Egg Halwa

A new favourite halwa, a new delicious desert. You can add vanilla if you think it’s too eggy taste. It’s ideal for your sweet tooth.

Ingredients:

·         4 pods green cardamom

·         1 cup milk

·         4 eggs, beaten

·         ¾ cup sugar

·         ½ cup shortening (Vanaspati)

·         1 teaspoon rava

·         ½ cup dry milk powder

Method:

1.       Crush the cardamom pods.

2.       Combine the cardamom, milk, egg, sugar, vanaspati, rava and dry milk powder in a heavy bottomed saucepan.

3.       Whisk well to combine, and then cook on low heat, stirring until eggs thicken.

4.       Continue cooking, stirring constantly, until the mixture browns and Vanaspati begins to separate. It takes about an hour.

5.       Serve hot.

Stress Busters

A few years ago, not a lot of people were aware of stress. It was something to be scared of. Now, every single person says ‘I am stressed’. Even the children are stressed. Instead of going out and having fun, these kids nowadays are stressed by a lot of things.

To relieve oneself off stress, the most prescribed medication is Yoga and meditation. Spiritual or chemical medication will help one to relieve stress. But it will not be wholesome without the proper dietary intake. Here are some nature’s best stress busters.

Fish

Omega-3-fatty acids are essential to keep the stress level in check, and also helps you against depression. These can be obtained by taking up an omega-3 pill. But when you have a better and tasty way of getting those required omega-3 FA, why would you need a pill? Eat fish twice a week or have a handful of walnut every day. 

Dark Chocolate
The stress relieving property of chocolates goes beyond the taste buds. It is proven that those who have had chocolates for more than ten years have lower blood pressure than those who did not. Remember not to overeat these tasty dark chocolates. It is not very good for health if ate in lots. 

Black Tea
Drinking black tea helps you to recover from terrible nerve-racking events quickly. People who drank four cups of black tea for six weeks said that they feel more relaxed even after stressful tasks. Black tea also have mood boosting effects and it also increases our alertness throughout the day.

Avocados

This fruit is not only delicious, but also nutritious. It contains two powerful stress fighters: Potassium and monounsaturated fatty acids. They lower blood pressure and protects against depression. Include these healthy food in your everyday diet. You will feel rejuvenated and relaxed.

Trim your waste

We waste 40% of our food, from farm to fork. Wasting food has economic, ethical ramifications, and also environmental impacts. Look carefully every time you cook or eat food, observe how much you consume and how much is wasted. The waste from one day might seem small and insignificant. Keep the waste accumulated for a week, for a month, for an year..it’s a lot. Try to reduce waste as much as you can.

1.       Plan and make a detailed shopping list to prevent overbuying. Don’t buy produce that often goes waste. Be true to yourself. Don’t indulge in impulse buying.

2.       Keep the food items in a place where it is not only easily accessible by you, but also is seen by you. It should be in your line of sight. Food that are hidden behind something else is often forgotten and left to rot.

3.       Just because we have a plate that is big enough to hold food for two people, don’t take a lot of stuff on your plate. Be stingy in taking items on your plate. We don’t usually reuse the food already kept on a person’s plate.

4.       We all keep the leftovers for next day. It is worthless if you can’t eat them. The leftovers from previous night’s dinner is ideal lunch. It saves a lot of time and money.

5.       Don’t buy a product looking at its expiry date. Buy if you need it, otherwise leave it for another instance when you will actually need to use the item. 

Beetroot Hummus

It is another delicacy with beetroot. If the previous dish did not make you love the beet, this one will surely do. One of my friends loved the beetroot hummus and started asking for it every time she comes to my place.

The beetroot hummus is the traditional hummus made with chickpeas, onions, garlic, tahini, lemon, cumin and olive oil, then flavoured and coloured with beetroot.

