It has been long since I invested in a good cook book. I have been collecting cook books from my college days and have more than 200 plus of them crying out for space in my shelf. Somehow most of the books are mere hard copies I hardly refer to for my cooking.

Recently I came across a cook book ‘Cooking At Home With Pedatha’ written by the wonderful duo Jigyasa Giri and Pratibha Jain. The book instantly caught my attention with the elegant cover and the subtle colors giving it an aesthetic look. The simple grandma’s recipes with useful tips and perfect pictures to match up with easily connects with the readers at the first sight.

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.

Never knew the worth of mom’s cooking until I started to cook myself. All of a sudden the spices did not impart the same flavors, veggies did not taste as fresh as they did when she cooked with them and there was always something missing in the final recipe. Could not figure out the reason for quite a long time, till I discovered the secret ingredient in all her recipes and that is ‘The love‘ which she pours every time in it when she cooks.

We do differ in many aspects of life and cooking, which include her love for oil and chilly and her ways of parenting. But then such differences are what makes life more spicy and worth living 🙂 And yes I do love you Mom!

Summer vacations for children and my kitchen counter is all strewn up with chocolate shavings, marshmallow bits, cookie cutters and all that excite their fancy. My mommy cap is on to create special dishes to please the children and also keep them interested in eating food which is healthy and scrumptious as well. Food which should be exciting enough to make them forget the cravings for the junk foods they always love to have given a chance. These grilled cottage cheese and soya nuggets kebabs proved to be a right choice for a great weekend. Crisp, healthy and a great munchy recipe to snack upon while playing a favorite board game together in the hot wheather.

When summer is here, how can Salads be far! Chilled and colorful Salads become a staple food for me during the sultry hot summer months. Nothing can be as refreshing and nourishing than a bowl of fresh salad with a perfect dressing to match with. And salads become wholesome if there is a hint of wholegrain, lentils and vegetables in it. If you get to know the correct formula for making the salad dressing than you have won half the battle, rest is just selection, mixing and serving the salad.

I posted a few salad dressings which I often use to pep up my salads. These are easy to make and can be stored for a few days in refrigerator. Selection of vegetable depends upon the place you live, as I don’t get many exotic veggies that are commonly used in an English or a French salad. But I make do with my indigenous veggies and, believe me, they taste heavenly. Moreover salads are the only recipe which does not require preset rule just as baking or any other forms of cooking. You just need to select your veggies, make dressing of your choice and Voila’! – you are done with your recipe 🙂 You can always adjust the dressing and the veggies according to your taste.

Make way for  Salads since summer is here! Versatile, scrumptious and healthy Salads make a refreshing meal in itself.  And making a good salad needs a little bit of knowledge about which oil to use and what kinds of Vinegars would go well. The most common ratio for a perfect salad is one part vinegar to three parts oil, with spices of personal taste.  A good dressing should be mild and not overpowering and should be able to bring out the best of flavours from the vegetables and fruits in it.

Homemade salad dressing add extra zing to the salad, and its quite economical and healthy too, as you can adjust the fats in the dressing according to your taste.

A Zucchini Sunday! Yes the weekend was dedicated to this summer squash and its delicacies. Baked a Zucchini bread, a brownie and savory pancakes with my Zucchini. These Zucchini pancakes are quite easy and quick to make and can be a delightful breakfast.

Weekend dinner is a time when my family look forward to something exciting and delectable on our dinning table if we have no plans to eat out. The onus falls on me invariably 🙁 to think and cook something unusual and appetizing as well! And Paella (pi-AY-ya) an exotic rice dish from Spain, normally made with seafood and seasoned with saffron and other spices is selected for this weekend dinner menu. The recipe is quite easy to prepare and taste good with black olives. I could not get black Olives and made it with the veggies sitting in my refrigerator.

Quiche is one of those exotic European dishes baked with cheese, eggs and milk mixture which can make a very filling and healthy meal in itself. And home baked Quiche has an advantage of adding extra veggies and also curbing those fats which makes it quite heavy. Simple & easy to make, a Quiche can adopt various forms with the savory to sweet fillings you add in the baked pastry. The eggs used in the filling gives Quiche a light and fluffy texture, but believe me this egg less version tastes as good as if not the exact version, of the French Quiche 🙂

During weekdays with hectic school schedule and busy office routine, breakfast is the only effective meal time when I can stuff my kids and hubby with all the goodness of veggies, fruits, nuts and cereals.

Over the years I have experimented with various breakfast recipes liked by my family and which also give me ample time in the morning rush hours besides providing them with good nutrition. And Vegetable Sandwich is one such recipe I count upon.