Just like diamonds are a girl’s best friend, chocolates are a kids best friend. So, it was only fitting to have a chocolate making session during the “Healthy Me” workshop (read more about it here).
Cookies are a favorite with kids. So a ‘healthy’ cookie recipe was a must for the “Healthy Me” workshop (read about it here). But all the healthy cookie recipes I know and like require either kitchen equipment (like blenders, ovens or microwaves) or very specialized ingredients.
I started thinking hard. I needed a recipe that was quick so that the kids wouldn’t get bored, easy to do with simple kitchen utensils and of course tasted good!
9 pm. Dinner done. Chores done. Baby asleep. Time for some TV. Do you know what comes next? Well, more often than not it is rummaging through the fridge, promising to eat only a small bite of chocolate and eating the whole bar instead, one scoop of ice-cream that turns into 3 etc. Sounds familiar? Well, its because it happens to EVERYONE. Sometimes, its easy to distract yourself and keep away but sometimes you just end up giving in.
There are numerous ways to distract yourself. You can read about some of the more uncommon ones that actually do work here. But, when you ‘give in’ what you have to be careful about is choosing something that does the job without undoing all the effort you’ve put in that day. And this recipe does just that!
My son just turned 2 a few months ago. For those of you who have been following my blog, you know that I haven’t introduced my son to sugar or any of its forms yet. In fact, his first birthday cake was quite a task since I made it with only the few ingredients he was introduced to before he turned 1! If you haven’t already seen the recipe for that cake, you can check it out here.
Now that he was going to turn 2, I wanted to bake a different cake for him, but without the refined flour or white sugar. Thats why I decided on carrot cake and used as little honey as I could to sweeten the cake. I must say, what I ended up with was melt in the mouth delicious! Here’s how my cake turned out:
My son’s preschool has this system where they conduct activities within the class on a different theme every month. For example. in August, the theme was “music” and one activity during every school day was centered around this theme. In September, the theme chosen was “food” and for one of the activities under this theme, I was asked to visit the school and conduct a “cake baking class” with the kids.
Cooking with kids can be a lot of fun. But when you’re talking of 10 kids in the age group of 1.5 to 3.5 years of age, it can be quite a task. Kids in this age group have a super short attention span, lack the dexterity and skill that older kids have and are also typically more interested in running around and playing than sitting in one place and doing something. And baking. in general, requires the absolute opposite of all these traits. So, how was I going to pull this off?
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A late night after an early dinner is a guaranteed path to cravings. And for me, they are often for something sweet. A piece of dark chocolate usually does suffice but somedays are just not the “one piece” kind of days.
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When my son was born, my husband and I decided that we would refrain from giving our baby sugar or processed foods for as long as we could help it. He’s 1.5 years old now and we’ve successfully managed to keep it that way, even through all the birthdays, anniversaries, weddings, and other celebrations. How did we manage it? Well, we followed one golden rule. At every occasion, I made sure there was a treat for him too (without sugar or any of the other taboos) so that he didn’t feel left out when everyone else was drooling over their dessert bowls.
Recently, on Father’s Day, while the rest of us were enjoying a luscious chocolate brownie cake (for all you chocolate lovers who are now dreaming of cake, you can get the recipe for that here), I made these mango popsicles for my toddler. Here’s what they look like: 
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I’ve always enjoyed baking. But I’ve really only started experimenting with it over the last 2 years. The challenge of re-working a recipe to make it healthier (and lower in calories) and the joy you get when you end up with something lip-smacking is a different feeling altogether.
That’s why, last month, on the morning of Fathers’ Day, when I impulsively decided on a mini-celebration for the two dads in my house (my father-in-law and my husband), I resorted to baking a cake myself. However, there were restrictions, some self-imposed and some driven by lack of planning. Continue reading
Choose Healthy, Be Happy 