Yogurt based Smoothies

Hi Friends! Today I am writing about 3 simple to make yogurt based smoothies with fruits. Make your yogurt taste yum in the summers also perfect for people who can't have milk.

Mango Smoothie

Ingredients:
Mango (Ripe) :1
Yogurt: 1 cup
Cinnamon powder: To sprinkle
Dried Cranberries: few pieces

Preparation:
1. Peel the mango & cut the flesh into pieces.Add it to the mixer grinder.
2. Add the yogurt to the mixer grinder & churn it well to get a smooth paste.
3. Pour it in the glass & sprinkle the cinnamon powder and garnish with the cranberries & your cool smoothie is ready.

Berry Smoothie

Ingredients:
Strawberries: 1/2 cup
Cranberries: 5-6
Blueberries: 5-6
Raspberries: 5-6
Yogurt: 1 cup
Honey: 2 teaspoons

Preparation:
1. Wash the berries & place it in the mixer grinder.
2. Add the yogurt to the mixer grinder & churn it well to get the smoothie.
3. Add the honey & run the mixer once more. And pour it to enjoy the chilled berry smoothie.

Orange Smoothie

Ingredients:
Oranges/ Tangerine:2
Yogurt: 1 cup
Slices of Tangerine: for garnishing

Preparation:
1. Peel of the tangerines or oranges & remove the seeds, then add to the mixer grinder.
2. Add a cup of Yogurt to the mixer & run till a smooth paste is got.
3. Pour it into a glass & keep the slices on the edge to present.

So these super cool ideas for this summer are going to be great as a mid time snack as well.

Healthy Chicken Recipe: Tandoori Chicken

Hi Friends! Today the famous tandoori chicken from India on your platter. It is very tasty & yummy and believe me my variant has less fats too. I will just straight run down to the recipe.

Tandoori Chicken
Ingredients:
One Chicken: cut into 4 pieces
Yogurt: 2 tablespoons
Turmeric: 1/2 teaspoon
Red chili powder: 1 teaspoon
Ginger Garlic Paste: 2 teaspoon
Cashew: 7-8 nuts paste with small amount of milk
Whole Garam Masala: Cloves (4-6), Cardamon (4), Cinnamon (2 inch), Cumin seeds (1/2 tablespoon), Corriander seeds (1 tablespoon), Black Pepper (10), dry red chilies (1-2)
Olive oil: 1 tablespoon
Salt: as per taste

Preparation:
1. Take the chicken pieces & wash them. Make slits on the chicken pieces.
2. In a heated open pan  dry roast till it becomes fragrant. Then grind it well to get a fine powder. If the quantity is too less, just double the quantity & keep the powder for future use.
3. Mix the yogurt, ginger garlic paste, cashew paste, turmeric, red chili powder, garam masala powder & olive oil to get a smooth mixture. Add the salt to the mix as well.
4. Marinade the chicken pieces with this mixture completely & refrigerate the marinade for 2 -4 hours.
5. Now preheat the oven to use for broiling or grilling at 425F or 220C.
6. Place the chicken on an aluminium foil wrapped baking tray & cook in the oven for 20 min- 30 min, turn around the pieces once in between.
7. Check if the pieces are completely cooked by poking it with a fork, if cooked the fork can be inserted easily.

And your tandoori chicken is ready, I have allowed a high time for marinating the chicken because it helps the chicken to become soft & supple. If in a hurry a good 1 hour is fine for marination.You will not also get the traditional red color for the food as I have not used any food coloring agent. You can enjoy this with roti or Indian bread, with a green chutney (a paste of mint & raw mango with yogurt base). I hope this recipe is liked by you.

Healthy Egg Recipe: Deviled Egg

Hi Friends! I would like to share a very simple & tasty recipe today, made by different people in a different way. I will tell you my way with a twist of Indian taste & definitely the food value of eggs ranging from protein, vitamins, calcium, minerals all intact.

