Toddler Lunch 22

Today's Daycare Lunch bag:

 

 

 

Snack#1: Cut up grapes and figs.

 

 

 

 

Snack # 2: Vanilla wafers ( not one of the healthiest option..but oh well!)  and dried cranberries

 

 
 
 

Lunch : Parsnip and potato tikki with ranch dressing. Boil and mash potatoes and parsnip together. Mix in rice flour, shredded cheese, cilantro, ginger paste, salt and garam masala to form a dough. Shape into flat tikkis. Shallow fry for couple minutes.

 

 Note: Parsnip is a root vegetable that is closely related to carrots. The nutritional content  and flavor of parsnip is much better than carrots.Some of the larger parsnips had bitter core, so I trimmed out the core before boiling.

Coconut Water-Nariyal paani

Being from Mumbai, where you get fresh coconut water at every corner, I miss this delicious drink in the land of sodas. Somehow sugary frizzy soda products just cannot satisfy thirst like sipping on cool coconut water on a warm sunny day. Not to mention the guilt of flooding your body with heaps of sugar and caffeine is unbearable.

There is a certain fascination to watch Nariyalwalah ( Coconut seller) expertly slash off  tough coconut skin with a rusty looking knife to make a tinsy hole at the top for a straw. As if the coconut water is not enough, the malai ( cream inside the coconut) is another wonder in itself. In Mumbai, coconut sellers  make a spoon from discarded coconut skin to scoop out the malai. Every bite is creamy, sweet and oh so delish!

Back to my hankering for coconut water, it is impossible to get fresh coconut water in Atlanta. So packaged coconut water is my next best bet. When you think of packaged products , preservatives are inevitable. Not true. At Costco, I tasted VitaCoco. 100% pure coconut water with no preservatives. Sounds too good to be true. So I researched their website to find out more.  The only ingredients in each pack is coconut water ( Not from concentrate) and Vitamin C.  Per the website, young green coconuts harvested in Brazil are used in VitaCoco. So whats the verdict on the taste, you ask? Very very close to a  fresh coconut sans the malai. No fat, no cholesterol, five essential electrolytes, more potassium than two bananas..and super hydration. No wonder coconut water is the new Hollywood fancy diet. Starlets like Demi Moore are seen sipping this natures wonder for fab bod. Packaging of this product is super convenient too. No aluminium cans. 12 individual paper cans with all the natural goodness inside. Perfect to grab on the go. At Costco, price for a pack of 12 cans is around $15.

Post a comment if you have tried this product.

Toddler Lunch 21

Today's Daycare Lunch bag:

Snack #1: Cut up figs and cantaloupe

Snack #2: Shankarpali ( Thanks to grandma) cheese stick and raisins

Lunch: Ragi and rice flour dosa with chopped onions, cilantro and garam masala.

 I raved about ragi or Nachani here.The dosa is not great to look  but tastes really good. My son looked at the dosa and said ' I don't like it'. So here we were, me & M, running after a toddler at 7:00 in the morning asking him to try a piece of the dosa before I packed his lunch. Finally, Y took a bite and said 'Yummy in the tummy' ........phew!!!

Toddler Lunch 20

Today's Daycare Lunch Bag:

Snack# 1: Cut up strawberries and pear

Snack#2: Whole wheat crackers with sea salt, dried cranberries and prunes.

Lunch:
Mini Uthapams with green peppers and tomatoes. Ketchup as dipping sauce ( my son loves anything with ketchup..!)
Batter is bought from an Indian store.

Toddler Lunch 19

Today's Daycare Lunch Bag:

Snack #1: Cut up strawberries and grapes.

Snack # 2: Multi grain crackers with rosemary and olive oil. Dried cranberries and cheese stick

Lunch:  Upama made with cubed carrots, peas, green beans, corn and tomatoes.

Restaurant Review-Rathbun's

I went out with my usual group of Foodies to Rathbun's. While navigating  through empty warehouses and dilapidated structures I was almost thinking of heading back home. Driving to this restaurant was SCARY !!. Until, I entered the restaurant and it was all good. We were told that the dining room is a one-hundred year old renovated wine cellar. The exposed wall and the tasteful decor is very chic. Word of caution: DO NOT sit in the center of the dining room. You'll have to shout across the table. Not fun.

Moving to the food, we got two sets of menus. One is the usual fare and the other is handwritten daily specials. How neat !
My litmus test for any good restaurant is the bread. If the bread is good, chances are that the food will make me happy. When the bread came out it was moist and very flavorful. Good start for the evening.
For the main course, I ordered three of the small plates just because I wanted to sample more than one dish.  It was a smart strategy. My first small plate was this super thin cracker like flat bread with prosciutto, cipollini onions and pink peppercorn honey. One bite and the angels were singing. Beautiful flavors yet very light and not too sweet. For my second plate, I was waiting for the smoked salmon toastada. Perfectly tasty. My third small plate was crab cake tart. The sauce was divine, the tart shell was super buttery and the crab cake filing was yum.

It was time for the desserts. Like always, we ordered almost the entire dessert menu. By far, rice pudding was the best one of the lot. Others were kinda forgettable.

Overall, food was fabulous but the desserts were strictly OK.

Rathbun's Restaurant

112 Krog Street, Ste R

Atlanta, Georgia 30307

404.524.8280

Enjoy the pictures!