Fat to Fit- Intermittent Fasting, My Foot!!

Its amazing when u eat all you crave, drink like a fish, and yet see fat melting out. That is the feeling that I want returned to me. Who wouldn’t, tell me? Am sure most of you are reading me right now, looking for exactly that. Even if I can not tell you how this would return back to us, especially us in the 30s, I can tell you how it won’t. It wont return with Intermittent Fasting for sure.

As I had mentioned in the earlier article, I braved the meal plan for 5 days. I lost a kg, yes. And then I lost another trying to nurse myself back to being me. And that next week wasn’t all that fun. What happened was that I was acutely gaseous and developed gastric indigestion, wherein my body kind of repelled food. I have not been prone to stomach gas or flu in the past, so it was extremely uncomfortable, and more so as the week after, I had planned a vacation to Goa. So, in my current lifestyle, wherein I wake up early and sleep by 10.30 pm, I couldn’t follow the meal plan of skipping breakfast. When I was in college, I used to most of the days, skip breakfast, and my body metabolised it very nicely; but now it’s a decade older, and used to the pattern of smaller meals in the day. No point trying to change its rhythm with newer discoveries of the day. Stick to the basic, is all my advice going to be.

So, once again, lets try what we had done earlier on! Simple meal plan with fewer, smaller meals. This week its gonna be this-

Early morning – 500 ml lukewarm water followed with a bowl full of fresh fruits.

A cup of black coffee

Intense activity                 (exercise)

Breakfast- a healthy combination of whole carbs with vegetables/egg. Eg-1 whole wheat veg sandwich or a roti-egg roll or oats upma with a lot of veggies and curd.

Mid-morning- Green tea with a healthy snack. Eg- 1 cream cracker biscuit or roasted chana or 5 pcs of soaked almond.  

Lunch- would be a good mix of vegetables (cooked and/or raw) with whole carbohydrates. Eg- salad with ‘1 or 2 roti or boiled daliya’ and 1 - 2 bowl veg with 1/2 bowl curd/dal. If I choose to eat non veg, then I will cancel the carb and take 100 gms chicken/fish with 1-2 katori veg and salad.

Evening- earl grey tea with 2 cream cracker biscuits or green tea with a small bowl roasted channa

Dinner- same as lunch just that I will try to go skimpy on the carbs. Eg-1 wheat chapatti with 1 or 2 bowl veg and Salad; or 50gms chicken/ fish with 1 or 2 bowl veg and salad.

Bedtime if hungry- 1 cup toned milk.

So I am aiming at following this diet for the next two weeks. It’s doable, in fact very easy too. And I have done it earlier last year to have some great results!

So here is a compilation of all my lip smacking snacks, that I could eat for breakfast or evening tea.

Protein rich stuffed Dhokla- http://antaras-zouqh.blogspot.in/2012/05/fast-furious-and-simple-sandwiched.html

Old fashioned yeasted Dhokla- http://antaras-zouqh.blogspot.in/2014/11/dhokla-old-fashioned-way.html

And one of the best- steamed idly with this sambhar chutney- http://antaras-zouqh.blogspot.in/2017/02/sambhar-in-chutney.html

This time, I would surely catch up next week with you guys, because with this meal plan, I can’t, not have the desired result as I seek.

Cheers!!

Sambhar in a Chutney!!

Clean and Delicious Part 4 -  healthy breakfast which is clean, delicious and savoury to our Indian liking!!

Homemade is Clean and Delicious to the infinity and back. And India has a host of cuisines which gets classified under clean and delicious easily. The king of it is the south Indian veg cuisine with its scientifically baffling ingredients, which makes me proud to be an Indian. Idlies are nothing but fermented dough steamed to perfection. It is served with a sambhar which is lovingly simmered with all sorts of vegetables (necessary fibres and nutrients), strong whole spices (essential anti-oxidants and nutrients) and lentils (plant protein). The white coconut chutney adds the essential fats in the form of cold-pressed raw coconut oil that extracts itself and emulsifies with coconut fibres, thanks to the steady friction of a stone mortar and pestle. We actually give very less credit to our ancestors. They were nothing short of geniuses to have made this cuisine so easily available to the world.

