Happy New Year

Christmas and New Year are knocking at the door... It's the time of the year to be joyful and merry. Enjoy the spirit of the season and wish your friends, family, acquaintances a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

I will honor Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year. - Charles Dickens

I wish we could put up some of the Christmas spirit in jars and open a jar of it every month. - Harlan Miller

Happy Thanksgiving Day

He who thanks but with the lips

Thanks but in part;

The full, the true Thanksgiving

Comes from the heart.

- J.A. Shedd

For flowers that bloom about our feet;

For tender grass, so fresh, so sweet;

For song of bird, and hum of bee;

For all things fair we hear or see,

Father in heaven, we thank Thee!

- Ralph Waldo Emerson

For each new morning with its light,

For rest and shelter of the night,

For health and food, for love and friends,

For everything Thy goodness sends.

- Ralph Waldo Emerson

O Lord that lends me life, Lend me a heart replete with thankfulness! - William Shakespeare

Some hindi quotes -

on shri sainathaya namah,
sai nath aap mujhe is duniya mein leke aaye shukriya...
mujhe aise maa baap diye jo kisi bhagwan se kam nahi hai...shukriya
mujhe zindagi mein khushi di...shukriya
kisi cheez ki kami nahi hone di.... shukriya
mere har dukh ko durr kiya aur kar rahe hai..shukriya
mujhe pyar kiya..mujhe apnaya....shukriya
meri galtiyon ko maaf kiya..shukriya
mujhe dusra mauka diya...shukriya
mujhe himmat di,sahayata ki...shukriya
aapko jitna shukriya bolun kam hai....par shukriya sainath ki aapki kripa mujhpe hai sainath..
yahi kripa banaye rakhna sainath.....
shukriya baba

- Unknown

God bless the whole world, no exceptions!

Dry Fruits Barfi

When I got married, I didn't know cooking much. So obviously I didn't have any idea about cooking on the festivals and different occasions. I was very lucky to have my mother-in-law who used to cook a lot and have a great knowledge on everything. She makes different kinds of food and sweets on different occasions.  She is a great inspiration to me. We always did puja with her on every diwali.

This was the first time when we did puja separately in our house. So, I didn't have any plan or idea what to do. My mother-in-law guided me for what things I need and how to do puja. When I thought about sweets, I remember she made sweets at home only. So, I thought I should give a try this time.

I searched on the internet and I got the recipe for Dry Fruits Barfi. But, my plan was to make sweets with things available at home. I didn't have time to go out and buy something. So, I changed the ingredients and made the sweets.

Ingredients :

1 cup dry pitted dates

1/4 cup dry figs

1 cup almonds

1/2 cup walnuts

1/2 cup raisins

Ghee as required

Method :

1. Chop the dates and figs in very small pieces. Also chop the almonds and walnuts finely.
2. Grease one tray and put it aside.
3. In kadai (wide pan), put 2 tbsp ghee and put all the dry fruits.
4. Mix them thoroughly. Put some more ghee if needed.
5. Dates and figs will melt and become sticky. Stir continuously and cook it till all the ingredients bind together.
6. Transfer the mixture to the greased tray and flatten with knife or spoon making it smooth.
7. Let it cool for 1/2 an hour and then cut into square shapes. Store them in tight container.

I liked this recipe as it is healthy and full of fibers & antioxidants and also is nutrients rich. It is naturally sweet so there is no need to add sugar. My husband liked it very much. He said I'll finish this before anyone eats. For me, it  was a good experience. I love it. :)

Happy Deepavali

May God shower his

choicest blessings on you.

Wishing you happiness, good

health & a great year ahead…

Happy Diwali…

Sending you smiles for every

moment of your special day,

Have a wonderful time & Happy Diwali.

