HEALTHY DINNER OF THE WEEK - JULY 2024

Hello, how are you? After hitting Monday blue finally, I am ready for the week. As I mentioned to you in my last post, I am going to share healthy dinner of the week for every month. But I always forget to take pictures, so my last post was here in April. 

I do plan a meal but not like a pro 😁 because it didn't work. Yes, I plan a little bit and it makes my week easy. Otherwise, my whole week will be messy and I will on irritating mode. 

We are Maharashtrian and rice and dal are our major staples. Being a twin toddler mom and one 10-year-old picky eater 😶(these kids have more tantrums for eating vegetables) it is very difficult to plan dinner and feed the family. I am sharing my easy dinners for the week of June 2024. What we actually eat for the week. Pictures are not professional 😁 It might help you (if you are a mom like me) to have an easy healthy dinner at home. 

HEALTHY DINNER OF THE WEEK - JULY 2024

MONDAY : DAL + RICE + SOYABEAN KADAI MASALA 

Monday was the most difficult day of the week. After having non-veg on weekends we prefer to have simple dal rice. It is Mandatory. 

This soybean kadai masala was yum. I tried this recipe from Brishti. You can try it your family will love it. This dish is permanent in my meal plan.  We had papad along with it and onion salad. They are missing in the picture. 

TUESDAY: FRIED RICE + ALOO PALAK+ TOMATO CHUTNEY + CHAPATI 

I planned for chapati and Aloo Palak only. But there was some leftover rice from lunch. I convert it into fried rice with a simple tadka of mustard, cumin, onion and basic powder masalas. I made Allo palak after a long gap. It is a simple recipe and in my family only I love it. So I have to make tomato chutney for the rest of them. (It is necessary to make your favourite meals too) 

WEDNESDAY:  CHANA AMTI + RICE + VANGAYCHE KAAP 

Malavani style chana amti is a staple in malavani house. The blend of coconut and onion masala gives an authentic flavour to this amti.

Brinjal is not so favourite in our house but we like this fried version. I keep it very simple. Slice a brinjal in a round shape and marinate with basic masala and salt. Shallow fry on medium hit. It tastes awesome. 

THURSDAY:  PAAV BHAJI 

It is paav bhaji day. When I don't feel like cooking I prefer to have a one-pot meal which goes for lunch and dinner too.  Paav bhaji is one of my family's favourite one-pot meals. Once in a while, you can eat paav. It is not going to harm your health at all.

This time I made it with broccoli, bottle gourd, potato and tomato. It is mommy's trick to feed lots of vegetables to the kid. Pressure cook and smash with a grinder. Easy peasy recipe that can be prepared in 10 minutes. You can check out the video here. Butter and cheese-loaded paav bhaji taste yummy!

FRIDAY : DAL + RICE + EGG BHURJI 

It is Maharashtrian dal - a mixture of moong and masoor dal. Pressure cook with a little bit of turmeric and oil. Then goes the normal tadka of garlic, cumin, mustard, curry leaves, and green chilli. The trick is to boil the whole dal for at least 10 minutes. Garnish with coriander. 

Egg burji tastes awesome with chapati but we used to eat chapati for breakfast and lunch too. We prefer to have dal rice for dinner. I love to have egg burji with dal rice. It is YUM 😋. (After all mom also needs some rest from chapati) you know that right!

On weekends we usually eat non-veg. Fish or mutton is on the menu.  

Wrap Up: 

I hope you will inspire to make a healthy Dinner for the entire week. It should be simple and easy. If you practice it every week it will definitely save your tons of money. 

Question of the day 

What was your favourite dinner last week?  Have you planned your meal?

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FAVOURITE BOOKS FOR 7 TO 10 YEARS OLD

 

Hello, how are you doing? Enjoying monsoon? We enjoyed it. Sitting in a window, watching rain and reading our favourite books is our afternoon activities. 

We still used to read aloud. My daughter is old enough to read by herself. But sometimes she needs to read aloud or like to have a competition with mummy. And then we both decide to finish as fast as we can. We discuss with details what we both like and don't like. 

