Lunch-Box Ideas: Colorful Dosas ( vegan pancakes & crepes); Blog Anniversary Special!

Today marks two years of blogging for me via Su's Healthy Living. I am not going to go on about how far I have come or how much I have learnt in the process. Yes, all that is true. The only thing I would like to do on this occasion is acknowledge Team DFT, especially Sonal and Shailja for their support and constant encouragement, for being there for me day or night, just a "ping" away, for sharing my ups and downs both from the "real" and " virtual" worlds no matter what time of the day or night!! I also want to acknowledge all my followers, here, on Facebook, on Twitter and on Pinterest. Thank you for your support, guys! Without you, Su's Healthy Living wouldn't be what it is today. If I have touched one person's life, then the purpose of Su's Healthy Living has been served.

I am not bringing you any cakes or desserts to celebrate this occasion. Instead, I am bringing you " Lunchbox Ideas" so that you can feed your children ( and may be even yourselves) a little better! Several of my readers have requested for lunchbox ideas. So, this year onward, you shall see more of those! Stay tuned.

As mothers we always worry if our kids eat enough. We worry if they are eating the right food. We worry if we are feeding them the right food. We especially worry about what they do or do not eat for lunch while in school. It hurts when our kids don't eat what we pack in their lunch boxes , and bring it back home untouched! It hurts when our kids don't eat the meals that we serve them and would rather eat cookies and chips. As mothers we strive to be creative and put together meals that are appealing to our kids while at the same time is healthy too.

India celebrated it's Republic Day on January 26th, 2016. To celebrate this occasion, I decided to make Tricolor Dosas ( pancakes & crepes). Interestingly, my kids helped me make them and also relished them for breakfast and in their lunch-box for school. I was so thrilled that my picky daughter emptied her lunch box and that my son who hates spinach, asked for seconds of the spinach crepes and ate 4 of the them!!

A small clarification here: where I come from in India, all pancakes and crepes are known as "Dosas". The thin ones are like crepes and the thick ones are like pancakes. In India, these are automatically vegan, unless ghee ( clarified butter) has been used to grease the skillet or if the batter has yogurt in it ( in which case, it is specifically mentioned).

Coming back to the dosas, basically I took small amounts of the regular dosa batter ( for which you can find the recipe here), and mixed them with puréed carrots and puréed spinach to get the orange and green dosas, respectively. The batter and purée was used in the ratio of 2:1 but this could be altered as per individual preference. You can use any kind of coconut chutney or cilantro dip to go with it. I used peanut chutney, to increase the protein value of the meal. My kids ate it with honey. You could serve it with jaggery syrup or any pancake syrup too. I am bringing this to Throwback Thursday # 23, Fiesta Friday # 104 and Saucy Saturdays. Angie's co-hosts this week are Mila @ milkandbun and Hilda @ Along The Grapevine.

Servings : makes around 6 dosas.

For recipe for dosa batter click here and here.

Orange (Carrot) dosa:

Ingredients:

Dosa batter: 2 cups
Carrots :2 medium: peeled and chopped.
Water: 1/4 cup
Salt: a pinch
Oil: for greasing the skillet.

Method:

Boil the chopped carrots in 1/4 cup water until tender. Cool it completely.

Purée it by using a hand blender or a regular blender.

Now mix it with 2 cups dosa batter.

Add salt if needed.

Heat the griddle/skillet on medium heat.

Grease the skillet with 1/2 tsp oil.

Add one ladleful of batter and add it to the skillet. Move the batter in a clockwise motion to spread the batter. Do not make it thin.

Cover and cook on low flame for 3-4 mins.

Serve hot with a chutney of your choice.

If packing for lunch, let it cool down completely and then pack .

Green ( spinach) dosa:

Ingredients:

Dosa batter: 2 cups
Chopped spinach: 1 cup ( I used frozen chopped spinach)
Water: 1/4 cup
Salt: a pinch
Oil: for greasing the skillet.

Method:

Boil the chopped spinach in 1/4 cup water for 5-6 minutes. Cool it completely.

Purée it by using a hand blender or a regular blender.

Now mix it with 2 cups dosa batter.

Add salt if needed.

Heat the griddle/skillet on medium heat. Grease the skillet with 1/2 tsp oil.

Add one ladleful of batter and add it to the skillet. Move the batter in a clockwise motion to spread the batter. Do not make it too thin.

Cook on low flame for 3-4 mins. Flip and cook for a minute on the other side.

Serve hot with a chutney of your choice.

If packing for lunch, let it cool down completely and then pack .

I hope your children enjoy this recipe as much as mine did!!

For more lunchbox ideas, just type the keyword "lunch box ideas" in the search box of the site and they will all populate!

Cooking made easy:

You can get creative and use beetroot purée and make red dosas.
You can also make colorful idlis, colorful rice pulao using different colored vegetable purée.

Tip for healthy living:

Try to incorporate as many fruits and vegetables into your children's diet.Inculcate healthy habits .It is recommended to follow the 5210 rule Everyday:
5 or more fruits and vegetables
2 hours or less recreational screen time
1 hour or more of physical activity.
0 sugary drinks, more water and low fat milk.

It is also suggested to keep the television out of the bedroom and NO screen time to children under 2 years of age.

They may not like it now, but they will thank you later, just the way we did to our parents.

References:

http://www.letsgo.org/
http://www.cnpp.usda.gov/dietaryguidelines/
http://www.choosemyplate.gov/