J's thoughts

Wishing all of you out there a Happy New year.  2016 for me was a mix of joy as well as sadness. Praying that the new year would be better,brighter and cheerful and hoping to be a good one.

I have heard about sheet masks but never really got to try one until I got a couple as gifts. The sheets masks are from a company called Nature Republic and one was the green tea mask and the other was Lavender mask.The packaging is very cute. The other side of the mask has a lot of writings in Korean :) but the instructions on how to use the mask is given in English too. '1. After washing the face, apply toner to clear up the skin. 2. Open the pouch, pull out the mask and place it on the face using the eye area to align correctly. 3. Remove after 20 minutes and gently pat for better absorption.' There is a cut given and one has to tear it through to open the pouch. That is how the sheet mask looks like once removed from the pouch. The sheet masks is in two pieces - one piece covers the forehead till the nose and upper part of the cheeks; the second piece to cover the lower part of the cheeks and chin. And of course the eye area and mouth area i

 Products: Rimmel the only one matte lipstick 'The matte factor'                  Rimmel Scandal Eyes waterproof kohl kajal (001 black)                  Rimmel soft kohl (011 sable brown) The lipstick in encased in an attractive red tube. There is a band around the tube to indicate the color of the lipstick inside. The slanted lipstick bullet makes it easier to apply. The lipstick has a fruity smell of water melon but it just goes away once you have applied the lipstick. This is one lippie which although being matte, does not dry the lips. It is also highly pigmented and I didn't have to reapply for a good 5 hours. The lipstick can settle into the fine lines of the lips at the end of the day but it isn't so bad either [just rub the lips together and you are ok]. The lipstick costs 4 KD. So this is one lipstick which is affordable,pigmented, nondrying and long lasting. I am equally happy with the eye pencils as well.  The bla

Ease of preparation: very easy Taste: Delicious I didn't have heavy cream at hand so I just used an equal amount of cow milk :) An ideal dish during christmas lent and the winter season. Recipe adapted from  http://atastychallenge.blogspot.com/2011/04/paneer-masala.html

Milk Peda I saw my friends Instagram post on Diwali and then realisation dawned that pedas can be made at home too :). A search on the internet and stumbled upon this easy recipe from Sharmispassions . She has very clearly written down the step by step instructions and also pics to guide the cooking process. My pedas were a tiny bit sticky but tasted good...as good as store bought ones. Ah well, it was the first time for me. This is definitely a keeper recipe.

This is an easy and tasty dip recipe.  Goes awesomely well with any chips. Nachos are my favourite. Ingredients: 1. Labneh - 1 packet 2. Cream cheese - 3 or 4 tbsp 3. Garlic pods - 2 or 3 4. Pepper - as per taste 5. Salt- as required 6. Tabasco sauce -1/4 tsp {optional; add before serving} Blend. Pour the mixture into a small bowl.  Dip the chips in it. Enjoy. Recipe courtesy:  a friend

Dynamite Shrimp Lemon with mint Rainbow Sushi Kids Lo Mein Mongolian Beef and rice Tiramisu A very tasty and satisfying lunch at P.F. Chang's.  The sushi is a new addition to their menu and it indeed was tasty. You should never miss trying out the dynamite shrimp [it is a must have on our list when ever we visit].It is served in a tall glass and if you look around, dynamite shrimp is one dish common to all the tables. lol The restaurant is always packed and it is an indication of the good food they serve :)

Recipe courtesy: Mrs. Lakshmi Nair's cookery show Ingredients: 1. Beetroot - 1 2. Coconut (grated) - 1.5 cup     Cumin seeds - 3/4 tsp     green chillies -3 3. Curd - 1.5 cups 4. Mustard seeds- 1 tsp 5. Dry red chilli - 2 6. Curry leaves -  a sprig 7. Oil - 3 tbsp Method: Boil the beetroot in lots of water and grate it. Make a paste of items in 2. Combine the beetroot and the coconut paste in a bowl.  Add salt to taste. To this add 1.5 cups of curd and mix well. In a small pan, add oil, splutter the mustard seeds,add red chilli and curry leaves.  Pour this over the beetroot-coconut-curd mixture.

Ingredients: 1. Beetroot(grated) - 1 cup 2. Yoghurt - 1.5 cups 3. Shallots - 5 4. Green chilli - 3 5. Mustard seeds - 1 tsp 6. Cumin Seeds - 1/2 tsp 7. Coconut oil (preferably) - 3 tbsp 8. Curry leaves - a sprig 9. Salt - as required Method: In a deep pan, add the oil and when it is warm add the mustard seeds. When it splutters, add the cumin seeds, then the green chilli and the curry leaves. Give a stir and add the shallots. When the shallots turn translucent, add the beetroot and saute it till its 90% cooked. Allow the whole mixture to cool down and add the yoghurt and salt and mix well.

