Healthy Me & Healthy US - A New Event

Hello Friends,

As promised, here I am with a new Event Announcement that will positively help me take care of my family and help you take care of your families as well. It will improve the lifestyle of our families and hopefully a lot more people as well.

As you all know I am not very creative, considering that, here is the event name and logo as the first step.

Now, let us get to the details of the event.

I am promoting healthy food habits for all of us and our families. Now, the question what is considered healthy. You will get million different answers talking to billion people. But, here is what I think healthy eating is with my understanding of whatever little research I have done and read and heard a few nutritionists.

In very simple terms, HEALTHY IS anything “unprocessed” and “unenhanced”, meaning the foods that are eaten as they are grown underground or above ground. Now, technically this also includes meat and seafood/fishes, but as my blog promotes vegetarianism in general, I will skip discussing meat and seafood. Basically, anything that is NATURE MADE and NOT MAN MADE. By man made, I don’t mean the food you eat, the raw materials are should be nature made :)

Now, let’s look into some explanations of the words “unprocessed” and “unenhanced”. By, “Unprocessed”, I refer to the foods that are eaten in their “natural” raw form, may be cooked, but still raw, no machines have run over it and bleached or added chemicals etc. For example, Whole Wheat (with bran and all) is unprocessed or even stone ground whole wheat flour is unprocessed, BUT, white or brown bleached flour is processed and unhealthy. By “Unenhanced”, I refer to again eating vegetables and fruits and grains eating as they are (cooking is OK) , but the ones that are not genetically enhanced or sprayed with pesticides all over or given so much plant food, that it looks bigger and better, but in reality, it is not. 

I am sure you got an idea of what I mean by HEALTHY here. Now, there is this general misconception in most of the people that vegetarian diet is always deficient in some or the other way. That is NOT TRUE. Let’s look at some deficiency you hear when we talk about vegetarian diet.

Protein: Everyone always think, you get protein only by eating meat, which is so NOT TRUE. The very first source of protein is beans and legumes in a vegetarian/vegan diet. Other than just beans, you can eat nuts and seeds and even some whole grains.

Iron: There are just way too many vegetables and fruits which provide this nutrient. Almost all of the leafy greens are rich in protein.

Zinc: Almost all of the whole grains and seeds/nuts are sources for this.

Vitamin B12: There are many sources for this too. You will see down there.

Omega-3 Fatty Acids: After protein, this is the most talked about what vegetarians/vegans miss in their diets. Again, you have more than enough sources for this in vegetarian diets. See the list down below.

Vitamin D: Sunshine, haven’t we heard all. But, check the list and you will be surprised at all the sources.

Now, after all this talk, I am not going to leave you hanging without telling you the sources of these so-called deficiencies in vegetarian diet. Here are the sources that provide more than enough.

Protein in Legume: Garbanzo beans, kidney beans, lentils, lima beans, navy beans, soybeans, split peas

Protein in Grain: Barley, brown rice protein, buckwheat, millet, oatmeal, quinoa, rye, wheat germ, wheat, wild rice

Vegetable Protein: Artichokes, beets, broccoli, Brussels Sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, cucumbers, eggplant, green peas, green pepper, kale, lettuce, mushroom, mustard green, onions, potatoes, spinach, tomatoes, turnip greens, watercress, yams, zucchini

Protein in Fruit: Apple, banana, cantaloupe, grape, grapefruit, honeydew melon, orange, papaya, peach, pear, pineapple, strawberry, tangerine, watermelon

Protein in Nuts and Seeds: Almonds, cashews, filberts, hemp seeds, peanuts, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, walnuts (black)

Iron in Vegetables/Fruits: Sun Dried Tomatoes, Apricots, Parsley, Spinach, Coconut, Olives, Currants & Raisins, Palm Hearts, Lentil Sprouts, Swiss Chard, Asparagus (Raw), Broccoli Raab, Pears , Figs , Apples , Dandelion Greens, Kale etc.

