I was just reading this article on Yahoo by Dr. Maoshing Ni (who practices Chinese Medicine, and writes for Yahoo Health Section) about the benefits of having soup once a day. One particular paragraph stood out to me. I have quoted him below:

“When you slowly simmer foods over low heat, you gently leach out the energetic and therapeutic properties of the foods, preserving the nutritional value of the foods. Keep in mind that boiling can destroy half of the vitamins found in vegetables, so cook soup over a low heat.”

I find this interesting, now I am going to think in a whole different way while cooking. Slow heat, and simmer is the best way to retain maximum vitamins.

Read full article here:

http://health.yahoo.com/experts/drmao/23125/soup-therapy-detoxify-lose-weight-and-boost-immunity/;_ylt=AhmcjsX4it.cCUazi7EMeVt1kIV4

You know, how much I love shoes, and handbags, and chocolates, and shopping, oh what was I talking about, yeah, Crocs… They are these fabulous “uber lightweight, foot loving, sole hugging, odor resistant shoes, which are downright awesome! And the best part, they have no taxes, when you buy from their website, plus free ground shipping, and always some or other sale going on. Right now, they have extra 20% their outlet stock! Yippee! (And there is a Croc for everybody, old, young, kid, adult or the adult-kid, no judging, just observation)
:D

I love Crocs. You must try them on. This winter, I have been wearing them in the house all the time.

Oh! My favorites, the Mary Jane style

Crocs

Picture Source: http://www.crocs.com

Happy Birthday to Neha, my dear old friend (and yes, we are old now! Older, but wiser? don’t know about that)

Okay, okay, so I was supposed to come straight home after visiting Mrs. Vanards house. But, even with dropping blood sugar (I was super hungry, cant think straight, nor walk straight when that happens), I had to drive by our local Macy’s store. And lo and behold….there they were hanging off the hooks; not 30, not 40, not 50, but at 75% off. My blood sugar dropped lower, I had to go touch them, feel them, wear them, and wobbling I went by the narrow aisles, looking up and down, up and down, checking the bottoms for my size, and oh yes, to my delight, there they were sitting pretty (and @ 75% off), next to each other, not too many but a few, but that was enough for me. Now, all was forgotten, hunger, blood sugar, everything.

Then I heard this ringing in my head, it was getting louder and louder, I looked around, and slowly it came back to me. It was my telephone, deep down in my purse. I answered, said ‘Hello’, I heard my baby crying loudly. I instantly sprang out of the store, looking just once back to the pretty shoes, and making a mental note to myself, to come back soon, before they landed in some other lucky girls feet.

I know, I know too much dramatisation, move over James Cameron… next year Oscar goes to Me!!!

But you get the point, go go, go shopping. Tips for shoe shopping: Go in the evening, Wear easy on and off shoes, and dont be afraid to try on something you dont like first, you never know what will look go on you.

Yes, its that time of the year. Shopping deals all over the place. Especially if you have long winters, the longer the winter, the better the deals!

Outlets, stores, everyone is having sales these days. And a plus, the weather is also getting better now. So put on comfortable shoes, make your husband take care of kids, call your gal-pals and go shopping!

This recipe is requested by William, a lifensuch.com reader. I had posted recipe Haleem using Shan masalas. William asked if I knew what ingredients would be needed, if he wanted to make it from scratch. So here you go, William.

This recipe is again from my dear friend Tehsin.

Ingredients:

goat meat (preferably),
1 cup whole wheat (cracked wheat will cook faster, I prefer that)
handful each or most of the following: lentils, (toor daal, moong daal, urid daal, masoor daal), rice, oats, etc
spice mix: garam masala, cumin powder (zeera), corriander powder (dhania), fennel (saunf) powder, red chilli (mirchi) powder little bit for flavor, turmeric (haldi) little for flavor,
salt,
oil, and ghee ( a little bit for flavor)
green chillies, (or hot green peppers)
mint, lemon, and fried onions for garnishing

Method:

First soak the wheat and lentils and rice overnight. Cook till tender next morning.

In ghee or oil, fry the meat with the spices and green chillies or hot peppers. Cook meat till tender. (William: if you are using a slow cooker, then maybe, you can fry the meat with spices, and then throw it in the slow cooker)

Cook the meat, till its tender, and falls off the bone, or its easily mashed. Mix in the cooked wheat and lentil mixture, blend well, and cook till oil seperates out.

Done. Now garnish with lots of fried onions, fresh mint and lemon.

Love to eat this as brunch on a weekend with lots of friends, and fresh pita bread.

I would recommend following this with the Tropical smoothie, which I posted a couple days back.

Enjoy!

p.s.
Spring is almost here, so make this quickly, as it is best for cold winter mornings.

When we were visiting Mumtaaz aunty in Canada, she gave me this simple tip of putting your spoons and stuff in the dishwasher caddy upside down. If you have new dishwashers, they have the caddy with separators in them, so your spoons, forks, knives come out clean. But if you dont, follow Mumtaaz aunty’s tip!

