4 easy Diwali sweets that kids can help you prepare at home

Team up with your kids to make healthy delicious Diwali sweets at home.

By Payal Kothari

It can be quite challenging to ensure one is having only sweets that are healthy. For someone who has a sweet tooth, be it a teen or tween, the addictive and harmful effects of white refined sugar are always a concern. With that in mind, we have created a few fun healthy options for Diwali sweets which your child can make on their own under an adult’s supervision.

The preparation process will engage your kids’ other senses besides taste, thus bridging the gap between look, smell and feel. So, make it a family culture / tradition to cook during festivals. Asking your kids for inputs while cooking makes them feel they are included in decision-making and the recipes. Encourage them to make a shopping list, take them shopping for it, and tweak recipes to make them create new recipes. Make sure the cooking environment is safe for them, and always ensure that there is an adult around for assistance.

Here are four healthy yet yummy recipes for your child-

Granola crumble


Ingredients:

2 cups rolled oats, 1 teaspoon vanilla, 1/4 cup honey, ¼ cup jaggery or brown sugar, 1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut, 1/4 cup seeds, 1/2 cup almonds, ½ cup dark chocolate, salt as per your taste

Method:

Preheat the oven to 107 degrees Celsius.

Add all ingredients in a medium sized bowl and mix well.

Spread onto a rimmed baking sheet and bake for 8-10 minutes, stirring every 3 minutes and removing the pan as soon as the granola starts to brown lightly.

Cool and store in an airtight glass jar.

Moong dal ladoo in coconut sugar


Ingredients:

1 cup moong dal, ¼ cup ghee, ½ cup coconut sugar, 2 powdered cardamom

Also Read| Diwali 2018: 4 must-try treats to enjoy with your family

Method:

In a pan add moong dal and roast over medium heat until the color changes to golden brown. Spread the roasted moong dal on a wide plate and allow to cool. Powder the roasted moong dal to a smooth texture using a blender.

In a bowl, add powdered moong dal, coconut sugar, crushed cardamom powder and mix well.

Heat the ghee slightly in a microwave oven or in a small pan, but do make sure it’s not hot.

Now add to the powdered moong dal mixture and mix well. Shape them into small balls and serve. It can be stored for 2 weeks in an airtight container.

Ironman dessert aka beetroot halwa


Ingredients:

2 cups grated beetroot, ¼ cup brown sugar, 1 tbsp ghee, 2 cups regular/almond milk, 3 gms raw cashew nuts, 1 powdered cardamom

Method:

Rinse, peel and grate the beetroot using a vegetable grater.

In a saucepan, heat ghee, add cashew nuts and roast until the color changes to golden brown and remove. We shall use this as garnish.

Now add the grated beetroot and cook until the beetroot becomes soft. Add milk and cook until all the milk evaporates and the mixture now has a thick halwa like consistency.

Add brown sugar, crushed cardamom and mix well. Cook again until the beetroot mixture becomes thick. Garnish with roasted cashew nuts and serve.

(The author is an integrative & Functional Nutritionist)

 

 

 

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Diwali 2018: 9 ways your kids can enjoy the festival without bursting crackers

Here’s how you can celebrate a green Diwali with your kids and other family members.

By Mansi Jain

You all must be gearing up to celebrate Diwali. The festival is a harbinger of fun, harmony, enthusiasm and prosperity, but in recent years, it’s also been cause of worry, because of the negative impact on air pollution. As a responsible parent, you can encourage your kids to celebrate Green Diwali. Here’s how you can do it!

1. DIY decorations

Unleash your latent creativity and make crafts at home. You can make beautiful Bandhanwar or torans to hang on your door, bells, etc, using some waste products. This will save a lot of money and usage of plastic.

2. Light a diya instead of fairy lights

Isn’t it high time that we become environmentally conscious and save our resources? Well, yes! It’s a wise decision to light earthen pots and diyas instead of decorating the house with fairy lights.


3. Restrict the use of incense sticks

People want their home to have an auspicious air during Diwali. Hence, they burn a lot of incense sticks ignoring the fact that the smoke emitting from them can lead to a lot of respiratory issues. So, use it wisely and when necessary.

Also Read| Diwali 2018: Escape Delhi pollution with these quick family getaways

4. Use flowers and herbal colours

Flowers add beauty to a home. One can use flowers to decorate the house and make a welcome Rangoli. You can also use herbal or organic colours which do not contain detergents and plastic. The adulterated colours can be harmful when they dissolve in water.

5. Arrange a get-together at home

We all want to meet our friends and relatives on Diwali. So, arrange a suitable get-together at home and play games. Plan some fun activity for kids and elders of the family. Sit and eat together to resolve differences and reunite on Diwali.

6. Stop burning crackers

Make your children aware that burning crackers is not a positive act. Besides it being a waste of money, the pollution from crackers reduces many years from our lifespan. It makes us prone to breathing problems, skin diseases, etc. We have all been live witness to the blanket of pollution in the atmosphere after Diwali.

7. Do some charity

It’s a festival for all! Instead of wasting your money on unfair means, spread joy to others. Do some charity. Visit an old age home or an orphanage to spend with those who live there. You can also distribute sweets among them.

8. Stop immersing idols in holy water

Most of us immerse the idols of gods and goddesses in holy water. This doesn’t just pollute the water, but harms marine life as well. It even leads to water pollution, which ultimately impacts our overall health.

9. Plant a tree

While many are contributing towards polluting the environment, you can become a responsible citizen. So, plant a tree! Ask others to do so as well. Make your child aware of the need to plant more trees. Nothing is better than a Green Diwali.

One must not wait for others to begin this green step. Make a start yourself and pave the path for others. Each one of us must take this green step to save our very own first home-the environment.

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