A Week without Shopping: Day 7

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....though I was invisible from my blog on days - 4,5 & 6 - I am so glad to let you all know that I stuck to my week-long resolution 'to go without shopping!'. Yeh Yeh!..and the best part is my freezer is almost empty now. As promised to myself, I cooked yummy, healthy food too :)) Here is what I did..

February 23rd Day 4: Shivaratri

I kept my first fast on this year's Shivaratri and I DID it! 'Fasting' is one thing I thought I could never do it as when I attempted last time, I almost fainted. Now, its all fine. I drank 2 cups of fruit juice with plenty water all-day-long and in the evening we visited Durga temple. I made some 'Aloo tikkis' to break my fast. No pics as I was busy hogging over them. :)

February 24th Day 5:

Breakfast: Dosas with my left over dosa batter.

Lunch: (Greens cooked in olive oil) with 2 rotis

Dinner: Amchur Aloo served with rice.


Preparation:

Peel off the skin of 2 medium sized potatoes and cut into cubes. Heat oil, add cumin seeds with chopped garlic, green chillies and some coriander. Add potatoes and cover & cook for 5-6 mins on medium-low flame. Season with salt, turmeric and add 1 tsp of Amchur (Mango) powder. Mix well and Serve!

..this potato dish is as simple as it could be but the addition of 'Amchur' gives it a very different taste and everybody in my office loved it when I took to lunch next day. :)

Off this dish goes to EC's RCI:Haryana :)

February 25th Day 6:

Breakfast: (Everything bagel + cream cheese) - this is my favorite breakfast combo ever. :))

Lunch: Amchur Aloo with Rice.

Dinner: Simple Mung Dal with Paratha.



Preparation:

Pressure cook 1 cup mung dal with enough water and a bay leaf. Heat oil and add cumin seeds with chopped onion & tomatoes. Cook well with little water until mushy. Add cooked dal and season with salt, turmeric and chilli powder. Mix in some fresh coriander and psst psst.. a teaspoon of ghee at the very end!!. :))

February 26th Day 7: Today

Breakfast: Instant Oatmeal (apple and cinnamon flavor) with milk

Lunch: Dal with rice

Dinner: Spicy Okra stew with rice.

On a different note, do you know about culinate.com. Though I am a member here from quite some time and am regularly recieving their newsletters, I must confess that I never actually read their content. Today when I did from my office, I was literally glued for an hour. I am in absolute love with their recipes and their useful trivia about almost everything related to food!.

Check out an interesting article about 'Kitchen Cleanup' on Culinate.

What all other foodie websites do you visit? Any personal favorites? I would be glad to know from you all.

Good night for now,

Siri

A Week without Shopping: Day 3

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It was a very quite Sunday. In the morning I stopped by the local library to pick up 'Blackberry Wine' by Joanne Harris and couple of others. By the way that's the book we have decided for this month's 'this book makes me cook'. I was quite surprised to know from Simran post, that its been already been 9 months we started this club. Phew! time flies I must say. :). If you want to be a part of our book club, do leave a comment here and I will get back to you.

Coming to today's menu, there were a crate full of eggs which I wanted to use up. Being an ardent lover of eggs (Dhivya, are you listening!), I bookmark every egg recipe posted by any of 86 bloggers in my Google reader. :D. Just couple of days ago, I saw Anu's egg salad which I was dying to try. So, that was my breakfast cum brunch and I absolutely loved it.

..and for dinner, I had a half a cube of paneer in my fridge. I made Dhivya's Kadai Paneer out of it. Oh boy, it was so yummy that the entire bowl was empty within minutes! Thanks babes for such a simple keeper recipe.


You can find the recipe instructions here.

This is my entry for this week's Ruth's Bookmarked Recipes 41. hosted by me. :)

Do check out the roundup here.

Tomorrow is Maha Shivaratri and I am keeping fast for the first time. My mum said that its very rare that the day occurs on a Monday and its supposed to be very auspicious. Wishing you all a very Happy Shivaratri.

May Lord Shiva shower his blessings on us all.

signing out for now,
Siri

Simple Pulagam

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It was quite a hectic Saturday for me. I was working my ass off (literally) all-day as there is an important deadline to meet at work. But, that didn't stop me from sticking to my resolution - 'to eat healthy and sleep well', no matter how busy I am. :)

..and as per my ongoing project - 'A week without shopping', I have to complete my pantry stuff first. Hmmm, my first thought for breakfast was a healthy 'Vegetable French Toast'. So, that was it and with (2 servings of veggies and spinach + eggs+ bread), it was very filling.

For lunch (and dinner), with limited time available on hand, I wanted to cook something simple yet tasty. I finally zeroed it for a Simple Pulagam (rice + moong dal) a.k.a Khichdi. :D




Simple Pulagam

2 cups Rice, uncooked, thoroughly washed
1 cup Moong dal, washed
1/2 Onion, chopped finely
1 clove Garlic
Salt to taste
1/4 tsp Turmeric
1 bay leaf
1/2 tsp Curry powder
1 tsp Oil
1/2 tsp Butter

Heat oil in pressure cooker and saute onions & garlic until golden brown. Add rest of the ingredients except butter and cook for a min. Finally add butter, mix well and let it cook for 2 whistles. Serve once the pressure is off with raita or pickle, just I did. Yummy!

This recipe is a very simple and versatile dish, where you can approximate all the ingredients and is my entry to Recipes for Rest of Us: Dinner edition, hosted here at Siri's Corner.

Thats it for now ppl. Good night!

Siri

A Week without Shopping!

