The week(end) in view

This weekend I decided to take a break from workout. Why you ask? Just like that. I know that too much of a good thing is bad. This is my first ever severe winter in the US and I wanted to take in the whole experience over the weekend.
This is what we woke up to on Saturday morning

The rooftop after a light dusting. Almost surreal!

Breakfast on Saturday morning:
Breakfast came along rather quickly on Saturday morning. Thanks to the preparation on Friday night and the tips from my dear friend Juhi.The saboodaanaa/saago/ tapioca khichudi was so yummy that Rohith polished off the entire pan :)
I also have an alternate recipe to try soon, which requires even lesser prep time and never fails. Do let me know if you would like to try the recipe(s).

You just can’t get enough of a good thing

The birthday party:

I guess my cousins didn’t envision the cold before organizing the birthday party on Saturday night. We were all set to brave the weather and headed into the city around evening.

We had a few hours on hands to kill for switching trains at Times Square/Bryant Park and between the party . The queue to get in at Carmine’s was scary, so Virgil’s won instead. If you are ever in the Times Square area, then definitely give Carmine’s a try. I promise you that you won’t be disappointed. To know more about my experiences at Carmine’s do visit my yelp profile. I shall write about it here soon, so watch out.

Question: What does a vegetarian/vegan eats inside a real barbecue place. Obviously leaves (salads). LoL! What else?

This is what we had

Strawberry margarita(mine) and classic mojito(Rohith’s)

Interesting table top covers. You guessed it right we didn’t have those ;)

These are called the 'Train wreck fries' LoL!

The ‘Train wreck fries' were sinfully loaded with cheese and jalapenos. Now I know why they are called by that name. Once you have them, you need at least a day’s time to process them inside your system. Rohith was almost full too! So to wash it all down, he ordered the watermelon mojito. It was very refreshing on an otherwise cold cold evening.

Watermelon mojito

After washing this all down, we decided to brave the cold once again. On our way out we stopped to buy ear muffs for me; gloves and scarf for Rohith, as we have underestimated the weather. Oh yes it was freezing! That reminded me of our trip to Paris in Janaury 2010 :)
The party was in midtown Manhattan and was a great opportunity to see all my cousins at the same time. This usually happens only once or twice a year. The place was conveniently located and the space was private and very well organized.

Beautiful decoration

Sunday:

Sunday came and went in a blur. Rohith decided to give me a break from cooking breakfast and got these instead.
I really liked the newly introduced multigrain bagel from Dunkin Donuts and the Blond Roast coffee from Starbucks. It would probably attract people who do not have a taste for dark roast coffee from Starbucks for instance Rohith’s aunt. We might actually try this one at home soon. 

Multigrain bagel

Blond raost copyright Starbucks

Typical american breakfast: Bagel with blond roast coffee

Dinner Monday night:

I tried to cook dinner last night at home as I began an antibiotics regimen this week.  I went veggie shopping yesterday and brought some of the most boring vegetables possible in the market. Believe you me, if you combine these with something exciting, you can reap the benefits of these along with the taste from the side dishes. This is what I had in mind last night.

I stand corrected. There are other things, which are as taxing as cleaning fenugreek leaves. Peeling and slicing raw papaya is as gruesome as doing the same with butternut squash. It took me around an hour to prepare for this simple curry :(

Raw papaya

Preparation for the curry: Raw papaya, potatoes and tomatoes

The curry itself came together in less than a half hour; All thanks to pressure cooking!

To make dinner exciting enough for Rohith I whipped this up on the side

Cherry tomatoes and kirbies/cucumbers

Raita/Yogurt

Raita comprised of cherry tomatoes, diced cucumber whipped in yogurt and cilantro chutney (from last week) with a squeeze of half a lemon and topped with cilantro/corriander. It spiced up the dinner for us. 

Workout:

As expected, I went a little overboard yesterday and today with the workout after a relaxing weekend. This is what I did:

Monday:

•  Dancing with the stars workout
•  Zumba toning full-body workout
• Full body workout from the P90X’s Tony Horton
• Brazilian Capoeira Ab workout 

Tuesday:

• Blast away belly fat with workout from Janette Jenkins 
•  Zumba toning full-body workout
• Get your Cardio on: Dance with the Jabbawockeez
• Define your waist line with 10 minutes pilates series
• Get Victoria Secret model’s abs 

You can look up all these videos online at fitsugartv.com.  Click on one and all other shall pop up on the right hand scroll down menu.

All my life I have known that the workout that I enjoy the most comprises of dance moves in one form or the other. So be it Zumba, aerobics or Dancing with the stars, I am up for it.

Afterwards as always I did my usual Sun salutation 1 and 2 post shower. 

Breakfast lately:

It seems to be all about sandwichs in Roy household lately. Rohith had sandwiches for breakfast on both days yesterday and today. He sure likes to spruce up his with ham and other cold cuts of his choice. A twist to my otherwise healthy and veggie version.

Tomato, cream cheese and hari chutney sandwich

Lunch today:

Lunch was leftovers today. I had the curry from last night and the raita/yogurt ingredients with store bought methi ka parantha. 

I am making methi k paranthe myself tomorrow for brunch, as one of my friends is coming over. Do let me know which ones do you like better (I mean from the photos) and I will let you know which ones tasted better (though it’s obvious ;) )

I shall be rooting for you all xxxxx

Questions of the day:

• Where have you experienced the severest of the winters in your lifetime? Name the city. 
• Do you have a method of easily peeling and cutting hard gourds like the butternut squash and raw papaya?

Write to me at pallavibhar@gmail.com or comment below.