A date with an American Masala

For a self-proclaimed foodie, my knowledge about foods that I eat seems to be surprisingly sparse. You must have heard me raving about this amazing grilled cheese sandwich that my mother used to make for me that I kinda sorta modified to make my own...what? you haven't -- then I insist that you read the recipe here
What I didn't know was that this killer sandwich is called a toastie : a toasted sandwich made in a special machine, usually containing cheese combined with some other foodstuff.

I ran into Suvir Saran, an amazing chef and the author of the book American Masala. He inspired me to get out his book and my toastie maker and combine two of his recipes to make one killer toastie.

First things first - just in case you were wondering this is a toastie maker

I used the recipe for the warm pepper dip from the book American Masala (modified to my taste of course)

• 2 Sprays of High Heat Spectrum Canola Spray 
• 1 medium red onion - chopped
• 10 Baby Red Bell Peppers  - That's what I had on hand
• 2 medium tomatoes - chopped
• 4 cloves of garlic - peeled
• 2 Serrano - increase for more heat
• 1 tsp  Sea Salt
• 1/4 Cup Reduced Fat Feta Cheese
• Milk to make the dip (To consistency)

Toss all the ingredients, except milk & cheese, together. Spread on a greased baking dish. Roast in a pre-heated 450 degree F oven for 1 hr, stirring every 15 mins. Blend and make the dip. Here is how my beautiful dip looks (even Buddha approved!)

How I make my toastie?

• 4 Slices High Fiber Whole Grain Bread
• Spread the bread with the Red Pepper dip (thick coat)
• Take a Amul Cheese Cube or whatever cheese rocks your boat (tear and spread across the bread)
• Cover with another slice of bread
• Close the toastie maker and let the magic begin!

Here is how the Toasties looked -

K2 absolutely adores this version of the Toastie -- he will have it for breakfast, lunch and dinner!

Sending this recipe to :

1. Nandoo's Kitchen for her event Healthy Diet : Healthy Breakfast (brainchild of Priya's Versatile Recipes)
2. Cooking 4 all Season's event - Come Join us for Breakfast
3. Food Better be Good's event - Kid's Delight : Lunch Box Series

Thanks Suvir for your wonderful book that has so many lovely recipes (most kid-approved, at least my kid approved :) )

If I were 22...

I will hit a birthday milestone which ends with a "zero" this month and such a milestone does put one in an introspective mood - there are lessons learnt (and re-learnt)...priorities set and experiences gained. Some lessons I learnt in the last 18 years that I would love to share with my 22 yr old self are below (but as I tell myself you live and you learn!)

#1 Don't Hold Grudges - It is better to forgive and forget than to let negative feelings crowd out my positive feelings. Holding a grudge has a lot of detrimental effects on my well being, including increased depression, anxiety, and stress. For all I know the person who has done me wrong might be totally unaware of my feelings -- so I let myself feel strongly for that instance, express my emotions if it makes sense and then just let it go...makes me feel a whole lot lighter and better.

# 2 Eat Well and Exercise- I didn't start exercising till I was 30 (yikes!) and filled my body with a lot of junk food. The last 10 years have taught me good habits of eating organic, whole foods and making exercise a part of my daily routine. I feel this has a huge positive impact on my mental health, my productivity at work and my ability to spend more energy and time with my young son.

#3 Don't sweat the small stuff (so hard!) - This is so hard for an eternal planner like me - I am anal with To-Do Lists and Organizing stuff -- I have learnt that sometimes things just resolve themselves...things that seemed huge problems a month back seem non-trivial now.

#4 Express Gratitude - There are so many things going right in my life...I would rather take the time to appreciate all that is going right with my life vs. lament the things that don't seem to be working out.

#5 See Problems as Challenges - A problem is viewed as a drawback, a struggle, or an unstable situation while a challenge is viewed as something positive like an opportunity, a task, or a dare. Whenever you face an obstacle, try looking at it as a challenge. I won't say the path forward has been the easiest however once I changed my mindset - that things were not being put in my path to create roadblocks but were opportunities -- I was able to achieve more success

#6 Never seek approval from others - I used to be so "needy" of approval from my parents and close friends. What I realized over time is that it is impossible to please everyone. My mother still feels I should stay at home and take care of my family vs. have a career. I do listen to what the people who matter in my life have to say, but I always forge my own path forward...seeking approval from one source and one source alone - myself.

#7 Live in the Present - I don’t dwell on the past much or worry about the future. Losing my father taught me one important lesson - Life is fleeting, savor the present. I have let myself get absorbed in what I am doing at the moment. I do plan for the future but with broad brush strokes...I know I have a path mapped out but I am enjoying what I have "right now" vs. thinking of what "I can have tomorrow to enjoy"...my father told me something in Jan 2013 which rings true every day after - You live only once, don't make the mistake I made of waiting for retirement for all the vacations and relaxation to happen...enjoy every day like it is the last one that you have on this earth...then you will really live!" Living life for me today was about standing in my backyard for 10 minutes enjoying the antics of a squirrel...made me ready for any curve-ball or challenge that this day had to throw at me!

