Saturday 25 April 2009

Healthy (hopefully), wealthy (nope) and wise (not at all!)

Breakfast

Dinner

I made a healthy breakfast for Ro and myself on Thursday morn. In case you are wondering how i woke up so early, its because there was some fire emergency and about three engines made their way through to our place with their sirens on. I could hear them from so far away and they stopped right below our window. Now, everyone loves a drama. So i forced myself out with the hope of catching some hunky fire men. Unfortunately they were all pretty old and they looked pissed off. The emergency was not really an emergency and they were off by the time i managed to get Ro out of his bath to take a look. They turned off all the hot water after after that. Don't know why though.
Anyways, I  made scrambled egg with cheese, chive and dill on a wheat bread and a slice of bacon (Ro begged for two..there goes the eating healthy bit). It was the first time i was experimenting with dill and chive and it might be a bit of a challenge to get used to the flavours. Its an acquired taste i guess. I liked it, Ro said he'd need to try it out a few more times to make a decision (yes, his life is always this complicated). The cheese was low fat and the bacon was back bacon with the fat trimmed. The milk used in the scrambled egg was supposed to be skimmed or semi-skimmed but I used whole milk. Very little goes in so it shouldn't be a problem. Ro prayed a fire engine would appear every morning so i would wake up and make him breakfast. He said he'd download a siren sound on the comp and play it every morn. High hopes on that one. 
Lunch was outside with a friend so i kinda screwed up on that. Didn't over eat though. I was majorly tempted to have waffles from the roadside waffle huts. But i bravely resisted. Did a lot of window shopping and decided what all to buy for summer. Ro ignored my discovery. Spoilt my friend who accompanied me (new to London) and she said she's definitely getting her husband to buy her some stuff. I'm bad influence when it comes to shopping. I remember going out once with my friend Jane and we were supposed to make sure we dont end up buying stuff. I tried on a pair of jeans which i couldnt afford. Jane was supposed to forbid me from buying it, but instead she said, 'Nishi if it fits you so well and if u really really like it, dont thinnk twice, pick it up.' Now that was all the convincing I needed, I picked it up. Its the most perfect slim fit jeans i ever owned. Thanks Jane. I, on the other hand, insist you try something out and then you would really find it difficult to not buy it cos it would look really nice (and im usually correct about most of the stuff i select for people). So yes, bad influence i am.
Dinner was not so healthy. Portobello mushrooms with spinach-cheese filling, prawns marinated in garlic butter and chive and jacket potatoes with sour cream. Had some perry to go with it:). Potatoes are probably the last thing you should have and staying off alcohol is important. But, what the hell, we went all out and had a yummy din din.
I am posting some pics. Its not the best, but I'm really proud of it. All said and done, Conti. cooking is way more easier than Indian cooking. I make less of a mess and its all oven and microwave cooking and so no back aches standing at the hob and stirring, making sure it doesn't burn etc.

17 comments:

  1. I think it would SO be a crime if you stopped writing di. This was those Lee jeans right? Yup - we were super bad for each other but I have never regretted anything I have bought on our shopping trips together - esp on Pantheon Road. I see on Facebook that you wanna come back home - but here, you are really living it up!!! I am struggling to find the ingriedients to make the kind of stuff you talk about :O) Enjoy it to the max for as long as you are there, else God WILL answer your prayers and send you guys back to Sambar Vada Land :O) Experience EVERYTHING!!!

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  2. yup the lee's :) they are so amazing
    I wanna be back in sambar vada land so badly. I AM SICK OF BEIN SO FAR AWAY FROM HOME AND FRIENDS (im screaming btw)

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  3. whoa! u've tossed up quite a bit of a breakfast and dinner di!! not bad at all... doesnt matter conti or indian nish, its food ultimately, alle? ;) though i dont get half the stuffs u've mentioned, methinks it would be nice trying out new things every now n then! interesting!! have fun :)

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  4. One thing we must BOTH realise is that it is time to make NEW friends (very difficult I know) and make the best of a new city. Let me remind you of your days in Chennai when you planned get-togethers that got cancelled a million times cos your "friends" were too busy. No doubt we are all close and in a time of need we will be there for each other no matter what - but we have all moved on from our college days, we are taking different paths. YOU are blessed to be in a place that pretty much influenced the history of the WORLD. And you wanna come back to hot, sweaty Chennai for what? Curse me for saying this cos I miss is so deeply myself - it is home after all. Some times I wonder how much we will regret ten years down the line for not having enjoyed our youth when we should have.

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  5. @sne: you dong have to put chive and dill and all di..you can put coriander and mint and the sour cream for the jacket potato, you can substitute it with just cheese and microwave it:)
    its super easy trust me...
    jaaaaaaaaaaneee:all that u said is right and i totally agree, but there are times u don care whr you are, but you just wanna be back home near family and friends. And i have been having those feelings quite often now.

