When the clock strikes 12 tonight!!!

A few more hours and the whole world will sweep into a new year, a new decade. Everybody is excited about the new phase to come, which will be commenced as soon as the clock strikes 12 tonight. And that is very explicit when you go through your blogs or Facebook, Orkut, Twitter or even Google. Although 1^st Jan will be just another day in our lives, but still people are optimistic and hoping that somehow things will be better. Many of us are taking resolutions to play our own part in polishing things further, and some are just confused, whether resolutions will do any favour or not. 

Gazing at all this, is thrilling me even more and making me wish that may God bestow all the happiness and contentment to everyone. Any person, who thinks reasonably, will fathom that resolutions cannot actually make any enhancements. Rather, sometimes resolutions turn out to be things we actually never do.

What I feel is, it’s not the resolutions that resist us from pursuing them, but instead, we expect a lot from a mere single day to change our whole world. New Year – New You! The Path to Successful New Year’s Resolutions is the perfect answer to why our resolutions fail miserably. We actually don’t move on stepwise, making ourselves habitual of the changes we want and hence we end up nowhere.

One of my good friends has posted on his Face book profile that “Everybody is feeling nostalgic or thankful for the decade gone by…………to be honest I have a mixed feeling as I am not able to recall any good or bad memories form the past……..all I wish and pray for is that everyone’s tomorrow is better than today and that is not only for the first day of the new decade but for all years to come. HAPPY NEW YEAR.”

If our plans for the New Year celebrations are, to spend the first day of the year as an ideal one, doing all that we would like to do, the New Year joy will certainly diminish after that first day. To keep moving further, it is required that we devote some time to ponder upon what we desire and how we can tread to substantiate it. Only leaping those treads would help us let our resolutions transform into positive changes in our lives.

This is something that I feel, now let me try that too.

Wish you all a healthy and prosperous time ahead.

Bigg Boss and the real life…

I am not going to talk about the pros and cons of Big Boss, nor am I going to write anything about its authenticity or methods used to entertain people. It might be a big commercial investment and business for some people but after being regularly observing the Season 4 of this popular reality show since past 2 months, I take this as a very practical mode to understand human behavior readily. The way the contestants are supposed to stay in a single house for about three months, with no connection to the outside world and being overseen by a mysterious person known as ‘Bigg Boss’, whose only presence in the house is through his voice, it seems to be the whole world for them during the period they are inside. He seems to act like a God who puts them into adversities of tasks and then rewards too at times when they perform well.

And the process of nominations gets even more interesting when they have lesser choices to evict their housemates. It gives a glimpse of choices we generally make in our daily life towards the people we deal with, how some of them turn into our favorites and how we start abhorring others. Hence even a little incidence within the house turns into nominations now. And only those who can compose themselves and get along with people well even in negative environments of competition, scarcity and punishments have better chances to survive through.

We have seen often people bursting out due to anger or emotions on the show, because of the adverse atmosphere there. And actually these are the means (like back biting, fighting, flattering etc.), we all adopt in our daily affairs to coexist with other people in this world and keep moving along our own ways. That is where our personality and values come into picture and play their significant role in shaping the things and also deciding our stance too.

But in the end (it’s totally my personal opinion), it’s your patience and intelligence how you behave in adverse situations that lets you survive a little longer. And perhaps that’s why most of the people are speculating Samir Soni to win the show as he has been the most intelligent and poise person within the house till now. Let’s see what happens ultimately.

I also didn’t believe it-how could this soup taste good!!!

After publishing the post Take care in Winters, I actually thought of taking care by introducing new and healthier items to our meals. Recently I read about the benefits soups bring up with them and spinach, we all know, is one of the most nutritious foods.  My room mate used to have spinach soup two years back when she suddenly got extra health conscious. But even the idea of a soup made of spinach made me simply hate it. But it was only after I saw so many websites giving recipes of spinach soup and rating it good that I dared to cook this particular item.

Why it seemed to be nutritious?

Due to the major ingredients like spinach, bean sprouts, garlic and lemon, it seemed to be good choice. Following is the detailed list of ingredients:

• 3 cups washed and chopped spinach
• 4-5 tbsp coriander chopped
• 1 tbsp oil
• 1 spring onion finely chopped with greens
• 1 tbsp finely chopped garlic
• 1 tbsp grated ginger
• 1 green chilly
• ½ cup bean sprouts
• 2 tbsp fresh cream
• 3 cups water
• ½ tsp red chilly powder
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• ½ tsp pepper powder
• Salt to taste
• Butter to garnish

Method:

1. Wash the spinach properly and chop it roughly. Then sprinkle some salt over it and keep aside.
2. Chop coriander and pressure cook spinach, coriander and green chilly with very little water for one whistle.
3. Cool the boiled mixture and blend it to a smooth paste.
4. Heat oil in a pan and put cumin seeds into it.
5. When they crackle, add garlic and fry till it turns golden brown.
6. Then add bean sprouts and cook for 2 minutes.
7. Add spring onions and after 1 min, add water into it.
8. Bring the water to boil and then add spinach paste to the pan.
9. Sprinkle the pepper powder and add fresh cream to the mixture and keep stirring for around 10 min.
10. Serve hot with butter on top.

Now believe it or not, the soup tasted delicious. And I am going to prepare this every winter. How about you???