Honestly speaking I love to read children's books. In my childhood I didn't get these kinds of books to read. I was in a vernacular medium where our library was filled with Marathi literature and story books. Almost 70 % of the books are in Marathi and hence I didn't find any attraction towards reading. Now though I purchased books for my children but I am greedy for myself.😁

Kids wanted to read what mumma read. (Imitation mechanisms). This one is a plus point for me. In today's post I am sharing our favourite books for 7 to 10 years old.

THE HAWAII HEIST 

The first one is the Geronimo Stilton Series.

The first time I got this book from our bookseller and after reading I was addicted. My daughter was 7 years old and she also loved it. At the back of the book she found the series and asked me to buy it. We didn't find it at the school library and so we asked our bookseller to bring the series which we wanted. Finally we have 6 books in this series. 

About the Book  : 

Geronimo is an Italian mouse who is a journalist. He took a break and was  on holiday at Hawaii.  He and his teammates found someone wanting to steal the precious necklace. Did they resolve this case ? Did they catch the thief? Mysterious and funny at the same time. I love Geronimo. I guess all children love Geronimo.

Highlights of the books : 

▶️ The book is filled with colorful pictures.

▶️ Bold and colourful words (highlighted )which definitely increase your child vocabulary. 

▶️ Simple language and engaging scenes.

▶️ Filled with lots of fun.

THE GOPI DIARIES COMING HOME 

Sudha murty is our favourite granny. We have lots of books of her especially grandma's bag of stories our all time favorites. There is a series of three books in Gopi Diaries. Out of which this one is my daughter's favourite because of Gopi. She scared dogs and I think that is the reason she loves this book.

About the Book: 

Gopi is a dog adopted by the Murty Family. The Gopi diary is all about Gopi's thoughts -  what he thinks? How did he adjust with new family members? It is the voice of Gopi. He tells how he settled down with a new loving family. 

Highlights of the books: 

▶️ language is simple and engaging.

▶️ This book also has pictures which foster the imagination in children. 

▶️ Easy to understand.

DORK DAIRY DEAR DORK 

About the Book: 

Dork Diary is the diary of a girl in middle school. Nikki Maxwell is struggling in her school with a mean girl. She got a sudden interest in student journalism and joined schools newspaper staff. She goes through daily life struggles and finds difficulties in the student journalism journey. However she ended  up as a famous advice columnist who advised students queries. It is filled with lots of fun. 

Highlights of the book 

▶️ It is in diary format. 

▶️ It seems like a middle school girl writing her daily diary. 

▶️ It is filled with lots of doodles and sketches. 

▶️ It is full of fun and describes how girl's lives revolve around family and school. 

▶️ It teaches how she finds a solution to her problems.

A must read for every girl. My favourite.

THE MAGIC OF LOST TEMPLE 

This is another story book by Sudha Murtys. 

This story reminds me of my grandmother. Every word of the story resembles me. How we went to grandma for summer holidays and how she loves us. 

About the Book 

City girl Noony stays with grandmother during summer break. She was surprised to see the slow pace of village life. But she managed to get involved in lots of activities with her grandmother and friends. She learned cycling, papad making and also learned many things regarding plants. She loves to hear stories from her grandma. Noony heard various stories about the temple which existed in her grandmother's village. But nobody saw it because it was lost. It increases Noony curiosity. It is all about How Noony find it ? How was that journey? 

Highlights of the books:

▶️ Easy and simple language.

▶️ It creates imagination in children. 

▶️ Kids can actually see the magic of a lost temple. 

HARRY POTTER AND CHAMBER OF SECRET 

This one is our read aloud book. I used to read while my kids listen and do some art activities. You all know Harry Potter and the series. The magical wizard World is enchanting and filled with thrillers. 

About the Book: 

This is Harry Potter's second year at Hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry. During this year all pupils get a message on the walls that the chamber of secrets is open and the monster will kill the student who is not from the wizard family. 

How Harry, Ron and Harmoni find the monster and solve this problem bravely.

Highlights of the Book

▶️ JK Rowling book is filled with all magic and wizardry elements.

▶️ Thrilling and engaging. We want to know what happened next? 

▶️ Once you take this book in hand you are bound to turn the page 

▶️ No, you are not going to learn any magic😁

DAIRY OF A WIMPY KIDS 

This one is our least favourite because it is filled with boys stuff (according to my daughter) but I liked it because of humor.