Zinc sources: Breads, grains, cereals, Legumes/Beans, Soy foods, Nuts and Seeds, Corn, Peas and Sea Vegetables etc.

Vitamin B12 sources: Cheese, eggs, whey, milk & yogurt and yeast etc.

Omega-3 Fatty Acids: Hemp Seeds, Walnuts, Flax Seeds, Olive Oil, Avocado and Chia Seeds etc.

Vitamin D: Sunshine (is the best), Orange Juice, Mushrooms etc.

Now, with all this talk, let’s come down to the rules of the event.

• You have to cook a dish out of “unprocessed” and “unenhanced” foods ONLY. If you have made something and have doubts on whether or not it qualifies, let me know. I recommend using more vegetables, fruits and nuts/seeds than grains in your dish.
• Any course of the meal is allowed, even beverages.
• Eggs and Meat/Seafood/Fishes are NOT ALLOWED.
• Using pre-packaged food are NOT ALLOWED.
• Using artificial flavors are NOT ALLOWED.
• Using pre-processed food is NOT ALLOWED.
• Nut & Seed Oils ARE ALLOWED but in moderation.
• Paneer & Tofu are ARE ALLOWED, as they not exactly processed, but cooked to make it the way they are.
• Stone Ground or Mill Ground (Uncontaminated) flours ARE ALLOWED.
• Keep DEEP FRYING to MINIMUM.
• You have to do a small write up on the nutritional benefits of your dish and if possible (recommended) how many servings it gives and what is the calorie per serving (approximate).
• Provide some substitutes for certain ingredients, if you think they are not easily available. Vegan substitutes will be highly appreciates.
• Archived posts will be allowed, if it follows all the above rules and if it is updated with this event details.
• Link your post back to this announcement and promote healthy eating habits.
• The Event is open till 31^st March 2013.
• Finally, after you have posted your entry, please send me a link with the subject “Healthy Me & Healthy US” and send your name, blog name & link, dish name, dish post link, course of the meal and a picture @ Priya.mitharwal@gmail.com
• If you are a Non-Bloggers, please send me all the details and I will post it on behalf of you.

So, what are you waiting for? Do your own research, look into healthy options at some local stores, if big chain supermarkets do not provide you healthy options and most importantly, make a decision to start healthy lifestyle.

Did I tell you the most important advantage of this lifestyle? Hold onto your seats. YOU CAN STOP COUNTING CALORIES and still be fit & healthy. Is it not great to be able to do that? I have started this lifestyle recently and already reaping benefits :)

I would like to continue this event for future as well. So, please mail me (not as a comment, but real email) if you are interested to host it in future.

If I have misstated anything, please do let me know and I will verify and correct the facts.

That’s all for now and take care till next post.

Priya

A New Beginning...

Hello Friends,

With a bit of delay, but here I am as I promised on the next episode from my blog. Let me give you a little bit of introduction or behind-the-scenes of this post before I barge into the topic.

I have always been proud of my immune system and overall health since when I was a kid. As a kid growing up till marriage (23 ½ years), I have been to doctor for health reasons may be 5 times total (that too mostly severe cold or cough and may be once for prolonged fever, nothing too serious). I did go to doctor a couple of other times with some injuries driving my bicycle or moped, but that was extent of it. Since marriage, I have had 2 prolonged doctor visits (I have been married 11 years, OK, now you all know how old I am, he he he) – one for UTI and one for some kind of viral fever, which due to negligence converted into a 3 day hospital stay, but nothing otherwise. So, you got the picture of my health.

But, in last 8 months of my life, I have been sick at least 5 times and have been to the doctor and had antibiotics to cure whatever I had, viral fever, toothache (first time in my life), wisdom tooth removal, a few colds, constant migraine attacks, a bacterial throat infection and now the final nail in the coffin was severe throat infection 2 weeks ago.

