Shocks and Shoes

Pre-Ban Haul and Some News :-)

5:48:00 pm

So, you must be wondering where I disappeared off to. I didn’t disappear anywhere but had a few health issues to deal with, so I decided to take some time off to relax.

I had been feeling really lethargic and tired for some time, and I was finding it hard to complete my workouts. I was sleepy ALL. THE. TIME. And I wasn’t feeling up to doing anything at all. So after some tests, my thyroid levels were found to be high, i.e. hypothyroidism. That explained a lot, including my stubborn weight gain J. And then I went and banged my head against a wall (accidentally, I’m not psycho) and then went and got a scan for it. Sigh!!

So, I’ve started medication for my thyroid and am feeling better now. I had stopped my workouts because of all this, but I might restart them next week, albeit slowly.

And some news from my family – my brother is getting engaged this weekend!!! It was actually kind of sudden, which was another reason I was occupied the past week J.

For those of you who don’t know: my brother is a doctor, currently doing his Post Graduation in Surgery at Kozhikode, Kerala. His bride-to-be is also a doctor, a House Surgeon at Mangalore, Karnataka and she’s also a distant relative. The wedding date is not fixed yet, though it’ll probably be in the latter half of the year. Boy, I can’t describe how excited I am!!

Anyway, coming to the present. I had an okay time during the sales, didn’t go crazy or anything. Cub and his Dad actually did most of the shopping. Reading about Tanvi’s shopping ban, I was mentally already cutting down!!

So I’ve decided to join the shopping ban along with Tanvi and many others, and I start from today, Feb 1^st, and plan to continue till March 31^st. I’m planning to follow Tanvi’s rules with two exceptions:

a. I’ll probably get new specs

b. I’ll have to get my sis a birthday gift next month

Also, I have a couple of orders pending delivery, so I’m not counting them. Considering the ban, I got myself some basic stuff from the sale season:

Pair of black jeans from Lee:

I love the stretch material – so soft and comfortable. I honestly think a pair of black jeans is a must in everyone’s wardrobe!

A traditional wooden bangle stand to organize my bangles:

If you have the space for it, this is another must have in my opinion. After stacking up my bangles, I was shocked at how many I have!! After this exercise, I still have a box full!

Some dull metal bangles and shiny stone earrings from Sweet Meat Street (S.M. Street or Mittai Theruvu) in Kozhikode:

Mittai Theruvu is a cool place for street shopping in Kozhikode, you get pretty stylish accessories for half the price as in stores!! There are loads of Anarkali-type salwar suits too, but the footwear isn’t much to write home about.

I also got some cotton tunics for the coming season:

These two from Westside:

And this floral one from the online store Koovs:

Koovs has some pretty decent stuff at extremely affordable prices. They also ship quickly and the product arrives well packed. The sizing is a bit off, however. This top was almost two sizes too big for me and I had to get it altered. Along with all this, I got a pair of comfortable black sandals and a pair of beige wedges.

So I’m all set for the shopping ban J. I’ve made a list of outfits I would like to try with the clothes already in my wardrobe. If you’re planning to do the same, Imogen’s FABruary challenge might help. There are themes for every day of February, starting with ‘Arm Candy’ for day 1. This is a great idea to start thinking creatively about our clothes!!

Another helpful hint is to organize all your stuff – yes, every single thing – clothes, bags, jewelry, watches, makeup. You’ll be surprised at how much stuff you own, like I was after getting my bangle stand!! Not to mention the joy of rediscovering old, forgotten pieces J

Any of you participating in the shopping ban?? Tanvi hosts a weekly link up on her blog, so you can read about how others are faring too. Don’t forget to grab her ‘Shopping Ban’ Button!!

Food

Recipe for the Week – Apple Pie (Baking Partner’s Challenge #6)

11:34:00 am

Time for the next Baking Partner’s Challenge!! This month’s theme was pie, which is something I’ve been wanting to bake for ages! I’m totally loving the Baking Partner’s group J.

