A smoothie aka juice recipe for all moms!

If I say that my kids have 3-4 different kinds of fruits everyday without any fuss....you all can do it as well!!!
Before we move ahead,

Caution:- This is kind of rant from mom of 2 tots....not recipe

Okay, so as far as I know that most of toddlers/kids give hard time to their mommies for fruits. Even if they eat fruits, they normally don't like varieties. There are always 3-4 type of their favorite fruits and they just stick to those. As in my case it is banana and strawberry. Beyond those two fruits, it all depends on their mood, hunger and situation. At one point of her life, my older one was just eating strawberries except any other fruit. How can I tolerate that? so here comes the solution my smoothie/juice recipe.

Normally all kids have at least one or two favorite fruit. So here is my formula for to feed them the other not so favorite fruits.

3/4 your kids favorite fruit+ 1/4 any other fruits you want them to eat+ 1 to 2 tbsp vanilla/chocolate ice-cream+ a very little milk (blend all these things....that's it)

Okay, now you all will say that it is not healthy way to feed fruits along with ice-cream. Well, sometimes a little compromise takes you a long way with kids. This is just the beginning.  Once your kid starts to love this juice then,

3/4 your kids favorite fruit+ 1/4 any other fruit you want them to eat+ yogurt/homemade yogurt/Greek yogurt+ a very little milk(again blend everything!)

that's call the progress!

Then slowly slowly you can change the fruit combinations as per your wish.

Believe me, everyday I give my kids a different kind of juice.

Like in my kids case, I use banana everyday so that I don't have to add any additional sugar(double benefit.....pat on my shoulder...I know enough of my praising!)

You can also add few nuts down the road, once you are done with your fruit list

Here are few of my versions which has work with my kids:-

banana,strawberry,blueberry, yogurt, milk

banana, apricot, blueberry, Greek yogurt, milk

banana, pitch,strawberry, Greek yogurt, milk

mango, strawberry, Greek yogurt, milk

banana, different kind of plum, berries, yogurt,milk

apple, mango, yogurt, milk

As I said, there are endless variations with one fix kind fruit as per your kid's taste.

Normally I serve this juice after their nap in the afternoon. We all have enjoy this together and this juice makes them full till dinner. I don't have to think about what to give them for evening snack. I just have to open the refrigerator and blend some fruits. Also, this recipe is working perfectly with my 14 months old as well(of course without nuts).

So now you never have to give your kids those store bought sugary water! Hope this trick works for you all mommies!

Fajeta/Phajeto ~ a very different and almost forgotten gujarati delicacy

I wanted to post this recipe ever since I started this blog. This dish is very similar to kadhi but still it has very distinct flavor. It is served with rice and mung dal(chutidal).  There are so many childhood memories attached with this dish. From my childhood  I love mangoes. I remember that during every summer vacation, aamras was everyday thing in my home. On every Sunday, my mom used to make elaborate lunch which normally consist of curry/subji, double layer roti/bapadi roti, mung dal/chuti dal, rice, aamras, dhokala/idada and Fajeto. Now a days I think this recipe is almost forgotten in most of the household. Infact I want to do the whole series on forgotten gujarati recipes!

Like all the recipes, this dish has also different versions in all household. This is my mom's recipe and I just love it and hope you all will also try it someday.

Ingredients:-

1 cup curd/dahi/yogurt
1 cup aamras/ mango pulp
1 tbsp chickpea flour
2 to 3 cups of water
1 to 2 tsp ginger green chilli paste
1 to 2 tbsp jaggery
1 tsp sunth/ginger powder
salt as per taste
pinch of turmeric

For Tempering

2-3 tsp ghee/purified butter
1 tsp cumin seeds
2-3 cloves
small stick of cinnamon
1/2 tsp asafoetida/ hing
3-4 whole red chillies
1 spring of curry leaves

Take one bowl and mix dahi, chickpea flour and water till there is no lumps. Now put that mixture in one pan on high flame. When it starts to boil add all the ingredients except mango pulp. Keep stirring in between till all the jaggery dissolves nicely. Now turn flame to slow and add the mango pulp. Then mix it very well and let it simmer for few minutes.

Meanwhile prepare the tempering in another small pan. First heat the ghee and add cumin seeds. When they start to splutter, add rest of the ingredients. Let everything cook for aroung 30-50 secs and add the tempering to the curd mixture. Then immediately close the lid so that curd mixture absorbs all the flavors of tempering.

Let it simmer agian for 2-3 minutes and add the cilantro for garnishing.

Serve it hot with rice-mungdal mixture and with roti as well.

Notes:-
This kadhi is little bit thinner than normal gujarati kadhi and thicker than rasam.(kind of in between)
You can add sugar instead of jaggery.
Check the sweetness/sourness of mango pulp and then add jaggery/sugar accordingly.