Hasta Luego Baby!

“The world is round and the place which may seem like the end, may also be the beginning.”

Seems only like yesterday...

The first foggy morning,

A warm cup of chai in Cafe 300

An awesome boss who took me into an awesome office,

A room with a view,

Commute - umm what's that?

I fell hook, line and sinker,
It wasn't just the office,

It was the people in it...

Like a warm blanket

The next boss really showed me,

The future is female,

The power of using my own voice,

Giving...

Many a lessons learnt in the last few years,

Some in the office, some with customers  

Most with these informal friends I made,

Over my blog, chai or a BollyX Class.

I will miss you,

But the world is round...

What seems like an end is really a beginning!

So I won't say Good Bye...I will say "see you later"

Hasta Luego till we meet again!

Stay in touch with me on LinkedIn, my facebook page or email

Tentative Parenting : Leap of Faith

" Sometimes all you got to do is take a deep long breath, close your eyes and  take that leap of faith... p.s : keep your fingers crossed at the back that everything works out" 
                                           ---Meenakshi

                                                                                               

                            Photo Credit : Aman Barboza, Venue : Oracle Corporation

My son taught me a lesson this week - in 7th grade at the ripe age of 11 he auditioned for a role in the school play for the first time...for a boy who never sings or dances...he showed remarkable grace and fortitude. Sometimes the toughest part about a new journey - is the beginning. There is a little inner voice telling us how comfortable we are with status quo, telling us we are not ready or capable or is the risk even worth it...so we keep grinding away living a life other than the one we dared to dream about.

So K2's audition ended with him finding his "magic lamp"...he is Aladdin in their school play...my search for the magic lamp begins next month as I take my "leap of faith".

In our current world which is "turning tides" and where women are finally beginning to move beyond "could have, should have, would have"...drop those mental shackles and take that leap of faith...at the end of it all - we end up with two life lists : All the things that we did and all the things that we "wish" we had done. 

Get cracking on that first list...I am right with you!

p.s : if you came to my blog looking for an instant pot recipe - have you tried my berry jam yet - it is delicious and takes literally 5 minutes to make :-)

Change is inevitable...

"Change is inevitable, Growth is Optional"

I love my life, am grateful for my friends and support system, love the beautiful office I work in (zero commute! yes baby!)  and just adore the lakes by my house and the beautiful walks I take around it with my two boys and puppy. My Saturday's for the past year have been pretty set - Get up, put the steel-cut oats in the Instant Pot and then rush to my BollyX class, come back home and cook lunch (or go out to eat). This Saturday, it felt like I was ready for some change from my routine of getting up just in time, throwing the oats in the instant pot, walking the puppy and coming in late for my BollyX class...so here's what I did ... (I was still late for my class 😐)

I had been stewing for a couple days over the beautiful organic berries in my fridge that weren't getting eaten (blackberries and strawberries in case you were wondering). So I got up early in the morning and in the time that it took me to chat with my Ma in India, I made a Berry Jam in my Instant Pot - it's scrumptious and very little work. I also made some protein packed muffins for the boys to have with the berry jam & then went to my BollyX class - change in my routine felt good...now let me start thinking about what other aspect of my life could use a face-lift....Hmmm!

Berrylicious Jam (3 ingredients)

What you need 

1. 1 lb Strawberries, 1 lb Blackberries (mix with the sugar/stevia blend and keep on the side for 20 minutes to let it macerate
2. 1 Lemon
3. 2-3 Tablespoons Truvia Brown Sugar/Stevia Blend Mix ( ~ 15 calories per tablespoons) 

To Cook 

1. Turn on your Instant Pot to Saute. Add the mix of the berries+sugar/stevia. Saute for 5-6 minutes. Squeeze in the Lemon Juice.
2. Now turn the Instant Pot on Manual High Pressure for 3 minutes, NR
3. After about 10 minutes, store or eat.

How is your weekend playing out?

Vote for Suvarna Bhopale...for BRSSD School Board!

