Getting kids to eat is always a constant complaint I hear from most mothers. Young adults, as most of us, are most interested in junk food rather than healthy food based on vegetables or lentils and including fruits in their diet is even more difficult. My daughter, who is now 7 years old, has always been very picky eater. She was only on milk till she was 6 months, then when it was time start weaning, we started including dal and fruits. We tried Nestum Rice, Farex but she didn't like them. Finally, we settled supplementing her diet with Cerelac. She was on Cerlac for almost till she was 10 months old.
Its been the same with my twins. We took the twins for monthly checkup which involved vaccines and discussions on their diet. I was more lucky that the doctors were my Dad's colleagues. I felt the difference because friends used to say they were never told on such things. That's when I thought I should record all these information to help young mothers better. My twins are now 23 months and its been a journey of sorts when it came to their food habit. Luckily, they were not so fussy with food, when compared to my daughter. The reasons could be that since she was the only child then, she had almost attentions of five adults. Now with the twins, since we were boggled with so much work, we just about went taking care of them, though the attention was no less, it may not have been so intense as the first and only child gets.
I plan to write about the food habits and how we managed. Suggestions and ideas on those will be most welcome. For now let me kickstart this with a simple topic on making food interesting and exciting for young adults of age group 3-10 years. No matter which age group they belong, if the child knows that the food is prepared specially for him/her, tends to take interest in eating it. I have found this works always atleast with my daughter. Till she was about 3 years, we used to prepare dal specially for her, which she used to eat without fuss. We tried different ways to include vegetables. Sometimes it worked, sometimes not.
When she started going to school, she had to take packed lunches. I literally used to get nightmares, thinking what to pack. So, Amma got these mini idli moulds, which was really exciting for my daughter. She used to ask specifically for those idles. I even sent two plates for my SIL kids and was happy to know they were packing these with gusto!
What you see in this post are few of the breakfast items that I make in small size, to make them look more interesting.
Simple Dal powder smeared with ghee over the mini idlis or mini Dosas make it so interesting. I even allow my daughter to make the dosa while I am overseeing it. I don't normally allow her, but am planning to involve her more going forward.
Small Pooris are so much interesting, though it might be hard to roll them out, my daughter proudly says she ate 3-4 pooris.
Trying to give small servings in frequent intervals makes it more easy for the kids, rather than forcing them to eat three full meals. And making it more interesting by doing these and also involving them, makes things easy for us.
Looking forward to your ideas on this topic. Do share with me what you do with your kid's breakfast!
RAKS KITCHEN says
My son asks for cone shaped dosas..
I too make mini dosas like you,but the toppings will be different like..one with ketchup,idly podi like you,cheese, chutneys...I make stuffed Idiyappams...stuffing will be a mixed veg masala..other wise,anything if they feel it has been done for them specially means they do show interest in eating right?:D
ushaprashanth says
Hi!
Your blog is as spicy as the blog name! breakfast for kids are interesting.
Jayashree says
my lil one too loves mini idlis. I think that's a hit with most kids. She also likes her chapatis and puris better if I let her think that she's rolled them out. I have a little plastic belan for her and give her a little bit of the dough and ask her to do as she pleases with it. Once she's done I tell her that Iam going to cook the dough that she's rolled out. Makes her real happy and eager to eat it:-)
Swati Raman Garg says
🙁 🙁 u remind me of my tiffins 🙁
hats off valli
Alka says
Hmm...so i am not alone fighting this worries....i guess every mother goes thru bouts of anxiety while deciding what to pack for lunchbox,coz kids cant take any liquid food like dal etc,not things like maggie etc which just becomes inedible with that stiff cake like transformation till recess is anounced.