Ingredients:

·         225 gm chickpeas

·         1 large onion, chopped

·         450 gm beets

·         ½ cup tahini (sesame seed paste)

·         3 cloves garlic, crushed

·         4 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

·         1 tablespoon ground cumin

·         4 tablespoons olive oil

Method:

1.       In a large bowl, cover chickpeas with cold water and soak overnight.

2.       Drain chickpeas and place in a large heavy saucepan, add onion, cover with water and bring to boil over medium heat.

3.       Cook for an hour, or until the chickpeas are very soft.

4.       Drain, reserving 1 cup (250 ml) of cooking liquid. Allow to cool.

5.       Meanwhile, in a large saucepan cover beets with water and bring to boil over medium heat.

6.       Cook until tender, drain and allow beets to cool before removing the skins and chopping.

7.       Puree beets in a mixer, add the chickpeas and onions, tahini, garlic, lemon juice and cumin, until smooth.

8.       While the mixer is running pour the remaining cooking liquid and olive oil. Continue until the mixture is combined.

9.       Drizzle with little olive oil. 

Beet Treat

Beetroot is the not-so-popular veggie, leaves a red stain, can be eaten raw or cooked. Research shows that drinking beetroot juice reduces blood pressure and decrease the risk of dementia. Here is one recipe which might make you look at beetroot in a new light. It could even make you popular by popularising the not-so-popular beet.

Beetroot with Onion and Cumin

Ingredients:

·         2 tablespoons cooking oil

·         1 small onion, chopped

·         1 clove garlic, minced

·         1 ½ teaspoons cumin seed

·         2 tablespoons maida

·         5 medium beets, peeled and cut into pieces

·         2 tomatoes, peeled and chopped

·         1 ½ cups water

·         1 teaspoon salt

Method:

1.       Heat the saucepan over medium heat.

2.       Pour in oil and saute onion and garlic until translucent.

3.       Mix cumin seeds and saute an additional 2 minutes.

4.       Sprinkle in flour and saute for 1 more minute.

5.       Stir in beets, tomatoes, water and salt.

6.       Reduce heat to low, cover pan with lid.

7.       Allow to simmer for 30 to 45 minutes, until beets are tender.

For a healthy life – DELETE these

Trans fats

A recent study states that people who consume food high on trans fats are more likely to become depressed than people who get their fat in a healthier form. Avoid Trans fats in any form. Do check for the label behind the food stuff you consume.

White Bread

Eating more of quickly digested carbohydrates (like those in pastries, sweets, refined grains) and saturated fat makes you more likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease. Reduce your intake of White bread and sweets.

Sugared Soft drinks

Stay away from these sugared aerated soft drinks. The sugar in them are void of any nutritional value. Also the soda may raise the blood pressure. Just be careful!

Cuddling with your pet?

It is a proven fact that pets lower blood pressure and stress levels. But if your immune system is weak, it is not a wise option to let your pet sleep with you or hug you. Be careful. More of goodness is not always good.

For a healthy life – ADD these

Laboratories around the world have researched many food items and have come to the conclusion that for a healthy and happy life, we just need to add some food, and delete a few others. Here are some of the stuff you need to include for a healthy life. 

Green Tea

Two or more cups of green tea everyday helps lower the cholesterol (both total cholesterol and bad LDL kind).

Apples and Beans

As we age, we tend to gain weight around our belly. This belly fat is the most dangerous fat for health. If you want to gain less belly fat, start having more soluble fibre (found in fruits, beans, oats) in your everyday diet.

Olive Oil

It is said that Olive oil is good for your mood as well as your heart, while fast food and margarine can darken your outlook.

Coffee

A cup or more of coffee helps reduce some types of head and neck cancer. This is a new benefit for coffee. If anyone tells you don’t drink coffee too much in a day, tell them this fact. They will never come to advice you about your coffee habits. (They might even start drinking more coffee themselves.)

Work out for Asthma control

We all know that sedentary lifestyle is bad for heart and health in general. What is new is Aerobics help to reduce Asthmatic symptoms. Remember to talk to your doctor before starting out an exercise routine.