Kachumber - Easiest Side Salad

Kachumber or raw salad is the easiest salad you will ever make - and it's healthy too.  Ingredients can be added/omitted to your liking as long as it's raw.  I usually like to make my raw salad with tomatoes (deseeded), red onion, cucumber, cilantro for garnish and sometimes jalapeño if I want a kick.  It's best serve chilled and right before serving a quick dressing of salt n pepper, cumin powder, a bit of red chilli powder or paprika and juice of lemon is a must.  It's best to add the dressing at the time of serving so that the vegetables don't get watery.  

Friday Funnies: Summer special

Meal in pictures: Ragda with Sweet Potato Pattis

Our dinner a few nights ago - Ragda with Sweet potato pattis to give it that healthy touch! It was delicious.

Friday Funnies - dedicated to my 'midlife crisis'

I think I need a vacation..a vacation just for me, myself and I - Where I can choose to do whatever it is I damn well please, whenever, wherever - sort of like a Mid-life crisis vacay!!!

Every once in a while, I have to stop and reevaluate my life - If I don't, it becomes this loop of doing the same s*** on different days.  It's easy to get sucked into the loop of routine, and what follows (at least for me) is utter frustration and anger that is usually taken out on someone else.

Over the years, I've gotten a tiny bit better at recognizing the patterns - and the pattern also happens to follow my 'woman's cycle' as well.  My lows are super duper lows and highs are so high that I could fly; it could almost be bipolar personality except the highs and lows don't happen at the same time, simultaneously or even on same days.

I've learned that it is as important for me to connect with myself on daily basis, as it is to connect with my family - If I don't take a 'break' just to hang out with myself, I get extremely frustrated.  If I don't get to socialize, I get angry.  I've also realized that I couldn't care less about anyone else except for the people that really matter to me anymore - Thank god coz it's better late than never. :)

When I do step back, I start appreciating things more instead of constantly bitching about pretty much the same things.  I'm able to enjoy my time and use it more productively.  I am able to plan evenings out with my girlfriends, read a good book, hell even start writing again!! I realize that I am a much much better mom when I choose to do things that I love first and give myself priority first - selfish as it may sound, it is true for me and probably for the most women out there.

Meal in Pictures: French Bread Pizza

This was our lunch a few days ago - It was absolutely finger licking yummy and cannot wait to make it again

Happy Father's day!!

I loathe these special days dedicated to dads, moms, love, etc..It is nothing but marketing ploy in my opinion.

Even still, it is nice to recognize those special people and relationships in life!! so Here's a very Happy Father's day to all the men who chose to change their lives forever by bringing a little soul into this world.

A special mention to my baby daddy: Mr. Z - Thank you for going out of your way to ensure O and I have the best of everything in life - thank you for working tirelessly so that we have the freedom to lazy around if we choose to.  Thank you for making conscious effort to be a little kid yourself once in a while even though it's so not in your personality.   Thank you for choosing to ignore all my bickering and watching over us - We love you more than words can describe and so grateful that God was kind enough to play his part in bringing you into our life!!

Recipe: Healthy Banana Bread

This bread here is completely oil/butter, egg & sugar free! and if preferred, can be Gluten free as well - The best part is, it turned out to be just as moist and delicious as 'regular' Banana Bread if not more.

I love playing with recipes - so it's always great to make it your own.  I added cranberries, dates & almonds in mine - other popular substitutions are: walnuts, chocolate chips, raspberries, apple, etc.

Recipe:

1 cup Whole Wheat Flour
1/2 Cup All Purpose Flour
1/2 tsp Baking powder
1/2 tsp Baking Soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/3 cup sweetener of your choice (Honey, Agave, maple syrup..etc..)
1/3 cup Yogurt (Plain)
1/4 cup chopped dates (or a topping of your choice, walnuts, raspberries, chocolate chips, etc)
2 medium ripe bananas (mashed)
1 small apple (Mashed or apple sauce) - Optional

• Preheat oven to 350F and grease an 8x4 load pan - set aside
• Mix flour(s), baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, salt - set aside
• In another bowl, whisk Yogurt, sweetener, Mashed bananas & Mashed apple (or apple sauce if using) - Whisk together until completely incorporated
• Slowly mix dry and wet ingredients together until no dry flour remains - do not over mix
• Add in your choice of toppings -  I added raspberries and almonds)
• Pour the batter into the greased pan and bake for about 60 minutes or until a toothpick insert comes out clean
• let it stand for 10 minutes or until cool before slicing

*These can be stored in an airtight container in refrigerator for up to a week!

Summer special: Sweet, delicious, raw Mangos!

There's nothing better to relish on in the hot summer, than raw, delicious, juicy mangos....as they are.

Happy birthday Mom!

Today, June 7th, is my mom's 58th birthday! She's a woman of a few words but her heart is larger than life.  She's 'wished' away her whole life taking care of others' needs and always putting others first before herself.  First, her struggles growing up, then working her youth away to provide for her family, then kids, then family, and now grandkids.

Rarely has she ever complained unless you really make her talk - She's given her time and self away to everyone selflessly without worrying about her own needs and wants; yet no one, including myself, have ever really appreciated her or everything she does for others.  We have instead always asked her to be something she's not - which is to 'stand up' for herself or speak up instead of just keeping everything bottled up inside.

She's always had people around her to take adventage of her niceness - knowing that, she has bent over backwards because it's just not in her nature to not please or help others.  She maybe a woman of a few words, but when she does say something, it's almost always worth while or to the point.  She has gone through a lot in life yet, still puts on a smile and a brave front.

I wish her the bestest birthday and happiest of times for next 50+ years.  If there's anyone who deserves the best of everything, it's Nita! We love you mom and we may not say it enough, or ever but you really have lived a life of dignity through all the ups and downs.  May you make the next 50 years the best and most self pampering years of your life.

Back after a hiatus...again!

Here I am again, after yet another long hiatus.

Writing is always on my mind; ALWAYS! whatever I maybe doing, I'm always looking to incorporate it into writing one way or the other.  Getting down to business of doing it however, is where the challange is.

A lot has happened since my last blog - I wrote and rewrote all that took place, but never got around to either saving it or posting it so I just let it be.

We've packed up and moved to a different state, we've taken numerous vacations, I've read many books, kiddo has grown up A LOT, I've lost 20 pounds, and we've planned a ton of life altering changes since my last blog; but getting into nitty gritty of it is just pointless this late in the game so I'll just pretend that I'm starting a fresh new blog and start posting all the pending posts.

I feel like I need a direction; both for blogging and in life.. yet, I can't function like that IRL so if I were to choose just one field to blog about, I'd probably never blog again - I think I'll stick to how I've been blogging and hopefully, pick it up more..and more! <Rant over>

Summer is here! So I maybe gone again for another long break because I'm too busy being outdoors and having fun when it's nice out..but oh well! I will do the best I can I guess.