Apple Dates Milkshake

My morning is noon for rest of the world. It’s better to have lunch than breakfast at that time. Yet, every single day, my father prepares breakfast for me. I think that’s what you call as optimistic attitude…

Anyway, I have told him not to make anything for me in the mornings. If I am too hungry, I make a quick milkshake for myself. And this particular milkshake has a speciality – its been in my bookmark list for a really long time.

Unfortunately, I was a bit let down by the taste of this milkshake, but I told myself it’s healthy and that’s more important. So in case you are ready to brave a healthy milkshake, go ahead and make these. Add a scoop of ice cream or a bar of chocolate while blending to make it much more tasty and totally sinful!

Check out the Blogging marathon page for recipes from other participants.

Recipe Source: Ramya’s Recipes
Ingredients:

• Apple. : 1 big
• dates. : 5-6
• sugar/honey, optional
• milk. : 1 cup

Method:

• Soak deseeded dates in half cup warm water for ten minutes.
• Core and dice the apple and blend with the soaked dates, milk and sugar or honey.
• Serve chilled. Makes one really big glass.

This recipe is off to Swathi’s Favorite Recipes. This month’s host is Pallavi and the theme is Bookmarked Recipes.

Goan Sol Kadhi without Coconut Milk (Futi Kadhi)

New recipes at the dining table is not the only thing I have gained through blogging. Bonding with a whole new set of vibrant, food-happy friends is my greatest gain through blogging.

And new recipes through them is even more valuable :-). This is one such recipe. The recipe is from a very close Mad Scientist’s Kitchen and the kokum I have used came from a very dear Pumpkin Farm. And the toaster is a gift from Veena when we had met at the Citi centre mall sometime back.

Everything about this recipe is close to my heart. It brings back fond memories of our BM 25 Meet! And how we exchanged gifts, how excited all of us were and what a nice time we had! And I can never stop without mentioning Vaishali’s (and her whole family’s, actually) warm hospitality!

And yes, the kokum I have used is from Pradnya’s gift set. And I referred Archana’s space for the recipe.

So, raising a toast to all my BM friends!

Check out the Blogging Marathon page to know who we are and what we are serving today!

Recipe Source : Futi Kadhi @ The Mad Scientist’s Kitchen

Makes : 2 Glasses

Ingredients:

• Kokum            :         10-12 dried ones
• Water              :           2 – 3 glasses (400 – 500 ml)
• Sugar               :           1 tbsp
• Salt                   :           per taste
• Hing                 :          a pinch
• Garlic               :          2 crushed
• Chilli                :          1 chopped
• Coriander leaves :    1 tbsp, chopped

Method:

1. Soak kokum for 3-4 hours in 2 glasses of water. Strain and discard the pulp.
2. Add the sugar, salt, hing. Mix till the sugar is dissolved.
3. Add the crushed garlic, chopped chillies and coriander leaves. Do a taste test and adjust seasonings or add more water accordingly.
4. This drink will tickle your sweet, sour, tangy and spicy taste buds! Sip in and enjoy!

Mushroom Noodle Soup

There are times when I feel that the jewel of my kitchen is my Microwave. I can sometimes even feel the waves of envy from the other appliances towards it. And no wonder why…I use it everyday, and for almost everything! Even for my cooking experiments.

And speaking of experiments, this noodle soup was one of the rare ‘make it up as you go’ recipes. And luckily, it turned out tasty.

And I say ‘luckily’ because half my experiments end up in the dust bin :D.

This is my entry for the last day of Blogging Marathon 24, under the theme : Cooking with Electrical Appliances. Check out the Blogging Marathon page for more themes and more recipes from the participants.

Ingredients:

• Noodles                    :             1 packet, cooked per packet instructions
• Carrot                       :             1 medium, sliced thin and long
• Mushrooms             :              4-5, sliced
• Spinach leaves        :             4-5 leaves, shredded
• Veg.Stock/Water   :              2 cups (or more)
• Salt & Pepper

Method:

1. Cook noodles per packet instructions and keep aside. I usually immerse them in water, with a pinch of salt and a tbsp of oil, and cook for 3-4 minutes in MW. Drain and keep aside.
2. In a MW proof bowl, add the sliced mushrooms, carrots and cook for 2-3 minutes till it is soft, stirring once in between.
3. Once its cool, add water or stock and seasonings and the spinach leaves to it. Cook again for a minute or two. Add the noodles and more water, if required, and cook for 3-4 minutes. Check seasonings and serve hot.

Wonderland Drink Me Potion

Reading was an important part of our growing up and our childhood was full of books – Amar Chitra Kathas, Tinkle and lots of local magazines for kids. As we grew older my mother – who is an avid reader, started introducing translated version of Children’s classic books. Once you are done with the translated book, there is an automatic interest in reading the original.  She would then get it from the library.

So when I thinking about a recipe for the third day of Blogging Marathon, for the theme ‘Storybook Based Recipes’, my thought went to the all time classic Alice in Wonderland.

