I think I’ve set an all time personal record for the longest blogging lull in this space. It’s been almost four weeks since my last post. I do have a valid excuse this time though. We are going on a much awaited vacation in couple of days and it got extremely crazy at work trying to finish up everything before the vacation. To top it all, I got sick. Okay, it is just a cold and it started just yesterday, so I guess that doesn’t really count as an excuse. …

When someone tells me that they don’t like salads, I always think that they might be using the wrong dressing. Of course I don’t tell them that as I don’t like giving out unsolicited advice (except here on this blog. Here it is really not unsolicited, is it? You are reading out of your free will ). I think some of those store bought readymade salad dressings can turn someone off of salads forever! And let’s not even get into the health factor. Most of these prepackaged dressings …

It is not yet soup weather here in Seattle, but then again I am not really one of those by-the-season eaters anyway. I can have a nice hearty bowl of soup even when it is 100F outside, provided there is air conditioning inside. This soup was invented out of necessity last week as a quick fix lunch by throwing a bunch of ingredients together from the pantry and the fridge, aren’t all good dishes invented that way? I didn’t have any chicken or vegetable stock in hand, so I used …

We had one of those Seattle weekends, the perfect kind that makes us forget all about the lousy weather we’ve been having for the past few months. Unlike last weekend, this time I did way too much stuff that I am already looking forward to the next weekend to sleep this one off! In between all the fun I managed to go to Pike Place Market to grab some of the fresh summer bounty.  I love going to Pike Place on weekends, especially on beautiful sunny weekends. Every single tourist …

Third day on the hunger challenge and I am beginning to appreciate the cause more and more with each passing day. We both worked pretty late today and normally after a late night like that, we just get some take-out without thinking twice about it. Obviously that wasn’t an option today, we had to come home and make dinner. I was so worn out that I could’ve just eaten some bread and crashed. But I wanted to do this right; my whole intention for this challenge was to share some …

This is my last SBD weekly update post, till I get to my target weight. SBD has become a way of life for me, with occasional indulgences. In some ways I think I might be in Phase 3 already, but I still have 4.5lbs to lose, so I am officially sticking to Phase 2. Weight loss is really slow now, it has been toggling up and down 0.2-0.3 lbs every day, which sounds like a plateau to me. But at the end of the week I am 0.7lbs down from …

I know it’s been a while since I posted anything. I’ve been so lazy lately to sit down and type a post. But today I really needed a distraction. A box of candy is putting my morals and willpower to test. It is not a long story, but I do tend to ramble when I am in such predicaments, so bear with me here!
It all started this Halloween, when a real estate agent living in our building distributed candies to everyone. He left a small box of candies along with …

You know how they say you can form a habit by repeating an action twenty one days in a row. I’ve never been able to do this intentionally. Certain actions become a habit on their own, take blogging and blog hopping for example. For months, I used to do it every day, a quick run through of my favorite blogs with the morning coffee, a more in depth reading and commenting after dinner, and three to four posts of my own per week.
Looks like it is so much easier to …

Isn’t summer supposed to be the season of leisure? In my case it is quite the opposite! When I announced the “Grill It!” event this month, I had big plans. There were dreams of grilling at least twice a week. There were plans to grill everything – fruits, meat, seafood, vegetables, pizza – you name it! Even a jalapeno corn bread from one of my Grilling books was going to be tried out. It turns out that I was getting way ahead of myself as usual. Half a month is already gone by …

So, which Sex and the City character are you? If I must choose, I might fit somewhere between a Carrie and a Miranda. I am a big SATC fan- well, of the early seasons, it went downhill towards the end- but I can’t believe the hype that this movie’s got! It is like the Star Wars for women, I read somewhere that women across the country are going to go dressed up as their favorite SATC character! Ok guys, wipe that smirk off your faces, at least the ladies are …

Fair Trade, Certified Humane, Organic, Homegrown, Sustainable, Local -Are you as confused by these labels as I am? You want to eat right, but how do you define what is right anymore? I know it is an age old debate - the merits of local vs organic, but even that is not the end of the problem. Every new article I read, someone is preaching a new buzzword! How do you keep up?
I would like to do my part for the environment, try to stop the increasing food costs, but it …

I pretend to be a great chef. I try to believe that cooking is therapeutic, but I don’t really believe that! I do like to pretend that I am a big time cook, I love the accolades that come with it. I love the glory so much that I’ve even deluded myself into thinking that I actually enjoy cooking. But there are so many other things I’d rather be doing. 
Therapeutic, yeah right! I think watching TV is therapeutic, reading is relaxing and happy hour is pure bliss. But cooking, it …

I am not a habitual list maker, but when things start to pile up so much that there is no way one can possibly get through it all without missing something, even I resort to making a prioritized list. The problem here is that I keep adding more to the list as soon as I strike something off it.  I have barely four more days to get through them all, that is the reason I’ve been so bad in replying to comments and visiting fellow bloggers lately.
To top it all, …

Cooking for one is not fun. When Siv goes away on a business trip, I normally resort to leftovers and take-outs if I don’t find anyone to go out with. I am too lazy to cook an elaborate meal just for myself. I am not into eating out alone either! I can do pretty much everything alone, I am proud of being quite self sufficient, but hate sitting in a restaurant by myself.  Sometimes I am forced to, like on all day shopping trips to the mall and on business trips …

I haven’t been cooking much lately. After about three months of social hiatus, there was a lot of catching up to do. When my parents were in town, I spent all my spare time with them. I think that is the least one can do for their parents, especially when they visit only once in a blue moon. Luckily all our friends are very understanding, and we could pick up right where we left off. Since most all of our social interactions are centered around food, be it going out with …

Think Spice…Think Cumin! That’s what Sunita told us to do this month. Yes, I’ve been thinking about cumin for the whole month, and finally the deadline was here, without any original ideas in my head! So, I took the easy route out, and modified my easy-breezy salad dressing recipe a little bit to incorporate cumin, and I’ve to say the result was pretty good! I was a little hesitant about using cumin in salads. As much as I love cumin, a little bit extra can ruin the whole dish! But somehow, …

Arugula is a small spicy green leaf with a peppery flavor and is normally combined with milder tasting greens in mixed greens salad. Some think it is too bitter, I think it is an acquired taste, I really love that peppery taste and regularly use this in salads. Arugula and almonds processed to a smooth paste makes a nice side dish for grilled meat. According to Wikipedia, Arugula has been grown as a vegetable in the Mediterranean area since Roman times, and was considered an aphrodisiac. Like most other salad greens, Arugula is …