“Children must be taught how to think, not what to think." – Margaret Mead

My son started middle school last year at Sandpiper and I approached the school year with a lot of trepidation tinged with hope. He had spent 6 uncomplicated years at Redwood Shores Elementary and "change was always scary". My fears were laid to rest in the ensuing year : he learnt, he got stretched and he  absolutely loves being at Sandpiper - it wasn't all a smooth ride but his growth and learning has been phenomenal.

 In this entire journey, I observed the role that Suvarna played at the school - whether it was actively listening to the children on what was working and what wasn't working (my son comes back home and tells me everything still, so I got to hear of how the 6th graders met with the District Supritendent and the school board and talked about what was working and what wasn't), I saw firsthand her involvement in enrichment programs like Mock Trial (so brilliant and I see my son's growth curve there in just a year of that program...and she runs it 100% on her own with some help from volunteers), theater, Model UN and I sincerely believe she is a champion for our BRSSD public school system and has taken an active role in it's sustained growth and improvement.

I am voting for her because she has proved in her 5 year tenure on the school board that she is committed to bringing about positive change in the school system for our children and I urge you to do the same.Check out her website -

https://sites.google.com/prod/view/re-electsuvarnabhopale

Please follow & like her Facebook page - https://www.facebook.com/suvarnaforschoolboard

Education is the greatest way in which you and I can contribute to our childrens betterment, so please vote for someone who will champion sustained improvement and growth.

Detox Diet...

 

I have been eating healthy for a while now,  exercising and keeping to a good routine. Then G & P come back from Chennai and I have Aavin Palkova (my absolute favorite 😍) and A comes back from Jaipur and gets me Besan Laadoo while my MIL sends Peda for her grandson from Pune...so every evening when I come back exhausted from work or the gym...there is a beautiful siren's call from the fridge and I go and grab myself a "pick-me-up"😤😥

So last night I told myself enough was enough...I needed to go on a detox. Guidelines set for myself -

1. Binge on Sleep - I went to sleep at 10.00 PM yesterday
2. Drink a glass of water the moment I get up in the morning 
3. Stretch (I had all intentions of going to a class but the busyness of life made me stretch out a mat in the bedroom and stretch out the sore muscles...after a 1.5 hrs u-jam class yesterday I think I could hear my bones creaking!)
4. Reach for bloat-busting beverages (the two I swear by are Yogi Tea and Pukka Tea )
5. Skip the sugar (so hard...)
6. Make a big batch of my Ayurvedic Detox Soup  (Dal really but soup has a distinctive ring to it)

What you need (Servings - 4)

1. 1/2 Cup Quinoa (washed in cold water and soaked with the moong dal 1/2 hr in hot water I boiled in my electric kettle)
2. 1 cup  Moong Dal (the moong dal with no cover)
3. Basic Mirepoix - blend of onion, celery, carrots (all from my local farmer's market)
4. 3 Cups Bone  Broth ( I used the Pacific Chicken Bone Broth - I will write a separate blog post about bone broth but I read this book by Kellyanne Pettruci and I was blown away by the health benefits). Vegetarians stick to a vegetable broth that is low in sodium)
5. 1 small knob of ginger (for digestion)
6. Fresh Lemon Juice to taste
7. Liquid Aminos (for seasoning), Avocado Oil (or any other oil),  turmeric powder, black pepper powder
8. Parsley (Detoxing) for garnish - I actually end up adding a lot more (later) just to get the earthy parsley flavor - yum!

To Cook 

1. Turn on your Instant Pot to Saute. Add your oil....add the roughly chopped ginger. Add the Mirepoix and sweat it. Add turmeric and black pepper powder.
2. Add the moong dal and the quinoa to the instant pot and give it a stir 
3. Add the Broth (if you eat meat, I highly recommend giving the Bone Broth a try!)
4. Put the IP on Rice Mode
5. When done open and add Liquid Aminos to taste (you can use salt instead of the liquid aminos)
6. Now add fresh lemon juice and cut parsley. 