About the Book : 

Greg Heffley and his family lived in their grandmother's basement due to some financial loss. They were supposed to have a holiday tour but they couldn't afford it. The living conditions are boring according to Gerg. Even he can't play with his friends because they are on a trip to Europe. Finally they are  able to find the opportunity to leave their grandmother driveway and explore new places with their RV. This journey is filled with lots of fun and some thrilling experiences.

Highlights of the book : 

▶️ Humor of the book makes you laugh.

▶️ Kids can relate with Grey.

▶️ Filled with fun elements.

▶️ The book in diary form and filled with cartoons.

You can check out this kids book review too.

The tooth Fairy : 

Tractor 

Marathi Book Recommendation: 

This post is a part of #BlogchatterBlogHop 

Question of the day 

Which one is your kids favourite books? 

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MYSORE DIARY

It was a much-needed break for us since our pregnancy. With a positive attitude, we were both ready for this travel adventure. Mysore not on my wish list. It was an adventure for us because our twin toddlers were not prepared to sit in the pram, stay with another person in our group, or walk. And so it is Mysore Diary.

Phewww ..

We were already aware about this and still we dare to have this most wanted trip. We always planned our trip with a group. Our last trip was to Kashmir before lockdown and that one was memorable. The horse ride, apple farm, saffron farm and dal lake and many more adventurous things we did. 

And this year our kids have grown up and every one wanted to visit ice places like Shimla, Kashmir, Manali but due to lots of circumstances we managed to visit Mysore -Ooty - Coimbatore trip. Out of which today I am sharing Mysore only. The major traveling was Ooty and we spent only 2 days @Mysore. 

ABOUT MYSORE/MYSURU CITY

Mysore stands the second major city in the state of Karnataka and is recognized as the cleanest city among 476 cities in India. Mysore is a very important tourist centre of the state of Karnataka. The place is known as PALACE CITY OF INDIA and declared as a heritage city. 

HISTORY OF MYSORE :

Mysore (or Mysuru), a city in India's southwestern Karnataka state, was the capital of the Kingdom of Mysore from 1399 to 1947. In its center is opulent Mysore Palace, seat of the former ruling Wodeyar dynasty. The palace blends Hindu, Islamic, Gothic and Rajput styles. Mysore is also home to the centuries-old Devaraja Market, filled with spices, silk and sandalwood.

TOURIST ATTRACTION : 

There are 36 places of TOURIST ATTRACTION so you can plan out which place you want to visit. Most of them are temples and parks. We were having limited time in Mysore. We decided to visit major attractions only. We booked our hotel at the centre where spot was near.

1. MYSORE PALACE: 

The first one is the famous Mysore Palace. It is also known as the City of the palace. 

🍁 Light and sound show

🍁 Vibrant Dusshera celebration 

🍁 Architecture of the palace - blend of Hindu, Muslim, Rajput and Gothic styles of architecture. 

🍁Details carving and hand sculpted.

MY REVIEW: 

The Palace is colourful and highly maintained. This palace is historically significant. One should definitely experience this. 

But to my knowledge it is not at all managed. The crowd and the people are so noisy. There is no proper system of entry and exist. Police are there but  no one is taking any responsibility of the management. Overall I felt it like a crowded market.

SOME POINT TO REMEMBER: 

# You have to enter this palace without your shoes.

# The palace is huge and you must have a walking capacity. (If you are going with kids )

# No DSLR is allowed but mobile phones are allowed free of cost. 

# Entry fee is minimum. 

# You can check out fridge magnets in various types outside this palace for 100 rs. Only. Buy it whenever you find it. Otherwise it will cost 800 to 1000 at Airport 😁

You can check other travel post :

Tour of ND Studio 

Visit at Karla Lanes

Kawaha - Kashmir Tea and Kesar Farm 

Sunrise at Kanyakumari 

Visit to Ramoji Rav Studio 

2. THE BRINDAVAN GARDEN :

The Brindavan Gardens, spread over 60 acres, is located at a distance of 21 km away from Mysore. 

The well-synchronised fountain show with music, boating and well-manicured grass with flowerbeds are some of the top experiences of Brindavan Garden.

