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!!!!!