Healthy lunch box ideas - Dates - Round up

Thanks everybody for waiting patiently for the roundup. I have been busy with the move back to India.It has been a week and we are getting into a routine slowly. This blog is just couple of months old and I have to thank Kalyani for letting me host this event. When I posted the event announcement I thought I should be lucky with I hit the two digit mark as far as the entries are concerned. I have met my target and I am happy about that. I thank all the lovely ladies who participated in this event. Do keep visiting this space (though I would be blogging sporadically for sometime now) and keep watching this space for more interesting events. All of these are great for lunch box, but they make an interesting eat for anytime of the day  aswell and that is the reason I have categorized them.Now for the round up

Breakfast
Priya of  Easy N Tasty Recipes has sent two lovely breakfast dishes. Easy to make with  a truck load of nutrients never hurts. Isn't it? Check out her eggless dates-cornmeal muffins and kiwi-dates-cornflakes smoothie

Kalyani  of  Sizzling Tastebuds, and the brain behind this event, has sent these dates and almond muffins. The colorful pic is inviting and the thought that it is sugar free is even more inviting...

Toast for breakfast? Make it more interesting with this tasty dates and figs jam Krithi of Krithi's Kitchen
has sent.

Another healthy breafast, the addition of dates takes it to another level . Try out Honey crunch oatmeal from Fabida of shocks and shoes

Dates and Pom make an interesting combination. Try out Dates and Pomegranate smoothie from Shilpa of Yummilicious Food 

On the side
I had never heard of this one until rudra of Moms corner sent me this dish for the event. Check out her Maraba tamer - different and interesting side for a chapathi

How does dates for a pickle sound? If you are like me and have never tried it, I am sure you would want to try it out. Try out two versions, one from torviewtoronto and another from Shobha of good food

Snacks
Who does not love chaat? Try the sev batata puri which Archana of Mad Scientist's Kitchen has sent.

Muskaan of A2ZVegetarian kitchen has sent this dates figs roll which is vegan and diabetic friendly. What more can one ask?

Sweets
Dates by itself has some sweetness and when you makes some sweets out of it, it sure must taste good.
Sowjanya has sent dry fruit nut ladoos and coconut ladoos. In time for Diwali, do try it out. I am sure they will be a hit.

Celebrate special occasions with this dates cake from Prema's Thaligai

Dates Almond Banana shake

I know...I hav'nt blogged in  while. We just moved back to india and it has been hectic. With the packing, unpacking, two jet lagged kids, new school...phew! This has been in the draft for ages. I am late for the event I am guest hosting. I still do not have an internet connection at home. So, there is a delay in posting the round-ups. I thank each one of you who submitted the entries and kalyani for allowing me to guest host this event. Now moving on to the recipe...

This one can be made superfast and is a really tasty, yummy breakfast. As the name suggests it is a milk shake that has dates, almonds and banana. I like the shiekh shake we get in fruitshop on greamsroad. I don't know that recipe but the one I am giving now is very good.

Ingredients

Almonds - 10-12
Banana - 1 small, frozen.
Dates - 10 cut into small pieces
Warm water - for soaking dates and almonds
milk - 2 cups
nutmeg - 1/8th tsp (optional)

Method
*Soak almonds in warm water and peel the skin. I usually soak them overnight.
* Cut the banana into small pieces and freeze them.
* Cut the dates into small pieces and soak them in warm water for 10 mts. This will soften them.
* Blend together forzen banana, dates, almonds and milk
* Serve with a dash of nutmeg. This is optional and you can skip it if you do not like the taste of nutmeg.

Sugar Cookies

This month as you all know is celebration month at our home. My son turned 4 and I have been posting his favorite recipes all this month. After potato roast, chocolate cake, phirni, it is time for sugar cookies. These cookies are now lying in the top most shelf, so that he cannot take it by himself.  It tastes best when it is frosted. But I usually avoid all that sugar, unless I am baking for special occasions. Enjoy the recipe.

A reminder about the HLI-DATES event that is happening all this month. Do send in your entries, if you have not already done so.