The Nutrition overhaul!

Snack menu for school days…

Monday- cheese and carrot parathas.

Tuesday- oats and walnut cupcakes.

Wednesday- mayo broccoli and corn sandwich.

Thursday- Nutella and dates crêpe

Friday-  Mixed sprouts Bhel.

One of the biggest challenges a parent faces is trying to get some nutrition into their little monsters. My child loves his vegetables, said no mom ever. So the only option we are left with is disguising health with a bit of a bait.

It’s a constant struggle.. the dinner table feels like an Arnab debate where we contemplate the future of the multigrain- Dal khichadi on his McQueen racer plate. Negotiations & connotations feel like they go on for an infinity.

Milk, the wonder food is a whole separate challenge.

7.45 am - We are in a race against time. The son needs to be dressed and fed all in time or we miss the bus, which translates into another 40 minutes wasted beating the mad morning rush to school. This morning dash is made worse when my son staring at the glass of Milk un-interestingly announces MILK IS YUCK!

I reckon children are programmed to hate milk or for that matter anything with truckloads of nutrition.  ‘Creative ways to feed a picky eater’ is am sure the most Googled topic by all conscience  parents.

In my conversations with lots of parents I always love to find how they get their kids to love food. Last year I was at a cook off with Rushina, a chef and celebrity food blogger and she shared how she always got her kids involved in cooking. Her 5yr old hated carrots.. So instead of forcing it down her throat, she got creative. Together they made fun carrot carvings, shaving of carrot that were called carrot pasta, baked some carrot cup cakes… the works. She slowly took a liking to carrots.. A hallelujah moment for Rushina!

I took my cues from her and started incorporating the fun back in the food. Milk has been one of my biggest challenges so far.. But I came up with ways of making Milk more fun..

#1One of the house favorite is the milk and fruit popsicle that we make. This time around strawberries are in bloom. So we chop a few and churn the rest with milk and let them freeze away to whole milk popsicle glories… You can substitute this with any fruit of your choice.

#2Another one of my sons favorite treat after football practice is Brown Sugar and Vanilla milk shake. Brown sugar beingl less refined then wihite is s good option, also make sure you only use pure vanilla extract only. I serve it in chic mason jars and add a dollop of ice crème as a special treat.

#3But for days when I just don’t have the luxury of time on me, I safely reach out for Sipahh. All it needs is a glass of cold milk, and he sips away at a flavor wonderland. With zero preservatives, natural flavor and only half a tsp of sugar per serving, I don’t feel guilty when I indulge him in some Okey-Dokey Cookies and crème goodness.  

turning plain milk into Strawsome!

As long of you find ways to make meal time more fun.. The dinner table will be a much more happier place… Got a creative spin on something healthy? 

Share your ideas in the comments below. 

You might just save a mom from her Milk misery.

*the images have been linked to their sources.

Cavity Vs. Calci-Bot

In the Toothpaste aisle,

Going through an entire lot of the Colgate Magical Castle packs, I frantically try to locate the Royal Family…People keep staring at me, wondering what the hell am I up to. Am sure my little show, generated interest in a half a dozen aunties and they too picked up a pack or two…

Also what didn’t help, was my 4 year old growing impatient, Mommy did you find it yet, did you find it yet, he went on like a stuck record. Few of the employees took pity on me and pitched in on my search... Five more minutes and a sales representative from Colgate handed the Royal Family to me. Finally...

My 4 yr old son Vedant and my 10 yr old nephew Khush had already made up their mind about what they wanted to do with their Colgate Cutouts. “We want to put up a puppet show,” they announced. So my Sister-in-law and I turned an old shoe box into a mini puppet theater, while the brothers worked on the script. They came up with the title, the protagonist and villain all by themselves. As a parent, am mighty proud of seeing my little genius at work, that’s the power of constructive parenting.

What’s also worth a mention is that I was overwhelmed with the kind of excitement the kids showed in this project. What also surprise me was the idea of an Alien and the element of tiny Colgate gun contraption they added to the story. It clearly shows that they can think out of the box, literally….

The Puppets in the Video were handled by my Sister in law; the story was narrated by Khush, while I shot the entire journey on my cam. We took exactly 30 takes to get it right. At times the props fell off the stick, at times Khush fumbled, at one point my neighbors burglar alarm went off and the other time my maid came barging into the room demanding to clean it.

Every retake bout in laughter, some really uncontrollable laughter. Am glad I decided to take up this project on with my family, we surely made some real #MagicalStories together. Kids love surprises and Colgate has really got it right this time. Along with teaching them Dental Hygiene its also tapping their creative cells. the kids also enjoyed seeing what children from all over the country had done with their Colgate Castle packs. It surely is a great camping.

The puppet theater now is a permanent addition to the house. They next production in the making is The Transformers vs. Minions. Look out for that..

You too can create Magical Stories with your family; 

to know how check this out: