Apple Sauce

                                The temperature has quickly climbed up here and it's not so easy to go for a walk in the park anymore. The weather is so horribly hot and humid that your dress cling to your body whenever you are in the open. Still, we adults are helpless when it comes to pacifying the toddler tantrums. Even if the climate sucks, the boys never seem to mind. They insist to be taken to the park now and again whatsoever.

                                To add up to everything, there is the not so popular dust winds in the middle east which is more frequent in our parts of the world. It not only causes discomfort due to dust but also bring in diseases. The dust winds are the most frequent carriers of seasonal diseases. So the kids get struck by some kind of illness whenever they are accidentally exposed to such dust storms.

                                The daughter for instance was down with a stomach bug a few weeks back and she had moderate diarrhoea. All I did was try to boost her immunity with healthy diet and food supplements. She was put on BRATY diet which consists of Banana,Rice water(kanji vellam), Apple sauce,Toast and Yogurt,  and MashaAllah she was back to normal in a few days time.

                                So this post is about how to make the apple sauce, which is quite simple and very handy when you have infants or toddlers around. Not only is  it a great nourishing food, it also helps to eliminate diarrhoea by making the stools thicker and less watery. If  you make a big batch and store it in an air tight container in the fridge; it stays for 3 to 4 days without getting spoiled. It can also be used in cakes, biscuits, macaroons etc which adds a great flavour. On to the recipe...

Kaya Pola/ Mutta Marichathu - Plantain Egg Cake

                             

 

              Ramadan is around the corner and it's time to post some Ifthar dishes. Kayappola is an Ifthar dish from Malabar, which you can easily make with in a short span of time. No much plannings and preparations needed. Everything could be whipped up in a few minutes if you have ripe plantains and eggs at hand. And it only takes about twenty minutes in low heat on the stove top to get it done (Did I mention that you actually don't need an oven to prepare it?) Yep! All  you need is a stove and a sauce pan.. Go ahead, and make it today.. As it contains plantains and eggs, it's good for kids . They would love this soft n flavourful cake.Good to make as a tea time snack for kids.

Here you go...

Zucchini Cupcake

 

            It was one of the busiest weeks in my life. I was on a roller coaster ride of life where you literally forget to breath. After all life could never be so idle when you have three kids (Well, I mean four!! Grown up ones can  be more insisting) around. Juggling between cooking, sewing, blogging, reading and lot more kids stuff which you would probably not find in the dictionaries; is what recently life is like. I call myself lazy no more. You just don't have space for that word in my 60 miles/hr marathon life. Aaah!! I think you can of course hear me panting.. just halting a bit to take breath!!

            Still!! I am enjoying it on the go!! I seriously can't imagine life with a lower pace. I guess it's all part of the fun. I am just trying to enjoy an ice lolly on the ride... After all roller coaster rides are meant to be fun. And of course it is!! If you take it in the positive sense :)

           So, I'm posting the recipe of Zucchini cupcake I had made a few months back. It is one of the latest additions to my kids menu,which helps me sneak in veggies to their veggie resistant tummies. Gosh! The boys never suspected, their enemies were hiding right under their noses; and the cakes were gone, before I even knew it. Try this for your kids, if yours are Yuck! Yuck! towards veggies too.. A sure shot to success; believe me;)

Here is the recipe...

Cheesy Bread Sticks

       This is an easy, delicious and nutritious snack for the children to nibble on. It is a snack/ appetiser you can prepare with easy ingredients whenever you have left over bread. I got this recipe from one of the South Indian Cooking magazines and got hooked with their picture. So I prepared it with some left over bread and my son enjoyed it immensely..

Cheesy Bread Sticks Recipe

Things you need:

Bread slices                        - 4

Egg                                     - 2

Grated mozzarella cheese      - 1/2 cup

Finely shredded parsley       - 1 tsp

Finely shredded green chilli   - 1 tsp

Black pepper powder          - a pinch

White flour/ maida                - 1 tbsp

Salt to taste

Frying oil                              

Method:

• Remove the margins of the bread slices and slice them into thin fingers. Keep aside.
• Beat the egg together with all other ingredients except oil, in a bowl.
• Dip the bread sticks one by one in the egg mixture and fry in the oil until golden brown.
• Serve the crispy bread sticks with tomato ketchup.

Savoury bread toast

                      

             Every body knows, breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Yet making kids eat it as you wish is a near impossible task. If they are picky eaters the matter becomes all the more abrasive. Since all the busy moms find cooking up complicated meals for them, time killing consuming, easy and quick fixed breakfast dishes are more than ever in demand.

           I always keep a pack of bread in my fridge to use when ever I run out of breakfast ideas. They come handy even while making snacks for tea. If you don't feel like making anything, you can still use it with cheese or jams or with your favourite left over chicken curry.

            This is a dish, my mom used to prepare often for us. She usually made it with tea in the evening. Those days, tea time was important as breakfast for us, as we kids were hungry and tired after a day at school. So actually it was a second breakfast for us and we had wholesome meals with eggs, chicken, noodles or bread.

            I had almost forgot about this handy and quick bread toast some how but it became a frequent visitor to the breakfast table recently thanks to my picky eater son who muddled my head to think of all  the left out easy and quick breakfast dishes.

Coming to the recipe..
                     

Savoury bread toast recipe:

Things You need:

4 to 5 slices of bread
1 large egg
3 tbsp milk
1 small onion, sliced
2 green chillies, diced
1 tomato sliced circularly
salt to taste
Veg. oil for frying

Method:

• Pulse the onion and green chillies in a blender until coarsely blended. Beet the egg with milk and salt. Add the pulsed onion chilli mixture and beet again until well combined.
• Heat a frying pan and add oil to it. Dip the bread slices in the egg milk batter and transfer to the frying pan. Top it with a round slice of tomato and shallow fry in medium heat, turning the side once. You can also toast it in the oven brushed with a little butter on top.
• Carefully transfer to a plate when done. Cut into halves and  serve hot with tea or milk.