Wild rice with stir fried chicken and veggies



Wild rice with stir fried chicken and veggies is a  quick and delicious dish together and can be enjoyed separately with other sides as well.

 Wild-rice recipe:
 I had my first wildrice pilaf at Red Lobster, an American seafood restaurant and since then I am in love with wildrice. I buy wild rice from Whole Foods Market, it is available in other markets as well. Though it is wild, it is a pricey item. 
 You can even mix up some basmati rice with the wild rice.
Ingredients:
Wildrice 1cup
Water 2 -3 cups
Butter 1tbsp
Salt to taste

 Preparation:
Soak rice overnight.
Wildrice takes abnormally a very long time to get cooked. So, soaking it overnight or 24 hrs makes it easier.Wash rice well and drain excess water.

 Procedure:
1.Saute wild rice in butter for 2 minutes.
2.Pour 2 cups water initially, then 1 additional cup water if required.
Some people like their wild rice al dente , that has a bite to it, for them 2 cups should be good. Add additional water for softer texture.
3. When the rice is ready, check and season with salt.

 Chicken and veggies recipe:
Veggies include mushrooms, green beans, bell peppers, onions. You can add carrots and broccoli too.
Stir fried version:
Ingredients:
oil 1-2 tsp
black pepper half tsp
salt to taste
Paprika or Kashmiri chilly powder half tsp
Chilly flakes half tsp
Zest of half a lemon

 Procedure:
1.In a frying pan, add 1-2 tsp vegetable oil. Start frying the chicken on high flame, season with salt, pepper and Paprika.
2. Add mushroom, green beans and then add bell peppers and other veggies.  Cover and cook for 5 minutes and then stir again on high flame.
3. Now add chilly flakes,lemon zest and check salt. Stir 1 minute.

 Baked version:
In this version, you can use potatoes as well, potatoes cut into small dices.
Ingredients:
Olive oil 1 tsp
black pepper half tsp
salt to taste
Paprika or Kashmiri chilly powder half tsp
Chilly flakes half tsp
Zest of half a lemon
Cumin a pinch

Procedure:
1.In a baking pan with high sides, mix all ingredients (chicken,veggies and spices)together.
2. Bake at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for 30 minutes.
3. If chicken is skin on then no need to cover, but if the chicken is boneless and skinless, cover the pan with an aluminium foil. But if you cover the entire time , chicken and veggies will release all their water and that will be there, so you can cook 15 minutes covered and 15 minutes uncovered.

Enjoy!


Netflix Dreamworks Spirit Riding Free Review



This is brand new animated series on Netflix.  This show is set in the wild wild west, horses and rail roads. The story is about a girl named Lucky and her horse she named Spirit. 

 Spirit could not be tamed but somehow Spirit chose Lucky to ride him, and like that Lucky became the owner of the strong headed horse who cannot be kept under any boundary or cannot be roped. Spirit is wild but at the same time he is caring, understanding and loving. 
 I will give the show 8 out of 10. Worth your time. 

 The show brings out something very different, horse aspects that were not explored before. Horses are kept captive against their own will, forcibly trained and even not taken care of always and so on. Horses are such magnificent animals , they are faithful and risk their lives to save the lives of their masters. Horses must be loved more , seen with more respect and you will fall in love with horses more after watching this show.

Chicken Pesto Pasta with green beans, bell peppers and diced tomatoes


Chicken Pesto Pasta with green beans, bell peppers and diced tomatoes can be cooked in 15 minutes, stove to table. This is an excellent dinner or a brunch recipe. Easy and delicious.

 Ingredients:
1.Chicken cut into bite size pieces- 1 cup
2. Penne pasta(or any pasta)- 1 cup
3.Green beans cut into halves- 100 grams
4.Bell peppers- half cup
5.Diced tomatoes- 1 piece |or|cherry tomatoes cut into halves- half cup
6.Basil Pesto- 1 tsp
7.Salt and pepper to taste
8.Vegetable oil- 1 tbsp for frying

Procedure:
1. In a  pan full of boiling water, generously salted , boil pasta of your choice. I used Penne pasta because I have that on hand now, you can use any pasta that you have. Save little pasta water, you may need it later.

2. Simultaneously, in another frying pan, heat up 1 tbsp of vegetable oil and start frying the chicken on high flame.

3. After 5 minutes or when the chicken is about 70% cooked, put in all the green beans, season with salt and pepper.
Salt every layer.

4.After 3 minutes, put in the bell peppers. I used bell peppers of different colors like red, yellow and orange. You can use any bell pepper or you can even skip bell peppers if you dont have it.

5.Add the tomatoes just before adding pasta. We dont want the tomatoes to be completely cooked and mushy. Tomatoes should be 50% cooked. But as the flame is on high, it will take only a minute to cook down the tomatoes.

6.By this time, pasta is perfectly cooked.6-8 minutes is perfect for al dente pasta but please check packet instruction of your pasta. Drain and put the pasta and little pasta water in the frying pan. Mix.

7. Put in a tsp of Basil pesto, I used store bought pesto which has lots of Parmesano reggiano in it , so it will be very salty.

8. Give everything a good stir so that every thing gets nicely coated in the creamy pesto sauce, check salt and pepper. 

Pasta in ready.




Disney Sofia the first review | Kids series on Netflix


Disney Sofia the first on Netflix is a great addition and is a great show. It is about a princess named Sofia who was not born a princess. She became a princess when her mother, a village commoner, married the King of Enchancia, King Rolland who is a very fine kindhearted man. Along with a new father, Sofia also got a sister, Amber and a brother, James. Together they make a very good and loving family. But the adventures start because Sofia wears a magical amulet that her King father gifted her. She gets various magical powers depending on the situation and so on.

 They are currently running the Season 3. Me and husband have become great Princess Sofia fans. We watch an episode of Sofia every night. We think she deserves a place among other Disney princesses like Rapunzel and Belle.

  My advice to all the moms and dads out there is- Let your children watch this show. Every episode teaches a new lesson on life and sharing and friendship and helping others and how small things matter in our life.
Your children will be able to learn and absorb good things from this show. You must also watch this show, it will delight your day up.

Navratan daal or 9 beans soup| A lighter version| Daal recipes


Navratan daal is a thick and rich Indian lentils dish of 9 beans. Here is a lighter , healthier and easier version of the navratan daal or 9 beans soup with only five ingredients. My husband loves this dish and often carries this for his office lunch and so can you. 

You can buy Navratan daal at any Indian grocery store or Indian section of your local supermarket or you can make your own lentil mixture.
Watch the youtube version of this recipe here

Indredients are very basic:
 Navratan daal 1 cup soaked overnight and pressure cooked for 5-8 whistles
Ginger chopped or julienne half tsp 
Garlic chopped half tsp
Green chillies chopped 1-2 pcs
Tomatoes paste 1 cup (I made a smooth paste of 2 roma tomatoes in my mixer grinder)
For seasoning, 
Salt and pepper as per taste
Cumin 1 tsp.

Procedure:
1.In a pan, heat up 1 tsp vegetable oil.
2. Put in chopped ginger,garlic and green chillies and cook them for 1 minute.
3.Then, pour in the tomatoes paste and season with salt, pepper and cumin and cook for 5-8 minutes or until the mixture is cooked and reduced to half.
4. Mix the cooked lentils and the spicy mixture and simmer the whole thing for 5-10 minutes to adjust consistency.

Thats it, it is that basic and simple and delicious. Enjoy with bread or roti. 


Chicken Meatball soup with Spinach and vegetables



Now, this is a very flavorful soup which tasty, light and easy to make on weeknights and perfect for your diet days.


 Ingredients and Procedure:
To make chicken meatballs:
Ground chicken 1 cup. 
1.Season the ground chicken with chopped parsley(fresh/dried),
salt and pepper.
For binding, use 1 tbsp milk and 1-2 tbsp of breadcrumbs.

 2.Mix with spoon or your hands whichever is comfortable for you.

 3.Wash your hands and oil them. Make small meatballs. Oil your hands whenever you need. I needed to oil my hands twice.
Keep the meatballs aside,lets see what we need to make the soup.

 For the soup:
 For vegetables, I used onion, garlic, carrots and baby/tender Spinach.
1. In a big pot, pour 1 tsp oil and saute 1/3 cup of chopped onion and garlic, 1 cup carrots. Season with salt and pepper. 

 2.When they become soft, pour in about 5-8 cups of chicken broth or water or both depending on how much soup you want to make. 
I used both chicken broth and more water.

 3.Let it come to a boil, then one by one drop in all the chicken meatballs. Cover and cook for 5 minutes.

 4.Put in 1 cup of egg noodles/any small pasta and cover again for 5 mins.

 5. Finally, put in a bowl of baby/tender spinach and cook for 2 minutes. Spinach reduces to nothing so your bowl full of spinach will come down to nothing so if you want add some more.

 6.Check for salt and pepper.

 Your delicious soup is ready. You can check my youtube video on the same recipe.
click here

Hummus recipe



Hummus is a very popular middle eastern dish that is mainly enjoyed with pita bread or as a side to other items.

To make hummus we need very few and basic ingredients.
1.Chickpeas (soaked in water and completely boiled for 4-5 whistles in a pressure cooker) 1 cup
2. White sesame seeds half cup
3. garlic 1 clove
4. Olive oil half cup
5.Lemon juice half cup
6. Salt to taste

Proportion of chickpeas and sesame seeds should be 2:1.

Procedure is the simplest of all.
Just dump in all ingredients into a mixer grinder or food processor. Blend it into a smooth paste like texture and if required you can add water or olive oil to adjust the consistency. Your hummus is ready.
Instead of sesame seeds you can also add tahini sauce if you have or want. But tahini sauce is actually made of sesame seeds like a thin paste of sesame seeds infused with lemon juice.
Traditionally , hummus is served with pita bread but you can also serve it with roti like I did and it tastes absolutely phenomenal.
Make it and let me know how it was.

