I wish I didn’t have to crib. Everyday I have a tough time trying to decide what to cook for dinner. I seem to find that it is getting tougher as the girls grow up. When I started blogging, they were small so they would eat anything that was given to them. But now, they frown and scorn for anything that I make, except pizzas. 😕 Being a mother, this is totally frustrating. With a totally tight schedule these days, I look forward to cooking meals that get done in 30 minutes. Rasha loathes eggs and any dal curry, while Azza is indifferent towards chicken and meat – I wonder if there are kids like that these days! Vegetables are an even big no-no, except for a cucumber daily. My girls don’t even like whole lentils or potatoes. Sometimes, I feel so lost… but then I pull out my…
Cookie Butter/ Biscoff Chocolate Chunk Cookies
I haven’t been sharing much on the blog because it’s been the usual hussle-bussle. I won’t say nothing is happening in life… There is a lot happening but somehow I don’t want to sink myself into it. It is always better to try and stay afloat, rather than push yourself down and feel awful about it. From the start of the year, things haven’t been really positive, and that has stalled even my weight loss. I am not able to put in as much discipline into my eating as I had done last year, and this is frustrating me to the core. But I am trying to stay focused on myself and keeping myself on line, making sure that I don’t lose all the hard work that I have done last year. Maintenance is as important and sustainable at the stage I am in, I guess… 🙂 Talking…
Memoni Mutton Biriyani with Chutney
It’s been so long since I have done a book review. In fact, I was planning to put up this post during the last week of January. Somehow, it fizzled down in between and I couldn’t schedule it. Happens, isn’t it? 🙂 Somehow, I restarted my guest post series last month, so hoping that I will be able to keep the book reviews and guest posts every alternate month, InShaAllah… I thought of treading the path carefully and slowly and concentrate on one at a time. Let’s see how it goes… 🙂 I chose this book truly by chance, not knowing what to expect from it. The name “Spice Sorcery” did do some sort of sorcery on me, that I ended up picking it through Amazon.in a couple of years ago. 😀 The book written by Husna Rahaman and published by Harper Collins, concentrates on sharing recipes of…
Vanilla Bean Custard | Simple Egg Custard
If I had cooked the Dalia Upma and Palak Paneer for HD and me, today’s recipe was made for the girls. 😀 I shouldn’t show any discrimination, right? This week, I am doing three back to back posts for the Blogging Marathon #98 for the theme “Cooking for Two”. Making a purely egg custard has been in my agenda for a long time. But usually, I prefer using whole eggs in my recipes – I did that with my lemon curd, when most of the recipes only use the yolks. I have even made a baked custard which used whole eggs. Somehow it irks me that I have to waste a part of the eggs. When people tell me that they discard the yolks and only cook the whites, I boil from inside. “How dare! The yolks are the tastiest part of the egg!” Hehe… Thankfully, the notions…
Easy Palak Paneer
I owe this Palak Paneer recipe to Huma. She shared this recipe with me before she posted it on her blog and made me fall for it head over heels. I never liked making palak paneer before. If you see most of the recipes online, they involve a lot of steps. It makes you feel like making this humble dish is such a pain. But this recipe changed my whole thought process. This recipe is the second one to feature in this week’s theme of “Cooking for 2” in the Blogging Marathon #98. Paneer is something I have been eating every single day since last January, as a part of my protein intake. It is something that we Keralites never eat. I have already mentioned before on the blog that my family shares a mixed relationship with this ingredient. So I don’t cook it frequently. But for myself,…
Dalia Upma | Broken Wheat Upma
There is a reason why I chose this week’s theme when Valli declared it in the Blogging Marathon #98 – “Cooking for Two”. You all know, we aren’t two, we are four. 😀 But most of the time, I end up cooking for two because the other two I have are very fussy that I don’t feel like cooking for them. 😕 HD is forever looking into my food, so for my safety, it is better to cook extra and serve him as well. Do you have husbands who want to eat your food? OK, so jokes apart, dalia or broken wheat is not something that I frequently cook with. But when I got the opportunity to try the ingredient when my mentor included it as a part of my carbs, I fell in love with this upma. Every second day, I was making it for my breakfast…
Chocolate Biscuit Balls