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  6. Nishi I see that u have managed to wipp up and amazing brakefast and dinner...For some reason i cant handle scrambled eggs, boiled eggs and all that, and i dont like jacket potatoes... but ya sometimes i do manage i eat baked skin with sour cream and all...
    e sure do hav to enjoy the place and experiance wen u can...not everyone gets the chance...

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  7. well with all those herbs it hardly tastes like eggs and jacket potato..seriously? how can u not like it di? yeah u shud try baked potato skin with bacon and cheese, its easy 2 make and absolutely yummmmm...

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  8. I bought a microwave almost a month ago...and our apartment's plug points cannot support 15 amps without the switches tripping.
    So, it is sitting on the table collecting dust cos our landlady wants to use ONLY the electrician that SHE knows, even though she can't find him. The whole reason why I bought it was to try out more western dishes like bakes. Another sad part is trying to get any of these ingriedients by the way... :O)

    More reasons not to return just yet...

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  9. Jane...like i told sne..you dont need to use the exact same ingredients...jacket potatoes can have just grated cheese, portobello mushrooms can be replaced with just normal mushrooms (wont be that big but u can still use it). Prawns can be made with just abt anything..white sauce jus butter and garlic.

    Well if i come back il have asha making the yummiest biriyani's or anything rather:)

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  10. Edi I think you like to cook more than you admit. Though it's not just about getting the right ingriedients or finding substitutes - it's about getting superior stuff at an inferior quality! The button mushrooms here don't even have an expiry date stamped on them. The staff umm and aaah if you ask. And if mushrooms have spoilt it's a little hard to tell and you can have severe food poisoning. Then we get our artichokes and bakchoy but they all come from these organic farms (great) at super high prices (not so great).

    Any hoo... Keep on cooking and let us know how it goes :O)

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  11. well..i dont mind the occasional baking and frying, but not on an everyday basis u know. Hey we used 2 get all these in nilgiris in chennai..du know if theres one i hyd?

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  12. Edi i like baked potato skin with sour cream hehe, that also wen i buy it.... I was the one who used to cook a lot...I used to try out all kinds of dishes, and I used to experiment on my own too... Most of the western herbs and stuff are readily available here so not a prob...But I have become just too lazy to wash even my own plate.. :(

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  13. Thats why you have a dishwasher kel:)

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  14. ya ya dishwasher.... I just leave everything here for the servant boy to wash etc...Now my mom goes and washes it and tells me that I am shameless to leave it like that :( ohh boy...
    And i just have completely stopped cokking coz i am lazy and dont have time...And i dont want to make the effort...I guess i just got so used to being pampered and got lazy :P

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  15. yeah given a choice i wud do the same..but i realized if i need 2 eat healthy to maintain my weight then i need 2 really take it into my hands..less oil etc..and for that indian food is a bad idea..so i have leaned over to conti stuff and its easier saves a lot of time and energy

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  16. LOL at ur description of the firemen;-D

    "Ro prayed a fire engine would appear every morning so i would wake up and make him breakfast."
    :-D

    I went thru the comment & found ur friends giving u courage & practical advice & ...
    remembered my own situation....
    When I first came to Dubai, I hated it & for almost 4 yrs I pined for my Bangalore. Atleast u have internet now but i didnt even have a computer for almost a yr & also had a husband who went at 8 & came back at 8. It was horrible...I remember a particular moment then, where I cried loudly railing at my fate.
    It passed...slowly & now the fact tht I have 2 kids does play a large part in accepting this way of life. I mean, time does fly when u having fun;-D.
    Its been 10 yrs now & when I visit B'lore now at the end of our 30 days vacation I'm secretly glad I'm going back to the pollution free, hassle-free life*touch-wood*. Simply put, I got used to this way of life;-)).

    The easiest way is to keep urself busy....join up for some classes......pottery, fitness, cooking...the choices are endless.
    Make the Effort!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    p.s: ur pics of the brkfast & dinner r absolutely tempting!!!!

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  17. @reflections..yes you are right about getting used to the ways of life. I have been here for a year now and im slowly getting used to the lifestyle here. But its still hard to let go of the good job and friends and family i had out there in Chennai. I still miss it like crazy. I hate change basically and with my husbands profession, we are not in one place for more than 6 months which makes it even more difficult for me. But its a decision i made to travel around with him, so i am gonna stick to it..the occasional cribbing is just a way of letting out my steam when i am totally frustrated:)
    Yes, i am doing a few freelance assignments and the like which keeps me occupied for a while..have to figure out other activities once summer is here. Thanks for the good words:)

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