Baked these today Its fresh and hot, just out of the oven!

They are moist soft cookies even with wholemeal flour. I was really surprised with the texture of the cookies, i thought it might be dry and rough but it turned out to be the opposite! we loved them. It makes a good breakfast cookie and one is enough for your snacky cravings!

This is from another of my favorite site Taste Spotting

1 stick butter (½ cup), softened
¾ brown sugar i cut it down to 1/2 cup
1 egg
½ teaspoon vanilla
1 cup carrots, finely shredded
½ cup coconut
½ cup chopped walnuts
3/4 cup white chocolate chips i used semi sweet dark choco chips
1 cup flour i used wholemeal flour
1 cup oats i coarse grinded rolled oats
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon salt

Directions

Cream together softened butter and brown sugar. Add egg and vanilla, beat with an electric mixer until fluffy (approximately 1-2 minutes).

Combine flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt in separate bowl. Mix together with a wire whisk. Add to the butter, brown sugar, egg mixture. Stir until just combined.

Add oats, coconut, white chocolate chips, walnuts, carrots. When everything is well-integrated into the batter, refrigerate for approximately 30 minutes. Batter will be sticky.

While refrigerating, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spoon out golf ball-size scoops onto a cookie sheet and bake for 12 – 15 minutes depending on temperature of oven and how cool the dough is from the fridge. They will be golden brown on top when done. If they appear moist in the middle they aren’t quite there yet! Cool completely on a wire rack before enjoying.

Don’t you think sometimes you need a full vegetarian meal? And that too with almost all all all the veggies in it?? LOL!! I felt like that few months back! Yes this is from a draft long long back. I still remember i was craving for all the veggie curries I’m not good at cooking kerala veggies. I opened my cook book after a long time and started searching for these recipes. I hardly take a look at the books now becase i find everything in GOOGLE now! LOL! but i think if u need anything authentic tried and tested and tasted you have to open those books which you have treasured or passed from ur mom or aunt or grandmaa… the list goes on! So here goes the recipes.

Avial is a vegetables with coconut and yogurt. I add all my favorite vegetables to it like potatoes, raw bananas, carrots, yam… yumm yumm!!

Carrot – 1 medium size
Potato – 1 medium size
Elephant Yam -1 cup
Raw Bananas – 1 large
long Beans- 1 cup

• All veggies cut in 2 inch long pieces.

Coconut-1 cup
Green chillies-2 nos
Cumin seeds-1 tsp

• Grind into a fine paste

Turmeric powder-1/2 tsp
Curry leaves 1-2 springs
Coconut oil for tadka
Sour curds-1 cup
Salt to taste

• Cook the vegetables in a skillet with little water.
• Add turmeric and salt to it.
• When the veggies are soft add the coconut mixture to it.
• After a boil add the beaten curd to it and turn off the stove.
• Heat coconut oil in a separate tadka pan and add mustard seeds and curry leaves to it.
• Serve with rice

Olan is beans mixed with winter melons in coconut milk. I love beans and winter melons but not really a fan of coconut milk. I had to buy it because this recipe is incomplete without it!

Small red beans – 1 cup soaked overnight
Winter melon -1 cup

• Pressure cook the beans till its half done and then add the melon and salt and cook again till soft.

Coconut milk- to taste around 1/2 cup.
Curry leaves 1 spring
Coconut Oil for tadka

• Add coconut milk to the cooked beans and melon and let it boil for few minutes.
• In a tadka pan add coconut oil and mustard and curry leaves and add the the beans.

Spinach is the only veggie my kids will eat everyday! So i try ot make it often and in the simplest way! I make Cabbage also in the same way.

Heat coconut oil in a skillet. Add mustard seeds. When they splutter add chopped spinach/cabbage to it. Add salt to taste and mix well. Wait till the veggies are done. Usually these veggies are cooked within 5 minutes if u chop them finely.

Okra Curry is one of the easiest curry for me.. why?? because one can cut the okras into half and and still it will be soft after a boil! Also i roast gring a large packet of coconut and freeze it so its easy for me to add the coconut also. Please note that the roasted-grinded coconut doesnt not really freeze and become hard in the freezer. It will be still like a powder if you dry grind them.

