Pretzel Nest Cookies

I wanted to make a quick and easy recipe to end up this kid's series on my blog. Saw this nest like cookies on web and thought of making it. Pretzel nest cookies are real quick and easy recipe. It will certainly fascinate your kids because of its vibrant color and chocolate flavor. A pretzel is a type of baked food made from dough in soft and hard varieties and savory or sweet flavors in a unique knot-like shape, originating in Europe. The pretzel shape is a distinctive symmetrical looped form, with the ends of a long strip of dough intertwine brought together and then twisted back onto itself in a certain way ("a pretzel loop"). Pretzels in stick form may also be called pretzels in the English-speaking context. We are using a sweet pretzel stick for this recipe. This can be a good do-it-yourself food for Easter week vacation for kids.

Serve:     3-4 (makes 10 cookies)

Preparation time:      20 minutes

Ingredients:

Pretzel sticks:                       20 sticks (broken into less than 1 inches irregular size)
Milk chocolate:                    100 grams
Butter:                                  1 teaspoon
Mini Cadbury eggs:               20

Method:

1) Break the pretzel stick into less than one inches irregular size. Keep it aside.
2) Break the milk chocolate bar in small pieces. Microwave it for 30 seconds, mix with a spoon.
3) Add butter and microwave again for 30 seconds. Chocolate will melt completely. Microwave for few more seconds if required.
4) Mix all the pretzel stick in to the melted chocolate. Let it coat well.
5) Put some cooking oil in your hand and start making nest shaped cookies using your hand. Put it on a butter paper. Work fast as chocolate will start getting hard. Put it again in microwave for few seconds if chocolate is getting hard to use.

6) Put it in freeze for 10 minutes to harden.
7) Decorate with colorful mini cadbury eggs. See the lovely smile on your kids face and enjoy these tasty cookies with them.

BON APPETIT..

Kids Platter (Insalata, Tortellini & Cheese Pistachio Fingers with Pesto Dip)

A colorful platter full of all the healthy vegetables and dairy is certainly mom's and kid's first choice for a quick meal. In this platter we are mainly talking about four quick bite recipes:
1) Insalata Caprese skewers
2) Tortellini skewers
3) Cheese Pistachio finger with salad flower
4) Pesto Olive dip
All these recipes are real quick and enhance the color pattern of your lunch/ dinner table. This can also be served as a starter in a full course meal.

Serve:      2

Preparation time:    30 minutes

Insalata Caprese Skewers

Ingredients:
Ripe Cherry tomato
Fresh Buffalo mozzarella
Fresh basil
Olive oil/ balsamic vinegar
Salt
Pepper

Method:
1) Mix all the ingredients in a bowl with a spoon of olive oil or balsamic vinegar. Toss it with salt and pepper.
2) Put it in a skewer with a sequence of cherry tomato, basil leaf, mozzarella, basil and again a cherry tomato. Serve cold.

Tortellini skewers

Ingredients:
Fresh or frozen cheese tortellini
Pesto sauce (Recipe below)

Method
1) Boil the cheese tortellini with some salt and toss it very lightly (about 1 tbsp for 1 cup pasta) with pesto sauce.
2) Put it in a skewer and serve at room temperature.

Cheese Pistachio fingers with salad flower

Ingredients:
Processed shredded cheese:              4 tablespoon
Roasted Pistachio:                             6-8 (finely chopped)
Basil leaf:                                           4-5 (finely chopped)
Freshly crushed peppercorn
Cucumber
Carrot
Toothpick

Method
1) Using a back of spoon or your palm press the cheese to make a smooth paste.
2) Add chopped pistachio, basil and peppercorn. Mix well and make small rectangular blocks. Keep aside
3) For salad flowers- Slice cucumber and carrot (0.5 cm thick)
4) Cut in half to make a half circle of both cucumber and carrot slices.
5) In cucumber curve out a big "V" in between to take out all the seeds using a sharp edge knife.
6) In carrot curve out two small "V" in between to make it like a flower.
7) Using a toothpick prick the cucumber and then carrot to make a flower.
8) Use the flower to prick on the cheese pistachio finger. Serve at room temperature.