I was planning to bake the ‘Eat me’ Cookies, but then changed my mind and settled on the magical shrinking potion. I made rose milk syrup, but unfortunately I had only orange-red food color. So my syrup turned out to be orange! A drawback indeed! I didn’t ponder much on it since the taste was correct.

This is a simple sugar syrup (half cup each of sugar and water) cooled, flavored with a tablespoon of rosewater and a few drops of rose essence. A pinch of pink color (or the disastrous orange, in my case) is added for color.

Check out the other participants of Blogging Marathon here.

Linking this post to Srivalli’s Kid’s Delight – Cooking From storybook hosted by Archana

Butterbeer Latte

Being an ardent Harry Potter fan, I expected a lot from the Harry Potter recipes too. Though I won’t say this latte was bad, it was quite different from what I expected. Kiddo loved it, hubby found it sweet and I found it messy to be clicked :)

This is the second recipe under the theme Storybook Recipes for Blogging Marathon. Check out the other participants here in the Blogging Marathon page.

You can check out here for the original recipe.

This recipe is off to Srivalli’s Kid’s Delight – Cooking From storybook hosted by Archana

Onion Vinegar Pickle

Its the third week of Blogging Marathon and this week, you will see me featuring dishes where onion is the main ingredient. My recipe was ready a long time back, but I couldn’t get around posting it on time.

I was awake till late night yesterday, helping my son with his school project. Kiddo had taken off almost the whole of last week and I came to know about the project only yesterday at around his bed time. A quick google search and then using what we had at home, we made a 3D model.

So really different from his last year’s project!

Last year, kiddo was asked to do a chart about green leafy vegetables. The chart had to have a picture, nutrient info and uses. We had about a week’s notice to prepare.

I totally forgot that it was for a four year old child, and gathered so much information, that my husband had to remind me that our son is not doing a PhD.

Finally, my husband edited my entire 25 page chart into three lines. It read :

Green Leafy Vegetables

1. Has Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Vitamin K, Calcium, Iron               
2. Is Good for Eyes, bones, muscles and heart                                  
3. Can be cooked or served raw, as salads                                         

With some stickers of the veggies, that my FIL got after hunting the entire neighborhood shops, the chart was complete.

And to think I spent an entire week, wondering how to do this! Three lines – why, I could have done it in five minutes!

Just like my onion pickle here. I thought so much for a different recipe, hunted so much and finally landed with such a simple recipe, that it’s even difficult to call it a recipe!

Sometimes, its so hard to get the simple things right :)!

While you are here, check out the Blogging Marathon page for a lot of recipes, from a lot of bloggers.

Ingredients:

• Pearl Onions/Shallots         :         15 – 20, peeled ( about 4-5 per person)
• Beetroot                                    :         2 one inch pieces, optional – for color
• Vinegar                                      :         1/4 cup
• Water                                         :         3/4 cup
• Peppercorns                           :         optional, can add a few

Method:

1. Peel and wash the onions. Keep them aside.
2. Boil the water with beetroot and peppercorns. Skip this step if not using the beets and pepper.
3. Cool the water completely and discard the beetroot pieces. The beetroot pieces impart a nice pink shade to the onions.
4. Mix the cooled water and vinegar. In a glass or ceramic jar, add the onions and pour the vinegar-water mix on top. The liquid should be at least a centimeter or two above the onions. Keep aside for 3-4 hours.
5. Drain at the time of serving. This stays good for 4-5 days when refrigerated. This is a compliment appetizer is served in some restaurants, while waiting for the food to come.

Carrot Watermelon Juice

Breakfasts are simple affairs at my place. The menu is fixed. Cornflakes, on weekdays.

And on weekends, guess what – its Corn Flakes again! That’s because I wake up pretty late, and hubby and kiddo know its  better to rely on corn flakes, than on me to wake up and prepare breakfast for them.

For a change, they switch their types on weekends. Hubby has strawberry or chocolate corn flakes and the kid has bran or  oats type. So the problem of variety (in my opinion, at least) is solved.

I have half heartedly tried the usual idli/dosa breakfasts, but hubby and kiddo prefer to run on a light, liquid breakfast than on something heavy or oily. So cereals is more of their choice than of mine.

So for the second week of Blogging Marathon 20, when I chose Low Fat or Low Calorie breakfast, I had no idea what to feature here. I can’t present you cereals in a bowl three days in a row, so I thought of smoothies or juices for Day One.

Check out many more recipes and more varieties here at the Blogging Marathon page.

Inspired From : Healthy Breakfast Juice Recipes

Makes 2 glasses

Ingredients:

• Watermelon                 :             1/2 of a small one (about 3 cups, when cubed)
• Carrots                            :             2 big

Method:

1. Wash, clean and peel the carrots and cut the watermelon into cubes.
2. Run them through a juicer, if you have one. Or blend them in a mixer and strain it to get the juice.
3. Try adding black salt/mint/sugar or  ginger for additional flavoring.

Broccoli Soup

Like it or not, we have to eat three times a day. To cut out the tedious work, I have tried every possible trick in the book and then some more.

