Fabulous Fitness Friday Survey

This survey popped up on on another blog right now. Since I am on a spree of filling you guys up on some fun information through questionnaires, I figured this would make a fun Friday post in the meantime. I love surveys! 
1. What did you eat for breakfast?
My most recent favorite, a peanut butter and banana sandwich

2. How much water do you drink a day?
I am not sure. I make a conscious effort to drink at least 1-2 liters and carry a water bottle with me everywhere I go.
3. What is your current favorite workout?
Current and all time favorite Yog. I simply love it!
4. How many calories do you eat a day?
I do not keep a record. So no idea! That will be going too far for me.
5. What are your favorite healthy snacks?
I am a big snacker. You can see some of my healthy snacks in this recycled photo

I also cannot resist eating peanut butter right out of the jar. It is now an increasing occurrence in my life. So delicious!
6. What do you usually eat for lunch?
I share a lot of my lunches on the blog, so you probably already know the answer to this one. Since I have to eat lunch by myself at home lately, I have gravitated toward meals that incorporate foods that are easy, quick and different from dinner like greek salad, fresh fruits or smoothies and baked chips etc.
7. What is your favorite body part to strength train?
Calfs!
8. What is your least favorite body part to strength train?
Upper body.
9. What are your “bad” food cravings?
I do not find it amusing to call food “good” or “bad”, however I am assuming this question is asking about my favorite indulgent dish. My answer always has been and always will be baklava.
10. Do you take vitamins or supplements?
I love my 'one day women petite under 50' and 'Nature Bounty’s hair, nail and skin' vitamins!
11. How often do you eat out?
It varies really. You guys might presume from my blog posts that we eat out all the time.However, the truth of the matter is that we usually eat out only once or twice during the week or on a Friday night. That too always preferably from a food cart if the weather is nice or on an online deal!
12. Do you eat fast food?
I almost never eat main meals at fast food chains (I do like Chipotle and Subway though, if you count those). Being vegetarian really helps me here. I get desserts on the go with RR especially a small scoop from B&R. I am also subscribed to their birthday club so each month I get a free ‘flavor of the month’ scoop too in addition to a free sundae on my birthday!
13. Who is/are your biggest supporter(s)?
RR, my mom, sister and brother.
14. Do you have a gym membership?
No and I never will. I absolutely forbid paying for any gym membership. 
15. How many hours of sleep do you get a night?
I try to get at least eight hours of sleep, but most nights I get only around seven.
16. Do you have a “cheat” day?
I do  not plan cheat days. By some people’s standards, I probably “cheat” every single day. I just try to make conscious decisions about my food choices for the most part, but I binge from time to time, too. Sometimes that happens all week long. 
17. Do you drink alcohol?
Yep.

I am not a big drinker, never was. I enjoy drinking socially with RR, my friends and family, especially having a glass or two of wine from time to time!
18. Do you have a workout buddy?
RR absolutely. He and I go for an early morning jog, but we usually do not workout at home together. When it comes to at home workouts, I am a yog practitioner and he is more of a strength trainer.
19. What is the best thing that has changed about your life since committing to a healthy lifestyle?
I became excited about fitness at a very early age because of my late grand pa. However, due to double incidences of biles palsy and a twice broken crocyx, I was chubby all along in my high school and most of my college days. Later, in University during my graduation, I met with an almost fatal accident. I shed almost 10 kgs or 22 lbs and took up yog and cardio rigorously to get back into shape and health. For the past 10 years, I have tried to continue that routine off and on. Nowadays, whenever I am short on time, I definitely try to squeeze in a 10 minute cardio and 15 minutes yog regimen.
20. What was the last healthy thing you did?
This morning

• Sun Salutation 1 and 2 to mark the official start of summer. 
•  Yog sequence to get rid of muffin top.
• Ate greek salad once again for lunch today.

Questions of the Afternoon
Now it’s your turn!

• What did you eat for breakfast?
• What is your current favorite workout?
• How often do you eat out?
• What was the last healthy thing you did? and so on...

