Meat or vegetables? she asked, all ingredients spread in front of her.
Oh, I’d love something with avocados, black beans, salad, and lots of salsa I replied, my mouth watering in anticipation of the tasty dinner headed my way.
And no cheese? she jokingly asked, knowing very well that I loved cheese in everything, especially my tortilla wraps.
Efficiently she assembled wraps for us all, making sure that each one had the ingredients desired by the person it was being assembled for, and presented four plates, complete with salsa dip on the side, pickled onions, and guacamole too.
Our host was loudly applauded for this generous offering and gratefully we, all four friends sat down to demolish our wraps in far less time than it took her to prepare them for us.
I live in a country where all fruits are vegetables aren’t available all through the year.
Seasonal fruits and vegetables are fresh and cheap. Out-of-season fruits and vegetables are from cold storage and are quite expensive. So we usually buy seasonal fruits veggies and enjoy them to the fullest till they are in season. Other than fresh produce, we have other seasonal dishes too.
In winter, the most famous and popular dishes are;
Carrot halva, mustard greens cooked as saag and served with roti made of corn flour. We also make halvas out of split chickpeas flour, squash, and pumpkins in winter.
In summer we go for light, low-calorie foods like fruit salads or dahi bhalas, a dish made of spicy yogurt and lentil dumplings. Our favorite drinks are lemonade, rooh afza ( a traditional drink made from fruit extract and sugar), and sweetened chia seed drink. Chat, a mixture of boiled chickpeas, potatoes, raw onions, tomatoes, and chilies is also very popular.
What are your seasonal foods?
Written for JusJoJan- Seasonal, Prompted by Kaye, hosted by Linda
Organic food is supposed to be healthier for us, at least that’s what those in the industry tell us, but there’s a problem with it, it’s at least twice as expensive as ordinary food.
Free-range eggs and chicken are much more costly than caged eggs and chickens but I fail to see what is the actual difference here except for the price.
The same is the story with organic vegetables and fruits, where smaller packaging cost more and they look the same as non-organic produce, especially bananas which are smaller and greener!
People are conflicted when they are given the choice of buying organic or regular produce, but I personally feel that it’s just a marketing gimmick and that there is very little difference between the two.
I feel like it’s a sort of nutritional blackmail, that if we don’t buy organic produce or free-range chicken and eggs, we will be putting the health of our family at risk!
“There is no sincerer love than the love of food.” — George Bernard Shaw.
This week the Wednesday challenge here on partner Susan and my site is QUIRKY FOODS.
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People from different parts of the world have different tastes and preferences.
Our culture and food are pretty similar to Indian cuisine and culture as we lived together for centuries. In our part of the world, people like spicy food, deep fried and calorie rich!
Okra ( Bhindi)is a very popular vegetable in summer. We fry cut okra and put it in a gravy made with fried onions, tomatoes and yogurt. It’s full of spices and very tasty. Similarly, bitter gourd ( karela) is also a summer vegetable, thought to be beneficial. It is very bitter on its own so we boil it or fry it first before we make a curry out of it.
Bhindi masala Karela masala
Another unique dish is made with fried chickpeas flour dumplings, cooked in yogurt sauce. It’s called “karhi”and can be eaten with boiled rice or roti! We also fry our fish coated in chickpeas flour batter( baisin wali machli ), spicy and crispy. A usual accompaniment to this fish is hard-boiled eggs and green chiliesfried in the same chickpea batter, all this is served with naan.
Glass bangles on fair wrists while pouring tea, tinkling
Hot samosas and pakoras served with chutney
Hullabaloo quieten when all attention is on consuming goodies
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The prompt;
Avatar
Bangles
Bandana
Bunglow
Cashmere
Catamaran
Chit
Chutney
Dinghy
Juggernaut
Jungle
Hullabaloo
Punch
Shampoo
Verandah
Pick any four and use them in a poem on a topic of your choice. You can write in any form of your choice but writing in rhymes would be nice as Hindi poems are mostly rhyming.
Three years ago, my grandson discovered Harry Potter at the age of nine.
