Milagai

SheenaGreena - this cranberry thing sounds fabulous. Could you share the recipe (how much cranberry and walnuts for 1 orange? and though the orange peel is included, does one extract the seeds first? etc.) Thanks Milagai

Carrot top: you make an excellent points about paying attention and not letting the $$ trickle away, and if you get into this mindset it becomes second nature. A major point: don't think of beans and lentils as "grains" - they are a major protein source and about the cheapest things going! E.g. where I live, cans of black eyed peas are 2 for 1$ or 3 for 1$. 2 cans + some tomatoes, spices, and spinach makes a main dish for about 3 meals for my family of 4. Can't beat that with a stick. to the OP: you said you liked Indian food, This dish is so quick, easy, and tasty for a week night: 2 cans BEP drained and rinsed 1 onion, finely diced with 2 cloves garlic and 1 inch ginger 1 can petite diced tomatoes, or in season, use fresh. Frozen chopped spinach (optional, use fresh or use other greens, as liked). 1 to 2 tbsp "curry" powder, salt, pepper. (or, if you have the spices, don't use the powder, but use: 1 tbsp coriander powder, 1 tbsp cumin seed, red pepper to taste, 1/2 tsp turmeric, and 1 tbsp garam masala) Saute the onions, garlic, ginger over low heat in 1 tbsp or so oil for ~ 20 to 30 minutes stirring frequently as you go about your other chores (or use a crock pot and forget it for ~ 1 hr). When they are cooked down, and dark golden and fragrant and the raw smell has gone, add spices EXCEPT garam masala and saute for a few minutes on higher heat until the spices lose their raw smell, don't let them burn - so watch closely - whether in crock pot or stove top. Add the BEP, tomatoes, and greens if using, and simmer on low for ~ 15 minutes until all homogenized (or another 1 hr in a crock pot). Add the garam masala towards the end; add salt to taste, and maybe a shot of lemon juice when the heat is turned off. Serve hot with rice or tortillas. Leftovers just get better with age. Refrigerate and reheat. 1 lb of lentils makes 3-4 meals for a family of 4. 1 lb of meat will make 1 meal for 2 to 3 people, maybe. The economic difference is staggering.... To the OP: when you say that you would throw away leftovers, I am curious why you would do that? Why not pack them for lunch? Milagai

The critical difference between a *scientifically* calorie restricted diet and anorexia is that the former contains all nutrients and the latter (I belive) only aims to cut back calories and keep losing weight. Anorexia is one form of mental illness (with comparisons to OCD) and needs medical treatment, it's not one of those things you can choose to snap in or out of. Presumably calorie restriction diet you can choose to do or not do. Like the newspaper articles show, calorie restriction diets have been shown to have anti-aging effects in the lab animals studied to date (rats, monkeys). Will it work the same way in humans? At the cell level, it may. But I don't know how many humans have had adequately documented CR diets (I mean, in a lab everything is measured and controlled and the monkey can't choose what to eat or not eat, or raid the fridge in the middle of the night, or swallow laxatives, or whatever). It would be hard among humans practising CR diets to distinguish between those who are mainly interested in health, and those others who are drawn to CR because of some underlying tendency to eating disorders.... Re longevity alone: there are several factors (good genes, good lifestyles, good diet and exercise, etc.) but you'll always find individual examples of centenarians who have broken each one of these rules and yet lived long (didn't Jeanne Calment smoke regularly until just a few years before she died at age 116 or thereabouts ~ 2 years ago?). Milagai

Do you go to several different grocery stores? Not usually. There's one near the house and I go there. If I happen to need some very specific ingredient I'll go to another more gourmet store. And about once a month I stock up at the Indian store. Do you clip coupons? Nope. Can't find them when I need them or the store brand may be cheaper anyway. The grocery store scan card is good enough for me. What do you usually buy at the grocery store? Things for the week - I go mostly around the perimeter unless we need more cereal or something from the middle. So, it's fruit and vegs, peanut butter, canned tomatoes when tomatoes are not in season, canned beans, pasta, dairy, tortillas, some frozen veg maybe. In the Indian store it's: dals, basmati rice, frozen parathas, spices, some specialized veggies (e.g. drumsticks) that won't make it into a mainstream US grocery store in my lifetime..... Do you tend to buy more meat or more produce? No meat at all. All produce. Are you too ashamed to make purchases from the "reject bin?" Absolutely not - I stop there first! I love finding good deals there (e.g. 3 weeks ago I found perfectly good pomegranates 3 for $ 1.00!!) Is there really anyone who would be ashamed of shopping from the reject bin? Do you make a list? Yes. How many refridgerators and pantries do you have for food storage? One big fridge, one small one in the family room, and 1 pantry. Do you enjoy grocery shopping as much as I do? Not really. It's a chore, but a necessity.

