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My favorite salad recipes

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I love salads more than burgers. Yes you heard it right! I think, taste always take a backseat when health is on mind. I am always on my on trip to make my own versions of salad every now and then. It gives me immense sense of satisfaction to quickly make my own bowl of salad when I want to go a little light on my dinner. Here I bring you some of my favorite salad recipes.

Chickpea salad

In a bowl, toss cooked chickpeas, cucumber, tomatoes, onions, lettuce, bell pepper, carrots and season it with olive oil, garlic (minced), tahini sauce, lemon, honey, black pepper, salt. Canned chickpeas are a good ready to use option; however if using uncooked version, cook it in a cooker for 5-10 mins.

Spaghetti salad

Cook spaghetti as per instructions. In a plate, add chopped spinach, bell pepper, tomatoes, corns, spaghetti and season it with olive oil, Italian seasoning (oregano, thyme, parsley), parmesan cheese, salad dressing ( I used Kraft Thousand Island) lemon juice, salt, black pepper.

Quinoa salad

Cook quinoa for 10 mins or as per instructions. In a bowl, toss your veggies bell pepper, corns, lettuce, carrots, salt, green chili and into it add cooked quinoa. Quinoa is a superfood, however it’s rich in its carb content. Just need to watch the quantity if you don’t want to consume too much of carb.

Mexican salad bowl

In a bowl take cooked (or canned) beans, greens (lettuce, cucumber, bellpepper, avocados, cabbage), corns, tomato onion salsa and season with myonnaise, ranch seasoning mix, taco seasoning, lemon and salt.

For salsa: Finely chop onions, tomatoes, garlic, pepper, red chilli powder, lemon, cilantro, and salt. You can also coarsely grind all the ingrediends in a grinder.

Cajun spice corn salad

Take corns, cucumber, onion, tomatoes in a bowl. Since it is a corn salad, take half the quantity of corns and rest of the ingredients half of it. In another bowl mix together myonnaise, cajun spice and greek yogurt and season your salad with it. You can also add sour cream instead of greek yogurt.

Note: Since store bought cajun spice has a blend of other spices along with salt, you don’t need to add salt in the seasoning mix.

Classic Garden salad

In a bowl, toss lettuce, spinach, cherry tomatoes, carrots, bell-pepper, cheddar cheese, and season it with olive oil, parmesan cheese, lemon juice, Italian seasoning, salt, black pepper. Add croutons. You can buy croutons from store or make your own batch.

Oats Frittata

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Frittata or the Italian omelette, as we can call it, is my favorite delish these days. Just adding some amount of oats to the eggs, gives you necessary dose of protein and fiber and keeps you full for longer.

Ingredients:

3 eggs
½ cup oats (powdered)
3-4 cloves garlic
1 onion, chopped
1/2 cup veggies, chopped (carrots, capsicum, spinach)
Salt, pepper (as per taste)
2 tsp oil
A pinch of Italian seasoning
1 tbsp parmesan cheese
2 tbsp milk

Directions:

• In a bowl, add eggs, powdered oats, seasoning, cheese, milk, salt, pepper and whisk it.
• Heat oil in a pan.
• Add garlic, onions sauté for a while and then cook veggies for 5 mins.
• Pour mixture on the pan, cover and cook for 8 to 10 mins.
• Flip to get golden color.
• Slice into wedges and serve.

5 Oat-licious breakfast ideas! se

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Got bored of your same old oatmeal recipe?! Here are some great ideas to include the very healthy and the very versatile oats in your breakfast. These are so easy to make, or to arrange as I might say, that they will save hours of your day. Plus, these are for sure to keep you healthy and hearty.

Yogurt Parfaits

These gorgeous looking cups are as tasty as attractive they seem. They make a perfect grab-n-go breakfast, quick snack or an an eleventh hour treat. Choose your favorite yogurt and arrange rest of the ingredients in a cup and you are good to go!

Oats Frittata

Frittata or the Italian omelette, as we can call it, is my favorite delish. Just adding some amount of oats to the eggs, gives you necessary dose of protein and fiber and keeps you full for longer.