My week started with this little packet coming in. It contained a lot of new age healthy choices to pick from. I checked the ingredient list too, and found it was pretty clean with no preservatives and/or stabilizers. Citric acid and sodium bi carbonate are simple everyday ingredients that we use in our day to day life anyways. So I was eager to try their range the very next day. And I loved what I ate. Undoubtedly they had everything that they promised to provide. I dunked my idly in a sambhar flavoured chutney which was easy to put together on a busy workday morning, and yet gave the satisfaction of a proper South Indian breakfast. The ingredients are simple and are always available in my pantry. And this recipe literally takes less than 10 minutes to put together. So, there is no more reasons available to anyone for not having a proper breakfast in the morning.

Ingredients

3 large tomatoes, pureed

1 medium onion, pureed

2-3 cloves of garlic, pureed

½ inch of peeled ginger, grated

1 heaped tsp or more of Home-made or store bought Sambhar masala. I used homemade.

Salt, sugar, turmeric and red chilly powder to taste

2 tbsp oil

½ tsp mustard seeds or rai

1 sprig of curry leaves, washed and dried

Method

In a pan, add a tbsp. of oil, and fry the onion and garlic paste till the raw smell disappears. Add in the tomato puree and ginger and let it simmer till the oil separates out of the mix. I do this step while making and drinking my morning coffee, the mix sizzles while I get ready for the busy work day morning.

Now once the oil separates out of the wet masala mix, add in the sambhar powder and turmeric powder. Stir vigorously to combine. Let the masala penetrate the vegetables well.

Once the chutney starts smelling aromatic, taste. If its homemade sambhar masala, you would know about the seasoning, but if its store bought, chances are that salt is already present in the spice mix. So taste well before seasoning to your liking. I like to balance the salt, sugar and red chilly well. At times I even add a dash of white vinegar at this stage, but it really depends on how sour my tomatoes are to begin with.

Once you are happy about the seasoning, get ready to temper the chutney.

 

In a small tadka pan, heat a tbsp. of oil. Pour in ½ tsp of mustard seeds till it splutters and fills the oil with its earthy fragrance. Now let it off the heat and drop in the curry leaves to fry off in the residual heat. As the spluttering sound stops, pour in the hot aromatic oil onto the chutney, mix well and let steep covered for 5 minutes, before serving.

An easy, delicious chutney is ready to be enjoyed with fresh hot steamed idly, or crisp dosa. I have also applied it on a toast and had it with an poached egg. It was beyond beautiful!!

 

Cheers!!

This post is brought to you in association with Gits Food. The recipe and picture are IP of the author herself. 

Savoury Whole-Meal Scones with Nando's!!

Clean & Delicious Part 2- I celebrated Valentine's Day with my little family of three, munching on these yummy Whole-Meal Savoury Scones.

The spring garden is one of my most favourite things in the world. The little bees hovering about. The butterflies learning to fly. The leaves beginning to grow back. It's warm, and yet not hot. It is undoubtedly the best time to garden and harvest your fruits of love! And these Wholemeal Scones were conceptualised, sitting right in my terrace, surrounded by my favourite plants.  

Scones are an underrated and hardly ever made variety of flaky morsels of flour, that can be made sweet, savoury; or 'neither-sweet-nor-savoury' kinds. Valentines day being on a busy working day, prompted me to make something easy, yet light and decadent at the same time. My ever busy mister was supposed to return home early today. so i needed to jazz up tuesday tea time to get to a level of Valentine's day worthy. And so upon returning from work, i took a quick stroll in the garden to amass some harvest, and pottered around in the kitchen to make these, timed perfectly so that it bakes just as my boys return home. 

For all of you lovely people tuning in right now, thinking about a special treat for that special someone; make these healthy bites. It's a no egg recipe, perfect for the very commonly practiced meatless Tuesdays of India. It's Easy to put together. Requires just a few ingredients, and they 'should' all be cold. So happy baking !!

Ingredients for 8 Scones:

2 cups whole wheat flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda
Salt and pepper to taste

A small handful of leafy vegetables, I plucked baby spinach from my garden. 

1/2 tsp or to-taste mustard powder

1 tsp sweet chilli powder/Cayenne

2 tbsp chopped green leaves of onion and garlic. These green leaves are packed with nutrients and add great flavour too

1 red banana pepper, deseeded and chopped finely.

