New !!!

Today was an amazing day for me...Went to Tampines. Mom and I stopped at the library to return some books and walked to Tampines Mall. Did find a nice black sweater for Mom and then decided on a lark, to check out the bags sale on from Isetan for Guess. Was so good, I picked up 2 bags from there..This is the first time I chose branded bags, and am quite pleased with my purchases. Rationale for buying today was,it's my birthday tomorrow *smiles*

Got home and decided to make the Spinach Lasagna. Now that was SUPER YUMMY !!! Pic follows as also recipe...

Here's what I did...
Sheets of Lasagna
1 cup Ricotta Cheese
1 cup Romano Cheese
1 cup Grated Mozzarella Cheese
1 cup Grated Parmesan Cheese
2 cups of raw uncooked but chopped spinach
1 cup mushrooms
1 cup chopped onions
Little bit chopped Garlic (as per taste)
1 tsp Oregano
1 tsp Basil
1 tsp Pepper
Tomato Pasta Sauce
Salt as per taste

Combine all the cheese except for the Parmesan Cheese in a bowl along with, the oregano,basil,salt and pepper.

Meantime semi boil the Lasagna sheets in salted boiling water,drain and keep aside.
Boil the 2 cups of chopped spinach only for 5 minutes.

Now add the chopped spinach to the cheese mixture and mix well.

In a pan, saute the garlic,onions till soft,along with mushrooms. Keep aside to cool and when cooled add to the cheese mixture and mix thoroughly.

Now in your oven dish, layer the Lasagna sheets thickly at the bottom, and then spread the cheese mixture. Once a layer has been done, sprinkle some grated Parmesan cheese for another layer. Now add another layer of Lasagna Sheets and repeat the process till you reach the top of the dish. Now add the pasta tomato sauce, along with the grated cheese, and cover with the Aluminium Foil Keep in oven for cooking 40 minutes at 170C.

Remove from oven and unwrap the foil and keep back in oven for another 5-7 minutes so that the cheese will brown to a nice golden,shade. Remove and serve. Yummm !!

Do remember to wait for it to cool slightly, even though it may smell deliciously tempting to eat it hot right out of the oven. Remember it will be VERY HOT !! Wait a bit, cool it slightly and eat. Bon Appetit. *Burps*

Overdue Post !!

Yes..its been a while since I posted anything in here. Couldnt think of anything note-worthy to post. But today, I do..Made Thai Pineapple Fried Rice. It does look like the real deal, although taste-wise it is not as sweet. I guess thats got to do with the quality of the pineapple-not sweet enough !! Here's what I did.

Ingredients :

2 cups of washed rice..with 4.5 cups of water to pressure cook
3 tbsp soya sauce
2 tsp Catch Curry Powder
1 tsp Sugar
1 Bowl of pineapple chunks freshly cut
1 Bowl of mixed veg
2 Onions finely chopped (medium size)
Garlic chopped
Ginger chopped

Combine the soya sauce, with the curry powder and sugar and keep aside. In a pan, fry the onions and ginger/garlic combo till fragrant. Now add the pineapple chunks, mixed veg and the cooked rice. Add the soya sauce mixture, and salt to taste. Garnish with coriander leaf.

It didnt taste too bad, although I would suggest adding more salt to taste and sugar too.

Am finally getting sleepy early today after a week of sleeping each nite past 3 am..:( I hope I can sleep soon tonite and deeply too...*sighs*

Signing out for now..Over & Out !!

At last...Its Mid week..Wednesday. Went to gym today after a gap of about a week..Hadnt been since last Wednesday. My squat moves were wrong and now my back aches :(
Made cauliflower and peas in gravy today. Sriram seemed to like it..seems so, since he finished eating within time today. Saw "7 Khoon Maaf" today afternoon. Boring movie but ok for time pass.

Not much else happening here...*Yawns*

May 25th

Its FRIDAY at last !!!!

Woke in the morning to prepare to send Sriram to school..and found him hot with fever. Gave him meds and send him back to sleep. Did not send him to school today. Both of us woke up later mid morning...Had a slow day till afternoon.. Post lunch, went to Orchard Rd to pick up the jewels for Anitha. Back home by 5.30. Then I went to see Shankari and handed over the stuff to her. Got home by 7.30 just in time to rush and get dressed for gym. Reached gym a bit late..but managed to squeeze in some time at Aerobics ( YAAAAYYY!!) Learnt a few new exercises..Groans !! My whole body aches from doing them. Have started on Sumo Squats today. Its difficult but definitely better than raising my arms and doing the quick jog. Made a new friend at gym today. Her name is Mariam. She is Malay and nice. Had a nice chat after gym today with her :)

Got home and went to mini mart and bought eggs and milk supplies. Got baby potatoes and soya chunks..So I can make Sriram's fav Mixed Protein Veg tomorrow for dinner.We have to go to his school also tomorrow for the Annual Day program. Had Maggi Mee for dinner today. Drank a glass of soya milk to top it off. Now am satiated and good.
Relaxing now..