re keeping cilantro: rinse the bunch, make sure there are no spoilt bits near the stems, and stick in in a glass of water like flowers in a vase. Put the whole thing in the fridge. Keeps ~ 2 weeks that way. I do this all the time because I can't stand throwing perfectly good stuff away. I use quite a lot of cilantro, and manage to use it up within 2 weeks..... Perhaps you can freeze them, depending on usage? Keeping in a glass of water may also work on mint. Freezing works on mint if you want the minty flavor and don't care about smushy leaves. Re keeping costs down: 1) I buy what's on sale and is in season (fruits, vegs, whatever). 2) I try and stick to my list 3) I stock up if there's a good deal going. 4) in most cases, brand loyalty is not my friend. I don't do anything extraordinary like drive from store to store looking for the lowest price of something, but we average around $ 100 to 120 a week for a family of 4, with a LOT of fresh fruit and vegs. We don't eat much processed food at all (those get REALLY expensive). But I rely on things like canned beans to make cooking much easier. They're really cheap too, and my Indian cooking background means beans / lentils are the first and foremost part of most meals. And they taste wonderful - e.g. it's astonishing how chana masala is both quick AND delicious (and depending on what all you put in it, is AND healthy too). I also like some frozen veggies (e.g. chopped spinach, or green beans) to make quick meals during the week. Other veggies (e.g. okra) are abhorrent when frozen so they're only bought when in season and cheap..... I have job, commute, 2 kids, spouse, etc. so things HAVE to be easy and quick to make and homemade and cheap and tasty.... Occasional splurge for festivals and parties ..... Milagai

Which is precisely what I enjoyed so much when I ate at Seasons 52 last week: the desserts served in small cups .. tastes ... This was a motivation for my thread here ...discussion here on Seasons 52 ... ← Hey Giftedgourmet: I had precisely that thread in mind and recall when reading it "why don't more places do this!". I just didn't get around to referencing it in my post..... Milagai

The ultimate food-no-touch-please person's plate arrangement, the Indian food thali. Pictures here: http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=htt...GLD:en%26sa%3DN and here: http://www.southindiancafe.com/images/thali.jpg and here: http://www.gourmetindia.com/img/Rajasthani%20thali.jpg and the banana leaf plate South Indian version: http://www.pondichery.com/french/stages/Thali.jpg Definitely a place for everything and everything in its place BUT BUT BUT the purpose is to keep everything separate UNTIL you mix what you want to mix with the rice or roti. Each little side dish sits in its own cup or pile until you mix it with the rice or roti to make your own little mouthfuls..... and so it goes... Milagai

One more definite vote for smaller portions and more variety so we can taste more and not get all clogged up trying to finish something huge. Other than that - any and all offerings are great - fruit, chocolate, whatever! I don't like the idea of style *over* substance; why choose between these two - do both! Milagai

Find out their dis / likes first? You may light on a gift that person A would love but person B might loathe.... It's a shame that the recipients thought that homemade = cheap Milagai

Oy, excellent! Thanks for all the answers. It's really funny that the trace amounts of silver are what's making these things be labeled "for decoration only" because per Indian sweets rules, pure silver foil (vark) is layered onto the sweets to look decorative and eating trace amounts of silver is supposed to enhance health! So we'll decorate and eat. Yes, worm, it's the diyas project, hopefully this weekend or one day next week. We're aiming for Kartikai (the next full moon night, I think). Milagai

I was looking for the little silver and gold cake decorating balls that were so common when I was a child. Finally found some in an upscale gourmet store. A product from www.indiatree.com that's called "French Dragees". But when I got home, the small print says "for decoration only" i.e. they're not edible? No ingredient list on the web site or on the bottle. Can someone give me any idea what these might be made of, are they really dangerous to eat? Or is it some obscure import-related law (like mustard oil is labeled for external use only but it's fairly safe to use for cooking.....) Thanks in advance Milagai

there were several recipes without tamarind, and if you really want to try one of the tamarind recipes, try substituting some lemon juice + a little molasses (to get the sour+sweet combination) - the taste is not quite the same but it's not a bad option to try. Milagai

Quinoa apparently works for people who have some of the allergies that you've listed, but check to make sure.... Milagai

If you have Indian ingredients on hand (e.g. cumin, coriander powder, tamarind, etc.) there are several tasty sounding Indian Karela recipes here: (Karela = bitter melon, bitter gourd). http://www.bawarchi.com/cookbook/karela.html and here: http://indianfoodrocks.blogspot.com/2005/0...-brave-man.html and here: http://food.sify.com/review_more.php?&t=Ka...76&cid=13292914 (this site has good Indian regional recipes) Karela's bitterness is supposed to indicate its medicinal qualities, and apparently does something good for those with diabetes (not sure about the details). I also like karela, but prefer the fried and crunchy recipes and I can't imagine too many good nutrients survive the process Milagai

