Day 2 - Beach, Pizza, Talaash and Rajma Chawal!

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Yesterday was Saturday and a not a very windy day (like it typically is, here in Wellington)! We drove down to Paraparaumu beach and spent time there. There were fluffy white clouds in the sky. The Tasman Sea waves were lapping up against the shore one after the other. Was a beautiful sight, close-my-eyes-and-lie-down-here-types!

N had a lot of fun, trying to catch the water in his fists, running behind and then away from the waves, playing with the stuff the water brought along.

We even drew some hearts in the sand; one for each of us, sized to match our heights. 

This was followed by a much needed tummy filling pizza lunch at Hell's Pizza. Hell's is a locally owned chain started in NZ and now spread across Australia and UK. Loved their collection of veggie and chicken pizzas. 

From here we proceeded to a quaint li'l modern village square with local shops, a farmer's market and ice cream, candy and honey stores along with other stuff.
I was amused by this sign on the door to an art gallery and gift store. Usually stores have the opposite sign. I thought this was cute and a stand-out!! I did go into the store with my double cream and cookies cone :) 

S and I looked at each other and thought "What next?" I am a big watch-movies-in-the-theater buff and this activity had reduced in frequency for some time after N was born but now we are back in action. We decided to watch Talaash, the latest Aamir Khan flick. And as expected with almost any Aamir Khan movie, it was a treat. Loved the taut, well edited and directed thriller. Well done Reema Kagti, Bravo!!

Came back home, had rajma chawal - a favourite in our house. Was inspired by Archana's post about making this. Loaded the dishwasher and while the hubby put the kid to bed I started on this post. All in all, it was a day well spent!

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We loooove Avocados!!

N and I... we both love our Avocados. In any form. We eat them cut-in-pieces-with-salt-sprinkled-over, as guacamole, in our sandwiches and our salads!

They are healthy, tasty and colourful. Here are some ways we use them -

Guacamole - We eat a lot of it, a LOT!! Give a lady her chips and dip and she will be very happy and grateful (the lady being me). I use a simple version of it - some diced onions (whichever ones I have at home - red or white), some diced tomato, crushed or finely diced garlic, chopped coriander, some paprika, salt and lemon. It is super fresh and flavorsome. Grab some chips - the fried, baked, unhealthy, healthy, any kinds and go dip!!

Photo from Flickr under a Creative Commons License from here

Sandwich - As a quick and healthy snack for those mid morning or evening hunger pangs. We use guacamole or plain fresh avocado smeared onto a slice of bread/toast, topped with a slice of tomato and sprinkled with salt and pepper on top.

Salad - A few red kidney beans, diced tomatoes, sweet corn, diced cucumber, and diced avocados.  Mix together, add some salt and pepper and a lil bit of balsamic or red wine vinegar and olive oil. Keep it in the fridge for a bit, tastes better cold. Perfect for those summer picnics too

Enjoy your veggies and go get some avocados!!!

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My 2nd guest post at ShopHealthy.in

Here is the 2nd guest post I wrote for ShopHealthy.in's blog - 5+ A Day.
The 1st one was a recipe for Oatmeal and walnut cookies - mentioned here. This new post is about getting 5+ servings of fruits and veggies in your daily diet and using all the food colour groups!

I love colour in all aspects of life, except my wardrobe maybe... that has a lot of black, which I am desperately trying to change. Uh, well digressing aren't we? Let's get back to the point. I believe food should also be visually appealing to tickle those taste buds and get all the senses activated! Food well presented beckons to me, in a way I know and love.

So go on read the post and incorporate some colour into your meals!!
Leaving you with this vivid image of simple yet very flavorful ingredients for a quick pasta meal which covers 3 of your colour segments :)

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Apple Crumble Recipe

Here is the recipe for the apple crumble I had made a while back - here. 

I referred to a few magazines and websites to check out the basic apple crumble recipe and then used this following derived version. It is super easy and very quick. Something that I am going to be making a lot!! 

Ingredients:

For the apple filling
- 4 Granny Smith apples (the green ones) You could use any other slightly tangy apples.