Gym..had a good run of 26. Drank 2 bottles water..plus 4 glasses at gym..plus..2.5 glasses at home too. Looks like my water intake is finally improving. Need to keep this up consistently..else the fat burn wont happen :(

Think I should sleep now...Until next post..Nini..:)

March 23rd

Just another uneventful day..Had slept poorly last nite..as a result was feeling dull today morning. Bright and cheery day outside but I felt grumpy :(

Slept in a bit after Suresh and Sriram left in the morning. Did manage a 17 minutes today for exercise. Drank 2 bottles water. In the evening I went to gym..think I must have done 24 today. Trainer says to up my water intake to 6-7 bottles atleast of water !!!! Dunno how am going to do that...

Made Masala for Dosa at dinner tonite. Nice food. Going to sleep shortly after having a second glass of soya milk. Tasty stuff !!

March 22nd

Just another day...I woke up today to a dark and rainy day...Suresh left for office and after that, I came to the bedroom with my cup of morning coffee. Sat leisurely drinking my coffee when it dawned on me that I couldnt hear the sound of water from the bathroom..assuming Sriram was in there having his morning shower !! Wonder what happened? I opened the bathroom door and found he wasnt there..geezz !! He was still in bed fast asleep..and it was already 7.45. All hell broke loose and I panicked and screamed at him to wake..LOL !! Ofcourse that did the trick and he got up at once and went for his shower. Managed to shower and have his breakfast and leave for school also on time. After this, I sat and looked at some mails..Then went to see about the Xray and then got some veg. Came home and sat browsing the web some more. Later in the evening, I made Dal Khichdi today also. For once, Suresh could taste it still fresh.
I did go to gym today. Clocked a decent 22-23 I think. I really need to leave home early and be at gym by 8 rather than 8.15. Must complete one full hour complete workout. I did manage that today. Also must do the morning 20 mins workout at home on my new cross trainer..No way to see positive results without that !! *sighs*

OK..Latest update..Today morning we all went shopping...First headed for East Point. There was a huge crowd gathered outside. We spotted an ambulance also parked outside the mall and wondered what was the emergency all about ?? Then when we went inside, we saw they were conducting auditions to "Anugerah" !! Interesting...The auditions had been going on for quite a while already and the crowd gathered outside the mall had been waiting their turn to go in for the same. There were 3 judges also seated inside and observing the performances by the various participants. Cannot really call them contestants as not all of them would have been selected for the final show anyway !! So thats the picture thats seen here...

Later we headed for lunch to Pastamania..where I spotted this interesting sign..

Time for another round of writing...Today morning, we went to Parkway Parade..Was nice visiting the mall after a very long time. Did buy the cross trainer for me finally and we expect it to be delivered on Tuesday...YAAAAYYY !!! Had lunch of Pasta Aglio Olio and then went shopping for some groceries at Giants. Also picked up some good fitting track pants for my gym workout !! AAAAHHHH !! So finally, I have some spare track pants for my workouts, rather than depending on washing and drying my existing one all the time. Sriram loved the T-Shirt I picked up too. Got home late afternoon and then settled down to a round of Geography with Sriram. Got hungry later in the evening and snacked on some juicy pineapple slices !! Yummmm..Too bad I dont have enough of plum powder to go with it. Must remember to buy some more of the stuff tomorrow when the boys are at work/school. Having a nice sumptious dinner of pizza today..Guilty as charged..Cant resist that..:(

So..here ends another day..not just in the conventional sense for me..but also it marks the end of DST..

Thoughts for today ?? A very happy and good day..relaxed and nice !!!

Didnt have time to write the last 2 days..So here's a quick recap.

8th March

Thursday evening, I made Chhole. Tried a different style of making it. Here's what I did.

1 Large Onion and 1 small Onion
2 Small Tomatoes
3 Green Chillies
2 Large sticks of Ginger
1 Teaspoon Red Chilli Powder
1/3 Teaspoon Garam Masala

Use Chopper to fine chop the large onions...and Grind the smaller onion, ginger and green chillies with Chhole Masala.

In a pan fry the onions on a low flame until well browned.

Chop Tomatoes and fry with the onions.

Add Chhole well washed.