We were given a choice of two sweet and two savory pies, of which I selected the Apple Pie recipe from Taste.com as suggested by Gayathri of Gayathri’s cookspot. Since this was a completely new thing for me, I did some research on the web and made a few modifications accordingly. The resultant recipe is what you see here J.

Note:I didn’t have a pie dish, so I baked it in a regular cake tin. Pie dishes usually have slanting sides and can be made of many materials including metal and glass.

For the Pie Dough:

Ingredients:

335g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
2 tbsp caster sugar
Pinch of salt
185g unsalted butter, frozen for 1 hour (or at least 30 minutes)
Ice cold water, about a cup

Steps:

1. Sift flour, sugar, baking powder and salt into a large mixing bowl. Whisk together.

2. Take frozen butter and grate quickly on the big holes of a grater. Toss into flour mix.

3. Stir together with a fork till well mixed and the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Use your fingertips if you find it difficult using only the fork.

4. Start to bring the dough together by cutting the liquid into the dough with a blunt knife or spatula, then form into a smooth ball with your hands, adding a few tbsps of ice water at a time.

5. Divide dough into two pieces, one slightly larger than the other. Wrap in plastic wrap, and chill for 30 minutes.

For the Filling:

Ingredients:

1.25 kg apples, of mixed variety
45 g unsalted butter
100 g caster sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground cloves
Juice of 1 lemon

Steps:

1. To make the filling, peel and core the apples, and cut into chunks. Toss immediately with lemon juice in a large bowl, to prevent apples from discoloring.

2. Place the butter and sugar in a large frying pan over medium-low heat. When butter has melted, add apples and stir to coat.

3. Cook, stirring occasionally, for a few minutes, till apples have softened.

4. Scoop out the apple chunks with a slotted spoon and mix with the spices. Set aside to cool.

For the Pie Crust:

1. Roll out the larger pastry ball on a floured workbench to a 30cm circle (about 2mm thick). You may use some cling film over the pastry to prevent it from sticking to the rolling pin.

2. Roll pastry around rolling pin, then unroll over a 22 cm metal pie dish. Gently press into corners and allow excess to overhang. Take care not to stretch the pastry.

3. Cut out the overhang, leaving behind ¼”. Brush the base with a beaten egg and place in the refrigerator to chill.

4. Roll out the small pastry ball to a 25 cm circle. Using a pizza cutter dipped in flour, cut out strips from the pastry.

Pie Assembly:

1. Take the pie base out of the refrigerator.

2. Take the filling out of the bowl with a slotted spoon and fill in the base.

3. Take the pastry strips and place them vertically next to each other on the pie dish, spacing equally between the strips. Do the same horizontally, creating a lattice pattern.

4. Cut off any overhang with a sharp pair of scissors. Crimp edges of pastry together with your fingers or a fork. Chill for 30 minutes.

5. Preheat oven to 180°C, brush top of pie with remaining beaten egg and bake for 45 minutes or until golden brown.

6. Allow pie to cool for about 40 minutes before cutting. Serve with vanilla ice cream.

Now, this pie turned out quite good. The apples had a wonderful flavor, being rightly spiced and the top crust was beautifully flaky and crisp.

However, in spite of my best efforts, the bottom crust turned out to be a bit soggy. Since this is my first ever pie-baking experience, I can’t pinpoint the reason, but my subsequent internet research brought up the following suggestions for a crisp bottom crust:

1. Blind bake bottom crust at 200-220°C for 5 – 10 minutes, with edges covered in aluminum foil

2. Sprinkle semolina/bread crumbs on base before filling

3. Mix corn flour with apples

4. Brush base with egg white

5. Don’t use Fuji apples

You can try any or all of the above (as I will be doing next time). Anyway, this didn’t stop us from enjoying the pie. The best part is that just a little piece will suffice as it is really filling. Be sure to have it with vanilla ice cream; cold ice cream melting on warm pie – heaven!!

