Do you like cooking ?

If Menu is prescribed by the School   there is nothing like it. Generally Mothers will be in a state of confusion what to prepare for lunch and keep in the children's Tiffin Box.'

usha manohar wrote:

Kalyani Nandurkar wrote:

Arunima Singh wrote:

usha manohar wrote:

I too feel that cooking a special dish for our family or close friends is in itself a relaxation. even daily cooking can be made more interesting by planning the menu the previous day instead of putting together at the last minute or run out of ingredients at the last minute. It is also good to try out different foods and go out for a meal that is different to what you cook  every day..I love all kinds of food and so does my family who can be very adventurous where food is concerned.

I have a weekly menu decided and put on my refrigerator. This helps me reduce the morning stress and rush when you run around packing dabbas and have to rush to work. We make a weekly menu on Saturday morning with inputs from all family members and then do the necessary grocery shopping accordingly. We try to stick to it to a great extent except for the unexpected situations like some guests or someone falling sick.  Sometimes some team lunch or some birthday treat in my daughter's school brings about a little change from the plan.

I have a fixed menu for lunch as it is decided by the menu given by my son's school. To ensure that children get to eat foods from all kinds of food groups the school has given us a menu for the tiffin and that is what I prepare for lunch every day. But dinner is not really planned and cooked by what my son or husband fancies, but I ensure that it is a satisfying meal and covers all nutritional needs. I love cooking and especially cooking for festivals and birthdays is something that I really enjoy. Also my husband helps me clean up afterwards so I can relax afterwards. That makes me look forward to cooking special meals often.

That is good system they have in your son's school. It makes things easier for the mother besides making sure tjat the children are eating healthy food.

It's good but suppose on a certain day the person who prepares the tiffin feels unwell and is unable to cook as prescribed then what happens? What's the alternative?

Arunima Singh wrote:

Surely "love" is an important ingredient. Even when I am not in a mood or too tired, the way my daughters demand for their favorite dishes fuels me up to enter the kitchen. And when you cook for that special person with full love and dedication, the food turns out scrumptious. I think that's what happens during festival celebrations when with full love and dedication we make prasadam as offerings for God. My modak tastes best on Ganpati. On other days it does not turn out that good.

I Think your's modak is always tasty and best one. When you make  it as prasadam than your mental state make it best one.

usha manohar wrote:

I too feel that cooking a special dish for our family or close friends is in itself a relaxation. even daily cooking can be made more interesting by planning the menu the previous day instead of putting together at the last minute or run out of ingredients at the last minute. It is also good to try out different foods and go out for a meal that is different to what you cook  every day..I love all kinds of food and so does my family who can be very adventurous where food is concerned.

Yes it is good to go out for meal for new experience and to give some relief to woman of house who cook everyday.

anil wrote:

usha manohar wrote:

I too feel that cooking a special dish for our family or close friends is in itself a relaxation. even daily cooking can be made more interesting by planning the menu the previous day instead of putting together at the last minute or run out of ingredients at the last minute. It is also good to try out different foods and go out for a meal that is different to what you cook  every day..I love all kinds of food and so does my family who can be very adventurous where food is concerned.

Yes it is good to go out for meal for new experience and to give some relief to woman of house who cook everyday.

True, also it is a welcome change or else the same old home cooked meal  can become monotonous to everyone, the person who is cooking and the others.

Once in a while,i and my wife go out to a hotel to avoid monotony.

Shampa Sadhya wrote:

usha manohar wrote:

Kalyani Nandurkar wrote:

Arunima Singh wrote:

usha manohar wrote:

I too feel that cooking a special dish for our family or close friends is in itself a relaxation. even daily cooking can be made more interesting by planning the menu the previous day instead of putting together at the last minute or run out of ingredients at the last minute. It is also good to try out different foods and go out for a meal that is different to what you cook  every day..I love all kinds of food and so does my family who can be very adventurous where food is concerned.

I have a weekly menu decided and put on my refrigerator. This helps me reduce the morning stress and rush when you run around packing dabbas and have to rush to work. We make a weekly menu on Saturday morning with inputs from all family members and then do the necessary grocery shopping accordingly. We try to stick to it to a great extent except for the unexpected situations like some guests or someone falling sick.  Sometimes some team lunch or some birthday treat in my daughter's school brings about a little change from the plan.

