Shenusminiature

Sqid Abalonetti

2012-06-26T12:54:00.001-07:00

A squid belongs to the general family of cephlapod and looks like a mini octopus because of its tentacles. Just like the octopus it discharges a dark fluid into the face of its predator when threatened with potential danger. The average length of an edible squid generally varies from 5cm to 100cm although some colossal squids could be as big as 20m.The squis which forms a part of most Mediterranean cuisines, has a firm white and sweet tasing meat.

However, if you want to cook any squid dish at home, you have to follow some preliminary steps. You have to start by cleaning a squid, for which the mantle has to be separated gently from the head. Next, the interior of the mantle has to be thrown away, removing the edible ink from it. Now pull the membrane from the mantle away, cut off the tentacles just under the eyes and discard the hard beak.

After you wash the squid thoroughly, it is ready to be tenderised by making 2 cm slits along its body and bashing the flesh with a mallet. In order to prevent the squid flesh from toughening, you must start cooking it while it is still fresh. The only time taking squid dish is prepared by braising 7.5 to 10 cm long pieces of squid that need to be cooked for at least 1 hour.

Here am going to provide you an easy recipe of squid through a baking process.

SQUID ABALONETTI:

Ingredients :

Squid – ½ Kg
Water –1 cup
Salt to taste
White sauce
Grated Cheese

* Boil the squid until it is tender and add water accordingly to bring it to complete
boiling. When its boiled drain the water and keep aside

*Greece the baking pan with butter and keep aside.

Method for Preparing white sauce:

1 1. In a sauce pan place heat the butter in medium heat.

2. Add the flour, stir constantly for about a minute and add milk and whisk thoroughly
until the sauce thickens and come to boil.

3. Add mustard paste, salt and pepper finally.

Method for baking:

* Preheat the oven at 350* Fahrenheit.

* Layer the squid in the baking pan and add run white sauce on top.

* Add the remaining squid and this time add white sauce as a top layer and spread
grated cheese on it.

* Bake for 15-20 minutes and remove from the oven and serve hot.

Ethapazham payasam

2012-04-26T07:09:00.000-07:00

Banana fruit has many health benefits. It is rich source of potassium. Bananas are also a natural source of iron. Banana is nutritious fruit and help us from weight loss, constipation , blood pressure, brain power , anemia. In addition to the cardiovascular benefits the bananas also help us to boost healthy bones. Banana plays an important role for reducing depression. It gives us relax, improve our mood and generally make us feel happier።

Ingredients :

Ripen large Banana - 4
Jaggery - 3 cubes
Coconut Powder - 3 tspn
Rice Powder - 1 tspn
Water - 1 cup
Salt - 1 Pinch
Cashew nuts - 1 tbspn
Raisin - 1 tbspn

Steps to Prepare:

In a saucepan pour water to boil.
Slice the bananas vertically and take off the seed and chop to least small size.
Add the bananas to the water and boil for 10 minutes.
Add the melted Jaggery, salt and stir well.
Dissolve the coconut powder in little warm water separately and stir well. combine it to the sauce pan.
To bring little thickness if necessary add rice powder stirred in small quantity of water separately.
In a separate fry pan heat ghee and crackle the cashew nuts and raisins and temper on to payasam.

Weight Control & Nutrition

2012-04-25T02:40:00.000-07:00

"Things I came to know to balance weight and be freed from sickness, with good nutrition. It's easy if you concentrate a bit in your daily busier life.."

Fill up On fibre:

Fibre is great because it not only has tonnes of health

benefits, it also makes you feel fuller sooner and helps
move fat through your system faster so that less of it is absorbed.

Drink more water:
It`s quite common to confuse thirst with hunger. Most of the time when we think we are hungry, we are actually thirsty. Next time you feel starving, try drinking a couple of glasses of water first. If the feeling still doesn`t subside, you can be confident your are hungry rather than thirsty.

Size of Meals:
For better digestion, blood-sugar, energy levels and metabolic function, it’s better to stick with the smaller meals.

Do not Skip Meals:
Eating small frequent meals help to balance your calorie intake throughout the day and also keeps your blood sugar level balanced. Instead of eating 3 big meals, try to eat 5 - 6 smaller meals throughout the day.

