Tag: breakfast

Delicious Smoothies…!

The lovely, fruity, refreshingly cool smoothies are almost everyone’s favorite. Available in all varieties, be it fruity or veggie contained green smoothies, served with straw. So popular now, are found in all restaurants, grocery stores and even coffee shops, there’s nothing not to love about smoothies. They may sound like healthy option above all which they are undoubtedly but yes, there are some aspects to it which make not so good. They are considered healthy and come under this umbrella term because most of the time they are made of soy milk, yoghurt, frozen fruit or skim milk. They make a really good options for meal or snack when made with natural fruits. Well, let’s enumerate the health benefits of smoothies;

Smoothies keep you hydrated: Having smoothie in breakfast helps in keeping you hydrated for the whole day. This is what something like soda, tea or coffee won’t do. The body do gets water from many foods and resources, so one doesn’t need to drink water while having smoothie. As milk and yoghurt are largely water, it will quench your thirst eventually. In hot weather, it is preferable to add some extra ice cubes for extra water and the chillness.

Smoothies are perfect or Breakfast: Breakfast needs to be king size, I know you know that. Smoothies make up an excellent choice for breakfasts because they make you feel fuller and are heavy as fruits and veggies are blended together with milk or yoghurt. The classic breakfast of bread, peanut butter, jam and any fruit smoothie is easy-to-make and perfect for any day. Sipping smoothie in the morning prevents you from indulging in unhealthy urges like donuts or drive through. Also, if you have problem taking in those cod liver oil directly, you can add some drops in your smoothie and this will make it all the more nutritious.

Smoothies are Easy, Portable and Custom-made: Smoothies are really easy to make and are really good on-the-go choice. Just pick some fruits, throw them in the blender, put some milk and drink the mixture. If you own a blender, it will be ready in no time. Also, they can be stored and will stay fresh for 24 hours if kept cool and sealed in a right container and you can carry it anywhere in the car or train or gym to have it anytime you like. A vacuum flask is a right choice if you want to keep your smoothie cool and fresh on the move. Moreover, the fun part is you can add all types of ingredients you like in your smoothie and make it as per your taste and mood.

Smoothies are blend of Vitamins and Minerals: They are way better than Multi-vitamins. Drinking fruit smoothie every day is more healthful than taking those multivitamins, even recommended by nutritionists. As just a glass full provide us with enough fiber and loads of all the required vitamins and minerals. Smoothies are a true blend of nutrition. This in turn helps in digestion and may help in control blood sugar and lower cholesterol.

Smoothies are Nutrient-dense and source of calcium: Smoothies are best when they are all natural made with real fruits and veggies. The nutrient –dense ingredients provides vitamins and oils necessary for complete nutrition. A truly healthy smoothie is the one that has dietary fats in the form of cream for the body to use in assimilating the vitamins and minerals. Just simply blend bananas with skim milk or yoghurt or soy milk and get a great deal of benefits and nutrients. And yes, the milk or any base you use is a rich source of calcium, giving it all the more richness.

With all the pros of smoothies, let’s have a look on the ingredients that probably you shouldn’t be using but are preferable to put into your smoothie to make it really rich, which are like,

Aloe Vera, Pomengranate juice, Kefir, Coconut Milk, Chia seeds, Moringa powder, Milled flax seed, Spirulina etc. Well, the great news if you want to know is that if you want to lose weight, smoothies can be used as a meal replacement not an addition to it, so just take it this way and enjoy the results. Like, sip a dairy based smoothie for breakfast or water-based smoothie as a snack. All the fruit or veggie smoothie can be a healthy additional meal plan as long as you maintain proper meal portion. Its better to incorporate smoothies in your diet plan by consulting your dietician or doctor.

Some Awesome smoothie recipes:

Coconut Water-Mango smoothie:

2 cups unsweetened coconut water

Pinch of cayenne powder

2 tablespoons lime juice

2 cups ripe mango chunks

Blend all the ingredients in blender till smooth. Gulp them and enjoy the delicious smoothie.

Now, Here’s is what a really healthy green smoothie will contain, just perfect for your body;

¼ cup water

1 banana

¼ cup orange juice

1 cup spinach

¾ cup strawberries

½ cup blueberries

Blend till smooth and enjoy the green richness of the drink.

All these less calories, full of refreshment and deliciousness smoothies make up really good combination in breakfast or as a evening snack. Basically, smoothie is perfect for a busy life like present time, counts as an ideal on the go drink and is really easy to make, ready in no time. Smoothies are now-a days everywhere, people are talking about it a lot on the internet or in general. Why? Because it is Healthy. Yes, It definitely is healthy. There’s more to green smoothies but smoothies or protein shakes in any form is healthy. Though, taking fruits and veggies straightforward form is also healthy, but sipping on smoothie gives a new refreshing touch to them.

