Penne with white sauce & bell peppers

Our menu for a Friday evening is quite often this very special Penne served with style. I am sure it has always been a no-fuss no-waste food in my kids table. Oh I have made it so many times and sure that it will continue for quite a while to come. Even my mil loves this so much that we dont have to change the menu even if we have her for dinner on a Friday night. She absolutely loves it and the proud me is happy that my mil made this at her home just for herself some day :) That really makes me happy.

I have had this served on many occasions to so many kids and believe me its always a hit. Infants to toddlers to college going fellas all have loved this to their fullest extent.

Here is the recipe for the evening Pasta ride at home 

Sambar rice

Sambar rice is that one pot cooking that makes life so simple on lazy days. There have been many days when this has been a savior and also been loved with the goodness of lentils and vegetables. My kids love big chunks of vegetables so this is an easy choice for me to serve them their veggies in their favorite chunky way.

Here is a simple version of sambar rice that is just made in no time

Sundakkai Kara Kuzhambu.. my mil style

Sundakkai known as Turkey Berry(wiki) Solanum_torvum is a very rich source of fibre and rich. Its goodness and medicinal benefits are way too many to mention. Google it and voila!!! you can learn too much about these babies. I love these cute little brinjal-like fruits. My mil always always insisted me to add this to our diets on a frequent basis but i never gave it a second thought until she made it for us some day and we all fell in love with it. My God it was just lip-smacking. Ignorant was I about its goodness and taste but now it is so enticing that I have a plant growing up in my very own garden. Every time there is a bunch of these little-fellas ready, I am ready too to get them working in my kitchen to serve a goodness-filled lunch :)

My kids love it too and they specially love it when I ask them to get some "sundakkai's" from the garden. Guess the next step .... well yes - they are out in the garden with 2 dining table chairs pulled out with lots of effort - specially with Nikhil helping Aadit to get his chair too(little fella right... needs his big brother's help). Climbing up on the chairs and carefully filling my bowl with these is a fun job that they just love to do. Nowadays its even lovely - they look at the flowers and ask me 'When will the next set be ready for plucking mamma'. Now that makes me smile. Whenever they are out in our tiny garden, they make sure to check the fruits out. Nice little helpers here ;)

My mil taught me this recipe and I have made sure to follow it perfect every time to make it the same like her and yes I have always been able to do it with this one. Well this is simple and yummy so there we go...

Eggplant/Brinjal Gold coins

Eggplant as a vegetable side dish is not a favorite for my kids but when it comes to this one - there is no second thought running in their little minds other than just gobbling it down. This is 'an always welcome' veggie for my kids.

Peanut Chutney... my mil style

Peanut chutney is yummy. Everything about this is ok except for the high cholesterol improving characteristics :). Nevertheless whatever be the reason it can never be off the dosa clinging menu for a long while. Yes it is so scrumptious that i have to make it leaving no other choice. My kids love it too so now its an excuse for me to make it more often. I keep it away from my hubby's plate though... dont want him to eat those extra calories when he's wanting to shed off some ;)

This one is similar to the other one i make but has a hint of coconut in it which gets a little different and a little special with extra calories 

Diwali pics posted a little late...

I know this post is very late as posted on this date. I had put it in draft but getting the pics uploaded and added to the post was such a biiiiiiiiig task for this lazy me ;) Anyways i guess better late than never is whats right here :)

Diwali is a beautiful, fun-filled, tradition-filled, colorful, noise-filled, delightfully lighted wonderful festival that everyone of all age enjoys. I remember our childhood days when mom used to make lots of special diwali sweets and fill up dabba after dabba in a line. Sure the munching away never stopped until the boxes were emptied and dashed into the washing bin. And special were the days of Diwali which marked start with the ritual of getting up very early, getting ready with new clothes specially bought for the occassion, decorating the verandah with beautiful colorful rangolis, pooja at home and then cracking the first cracker of the day... hmmm those moments are so sweet to remember. The calls to friends and family, the visits to friends homes, then the funtime at evening woo-hooooooo lighting up lamps, bursting crackers, shouting happily ... and the happiness list ended nowhere. Days have passed by but the speciality of Diwali stays intact as it had been generations ago.