1/2 cup of cold butter

1/2 cup swiss cheese- gruyere 

1 cup cold buttermilk/Chaas or simply a cup of milk mixed with a tbsp vinegar.

Method

In a mixer grinder/ food processor put in the butter, cheese, leavening powders and flour, and pulse to dispense them throughout the mixture, in even pea like shape. I have noticed that it's easier to start this process when we cut the butter and cheese into cubes.

Now dump the crumbly mix into a flat mixing bowl, and mix in the spices and green veggies with a spoon or fork. 

In goes the cold buttermilk/chaas into the bowl and mixed to form a dough.

Tip it on a floured work surface, and gently gather it to form a rectangle. Fold it in thirds to amass it to form a square. Roll it gently to be evenly thick, about 1/2 an inch. Cut them into your desired shapes and rest it in the fridge for 15 mins to an hour.

Now preheat the oven to 220 degrees, and let it come to the temperature slowly as the dough rests in the refrigerator.

In the same measuring cup where you measured buttermilk, make a glaze with a generous glug of honey, milk and salt; stirred to combine.

Grate some cheese for the top, I used gruyère once again. I salted and Cayenne-ed it for added flavour.

Now take out the chilled dough, brush it with the milk mix and sprinkle on the cheese. Pop it in the oven for 20 minutes, until golden brown and crispy on top and bottom.

Easy crumbly tea time snack, which is healthy and fits our lifestyle perfectly! Cheers!! 

This post was brought out in association with Nando's. If you haven't already, do hop into one of their franchise restaurants in a city near you. they are expanding majorly in India. They are famous for their grilled chickens in a variety of sauces, one of them being this delicious lemony garlicky sauce. It also serves to be the perfect dip for my Whole-Meal Scones.  

LLWT- 3 with Whole-Wheat Home-made Bread

Let’s Lose Weight Together Part 3 (LLWT-3)

I accept, that I couldn’t give my 100% to the diet at first. It took me sometime to adjust, but after following the diet just for a couple of weeks, I am visibly thinner and 2.5 kgs lighter now. Since the start of ‘let’s lose weight together’, I knew that I would have to go for a carbohydrate free week soon, but surely it can’t be during the festive season which is upon us right now. Hence, I am thinking of continuing my week one diet for the next 2 weeks, wherein there would be many many cheat meals. This week our most favouriteDurga Pujo will start and it would get with itself once in a year opportunity to gorge on some traditional sweets and snacks. And choosing to keep myself from the gorging spree is not only difficult but insanely impossible. But, I promise to cheat smartly, and write about every tip or trick that helped me religiously. The goal is to meet you back here on the week starting 17^th, in the same weight as I am right now. I need to lose the next 4 kgs which would be much more difficult than this, but that would be after the festive season, and not before it.

For the past week, I noticed I had the urge of indulging in carbohydrates a lot. At the restaurant, I would reach for that Tawa Phulka or a smaller egg or vegetable filled paratha made without oil, all the time. At home, I had my parents-in-law visiting, so it was much easier to just reach up to that ladle full of Daliya (desi bulgur wheat) or white rice with my fish curry or indulge in an array of sweets displayed in my dining area, every-time they came back from CP. And with Pujo starting, I don’t think I can survive the season without indulging in Mughlai Porotha (Deep fried square parcel made with white flour, filled with spicy fish/chicken mince) or a Lobongo Latika (a similar kind of dish, but sweet). Caterers from Kolkata come in to make these scrumptious snacks and meals, and I can’t muster enough courage to steer clear of tasting it. Yet, it’s the portion control that I will exercise. I will cheat a lot during these days, but the idea is to come back to right eating after that.

For example, last week a good friend invited me over to his place for a garden tour. He is a foodie like me, and wanted me to try Samosa and Jalebi from his favourite Nukkad shop. He follows me here, and he thot it was just a matter of tempting me to stray away from the path. I had a samosa with him at 6, preceded by 2 hot and crisp jalebies. But then, I came back to have a cup of soup in the night for dinner and nothing else. This is how I managed to steer clear of any additional weight by following restraint in the next meal. Even with drinks, I opted to munch on Cream cracker biscuits and roasted chana, rather than crispy fried potato chips etc. The week one diet is a framework for me, wherein I devised a new meal plan for me each and every day. From today, I will start following a modified Week 1 diet, and by the next week I will decide if I am strong enough to go to a week 2 diet or not.

