Summer time and Popsicles are inseparable. Simple joys of life is what I say! A sense of happiness, coolness, liveliness, and all that goodness bundled on a stick! Not to mention all the pleasing colors and flavors (of your choice) will definitely bring out the happy child in you. As summer holidays kicks in this season, what better way to start treating kids than a healthy fruity popsicle(s)? You may see many such colorful additions on my blog this season.

I am not an ice cream or a popsicle person (yes call me weirdo :)), but I take immense pleasure when I watch people enjoy it! Though these days I have taken a liking for eating Godiva and Magnums ice cream bars a lot!


My kid is a crazy fan of popsicles. Any day better than other calorie loaded sweet treats. So thought of kickstarting it with watermelon berries popsicles. Watermelons have become synonymous with summer and picnics, and for a good reason. Their refreshing quality and sweet taste help to combat the heat and also provide a guilt-free, low maintenance dessert for kids and adults alike to enjoy. One of the easiest treats one can make for their kids :)

So here we go to check the recipe:

Ingredients:

• 2 cups watermelon roughly chopped
• 2 tbsp yogurt (dahi)* 
• 1/2 cup berries (took black and blue berries half and half)
• 2 tbsp honey (or add 1 tbsp sugar as per your taste)*

Preparation:

• Blend all the ingredients together. (pour it over a sieve to take out any coarseness or seeds)
• Fill 3/4th of the popsicle mold.
• Add 4-5 whole blueberries in the molds.
• Freeze it for a couple of hours till it is set and ready to eat. 

njoY!! happY cookinG!!

notes:* adjust the quantity of honey(sugar) depending on how sweet you want and also the sweetness of fruits that you are using. You can also substitute any ice cream in place of yogurt.

Health Benefits: Watermelon is considered as a nutrient dense food, a food that provides a high amount of vitamins, minerals and antioxidants for a low amount of calories. Watermelon, because of its water and fiber content, helps to prevent constipation and promote regularity for a healthy digestive tract. Made up of 92% water and full of important electrolytes, watermelon is a great snack to have on hand during the hot summer months to prevent dehydration.


Blueberries are believed to contain the highest antioxidant capacity of all commonly consumed fruits and vegetables. Low in calorie and high in nutrients, who doesn't want that in this diet conscious era:) They are so good for our health that just add it in your cereals, pancakes or just munch on it! But get it in your system :)

Many names and one magical sweet dish that melts in the mouth. Holi, festival of colors and Puran Poli go hand in hand, it is a must to do dish during this festival in the state of Maharashtra. It is offered into the fire which is lit for Holika Dahan and after that everyone gets to eat and enjoy it. It is a fun dish and one may need a little practice to roll out these stuffed polis. It basically contains 2 parts, puran(huran) the stuffing (chana dal/jaggery mixture) and all-purpose flour dough called kanik. It feels like an accomplishment when you make these polis successfully :)
Let's quickly check the recipe:

Ingredients:

• 1 cup chana dal
• 1 cup jaggery (grated)
• 1 cup all-purpose flour (maida)
• 2 tbsp whole wheat flour
• 1/2 tsp turmeric powder (haldi)
• 4 tbsp Oil (vegetable)
• 1 tsp cardamom powder

These Boondi or Bundi ladoos are the most beautiful looking ladoos that are there in the market. That light yellow /orange color makes it look so beautiful and festive! It is a collection of tiny pearly balls of gram flour, first fried then dipped in sugar syrup and then rolled into a ladoo. Boondi ladoo is a very delicious treat and is seen served on almost every joyous ocassion in India.

Never in my wildest dreams, I thought that one day I would be making this treat in my kitchen! I always thought it is a difficult dessert to make. No one made these back at home either, we always got it from the store and have eaten plenty at weddings and pooja ceremonies :)


But one day I simply pulled up my socks, said a small prayer in my mind and started making these goodies. To my surprise, they came out so good that my joy had no bounds! From then on there was no looking back. I look forward to make boondi ladoos every Diwali festival. Another reason to learn this exotic ladoos was my son, yes, he saw boondi ladoos from that Krishna animation series and wanted to have it along with rasagulla, sandesh, and besan ladoos :) Thanks to that series, my kid pushed me to do the needful and I couldn't be more happier with the end results!!

This recipe is adapted from manjulas kitchen site.

Let us take a look at the recipe:


Ingredients:

• 1 cup gram flour (besan)
• 1/2 cup + 1 tablespoon water adjust as needed
• 1 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 cup water
• 1 tablespoon sliced almonds
• 5 green cardamom pods crushed
• Oil to deep fry

Preparation:

• Add the water and sugar in a saucepan and bring to a boil on medium-high heat. When the syrup comes to a boil, turn the heat down to medium and stir to dissolve the sugar. Let it simmer until the syrup is about half thread consistency.
• Mix the gram flour with water to make a smooth pancake-like batter or slightly thicker than dosa batter. You can test by pouring little batter on a perforated ladle(which we use to serve rice) and see drops of batter coming out. If it is runny you will have to add little more besan, if it's too thick add little more water to the batter.
• Heat the oil in a frying pan on medium high heat. The frying pan should have at least 1 1/2 inches of oil. To test if the oil is the right temperature, drop a pinch of batter into the oil, if it rises immediately without changing the color then the oil is ready to start frying the boondi.
• Hold the skimmer(perforated ladle) about 1 to 1 1/2 inches above the oil over the center of the frying pan with one hand. With your other hand pour some of the batter onto the skimmer to cover all of the holes without spilling over the edge of the skimmer. If you hold the skimmer higher than 1 1/2 inches above the oil boondi will not be round.

