What am I eating today, MAMA?

*thefamilypracticeblog.com - image

First time mom's are paranoid about starting solids for kids - between opinions from doctors, friends, their moms and MIL's - women have to sort and analyse all the information overload and thereon starts one of the most important journey's of your BABY.

Recipes, what kind of foods to start with has been done to death. In India doctors advise rice kanji (rice cooked in lots of water) or mung dal paani as early as 4-5 months (mung bean, a lentil popular all over Asia). In the US my friends and relatives didn't introduce lentils in the diet till 8months and it is the exact opposite with pasta as it gets introduced there much earlier.

I want to tell you the story of my kids and then you determine what is best for your child - my son now 5, is a typical boy, happy with potatoes in any form, south Indian cuisine(IDLI everyday and he is the happiest), pasta, chicken, paranthas (stuffed Indian flatbread) and any kind of chocolaty treat. He never had a calcium, zinc or iron deficiency growing up, I was irregular with my vitamins and breastfed him for a year. He was very careful about what he put into his mouth and even sweet fruits didn't lure him to eating them. Instead of following the myth of not introducing sweet veggies and fruits first I introduced him to everything but he will have any fruit dipped in chocolate otherwise pomegranate, apple and bananas are his only go to fruit. Now that he is 5 he may have introduced himself to an occasional pizza or some broccoli and carrot once in a fortnight but doesn't budge from his routine and can have the same food day in and day out.

My daughter is all of 11months and has an opinion on what she wants to eat. Her breakfast comprises of a few bites of porridge, a few bites of cheese or some gerber or rice puffs and a fruit - either of which being missing and her breakfast is incomplete and she looks at me quizzically. Her new thing is not to eat anything with a spoon and eat only things that she can self feed or be given with my hand so cut fleshy fruits, dice veggies, roti soaked in dal/lentil or milk are the only options left. She also gives anything a try once and is not a fussy eater.

While beetroot, dry fruits, green anything make my son run - my daughter will at least taste it once. I've tried not to do things differently this time around and though I tried making my daughters diet healthier than my sons, my son was in the 97th percentile  for his weight and never needed supplements. My daughter eats well and is healthy but is on the lower side on weight and was recommended iron and calcium since she was 9months.

I remember when my son was 2 and we were vacationing in Goa, I allowed my son to eat Chocos with milk for breakfast for the first time and a mother looked at me very judgementally, pulled her child away from the cereal table and said, "Alia, no eating sugary cereals for breakfast beta", and I actually felt awful and downright horrid inside while my son looked so content and in a blissful world of his own.

Don't get me wrong, DIET is really important for babies and good eating habits can be inculcated in childhood but don't beat yourself up or blame yourself for not doing a good job if your child has a couple of days of eating nothing but potatoes and cheese or bananas and apples. Think of them as the days that all you want to eat is chocolate cookies and milk or chips and burgers. As long as your child is upto the mark on the growth chart, reaching his milestones and not eating sugary treats as a baby and toddler you're doing a good job.

Also, if a child has eaten whatever you set out for him to eat the whole day and asks you for a treat once in a while then it's ok to give him what he wants... if my daughter has had a whole bowl of porridge, isn't it ok to offer her a couple of the puffs she likes v/s trying to make another bowl of porridge thinking she maybe hungry for more?

Eventually all grown ups have evolved tastebuds and we are not born with a liking for caviar, champagne or steak. We start liking or having dislikes for certain food as time goes by. Food not only effects us as a child but throughout our life and we as MOMS, have enough opportunity to introduce fruits, veggies and various healthy grains into our children's diet as they grow older and WE don't have to do everything before their BIG ONE.

Thanks for reading and if you have an opinion or disagree with anything I say please email me at rbhatnag@gmail.com or comment below. I would love to hear from you.

What's with babies and NOT letting their mom's SLEEP?

*picture - theguardian.com

Have you noticed that your babies sleep longer when you cuddle with them or leave them with a blankie or t-shirt that you have used? Have you noticed that as soon as your baby is put in her/his crib and you start doing something meaningful she will let out a wail for a cuddle, attention or diaper change? Is it just Murphy's Law or babies can smell their moms away from them? A baby not sleeping well through the night? Even with baby #2 I am as confused as ever as to when should they sleep through the night, how much should they sleep, should I nurse them in the night? What no BOTTLE, yet for your 11m old?

So, I had almost weaned the 5 year old off my bed but then we happened to have a rat in the house and he refused to sleep alone in his room for a week till the rat was caught and since then we haven't sent him back. The 11m old daughter prefers to cuddle in bed and sleep between mom and dad but she was a great fan of the crib till she was 4months old.

If you're a new mama and like to follow the doctor to the T or read any of the numerous parenting websites and books - you must have a heard a long list of dos and donts by the doctor about breastfeeding, weaning, sleeping through the night etc. But I must tell you, MAMA, you are the best judge about your child. And NO, formula doesn't make your child sleep through the night. If your child needs a nap or is not ready to take one or is getting up in the night because she needs a cuddle or comfort only you can decide how you want to react to the situation.

With my first child, after 1.5 years it was difficult to make him take an afternoon nap and there were nights that I have walked with him for over an hour and yelled at him to go to sleep but he wouldn't budge. I would be in tears because he would be up since 6am and it would be 1230am and he wouldn't want to sleep. I found dealing with my very energetic toddler as tough as taking my toughest Computer Science course in college. They both gave me sleepless nights and I had to have my mind alert at all times. I fell asleep trying to make my toddler nap one time, we were in Vietnam so I was cooking all meals myself and was also my son's only form of entertainment. I woke up with a start to find a very white SUDOCREAM covered toddler staring down at me. If you have used it you know it spread thick and is hard to remove so it was all over him as he had tried to remove it before he came to me.

I would want to tear my hair up sometimes with him I am a bad sleeper - I can't just go to sleep as soon as the baby is asleep or ignore the 100things I have to do in the day and lie in bed in the afternoon while things just lie around in disarray. He could play the night away sometimes and when my husband would come back home after a heard days work he would find a teary eyed, exhausted me trying the hardest to not yell the baby to sleep after trying 100different things and a very wide awake amused baby sitting in his tent playing with his cars.