I had been wanting to try out the food and snacks in AAB ever since they opened up in Salmiya. But never could. The place would be full every time we passed by. AAB had a small outlet in Salmiya and now they have opened a second branch in Salmiya itself (opposite to Al-Qabass arabic school; the bestow bakala lane).  This place has more seats since there is no snacks section.We checked in for a brunch :). The decor is nice and there is three kinds of chutneys on the table - red ,green and white [coconut and onion, corinader, simple coconut]. Very pretty colors indeed. That's the plain dosa I ordered. It was crisp and light and tasted good. Masala Dosa The masala dosa came folded in a rectangular shape. The filter coffee was served in bronze utensil(I am guessing it's bronze). It was sweet and tasted so good. Now I am pretty impressed with the food except for the sambar. The sambar isn't suited to my spicy-tamarindy-asafoetidy-dark colore

muringa ela koottu curry I came across this recipe in Vanitha magazine. It was an easy recipe and tastes good and not to forget the health benefits of muringa or  moringa leaves. A simple search on the internet can give you an idea of the health benefits associated with the whole moringa  plant. And my favourite body butter from TBS is the moringa body butter.

Now one can order fish online in Kuwait :) They have cash on delivery and also a 5% cash back policy if you pre-order your fish. I thought they had free delivery but read in   248am   that they charge 750fils for delivery. They have fresh fish, live fish (limited options when i checked website) and cooked fish. I for one would be hesitant to buy fish online but when you are hard pressed for time or due to some reason  can't visit the fish market, this is a great option. Their website is www.kuwaitfreshfish.com and facebook page is also there.

Corn and paneer chaat This is a colorful chaat. A bit sweet, a bit tangy but tastes good nonetheless.  This can be a mid-morning snack or an evening snack.  It is easy to prepare and healthy as well. Ingredients: 1. Corn - 2 cups 2. Paneer-15 cubes  3. Red onion - 1  4. Tomato - 1 5. Salt- as per taste 6. Pepper - as per taste 7. Lemon juice - 1/2 of a lime  8. Chaat masala - as per taste Method: Steam the corn. Pan fry the paneer Chop the onion and tomato Mix everything together. Add the salt, pepper, lime juice and chaat masala. Toss well.  Enjoy. Recipe adapted from indian healthy recipes

It is by accident that you stumble upon good restaurants. This was one such find. 

Green grapes juice You need to eat fruits. Everyday. That's what moms and health professionals scream out every day; day in and day out. So now what to do when you bought some seedless green grapes and you  end up with some left over sitting in the fruit bowl the second day also? think think....juice them off course. Put the grapes in a blender (no hassles of removing seeds since they are seedless) and done.  You can add a little water if the consistency is too thick for you. There is no need to add extra sugar; the sweetness of the grapes suffices. But if the juice isn't that sweet, add a bit of sugar. Add a couple of ice cubes and enjoy the drink. Alternatively you can add the ice cubes into the blender along with the grapes instead of adding water. A healthy drink which is tasty is a sure winner. Ingredients 1. Green grapes - 1 cup 2. Water - 1/4 cup (optional) 3. Sugar - 1/2 tsp (optional) 4. Ice cubes - 2 Method Blend. Pour in

Ingredients required: 1. Cherries (pitted) - 1 cup [I used fresh cherries; no, none of those frozen stuff for me] 2. Milk - 1 cup That's it. Put everything in the blender and wham,a tasty milkshake is ready. For those of you who will not be satisfied with the sweetness of the milkshake can add teaspoon of sugar or a couple of pitted dates. There are a zillion other ways to make a smoothie or a milkshake but I prefer mine clean - meaning no sugar,ice cream, chocolate etc. Now the downside is (if you think it is) is the time in spending pitting the cherries, but consider that as therapeutic :) :P and also a bit of staining on the finger nails. Cherries are available only for a short season and so make the most of it while its still available. 