Healthy Eating. Happy Life.

January 1, 2015
Your breakfast is waiting, where are you?

Let us see what the morning is like for the following three people who decide to give the breakfast a miss.
Scene 1

A lousy you is woken up by your shouting mother. You bury your face into one of the pillows and tell her that you did not want to have breakfast and were not hungry. She shouts back that it wasn’t your choice to decide and had to have it. You go off to sleep anyway and your mother continues to shout.

Scene 2

The alarm clock strikes 8. You wake up startled and realize that you are late again. You curse yourself for forgetting such an important meeting! You take a shower hurriedly and get dressed, pick up the important files and documents, grab the wallet and the keys. You storm out of the door in an eye’s blink.

Scene 3

The sun has not even risen fully yet and you are up and going. You take a bath, offer the morning prayers. It’s time to wake up the children and the dear husband. You prepare the breakfast. You prepare the lunch and fill in their lunch boxes. At the same time, you are running around and tying your 5 year old son’s shoe laces. And who will braid the daughter’s hair but you! And oh, you got to make sure that your husband doesn’t forget the wallet and the watch again. Everyone leaves for their destinations. You are so tired by now that you simply sip in a cup of tea and watch a re-run of the last night’s television show you missed.

This is the daily routine of most of the people. Time is less and the work to be done is a lot. Or maybe it’s just ignorance. Whatever might the reason be, missing out on breakfast is not an option but a terribly bad idea. Scientists and researchers say that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. You can skip any other meal but this one. In today’s world that is so fast and furious, everyone is missing out on the importance of the morning’s meal, breakfast.
The top most important reasons for starting your day with breakfast are:

1) Re-fueling the body
Breakfast when broken into two gives its clear meaning, breaking the night long fast. You last ate at night and there happens to be a lot of time difference between the two meals if you skip breakfast and rather have lunch directly. Your body cannot endure that. You need to feed in that little boy something time to time! Like you have a timely routine to follow, the body has too. It needs to be refueled in order for it to work properly.

2) Controlled and maintained body weight
All the weight issues the mother of those two doting kids always complains about can be put to a rest. That is, if she decides to take care of herself like she takes care of her children and husband. It would take her an extra 5 minutes to sit along with them and have her breakfast. If she can do it for them, why can’t she do it for herself?
Having a timely and healthy breakfast reduces the chances of obesity and controls and maintains the body weight.

Keeps your body weight on check.

3) Lessened concentration issues
The guy who missed the breakfast because he woke up late and had an important meeting to attend will anyway be not able to concentrate in the meeting. Reason you ask? An empty growling stomach! All those lousy students in class who do not understand a thing about what the teacher is saying in the classes before lunch, can increase their concentration levels if they have a healthy breakfast. It enhances the brain power and makes you feel more energetic. Wish to attain higher grades? Start your day with a breakfast.

Concentration issues at school? Have some breakfast, you!

4) Reduced stress
The body does not get the required energy in the morning when you don’t have your breakfast. It then tends to take up whatever is available in the energy reserves and takes the fuel from them. This leaves you all irritated and stressed out due to the release of the stress hormones. You are not able to concentrate and work effectively. You do not produce a good result. On the other hand, if you do have a healthy breakfast, your energy reserves remain untouched and you remain stress free.

So much to do and so less time. Helps if you have your breakfast properly.

5) Reduced intake of unhealthy snacks
When you set out for office or school with an empty stomach, hunger creeps in hours before lunch. And as lunch is a time where you sit and eat a proper meal, it is not convenient for you to have a full meal before it, even if you maybe very hungry. Hence you decide to have some sort of snack here and some sort of snack there in order to quieten the growling stomach. The intake of such unhealthy snacks disrupts the functioning of the body. It also increases fat and sugar levels. The metabolism of the body gets adversely effected. A healthy breakfast in the morning kills the cravings for junk foods all together.

Say no to munching on unhealthy snacks! time for breakfast.

6) Reduced risk of chronic diseases
There are certain vitamins and minerals that only the breakfast can provide. Having a balanced and healthy breakfast reduces the risk of chronic diseases like heart attack by maintaining the cholesterol levels. A proper intake of breakfast maintains the blood sugar levels and reduces the risk of diabetes.

Keep your cholesterol in check by having a healthy breakfast.

All the points very well establish the fact that it is extremely necessary to have a balanced, nutritious and energy enhancing breakfast. If you had to opt for one meal out of the three, go for breakfast. It is the meal that lets you survive the day.

July 7, 2014
Good Morning, Breakfast!

