Healthy living!

This is a quick 5 min recipe for those who want to start living healthy lives. Pick any five things to do from the following list and make sure you follow them for one week. Next week, pick another 5. In no time, you will start getting used to them and you wont realize you had to put any efforts towards living healthy. Remember this is just step 1. This is like a cheat sheet for someone who has grown up using one or the other. You got it if you have used one ;)

1. Take 10000 steps a day for 1 week

2. Take 5 minute walk everyday for 1 week

3. Do 15 pushups a day for 1 week

4. Drink plenty of water for 1 week

5. Take the stairs instead of elevator for 1 week

6. Park your car away from your destination for 1 week

7. Eat breakfast everyday for 1 week

8. Eat 1 fruit for lunch for 1 week

9. Meditate for 5 minutes a day for 1 week

10. Get 7 hours of sleep everyday for a week

11. Write down 3 positive things about today for 1 week

12. Practice deep breathing 1 minute for 1 week

13. Stretch for 5 minutes a day for 1 week

14. Go to bed before 11 for 1 week

15. Write in your health journal everyday for 1 week

16. Eat 1600 calories everyday for 1 week

17. Floss 1 tooth before going to bed for 1 week

18. Read a book for 5 minutes for 1 week

I picked mine. Have you picked yours?

American Heart Walk 2015

I have been blogging every Monday's since quite some time now. But I missed yesterday and yes it was a Monday:( Things are always going to be crazy so no more excuses for being busy.

This post is regarding one of those activities that I feel proud for. After participating for Cancer awareness few weeks back, we were raising funds for reducing death and disability from cardiovascular diseases. The American Heart Association is the largest voluntary health organization dedicated to defeat heart disease, stroke and other cardiovascular diseases. Their mission is to build healthier lives, free of cardiovascular diseases and stroke - the nation's No.1 and No.5 killers. The Heart & Stroke Walk celebrates those who have made lifestyle changes and encourages many more to take the pledge to live healthier lifestyles while raising the dollars needed to fund life-saving research and initiatives in the local community. 

Many companies had taken part in this walk and raised a lot of money for research and funding the efforts made by American Heart Association to reduce the death rate by such diseases. We were in a team of 4. This is our team page: http://www.kintera.org/faf/search/searchTeamPart.asp?ievent=1126406&team=6521836&emaillogid=8513956776 and we also had a personal page:  http://siliconvalleyheartwalk.kintera.org/manojaya

We did this walk in memory of Komal Didi who recently passed away due to one such heart stroke and in a matter of 45 mins she was no more.  May God rest her soul in peace. This was very unfortunate that it happened to her. And thats what we need to bring awareness in people that this can happen to anyone and at any age. So it is very important for us to build healthier lives and listen to our body and care for our health. We need to change our diets. We need to change our life style and include some physical exercise in our schedule no matter how busy we get. There is a saying in hindi - "Jaan hai toh jahan hai".

I have made some changes in my life style and am also spreading awareness by participating in such events :) I have done my part of passing it forward, will you? 

After reading this, if you think you want to start making changes to your life style, start with these quick tips which might help you move on to healthy living -  Healthy Living Goals

Few pictures from the event: 

Pay It Forward!

Have you watched the movie or read the novel named 'Pay It Forward' ? If not, you definitely should. This is a story about a young boy who did 3 good deeds for others in need. In return, all that the child wanted was that they pass on the good deed to three other people and keep the cycle going. One good deed might not seem like much, but if everyone did something good for someone else, then the cycle of generosity and kindness can spark us to become better people.

After watching this movie, Manoj and I have started thinking of doing 'something' good for 'someone' and are finding ways to pay back to the society in any way we can. But in this busy life we all have a bag full of excuses. We keep complaining we do not get any time in our busy schedule. 

Recently while talking to a colleague, she gave me an awesome idea and I started thinking - why not do something that I normally make time to do even if I am super busy and that in turn does something good to someone in need? The first thing that came to my mind was Baking! Yes, no matter how busy I get, I make time for baking when someone asks me to bake a cake for their special occasion. Also, a lot of my friends have suggested me to start taking orders ;) Although that is a different thing :) But I want to take this opportunity and continue to bake cakes for my friends and family and add a personal touch to their birthday, anniversary, baby-shower, house-warming and any special occasion, but in return I ask them to donate. They can decide how much they want to donate. We have created a page with our favorite charitable organizations here - https://www.justgive.org/manojaya

The difference we can make is phenomenal.  Very truly said --- 

On a different note, this weekend was super busy. In addition to various excuses that I was very busy, I baked two cakes on the weekend. Here are the pictures:

Tres Leches Take 1

Tres Leches - Take 2 

In collaboration with a friend - Yes, I am teaching :) 

You can check out few of our creations at https://www.pinterest.com/jayawadhwani/cakes

Kitchen Khiladi 2015 - Cancer Institute Foundation

Cooking Competition and me? I am myself surprised that I participated in cooking competition last weekend (Oct 3rd). I came to know about this event when we visited Sunnyvale Hindu Temple on Ganesh Chaturthi. The first look of the flyer immediately got both of us (Manoj and me) excited to participate in this competition. This was an innovative way of Cancer Institute Foundation to raise funds and support Cancer Institute in all aspects of cancer treatment and research. For more information read here.

Although, I have never been into cooking and all (you probably know this if you know me as Jaya and not as Dhriti) but cooking for a good cause is what attracted us. Recently, Manoj and I have been thinking of ways to give back to the society, ways to help people in need, ways to help people who are putting in efforts to do something really big and this very well fitted into that bucket. 

But the challenge was cooking and that too with aroma, taste, nutrition and also with a great presentation! On the top of this, the main rule of this competition was to use TURNIP as the main ingredient. The first thing I did when I came to know this rule was to google and make sure what Turnip is. It is called 'Ghogdu' in Sindhi. In Hindi, people call it 'Shalgam'. 

Turnips!

And then I became aware of the health benefits of Turnip. Here are some very interesting facts about Turnip:

1. Turnip is a bulbous root with a creamy white color and a purple top where it has been exposed to the sun.

2. Turnip is a powerhouse of nutrients with a very low amount of calories.

3. Turnips are very good source of anti-oxidants, vitamins, minerals and dietary fiber.

4. Turnip greens compose of many minerals and vitamins several times more than that in the roots. The greens are very good source of antioxidants such as vitamin A, vitamin C, carotenoid, xanthin, and lutein. Further, the leafy-tops are an excellent source of vitamin K.

5. Turnip also has anti-cancer properties. Studies show that consumption of Turnip may help to reduce your risk of colorectal and lung cancer. 

On registering for this event, I started asking everyone around me for ideas on what I can cook with turnip. Two of my other friends - Richa and Namita were also excited after knowing about this contest. After a couple of days of brainstorming we finally decided to make Shalgam pav-bhaji (main course), Ghazal-e-Shalgam (salad) and Sweet-o-rosie (desert) and all made up of Turnip. I want to thank Richa and Namita for bringing in so much enthusiasm and creativity for the cooking competition and of course the creative names of all the dishes :) Although we didn't win, it was an incredible experience for all of us. I am definitely going again next year! 

Recipe: 

Name of the dish: Turnip Pav Bhaji 

Serving size: 5 people

Main Ingredients:

Turnips 5

Onion 1 

Tomato 2

Egg plant 1 medium sized

Carrots 2

Peas - 1 cups

Gobhi 1/2 flower

Dudhi 1/2 - small portion

Pavbhaji masala

Red chilli whole

lemon

Ginger 1/2 inch

garlic 3-4

green chili 1-2

salt

Garnishing:

Cilantro 

Sev 

Lemon

1/2 onion finely cut

2 green chillies 

Method to make Bhaji :

Take ginger, garlic and chill from main ingredients and make ginger garlic chili paste.

Take tomatoes and make puree.

Cut all other veggies into small cubes and wash them.

Put cooker on a stove and heat butter + little oil and add some jeera and let it splatter for few seconds.  Add ginger-garlic chili paste and let it cook for about 30 seconds or till you smell the aroma of ginger garlic. Then add chopped onions. Let it cook till it becomes pinkish brown. Add tomato puree and salt let it cook for 2-4 minutes. Then add all the veggies and saute for a few minutes.  Add 1/2 glass water and close the lid of the cooker and let it whistle for 6-8 times.  Open the cooker after 10 minutes and mash the veggies. 

Take a big frying pan and add oil and when it heats up add pav bhaji masala and cook for few seconds. Add the mashed veggies to this. Let it simmer for 10 minutes so that the veggies soak the masala. Squeeze one lemon and add some cut cilantro. 

Serve this hot with pav and garnish this with cilantro, chopped onions and sev.

Bread bowl Turnip bhaji!

 Ghazal-e-shalgam

1. Grate the turnip nicely
2. Put grated turnip in ice cold water for 15 minutes
3. Squeeze out water from turnip
4. Make a mixture of ginger, asafoetida, pepper, red chilli powder and add salt to taste
5. Mix the turnip in the above mixture
6. Take a container, put some oil and deep fry the mixture in whatever shape you want
7. After frying let the pieces cool down to room temperature.
8. Cut the cabbage into boat shape and put every piece of fried turnip on top of it
9. Take cubes of cheese and fry them slightly
10. Garnish the turnip boat with the cheese and mayonnaise

Sweet-o-rosie

1. Take one cup of flour (maida) and make the dough
2. Keep it aside for 10 minutes
3. Take one pan, put some water, honey and cinnamon and let it boil on medium flame for 10-15 mins
4. Chop the turnip in half moon shape and put every piece in the the above pan and let it boil for 10 more minutes
5. Take all the pieces out from water, drain out the water and keep the pieces aside
6. Now make a fine rectangular strip using the dough made at Step 1
7. Use the rectangular strip and the pieces kept in step 5 to make the rose flower shape
8. Take one pan, put oil and fry the rose petals for 5-7 mins on medium flames
9. Garnish the rose petals with butter and honey, keep them aside
10. Take another pan, mix water, honey and cinnamon and put rose petals in it.

Few pictures from the event:

Presentation at the event! Front view

Our presentation at the event! Back view :)

Temptations Team at work!

All excited before judges start tasting the dishes ;)

Spreading some awareness!

Look who came to cheer us up!

Winners on stage!

Some posing! post event..

Just some more posing.. 

Power-packed Antioxidant dryfruit balls!

I am sure this has happened to you at some point in your life. Your mom kept forcing you to eat dryfruits and you kept avoiding her. But, do you know the benefits of eating dryfruits? If not, read this - http://www.beingbeautifulandpretty.com/2015/10/health-benefits-eating-dry-fruits.html 

I myself keep making resolutions every now and then that I will be eating dryfruits on a regular basis. But unfortunately, I have been breaking my resolution every single time. Last weekend, Manoj came up with the idea of making dryfruit mithaai and so we gave it a quick try. And to my surprise, it came out really very well. Super delicious and super-duper healthy and totally guilt free and absolutely sugar-free! You will forget the crappy granola/protein bar once you try this hand-made healthy snack :) Here is the recipe:  

Prep Time: 10-15 min

Ingredients:

1/2 Cup Dried Fig

1/2 Cup Dried Dates Seedless

1/2 Cup Dried Blue Berries

1 Cup Mix Nuts - Cashews, Almonds, Pistachios & Walnuts.

1 Tablespoon coco power

1 Tea spoon coffee powder

Method:

1. Put the cashews, almond, pistachios and walnuts in a grinder and crush them into small pieces. Make sure not to churn them into powder.

2. Heat a pan and put the cashews, almond, pistachios and walnuts in the pan to lightly roast them. 

3. Microwave the dried fig, dates & blue berries in a bowl for 1 min to make them soft.

4. Put all the contents in the grinder along with coco powder and coffee. 

5. Blend them for a few seconds. Again not to make a dough out of the mix but just enough that the dry fruits are blended together.

6. Take some ghee/clarified unsalted butter and apply a little on your palms and make small balls from the mix.

Note: This can be made out of any dryfruits you have at home. You can use chia seeds, raisins etc if you have them!

Here are a few pictures:

Sukhadi recipe

This weekend it was Ganpati Visarjan which means time for Ganpati bappa to go back home :( But going back means coming back soon!