This is what I would be eating for the week starting today.

Early morning starts with a flavored nutritious coriander and lime water. I will boil a bunch of coriander for 10 mins strain, and keep the concentrate in the fridge. Early in the morning, I will mix the coriander water concentrate in warm water with a squeeze of lime and drink it. I will follow it up with 3 soaked almonds.

Exercise or an intense Activity

For breakfast, I will have protein with carbohydrates like a good piece of homemade whole wheat bread with fresh cottage cheese, salt and pepper or a dry Daal bhara paratha and curd, or an egg roll.  

At 11.30 am, 1 small bowl papaya followed by a cup of green tea.

The lunch would be healthy Carbohydrate (roti) with protein and fibres, like- raajma, salad and grilled veggies. Or Matar paneer, salad and grilled veggies.

At 5 pm, 1 katori dahi+ 1 tsp ground flaxseed will increase my metabolism.

At 7 pm, I would have tea with roasted chana or a small bowl of sprout salad.

For dinner strictly no carbohydrate but a light protein and fiber based meal.

And if hungry during bedtime, I will finish it up with 1 cup toned milk.

This week, I will concentrate mostly on eating healthy protein and try to detox myself in the time I eat in my house. I will keep adapting the diet each day, depending on my circumstances. As you have noticed since the start of Lets lose weight together, I have never really stressed myself out to eat something that is far away from my reach. I have stayed on the good eating path, yet enjoying a foodie’s life. And the festive would be nothing else than that.

For the recipe today, I am showing you the way I make my daily dose of home-made bread, each time, every time and it works perfectly all the time. This way, I know I will eat a good carbohydrate in the morning, which would get me ready for all the cheats that would come my way during the day.  

Ingredients:

2 cups whole wheat flour (WWF)

1/2 cup all-purpose flour (you need the gluten)

2 tsp Active dry yeast

2 Tbsp honey

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup milk, lukewarm

2 Tablespoons olive oil, or any vegetable oil

1 egg

1/4 cup additional WWF for kneading

Instructions:

For a detailed Youtube Tutorial, Click here!!

In a large measuring jug, stir in lukewarm milk with 2 tbsp honey and yeast. Put it in a draft free place for it to proof, while you get the rest of the ingredients in place.

Put both the flours and salt in a large mixing bowl, with a dough hook. Beat it to combine well.

Once the yeast blooms, add in a room temperature egg, and dump it all in the mixer. Beat it on low to combine. Now slowly pour in the 2 tbsp of oil, while the mixer is running and combine it well in the dough. Then put the speed on high for 2 minutes to form the gluten well.

After the 2 minutes are over, on a low speed add about 1/4 cup more flour until dough forms a mass. I make my bread in a kitchen aid mixer. However all this can be easily achieved by hand too. Kneading the dough well makes sure you have a soft and pillowy interior that we all love in a store bought bread. 

Knead the dough well to achieve a non-sticky appearance, cover and let rise for an hour, till double in size.

Shape dough into a loaf and place in a greased loaf pan. Cover and let rise in a warm spot until it is one inch taller than the pan, about 35 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius, and bake the bread for 30 minutes. Once browned, and sounds hollow on knocking it, place it on a wire rack to cool. Slice and enjoy as and when needed!

Bread recipes are a bit scary to follow if you are new to it. I have been baking my bread pretty regularly, and that’s why I invested on a brand new kitchen aid last year. If you need a Youtube video about baking this whole-wheat bread to ease your nerve, then write to me. I would be more than happy to oblige! Cheers!!

LLWT- 1 with Healthy Sugar Free Muffins!!

Let’s Lose Weight Together Part 1 (LLWT-1)

Sawan ka mahina – the rainy season is here. I don’t like it at all. This is the season my restaurants suffer the most in terms of business. This is the time when water seeps inside electrical equipment, leaving my base kitchen fridge less. The microbes are everywhere, everyone is either sneezing or coughing, or throwing food that was made in the morning, but gave way till the afternoon reached. So, my point being; I hate the season. There is absolutely nothing to like in the muddy water logged city that I live in, while it rains. The incessant traffic jams on the road doesn’t help either. After each shower, there is an addition of a pot hole on every road I travel. And not to mention, the abrupt waterfall and extreme panic of coming home to a flooded living room, just because the rain was too steep, and the drain pipe couldn’t handle the pressure. Sigh… I can continue complaining for another 2 pages.

