Recycled T shirt rug

I had been eyeing my hubby's old T shirts since i came across this recylced rug on pinterest. However i have to warn my viewers that the T shirts that i speak of are really years old and cannot be used else it would have been donated.

Just make strips of T shirt , attach the strips by sewing them at the ends , braid and stitch along by taking the braid in circles to get a round shape or any shape that your would like to have.

Its simple, esay and very satisfying.

Welcome to Florida

Beautiful place ....reminds me of Goa ...quiet, calm and lovely compared to the hustle and bustle of Mumbai ...even people are so similar to goans ..friendly and helpful ..

my love for photography has increased and hence i have uploaded some of the flora and fauna i found while walking around my apartment. Ducks were very friendly since the residents feed them bread.



my cooking has gone completely out of control [i mean the taste] since all i did the first few days is mix up some ready-to-eats and heat the mix. I am so used to cooking from scratch and fresh produce that i donot like the taste of anything packed and canned.But have to survive.

This is the second week and slight improvement is noticed. e.g my veggie moong dal curry - mix a pack of paneer makhawala gravy packet in water, add beans, mushrooms and carrots and cook. Later add moong dal vadis [bought from an Indian store] and cook till vadis almost melt. We also made pancakes - i guess i am allowed to call them pancakes. I mixed wheat flour [the flour tastes really good], custard powder, salt, little sugar, yogurt and milk. Fry them like dosas. This is lunch today.



Dinner has to have a non-vegetarian item - i have bought fish [even the frozen fish here is so well frozen that it tastes fresh once cooked]. Dinner has to be the same gravy curry, fried fish and chapathis ..well chapathis are going to be of various forms and sizes since i forgot to bring my rolling pin. There is a thrift store i identified that we shall visit later to find any useful household items.I have even forgotten my comb in India.

I met a lovely, energetic, and matured young man [a boy probably 8yrs old] who was very helpful when i went to the supercentre "Winn-Dixie" for the first time. He advised me to be careful not to jump around in my apartment lest the police takes me away as neighbours may call them. I need to remember that super centres have lot of criminals and hence have to be cautious. Milk has to bought in gallons not packets and not to forget there are variety of chocolates and chips to choose from. By the way dumplings are yummy - pork dumplings. Thanks Aaryan. He was a darling.

It was a lovely sunny morning - probably i said that a bit too soon ..its has gone dark, i can hear thundering, see lightening and is raining heavily...ok so the weather keeps changing within minutes- i heard about some storm coming this way - by the way its just 12:30 p.m. [afternoon] - its 11 p.m. [night] in India now.

Alachua county Libarary www.aclib.us – this dear friends is my library. My library allows me renewals online and I can 100 books at a time if I can read them in 4 weeks-coool isn’t it. They have DVDs, CDs and even downloadable free material.

Diwali - the festival of lights

Traditions and rituals in my family is quite rare. We belong to the new generation family that doesnot follow any tradition blindly. Personally i love a few of them though :). having lived in the north of India for few years of my childhood i love the diwali celebrations at preparatory stage, especially the ritual bath andthe evening pooja.

Diwali reminds me of a kind of marriage preparation in the family and the excitement that is associated with it is extremely good for health. Each year brings a renewed, fresh new diwali adventure.

The diwali bath is a wonderful beauty regime. Getting up early morning to apply coconut oil and lemon juice all over the body and scalp. Then bathe half an hour later using gramflour and water paste [ no soap no shampoo allowed]. This year i added turmeric in my paste and a little castor oil on my scalp too.The aftereffect of this bath is smooth glowing skin and soft silky hair. I like to mix rosewater to fullers earth and leave a layer on my face and neck for 15mins before my bath.

The selection of a pretty salwar/saree is secondary to my shopping for glass bangles, jazzy earrings, designer bindis and payals which are worn only on festive occassions.I have to mention the henna designs that is applied on hands and feet.

After the bath is the turn to decorate the home with a lovely rangoli. I had already googled my designs for this year and practised it once. Hanging flower and mango leaf garland on top of the front door adorned with colourful rangoli and lit diyas is a sight worth to watch.One can literally see the gods entering the house.

Crackers are strictly prohibited - no noise and air pollution allowed , not to forget the respect towards all creatures [animals & humans ] who hide to avoid commotion. Evening walks turn into late evening walks to see houses lit with lamps on this dark new moon night.

Exchange of sweets and fruits with neighbours is a lovely gesture. With dreams in my eyes i look forward to this years lovely night.

Happy deepavali to all. May the lord light up all our lives and minds :)

Simple prawn fry

This is the most simple and fast prawn fry i have ever made.

Take few clean, deveined prawns and add red chilli powder, turmeric powder, salt, garlic pods, lemon juice and rava / cornflour.

Mix all and fry for 10 mins tossing in between.

Apple Peel Chutney

The other day i made apple sauce and had a lot of peels left which i just didn't have the heart to discard. I tried to find any apple peel recipes of my liking. I finally decided to make a chutney.

Simple cooking is my style and hence i decided to make a small batch first.

# Apple peels - 5 nos. apples

# Oil - 1 tsp

# Jaggery - 2 tbsp

# Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp

# Jeera seeds - 1/2 tsp

# Red chilli powder - 1/2 tsp

# Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp

# Water - 3 tbsp

# Salt - as per taste

Place the oil in a small pan, add mustard seeds. Once the spluttering of the seeds stop add jeera, red chilli powder, turmeric powder and the peels. Then add 3 tbsp of water, cover the pan with a lid and cook till the peels are soft.  Add jaggery at this stage and salt. Cook till the water evaporates completely leaving behind a sweet and pungent chutney. Please add few drops of lemon juice.

I love this recipe mainly because it is cooking without wasting.

Yummy simple apple sauce

Apples, my dear friends, have suddenly become the fruit of the season in my house. My husband seems to be bringing them in loads. The entire kitchen is flooded with apples and i have been allotted the job of fininshing them before they get rotten.

With Google being my lifesaver i bump on to a lovely apple sauce recipe.It is simple and yummy!
You shall need the following for a cup of sauce:

* Apples - 5 nos. small
* Sugar - 3 tbsp
* Cinnamon powder- 1tsp
* Lemon juice - 1 tsp

Peel, core and dice apples. Cook them over low flame for 20 mins. Cool and puree the cooked apples. Add all other ingredients and cook again till you get a required consistency. I have made mine very thick.

You may add butter/ghee which definitely enhances the taste but i decided to leave it out to reduce calories.This can be stored in the refrigerator and used on bread, rotis and had plain.

Hope you try this.

tasty sweet laddus

Hi lets cook something sweet and fast.

Ingredients:

Condensed milk

Grated coconut - 1 cup

Roasted and crushed cashews nuts -1cup

Roasted sesame seeds - 2tbsp

Khoya peda/barfi -1 piece

Dry roast the coconut , add roasted crushed cashewnuts, then the sesame seeds.

Keep stirring for some time till coconut turns dry.

Next crumble the peda or barfi [you mat khoya itself too]

Add condensed milk and stir till laddu consistency is achieved.

With little water wet your fingers and palm to make the laddus immediately.

Cool and serve.

This is an extremely fast dish to serve guests who give you surprise visits. Surprise them :)