Energy Bars

These energy bars are our family’s favorite. These bars are not only wholesome, but also highly adaptive and can be varied with a number of ingredients. These are super fun and easy to make.

Overnight oats chia pudding

This one comes as a life saver on very busy mornings. Just soak oats and chia overnight or for a few hours and enjoy it with your favorite topping.

Oats poha (beaten rice)

Oats poha can be called a healthier version of the very savory and hearty Poha (or the beaten rice). It is cooked in the same way as the regular poha. All it needs is to replace the beaten rice with the old fashioned oats.

Motherhood— a ride of emotions, so conflicting yet so real!

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When you weren’t here, my mind was filled with thoughts so unsure,
When you were blessed on us, you became my world, my strength and my cure.

Seeing you crawl, walk, and grow is undoubtedly the happiest emotion of my being,
Yet the thought of you outgrowing my lap brings a tear in my heart and a reminder of time fleeing.

At times, my space and my time is something I so badly yearn for,
Yet the feeling of you not being around is so greatly I abhor.

When I scold or feel angry for you not understanding the good that you are told,
The greater pain is mine and all I want to is give you invisible hugs, kisses and love manifold.

I nurture you, nourish you and do everything that gives you wings to fly,
Yet always want you to need me no matter how high is your sky!

I might want to be a nightingale of the woods, princess in the ivory or damsel of the dreams,
Yet find greatest joy in rattling toys, bedtime stories, silly chases and happy screams.

I want you to be the apple of everyone’s eye for whom love would endlessly surmount,
Yet want you to always be the baby whose world in my arm would surround.

When I am stacked with the duties of a mother and the day just drains me to the core,
The time feels quick to have flown by and I wish if I could have soaked in those moments just a bit more.

You give me immense strength to know what my body and soul is capable to hold,
At the same time, leave me so vulnerable with insecurities, fears, worries unknown and untold.

I might be complaining of my aches and pains and sleepless nights,
Yet, can’t thank God enough for having you by my side whom I could cuddle tight.

It might appear to the world that I made you or brought you into existence,
But to me, its you who made me and let me know my substance.

No words can be enough to explain this ride so confusing,
Just a feeling that sums up all the extremes of this amazing tale of raising!

STEAM activities that are super fun and engaging for kids

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Arranging layers of atmosphere in a glass


The layers of atmosphere in a glass—well, doesn’t that sound interesting! Give your child five different edible or non edible items of your choice to make different layers of atmosphere and label them.

Making a miniature garden


This is a super fun activity for kids and adults alike. For us it was! We took a hollow pan and layered it with soil and grass. We then arranged a garden house, painted rocks, pebbles for the path, pipe cleaners for flowers and entrance, twigs for fencing, bench and sign board and some fake plants.

Have your own theme of the garden and you are good to experiment with any itsy bitsy stuff for your garden.

Dissecting a flower


This is an interesting way to study about a flower and its parts. Grab a flower from your garden and dissect all its parts to get a clearer understanding of their anatomy and functions.

Making a skittle rainbow


Arrange the skittles around the edge of the plate in a single row. Pour over enough warm water (mivrowaved for around 3 minutes) to cover all the skittles and the plate itself. Watch and wait as a rainbow appears on the plate, and you get a whirl of color moving towards the centre.

Making models of simple machines


We are surrounded by machines all around us. Make model of some common simple machines and find out how it makes the work easier. Lever, pulley, wheel and axel, inclined plane, screw and wedge being the simple machines that can be studied.

Matching the flags of countries


Get two sets of printable containing flags of different countries of the world. Match flags of countries with their respective capitals on the globe. A great engaging activity for your geographic learner!

Doing shadow drawing


Ask your kid to grab a piece of paper and an object to draw and go out on a sunny day. All they get a wonderful piece of artwork that they can proudly boast of.

Learning about capillary action

Turn a white flower into a colored one using food dye. Fill a bowl or glass with water, add some food color and leave a white flower into it overnight. You will see it change its color.

This demonstrates that water moves through the plant by means of capillary action. Specifically, how the water is pulled through the stem and then makes its way up to the flower.