MY REVIEW : 

Our experience was worse. It is because of the crowd. And the light show was not attractive. This is the most disorganised pathetic tourist place I have ever seen. 

But still the garden is beautiful. We went there for the light show which was a major disappointment. It was very difficult to manage our kids in a crowd. 

3. SRI CHAMARAJENDRA ZOOLOGICAL GARDEN 

Located near the palace in Mysore, The Zoological Garden covers an area of 157 acres. It is one of the oldest and most famous zoos in India. It plays the role of an orphanage to the abandoned animals.

These included Giraffe, Antelopes, Bears, Chimpanzee, and Primates. It has till now established a niche for being a home to some of the rarest family members like American Bison, Californian Sea lions, Guanaco, Polar Bear, Secretary Bird, Kangaroo, Penguin, and White Elephant in the past.

MY REVIEW :

Time required to cover the whole zoo is minimum 3 hours. It is also crowded on weekends. But we went on weekdays. Try to book a van so that walking will be minimised. It was hectic but with a variety of animals we enjoyed.

They have a snack area at the end of the zoo. No plastic is allowed. You can take your food like snacks but carry the garbage with yourself and throw it at the dustbins which is at the end of the zoo. 

It is very clean and very well maintained. 

SOME IMPORTANT TIPS WHILE TRAVELLING WITH KIDS : 

1. Don't plan palace and zoological park on same day. It is more hectic.

2. Try to go for palace after 3 pm. Evening sight with lighting is awesome.

3. Visit Brindavan Garden in the evening for light show. 

4. Carry plenty of snacks and keep hydrate your kids. 

5. Take small breaks and allow kids to rest. It is okay if you miss something your kids and your health is important.

6. Try to visit on weekdays and not on weekends.

CONCLUSION :

I love Mysore specially for historical attraction and Coffee. Our of these we love zoological park because we enjoyed it.

Plan your trips according to the places, and meal availablity. Overall the experience was good. Every thing is not according to our expectations but we learn to enjoy every moment. 

Question of the Day 

Have you been to Mysore? Which place do you like here ? 

This blog post is part of the blog challenge ‘Blogaberry Dazzle’ hosted by Cindy D’Silva and Noor Anand Chawla in collaboration with Dr. Preeti Chauhan.

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Historical Information Source: Wikipedia 

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15 EASY WAYS TO HAVE SUSTAINABLE LIFE AT HOME

Earth is the most beautiful planet. New inventions and human activities deteriorate the earth years and years. For the sake of the future we have to take sustainable action and practice some easy ways to live a sustainable life.

WHAT IS SUSTAINABLE LIVING? 

As per wikipedia : 

Sustainable living describes a lifestyle that attempts to reduce the use of Earth's natural resources by an individual or society. Its practitioners often attempt to reduce their ecological footprint (including their carbon footprint) by altering their home designs and methods of transportation, energy consumption and diet.

Saving natural resources is necessary. Sometimes I feel people aren't aware of the deterioration of the natural resources. Do you feel the same way ?

They said, if you want to change the world go back to your home and start it. 

In today's blog post I am sharing some simple sustainable practices which I followed at home since I became a mom. 

15 EASY WAYS TO HAVE SUSTAINABLE LIFE AT HOME 

1. UNPLUGGED:

We always forget to unplug the equipment. Whether it is a coffee machine, washing machine, mixer grinder or any electronic device. We should unplugged once the work is finished. It saves power and cost too. 

2. RUGS OVER TISSUE PAPERS :

Every one's house is filled with kitchen paper towels and tissue paper. Instead of that use old t-shirts. I have a bunch of cutting pieces of old t-shirts and cotton dresses. It wipes everything quickly because of cotton fabric. A quick fix for a toddler mom's. This can save our tons of trees. 

PS : Pixel 

3. REUSABLE COTTON BAGS 

Everything comes in plastic. Even our food too. Chicken, fish and goat consumed plastic and then ultimately it goes in our body too. The first step is to stop using plastic bags. 

I have a bunch of cotton bags. Some of them I stitch from old curtains. In Mumbai especially in our area we didn't get any bags from the shopkeeper. We have to carry our own cotton bags. 

This will save the life of animals.

PS : Pixel 

4. SOAP BAR 

Nowadays everyone is using body wash and shampoo which again comes in a plastic bottle. I still prefer to use soap. I also found hair soap. 

