Color me Red...

I was watching CNN today -- 360 Anderson and I saw this interesting clip on 31 Million Americans who were living on SNAP (Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program) or Food Stamps. I cringed at how lucky we were and how far off all this seemed. We had a roof over our head, a refrigerator filled with healthy organic food and a car filled with fuel...however I did resolve to watch our grocery spending with the mantra - Covet not...waste not.

I have made it a habit to shop at the farmer's market -- I am able to put healthy organic meals on the table at less than $2 per person. We are not huge meat eaters and I am usually able to pick really fresh good vegetables at a steal and we eat seasonal...so things work out.

My refrigerator is full of healthy vegetables - Red Cabbage, Purple Cauliflower, Fresh Brocolli, Beets, Parsnips, Rutabaga, Carrots and New Potatoes and wonderful fresh Mandarins, Pears, Apples and Kiwis. I just need to plan this week out in an organized way for home as I do at work...lets see if I succeed.

I did make myself a pot of root vegetable soup to drive away the remanants of a viral flu...dosed with ginger, cumin and toasted chile, I am sure I will feel energetic (soon). My soup had the vibrant red color of the beets and was loaded with Carrots, Rutabaga, Parsnips and Beets. And yes a pot with about 6 servings cost me about $2 to make. Add to that a loaf of garlic bread from Whole foods at $2 and some curried kidney beans...and its a feast fit for at least the kings and queens of this house.

K1 and I have had a tough couple weeks work wise but the work load has normalized again. However the weekends have been particularly dreary and rainy, so we have pretty much been confined to the house. Its difficult taking hyper active K2 out in the rain. We have resorted to short half hour walks on the weekdays...playing Wii Fit with K2 ( he loves it) and in general spending more time at home. During our walks K2 loves watching the Pelicans and the Ibis which stand still in the water patiently waiting for the fish, he watches the little rabbit which makes it way across the grass, he is a little nervous of the slinking skunk and the large racoon but he observes them anyways. It is wonderful spending this precious time with our wonderful boy...so life color me red, or black or blue or even gray...I am determined to enjoy every moment, capture every feeling and treasure it for times to come...

Going Meatless...

As I had my 5th craving in the past 3 months for KFC...yes that stands for Kentucky Fried Chicken and I gave into the craving by ordering potato wedges and Honey BBQ wings...as I was polishing down my last wing, I felt a pang of remorse and this strong sense that I didn't really want to eat meat again. I don't cook meat much at home...its mostly lentils, whole grains, vegetables, dairy and fruits at home...yet K1 and I enjoy our occasional tryst with chicken and fish...but lately everytime I eat meat I feel guilty...like I am breaking some secret code. When I suggested to K1 that maybe we could experiment going without meat for a week, he dismissed my idea saying -- he didn't feel guilty and it would be difficult to go vegetarian in this country...Hmmm! Anyway, maybe I need to put my money where my mouth is and start practising first before preaching...

I did experiment some this week with making Granola. I made Granola with Barley Flakes, Honey, Brown Sugar, Almonds, Pumpkin and SunFlower Seeds, Dried Cranberries and raisins....it turned out pretty decent ( I burnt some of it but that is a different story...let's focus on the successes...)...K2 loved the granola and finished a small baby cup of it...YAY!

On the work front last week was super fun, exhausting and interesting as we finally launched our B2C service and it has had a lot of success. Pretty much like the granola making exercise - it was a travel into unknown lands, with a few glitches along the way but the end results were heartening...next week will be pretty eventful in terms of watching the reactions of the "pack" to this new service...

Role Models etc.

Wikipedia is a source of lots of information for me. For eg. it told me the health benefits of quinoa ( I am a convert now...I feed my son quinoa with sweet potato every day...). Wikipedia tells me that a role model is a person who helps us become the person we want to be and inspire us to make a difference. Choosing wisely means that you are influenced correctly and will help you be the best person you can be.
Thinking hard, truth be told both my parents were role models...I see their influence on different aspects of myself. You got to understand that a lot of my thinking process was getting fuelled by Organic Apple Cinnamon Bread and a thick layer of Nutella...and the peace and quiet of my son playing at My Gym with his daddy was helping.

Coming back to Role Models - I see a lot of my Dad in me - looks wise I am a dead ringer for my dad....same skin, same eyes, same blunt nose and stubborn chin...and at times there is a pang of regret...my mother has a classic timeless beauty that I would have traded a lot for ... anyway looks apart -- my dad and I do view the world as "black and white" ; we are workoholics, work addicts, slaves to our work...; we don't express very well but feel a lot; we are the proverbial "thinking men"...we think a lot....

