Wednesday, March 31, 2010

The Super Duper Tomato Oats Soup

This is a super soup. It is super tasty, super nutritious and super easy to make.

This can be a mini meal for you or you can have it with your major meals. Its filling and satisfying.

Ingredients:

1. 3 Big Tomatoes.

2. 4-5 piece garlic

3. 1 carrot.

4. 1/2 green chili (optional)

5. Salt to taste.

6. 2 tablespoon Oats.

Procedure.

1. In a pressure cooker, pressure cook tomatoes, carrots,garlic and chili. Add sufficient water. Mix salt as well.

2. once the veggies are boiled blend them in a blender.

3. Put back on stove and wait for a boil to come. When the soup starts boiling add oats. Let the soup thicken. Adjust salt as per your taste.

4. Serve hot and enjoy.

Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Mighty Rule of Fist

My mother taught me that there should always be enough food in the house to feed an unexpected visitor. It is always good to feed the hungry. Never to count the chapattis that are made, in fact one should never count the chapattis eaten.

Because I have always been the ladoo of my mother's eye, I always followed her advise.

I would sometimes pour the rice in a pan and cook. Estimates work, who needs to measure. Even if I did measure, 1 and 1/2 katori of uncooked rice was a must for me and my husband.

Same for the chapattis, I would pour the flour and make the dough. 2 chapattis for my husband, 2 for me and 1 or 2 extra for the unexpected visitor who till date never turned up on our door.

But why bother about the extra share, the extra stuff was always handy to satisfy our hunger.

So the estimated amount of rice which was half big casserole was finished in no time. The chapattis which were big and thick and always 1-2 extra will always finish.

So, you see after all I am a good house keeper. I don't waste food at all. I cook and eat to finish.

And please tell me how can someone measure pasta. I would just slit open the packet and pour the whole stuff in. I craved pasta and both me and my husband will finish that off too.

But with that much amount of food no wonder we were what we were. In fact there never was an estimate how much we ate stuff like rice, pasta, poha, upma.

Now I was watching a TV cookery show and this one lady was cooking rice. For estimate she said, for 7 people take 7 fist of rice.

And that was it. I have heard so much about the wonders of frequent little meals but the answer was right in my hand.

Now this is also I have read and I am going to write it here, ever wondered that why saints/monks ask for offerings by combining two hands because that amount of food is sufficient for one to be eaten at one time.

So from there started my mighty rule of fist. I cook rice for two people - 2 fist. I make chapattis for 2 people -2 fist flour. Poha -2 fist, upma- 2 fist.
The first day I made 2-fist poha I kept wondering how my husband will howl from hunger. But he didn't. He felt hungry only after 2 hours.

Now the fist rule is followed in my house as both me and my husband are trying to reduce weight.

So 1 and a half katori rice is reduced to less than half katori now. With 2 fist flour you can only make 3 thin chapattis.

As for the unexpected visitor who has not yet turned up but if arrives, he will share the same amount of food with lots of fruits. His photo will be clicked and published on my food blog with a title "Guest who ate less and healthy."

Husband in Wonderland

My husband has always been a happy man. He is happy because he doesn't have to cook his meals, his wife takes care of the food.

He is happy because his wife has started looking more tolerable. Few days back, my husband was practically grinning all the time, he just couldn't believe his stars, he was eating lovely food and was also getting to eat his wife's share as well.

If me and my husband would go in a restaurant I would give him half my share. This practice led way to expectations. Every time, we were having a meal outside, my husband would eat his share and would expectantly look at mine.

He would also drop suggestions that I cannot possibly eat that much food. To my husband's utter delight I would happily give him more of my share (I don't need that outside food anyways, it hurts my stomach.)

But like all other intelligent husbands my husband knew that anytime the sword of weight loss will drop on his head and surely it did one day when the wife announced its time for him to loose weight.

Like any other man in this world, my husband only knows and understand one kind of exercise and that is bed exercise. He also thinks it is the duty of the wife to make him loose weight while cooking delicious food.

Like any other woman in this world I know to trap my man with a sweet smile and promise of delicious food.

Before he knew it he was already trapped and nailed for good. My poor little happy husband, has no where else to go.

Slowly by applying the mighty rule of fist, I started cooking. Want to know about the rule click here Mighty Rule of Fist

My innocent husband never knew that the chapattis for his lunch were getting thinner and mysteriously a salad was making an appearance everyday on his plate, not to forget the soup.

He was also innocent of the fact that the rice they were eating has reduced drastically, he gets to have his first serving and when he goes for the second serving, hardly any rice is left. He can eat only the amount of food that was cooked.

He kept wondering that in olden days the food was always in surplus, now the pans are always empty and there is hardly left for the second time.

Both me and my husband avoid outside food. So, for past few days the quantity of his intake has reduced and of course we haven't eaten out for quite few days.

Last week we went to a restaurant and ordered masala dosa each. Now I swear we were so hungry that while waiting for the order we were checking what else to order more. But knowing the history of my stomach, me and my husband wait till we have finished the first round (we have not yet ordered twice).

Now, as with my habit I was stuffed to death after half dosa and gave my other half to my husband. My husband usually eat his stuff and my half as well.
But as we entered our home, he just said he is so full he will vomit. He said it was the last time he is eating my half share. Its better that we order less next time because his stomach is about to burst.

