Myriad Musings

Ash's teacher tells me, almost apologetically, he comes only at 8.45 everyday, school starts by 8.30 could I please come a little earlier.  Immediately on the defensive, I complain how difficult it is to get Ashu up.  She says he claims to wake up at 6.00!  Well, he is fast asleep by 6.25 again :)  She then says, she knows how hard it is to make ash do anything but to please try.  I relate the censored conversation to Ash and he says I am the bottle neck.  (Ashu said "You are the bottle cock", a year ago,  the first time he tried to use the phrase ;) I owned up to my delays.  So, now, if Lunch is NOT packed by 8.15, I have to go later to drop it off.  Net consequence?  I make an extra trip to school and S. doesn't eat breakfast. I have sworn to  plan my meal the previous night, not follow any whim at 6.00 AM. do most of the prep work the previous night get up early Well getting up early is hard most mondays and off late I ha...

I cook chana daal with methi, onions, garlic and tomatoes; Serve it with roti and/or rice it is a blah lunch.  I cook the same chana dal, drain the water, fry the methi leaves, onion and garlic.  Mix everything together, form into patties and insert between two halves of a burger bun, it suddenly becomes irresistible?  How is that possible?  I prefer the former version, my son the latter. Does the addition of raw veggies, mint sauce and a slice of cheese really change the taste so much?  Or is he just eating wth his eyes?  Cool modern burger as opposed to my grandmother's fare? I usually add a potato to bind the chana and methi together and to give him some much needed carbs.  This is usually a hit in his lunch box, served with ketchup on the side and NO fries.

We love watching MasterChef Australia and I love any cook show, seeking inspiration, new techniques and anything to feed my procrastination habit. I don't understand my son's fascination with it though.  Unless, he is so starved for TV time he will watch anything? MA has some things going for it; unlike American shows, the judges are not hypercritical and cold, George is a sweetheart!  He always tries to find a silver lining and comes up with ultra sappy rhymes.  Matt's foppish outfits are always amusing.  The contestants are generally supportive of each other, not nasty (again as opposed to most American cook shows).  I wish the contestants were a bit more stoic though,  they are definitely not Spartan.They frequently have a tip or technique I want to use NOW.  Season 3 seemed to feature a lot of pesto. I have always bought pesto off the shelf, never really made it from scratch.  I looked up basic pesto and I found it is just a chutney of r...

My days are crazy busy. nanny quit so my 19 month old is completely managed between my hubby and me, and work, especially research, has taken a back seat. Even so, I need a lot of planning to get up at 5 and still be out of the house with lunch and breakfast all cooked and stacked at 7.05 am. Since planning is definitely not my forte, I find myself downsizing the variety of grains and vegetables I cook to a bare minimal, easy to mange items. But, I have finally conquered food waste! Most days everything i cook is consumed within the same day. I have decided to start planning the week's Menu (atleast work week).  A good starting point would be consolidating current lunch box options, my starting point for the day's menu Other than the usual suspects - prep time, cooking time, balance, whether suitable for lunch box, i also need to look at how fast by son can eat the food.  His lunch hour is 25 minutes and he chews every morsel 60 times.  He rarely comes home with a e...

School has reopened for my son, so no more IPL until midnight and waking up at 10.30 AM :) The poor darling has classes from 7:25 in the morning and he has to leave by 7.05 even if we drop him off. This means I am at work by 7:45 and my PhD will finally get somewhere. He wanted a veggie burger for his first back to school lunch box. For the Patty: 3 medium potatoes, scrubbed and cooked 1/2 litre 3% milk made into paneer (I added yogurt to just boiled milk to make it) 1 small capsicum finely chopped 1 medium onion finely chopped 1/2 cup soaked overnight and cooked karamani 1 tbspoon chopped coriander Mash all above ingredients together and make into a dough Divide into 5 parts Shape each into a patty 0.5 cm thick cook on a well buttered pan on medium heat until browned on each side. I know this looks overdone, but trust me it was awesome according to hubby and too healthy according to baby Oh, The French Loaf makes lovely burger buns, not the dry kind I used to ...