Cooking with My Baby

                     Its a healthy power packed breakfast. Whole wheat bread, eggs, milk, bananas all put together in make simply delicious breakfast for you. If you like french toast you must try this tropical flavored  french toast.                                  IF you dont eat eggs or dont like eggs, just omit the eggs and you can enjoy vegetarian french toast. Serves 2 (12 pieces) Ingredients: 6 slices of brown bread 2 eggs 1/4 cup of fresh coconut 2 small bananas 1 tbsp sugar 1/4 tsp cinnamon 1/4 cup milk butter/ cooking spray/ oil Method: Cut the coconut in small pieces and make paste with very little amount of milk in a blender Add chopped pieces of banana, sugar, cinnamon and beat till you get smooth puree Add milk and eggs and just beat till all the mixture comes together, for about 5 secs.Transfer the mixture to a large shallow bowl. Cut each slice of brown bread into two triangles Heat the skillet on medium high, add butter/ oil or use cooking spra

     Pizza....          Who doesn't love Pizzas... Ya, I do agree its a very healthy option. But its OK to indulge sometimes and enjoy the warm golden crusted freshly baked pizza with toppings of your choice... and to top it pizza crust is stuffed with cheese,,, more cheese...This unique thin crust pizza has a ring of cheese baked into the edge , so that you can enjoy cheese in every last bite of the slice.        Neil demanded me to make a Yummy Yummy Pizza for him.. Nowadays he has his own demands. He is growing independent and is in the phase of "The Terrible twos".. Sometimes he is very very understanding to an extent that even if I cough, he runs to kitchen and gives me a glass or water. he will wipe my tears with towel when I cut onions and will run to tell his dad that his mom is sad and is crying. And there are times when he wont agree to anything I say, he will be stubborn without any reason.. That's well , I guess, how the kids grow, passing thro

Hokey pokey... Honeycomb... Cinder toffee... Sponge toffee.... Sea foam    You can call this toffee by any name you wish... But you must must must try this simple toffee which is light with sponge like texture and melts in your mouth... It just requires three ingredients and you are ready to please any kid who walks in to your home..        You need sugar, some golden syrup/ corn syrup/ glucose and baking soda to whip up this golden magic. The thermal decomposition of the baking soda releases carbon dioxide. The lattice structure is formed while the sugar is liquid, then the toffee sets hard.                        Just sprinkle on your vanilla ice cream to taste the famous Hokey Pokey ice cream from New Zealand. Source:Nigella Lawson's How to be a domestic goddess Ingredients: 1/2 cup of sugar 3 tbsp of golden syrup 1 1/2 tsp of baking soda Method: Measure the baking soda and sift it before you start the recipe. you surly do not want clumps of baking soapy

  Brownie.... Whats a Brownie............  The warm dense chocolatety fudgy brownie with little pecans peeping at you under the dry cracked crust is the your instant ticket to Chocolatety heaven....  Trust me.. One bite into this and you will be the happiest person in the world... Ya... its that goood.            I have tried many many versions of brownie, but none of those recipes gave me the brownie that could me do the HAPPY DANCE. The brownies were too cakey, or didnt have crust or were dry and overbaked...                                 Finally I tried the brownie from joy of baking and they were spot on the best brownies I had in a long long time... they were fudgy and dense with a perfect crust and were loved by all. The recipe is simple and just uses one bowl and hand whisk Just be very very cautious with the baking time, check towards the end of the baking time, you want some moist clumps clinging to the toothpick when you insert in the center of brownies

  Madeleines,,,,,,           I was first introduced to these treats in starbucks cafe where sugar bowl madeleines are sold. I wasn't too keen to taste these cakes, but one bit of these and I became a ife long fan of these french cookie cakes... they just melt in your mouth .. How can I describe them ..... they are light and melt in your mouth bursting with flavours of butter and sugar... Trust me,,, you just gotta taste once and you will fall in love with these beautiful shell shaped french tea cakes...                I was desperately waiting for madeleine pan.. I searched almost every shop in Mumbai n Bangalore for these pan, but could not find them. I was behind my sister's life when she was coming back from USA for good to find metal madeleine pan for me.. but all she found were too big to fit in my oven.. Finally my brother in law managed to get one silicon mold for us which we cut into two and are both thrilled to posses.. I dedicate this post to my dear elder sist

