Check out 16 Return-To-Work Programs In India For Ambitious Women Like You!
Health and nutrition is a major concern for many Indian moms when packing their kids’ lunches. 5 super lunch box ideas!
By Lavanya Donthamshetty
No one, least of all a child, likes to eat the same old boring stuff every day. Whilst it is unarguably good for them, sending a bewildering lunch box with two varieties of rice and a vegetable side-dish AND expecting kids to finish it off doesn’t work. Instead, a lunch box that is made of different parts such as some child-friendly dishes (read: easy to eat one-handed), a slice of cheese and/or a piece of fruit is an easier way to get them to finish their lunch.
A kids’ lunch box that is easy to eat, packed with health and nutrition, not too demanding on a busy mum (or dad) and not fiddly or unwieldy. This is the brief for a child-friendly lunch. So, what can you send for lunch that fits the brief? Here are 5 kids’ lunch box recipes that may be tweaked to form many more menu options.
Fairly at the top of the list comes a wrap. A big wheat chapati, filled with some yummy vegetables and rolled up so the child can eat one-handed. Easy-peasy lunch recipe! For children that like paneer, just make a basic tomato-onion gravy, add some steamed diced mixed vegetables (such as potato, carrots, peas, cauliflower or beans), toss in some paneer and let it all simmer away for five minutes. Add seasoning, place inside a chapati, roll and cut in half. Wrap each portion in aluminum foil to maintain freshness.
Another child-friendly lunch dish is a stuffed idli. My son, who cannot eat using his fingers, loves this! For the filling, you can make a standard potato masala (similar to the one used for masala dosas). To make the idli, ladle about a tablespoonful of idli batter onto a greased idli mould, spoon some masala filling and pour the rest of the batter over it. Steam as usual. Once it is done, turn it on to a plate, smear ghee and maybe some coconut chutney / green chutney onto one side. Doesn’t get simpler, does it?
Pastas are one of my son’s favourite meals. Give it to him every day and he will happily eat it, ‘yucky’ veggies and all. One of the easiest pasta recipes is to cook a portion of fusilli, tossing it with olive oil, roasted garlic and your child’s favourite veggies. Or, make a basic tomato and basil pasta sauce, add a cup of mixed veg – peas, mushroom, carrots, beans – mix with the cooked pasta and garnish with grated cheese.
One of the easiest lunch box ideas of all. With the right choice of bread and a sumptuous filling, a sandwich can make a very nutritious lunch. From a simple buttered slice to one slathered in coriander-mint chutney for that extra oomph, a sandwich can be as easy or complicated as you like. Boiled, diced potatoes, sauteed with chopped onions, tomatoes and fresh peas is a popular filling. Other options include egg-mayo, cheese & tomato or mushroom & cheese.
Call it falafal and my child balks. Flatten it and call it a “Chickpea burger” and it goes down in a heartbeat! Whizz some cooked chickpeas in the mixer, along with some onions, dhania-jeera powder, one clove of garlic, salt and one egg. Cover and transfer to the fridge for 30 minutes. In the meantime, toast a slice of bread, cool it a bit and whizz in a mixer to get fresh bread crumbs. Get the mixture out of the fridge, dip in some beaten egg (or besan, if averse to egg), roll around in the bread crumbs and cook on a tawa with a little ghee. Flatten with the spatula to get your classic burger patty shape. Pack inside a toasted bread roll /pav with some cucumber raita and/or tomato ketchup – job done!
(And don’t worry that it is too much work for a rushed morning – you can make the patties the previous evening and chill them in the fridge. Warm them up in the morning and they will taste just as delicious.)
Go on – share with us your ideas for quick and tasty kiddie lunches!
Mother, writer, foodie, margarita lover, Lavanya is the exception to the rule that women are multi-taskers. She loves travelling and the top spot on her 'must-visit' list goes to the Irish West Countries. read more...
Stay updated with our Weekly Newsletter or Daily Summary - or both!
UP Boards Topper Prachi Nigam was trolled on social media for her facial hair; our obsession with appearance is harsh on young minds.
Prachi Nigam’s photo has been doing the rounds on social media for the right reasons. Well, scratch that- I wish the above statement were true. This 15-year-old girl should ideally be revelling in her spectacular achievement of scoring a whopping 98.05% and topping her tenth-grade boards. But oddly enough, along with her marks, it’s something else that garners more attention – her facial hair.
While the trolls are driving themselves giddy by mocking this girl who hasn’t even completed her school yet, the ones who are taking her side are going one step ahead – they are sharing her photoshopped pictures, sans the facial hair, looking nothing less than a celebrity with captions saying – “Prachi Nigam, ten years later”.
Doctors have already diagnosed her with PCOD in their comments, based on photographic evidence. While we have names for people shamed for their weight – body shaming, for their skin colour- racism, for their age- age shaming, for being a female- sexism, this category of shaming where one faces criticism for their appearance has no name. With that, it also has zero shame attached to it.
Please enter your email address