With my daughter she would barely wake up while she was 4m old and would take her feeds and go back to sleep, then she was napping every 3 hours and now she is not yet 1 and takes just 1 nap. For the last 1.5m she has been throwing her sippy down - refusing water and milk in the sippy and trying to get up as often in the night as she can to nurse. Where does that leave me? 

Sleepless and crazed, I am often seen walking around like a zombie 'coz making sure the older one gets to bed and gets to school on time can be a nightmare with a younger one who has given up sleeping. 

My son is 5today and eventually learned how to sleep through the night. I would just have to read him a book or sing him a lullaby and he would doze of and and sleep even through a date night at TGIF. My daughter is just the opposite. She will get up with a beaming smile even if she hears a slight sound and start waving her hand around hoping to catch someone smiling back at her. There is no right answer to how and when will they start and sleep through the night. I have friends who just can't stop partying or have a need to sleep through the night and have special night nannies who stay up when kids get up, walk with them, give them a bottle and do whatever it is to keep the kid from wailing so their mama's can continue their uninterrupted lifestyle.

What I am trying to say mom's, is that do what works for you to make sure you are not irritable and unhappy. If you think you can nurse your child and cosleep with them and that works for you - do it, 'coz the child cant do it forever. If dropping the feed in the night and letting your child go back to sleep on their own works for you, giving the nanny a bottle works for, go ahead and do it. Being a mom is a tough job and we need to get through it while keeping our sanity and not yelling (a bad day and sleepless nights is me being over critical of my staff or being hard on my son) and that is not great! 

Also, there is no room for regret as you don't get the opportunity to undo your doing - your child is not going to remember whether you nursed him or bottle fed him or slept with him or not - it is your conscience that you are answerable to. And you need to raise a happy, content and secure baby - so follow your instinct and stay true to yourself and try to get some lie ins if you are a stay at home mom 'coz raising kids 1 or 2 or more is a FULL time job! As I always say, if you do anything else besides bringing up the kids then you're juggling multiple jobs :)....

I want to discuss sleep schedules for babies of different ages in my next post and would love to know what some of your 1year old's nap times schedules are like :)!

Can television effect the diet of kids?

Breakfast is also a very questionable affair in my house now days. Ever since the telly and school got together against poor mummy i.e. me. I find putting the maid incharge of it a bit exasperating as she is a bit slow. Earlier I would keep it simple, like a boiled egg, banana and glass of milk. But ever since my son's exposure to the so called "KIDS" channel v/s Cbeebies is on the rise, he has started talking funny to me.

*shared from surfexcel.in

He suddenly told me one day, "Jhansi ki raani se nahi hua toh mein yeh plain doodh kab tak pi sakta hoon" - he picked up from an ad on TV, translated it means, "How can I drink plain milk if even the Queen of Jhaansi was not able to do it?". I don't see how the Horlicks, Bournvita, Boost and other people can rest in peace when they give wrong advice to the kids - do they just sit in their offices and go - "Oooooh, yeah, we upped the sales in Pune by 30%. more and more kids want our drink." Chocos has apparently become healthy because it gives us the same health benefits as having roti (Indian flat bread) - is that even possible? And there is some chocolate that compares itself to giving us the same health benefits as milk. At some point of the day my brain literally blanks out about why should I give him a banana and not banana chips or why should he drink his milk and not just eat a slice of cheese that will give him the energy of 2 glasses of milk instead of one. My son and I am sure most of his peers can quote most advertisments verbatim if they need to use them to their advantage! But owing to my reliable friend the television that rescues me from cranky kids or helps me nap for 15 minutes when I desperately need it, I've had to rethink my breakfast and snack menu.

I always knew the adverse effects of television that is can stunt a child's imagination and growth, effects their eyesite, can give them bad dreams if they watch it just before sleeping, makes their lifestyle sedentary, is addictive but I never imagined that advertising would so adversely effect my childs eating habits - the child who I didn't even show tv till the age of 2.

The tv usually brings a glazed look into my childs eyes and he becomes snappy after 30mins. It has taken me a while to wean my kids off eating in front of the television which is something I inculcated when my hubby was travelling  or I didn't want to constantly talk to them and needed peace or just wanted to get dinner time over with and who cares about munching down broccoli when Chota Bheem is showing his powers or munching on his ladoos. But realising how bad it is for children to keep eating while watching tv we are back at the table whether they finish their full food or not - tv is banned from dinner time. I have also realised if we put our foot down and lay the rules out clearly with an explanation right from the beginning then the children do end up following them eventually. Limiting tv time is the only option to bringing up the child in a healthy environment but that still doesn't solve our food issues.

So, in the morning rush hour when everyone wants to reach school or work on time what are the healthy options that we can give our kids today without spending the whole day in the kitchen. I don't want to sound patronizing but I try and avoid food with preservatives like peanut butter, jams and sauces at least first thing in the morning.

Moong dal cheela, Idli and Dosa, Rava Dosa, Sheera, Semiyan in Milk, Dailya, Upma, Baked Oats with apple or bananas in milk, french toast, cheese toast, vegetable sandwich, egg sandwich, oat pancakes, aloo paranthi, thepla, poha and eggs (omelet, scrambled, fried) make a quick and healthy breakfast and most of them can be prepared in minutes if some work has been done in advance. Also, most of these foods mentioned with a little advance prepration and varying of accompaniments can be used as the next days snack. For example I can give the child cheese dosa for breakfast and the next day dosa with sambhar and chutney for lunch. Nowadays presenting food with a smiley face or decorating it with their favorite food as accompaniment can win you brownie points and leave the child happy (i.e. tummy being full) But how can we compete with chocolate for breakfast, even I feel like having it sometimes.

The class teacher of my child has thankfully explained to them about good and bad eating habits and how vegetables are really healthy. She also told them that chocolate should be eaten once a week and that seems to solve my chocos problem right there :)! I had given up on my child eating any greens till he entered Sr. Kg and now he at least gives everything a try. We can also try a rewarding system and give them a star for each day they eat their healthy breakfast or offer them some other oat or wheat based cereal combined with chocos.

I have decided I am going to try and come up with 30 breakfast options so that I have a steady snack or breakfast list handy and will have a link mentioned here with the recipes. Also, menu planning is such a chore especially when you have kids who have to carry two meals a day to school. I am going to come up with some dabba (lunchbox) friendly menus soon too - just follow this space. And if your kids are unfussy and eat whatever is cooked for the whole family YOU need me to train me too and share some tips on how you managed it!