Lightning Mcqueen ..... If you have a boy of any age, you will surly know Lightening Mcqueen.. He is the adorable red car from the movie Cars n Cars 2. Neil had his 2nd birthday just few days back and when I asked him what cake does he want for his birthday, he very quickly answered "LIGHTNING MCQUEEN" So it was decided by Neil Its gonna be Mcqueen for his birthday.. By the way he also asked for few more cakes of Holly shiftwell, Finn Mcmissile, Mater and "Franko loli" ( thats the way he used to call Francesco  Bernoulli ) We made a deal with him, the day you start saying Fran cesco bernoulli properly , he would get the all the racing cars from the movie..  and started practicing the name for a week and now he can say all the 10 names of the racing cars and is a proud owner of all the cars,,, Lets get talking about the cake now... I googled about the cake and came up with many sites and videos on youtube  instructing how to make the car. But finally the ca

            My pediatrician advised me to breastfeed Neil till he was six months old. I didn't even feed him water till then. Initial breastmilk is watery and satisfies the babies thirst and later the breastmilk gets thicker and satisfies his hunger. So it is advised to let the baby drain out one breast before switching over to the other, else the baby might just get watery breastmilk and wont satiate his hunger. I introduced Neil to solid food when he was six months old, after his first Annaprashna ceremony, wherein he was fed some mashed rice sitting on his mama's lap.  Introducing your baby to solid food is an exciting experience both for the baby as well as parents.    You will know your baby is ready for solids when he or she can: Sit supported with good head and neck control Open his or her mouth when seeing a spoon Remove food from a spoon with lips and tongue Move food from front to back of tongue to swallow Use jaw control to munch up and down Use his or h

Salt, There is no need to add salt to your baby's food in her first year. Babies need less than 1g of salt a day until they are 12 months old. Toddlers aged one to three years need less than 2g. Eating more than the recommended amount of salt can damage your baby's kidneys. Baby foods that come in a jar as they have loads of preservatives and why give baby stale food when you can easily make fresh and nutritious baby food at home for your baby Grains – it is best to wait 1-2 years to feed babies grains, as they do not have the enzymes to digest them Spinach, turnips, beets, carrots, collard greens, cabbage and broccoli ie is vegetables that are high in nitrates should not be given uncooked till 9 months. Foods which are too high in nitrates can affect your baby by causing what is known as "Blue Baby Disease". This occurs because babies cannot process high amounts of nitrates and as a result the oxygen level in their blood will diminish greatly. When

                                 Apple and Cinnamon is a classic combination which is used to make cupcakes n muffins. The apples taste great spiced up with cinnamon in this delicious light cupcakes. These can be prepared really quick. You just need 10 min to prep them and pop the in the oven for 20 min, while you have your dinner. They are just right hot and ready to be devoured  for post dinner dessert. Oh yes, they are that simple to make.                            Neil is surly enjoying his time in kitchen with me when I cook nowadays. He pushes chair near kitchen top while I am cooking and instructs me how to cook. He will ask me multiple questions as well... why you do this? what is this? can I eat? when can I eat? Why can't I eat now?..            Would like to share one of neil's recipes with you, Try at your own risk ;) he says. " Kanda tak,, cut cut cut kar, Thoda tomato pan tak, cut cut cut kar, aata Strawberry tak,, yummmmmmmmmmm ( he pauses to enjoy the

                      One of the most simple and delicious appetisers to be served along with soup or just to be served as snacks is Chilli Cheese toast. Its so simple and easy to make, it can be fixed at last moment even when surprise guest drop in. Just any kind of bread would do, be it brown bread slices or baguette or even lad pav bread cut into two halves..The capsicum isn't fully cooked in this recipe. It still retains some crunch. if you prefer your capsicum completely cooked, I suggest you saute the chopped capsicum with some oil for few min on a skillet and then top on the bread.             It is an open sandwich which is topped with some capcisum, sweet corn, garlic and cheese and popped in oven. This recipe can be a good project to cook along with your toddler, who can help you place all the toppings on the top of bread. They will surly enjoy cooking along with their parents.. Give it a try... Serves 3 Ingredients: 6 thick slices of bread ½ cup b

                        Aluvadi/ stuffed taro leaves are one of the most favourite Maharashtrian delicacies. It is also very popular snack in Gujarat called as Patra... When I came to Bangalore, I realized "Patrode" are also very popular snack in Mangalore Community, wherein the batter is fermented rice batter. Aluvadi is made usually in the monsoon season especially in Shravan and during Ganesh festival.        Aluvadi is of a special importance to me, cos that dish is specifically associated with one and only person. I don't think anyone else in the world can create that taste which my dearest aaji used to make. My mother's mother, my granny was a culinary expert. She was quick and fast with her recipes which used to turn out always great. She was the cute ever smiling strong lady who is an inspiration for me. She was not only good with cooking skills in kitchen, but was very very good with managing relations with everyone. She knew what each of her grandch