Check out other bloggers' pies here!!

Personal

Weekly Goals Update – 13 January 2013

10:26:00 pm

Food

Recipe for the Week – Whole wheat Savory Crepes with Egg Filling

11:15:00 am

I love seeing pictures of crepes – stacked, folded, rolled, they look so pretty!! And of course, there are sweet versions and savory versions, with an endless variety of fillingsJ. But most of them require plain flour as well as lots of butter, which doesn’t make them an ideal choice for your ticker. So, I decided to health it up a bit and go the whole wheat route, hence presenting to you whole wheat savory crepes!!

What you’ll need: (3-4 servings)

¾ cup whole wheat flour

A little less than ½ tsp salt

1 cup toned milk

1 large egg or 2 small ones

2 tbsp olive oil

What you’re going to do:

1. Put the flour and salt in a bowl and whisk together till mixed.

2. Break in the eggs, add the oil and give it a mix.

3. Add in the milk slowly and whisk together to form a smooth batter. Let it rest for 30 minutes.

4. Heat a non stick pan, and on medium heat, pour in a ¼ cup measure of batter and swirl the pan around.

5. Let the crepe cook till the edges are browned and appear crispy.

6. Place your filling in the centre, fold up in halves or quarters and serve.

Now, you can use pretty much any filling of your choice, but my favorite filling for breakfast has got to be this scrambled egg one J.

For the Egg Filling:

What you’ll need:

5 eggs, beaten with salt and pepper

½ onion finely chopped

1 small tomato finely chopped

1 green chilly finely chopped (optional – skip if you have kids)

1 small zucchini (substitute with bell peppers, mushrooms or any other vegetable)

1 tbsp chopped coriander leaves

Salt and pepper to taste

1 tbsp Vegetable oil

What you’re going to do:

1. Heat a pan, add some oil and toss in all the vegetables on low heat.

2. Add salt and pepper to taste and stir fry till soft.

3. Turn on the heat and add in the beaten eggs. Keep stirring the mixture with a wooden spoon, scraping the bottom of the pan as you go, breaking up the parts of cooked egg.

4. Stir in the coriander leaves. When the eggs appear to be completely cooked, turn off the heat.

Perfect breakfast recipe!! I can assure you that this is very filling and 2 crepes will make you feel stuffed and stay that way till lunch J. And if you have picky little eaters, just top with some cheese!!

Do you have any fool proof crepe recipes?? Do let me know!!

This recipe is a participant in the following events:

Bon Vivant #11 – Healthy Appetite at Sumee’s Culinary Bites

Let’s Cook Healthy Breakfast at simply.food

Personal

Weekly Goal Update – 6 January 2013

12:35:00 pm

Celebration, Personal

Happy New Year! (Along with my 2013 Plan and 2012 Update)

6:25:00 pm

Here we are!!! In a shiny, brand new year, brimming over with hopes and possibilities!! A fresh start is always a great feeling, and the first day of every year has got to be the most optimistic day across the globe :-).

Last year (feels a little weird calling 2012 ‘last year’), I decided to bring some accountability into my resolution process by sharing my weekly updates with you, my dear blog readers. I did it for nearly the whole year, and faltered in the last two months. But I have to say, that is the longest I have ever stuck to my resolutions. Also, the two months I didn’t keep up with my blog updates were the two months I didn’t stick to my goals either.

First, my 2012 report card J.

(You can check out my 2012 resolutions in more detail here.)

1. Quality Time with Cub: One example to show how consciously making an effort to do something gives completely different results from expecting that it’ll automatically get done. Cub and I had really fun times with crafts, legos, reading and such. Though I need to make our together-time sacrosanct, and ensure it gets done no matter what.

2. Fitness: This is one goal that requires constant motivation. The best is the Nike caption “Just Do It”. My finding is that it’s best to do as soon as you wake up in the morning, before you have time to think of excuses. If you get your gear ready the night before, even higher chance of getting to work out. Once it’s out of the way first thing in the morning, you can feel proud of yourself the rest of the day J.