- 50 gm granulated sugar - I used soft brown sugar

- 1 lemon juiced - fresh yellow lemons work best
- 20 gm plain flour - For a healthier option use wholemeal flour/unbleached flour
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

For the crumble crust
- 120 gm walnuts/pecans 
- 140 gm plain flour
- 100 gm rolled oats 

- 110 gm dark brown sugar
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- A pinch of salt
- 115 gm cold butter, cut into small pieces

Method: 

1) Preheat oven to 180C/400F.

2) Peel, core, and slice apples into small (1/2 inch), almost same sized pieces or slices. 

Place apples in a large mixing bowl and mix with sugar, lemon juice, flour, and cinnamon. Put this mixture into a lightly greased 23 by 33 cm (9 inch by 12 inch) baking dish, and spread out into an even layer. Keep it aside.

3) In another bowl, mix together the nuts, flour, oats, sugar, cinnamon, and salt for the topping. Using a pastry cutter or your fingers, gently work in the cold butter until pea-sized lumps are formed.

4) Top apples evenly with mixture and bake until apples are bubbly and topping is golden brown, about 45 mins, rotating once halfway through cooking.

You can eat it by itself or with fresh whipped cream or ice cream! 

The otherwise non-sweet-eating hubby also loved it and had 2 servings (really big deal that is). I was super happy, because I had the rest of it over the next few days. This keeps well in the fridge too, warm it in the microwave, put a dollop of ice cream and you are in bliss! 

Happy Baking!!

Linking this to Made with Love Party hosted by these wonderful blogs - Patty at Colours Dekor, Cerys at Rainy Day Mum, Angie at The Magic of Play and Rashmie at Mommy Labs. 

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Rainbows and Apple Crumble!

Woke up today morning and saw this beautiful rainbow! N and I were both excited. N who was halfway through dressing for school, ran to wear his warm pants and grabbed his jacket. Then both of us went into the cold, 4 degrees Celsius temperature balcony and clicked this (it was a full end to end rainbow) - 

Beautiful! Ain't it?? 

Some things are just worth it!

Like having a freshly baked warm apple crumble with some cold vanilla ice cream. Gooey apples baked to perfection, crisp walnut-y rolled oats crust. Yumm! And icing on the cake, erm, crumble is that I made it myself... my first ever apple crumble. Recipe to follow soon... :) 

Happy Friday!!

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Recipe - Apple Cinnamon muffins

I had been itching and craving to bake. And bake I did - started with these oh-so-cute apple cinnamon muffins :) 


Found the recipe in a magazine borrowed from the library. Reproducing it here - 


For 12 regular-sized muffins:
- 2 medium apples (about 250 gms each) - you can use any apples you have on hand but you'll get the best flavour when you choose a 'tangy' variety such as Granny Smith or Braeburn. [ I used whatever was available at home] 
- 1 cup plain (unsweetened) yoghurt
- 1/4 cup canola oil
- 1 large egg
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 cups self-raising floor
- 1/2 cup chopped walnuts [Didn't have these so skipped them, but would be nice for some texture]
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp salt

I used unbleached self raising flour - unbleached means well: not bleached flour.  Bleaching is done in order to whiten flour and to to give it more gluten forming properties. Organic peroxides are used as beaching agents for flour.
For the sugar I used brown sugar. 
And I used sea salt flakes for the salt part.

1. Turn the oven to 190 C (or 180 C if using fan-bake)
2. Grate the unpeeled apples (discarding the cores). Place the grated apple, yoghurt, oil and egg in a large bowl and mix well. 
3. Measure all the remaining ingredients into another bowl and stir well with a fork. Tip the dry mixture into the wet ingredients, and gently fold together until the flour is just moistened. (Avoid over-mixing as this will toughen the finished muffins. It doesn't matter if the mixture looks a little marbled, this looks quite good in the finished muffins. 

4. Spray 12 regular sized muffin pans with non-stick spray, then divide the mixture evenly between them. Bake for 12 - 15 minutes or until the muffins are golden brown on top and spring back when pressed lightly in their centres. 

[I used paper muffin cups instead of directly putting the batter into the muffin tray. Easier to peel off and eat the muffins and to clean the tray! :) ]


5. Leave muffins to cool in their pans for 2-3 minutes, then tip out and cool on a rack. Place cool muffins in a plastic bag, freezing any you don't expect to eat within 48 hours. 