From my Mama I get the Yin side of the house - I am a perfectionist when it comes to keeping the house and financials in order, the house runs mostly like a well oiled machine, she has a very soft heart and a sharp tongue ...and guess what...yep you guessed right...

With my son K2, I wonder who he will be more like...K1 or me...but it is always hope that there is a little some of us that we leave behind in our offspring...to remind the world that we existed...that in my mind is the circle of life...

Now let me go down and grab another spoonful of Nutella and a cuppa chai and enjoy my saturday morning peace and quiet

Life and a bowl of Chili...

I came back from work and sat down with K2 for 15 minutes going over what was in my pantry and if I was really up for cooking. I tried to talk myself out of cooking...hmm I had the beans soaking but did not really have any ground turkey/chicken, so Chili wasn't happening today...so how about K1 and I hit the road and have some uncomplicated capellini at Pasta?
Yet, I kept coming back to the bowl of chili at home...so I improvised. I took what was in my spice rack, freezer and pantry and tried to create "kitchen magic". The boombox in the kitchen was playing my favorite song from a movie from aeons back - "Anand"...

I chopped and I cut and I sauted and I left a pot to slow cook its way to chili heaven...no meat, no problem...there was chicken sausage in the freezer, that should do...no Cilantro...hmm let's get some thyme from the garden. Cooking is so much like living...you try to maximize and when you know you can't you "make do" and the end results can be surprisingly good or surprisingly bad...I guess it is also one's perspective.

Here's the song from Anand that I was listening to -Zindagi Kaisi Hai Paheli (ironically one of Bapa's favorite songs) :



The song I am talking about is titled – Zindagi Kaisi Hai Paheli…very loosely translated it says -

Life is such a puzzle,
Brings laughter one day and tears the next…
Sometimes the mind settles down to think…
And at other times it dares to become aware and dream….
One day the dreamer will go way ahead of his dreams.

Beautiful lives have lived here,
Shared pain, sorrow, happiness together…
If you stay too quiet,
Life will walk ahead of you unaware of your existence…

Very profound meaning for a short sweet song...now I plan to go and enjoy my hot bowl of chili with cornbread and the 2 K's for company. Hope your evening was as food filled and thoughtful as mine...

Weekend Warriors

Growing up I was slightly superstitious - wishing on falling stars, panicking if a black cat crossed the road,crossing my fingers if I told a white lie to my mother (which wasn't often) and the list goes on. As a grown up, I believed in sheer hard work and drive moving me forward through life but there was a recognition that there was an invisible variable "luck" guiding life in directions known and unknown.

The week was super busy with work and non-work related clutter...Friday saw K1 (the husband) and me mentally and physically drained. We pretty much spent Friday Evening on the couch playing with K2 (my son) and watching some re-runs of "House". Saturday was busy with errands galore, taking my toddler to a B'day party in the Lil' Gym and watching glassy eyed while the little "energizer batteries" went on and on and on...I got tired watching them. Sunday is "SuperBowl"...we spent the morning with me feeding my son his oatmeal, strawberries, banana and yogurt breakfast (for a hour!) while K1 prepared breakfast of omlettes and waffles. I spent the rest of the morning cleaning up and making lunch (Dosas & Sambhar)...and K1 is planning on hanging with the dudes for Superbowl while I hang out at home with a cuppa chai and K2. Looking forward to some quiet time with a book...

I think the very purpose of weekends is to give weekdays a "sense of purpose". We go through the routines of work and life of weekdays anticipating and looking forward to the quiet time from the weekends. I like keeping my weekends uncluttered...not too social but with the right amount of activities. We meet up with a couple dear friends, hang out at home with an interesting movie and popcorn, take K2 to the zoo or park, even our expeditions to the Farmer's Market are exciting (at least for me)...
Here's this weekend warrior, enjoying the last few hours of her Sunday, looking forward to the "Manic Madness of Monday" because with the onset of Monday is the anticipation for another brand new weekend with its own set of promises.

P.S: Yoga is an activity I usually reserve for weekends. My favorite Yoga Instructor Jennifer had taken this picture of a totally unaware me doing the "Rajkapot Asana - Pigeon"...by far my favorite pose in Yoga