3. Regular Prayers: A good area for me this year. I am not 100% regular, but way better than last year and I feel quite good about it. For this, I began waking up at 5:30 every morning and now it’s become a habit.

4. Reading: I read a book almost every fortnight and I am so glad to have made this a resolution!! I don’t think I would have renewed my interest in reading if I hadn’t set a goal like this!

1. Regular Blog posting: Well, the year started off regular, and tapered off towards the end. I was however active with guest posts and Parentous, and made a whole lot of new blogger friends. I even got to meet two of them in person – Ria from Ria’s Collection and Neelu from Creating Memories!! I also managed to participate in a few events, some InFB ones and joined the Baking Partners Group.

2. Less Nagging: I am really making an effort on this one. It was almost a gone case, but I began rescuing it in the latter half of the year. I have two potential victims, so it’s double the effort J.

3. Healthy Eating: This is a mixed bag. I have been eating fruit regularly and drinking a lot of water, but that’s about it. My meal timings are off, my portions are not controlled and I have been OD-ing on desserts – all thanks to my new interest in baking! Through the last year, I have discovered this: if I eat less and don’t workout, I lose weight, but don’t have any energy. If I workout without cutting down on food, I don’t lose weight, although I don’t gain any either. Lowering food intake as well as working out is necessary if I am to lose weight without losing my mind/energy/glow/hair.

1. Cleaner Home: I don’t think my home has been messier than it has been last year. Especially the ironing. Oh my God, the ironing!! It bothered me the whole year, till I finally decided in December to outsource it. Whew!! Still, deep cleaning suffered, and I was irregular with the dishes and pretty much everything. Only the kitchen got organized a bit.

2. Updated with news: I have to say that I did turn out better than I was before 2012, especially since I liked ibnlive on Facebook. I was in touch with the headlines, though I couldn’t really engage in debate on most topics.

3. Adventurous style: Nope. Nothing. Na da. I was supposed to have two OOTDS in a month and I have failed miserably here. I shopped much less, which is a plus, but I didn’t utilize my wardrobe properly. I just checked and there are many clothes I haven’t worn even once (that’s right, even once) in the whole of 2012. Terrible.

A few other things I hadn’t planned on, but done anyway in 2012:

1. Baking – I’ve really enjoyed this new hobby of mine and I think I’ve become better at it too J

2. Less TV – I automatically cut down on my TV watching time. Not a conscious decision, all that crap on TV just didn’t seem too enticing.

3. Worrying – I don’t know how this came about – I’m generally not a worrier. But a few times last year, I found myself going crazy with worry and working up terrible scenarios in my mind and then going crazier. Not a good habit to take in to 2013.

4. Time management – Terrible. 24 hours are just not enough for me.

All in all, I’m not disappointed. I wish I could say that I gave it my best shot, but I know I haven’t, although I’m glad I tried. And like I said, this is the best resolution-sticking I’ve ever done so far!!

Now, coming to this year. I’m going to continue doing the stuff I’ve made a habit of since last year, like the book reading, less TV, baking, following news on Facebook and outsourcing boring chores, so I’m not repeating them here.

Goal Plan for 2013

1. Fitness – Half an hour exercise at least 5 days a week. Weigh every morning before breakfast and measure every month. Optional: Yoga once a week.

2. Healthy Eating – No second helpings. Fixed meal times. Dessert once a week.

3. Educational time with Cub – Like I mentioned earlier, make this time sacrosanct. Include more educational stuff (ABCs, counting etc.) within crafts and playtime and slightly more complex reading.

4. Being more caring – This applies to everyone – hubs & son, parents, siblings, neighbors. Go beyond just nice and do a little extra to brighten up someone’s day. Obviously includes the ‘no-nagging’ clause.