I cook more rice than needed and serve with curd and pickle the next day. Breakfast is cornflakes. There will be dosa batter (ready made, of course) in the fridge. I cut the vegetables for the week in advance, so that I won’t feel lazy. I grate coconut in advance, always. I even blend the coconut, green chilies and cumin seeds together so that making thoran (side dish with coconut) is easy.

I have even tried having a heavy lunch, so that I can skip dinner. It didn’t work, obviously, cos the stomach cannot be reasoned, it can only be fed at regular intervals.

The ‘restaurant threat’ is reserved for those days when laziness is at its peak (read weekends). Hubby doesn’t mind, but there are times when he wants to relax at home too. But in the new place, the nearest restaurant is at least 7-8 kms away. Now I have to resort to easy meals like this to kill those hunger pangs which never fail to attack me at 8AM, 1 PM and 8 PM everyday.

Serves : 1

Ingredients:

• Broccoli       :          1 cup florets
• Garlic            :          2 pods
• Butter           :          1 -2 tsp
• Milk              :          1 cup (might need more)
• Salt & Pepper

Method:

1. Microwave the broccoli florets and peeled garlic pods with the butter for 4-5 minutes or till cooked.
2. Cool it and blend with milk. If it turns out to be too thick, add some more milk to get to the desired consistency.
3. Add seasonings. Mix and pour it back to the same MW bowl and cook for a further 3 minutes.
4. Do a taste test and adjust the seasonings. Serve with toasted bread and salad.

Linked to:

• Blogging Marathon 19, under ‘Greens, Blended’
• 30 Minute Mela

Chocolate Syrup

Kiddo had a test for allergy and he was asked to come into the lab after 48 hours of giving a shot. It took me an hour and a half of travel, one way, to get to the lab and another 1.5 hours to come back home. And at the lab, all they did was to  look into his hand and say that he was fine.

Three hours of travel for a two minute job.

Yet I am not complaining. I am too tired for even that!

All I want now is to sit, relax and have a cup of hot chocolate. It is made more tastier by the fact that it is homemade. Completely.

Recipe Source: One Good thing by Jillee

Ingredients:

• Cocoa Powder                     :       3/4 cup
• Sugar                                       :       1 1/2 cups
• Water                                      :       1 cup
• Vanilla Extract                   :       1 tsp
• Salt                                           :      a pinch

Method:

1. Mix the cocoa powder, sugar and salt in a thick bottomed pan. Whisk.
2. Add water and mix with a rubber spatula so that there are no dry lumps.
3. Heat this and bring to a boil, stirring frequently. When it boils, reduce the heat and cook for a further 1 minute.
4. Cool and refrigerate. Drizzle over ice creams, make milkshakes or hot chocolate.

Note: Before storing in a bottle, I filtered the syrup using a tea strainer to remove the dregs from cocoa. Else, you can filter when you are making your hot cocoa or milkshake.

Linked to:

• Blogging Marathon 19, under the theme ‘Chocolate’
• Kid’s Delight : Chocolate

Aloo Chaat

The meaning of blogging changed for me ever since I did the Thali meals for Valli’s Thali Mela. I switched to the Thali theme at the last possible minute. So I had one hand in the stove cooking the thali and the other hand in the laptop uploading the pictures and making a hurried post. It was really exhausting since I was not at all prepared and by the time it was over, I was totally washed out.

But little did I know the after effects! Now after doing that theme, I find my mind always thinking of a whole set of food than just one single dish. I was really sorry I had to skip the mini thali theme last month, with the shifting and packing and all that, it would have been too much to handle.

So when my husband forgot to take his lunch box, instead of muttering and sulking, I happily cooked up a few more dishes in small batches and served him as a lavish dinner when he got back from work. It all started off with a simple Aloo Chaat recipe for the ‘Evening Snacks’ theme, but then snowballed into a mini thali itself. Forgot to make a dessert, but will do it the next time hubby forgets his lunch again :)

My camera is still missing, so I borrowed a very old one from my FIL.

Menu:

• Aloo Chaat
• Dry Potato Curry
• Moong Dal Tadka
• Raita
• Vegetable Biryani
• Curd Rice
• Mango Pickle
• Pappad

Recipe Source : Tarla Dalal

Ingredients:

• Baby potatoes                         :           16 – 20
• Onion                                          :            1 small
• Tomato                                      :            1 small
• Lemon juice                              :           2 tsp
• Chaat Masala                            :           1 1/2 tsp
• Coriander leaves                     :          2 tbsp

Method:

1. Wash the potatoes and pressure cook them for 2 whistles or until they are cooked, but firm.
2.  Once the pressure drops, take them out, peel them and keep aside.
3. Chop the onions, tomatoes and coriander leaves. Mix with the potatoes, add the chaat masala and lemon juice.
4. Mix well till everything is combined. Do a taste test and adjust the seasonings per your taste.
5. Refrigerate and serve chilled, decorated with chopped coriander leaves.

Linked to:

• Blogging Marathon 17, under Evening Tiffin theme
• Kid’s Delight, for this month’s theme : Snacks