I halved the recipe because I wanted to make 12 mini muffins and not the regular sized ones. My cooking theory has become "small is beautiful". 
But I could have, actually, should have added just a bit more flour - more than the halved version. The muffins were a bit more moist than I would have liked them to be. 

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Some more lunch and dinner menus

My cooking has been on full flow ever since we moved to NZ and I am loving it! (so far).  I have been reading up on some great food blogs and trying out new recipes. 


Looking forward to many more food blogs and recipes and cooking some healthy and nutritious food for my family!!


Some notable menus/new recipes that I tried in the last few weeks are -


# Fettuccine with Tomato and Basil from Archana's Kitchen - See detailed post here - Awesome recipe!! 

# Pizza with home made tomato basil sauce - The sauce had fresh tomatoes, a lil tomato paste, basil and garlic. The toppings were green bell peppers, onions, broccoli and shredded cheese. My 3 and 1/2 year old helped in topping the uncooked pizzas with the veggies and he loved doing that! Click here to see pictures of our pizzas :) 

# Pasta with basil pesto sauce - Basil pesto is my all time favorite (almost there with peanut butter). And I can have it for breakfast, lunch and dinner!! So it was a simple pasta boiled separately; some olive oil, garlic, broccoli, carrots and peas sauteed for a bit, added to the basil pesto sauce (store bought) and then mixed with the pasta. The kid and the hubby enjoyed it too!


# Shaved Brussels Sprouts Salad from in pursuit of more - Loved it! I have never had Brussels sprouts in any from before this and this was a totally healthy and yummy thing to start with. 


# The tastiest Guacamole from Fork and Beans. Might I add "simplest sounding recipe" too!


# Beetroot rice from Archana's Kitchen with coriander raita - An unexpected, colourful, tasty meal! 


# Grilled chilly pepper toast from Archana's Kitchen - mouthwatering, comfort snack and super quick to make. 

# Minestrone soup with pasta - used it as a baked casserole the next day for lunch!


I had picked up a big bundle of spinach from the farmer's market and used it 3 ways over the week - 
1) Spinach rice from Archana's Kitchen - I served it for dinner with chana daal (gram pulses/lentils) spiced with a cumin and garam masala flavour and a salad of cucumber and tomatoes with a dash of salt and fresh black pepper. 

2) Potato spinach vegetable from Archana's Kitchen. 


3) Spinach and Sweet potato (kumara) patties - A very nice way to incorporate some sweet potato and spinach into the diet. The kid lapped them up and so did the hubby. 


*******************************************************************************


And then there are some recipes from other blogs that I have to, have to, try. Some of them are - 


Garden Pasta Salad from Fork and Beans.
Potato thyme rolls from Archana's Kitchen. 
Bread baskets filled with mushroom and cheese from Archana's Kitchen.
Roasted red pepper and walnut pesto from Girlichef. 
Carrot cake from The Faux Martha. 
Zesty Mexican Quinoa Salad from The Faux Martha.
No-Rise Pizza Crust from The Faux Martha.
Thai Stir Fry from The Faux Martha - I love Thai food!!
Spinach Pesto from The Faux Martha - I love pestos too!!
Apple Crisp from The Faux Martha.
Strawberry Shortcake from The Faux Martha.
Leo's Healthy Scrambled Tofu from Zen Habits Offloaded.
Rice Paper Veggie rolls from in pursuit of more


Oh and I am itching to do some baking! Need to make some apple pies, muffins, cupcakes and cakes!! Just can't wait to start doing that soon. 


Happy Weekend people!! 

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Ricotta cheese and Condensed milk sweet

A friend had made a sweet for Diwali a few years ago when we were in the US. It was one of those things that you want to try as soon as possible! I made it and have been using it as a fail-safe sweet/dessert ever since.
It is simple and quick - just 2 ingredients and 12 minutes to make - couldn't get easier.
I made it recently for the husband's 34th birthday!!

Ingredients -
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1 can ricotta cheese
They have to be used in a 1:1 ratio so use same quantity of both ingredients! I used 250 gms of each.

