Ovenderful

27/05/2025

22/01/2025

For the longest time my favourite flour to bake with was Ragi. I then discovered Amaranth. And the intense flavour it has was so different from the neutral tasting flours I had been baking with. What made me even more excited to try these flours was the fact that they were locally sourced and in our own environment. They had been used for decades in our food items and yet somehow use in baking was limited. Many recipes emerged through those trials that I did using each. But then I decided to try a combination of the two which was difficult- both had clear and distinct flavors. Both also had very clear textures. Took a while but finally the recipes started flowing more freely.

Recipe for this one is on the blog :)

Have you baked with this combination before?

20/01/2025

Celebrating my 13th year on Facebook. Thank you for your continuing support. I could never have made it without you. 🙏🤗🎉

18/09/2024

Spaghetti pie is a legit dish. It exists and is baked in many parts of the world. Sometimes leftover spaghetti is used and sometimes it's specifically boiled for the pie. Wholewheat spaghetti that you can make at home, is the next step level of being healthy. But what if we decided to raise the bar on being healthy - zoodles / zucchini noodles are a wonderful replacement for most spaghetti dishes.

So why not create a super innovative Zoodle and cherry tomato pie, encased in a Barley Oats crust. To make healthy snacking a part of all your upcoming festive get togethers. To give a unique option that's also nutritious.

Why should we need cheat days when we can create delicious things with healthy ingredients?

Bake this savoury pie right away!

10/05/2024

"Be grateful for whoever comes, because each has been sent as a guide from beyond" - Rumi

There is a special place in our heart for those who have come in our lives and remained there, to hold our hand and heart through the rollercoaster ride that life turns out to be. Dark doesn't seem so dark when we are with them. Sad doesn't seem too sad when we sit and talk over meals. Fear doesn't seem too scary when we find ways to laugh about the moments.

Was reminded today of this as I was thinking of the wonderful support that I had received from so many parents who had children diagnosed with T1D in the initial months of Noor's diagnosis. Resonance and empathy were not big words. They were true feelings that emanated from these parents as they reached out to me. Over the last few years, I have realized one thing. That there will be many times that I will feel low while dealing with this for my child, but I will never feel lonely.

A picture of Wholewheat Little Millet Waffles with Lakanto monkfruit sweetener. Made for the kids as a special Friday breakfast.

10/04/2024

When you think of childhood memories the most evocative ones are almost always related to food, especially when it comes to homemade sweets or desserts and a child's spontaneous reaction to them -

when the cake batter was getting made, dipping a finger in it to steal a taste of it before it was popped in the oven,

when the halwa was taken off the stove to cool off burning your tongue by taking a small spoon of it despite being piping hot,

when the broken leftover crumbs of the cookies are collected and eaten from the jar,

when the homemade ice cream that announced the arrival of summer ( and mangoes!) is so yum that you don't mind 'drinking' the melted portion of it.

when laddoos are being made, you want to pick them up and pop one in your mouth right away.

At home I don't use any white sugar for over a decade. But we did use some natural unrefined sweeteners for our desserts. When Type 1 D entered our life all of a sudden I knew we had to change that part too. The same kids who had taken all their mother's other healthy baking experiments in their stride and had enjoyed the results, were now required to adapt to a whole new element - a ride of a lifetime.

I didn't dread the shift at all. But I did dread the loss of spontaneity that it might result in. Food needs to be tracked especially carbs and measured, insulin given and then that food can be consumed. How then a child can simply follow what their heart says when they see a dessert being made?

That question haunted me for a while and the answer as always lies within us - to create something that my child can eat spontaneously and yet remain safe and healthy.

And while I was making these Low Carb Almond Coconut Laddoos with plant based Stevia yesterday, my daughter came and picked up one and ran off to eat it despite me running behind saying that these are for the weekend :)

And that one laddoo was fine for her to eat - as is. Without a care. Because of how it was made and what it contained.

So you see, flavours and shifting palates are not big problems. What I struggle every day to preserve is the spontaneous joyfulness in my child but as I said, the answer lies within me.

28/03/2024

Nothing says summer vacations like a box full of freshly baked Wholewheat butter cookies. :) Better pics later!

20/03/2024

A quick recipe I tried for the kids to get them off to a start in terms of vegetable-based snacking options!

I baked these “something in between a fritter and cracker” these Vegan Low Carb Gluten-free “Coins”a while ago and the plan for the weekend is to do a modified version of it.

Recipe on the blog
https://ovenderfulhealthybaking.in/2021/04/03/compassion-fatigue-and-low-carb-vegan-gluten-free-baked-coins/

03/03/2024

A few pictures of the Wholewheat Chicken pot pie from a couple of weeks ago. With exam season setting in, not only are we heading towards a time when kids are busy with their books but also that they are going to come back home sooner than usual from school. And that restless energy is spent not only on studying but also in finding stuff to eat. This is likely to be the time when they grab the junk food first if it's visible to them. So the only way to manage it is - make it unavailable! If it's not there they won't look for it and find that healthy alternatives satisfy hunger pangs the same way :)

Both the kids have asked for the pie and quiche to be done again and if they can take some for their friends to eat before schools close for summer vacations. So well, next weekend or the one after that is going to be spent in baking again:)

I do have a list of things to try baking so hopefully will take time to pick from those too.

Meanwhile just feeling content with the fact that they enjoy what I bake even now and that they keep giving opportunities to do that :)

20/02/2024

The next bake. Wholewheat Oats Crust Apple Pie with coconut sugar.

The official taste testers were my son and his friends who loved it :)

And it earned me a tight hug from my son and also a comment that was seemingly off-hand but made my day, when Arjan said 'Mamma, you should be in Masterchef, it was so yum'. ❤️

Well, with my presentation and plating skills ( yes you learn those terms due to viewing Masterchef Australia for years!) which aren't that great and nor is my apple pie the best. But what can I say - at the end of a long work day, when you are tired, the mind is heavy with planning for the next day, your child's smiling face as they put that first forkful in the mouth, pushes through the barriers of stress and makes your heart soar.

See the full reel here-
https://www.instagram.com/reel/C3kqv_XyBPx/?igsh=dnAzMGYyNjVvdGRt

19/02/2024

As you can see I was on a bit of a baking spree this weekend - first, the Spinach and Cottage Cheese Quiche, in a Wholewheat crust.

Then the Chicken pot pie, also in a Wholewheat crust.

And finally the Apple pie in a Wholewheat Oats crust. With Coconut Sugar.

So no refined flour or sugar. No baking powder or soda.

Sharing them one at a time with a little bit of info that might help new bakers of these recipes.

For a quiche -

1. Cold water, cold butter, cold hands ( 😊) - when mixing the dough. It's important to maintain that while you make the dough for the crust for a good quality crust.

2. Wholewheat crusts will taste different - light seasoning in the crust always helps to elevate the flavours.

3. Don't skip the blind baking part. It's absolutely important.

4. The crust is likely to get soft even after you blind bake, due to the quiche filling. But that's ok. Sometimes you can prevent it,sometimes not. Nothing to worry :)

5. Quiche tastes better the next day ( that's the view of my primary taste testers - my kids!)

Happy baking. The recipe of the quiche is on my blog as always.

13/02/2024

🎉 Facebook recognized me as a top rising creator this week!