RECIPE: BANANA PEANUT BUTTER & OATS SMOOTHIE Banana Peanut Butter & Oats Smoothie is a deliciously, thick, filling and nutritious smoothie to enjoy as breakfast or as a snack. I like to add salted peanut butter as gives the smoothie a unique taste, a balance of sweetness from the banana and sweetener and saltiness from the peanut butter. As I mentioned In the Day 1 post for healthy drinks for kids, I want to refrain from using artificial flavors, additives and colors. And today to the list, I add harmful fats like hydrogenated vegetable fats. These are found in baked goods, restaurant foods, sold as margarine, etc. It finds its way into ready made products like peanut butter, and other nut and chocolate spreads. …
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Continue ReadingEVENT:BLOGGING MARATHON #88 THEME: KID’S DELIGHT – HEALTHY DRINKS – WEEK 3 DAY 1 RECIPE: STRAWBERRY FINGER MILLET SMOOTHIE Strawberry Finger Millet Smoothie Get kids to enjoy the health benefits of finger millet (ragi) in the form of a tasty, creamy Strawberry Finger Millet Smoothie. Add roasted finger millet to the smoothie along with fresh strawberries, honey or maple syrup and milk. Blogging Marathon For the next 3 days I will be preparing healthy drinks for kids. Yes, I know I don’t have kids at home, mine are all grown up. Usually its this fact that prevents me from taking part in the monthly Kid’s Delight theme that is organized by Srivalli. However, for the month of May, I participated in this event. The…
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Continue ReadingEVENT: FANTASTICAL FOOD FIGHT THEME: SALAD RECIPE : BLACK BEAN & CORN SALAD WITH AVOCADO DRESSING Black Bean And Corn Salad With Avocado Dressing is a healthy, tasty, filling salad with a creamy home made dressing. Can enjoy this hearty salad as a meal for lunch or dinner. Different textures and flavours makes this a fun salad. FANTASTICAL FOOD FIGHT Fantastical Food Fight is a Facebook Group of food bloggers. The group initiator is Sarah Ellis. She comes up with monthly themes and we post our recipes on the indicated date and time. It is a fun group which allows me to explore so many different cuisines and ideas. Theme: Salads There was a time when I was sticking to soups and salads only…
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Continue ReadingKemcho? Avo maare gher. ( How are you? Welcome to my home) March was when the Shhh Cooking Secretly group (started by Priya of Priya’s Versatile Recipes) ventured out to cook some Gujju (Gujarati) food. The general misconception is that Gujarati food is sweet. Yes we do use sugar and jaggery but it has to be a balance of both sweet and sour. Modern times with much health awareness, many Gujarati homes do not use sugar or jaggery in their daily cooking. The land of Lions and Legends has countless varieties of dishes. As a Gujarati I can make out from which region the food has originated. For example kadhi made by Patel Community maybe so different in taste and texture from the…
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Continue ReadingEVENT: FANTASTICAL FOOD FIGHT RECIPE: CARROT CAKE SMOOTHIE Carrot Cake Smoothie – a smoothie without the actual carrot cake but full of carrot cake flavors, healthy and filling. Fantastical Food Fight Theme: Its after quite a while that I’m taking part in the Fantastical Food Fight. The theme for the month of March, chosen by Sarah is Carrot Cake. For this theme we can bake a carrot cake or use the carrot cake flavors to make something different. My Recipe: Carrot Cake Smoothie As I’m into smoothies for breakfast these days, I opted to prepare a smoothie. I make it a point to have some turmeric powder everyday either in my smoothie or in hot water with lemon and honey. I made the carrot cake…
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Continue ReadingEVENT: SHHH COOKING SECRETLY THEME: CUISINE FROM CHHATTISGARH RECIPE: BAFAURI Bafauri is a healthy, steamed snack from the state of Chhattisgarh in India. This delicious snack is made from chana dal and simple spices. Usually it is enjoyed as a breakfast or evening snack with some chutney. Theme: For the month of January the Shhh Cooking Secretly group is sharing dishes from the state of Chhattisgarh. Renowned Religious Place Chhattisgarh literally means 36 Forts. This central eastern state was formed by separating the Chhattisgarhi speaking southeastern part of Madhya Pradesh in the year 2000. The north and south part of the state are hilly and the central part is covered by plains. It is believed that Lord Rama along with his wife Sita and brother…
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Continue ReadingBack To Normal Routine Its after a very long time that I had a very relaxing holiday. Relaxing means no cooking at all, no blogging and just lazing around doing what I want. I slept, I read, I walked a bit and spent quality time with my eldest son, daughter in law and her parents. Visiting Bali was a truly a surprise for me. When I use to see postcard pictures of Bali, blue seas, sandy beaches it was not really on my wish list. When you have sandy beaches and blue sea and sunshine in your backyard, Bali was not that alluring. I think if my son and daughter in law had not decided to settle there, hubby and I would probably not have…
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Continue ReadingEVENT: FOODIEMONDAY/BLOGHOP THEME: 119TH – UDUPI CUISINE RECIPE: UNDI/ RICE DUMPLINGS Undi/ Rice Dumplings is a famous Udupi breakfast dish. In fact it is also known as Pundi Gatti or Oondi. Basically, rice dumplings are steamed and served with a chutney or sambhar. Sometimes coconut oil drizzled over it is enough. It is a simple, healthy, gluten free, vegan breakfast to enjoy. Rice rava or coarsely ground rice flour is available in the market to make this dish but I decided to make it with soaked rice as I read that the dumplings or undi turns out much softer. However, feel free to use readily available rice rava to cut down preparation time. Memories A visit to Phoenix Mall, Bangalore is like a dazzling visit…
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Continue ReadingLand of the Dawn Lit Mountains As I had mentioned last month, The Shh Cooking Secretly group started by Priya Suresh of Priya’s Versatile Recipes is traveling round India state by state. Not physical travel, but cuisine wise. For the month of October participating members had to come up with dishes that are popular in Arunachal Pradesh with the given secret ingredients. This state wise cooking is opening up a whole new world of cuisine for me. I’m learning new names of dishes, new ingredients and different cooking methods. Food in Arunachal Pradesh in general does not have much oil unless its a fried dish and they depend largely on ingredients grown or available locally. People of Arunachal Pradesh love their meat and bamboo…
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Continue ReadingFusion Rules Whenever I’m asked if I prepare a lot of fusion dishes..the answer is never a clear yes or no. Sometimes unknowingly I’ve prepared fusion as I replace ingredients of an original recipe with ingredients that I get here. So like hung curds replaces cream cheese, mayo gets replaced by yogurt, fresh herbs get replaced by coriander or mint, tortilla gets replaced with roti etc etc. However there are certain things I’m still a bit vary of trying say like a sweet and sour veg in a dosa (don’t find that appealing) or say using the bhaji of pav bhaji to replace a pasta sauce. There are certain original tastes I like just the way they are. However, I’m still open to trying out…