Mushroom Capsicum (Green Peppers)

In my earlier post Creamy Mushroom Soup, I have mentioned that mushrooms are one of my husband's favorites. I keep trying different kind of recipes with mushrooms. I tried different combinations - mushrooms with potatoes, mushrooms with tomatoes, mushrooms with sweet peas. But, still my husband wanted something different. So, I tried mushrooms with capsicum, and he liked it. This is very simple recipe.

Mushroom Capsicum

Ingredients:

2 cup finely cut White Button Mushrooms

1 Red finely cut Onion
1 big finely cut capsicum (green peppers)
Salt according to taste
few lemon juice drops
1 tsp Oil

Method:

1. Heat the oil in the pan and saute the onion in the oil till it is softened. 
2. Add mushrooms, capsicum & salt into it and saute it till both are cooked thoroughly. No need to cover the pan. 
3. Remove the pan from the heat and add few drops of lemon juice.
4. Serve it hot.

Kale, Tofu & Sweet Peppers Stir Fry

My hubby daily takes his lunch from home. So, everyday it's a pack of 5-6 boxes in his lunch bag. He wants me to give him healthy food - green vegetables, sprouts, less oil food, salad, nuts and fruits. Most of the time, he chooses the vegetables he wants to eat. He is fond of green vegetables and he gets Kale & Collard Greens mostly.

Kale & Collard Greens. I have never seen these vegetables in India. I didn't know how to cook them and frankly speaking, I didn't like their strong taste. But he had eaten it elsewhere, and liked it. I tried different recipes, but I didn't get good results.

Recently, he got one big pack of Kale. I was thinking that what should I do now. First, I tried to make Kale chips in little quantity. Not good. Now, what to do? I did a little research on internet and saw different recipes. Then, I made my own recipe with available ingredients and it was the best ever.

Ingredients:

5-6 Small Sweet Peppers (Red, Orange, yellow)

1/4 lb. block Tofu

1/2 lb. Kale leaves

1 Small Onion

1 tbsp Canola Oil

1 tbsp Soy Sauce

1 tbsp Vinegar

1 tsp Sesame Seeds

Salt as per taste

Method:

1. Wash the Kale leaves. Chop them and blanch them. (Blanching method - boil the water and put chopped kale into it for 3 min., drain all the water and then wash kale again with cold icy water.)
2. Chop tofu in small cubes, chop the onion and pepper in small pieces. 
3. Heat oil in the pan and put the sesame seeds into it. Once seeds are sizzled, stir in the onion. Cook the  onion till it is golden in color. Stir in peppers and cook it for 2-3 min. Stir in tofu and let pepper and tofu cooked nicely.
4. Put the blanched kale and salt into it and cook it for 3-4 min more. Mix in the soy sauce and vinegar into it and cook for more 1-2 min.
5. Serve it immediately with rotis or paranthas.

Comments: - Earlier, I didn't like to eat kale because of its strong flavor. But with this recipe, its strong flavor is reduced and now it is edible. I liked that.

Roasted Okra / Lady Finger / Bhindi

Ingredients -

1 pound okra pods

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1 tsp chopped onion powder

Salt & black pepper according to taste

Method -

1. Preheat oven to 450F. Lightly oil a cookie sheet or roasting pan.
2. Trim the ends of okra and slit them into two pieces. Combine the okra, salt, black pepper, onion powder and oil in a large bowl and toss to coat well. Arrange in a single layer in the pan or sheet.
3. Roast for about 15 minutes, until the pods are well browned, shaking the pan occasionally for even cooking.
4. Transfer the okra to a serving bowl. Serve immediately.

Bread Pizza

Yesterday, I was looking for recipes in the GFCF group and I found recipe for GFCF pizza. Actually, my son never liked pizza when he was not on GFCF diet, so I didn't try to give him GFCF Pizza. He mostly eats dosas, pancakes & rotis. So, I thought I should give a try to add some variety. I haven't made any GFCF pizza at home. So, I thought I should make a small pizza and see how it goes.