In a bowl mix the ricotta cheese and condensed milk with a spoon till they look like a homogeneous mixture. The mixture will be pretty liquid at this stage, something like this -

Microwave the mixture for about 10 to 12 minutes in increments of 2 minutes. So microwave at full power for 2 minutes, take it out, mix with a spoon to bring things together, then repeat this for about 5 to 6 times till you see a grainy mix where the ricotta has sort of absorbed the condensed milk. Something like the picture below. There is no right or wrong consistency, do it till you just see the grainy texture and even if you give it an extra 2 or 4 minutes it will not harm the final product - learnt from experience ;) 

Put this mixture into the fridge for setting/firming up (a minimum of 45 mins to anything you want, even overnight is fine). The mixture is ready to eat immediately after cooking and cooling down a bit, but if you want to cut out a desired shape then some firming up is needed. 

You can choose bowls/cups/ramekins of any size and shape. Put the mixture in and lightly press with the underside of a spoon or spatula to level the surface. 

I used round bowls to set them in and then I cut out 3 circles of different sizes using cookie cutters, flipped them over and stacked them like a cake!! Be gentle with the pieces, they will be fragile to handle and crumbly. You can use any other shape cutters or lids to cut out the shapes. Can be set even in mini muffin cups, those look cute! 

Extras - You could add strawberries, blueberries or pomegranate seeds and some mint leaves for the garnish. 

Some toasted almonds or walnuts would make a lovely and crisp addition. 

A little cardamom powder at the 1st step of mixing ricotta and condensed milk would also be nice. 

But don't make too much of a fuss about all these, coz the basic mix itself is such a yummy treat!! 

Enjoy!!

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Pizza night!!!

I remember when I was a kid, pizza nights used to be a biggie.
My mom would make the crust at home or get a fresh one from the baker. She would then chop all the veggies - the greens, reds and yellows and prepare the sauce. Me and my sister would be called on to help putting things together - we used to spoon on the sauce on the base, then top our own pizzas with loads of veggies we liked and some of the ones we didn't ;) with shredded cheese on the top! Then that pizza would go into the round electric ovens common in those days. Ah! the aroma of a fresh baked pizza with melting cheese on top just out of the oven is mesmerizing and stays in the memory for ages!!

One weeknight is dedicated to pizzas or pastas at home now. N loves to help when I make pizza and that makes it even more fun (or more work, lol). So one day last week, we made veggie pizzas with a homemade tomato basil sauce.

The veggies we used were green bell peppers, broccoli, onions and tomatoes. And we topped it with some shredded mozzarella.

N helped me assemble the pizzas by putting the veggies and cheese after I had applied the sauce on the store-brought base.

I would love to make my own base too once I am settled in the new apartment and have my yeast/bread baking stuff all set and ready to use. And I would like to try this No-Rise Pizza Crust from thefauxmartha.com. Seems like an easy breezy recipe :)

Here is the pizza after it came out of the oven!

This one says it all with the way N is looking at the pizza!! :)

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Fettuccini with Tomato and Basil from Archana's Kitchen

I had been planning to try this pasta recipe from Archana's Kitchen for a very long time. It seemed pretty easy and yummy too. So tried it out last Sunday, took the pictures too but finally got time now to put them up.

For the recipe, please visit Archana's blog here.

It uses some fresh and very colorful ingredients - some tomatoes, I used some fresh tomatoes and some tomato paste too which I wanted to finish off. Basil (I love the aroma and the taste). Garlic and some fettuccine or any ribbon pasta. 

The fettuccine was boiled and cooked as per the instructions on the box. I think, you can use even a whole wheat based pasta if you prefer! I added a teeny weeny bit of olive oil to the pasta after draining to keep the strands separate. 

The sauce was yummy, flavorful and looked great - one of the best I have ever made or had! Bowls were licked off!! :) 

Simple and basic ingredients like a good quality olive oil and fresh ground black pepper are just the touch needed to make it a healthy and appetizing meal. 

I enjoyed making this pasta and eating it even more. Hope you enjoy it too. 

Take care, Have a great week ahead!!

