Wednesday is a special day. It is the middle of the week. It is the time to rejoice that the first two weekdays have gone by uneventfully – and the time to plan to get some major work done before the weekend begins.
On Wednesday you want to eat meals that will re-energize you and allow you to do all the work that you are enthusiastically looking forward to – on Thursday and Friday. But you don’t want the meals to keep you in the kitchen all day – because you want to celebrate, plan and accomplish that you have planned. So wholesome hearty meals that don’t keep you in the kitchen all day is what we have planned for you.
Challenges with planning the Wednesday menu
- Each meal of the Wednesday menu must have all the nutrients in the right proportion
- The meals must ensure a mid-week maintenance of all the organ systems of the body
- The meals should be easy to cook – so that the chunk of time and energy available can go towards midweek celebration and planning.
- The meals should have a fun element attached to them. They should not be boring.
Wednesday menu breakup
- A healthy breakfast
- A wholesome 11 am snack
- A packed tiffin with a treat
- A satisfying and strengthening lunch
- An energizing 4 pm snack
- A nourishing dinner
Weekly menu planning – Day 3 – Wednesday
This menu is designed by Simran Oberoi Multani with nutritional and parenting inputs from Dr Debmita Dutta
Breakfast – Laal saag paratha
10 am snack – Apple cinnamon whole wheat muffin with Almonds and seeds
Lunch – Rajma curry, Laal saag coconut stir fry
Lunch box – Mixed vegetable sandwich
Evening snack – Baked spiced Makhanas
Dinner – Whole wheat Quesadila wrap
Also see The Monday menu and the Tuesday menu
The features on the Wednesday Menu
- The meals are rich in vitamins and minerals
- Every meal is fiber rich and is designed to keep the digestive system and the heart happy.
- The meals are loaded with high quality protein
- Three different fat sources have been included in the menu
- Every meal is designed to energize the body with carbohydrate but prevent a spike in blood sugar
- The menu is designed to include interesting food that looks like a snack while being a wholesome meal – so that children love them
- Cuisines from all over the world bring their benefits to this meal – while keeping things interesting and also easy
- A key ingredients are mixed and matched to make the meals interesting and easy to cook.
- The snacks can be cooked ahead on the weekend to minimize the kitchen workload on weekdays.
Parenting Workshops By Dr Debmita Dutta
The theme for the Wednesday menu
The key ingredients for Wednesday are Rajma (red kidney beans) and Laal saag (Amaranth leaves) and mixed vegetables like capsicum, onion tomato cabbage and carrot. Both ingredients are rich in vitamins minerals and are used in various combinations through the day. The laal saag (Amranth leaves) are used at breakfast and lunch. The rajma is used at lunch and dinner. And the mixed vegetables are used for the lunch box and dinner.
Weekly menu plan for Wednesday
Recipes for Wednesday
Breakfast
Amaranth / Lal Saag Paratha(with seeds) and Green Chutney
Amaranth paratha with seeds
Ingredients
Chopped lal saag 1 cup
Melon seeds -1 tbsp
Whole wheat flour – 1 ½ cups
Jowar flour -1/2 cup
Warm water
Salt – 1 tsp
Ajwain – 1 tsp
Method-
- Mix the saag, seeds, flours, salt and ajwain well.
- Slowly add warm water and knead the dough.
- Do not make the dough sticky.
- Make like chapattis on the tawa and add ghee.
11 Am snack
Apple-Cinnamon WW Muffin with Almonds and mixed seeds and raisins – Add some savory variant too
Ingredients
Whole wheat flour – 2 cups
Baking powder – 2 tsp
Cinnamon -2 tsp
Chopped almonds – as needed
Raisins – as needed
Seeds – as needed
Eggs – 2
Coconut sugar or cane sugar – 1 cup
Cup oil -1/3 cup
Vanilla extract -1/2 tsp
Grated apple – 2
Milk – ¼ cup
Method
- Preheat oven to 170 degrees C.
- Keep the cupcake liners ready.
- In a large bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, sugar, cinnamon.
- In another bowl, whisk the eggs, oil, milk and vanilla together until combined.
- Fold the dry ingredients into the wet ones.
- Add the grated apple, almonds, raisins and seeds.
- Fold everything together to combine well.
- Put the batter into liners
- And bake for 20-25 minutes or
- Until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Savoury version-
You can make a non-sweet muffin by excluding the sugar, vanilla, almonds, raisins and apples. All you need to add in place is cheese, veggies of your choice, salt, pepper and basil/oregano.
Lunch box
Sandwich
Sandwich with veggies
Sandwich with same set of veggies that will be used in the quesadilla at dinner
Lunch
Rajma curry
Rajma
Lal Saag-Coconut Stir Fry
Amaranth coconut stirfry
Ingredients
Chopped lal saag – 1cup
Panch phoron spice mix -1 tsp
Salt to taste,
Gingelly or groundnut oil – 1 tbsp
Grated coconut (dry or fresh) – 1 tbsp
Chopped onions – 1/4 cup
One dried red chilly.
Method-
- Heat oil in a pan.
- Add the spice mix and red chilly
- Stir for a minute.
- Add the onions and sauté until brownish.
- Now add the lal saag
- Salt and top it with the grated coconut.
- Mix well for 5 minutes until the saag is cooked well.
- Serve hot.
4 pm snack
Baked Spiced Makhanas
Spicy baked makhana
Method-
- Take some makhanas/foxnuts in a baking tray or dish
- Drizzle with oil
- Add dried chives, salt and paprika.
- Mix well to coat all the makhana will the spices.
- Bake at 175 degree C, for 20 minutes
- And they are done.
- Can be stored in air tight container for over a week.
Dinner
Whole wheat Quesadilla wrap
Whole wheat Quesadilla wrap
Whole wheat Tortillas can be made and kept in advance.
Ingredients
Whole-wheat flour – 2 ½ cups
Olive oil -1/3 cup
Salt -1 tsp
Water heated -1 cup
Mix it all together
Roll out very thin chapatti-like shape.
Then cook it on the non-stick pan until it cooks through.
Filling can be Rajma, to which you have added some grated cheese, oregano and a bit of homemade tomato sauce. You can add grated carrot and/ or capsicum to it.
Also read How to plan a balanced diet for your child
Ask Dr Debmita Dutta A Question
No Responses Yet