We had lots to snack upon this time. Made everybodys favorite so that each one of us could enjoy our share. I just picked up some pics this time before all the goodies got munched away. They turned out well and we had a great time enjoying the festival.

Salted Maida squares with a hint of ajwain - Aadit's favorite

Mixture - My mom's style :) 

Kaara sevu(in Tamil) Gram flour spicy mini sticks - Nikhil's favorite

Rava laddoo.. hmm my favorite

Gulab Jamun made with milk powder - my hubby's favorite

 Also had murukku's at home but somehow missed the pics :) Probably next time 

Carroty Bread Toast... Nutritiously delicious

My younger bunny's favorite this time. I enjoyed these when my mom used to make it for me and now I feel proud and happy when I make them and my lil one Aadit munches them away in no time. Carrots are so full of vitamins and minerals that it has to be an important part of our meal routine. Eating them in the same boring ways is no longer a need. 

Kids will love this version of their fav veggie. It just takes minutes to put things together and make this yummy toast to be served in a sweet way.

Potato Bajji...

I am sure bajjis dont need any intro, they are just so famous and that everybody likes the. Bajjis are a very common snack all over India. People use different vegetables to make different bajjis say onion, potato, carrot, mirchi etc. Each has its own unique flavor 

I feel it is the easiest snack when one might have an unexpected guest and there is really no time to think of anything better. So this always comes in handy. Served hot with chutney or sauce it is best on rainy days too. A hot cup of chai on one hand and a hot hot bajji on the other hand is so comforting

Cheesy Paneer & Corn sandwich/Roll

Nikhils favorite weekend breakfast can be nothing better than this because he is the one who gave me the recipe to do it - and want to add that he is very proud about it ;) Yes and I am not joking at all. One day we had been to a Chinese restaurant and we tried some chisken ball starters. Surprisingly the starter was too simple and too delicious that we couldnt take our hands off them. It had a very simple, elegant and unique taste that we we hadnt come across for a long time in usual restaurants. Nikhil had a question for me at the table. Mamma y dont you make this for us some day... its soooooooo yummy. We started talking about it and he added ... 'U know mommy it pretty easy... just some chicken, some garlic and some chilli flakes. We were surprised by his little findings and his cute way of stealing our hearts. I promised i wud make him some of these chicken starters whenever I find some time. 

Over the next weekend I was straining some homemade scrambled paneer as we were having surplus milk at home. Just then my little bunny jumped in and asked me what it was. When we talked he said 'y dont we make paneer rolls today for breakfast'. When 
I said it wud take time he immediately put on his lil chef cap and said 'it very simple i'll help you.. .just add the same garlic, chilli, paneer and done' Now I did not stand a chance to say no so we set to try it out. A crispy cum gooey cheesy breakfast... yummm... 

My lil chef was the real chef that day and with a little help from me we could make something that turned out to be a kids special. A very special treat for thier weekend breakfast. I enjoyed it too. And from then on it has been a regular item in the menu.
Here it goes... my little one's slightly mommy tweaked version :)

Done in sandwich maker

Done on tawa

Done on tawa and cut into halves

Ammini kozhukattai

This is one of my childhood favourites. Whenever yummy used to make idiyappam, she used to make small balls with the leftover dough and we all used to be crazy about it. We used fight over it as there wont be may. It was the same dough as idiyappam but still eating chinna kzhukattai was definitely different. It tasted great everytime we had them

Mamma used to make this fried version and they would be just gone in a minute. Simple and divine is what I would say. Its not always about fancy foods that we crave for. Sometimes its just about simple things that we look for. Sometimes food that bring back a lot of memories. This on is one of that kind

A simple recipe that makes me smile every time I have it. My kids love it too so its great news for me and my kitchen. So every time there is some leftover dough after making idiyappams I get to make this for sure

Soya nuggy masala

Soya, its goodness, its yumminess ummmmmmmmmm... we love it. For me and my kids soya is a saviour many a days. My kids love them and they name them veggie chicken so its a very entertained curry for casual dinners. There are so many ways you can add soya to your diet but as curries it is very easy and simple in every way - to eat, to make and to enjoy :)