For heavens, my husband's stomach has always been an endless pit. He always had this amazing quality to eat everything in sight and still be hungry. What has happened, has the magic of shrinking stomach begun. Read about the shrinking stomach here Shrink thy Stomach

My husband is a very happy man now. He is loosing weight. In two months he has gone from 91 kgs to 88 kgs and he has such a nice wife who is telling him that he will loose without any exercise.

He is such an innocent man that he is
unaware of his scheming wife, he doesn't know that from next week he is not getting dinner until he has spent 15 minutes on the elliptical trainer. Lets not tell him now it will shatter his heart.

My husband is such a happy man. He is getting to eat all his goodies and still his jeans is fitting him better in fact he will soon need to buy a smaller pair. He is a happy man because he still gets half the share of his wife's goodies and guess what, he also has a new wife now. Now a days he is definitely not staying with the woman he married. Some people have all the luck in this world.

Microwave Poha

One good thing about oil is that it makes cooking so easy and yes the food so yummy. One bad thing about oil is that 1 tsp has 40 calories and it does load food with calories.

The other day I was talking to my sister and she informed me that as my BIL has lost weight and is heads on in his weight loss project, he just eats little poha for breakfast, poha being his favorite. My question was Why did he gave it up?? She said, poha requires lot of oil and only then it tastes good.

In my house also I have seen oil being poured and the potatoes and onions being fried in it and the poha tasting so good.

If you check the fact file of poha, then the real taste come from mustard, potato and onions done well and most importantly poha soaked and done to perfection.

Its been a very long time I have made poha in 2 tsp of oil and have always loved the taste. The only hurdle being cooking potatoes in less oil, it takes more time. You can go ahead and try this version on gas, it takes time but comes out beautifully. Microwave version is far quicker and tastes awesome too.

So here are the steps.

1. In a microwaveable bowl. Take 2 tsp of oil, add in mustard seed, cover the lid and microwave for 40 seconds.

2. Add in the cut potatoes, onions, green chilles and Kadi patta. Mix well the mixtures so that the oil and mustard seeds cover the onions and potatoes nicely. Cover the lid and microwave for 3 minutes, take out the bowl, turn again the mixture in the bowl with the spoon. Microwave again for 2 minutes.















3. Wash poha under running water (or the way you always do it). Add the turmeric, salt, little sugar. Add this poha mixture to the microwave bowl. Mix well so that the potatoes, onions and poha and nicely mixed.

4. Microwave for 2 minutes.















5. Garnish with Green Coriander.

6. Eat with a small size spoon.















To me it tastes awesome and trying would not hurt. May be like me you will also like the taste.

Its a healthy, filling breakfast and I see no reason to give it up.

Ek Choti Si Fat Story

Once upon a time there was a fat girl who met a not so fat boy. They became friends and to girl's utmost surprise the 'not at all fat boy' proposed her.

The girl was surprised and she asked the boy "Are you Ok with the way I am", the boy replied "Yes, I don't care for your physical appearance but I do care from what you are from inside".

So they got married. Though people in the wedding reception kept thinking what the boy has actually seen in the girl. You actually cannot see much because she is covered with layers of fat.



Time passed and both of them were oh so much in love. They were so much in love that they started resembling each other. Their love grew and their size grew.

Both wore size 38 jeans and both shared T-shirts because the girl could easily fit into the boys shirt.

Both will celebrate their love with food. They were such good friends that they will go in restaurants and spend hours together and eat slowly lots of food that they just loved to eat.

At home they will snuggle together in a sofa with pots of food in front and watch their favorite serials.

They were so happy until the tragedy hit.

The fat little girl entered a clothes department and there were such lovely clothes. She picked a few and went to the trial room and to her horror none fit. Though she was not pregnant, it was the maternity clothes that fitted her perfectly. The fat little girl was sad. Oh, she so much wanted to wear those short clothes. And once before she die in this life, she wanted to wear those short clothes desperately and so had to take the heart ranching decision to loose weight.

The fat boy never saw the need for the girl to change but he anyways gave her support to loose the weight. Her told her in sad voice to do whatever she wants as long as he is not expected to loose weight.

And for the love of his life he made so great sacrifices. He would sit alone on the sofa and watch the television while the girl would stand and iron the clothes because now she needed to move while watching TV.

Their lovely short trips to restaurants were over and oh he cannot now grab the french fries when the girl was around.

The fat little boy made such great sacrifices (like hiding and eating samosas all by himself), but then he started seeing the sunlight in this darkness. He no longer has to worry about his desert in the fridge which previously his wife would finish off, now he gets to eat that all by himself. He could eat the pizza by himself and the best part was his wife will give half her share to the fat little boy.

Life was getting better and better for the boy.

The fat little girl shrunk and the fat little boy remained fat.

Those of you who are feeling sad for all the weight gain of fat little boy because of the wretched selfish fat little girl, click here Husband In Wonderland

Now they no longer resemble each other, now they no longer celebrate with lots of food in front of them. And yes they are so much in love still.

They lived happily ever after with less food.

Moral Of the story - There are very few people in our lives that will value us not for the physical aspects but for the qualities that we carry within. These people don't see our bodies but they see our souls. Treasure such people.
Loose weight for your needs and for your desires and not for anyone else. Only you have the power to change yourself and no one can make you what you are not. And yes, if your husband is huge DON'T resemble him.