Pesto Olive dip

Ingredients:
Basil leaves:               15-20
Parmesan cheese:       4 tablespoon
Garlic cloves:             2 large
Olive oil:                    1 tablespoon
Green olive:               3-4
Pine nuts:                   1 tablespoon (dry roasted)
Salt to taste
Black pepper

Method
1) Put all the ingredients into the blender and make a fine paste.
2) Can be prepared in advance and kept in freeze for a week.

BON APPETIT...

Cheese Sandwich Quiche

Kids always love cheese and things made with cheese. This recipe is a combination of sandwich and quiche. Inside is a soft mozzarella sandwiched between potato slices and covered with the egg and baked to perfection. A healthy rich and filling cup cake shaped quiche can be made in advanced and served to kids after school snacks or evening filler after a long play date. It's a quick and easy recipe to make. Involving kids to make it will make them more enthusiastic to enjoy this tasty quiche.

Serve :           3 ( 6 Quiche)

Preparation time:        35 minutes

Ingredients:

Eggs:                     3 large

Spinach:                1/2 cup (chopped)

Mushroom:           3 large + few small for topping

Potato:                  1 large (boiled)

Mozzarella:            6 thin slices

Cherry tomato:      6 (cut in half for topping)

Processed cheese: 1 tablespoon

Salt to taste

Black pepper

Butter:                   1 teaspoon

Method:

1) Preheat the oven at 190 degree Celsius

2) Slice the boiled potato in 12 equal sized thin slices about 0.5 cm thick.

3) Sandwich the mozzarella slices in between. Keep aside.

4) Heat some butter in a pan and saute finely chopped mushroom until golden and soft. Add spinach leaf and cook until all the water evaporates (about 5 minutes at medium high flame). Set aside

5) In a bowl whisk the eggs, salt, pepper, processed cheese and prepared mushroom-spinach mixture.

6) To assemble, grease the non-stick muffin tin with some oil. Place the potato sandwich in between all the muffin cups. Pour the egg mixture over it.

7) Garnish it with mushroom caps or cut cherry tomatoes.

8) Bake it for 20-25 minutes or till the tester come out clean.

9) Cool it for 5 minutes and take the muffins out using a butter knife slowly. It comes out really easily.

10) Enjoy this healthy tasty and gluten free snacks with your kid.

BON APPETIT...

Fruity Quark filled "Choco Cookie Basket"

Chocolate Cookies have always been favorites to kids & adults. For this recipe chocolate cookies is made in a form of bowl with a cover and filled with seasonal fruit and quark cheese. This recipe has come out exceptionally well from what I had thought before started making. Filling can be of anything depending on your kid's choice of fruit and cream. Seasonal fruits help them get all the essential nutrients and cream/ cheese provide with the calcium, these are vital for their proper physical and mental development.

There are few handy rules which you should always follow with the kids when feeding them:
1) Keep mealtime as casual fun time.
2) Be a good role model, you yourself should eat all fruits and vegetables.
3) Involve your child while shopping for vegetable and fruits and sometime in preparing of food as well.
4) Offer some healthy choices when appropriate.
5) Serve small portions.
6) Hide some healthy stuff by cutting the vegetables really tiny.
7) Most important praise them for eating everything you served. Job-well-done.

Hope you enjoy making this recipe for your little one and the above rules help you to keep feeding them without much stress.

The recipe can also be used as a light dessert during your lunch / dinner get together.