In recent time i have seen soya related food and food products are gaining popularity. This  is mainly attributed to its surprisingly good health benefits. Naming them down is not my intent here cos i know you can google it in a matter of secs. Keeping these in mind i never forget to add it to our routine meals. Not everyday of course but quite often for sure. The plus that i have in adding it is my kids love for it. Whenever i have made this, i have noticed  that their hunger starts from the moment they see the nuggets. My lil one still calls them 'nuggies'. During the time that i spend in the kitchen for making these nuggy special curries i have n number of visits from both my little bugs. Big bug asks "Is it ready yet mamma... how long do you think its gonna take?? " Little bug asks "Leady Leady ???" And no wonder chapathis served with this favorite curry are gobbled up in no time. A heavenly helping hand for mommy.

This recipe is a simple way of making dry sabji that involves very few spices and very few steps too. Love to my buggies in a simple way.

Silky Creamy Paneer Delicacy

So long since since i sat down to pen some of my favorites. Life had so many changes - some were good, some ok, some very bad, some happy, some sad.. thoughts running all over my head. All these have kept me away from this place not cos I was busy,, not cos I was lazy, not cos i dint want to but i just dont know what. Anyways back again to write down some recipes that i have tried and also some of childhood favs that i had almost forgotten. You know my problem now.. if i dont pen i just forget it - let it be the recipe itself or its instructions. Very recently i caught with some recipes that i have enjoyed as a kid but have never tried it in my own kitchen. Will post them soon so that i can keep it safe for my very own reference.

This one here is an inspiration from my friends recipe. I had been to my friend Shobi's place couple of months back. She is a very good friend - a kind of person everyone would love to be friends with. This time it was an unplanned visit to their house when we stepped in right before dinner time. She had planned something special for her family when we guys and another family friend too joined in. Wow... what a fantastic meal that day... loved every bite and i did make sure to ask her for the recipe :) now thats how i am. My mil always says that one should never lose an opportunity to learn and especially if it is something that has won your heart. This time it was a yummy paneer curry with naan. I got the recipe from Shobi and then days passed by and as usual i forgot. Called her again and got the recipe but this time too forgot to note it down and as usual could not pull it up from my brainy brains database. I remembered bits and pieces but not the entire :( When thinking and trying to make it i did not have a couple of ingredients so had to change a few steps here and there to fit with ingredients that i had. Believe me the outcome was awesome. I will sure call my friend to get her correct recipe version and post it soon.

Here i present my version of Creamy paneer delicacy that is my new fav addition to a yummy dinner menu. This came out fantastic and the best part for me - niks my 4 yr old loves it to the core. This is the compliment that i got "Mommy you are soooooooooooooo nice. This is most awesome food i have ever had. When i grow big like Dadda i will make something yummy like this just for you." Now that was one good "Love award" for a proud mommy. So here it goes third time in a row being served for dinner. Special orders here.

Rava ladoo... another version

My love for rava ladoos is never ending. It is so much that apart from making them so much at home I end up buying at sweet shops too. Now thats crazy right. Every diwali I make this for sure... it being my favourite

Simple to make and lovely to enjoy makes it most preferred sweet :)

This is another version or  I should say "the usual version" followed by the sweet shops. This is the correct version also I guess. The recipe I posted earlier is my mom tweaked version :) 

Yam fry... simple and yummy

My elder one loves this vegetable not by its appearance but by the taste after its fried. He has given it a new name too... "Vegetable Fish". Its yummy, spicy and crisp to perfection. We all love it at home. My mil taught me this method to make the fry. When she makes it .... its all gone before lunch is served. They taste best when really hot and crisp

Takes a little time to make it but it is all worth the time spent in the kitchen :)

Sauted Onion Raita....

I was introduced to this wonderful raita by my very good friend Shalu. She is a gem of a person. Everytime we go to her home, she makes sure that we have atleast one meal before we meal. Love her hospitality and sweetness :)

One day as usual when she made dinner for us.... she cooked an awesome biryani with this sidedish. It was very new to me. Me and my hubby loved it so much that we almost finished the entire bowl. I know my friend wont mind at all :) Its so simple to make and is liked by everyone too