For salad
1 cup shredded lettuce
1 onion finely chopped
1 tomato finely chopped
1 cucumber finely chopped
1/2 bell pepper finely chopped
2 tsp vinegar Squeeze
2 tsp honey
2 tsp lime juice
Salt as needed

In a large mixing bowl add all the above ingredients n mix very well. squeeze lime in the end.

For guacamole
3 avocado peeled n mashed (take the seed out)
1 tomato chopped
1/2 onion chopped
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1/2 tsp black pepper
Cilantro – few leaves
1/2 lemon juice
Kosher salt – as needed

Grind all ingredients together into fine paste, add kosher salt n lemon juice in the end mix well. can add 1 pod garlic if needed.

Flour or corn soft tacos
Cheddar cheese
Sour cream

Method
In a pan add lil olive oil n add cooked beans n stir well then add tomato puree n salsa n chipotle sauce n mix well. Since salt is already added in beans no need to add more. Cook for 6-7 mins turn off the gas.

In a baking tray place the tacos n fill with cooked beans, salad n guacamole n close it from both sides n add desired qty cheese on top. Bake in 350f for 15 mins. Serve with sour cream on top. Can even bake without salad inside n add it in the end with sour cream.

Here you go! Feel free to give feedback on any pictures if u like or don’t like!

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Friday was our 4th anniversary! Woo should I say it’s 4 yrs already or is it jus 4 yrs? I mean it’s in good terms only many times! It’s like I ve known A for a long long time almost like forever!!!!

This year we rented a beautiful cabin in McCurtain county Oklahoma! In broken bow/beavers bend state park area!! Awesome place! Defly one oft favorite places I ve visited in the recent pat! Man I wish we had gone here when my sis was here instead of that south padre island! I ve read about this place before n i actually never bothered to look at this place mainly cos it was jus 3.5 hrs from here! This time I was looking for some 4-5 hrs drive max for the weekend n found some 2-3 options. Then suddenly this place stuck me. There was good reviews about this place from many ppl! It was a sudden last min plan..!! We were lucky to find a cabin.. Ppl plan so many months in advance or what? I was so surprised to see many cabins were gone already..! It was infact a very normal weekend.. and nothing spl too.. The weather was also cold… i was expecting to see many more vacant cabins..!! But surprisingly 90% in many sites were booked – i mean the ones with good views. The best best time to go here is around fall! You ll see awesome colors! This fall I m sure gonna go here if I m gonna be in Dallas!!!

Our cabin was awesome too!!! It was actually a 2 bedroom duplex!(duplex was a lil surprise to us.. we were looking for one floor only cabin but didnt mind no of bedrooms..! mainly cos we didnt want T to keep going up n down n more tension for us as well as we should always be behind her!) It was big n very spacious! So t had awesome time!! She loved going up n down in the stairs..!!!! The weather was good too but a major disappointment was I couldn’t get sunset pictures cos of this damn clouds (( it was too good n clear in the morning until noon when we went out. I never expected it to change in 4 hrs! There was this huge cloud that blocked the sun from coming out n also it did not rain. We stepped out of the house at 4 n drove for around 1 hr and yet no luck the could jus didn’t want to move. We went past the cloud n saw the sun but damn there was no proper lovely wow view types to stop the car n step out. So we turned back. Then got back to the cabin at around 6. We went around the state park again. I m not so lucky in capturing birds I think. Never spotted one.,and if i spot it ll fly before I could capture.

This morning we left at around 1045 from the cabin. I don’t know what’s with this but we encountered fog on our way back from Oklahoma this time too! It was jus like how it was when we left from ouachita forest! The only thing was it was not so high! But the fog made this place look lovely!

We made several stops n reached home at around 430. We stopped by for sometime at Hugo lake state park. It was Soo awesome. I surely wanna visit this place again! And it’s too close!

Here ate few pics from my iPhone will post from my. Canon later! It’s some movie time now!!!

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T is getting tooooo bored now. Now that her chitti has left, she is jus behind me all the time, and i dont know how to entertain her. I get bugged at times being behind her all the time. She doesnt want me to sit in front of my laptop for a long time.. and i am feeling bored if i dont sit in front of my laptop! I know she needs company and attention. I hope she gets admission into the playschool soon. I am more keen on the one that is closer to my home. There is one that is available immdly but its far off. i dont want to drive 30mins one way to drop her off n then pick her again. The one that i like is jus 10 mins away max! I have been calling them since november end and no luck yet. I hope to get admission by feb batch atleast. Few schools are booked till April 2013. they book the school first and then have the baby or wat? !!! if i get the admission in the school closeby and if T likes it too, then we might not need to shift to a different area for some more time. But if its not working, we ll have to consider moving shortly. But i hope it clicks. I dont want to move again .