This reminds me The Lunchbox is out and has won many many accolades - so a night out seems due just as soon as I sort out the breakfast problem and get my 11m old trained to sleep through the night again...

Till next time.... enjoy your Sunday as today it's CHOCOs day!

So, what did YOU do today honey?

My husband has absent mindedly asked me this question on a couple of occassions after coming back from work and if I have had a long day with no break to even rest my behind - he has pretty much had it from me. Ask anyone living in a nuclear family - even with a maids and nannies - babies seem to want their mom's more and more as they grow up! And if I ask him for a hand after a full day of work he seems to give me what I call,"The Incredulous Eye Roll" , as if, you have been lucky to be home with kids and I have just gotten back... so, how can you?

The Indian man has always been told he is the bread earner and he seems to demand certain kind of attention when he gets home, especially in joint families. And though the times have changed and the women are really out there, it seems that even working women still have to figure out the daily running of their house, figuring out groceries, managing house help, budgeting for the house AND managing their kids, scheduling their kids classes, doctor appointments, keeping the kids immunisation schedule in mind, planning birthday parties etc which seems unfair 'coz then they are basically doing TWO jobs and getting paid for one. If the house help is off on the weekend then I don't even seem to get a decent hour to unwind where I can just tune off from my daily duties of making sure both my kids are bathed, fed and entertained.

Nowadays, with a 10 month old my nights are long 'coz her sleep pattern seems to bersek every few weeks and my 5 year old has to get to the car by 8:40am so to get him to school on time so I have to be an early riser to make sure things are organised in the morning. But most days sees me getting up at 4am and rocking my daughter till 5am... then enjoying a cuppa of coffee in the only alone time of the day I get without hearing a "mama", "Ruchiiii" or "Bhabiiii".  Most day I want to cheat in a nap from 6-730am but something or the other comes up.

My house looks like a Tom and Jerry cartoon being played in fast forward mode in the morning if I have slept in beyond 730am on any day. I have to just rush my kid through everything to get him ready on time. So my morning usually looks like, 10m old on hip and 5year old being shaken awake by me. Then 5year old in bathroom and helping him through routine with one hand and running back to the high chair to feed the 10m old with the other hand. In the middle of helping the 5year old change my 10m old(potty trained) wants to poop and shoot we're running late to school and he hasn't even started the breakfast while the didi is rolling her eyes and wondering whether she should feed him, fill his bottle or make him wear his shoes or just clean up while I am in the bathroom with my 10m old. When I come out nothing has moved forward so we end up packing his breakfast and feeding him on the way... so if this is just my morning and I am sure at least some of you are sailing in the same boat as me. Then the rest of the day can look chaotic too unless both kids are at school for the full day and when I have been running around like a mad hatter the last thing I like to be asked is how my day was or if I am asked that, then please be patient enough to hear me rant and rave.

The problem with  nuclear families is that YOU are your only back up and probably don't even have the time to fall ill! The hubby could be travelling, the maid could be ill but you have to be charged like an EVERREADY battrey and be a substitute for the cook, driver and everything to get the child ready on time. And ofcourse there are good days too when everything seems to run smoothly and you can squeeze in some alone time with the hubby before you go to bed or watch your favorite serial on the telly.

I can be super organised but somehow I have realised that MAYHEM suits me and so be it. We usually have to come back up in the lift once in a while because my son has forgetten to carry his bottle or bag or both and getting angry doesn't seem to be the solution.

So, nowadays when I leave the house at anytime of the day instead of glancing at the mirror one last time, I have lowered my expectations. I just try to make sure I am carrying both my kids, wipes and water and the house keys out with me and the rest I seem to leave to HIM... because how much ever I have trained the house help there are days when I land up somewhere and the maid has forgotten the diaper and the baby has pooped or we are at piano class without the correct books and there is only SO much I can do to ensure everything is PERFECT so I'd rather live in my inperfect world.

Mumbai meri jaan...

Hello Mumbai! I have been itching to write and bake but most of the time I have my 10m old straddled on one side and am running to catch up with my 5 year old who I am usually picking up from school or shuttling to a class or playing a funny one hand game of cricket where I am always balling.

I look pretty hassled if you would ever bump into me and have managed to reach school to pick up my elder one wearing my kurta inside out BUT life is slowly starting to sort itself out. I am managing to get 4-5 hours of sleep on a good night. The rainy weather that I don't like is finally going away. I have realised I cannot bake in the day with two kids going "Mama", "Mama" every couple of minutes. The last time while trying to pry my 5year old son's homework from my 10m old's hand I almost forgot to put in the flour into my cake and I am sure you non bakers out there also know that it's a pretty important ingredient for baking.

So while I have been trying to figure out how to be a mom to TWO, I have also been trying to find a schedule for my kids and myself and classes and am going to give you a lowdown of things that will help you only in the suburbs.... I am resourceful and can find some things out for you but for that you will have to email me.

I have been brought up in Mumbai and done my schooling here and then was out for about 10 years. I am finally back and trying to find my feet in this madness... the Mumbai scene has slowly and steadily absorbed thousands and thousands of people in it's fold. My son's first observation of Mumbai was that it was such a tiny place compared to Gurgaon - he felt like everyone was on the road which he found small, the cars he felt were tiny and even the houses and playground were mini compared to what he was used to. Must say he was pretty dissapointed with the move. But I have always looked forward to being back in Mumbai after having been away for 10years and am a little disappointed with it.

Small, small things have changed around here. I grew up in an area of Juhu and thankfully managed to find a house here again when I returned. Everything around seems familiar but different.

The beach where we used to run around in our childhood in free abandonment is hounded by 100's of photographers waiting to hold onto your child and take a "perfect smiley picture". It's filled with a crowd that looks unfamiliar and instead of screaming at your kids to hold onto you - you just turn to look for a safer playground for them which aren't many. Most of the buildings and bungalows have gone into redevelopment and eaten up into their parks where kids used to play. We barely have place to park our cars nowadays.

I used to go to Prithvi theatre all the time as a kid to watch plays but this time around I was in for a surprise. My son and I were booked to watch a play a couple of months back and reached 15minutes in advance to find a line snaking down the lane of Janki Kutir just to get inside. Over zealous mothers had their servants standing for them and when I reached inside there were seats with bags, bottled backpacks booked for the kids to just walk inside and take a seat without having to wait in line. And I don't think it's the kids who are brats but the parents who have so much money to spend on servant who just wait on hand and foot on them.