Have a rocking weekend ahead folks and I will see you all next week xxxx

Going down the memory lane

How many of you remember this thing called the ’Slam book’ we used to have in school? Those journal/diary type things that we got our friends to fill in? I think a few of you remember me getting it filled for myself perhaps. Do you Mimi and Juhi?
Earlier this week, someone tagged me in a fun slam book type post I have seen going around in a few places online. I absolutely cannot pass up one of these things, so we are doing it today with a few mature questions of course.

A. Attached or Single? Attached (read very). Rohith and I recently celebrated three years of marriage. If you can call going through one of the most stressful seasons of our life together and yet “celebrating” then please take that back. I do call that celebrating. We are always there for each another as best as we could, stronger for it, and have a lot more to look forward to now that we are finally together.

God (and your know who) knew what He (she) was doing when they brought us together. I would have surely driven myself insane by now. Instead, I get to drive him crazy ;) Good for the both of us!

B. Chhole (chickpeas) chawal or Rajma (beans) chawal? Chhole chawal without a doubt, especially the ones made by Rohith. There is story behind it. When Rohith and I met in London, he tried to impress his cousin, Mimi and me by exhibiting his culinary skills and making chhole for dinner. They did not come out as planned as we were both jetlegged and did not know what we were doing really. All of us laughed and laughed tagging them as 'Italian chhole’. LoL!  Now, when he makes them you can absolutely be rest assured that the entire serving bowl shall be polished off. It happened recently at the 'International potluck' at Upwardly Global. They were the most devoured food item out of the entire fare and I am being constantly chased after for the recipe. No exaggeration there!

I forgot to click the after picture, when the entire foil was polished off!

C. Day of choice? Wednesday. I am choosing this day only at random. Hump day yes of course! For Rohith it’s Saturday as he says “Saturday is nicely supported by a Sunday”. LoL!
D. Essential Item? Tea. If you don’t know that about me by now then ahem ahem! I am really liking this one lately.

E. Favorite color? They were greens or blues before getting married. Now it’s red, mandarin and similar shades. The brighter the better.
F. Tom and Jerry or the Looney Tunes? This is an unfair question as I am stuck for picking one out right now.

I will give it to Tom and Jerry as watching them every time brings back fond memories from childhood.

G. Home town? Meerut, U.P. India. Born and raised and cannot seem to get out of there mentally. Even though this whole moving to NYC has been a sea change for me, I cannot stop thinking about my hometown as it is still stuck in time and of course because of my family there.
H. Favorite Indulgence? A very bitter/dark chocolate. I never really dug the milk chocolates from the beginning. Ever since Rohith gifted me Godiva dark chocolates at our first rendezvous in London, I have been hooked onto these. They work like a charm for me when I have a downer going, especially the ones with salt crystals in them.

I. January or July? July. Hello! I am tropical girl. Sorry in case someone picked January like Rohith, who lives for the cold weather.
J. Life is incomplete without? I should say my family…or Rohith…or my belief/faith. All of those are true. But life really is not complete without my Macbook. Rohith keeps teasing me that I would not be able to breath if I happen to live without it.  We fight with each other over it all throughout the weekend like kids. Then again I miss speaking with him terribly, so I guess that means my real answer is life is not complete without Rohith…and the Almighty because He brought us together!
K. Marriage date? April 11, 2010. I think we should ask Rohith to answer this one. It would be fun!
L. Number of brothers/sisters? 1 younger brother. It's a joke between us siblings. Actually its me, my younger sister, and our youngest brother. He is still living with our parents in Meerut and she is settled in Bangalore with her hubby and her adorable eighteen months’ old son, Kanha. I said one brother because of our unsaid jokes, which not even my sister understands at times!

Then again, maybe not, as my sister and I accost him every time the three of us are together. 

