Think of a dessert and fresh fruits top my list hands down. A bowl of sliced juicy strawberries, apples and grapes sprinkled with castor sugar or with fresh yogurt is what I and my hubby crave for. There is always a difference of opinion at home, my children love to settle for a  chocolate bar if there is just plain fruits for dessert. But they look pretty cool of late, now that they know their food blogger mama  needs to update her blog with a recipe every week 🙂

Millet – these tiny pearls of wholegrain reminds me of the colorful Love birds we used to keep at home. I and my brother were assigned the job of  feeding the birds with a handful of Bajra (a millet variety) before leaving to school. The same Bajra was also hulled in a stone mortal and pestle by mom to remove the husks and use the grains for making Khichdi and other recipes.

But I am sure mom did not know that these tiny grains are a powerhouse of nutrients and one of the best gluten free foods. I wish she could read all the info regarding Millets and feel proud of introducing millets in our diet at such early stage, thanks mom 🙂

Time flies when you are having fun! If year 2010 was more about me and my recipes on Lite Bite, 2011 opened new vistas in terms of my blogging career, personal growth and to treasure some lovely foodie friends across the globe.

The endeavor which started just to keep myself busy while the kids were in school has now taken me completely in its stride. What with hours of browsing ‘how to topics’ on writing, photography, web design, SEO and the likes, apart from trying out  recipes which are lite and just right for good health. And yes, this non techie mom who was even scared to look at the HTML and PHP codes some time back does a little bit of editing on her own now 🙂

With the countless scrumptious versions of aromatic Biryani coming from different regions, there is no reason left why we should not call this exotic dish an indigenous recipe of India. Every state in India has its own flavor and ways to cook a prefect biryani, if long grain basmati rice is used in the northern region, the short grain rice makes a delicious biryani in south India.

A lot has been going around with school working in full swing for children and the AFBHLS series on Lite Bite. My drafts which are already brimming with recipes and pictures is what I count on when there is less time to bake. Cookies are the most easiest of goodies which could be baked with very few ingredients in a shortest possible time.

I baked these Peanut butter wholewheat cookies at my mom’s place on her demand, to impress her neighbors who were eager to meet her food blogger daughter! She watched me baking these cookies and called her friends for evening tea. I could not get chocolate chips there and replaced the same with a handy Fruit & Nut Vochelle chocolate bar. And needless to say these peanut butter cookies made me a star of her colony 🙂

I like how versatile this humble grain Rice could be in various forms of cuisines world over. From more exotic Sushi to Risotto to the simple curd rice from South India, this ancient grain has come a long way. Though I am not a rice loving person, having married in a place where every day starts with rice and ends with it made me reinvent some of the very famous rice recipes here. Now my menu boasts of many easy to make and scrumptious rice recipes I learned from my MIL and friends here.

And yes if you are already bored with the time consuming & tedious cooking methods of your Risottos and the Shahi Pulav these quickies will win you over hands down 🙂

With the summer vacation coming to an end and the children gearing up for the school, the days are going to be more hectic and short. Gone are the days of late night outings and no wake up calls in the mornings. Hitler rule prevails again 🙂 Need a good revision of lunch box recipes to be packed to school for the kids.

Okra and potatoes being the two most favorite veggies for my kids are often packed with Indian flat breads along with a fruit or fruit juice. The one recipe which wins hands down for my son’s lunchbox is this Peanut butter stuffed Okra.

Time flies when you are enjoying what you are doing and doing what you enjoy the most. And I thoroughly enjoyed my vacation at my native Udaipur. Learned to cook a few authentic recipes from mom, visited all the historical places which were in my wish list for long and most important met many of my schoolmates after almost 30 years!

Mom made these two versions of Stuffed flat breads or Parathas for my travel food. My kids dislike air travel and given a choice would always prefer trains over flights. They love to watch green fields, rivers, animals and villages over the dull and gray clouds 🙂 so I booked for the flight for one way and came back by train.

Eating healthy meals and including foods which does wonders to your body is no easy task. Our palates are more accustomed to eating what we eat day in and day out. And adding or excluding anything from the regular meal demands a big challenge. The onus invariably falls on the mom to make the recipe more appeasing for her family to at least try out the so called healthy foods. But for these Muffins, I could have never imagined my kids eating wheatgerm and banana which has past its prime! I was really surprised when I saw my kids reaching out for these muffins with a big smile. Chocolate chips were added to deceive them …mission accomplished 🙂

Barley reminds me of my pregnancy when I had to gulp that glassful of white, odorless and tasteless fluid religiously. Times have changed after the constant browsing and learning more about food and health through internet. Though there are schools which are for and against the wholegrain in diet, I go with the former. As I don’t make the wholegrain as my staple food but add them as a supplement with my veggies, fruits and lentils.