Earlier parks were filled with children and gossiping mothers but nowadays they are filled with all types of uniformed nannies, unassuming maids and some mothers even find it below their dignity to accompany thier kids to the playground as their friends would think they don't have a maid.

Since I am not a working mother to regain my sanity at some point in the evening I take my kids down to the garden. My daughter strapped in the stroller, my travel mug has some steaming masala chai and my son is told to do whatever he wants but WHERE ARE THE KIDS? Everyone mother I know seems to have a class phobia and I am pretty competitive myself (so note to self - must send Arav to all possible classes).

But, really how many classes can a poor 4year old do. I know some mothers who have enrolled their kids in 2 classes a day and that is after having gone to school. Why can't you tell your children about the national bird or the President of India - why do we need a class for that. I thought a class was like an extended playdate but not always. Beware classes also come with a lot of cliques involved mainly whether the other mothers feel if you are worthy of doing a class with them or not. Or whether you are able to shell out a certain amount of dough on a yearly basis - not important whether your child's innocence and playing years are at stake.

So, I have decided I am also going to ADAPT and CHANGE (well, at least try to). Since I have no time to bake - I am going to try and give out useful tips and information about classes in the area, food tips for kids, menu planners to help mothers who have school going kids and just fun information that I can collate as I am an internet junkie... and I look forward to you just reading my thoughts. And at some point when the stars align in my favor I may be able to enter the kitchen and follow my favorite passion - baking!

Till then I am going to leave you with a view of my house which always calms me and reminds me why I love this city inspit of its madness!

Shall be back soon...

Chocolate Buckwheat Cake

Any mothers handling two kids out there? Aren't we brave? Especially if we are managing with little help from the family and trying to juggle a job, doing the housework, keeping the older one happy and the husband is at peace?

Is that all really possible? Well, truth be told, I actually have help with my mom being in the same city. I am ever so often able to sneak in a movie or dinner date with my husband... so why am I still complaining? Well, it's rare that I have cooked to please myself in the last few months, my husband is away most o the weeks so I have no-one to share or blame my infants wailing with! Most days I don't make it to a bath before 4pm and if so have to hurry out to the sound of a wailing infant or a toddler mad at me for giving the younger one a snack before my older one, also I always seem to have a niggling ache in my lower back or legs and seem tired all the time! Top this with the pressure to lose the baby weight, my daughter is 6 months already and at this point the first time around I had lost most of my weight.

So today at 1am I decided to give myself some much deserved "ME" time without thinking about my weight or about eating a meal of stewed apple with Indian bread (parantha) for my lunch. I watched Gossip Girls and a re-run of Grey's Anatomy. I ate myself silly all through the day and am now in the midst of baking a yummy chocolate cake all for myself - it has butter, real chocolate, eggs, flour and some ragi flour (didn't have buckwheat) so I am hoping it cannot go wrong...

My daughter will be awake in a couple of hours or her feed but I plan to be sneaky. Psst... tomorrow is a holiday and my mom isn't working...if the children are too noisy I plan to fall asleep and leave them with her and she has no idea about this unless she reads this blog! Have you ever tried that?

The chocolate cake is real easy and inspired by La Tartine Gourmande.

4 eggs + 1/2c sugar beaten till doubled in size
100gm butter + 100gm chocolate melted together - either simmering over a bowl or in the microwave

Beat together the above. Add some vanilla extract or essence or vanilla beans

add 1/2c ragi flour and 1/2c all purpose flour (original recipe calls or almond flour) and gently fold into liquid mixture.

Bake at 170C for 30-35 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.

I thought I went a couple of minutes overboard and the cake would have been more moist if I had taken it out on time!

But, it is really good because I am on my 3rd slice and 1:30am is no time to get a nice pic :D!

A "comeback" of sorts...

Loads of women are asked whether they are going to make a "comeback" to the workforce after they've had a baby and have been looking after their kids and they feel like never stopped working.

The 5 month old new addition to my family is a bundle of joy and we are already taking baby steps into the world of food... after freshly pureed rice cereal she has the pleasure of being introduced to a pureed bottle gourd with a dash of carrots and spinach. And though she looks at me with accusing eyes and watches me eat like a hawk... I am happy to report she is a foodie!

Meanwhile, with all the bed rest I had during pregnancy and having a baby itself I had to take a break from my kitchen for 7 months but I have taken baby steps back into the kitchen. I have just been re-trying my recipes - banana cake, apple cake, strawberry cheesecake and figuring out ways to make it healthier for the group of kids that hang out with my 4 year old and their mother's! We mother's seem to be on a constant lookout to reinvent foods and figure out how to get another serving of veggies or fruits into our children and I am going to dedicate part of my time and in trying to make regular recipes pack a punch with fiber and fruit hidden in them. Most of the food being baked is only to satisfy the hunger pangs of the family and there have been an occasional cake thrown in here and there.

What"s been keeping me busy?

Arav, my son's, 4th birthday cake... 40 days after my daughter was born. Really tough to work on given the timeline and feed schedule of my baby.

Celebrating my princess completing her 1st month.

Strawberry and mascarpone.... desserts with the family.

Another view of my son's 4th birthday cake :)!

 Hopefully, I shall be up and running and full of posts for you all soon.

BIG MOVE - moving cities

Anyone who has moved with a toddler in tow and changed the poor kid's school thrice in 3 month would know what I was going through!

It has been a crazy time at my end and I still have no internet! I have moved a couple of cities in my 32 years on this earth but never has been a move so hectic and so chaotic yet I had all the support possible with my mom living a stone's throw away :)!

So, within India I moved from the Northern parts (Gurgaon) to Western India (Mumbai)! A move that I have longed to do for a very very long time... just didn't realize I would be doing it when my toddler just started big school in Delhi. And a couple of weeks into school we were headed to Mumbai for a break and then when we knew of the move he had to start his second school with a vacation of just 2 weeks... so that he can secure a seat in the chaotic world of schools!

AT last things are settled (not) - we have our place in order, the stuff has moved and am still trying to put things in their rightful place. The toddler has finally gotten admission in the school we wanted and is happily settled. We still need the internet so I can blog... and show you all some cool pics of the sea view from our new place and the things I have been baking in  humid humid Mumbai!!!!