As Lao Tzu said it - If you are depressed you are living in the past. If you are anxious you are living in the future. If you are at peace you are living in the present!

Tentative Parenting : Dealing with Grief & Uncertainity

K2 : Ma, why does the brain suddenly bleed?
Working Mom : I don't know, sometimes it just happens. 
K2 : Ma, will he be alright?
Working Mom : Let's pray for him tonight? Is that ok?
K2 : Ma, was the ICU scary?
Working Mom : It's late...why don't we save some questions for tomorrow.

I am mentally exhausted ...I never imagined being in the pediatric ICU watching K2's 8 year old friend on life support...harder still was internalizing the grief of the parents and trying to explain the situation to K2. Based on my recent devastating loss here is my meager attempt to get K2 to understand and deal with the situation 

1. Face Reality and let out the pain - it's OK to talk about feelings and fears. Cry, Grieve, Ask Questions and deal with reality vs. being an ostrich with it's head stuck in the sand
2. Talk it out - I am glad K2 is asking questions and trying to understand the prognosis for his friend. 
3. Harbor no regrets - one interesting thing K2 asked about his friend falling sick was - whose fault was it? And my answer was - sometimes K2 it isn't anyone's fault it just is
4. Shift the focus away from sadness - it is so easy to fall into a rut...get miserable and wallow in that misery...however it is important to snap out of it
5. There is no one way or right way - I dealt with my grief through work and exercise and my life lesson that I offer to K2 is that - that well might not work for him. He will have to find what helps him counteract that feeling of hopelessness and helplessness
6. Most importantly remembering that grieving/dealing with uncertainty  is a personal process that has no time limit. 
7. Pray Hard...faith and prayer are the vitamins of the soul

I am praying really hard ....

Tentative Parenting : Respect Women

The country is making a big mistake not teaching our boys to cook & raise a garden &  do household chores.           --Loretta Lynn

For the first 23 years of my life...traditionalism stared me in the face - a father who held a job and a mother who took care of the house. I won't say it was the happiest of mergers but it worked (or they sorta made it work). I am sure those key formative years had a great deal to do with my schizophrenic personality today where I am a feminist during the day (taking my fair share of the work, performing, questioning, contributing) and a traditionalist at the night (think all house hold chores minus taking the garbage out once weekly).

The truth of the matter is we (women) can be fabulous, brilliant, creative -- have tangible impact and yet at some point there is a mental brake that we apply to our own psyche - because unlike most men women with children are still expected to work the second shift at home (and no! not all of us have the model husbands who actually do their fair share of the household chores). Just as work has expanded to require me to be present all the time, I have realized that being a good mom also requires my attention 24*7. Parenting has become a full-time job: school meetings, doctor's appointments,enrichment activities, homework and projects, organic school lunches... It's hard enough managing one 24/7 job. No one can survive two of them. 

So every time I hear talks about Women's Emancipation the one thing that sticks out for me is this one simple fact - as long as women are the ones doing more of the housework and childcare, women will be disproportionately hurt when both workplace expectations and parenting expectations requires them to be present 24*7. They'll continue to do what too many talented women already do: Just as they're on the verge of achieving workplace leadership positions, they'll start dropping out.  Beyond stats and doom & gloom, the way I am fixing this at home is I am teaching my 7 year old boy to cook, do chores and above all respect women (hard for me to fix 25 years of Socialization that went into K1 but K2 is my blank canvas).

Here's an interesting video clip that got mixed reviews in India, but in my mind it hit a home run in terms of messaging :

This week saw me at PWBC's 25th Conference - Rising Above! It was fabulous and gave me a lot of food for thought! 

Au contraire mon cheri !

"Food is not rational. Food is culture, habit, craving and identity"

My son  broke my heart yesterday. Truth be told I was setting myself up for failure...here's how it played out

Working Mom : K2 how is your dinner?
K2  (mumbles  in a whiny voice) : Ma can I eat the cheese and garlic bread now
Working Mom : K2 the deal was you finish 3/4th of your healthy stew first.
K2 ( whiny voice going shrill ) : Don't like it
Working Mom : K2 it is good for you...its super foods - Kale, Shitake Mushrooms, Black Beans
K2  ( whiny voice) : it doesn't look good (buddy had a point there!)

Let's just say I  lost my case but forced my son to eat his bowl of the black bean stoup (stew or soup...I wasn't too sure) if he wanted the buttery garlic bread and the ricotta goat cheese he had picked up at Harley Farms . In case you were wondering it was wonderful - fragrant with cumin and cayenne pepper and the shitake mushrooms tasted like butter...but to my precocious 7 year old it probably tasted like mud!