I have a fixed menu for lunch as it is decided by the menu given by my son's school. To ensure that children get to eat foods from all kinds of food groups the school has given us a menu for the tiffin and that is what I prepare for lunch every day. But dinner is not really planned and cooked by what my son or husband fancies, but I ensure that it is a satisfying meal and covers all nutritional needs. I love cooking and especially cooking for festivals and birthdays is something that I really enjoy. Also my husband helps me clean up afterwards so I can relax afterwards. That makes me look forward to cooking special meals often.

That is good system they have in your son's school. It makes things easier for the mother besides making sure tjat the children are eating healthy food.

It's good but suppose on a certain day the person who prepares the tiffin feels unwell and is unable to cook as prescribed then what happens? What's the alternative?

I guess we take it that there are always exceptions to a rule and afterall one cannot be rigid all the time ..

Once, I had an opinion that Hotel food is not healthy. Very recently, my son who lives in Kakinada, a place in AP brought a few food packets. I reluctantly tasted it. To my utter astonishment, I found the food  is tasty and delicious. It was then my son clarified that there are many such eateries in Kakinada that prepare food as good as home made food or may be better.  in these eateries  food is prepared by non- professionals, who love cooking. They give top priority to Hygiene and the ingredients like vegetables grown in their vegetable gardens. The cost is a bit higher, but it is worth trying. Because families would not go everyday to these hotels.

Shampa Sadhya wrote:

usha manohar wrote:

Kalyani Nandurkar wrote:

Arunima Singh wrote:

usha manohar wrote:

I too feel that cooking a special dish for our family or close friends is in itself a relaxation. even daily cooking can be made more interesting by planning the menu the previous day instead of putting together at the last minute or run out of ingredients at the last minute. It is also good to try out different foods and go out for a meal that is different to what you cook  every day..I love all kinds of food and so does my family who can be very adventurous where food is concerned.

I have a weekly menu decided and put on my refrigerator. This helps me reduce the morning stress and rush when you run around packing dabbas and have to rush to work. We make a weekly menu on Saturday morning with inputs from all family members and then do the necessary grocery shopping accordingly. We try to stick to it to a great extent except for the unexpected situations like some guests or someone falling sick.  Sometimes some team lunch or some birthday treat in my daughter's school brings about a little change from the plan.

I have a fixed menu for lunch as it is decided by the menu given by my son's school. To ensure that children get to eat foods from all kinds of food groups the school has given us a menu for the tiffin and that is what I prepare for lunch every day. But dinner is not really planned and cooked by what my son or husband fancies, but I ensure that it is a satisfying meal and covers all nutritional needs. I love cooking and especially cooking for festivals and birthdays is something that I really enjoy. Also my husband helps me clean up afterwards so I can relax afterwards. That makes me look forward to cooking special meals often.

That is good system they have in your son's school. It makes things easier for the mother besides making sure tjat the children are eating healthy food.

It's good but suppose on a certain day the person who prepares the tiffin feels unwell and is unable to cook as prescribed then what happens? What's the alternative?

True Shampa, it happens often with many kids but then the school asks us to give roti-sabji or nutritious snacks such as rajgira laddoo or chikki etc, but they never allow us to give wafers, kurkure, Maggi etc as many mothers do that to make their jobs easy, but the kids do not get any nutrition from such stuff.

Kalyani Nandurkar wrote:

Shampa Sadhya wrote:

usha manohar wrote:

Kalyani Nandurkar wrote:

Arunima Singh wrote:

usha manohar wrote:

I too feel that cooking a special dish for our family or close friends is in itself a relaxation. even daily cooking can be made more interesting by planning the menu the previous day instead of putting together at the last minute or run out of ingredients at the last minute. It is also good to try out different foods and go out for a meal that is different to what you cook  every day..I love all kinds of food and so does my family who can be very adventurous where food is concerned.

I have a weekly menu decided and put on my refrigerator. This helps me reduce the morning stress and rush when you run around packing dabbas and have to rush to work. We make a weekly menu on Saturday morning with inputs from all family members and then do the necessary grocery shopping accordingly. We try to stick to it to a great extent except for the unexpected situations like some guests or someone falling sick.  Sometimes some team lunch or some birthday treat in my daughter's school brings about a little change from the plan.

I have a fixed menu for lunch as it is decided by the menu given by my son's school. To ensure that children get to eat foods from all kinds of food groups the school has given us a menu for the tiffin and that is what I prepare for lunch every day. But dinner is not really planned and cooked by what my son or husband fancies, but I ensure that it is a satisfying meal and covers all nutritional needs. I love cooking and especially cooking for festivals and birthdays is something that I really enjoy. Also my husband helps me clean up afterwards so I can relax afterwards. That makes me look forward to cooking special meals often.

