No, this is NOT turning into a food blog!!! I forget my own recipes so easily so I'm looking at this as one way of remembering what I made :) I'm not a great cook but I am passionate about getting my kids to eat right and call me crazy, but I never once mind getting up at 5 am to make the kids' lunch/tiffin. It's a labour of love, putting all that healthy stuff into the lunchboxes. Never mind that one set comes back almost untouched. Sigh. Yesterday Y came back with a sad face drawn on her hand. Apparently the teacher drew it when Y refused to eat her lunch!
So -- back to the food. Ads loves pancakes. I didn't know until a few years ago that pancakes could be made at home without the aid of Aunt Jemima and Betty Crocker :( Ads will sometimes ask me to make pancakes for breakfast (on weekends) or for afternoon snack. The health nut that he is, he will drizzle honey/agave on the pancakes, turning away the chocolate syrup and maple syrup. I love this guy!!!! Anyway pancakes are yummy and all but I thought for lunch I should send something more wholesome. A stuffed dosa or uthappam would be healthier of course, and also it would be nicer if it was eaten warm but we'll just work within these constraints. Ads asked for a pancake, and a pancake is what he got :)
This morning, I used finely shredded beetroot, spinach (palak) and yellow bell pepper. I cooked them in the microwave until well done.
My pancake batter was comprised of maida, salt, pepper, 1 large egg, milk and baking powder. For additional seasoning I added a tsp of Chinese spices that I had on hand. Don't ask me in what proportions I added everything because I never know that - basically you just need to get the usual pancake batter consistency. I added the cooked veggies to that and mixed them all up, and poured the batter into a greased omelette pan, adding a generous topping of grated cheese. And this is what the pancake looked like.
I was out of hummus so I sent some ketchup as accompaniment. Unfortunately my kids don't eat any kind of chutneys and I am yet to hit upon some chutney which they will like.
Next time I am thinking of making a fruit pancake which would be sweeter and more interesting for the kids (maybe?).
oooiii Aparna, you're sending me on a guilt trip. Although i aim at preparing nutritious n healthy stuff for R, i rarely venture out of my comfort zone...
ReplyDeleteand here you are brandishing new and newer stuff...:-(
Oh Uma...please...no guilt!!! Cooking itself is not my comfort zone - I couldn't dish out a half-decent sambar if u held a gun to my head - so making healthy snacks is my way of feeling good abt myself :)
ReplyDeleteAnother recipe to add to what I must try out ! Very interesting one again, I love the way you've incorporated beetroot which usually is so difficult to get into kids :).
ReplyDeleteAnd I second Uma - especially about getting up at 5 am and feeling happy about it !! I do it, but completely under sufferance ;). Everyone I know will hear about my early waking up time on days of the week, and all are learning to not call me on Saturday morning which is my one "slightly" luxurious sleep day :).