PS : Pixel 

5. REFUSE CUTLERY WHEN YOU TAKE AWAY FOOD: 

Take away food is a requirement at least for me. We have options to tick no for plastic cutlery like spoons, dishes etc. The food containers are reusable. I used it for storage purposes. 

Refuse whenever possible and reuse  things instead of throwing it. 

6. USAGE OF STEEL/GLASS JAR 

In olden days every kitchen was filled with steel jars. Nowadays you can find various types of steel or glass jars. Instead of plastic opt for a stainless steel or glass container. 

I am not delicate while working in the kitchen 😜 so I prefer to have steel though glass jars always fascinated me.

7. BUCKET BATH :

I have been through water shortages. We lived 3 years in such an area where water used to come only for 30 minutes. I know the value of water. Now I have 24 hours of water but I still used to take a bath in a bucket and not under the shower. 

The same habit followed by my family members too. By this habit you can save tons of water. 

8. MINIMISED/REUSE WARDROBE : 

For my toddlers wardrobe I prefer reused clothes. I get it from fellow moms and from my siblings. So no new clothes shopping for my babies only for birthday and Diwali. Because I believe babies grow quickly and clothes tend to get dirty too. 

For myself I minimize my wardrobe according to the season. Hardly I go out but still I minimize my wardrobe according to the season. It is clutter free and cost effective. 

Minimize your wardrobe it gives you mental peace. The fashion industry is the one which has the biggest waste.  

9. USE KITCHEN WET GARBAGE FOR COMPOST: 

We have a system of dry and wet garbage. Wet garbage is collected and used for compost. Use your wet garbage as a compost for plants. 

10. DELETE DIGITAL SCRAP:

Do you know how much electronic scrap we have. That consumes lots of energy by the data server. I have a habit of clearing digital pics, documents, emails, and screenshots every six months. So my gmail storage capacity is not full. This is necessary because for one good picture we used to click hundreds of pics.

Clear your digital scrap every time. It will reduce the load on the server and save energy.

11. USE WOODEN COMB:

I started using this wooden comb for my daughter only. This is really helpful and much better than the plastic one. Easy to clean and durable. 

12. RECYCLE: 

When you don't reuse plastic, aluminium or paper items then recycle them. I used plastic and aluminium jars for plants. Some of them are for organizers like cutlery holders, toothpaste, toothbrush holders or even school supplies storage.

13. DONATE ITEMS 

I used to donate lots of things since I became a mother. When I have a single child I donate her shoes, clothes, toys, books to poor and needy people who live in nearby areas. Every year at the end of the school I used to do this. 

This will help the needy one and reduce the pressure on earth to some extent. 

PS : Pixel 

14. PLANT TREE: 

We are mango lovers. We all used to eat tons of mango in season. Instead of throwing the seed (guthali) try to plant them. At least 10 seeds we can plant. I used to do it with my daughter when she was little.

Plant Tree whenever possible. This will help in reducing the carbon dioxide layer in our Atmosphere. 

15. USE PUBLIC TRANSPORT :

Nowadays every one have his own car. That not only increased the traffic on the road but also pollute the air. If we again started to use public transport as much as possible there will be low traffic and pollution too. Walk wherever possible and use cycle instead of scooty when distance is small. 

I still prefer to use auto, train and sometimes bus. Our children should know how to use public transport. 

CONCLUSION: 

Everyone talk about sustainability and eco friendly life but how many of us really working on that? 

Above mentioned habits are not new for us. Many of us grew up with this. Our parents used to have these habits. It is just like going back to our roots. 

The ultimate goal is to have an eco-friendly life. By inculcating this habit you can bring positive energy in your home and to our planet . It will save lots of money and we can have a sustainable healthy life. 

Question for the day: 

Which habit do you have which help in sustainable livelihoods ? 

#SenseandSustainabilityBlogHop

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"This post is a part of ‘Sense and Sustainability Blog Hop’ hosted by Manali Desai and Sukaina Majeed.

This blog post is part of the blog challenge ‘Blogaberry Dazzle’ hosted by Cindy D’Silva and Noor Anand Chawla in collaboration with Dr. Preeti Chauhan

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