Millet Based snack box ideas for kids

Meal plan is something that every parent struggles with. Women especially consider it as a perennial question. So much so, that a woman even asked Chat GPT to help her plan a meal for her family!

And the snack box is no different.

As a parent you want them to eat healthy, but children seem to love only junk food. Regular roti-sabji or rice is boring and if you try and give healthy meal options like quinoa or fruits, they are bound to come back uneaten!

So how do you maintain the balance between health and fun in your kids snack box?

We bring you some millet based snack box ideas for kids that will make both of you happy!

Why Millets?

Millets are beneficial for the needs of growing kids. They have a strong nutritional profile and are gluten-free. Millets are alkaline, rich in magnesium, potassium, calcium, tryptophan, phosphorus, Vitamin B6, and Antioxidants.

Health benefits of millets were known for generations, however with so many marketing gimmicks promoting various health products, millets lost its space from our kitchens, but with 2023 being declared as an international year of millet, the production of millet and its consumption are being promoted. A variety of millets are easily available in the Indian grocery stores like jowar, ragi,  sama, Korra, bajra, and barnyard millets and with a simple twist to the traditional recipes we can make millets, a fun snack box idea for our kids.

Here are some super simple snack ideas for little munchkins from the house of SkyRoots.

1. Chocolate millet cake mix.
2. Vanilla millet cake mix.
3. Cookie millet mix.
4. Brownie millet mix.
5. Jowar flakes chivda – to make it more filling and nutritious, add veggies and chutney and make a chivda bhel, it’s filling, and more nutritious.
6. Roasted channa chickpea, turmeric channa, masala channa – you can try these varieties of snacks using roasted channa chickpeas.

1. Gur channa.
2. Masala channa.
3. Channa chat.

Apart from these, here are some lip-smacking morning snack recipe for kids:

Idli is a good source of fermented food. Fermented food is great for the gut. The two idli premixes like jowar idli premix and the ragi idli premix are easy to use.

Let’s make Millet Idli Fry:

Ingredients:

1. jowar idli premix and the ragi idli premix.
2. ½ cup finely chopped onions
3. ½ cup grated carrot
4. ½ chopped capsicum
5. 1 cup curd
6. Salt per taste
7. Pinch of fruit soda

For idli fry :

• Oil for tadka,
• some cashews,
• finely chopped onions
• ½ cup Corns
• Some mushrooms ( optional )

 Method :

• In a mixing bowl add the idli premix of your choice, curd, and a little fruit soda to make it soft and fluffy. Let it ferment for an hour. Once fermented, mix well, and add chopped and grated vegetables. Grease the idli stand and stem them well.
• Once the idli is ready let it cool, cut them into shapes, or just cut them in half.
• Prepare takda of ghee/oil, add jeera, sesame seeds, and urad dal and let it splitter, then add onions, corn, and cashews mix well until golden brown, then add that idli we cut and mix well
• Your millet idli fry is ready.

Varieties to try :

1. You may try adding soya cause, vinegar, and ketchup and make the Chinese idli version too.
2. You can also make idli paneer fry.

Creative tip: cut idli’s into nice cute shapes like hearts, stars, and flowers and make it more appealing for kids. Kids love food art and it’s a win-win for parents too.

Here are some tips to include millets in your kid’s diet: https://skyroots.in/have-a-growing-child-at-home-its-time-to-include-millet-in-your-childs-diet/.

Including millet in kids, snack box is easy. Just substitute junk or regular gluten grains with millet.

Millets are gaining their importance and it is important that as parents we include them in our children’s diet early on. Millets are beneficial for long term health. Instead of following the recipes that our grandparents made, try and give a modern twist to millets to make them appealing to your kids.

How about some millet burger or pizza?

Want to see how to make a millet burger? Check this post: https://skyroots.in/4-tasty-millet-based-recipes-to-celebrate-the-international-year-of-millet-2023/

Hope you enjoyed these snack box ideas for kids. Have you tried to include millets in some unique ways? Share it with us and we will feature you in our next post!