Unless you are really a good experienced cook, to cook for a group is a concern. I can cook for few ppl but too many ppl and I will need help or if it’s sudden then I will be lost. This weekend it was with a 1 day notice so I decided to go Mexican which is easy.

So what did I do? Set up a table for make your own burrito. Made black beans home. Rest is all salad ingredients so just chop.Here’s my list:

• Cooked blacked beans .
• Home made mashed avocado with lime juice , cilantro and salt.
• Sautéed mushrooms and spinach in olive oil for healthy eaters.
• Chopped tomatoes, cucumber, lettuce.
• Cheese and sour cream.
• 2 types of Salsa.
• Tortilla.
• Sliced mango and strawberries for dessert.
• After cooking and draining black beans , had this nutritional water left so I made simple soup with it.
• Sautéed chopped garlic in olive oil. Add chopped carrots and tomatoes and cook some. Add black beans water with few beans too. Throw some corn. Boil. Season with cumin powder and chili powder and salt.Garnish with cilantro.Thats it and it was a hit. We have some soup lovers so they finished it. Starting a meal with soup is a good idea.
• Someone  brought Mexican pie.
• It was fun Mexican theamed food , was easy breezy and we all had lot of fun and laughter.
• Laughter is a best medicine .
• Enjoy !

For some time now, I see ppl carrying nice lunch bags to work and designs are so pretty. But I never bought one b/c it’s 1 more thing to carry even though I do take lunch most of the time. Finally I bought one. Isn’t it cute? It made fun to pack lunch. Sometimes just having nice bags, nice containers make a big difference. So what did I pack? 

• Left over enchiladas in glass container so I can reheat in microwave.
• Small plastic container with salad. Some lettuce, chopped cucumber and radish.
• Small container of washed blackberries.
• 1 apple. 

I showered off my new bag to colleagues. Come lunch time, 1 of the colleague asked if I would like to carry my new cool lunch bag to cafeteria and eat there. It was easy to walk with this bag now. 

If you don’t have one, try it out and see if you also enjoy it. I bought mine at Tjmaxx and it was only 9.99.

Enjoy !

Have you heard Sardarji joke on diet? Sardarji goes to dietician for healthy food advise and so he can also lose some weight. Dietician gives him chart with all the food he should be eating like quinoa, Chia seeds , fruits , vegetables etc etc . Sardarji looks at it and then ask “when do I eat all this stuff before or after lunch , dinner ?”:-)

Point is ,Whatever we want to include in diet , we should just include them as part of our meals and not to make it a sperate chore . For example here, I added flax seed meal to bhaji. Do you see sprinkled powder on bhaji? I did that for the picture but you can just mix it into bhaji. 

Also I made huge salad to go with Pav bhaji and fresh lemon to squeeze on salad , bhaji which wil add some vitamin c. Salad has no dressing . I like it plain .

Meal is so simple , isn’t it ? 

Enjoy !

Everyone knows that sun is life giver and all cultures from ancient times worship sun. Modern science says it gives vitamins D and so many modern ppl are deficient in vitamin D even in India where weather is pretty warm most of the year. People just stopped getting out in sun I guess. 

When weather is nice warm, make sure to get out and get some sun light. If it’s windy cover yourself properly , cover your head. Morning and evening sun is not harsh but very pleasant.

On that note, am going out again.

Enjoy Sun Rays !

Do you end up with lot of food in fridge, freezer, pantry ?End of year is a good way to use it, donate it or throw away. Sometimes it’s hard to throw away things  but you just got to do it. No point keeping piles of food that you not gonna eat. If it’s edible , start eating one a day. Here’s what I have been doing:

• First from picture, had bought frozen chiku 2 years back which I never even opened. Went to trash. 
• From freezer, either am cooking with frozen vegetables or using up food saved or throw it away. No more new buying right now .Only fresh vegetables I buy.
• Fridge also, there are condiments that don’t get used. Found 3 soya sauce bottle .:(
• Pantry… let’s not even go there. But am working on it. All pasta, snacks, cookies. 
• Cleaning doesn’t mean you eat rotten , left overs . But plan it in a way so food gets used or expired , rotten needs to be thrown away.
• Also some of the food you can decompose so that goes into vegetable patch for earth warms.
• Am even cleaning closet.
• Things are to be used , not hoard it. I like to give away things if someone can use it instead of it sitting in my home collecting dust just because I can’t let it go. 
• And as we clean, we realize we need to buy less , just what we need.
• Finally I bought myself a wonderful gift which is gonna be one hell of an experience. 
• Enjoy cleaning !