I try to pack some typical sindhi snacks and bf,like, koki,lola,shallow fried cutlets or aloo tikkis with chapati,or some parathas with stuffing like,methi,aloo,paneer,dal,moong etc.His most favourite lunchbox dish is Bori,which is a crumbled flatbread(nonsalty koki) mixed with sugar and tempered with a spoon of oil.sometimes potato toasters,or sometimes idlis too surprise him when he opens his lunch box
Divya Vikram says
Great post Valli..I love those cute idlies smeared with podi n ghee especially!
Rachel says
Wow these are so useful to me..where do u get the mini idli moulds
Supriya says
My 5 yr old daughter loves mini-idlis too. When Ajoba, her Grandpa, came from Mumbai for his annual visit, she specifically requested him to get the mini-idli mould. Interesting post Srivalli.
Cynthia says
I like your new place. It is always good to have somewhere else that you can explore other topics and interests and focuses.
kamalagk says
Harish too is so picky..True it is becos of our elders at home..Love the kutti Idlis Valli
Radhika says
Dear Sri,
It's nice to see you starting this blog. It had been in my mind ever since I started blogging. But glad u beat me to it. Hope to give u more input as my kids are also in the same age group.
Alka says
I know u are already showered with all the awards in blogosphere,but still i cant help but passing on some more to u....
Seema says
Kids breakfast is a deadly challege.. forget BF getting them to eat healthy food is a task for us moms!! But all kids go through a phase of not eating anything.. but eventually they overcome it. My experience with my 2 kids...
Bread sandwiches with sides cut off & cut into interesting shapaes are attractive, Small parathas with veggies stuffed inside, Mini dosas or Coin dosas as my kids would call it..are some of the things i made!
Srivalli says
usha, You are very kind..thank you!
Raji, Thats very interesting, I should try cone dosas next time. Yes they really love it when they know its just for them!
Jayashree, yeah it is. Exactly my daughter too loves it when I let her roll it and fry it too...:)
Swati, heheh..we can't always have that right..thanks
Alka, most surely not!..you have company!..I almost never give her maggie!..your sindhi food sounds very interesting..will check your blog for those recipes...thanks
Divya, thank you...me too love it that way!
Rachel, glad you feel so!...
Supriya, thats really nice to know..hope she still enjoys this...thanks!
Cynthia, glad you like this..
kamala, thanks...hope you can also give some ideas
Radhika, thats nice to know. Will be really glad if you can give in some inputs..
Seema, those are some excellent ideas..thanks for sharing..will work on them soon!
Sireesha says
Wow these are so useful to me......I love those cute idlies with podi and ghee !Like mini idlies I make mini dosas for my daughter which she likes to eat without doing any fuss.
Madhuram says
I also prepare cone dosas and cone adais for my son. Also I have a lot of cookie cutters with different shapes, so I cut out different shapes in dosa, chapathi and cut out shapes and then deep fry for pooris. He loves them absolutely and he asks for more.
But he also undergoes a phase wherein he suddenly stops eating anything. This lasts for a maximum of 2 weeks and then again he is back to normal. Also sometimes he has this phase where he eats the same food for 1 or 2 weeks. This sort of thing happens once in a while.
Supriya says
Hi Srivalli, I posted some squash puris on my blog, one of my daughter's favs. Check it out when u find time. Thanks.
Jaya says
Sri,
very interesting post and love the inputs here ..
hugs and smiles
Srivalli says
Sireesha, I am glad you think so...thats really so wonderful to know..mini servings are always a hit!
Madhuram, so many ideas..thanks for sharing..will check out those cookie cutters...:)..
Glad to know he is back to eating properly, else they cause so much ache to us right...
Supriya, thanks for dropping in...will check them out ...
Jaya, thank you...glad you find them useful!
Varsha says
cute dishes srivalli..coming here after a long time..i see a change altogether,,changed ur url as well?..
Mallugirl says
hi , i am new to ur blog and was happy to see kid's recipes.. my little one is not too interested in idlis and your photo looks so appealing ..want to try it..how do u make the dal powder?
Preeti says
Good Idea!! I am sure, Kids will love preparing it & surely eat it.