Avoid Crash Diets:
This is possibly the worst thing you can do to lose weight, as you will find when you go off crash diet, you will probably put on more weight than what you started with. Crash diets promote mainly water and muscle loss, which is exactly what you want to avoid, because the more muscle you have, the higher your metabolism will be.

Kerala Sambar

2012-04-23T08:30:00.001-07:00

Ingredients :

All indian Vegetables equally proportion - 1 kg
Onion – 1
Tomato – 1
Tamarind pulp – 1 cup
Garlic – 4 cloves
Chilly powder – ½ tspn
Turmeric Powder – ¼ tspn
Red Daal – ¼ cup
Salt to taste
Water – 1 cup

# Boil the above ingredients in a cooking deep pan for about 15 minutes.

Ingredients for Gravy:

Mustard seeds – ¼ tspn
Fenugreek seeds – ¼ tspn
Small Onion – 4
Oil – 2 tbspn
Garlic – 2 cloves
Curry leaves – 1 trunk
Red Chilly – 1
Cumin – ¼ tspn
Asafoetida – 1 pinch
Chilly powder – 2 tspn
Turmeric Powder – ¼ tspn
Water – 1 cup

Steps to Prepare:

In a separate pan add Oil.
When its heated up crackle the mustard and then add fenugreek & Cumin seeds.
Add garlic cloves, red chilly, curry leaves and onions and stir until brown.
Add chilly powder and turmeric powder and sort for few seconds till a chilly flavour smells out. Turn off the flame.
Cool it and blend it by adding 1 cup of water.
Pour the Gravy into the cooked vegetables and flame until it boils.
Tamper the sambar by heating some oil in a separate pan and crackle the mustard. Add some curry leaves and red chilly to garnish.

Home made Pizza

2012-04-23T06:16:00.001-07:00

Ingredients for Dough:

Flour - 2 Cups
Baking Powder - ½ tspn
Yeast - 1 tbspn
Oil (vegetable or olive oil) - 4 tbspn
Sugar - 1 tbspn
Salt - ½ tspn
Water - 3 - 4 tbspn ( as required to make a perfect dough)

Mix all the above ingredients and prepare the dough and cover it in a bowl.
. Keep aside for about 30- 45 minutes.

Ingredients for Topping:

Pizza Sauce / Tomato Sauce - 2 tbspn
Cheese shredded - ½ cup
Chicken Tikka Chunks/any meat chunks boiled with pepper & salt & finally shredded - ½ cup
Onion - 1
Mashroom chopped - ¼ cup
Capsicum - ¼ cup
Oregano leaves/Coriander leaves - ¼ cup

Steps to Prepare:

Preheat the oven in 180* C.
Get ready with the dough only once the specified time is over and the dough has been raised.
Patter the hand with flour holding the dough to make a ball.
Roll the dough on to a floured surface making circle with hand according to your preference and how much the thickness of the crust required.
Transfer the dough into an oiled/flour pattered flat baking pan or a glass pan.(I have used my micro oven's glass plate)
Spread around the ingredients leaving 1 inch base free. Top up sauce, little cheese, Chicken chunks, onion pieces,mushroom, capsicum, oregano or coriander leaves and good quantity of shredded cheese on top.( If you don't have shredded cheese, you can shred the Cube cheese with vegetable shredder.)
Bake the Pizza for about 15 - 20 minutes or until the crust is nicely browned and cheese turns brown .

Lovely babies

2012-04-19T05:40:00.001-07:00

Walnut Banana Tea Cake

2012-04-18T22:52:00.000-07:00

Ingredients :

Cream – 1 cup
Lemon – ½ piece

* Add the lemon to the cream to get sour cream and keep aside

Walnut crushed – 4 tbspn
Cinnamon powder – 2 tbspn
Sugar powdered ( icing Sugar) – 3 tbspn

*Mix the three above and keep aside

* Greece the baking pan with butter and keep aside.