Deviled Eggs (Indian Style)
Ingredients:
Eggs: 6
Cilantro: a few springs
Chili: 1
English Mustard paste: 2 teaspoon
Onion: 1 small

Preparation:
1. Boil the eggs in a saucepan with water covering the eggs for 12 mins.
2. Remove from flame & drain the water. Run under cold water. Peel the eggs & keep aside.
3. In the meanwhile when the eggs are cooking, chop the onion, cilantro and chili finely.
4. Take the hard-boiled eggs & cut them into halves and remove the yolks.
5. Take the yolks in a mixing bowl & smash them. Add the mustard paste to the same and mix it well.
6. When you have got a smooth paste add the chopped cilantro, onion & chili and get a homogeneous mix.
7. Now arrange the egg whites on a plate & fill it with the yolk mix.
8. Your delicious Indian Deviled Eggs are ready.

Hope you like this recipe friends. This is a very original idea from my end please let me know your opinion on the taste.

Pranayam (Yoga) for Healthy Life

Hi Friends! Today we are going to talk about Pranayam the ancient technique of breathing exercise. It consists of six breathing exercises out of which we will talk about three of them. At first listing down the benefits of these exercises for you so that you know why you should include it in your daily routine.
1. Improves blood circulation
2. Eases out breathing
3. Healthy heart & other organs with proper movement & blood circulation
4. Increases life expectancy
5. Better mental health

Bhastrika Pranayam:
1. Sit with crossed legs in your lawn or your porch on the ground.
2. Close your eyes & breathe deeply so that your diaphragm goes down & your chest expands.
3. Release your breathe at once.
4. Repeat for 5 mins.
5. Start it slow & with time you can increase your speed.

This technique helps us to ease out our breathing process & improves our concentration and other mental abilities.

Kapalbhati Pranayam:
1. Sit in the same position as mentioned above in open air (lawn or porch).
2. Inhale through your nostrils normally, allowing the lung to expand.
3. Exhale through both nostrils forcefully, assist by pulling in your stomach.
4. Repeat for 10 min

This technique helps us concentrate on forced exhalation & normal inhalation. The contraction of stomach muscles in the process helps you in burning fat around the area & improved digestion.

Anulom Vilom Pranayam:
1. While sitting in the same position, close your eyes & concentrate on your breathing.
2. Close the right nostril with right thumb breathe from your left nose, fill your lungs.
3. Move away the thumb & now close the left nostril with the middle & ring finger of the right hand. Exhale completely from the right nostril slowly.
4. Now inhale with your right nose & fill the lungs.
5. And now move your hand & close the right nostril with the right thumb like earlier & exhale.
6. Repeat the process for 10 min.

This technique of alternate breathing helps improve breathing and also uses both the nostrils & clears any congestion. It also helps people suffering from problems of sinus.

I hope this article gives you an insight on how useful introducing pranayam in your daily routine. It gives a fresh start to your day & shows great results in improving the quality of life. Thank You!

Healthy Vegan Recipe: Aloo Gobhi

Hi Friends! A very blessed Good Friday & Happy Easter to all of you. My friend has asked for this recipe so writing this recipe for her. This is again a simple vegan recipe & very tasty to eat. The preparation varies from people to people but I like it this way.

Ingredients:
Aloo Gobhi (Potato Cauliflower)
Cauliflower: 20 florets
Potato: 1 large
Peas: 1 cup
Ginger: 1 inch grated
Cumin seeds: 1 teaspoon
Mustard Oil: 2 teaspoons
Turmeric: 1/2 teaspoon
Cumin powder: 1 teaspoon
Corriander powder: 1 teaspoon
Kashmiri Lal Mirch or Paprika: 1 teaspoon
Cloves: 4-6
Bay leaf: 2
Black Pepper: 1/2 teaspoon
Salt to Taste
Chili: 1 slit

Preparation:
1. Semi-boil the potato with the skin (cut it into half while boiling). Cut it into 1 inch cubes.
2. Heat mustard oil in a non-stick frying pan. Add the cumin, cloves & bay leaves. Add the florets and mix it well & cover it to cook.
3. Mix the turmeric, paprika, cumin powder & corriander powder and ginger in water to make a liquid paste.
4. Add the sliced boiled potato pieces & peas, mix it with florets. Add the mix of spices with salt to taste. Mix it so that all the veggies are coated with spices.
5. Let it cook for some time, and stand for some time.
6. After complete serve it in a bowl. Sprinkle black pepper powder, & slit chili for garnishing.