All this made me think as to what changed in my life in last 8 months or couple of years ago that has been attacking my immune system badly in last couple of months. I knew there was something wrong. On further analysis, I found that for last couple of months/years, due to busy life schedule, work, school, home, other activities, we have been putting almost “anything” in our body in terms of food and beverages. And, it is all just coming back to me and @ some extent my family too. My hubby has high BP, Cholesterol  Triglycerides and other related issues that come as a package.

While I was doing this self-analysis from the sick bed, I stumbled upon, these 2 wonderful videos: “Hungry for Change” and “Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead” that kind of jolted me eyes open and showed me what was going on in my family and may be in many of your families too. I will recommend all my blog readers to watch these 2 videos at least once. These videos showed me how almost everything we eat are loaded with hormones or pesticides or other chemicals that we don’t want to eat/drink. How much processed food, we are getting used to just because they are “easy” to get by. Our bodies are not getting what they need in this entire process and we pop ourselves with external vitamins and what not. And, it is a complete circle of eating a lot of processed food (it even includes overcooked food sometimes), not getting enough nutrients in the body, body craving for more food and us being overfed in turn and becomes over weight and obese and finally getting the diseases in a package deal at some point in our life.

I know it all sounds like “oh yeah, we know about it and we really eat healthy”. But, do you? really? Analyze your daily and weekly food habits and then maybe it is time to make some change.

Do you know that if we complete adapt “plant-based” foods and food products (unprocessed for most of it), we will be soon in a great shape and free of any medical issues? They have shown a lot of medical conditions getting reversed as well in this new life style.

Sorry for a lot of rambling, but I wanted to put forward what I came to know and realized and working towards for all of you and hoping some or all of you will be tempted, watch the videos, research more and make some lifestyle changes, as needed and suited to yourself and your family.

I am really happy and proud of my hubby too @ this point, as he was initially skeptical, but after watching the videos, he was totally with me and to begin our process we did a 3-day Reboot. You can get a lot of info and guidelines on Reboot with Joe website, but in nutshell what we did was 3 days, all 5-6 meals in the day, we had only veggie/fruit juices (without fiber), which gave our digestive tract some well deserved rest and time to settle down. Do you want to know a great side-effect of this? We lost 4 pounds each, isn't that great for something that we didn't even try).

After rebooting our systems, we are doing a 5 day eating/drinking only veggies, fruits and legumes. After completion of these 5 days, we will slowly introduce whole grains in our diet and try to stick to whole grains most of the time. We have also decided to do a 3-day reboot once every month.

Another very important thing which we miss most of the time is “moving” our body. All we need to do and I strongly encourage you to do is do a 30 minute brisk walk a day. It doesn't have to be one 30 minute walk. You can do three 10 min. walks and may be most of you do already – walking the dog, walking the kids to school and back, walking stairs in your apartment complex or in office and many such small things.

We are really happy with this change in our eating habits and hope to help you all do the same. I am sincerely expecting most of you to say that after reading this and going through the videos, you have decided to convert at least one or 2 meals (specially breakfast and afternoon snack or dessert) to just fruits and veggies. So, who is on-board?

Now, keeping this process and change in mind, I would like to introduce a new event that I am starting on my blog from March 1^st. It will be called “Healthy Me and Healthy Us”.

Wait for more details on this. I can bet it will be fun and yes, I will be looking for me fellow bloggers to guest host this in future.

On this note, I sign off. Take care everyone and stay healthy.

Priya

Happy 3rd Birthday to my Blog Baby

Hello Everyone,

I cannot believe it has been over 3 years (yes, it was on 10th Feb) since I started this blog. Of course, for last year, it has been pretty dormant (I am to blame), but since I couldn't just this milestone go like that.

So, without further ado, please sing the song for my blog baby,

HAPPY 3RD BIRTHDAY MY BLOG BABY

So much has changed in my life and in the blog since I started. I had never tried as many recipes or even seen as many recipes, thought processes, events, programs, varieties in cuisine, ingredients, combinations and what not before I started this blog. I feel so blessed that I started this blog and got introduced to this new whole different world of blogging which has in turn enriched in so many ways that I couldn't have believed possible even if someone had told me before Feb 2010.