Spinach and Baby Lima Beans soup| Spinach recipes| Healthy vegetable soup


Spinach and Baby Lima beans soup is my husband's recipe. This is a very simple healthy and light dish,the recipe is easy and quick to make. Both the ingredients are rich in vitamins, minerals and fiber. We all should find more recipes to introduce such healthy ingredients into our daily diet.
You can visit my youtube channel to see this in action. Click the link below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQ4OGqwUzJc

 Ingredients:
1.Spinach 10 oz
2.Baby Lima beans 12 oz
3.Water 3 cups
4.Dried red chilli 2
5.Bayleaf 2
6.Panchphoron 1 tsp
(Panchphoron is a 5 whole spice mix consisting of cumin, black cumin,white mustard, fennel and fenugreek)
7.vegetable oil 1 tsp 

 Spinach and baby lima beans should be taken in almost equal amounts. If you are using frozen ingredients, no need to defrost it before cooking, Anyways you are going to cook the dish in a pressure cooker, so no need to defrost.

 Procedure:
1.Use a pressure cooker for this dish as it 
reduces the time and effort by half.
2.Pour 1 tsp of oil, put in Dried red chilli 2
Bayleaf 2, Panchphoron 1 tsp and saute.
3.dump in spinach and lima beans, Salt to taste and turmeric powder(optional). Saute.
4.Pour 3 cups water.
5. Pressure cook for 4-5 whistles.

 Your Spinach and Baby Lima beans soup is ready.
Serve with bread or paratha or enjoy as it is.

12 Best Places to visit in your Smoky mountain trip

Road trip comes along with your trip to the Great Smoky Mountains. The best time to visit Smokies is the Fall season but Spring is also a very good and convenient time to visit because hotel prices remain low, good weather, spring blooms and wildflowers.

1.If you are passing through Kentucky, then you should stop at Harland Sanders Cafe and Museum for a quick lunch. Its the original KFC and has a little museum attached to it showcasing KFC history and stuff, so it will be a 2-in-1 stop.








2.Get your hotel at Gatlinburg or book a cabin in the hills. Gatlinburg is the litttle gateway town to the mountains situates on the lap of the mountains filled with hotels, restaurants and shops. A long walk around the streets will be entertaining.

 3.Ober Gatlinburg is best attraction in Gatlinburg itself. It is a cubicle hanging in a ropeway all the way up to the mountains. The guide will describe all the places it passes through with beautiful views of the mountains and the picture perfect town of Gatlinburg. The place where it drops you has many other activities to do like ice skating, cafes,fun rides and Scenic Chairlift. You can get tickets on spot or online. Click here to visit the official website.

 4.Scenic Chairlift will be an wonderful experience if you dare to do so. I will recommend this only to fit people , because this is a cable chair thing for two people hanging with a rope going even higher up to the steep Mount Harrison at a view point and the hanging chair wont even stop to pick you up at the station. You have to jump-sit on the moving chair as it will pass through the station.  I dont want to make it scary, but it is what it is. You have to get the tickets on spot where Ober will take you. So it is a two part journey. Photos will be taken at the very end while you are still hanging on the chairlift, smile or kiss and make it worth all the risk.



5.Visit Laurel Falls and Cade's Cove on the same day, as both are on the same route. Laurel Falls is a 1.3 miles steep walk, possible to tag along children,it comes first on the way. The waterfall is good and worth the steep walking.

6.Cade's Cove is a beautiful scenic area on top a mountain. It is not a particular point, it is a scenic loop of 7-11 miles drive-through comprising of lush meadows, little cottages, winding roads, horses, deer and good views. It is a photographers haven. There are several parking spots on the road where you can stop your car and come out to enjoy peaceful nature and take photographs.
7. Roaring Forks Motor Trail is a scenic drive through with Little river by the road side all along. There are several beautiful rapids which calls for wonderful photography opportunities.(the first pic of the page)

 8. Rainbow Falls is another hiking people look up to. Sadly it is really long and can take about 5 hours or so. We didnt have time to do it.

 9. Last but not the least, Clingmans Dome. This is sacred place of worship for the Cherokee tribe. There is a steep road taking you up there and there is the Appalachian Trail passing along with it. You can go by one and return by another. You will be North Carolina at this stage. On the way you can also visit the border between the two states.
Note: The washroom at Clingmans dome is ancient style and you will have a bad experience using it. So take precautions or you may drink less water and wait till you reach Sugarlands Visitor Center.

 10. The Island at Pigeon Forge is an amazing place filled with shops, restaurants and free parking. There is fountain in the middle of the plaza surrounded by rocking chairs which displays light and sound fountain show at regular intervals which is very enjoyable.

 11. Helicopter rides in this area (Sevierville)is way cheaper compared to other places. We did the Scenic Helicopter tours for $35 a person. Rates start at $9, $18, $25 ,$35 and so on. It was worth it and had to buy our photograph taken by a staff at the end of your ride. Check out details here.

 12. For great food options, I will recommend Cicis pizza which is a pizza buffet, a dream come true. We had another dinner at Panda Express at Pigeon Forge and then went to see the fountain show at the Islands at pigeon Forge..

 There are many many other beautiful places to see in the Smokies but this is just what I saw on my trip.
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