I have been re-reading this book " Eat to Live" by Dr. Joel Fuhrman (mostly because the health fervor of a work colleague has me suitably intimidated to lift my chocolate ganache and coffee cake eating tushy off the floor and get a little more disciplined about my eating habits). Hence, the need to create something incredibly healthy but insanely simple...try this recipe  but remember I warned you that it might not be kid friendly. You might try to brighten the one-tone color with cilantro, a splash of lemon and some chopped onions...enjoy by itself or with a crusty piece of whole grain bread.

Ingredient List

• 2 Cups of un-soaked black beans
• 5 cloves of Garlic
• Homemade or Store Bought Vegetable Broth ( I used this )
• 1/2 pound Shitake Mushrooms (chopped)
• 3 Oz Kale (1/2 packet of the Organic Girl Baby Kale Box)
• 1 medium Onion (chopped fine)
• 2 Medium Sized Tomatoes (chopped fine)
• Salt, Turmeric, Cayenne Pepper powder and Cumin powder to taste

Step 1 : Take first 3 ingredients and place in the crock pot on high for 8 hours
Step 2 : In a large skillet, put 1 tsp Olive Oil, add the turmeric and cayenne pepper powder. When it sizzles add the Onion brown, add the tomatoes and brown for 3 minutes. Now add the Shitake Mushrooms and cook for another 5-10 minutes. Add Salt and Cumin Powder (strictly to taste...I eyeball it)
Step 3 : Add this mixture to the Crock pot. Cook on high for 4 hours.
Step 4 : Adjust Salt, Add a splash of fresh lemon juice...taste and then adjust more if needed

You get 7-8 servings of the stoup and contrary to what my darling son says it is delicious!

Especially when you know it is all of 200 calories, 2 gms of Fat, 22 gms of Carbs, 15 gms of Protein and a whopping 9 gms of fiber! Here's me with my bowl and a glass of kefir...Salut to your health!

Infographics & a song stuck in my head!

“There's no limit to how complicated things can get, on account of one thing always leading to another.” 

                                                                                             ― E.B. White

I am in love with infographics - Isn't it way cooler to explain complex things using visual aids. I got hooked on to infographics last year with the pretty compelling Infographic Charts on Happiness from  Happify. So here's me dabbling on an Infographic on Child Obesity : Not Earth Shattering statistics but wholly my own creation...so super-excited about it.

When I was in India last month I got to see two movies (and two movies only!) with a feminist bend - Gulaab Gang and Queen. The latter appealed to me a lot more than the former - the character of Rani (Queen) was endearing and the metamorphosis of a naive girl to woman was totally heart tugging - "her life wasn't going as planned and yet it all worked out". This entire week there has been a song "stuck in my head" - playing on my headset in the office, in the car and anyplace else I cared to listen to it...and the video was shot in one of my favorite cities - Amsterdam (TDC  how I miss thee!)



Dinner today was on the fast lane (15 minutes to table) - EVOL Breakfast Sandwich, Fresh Mangoes and Oranges, Cucumber and Feta Cheese and Noosa Yogurt

Helped K2 prepare and practice for a presentation on "Gemstones", packed my office in less than an hour for my move later this week and  made my weekly to-do list. How is your week looking?

Stuck in Habits...

There were a couple years of my life when I tried to live my life sans my cuppa chai and all I remember is a foggy mind and an intense need to make my morning cuppa....feeling virtuous every time I didn't make myself a cup but intensely missing it all the same. I reveled in my trips to India - the full fat milk, the tea laden with sugar and cardamom and made the old fashioned way on the stove-top -- slowly, with love, no short-cuts there. Conversations with Bapa, Ma forcing me to have a Marie biscuit to avoid getting acidity and the smell of newspaper print...as Bapa read his news and me holding my head at a weird angle so that I could  read the comic strip at the back of the paper...it was the companionship, the love and warmth in the morning just before we went on with our day...that I am still stuck on...
Our mornings now are a mad rush to - get snack bags and lunch boxes packed, 6 AM conference calls (for him), hurried emails (for me), instant coffee (for him), hot chocolate (for kiddo) and instant tea (for me), the constant drill of finishing on time and get out of the house...not a minute to stretch, smile and welcome the day graciously and with open arms.

So today, when "P" sent me this Dilbert clip that made me chuckle in the morning  (some friends just know when I need a pick me up) ---

I decided  to wake up with a stretch and a smile and welcome the day sans shortcuts

Tomorrow - I will go back to short-cuts but for today I choose to be "Stuck in Habits"...drink my cuppa chai made my special way and remember the newspaper, the marie biscuit and Bapa...

As Stephen King aptly put it -

“The most important things are the hardest to say. They are the things you get ashamed of, because words diminish them -- words shrink things that seemed limitless when they were in your head to no more than living size when they're brought out. But it's more than that, isn't it? The most important things lie too close to wherever your secret heart is buried, like landmarks to a treasure your enemies would love to steal away. And you may make revelations that cost you dearly only to have people look at you in a funny way, not understanding what you've said at all, or why you thought it was so important that you almost cried while you were saying it. That's the worst, I think. When the secret stays locked within not for want of a teller but for want of an understanding ear.”