But I assume, you aren’t reading to hear my rants about the Gaon I live in!! I guess you are reading to know the secret behind why I started abusing India’s most loved season, under the title ‘Let’s lose weight together.’ If you ever get the connection, let me know too... It might help me to understand why I am so erratic these days. But if you don’t, just continue reading as I am getting to the weight loss journey, starting now.

Thanks to my work, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to lose the extra kilograms that I gained since last year. My biggest problem is that I stress eat a lot, which makes it tremendously difficult to lose the weight. Obviously treading the weight loss path alone is rather difficult. So I had a genius idea to involve each one of you reading this article today, facing similar situations in life to come together, read and get inspired; and inspire me in the process.

A typical day for me starts with an action packed morning, leading to a stressful office day; lounging on to a traffic led evening- where I leave office to pick up my son and head back home. The night time sees me a bit relaxed, with family; either cooking a treat, or drinking a storm. My biggest challenges are these two aforementioned situations. It’s rather easy to reach up for a bottle of wine to unwind from the stressful day. And maybe, I did manage to gain all these extra kgs thanks to this one weakness in me. After consumption of alcohol, our bodies start experiencing a great depth of hunger. To satiate that hunger, we start off on the munching path which just piles on calories after calories in our body, unwanted and unreal. I can’t control my family’s urge to stack up deep fried farsaan in the cupboards. What I need to control is my urge into reaching out on to those snacks every now and then. So before, the issue mounts up to become a problem, let’s snip it in the bud. I am guilty of following this easy rather comforting lifestyle since a few months now. But better late than never. So here is my goal that I want to fix for me today, for the coming week.

Firstly, I am gonna restrict drinking high calorie drinks like wine completely. My voice has been soar for sometime now, and I need to get it back to sing my little guy lullaby. So for the next two weeks, if I drink, it’s either gonna be brandy with hot water, or just water. No wine shall pass through these lips, till my voice is back to normal.

Secondly, no deep fried food for the next two months consciously.

Thirdly, I need to get back into healthy 2 hour eating habit. 3 litres of water each day is not a problem for me at all, but if any of you are skimpy water-drinkers, please note that as well.

Obviously, these are difficult to follow in my life as I have too many distractions around me all the time. But the idea is to start amending any cheat I do with the next meal. So the amends for each chaet on the each goals would be-

Only twice in the week would I drink. And if I consume wine, then just once. Also, 2 glasses of water for each drink. Which would definitely cancel out the negative with a lot of positive.

Deep fried food should be accompanied with a lot of salad, before and after.

If ever I miss eating in the 2 hour mark, I will try not to eat 2 meals at the same time, substituting that meal with a lot of water.

So an ideal meal chart for me for the week would be-

Early morning – 500 ml lukewarm water followed with a bowl full of fresh fruits.

Intense activity                 (exercise)

Breakfast- a healthy combination of whole carbs with vegetables/egg. Eg-1 whole wheat veg sandwich or a roti-egg roll or oats upma with a lot of veggies and curd.

Mid-morning- Green tea with a healthy snack. Eg- 1 cream cracker biscuit or rasted chana or 5 pcs of soaked almond or this low calorie muffin.  

Lunch- would be a good mix of vegetables (cooked and/or raw) with whole carbohydrates. Eg- salad with ‘1 or 2 roti or boiled daliya’ and 1 - 2 bowl veg with 1/2 bowl curd/dal. If I choose to eat non veg, then I will cancel the carb and take 100 gms chicken/fish with 1-2 katori veg and salad.

Evening- green tea with 2 cream cracker biscuits or green tea with a small bowl roasted channa

Dinner- same as lunch just that I will try to go skimpy on the carbs. Eg-1 wheat chapatti with 1 or 2 bowl veg and Salad; or 50gms chicken/ fish with 1 or 2 bowl veg and salad.

