Tropical Fruit Salad
Preparation time: 10 mins
Making time: 5 mins
Serves: 4-5
Ingredients:
- Sweet lime (medium) : 2 (segmented)
- Apple (medium) : 1 (sliced into ½ inch cubes)
- Oranges (medium) : 2 (segmented)
- Seedless grapes (green and black) : ½ cup
- Small papaya : ¼ (sliced into ½ inch cubes)
- Guava (medium) : 1 ( cut into ½ inch cubes)
- Honey : 2 tablespoons
- Lemon juice : 2 tablespoons
- Red chilli flakes : 1 teaspoon
- Black salt to taste
How to prepare:
- Mix all the fruits together in a big bowl
- Now prepare the dressing by mixing honey, lemon juice, red chilli flakes and black salt.
- Now pour the dressing over the fruits and toss well to mix
- Refrigerate the salad for 10 minutes and serve chilled!
Nutritional Powerhouse: Home-made Vegetable Soup
Preparation time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 15 minutes
Serves: 4-5
Ingredients:
1. Carrot (medium) : 1 (thinly sliced)
2. Cabbage : ¼ cup (finely chopped)
3. Mushrooms : 8 (sliced)
4. Celery stalk (shalari): 1 inch (sliced)
5. Spring onion : 1 (sliced)
6. Peas : 10
7. Onion (medium) : 1 (sliced)
8. Red capsicum (medium) : 1 (sliced into 1 inch pieces)
9. French beans : ½ cup (finely chopped)
10. Spinach leaves : 15-16 (chopped)
11. Garlic cloves : 5 (crushed)
12. Bay leaf (Tez Patta) : 1
13. Black peppercorns : 10-12 (crushed)
14. Cloves : 3
15. Lemon juice : 1/2 teaspoon
16. Salt to taste
How to prepare:
1. First, put 1 onion (chopped), ½ sliced carrot, chopped celery stalk, 2 crushed garlic cloves, bay leaf, 5-6 peppercorns and cloves in a pan and sauté for a few minutes on low flame. Now add 5 cups water to this mixture and bring to a boil.
2. Simmer the above mixture for 15 minutes.
3. Now add remaining crushed garlic to the above mixture and bring to a boil.
4. Further, add mushrooms, carrot, spinach, peas, cabbage, beans, spring onions, celery, red capsicum and cook for 2-3 minutes after it starts boiling again.
5. Now add crushed peppercorns and salt to the above mixture.
6. Stir well and remove from flame.
7. This multi nutritious vegetable soup is ready to serve. Add lemon juice to it while serving!
Health benefits: This soup is extremely rich in iron, calcium, potassium and vitamin K, C, E. All green leafy vegetables present in the soup delivers a bonanza of vitamins, minerals, and phytonutrients while promoting heart health.
Coming festive season and for that matter any festival season we munch sweets and no festival is complete without sweets. And it’s no hidden secret that these sweets are ultra rich in calories. All the promises which we make to our ourselves not to eat sweets or at-least limit our intake of sweets but nothing works out, huge craving of sweets leaves us stranded, washing all hopes of our diet and weight loss plans on top of that being a festive season you might not hit the gym too. Consequently you end of the other side gaining weight as calories burn is less than the calorie intake.
Do not fret here are some quick tips to avoid accumulating calories, these small tip will help you big time –
1. If the sweets you prepare require milk as an ingredient, skim it before you use or get skim milk.
2. Try using jaggery instead of sugar. (Jaggery has more nutrients than sugar – calcium, phosphorous, iron and other minerals. The calorific value of jaggery is less than sugar.)
3. Fried food urges your taste bud but it takes a hug toll on your body, prepare these items in small quantities the more you make it the more you are tempted to have it.
4. Make sure you detox yourself and your family after the festive season – drink plenty of water and green tea, eat plenty of raw fruits and vegetables and most importantly hit the gym the very next day.
5. Reduce, don’t eliminate certain foods. Do not avoid any festive food completely, just eat everything in moderation, deprivation may trigger a reverse mechanism and make you attack those dishes.
6. If you are guest ask the host to serve yourself in small quantities.
7. Drink 2 glasses of luke warm water just before lunch, this will help from overindulging on any thing.
8. Eat in small plates trick yourself into eating less there is more food on your plate.
9. When buying sweets from shop check that it does not contain isolated, synthetic or inorganic vitamins and minerals, chemical and preservative free.
10. Eat your drink and drink your food.
11. Eat moderate portions at regular interval instead of hopping all at one time.
12. Know your diet pitfalls.
13. Foods are not good or bad.
Quick gyan
What is a calorie?
Scientifically calorie is an unit of heat required to elevate the temperature of a litre of watre from 15-16 degree celsius.
Minimum Daily requirement of Calories
The daily requirement of calories is dependent on age, sex, occupation and the climate.
Diet
An adequate diet should provide: The necessary calories to supply the required energy, Proteins and minerals for building and repair of body cells,Vitamins and minerals to supply the protective materials.