Announcing "Cooking For Kids- Event"

I saw this show on CNN, FEd Up: America's Killer Diet. I heard this quote from Dr. Sanjay Gupta “…barely one percent of children meet government guidelines for a healthy diet.” If you're searching for a villain in America's obesity epidemic, most nutritionists tell you to put one picture on the wanted poster: a cold, bubbly glass of soda pop.

He talks about this kid, Adrian McHargh who grew up active and skinny in Kingston, Jamaica. An enthusiastic swimmer, he had the pristine waters of the Caribbean for a playground until two years ago, when he and his family moved to America. I would eat a lot because I was bored," he says. "I was sitting on the couch just watching TV, not playing a lot."

Within months, Adrian was in trouble. He'd packed on 30 pounds. Doctors said he had hypertension, high cholesterol and was at high risk for type 2 diabetes.
(Source:CNN)

Kids get carried away by french fries, soda, cookies, chips, juice with high fructose corn syrup. Ready made frozen meals, sugar coated attractive cereals, pizzas and burgers have made it convenient for people from not cooking fresh food. How much freshly prepared food, fruits and veggie servings are included in your kid's diet?

The other day while talking to Kay of One bite at a time, I was telling my concerns about my 4 yr old not eating home cooked food and eats a lot of junk food. She gave me some very innovative ways to make healthy food tasty and attractive.

Now coming to the point, the idea behind starting "Cooking For Kids" event is to cook healthy yet attractive and delicious recipes for kids. We want our kids to be healthy and live a disease free life.



The rules of this event is very simple.

Monthly an Ingredient will be announced by the start of that month and you have to create a recipe with it. The Ingredient can be anything from fruits, vegetables, whole grains, flours, legumes, lentils, dry fruits, herbs, spices, milk, milk products and so on.

1. Prepare a kid friendly recipe with the main ingredient, and post it on your blog from the announced date till 30Th of that month.
2. Send me an e-mail with your Name, a picture of the recipe, perma-link of the recipe and name of your blog to "cookingforkidsevent AT gmail DOT com".
3. Please use “CFK” to denote the subject matter.
4. Also link this event to your entry.
   
   The Ingredient for December month is "Corn". You may use any version of corn. It may be fresh corn, corn flour, creamed corn, baby corn, corn meal or frozen corn.
   Create anything from Soups, Salads, Appitizers, sides, Breakfasts, dinner or desserts.
   
   You can also include information like "sweet corn has significant Antioxidant activity, which can substantially reduce the chance of Heart disease and Cancer.
   
   The deadline for this event will be December 31, 2008. The round-up will be posted by January 5Th 2009. January's ingredient will be announced on the 1st of Jan.
   Please feel free to use the above logo. You can (left)click on the logo to save it.

So get creative and post some yummy recipes!!

Carrot Milk Pudding / Carrot Kheer

Rich and creamy carrot milk pudding is a very easy recipe. It can be prepared and served on any occasion.

Ingredients:

2 cups milk
1 cup fresh grated carrot (or coarsely ground carrot in food processor)
1/2 cup condensed milk
1/3 cup sugar(optional) ( I did not as the condensed milk gives enough sweetness)
2 tbsp Raisins/ sultanas
2 tbsp Cashew nuts
2 tbsp Ghee/clarified butter
2 tbsp unsalted chopped Pistachios
1/4 tsp crushed cardamom

Preparation:

In a small pan fry the cashew nuts and raisins in ghee till golden. Keep aside.
In a heavy-based pan, pour milk and stir over medium heat until it comes to boil.
Reduce the heat and add carrots. Simmer and stir occasionally until the carrot gets cooked.
Add condensed milk (you can add sugar at this point if required)and let it cook for 20 more minutes. When the pudding becomes thick and creamy add cardamom. Remove from heat and add fried cashew nuts and raisins. Garnish with pistachios and serve warm.

This goes to JFI- Carrots hosted by The Cooker.

POM Salsa

Pomegranate Salsa is a great combination with whole grain tortilla chips. I mixed up a bunch of other fruits along with it to make a delicious hot, sweet and sour salsa.



Serves 4 people
Ingredients:

1 cup fresh POM pomegranates
1/2 cup chopped red onions
1/3 cup diced apples
1/3 cup diced mangoes
1/3 cup diced tomatoes
1tbsp olive oil
2-3 tbsp lemon juice
1 chopped Jalapeno pepper
2 tbsp fresh chopped cilantro
salt and pepper as per requirement





Preparation:

Mix up the pomegranates, mangoes, apples, onions, tomatoes and fresh cilantro in a bowl. Season it with lemon juice, olive oil, Jalapeno pepper, salt and crushed peppercorns. Toss them all together gently and chill in the refrigerator for sometime before serving. Serve with whole grain tortilla chips.

I am sending this to POM Wonderful Contest and Foodie Blogroll contests hosted by The Leftover Queen.

This also goes to Vegan Ventures-2 by Suganya