I wanted to offer some sweet to Ganeshji on this day of visarjan. After thinking a lot, I decided to make sukhadi for which I did not have to go out for shopping:) This is a very easy recipe which contains only 4 main ingredients - wheat flour, gud (jaggery), ghee, cashew nuts.

Here is my recipe:

Ingredients:

1 cup wheat flour

1/2 cup jaggery finely grated

1/2 cup ghee

Handful cashews cut into halves OR almonds cut into halves

1 tbsp poppy seeds (khus khus) - optional

Method:

1. Take ghee in the pan and start the stove.

2. When the ghee starts to melt, add the wheat flour and cook on medium heat till you smell nice aroma of wheat flour. (Roast till it turns pinkish brown).

3. Put the stove on sim. Add jaggery to it and stir till the jaggery nicely mixes with the wheat flour.

4. Turn off the the gas and pour this mixture into a plate and tap it with a spoon to make the top surface of the plate smooth. Make sure you don't pour a thick layer in the plate. Sukhdi tastes/looks good if it is around 1/2 of an inch :)

5. While it is still hot, sprinkle poppy seeds and cut it into diamond shape just like kaju katli.

6. Decorate it with cashew nuts or almonds.

General Observation: I have noticed that when I make any sweet and if have Ganpati songs playing in the background, all of my sweets turn out to be amazing! Give it a try next time :)

Sukhadi!

Jai Ganpati Bappa!

All the girls in the house!

MJ

Haye tujhko phir se jalwa dikhana hi hoga, 

Agle baras aana hai (aana hi hoga)!

Dekhengee teri rahe, pyasee pyasee nigahe,

Toh maan le tu maan bhi le kehna mera,

Laut ke tujhko aana hai, sunle kehta divana hai,

Jab tera darsan payenge, chain tab hamko pana hai,

Morya morya morya re,

Bappa morya morya morya re! 

Welcoming Ganpati Bappa with Modak - Sept 2015

Vakra-Tunndda Maha-Kaaya Suurya-Kotti Samaprabha

Nirvighnam Kuru Me Deva Sarva-Kaaryessu Sarvadaa!

With Ganesh Chaturthi around the corner, I had been thinking to make Modak at home. Also I have been experimenting a lot of new things in my kitchen recently but this one sounded really very difficult. After a couple of thoughts somehow I managed to take the guts and decided to offer home-made Modak to Ganesha! When I went through the recipes online, I found it to be so easy and thats when it hit me that the best things in life are actually very simple even though they may sound difficult at first thought. 

Let me quickly share the recipe and some pictures:

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cup mawa - crushed or grated.

3/4 cup sugar 

5 elaichi/cardamom crushed and powdered

1tbsp ghee

2 tbsp of evaporated milk (optional)

Few strands of kesar

1 tbsp milk

Bunch of pistachios or almonds depending on what you prefer - crushed

Special Ingredient - A playlist playing Ganesha songs. This will add love and sweetness in the Modak that Ganesha loves :)

Method:

Mix few strands of kesar in 1 tbsp of milk and stir it and keep it aside. We will use this at the end.

Take a pan and keep it on stove on high flame. Add ghee, crushed mawa and sugar in the pan and keep stirring at high heat for a min or two. Then reduce the flame and keep stirring this mixture at med heat for around 10 mins. Add the crushed cardamom at this point. If this mixture doesn't become liquid-like in about 10-15 minutes, then add 2 tbsp of milk one at a time and let it evaporate before adding another. Keep stirring for few more minutes. Stop the flame and keep it aside till it completely cools down.  (It took 4-5 hours for me to completely cool it down)

After 5 hours, take the milk mixed with kesar and add it to the mawa mix and knead it with hands. Also add the crushed pistachios to this mix and again knead it. Take the Modak mold and prepare modak from your mawa mix. Now your Modaks are all set to be offered to Lord Ganesha! 

Here are some pictures: 

A very special thanks to Chandana Rathan from Crave Cook Click group for lending me her modak mold for this!

A Very Happy Ganesh Chaturthi to everyone and may HIS blessings be always upon all of us !