Unsalted Butter – 8 ohns
Egg – 2
Banana – 2 smashed
Sliced banana- 1
Vanilla extract – 1 tbspn
Flour – 2 cups
Baking Powder – ½ tspn
Salt – ¼ tspn
Sugar – 1 cup

Steps to Prepare:

In a bowl beat butter, eggs, sour cream,mashed bananas, vanilla extract.
Fold in with hand flour, baking powder, salt & sugar.
Spoon half of the batter in the tin and put half of the walnut mixture sprinkle.
On to the top place the sliced banana and layer on rest of the batter.
For garnish you can add some walnut pieces on the cake.
Bake for about an hour till skewer inserted in center comes out clean.
Cool in a wire rack and carefully overturn and sprinkle with icing sugar before serving.

Fish Tomato Puri

2012-04-18T22:21:00.000-07:00

Ingredients for Marination :

Fish – ½ kg
Chilly Powder – 1 tbspn
Turmeric Powder – ¼ tspn
Salt – 1 tspn

# Marinate the fish for about 15 minutes with the above

ingredients.

Ingredients for Gravy:

Tomato – 2
Green Chilly - 1
Garlic paste – 1 tspn
Oil – 2 tbspn
Fenugreek seeds – ¼ tspn
Coriander Powder – ½ tspn
Turmeric Powder – ¼ tspn
Chilly powder – 2 tspn
Curry leaves – 2 trunks
Salt to taste

Steps to Prepare:

Shallow Fry the marinated fish with oil and curry leaves.
Blend the tomatoes with green chilly.
In the same pan, pour little oil and add fenugreek seeds and garlic paste. Sort and add tomato puree and wait for few minutes to boil.
Add rest of the spices and cover for about 10 minutes.
Add the fried fish and simmer for 5 minutes.
Garnish with curry leaves.

Baked Macaroni

2012-04-18T07:52:00.001-07:00

Ingedients:

Macroni- 500gms
Keema – ½ kg
Oil – 2 tblspn
Onion – 1
Carrot – 1
Capsicum – ½ piece
Chilly powder – 2 tspn
Black pepper – ¼ tspn
Garam masla – ¼ tspn
Turmeric powder – ¼ tspn
Green chilly - 1
Ginger paste – ½ tspn
Lemon- 1
Grated cheese – ½ cup
Soya sauce – 1 tspn
Chilly sauce – 1 tspn
Salt to taste

Ingredients for White Sauce:

Butter – 3 tbspn
Flour- 2tbspn
Fresh milk – 2 cups
Mustard paste – 1 tspn
White pepper – ½ tspn
Salt to taste

Method :

In a cooker, add the mutton or chicken keema and add chilly powder, turmeric powder, half of green chilly, half of the lemon squeezed, salt and equal layer of water.
Waite for 3-4 whistle and keep aside.
Prepare the macaroni in a separate pot by boiling the water first and adding the macaroni, salt and 1 tspn of oil and cook until as prescribed in the packet. Once it is boiled and drained add cold water on to the macaroni while draining, inorder to stop them being cooked more.
Take a separate pan, heat up and add the oil, garlic, onion, carrot, cabbage & capsicum. Stir and simmer for five minutes until the vegetables are soft.
Add the keema and stir until all are well cooked and dried. On to that add little soya sauce and chilly sauce to taste perfect.
Add the macaroni to the masala and stir softly.
Add black pepper and remaining lemon and stir simmer.

Method for white sauce:

1. In a sauce pan place heat the butter in medium heat.

2. Add the flour, stir constantly for about a minute and add milk and whisk thoroughly until the

sauce thickens and come to boil.

3. Add mustard paste, salt and pepper finally.

Method for baking:

1. Preheat the oven at 350* Fahrenheit.

2. In a baking pan, place one layer of macaroni.

3. on top spread the white sauce an another layer of macaroni and white sauce covered well.

4. Spread the grated cheese on top and bake for 15-20 minutes.

5. Remove from the oven and allow to cool down and serve hot.

Paneer Tikka Masala

2012-04-16T00:50:00.001-07:00

Ingredients:

Paneer – 300 gms ( Chopped into rectangle shape
Oil – 1 tbspn
Red Chilly Powder – ½ tspn
Coriander Powder – ½ tspn
Ginger – 1 tbspn
Yougurt – 1 tbspn
Salt to taste

Method:

1. Mix all the ingedients above and quote well on Paneer pieces and marinate for an hour in refrigerator

2. After an hour oil a flat hot pan and shallow fry the Paneer turning both the sides until

brown and keep aside.

