Indian food 101: Pappa.. what?

My co-worker is a lovely Hindu vegetarian. I told her about my late afternoon hunger pangs and the next day she gave me a treat!

Meet Pappadum:

It's an Indian version of Asia's prawn or fish crackers! It is completely made of rice flour and flavored with spices (Spice scale of 1 to 10, it's a 6). With a light yet savoury flavour, it's a perfect snack for a hungry girl like me.

My lovely Indian friend made a big batch of Pappadums last Easter long weekend from scratch and she gave me a big Ziploc full of it to keep it in the office for a healthy afternoon snack!

Apparently, it's a looooonnnnnnnggg process to make this yummy treat. She made the dough out of rice flour, spiced it up, shaped them in tortilla sized pieces then left them in a basket to dry. Once it's completely dry, you can fry it (the most popular choice) or bake it in the oven.

But let me tell you how I enjoy fresh Pappadums in the office.

Start with a dried up Pappadum.

Put in the microwave for 30 seconds

Flip it and microwave for another 30 seconds

Then it's ready to eat! No greasy oil, no fats, no dirty dishes!

How about that for an easy, healthy and exotic treat thanks to my good Hindu friend.

Now, I'm not entirely sure how to get more of these Pappadums if you would like to try some. My friend says a lot of Hindu women make it at home and sell them in big bags for a buck or two. If you happen to find any in a store or your local Indian grocer or restaurant, let me know!

Cherry Blossoms

After a stressful and nerve wracking weekend, it was so amazing to wake up to this:

Cherry tree on our front yard.

For more Cherry Blossoms check it out here if you are in Toronto area.

Spring came early here and today is just gorgeous!

I have the day off today and boy I needed it.

My hubby is doing well and I will update you on that on a later post.

Today: I will just relax, enjoy time with the family, go for a stroll and enjoy this lovely day of spring.

Thank God that the sun shines bright after a storm.

Whatta friday...

and I'm afraid that the weekend will be the same as well. Let's review shall we...

Friday morning started well... woke up, got ready, woke up my DD, got her ready then went downstairs for breakfast.

This is what I had:

Kashi Go Lean Crunch mixed with Kashi Toasted Berry Crisp with Skim Milk. (Yummy and waistline friendly)

My DD munched on some toast with cream cheese with a bottle of milk.

Then my hubby and I dropped my DD off to home daycare and we both commuted to work together. Which is a nice AM bonding time despite of the terrible city traffic.

Photo from here

My day at work went without any glitches. Everything ran smoothly and although I had to deal with some "difficult" people, God gave me the patience and kindness to shower them with flowers instead of stones. Which actually works wonders, kudos to HIM!

I had to buy lunch because of lack of leftovers from dinner the night before and got lazy fixing a homemade lunch.

So I went to Metro for some sushi. Then the salad section caught my eye and I bought something called "Seven grain salad". It was basically mixed grains with lentils and other type of beans in a olive oil based dressing. It was delish and spicy but it was too oily! I'm sure I can make my own less-oily version at home.

I took the pic after I was done eating and had the leftovers for a second 4 o'clock lunch! Which was great because it prepared me for the unexpected evening that was coming.

So after work, I headed over to my hubby's office to catch a ride home. We were planning to go to our regular Friday night Bible study and then P90x afterwards, but that didn't end up happening.

We basically had to make a trip to the Emergency room becuase of my hubby's worsening condition. It was not life threatening but it needed IMMEDIATE medical attention.

We went to a walk-in clinic the night before and he was given medication for it. He was told that if it gets any worse, ER was the way to go.

Photo from here

When we got to the hospital, we waited a few hours but was seen by the doctor as soon as we got a bed. He was diagnosed, tested, then medicated properly. Although I can't reveal the details because I respect my husband's privacy, but it made me a nervous wreck up until now.

We were told to come back to the hospital tonight so he can get assessed and medicated again. And I just hate waiting for him to get better. I can clearly see that the medication they gave didn't work and I just pray that when we see the doctor tonight, she will have alternative meds or something so he can get better STAT!