10-12 okras cut in to any size
1 small onion chopped finely
1 small tomato optional
a lemon size tamarine ball soaked in 1 cup of water
2-3 tsps of coriander pwdr
1 tsp of red chilli pwdr
coconut oil for frying onions
salt to taste

coconut 1/2 cup
cumin seeds 1/2 tsp
fennel seeds 1/2 tsp
curry leaves 1 sppring
turmeric pwdr 1/4 tsp
shallot 1-2

• roast all till dark brown and dry grind.

In a skillet add coconut oil and fry onions. If you are using tomatoes add them after the onions turn brown. Add chopped okras and fry then for 2-3 mts. Add the tamarine water and spices to it.  Cover and cook till the okras are soft. Add the grinded coconut to it and adjust the spices if u need more. And bring to a boil. Turn off immidietly after boiling.

• You don’t have to add all the coconut to it. Adjust according to how thick you want the curry. Freeze the un used coconut if any.

Enjoy the kerala meal with kuruva rice!

Im overjoyed to receive this award from Malar Gandhi.

And im passing this to Srivalli, Faiza Ali, Pajusha, Yasmeen, Lubna, Lissie.

This is one of my first cooked food. im so glad it came out really really good even my kids loved it. Im a big fan of spring rolls. When ever we go out we always buy spring rolls, chicken wraps and curry chicken O’s from Old Chang kee which is a famous chain in Singapore.

So i thought why not try the spring rolls? The one thing i liked about the recipe is it is so easy to prepare and the ingredients you’ll always have in with you.. well almost all the time.

The ingredients : 1/2 cup each of onions, bell peppers, carrots, mushrooms (i used canned ones), frozen peas.

salt and pepper pwdr to taste

Pastry sheets

olive oil for frying

Chop all veggies finely except peas or run through the food processor.

In a skillet heat olive oil and when its hot add all the ingredients till half cooked.

When the veggie mix is cooled, Add 1 tbsp to the pastry sheet and roll them as shown in the picture. Deep fry each roll. Its easy to prepare and good to eat!

This post goes to First Cooked Food Event

Half of an Apple, Beetroot,Carrot

1 baby cucumber or half of a cucumber

1 celery stalk

1 glass of water

Blend everything and enjoy!

If you want you may add honey and ice cubes. My friend who gave me the recipe said that if you make this in a juicer it tastes great!  As i dont have a juicer, i just blend everything. I dont strain the juice just drink everything first thing in the morning. My hubby gave up his coffee/tea since i started making this.

My friend Sapna who gave me this recipe said that this is an anti cancerous drink and this will make you glow! Thanks Sapna for this wonderful juice!

This juice is for the Light Meal event

This is one of the easiest soup i make  and loved by my son He says this is pasta soup! LOL!! Beans are very nutritious and is a good source of dietary fibre, protein, Iro

n and rich in folate.

1 medium sized white onion finely chopped

2 garlic cloves crushed

2 celery sticks chopped finely*

1 small zucchini chopped finely*

1 small carrot grated*

1/2 can of Italian  tomatoes (i used Cirio Popla)

1 can of Baked beans (No salt added)

Spice : Oregano, Basil, Marjoram, Crushed red pepper, Black pepper – Use as per your taste

Heat 1 tblsp extra virgin olive oil in a saucepan. Add onions and garlic to it and saute until the onions are soft. Add the vegs to it and saute again for 3-4 mts. Add the tomatoes and Beans to it. Mix well and add 1 cup water.

Bring to a boil and add the spices to it.

* i prefer to chop the veggies finely because my kids wont know i have added them! You can cut them in any size you like.

This Post goes to the Light Food Event

“Soup is a food that is made by combining ingredients such as meat and vegetables in stock or hot/boiling water, until the flavor is extracted, forming a broth”.  source Wikipedia

When im lazy to cook or eat something solid food soups come to the rescue! One of the soups which i make during dinner time is this one.

It is easy to prepare and and very healthy as it as chicken breast, carrots, celery, potatoes, spinach and a lot of spices to spice it up!

So for this soup you will need

200-300 grams of chicken breast

1 medium size potato

1/2 of a spinach bunch

1 small carrot

1 celery stalk

Cut everything in to small pieces and boil together for 2 hours. Blend it with a hand blender into a fine paste or as per you like. Garnish with black pepper, marjoram,basil,oregano,crushed red pepper and salt!

This soup is really filling and you can also change the choice of veggies, u can add corn, green peas, tomatoes, or any other veggie.