Ingredients for Gravy:

Tomato – 4 Blended
Green Chilly – 1
Oil – 1 tbspn
Cumin Seed – ½ tspn
Asafoetida – 1 small pinch
By leaves – 2
Coriander powder – 1 tspn
Chilly powder – ¼ tspn
Corn Starch – 1 tspn
Sugar – ½ tspn
Garam masal – ¼ tspn
Corander leaves 2 tbspn

Method:

1. Oil the heat pan, crackle the cumin seeds, asapateta and add bay leaves.

2. Immediately add tomato paste that is grinded with green chilly.

3. On to that add chilly powder, coriander powder, turmeric powder, sugar & salt and stir well.

4. Cover the lid for 10 minutes and cook well in a low flame.

5. After its boiled add corn starch stirred in little cold water & sort for few minutes.

6. According to your presence, if the gravy is thick you can add water more or cornstarch vice versa.

7. Finally add paneer and mix well. For more flavor add garam masala and coriander leaves.

Fried Chicken Burger

2012-04-16T00:14:00.000-07:00

Ingredients for filling:

Oil – 2 tpn
Chicken – ½ kg - boiled with salt and pepper.
Pepper – ¼ tpn
Capsicum – 1
Carrot – 1
Cucumber – 1
Tomato – 1
Coriander
White Potato Sauce – 1 cup
Bread Crumbs – 1 Cup
Egg White – 2
Burger Bun – 4
Butter – 2 tbspn

Preparing White Potato Sauce :

Ingredients:

Oil – 2 tpn
Chicken – ½ kg - boiled with salt and pepper.
Pepper – ¼ tpn
Capsicum – 1
Carrot – 1
Cucumber – 1
Tomato – 1
Coriander
White Potato Sauce – 1 cup
Bread Crumbs – 1 Cup
Egg White – 2
Bun –
Butter – 2 tbspn

Method for potato sauce:

1. Smash the potato as soon as it is boiled completely.

2. Add all the rest of the ingredients and mix well with clean hand.

Sandwich Preparation:

1. Heat Oil in a deep fry pan and add chopped boneless

chicken and fry in low flame.

2. Simultaneously add each hard vegetables and then add the

remaining cucumber & tomato finally.

3. End up adding pepper, salt and coriander. Keep the mixture

aside.

4. Slice the Burger Bun into equal part leaving the one end
attached as shown in the image.

5. To make a shallow hole for placing the filling, wear out some

bread from the thicker layer of the bread.

6. Layer the white potato sauce on both sides and fill the mixture

inside.

7. Dip the Bun in the egg white and bread crumbs and fry it in

litter Butter one by one.

Pop Music!!

2012-04-15T01:38:00.003-07:00

Welcome to my Western Canto miniature
Surf on to your taste by Artist to hear melodious Music!!!

Indian Music!!

2012-04-15T00:27:00.000-07:00

Surf on to below link to hear latest hindi, malayalam & major golden indian songs of your choice!

Get Set Goooo! Music miniature

Can a mother be both parent and a friend to her child?

2012-04-15T00:03:00.000-07:00

Yes! My mother is one of my best friends.

I understand that people will hesitate at that - they'll say that children have enough friends, that they need parents. But who says you can't be both? It's probably the same person who slams friendships between employers and employees, and teachers and students. OK, such ‘rules of engagement' might apply to these latter examples, but surely there's more to parenting than power?

People can confuse friendship with loss of authority, but that's a mistake - the real power in relationships comes from seeing others as individuals. Your child is a person in their own right.

Children will never be forced to lie to or keep secrets , when made parenting easier. We have to keep the lines of communication open by seeing the world through their eyes, without reproach.

The theory becomes true, when they feel safe to reveal because they knew the mother's interest comes from a place of love rather than judgement. Granted, there lies disagreements, but there wouldn’t be a life event where they couldn't share things with their mother, and the sharing goes both ways.

Parenting manuals are full of advice on the power of apologizing to your small child. In later years, these admissions of error can evolve from forgetting to buy chocolate sprinkles to more adult confessions. This is the gift of vulnerability. Admitting our own regrets allows our children to be OK with their own mistakes and move forward. Being a ‘good-enough mother' is far better for your child than being a ‘perfect.

