Back to School with Herb Infused Bread Toast

As school children head back to school, the routine gets a bit chaotic for the whole family. After long summer holidays its hard to be on schedule, not only for small kids but also for older kids. The first thing which stresses out parents is to think about healthy snacks and lunch for their children. My motto all these years for my daughter is to "Keep it simple". If you give too many choices, they are definitely going to bring back half the lunch untouched.  

  There are cafeterias and vending machines in  almost all high schools. Apparently, a lot is  going on in Richmond about feeding healthy diet in schools  but still  there are french fries, pizza, chicken nuggets etc at the cafeteria. However, there are things which we can do and ensure our kids are not tempted to buy  more from school. I have a policy of making sure that my daughter eats a wholesome breakfast and dinner. Every school has a short recess before lunch so I let my daughter  have  a snack of her choice. It is difficult to make your high schooler to eat healthy but my  experience tells me that it is possible if you are willing to do. You just have to plan ahead and be creative. Most children are picky eaters. I involve my daughter in deciding what she would  like to have and what I can add into it. Sandwiches are a popular choice for a quick school lunch. I chose whole grain bread, and add healthy toppings of my daughter's choice. Some days I especially make something for her or save some leftovers from dinner.

   It is a well established fact that performance of children is affected if the morning meal is skipped. If you are a working mom, it is even harder to make a gala breakfast other than oatmeal, PB&J or bread with butter.  There are also a variety of breakfast cereals but  they have loads of sugar in it.

    On the first day of my daughter's school I made this herb infused pan toasted bread for breakfast. The herb used in this oil is fenugreek, which is very common in Indian homes and it has a very nice aroma. I have infused this herb and garlic in olive oil a night before.

HERB INFUSED BREAD TOAST
Ingredients:
6 tbsp olive oil
2 tsp kasuri methi (dry fenugreek leaves)
1-2 garlic clove
salt for seasoning.

Method: 
1. Chop garlic very fine. Mix it in olive oil with kasuri methi.

                                              the bread you see in  the photo is Udi's gluten free brown rice bread
2. Heat a non stick pan. Toast the bread slice with 1-2 tsp herb infused olive oil on each side till it is nice brown and crisp. Season with salt.
3. The flavor of fresh garlic in combination with kasuri methi turns a simple bread toast into a divine toast.

                                                my daughter enjoyed her bread with strawberry peach  smoothie
4. Enjoy with tea, coffee or smoothie.

Note: You can keep the infused olive oil in refrigerator  for one week and if you do not like fresh garlic, it works good even with garlic powder.

 After school snacks are very important as that is when they eat chips kind of stuff while relaxing in front of the TV.
 
I made apple salsa for her after school snack. She is my only kid , and she likes to be pampered. 
Ingredients: 
1/2  chopped apple
1 celery stick chopped (half the amount of apple)
1tbsp relish
1/2 tbsp brown sugar
1/4 cup water
3 tsp tomatilo salsa
salt and black pepper optional

Method:
Cook chopped celery with 1 tbsp of water in a small pan. After couple of minutes add apple. Keep cooking on low heat until  all water dries up and apple and celery is soft. Add more water if you need any. Add brown sugar, relish and tomatilo salsa when it look completely cooked. Turn off the heat and season with salt and pepper if you do not want it sweet. Serve it with lentil papads.

LENTIL PAPAD
Papad is also known by the name  papadum. In southern parts of India it is eaten with every rice meal. They are usually made from lentil and rice flour. In restaurants and some homes it is roasted over an open flame or toasted on a tawa. I tried  roasting them on flame but most of the time I would burn them. Since last 10 years I am microwaving every single papad. They turn out great.

Cooking a papad in microwave
Put two papads in a microwave on a paper towel.

Microwave it for 35 seconds in a1000 watts MICROWAVE. Increase or reduce the timing according to your microwave wattage.  No need to flip. You can also brush the papads with oil before putting in the microwave for that fried touch.

Enjoy!