Bread Pizza

So, I made a GFCF bread pizza. And I was shocked to see that Tanishk didn't resist to eat and he ate whole pizza. He liked it very much. I also tasted it a little bit and that was yummy. I had put everything what Tanishk likes.

Ingredients:

2 GFCF Bread Slices (Any GFCF Bread - I took homemade)

1/2 small Onion
1/4 cup Frozen Peas
1/4 cup Frozen Corn
1/4 cup shredded Daiya Cheese
1 tsp Oil
1 tbsp Casein Free Butter
1 tbsp Tomato Sauce
Salt according to taste

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 400 F. I used toaster oven. Heat a skillet and heat the oil.
2. Fry onion till little brown and then mix peas & corn in it. Pour the salt and cook till peas are tender. Put the mixture aside.
3. Apply some butter on both slices and put some tomato sauce on it.
4. Put the peas & corn mixture equally on both slices. Spread the shredded cheese on top of it.
5. Put both slices in the oven and bake for 15 minutes.
6. Serve them immediately.

Bread Pizza

Banana Walnut Bread

Banana Walnut Bread - Behind is the bread machine

One day I saw a recipe for Gluten Free Banana Walnut Bread on internet, and wanted to try it. This recipe uses Bread machine. My hubby also told me that he likes Banana Walnut Bread. But he used to eat the regular Banana Walnut Bread, not Gluten Free. So, I decided that I should give a try.

Yes, that was yummy. That was definitely delicious. Everyone liked the bread, even my both kids. And it was all finished in 2 days only.

But there was one ingredient which I wanted to avoid - yeast. So, I again tried to find another good recipe for GFCF Banana Walnut Bread. I found a recipe - Gluten Free Dairy Free Banana Bread from 'Book of Yum'  I tried that recipe. It was good. I modified the recipe according to our taste & also to make Banana Walnut Bread. So, here is the recipe. I hope you all will like this.

Ingredients:

2 cups Brown Rice Flour or Gluten Free All Purpose Flour

1/2 cup chopped Walnuts, toasted (See below)

1-1/2 tsp Baking Powder

1/2 tsp Baking Soda

1/4 tsp Salt

1/2 tsp Ground Cinnamon

2 Eggs, beaten

1-1/2 cups mashed, ripe bananas

1 cup Sugar

Few drops of Vanilla Extract

1/2 cup Canola Oil

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Spray medium bread pan with nonstick cooking spray.
2. Combine dry ingredients except sugar in a small bowl.
3. Mix other eggs, banana, sugar, vanilla extract and oil in a large bowl.
4. Add dry ingredients and mix it to make a smooth batter. Pour the batter into the pan.
5. Bake for an hour or until a toothpick comes out clean.
6. Cool for a few minutes before removing from pan and then cool on a wire rack.

Toasted Walnuts - Place the walnuts on a cookie sheet and bake them at 350 F for 15-20 minutes. 

Simple Jowaar Aloo Parantha

I have already posted recipe for Spicy Jowaar Aloo Parantha. After such a long time, today I made Jowaar Aloo Parantha but with very simple recipe. We don't need so much spices for this recipe. Still, my son liked it.

Ingredients:

1 large grated Boiled Potato

1/4 cup Sorghum Flour (Jowaar Ka Atta)

1/4 tsp Ajwain (Carom Seeds)

1/4 tsp Parsley Flakes

1/2 tsp Olive Oil

Salt according to taste

Method:

1. Mix all the ingredients in the mixing bowl. If dough is dry, add some sore olive oil. Don't add water.
2. Take a straight plastic and put some GF flour on it. Make one small ball from dough and roll it on the plastic. Roll it like chapati.
3. Heat the non-stick pan and put it on the pan.
4. After 1 min. turn it and put some oil on both sides. Cook it until both sides are light brown.
5. Serve hot with chutney, dip, curry, curd, pickle or you can eat it without anything.

Tanishk likes to eat it also with butter. He is real Maakhan Chor.