Now if I can  avoid desserts or sugar for just 1 week I will consider my Mission Accomplished. Are you ready for the long weekend?

From Greens to Gold!

The week had been particularly hard on me and the death of a young colleague weighed heavily on the heart and head this week. It all came to a head for me on Saturday and it almost was like my system detoxed itself out of the grief and my head felt so much clearer and lighter...

I went to the Farmer's Market (as usual) on Sunday and walked by all my favorite vendors. The Lee Farms is one of my favorites because he carries some of my favorite veggies - bitter gourd , opo squash, bhindi, habanero peppers.

Today he had these strange looking greens and I went up to him and I was like - Lee, what's this?

He gave me a wide-eyed look and said - I thought all you Indians know this green - it's gongura...😉

Well I didn't but there is a first time to everything

So I got the bunch of gongura leaves home on an impulse. I googled recipes and the one that stood out to me like a healthy fit to my style of cooking was - Gongura Pappu. I also googled the health benefits of the Gongura Leaves  known as Red Sorrel Leaves. These leaves are a rich source of Iron, Vitamin C, B6, folic acid, calcium, phosphorous and magnesium. It has anti-oxidants essential for human nutrition. All for the win!

What you need

1. 1 bunch of Gongura leaves - cleaned, pluck the leaves and rough chop
2. 1 cup Toor Dal (soaked for an hour in hot water)
3. 1  small finely chopped red onion, 3 cloves Garlic, 2 Red Fresno Chillies (use dry red chilis), Curry Leaves, Cumin and Mustard Seeds for Tempering, Hing
4. Ghee
5. Imli Pichku (Maggi) or Tamarind Paste
6. 1/2 tsp red chilli powder
7. 1 tsp turmeric powder
8. Salt to taste

To Cook 

1.  Put your Instant Pot on Saute - add the ghee, then hing. Add the tadka ( Cumin and Mustard Seeds, Curry Leaves). Now add the onions, garlic and chilly and saute till the onions brown. Add the turmeric and chilly powfer
2. Add the Gongura Leaves and the Toor Dal and saute for a minute
3. Add the Imli Pichku and the Salt
4. Now turn the IP to Manual, High Pressure for 15 minutes NR (no release)
5. When you open, taste test and adjust for salt

Enjoy with a hot bowl of rice/quinoa and soon you realize this golden delight with a sour kick to it is fast to get over - it's so addictive.  A strange time to get reminded of Robert Frost but I think of his poem -

Nature's first green is gold,

Her hardest hue to hold.

Her early leaf's a flower;

But only so an hour.

Then leaf subsides to leaf.

So Eden sank to grief,

So dawn goes down to day.

Nothing gold can stay.”

Goodbye M - See you on the other side!

"The most painful GoodByes are those that are never said and never explained"

I am tired of GoodByes...especially Good Byes, where there is really no Good Bye...one day you are laughing, dancing and talking and the next week you hear this person is no more...

          She was a girl-woman, 

          Had an air of vulnerability,

Seemed brilliant in a nerdy sort of a way (Cal-tech graduate working at Oracle) 

Painfully Young (she had just turned 21) 

A smile that covered her entire face and made it shine, 

She wore the cutest cut-up t-shirts that she watched You-Tube to make, 

She was a constant in the BollyX class, 

And confessed to liking old tamil songs and bhangra...  

While we are still in shock,   

I am sure her parents are looking for closure.  

There are so many questions unanswered, 

All I can wish for her is - that she keeps smiling & dancing where ever she is 

 We will dance in her memory on September 1st in the BollyX class on Saturday. Shruthi and the Oracle BollyX community shared some sweet memories with this gorgeous girl. We want to say good bye to her in a style she loved and adored : with bollywood dance and music. Please do come if you knew her or just want to say a Good Bye together. Shruthi (our BollyX instructor) shared this on a text with me and I think it's a good reminder to all of us