M. Oranges or Apples? Oranges in summer. Apples in fall. How is that for a straightforward answer? Though I have to admit that papaya is my most favorite fruit out of all.
N. Phobias? I cannot really think of any. However, to this day, I get seriously freaked out if someone shuts me in a dark bathroom. I have a vague recollection of the incident from my childhood when I was maybe 4-5 years’ old. I got stuck in a bathroom. They had to break the door down to pry open me from there. Another thing that drives me nuts are the reptiles and maybe also amphibians. It would be cruel coming out from a nature lover like me, however I really do not get excited seeing them. They range from Dinosaurs to house lizards.  My sister on the contrary is crazy about snakes. She used to talk about keeping one as pet, when we were growing up, to freak me out! Can you believe that?
O. Quotes? Love and try to practice this one on a daily basis “Blessed are those who can give without remembering and take without forgetting”.

P. Reasons to smile? Life. Life is good and a true blessing especially because of the people around me. I never forget that or them!
Q. Season of choice? Spring! So many fun activities, excitement for upcoming summertime, my most favorite season! It’s not as hot and there are so many fresh fruits and veggies to choose from!
R. Tag five People. You, you, you, you, and you. Don’t make me choose, people! That is not fair to me.
S. Unknown fact about me? I try to find spelling mistakes in restaurants' menus and I freak out if there are utensils left in the kitchen sink specifically overnight. These are eccentricities of crossing that line, you know, going over your 30s....
T. Vegetable? Methi (fenugreek leaves). They are just so versatile. I had no idea of making them with paneer (Indian cottage cheese) until my dear friend, Mimi, showed me the light. Now Rohith and I can never have enough of it whenever I make it for dinner. My Mom on the other hand loath the idea of having methi with paneer being old school I guess. LoL!
U. Worst habit? I am not much of a cleaning person. Ask Rohith. He can give you a not so exhaustive list about this habit of mine. The kitchen shall be spic and span around me, however the rest of the house is completely his prerogative. So unlike a woman. Right? So blame my sister for that. Growing up we had divided the chores of cooking and cleaning amongst ourselves and no points for guessing who did what.
V. Your favorite food? I guess that would be something I could eat all the time and never get sick of eating? Healthy answer? Salads. 

Not healthy answer? Peanut butter. Though I try to make it as healthy as possible by choosing the all natural type and eating it with a another healthy item.

W. Zodiac sign? Aagrhhh! There are so many according to all the different calendars from around the world. My birthday always falls on a day during the Thanksgiving weekend in the US, so you know that I am a Sagittarius. I am a virgo (name starting with a P) and libra (according to my date of birth) according to the Indian/Hindu calendar. According to the Chinese calendar, I was born in the 'year of the sheep’. 

Sorry to have bombarded you with such a heady post early in the morning. Wondering where I got all the energy and time to write all this down? We gave away our entire load of donation this morning and the feeling of satisfaction was quiet overwhelming for me. So I channelized it by answering all these ’trivia’ questions.

Your Turn: Pick a letter, any letter! Or just skip all my craziness and do the survey for yourself and let me know if you did!

Unique Father’s Day 2013

Beautiful lines, which personally resonate with me: "We travel, some of us forever, to seek other states, other lives, other souls.- Anaïs Nin"(Courtesy/source my friend Parul Singh’s fb wall)

Coney Island on Friday afternoon last week

Father’s day was this past Sunday, June 16. Happy Father’s Day to all the Dads out there, who read my blog, as well as to all the wives for conveying the wishes to the Fathers!

As I informed to you all in my last blog post, we decided to do something completely out of the ordinary for Father’s Day this year. I will elaborate in a minute.

So majestic

I also visited the New York Aquarium on Friday to meet their Director, as it opened recently for the visitors after rebuilding because of the superstorm Sandy.

The entire Wildlife Conservation Society's team is so industrious that I lauded their efforts in front of the Director of the Aquarium along with tweeting promptly about the same. The officials are still working out of make shift caravans, as their basement offices are yet to open. It is always a feeling of bliss and tranquility, whenever I am there. Also I miss all the cutie pies in my life a lot including Kanha, Suhasini, Rohan and Ryan to name a few, especially when I am inside the aquarium. It makes me wonder how all of these tots would react to see the fish and other sea creatures from so little distance. I have seen other kids’ reactions of course, however I am sure they do not come close to those of my munchkins :)

Cooking at home over the weekend:

We gave cooking a break on Friday evening and went to the world famous L&B Spomoni Gardens for pizza in our neighborhood. It was a beautiful evening and watching the sun set in pinkish hues while enjoying their sicilian slice is an experience of it’s own kind. 