He also was a great fan of Lego, which resulted in him buying any Lego set that was based on Harry Potter movies.
His mom had put him in a club at school where he learned to make stop-motion videos using inanimate objects.
When I visited them that year in Seattle, he very proudly showed me this video he had made about the scene when Harry and Ron came face to face with Aragog, the giant spider in the forbidden forest.
It took him many hours to shoot this video, and he was justifiably very proud of what he had achieved.
When I read the prompt- Film, I knew I had to share this video he had made, do notice the sign at the end! 😂
Writer’s Quotes Wednesdays (a Photo or Writing Challenge)
We all own ourself this duty;
To keep our bodies healthy!
What we put in our bodies is what makes us; Strong and healthy or sick and weak. Who says a healthy diet has to be boring or not tasty.
Try food combinations that can give you the maximum advantage and yet are tasty and appetizing.
Eating white meat, especially fish is healthy, adopt this habit
Shun red meat and organ meat as it will make you sick
Add fresh and green vegetables to your diet in oodles
Grain and lentils are good to keep hunger at bay
Don’t use too much white food like flour-based pasta, sugar, or salt
Fresh fruits fulfill the requirement of vitamins and minerals
Staying healthy is very much a choice and so is choosing an unhealthy diet
It is your only body: look after it for there isn’t a replacement
Healthy eating is often associated with food that is considered not appetizing. But many healthy snacks are yummy too.
Nuts, and nut butter, but do make sure they don’t contain corn syrup.
Cheese and yogurt are rich in calcium and proteins and make great snacks.
Fresh fruit like apples, strawberries, blueberries, and blackberries all are great healthy snacks.
Dried fruits like cranberries, figs, and peaches, or fruit chips like banana chips, and apple chips are good to eat and satisfy hunger too.
Cucumber or carrot sticks dipped in yogurt dressing are a savoy alternative when hungry.
Potatoes, boiled, mashed, or baked are perfectly healthy options too. Just hold the butter or sour cream.
Suffice to say, we can always make healthy eating choices, provided we have the will and knowledge to do so. So go on, treat your body to some good food.
That’s what this pack of dark chocolate with chili says on the top. I love dark chocolate, especially flavored with something unusual. And chili 🌶 is definitely not often associated with chocolate.
Like all good things in life, Dark chocolate should be taken sparingly because too much of a good thing is not good. I have yet to learn to control my greedy heart and do at times take more than 2 squares, which causes me to stay awake at night. But it is “Lindt”and who can say no to Lindt!
You might have guessed that these chocolates, ( there are/were 5 of them) were a get well present from my kids. By the Grace of God, I am much better now and it’s been 4 while weeks since the surgery. Just 2 more to go and I will be allowed to walk on the operated foot.
I hope it is pain-free and works as it is supposed to work!
Your prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “the first 2-5 words at the top of the closest printed matter.” Open (if necessary) the closest printed matter to you. Use the first 2-5 words at the top of the page any way you’d like in your post. Have fun!
Peanuts and peanut butter are my favorite way of consuming nuts. I do like cashews, almonds and walnuts too. Then there are the very costly nuts like macadamia, pine nuts, and hazelnut which aren’t easily available here. I’d gladly eat them if they were given to me as a present!
Fruit
I love most fruits, specially the summer fruits. Mangoes, Melon, watermelon, guavas, bananas, apple! All separately or together in a fruit salad make a wonderful dessert.
Cheese
We all need the calcium from dairy, especially as we are growing older. I like milk in all its forms but cheese is very convenient to eat and has more calcium as compared to other forms of dairy. My favorites are cottage cheese, feta and ricotta cheese, especially in salads.
Whole wheat roti/ naan
I love carbs and whole wheat roti/ naan are great to satisfy hunger and keep the blood sugar in check. Our local diet of roti ( flatbread) with daal ( lentils ) or vegetable curry makes for nourishing and balanced diet.
Dried fruits;
Raisins, dried figs, dehydrated cranberries, dates, and dried plums are good when one is craving something sweet and low cal.
Keep it alive 
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