Before, I ramble further more, I would like to sincerely and from the bottom of my heart thank all my readers and my fellow-bloggers, who keep encouraging me in every way possible in keeping me going on and because of which I am still here, instead of raising a white flag and calling it the day.

I cannot keep myself from bragging that Srivalli Jetti chose traditional Rajasthani recipes from my blog to be one of the recipes for her recent Indian Cooking Challenge Contest. Did I tell that doing this, for this specific event, my recipes were listed along with Sanjeev Kapoor and Tarla Dalal's recipes? I am in 7th Heaven and cannot even tell how proud I felt for this honor. Thanks Valli, love you :)

All of you who are regulars on my blog already know on my event called Veggie/Fruit A Month, which I had started in June 2010 as I was celebrating my 100th post. I am so thankful to all my fellow bloggers who have kept the event going. For the month of Feb 2013, please don't forget to tune in to Apurva's blog *ing Strawberries.

I want to celebrate this milestone (3rd Birthday) by starting another event. It will also help me to re-focus on the blog. But, nope, no details yet. You will have to wait for my post. You will get all the gory details then.

Till then, take care and stay healthy.

Love you all !!!

Veggie/Fruit A Month - January 2013 - Announced !!!

Hello Friends,

Our dear blogger friend Sara has been kind to guest host the first event of 2013 for Veggie/Fruit A Month series.

The STAR for January 2013 is CAPSICUM (BELL PEPPER)

Please do visit her blog and participate in the event.

There are some open months that need to be guest hosted in the year 2013. Please do let me know if you are interested to host it .

Take care till next post,
Priya

And the winner is ....

Hello Friends,

I am sure many of you know that I was doing a giveaway of this wonderful book.

After a long delay, I am so happy to announce the winner. I had 7 people showing interest and following rules:

1. Hamaree Rasoi
2. PJ
3. Sara from Sara's Tasty Buds
4. Vijayalakshmi Dharamaraj
5. Priya Vaasu
6. Ritika Arora
7. Priya SrinivasaN

Drum rolls please. And, the winner is... 

PJ of Seduce Your Tastebuds

CONGRATULATIONS PJ !!! I will be passing your information to the author Rinku Bhattacharya, and she will be contact with you to send the book.

Enjoy and hope to see some yummy recipes from this book translated into your blog posts :)

Take care till next post,
Priya

Do you know this spice blend?

Hello Friends,

How many of you recognize this spice blend?

Take care and keep guessing :)

Coconut and Cardamom Fudge - Narkol and Khirer Borfi AND A GIVEAWAY !!!

Hello Friends,

After a long time, an attempt to re-initiate the flow of my posts on my blog. I cannot believe it has been such a long time. But, I really appreciate all my readers' continuous encouragements and wishes to see me back int he blog world.

Recently, I had the fortune to connect with Rinku Bhattacharya one of our bloggers and an author of the book , The Bengali Five Spice Chronicles.

I had a wonderful opportunity to receive the book as part of a giveaway and review it. I am sure all of you already must be familiar with my Bengali connections (I was born in West Bengal) and my love for Bengali food. Here was an opportunity to review a Bengali Cook book which I simply could not turn away from. 

I have to tell you that the book was more than what I expected. To tell you the truth, when you normally think of a cook book, you think of all those complicated, not usually made at home recipes, but this is just so different. I have to tell you sincerely that most of the recipes are so close to my heart and my cooking style. They are the ones that I can just make any day without thinking twice. You need some basic spices and you are ready to cook off recipes from it.

The best part of the book is that it is divided based on the spices that are used in the Bengali cuisine, which makes it unique. So, you can actually choose a spice and explore it to your heart's content. And, last but not the least, it has those yummy Bengali sweets (the ones made with milk or milk products), so having such a sweet tooth, I had to pick a dessert.