There is no right or wrong in this but, faced with the choice between the full exposed route, or parenting with distinct limits, I know which path I will choose to walk with my child. And it won't be the sugar-coated one.

The role of a Parent is to provide the child with secure environment in which they can be loved, respected, supported, protected, supervised and disciplined, so they thrive and experience healthy attachment.

Tiny tricks

2012-04-13T14:43:00.000-07:00

Some Really good, practical & helpful tips, am sure they really do work!!

To get rid off Ants:

Ants hate cucumbers. Keep the skin of cucumbers near the place or ant hole!

To Get Pure and Clean Ice:

Boil water first before freezing!

To make the mirror shine :

Clean with spirit!

To remove chewing gum from clothes :

Keep the cloth in the freezer for an hour!

To whiten white clothes :

Soak white clothes in hot water with a slice of lemon for 10 minutes!

To give a shine to hair :

Add one teaspoon of vinegar to hair, then wash hair!

To get maximum juice out of lemons :

Soak lemons in hot water for one hour, and then juice them!

To avoid smell of cabbage while cooking :

Keep a piece of bread on the cabbage in the vessel while cooking!

To avoid tears while cutting onions :

Chew gum

To boil potatoes quickly :

Skin one potato from one side only before boiling.

To remove ink from clothes :

Put toothpaste on the ink spots generously and let it dry completely, then wash.

To skin sweet potatoes quickly :

Soak in cold water immediately after boiling!

To get rid of mice or rats :

Sprinkle black pepper in places where you find mice or rats. They will run away!

Tips to lose weight fast!

2012-04-12T09:25:00.001-07:00

1. Drink plenty of water. First how to lose weight fast tip is that our body needs a lot of water so give in to water. Water is not just way to flush out toxin but if you have more water in your body you will generally feel healthier and fitter. This itself will discourage any tendency to gorge. The best thing about water is that is has no calories at all.

2. Start your day with a glass of water. As soon as you wake up, gulp down a glass of cool water. It’s a wonderful way to start your day and you only need a lesser quantity of your breakfast drink after that. A glass of water lets out all your digestive juices and sort of lubricates the insides of your body. You may have your morning cup of tea but have it after a glass of water. It is good for you.

3. Drink a glass of water before you start the meal. Water naturally needs some space so that you feel fuller without actually having to stuff yourself.

4. Have another glass of water while you are having the meal. Again this is another great way how to lose weight fast super tip and a way of making yourself full, another great weight loss tips, so that you can actually rise from the table eating less but feeling full just the same. Instead of drinking it one gulp, take sips after each morsel. It will help the food to settle faster so that you get that feeling that you are full faster.

SIDENOTE: Water is such a remarkable thing, but seldom do we give it the credit that it deserves. Did you know that over 66% of your body weight is nothing but water’ It’s amazing! Water also plays a vital role in weight control, which is why I donated so much space to it, above.

5. Stay away from sweetened bottle drinks, especially sodas. Hey all those colas and fizzy drinks are sweetened with sugar and sugar means calories. The more you can cut out on these sweetened bottle drinks, the better for you. So if you must drink sodas, then stick to diet sodas.

6. Include in your diet things that contain more water like tomatoes and watermelons. These things contain 90 to 95 % water so that there is nothing that you have to lose by feasting on them. They fill you up without adding to the pounds.

7. Eat fresh fruit instead of drinking fruit juice. Juice is often sweetened but fresh fruits have natural sugars. When you eat fruit, you are taking in a lot of fiber, which is needed by the body, and fruits of course are an excellent source of vitamins.

Tomato Chutney:

2012-04-11T04:27:00.000-07:00

Ingredients :

Tomato – 2 Cup
Green Chilly – 8
Garlic – 1 tspn
Oil – 2 tspn
Hing – 1 Pinch
Cumin Seeds – 1 tspn
Mustard seeds – 1 tspn
Turmeric Powder – ½ tspn
Paprika/ Chilly powder – ½ tspn
Bay Leaves – 2
Curry Leaves - 1 trunk
Red Chilly - 1
Corn Starch – 1 tspn
Salt to taste
Sugar – 2 tspn

Steps to Prepare:

Blend the tomatoes with green chilly.
Oil the pan and add bay leaves and all the seeds one after the other such as hing, mustard seeds,cumin seeds and garlic chopped.
Add tomato puree and wait for few minutes to boil.
Add rest of the spices and cover for about 10 minutes.
Pour corn starch stirred in water.
Finally add salt and sugar and stir well.
Garnish with curry leaves and Red chilly.

