Loaded Sweet Potatoes

Today I am sharing one of the nice, easy and healthy recipe. My husband had spent few years in United Kingdom and always praise about Jack Potato. I wanted to create the same version here but a little bit more healthier. Last weekend I went to local market and found very nice Sweet Potatoes. I thought of him and decided to cook Jack Potatoes for him.. So this recipe is for my dear husband. Although it was not same as he had tasted it but he liked my version too. Next time, he promised me that he is going to make the same what he had in UK. So till next time here is my version of Jack Potato.

Loaded Healthier Sweet Potato.

Serves 4

Ingredient:

4 medium sized Sweet potato
2 cans on Pinto beans or black bean
1 tbsp Taco Seasoning
1 tsp olive oil
1 green or red pepper diced
1 small onions diced
1 tsp chilli powder
1 tsp cumin powder
1tsp Garam masala
2 cans of pinto beans
2 tbsp greek yogurt
cilantro or green onions for garnishing

Method:

Bake the potatoes in the oven for 40 minutes at 400 F. You can microwave it too, just prick the potatoes with fork and cook it at high for 8 - 10 minutes.

Heat the oil in the pan. Once the oil get hot, add diced onions & peppers. Cook till onion get cooked (about 3 mins), add cumin, salt, garam masala & chilli powder. Cook for a minute and than add pinto beans and mix it all well.

Mix the yogurt with taco seasoning.
Once the potatoes are cooked, slit it lengthwise in middle. Top with Shredded Mexican cheese. (I did not add it as I did not have it.). Top it with Bean mixture . Add Yogurt mixture and Enjoy!!!

The dish was very filling and delicious. I hope you guys like it and cook it. Let me know how it turned out for you all...

PS: Need to buy new camera so that the pictures comes out better....

Lemon Juice with Hot water in morning

I have been drinking luke warm water with lemon everyday in morning before i drink or eat anything. I started it long time ago when i heard that by drinking this is helps to cleanse your digestive system and also helps in weight loss. I use to add a dash of honey to it also. But later I read it is not necessary to add honey, it is just adding calories. I wanted to find out what benefits it has and did some research and found out much more benefit of it. 

1. Boosts your immune system: Lemons are high in vitamin C, which is great for fighting colds.  They’re high in potassium, which stimulates brain and nerve function. Potassium also helps control blood pressure.

2. Balances pH: Drink lemon water everyday and you’ll reduce your body’s overall acidity. Lemon is one of the most alkaline foods around. Yes, lemon has citric acid but it does not create acidity in the body once metabolized.

3. Helps with weight loss:   Lemons are high in pectin fiber, which helps fight hunger cravings. It also has been shown that people who maintain a more alkaline diet (see #2) lose weight faster.

4. Aids digestion:  Lemon juice helps flush out unwanted materials. It encourages the liver to produce bile which is an acid that required for digestion. Efficient digestion reduces heartburn and constipation.
If you do the same, let me know how it helped you.

5. Is a diuretic: Lemons increase the rate of urination in the body, which helps purify it. Toxins are, therefore, released at a faster rate which helps keep your urinary tract healthy.

6. Clears skin:  The vitamin C component helps decrease wrinkles and blemishes. Lemon water purges toxins from the blood which helps keep skin clear as well. It can actually be applied directly to scars to help reduce their appearance.

7. Freshens breath: Not only this, but it can help relieve tooth pain and gingivitis. The citric acid can erode tooth enamel, so you should monitor this. I admit, I’m slightly worried about it.

8. Relieves respiratory problems: Warm lemon water helps get rid of chest infections and halt those pesky coughs. It’s thought to be helpful to people with asthma and allergies too.

9. Keeps you zen: Vitamin C is one of the first things depleted when you subject your mind and body to stress. As mentioned previously, lemons are chock full of vitamin C.

I hope it helps. 

Research idea from lajollamom.com

Asian Salad with Mango and peanut sesame dressing

From past several months I have been following lots of blogs. These blogs inspired me to be healthy. They post very nice healthy recipe as well as nice motivational thoughts and exercises. From past several years I have tried to be as healthy as I can. I try to go to exercise and try to eat healthy foods. I love to experiment in cooking. If i see any new recipe I like to try it. Luckily my family supports me by eating my cooked food. Sometimes it turns out good and sometimes bad.
I would highly recommend skinnytaste  for those who is looking into healthy eating. Gina's recipe are easy and they turn out as they are shown. I tried her recipe today of this Salad. I was little skeptical about making it as I was making this salad for my in laws. My mother in law loves to try new food but my father in law has a very fix taste  He will try it but I know when he likes it or when he does not like it. If he does not like it than he adds tomato ketchup to it and eat it. But today he loved it. He asked for second serving with no Ketchup.. So I can definitely say that this was a good salad.

I made few changes to the original recipe.

Asian Salad with Mango and peanut sesame dressing. 

Serving 4 people

2 cups shredded cabbage
1 cup shredded carrot
1/2 cup chopped roasted peanut
1 cup cut ripe mango
1 teaspoon toasted sesame seed for decoration

Dressing
2 tablespoon peanut butter
1 tablespoon soya sauce
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 tablespoon honey or agave
1 teaspoon sirachi (Hot sauce)
salt as desired
red pepper flakes as desired.

Directions:

Shred the cabbage and carrots and  mix it together in the bowl.

Mix all the ingredient of the dressing and put it aside. 

Add cut mango (Cut it in strips) to the cabbage carrot mixture. (Do it when you are ready to eat)

Add the dressing and sprinkle peanut and sesame seed on top. I did not add sesame seed as i did not have it but without it also it tasted good. 