Did you have your Breakfast today? If yes, then good going! But if not, C’mmon! You can’t skip it. Breakfast really is the most important meal of the day. You should prioritize it, even when you’re late or even when you’re not willing to have it. Yes, your mom is right. Breakfast is something which gives life to your day. It is actually important and is the first and foremost meal of the day. To have a fresh start in your lovely mornings, breakfast is must for everyone. Not only it gives us energy to start a day, it is also linked with many health benefits, which we can avail. Eating breakfast is important to everyone, especially to children and adolescents as they are in their growing stage. According to American dietetic association,”Children who eat breakfast perform better in the classroom and on the playground, with better concentration, problem solving skills and eye-hand coordination.” Even there’s one theory that suggests that eating a healthy breakfast can reduce hunger throughout the day and also help you to make better food choices on other meals and also control cravings and thus in turn makes your weight less instead of those who are breakfast skippers. Obviously, your breakfast must be rich in protein or whole grain and vitamins and nutrients and not the ones loaded with fats and calories.
With all this, unavoidable stuff morning, I am enlisting some of the key benefits of Breakfast. If you are trying to maintain a healthy diet, consider the following reasons to have your fancy breakfast each and every morning.
Weight control: Many studies have shown that people who eat breakfast tend to weigh less than the ones who skip their breakfast. It’s worth noting that the studies linking breakfast to weight control loss looked at a healthy breakfast routine containing protein and whole grains; not meals loaded with fats and calories. So, breakfast eaters are leaner and this pretty good reason to always have a healthy happy breakfast.
It keeps you in a good mood: First and foremost, since your body won’t think that it’s starving after a nutritious meal in the morning, it’s easier to get in a good mood and stay that way. This also provides you with needed energy to help you get throughout the day, which can keep your mood bright and optimistic. Feeding yourself in the morning will keep your spirits up and can also help to regulate your blood sugar levels through lunch time, which plays a vital role in your mood upliftment. Overall, eating something for breakfast is always better than eating nothing at all.
It keeps you from Binging: Obviously, if you eat up good in the morning, you won’t feel the urge to famish on something or binge eating can be avoided. As, not eating breakfast can save you from some calories for the time being, but it prepares for the day failure as you won’t feel energetic. This is because not feeding your body for several hours overnight, a lack of food in the morning will leave you hungry very early in the day and then when lunch time rolls down, you’re more likely to choose a food high in fat and calories to satisfy your food cravings. If you hold off till dinner, you will most probably feel an overwhelming urge to snack all night along, which is just a bag of calories.
It increases your Metabolism and makes you feel more energized: When your body receives food in the morning, it tells your brain that you’re going to need to start working to digest it which warms up the metabolism so it’s ready to work throughout the day. But when you don’t eat breakfast in the morning, slows down your metabolism, which results in a decrease in the amount of calories you burn all day long. Eating breakfast is a great way to get your metabolism working well for the day.

Here are some creative, simple-to-make, healthy ideas for maximizing the most important and the first meal of the day.
Breakfast Sandwich: You can make it by topping English whole wheat bread or Indian chapatti with 1 ounce ham and a flavored mustard. Pair it with fresh fruit and low fat cheese.
Berries and muffins: Split open a small bran muffin (you can get it easily from supermarket) and place on a plate. Top it with a fresh berries an some nuts and a dollop of fresh yoghurt.
Bagel and chutney: its very tasteful for anyone and especially for one who loves mangoes. Spread mango chutney on a small bagel, and pair it with a cottage cheese sprinkled with cinnamon.
Breakfast Shake: Blend 1 cup fat free milk or plain yoghurt with ½ cup fruit, 1 teaspoon wheat germ and add 1 teaspoon nuts or nut butter and whirl and your shake is ready.
Big Breakfast is way healthier than big dinner. You must have heard that saying, “Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a pauper.” This simple quote is a great way to remember that how to eat throughout the day and balance your diet. Not only it gives a nice and peaceful start to the day, but it is also good for brain and bodily health. So, never forget or skip your super-awesome breakfast.

Happy and Healthy Breakfast. Happy Life.

June 24, 2014
For Impatient Souls- Food you can cook within 20 MINUTES!!

Food. Food. Food.

Has a nice ring to it, doesn’t it?

I grew up watching my grand moms and my mom cook food with a glint in their eye, a smile on their face. And along with the dose of MasterChef that imbedded itself in my brain (you can almost visualize an obese teenager sitting in front of the TV gawking at the delicacies being cooked, half mouth open, dazed eyes, with a hopeful future culinary dream), I gradually (not-so-gradual) fell in love with food. From Tandoori Chicken to Sweet Corn and Mushroom Pasta, from Mutton Biriyani to Risotto Primavera, from Misti Doi to Rhubard and Lemon Curd Cake, from Sweetened Kesari Lassi to Double Berry Smoothie, from Spicy Samosas to Cheese Scones – I opened my arms to all. Or, should I say stomach?

I learned to cook, as most children do at one point or the other.