I absolutely hate this waiting game....

I need prayers...

P90X Week 2!!!

Week 1 of P90X was hard and my body just went into shock. I had really bad muscle pains for 4 days and hurts to even lift my arms to hold up a paper!

We were suppose to take the day off today but we took it yesterday instead because we would like to have SUNDAY off. And besides, Kempo X is not very appealing or challenging to my hubby and I, because we had real martial arts training and it seems that Kempo X teaches really bad form.

So these are the things I need to work on for Week 2:

Get new Bands

 I use the bands instead of doing pull ups because I can't manage to do one yet (But I hope I will soon!). But there is not enough resistance in the ones I bought. I purchased my current bands in 2008 when I had never worked out at all. So I guess my strength has improved since then and I need more resistance. 

Eat more cleanly

 I was pretty inconsistent because of the constant presence of foods I should not eat. I live in a house of 6 people and it's pretty hard to cook separately for myself. (Or stay away from rich, fatty foods they are enjoying). My strategy is just to keep myself disciplined because I have done it before and I know I can do it again.

On another note, thank you for those who have commented and encouraged me with this P90X challenge. I hope I can continue to give my best and get excellent results which I would gladly share with you all.

CHEERS!

In the big bookstore

Yay it's the weekend!!!!

My hubby was taking care of DD in the morning while I was at work today. I had to meet them afterwards because he had a client to meet around 1 pm. He works in a bank branch located in a mall so I figured that I can just stroll around with my DD while he meets with his client for about an hour or so.

When I got there, I contemplated about strolling around because I was famished and exhausted with working so hard in the morning. So I grabbed some lunch from a Sushi place, which I figured will be the best healthy choice in a mall. 

I just picked what ever looked good, I think this was a California type of roll with salmon and avocado wrapped around it. And I love seaweed salad so I got as well. DD and I sat on a bench and I started eating my sushi and salad while she munchies away on animal crackers with a side of Milk (My hubby gave her lunch at home).

After lunch, I really did NOT want to stroll around the mall because of 2 reasons:

1. I have trouble with impulsive shopping, I already did that once this week and I don't want to waste any more money on clothes or accessories I don't need.
2. I was already exhausted working early at 8 am super busy and non stop until 12:30.

Then, I remembered that there is a Chapters Bookstore in the mall with a huge kids section and I thought that DD and I can hang out there!

There was actually a local singer doing a performance as soon as we walked in. Her name is Meaghan Smith and her songs has a cool yet sweet folksy pop sound to it.

Source HERE

I really like her music but I only stayed long enough to listen to a couple of songs. My DD was very antsy and she wanted to get out of her stroller and explore the big bookstore. 

We got to the kids section and she went running straight to were the toys were. I sat on a bench close by while I let her burn off some energy. After a while I asked her if she wants to read some books so we went over to the 3 to 5 years old section. My DD was so ecstatic to see sooo many books and she kept pulling books off the shelves.

I let her choose and pick while I looked at some Dr. Seuss books to add to her collection. She was just in her own world and didn't even acknowledge that I was there. 

I kept showing her books that I picked out but I just got ignored! Eventually, she showed me some books she liked.

We both read them sitting on the floor in the aisle and she thought the Elmo book was hilarious!  It was like a puppet book and you can make Elmo clap. Then, she wanted to move on to the 'In the night garden' book and she kept screaming, "TAH BIBOOHS!! TAH BIBOOHS!" pointing at the Tombliboos (Those 3 cute characters in the show).

After reading different other books for a while, we went into the Baby section. I thought I'd get a gift for friend who is having a baby while I'm there. And without even realizing it... an hour and a few minutes had past! That place was really a great in passing time and my DD had a blast too. She was getting pooped and started sitting on the floor playing quietly with a watering can that she found.

Good thing that my hubby came just in time when she was getting sleepy and I went to the cash to check out. We headed home and my little one passed out immediately the car got out of the parking lot.

It was a busy morning and a great entertaining afternoon but now I'm really glad to be home. 

Happy Weekend!!!!