The weather is so weird here. Its cold one day and so warm the next day. Sometimes it doesnt even feel like its winter. Ok, no complaints here about the temp not being cold, but its surely weird to be in 70s in Jan!

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I clicked many pics of her with my new lens. Loving the lens do far! I have a bunch of pics to edit. The more I click people with this lens the more I am missing a good external flash. That’s in my wish list next. Will have to check for the price n buy one soon.

We made yummy Mexican, Italian, Indian n Thai cuisine at home every other day! Baked banana bread 2 times in a weeks time. It turned out so yummy both the times! She got me a baking bible!! I ll soon start baking more from that book! It all look so delicious n tempting!

T had best best fun with her! She used follow my sis everywhere n sometimes try to do everything she does ! She ll also be bored from now. I m the only one to hang out for now. I m not lucky with her play school admission yet damn they have such long wait times. I m hoping to be lucky by this month end atleast.

I am back to regular grind too from today. A will be missing some variety dinners now. I made boring dosa for dinner tonight. Also made him eat idli for breakfast. Poor guy. Was in no mood to make anything interesting today. Also made some loads a idli batter n kept. Surprisingly I am bored of idlis n dosas all of a sudden ! Even with my yummy molaga podi!!:o I
Somehow want to finish this batter at the earliest n might not make the batter for another few weeks.

I m my sis a lot ( wish she had stayed for more days or atleast closer for me to visit her often I m not in mood for anything now

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Ingredients
1 pack Lasagna – Cook as per the instructions of the pack.
Olive oil – 6 tbsp ( spread across lasagna, spinach n tomato base)
1 medium box baby spinach
1/2 can crushed tomatoes
8 green olives cut into half
1 yellow onion finely chopped
1 zucchini sliced
2 pods garlic – ground with 1tsp black pepper
3/4 edam cheese shredded (can use mozarilla if its not available
1/2 cup cheddar cheese
1 spoon sambar powder (Sssshhhh… dont tell anyone that you are using this in an italian food )
Salt as needed
Tomato Basil Pasta Sauce – half Bottle approx
parsley to garnish
Chilli flakes to garnish

Method
In a pan heat olive oil (2tbsp) add add lil butter (1tbsp) ground garlic pepper n then add onions n stir well when cooked add zucchini let it mix b get cooked, then add the crushed tomatoes n olives n salt as needed. Then add tomato basil sauce mix well n let it get cooked. Close lid. Can add eggplant before adding tomatoes if you like. And cook well. In parallel in a big vessel boil spinach with lil olive oil (2tbsp) n salt as needed n once cooked drain the water n grind it with sambar powder n cumin seeds(optional) (its mainly to have dome good taste, else it ll be too bland) to fine paste. Keep it separately. Check on the tomato sauce. You can add half n half to it at this stage ( you can limit to the amount of cream you like) and mix well n let it cook for few more mins n turn off heat. In a baking tray grease with remaining olive oil n place 1 layer of single lasagna sheet make how many ever columns ur tray can handle. Then top with tomato base layer first then cover it with a layer of lasagna sheet. Then top with shredded Edam cheese. Close with layer of lasagna sheet n top with spinach then close with lasagna sheet n top with lil more Edam/cheddar shredded cheese (incase u have more of tomato sauce or spinach you can keep adding layers. Make sure to spread cheese on top of the final layers sheet. If u still have more tomato sauce keep it aside n use it on pasta for next day or so. And if u have spinach u can eat it raw or keep for next days meal with rice!

You can control the amount of cheese you want to add. You ll still have a great taste even with limited amount of cheese!

Don’t forget to preheat oven in 350f. Keep the baking tray when it’s loaded n cover the top with aluminum foul( I forgot to do it today, no harm if u boiled the lasagna well but it matters if u use oven ready lasagna) n bake for 20-25 mins.

Can garnish in the end or jus before loading tray into the oven!

Then take it out from oven n let it cool for 5 mins before serving!

I am not going to go to any Italian Restaurant anymore. I can make all the yummies at home that i generally order when i go to an Italian Restaurant.

