Strawberry Milkshake and MW Chivda with cereal

Strawberry Milkshake :

I made it the way my husband makes it, by adding whipping cream. It really makes a big difference. Milkshake tastes very creamy and yummy and we all love it. When i started typing this my son Ashu came and asked me to mention that it's yummier than the strawberry lassi :-)



Ingredients

Strawberries - 10
Milk - 1.5 cups
Whipping cream - 1/2 cup
Sugar - 2 spoons
Honey - 1 spoon

This is the first time i am using honey in a milk shake so i started with a small quantity and it was good. I am thinking of using just honey the next time i make it. The strawberries weren't too sweet, so i used 2 spoons of sugar.

Chop the strawberries and blend it with little milk. Add honey, sugar, whipping cream and rest of the milk and blend it well. Serve chilled.

Just for the picture, i topped it with some whipped cream and by the time i got to taking pictures, it started spreading and created a wierd texture on top of the milkshake :(

I am sending this to FIC Pink hosted by Priya. FIC event was originally started by Harini.

Microwave Chivda with cereal:


Here's another entry for Priya...This time a savory snack that's healthy too .

This is similar to the MW Chivda. Instead of sending the old recipe, i made some changes to it and am sending this for Priya's MEC : Savory Snacks, originally started by Srivalli.

Ingredients :

Rice flakes (Thin) - 1 cup
Green chillies - 3
Corn flakes - 1/2 cup
Blanched almonds - 1/4 cup
Cumin seeds - 1/2 spoon
Oil - 2 spoons
Red chilli powder - a pinch
Salt to taste

Method :

1. Spread the blanched almonds in a microwave safe plate.
2. Sprinkle a pinch of red chilli powder and some salt.
3. Sprinkle few drops of oil and mix well and spread it again
4. Microwave for 3 minutes - Stirring in between every minute.
5. Let it cool.
6. Take a microwave safe bowl, add 2 spoons of oil, finely chopped chillies, a pinch of turmeric powder and cumin seeds.
7. Microwave for 45 seconds, stir and repeat for another 45 seconds to 1 min. By now, the chillies should look fried.
8. Add the rice flakes (poha) and salt and mix well. Microwave for 3 minutes, stirring in between every minute.
9. Add the cereal - i used honey bunches of oats since i didn't have cornflakes. It had mild sweet taste, but was good. Microwave it for 2 minutes, stirring once in between.
10. Remove and add the roasted spicy almonds and mix well.

Enjoy with a hot cuppa chai :D

I am also sending the chivda to :

1. JZ's Let's go nuts with Almonds

2. PJ's Tasty bytes for toddlers

Entry for Click n Kids favorites with Dates and Almonds

Let me start with my entry for Click, an event that makes me put in some effort to take nice photographs :D
I love this simple wooden salad bowl and thought of taking a pic with it. You can find the cabbage salad recipe here.

Next comes a healthy sweet treat for the kids. Actually i ate most of it while preparing it and that's another story :-)

Dates and Almond Sweet
Ingredients :
Dates - 10
Almonds - 1/2 cup
Milk - just enough to soak the dates and almonds
Marie biscuits - 7 (If you don't find Marie, you can substitue with Nila wafers)

Method :
Dry grind the marie biscuits first. Soak the dates and almonds for an hour. Grind them (with milk) into a paste. Add the biscuit powder and mix well. Roll them into small balls and refrigerate for 2 hours (if you have any left by the time you are done making it:-)). I had only 6 biscuits, so they kinda look little sticky. There was no compromise in the taste though.

Note : I needed more than 6 biscuits for this as the consistency of the dates almond paste was little loose. While adding the biscuit powder, pls. add little by little till you get a pliable dough.

Dates and Almonds Milkshake

Another almond recipe - with one less ingredient from the above. This is a healthy drink with no sugar added. Tastes sweet and delicious.

Ingredients :
Pitted Dates : 8 - 10
Blanched Almonds : 1/2 cup
Milk - 2 cups

Method :
Soak dates and almonds in milk (enough to cover them), for 1 hour. Blend it into a smooth paste in a blender. Add the rest of milk and stir it. Add honey if required. Add some chopped almonds and saffron (optional) and enjoy the milkshake. If you want it to be sweeter, you can add some honey or increase the dates.

I am sending both Almonds and dates sweet and almonds and dates milkshake to
1. JZ's Let's go nuts with Almonds
2. PJ's Tasty bytes for toddlers

Strawberry Lassi, a sweet gesture and awards

When i saw FIC : Pink, i was excited because i love pink and the first thing that came to my mind was strawberry milkshake, but i didn't have whipping cream, so i thought of trying strawberry lassi. I love lassi. When i was in school, my dad used to pick me up from school, if he came early from work. He used to take me to a restaurent near my school and get me chola puri (channa batura) and a tall glass of lassi or falooda. He always took coffee and before he even took his first sip i would be done with my lassi or falooda :) It was always a standard menu for me. I don't think i've ever tried anything other than chola puri in that restaurent :) After coming to u.s, i always order mango lassi everytime we goto an indian restaurent and i love it too..So, i thought of trying lassi with strawberries and they turned out yum! I reduced sugar and used strawberry along with it. The nesquick strawberry syrup is fortified with calcium, so it made me feel less guilty :)
Ingredients :
Strawberries - 10 or 12
Yogurt - 2 cups
Sugar - 2 spoons
Strawberry syrup - 2,3 spoons.



Method :
Chop strawberries and blend it with 1/4th cup of yogurt and little water. Add the rest of yogurt, sugar and strawberry syrup and blend again. Add water to get desired consistency.
I tried to create some pattern with the strawberry syrup and ended up with this (should i call it a modern art?!) . You can see how artistically challenged i am :)
I am sending this to FIC Pink hosted by my dear friend Priya. FIC event was originally started by Harini.
Though the pattern looks vague, i kinda like this picture quite a bit. I am sending this to Magnificent Click contest.

Now to the sweet gesture:
My first son is in 1st grade and they have started accelerated reading program in his class. The kids get 75c for every book they finish and get 100/100 on the tests. It's pretend money and they can buy something from the treasure box they have in class.

My son finished quite a number of books but did not buy anything from his pretend savings and i asked him why. He said he will save them and buy something when he gets $20. He got this dinosaur toy for his little brother for his 2nd birthday along with a snack pack of chocolate chip bears which my little one loves. He didn't buy anything for himself. I was so touched to see his gesture. I am giving Ashu, the 'Nice matters award' that was given to me by my dear friend Raji.

Sweet friends Akal and Pooja gave me the 'Sweet heart' award and i'm giving this to my sweethearts, the new kids in the blogworld - Ashu and my loving niece Janani. Pls. check out their blogs, when you get some time :-)

Pooja also gave me the Onelovely blog and the triple award. Thank you, dear :)