Here is my try of making a famous Bengali Mithai (sweet) from this book.

Coconut and Cardamom Fudge - Narkol and Khirer Borfi

  

Ingredients

Khoya (Milk Solids) - 1.5 cups (12 oz or 341 gms)

Fresh (or Frozen) Shredded Coconut - 1 cup (8 oz)

Sugar - 1 cup

Green Cardamom - 1/2 tsp (crushed)

Sliced Almonds - as you may like to sprinkle on top or even to mix with the fudge

Preparation

• If you are using frozen Khoya (khoa) instead of fresh one, just nuke (microwave) it for about 1 min. and then add it to a non-stick pan. You can use normal pan too, non-stick is just better as it won't get stuck to the bottom.
• Let it become softer in consistency (make sure your gas is in the lowest settings of heat)
• Once soft, add coconut (if frozen, soften it in microwave) and sugar.
• Mix well and cook on medium heat till it becomes soft and kind of starts leaving the sides and forms a ball shape (kind of sort of)
• Grease a pan with enough ghee (clarified butter) and pour the hot mixture in it to any size and height you may prefer your fudge to be in.
• Let it come to room tempertaure, before cutting it into shapes
• Wait even more for it to completely cool down, before digging into it :)
• I felt @ one point, that I could even make them into balls instead of cutting them like barfis
• Now, what do I tell of the taste. My husband called it a variety of Mawa Mishri / Milk Cake (for people who are familiar with these names).

Serving

Mine came out just melt in the mouth. I cut it way too soon (couldn't wait) and I will recommend waiting little more before cutting into it to get nice, firm pieces.

You can buy this book online almost from any big online store. But, here is the best part. Do you want to get a copy of this book and start enjoying Bengali Cuisine? If so, without further delay, go to my Blog's Facebook Group, join and MUST leave me a comment on this post. You only have till end of December 9th to participate. I will do a random choice and you never know, you may win the book :)

THE CONTEST IS ONLY OPEN TO US AND CANADA RESIDENTS.

Take care till next post !!!

Long Awaiting Roundup of MLLA # 47

Hello Everyone after ages,

I have to start my post by my sincerest apologies to everyone, but especially Susan, the creator of MLLA event. She was so sweet to allow me to host this event for the 2nd time. But, I was in some kind of zone and did not even look @ my blog for last 5 months. Susan, hope you forgive me and will still be kind enough to let me host this in some future month. And, my dear readers, I hope you too will forgive me and still participate in all my future events and encourage me on my posts regularly as you used to a few months ago.

I don't even know where to begin. It seems as if I was in what I have heard my other fellow bloggers call sometime a "mental block" or a "blogger's block". But, believe it was more than that. It has been about 6 or so months, that I have not even tried cooking anything special @ home. I don't know why, but I just don't feel like it. It is not that I am depressed or unhappy in my life. Thankfully, by HIS grace, all is well. But, my interest in cooking seems to have taken a toll and I sincerely hope that with fast approaching Holiday season and in new year, I will get back on track and try to be more creative and be involved. And, I hope and pray that all my wonderful and kind readers will encourage me come out of this "block".

Now, coming to the main reason of this post, which is to do a round-up of all the wonderful entries that I received for MLLA # 47, which I hosted in the month of April 2012. This event simply never stops to amaze me. It has been over 4 years since it started and we still get so many new entries every month. Kudos to everyone who participates and more over, three cheers for Susan for all the effort and thought she puts into creating a new logo every month and with prizes, drawings, etc. Susan, you rock !!!

Thanks once again to all the fellow bloggers, who sent their delicious entries for this event. Below is the roundup. Please do let me know if i missed any entry and I will update it right away.

