Quick Walnut Carrot Salad

At our house, we all love salads. This is one recipe thats a staple. Hope you enjoy it as much as we do.

Ingredients -
Prep time - 15 minutes

Carrot Walnut Salad

Serves 2
1 1/2 cups of  baby carrots or regular carrots julienned
1/2 cup walnuts
2 pods garlic finely minced
8 grape tomatoes cut into halves
1 TblSpn Pomegranate seeds
1/2 onion or yellow onion finely chopped into strips
2 TblSp chopped Cilantro and green chillies to garnish
1 Tblsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 medium sized lemon juice
1/4 tsp Organic Honey ( I got the Morganic one from our loccal FM)
Pepper as per taste
Salt as per taste (normally we just use lemon juice at home in place of Salt)

Toss all the ingredients in a salad bowl.

This can be served as a side to any flat breads or rice or pasta.
This can be prepared ahead and chilled and served.

Fat Free Decadent Brownies!

Who doesnt love Brownies!
Recently I came across a recipe on the site Eggless Cooking  by MadhuRam. Here is the linkie
I changed the recipe a bit and have to say the end result is fabulous!  See for your self.

This one is made of FAT FREE YOGURT and absolutely no fat or eggs.
The website calls for using 1/2 cup semi sweet choc chips. I changed my versions as follows:

Ingredients:
Dry Stuff
  3/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour ( I used Bob's Red Mills)
  1/2 cup light brown sugar ( i used C and N)
  3/4 cup Ghiradelli unsweetened Cocoa powder
  1/4 teaspoon Baking Soda (A&M)
  1/2 cup chopped Walnuts
Wet Stuff
  1 cup Plain Fat Free Yogurt (Dannon)
  1/4 cup dark semisweet chocolate chips (Nestle)
  1 Tblsp white choc chips(Nestle) to sprinkle on top
  1/2 cup luke warm water

I mixed the dry ingredients after sifting them together. Then I melted the dark choc. chips in 1/4 cup water very slowly in increments of 10 seconds to not scald the melting chocolate. Then i added the yogurt to the melted chocolate (once it cooled). After that I added the wet mix to the dry ingredients by whisking simultaneously and little by little. I used the rest of the water to make a smooth batter.
  I used a glass 8X8 pan lined with parchment. I added the white choc. chips on top as garnish. This mix baked on a preheated oven for 350 degrees for 31 minutes. 

The result was 12 very fudgy medium sized moist brownies. Totally decadent and delicious!!

Me thinks, for future baking endeavors of this recipe, i will be letting the mix to bake for 35 minutes to make the end result less fudgy.

A Big Thanks to Madhuram for this great recipe!

So little little time!

I seem to have developed interests in quilting, felting and playing with polymer clay.

Unfortunately, I have only two hands and 1 hour a day to spend on my hobbies.

So we can safely say that these are in the interested but will probably be pursued once group.

In the meantime, i finally finished my blue bag basket. I wanted to make it a bag. But since this has been a wip for ever, i have made it a clutter control basket.

Also on my circulars is a simple knit blanket thats 75% done.

Ravelers Anonymous

Not sure if there is Ravelers Anonymous group somewhere, I would like to join one. 

I spend way too much time on Ravelry  everyday browsing the FOs and looking at the faved ones.

And looks like there are people there who seem to do that.  Hey i get it that its a free country and all. But...
These days there is a group for everything. Look at these group names - 
Lazy,stupid and godless

Post Mortem and Paranoid Thread Wanderers

Foul-Mouthed, Smart, and Irreverent

Er... I am sure you get the idea by now... 

Following through on my New Year Resolutions in July?

Today morning I came across my misplaced lost day planner that i have been hunting for every since February.
Every January I take out a new planner for the year. Somehow every year by February/March, that darn thing has again gotten lost. So when i got to it today I got to look at some of my Resolutions that were listed and decided to see where i am in July towards my lofty goals.

Re... #XXX (I am so not telling  inter webs the actual number) - following a healthy lifestyle of diet and exercise
               Following the healthy diet has been great, and having  hectic lifestyle running around with my kids has been helpful along exercising.
Re...#XXX1 - Reading 52 books in 2010 - 
               I can safely say that yes i am there half way upto 20 books. Latest are  in Every day Crochet 
               , Mason Dixon the green book, Knitting without Tears
Re...#XXX2 - pursuing my obsession ... er, interest in fiber arts :  
               I am often never far away for a hook/needle
Re...#XXX3 - Maintaining a positive can do attitude:
               Everything is possible
Re...#XXX4 - Learning to write a new language( as in Tamil) :  
               Have learnt the alphabet
Re...#XXX5 - Take up Baking again : 
               Have been baking almost every other day for the past few months 

 

 

Bread and Jam

Finally, some photos of the wonderful homemade Mixed fruit Jam and Banana Walnut Bread

Toddler + Yarn =DISASTER!!

Just when I think everything is going fine... My lovely tunic getting a long fine -
what should happen... My curious 2 yearold found my ball of yarn and my current WIP in a very convenient spot.
The rest is unthinkable. So many days( read that as MONTHS) of work has to be ripped.
Result - I am starting over again.


But on a more enthu front, my cooking is going great guns!! I made my first batch of pickled onions (the infamous pink onions that are a part of the Dhaba cuisine)
Must say, they were wonderful.