The taste it just awesome & the process is simple. It also has benefits of Indian spices like cumin, turmeric, black pepper, corriander, all great for health. Apart from it cauliflower, potato & peas which provide nutrition needed by you. Hope you like it... Thanks!

Benefits of Walking

Hi Friends! Mid of the week & missing your daily routine of exercise. Add a twist start walking, it is the simplest of all to add to your routine.

The benefits of walking can be listed as below:
1. Improved cardiovascular & lung fitness.
2. Better management of hypertension, high cholesterol, joint & muscular pain, stiffness, and diabetes
3. Reduce body fat
4. Increased muscle strength
5. Strong bones & improved balance

These are the health benefits which should be on your mind while planning for that walk. Well other than that the benefits which can be mentioned are available to everyone, and best there is no cost for this exercise. It is also good for beginners, no pain which is generally associated with work out. It does not give you results in a week but the long term effects are worth noticing.

When you walk 30 mins a day your body becomes active & it really does not pose any health risk. You can make walking a part of your life easily & add it to your routine. The time of the day doesn't make any difference on the amount of calories burnt.

Walk 10000 steps a day & you will keep your heart fit. Wear a pedometer while walking to count your steps, this will help you motivate. Be comfortable while walking, whether you run or walk the same distance you lose the same amount of calories. Only when you walk you take more time to cover the distance. Once you become comfortable while walking, you can increase the intensity by walking uphill, walking longer, increase the speed etc.

To enjoy walking the footwear you wear has to be perfect else it can give you blisters or sores, comfortable shoes are a must. What else we can do to increase our pleasure while walking is simple like listening to music, walking with friends, taking your pets for a walk. Go explore new places while walking, make your walk more interesting. If you want to stick near your residence, take rounds around your complex. You will not get this comfort with any other form of exercise.

So, friends how about a walk right now. Because there is no correct or right time to start. Start early to be healthy. Thanks!

Diabetes & Foot Care

Hi Friends! We know that diabetes is becoming a very common disease in the society today, and high blood sugar levels over time start affecting the various organs of the body. Trying to throw some light over one of the common problems faced by patients of diabetes mellitus which is foot problems. Diabetes is responsible for ailments related to kidney, nerves, eyes, blood vessels etc. Immunity is also affected in most cases of these patients. Commonly foot problems are seen in patients which is due to damage to the blood vessels & walking and other physical activities can create abnormal pressure on the skin, bones & muscles. Normal sweat secretion & lubrication of the foot is reduced under diabetic conditions finally leading to foot sores.

Because of a weak immune system the healing process is affected in patients. The wounds can lead to bacterial infections of skin, muscle, tissues etc. These wounds take turn into gangrene, the slow absorption of antibiotics is affected due to poor flow of blood to these parts of the body. People with diabetes should take extra care of foot.

• You should learn to examine your foot regularly to recognize early signs of diabetic foot problems.
• Monitor your blood sugar levels regularly and try to remain within the target range.
• Wash your feet regularly & dry them carefully.
• Apply moisturizer to your feet to avoid drying & cracking of skin.
• Do not let your shoes trouble you. Wear right shoes of correct size, blisters & burns in foot can be a serious problem.
• Poor circulation of blood can cause troubles so wiggle your foot & legs in intervals of 5 mins.
• Do not use extra hot or cold water or therapy on your foot. It can cause trauma & can lead to internal damages without your knowledge.
• Do not smoke. tobacco can cause damage to the blood vessels of your feet. The damage can interfere with your healing process.
• Trim your toenail carefully avoiding any cuts etc. Do it with a nail clipper & not scissors for safety. If you are unable to do it ask your family members.
• Avoid tripping, remove all obstacles which might be a reason for hurting yourself. Also avoid walking on uneven grounds to be safe.

These are a few tips every diabetes patient should follow for foot care. If anyone in your family suffering from diabetes, ensure they know about foot care. Enjoy a safe & happy day. Be Healthy!!