INGLOT had organised an event exclusively for their social media fans to celebrate 10 years of beauty. It was an invite to their store in Avenues Mall to experience their latest collections and makeup applications on Wednesday August 10, 2016. The invite was only to the first 200 who RSVPd to an email ID they had posted on Fb. I have always passed by their store and admired the colorful display of nail polishes and eye shadows but never really ventured to walk in and try the products.  Inglot store in Avenues We were received with a welcome drink and donuts :). I had fun walking around and swatching and trying again the lip shades, eye shadows and foundation. The crowd was huge. Hmm..who would want to miss to be a part of such an event. That display of nail polishes. It is sooooo tempting :P Oh those limited edition nail polishes!!!! Wanted to buy all of them... The invited social media fans were given a free goodie bag worth 15KD. The goodie bag h

What to make for breakfast? A nerve wracking thought for all moms (everyone). Especially when you are hard pressed for time. And you had enough of boxed cereals and oats. Come on, even those 'healthy' cereals are loaded with sugar.  Steamed plantain is one of those easy breakfast items , as long as I can remember. It can be eaten just like that or with a chutney of crushed shallots, green chilli and salt in a bit of water. Oh nostalgia. But, I always felt hungry after an hour. A chit chat with my friend over this topic and she suggested having a boiled egg and a piece of toast (or plain bread) to go with the plantain. And yes, you have a delicious, filling and nutritious breakfast. And doesn't take much time at alllllll.

Well, paniyarams are not exactly a new invention :) only thing is that I never really ventured to try out this recipe. What you need is just some idli batter and viola, a delicious and healthy evening snack is ready. There is spicy and sweet versions of this. Here goes the spicy version of paniyarams. Ingredients: 1. Idli batter - 2 cups 2. Shallots - 6 3. Green chilli - 1 4. Ginger paste - 1/2 tsp 5. Urad dal - 1/4 tsp 6. Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp 7. Oil (Coconut/sunflower) - as needed 8. Curry Leaves - a sprig 9. Coriander leaves - 2 Tbsp (optional) Method: In a pan, add about 1.5 tsp of oil and when it is hot, add the mustard seeds. When they start crackling, add the ginger paste and chopped green chilli. Saute for a minute; and then add the chopped shallots. When the shallots are slighltly browned, add the curry leaves. Switch off the flame and add the coriander leaves. Let this cool off and add it into the idli batter. Add enough salt. Viola...paniy

It was a lazy saturday evening and we were wondering where to go out for dinner. And we finally ended up at Five Guys which is located in Al-Tijaria tower (opposite to Al-Shaheed park). Man, the crowd there is insane. I have not seen such a busy burger joint; other than the ones located in the malls. One of my friend, whose office is in the same building, was telling me that the queue will be well outside the burger joint on most days.

This recipe was taken from Vanitha magazine (forgot which edition though). I had put my name for a cooking competition held by one of the associations in Kuwait and guess what, this pudding won the third prize :) :) :).  Thanks to Vanitha and the author of this recipe. Here is how it is prepared: INGREDIENTS: First Layer: 1. Apricots – 20 2. Water – 3 cup 3. Sugar – 1 cup Second Layer: 4. China grass – 8gm      Water – 1 ½ cup 5. Condensed milk – 1 tin      Milk – 5 cups      Sugar – 5 tbsp 6. Vanilla Essence – 1 tsp Third Layer: 7. China grass – 7gm     Water – 1 ½ cup 8. Fresh Orange juice – 3 cups     Lemon juice – a little     Sugar – as required METHOD: 1. De-seed the apricots and cook it with water. Add the sugar after the apricots are        cooked well and mix it well. 2. Once the above sauce is ready, let it cool and pour it into a glass dish. 3. To prepare the second layer, soak the china grass in wat

INGREDIENTS     1.     Basmati rice - 500gm (soaked and drained)     2.     Onion - 6 big     3.     Carrot - 2 big (julienne)     4.     Beans - 2 cups     5.     Cauliflower - ½ cauliflower     6.     Tomato - 2     7.     Chana dal - 3 tbsp     8.     Ghee - a lot     9.     Ginger-garlic paste - 1 tbsp     10. Green chilli - 3 or 4     11. Cashews - ½ cup     12. Raisins - ½ cup     13. Coriander leaves     14. Rambha leaves     15. Chilli powder - 1 tsp     16. Coriander powder - 1 tsp     17. Turmeric powder - ¼ tsp     18. Cashew nut paste - 4 tbsp Garam masala 1.     Fennel seeds - 1 tsp 2.     Cloves - 8 3.     Black pepper corns - ¼ tsp 4.     Cardamom - 6 5.     Cinnamon- 1 small piece 6.     Khus khus - 1 tsp 7.     Star anise - 2 METHOD Add 4 tbsp ghee to a hot pan. Add 2 pieces of cinnamon, 4 cardamom, 2 star anise, 4 cloves (to give a flavor to the rice). Next add the soaked and drained rice and fry i