5. Communication with God – Keep up with prayers, be more mindful. Let go of worry and put trust in God.

6. Job – Try to get a work at home job that’ll not eat too much into my day.

7. Time management and Prioritizing – This itself is top priority. Plan for the week, set a routine for the day and stick to it.

8. Keep the flame alive – Not let Amanat/Nirbhaya’s death go in vain. The poor girl went through hell and still struggled to live. We started a movement and got everyone to sit up and take notice. We can’t let all that go to waste and we just CANNOT let things go back to the state they were in. Think of ourselves as fighters, we cannot afford to let even a tiny little thing just slide by. Every perpetrator, no matter how ‘small’ his crime, has to pay for his deeds. Read this excellent piece for more: ‘It is no longer not my problem’ by amreekandesi.

Many people said that 2012 signified the end of the world as we know it and the beginning of a new one. This was probably for us, the women of

India

What have you guys planned for this year? If anyone has any goal similar to mine and would like to keep score together, let me know, I’d love to have a buddy!! I plan to continue my weekly updates on the blog and would love to know your plans too J.

Thank you, dear readers, for being with me and encouraging me throughout. We’ve had good and bad times last year, so let’s pray for a much better 2013, filled with peace, health and happiness. Happy New Year!!

Food

Recipe for the Week – Whole wheat Choco Chip Peanut Butter Cupcakes

6:00:00 pm

Hello again!! I suppose many of you are in the midst of decorating, baking and doing other Christmassy stuff J. The past few weeks have been depressing and hard on all of us, and I think it’s a good thing for everyone to be renewing their hope this time of the year. The past is past, and we can pray and act for a better future for all of us on this planet.

I know Christmas means more cookies and puddings than cupcakes, but I thought I’d put in a slightly healthier version for those whose pantries are overflowing with baked goodies J.

What you’ll need:

150 g whole wheat flour

¼ tsp baking powder

110 g unsalted butter

125 g powdered sugar

4 tbsp peanut butter (crunchy or creamy)

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla essence

80 ml milk

1½ tbsp + ½ tbsp mini chocolate chips

What you’re going to do:

1. Preheat the oven to 180° C and line a 12 cup cupcake tin.

2. Sift flour and baking powder and keep aside.

3. Beat sugar and butter with an electric beater till thick and creamy.

4. Add the peanut butter and beat again till mixed well.

5. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.

6. Add the vanilla and whisk well.

7. Add the flour, milk and chocolate chips in this order: 1/3 flour mix, ½ milk, ½ tbsp choc chips, 1/3 flour mix, remaining milk, ½ tbsp choco chips, remaining flour mix, ½ tbsp choco chips. Gently fold in each ingredient as you go.

8. Spoon batter about halfway of each cupcake liner.

9. Top the cupcakes with ½ tbsp choco chips and bake for about 20-25 minutes at 180° C. Check if a toothpick inserted into the center of the cupcake comes out clean. The tops should be lightly browned, but not too much.

Note: Avoid using salted butter, since the peanut butter already contains salt.

These can be made with regular flour as well, not sure why you’d want to do that,though! And if you don’t like chocolate (do you even exist?), you can skip the whole choco chips part. I used crunchy peanut butter, but you can use either.

Along with being great to gift your neighbors or friends for Christmas, this is also a good idea for a child’s snack box. It stores well in an airtight container, contains whole grain (whole wheat), healthy fats (peanut butter) and looks yummy (chocolate chips)!! If you want to make it even more sinful, make a chocolate ganache and frost, or if you couldn’t bother with that, there’s always Nutella!!!!

Newer Posts

Older Posts

Pre-Ban Haul and Some News :-)

Recipe for the Week – Apple Pie (Baking Partner’s Challenge #6)

Weekly Goals Update – 13 January 2013

Recipe for the Week – Whole wheat Savory Crepes with Egg Filling

Weekly Goal Update – 6 January 2013

Happy New Year! (Along with my 2013 Plan and 2012 Update)

Recipe for the Week – Whole wheat Choco Chip Peanut Butter Cupcakes

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