Fresh food preparation is usually a challenge when time is short and you have hungry twins hanging on to your leg. And now more so as everyone is home due to lock down. I have even lesser time in kitchen than earlier as girls are pulling me in different directions seeking attention. However, I am taking this lock down as an opportunity to build their health, immunity, and strength by providing them hot meals made purely out of love and positivity. I am not a mom who goes by the keywords like carbs, fat, protein. I go by the variety of colors, taste palettes, season, and local food availability.
Here is a simple meal plan that I put on my fridge keeping the supplies in mind and how rare I want to step out for groceries to avoid public contact (I am planning grocery shopping every 20-25 days.) Now, I have one thing less to worry about in the day as I exactly know what I need to do. So, without much ado, please read and adapt to your needs and dietary requirements.
| Day | Morning | Breakfast | Snack | Lunch | Snack | Dinner |
| Mon | One cup milk | Vermicelli with tomatoes and peas | Fruit | Black eyed peas and flat bread (roti/paratha) followed by one cup yogurt | Homemade baked sweet, like badam katli, muffin, etc + one fruit | Yellow lentils and cracked wheat porridge |
| Tue | Half cup milk and half banana | Upma made from coarse semolina | Fruit | Green Lentils, vegetable, roti, and one cup yogurt | Milk and Amaranth Seeds (Rajgira) + Fruit | Aalo paratha |
| Wed | One cup milk | Methi ajwain poori or just ajwain poori | Fruit | Yogurt Kadhi. Vegetable, Roti | Idli Chutney + Fruit | Rice and yellow lentil |
| Thur | Half cup milk and half apple | Dosa and Coconut Chutney | Fruit | Curries Vegetable like palak paneer and Roti | Gram Flour (Besan) Laddoo + Khakara +Fruit | Vegetable pulav |
| Fri | One cup milk | Indian Flat Rice (Poha) | Fruit | Rajma and Jeera Rice | Boiled Brown Chickpeas (Kala Chana) Chat + Fruit | Vegetable Sandwich or noodles |
| Sat | One cup milk | Bread Butter or cheese sandwich | Fruit | Vegetable, Dehusked Black Gram Lentil (Urad Daal), Roti | Sattu (Chickpea Flour) Shake / Laddo + Fruit | Lentil porridge |
| Sun | One banana | Traditionally made steel cut oats with milk and dry fruits | Fruit | Chole and Rice/Pooris | Muffin/any easy snack you have at hand like Khakra, milk, etc. | Curd Rice for Khichdi |
This meal plan is based on the amount of food I have in my kitty during lock down. I do want to optimise everything I have in my fridge without wasting much. So, sometimes, I may not follow the plan but rely on what is left over and how I can reuse it. My attempt in this lock down is to provide my twins with fresh and hot food with zero waste. You can alter few things based on the items you have in your pantry or fridge. You can even repeat some breakfast items depending on the time you have on hand to prepare. Meal planning is basically to give you an idea to just organize better and free up the time we spend in thinking what to cook.
I also keep the following extras in my kid snack basket ready for in between fill-ups:
- Dry fruits
- Banana chips
- Channa
- Makhana
- Dates
- Crackers
- Cheese (in fridge)
- Home made traditional snacks like Mathri, Poha Chidwa, etc
I am not very keen on giving my twins milk three times. I usually give them twice a day, one in the morning and one around 7:45 PM, before going to bed. If they don’t want milk in the evening, after dinner, I supplement it with dry fruits or dates and dry fruit balls.
Few things I have kept ready at home for my twins are the Indian laddoos. They just love it and I love watching them gobble 2-3 at a time. 🙂 Nothing can be more satisfying than seeing your kids asking for “more”. I usually make 2-3 varieties at a time and then use it over few weeks.
Plan your meals so that you can do your groceries sensibly without hoarding lot of items. We as a society needs to be responsible in buying sensibly and smartly. Think of doctors or nurses or people who are helping us get through this ordeal go to a grocery shop only to find empty shelves while they were busy serving people. So, plan, shop sensibly, and more importantly stay indoors and stay safe.
May your toddler (and all of us) enjoy food and have loads of good health!
twinspiration.me 