Category: easy recipe

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Indian Flatbread Recipe

The other day our family made some Indian food. We love to cook together as a family. Now that the kids are turning into teenagers I find it is an important task for me as a parent to teach them how to prepare food. I can’t help but have these horror-images of the children moving away when they go to college living on junkfood and instant soups. They may still end up living that way but as  parent I feel I must at least try to give them the skill set to cook and take good care of themselves…Right?

Our son loves hot food. Our daughter not so much…

But she really enjoyed making Indian flatbreads we served with the chicken dish we prepared. It’s kind of funny how people on the other side of the world came up with a type of bread that is a lot like tortillas made in the Americas…Since my husband is part Mexican we eat a lot of tortillas in this household. So we were really excited to try Naan.

naan

 

You don’t need very many ingredients to make Naan.  All it takes is 4 different items and a bit of time to rest the dough. That’s always a tough one. Who has time in this fast-paced life? But we try to make time on weekends for our cooking adventures together.

Ingredients:

3-4 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

2 cups plain low-fat yoghurt

How to make it?

Step #1  Combine all the dry ingredients and mix them together well.

Step #2 Slowly pour in the two cups of yoghurt and stir it until the dough stiffens. When you can’t stir it any more it’s time to knead the dough with your hands. We first worked it into a big ball inside the bowl.

Step#3 Dump out the ball of dough and knead it into a nice stretchy consistency. It shouldn’t be too wet nor too dry.

Step#4 Put a touch of oil in the bowl and put the dough back in the bowl. Roll the dough around in the oil. Cover with a towel and let it reast for one hour or more if you have time…

Step#5 Shape the dough into 10-12 even little balls. Depending on how much flour you use you get more or less bread…

Step#6 Roll out the little balls and shape them into thin flatbreads. We made ours round and of about 1/4 inch thickness. But I remember seeing them in Indian restaurants looking kind of rectangular.

Step#7 Put the flatbread one bread at a time in castiron skillet on the stovetop. Brown it on one side for a minute or two then flip it over and do the other side. Put your flatbread in the oven under the broiler. Leave there until the breads puff up then remove and put in a basket with a dishcloth in it.

This bread is so yummy. It has a slightly sour taste from the yoghurt. And guess what? There was none of Naan left after dinner.

 

Print
Naan Indian Flatbread
Prep Time
20 mins
Cook Time
10 mins
Total Time
1 hr 30 mins
 

This bread is so yummy. It has a slightly sour taste from the yogurt.

Course: Side Dish
Cuisine: Indian
Author: GermanDolls for NaturalKidsTeam.com
Ingredients
  • 3-4 cups flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 2 cups yogurt plain low-fat
Instructions

  1. Combine all the dry ingredients and mix them together well.

  2. Slowly pour in the two cups of yogurt and stir it until the dough stiffens. When you can't stir it any more it's time to knead the dough with your hands. We first worked it into a big ball inside the bowl.

  3. Dump out the ball of dough and knead it into a nice stretchy consistency. It shouldn't be too wet nor too dry.

  4. Put a touch of oil in the bowl and put the dough back in the bowl. Roll the dough around in the oil. Cover with a towel and let it rest for one hour or more if you have time...

  5. Shape the dough into 10-12 even little balls. Depending on how much flour you use you get more or less bread...

  6. Roll out the little balls and shape them into thin flat-breads. We made ours round and of about 1/4 inch thickness. But I remember seeing them in Indian restaurants looking kind of rectangular.

  7. Put the flatbread one bread at a time in cast iron skillet on the stove top. Brown it on one side for a minute or two then flip it over and do the other side. Put your flatbread in the oven under the broiler. Leave there until the breads puff up then remove and put in a basket with a dishcloth in it.

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~ The ”Yummy” soft center CHocOlate cake ~

Let me share with you a simple dessert today !! It’s been so long since I haven’t made this recipe yet it is so simple and delicious.

I made  it for Valentine last week and we were all awww over it !!

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What you will need:

~ 4 squares of dark chocolate

~3 eggs

~ 2 egg yokes

~ 4 tablespoons of cane sugar

~ 1/3 cup of spelt flour

Here we go…

~ Butter 4 ramekins.

~ Beat the eggs with 3 tsp. of sugar until the volume doubles.

~ Melt the chocolate in a bain marie.

~ Pour the melted chocolate into the beaten eggs mixture.

~ Add 1/3 cup flour, and mix delicately until you obtain a smooth texture.

~ Pour into the buttered ramekins.

~ Put into the oven for 12 minutes at 3750 degrees.

{ note: The center of the cake must be ”soft” , don’t overcook  !! }

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~Humm…chocolate while melting in the bain marie …at this point it’s hard to resist tasting…but it’s worth it, be strong my friends !!

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~ Starting to blend everything together ~

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 ~ Ta Da-a-a-a !!!!!!!!!!!!

There you go …it’s now time for my favorite part…Enjoy your chocolate cake !!