Add a single tea bag.

Add bit of Baking Soda and Salt.

Pressure cook for 1 large whistle and then several smaller whistles at very low flame. Use your instinct..maybe 15 minutes average??

Ready to serve Chhole.

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So that was Thursday.

On to Friday.

Yesterday I had a good trip to the gym. Was late for Aerobics. So I managed to run for my 2 rounds of Circuit Training. HR reading was excellent at 27. Need to work on my target to increase my water intake next.

Had an uneventful Bhindi Fry for dinner.

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Now for today..

Had a lazy morning today. Cleaned the house and did the washing of clothes. Did my prayers. Been sitting with Sriram all morning so far with his Geography notes. Plan to make some Pasta for dinner today. Choice goes between Pasta with Tomato Sauce and Pasta Aglio Olio.

Lets see..

OK...So today was another eventful day. Went out in the afternoon to the library and picked some books to read..Then headed for Tampines Mall and got the apples and cereals for Suresh's breakfast. Got home just on time for Sriram to return from school. Was tired and slept a while in the evening till Sriram returned from tuitions. Then cleaned kitchen. I made a new version of Dal Khichdi today. Looks good, smells good and tastes good too. Hope Suresh will like it. Apparently he is going to be late today as he is out with the guys. Sriram and I had a nice chat about his exam performance for today. Now he is studying his Hindi and am sitting here. My head has been aching since I woke from the nap..So am not going to the gym today. Its OK !! I will compensate by going daily from tomorrow..Make it atleast 4 times a week. And now, for the Picture Of the Day *smiles*

TADA !! Dal Khichdi ...:)

Here's how I did it.

1 Onion- finely chopped

2 small tomatoes- finely chopped

2 Cups Basmati Rice

1/2 Cup of Moong Dal

1/2 Cup of Toovar Dal

1 Tsp Ginger Paste

1/2 Tsp Garlic Paste

1 Tsp Haldi Turmeric Powder

1 Tsp Red Chilli Powder

1/2 Tsp Kitchen King Powder

1/3 Tsp Garam Masala Powder

Mustard seeds and Cumin seeds for tempering

Salt to taste

Soak the rice and the dals for 15 minutes.

In a pan pour oil and put in the mustard and cumin seeds and allow to sputter and crackle.

When done, add the chopped onion and saute well till onions are soft.

Add the Ginger-Garlic Paste and fry well. ( Keep gas flame low. )

Now add all the spices and chopped tomatoes. Stir well till the tomatoes are soft and almost mushy.

Add the rice and dals. Pour 6 1/2 cups of water and add salt to taste.

Cover and let pressure cook for 3 whistles. One long and 2 short whistles.

Presto !! Your Dal Khichdi is ready *smiles*

Garnish with freshly chopped coriander leaves ..

March 6th

Wow !! Today has been another busy day for me...Woke in the morning late..around 10..had my usual coffee..and then spent some time reading the newspapers..By 11.30, I was done and then woke up Sriram. Gave him some grub and milk to drink and by 12.15 we had started in earnest. Went on with Chemistry until 2.Lunch consisted on pineapple fried rice for Sriram and brown rice with thai tofu for me. Suresh had gone out with his friend for some time. So it was just the 2 of us at home today afternoon for lunch anyway.Then took a short break. Resumed after that, and then went on to English for an hour. By then it was 4. At 4 we did Math, until Sriram had to go for tuitions. Once he returned, it was back to Chemistry revisions...Went on till almost 9. Had dinner. Today I made Egg Curry for the first time. Was interesting..Cant say I liked it very much. But it will do...for days when we need a change from the usual cooking in the house...*sighs*...

Cant wait for the exams to finish. Getting sick of seeing papers,papers,papers everywhere in the house..:(

Dated March 4th.

OK...Its been a long time since I wrote anything here...But I think its overdue and a good time to resume things. Here's how my day went.

Morning, after Sriram left for school, I washed the dishes, and swept the house. Then folded laundry and did dusting work all over the house. Had my shower and did my prayers. Said Lalitha Sahasranama in the morning. Then I sat down to surf the web for some time. Watched some funny videos. Ate some leftover pasta for lunch.

Went to gym today evening...was late..reached around 8.15. It was the fag end of the aerobics workout, although I managed to squeeze in a bit of it. Then I did my usual workout. Clocked at 27..that is 85% target HR. Good going !! My face was all flushed and rosy when I had finished my workout and got home :) Guess, am happy !!

Dinner was biryani with a little pickle and papad. Not bad. Washed down with a glass of soya milk.

Yummmy !! Am really enjoying the taste of soya milk now :)