Lime Lemon Lemony Lemonade! “When life gives you a lemon... squeeze it, mix it with six ounces of distilled water and drink twice daily.”
Hello friends and food lovers! A very good afternoon. I have been MIA for a while, just took a few days off from the blogging so I can brainstorm with new ideas and new recipes to keep you all coming!
So spring is coming soon, and I am really excited about this spring and summer! I've got amazing plans. Today it is 14 degree Celsius in Toronto with partly clouds though. What is that?? It's not spring for another month but hey I am loving it. To celebrate this beautiful day, I started off with fresh lemons in the kitchen. Made some face mask with lemon peels which was totally refreshing and rejuvenating!
Lemon is a great way to add zest to everything in life. I believe it has got many many beneficial nutrients that is not only good for our health but also mental well being.
I love the aromatic citrus smell of lemons. I just love it!
I have discovered some great recipes with lemon which benefits me in my everyday life using just fresh lemons! Here they are: Are you feeling fatigue and nauseated?
Take a glass of cold water, add some sugar and squeeze in some lemon. Drink it as cold as possible and watch how refreshing you will feel within seconds!
Do you have headaches and Migraine? Grate some lemon skin into a small bowl make it into a paste form and apply it onto your forehead and little it over the temples. And feel the magic!
Have dull and dead skin? Acne? Take some of the lemon skin peels and make it a paste, add some glycerin or honey to it and apply it onto the troubled spots. Leave for 5 minutes and wash off with cold water! Want that fresh summer scent in your home? Take 1 whole lemon and squeeze it all into a bowl, add water as little as the half of that same lemon. Pour it all into a spray bottle and grate the lemon skin and sprinkle it all in. You've got yourself home made air freshener! Spray this anywhere in the house, on the clothes, shoes where ever you want!
Got the icky sore throat or need some caffeine free tea?
Boil a cup of water, squeeze some lemon into it and simply add 1 tea spoon of honey. Cut up some lemons in thin round or moon shaped slices and dip it in the tea and enjoy a refreshing cuppa and lose that sore throat in minutes!
For congested nose and asthma ( Which I have) For congested nose: when you squeeze the lemon skin some oils come out, rub it with a fingertip and apply it near the nostrils and breathe it. It works as a nose inhaler!
For asthma: eat fresh lemon juice, about 1 tea spoon to 1 table spoon after every meal. It also helps to eliminate any fats from the meal consumed.
Spicy Beef Curry A Bangladeshi Dish It's a cold, chilly, snowy day. We need something to keep us warm and filled throughout the day. Today is my day off from school. I haven't cooked a good Beefy meal for days, today was a perfect opportunity and a good excuse to cook up a spicy delicious beef curry that we all love in our family. I am going to share with you a wonderful Beef Curry recipe which is a traditional Bangladeshi dish. I learned this from my mom and mother in law. They both have their own recipes and tastes. It's amazing how we all follow the same recipe but our cooked food still tastes so different!
Ps* Today's special ingredient is GARLIC Ingredients:
1 Ilb Beef Oil - 1/2 cup Onions - 2 medium ones, chopped Garlic Paste - 2 table spoons Black pepper as much as needed Salt - as much as needed Green chillies - 3-4 medium ones - cut in halves Garam Masala - 2 tea spoons Paprika - 1/2 table spoon Turmeric Powder - 1 table spoon Ground Ginger Powder - 1 table spoon Cumin/Zeera powder - 2 tea spoons Potato - 1 large, cut in medium squares
Preparation:
Before cutting onions and potatoes, marinate the raw meat in a bowl with Salt & Pepper for about 15-20 minutes.
Cooking Method:
-In a cooking pot, preferably nonstick, heat the oil. -When the bubbles in the oil start to appear, place in the chopped onions and fry under medium heat for 5-8 minutes until light brown. -Add the Garlic paste in the onions and saute it together for couple of minutes -Now take all the Turmeric powder, grown ginger powder, paprika powder and cumin powder and add it to the onion mix. Stir it and mix it properly for another couple of minutes. -Add the halved green chillies and Garam Masala. Stir fry for 5 minutes. If it i sticking to the pot/pan, you can add few tablespoons of water to gain a thick paste consistency.
You will now start to smell the aromas of the spices. Now the meat is ready to go in.
-Add the beef that was marinated with salt and pepper with the browned onions and mix it all very well so the spices are all mixed well with the beef. -Lower heat to medium. Cover and let the beef cook for 15-20 minutes.