~Julie

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Farm Fresh Eggs Breakfast

Please enjoy this recipe sent in by Natural Kids Team Member Wendy from Birchleaf Designs. It sounds really yummy. Maybe I can get some eggs from the farms around here to make it.
—————————————————————-
Here on the BirchLeaf Farm, our chickens are laying eggs  like crazy…even in this cold, cold weather!
Go Ladies Go!
When we have an over abundance of eggs, we like to bake  up this tasty lil’ breakfast dish:
Egg Cake
10 eggs (beaten)
1 1/2 cup flour
2 Tsp baking powder
4 Tbl butter
1/2 cup milk
little bit of sweetener (optional)
Beat eggs in a bowl, add flour and baking powder and mix  well. In a small pan, heat up butter, milk and optional sweetener – we do not  add sweetener because we like to add maple syrup on top when  eating!
Take heated mixture and gently fold into the egg/flour  mix. Pour into a greased and floured 9×13″ baking pan. Bake at 375 for about 25  minutes or until golden brown.
Serve while hot and add your favorite toppings! We like  to add maple syrup and blueberries, but the options are limitless!
Enjoy!
Love,
Wendy

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Sugarfree Granola Bars

This lovely recipe was sent in by new NaturalKids team member Rachel from LittleWoodlanders on Etsy. Please go visit her shop and check out the cool toys she creates.

Her recipe looks really yummy, and I am hoping to try it with my kids very soon.

 

Sugar Free Granola Bars

 We love this sugar free, healthy recipe, packed with goodness!

 We make these about once a week, and on these days, I’m happy for my kids to snack on them as much as they like, or have them for lunch!

Recipe:

3 cups oats (ground in blender or food processor)
2/3 cup dessicated coconut (ground in blender or food processor)
1 1/2 cup raisins (pureed) with a splash of juice or milk to help it puree
1/2c (120g) butter
1.  Whizz up the oats and coconut, and then the raisins, in a blender or food processor.

 2.  Mix all together, press into greased pan to about 1/4 inch thick (one cm). I use a metal pan approximately 11” x 10”.

3.  Cook about 12 minutes on 400F/Gas 6/200C

4.  Cut into bars and let them cool, they’re less likely to fall apart.

They keep a few days left out in a tupperware, but I usually freeze them as soon as they’re cooled, and leave out enough for a day or two.

The trick to getting them to stay together is blending up the oats, coconut, and raisins.  This smooth consistency keeps them from falling apart easily.

 

 

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Make it yourself: Toothpaste

One of the reason I hated to brush my teeth as a kid was the taste. Synthetic mint that leaves your mouth almost burned and aseptic never felt good to me, and the huge toothbrush made me gag (I’m still using kid sized one, I have a little mouth!). I stumbled upon a recipe for homemade toothpaste on pinterest once and tried it that very night after. After making it several times and adjusting it to my taste, I have for you my somewhat “final” recipe. It’s VERY easy to make, you’ll see!

You need:

  • A tea spoon of baking soda
  • 2 tea spoon of coconut oil
  • 2-3 tea spoon of cinnamon, or cinnamon essential oil (add drops to your taste), or mint oil, whatever fits your taste.

You mix with a fork and it’s really do use!

It seems a little but for my 4 person family it last a week. You don’t need lot on your brush. You get used really fast to the texture and salty taste.

And your teeth feel clean afterwards, without the aggressive aftertaste of commercial products. You can add stevia powder for remineralization of the teeth.

Of course there are some people who don’t agree with making your own toothpaste, so please inform yourself to make an informed choice if you want to use it.

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Make it Yourself: Homemade Organic Nutella

My mom seldom bought Nutella; it was (and still is) quite expensive and not very healthy (beside what they claim in their ads). We only had it when in was on sale and it was a real treat! When I started living by myself and buying what I wanted I often bought a jar; I loved it on my bagels…But soon I found that eating that often made me grumpy and weird…Too much sugar and fat intake, so I stopped buying it and said goodbye to chocolate spread, until I was at my mom and stumble upon a TV show about dessert. Here’s the recipe the guy proposed:

What you need:

  • 2 cups of Hazelnuts*
  • ½ cup of icing sugar
  • ½ cup of cocoa
  • 2 table spoon of hazelnut oil (sunflower, canola, even olive oil could work)
  • 1 table spoon of vanilla extract

What you do:

  1. On a cookie sheet, evenly spread hazelnuts and put them in the oven to roast at 400F for about 8 min. Check them often it roast fast!
  2. Let them cool and take out the shells by scrubbing them together.
  3. Place them in a robot and crush them for 5 min, until it start to look like butter.
  4. Add the rest of the ingredient and mix them for as long as it takes for you to like the texture. Some like it more crunchy, some like it more smooth.
  5. Slice a piece of bread and spread your newly made butter on it.
  6. Enjoy!

There are variation of this recipe that contains milk or dried powder milk products to make it more like the store-bought thing but I tend to make the recipe more simple. We tend to use organic ingredients.

* I had a friend make it by replacing the hazelnut by almond for her allergic daughter and they found it very good as well.  I guess any kind of nuts would work.

