Oats Oats Oats... Oats Everywhere!

We Indians do not use much of oats in our daily meals. But, these days its become quite a trend, even among us, to consume oats for breakfast. I had 2 kilos of oats lying in my kitchen shelf and I had absolutely no clues how to use them. It looked so dry and tasteless. I tried a few online recipes, but none of them impressed our taste buds.

One cool morning, I craved to eat hot spicy upma for breakfast, but I fell short of rava. Suddenly the thought of mixing some oats flashed my mind. I went ahead and tried mixing rava and oats in 3:1 proportions. To my surprize, my upma turned out so well. Another day, I mixed some roasted oats while preparing poha. Even that was a hit. My ideas went on growing. I added oats while preparing dosa/idli batter in small quantities. It blends so well that no one could guess I added oats in my dosas. 

One fine day, it was time to experiment on my chapatis. I added wheat flour and oats flour in 3:1 ratio. And bingo! There I ended up with soft fluffy chapatis as always.

Given that, oats is so beneficial to health, I want all my near and dear ones to enjoy your usual Indian breakfast, with a little dose of oats in it. Try my below tips and get healthier.

- Simply roast a large bowl of oats in a pan, until it slightly changes its color.

- Once it cools down, take half of it, put it into a mixer & make a fine powder of it. Store it in a jar.

- Take remaining roasted oats and make a coarse powder and store it separately in another jar.

- Use fine powder while preparing chapatis, paratas or akki rotti.

- Use coarse powder in Upma, kesari bath, poha or while preparing idli/dosa batter.

- You may add approximately one-third portion of oats powder to the actual main ingredient. If you are hesitant, use smaller quantities initially and you may slowly increase its proportion.

Some facts on oats:
- Oats are very rich in dietary fiber.
- They have a range of healthy cholesterol-lowering properties.
- It prevents heart disease.
- It reduces the risk of diseases like high blood pressure and diabetes.
- It is known to enhance immune response to various infections.

Idli Fries

It was raining heavily this evening and my tummy craved to eat some yummy french fries. But, given that both my kids were sleeping, I had no chance of going out to satisfy my taste buds. So, my brains did all the crazy processing and came up with this yummy idli fries.

Ingredients:
Left over idlis
Oil for frying
Chutney/sauce to dip and eat

Procedure:
Simply cut the idlis in any preferred shape. I cut them to match the size of french fries.
Deep fry them in a pan with medium flame.
Serve with coconut chutney or tomato sauce.

I enjoyed the rain and the crunchy snack... so did my kids. I never ever thought left-over idlis would bring so much delight to my taste buds. Truly scrumptious!

Smiles and Tears

We are blessed with smiles on our lips and tears in our eyes. Yes, you read that right. Both smile & tears are a blessing to us which lets us express our feelings. Smile comes out naturally and so does tears. Do you ever control your smiles for any reason? No right? Then what makes you control your tears sometimes? Its nature's way of expressing things. When you are happy, your lips smile... when you are sad, your eyes bleed. 

But often, we throw fake smiles onto our lips, and we hide our tears beneath, thus going against nature. God has given us tears to express ourselves, not to suppress it. So when you are hurt, don't hold back, just shed a few and lighten your heart.

Don't hide your tears, don't put on a fake smile. Be yourself at least with the ones you love. Crying doesn't mean that your are weak. Laughter need not necessarily mean that you are happy. So, take that mask off and see how it makes you feel much better from inside.

Cherish Life

The tiny digital clock read 5:15 a.m. She was lying on the bed still half asleep. She hugged the pillow next to her imagining it to be her husband. She longed it really was her husband and not merely a pillow. But he was gone forever. It was already a month after the tragedy. She was not convinced yet that it was all for real. The untimely death of her husband still seemed like a bad dream.

She couldn't sleep. She woke up and prepared 2 cups of coffee as usual. One for her and one for her dead husband. She almost forgot that he wasn't there. Wiping her tears, realizing that he is no more, she placed the extra cup of coffee in front of her husband's photo, not knowing what else to do.

Some days she would cook extra food for her dead husband. She would sometimes order two meals at the take-away counter without realizing that she now needs only one. During weekends, she would forget to cook, because it was he who always cooked on Saturdays. At times, she would keep the door wide open at dusk, expecting her husband would return from work as always. At every step, she almost made everything for her non-existent husband. Accepting the death of her husband had become impossible for her. She had almost lost her mind. She wished that her non-existent husband would come back to life. She wanted him to exist. She could feel the pain in her throat, in her chest. Her heart ached. She wanted to scream, she wanted to cry, but she was unable to do so. Her hands became stiff, she couldn't move.

Suddenly she woke up, unable to breathe. She had a hot flush. She could hear her husband snoring lightly next to her. It was a nightmare, she consoled herself. She saw the clock. It was 5:15 a.m, just like in her dream. She got off the bed and came to the balcony to get some fresh air. Suddenly, she could relate to everything. She clearly got the meaning of it.

. . . .