On our way back RR spotted pineapples in the local store and promptly asked the shop guy about how to choose the best. The Mexican gentleman was very sweet and helpful as he picked up just the right one for us. I had the brainstorm to suggest grilling the pineapple for a change. RR was dreaming about eating the pineapple all night long on Friday, so here you go, first thing on Saturday morning.

Grilled pineapple for breakfast. LoL!

The pineapple was so tasty that we could not stop ourselves from going back for it again and again.
RR also promptly whipped up his signature omelets with the whole shebang of hash browns and whole wheat toast for a later Saturday brunch. Three cheers for foodie husbands, who also love to cook!

Saturday morning staple

The pineapple was one of the best and healthiest desserts that we have eaten in a long time. Do give it a try. If you would like to make it, let me know and I will be happy to share the technique, no rocket science there though.
We spent most of the Saturday just gearing up for the big chore on Sunday. We also went for some shopping and similar tasks outside, you know the usual couple chores. 

I was beat from preparing for Sunday and my big bash on Monday morning, so Saturday night cooking was also off. RR had McD for dinner and later he prepared this yum Maggi noodle soup for me. You would be surprised to know that I used to loath Maggi noodles in India. We never had those at home when we were kids. My mum had simply banished them somehow from our snacks. In school, I used to see a few kids bring Maggi noodles for lunch, which used to clog up into this gooey mess and it was absolutely repulsive. However, after coming to NYC, I have seen RR make it in such a yummy, soupy way that now I am not so opposed to them once in a while.

Soupy soul food ;)

RR has taken to making lemonade at home and we have completely banished any store bought lemonade now. In India, we call it shikanji and he likes to refer it to as neembu paani. It was a little surprising for me to know that in the States they have lemons specifically to make lemonade. We do not get that variety in India. I mean now I am sure you can find everything there, however we did not see any lemons growing up. For us, yellow colored limes were lemons in India.

All home made including the mint

I was in a mood for bagels on Sunday morning for breakfast. RR went and got some fresh onion/sesame, and multigrain kind from Dunkin Donut to be had with whipped cream. I am sure you must have seen the family guy’s sequence when Stewie pronouns 'whipped cream' in a funny way to upset Brian. If you haven’t then do check it out on youtube. He does that to the word ‘ruin' too. So hilarious!

DD's courtesy

All home made including the mint on top

I have been meaning to have saaboodana/saago’s kichadi for a long time. In the past, I have tried to make it via Juhi’s recipe, which never fails. This time I decided to give my ex-colleague, Sharad Sir’s, recipe a try. It wasn’t so bad. I guess over time it’s coming out better and better. What say Juhi? We ate it with homemade dhaniye/pudine (mint/cilantro) chutney. RR polished the entire wok.

RR paired it with his home made lemonade drink.

Home made cocktail

I had it with my favorite cozy chamomile tea.

My most favorite

Breakfast on Monday morning:

I had a very hectic Monday planned already, so I put together a quick smoothie for myself before starting my week. RR is happily taking his artistic sandwiches that I craft diligently every morning for him.

My morning staple

Freebie:

I recently got samples of this amazing paste in mail to try.

Once an Indian always and Indian. I had to add my desi twist to this Mexican sauce before actually using it. I freshened it up with some of my quick masala of fresh grated garlic, ginger and Serrano peppers before adding the actual sauce.

The end result

I went ahead to make some moth daal (whole green lentils) with this sauce. It was so flavorful. Typical East meets West combo. The peppers from the sauce gave it a very smoky and rich flavor, while the fresh additions added nuances to the entire dish. We had it for dinner over rice with chutney and persian cucumbers. 