I make the best Gajar ka Halwa(a Carrot sweet dish) in my family. No kidding. But that ‘hopeful future culinary dream’? Well, that’s taken a standstill.

Because, there’s a small glitch.

I don’t have much patience. I love food. I really do. But after the first half hour of cooking time, all my patience is lost. This usually ends in two ways: either I’ll leave the kitchen(an utter mess by now) heart wretched and defeated, be awfully thankful for my SuperMom who’ll clean up and finish cooking the meal in a jiffy, OR I’ll be irritated as hell, yet seize the damned crockery and continue cooking- the end result being a half burnt cake or inedible chicken curry or under seasoned fish or… oh, you get the drift.

And as usual, SuperMom to the rescue – a couple of weeks later, a couple of recipes (short ones) down, I was ready to take on the world.

WOO-HOO!

So, for similar souls like me, here are a couple of under-20-minutes recipes to try out and impress your family, friends and more.

(My YUM-shake)

Chocolaty Banana Milkshake

Time: 3 minutes

Ingredients: 2 ripe bananas, 2 tbsp honey, half a bar of good quality chocolate (I used one whole DairyMilk. I love that chocolaty gooiness), 450 ml of milk, vanilla ice cream

Directions: Put bananas, honey, chocolate, milk and 2 scoops of vanilla ice cream in a blender. Blend until smooth and frothy. Pour it in a glass. Put 2 more scoops of vanilla ice cream on top. Serve chilled.

(A sick-day savior)

Cauliflower Soup

Time: 15 minutes

Ingredients: 1 chopped onion, ½ thinly sliced leek, 2 crushed garlic cloves, 1 roughly chopped cauliflower, 750 ml of milk, 50g grated Parmesan, chives, butter to cook

Directions: Cook onion, leek and crushed garlic cloves in a knob of butter until soft. Add chopped cauliflower and the milk. Cover and simmer until the cauliflower is tender.

Place everything into a blender and blitz until smooth. Stir in grated Parmesan, ladle into bowls and finish with a few snipped chives scattered on top.

(A filling snack)

Egg and Raisin Sandwiches

Time: 5 minutes

Ingredients: 3 eggs, 1-2 tbsp mayonnaise, 2 tbsp raisin, white bread, butter

Directions: Hard boil the eggs. Let cool before peeling and finely chopping. Mix with mayonnaise, raisin and some seasoning. Spread 2-3 slices of white bread with 2 tbsp softened butter, top with the egg mix and sandwich with 2-3 more slices of bread. Cut into mini triangles and Serve.

(Something I can eat a dozen of)

Apple Muffins

Time: 25 minutes

Ingredients: 200 ml buttermilk, 1 large egg, 1 tbsp vegetable oil, 2 tsp vanilla extract, 200 g flour, 100g caster sugar,1 tspn baking powder, 1 tspn bicarbonate of soda, 2 small apples

Directions: Heat oven to 170C and line 8 holes of a muffin tin with muffin cases. Whisk together the buttermilk, egg, oil and vanilla extract. Mix the flour, sugar, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda in a bowl. Peel, core and roughly chop the apples. Quickly fold the wet ingredients and apple into the dry ingredients. Spoon the batter into the muffin cases and bake for 20 minutes. Cool for a couple of minutes in the tin before moving to a cooling rack. Serve warm or cold.

(A twist to the ever-popular omelette)

Omelette

Time: 15 minutes

Ingredients: ½ chopped onion, 1 diced red pepper, 1 diced tomato, 50 g chopped mushrooms, 1 finely diced potato, 4 eggs, a pinch of oregano, oil and butter to cook

Directions: Heat 1 tsp vegetable oil in a non-stick frying pan over a medium heat. Add potato, mushrooms, onion, tomato and red pepper. Cook for 8-10 minutes to soften, and then tip out the veg. Lightly beat the eggs. Sizzle a small knob of butter in the pan, add the eggs, allow to set and then spoon the vegetables over the egg. Cover with lid. After 2 minutes, open the lid and sprinkle a pinch of oregano. Serve hot.

(And my personal all-time favourite)

Pancakes

Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients: 300g flour, 1 tsp baking powder, 1 tbsp caster sugar, 2 eggs, maple syrup, 300 ml of milk, butter to cook and a pinch of salt to taste

Directions: Mix flour, baking powder, caster sugar and salt in a large bowl. Crack in the eggs and whisk until smooth. Add 1 tbsp maple syrup and the milk while whisking. Heat a splash of oil and a small knob of butter in a non-stick frying pan until sizzling, Add spoonfuls of batter to make the pancakes. Cook until bubbles start to form on the surface, then flip and cook the other side. Keep the pancakes warm in a low oven while you cook another batch. Serve them drizzled with extra maple syrup.

Image Courtesy-www,gizmag.com

May 23, 2014