Food Food Food.....

Almost everyone in this world are food lovers so am I. Afterall we earn for good food and peaceful sleep... I became a food lover only after I came to UK because thats when I really missed my mom's food. The more I craved, the more I missed my mom ;) That was the begining of my cooking.
Thanks to my husband, who invited most of his friends home, which made a big difference in my life. I started loving the art of cooking. And I enjoyed the pleasure in having good food. Above all, the appreciations from friends were really motivating..
Later, I started exploring new items from the net, from my friends, and my personal experimentation. I realised its not only the taste that matters, its how healthy your food is which matters a lot.. So gradually I changed my cooking style into tasty and healthier ones. So I wished to share some healthy tips that I gathered all these days and that I implemented in my cooking as well because HEALTH IS WEALTH...
* V all know dhall is rich in protein. But do we know that the thoor dhall v get in market is a refined one. The fiber and rich protein content of dhall is actually removed in the process of refining. I am sure everyone must have come across Red / green lentils in supermarket. They are the ones that are not completely refined and is rich in fiber and protein. Making a sambar from red/green lentils will surely not taste like the sambar made of thoor dhall. But we can make a slight alteration by adding quarter portion of red or green lentil to the thoor dhall and cook. It taste like the exact sambar and also we can have the satisfaction of having some healthy fiber rich food. As time goes, you can add more of lentils and lessen the thoor dhall.. I have made it, we liked it very much..
* Pasta..... A v good italian recipe.. I am sure most of us like it. I have seen many friends (even me!!) cook pasta, when they are bored to cook any other stuffs which are time consuming. The cooking time of pasta matters. Then just adding sauce to it will make a whole dish. Also pasta is made of durrum wheat which is very good for health and makes a good tiffin at night. I slightly modified the pasta by adding chopped spring onions and some colored peppers and finaly chopped cilantro. It tasted great with an additional health factor to it!!!
* I always try and make sure I dont cook rice for dinner. Research says, having rice at dinner will tend to put more weight.. I find it really true. Initially when I came to UK, I lost the pattern of having food on time, my complete metabolism just changed. I faced gastric problems due to it which I didnt have till then.. Also my stomach was always bloated. I gradually changed my eating pattern. I ll try to have early dinner within 7pm and make sure there is no rice in our dinner. It will be a very light tiffin like chapathi's, pasta, upma, dosa, idly etc. Then I take lots of fruits and drink so much water. Now I dont face such problems that I had earlier.
* Smoothiess.... I have never heard of smoothie until I came to UK. I didnt like the one I got from supermarkets. Somehow I didnt like the taste. Then I myself started making my own smoothies at home. Any fruit blends easily with banana and it taste heavenly. I tried banana with apples, with strawberries, with blueberries.. It was tasting great and very filling. I tried to substitute this smoothie when I feel like having some junk snack in the evening. Its always good to have 2 vegetables and 3 different type of fruits everyday. So having a smoothie with 2 or 3 fruits will serve it and trust me it tastes great.....!!
* Also my friend here suggested me the idea of fasting a day in a week. I tried once and I felt it really good. I made some fresh juice at home. Smoothie or any fresh home made juice. I used to have that from morning till evening and have some v light soup or kanji at night. I felt soo good and felt my stomach very light.

These are v few things that I try to follow in my day today routine. If I gather some interesting healthy tips, I ll try to post it then and there....