Melody in the wok

Celebrating Father’s Day:

From the news, personal experience and otherwise, we have been learning that so many people are trying to join back the work force right now. This year Rohith and I decided that we will donate as many clothes and accessories possible to Salvation Army and to the cloth donation drive in his office to help these individuals get back to work. After all these people are someone’s Father or might be a caregiver or provider for their own fathers.

We spent the entire day on Sunday sorting, stacking and packing those for donation. It was very tiring and frustrating to sort through RR’s official wardrobe and finalize. However the reward was the satisfaction that we got after the entire exercise got over. We have decided to give away dress shirts, dress pants, ties, belts, collared tees, t-shirts, woolens and so on. Our rule, if we have not used it last summer and winter, then it has to go.

So tiring

So satisfying

The remaining week:

I have been attending a series of professional conferences and award ceremony all this week and will continue to until tomorrow evening. It feels good to be a part of something worthwhile while trying to join somewhere full time actively.

Will meet you guys sometime soon.

Have a rocking remaining week ahead folks xxx

Question of the day:

• How did you celebrate your Father’s day this year?
• Have you tried cooking something with a new sauce or recipe lately?
• Do you volunteer/donate your free time somehow? If yes, where is it and why do you choose that particular place?

Do write to me at pallavibhar at gmail dot com or comment below.

The changing colors of spring/summer

Last week picturesque

This week

Tristate residents were breathing a sigh of relief in the end of May thinking that summer is officially here when the weather changed for worse because of the passing over of Hurricane Andrea. One of my friends, Chikki, commented that how these storms are named in the US. I told him from A-Z. He said had they been in India, they would  have been named Rajeev, Pankaj and so on. LoL!

Yesterday

My apologies for falling off the map to all my readers. Last week I was ill and the week before that I was feeling blue as I was missing home a lot. Recently, one of my friends got his family to NYC from Bangladesh and his wife is missing home too. I am thinking of taking her out for coffee and some shopping to perk her up and tell her that it will only get better. This is what I keep telling myself for keeping motivated.

Cooking at home:

Over the last fortnight, I attended several professional events and symposiums along with cooking everyday at home. This is what I accomplished. I am adding the description in the caption and will provide additional comments after every dish posted in this write up for your quick reference.

Papa ji di daal’s competitor 

All of you who are from the same town as me in India (Meerut) or even remotely connected , would immediately recognize the caption of the pic. For those who are not familiar, Papa Ji is the name of a famous road side eating joint (called dhaba), which makes the most lip smacking urad/chane ki daal tadka (split chick pea lentil's curry) in Meerut. I tried it at home for the first time and it came close to the original. The only things missing were boondi ka raita and tandoori roti that we eat at the Dhaba  with this daal.

My cup runneth over with the urad daal tadka, smack!

Leftover daal tadka with Indian kachumbar salad

I can never have enough of this daal

or this cucumber along with it

Breakfast:

Breakfast over the last few weeks has been miscellaneous. I made smoothies and others depending on the time I had.

Peanut butter and banana sandwich for breakfast

Iced coffee with stuffed sandwich

I am hooked on these breakfast smoothies

Please bear with me

Avocado, tomatoes, cucumber and so on sandwich

Courtesy Rohith

This one speaks for itself

Accidental Discovery of a great snack:

I told you in my last blog post that my friend, Juhi, teased me with her creation of idli saambhar over a weekend. I tried to tease her back saying that I will make this strawberry, mango and avocado salsa for snacking on a Friday evening.

Yummy goodness

As you might notice from the pic, the chips are just leftover crumbs from the real thing. So Rohith (as always) had the brainstorm of mixing the two and the next thing you know we had this mexican chat.

Mouth watering

I cannot tell you how yummy it was. Even writing about it is bringing water to my mouth. Let me know if you would like the recipe  and I will share it with you. I added shallots instead of the red onions and sarenno peppers as we did not have any chile peppers at home. Nevertheless, the final product was restaurant quality. 
Rohith made chhole for dinner as I have been craving for them for a long time.

Rohith’s creation all three: chhole, salad and lemonade

Rohith spotted the Indian/Chinese radish in the market and requested me to make them with my Mom’s lip smacking recipe. A Russian lady asked me what it was seeing it in my grocery bag and even asked me how they were made. If only it were that easy to explain and make, I would have definitely helped her!

