Walnut and flaxseed savory cookies

Today has been a particularly lazy and boring day. Though its just 11 am, I already feel live we've been through the day several times over. So breakfast was a fuss free onion and tomato upma.

Lunch has been planned and I dont feel like attending to any of my daily chores. So I decided to bake cookies and keep myself constructively occupied.  I didn't plan this one and neither did I follow a recipe. I just wanted to make something that the husband can eat without thinking twice.

So it means - no sugar, no maida, no ghee / butter. What's good for controlling bad cholesterol - walnuts,  flaxseeds, garlic. So I just tried a recipe and its turned out quite well. :) all measures are approximate. .as I just went about with this intuitively.

1.5 cups wholewheat flour
About 3/4 cup pure olive oil
2-3 tbsp flaxseeds - lightly toasted
A fistful of walnuts - lightly toasted
A generous sprinkling of ajwain
A pinch of garam masala
1 tsp red chilli powder
A generous sprinkling of roasted garlic flakes.
Salt to taste
A pinch each of baking soda and baking powder
A little milk to bring the dough together

Put the toasted walnuts and flaxseeds into a mixie and pulse till coarsely ground. Mix with all other ingredients and make a smooth dough.

Cover and let it rest while you preheat your oven to 180 degrees. Then roll out the dough into a thick sheet and cut it into any shape you like. Lay it neatly on a greased baking tray and nake at 180 degrees for about 15-18 minutes or until golden brown.

Allow it to cool and store in an airtight container.

Rice noodles - with an Italian twist

My 3 year old loves noodles. Just like his mom. Both of us can eat noodles 365 days. I love maggi but I dont trust it enough to give it to my son. So we have south Indian maggi - akki shavige / rice noodles. :) I've managed to convince him that this is the real maggi! :p

I know it won't be long before he figures that akki shavige and maggi are not the same thing...but till then, this is what he's going to get every time he asks for maggi.
A local brands of roasted akki shavige (anil) is what I use. They also have a ragi shavige which is a regular in my kid's snack box. And its so versatile. ..it goes with any flavor, seasoning or gravy. And takes 3-5 minutes to make.

Today the wanted to eat pasta (yea he's born to foodie parents!) And we'd run out of pasta at home. So akki shavige came to the rescue.  And one more trick..I boiled it in milk instead of water so he had his share of milk as well! You've got to be clever with kids.

1 cup milk
Salt to taste
Chilli flakes
Any veggies that you may want to add (I didn't add any)
A pinch of garam masala
Any herbs that you might want to add
1.5 cups roasted akki shavige
A blob of butter

Put milk in a pan, add salt and and other ingredients and allow to come to a boil. Then add the rice noodles and allow it to simmer. After a minute , turn off the stove, add butter and cover with a lid. Let it rest for a few minutes befor serving.

My son enjoys spicy food. You can omit the chilli flakes and garam masala if you wish.

Note that the liquid should just cover the noodles so that you get separate strings. If theres too much water, it'll just be sticky and will look like one large ball of something.  Not noodles, for sure.

You can add shredded spinach and corn or peas or geated carrot to this right in the beginning. 

My son loved the twist and wasnt sure if he was eating pasta or noodles! :) served the purpose for me!

What do your kids enjoy eating?

Home style veggie tawa pizza

Ever since the husband has been put in the high risk category for heart problems, I've been trying to cook meals that not only appeal to his peculiar taste buds but also do his health some good. So last night, instead of making the same old dry phulkas and subzi, I made pizzas. :)

The dough: this is entirely an experiment that I didn't regret. With some pointers from Gordon Ramsay in his show on TLC, I just did my own thing.

1 tsp Active dry yeast in about 2tbsp luke warm water with sugar. Leave it  alone while mixing the dough. 1 cup regular chapatti atta (my atta also has flaxseed, 1 tbsp roasted fine semolina and methi meal mixed in it), 2tsp olive oil, salt to taste. Knead into a soft sticky dough, adding water as you need.

By this time the Yeast should be activated. .frothy and bubbly. Just incorporate it into tge doygh..lightly. Then, smear your hands with oil and roll the dough aroubd coating it lightly with oil. Grease a container and place the oiled ball of dough in it. Cover tightly with cling film and tuck it away into a warm spot for about 2 hours allowing it to rise.  I warmed my oven and let it sit in the oven for 2 whole hours.

Toppings: I used whatever I had in my fridge. Luck was on my side as I'd replenished my stock of herbs and vegetables just that morning.  So I used a tomato pasta sauce as the base sauce. Red and yellow bell peppers, shallots, spring onion greens, black olives, and lemon basil. The idea was to have a thin crust and load it with toppings. I also used mixed spice, tabasco sauce and chilli flakes for heat.

When the dough was fluffy and rwady, I didn't bothet to knead it a second time. Just brushed my regular chapatti tawa with oil, pulled a ball of dough into a thin round base, poked it several times with a fork and loaded the toppings. 

The trick is to put it on high heat for a few minutes till the base starts cooking.  Then reduce the flame, cover with a glass lid and let it cook for approximately 10 minutes. .or until the toppings are tender and the base crisp and golden. :) just before serving, I drizzled abput a tsp if cold pressed flaxseed oil and roasted garlic flakes for an extra punch. Yummmmmm.. they were so light that we had sbout 3 pizzas each!

My pizzas were the size of small phulkas and loaded with veggies with very little oil and no cheese. So I didn't feel guilty after polishing off 2 pizzas all by myself. :)

I was so busy experimenting that I took just one picture. ..here it is. This one was for my brother... The only one who can afford to eat cheese snd is struggling to put ob weight!