Bedtime if hungry- 1 cup toned milk.

So I am aiming at following this diet for the next two weeks. It’s doable, in fact very easy too. But 1 of the weekends, I would like a treat of something sweetish that doesn’t harm my body so much. I will try to eat it more as a meal in itself as the mid-morning/evening snack, rather than an after meal dessert. Plus the sweet craving family of mine can’t be deprived of sweets for a whole 2 months, just because I am attempting to eat healthy. I know their urge in indulging into some sweets would lead them to a sweet shop, and that would be a nightmare for me. So here is a simple muffin recipe, which is refined flour free, butter free and most definitely sugar free in the most un-chemical way possible.

Ingredients

 ¾ cup whole wheat Flour

1 egg

½ cup Milk (any kind of Milk would work- coconut, almond, soya etc.)

2 tbsps. Maple Syrup or Honey

1 tbsp. Veg Oil

½ tsp. Vanilla Extract

¼ tsp. Baking Soda

Pinch of salt

2 Medium Bananas, roughly mashed

A handful of Dark Chocolate Chips

Method

It’s a rather easy way to make these super healthy muffins. All you do is combine all dry ingredients together in a bowl- flour, salt and baking soda in a bowl. Add the chocolate chips and coat it well.

In a measuring jug, dump in all the rest of the ingredients- egg, milk, honey, vanilla, oil and crushed banana. Mix well.

Now just combine the wet to the dry, and the batter is ready to be baked in a preheated oven of 180-200 degrees Celsius, for 15 minutes, or as long as it takes for a wooden toothpick inserted in the centre to come out clean. Cool and enjoy this treat for a day.

Basically the idea is to not starve you of your craving. If you crave something sweet, eat this. This batter will make only 6 muffins so it’s perfectly portion controlled.

So a best of luck to me and to you if you are with me in this ride. I starting today, and I have goal of losing 6 kgs within the next 2 months. Cheers!!

Depression Vs Sandwiched French Toast!!

It took me some time to write this article. In fact my editors mailed me twice saying, 'what happened, where the last instalment of my anti-depressant series is?' That was a fair enough question. I have taken way more time to pen this article down. And the reason- well it’s just that I am in seventh heaven after my ‘Depression Vs One Pot Pasta’ post. Not only was it way too colorful and fancy for warding off depression; but it was also the most liked, read and ‘made’ recipe of mine. I garnered much ado for writing the recipe, in the virtual and real world. And compliments really lifts your spirit high. So, you see; I wasn’t really sure if I would be able to write on being pressed, stressed and depressed; all at the very same time!

But today, it’s different. Today I really feel stressed. My toddler has waded off into a world full of knowledge with strangers around him. As I sit in the reception of the school, typing furiously on my keypad, my insides are churning in tension. I might look composed on top, but only I know how much I feel like a ticking time bomb inside. Every time the reception door opens, I pry to see if I can get a glimpse of my child somewhere. Needless to say, it’s the very first time I have left my child away from me, with strangers, for this long. Today, I sit here checking on his progress, giving myself the satisfaction of being close to him and be on his beck and call. Tomorrow would be a bigger tussle. Tussle more for the mom in me. And so I need something to ward this feeling off. This is the time, I feel I am ready to have my most famous breakfast all day dish- Sandwiched French Toast.

Now, in all fairness you don’t have to stuff just sweet fillings or a store bought Nutella in a jar. Obviously a homemade nut butter is preferred, which can be jazzed up with some cocoa powder and icing sugar. But this dish will taste awesome with anything really. And it’s hardly a recipe too. You can make your own spin and follow these simple steps to get a savory or sweet snack/breakfast ready in a moment’s notice. I will give you many filling options but my hubby likes the one with Nutella and that is what I make mostly. But any day I prefer a cheesy sharp French toast to this dessert like Nutella filled ones.

Ingredients

3 eggs

3 tbsp of milk

Sliced bread

Oil/butter

Filling

Savoury

Grated cheese mix with Gouda and/or cheddar mixed with parmeggiano

Finely chopped green chilies to taste

Finely chopped roasted garlic to taste

Finely chopped spring onion to taste

Sweet

A dollop of nut butter and/or jams

For the way to make it with added tips and tricks, Click Here- SmartIndianWomen.com



The Rest in the Series-

• Depression Vs One Pot Penne, Indianized!!
• Depression Vs Strawberry Oats Bars!!