Healthy goodness

Artsy farsty

Semi-home made

Kadahi paneer with home made butter on the top and mint/cilantro chutney on the side  mixed parantha and pita bread  also featured as dinner, lunch and so on last week.
These two were made by hubby dear

Italian tomato salad with pita chips and humus

Vegetarian noodles

Cold beverage season officially begins at Roy’s Household:

As the weather was pleasant for a few days, Rohith and I tried every possible homemade beverage including all the following

Raspberry ice tea

Mango lassi

Strawberry lassi

Rohith’s advance father’s day lunch celebrations:

We had Baba (Rohith’s Dad) and his wife over for dinner on Sunday afternoon to celebrate Father’s Day a week in advance as we have another engagement over the coming weekend, which I will tell you about in just a minutes.

This is the star attraction of all that we prepared for them.

Tomattios being grilled with serranno and garlic 

Ta-Da Homemade authentic salsa verde

Again the reaction of the Mexican lady behind the check out counter on the grocery store was remarkable. She asked me  you buying tomatillos? I said yes, very tasty, I make them all the time at home with guacamole and tacos. She was so astounded that she called onto her friend to show her the packets in my hands! Rohith said that just imagine your reacting had you seen a Mexican buying something from India to make chhole bhature at home. LoL!

I also made pico de gallo but forgot to take a picture. So here’s a recycled picture of the same.

My Father in law and his wife polished off the entire bowl of both. No exaggeration there.  Baba commented that the only thing missing was raw mango (kachchaa aam) in my recipe to make it completely seasonal. Note to self.

Continuing the Mexican theme, Rohith gave these tacos also a try at home this week. We made and ate them so quickly that it would be a real challenge to eat them at a restaurant from now on without complaining ;)

So authentic, so tasty, so easy!

I decided to take a break from all the binging and made this healthy, quick and simple greek salad for lunch today. The turkish feta cheese block is literally a cherry on the top of this goodness. Let me know if you would like the recipe for both tacos and salad and I would be happy to share the same.

Trying to maintain weight. LoL!

I am attending two events this evening at two of my most favorite organizations. The first one is "people enjoying nature” photo shoot being organized by The Nature Conservancy to depict how people from different ethnic backgrounds perceive nature and urban settings. The second event is an International Potluck being organized by Upwardly Global to increase cooperation between skilled immigrants like myself in NYC over some food and drinks. I am taking the chana/chhole/chickpea/garbanzo beans masala/curry along with pita bread. This has been masterfully crafted by the Chef Rohith himself and I cannot thank him enough. Like I have told you in the past, I am all thumbs when it comes to cooking beans’ dishes in our home and it’s only Rohith’s forte’. Over the years, he has taken his talent to a whole other level now.

Cannot wait for everyone’s reaction to Rohith’s cooking :) 

I am in the middle of a number of things, all on professional levels that is why pardon my disappearance from social media including blogger. I was also very shocked to learn about the latest revelation in the news about our privacy online. 

Will keep you all posted. And yes I have not forgotten about the workout but truth be told, I have not worked out in more than a fortnight due to the series of events with me. I am resolving to start the same beginning tomorrow.

Weekend chore: 

So after a lot of searching and knocking on the doors, I have finally tied up with the Salvation Army to pick up all the clothes and items that we have not worn or used in the last six months to one year for donation. This will happen next week and there is also a cloth donation drive at Rohith’s work at the same time. So our entire weekend is dedicated to sorting, washing and organizing the goods for donation.

Have a rocking remainder of the week ahead folks. xxxx
Questions of the day:

• Have you accidentally discovered any fusion dish recently?
• What are your plans for the Father’s day on June 16, Sunday?
• How do you feel about the latest online privacy status’s disclosure in the news?
• Have you made any significant donation to some charity lately? If yes, what was it and which charity did you chose and why?

Do write to me at pallavibhar at gmail dot com or comment below. I would love to hear from you.