Bear with me - we should have some blog posts coming up pretty soon (umm, two weeks tops I think :))!!!!

SRC - Spicy Chicken Fajitas!

Running late on the blog post for SRC - the summer is crazy - have been at my mom's - trouble with the internet then computer, than sick and clingy toddler and me suffering from allergies so all in all I have been unfair to my assignment even though I had a month to savor Sarah's blog with all her wonderful recipes... Fantastical Sharing of Recipes.

I bookmarked a lot of recipes... but made one and the recipe can be found here - http://fantasticalsharingofrecipes.blogspot.in/search?q=fajitas

I used shredded chicken that I had made earlier with Indian spices and an Indian flatbread made of wholewheat to make it kid friendly for my toddler... and he kinda gave it a go for a change!

Ingredients:
4 chicken legs boiled with cloves, bay leaf, whole black pepper, onion and salt
2 chicken legs shredded and sauteed with cooked tomato and onion puree coriander powder, paprika, salt and olive oil
more onions and pepper for lightly sauteed for fajitas
cheese (i used slices as my shredded cheeze waqs over)
Indian flat bread (roti) (recipe to be up soon)

Recipe:

For chicken: Take a pan with oil and add tomato and onion puree, saute till it leaves oil and add chicken and all spices - add a couple of tablespoons of water and cook till dry.
In another pan saute some onions and green pepper
Cook the Indian flatbread on a girdle - add all the toppings, top with some cheese and more spices as per required and fajitas are ready.

The original recipe called for beef but we only eat chicken and fish at home ... so I had to tweak the recipe around a bit! Sorry, do not have picasa to touch up my pictures... so please bare with the quality this time around!!!

Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies: SRC

It's that time of the month again - SECRET RECIPE CLUB time - an initiative taken by Amanda from www.amandascookin.com! Sally's blog www.bewitchingkitchen.com has so many wonderful recipes - especially Bread & Brazilian ones - that it was a very tough choice for me to make. She seems to be a domestic goddess at bread making and I just can't do it. So I tried a no knead Foccacia (great, easy recipe) but I made it with regular flour and it turned out hard as rock. I decided bread making was just not for me.

Then at my son's insistence I ended up making her brown butter chocolate chip cookies that were simply delicious and a perfect snack to make my toddler smile when sneaked into his snack-box.

The week has been rather crazy with my boy and me trying to juggle the 40 minute commute to school one way  , I have been under the weather, the weekend was packed with errands so it was a great achievement for me to have the pictures, food and post ready yesterday!

But there had to be a catch! As my husband once told me I am the queen of last minute and can never get things done before time. Once I had to deliver an order and baked the cakes in advance leaving them on my dining table for cooling. My help moved them to the kitchen to cool and there were ants crawling over them when I got back home from running my errands and thinking all I had to do was frost them.

So, my toddler and I usually leave the house at 730am for school and I stay at my MIL's till noonish (who's house is 10 mins away from his school), which is when I head back to his school to pick him up. We come back eat lunch, play for bit and head back on our 40 minute commute. So today morning I was all packed and ready to leave - with all his things and my new SONY (http://www.sony.co.in/product/dsc-hx100v) to add the pics to my blog post and when I reached my MIL's I realized I hadn't got the cord to transfer the pictures to the laptop! You should definitely see the pictures when the post goes up but if you don't you'd know what happened!

Phew, so check out the recipe, tweaked a bit with ingredients I had on hand, and please check back for the pictures :)!

Ingredients

100 grams butter (heated to give it a tan color and cooled)
1 cup brown sugar (could have reduced to 3/4 cup)
1 cup chocolate chip cookies
11/2 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla essence
1/2  cup oats
1 egg

Recipe


Cream the cooled butter and sugar together. Add a egg and whip well. Add flour and baking soda and mix with a spatula till dough like. Add chocolate chips and mix well. I made about ten cookies with this (yes I have a tiny oven) and found them a bit sweet. So to the remaining mixture I added 1/2 cup of quick cooking oats or even 1/2 cup roughly chopped toasted almonds would have worked and baked the rest of the cookies with this dough.

Both turned out yum according to the husband and the baby - that had fun dunking them in milk and eating them.

An hour and half to go and I got my pics ready...

(ONE BOWL) LINDT Peanut Butter Brownies & A simple summer salad

There are a few blogs that I just cannot get enough of... Joy the Baker, SmittenKitchen, Passionate About Baking... I try to read through them on at least a weekly basis and then potter around my kitchen to try and cook something to the best of my ability. Last week I tried a no knead Foccacia and it came out hard as rock... though I added the yeast, let it rise etc etc But life is all about inspiration and experimentation!

Not to get deterred I continue in my endeavors to get you simple tried and tested recipes that can be put together quickly. I know what mothers really want is that extra half hour to catch a nap yet not neglect their kids, all they want is another 20 mins weekly for a mani-pedi yet they want wholesome food on the table for their family, they want their girly night outs if they manage to arrange a great baby sitter but still feel guilty and keep checking their wrist for the time.. you get the drift.

In my 20's life was simple, Friday nights were usually spent checking out a latest pub on the scene, weekend champagne brunches or poolside parties are a thing of the past. At 30 we are usually seen with diaper bags in tow, kid friendly restaurants and socializing with families who have kids are our toddlers age is the new party scene! Most weekends I need to sleep in but am woken by my very energetic toddler at 6am... by the end of Sunday I am ready to give a time-out to anyone in sight.

When I read Deeba's post about one bowl brownies I was delighted! My 3 year old has been wanting me to bake something so he carry it in his lunch box to school. He started big boy school two weeks back and needs to be bribed to even get out of bed on a school day...

The one bowl brownies is great with the weather being super hot and me not wanting to stand anywhere near a hot oven or in the kitchen! I also had a bag of LINDT truffles from my SIL = perfect! They have a peanut butter flavor truffle that I know no-one wanted to try, so I subbed it for the chocolate mentioned in the recipe... and they were as decadent and fudgy as Deeba promised.

Do give it a try - it actually took only 40 minutes from start to finish as her recipe mentions!

Just to make myself feel better about indulging in the brownies I made a simple, fresh salad to go along with it. After missing gym for 10 days straight I couldn't afford a calorie laden meal. Put together with ingredients in my fridge it can be very easily adapted to your tastes and put together in a couple of minutes! I made it with broken wheat but it can be made with couscous or farro!

