling on wire rack.

My childrens day recipes go for the Kids Delight Event hosted at Spice Your Life!

This is one of the easiest soup i make  and loved by my son He says this is pasta soup! LOL!! Beans are very nutritious and is a good source of dietary fibre, protein, Iro

n and rich in folate.

1 medium sized white onion finely chopped

2 garlic cloves crushed

2 celery sticks chopped finely*

1 small zucchini chopped finely*

1 small carrot grated*

1/2 can of Italian  tomatoes (i used Cirio Popla)

1 can of Baked beans (No salt added)

Spice : Oregano, Basil, Marjoram, Crushed red pepper, Black pepper – Use as per your taste

Heat 1 tblsp extra virgin olive oil in a saucepan. Add onions and garlic to it and saute until the onions are soft. Add the vegs to it and saute again for 3-4 mts. Add the tomatoes and Beans to it. Mix well and add 1 cup water.

Bring to a boil and add the spices to it.

* i prefer to chop the veggies finely because my kids wont know i have added them! You can cut them in any size you like.

This Post goes to the Light Food Event

Chocolate chip cookies are my kids favorite. They can eat up to 4-5 cookies in one shot.. LOL!  I make them often but before i can take a pic of these they will be finished! My daughter doesn’t even wait for them to cool down she loves them when its warm and the choco chip are meting! (Girls!)

So today a cozy saturday morning everyone are asleep i woke up early and decided to make some of these to surprise them. I could luciky make a batch before all of them woke up and finally take a pic of it!

This recipe is again form my favorite All Recipes And here is the recipe for the Chocolate chip cookies

The changes i made are – I added only 1 cup chocolate chips instead of 2. And i did not melt the chip. I added them straight away. This is a fool proof recipe. I really enjoyed making those.

Now that i brought an electric oven i have been in a mood to bake n grill… so fa i made choc chip cookies and oatmeal cookies.. both of them have been so fast moving that i didn’t even have time to take a pic and post it! LOL!!

today morning i thought i would make some garlic bread.. But then i thought it would be very light so i decided to cover it up with some eggs.. (my friend Afroze’s idea) so that everyone will get some carb,proteins,fats etc all together!!!!
Blend 2 cloves of garlic, 2 tbsp of olive spread, 1 tbsp of olive oil, 1 small bunch of parsley into a smooth paste.

2 hard boiled eggs cut into thin slices

2 slices of cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 180 C.

Cut the bread half and apply the blended paste on it. Top up with cheese and the eggs.. im sure kids are gonna love it!

Another of my fav rice varities! well actually not mine my picky eater son loves this! He’ll eat this without yogurt!! A rare thing otherwise with any type of rice he needs yogurt!!! This is also easy and packed up with all the vegs. I usually cut the vegs into small pieces so that he wont even notice that he is eating it

You’ll need

Ghee – 2 tbsps
cardamon and cloves – 3-4
cinnamon stick – 1 small piece
bay leaf – 1
onion finely chopped – 1
basmati rice – 3 cups washed and soaked
mix vegs finely chopped- 1 cup (carrots,beans,corn,peas) or what ever u like
turmeric pwdr – 1/4 tsp
garam masala – 1/4 tsp
water – 6 cups
salt to taste

Heat the ghee in a non-stick pan and add the whole spices. When the smell comes out add the onions and fry till brown. Add water to it. When the water boils add the rest of the ingredients and close the pan and cook for 15 mts. Serve with raita, pickle,pappadam.

I usually finely chop all the vegs so that the kids wont notice it.

Another entry for the Rice Mela and Wholesome Lunch Box Event!

I have been thinking to make soething sweet for a long time. And when i had a really large Lauki i thought ok then i’ll make Laki halwa today. This is the first time i’m trying it and this is a combination of 3 recipes i got from google!

i made it like this…

3 cups of grated lauki
1 and half cups of milk
1/2 cup milk maid
3 cardomons
2 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp ghee
a pinch of salt

Heat ghee in a non stick and add lauki to it. Once its soft and translucent add milk. And cook on slow fire till the milk reduces. As it reduces all a pinch of salt and milkmaid. Mix well. when it reduces again add sugar and mix till its thick. Garnish with almonds and cashew nuts.

I always cool any desserts and home made halwas coz my kiddos like it that way. I hope u guys will like it!!

im sending this entry for the Sweet Series!! Look out for more halwas and burfies in my blog!

Im reposting this entry for the Curry Mela hosted by Srivalli.. You rock girl!!!!

I love this one because its very easy to prepare and my kiddos loves it. So when im lost thinking what to cook i just make this because this goes well with all types of rotis! Today i made Neriya Pathiri and to go with it i made this egg curry.

This is how i made it. You’ll need

• 1/2 of a medium sized onion
• 1 cup coconut
• 2-3 shallots
• 2 eggs
• salt to taste
• 2 tbsp oil

1. Grind the coconut and shallots to a fine paste.
2. Heat up a Kadai or mud pot (we call a mud pot Chatti in malayalam)!
3. Add oil and then onions.
4. when the onions are light brown add the eggs and keep on stirring for 1 minute
5. Add the grinded coconut mixture and let it boil.

You can also add green chilies to it if you want to make it spicy but i dont do it because my kiddos dont like spicy.