Cheers!!

A Honey Diet to be Remembered!!

Diet/dieting is such a misleading word with a wrong interpretation. In our day to day parlance we have started using the word to talk about a restriction of food in order to loose weight. But really, the father of the English when made this word, all he intended it to mean was the usual amount of food and drink of a living being, including an animal or an insect. It was not to take a drastic makeover of such heights. Alas, he might be turning in his grave quite violently; but today all we associate while hearing this word is restriction of food. And it’s only when we add 'balanced' to the 'diet' that we mean what it was supposed to be meant!!

Oh, I am with you. I know it’s confusing. But before you get very stressed and pressed about the word, I have got you covered. However, whatever it means, you just need to mean one thing while eating- HEALTHY EATING. It doesn’t have to be only about salads, trust me you need that elusive carbohydrates too. And sugar isn't your enemy. Your body needs everything that nature provides to you and the habits you have grown up eating with. It just means you move around those things and have a healthier option instead. Like if you love bread, and can’t live without it; restricting yourself of this treat would be much more harmful. In the absence of it, you would start craving it more and hence 1 fine day you would end up eating a whole loaf of it, rather than a slice. Similarly, if you have sweet tooth, eat something sweet twice to thrice a week. Don’t completely devoid yourself of it, rather opt for lesser sweet and more fibrous wholesome sweeteners like natural honey, jaggery, brown sugar etc.  

Today, I write for Dabur, who has recently launched a campaign called Honey Diet. And I have a few recipes that I have made with honey, replacing the sugar and gaining a more earthy flavour out of it. These three are my favourites, and all I want is for you to try this healthy recipes.

First up is my whole-wheat bread/pizza dough. This is a great alternative for white bread in your breakfast and has potential of being overly addictive.

Recipe- http://antaras-zouqh.blogspot.in/2012/05/pizza-i-have-theory-indians-like-and.html

Next in line is my Baked Apples. Another great breakfast option as well as a healthy dessert snack to satisfy the sweet craving.

Recipe- http://antaras-zouqh.blogspot.in/2012/08/my-rustic-self-baked-apples.html

And to end this lovely honey diet, try making my Whole-wheat Honey and Banana Muffins.

Recipe- http://antaras-zouqh.blogspot.in/2012/06/whole-wheat-and-honey-muffins-with.html

Hope these Recipes gave you a great idea to start with this new diet. In case you need more gyaan on healthy eating, follow the link here-http://antaras-zouqh.blogspot.in/2015/06/equality-dinner-plate.html 

For more information Dabur's Honey diet, follow the link here- http://www.daburhoney.com

Sponsored Post

Social Media & Antara!!

Social media is the only thing that is constant these days. And its a wonderful platform to meet and connect with individuals of similar interest. Now that I am busy writing this series upon depression, these social mediums suddenly gained more importance in my eye than ever. Its actually a great way to meet and interact with new people, controlling all the information that you would like to give or take. Blogging helps too, but Microblogging through your twitter Instagram and Facebook profiles are far easier and better. So, if you havent already, do subscribe onto my profiles to get many foodie updates. Feeling doubtful? Then check what all happened up there while you were not following me (and doubting me.. Sob* Sob*)...

To start with, lets start with this picture where I finished a whole handi of delectable biryani with the serving spoon.... Really I was that hungry!!!

And then the biggest #breakfaststories over a plate of Mushroom and cheese omlette and a potato hash tikki. 

And then the cheesy quesadilla or 

This spicy pickle of Bhut Jhalokia, which very sadly is missing out of my kitchen and I am desperately trying to find another one.... 

So you get the point right? There is a lot happening up there. Do LIKE, SUBSCRIBE and FOLLOW me on -

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Depression Vs Strawberry Oats Bars!!

It seems we Indians are the most suppressed and oppressed and all pressed and stressed to be the most depressed in the world. And with Deepika’s confession; we all have started using this word even more lightly than ever. Being ‘Sad’ or ‘upset’ are losing its place in the English vocabulary; and has been steadily replaced with the newer, stouter words like “I am so depressed”. If just a bad ice cream can lead you to depression, then it’s a problem. A problem that cannot be solved by any medical practitioner. A bad hair day or a chipped nail or a walkout, none of these should lead you to depression. Use the word intelligently. Differentiate between being upset and being depressed. They are NOT same. And once you have established what you are, try making this to ward off the feeling. Trust me, the effort and taste would lift your spirits high.