Tips to Maintain Healthy relationship!

2012-04-09T06:42:00.003-07:00

Invest time

"People can become passive about their relationships. They think that just because they have a relationship, they do not have to invest into it anymore. If you want your relationship to grow then you must spend time with that person. Don't take a relationship for granted. Just because you are in a relationship, doesn't necessarily mean you have a bond or connection."

Circle of trust

"Having a large family is not the same as having strong relationships with a large family. Life can be very lonely if you do not have safe and loving relationships - build a strong inner circle of family and friends with whom you can be yourself, expose yourself and discover yourself."

Be positive

"Encouragement is a crucial ingredient in healthy relationships. If we are critical of others - co-workers, children, employees, family members - we discourage them and it weakens the relationship. But at the same time it is important to talk about things that are bothering you. Find healthy, responsible and assertive ways of communicating with others."

Start over

"Forgiveness is such an important skill and leads to a healthier self and healthier relationships. Reflect on why you want a person in your life, know that forgiving does not mean that you will go back to trusting them again quickly, or that you are condoning what they did - it just means that you are able to move on."

Evolve together

"Just because you have a connection now, does not necessarily mean that your connection will maintain itself. People change over time - what they want out of life and what they aspire to. To maintain a healthy relationship throughout these changes, you have to find new ways of re-connecting."

Think long-term

"A strong relationship is not free of pain and is not based on a pass or fail system. When faced with difficult times, be accepting and see things on a continuum. Every relationship goes through ups and downs, but a strong relationship goes through the difficult times, rather than ending them or walking away."

Cakes

2012-04-06T06:41:00.000-07:00

Fresh Orange Cake:

· Initially Heat the oven at 350*c

Ingredients for blending:

ü Orange – 2 cut into normal piece

ü Egg – 3

ü Sugar – 1 ½ Cup

ü Olive oil – ½ cup or Butter –1 ½ Stick

Steps to Prepare:

· Blend the above ingredients one by one in a mixer or Food Processor for about two minutes.

· Place the batter in a bowl and add rest of the below ingredients as well.

ü Flour – 2 Cups

ü Baking Powder – 2 tea spoon

ü Salt – ¼ tea spoon

Method:

Mix the above ingredients with a spatula or you can use clean hand until it turns smooth.
Grease the baking pan with butter for baking the cake in the oven.
Put the batter into the pan and bake it to 40 – 45 minutes until texture comes out clean.
Meanwhile prepare the icing / topping for the orange cake.

Ingredients for Icing

ü Butter - ¼ Cup

ü Icing Sugar – 2 Cups

ü Vanila Extract – ½ tea spoon

ü Orange Juice – 2/3 table spoon

ü Grated Orange layer – For garnish

Method :

· Beat the butter with electric beater until it smashed well.

· Add the next three ingredients and blend until it’s nice and creamy. It should be in spread consistency

and not too runny.

· Once the cake is cooled spread the icing and garnish the cake with grated orange. Serve it tasty.

Tips To maintain your Kitchen Healthy!

2012-03-24T14:23:00.000-07:00

Cleaning up the kitchen is part of cooking. Not only is it easier to cook and bake in a clean kitchen, but clean surfaces and storage containers will keep your family healthier and safer. Proper storage, cooking and handling are the only ways to ensure safe food.

Take some time to learn these tips and preventive measures and before you know it, your kitchen will be automatically cleaner and less messed up. Make cleaning second nature and you'll save time and money.

1. Have a place for everything. It's much easier to use a utensil or appliance, clean it and don’t put it away when it has a home. I use foil as an example in my kitchen. I have a special drawer that is used just for foil, plastic wrap and plastic containers. Those items are always easy to find, when it has a special home.

2. Clean up spills as they occur so you won't be faced with one huge cleaning session.

3. Get used to the habit of covering the food with a food cover each time you heat up the food from the oven.

4. Try to end each day with a clean, empty kitchen sink.

5. Empty the dustbin of the kitchen before you are on to the bed for a healthier and safe kitchen.:-)