• The batter will start dropping through the holes into the oil. Drop enough boondi into the oil so they just cover the surface of the oil in frying pan in a single layer
• Fry them until the sound of sizzling stops and boondis are light gold in color but not crispy. Lift the boondi out of the oil with a slotted spoon (this allows excess oil to drip back into the frying pan) and put them directly into the warm syrup and mix.
• Before making the next batch of boondi, wipe clean the skimmer. This helps to keep the boondi round.
• Repeat the process of making boondi and adding to the syrup with rest of the batter. You may have to adjust the heat in between making boondis.
• When finished frying the boondi, let them soak in the syrup for few minutes.
• Add the crushed cardamom seeds and sliced almonds to the syrup.
• Now drain off the excess syrup.
• If the boondis are still hot, let them sit only until they are warm enough to handle  but don’t let them to cool off. If the boondis become cold you will not be able to form them into ladoos.
• Grease your hands with some ghee, to make the ladoos, scoop up some of the boondi mixture into your palm with a spoon. Gently squeeze the mixture between both palms to shape into a round ball about the size of a golf ball. As you are squeezing some of the syrup will come out. Dont worry about it.
• Repeat the process till all the boondi is used up to make ladoos.
• As the ladoos cool to room temperature they will become firm but they should still be moist.
• Serve it as a dessert or snack.

When I think of burfi, the first thing that comes to my mind is oozing ghee, sugar and maybe khoya, besan etc.. But this particular burfi has no such thing, just plain main healthy ingredients. You will want to keep this in your pantry to chomp off whenever you will have a sugar craving :) and go guilt free :) It is more like an energy bite which will calm your sugar cravings too. Win Win situation!

So not wasting any more time here, am going straight to the recipe details!


Let us take a look at the Dates and Figs Burfi (Energy Bites) recipe.


      Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups dry figs 
• 1 cup dates 
• 2 tbsp ghee 
• 1/2 cup sugar(optional) 
• 10 cashews (roughly chopped) 
• 10 pistachios (roughly chopped) 

Preparation:

• Soak dates in hot water and keep aside for 10 minutes. Then cut dates finely with a knife. 
• In a processor grind figs. 
• Take a pan and warm ghee in it, now add the figs and saute on medium flame for around 6-7 minutes.  
• Add the dates and sugar if you need that extra nice sweet taste and saute till it leaves ghee at the side of the pan (like 5 more minutes) 
• Add the chopped nuts and mix everything well. 
• Grease a tray or plate with ghee or on a wax parchment sheet, add this mixture, spread it evenly with a flat spoon. 
• Refrigerate for 10 minutes, cut into desired shaped pieces and keep it back in the refrigerator for an hour. 
• You can roll it into bite size balls too. Get creative and give your own twist :)

njoy!! happY cookinG!!


Health Benefits: Figs are a good source of potassium, a mineral that helps to control blood pressure. Very good source of fibre, magnesium, vitamin b6 and copper. Good news is dry figs are available easily in the market. 


Dates: again high in dietary fiber helps prevent LDL (bad) cholesterol. Good content of iron, potassium, B-vitamins along with vitamin A(for eyes, skin), Vitamin K(for bones).

I always get fascinated looking at the freshly baked goodies whenever I visit grocery stores and bakeries. The aroma that lingers around these goodies is awesome. Brings in so much of warmth and happiness. I start baking hysterically once in a while, for no particular reason :)
Also the season of holidays gets me inspired to bake the goodies and I get comfortable doing so!

Here are some freshly baked oats cookies loaded with apple sauce, apples cubes and walnuts. Yummy in everyone's tummy :) Ingredient line up is healthy and outcome is very delicious too.  Its chewy and soft. One of the healthiest cookies that's out there, if your kids fall for this, there is no second thought. Just put this recipe on a repeat mode. It is a winner recipe.






I have already made it thrice and thanks to sallys baking addiction blog. She tried it few times to get a correct measurement for this recipe. I try to tweak it every time I make by just adding extra nuts or switch the main fruit that goes in it. Like once I added small chunks of persimmon fruit. I also added cranberries. So you can play with it once you get a hang of it.

One cup of milk and 2 oats cookies will make SantaClaus happy too :) What say? :)

Let us take a look at the recipe of Apple Walnuts Oatmeal Cookies.



Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 cup unsalted butter, melted
• 1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 3/4 cup packed dark or light brown sugar (or white granulated sugar)
• 1 large egg, at room temperature
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup finely diced apple 
• 1/4 cup chopped walnuts

Either take the following ingredients 

• 1 cup old-fashioned whole rolled oats
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

OR

• 1 cup of ready to make Maple or Apple Cinnamon flavored 3 min Oatmeal packets.

• Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. Set aside.
• Whisk the oats, flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon- together in a large bowl.
• Whisk the butter, applesauce, brown sugar(or white sugar) together until combined. Then whisk in the egg and vanilla. Pour the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and whisk until just combined. Fold in the apples and walnuts. The cookie dough will be thick and sticky.
• Using a medium cookie scoop or a spoon, scoop cookie dough into balls (about 2 Tbsp of dough each) and place 2 inches apart on the cookie sheet. Slightly flatten the balls out- as the cookies won't spread much.
• Bake for 17-18 minutes or until lightly browned and set on the edges. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 10 minutes on the cookie sheets.
• Enjoy with a nice cup of hot cocoa or milk or Tea.