If you have read so far, then you must feel you need these recipes. Yup, you got me; I am making a whol;e series of three anti-depressant recipes. My theory behind these dishes are to involve you in some activity which will get you off the ‘feeling blue’ stage. Now, an idle mind is a devil’s workshop. You have read it, I have read it and trust me I have felt it too. So that night, when you can’t sleep, get up and ponder about in the kitchen instead. Keep yourself occupied at all times. Plus the physical activity will lead you to a better sleep easily. Eating something colourful and flavourful will fill you up with vibrant feelings. A chocolate on the other hand would just depress more, thanks to the darker colour. But again, cacao has many properties that makes it an anti-depressant as well. So my post today and in the coming days; would be about 3 dishes, which will lighten and enlighten your day (or night). All of it are guilt free, and requires enough grease to just tire you without scaring. Don’t believe me, check it out below then! For today, it’s my oats and Strawberry bars..

To learn how to make these little parcels of vibrant deliciousness, follow the link here- http://www.smartindianwomen.com/

Cheers!!

Coming up next

•          Depression Vs One Pot Penne, Indianized!!
•          Depression Vs Sandwiched French Toast!!

Together with Egg and Sausage Tart!!

A good glass of wine, a hearty lunch to prep for and lots of catching up; that’s what a good weekend defines for a simpleton like me. My hubby is a busy man, more often than not he brings his work home and spends all his Saturday sorting out these mails. But still my persuasion to get him off the computer and in the kitchen with a knife is strong, and at times he does give in. It is then, that I open the choicest bottle of wine, put a nice jazzy track on the music player; and we start chopping and stirring in the kitchen; #Together.

The persuasion doesn't come easy. He does like to eat, but obviously he doesn't want to slug it off in the kitchen on a precious weekend. That is when I have to be rather creative, giving him enough reasons to not miss his laptop. I remember one such lazy weekend in Mumbai, when we woke up late to a breakfast of a big fruit platter, and wandered in the kitchen to make a hearty brunch of sausage and egg tart. For a quintessentially Indian kitchen like ours, a tart is not a common sight. In fact as a recipe developer too, I remember making it just once or twice. That’s why Mr. Hubby got extremely excited to try this savoury tart, helping me greatly to put it all together. For me, it was the best weekend ever. By the time we sat for our brunch, both of us were in high spirits and minds together. We over-ate heartily, licking everything off the tart stand.  

I am a rather rustic baker, who absolutely loves baking just breads and cookies. The intricate work like icing and sugar craft is not my forte nor anything that interests me much. In fact, icing is one of the things that I hate to eat as well. Tart excites me, and I hope to achieve required finesse soon. My dough was completely made the old fashioned style without involving any high-end machinery. I followed the simple recipe from Chef John’s Foodwishes.com. I faced many problems in the dough, especially while it was blind baking. I feel the amount of butter is a bit too much, and it stuck even to the butter paper. But anyways, I am yet to establish an expertise on the crust, but the filling is what I want to talk about today.

The sausage in question was Goan Chorizo. It’s a spicy, tangy sausage with a very strong structure and lots of fat. It cooks down beautifully and compliments hearty vegetables like corn and mushrooms. The baby tomatoes and caramelized onions added the much needed zing to the filing. I paired the pie with fresh green apples, a mustard honey dip and a simple cocktail of gin and tonic, with a slice of orange and lots of ice. And with that, a beautiful memory was made, where we dined together; laughed at silly jokes together and licked off the last morsel of this rustic pie together.

All things Gone Wrong - Egg and Sausage Tart

I am glad to announce that I would be writing for another E-Magazine, pretty regularly now. The recipe has been published up there for everyone to read, bookmark and try this coming weekend. For any queries, shoot in a comment down below or in the link mentioned below. 

Recipe- http://www.smartindianwomen.com/all-things-gone-wrong-sausage-and-egg-tart-2/

This is my #together story.