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Saturday is typically my grocery-shopping day and I usually end up buying stuff which I either stack up in my refrigerator or in my kitchen cabinet. I always wanted to stop myself from doing this weekly ritual, as I know that I have enough already to finish up!. This time I am doing it for real! All thanks to egullet's 'A Week without Shopping challenge'. I just happened to read this thread and was so intrigued that it actually motivated me to take it up!

Here are some key notes, for me myself:

- I am still making a note of things that needs to be used up first, in the order of priority (read as expiry date!). When done, I will have a consolidated list and put my thinking cap on to cook something nice everyday.

- No eating out this week. I know that will save atleast a 50$, straightaway.

- Share my experiences here on my blog, so that I stay in action and take some help from you guys if needed..;)

- I will not make myself miserable. I will get my basic provisions (if required) on an as-when-needed basis.

- Stop food-wastage. I have to confess that at times, I keep things until rotten and eventually throw them away. That's bad, Food is money! :)

- I will have fun and eat delicious food, while saving a bunch of money.

Ok, here is my today's menu:

Breakfast: Hashbrown patty with a cup of Orange-Peach fruit juice.

Lunch: Tomato Pilaf

Dinner: Vermicelli Upma with a strawberry yogurt cup!

Yawn! I am feeling so sleepy right now. cya again tomorrow. I am thinking of making some pasta - Indian ishtyle for dinner tomorrow.. Lets see how it goes!

Its a challenge, open to all. If you wanna join, just leave a comment on egullet's forum thread!

Have a great weekend ahead!

Siri

RCI: Awadhi Roundup

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The year 2009 started on a very 'unhealthy' note for me. I got sick for several weeks and a mild sickness still continues. My appetite has reduced, I don't feel like cooking anymore and the worst part - now I sleep more than 7 hrs. Phew! I hope to get better soon.

On a different note, as soon as I was done with AFAM roundup, I was planning to post this RCI: Awadhi roundup. I apologize for the delay, all thanks to my illness. But, 'Never the late', here I am with an impressive collection of entries sent by you all. Thanks dearies for your participation.



Lets begin with Roopa's Pyaaz bhara Kachori, and how she reminisces her college days, where she gobbled up these when served as a tea-time snack :)



Next entry is Varsha's 'Spinach dish', which is filled with healthy food thoughts & ideas with some of her childhood memories too.



Cham, as always shares a yummy kebab recipe - 'Corn Seekh Kabab' served with yogurt dip. Now, that a killer combo, I must say.



Meera, brings in a sweet touch with her 'Sheer Korma' also called as 'Zarda Seviyan'.



I guess, there is hardly anybody who's favorite dessert list doesn't include 'Gajar Ka Halwa'. PJ sends in this lovely nawabi treat..:)



A yummy sweet and a savory. Priya sends us both - 'Navratna Pulao' and 'Almond Kulfi'. What else do we need to satiate our hungry appetites. Huh!!



Its time to check out some spicy curries, sent by Vidhas. Whats in you ask - Baigan Ka Bhartha, Potato Kurma and Kadhi Pakodi. Yummy!




Rekha brings five different colorful flavors of Awadhi to all of us. First one is a beautiful rose petal syrup i.e 'Gulab ki Sharbat', a traditional dish - 'Dal Bukhara', third is yummy 'Lucknowi Dum Biryani', the list goes on with an all-time favorite 'Gajar ka Halwa' and last but not the least, 'Green peas Kachori'. Thanks dearie for such yummy entries..:))



If you are in search of some yummy, yet simple Awadhi recipes, then check out what Ramki has shared with us - '10 Awadhi recipes' all in one page. Yeh!!



Hema sends in four of her yummy recipes - 'Aloo Kofta Curry', 'Corn Pulao', 'Sweet spicy Corn Twist' and 'Mint Pulao'. :))

Finally, here is my best pal's 'Zafrani Pulao'. :) It so reminds me of what Amitabh Bachchan says in Cheeni Kum movie. - 'Its the best!'.. :))

Please do leave me a comment or email me, if I have missed any of your entries.

Have a great week ahead.

Best,
Siri

Announcing Recipes for rest of Us: Dinner edition

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As Ramki says -

"I find nothing more pleasurable than introducing newbies to the joy of cooking. Watching their faces light up after their first successful dish is indeed a great reward ! My series of One page cookbooks are solely devoted to getting newbies try their hand at cooking. It is with this mission in mind that I announce the "Recipes for the rest of us " event."

and here I am to host the February edition of 'Recipes for rest of Us' and the theme is 'DINNER'.

Here are some simple guidelines:

1. Cook anything (Vegetarian; eggs allowed) simple which suits the ' Dinner' theme and post the recipe on your blog.

2. Multiple entries / archived entries are welcome. However, do edit the archived post to include a link to this event and One Page Cookbooks .

3. Include the logo in your post if you wish.

4. Please send an e-mail to info(dot)siri(at)gmail(dot)com with the following details by
Mar 1st 2009

*Subject Line: Recipes for the rest of us : Dinner
* Blog author:
* Blog name:
* Dish Name:
* URL of the post:
* A picture of any size

6. The roundup of would be posted a week after the event closes.

Note :

1. Please avoid exact measurements. Please use very simple measurements like a handful or a pinch.
2. Please avoid complicated steps.If the recipe takes over 5 steps to prepare, it would not be suitable for this event.
3. Please avoid recipes demanding a good deal of manual skill.
4. Please avoid recipes demanding fancy kitchen equipment.
5. In short, it should be something a ten year old kid should be able to cook up.

Lets get cooking then..:)

Cheers,
Siri