Just An Idea Now. Like It’s Said ‘Watch This Space’.

I am a dedicated practitioner of intermittent fasting and to me, it’s the best wellness program available.

I have been reading a lot on the subject and have been listening to many opinions, research findings and guidelines.

And, in turn, the key messages are passed on to a small group that I mentor on the subject.

Individual objectives vary. For example, I started with desire to lose weight. 14 kgs down in an year and half, I have perhaps met it.

Now I am looking for autophagy stage and hence extended the fasting hours to 20.

Reading and listening to many articles and videos on IF, I get the feeling that each expert has own objective and design.

That’s why this idea. Why don’t I extend the mentoring to cater to individual needs of the participants. It’s not managing their goals (at least initially) but to facilitate it.

The promise is to be unbiased. That means a lot.

Cooking With Available Ingredients!

We cook for preparing our daily food. Some people cook out of passion, some to demonstrate skills and some even to get over boredom.

I like to try and reproduce some of the traditional delicacies, some of which are fast disappearing from the table. I even have a broadcast group on whatsapp titled ‘Cooking Exotica & Fitness’

There are situations when we have some ingredients which if not cooked would get spoiled.

Here I have a similar situation. We ended up having some extra apples and I decided to try ‘Apple Crumble’.

There are recipes available, but I have to stick to available ingredients and mostly healthy options. Here’s what I did, adopting and modifying an available recipe of ‘vegrecipesofindia’.

Three big apples (equivalent to five normal size apples) were peeled, cored and cut into small cubes. Added palm jaggery and sprinkled two tablespoons of whole wheat Atta. Added half a teaspoon of cinnamon powder and some nutmeg powder. Mixed well squeezing half a lime.

For the streusel topping, took about 75 grams of butter and a cup of whole wheat Atta and half teaspoon of baking powder. Added some palm jaggery powder, a teaspoon of vanilla essence and squeezed the other half of the lime. Added a pinch of salt. Mixed well into a bread crumb consistency.

Greased a baking tray with some ghee and spread the apple cube mix in the tray. Spread the streusel mix on the top evenly add bake for about 40 minutes in a preheated oven .

Apple Crumble is ready

And when your wife, one of the greatest cooks, said ‘it’s really good’, it’s really really good.

Totally Natural! A Sweet Dish Sans Cooking. Kitchen Free!

Payasam of different varieties are popular in Kerala, especially in Onam season.

In these times of health consciousness; fresh, unprocessed and enriching dishes are welcomed. Here’s something simple, fresh and yummy.

This payasam doesn’t even need cooking. Mash up two robusta bananas and add one and a half cups of coconut milk. Mix well with jaggery as required and a spoon of cardamom seed powder. Add a pinch of salt to balance the taste. Fresh payasam is ready. If you like hot payasam, just heat or boil.

In that case, why not add marble sized rice powder balls, (made of rice powder and little grated coconut and salt and made into small balls and steamed). Roasted broken nuts and coconut pieces will add to taste. Using steamed ‘ethakka’ (Kerala banana) will make it even better. Allow chunks of it in the mix.

Do try the ‘no cooking’ fresh payasam. (Credit- recipe seen in daily news consolidation ‘daily hunt’).

Banking in Trust. Advantage Them!

Bank deposit is a popular method of investment for people who are averse to risks in other forms of investments. There’s the element of trust too.

But is that trust mutual! Perhaps not! Here’s an example.

I have a deposit maturing on August 15. I got the interest on the maturing deposit credited on August 14, as August 15 is a bank holiday.

Sounds proactive, but the calculation would be till August 14. But the deposit amount is not available. It will be credited to my account on August 17 as 16 is a Sunday.

So it’s advantage bank and disadvantage customer. Common sense would have tolerated interest calculation and deposit credit on the same day, either on 14th or 17th. Otherwise it would be extortion!

Picture credit: goodreturns

“Ente Pranaya Kathakal” by Elaine:- Book Review

Translated as “My Love Stories”, this Malayalam book of 30 short stories in 125 pages touches the heart in many ways.

I was fascinated reading snippets in Facebook and blog, and decided to buy the book. And enjoyed reading each and every one of the stories.

In many of the stories, one would find himself or someone who is close and I may say it’s something like our stories.

More so, if you are, say 40 or above, you may feel that it’s your story.

Missed or postponed love is beautifully enacted in the stories. Sometimes I felt there could be similarities and it’s a continuous story.

The author describes even small things so beautifully. Be it the ‘kolus’, (anklet, the jingling leg ornament) or manchady / kunnikkuru (red lucky beeds), the author take the readers to the inner rooms of the characters to watch them actually wearing them.

Definitely it’s matured love, cleverly handled by Elaine. I must say, I love the stories.

Imagine him writing his favourite words on her naked belly around the naval with manchadikkuru. The reader can actually see it.