Mix the dressing and mango only when you are ready to eat. Otherwise it gets soggy.

It was a delicious salad and I made lasagna soup from my friends recipe http://lifescribblesovercoffee.wordpress.com/2013/01/28/vegetarian-lasagna-soup/ 

Together it was a complete meal. 

Soup & salad

It was a delicious meal. Hope you guys enjoy it when you make it. 

Well spent Friday evening with Moms

From past several months I was thinking of doing something with my Mom and Mother in law. Other than going to malls or grocery there is nothing that I do with them. Also in the town that I am living I always feel that there is nothing to do.
But last week asI was browsing the newspaperIsaw an ad for corks and canvas. I went to their website and saw and learnt about them. It was a very nice concept; bond with art. I thought that this would be something that i would like to do with my Moms. So i signed up for one of the event. Its like you go to a restaurant and do painting and can have food and drink with it.
So myself, my friend and both my Moms went for the Corks and canvas yesterday at Somewhere in Augusta Bar & Grill.

My mother with paint brush after almost 30 years

My Mother in Law busy painting

My Friend Busy updating her status while painting

We started with a blank canvas and they provided step by step instruction for painting. My mom was like whether I will be able to do or not. She was very apprehensive about it but man she enjoyed it. We never realized that we were there for almost 3 plus hours. My mother in law had fun, she was so busy applying strokes of paints. You can notice from the picture that they all look like and acted like professional artist. We all had really a great time. I would say that it was a well spent Friday evening. My mothers also had a great time and finally i could do something other than going to malls and all with them.
SO our final product...

My painting waiting to be hanged in my new home

Artist with their precious artwork

The paintings really came out awesome. Although all of us did same painting yet it all look different. Never knew that there is always an artist inside us.

So after an awesome evening we planned to do more such activities.... Next Fired up (Clay & Pottery) we are coming.....

Moms be ready!!!!!

5 Reasons People Fail (& What to Do Instead)

I read one post on face book by one of friends. He posted a link to an article in economic times about a housewife who started a small scale wedding card & decoration business from her home and now has three stores open in Delhi and running successful business.

Reading this made me realize that I really want to start my business. In fact a successful business. But somehow it is not happening. Maybe I have a fear that what if it does not work. At least right now I have job that pays me decent. There is a fear that’s blocking too and also some circumstances.

Than same day, Read an interesting article on yahoo and felt very connected to it.

So some thoughts from that article…

Why do some people like the above mention housewife achieved her goal while people like me fail or even scared to try? Article said that it’s because successful people manage to overcome barriers that, in many cases, guarantee failure. Here are those barriers and how to overcome them:

Below are the things directly from the article.
1. Uninspiring Goals

When most people set goals, they envision a "thing," such as a particular amount of money, an object (like a new car), or a specific achievement (like writing a book). Unfortunately, these "things I'm gonna get or do" goals don't appeal to the core of what motivates you, because they miss the point that what you're actually seeking in life and work is the POSITIVE EMOTIONS that you believe those things will produce.

Fix: Rather than envisioning a "thing" as your goal, envision--with all the strength in your imagination--how you will feel when you achieve the goal. That way, you'll be inspired to do whatever it takes (within legal and ethical bounds) to achieve that goal.

2. Fear of Failure

If you're afraid of failing, you won't take the necessary risks required to achieve your goal. For example, you won't make that important phone call, because you're afraid that you'll be rebuffed. Or you won't quit your dead-end job and start your own business because you're afraid that you might end up without any money.

Fix: Decide--right now!--that failure, for you, is a strictly temporary condition. If things don't go the way you'd like, it's only a setback that, at most, delays your eventual success. In other words, accept the fact that you'll sometimes fail, but treat that failure as an unavoidable (yet vital) component in your quest.


3. Fear of Success

In many ways, this fear is even more debilitating than the fear of failure. Suppose you achieved something spectacular, like enormous wealth. What if it didn't make you happy? What then? What if you ended up losing all of it? What then? Would your friends start acting weird? Would your family be envious? Such thoughts (and they're common) can cause even a highly motivated person to self-sabotage.

Fix: Decide that you're going to be happy and grateful today and happy and grateful in the future, no matter what happens. Rather than focus on possible problems, envision how wonderful it would be to be able to help your friends and family achieve THEIR goals. (Hint: Watch the last season of the TV series Entourage!)

4. An Unrealistic Timetable

Most people vastly overestimate what they can do in a week and vastly underestimate what they can do in a year. Because of this, most people try to cram too many action items into the short term rather than spacing out activities over the long term. The inability to get all the short-term steps accomplished creates discouragement and the impression that the final goal is slipping away.

Fix: As you list the activities and steps required to achieve a goal, schedule only the 20% of the activities that will produce 80% of your results. (I explain more about this in the post The Secret of Time Management.) Beyond that, set ambitious long-term timetables, but always leave some "wiggle room" when you plan short term.

5. Worrying About "Dry Spots"

It's easy to get discouraged when you reach a point at which nothing you do seems to advance you toward your goal. For example, suppose you're trying to master a certain skill. You make swift progress at first but then, after a while, it seems as if you're not doing any better, or maybe a little worse. Some people use these "plateaus" or "dry spots" as an excuse to give up and therefore fail.

Fix: Whenever you reach a plateau or dry spot, it's time to celebrate rather than give up. A plateau is almost always a sign that you're on the brink of a major breakthrough, if you just have the patience to stick with it and trust that you'll eventually achieve your goal.

I thought that this is very interesting and very true.. I relate to it.

So I promised myself that let me set a realistic goal and I did and I hope to achieve it. Will work on all the above and hopefully will have my own business by next year this time…

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