Baked Salmon

This is a traditional recipe that one of my close friend shared with me. Before this, I never knew how to cook salmon properly and so I missed on all the rich nutrients that salmon had to offer... but not anymore!!! :)

Ingredients:

4 oz salmon filet

1/2 cup lemon juice

1 tsp thyme

1 tsp basil

salt to taste

Method:

1. Marinate the salmon in lemon juice, thyme, basil and salt mixture for at least 2-3 hours or overnight. The fish will half cook in the fruit's acid.

2. Put the salmon in a baking dish and cover with the aluminium foil. Cook the fish at 350 F for 20 minutes.

3. Now remove the cover from the salmon and cook it for another 20 minutes.

4. In the end broil the fish for 5 minutes to get a crisp crust and a juicy filling.

Enjoy this with a side of red cabbage salad or baked eggs!

Baked eggs with veggies

Another one of my favorites.... on a cold rainy day, there's nothing like having dinner in a warm ramekin loaded with nutrients with baked salmon on side... smell of the damp earth, sound of the little drizzle and warmth of the old cozy hoodie all reminds of how beautiful and serene the life is.... hope you enjoy this recipe like I do! :)

Ingredients:
Four eggs(One egg per ramekin)
Some fat free/low fat cheese for topping(two slices)

For the filling
1 cup chopped veggies mixture - mushrooms, spring onions, colorful peppers, cauliflower, broccoli and green chillies(if you don't insist on chopping, you might as well us frozen veggies; everyone's convenience these days :) )
1/2 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp oregano
2 tsp black pepper
some salt to taste

Method:

1. Heat the oil in the pan and put in green chillies.
2. After about 30 seconds, put all the remaining veggies, black pepper, salt and oregano in the pan.
3. Cook the veggies till they are nice and soft.
4. Fill 1/2 of the ramekins with the veggie mixture. Pour over one egg white in each ramekin(you can also pour whole egg if you'd like that). Top it with half a cheese slice.
5. Bake this at 380 F for about 10 minutes, till the egg is cooked and cheese melted.
6. Broil this for 2 minutes to get the cozy baked look and then the dish is ready to serve... :)

Enjoy!!!

Christmas Glazed Chicken

Ever wondered what you can cook apart from grilled chicken and still retain that christmassy feeling.... something that will keep you on your healthy chicken diet yet help you get over that "missing ham" feeling....

Here's a small recipe that I tried(inspired from a glazed ham recipe that I saw online, but experimented that with chicken). Hope you enjoy your holidays and eat healthy! :)

Ingredients:
Three chicken breasts
For Glaze
2 tbsp orange marmalade
2 tbsp yellow mustard
3/4 tbsp ginger powder
1 tsp light brown sugar
salt to taste

Method:

1. Make three slits over the chicken breasts and place them in the oven preheated at 385 F for 15 minutes.
2. Now take out the breasts and apply half of the glaze on the 3 breasts evenly and place in the oven for another 10 minutes.
3. Now take out the chicken, turn it and use the remaining glaze over the 3 piece evenly. Place it in the oven again for 10 minutes.
4. In the end, broil the chicken so as to darken the caramelized sugar and give a nice crunchy crust to the chicken.

Tried and tested meal:
Serve hot with  a rosemary bread toast and roasted sweet peppers!

Happy holidays! =)

Roasted Sweet Peppers

As the name suggests. its roasted dish made of cute little sweet peppers... really simple dish - prep time, almost none; cook time - you don't care since there's no need to keep an eye on it.... It goes well with glazed chicken or grilled chicken and can be cooked while your main dish is being baked :)

Ingredients:

Sweet mini peppers
Little olive oil, enough to coat these peppers(or spray will work just fine)
Dried rosemary
Salt to taste

Method:

1. Cut the peppers in half and remove the head of the pepper.
2. If you are using oil, then coat the peppers in mixture of oil, salt and rosemary.
3. Arrange these coated peppers in a baking tray with bulging side up.
    If you were using a spray, then now is the time to spay some oil on these, sprinkle some salt and rosemary on the peppers.

4. Roast these at 400 F for about 15 minutes or until they are tender.

Serve them hot and relish the taste! :)

Chicken Buscuits

This is an unusual dish that resembles chicken nuggets with a difference that it is much more healthier than the deep fried nuggets.... you can call them baked nuggets! :)
This does involve a little bit of carbs mixed with proteins, but sometimes cheat meals can be really really healthy as well....

Ingredients:

Ground chicken breast
2 tbsp flour(~10 gm of carbs)
1 cup milk
1 tbsp olive oil
2 tsp nutmeg powder
1 tbsp black pepper pwd
salt to taste

Method:

1. Warm the oil in the pan and then add flour to it. Cook the flour till its raw aroma subsides.
2. Now add milk and stir.
3. Add salt, black pepper and nutmeg powder to this and stir the sauce till the mixture thickens.
4. Add this mixture to the ground chicken and mix well.
5. Refrigerate  the mixture for at least 2-3 hours and preferably overnight.
6. Spray some canola oil on a baking tray and lay down small cutlets of this mixture on this tray.
7. Bake these for 15 minutes at 380 F.
8. Now turn these small puffed up biscuits and again bake them for about 15 minutes at the same temperature.

