Back To School-7 Healthy Lunch Box Ideas

 (Japanese Bento box-Image courtesy BBC News )

Getting a child to eat his lunch at school and making sure it's also a healthy meal can be a daily nightmare for most parents. A child's lunch plays an important role in meeting their day to day nutrition needs. To know more about the right foods for your child you can read  Is Your Child Getting the Right Nutrition .
Packing a healthy lunch box for a kid isn't always difficult. Sometimes it may not be always possible to pack a balanced meal into a child's lunch box. Just make sure to avoid packing junk food or processed foods like cookies,chips, jello's and such. Here are 7 Healthy lunch box ideas for your child: 

1.  Parathas+ Yogurt+ Salad/Fruit: when made with less oil can become a healthy and filling lunch box favorite. Avoid the frozen commercially packed varieties (which may be more convenient) as they can be too oily. Alternatively (if time is a constraint)you could roll out the parathas in advance and cook them in the morning. Kids love aloo parathas,methi parathas, gobi parathas, radish parathas and even the most fussy kid will devour a broccoli paratha.
2. Sandwiches/Wraps+ Fruit: (Use 100% whole wheat/ double fiber breads,pita breads or whole wheat tortillas/wraps). Fillings can be with the good ole' P&B(Peanut butter) or other nut butters(almond/sunflower/cashew nut,etc), chutney, guacamole, hummus, tofu spreads. You could add freshly cut fruits like bananas, strawberries, peaches  or vegetables like cucumbers, tomatoes, lettuce to the filling or put it as a side. Avoid adding salt/sugar as this could make the sandwiches soggy.Cold cuts of turkey,tuna, eggs, grilled chicken, or cheese slices could also be a filling option for kids
3. Roti's, tortillas,bagels, English muffins (whole wheat)+ egg/paneer/tofu burji(scrambled), chole/rajma(lentil/pulse/bean) curry + salad/fruit.
4. Rice dishes+ low-fat yogurt/Greek yogurt+ fruit/salad. You could make a mixed vegetable pulav, mint/pudina pulav, palak/spinach rice, peas pulav, curd/ yogut rice, egg/chicken fried rice and such.Try adding some pulse/lentil/paneer/tofu/soy nuggets to add some protein to the rice dish. Avoid dishes like khichdi, bisibele bath which are not palatable when eaten cold.
5. Idli/dosa/dhokla + chutney/nut butters+ salad+ Low-fat milk. You could try out different varieties of dosas like adai, pesarattu, neer dosa and idlis like rava, coin, stuffed vegetable idlis.
6. Mixed vegetable upma + low-fat yogurt+ fruit. The upma can be made from rava/semolina, oats, vermicelli poha or dhalia/broken wheat.
7. Noodles, pasta+ salad+ 100% fruit juice. Try adding some mixed vegetables to the noodles/pasta along with chicken/tofu/paneer/egg to increase the fiber and protein content.

Try to be as creative as possible with the foods. Children love fun shapes, so use a cookie cutter to cut the salad vegetables/ fruits. Even sandwiches can be made into different fun shapes with the help of different sandwich cutters. Use desserts as an occasional treat for the kids. Don't make it a habit of giving a sweet drink (juice, flavored milk) on a daily basis.
Take a look at these creative Japanese moms: Japan's Amazing lunchboxes

 Bento Box-Image Courtesy BBC News Magazine

Are you ready for an Oscar Party?

How about throwing an Oscar party?
After Super bowl Sunday, here is another Sunday that will have millions of Oscar fans glued to the TV. This year’s Oscar has all the ingredients for a best seller. Here’s who I am supporting this year:
Best picture-The Descendants, Hugo or Moneyball? My money is on “Moneyball” (as that’s one of the few Brad Pitt movies that actually held my attention) though ‘Hugo’ seems to be a front-runner for the award.
Best actor-hmmm, that’s a tough choice! I would say George Clooney for ‘The Descendants’ (yes, yes-you guessed it right, I am a HUGE Clooney fan!).
Best actress- Meryl Streep for the “The Iron Lady”! I haven’t seen the movie-but let’s face it,the lady is made for the Oscars!
Best animated feature film-Kung Fu Panda 2 or Rango (both were such fun movies).
Best Director- Michel Hazanavicius for daring to be different! ‘The Artist’ is an amazing black and white silent movie set in the Hollywood of the 1920’s.
Get your list ready and you can throw a fun Oscar theme party this Sunday (26th February) while watching it live on T.V. Make it more fun by asking your friends to dress up like their favorite actor/actress from this year’s nominees. To suit the theme, you could put healthy snacks on the menu that Hollywood celebrities eat to stay in shape. Name them after the stars and watch your guests gobble them up without as much as a whimper! Here are some fun (and healthy) snacks for your Oscar party:
1. Katy Perry chicken-the singer loves grilled chicken which is a great party snack. Grilled chicken or even tandoori chicken has all the protein needed to fill up your hungry guests while also being low in fat.
2. Go nuts with Rene Zellweger- the actress included nuts as a part of her weight loss regime to achieve stunning results. Not only are nuts packed with vitamins and minerals, they are also a good source of healthy fats and the protein in it gives a satiety feeling.
3. Jessica Alba smoothie- the 30 year old actress maintains a stunning figure post-pregnancy with frozen yogurts and dried fruits in her diet. Mix some medjool dates and dried figs in some Greek yogurt and make a smoothie for the guests.
4. Jolie sandwich- Angelina Jolie sticks to fish and lean protein to maintain her svelte figure. Make some mini-tuna fish sandwiches (100% whole wheat bread) and put a little toothpick through it and serve as appetizers.
5. Demi Chai-Welcome your guests with Demi Moore’s favorite drink-herbal tea. Not surprising as green tea is also known to rev-up the metabolism. Serve them in stylish shot glasses with a dash of lemon instead of the regular tea cups.
6. Aniston guacamole- Jennifer Aniston loves Mexican food and what can be better than fresh home-made guacamole with baked tortilla chips for a party.
7. Potter Popcorn-Kids love Harry Potter and popcorn. Besides who can resist the smell of fresh popcorn? Make it with half the amount of oil and you have a healthy snack for all.
8. Madonna Mocktail-make your own non-alcoholic drinks with fresh fruits (or 100% juice for those who don’t have the time) and top them with some fruit ice cubes. Kids will love the fruity ice cubes which can be made using some of the blended juice(or the 100% juice) .If possible choose a different coloured fruit for the ice cubes so that it stands out rather than blending with the drink.
9. Brad Pita wraps-a whole grain fan, Brad Pitt makes sure to include whole grains like brown rice, 100% whole wheat breads and wraps in his diet. Use whole wheat pita/roti/tortilla with some grilled chicken/tofu or kidney beans (rajma)/ garbanzo(kabuli channa)beans as a filling with freshly made homemade salsa.
10. Holly dessert- what better dessert to round off the Oscar party than a big bowl of freshly cut fruits? Most Hollywood celebrities can’t do without these sweet treats in their diet-so why should you be an exception? Chop some seasonal fruits and mix a few exotic fruits, try your hand at carving some shapes (or at least use a scooper to make some fun shapes) and you have an eye-catching dessert!
If you want to look like ‘the stars’ you need to learn to ‘eat like one’ too! So, now that you have the theme and the menu for the party, sit back, relax and enjoy, for “the Oscar goes to………”