Last week was pretty hectic both on the work front as well as on the personal front. Right from the get-go on Monday up to Friday we had crazy schedules and other things lined up one after the other. Dear Husband was also out of town for couple of days and that just piled more work on me. Never the less I was very happy to see the weekend come by and was able get some rest and relaxation. Another good thing that happened during the weekend was that we had invitation to dinner on Saturday and Sunday at…
Quick and Healthy Breakfast Smoothie
Few days ago, my colleagues were having a conversation at work about good and healthy breakfast, its benefits and how it boosts metabolism etc. Research has proved that eating breakfast improves memory and concentration. Even though we try to follow this at home as much as possible, with today’s hectic schedules, long commute a full sit-down breakfast is not always possible. So many a days we end up skipping breakfast and end up having a heavy lunch which is not very desirable. I have also read that even having an energy bar and a glass of milk can…
Panaka (Indian Lemonade)
Panaka(Kannada) is usually prepared on Sri Rama Navami a Hindu festival, celebrating of the birth of Lord Rama. Panaka or Panakam (Telugu) is a sweet drink prepared with jaggery, lemon and pepper. This is an Indian version of lemonade and uses jaggery instead of sugar. Jaggery is a rich source of iron due to the process involved, using iron utensils. It is considered by some to be a particularly wholesome sugar and, unlike refined sugar, it retains more mineral salts. Moreover, the process does not involve chemical agents. Indian Ayurvedic medicine considers jaggery to be beneficial in treating throat…
Healthy Strawberry Yogurt
Spring has finally arrived and how. The weather has now changed for the better. Gone are those dreadful chilling days and now that has made way for mild and pleasant weather. There are some days with exceptions, but then I will take spring any time of the year. The bare trees are now being replaced with beautiful flowers or small leaves and it is beautiful to see the transformation all around. Also another plus for me is that the days are getting longer. Even when I get back home from work at 6:00 PM in the evening, it is…
Strawberry Banana Milkshake
I had not eaten or seen strawberries while I was in India. It was only after coming here to the US that I got a taste of it. It took a while for me to acquire the taste, but now that I am used to it, I just love it. We get a boxful of them each week and continue to eat them through out the week. Strawberries as I understand are the most popular of all berries. Even though they are in season during summer and spring, I have seen strawberries available in the supermarkets almost any…
Gujarathi Kadhi
I grew up eating predominantly Konkani/Maharashtrian and also Karnataka style food. Even though I had Guajarati food occasionally maybe at friend’s place or restaurants I always enjoyed it and craved for more. The sweet mild taste, flavorful spices all blend together to form a unique taste. Quite frankly we are a family that relishes real hot food; at any point of time we have a huge storage of red and green chillies at home to use in our everyday cooking. But then I equally love the mild and pleasant taste of Gujarathi food. Unfortunately in the place that…
Coriander Yogurt Lassi
Talk about yogurt and I do have to mention a funny incident that happened yesterday. I am a big fan of yogurt, the plain old one and love it in combination with rice at the end of lunch/dinner. It works wonders for me; it not only cools me but also manages to calm my nerves. When I had been to the grocery yesterday I could not find my regular favorite Plain Danon Non-fat yogurt. I was miffed by that and even mentally swore at the store, I mean how could such a big super store not carry a regular brand,…