Okay, I admit, I also wanted to go to Europe, after seeing DDLJ (Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jaayenge), meet my Rahul, have fun, roll down the beautiful green moutains and the snow covered alps. Hey, dont judge me, if you are a desi girl like myself, you have been in the same dream right next to me, crooning your heart out on Shahrukh Khan (for those who dont know much about Indian culture and movies, DDLJ is a hit movie back in the days, and S Khan was a new bollywood moviestar).

I dont see how you could backpack your way through Europe. Its crazy expensive.

In Switzerland, there are a whole lot of mountains, a whole lot of beautiful cows, with bells around their necks, and a whole lot of either grass or snow on the mountains. And oh yes, the lakes. So overall, it is very beautiful. Definitely a destination for honeymoon.

The two things I did that I enjoyed the most in Switzerland are: Toboganning and Para gliding. Totally worth it. Infact toboganning is not that expensive too. We did it only a couple times, because of the time constraint. Para gliding was awesome! I think we paid something like $150 (for 20 mins of flight and the picture CD). You feel like a bird. I am not kidding.

Zurich is a wonderful city. Nice to walk through the streets.

I love Paris, no matter how cliche it sounds. Also, I ate crepes with chocolate and banana topping in Paris(yes; at a road side cafe).

We visited the Louvre museum, to see the Mona Lisa, (super disappointed – because it is sooooooo small in size, and they dont let you get close to it). But I think museum is fun, if you get a guide who would explain the history behind the art. I got bored soon. Beautiful yes, but for a art major, it would be Disney Land.

Eiffel Tower on the other hand, totally awesome. I would recommend getting there during day light, so you can make the most of the parks around it, have kind of a picnic. Look at the beautiful bridges, admire the beautiful old buildings, oh I miss Paris.

We rented a car, we bought a GPS with Europe maps (totally worth it), but I think sometimes, it makes sense to just get lost. Our trip started at Amsterdam, drove through Germany (stayed at a very nice Wegner Hotel (very nice people, family owned I think, delicious breakfast). Most of the trip we were in Switzerland; Grindelwald (you can take a train from here to Jungfrau), Zurich, Interlaken, Geneva, etc. Then drove to Paris, finally from there back to Amsterdam (lived in a very nice BnB). We drove on highways in Germany and France, would definitely recommend to take inner roads once in a while.

So, recap: Love: Toboganning, Para gliding, Paris!

Hey friends, what do you think of this theme for the blog. I have to yet give it a serious design intervention, but I just thought a fresh cool look was needed for the new year. Its work in progress, this is just a temp. Any ideas are welcome.

Thanks Fauzia for the amazing Hareesa brunch last week. We went into an Hareesa coma after we got home. And oh the smoothie she made… we were thinking about it all week!

We went out and got a new blender, as our old one croaked a couple months back, and we were just too lazy to get a new one. This smoothie, got our tushes off the couch, and we went shopping, came back with a new blender, and as the title says, lots of fruits (fresh, frozen, canned)

And guess what there is no right or wrong way to do this. You make it however you like. Use all the ingredients listed below, or a few…

So here is Fauzia’s recipe.

Ingredients:

Dole Tropical mixed fruit can,
Dole Pineapple chunks in pineapple juice can,
Cranberry juice,
Mango pulp,
Mixed frozen fruit (mangoes, peaches, grapes, strawberries, etc)
Frozen blueberries (I used a mixed bag of berries; but using only blue berries will make the color darker, and taste sweeter too)

Method:

Put about 1/2 cup each (approximately) of all of the above ingredients in the blender, and blend away. Customize to your preference.

Nice, huh?

In India, street vendors, sell juice, and this smoothie reminded me of the Cocktail juice they make. Dark purply, thick consistency. I actually took a picture of this before we guzzled it all down.

Easiest, quickest, minimum ingredients, extremely delicious, healthy way to eat potatoes….. okay are these not enough reasons for you to try this once at least!

This recipe is by Mumtaaz Aunty (Yasir’s aunt; who is super talented, cooks, bakes, sews, looks gorgeous, hey….almost like this recipe… strictly talking in food language that is :D ) Hi Aunty, miss you all….

Okay back to the recipe. This is made, and I am not exaggerating when I say, in probably every house in India!

I cannot believe everyone I know forgot to give me this recipe, when I started learning to cook!!

Enough talk talk… here is the recipe.

Ingredients:

Whole cumin (‘jeera’) about 1 tsp
3 medium size potatoes, washed, leave skin on, diced
couple tbsp oil for cooking
salt, black pepper, red chilli (‘mirchi’) powder as per taste

Method:

First heat the oil, in a shallow pan. Put the cumin in it, after it sizzles, add the chopped potatoes. Mix and then sprinkle the salt and chilli powder. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, till the potatoes are tender.

Done! Hey…that’s it…what do you think? Is it not exactly as I mentioned?