My daughter is asking for noodles and I need to whip up something fast and get some veggies and fat in as well. So, I made a quick and simple noodles dish with peas that she loved. I used Rice Vermicelli for this dish. This is a Gluten-free recipe. If you need it dairy-free, substitute Olive oil for butter.

Rice noodles with peas

• Rice noodles 1 cup
• Peas 1/4 cup
• Butter 1 tbsp
• Salt & Pepper

Procedure

Heat water to a rolling boil and add noodles, peas and a pinch of salt. Cook on high till the noodles are soft. Drain the water out with a seive. Mix in the butter and a pinch of salt and pepper to your noodles and peas. Your quick and easy noodles dish is ready.

Prep Time 10 mins

Mac&Cheese with Tomato

• Elbow macaroni    1 cup
• Medium tomato    1
• Hot Milk     1/2 cup
• Sharp cheddar cheese   3 slices
• Garlic      1 pinch
• Butter     1 tbsp
• Salt  to taste

Procedure

Cook macaroni in boiling water and salt until soft. I cook it softer than the package direction for the todlers. Drain it and keep aside.

Grind sliced tomato and garlic to a smooth paste. Place it in a glass bowl (that is both microwave and oven safe) with some salt and microwave it on high for 2-3 minutes. Mix this paste, milk, butter and small peices of sliced cheese with the cooked macaroni. Bake it for 10 minutes at 350 degrees. Your yummy mac and cheese is ready.

Prep time: 30 minutes

I made this with rice vermicelli that I found in Indian store. This is an asian vermicelli, thicker than the regular Indian fare. Big hit with my 2 year old.

Rice Vermicelli

Ingredients

• Rice vermicelli – 2 cups
• Broccoli – 1/2 cup
• Oil – 1 tbsp
• Salt and pepper

Brocolli Vermicelli

Procedure

Break vermicelli and cook in boiling water and salt, just like you cook pasta. Cook it until desired softness, drain, sprinkle oil and keep aside.

Steam broccoli florets until tender and chop them into fine pieces. Add oil to the skillet and add broccoli, salt and pepper. Fry this for 2 minutes and add it into the cooked vermicelli. Tasty broccoli vermicelli is ready.

Just an update to every one that Urvi has out grown her allergies. She still shows some flares once in a while, but she is eating grains, dairy and almost everything with out any issues! I no longer need to send boxed lunches for her daycare. Yeah!

So there is hope for everyone and miracles do happen.

Here is a recipe for a noodle dish which is gluten-free and dairy free. I used the Pad Thai style noodles I got from whole foods. My LO loved it. This is her first taste of any kind of noodles or pasta and she has already learned to suck in the strings!

Ingredients

• Rice noodles 1/2 cup
• Onion chopped 1 tbsp
• Green beans cut 2 tbsp
• Carrots cubed 2 tbsp
• Zucchini cubed 2tbsp
• Egg beaten 1/2 (If desired)
• Olive oil 1 tbsp

Procedure

Break noodles into easier to handle size for your kid. Add noodles and a pinch of salt to boiling water and let it boil for 1 minute or until it is to your desired texture. Drain and wash with cold water. Note that rice noodles become mushy very fast, so don’t let them boil too long.

This is a stir fry method. Heat oil in a non-stick pan and add the vegetables. Add salt and let them cook until tender. Add beaten egg and stir it until it becomes scrambled. Add noodles and stir for a minute. Serve it warm.

You can use other vegetables like baby corn, boy choy, spring onions, etc.

Calories: 240

Ingredients

• Rice coarsely ground – 1/4 cup
• Carrots grated (or any vegetable) – 1/4 piece
• Water – 3 cups
• Salt
• Olive oil – 1 tbsp
• Seasonings (red chillies, curry leaves) if desired

Ground rice

Procedure

Heat oil in a skillet and add seasonings if desired. I normally remove the red chillies and curry leaves after they are fries in the oil. Add the grated carrots in this oil and let it cook for a few seconds before adding the water and salt. When the water starts boiling, slowly add ground rice while stirring. Cook this covered on a low flame, stirring it occassionally, until it is thick enough to your desire. This will take atleast 15 minutes.