How did yr party turn out? Pictures? Milagai

Well, I took shortcuts, i.e. buying cultured butter from Whole Earth. Found two brands - one an expensive Belgian product (I think the name has "celles" and "belles" in it; I didn't memorize it and have thrown the wrappers away). The second a not-that-much-more-than-ordinary-butter Organic Cultured Butter from Vermont. Made ghee with the Belgian butter first. Took longer to make than with ordinary butter, and after made it seems to have a liquidy layer on top, and a more solid "daanedaar" layer below. The taste is indeed more rich and complex than regular ghee. When that is gone (will take about a month) I'll make with the Vermont butter and report back.... I may shift over to making ghee with cultured butter because the Vermont butter is not that much more than regular butter and I'm not making this that often for the cost to be prohibitive. There *is* a difference in taste, though if cost was a factor I would not say that there is such a day-and-night difference in taste (the way I made it - YMMV) to be worth a significant extra cost.... Thanks v.gautam! Milagai

You are so right! The beauty of these words is only equalled by: "you sit down, I have dinner ready" (the dinner has to be good, of course) or "Here, have a hot chapati freshly made by me" Milagai

You don't have to wait until 93. She happened to be 93. If you're ready at any age..... The majority of Jains live peaceful lives in the world, they don't choose to starve themselves. It's not for just anyone. Being Jain does not automatically mean you starve yourself! Jain cuisine is among India's best vegetarian cuisines. And being spiritually prepared is not a snap overnight thing - years of meditation, various spiritual discussions and practises, etc etc. And that's how it's distinguished from mental afflictions / addictions etc. It's supposed to be a very specific, conscious, deliberate practise. It's not even in the same universe as anorexia etc. The purpose is hardly to look physically good. And in a society where undernutrition is often prevalent, people have many concrete examples of what it means to starve.... It's not a romantic ideal .... The concept of self-starvation has to be understood in terms of the wider Jain commitment to non-violence - a very comprehensive and detailed philosophy, it's not only about starvation, it's more couched in terms of selflessness and generosity. Sure, that may be incomprehensible to those who maybe see self-actualization as exploring and fulfilling every wish.... Every religion / culture has examples of people taking steps that may seem extreme or incomprehensible to outsiders. (Celibacy, vows of silence, whatever). Doesn't mean they can be dismissed summarily. Before you can critique it, or institute invalid comparisons, you have to have an informed grasp of what's going on. Milagai

In the Jain woman's case, the philosophy is not that it's the food that's sinful. It's that fasting can expiate for other sins. OTOH, in Jain philosophy, eating food is seen as having the potential for the death of other life forms (insect, plant, etc. etc.). So fasting unto death is seen as a morally superior way to go compared to other ways. Not seen as the sin of suicide (=violence against the self). It's not recommended for everyone, only for those who are spiritually advanced enough.... Milagai

Me too! .... Milagai

Me too! .... Milagai

you could "nip this in the bud" by cutting off some of the flowers, and cooking those. Southern Indian and Eastern Indian (=Bengal) recipes have lots of banana flower recipes, also Thai, e.g.: http://www.thaitable.com/Thai/recipes/Tropical_Yum.htm http://www.ganeshvilla.com/bananas/banana_flower_salad.htm http://www.bawarchi.com/contribution/contrib5006.html http://pachakam.com/recipe.asp?id=996 There are dozens more on Google.... Milagai

I'm probably the only person in the world who gained weight on a diet of strict vegan salads. I'm not a vegan, but when I had put on a little weight I made a bowl of yummy salad, that happened to be vegan, and stuck it in the fridge to snack on. It was so good and I felt so virtuous eating it that I ate industrial quantities and ballooned up more than before. Calories.... Milagai

Anardana (pomegranate seeds) reminds of me of Anarkali (pom. flower). Have to pronounce it right: Anaardaanaa (with a soft d) Anarkali was the name of the heroine in a major Romeo-Juliet type love story involving a dancing girl and Prince Salim, the Great Mughal Emperor Akbar's heir. Historicity of story is dubious, but the story (product of an early 20th c Urdu playwright) is great, and the name and associations are pretty.... Milagai

If you like cinnamon/cloves/etc in yr masala chai, then go ahead and put some in. There's no single "correct" recipe. It's whatever people prefer.... For some reason the western chains seem to dump cinnamon into any dish that's vaguely sweet, so I guess the Starbucks type recipes really have cinnamon notes in their masala chai recipes. I think that in South Asia however cinnamon is considered a savory spice not a sweet one. Cardamom is the spice for sweets.... Milagai