Instagram Notes

 Over the years I must have saved thousands of posts on Instagram ranging from recipes, Eateries and   cafes in London, Self Motivation, enhancing productivity and sometimes places to visit in Jaipur/Delhi.

I want to keep them in one place where I can read/revisit them frequently and thought of recording them in my blog.

Must Try Recipes 

1. Instant Pot Masala Macaroni from Cook With Manali
2. Tomato Rice from Sneha Singhi
3. Paneer and Vegetables in a creamy sauce from Life With Spices
4. Chickpea Salad from  Life With Spices
5. Broccoli and Paneer Stir fry from Adhya
6. Restaurant Style Gobhi Tikka Masala from Nidhi and Rahul
7. Lentil Salad from Fun Food and Frolic
8. Bhapa Doi from Food Fashion and Party
9. Stir Fry with veggies from Life with Spices
10. Tomato Rasam from Sneha Singhi
11. Kada Prasad from Veg Recipes of India
12. Pindi Channa from Sneha Singhi
13. Vegetable Thukpa from Sneha Singhi 
14. No Onion Garlic Paneer Masala from Sneha Singhi
15. Kadhai Paneer from Sneha Singhi
16. Restaurant Style Yellow Dal Tadka from Sneha Singhi
17. Rasam from Kunal Kapoor
18. Dhaba Style Chana Dal Fry from Kunal Kapoor
19. Soya Chunks dry curry from Life With Spices
20. Pesto Paneer Salad from Akshika Jain

Party Recipes 

1. Chickpeas Chaat Board from A Garnish Bowl
2. Chana Chaat Cups from Fun Food and Frolic

Diwali Recipes 

1. Cornflakes Dry Fruit Mix from Rekha Kakkar

How seriously organised I am??

 I came across this while browsing Pinterest and thought to myself that I must note this down and see   what I do already and perhaps can add more. 

Things I do already:

1. Declutter your purse regularly
2. Organise your closet
3. Set a Laundry day every week ( i do almost everyday)
4. Always wash your dishes after eating ( i put it away in Dishwasher ) 
5. Take out trash every morning ( this is weekly depending on the rubbish collection day)
6. Make your bed as soon as you get up 
7. Spend an hour cleaning every week 
8. Set a place for everything in your home
9. Spend 10-20 minutes tidying everyday
10. Use containers to sort things in your drawer ( i have boxes) 
11. Always put on matching bedsheets 
12. Always put things back in their place
13. Use neat paper for your notes 

Things I would want to incorporate in my daily life:

1. Take time every week to clean your make up brushes
2. Have a morning routine 
3. Get rid of the clothes that are faded 
4. Spray your bath with Limescale remover after shower
5. Plan your meals in advance 
6. Sort your photos in folders 
7. Plan your self care routine and stick to it 
8. Trash spam emails immediately 

Loved doing this exercise and hoping I will start doing them soon!! Need some motivation ! 

Within this week..

•  Inaugurated my week by accidently stumbling upon Adrian Whittle Photography @ Barbican Library during my lunch time walk. The photographs were from Asia / Africa and Latin America depicting everyday life of people 

•  Listened to podcast Stories of our times -" The best letters to the editor of 2022" 

• Watched very boring and fluff " Meet the Khans: Big in Bolton" series 3. This is about World Boxer  champion Amir Khan and fashionista wife Faryal. Unlike last seasons I could not maintain my attention and just could not be bothered to finish the episodes 

• To compensate, watched " Mumbai Mafia" on Netflix. The documentary centres around Mumbai and its   underworld.. rise and fall of Dawood Ibrahim. Explores time in Mumbai in 90s when it was a violent city where gangsters often wielded power more than police 

• Weekend started with quick trip to Bond Street to enter the world of Louis Vuitton and Yayoi Kusama pop ups along the street. Both of them have reunited after 10 years to bring the artist's emblematic motifs to life 

• Dashed off to Harrods and bought x 2 chocolate bars - Milk and Dark for my sister. Then had our usual meal of Coffee / Chai / Cheese and Jalapeno pasty / Vanilla Sponge cake / Chicken tikka roll 

•  Last destination of the evening was attending the Winter Lights festival @ Canary Wharf. The place was heaving and looked as if whole of London descended upon this place

 

 

 

 

Notes from the week gone by

•  Commenced my New Year by going for a guided walk following City Walks Guide to in and   around  Sloane Square. The pack of 50 interesting walks has been with me for donkey's years  but   never formally followed a walk. So what better way to start New Year's Day !! 
• A & N reluctantly accompanied me but at the end they enjoyed having to be just able to get out of the house. I couldn't follow the walk to the T but nevertheless covered quite a bit. Points of interest for me was Buddhist Temple from Chelsea Embankment / Carlyle House / Cheyne Walk / Chelsea Physic Gardens ( closed )
• Concluded our day with visit to our friend's house for Dinner of Gujrati delicacies / Chilli Paneer / Mix Pulao / Ice Cream
• Watched " My Old School" on BBC I Player. The movie is about Brandon Lee who falsely enrolled himself in a secondary school claiming to be a 16 year old when in reality he was 30
• Kids back to school mid week and ultimately back to reality about getting back to routine
• Picking up listening to Podcasts which got side tracked for months now.. This week I listened to " More or Less Behind the Statistics: Numbers of the Year 2022 and Can China's data on Covid deaths be trusted? 
• Walked to Gidea Park Library.. and both A&N got a book each. N is into learning French so she got one covering that and A got a Step By Step Chemistry book
• Kicked off my Reading Challenge for 2023 by a book from Avni Doshi "Burnt Sugar" which is part of a book club from work
• Made Chole / Rajma Rice / Methi Aloo / Tindora Sabzi / Palak Paneer over the weekend

Great Lives by Karen Farrington

 Excerpts from the book: 

 Captain James Cook ( 1728-1779)

Cook had the skills of a cartographer at his fingertips and did more than anyone previously to chart the coast of New Foundland, New Zealand, eastern Australia, numerous Pacific Islands and both the Artic and Antarctic frontier. He also possessed abundant courage, which enabled him to set off onto the unknown. 

He was a symbol of the Enlightment, treating indigenous tribes that he encountered with respect and understanding in the context of the era. 

Ultimately it was an uncharacteristically heavy handed approach with the Hawaiians that cost him his life.

Unsuited to farm and shop work, young James decided his true calling was at sea. After joining the merchant navy, he ferried coal from Newcastle to London and sometimes to the Baltic in a stout Whitby collier. 

The aspirational Cook spent his spare time studying hydrology, cartography and astronomy. 

Not content with a secure future as a Captain in the mercantile fleet, he enlisted in the Royal Navy in 1755 as an able seaman and spent a dozen years working his way through the ranks. 

In 1767, he was chosen to lead an expedition to the Pacific that would chart the course of the planet Venus across the sun. Its subtext was to find the southern continent that many thought lay undiscovered in the southern oceans. 

From England he sailed around Cape Horn to Tahiti, where he forged an enduring relationships with islanders. Then it was on to New Zealand, which he charted, the unknown Botany Bay in Australia and home via Indonesia. 

Cook’s journals and the work of accompanying scientist Joseph Banks created a major stir on their return. 

Cook today has several personalities. There is the Cook who is one of the great, supreme navigators and that part of his reputation remains. But there is uneasiness among many, particularly among Pacific peoples, about the legacy of Cook. Mist white Australians and New Zealanders would still see Cook as a kind of founding father, almost an iconic figure. But the Maori aborigines and Hawaiians see a very different Cook; a despoiler, a destructive force. By Glyn Williams ( Professor of History).