I am not an expert, but these stories merit an award or a prize. If you can read malayalam, make sure to read it. It’s available with Notion Press, the publisher and I believe, even with amazon. The price is just ₹200 for this priceless book.

What’s in a Display! When it’s Food! And it’s End of Season!

Chia pudding with seasonal fruits

I have done this and displayed here, earlier. But i am doing it again as some of the favourite ingredients here are in end season.

That’s mango and then jackfruit. And they deserve a fitting farewell with this display. Until next year, devoid of any Covid!

Chia seeds are soaked in coconut milk and set in the refrigerator. Ingredients for layering are: 1. Mango 2. Jackfruit 3. Pineapple 4. Papaya 5. Grated coconut 6. Roasted peanuts 7. Palm jaggery 8. Honey.

If the glass is taller, add pomegranate, banana, apple etc. to make it a procession and a celebration of seasonal fruits. I suggest, use only seasonal fruits. It’s what the science tells us for healthy enjoyment.

Until next year, Mango and jackfruit!

Immunity Booster! It’s Homeopathy.

I just got 3 small bottles of Arsenic Album 30, a immunity boosting homeo medicine.

This hit Kerala news when a municipal chairman gave the medicine successfully to 107 primary contacts and 2000 others in a place where two people contracted Covid virus.

I did some reading, including a talk by former head of department of Govt Homeopathic Hospital in Kerala. Apparently the medicine has been around for about 200 years, no side effects and recommend by the Government of India. I understand it is recommended and used World over.

Dosage according to Professor is 4 tablets (small usual homeo balls) each for 3 days for adults and 2 for 4 days for children, on empty stomach. Repeat after 2 weeks during the Virus threat.

Diet mentioned is reduce coffee/ tea intake. Can be taken along with other medicines. Importantly, follow other preventives like mask, distancing, washing hands etc.

please take a look, do your own research and consult when necessary. I got it from Amazon. Dosage may differ for tablet, powder

Break Through the Plateau: Weight Loss Management!

Intermittent Fasting, as we know, is the best wellness program. It can do many wonderful things and probably could prevent and reverse such deadly problems like Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s and even Cancer. It can also help lose weight.

I lost about 8 kgs in the first few months of starting the fast about a year and a half back. Then it plateaued.

Though disappointed a bit at the stoppage of losing weight, the desire to look good and to wear a six pack kept me focused and be strict with fasting, supplemented with a fairly rigorous workout schedule.

In the process, I kept reading and listening to experts in the field. I also mentor a small group of intermittent fasters and share with them the research findings and personal experiences. We exchanged notes.

Adopting some the new techniques learned and staying sincerely on course with increased intensity, I could feel good results in the bathroom mirror. But there was a problem! I didn’t have a weighing machine in Bangalore where we stayed back for the past nearly 5 months due to the lockdown.

And I just got this machine through amazon and it’s another 3 and half kilos off for me, making it a total of about 12 kgs through intermittent fasting.

The plateau has been broken through.

There are some good grains.

Most people, world over, eat grains as the main meal. Wheat and rice are staple diet from the beginning.

Modern grains, however are not so good according to experts. In fact the modified wheat, available now is a health hazard. And even the rice is made bad by processing for attractiveness and packaging.

Diet related epidemics (obesity, diabetes etc) and virus related pandemic are serious threats to the well-being and even existence of mankind.

The biggest challenge for someone to adopt a healthy diet is to replace the not so good wheat, rice etc with some beneficial substitutes.

Here I am presenting one of the good grains, quinoa (pronounced kin-wah). Try this tasty dish.

Boil some cleaned and soaked quinoa in double the quantity of water with a pinch of salt, till it’s done. Use more water if the desired consistency is not achieved.

Prepare some sautéed vegetables in butter (onion, broccoli, cauliflower, carrots etc with a sprinkle of pepper powder and added leafy herbs). Break one or two eggs and mix well till done.

Add the cooked quinoa and top it with cooked meat mince or shredded chicken.

Vegetarians, just drop adding eggs and meat.

Enjoy the delicious dish as substitute for rice or chapatti meal. It’s keto friendly too.

Jackfruit. End of Season Delight.

One of the things I miss with the decision to stay back in Bangalore, is the abundance of good quality jackfruit in Kerala. And along with that the thrill of making chakka undas and chakka chips.

Jackfruits are available in Bangalore too. Pealed ones, sold at roadsides are not very welcome in this virus times. And without proper tools, buying the whole fruit needed more courage than what I could muster.

Not quite though. Horticulture unit HOPCOM of the state government, brings fresh fruits and vegetables to the compound, twice a week. And while buying fruits and vegetables, I saw a lady asking for half of the jackfruit. The aroma and colour were too hard to resist and I took the other half.

Good, brave decision indeed. The fruit is very fresh and delightfully tasty. And the Chakkakuru (seeds) make unique dishes.

And they say, jackfruit is health food.