After making the Pancakes and the Pizza Bites for the Blogging Marathon #98 theme “Kid’s Delight – Bites”, I was totally blank. It isn’t that my mind wasn’t without any ideas but somehow the ideas weren’t being converted into actions. It was really frustrating me to the core. That is when I was reminded of the pack of arrowroot biscuits umma had left and gone for the girls to eat. I had left it in the cupboard since it has all powdered up and eating it without messing up the house is out of question. So there were born these no-cook, super easy Chocolate Biscuit Balls. Sometimes I really wonder why I need to concentrate on posting such easy to make recipes, especially those that are no-cook. We are always looking at ideas which won’t take much time or effort on our part, but will still ensure us…
Easy Pizza Rolls
For this week’s theme of “Kid’s Delight – Snacks and Bites” for the Blogging Marathon #98, I am jumping in with these Pizza Rolls that I baked for Rasha’s class party along with the Brookies. You must be wondering what did I make for Azza then. She came home saying that her teacher asked her to make some “healthy sandwich” and that too only 12 of them. I was a bit concerned. Only 12? And that too sandwich? I asked her again and again, and she kept saying “yes”. I ended up making chicken salad sandwich for her class, which didn’t take much time as Rasha’s goodies took. Anyway… 😀 Rasha actually wanted pizza. But then making mini pizza is a small pain, especially for a class party. So I convinced her that I would make rolls, so that they are easier to carry and eat. After thinking…
Mini Vegan Wholewheat Pancakes
I am coming back to the Blogging Marathon after a hiatus. Somehow, I have mentioned it before and still mention it – this series by Valli gives a much needed push when it comes to blogging. You may have noticed that ever since this year has started, I have been going slow on my posts purposely, since I don’t want blogging to become a burden for me. I must say that the move has helped me tremendously to relax and concentrate on other things in life. 😉 When I need the motivation, I know that this initiative by Valli will be there to get me pepped up. Can you believe that this month is #98? Wow… That’s a really long time… 🙂 For this week, I chose “Kid’s Delight – Snack and Bites”. You may have already seen my event declaration post a couple of days ago. Actually,…
Event Announcement – Kid’s Delight | Snacks/ Bites
We are soon approaching school closure. As far as I am concerned, most of the Indian schools in the UAE are already closed for three weeks, before the new academic year starts during the first week of April. Actually, the year starting is always a cause of confusion back home. When we visit in July, we get asked whether we are skipping school, when we have already completed one whole term. 😀 Anyway, with the schools back home gearing up for two months of summer vacations, it is time to keep the tummies of the little ones happy and the mommies satisfied. Isn’t it always a hassle? The kids are forever hungry, especially when they are at home. Meals aren’t sufficient, so it means you either have something to snack on handy with you all the time. So this month, for Valli’s Kid’s Delight event, I am pleased to…
Macher Jhol ~ Bengali Fish Potato Curry
Some recipes have a very strange way of getting into your head. Just like this peculiar Bengali delicacy of a fish curry called “Macher Jhol”. Once upon a time, this You Tube video was shared on somebody’s FB wall and I ended up watching it. I usually don’t watch any videos unless something piques me and I really don’t know what was it in this video. As soon as I heard it, it would continuously sing in my head, and I am sure if you hear it for one time, the “Macher Jhoool” that she sings will echo in your ears and head every time! To get rid of that echo, I had to make this curry after making my batch of Panch Phoron. 😀 Fish and potatoes are a very unusual combination for us. We always add our potatoes to chicken or meat, but never fish. So…
Kadumaanga | Malabar Raw Mango Pickle
I don’t know how your relationship with your mom is. We have a totally different wavelength when it comes to thoughts, and can be at loggerheads at times. But does that make me not love her? Definitely not. She is my ticket to paradise, maybe more than my two daughters are. Didn’t the Prophet tell us that our Jannah (paradise) lies under our mother’s feet? This has become a good blackmail dialogue for every Muslim mother, and that includes me too. 😉 And then this hadith: A man came to the Prophet and said, ‘O Messenger of God! Who among the people is the most worthy of my good companionship? The Prophet said: Your mother. The man said, ‘Then who?’ The Prophet said: Then your mother. The man further asked, ‘Then who?’ The Prophet said: Then your mother. The man asked again, ‘Then who?’ The Prophet said: Then your…