Remove from the oven and serve with ketchup or green chutney or red cabbage salad(see Vegetarian recipes).

Red Cabbage Salad

Whether you call it red cabbage salad, braised cabbage or cabbage cooked in German style - it's all the same and it tastes delicious! And why it is on my blog - because cabbage is super nutritious diet food being great source of fiber and vitamin C. :)

Here's what you need...

Ingredients:

1 medium sized red cabbage chopped
1 medium sized onion thinly sliced
1 medium sized apple thinly sliced
2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
2 tsp sugar
3 tsp black pepper powder
1 tbsp olive oil
salt to taste

Method:

1. Heat oil in a saucepan and add onions to it. Cook the onions till soft(do not brown them).
2. Add cabbage to the onions and toss till the cabbage tenderizes.
3. Add apple slices to this and give a nice toss.
4. Now add vinegar, salt, sugar and black pepper.
5. Cook the mixture for about 3-5 minutes till everything is coated in a bright purple color. AT this point, cabbage should be soft to feel but still maintain it's crunch(do not over cook the cabbage).

Server this side dish with chicken breast, grilled salmon or just any main course....

Enjoy!! :)

Chicken Lettuce Wraps

Ever bored of eating the same salad with side of grilled chicken breast?

I do get bored - in fact I cannot eat the same food for more than two days(tolerance to same food increased from one time meal to two days, courtesy the strict diet recommendations :) ).

This is an equally healthy twist to your dinner - super easy to cook and fun to eat :)

Ingredients:
2 chicken breasts
1 tsp olive oil
1 tsp balsamic vinegar
1 tsp of fresh ginger paste
3 tsp of fresh garlic paste
3 green chillies(suit your spice level)
Chopped coriander for serving
Some oregano for optional seasoning

Method:
1. Take a healthy looking chicken breast and cut it into small chunks(as small as possible and cut it for as long as you have patience :) )

2. Optional step - heat 1 tsp of olive oil in a wok.

3. Put ginger-garlic-chilly paste in the wok and cook for about 40-50 seconds.

4. Add your chicken to it. For seasoning add just a little freshly ground black pepper and salt.

5. Cook for about 3-4 minutes.

6. Then add 1 tsp of balsamic vinegar to chicken and cover the wok.

7. After 5 minutes you will see that the chicken has oozed out the water. At this point, cook it till the chicken is tender and juicy and the water is almost evaporated.

8. Add chopped coriander and some dried oregano. Your filling is ready!

Serve this in a fresh and crisp lettuce leaf. You can add finely chopped cucumber, green or red pepper, celery, green onion or cabbage if you'd like :)

Enjoy!

Broccoli cutlets

1. Get a fresh broccoli and remove the stem and flowers.

2. Now in a blender finely mix broccoli flowers, ginger, garlic, green chillies and mint leaves.

3. Add freshly ground black pepper powder, garam masala, coriander powder, fennel powder, red chilly powder, cumin seeds and very little salt(I use reduced sodium salt). You can skip the last two ingredients if you are on low sodium diet.

3. Now add just very little gram flour for binding(don't use corn flour or maida since they are refined flours and would settle down in your stomach).

4. Make cutlets out of the batter and place them on non stick pan.

5. Cook them for two-three minutes on each side and your yummy cutlets are ready!

(If you do not have non-stick pan you can use a cooking spray so that your cutlets don't stick on at the bottom of the pan)

Four cutlets = one cup broccoli :)

Decide on your commitment

The one thing that I have realized in the course of this journey is to decide and be firm on what I reject as a choice vs. what I commit to do. Everyday there is one thing or the other that you'd say no to - that can be either to the things that push you to get the best out of you or to things that hinder you from performing at your best. The choices that I made were guided by my lazy instinct that told me to relax and spend a non-active time recovering from a heavy day at work. The things that I said "no" to were mainly things that involved activity - be it going to gym, going to play tennis, going out for a swim, cleaning the house or just anything that involved body movement.
I kept giving excuses to myself as to why I should NOT do exercise, of why I should NOT improve my diet and of why I CAN'T be on a proper schedule. Deep inside I knew that these were excuses that I have been giving myself since years - just that back in days I had a strong will to resist these excuses and give a better excuse to workout every morning at 5AM! Lately, the motivation in me died and commitment was lost.... I will not lie - it took a lot of time, energy and effort to get back on track. The idle life had become overpowering and demanding that wouldn't just let go of me.