I suggest keeping it in your fridge since they’re no preservative. I usually double the recipe and it last us about a week.

It is SO good on toast, untoasted bread, fruits. It relatively takes no time to make and is so easy to offer in a pretty jar. The kids can help measuring and dumping the ingredients in the robot and will lick the spoon afterwards.

 

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No Sugar Carob Fudge

What a chalenge to find a great little ” sugary tasting”  treat for you and your family ! Well lately a friend of mine introduced me to  this special caroub fudge and what a suprise for me to find that it is Deliiiiciouuss !! I thought that  sharing this  with you would be a great idea… it is a creative recipe and soOoo easy to make !!

 

 

What you will need:

~ 2 tablespoons of sunflower oil

~ 2 cups of unsweetened carob chips

~2/3 cup of peanut butter

~1/2 cup of coconut

~1/3 cup of walnuts

~1/2 cup of dry raisins

~1 tsp. of vanilla

 

 

Place the carob, peanut butter and oil in a pan at  low temperature, stirring constantly just until smooth. This will give you a great “chocolate” color…it already looks delicious !!
Then add the remaining ingredients and mix well.
Spread out in a greased  8 x 8 square pan and refrigerate for at least 2 hrs. Then cut in squares or as you desire.
Keep them in the refrigerator or you could also freeze the balance for unexpected sweet cravings…
**  I do find that the fudge is hard to cut in perfect square…but it is still as good 🙂 **
Note:  With the basic recipe (carob, peanut butter and oil) you can create so many different variations of this recipe…why not use your favorite nuts, some popped quinoa, cranberry or even some spices..the sky is the limit 🙂
Enjoy !!!!
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Recipe: Veggies Kids Love

My kids’ school had a carnival last Friday. One classroom organized  the game Family Feud. The children from this Fourth Grade classroom had surveyed 100 children from their elementary school about what food they disliked most at dinnertime. Guess what was the top answer? Veggies came in as the top answer once again. 47 kids said they hated veggies. Second came fish. And the third most unpopular food item was bananas.

It really depressed me to see that. How do we change the negative image of vegetables and get children to enjoy and actually  love vegetables and healthy nutrious foods?

I have a recipe for string beans that my kids would eat every single day if I made it for them. They love it so much. Maybe you can give it a try too.

 

 

Green Beans with Mustard Dressing

  • 1 1/2 pound of fresh green bean, washed trimmed
  • 3-4  tablespoons raspberry vinegar
  • 1/3 cup oliveoil
  • 1 clove garlic
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground mustard
  • 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
  • 1 teaspoon honey
  • pepper and salt to taste

 

Steam the green beans in some water until cooked but still a bit firm with a bite to them. You can give them a quick bath in icewater to retain their pretty green color after they are cooked.

While the beans are cooking, whisk the other ingredients together to make this delightful mustard dressing. It takes all but 5 minutes to put together. You can also use it as a regular salad dressing.

My kids like to eat heaps and heaps of green beans prepared way. They ask for seconds and thirds when I make them as a side dish! I supposed nobody asked them when doing that survey…

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Recipe: Making Spaetzle, German Egg Noodles, with Kids

My childrens’ favorite food in whole wide world is “Spaetzle”. When I mention the word Spaetzle they jump for joy and want to help make them. That is a good thing because though easy to make they are a bit labor intensive.

My kids are 11 and 13 now. I first let them help with this task when they were around 8 years old since the process involves dropping noodles into boiling water…

The greatest thing about Spaetzle is that you don’t need many ingredients

  • eggs
  • water
  • salt

It’s really that simple. I was once told by a Schwaebian guy (Schwabenland is where these type of noodles originate from – the southern parts of Germany) that the true Schwaebian housewife uses no water – just eggs – to make Spaetzle. But who can afford this many eggs or that much cholesterol?

So I usually go with about 500- 600g of flour, 1/8 of a liter of water, 1 teaspoon of salt, and as many eggs as it takes to work the flour into a dough that can be stirred with a wooden spoon. Not too liquid not too hard. You don’t want any lumps.

While the whole family takes turns stirring the dough and working it into a smooth dough one must bring a large pot of water to boil. The pot needs to filled almost to the brim, maybe leave about an inch less. Then put a batch of the dough on a cutting board. My kids like to take turns cutting noodles with a knife and scraping bits of dough into the boiling water. Once that batch is cut and all of the noodles float to the top you scoop them out with a slotted spoon into a colander. We give them a quick rinse over the sink and then safe them in another bowl.

These German egg noodles are great as a side dish with any fancy dinner. But they can also stand by themselves as a dish layered in a casserole pan with some caramelized onions and Jarlsberg cheese. In this version they are called “Kaesespaetzle”. People partial towards meat can add some bits of ham or sausage. They are also super in chicken noodle soup. Just cut the noodles straight into your chicken stock. It will cure any patient in your household quickly!

PS:  In case you wondered what Spaetzle means: Spatz is the German word for sparrow, adding the -le at the end is how southern Germans create the diminutive version of a noun. Spaetzle means little sparrow. 😉