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Any Pasta of your choice – 3 cups Cooked as per the packet instructions.
Olive Oil – 2 tbsp
butter – small piece.Around 2 tbsp from the stick.
1 Yellow onion finely chopped
2 pods garlic finely chopped
1 Cup Green peas – microwaved for 3 mins if using frozen
few brocolli florets cut small
1 Zucchini grated
1/2-1 cup spinach finely chopped
4 tbsp of pesto basil sauce
1/4 cup tomato puree
1/2 cup half n half or whole cream
Parmesan Cheese – as needed
basil to garnish
rosemary to garnish
parsley to garnish
chillie flakes – optional to garnish
salt as needed

Method –
In a pan heat olive oil, butter n add garlic n onions, let it cook well till it turns golden brown. Add zucchini, brocolli n spinach n let it all cook well. Add tomato puree n salt n mix well. Once its all cooked, add the peas n stir well. Add pesto sauce n mix. Add salt as needed. Let it cook for few mins. Can add shredded cheese of your choice if needed. Add half n half n mix well(can use whole milk too). Add the cooked pasta n garnish with the italian herbs. Mix well n Serve. Can top with Parmesan Cheese on their plates if needed.

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Ingredients –
White Channa – 2 cups soaked in water n pressure cooked with salt n 2 cloves
1 big Red onion finely chopped
2 medium tomatoes finely chopped
2 pods of garlic finely minced
2 green chillies thin long sliced
1 tbsp oil
1 tbsp ghee
1 tsp mustard
1 tsp jeera
1 tbsp chole masala
1/2 tsp corriander powder
1 tsp or more of chillie powder ( suite your spice level)
1/4 tsp of turmeric powder
milk – 4 tbsp (any milk of your choice – half n half for more cream version)
salt as needed
cilantro to garnish
tamrind sauce for topping – optional
lemon juice from half lemon – optional.
method
in a pan heat oil n ghee n mustard n jeera, let it crackle. then add green chillies and garlic n stir well and add onions n keep stiring till it turns golden brown. Then add the tomatoes. and add the spice powders. Stir well and let it cook. Tomatoes n onions should be cooked well. Then add cooked channa with the water (remove the cloves) n mix well. Let it cook well. After few mins check the consistency of the chole – if its too watery, add lil half n half n mix well. if it is not too thick, add some milk n stir well(Can use yogurt too instead of milk). Let it cook for 5 mins, keep stirring. Turn of heat and add cilantro and squeeze lemon juice if needed. Can add tamrind sauce on top n mix well and garnish with some raw onions on top (optional again!). Serve with Rotis, yogurt or Rice.

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Ingredients
Arborio rice – 1/2 pckt
Yellow onion – 1
Garlic – 3 pods
Pepper – 1 1/2 tsp
Vegetable stock – 2 cubes
Water – 1.5-1.7 liter approx (may be 5-6 cups I m not sure.. Since i used kettle to boil water, I know the qty in ltr)
olive oil – 3 tbsp
Butter – 1/4 cup
Mushroom – 4 finely chopped (optional)
Green peas – 1 cup(microwave for 3 mins if using frozen)
Salt – as needed
Half n half – 1/4-1/2 cup
Parsley – to garnish
Rosemary – to garnish

Method
In a big pan add water n vegetable stock n let it cook till it boils. Cook in medium heat.
In a pan heat oil n butter n add finely chopped onions n stir well n then add the ground garlic n pepper mixture n mix well.
Add the mushroom n mix again n let it cook well. Can close lid for few mins. Then add the peas. Add salt n stir well. Add rice, lil butter n olive oil .. n add the boiling water lil by lil n mix well.
Keep stirring, it’s the key. If the rice absorbs existing water add more water n repeat till the rice is cooked well. Once the rice is cooked, add lil parsley, rosemary n stir well. Add half n half n let it cook for 8 mins or so n turn off. The whole cooking time is around 60 mins. can add Parmesan cheese too for more creamy option. Keep stirring regularly till its cooked. So it doesn’t stick to the wok.

Can serve with garlic bread on the side;))!!

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After she woke up from her sleep she was excited to see that we were still in the store!;))) she had awesome time talking to her Chitti n other kids around!!!

Then we went to Walmart too n she had total fun time in that game center there!! She didn’t want to get back home! She ran around the whole store, blocked many shopping carts etc! Cos of her cuteness ppl spared her even if she was on their way! Otherwise that’s it!

Ooo btw we made yummy enchilada yday! Okay sis made ! I learnt! It was awesome! Ll post all recipes next week onwards! Today I am gonna make risotto! )) hope it ll turn out good!

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