The realization of this bad commitment started when I started to have acute back aches and neck pains. I went to the physical therapist and I saw either really aged people or people with injury and I felt odd man out there! I didn't want a therapist at this age - although a lot of my colleagues went to a therapist or a chiropractor, I didn't want to be one of them. I started the normal course of exercises - yet, not enough.
Six months later, I was still not over this commitment to over stressed life - with a lot of events that happened in that six month time - I got married, my responsibilities at worked increased to more than what I asked for and I was at the bottom of the deepest part of the trench full of stress. I still need physical therapy sessions!

After I moved to a new place, new job - I figured out that this was the perfect time to adapt to schedule rather than pulling on more work and making excuses for not being active. And thus began my journey to a new sustainable healthy life. We got a trainer who worked with us twice a week and made sure that we are following a strict diet. Most importantly she also helped me stay focused and motivated - that is the best part about it. I had someone looking at me to measure if I could prove myself to her.
Since last two months I have tried hard and made every possible effort to stay on track. I faltered(a lot) and got swayed by desires of cakes and tandoori food. Yet I have not let myself make an excuse to get back to the old way. I have made a commitment to myself of saying NO to undesirable things on most occasions still allowing a lee-way for that wild person to come out sometimes :)
After two months I still feel guilty if I eat a lot of junk or skip exercise. This is the commitment that I have always wanted and I want everyone reading this to have.

The key to keep up commitment to a healthy life is to make sure that you can sustain it - I cannot commit to cooking all day long and eating bland food forever - that's just not the way I was raised! I cannot commit to spending hours in gym everyday to get one muscle toned. What I do think is sustainable commitment is to make a proper routine to get up and devote at least one hour to exercise - gym, swim, train, run - whatever I am in mood of. I haven't really made my food bland, but I do add Indian flavors so I can have healthy food daily. There is some stuff that I hate(and Kush hates as well :) ) like brown rice or quinoa - but there are other options that do the same job : I adapted to those :) We have started loving broccoli - to our surprise!

You need to figure out what suits you, morning or evening exercise, the food that you can eat on a daily basis without really pushing yourself so that you can sustain that diet without giving up everything in frustration one fine day(i did that once :( ) . You need to be strong enough to say NO to your excuses and start working towards a better life. Find something that will motivate you and work towards that.
I don't want to go to a therapist until the age of 50 or even after that: that is my motivation.
I want to fit in all the clothes that are in my wardrobe the way I did when I bought them: that is another one.
I love water and I want to be in the pool for as long as I want to be: that's my motivation for stamina.

If nothing else - the most important thing that motivates me is that if I follow the diet and strict routine that will give me an opportunity to help and motivate my friends and family. If I can act as a role model and guide for them to get on a healthier life - that is the best gift I can give to them.

Again, analyze what things you are saying no to. If it's worth doing it - don't listen to your excuses and just do it! You'll feel much happier and healthier - much more content and stronger than what you feel right now!

Why even bother to change a perfect comfy life?

The title of the page is the exact question I used to ask myself a while back - months ago when everything I tried looked good on me, I could do 10 pool laps easily and my stamina was at its peak...
As the months passed by, I got more involved in work that mainly called for a sedentary life and a lot of travel - the tiny bit of inadvertent exercise that I had and proper food that I ate became endangered and eventually extinct.
The happy feeling that I had when I tried new dresses, super sexy shorts and shiny skirts on me was not there anymore. My clothes barely fit me, I got tired in three-four pool laps, I didn't feel that good about my body and all that led to more lethargy and extra hours at work.

After realizing that I needed to get back in shape, my husband and I started going to the gym regularly and religiously. We went to the gym and did all exercises and cardio on a proper schedule. The only thing that we did not consider was to try controlling our diet - we love trying new cuisines, new food and new restaurants - all that exposed us to unhealthy food most of the times...and when I worked on elliptical I never bothered about how many calories I gulped down.... And this didn't work as expected!

We switched job, moved to a new city - fresh beginning. The first thing I did, inspired by one of best friend, was to get a good personal trainer to give us some direction. Not only did she establish a proper workout schedule but she also gave us a strict diet to follow. I could notice a huge difference in our lifestyle, our built and our stamina within a month.
The life that I lead right now vs. what I had one year back is more comfortable I'd say - I don't have anymore neck pains or back aches, my legs don't hurt after a short exercise spree and I can have spasm free nights, I get better sleep at night and most importantly I feel energetic throughout the day. One hour of my day in gym results in fourteen hours of peaceful and content day - I end up feeling good about me and generate a positive feeling to keep me going on....

For me the meaning of comfort has changed - it has changed from sitting in front of the TV on a couch with a bag full of Lays and a back ache to rolling on a foam roller easing that pain while watching the dawn break and birds chirp with the first ray of light. Comfort has changed from just sleeping all the time with an excuse of neck pain to a more active life where there is hardly any pain left in my body at all.
That's why I say for a truly comfortable life - get on your feet and hit the gym... and most importantly believe in yourself.... An old school saying - "Where there is a will, there's a way"

Good Luck!