So here are the recipes...

One Bowl Brownies (recipe adapted from Passionate About Baking)
Ingredients
12 Lindt Peanut Butter Truffles + 50 grams of any milk chocolate
2 eggs
100 grams butter
40 ml oil
9 tablespoons all purpose flour
7-8 tablespoons granulated sugar

Recipe
Preheat oven to 200C. Melt the butter and chocolate together in the microwave. Wait for it to cool a bit. Add the oil and whisk. Add the two eggs and whisk. Add the sugar and whisk. Add the flour and fold it all together.

Put in a square baking tin for 25-30 mins at 180C. Leave to cool and cut into squares and serve!


Simple Summer Salad


Ingredients
1/2 cup broken wheat put in boiling water and cooked as per instructions
1 onion thinly sliced
1 tomato thinly sliced
1 red pepper roasted
Seasoning - paprika, salt, pepper, lemon juice, olive oil
1 fried egg

Recipe
Cook the broken wheat, couscous or farro and put in the fridge to cool.

Caramelize the onions with a little bit of olive oil and sugar. Remove from pan. Saute tomatoes in pan and remove. Roast pepper on gas or in oven, remove skin and thinly slice 9 I would have used a green pepper for contrast but didn't have any). Also some parsley would have been lovely but I was all out of it!!!!

Fry the egg so that the yellow is uncooked. For the dressing, shake a couple of tablespoons of olive oil, juice of 1 lemon, paprika, salt, pepper and Italian herbs in a bottle.

Get your broken wheat out and add the vegetables and toss with dressing. Add the fried egg to the top or on the side or leave it out if you're not a fan... and your beautiful summer salad is ready but I did miss my parsley a lot.

Cinnamon Biscuit Rolls: SRC

Do you love holidays? Who doesn't (No brainer)? Do you love them more, when you have to vacations them "compulsarily" - I am sure you're thinking what can compell you to go on vacation? Last December, when I found out that a school friend of mine (known her since 6th grade) and a cousin of mine are getting married within a week of each other I was a bit worried. How will my 3year old shuttle to two different cities and back home in-between (so 3 climatic changes), party and do late nights, play all day long, attend school in between and think we are SANE parents! But, he seemed to cope better than us.

Between, wedding celebrations (very, very elaborate in India with over 3 functions at least per wedding) all the dress changing, eating great food, site-seeing, fun n' sun(at the beach wedding) you can imagine 2011 has been really going well :)! I celebrated my birthday in between and my husband surprised me by booking us at the very luxurious Leela Palace, Udaipur (pictures above, also one of the destinations we had to go for the wedding ). I hope 2011 keeps my friends and family in happy space....

And then it was SRC time! My "secret" blog was Angel Food's Kitchen. She has lovely recipes, weekly menus ideas and lots of handy everyday recipes for mom's. I loved her egg salad sandwich recipe, which was polished off within minutes of making and then I tried her Easy No Rise Cinnamon Rolls - the recipe of which can be found here.

SRC is the brainchild of Amanda Formaro and she had done a wonderful job of building it from strength to strength - we have 4 groups of food bloggers that get assigned blogs secretly and have to choose a recipe from the blog and all of them reveal their posts together group-wise at a particular date and time - come try it!

 My rolls turned out a bit biscuit like since there was no yeast and no rise time in it... my hubby wasn't very happy with the texture (because he didn't have them warm out of the oven) but my son and I loved them with some melted chocolate on them straight out of the oven!

So this is a great recipe to try when you want some cinnamon-y goodness within 30 minutes, yes, they come together really quickly - so maybe for a quick tea party or dessert after party that you are going to serve straight out of the oven - these are the ones to try.

From my pictures you will see I rolled mine too thick 'coz I messed up my ratios a bit, so you can follow the original recipe. I would roll this as thin as possible so my rolls aren't too big. Also, I brushed the rolls with milk before baking but I would brush them with melted butter instead - just makes them crunchier and browner.

So here goes the recipe, which I have adapted a bit:

Dough:
21/2 cups of all purpose flour
1/4 cup granulated sugar (I used very scant)
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 cup butter
1 egg
3/4 cup buttermilk

Filling:
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon powder
melted butter - a couple of tablespoons

Recipe:
Sift the dry ingredients. Add the butter and rub till they are rubbed in like pastry. Now add the wet ingredients and mix well. Knead the dough on a floured surface about 10-15 times till it comes together. Had to chill the dough for ten minutes before I rolled it as it was a very hot and humid day that I made it and I would flour my surface a lot more!

After rolling it as thinly possible, spread melted butter and spread well with sugar mixture.Then roll carefully into a sausage roll and cut into 1/2 inch pieces. Put in a square dish, spread some more melted butter on the top and bake in a pre-heated oven at 200C for about 20 minutes. I think it could be done in 15 also... so please watch it!

I used some good Lindt Chocolate, melted it and my son and I enjoyed it smeared with this. You can also make a mixture of icing sugar and water / milk and spread it over this while warm. Enjoy as warm as possible!

Article Published in Times of India, Gurgaon edition

Dear friends,

I do baking classes for kids and have been doing them for about 3 years now. I started from the house and now do it in playschools and schools... Teaching kids is fun and therapeutic! Do please try and get a hold on the article!

What's been keeping me away, you ask - CAKES

This is what I have been working on for the last few weeks... and I feel like I am partial to Strawberries but just because I find the combination of Chocolate, Vanilla, Strawberry and Mascarpone sinful and irrestible!

Simple Chocolate Sponge for the Lunch Box

Are you a mother with toddlers - one or two? Do you sometimes go half way through the day wondering where the day has gone? Or that it's already time to prepare dinner and your kid wants a snack?

Have you had those day when your child has kept you up at night, you're not wide awake but breakfast has to be made, the hubby is almost leaving for work, the child is clinging in your lap and bawling (he has to be dressed and sent to playschool), you haven't even brushed but you're dying to pop something into your mouth to jump start your day - maybe a scone or double chocolate chip cookie or waffle!

This is the kind of cake that is super comforting and can be totally eaten for breakfast to give you a bit of caffeine kick. This is a kid friendly version I made for my son's friend's Birthday...

But I usually add some ground almonds for health, a little bit of buckwheat flour for depth, olive oil for moisture and a little coffee for a caffeine kick....