The couple had an argument 2 days back over a silly matter, and that was enough for them to stop talking to each other. They did not exchange smiles, no chit-chats, nothing. No "Good Morning", no "hi", no "bye". She almost treated him like he did not exist, and so did he. In the morning, she would prepare breakfast for herself and ignore him altogether. He would leave to office without a word.  In the evening, she would sip her coffee all by herself. At night, though it was his task to make the bed, he would just clean his portion, leaving all the mess on her side.

She wanted him to become non-existent. Even if he was right in front of her... she acted like he wasn't there. She ignored him. She gave him a deaf ear. She did all her daily routines like he doesn't even exist. 

As a matter of fact, just the opposite happened in her dream. He was dead in her dream, She wanted him to come to life. She did her daily routine like he existed, right beside her. She yearned that he once again came to life.

She felt very sorry for what was happening. She realized that they did not cherish their relationship enough. When in anger, she always thought that he did not exist. And in her dreams, she wanted her dead husband to still exist. 

"Better ignore his mistakes, than to ignore him... altogether" she thought and went back to bed, gently squeezed his nose so that he stop snoring, hugged him lightly and felt warm when he hugged her back. It was as easy as that.  

Through her dream, she learnt a lesson for life. Cherish the ones you have in your life, because you never know when they won't be around anymore. 

Appy Halwa

There were plenty of apples lying in the fruit basket at my home and I didn't know what to do with them. That's when I suddenly recalled the yummy halwa I had at one my my friend's place. It was not the right time to call her and check the recipe. So I simply tried it my own way and it did come out well. I love this simple and healthy halwa. My kids love it too. Thanks to my friend Priya for introducing this simple and yummy dish to me.

Ingredients:
Green/Red Apples - 4 (Grated)
Milk - 1 cup
Milk powder - 4 spoons (optional)
Sugar - 1 cup
Ghee - few spoons
A handful of dry nuts - Cashew/raisins/almond

Method:

• Take a thick bottomed pan and pour 3 spoons of ghee.
• Once it is hot, put the grated apples and stir. After a minute, add a cup of milk to it. With occasional stirring, cook them for around 12-15 minutes on medium-low flame. 
• Once they are all cooked add sugar and mix well. 
• At this point you may add milk powder if you wish to enhance its taste. Mix the milk powder with very little water and pour it into the pan. Cook further for about 5 minutes. Keep stirring.
• Add few more spoons of ghee when you notice that the halwa is almost done. You will see that the halwa comes out clean without getting stuck to the pan when you add ghee. Turn off the flame.
• Roast dry nuts/fruits of your choice in ghee and garnish them on top of your halwa. I added cashew, almond, raisins and figs.

Your halwa is now ready to be served. I love it chilled. My husband loves it hot. Try it the way you want and enjoy your yummy halwa.

I am EVERYTHING

As a kid, I was pampered, I was loved, I was taken care of like a little gem by my parents. I meant everything to my mom. She treated me truly like a princess. Not just then,.. even now I am the same little princess in front of her eyes. Probably back then, I was EVERYTHING to her. And yes, she was EVERYTHING to me. I remember instances of my childhood days when I cried imagining how life would be without her. Others' tragic stories of losing their parents would bring chills down my spine. Indeed, she was my world.

Then I grew up, saw the world around. At some point of time, started seeking out for that special one who would be my EVERYTHING. I wanted to be someone's world. As time flew, I did find my man. We got married, And yes.. he was EVERYTHING to me. I was EVERYTHING to him.

I saw my mom getting me married off with pride and laughter and smiles. But at the same time, her heart would have ached to let go off me. I never realized it back then, not completely yet. But definitely, it needs a lot of strength to lose a part of your world to someone and yet keep smiling.

Days passed by, and then months, years. Me and my husband were busy making a world of our own. Time flew, and then the most beautiful thing happened. I call it the "miracle of life". Yes, seeing a "mini-you" in front of you, with tender hands, toes and a tiny body is truly a miracle. Sweet little babies, they have magic within them. Without ever giving a try, they just become your new world. 

I never realized when and how, but now I see that my little ones are my EVERYTHING and I am EVERYTHING to them. Anything goes wrong, anything tiniest of all, the first person that my kids cry out for is ME. I feel so special to be someone's world. Yes! over time, I have moved out of my mom's world, I have let my husband drift away in his own world and now I'm totally immersed in my kids' world. I sense a feeling of satisfaction, pride and fulfillment in being their EVERYTHING.

Time waits for none. A few years from now, I am sure, my little birdies will grow and start exploring the world and would want to move out of their nest. They will seek for someone who will be their EVERYTHING. Will that hurt me? I am unsure. But when I have momentarily dumped my mom and husband, I too deserve that same pain. It wont hurt too long I am sure... because I am a MOM after all, a STRONG MOM.

There is still a long way to see them create their new world, until then I just want to hold on to this moment and feel happy being EVERYTHING to them. 

Oops! Kids are pulling me back into their world. Sorry mom, sorry hubby and sorry to all my loved ones for not giving enough time to you. I am a MOM after all, a BUSY MOM, a very very busy one! [sigh]

And yes, hope my hobby of blogging gets back to life with this new post. 
Gotta go.o.o.o...