That is good system they have in your son's school. It makes things easier for the mother besides making sure tjat the children are eating healthy food.

It's good but suppose on a certain day the person who prepares the tiffin feels unwell and is unable to cook as prescribed then what happens? What's the alternative?

True Shampa, it happens often with many kids but then the school asks us to give roti-sabji or nutritious snacks such as rajgira laddoo or chikki etc, but they never allow us to give wafers, kurkure, Maggi etc as many mothers do that to make their jobs easy, but the kids do not get any nutrition from such stuff.

That's good that there is no rigidity but one has to follow the nutritional value. This rule should be followed in every school. I remember, in my son's school too it was a rule to avoid pickles, jam, maggi, pastry, burger and so on because of lack of nutritional value as well as to maintain a parity between each student till they were in primary department.     

Having a weekly menu help to take care of the healthy nutrition part as well as the other pragmatic side of life. Keeping cooking simple like Veg rice and raita on the days when you have a long working day or some hectic meetings and workshops. Having a plan ahead takes care of it. Moreover, avoids last minute hassle to take decision and even worries for ingredients.

Other than that we can avoid monotony by having different menus each day--takes care of each one's choice of food in the family.

If children sit and plan with you, they show interest in eating and helping you to prepare it on days they can afford to. Like Thursdays are hectic for me. So I put Mixed Veg sandwich for breakfast. I leave the kitchen after packing dabbas for lunch. My younger one leaves for school at 9. SO she takes charge of fixing breakfast for me, my husband and herself while I get ready and do last minute preparation for my workshops.

For those who are not fond of cooking but have to do it anyway, it is best to cook when you find time like at night , so that you are not stressed in the morning. I make a couple of dishes after dinner for the next day. It makes things do much easier. I also make it a point to have Idli/Dosa batter, bread /butter/cheese , boiled potatoes all the time in my fridge. 

Yes. In my house, we decide on the previous night what to cook next day. We do not eat meat or chicken on Saturdays. Accordingly we plan. Of course this planning makes things easier.

usha manohar wrote:

For those who are not fond of cooking but have to do it anyway, it is best to cook when you find time like at night , so that you are not stressed in the morning. I make a couple of dishes after dinner for the next day. It makes things do much easier. I also make it a point to have Idli/Dosa batter, bread /butter/cheese , boiled potatoes all the time in my fridge. 

Idli/Dosa batters are so handy and really save you in times when things go unplanned. Quick, scrumptious and above all does not leave you with the guilt pangs of feeding something unhealthy to your family due to time crisis. These things in your fridge definitely are good contingency plans.

 

 

Here our system is some differ than you. Here are food is very simple. In break fast we prefer prontha and bread. In lunch and dinner one or two vegetables curd salad and chapati. Rice is not our regular food. Here in Punjabi families Dall and in Rajasthan familes Curry is must in dinner.

Food is more or less the same all over India - you have either rice or rotis as your staple diet along with dhal /meat/fish and vegetables. The cooking style and use of spices differs from region to region. But for a foreigner it all looks the same. Down south we eat more rice and rice preparations while in the north it is more wheat . A balance of both would be a healthier option.

Well, my kitchen has a mix of all states. Born out of two different state's parents and then married to a man of third state, we have a mix of so many cultures. Moreover, brought up in an Air force background, we saw so may cultures around us and our taste developed for so many cuisines from across the country and then we adapted some International ones into our Indian cooking. My Kitchen is a perfect dhaba of all culture.

Arunima Singh wrote:

Well, my kitchen has a mix of all states. Born out of two different state's parents and then married to a man of third state, we have a mix of so many cultures. Moreover, brought up in an Air force background, we saw so may cultures around us and our taste developed for so many cuisines from across the country and then we adapted some International ones into our Indian cooking. My Kitchen is a perfect dhaba of all culture.

Your dhaba is a rich one as it's a symbol of harmony. 

usha manohar wrote:

Food is more or less the same all over India - you have either rice or rotis as your staple diet along with dhal /meat/fish and vegetables. The cooking style and use of spices differs from region to region. But for a foreigner it all looks the same. Down south we eat more rice and rice preparations while in the north it is more wheat . A balance of both would be a healthier option.

Yes every grain have their benefits. In these days habit of eating rice is increasing in North. In J&K rice is principal grain. They eat it with Urd Channa dal and souse of dry mango.

I like cooking very much and cook different varieties of food. Gender is not a matter in cooking. While you are good in cooking which makes bonding in relationship. And, this is true.