It's a great cake to share with girlfriends on a gloomy day sipping on a latte, or while catching up on a book and waiting for the baby to wake up from the nap, great energy booster after a fight with the spouse... ALL in ALL a great way to LIFT SPIRITS in the Winter.

So promise me that you will bake this up your way and enjoy it before this dreary winter ends...

The version I made was

Ingredients

3/4 cup flour
1/4 cup cocoa powder

3/4 cup brown sugar

8 tablespoons butter

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla essence

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

Procedure:

Beat the oil and sugar till creamy. Add eggs and vanilla essence and beat till mousse like. Now add all the dry ingredients in 3 parts.

Put into a parchment lined 8 inch baking tin for 25 minutes at 170C.

I used some chocolate chips 7 oil melted in the microwave to stick on the M&M's onto the cake as frosting is not allowed in their playschool.

I am sending this as an entry to Srav's Culinary Concepts for a Chocolate Fest that she is hosting. She has some great recipes and a blog totally worth checking out!

Happy New Year 2012

Dearest Readers,

I have not posted in ages! The good news is that I am going to try and post something every other day to make up for my absence...

Last year, I lost 4 very special people in my family and they will be missed, remembered and cherished - especially my Nani (grandmom) - who I miss terribly! Though the year ended on a high note with my brother tying the knot with his long term girlfriend... and my son and I had a month full of fun. I know all the 4 people who aren't alongside us today would have blessed the couple and wouldn't have wanted the celebration to be postponed.

My son and I took full advantage of the wedding and moved to Mumbai for a month and celebrated with amongst friends and family a big fat Indian wedding - full of food, laughter, fun and dancing!

Just before leaving, I baked my husband a happy birthday and belated anniversary cake 'coz we were going to spend our first anniversary apart!!!!

The cake is a simple chocolate sponge and the filling is mascarpone, icing sugar, whipped cream and strawberry puree. My hubby loved the cake but did feel that we should have used only whipped cream for the outside frosting as the cake was heavy.. so we had to eat small pieces at a time :)!

Ingredients for the chocolate sponge (taken from Nieglla's Buttermilk Sponge) :

I made 2 of these sponges

11/4 cup all purpose flour
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1 cup brown sugar
75 grams butter / 30ml canola oil
100ml buttermilk (milk + curd / vinegar / lime juice)
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
2 eggs
1/2 vanilla bean

I have started adding a bit of oil to all my cakes and brownies as it makes them more fudgy and moist.

Procedure:

Beat the butter, oil and sugar together. Add eggs one at a time and beat further till the mixture becomes mousse like. Add the vanilla bean.

Now mix all the dry ingredients together. And alternately add the dry ingredients and buttermilk in 3-4 times.

Spread into an 8 inch parchment lined baking tin. I tap the tin a couple of times to get an even cake and it's easier to frost.

Frosting:

For the icing I had to use strawberry crush as there weren't any fresh strawberries and mixed it with 250grams mascarpone cheese and about 1/2 cup icing sugar and low fat (Amul) cream. Had to use a bit of gelatine as a stabilizer - I whipped them all together and left them in the fridge to chill for a bit.

I doused the cake with a bit of a chocolate ganache and then let it cool. Then added part of the frosting and sandwiched the two cakes together.

Frosted the top and decorated with swirls of chocolate ganache.

Also, please email me at rbhatnag@gmail.com if any of you know how to add borders in Picasa 3... it has me a bit stumped!

Hope this year brings you all a lot of joy, laughter and happiness! Also, do try and do a good deed a week... so you can spread the joy that you are getting to other people too :) - that is my New Year resolution! What's yours????

Honey Nut Scones - SRC

Has November also been passing you by? What???? Halloween is over already and you haven't even planned your Thanksgiving feast yet?? Well there are only going to be 8 more people over + plus the 4 of us... I totally hear ya! Diwali was like that for me...

But...

This is what I love about the last two months of the year... I so look forward to the holidays and festivity and everyone's cheerie mood! In India this starts in October with Diwali - the festival of lights. The house is going to smell of a varieties of cookies, sauce, chicken / turkey. biscuits and Christmas cakes! There is going to be  a lovely NIP in the air... and some LOVE and lots of gifts - maybe some SMALL.

Well, this month I was just almost not going to make it in time for my Secret Recipe Club assignment. I was given the blog Tea and Scones and it was full of exciting recipes to read. It was full of yummy recipes from Dorie Greenspans books (always a pleasure) and lots of 30 minute pasta recipes that looked yummm too! I had a huge choice but I chose Scones as I thought they are versatile - can be made savory or sweet and can go well with any Christmas or Thanksgiving Brunch... not being a show stopper but definitely an essential to have around turkey and gravy.

Honey Nut Scones are featured in the book Baking from My Home to Yours and they are really simple to put together! I adapted them minimally to the ingredients I had on hand and shaped them like biscuits... since they didn't turn out too sweet I thought they could easily be served at a brunch.

I baked half the quantity as scones are usually not my specialty but they just melted in my mouth and I didn't add the egg...

Ingredients:

1 egg (optional)

1 tablespoon honey

1/4 cup whole milk

3/4 cups all purpose flour

1/4 cup ragi flour (original - whole wheat flour)

1/2 tablespoon baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

4 tablesppons cold butter

1/4 cup ground almonds (original - walnuts)

Makes about 4 medium sized biscuits

Steps:

Stir the honey and milk together.

Whisk the dry ingredients together. Add the butter and rub it in with your fingers till all of it is mixed and looks as small as peas and is all pebbly and mixed up.

Pour the liquid ingredients in and mix with a fork until just combined. Add the ground almonds and mix it together. Pat together into any shape you want - I made discs but you can make the typical triangles.

Bake in a pre-heated oven for 15-20 minutes at 180C until nice and browned.

Serve with butter, jam, honey or dip into gravies and enjoy savory with your meal!It has a really subtle sweet and nutty flavor to it!

Apple Almond Cake

Can't believe we are heading towards 2012 at break neck speed... 

Oct in India is a festive season - full of festivals - the biggest one being Diwali - like Christmas all the buildings and houses are decked with pretty lights, lanterns and flowers. I made rangoli with fresh flowers this time and the fragrance of that and the scented diyas (yes, you read right) kept the house looking pretty and smelling good!