Take care in Winters

Besides being a delight for our taste buds, food is one of the major factors having direct impact on our health. Especially when a particular season (summers/winter) is at peak, it’s advisable to be careful about the ingredients we intake so that it can help our body be strong and fight the extremities of climate. Fortunately, we belong to a country where a variety of seasonal foods are readily available. Also our ancestors have set a pattern of meals appropriate for a particular weather like makai ki roti and Sarson ka saag for winters. Not only this combination is extremely delectable, but gives warmth to our body and boosts its immunity because of all the antioxidants and nutrients present there.

The present generation loves variety and innovation. In no case, food lovers like me can thrive on just a few tried and tested combinations throughout a season. That is why I am looking for various combinations one can opt for meals in winters so that a trade off can be maintained between taste and health. Following are a few components one should include for distinct reasons so as to have a balanced diet.

1. Garlic: The herbal “wonder drug” is known for its benefits against cancer, heart diseases etc. and due to its warm tassir, one can consume it in winters adequately.

2. Spinach and other greens: Due to the antioxidants, vitamin A, C & K present in the greens, they act as anti ageing and anticancer agents. There are number of ways one can have them in daily meals.

3. Proteins: Proteins help our body to repair, regain and refuel itself. This can be consumed from various lentils, sprouts, soyabeans, cheese and yogurt.

4. Soups: Soups can become main meal by adding some extra carbohydrates and proteins in them. Adding seasonal vegetables boosts your soup’s vitamin, mineral and antioxidant content which helps ward off winter colds. With wise choices, soup can also help lower the risks of cancer and heart disease.

5. Millets: The extra fibre within these carbohydrates helps keep you warm. So one can have makai, bajra and jowar roti for variety.

6. Tomatoes: Tomatoes contain compounds that have been proven to help prevent cancer, heart disease cataracts and many others.

Health Benefits of Tomatoes

7. Mushrooms: Besides imparting flavor to the food, mushrooms are an excellent source of potassium, a mineral that helps lower elevated blood pressure and reduces the risk of stroke. It is also a rich source of other mineral that have cardio protective properties and cut the risk of prostate cancer.

8. Fennel (Saunf): Really good for the stomach and can be used as a digestive after meals.

9. Cinnamon (Dalchini): It has antibacterial and antifungal properties which help fight colds, flatulence, nausea, diarrhea, and painful menstrual periods. It’s also believed to improve energy, vitality, and circulation.

10. Honey: Honey is the most valuable food which is energy booster and immunity builder.

Health benefits of honey

So now I am in a process of identifying and trying out various fusions and combinations to keep my kitchen innovative these winters. Why not let the love for food be healthful too? I will be on posting all those combinations that I come across, your suggestions and opinions are cordially invited. Please share.

Incredible India

Recently I and my husband went for a weekend trip to Agra so as to witness the very well known Taj mahal (one of the Seven Wonders of World) and Fatehpur sikri. These places are so customary getaways that we had always procrastinated visiting them and tried to find some new and different place for an outing. But the experience was incredibly extraordinary for me as I had never seen such an architectural marvel and the supremacy it bears, before.

drive on NH 2

Wah Taj!

The major excitement about the trip was long drive from Gurgaon to Agra (as we have purchased a car 2 months back and learnt driving on that car only). Although we were quite discouraged by the traffic congestion as we entered Agra, general behavior of local people on road and above all, the long queue we had to pass through before having a look at Taj Mahal. But as we entered into the complex and I viewed Taj Mahal in actual, I could not believe it was standing just in front of me. We have become so accustomed to the view of that particular building that it seemed to be another photograph only. And when I saw the proportion of people standing on the podium as compared to Taj, I was totally startled as the building didn’t appear to be so enormous from entrance.

triumphal arch

majestic beauty

minaret at Taj

We really enjoyed the beauty of scrupulous work done on this sculpture. And the best part is that inspite of using the same white marble throughout and having same façade on all four sides, the monotony doesn’t deteriorate its charm and delicacy at all. Moreover, the Tongas pulled by horses and camels, battery run rickshwas were another source of fascination for me that run to and fro towards the parking area. I was delighted to experience the Sholay’s Dhanno there.

dhanno ki savari

Next day, we went to Fatehpur Sikri which was also very familiar as almost all Indians have seen Hindi movies especially Jodha Akbar starring Hrithik Roshan and Aishwarya Rai. I was deeply captivated by the insanely impeccable carving done on the stone in each and every building there. All the time I was imagining the majesty and grandeur of the royalty who used to live there, that I wished I could also experience the same (being one of those royal people). It was all awesome how these all buildings have stood the test of times in all these hundreds of years.

panchmahal

immaculate work in stone

pigeons flying in open court

arcade in stone

meticulous carving

magnificent monotony

royal bird

After the ancient heritage of India, we thought of giving us some natural retreat too. So we went to Bharatpur national park which is just 25 km from Fatehpur Sikri. We had to walk a long way in order to see some beautiful wildlife and capture some good shots there.

Jungle trail

Indian Parakeets

another bird

picture perfect

innocent squirrel

in marshy land

Peacock posing on the tree top

There we concluded our trip and headed our way back home which was again a long drive of around 5 hours. The drive itself was a first time experience of driving on highway at night. Although I was driving very carefully because I didn’t want to enter into any problem being a beginner, but it was all a very thrilling experience. It was only when we were having our dinner on the roadside dhaba that I realized how fast we were moving on the highway.