Between the 30 minutes, check the meat every now and then and stir it. Flip over the meat pieces from bottom to top.
After 15-20 minutes of frying the beef and spices, add 1-3 cups of water. Mix it all together and you can turn the heat to medium-high. Cover
Let cook for another 20-30 minutes. Add the potatoes. Cover and cook for 10 minutes, until meat is tender.
French Toast with banana and glazed strawberries mmm mmm Good!
What is the most essential meal of one's day? Breakfast! I don't usually have time to eat breakfast these days as i wake up and run to school. But, on my day offs I love a good stomach filling breakfast. Because, it is the most essential part of everyone's day.
I got bored with the usual and made french toast. I was craving whipping cream to go in the middle of these toasts but there was none at home! So what you see is what I pulled out. I am glad I got the healthier dose instead of whipped cream. mmmm!
Ingredients:
2 large Eggs four slices of Wonder Brown Bread 2 tablespoons white granulated sugar 1/2 teaspoon Vanilla essence 2 tablespoon whole milk oil - 3 table spoons 1 banana sliced in half sliced strawberries glazed in sugar
Method:
In a small bowl, beat the eggs with a whisk and add the milk and vanilla, whisk Add sugar and whisk again
Heat a pan with oil in Medium heat, enough to lightly fry the toasts
Take the slices of breads and cut them in half, in a sandwich shape of your liking. You can lightly toast the bread in a toaster if you like it crunchy. I didn't. Dip the bread slices in the egg mixture, when all of the bread has been dipped in the egg mixture take it out and get the excessive eggs out.
Place it in the pan and fry both sides for as little as 2 minutes. When it reaches light golden, take it out and place on Towel paper to soak the excessive oil.
Serve with fruits as I did or you can go wild with making french toast sandwich with Whipped cream, chocolate fudge, Nutella spread, or fruit jam!
It's so good! I tried fruits because I am usually lazy these days to take my dose of fruits, and this way I actually enjoyed eating them.
FRUIT CUSTARD! Custard is one of my most favorite deserts, and it is also my husband's favorite. Custard with sweet fruits reminds me of childhood, of Eid celebrations. My mom used to make custard on every Eid especially for me. Because, I would probably create a big scene if there was no custard! I loved it so much and I still do =) But, now I make it and feed it to my mother and my family.
My mom used to make custard mixture from scratch, which would taken way more time than it took me to make this delicious desert. Off course her version tasted heavenly, but I really am not the kind of person to spend hours in kitchen.
So, I simply use the custard powder bought from the supermarket. You gotta make sure it's a very good quality brand. There are variety of flavors available now, which did not exist back in my childhood. Which is why, I love the original flavor and not those fruity flavors too much. You can always use any flavor you like!
Okay, so I will just go ahead and show you the recipe! Ingredients:
Custard Powder - 3 table spoons Sugar - 1/2 cup Whole Milk: 2 1/2 cups (At room temperature) Fresh Chinese Apple - 1 large (skin peeled and cut in small pieces) 1 medium ripe banana - sliced in round or moon shapes 1 sweet mango - cut in small slices
You can add any sweet fruits to your custard, as long as they are not citrus fruits. Because citrus fruits will rot the milk ingredients. Fruits such as Papaya, berries, grapes, peaches, plums are good for custard. You can also use canned fruits! Method:
In a dry saucepan, mix together the sugar and custard powder to obtain smooth mixture and then pour the milk slowly and keep stirring. In medium heat bring milk and custard mix to a boil. Keep stirring! Stirring will prevent the milk from producing lumps and from burning.
After a good 5-10 minutes of stirring and boiling in medium to low heat, you will notice the mixture in a thicker consistency. Turn off the stove and let the mixture cool. KEEP STIRRING at this point. Do not stop stirring until the mixture stops letting out steam. This will prevent the milk from forming the thick layer on top which you absolutely do not want in a custard! You can now place the custard milk mixture in a bowl of your choice and when it reaches room temperature, place is inside the Refrigerator.
Start slicing up the fruits after 30 minutes or so, while the mixture is cooling in the refrigerator. Do not cut the fruits too early because they will get darker and ruin the art of this dish.
After one hour or more, you can take out the bowl of custard and sprinkle the fruits.
Food is the ultimate joy in life. Love what you eat and eat what you love. Welcome to Simple Delights. You will find easy recipes for delicious foods and drinks shared by me. Also, don't forget to spread the food love. Send me your tips and suggestions!