After the week long break of feasting, crazy card nights, losing money and then making some, lights and lots of partying followed by my son's 3rd Birthday Party, tons of gooey chocolate cake and lots of Halloween Candy - I am so ready for a Breezer - oops I meant BREATHER!

I think we need to usher in November a bit slowly so we can savor December in all it's glory - the cold weather, the nice sunny days with a cold breeze, lots of Christmas festivity and holidays and bring in the New Year with a bang.

Delhi is flooded with apples currently and it's not exactly fall but I wanted a warm cinnamony something to keep me going as it gets cold early in the morning and late evenings... so you need something to tuck in with your coffee or tea.

I read a lot of great reviews about an apple cake from Dorie Greenspan's book and went about adapting it minimally to suit my needs. It was real easy to put together and I didn't even get my electric mixer out for this.

Ingredients

1/2 cup all purpose flour

1/4 cup ground almonds

3/4 tsp baking powder

100 grams salted butter

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

3/4 cup brown sugar

2 large eggs

3/4 cup apples finely chopped

Prepration

Center a rack on the oven and pre-heat it to 180C.

Butter a large loaf tin and prepare. 

Whisk together the dry ingredients. Melt the butter. Whisk together the eggs and then add sugar and whisk. Now I added a third of the dry ingredients and melted butter alternatively till completed incorporated. 

I then used a rubber spatula to fold in the apples.

I decorated the bottom of my loaf tin with slivers of apple and brown sugar and poured the batter over this. And baked it for about 40 minutes.

The pictures do no justice to this cake as it was moist and had a very nice nutty flavor from the almonds. It wasn't too apple or too sweet and just perfect to enjoy at anytime!

It made a hand snack for the the toddler to take to school too and the bonus that it had fruits and nuts had me beaming at my genius!

Will you walk into my parlour... to share some BROWNIES?

                                       Will you walk into my parlour?" said the Spider to the Fly,
                               'Tis the prettiest little parlour that ever you did spy;

I remember these words from a poem we read long, long time ago in school... and though the spider is actually being mean here...I say these words in a nice way!

Sometimes you have a gazillion thoughts running through your head at one time and you are trying to fit them all into the 2 hours you have while the toddlers at school:

Running ten minutes late to the gym, the treadmills going to be gone

I need a pedicure

My son needs a new bottle for school ASAP

But we are out of veggies & fruits for the week - and it's only Wednesday?

What about a quick stop after groceries at that pretty shop to check out some baking equipment?

And the dry cleaning has to be picked up by Friday

And we all know what the priorities are... as we rush through errands before the toddler gets off from school.

BUT

Sometimes, your day is just long and you do not want to drag yourself out of bed - you just want to speak to your BFF over the phone, enjoy an extra cup of tea and eat another brownie.  

BFF's change over time and time flies... when I was younger (read teens) I was always at logger heads with my MOM and didn't want her anywhere near my parties / school work / classes. I felt she embarrassed me... and NOW I am always clambering for her attention and need her opinion on most things. She is the one person who will always be there to speak to you when you call, answer your calls back, give her opinions, fight with you and reason with you!

My mom doesn't live in the same city as me and neither does she like chocolate much but I am sure she would have had another cup of tea and a brownie with me if I had insisted... that's what BFF's are for!

These are just a box brownie mix with extra chocolate chips thrown in for good measure :) - hope they warm up your tea-time like they do for me!

Banana Chocolate Cupcakes - Secret Recipe Club

What's it about playschool and toddlers? A cold or cough or "a new bug" every 3 weeks, early mornings chases around the house with my son in his PJs and I following him with his brush, school bags being left behind in the elevator... I barely got time to recover from the sleepless nights in April when playschool started and by the time I had a chance to put my head up, we were already in October!

The year has not ended yet, but has been very difficult for my family with a lot of close members not being around anymore and two going in a very sudden way leaving us surprised at how short life can be.

There has been a sudden awakening around me to appreciate life more and become a better person. Yes, I am still snappy at that time of the month; No, I haven't suddenly become Ms Goody-Two-Shoes; I still lose my cool at small things when I having a bad day - BUT I have started to sit up and look at the simple pleasures life has to offer so it doesn't race you by.

Walking hand in hand with your little one picking up flowers, picking up your toddler from school with a treat (chocolate cupcake), getting up early in the morning to enjoy your morning cuppa in a quiet house before everyone is up or just enjoying some quiet sit-down time with your spouse away from the maddening social commitments.. this list can just go on and on.

And, life I realized is as simple as you make it to be...So go on and do something you really want to but haven't been able to do for a while 'coz of your super crazy schedule!

When I chose this recipe from http://eggscreamandhoney.com/, I wanted something kid friendly that my son could bake with me 'coz he thinks he is my lil helper and likes to whisk away in the bowl while I add the ingredients. I was not going to be a MANIAC and look for perfection but these came out pretty perfect if I may say so!

The Secret Recipe Club is the brainchild of  Amanda Formaro where you get assigned to a secret blog and get to cook from it! Excited... you can learn more about it from the links provided! A great initiative to get to know more bloggers and try out new recipes!

The original recipe is here - http://eggscreamandhoney.com/2011/06/21/banana-cupcakes-and-peanut-butter-icing/ - I tweaked it a bit here and there depending on what I had on hand!

Ingredients
100 grams salted butter
1 cup flour ( About 3/4 all purpose and 1/4 millet flour and 2 tablespoon cocoa powder)
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp baking powder
2 very ripe bananas
1 tsp vanilla

Makes 6 cupcakes and takes about 30 minutes from start to finish. A great way to get your child involved.

Method:
I sat my kid down in the middle of the kitchen on a splat mat with a big bowl and whisk - in went the bananas - mash, mash, mash. Then went in the melted butter and a lot of vigorous whisking. Then went in the sugar - I had to help here a bit so that the mixture was a bit creamy and the sugar was dissolved. The eggs and vanilla were broken and whisked by me in a separate bowl and then whisked into the bowl by the toddler. The flour all in one heap, into the bowl and all mixed together.

WHAT A FORGIVING RECIPE! The toddler opted for whisking after all the effort and I went back to lining the muffin tin and put the cupcakes in for 25 minutes in a 170C preheated oven.

We just used a icing sugar and warm water to make a paste, put it in a baggy and most of what you see is what my son did with me holding his hand... life is all about having fun! Enjoy with your loved ones with a tall glass of milk or hide it in the snack box for a warm hug when they get back from school!