Lisa Turner from Lisa's Kitchen sent Vietnamese Pancakes with Vegetables, Herbs and a Fragrant Dipping Sauce (Bánh Xèo)

Janet M from The Taste Space sent Turkish Red Pepper, Chickpea and Cilantro Soup (Nohut Corbasi)

Simona Carini from Briciole sent minestra di cicerchie / cicerchia soup and fava bean and garlic scape spread

Pallavi Puri from Cook-Eat-Burp sent Handvo, Quick Rajma Curry and Spinach and Lentils

Nandita from Paaka Shaale sent Jaisalmeri kaala chana

Shobha Keshwani from Food Mazaa sent Hummus,  Falafel,  Roasted bell Pepper Hummus, Falafel Sandwich / Pita pockets, Bean and Bell Pepper Stir-Fry/Salad, Mixed Vegetables and Rajma Sabzi, Peanut Sauce, Azuki Bean Curry and Kaali Dal (Dal Makhani)

Pushpa Kumar from Taste as you Cook sent Yummy Munchies with Jaggery

Sowjanya from Ruchika Cooks sent Gazebo dal and Ghoals in palak gravy

Mints! from Vadani Kaval Gheta sent Alu Vadi (Taro Patties)

Rupali from RecipeGrabBag sent Chavli Farasbean Bhaji (Blackeye peas and french beans curry)

Kalinda from Wheat-Free Meat-Free sent Arroz con Gandules (Rice with Pigeon Peas)

Sag from Passionate chef sent Masala vada

Claire McCulloch from Chez Cayenne sent Baked Samosas with Chickpeas

Preethi from Follow Foodie sent Cauliflower Chickpeas Masala and Chick peas stir fry

Harini from Tamalapaku sent Chana Dal Dosa

Swetha Reddy from Our Cherished World sent Rajma / Red Kidney Bean Masala

Srishti Nangia from Prolific Cooking sent Moong Dal, Oat and Amaranth Pan Cakes

Roshni from Roshni's Kitchen sent Nadan Soy Chunk Curry - Chicken Style

Pam Greer from Sidewalk Shoes sent Bulgur and Chickpea Salad with Parsley Dressing

Nithu Bala from Nithu's Kitchen sent Kondakadalai Thengapaal Kuzhambu and Sprouted Horsegram and Sprouted Channa Fritters

Victoria Challancin from Flavors of the Sun sent Warm Chickpea Salad

Denny from Oh Taste n See sent Quinoa Idly, Roasted Red Pepper and chickpea soup and Collard Greens Poriyal

Valerie from City|Life|Eats sent Cilantro Scallion Black-Eyed Pea Dip

Rajani from My Kitchen Trials sent Peanut Chundal Susan from The Well Seasoned Cook sent Pigeon Peas in Coconut Milk with Mashed Plantain.

Here is last but not the least entry from me - Til Moongfali ki Chutney (Sesame Seeds and Peanuts Chutney)

Now, the best part of all, the Prizes.

1. The Complete Book of Pasta - Cook's Illustrated. This prize is offered by Susan without influence at her expense, and she will also absorb worldwide shipping charges.  F.T.C. Notice: Susan does not receive any compensation from Amazon. 
2. Hurst Bean Box - A case of six bags of the winner's choice of Hurst Bean products, suitable for every diet, sponsored by Hurst Bean. (Due to shipping restrictions, this prize can only be awarded if the winner is a U.S. resident.) F.T.C. Notice: In May 2010, Susan, at her request, received two Hurst Bean complimentary products which are not available for purchase in her local markets. Susan does not generally accept free products from Hurst Bean nor is she financially compensated by them.
3. Drawing Structure - If the winner is a U.S. resident, she/he will be the recipient of both Prizes 1 and 2 above.  In the event that an international winner is drawn, a second drawing will be conducted from the U.S. pool of entrants to ensure that the Hurst Prize is awarded every month.  In these instances, the international winner will receive the book, and the U.S. winner will receive the Hurst Prize. 

So, DRUM ROLLS please :)

Claire McCulloch from Chez Cayenne is the proud winner of both the prizes. Congratulations Claire. Susan will contact you soon.

That's all for now and hope to come back soon with new posts.
Priya