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Weeknight dinners last week

Its been almost 2 years since I cooked 3 meals a day, 7 days a week types. And so I thought it will take some time getting used to and I will find it tough etc. But surprisingly its been just OK. I guess once you are thrown into the water you do learn swimming!

So I decided to list down what I have been doing for dinner, to provide some inspiration to myself and ideas, a few weeks down the line. This might or might not be a regular feature based on what I cook, lol.

For the last week, this is what we had -

Monday - Quesadillas - wheat flour tortillas with a filling of onions, tomatoes, red kidney beans, some tomato sauce/ketchup (my regular chili sauce was missing hence the substitute) and shredded cheese. I usually add bell peppers too but had none at home so did without them. Used some of the filling leftovers in a sandwich, for breakfast, a day later.

Tuesday - Daal (lentils) and plain boiled rice along with baked veggies. Colorful veggies help! :) I used broccoli, carrots and potatoes. Baked them in the oven with some oil, salt and rosemary! N and S gobbled them up. N kept saying yummy!! :)

The fresh green colourful veggies! 

Out from the oven - baked and glistening. I added very little olive oil and that was more than enough!

On the plate - still colourful and very appetizing. 

Wednesday - Caramelized onions with sunny side up eggs along with a side of boiled peas and corn sauteed with a lil butter and salt. Clean licked plates were a pleasure to see! I learnt the caramelized onions  with eggs recipe from a friend. Thanks Chakki :)

Thursday - We had Lemon rice - with all the yummy stuff it usually  has - fresh squeezed lemon, peanuts (I love them) and fresh green coriander. S loves rice and anything made out of it so this was a win-win!

What could be better than the humble lemon rice with a glass of wine!

Friday - I had planned to make this pasta from Archana's Kitchen. But forgot to pick the pasta and basil on time so had to move this to the weekend. Instead I made plain ol' namak (salt) parathas (Indian bread) and had it with some yogurt and an apple and pear salad with a little fresh lemon squeezed on top. It tasted great and the crisp apple added great texture to the meal.

I think I did well this week - well it was week 1 of cooking, lets see how soon I get bored or run out of ideas ;)

What do you do for weeknight dinners? Any quick, easy, healthy, favourite recipes? Or cooking websites that you refer to? 

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Cookies and Salsa

I get the inspiration to cook like the monsoons in Bangalore. Somedays there is nothing - zilch, a very dry spell. Whatever the cook makes, we shall eat.  And on other days there are heavy showers of motivation and an intense desire to cook something. Last week we had one of those heavy shower days and the after effect was very pleasant and mouthwatering.
And I started watching Nigella Kitchen recently so am inspired all the more :) Cheers for Nigella Lawson, the hot sexy mama who cooks awesome food.

I collected some of these beautiful coloured veggies and roasted them in the oven.  

I added these for some tangy yummy flavours.

Pulsed them in the mixer and made this hot tangy roasted tomato and capsicum salsa.

What's salsa without some nachos? Umm, yumm and like N says "Yummy in my tummy" combo.

But that couldn't satisfy my sweet tooth. So, I took these ingredients (in pic below) along with some butter and sugar.

And made these simple, flavourful and melt-in-your-mouth cookies.

If you need exact recipes or process, let me know, will share.

Linking this in to Patty's Weekly Party and Tanya's Tea-Time Thursday!














Happy Monday!!

Edited to Add - Here is the recipe link for the cookies (It is by Rachel Allen) - http://www.lifestylefood.com.au/recipes/8947/basic-cookie-recipe
I modified the basic version, slightly, by adding Hersheys cocoa powder and reducing the amount of plain flour to accomodate the cocoa powder. You can go light or dark based on taste and colour preference. I added some crushed walnuts too. And ofcourse I did not want to make 35 cookies, just a trial sized amount so I reduced the quantities by 1/4.
Happy Baking!
The salsa was as simple as the pictures show - just roast/grill the veggies (tomato, onion, capsicum, green chilli (as hot as you want) and garlic) in the oven/microwave (use grill mode). Then blend them along with the coriander, lemon juice, salt and some cumin seeds. Now dig in with some nachos (for the ideal combo) or some chips :)

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