Skip to main content

Posts

Featured Post

Proteins

At times, it seems as if everywhere everyone is promoting the power of protein and that we should take protein rich diet. People start taking proteins without thinking twice. We all have some questions regarding ‘proteins’ which are still unanswered. Today I would like to answer some queries about proteins. If you have any other question, then please feel free to ask in the comment box. It is regarding our body which is the only place we have to live in. Disclaimer: None of the advice contained on this blog is to be considered as medical advice. Please do not make any changes to your lifestyle without discussing it with your doctor.   1.        What is protein? Protein is one of the three basic macro nutrients, others being fat and carbohydrates. It is the only macro nutrient which contains nitrogen, without which we cannot grow or reproduce. They are made of amino acids, which function as cell’s “building blocks.” Cells need protein to grow and to mend themselves.
Recent posts

Vitamin D| Monica’s Archives

Vitamin D is both a nutrient we eat and a hormone our bodies make. It is a fat-soluble vitamin that helps in the absorption of calcium and phosphorus, promoting growth and mineralization of our bones. It helps control infections and reduces inflammation. Vitamin D is also known as the sunshine vitamin because our bodies can make and absorb Vitamin D from sun exposure. Sun exposure of 5-30 minutes up to 3pm twice a week to the face, arms, legs, or back without sunscreen is usually enough to help Vitamin D intake. This process varies widely depending on the season, time of day, cloud cover, skin color (darker skin needs more exposure), and sunscreen use, so eating food sources of vitamin D is also important.   There are two forms of vitamin D in the diet: ·          Vitamin D2 – found in a plant source, mainly in mushrooms ·          Vitamin D3 – found in oily fish, fish liver oils and egg yolks. However, many people still do not get enough of this important vitamin. For instanc

Hing ka Achar (Pickle without oil) |Monica’s Archives

Hing or Asafoetida has many medicinal uses. The most common problems of the stomach like gas, irritable bowel syndrome, bloating, intestinal worm infection, and flatulence can all be treated with this magical ingredient. It has both anti-inflammatory and anti-spasmodic properties that help in alleviating these kinds of health issues. Today, I am giving you the recipe of Hing ka Achaar (Asafoetida pickle) which you can take along with your meals and can enjoy its benefits. It is a spicy, sour, and tasty pickle. Ingredients: Kaccha aam (raw mango)                 - 1.5 kg (cut in thin small pieces) Salt                                                        - 250 gms Lal Mirch (moti kutti)                         - 150 gms (like chili flakes) Hing (Asafoetida) powder                 - 50 gms Method: Cut the raw mangoes in thin and small pieces, so that it is convenient to take the pickle. Make sure that no water is there in the mango pieces, cut with dry hands. 

Life - in my perspective |Monica’s Archives

The deaths of actors Irrfan Khan and Rishi Kapoor are shocking, but then death is the ultimate leveler. It is the thought of death and misery that has forced people to leave everything and begin the search for truth. All things have to reduce to dust. Lord Krishna in The Bhagwad Geeta talks of the worldly nature of material things around us. Nothing is yours and when you leave the world it is the ‘Atma’, i.e., consciousness that stays. I am reminded of these thoughts amid the coronavirus crisis that is taking its toll all over the world and the deaths of two fine actors in Indian cinema – Irrfan Khan and Rishi Kapoor – from cancer of different kinds one after the other. As a soul, in every life, we get new roles, relationships, material possessions, and success on the basis of what we have earned by the actions performed in our previous births. So every birth offers us an opportunity to do better actions and create more happiness for the self and others. It’s not possible to

Bhindi Pakore|Monica’s Archives

Bhindi(Ladyfinger) is a vegetable that is mostly eaten in summers. To add a crunch to the vegetable, we can make bhindi pakoras which are crispy from outside and soft from inside. These delicious pakoras are mostly taken with dal chawal (rice and lentil). Ingredients: Bhindi (Ladyfinger)                                  - 250gms Grated paneer (cottage cheese)          - 100 gms Besan (gram flour)                                      - ½ cup Soda bicarb                                               - ¼ spoon Kali Mirch powder (black pepper powder) Ajwain (carom seeds) Chat masala Mirchi powder (Red chili powder) Haldi (turmeric) Salt Oil Method: ·          Wash bhindis and dry them. Discard the upper and lower portion. Cut a slit in-between lengthwise. ·          For the filling - grate the paneer, add salt, haldi, Mirchi powder and chat masala and mix it. Fill this mixture in bhindis. Now microwave these filled bhindis for 4 minutes so that bh

Healthy Lifestyle

Today, everyone knows that to be healthy we should lead a healthy lifestyle. But at times, we get confused about what is healthy lifestyle. The way we are living is our lifestyle. Now, how can we make it healthy? People in our society can be categorized like bachelors/single women, married men, married working women, homemakers etc. who may need to think to bring some changes in their lifestyle. Working bachelors can be either staying at home with their family( parents and siblings) or have to shift to other city and are staying with friends or in hostel/ PG. Healthy lifestyle broadly can be classified in four steps: 1) Eat healthy 2) Exercise regularly 3) Reduce stress 4) Drink plenty of water The key is to be consistent. Whatever changes you bring to your lifestyle should be exercised regularly. It may seem difficult at first, but please make a start. Like first you may be able to do it twice or thrice in a week. Let it be. We cannot expect to change our lives in a day.

Financial Planning

Financial Planning involves channelisation of our funds towards the fulfillment of our goals. All of us have some desires and needs, like that of buying a car in a couple of years, buying my own house before I turn 40, want my children to go in a good university for higher studies, planning for retirement etc. When it comes to realizing these goals we have no definite plans. We just leave it all on mercy of God and expect everything to fall in place. Eventually, in most of the cases, we do not achieve our   intended goals in a manner we wish to and our dreams end up being just that – dreams. Mostly our daily life is focused on arranging finances for our immediate needs, like our child’s school fee, arranging funds for next month’s EMI, buying clothing for coming festival and likewise. It’s not as if we don’t think about securing our future and achieving long term goals, but day-to-day routine activities leave us with little time to give our future a serious thought. Among thos

Peanut and Macroni Salad

Ingrdients for salad: Macroni                 - ¾ cup Peanuts                   - 2 tablespoons Oil                           -   ¼ spoon Green capsicum     – 1-2 spoon Yellow capsicum – 1-2 spoon Red capsicum          -1-2 spoon Cucumber                 - ½ ( cut into semicircles) Ingredients for dressing : Olive oil                    - ¼ cup White vinegar      - 1 tablespoon Lemon juice         -   2 spoon Onion                   - 1 (cut in small cubes) Garlic                  - 2 cloves (crushed) Mustard sauce – ½ spoon Chilli flakes        - ½ spoon Oregano             - 1 ½ spoon Sugar                  - ¼ spoon (powdered) Salt                      - to taste Method for Dressing:           Mix all the ingredients of the dressing in a mixer to get a thick and creamy paste.       Refrigerate for 2 hours before using.        Method for Salad :       Boil macroni in 5-6 cups of water with salt and 1 big spoon oil