mayurisjikoni

Save our Planet     My hubby dear has his breakfast pretty early but I prefer to have it after I have bathed and done my pooja. While having breakfast I usually watch the news channels, catch up with the whatsapp messages and also make phone calls that I have to for the day... call for the gas cylinder, social calls, whatever needs attention for that day. Anyway what really caught my attention was the news that in some Scottish stores the use of plastic bags has dropped by 90% since they introduced the 5p charge for bags. 500 billion to a trillion bags are used every year by the world. Without thinking we gather several bags when we go shopping and usually just throw them away in the dustbin. Stop and think what happens to those bags you have just thrown. It fills up the landfill sites. This land could be put to better use. Plastic finds its way to the ocean and eventually finds its way into the stomachs of the marine life, killing them. Plastic bags are found at the country s...

  Me time!           Do you ever get some time in a month or a week just by yourself and no one else? No kids, no family, no hubby, etc etc? I do. Not saying that I don't get my space with hubby dear around. He is my biggest supporter in whatever I want to do in life. But there are times we women need to be alone, with no one around. I get those days at least twice a month when hubby attends his medical meetings in the evening. For that evening I am free to cook what I like, which usually means something that he does not like and to watch any program or movie that I want. No one to tell me that candy crush is a kiddie's game, no one to tell me that I am taking too long to solve the sudoku or no one to tell me that I only buy the newspaper for the crossword! For those 3-4 hours, I am doing what I want. It's a great relaxing feeling. But when he gets home, I am happy not to be alone. When I tell him that, he thinks I am crazy, wanting time by myself and at th...

  Home Bakers Challenge # 1  This is my first entry for the Home Bakers Challenge , a group where enthusiastic home bakers bake every month according to the challenge set. The group was started by Priya of Priya's Versatile Recipes . This month the recipes were selected by Gayathri a member of the group. She gave a choice of five recipes. I spent nearly a week trying to decide which one to make, sweet or savoury, savoury or sweet. Kept on scrolling down the recipes umpteen of times. Finally decide on a savoury recipe as for the past few weeks I have baked so many sweet treats. I am glad I chose to make the pizza rolls. I decided to make the dough at home and make a veggie version. The original recipe used pepperoni. Hubby dear enjoyed the just baked warm pizza rolls and wants me to bake them as starters for the next guests we invite for dinner:)    In the past 2 months I have joined 4 different groups of which three are baking challenges. Trying to meet the deadline...

Tragedy   The world was shocked on July 17th. The news that the Malaysian Airline MH 17 was shot down while flying over the Ukraine from Amsterdam to Kuala Lampur left the world in a state of shock. A buk missile shot it down near the border of Russia and Ukraine. Who is at fault will take forever to find out but in the meantime a nation has to once again in a span of four months face the tragedy of losing yet another aircraft full of passengers. Families and friends have to mourn the dead. None of those passengers had anything direct to do with the fight between Ukraine and Russia and yet they all paid with their precious lives. So many questions cropped up in my mind... how was a plane flying over 33,000 ft shot down by a missile. How destructive are all these war weapons? If Ukraine was a problem spot, how come the plane was allowed to take that flight path? Who is responsible for this? Will the world just sit back or will action be taken against the guilty? Just 4 months ago a ...

made in a jiffy   Usually, making lunch is not a problem as I stick to dal, sabzi, roti 4 times a week with something different twice a week and Sunday lunch is usually out. So the whole week is sorted out but dinners can become a bit of a problem when I am not making soup and salad. Recently I landed up with loads of spinach (went mad at the veggie market last Tuesday) and so it was a week of spinach with practically everything. I had made crustless quiche when I was in Montreal. Made it again several times, but this time instead of baking it in a big dish, I made individual portions by using muffin cups and my, they turned out cute. I found that unlike the one baked in a big dish, where sometimes the middle is slightly soggy, these little beauties baked well all around. Just out of the oven, they make a perfect light meal with salad or as perfect party food or to carry away for picnics or even for breakfast. I like to make the quiche without the crust. If you like, you can use sh...

Easy snack Sweet corn is in season at the moment. I bought the sweet corn with the intention to boil the cobs and take out the kernels and freeze them for using in a variety of dishes right from soups, pastas, salads to parathas. Its a much better option than using canned ones. Not saying I don't use the canned ones, I do but whenever I can, I prefer to use the fresh ones. About 3 to 4 cobs yielded quite a bit of kernels. Some went in making soups and some in a salad. Yesterday was a wet rainy day and I had a sudden craving to have buttered corn. You know the type we get at movie theatres in India or are sold in the malls. There is a corn stand at the Broadwalk mall in Edgware, and you can smell the buttered corn for miles. I had  hot corn for the first time at the PVR cinema in Bangalore, some years back. However what I don't like about them is the limited options you have.... corn with salt and pepper or with red chilli powder or flakes, or with chaat masala. What if you want...