Serve:                  6

Preparation time:       1 hour

Ingredients:
For Choco Cookie Baskets
All purpose flour:        11/2 cups
Egg:                           1 large
Baking powder:         1 teaspoon
Vanilla essence:         1 teaspoon
Unsalted Butter:        50 grams (room temperature)
Coco powder:           2 tablespoon
Sugar:                       1/2 cup
Salt:                          1/4 teaspoon

For filling
Season fruits:                1 cup (I am using grapes)
Quark cheese:              4 tablespoon (substitute: mascarpone, yogurt, cream cheese)
Vanilla sugar:                2 tablespoon

 Method:

1) Sieve flour, coco, salt, baking powder twice and set aside.
2) Whisk egg, butter, vanilla essence together. Add sugar.
3) Mix all the dry ingredients to make tight dough. Use additional flour if required.

4) Preheat the oven at 180 degree Celsius.
5) Butter muffin tin upside down as referred in pictures.

6) Roll the dough in a rope and cut it in 12 equal parts.
7) Take one part and press with hand to make a flat disc. Put it on the muffin back and repeat it for rest of 11 dough parts.
8) Try to expand it to the sides of the inverted muffin tin to give it a shape of bowl for 6 of the disc. These will be baked and turned to be a basket bottom to serve the filling. Let the other 6 remain as a flat disc, these will turn to be the cover for the basket. (Refer to the picture)

9) Bake it for 20-25 minutes at 180 degree Celsius until brown and hard.

10) Meanwhile for the filling, mix all the ingredients in a bowl.
11) Once the cookies are baked let it cool for 5 minutes until its easy to handle the muffin tin. Slightly knock the cookies from the tin using a spoon or butter knife. It comes out easily.

12) Fill it with the fruit and cheese mixture and cover it with the cookie lid.

13) Fruity Quark filled "Choco Cookie Basket" is ready to serve.

BON APPETIT...

Tuna Bites and Insalata Caprese Open Sandwich

Feeding a picky eater can be real nightmare for the mothers. Some kids just don't like the look and feel of the food. It may be the smell or the texture of food bothering them. Lastly it could simply be a power struggle  because they really don't want anybody telling what and when to eat. Whatever be the reason mothers are always at the receiving end. And to help all those I am here with few eye pleasing, healthy, quick and minimum ingredients recipes. We will talk about all do's and don'ts of feeding a picky eater all this week. My son is already enjoying these fancy quick meals. These are real simple recipes hence I am sharing both vegetarian and non- vegetarian options for all kind of food habits.

Today we are making:
1) Tuna bites, this is basically a 3 ingredient quick sandwich to suffice your kids hunger and even fathers can make it.
2) Insalata Caprese Sandwich is inspired by a famous and simple Italian salad called Insalata de Caprese. It's again a 4 basic ingredient quick recipe.

Both these recipes can also be used as an antipasto/ starter for a full meal menu.

Tuna Bites

Serve:           2 (makes 10 mini bites)
Preparation time:             10 minutes

Ingredients:
Cucumber:                20 slices
Tuna fillet:                 50 grams (canned)
Mayonnaise:             2 tablespoon
Cherry tomato:         cut in half to garnish (optional)

Method:
1) Mix the shredded tuna fillet and mayonnaise in a small bowl.
2) Put the mixture in the center of 10 cucumber slices
3) Cover with rest of the slices and press gently.
4) Garish it with cut cherry tomato and serve cold.

Insalata Caprese Open Sandwich

Serve:          2 (makes 6 sandwiches)
Preparation time:     10 minutes

Ingredients
Buffalo Mozzarella:           6 thick slices
Big Ripen Tomato:            6 thick slices
Bread slices:                     3 large (multigrain)
Basil leaves to garnish
Pesto sauce
Olive oil, salt and pepper

Method:
1) Roll the bread using a rolling pin to flatten it a bit. Cut a circle or the desired shape using a cookie cutter. Make 6 such shapes.
2) Place the sliced mozzarella over it.
3) Spread some pesto sauce over the mozzarella, drizzle it with olive oil, salt and pepper.
4) Top it up with tomato.
5) Garnish it with fresh basil leaves.

BON APPETIT..