Calories: 276

Rice & carrot porridge

This is a traditional tamilnadu recipe that I learned from my MIL. This is naturally gluten, dairy and egg-free. Since this is for kids, I cut down on number of seasonings used (like mustard seeds, urad dal). Most kids may take the seasonings too. Mine is okay with red chillies and curry leaves, so I add them. She is allergic to urad dal, so I cut it out.

Ingredients

• Rice uncooked – 1/4 cup
• Water - 1 cup
• Olive oil – 1 tbsp
• Red chillies, curry leaves, mustard seeds, urad dal for seasoning

Procedure

Wash rice and speard it on a paper towel for it to absorb the water. Grind this rice till it is coarsely ground. It shouldn’t be too coarse or too fine like the flour. May be like upma rava.

Heat oil in a non-stick pan and add the seasonings. After they splutter, I generally take off red chillies and curry leaves. Add water and salt to your taste. After the water boils, add the ground rice little at a time while stirring. Let this cook on a medium flame. Keep stirring and it is done when it becomes thick enough to make balls out of it (like Upma).

When this cools down, make it into little balls, pile them in a plate (or idli plate) and steam them. Your hot kozhakattai are ready.

You can add about 3 tbsps of toor dal along with rice for grinding, for variety and to spike up the protien. If you add toor dal, don’t forget to add 4 times that amount of water more.

Also, you can add a little of your (I mean your LO’s) favorite vegetable, grated, to this along with ground rice.

Calories for plain kozhakattai: 208

I had been trying to come up with a way to make soft fluffy omlette without adding milk in it. Without milk the omlette will generally end up being a little stiff and my LO doesn’t like it much. I figured that adding banana will make it super soft and increase its calorie content too. This particular omlette can be made sweet or salty or add 3 tbsp of rice flour and you can make good pancakes. As always this is Gluten and Dairy free.

Ingredients

• Large egg 1
• Banana 1/4
• Sugar 1 tbsp
• Olive oil 1 tbsp

Procedure

Beat egg, 1/2 tbsp oil and sugar together. If you are making the pancakes, mix rice flour now. Mix in mashed banana.  Spread it evenly on a oiled skillet. Cook it on a medium flame covered until the omlette is stiff enough to be turned over. Cook it for few more seconds and your fluffy omlette is ready.

This omlette is a favorite with my LO and the only way she will eat the egg! You can add a pinch of salt instead of sugar to make it less sweet or for variety. Oh yeah! They want variety!

Calories with sugar: 250

Calories with salt: 215

Here is a recipe for making patties with your left over rice and vegetables at hand. This is a gluten-free and dairy free recipe. I make then into bite size patties, so my one year old loves these. If you have older kids, you can turn these into burger (ofcourse using gluten-free bread) patties too.

Ingredients

• Cooked rice: 1/4 cup
• Baked poato medium 1/2
• Egg beaten 3 tbsp
• vegetables grated (beans, carrots, peas, zuchini, bottle gaurd, etc) 2 tbsp
• salt to taste
• Pepper if desired
• oil – 2 tbsp

Procedure

Mash rice, potato, vegetables and salt together. Add egg and mix it together. Make these into bite size patties. Fry them in a lightly oiled pan on medium heat. Fry them till they are golden brown.

Choose vegetables that your little one is not allergic to. Mine is allergic to Bottle gaurd so I avoid it. You can substitue potato with sweet potato to make it a little sweeter.

Number of servings: 3

Calories per serving: 122

Alright! Here is my own recipe for a dosa for moms who want to make one for kids who are allergic to Urad dal (or any dal for tha matter)! This recipe is a hybrid of traditional neer dosa (of karnataka) and Appam (of Kerala).

Ingredients

• White Rice: 1/4 cup
• Banana: quarter of very ripe one
• Sugar: 2 tsp
• Olive oil (or butter) - 1 tbsp

Procedure

Soak rice for atleast 2 hours. Grind this rice in a blender with enough watre to make it very smooth. Add sugar and banana and blend it well. Add 1/4 cup of water to this paste and your dosa batter is ready.

Heat a dosa pan or a non-stick skillet. Prime it with oil and pour the batter with a laddle so that it spreads evenly. There will be holes in the middle. Put some more oil along the edges and in the holes. Heat this on medium heat, and by turning around. If it is for toddlers, make sure you dont make it crisp.

Serving size: 1 dosa

Number of servings: 4

Calories: 112