Wednesday, October 20, 2021

Thanksgiving 2021

 Megha and Tanush, I am so incredibly Thankful this year. I have you both and daddy, a job, a home to live. Always remember, love, food, clothing and a roof over your head will all you will ever need to be happy. Always work hard so you can enjoy the fruits of the hard work. Covid has not been very easy on any of us and for the small joys that we can find, we will be thankful. 

Day started off quite well. I havent baked Turkey as the birds are always too big for our family but I baked a whole chicken, with your favorite seasoning. 


We also had steamed corn, mashed potatoes (with just butter, salt, milk and pepper), pumpkin pie, asparagus, pesto flavored rice, deviled eggs (just some dijon mustard and sour cream) and of course cranberry sauce.

Baking our family favorite chicken: 

Prep the marinade: 

1/2C oil, 

2 tbsp garam masala, 

1/2 tsp each (pepper, paprika, turmeric, chili powder, sugar)

1 tbsp ginger and garlic paste

2 tsp salt

3 tbsp lemon juice

Rub the chicken with the above marinade. Rest for 30 mins (min). Pre heat the oven to 400 F. Roast the chicken for 20 mins. Reduce the heat to 350. Continue cooking for another 40 mins. Remove from oven and rest for at least 10 mins before serving.

We also went for a walk :)


our front yard for Fall 2021




Tuesday, October 12, 2021

Tomato Rasam

 I seem to have this urge to write down all the recipes of the things you both like. My grand mother used to be a good cook and most of the recipes, she took them to her grave. You both met her, just about briefly. 

So, I am wring down these to ensure you both have something to make, for comfort food. Currently when I make it, i add a little scrambled eggs with salt/ chili powder along with rice. You both would sit side by side on the couch and when I feed you, you both can eat bowl after bowl while watching some movies :)

In a pressure cooked, add 2 tomatoes, 1/2C water, 1 tsp each salt/rasam powder, sambar powder. cook for 4 whistles. Release pressure, mash the tomatoes using a spatula, add 2 cups of water. Thats it. If you want Tadka, just heat a tsp of oil in a separate pan, add 1/2 tsp mustard seeds (let it splutter), cumin seeds, curry leaves, a pinh of hing. add this to tomato rasam. 

Enjoy with hot rice and ghee. 



Comic book (page) by Megha...10 days or so ago.

 Megha's sense of humor is something that has developed so much lately. The girl cracks me up :)

She loves to write comic book kind of pages and meme's :); below was when she was waiting in the car while i had gone inside a store to pick up a few things (she wasnt too well and didnt want to come out). 

Below is typically what a Saturday morning looks like at Reddiar household:

Megha happily lying down on the couch watching TV

Tanush walks in saying "I want Sponge Bob....now!!!!!" 

Megha winks and says, "Nope"

The fight ensues. 

Whats really funny is that, this happens almost on all Saturdays and typically follows exact same sequence :) 

Thursday, October 7, 2021

From Daddy's hands...

 Its been 3 weeks since you both started school and lets just say, the morning hustle and bustle is never ending, even though, I try to plan things in advance. By advance, I mean the night before.

I think I have made abundantly clear to daddy that I cannot comfortably manage making breakfast, lunch, 2 snacks and still manage to login at 7:30 AM. So, he is making an effort to step in to ease the morning rush. 

One of the things I personally like about his cooking is that he makes things very colorful. In yesterday's lunch he cooked pasta (al dante...he doesnt like it if its over cooked). Butter up the pan, cut up 3 2 hotdogs, sauté until cooked, then add thinly sliced carrots and chopped up broccoli. Season with salt and pepper and toss back the pasta. Lunch is served. 

When you have kids of your own, I hope you both make this for them (and of course yourself as this is easy to prep). Its really delicious. 



Friday, October 1, 2021

When daddy is not home....

 ...you both fall sick. Every. Single. Time. 

Makes me second guess myself as a mom. Megha had a belly ache/nausea this morning and I got a call from school to pick her up. Only way to send her back is when we know she is fine, but of course. 

That meant, we had to get her Covid-19 test done; poor poor thing. Her nose hurt and she was afraid. Now, we need to wait for results which can take anywhere between 24-72 hours. 

Friday, September 24, 2021

Shows that you love (Megha)

 Megha, so many phases you went through. Unlike Tanush, you have always love TV and more recently watching iPad. 

As a baby, you  used to love watching Baby Einstein. in your toddler years, you also loved Micky Mouse Club House, Special Agent Oso, Jake and the Never Land Pirates (oh how many evenings we spent just watching episode after episode of these). Moving from "loved" to "liked", you did watch a bit of Doc McStuffins and a bit of Sofia the First. 

More recently though (9 year time frame), you like Ninjago. You, me and Tanush also enjoy Camp Cretaceous. 

Shows that you love (Tanush)

 Tanush, for as long as you could watch TV, here are you favorites.

As a baby, you used to love watching Little Baby Bum. you were/are never into watching TV for too long, you would go a max 20 mins before wanting to switch off. 

Between 2-3 years, you got into Thomas the Tank engine. Then its everything to do with Paw Patrol (normal pa-poy you used to say), a little into Peppa Pig and Masha and the Bear. After you turned 6 though, you started watching Sponge Bob, a show that i dislike but you are so into it :)

Thursday, September 23, 2021

Very easy Beef Stew

 

Megha and Tanush, this post is for both of you, by Mommy as you both Love this stew. I am hoping you both grow up to know your way around kitchen, like your daddy and myself. Cook for yourself and your families.

I will write down the recipe. You can go crazy with the recipe, like adding onion pearls, garlic, celery etc but you both, like dad and I, loved simple seasoning.

Beef Stew:

  • Beef: 1 lb, chut into bite sized piece, boneless
  • Potatoes: 3 large (I always add equal amount of Potatoes to beef…you both love potatoes and it naturally creates the “gravy” feel to the gravy)
  • Carrots: 2 large (about 1.5 cups, chopped
  • Salt, pepper, paprika: 1 tsp each
  • All purpose flour: 1 tbsp
  • Beef broth: 2 cups, no-sodium (if you have sodium only, you may want to reduce salt)
  • Tomato paste: ¼ cup
  • Worcestershire ((pronounced as “wooster”. You are welcome)) sauce: 1 tbsp (optional, I have tried with and without and neither of you displayed any sense of like/dislike. So, I just use it or not, depending on how fast I find this in pantry)
  • 3-4 springs of thyme (optional but I recommend this).
  • Olive oil: 2 tbsp

 

If you have a Dutch pan, that makes this a one pot dish. Since I don’t, I am using 2, one to fry, one to bake.

 This pic below is after baking:



Method:

·       Preheat the oven to 375 D F

·       Toss the beef with salt, pepper, paprika, flour and coat evenly.

·       In a pan, add a tbsp of olive oil. Shallow fry the beef until browned on all sides. Transfer into a baking 9/13” pan (any pan that fits all).

·       In the same frying pan, add the remaining olive oil, potatoes, tomatoes. Briefly stir fry, including the brown bits from beef fry (the goodness I call them) and transfer them into the baking pan containing beef.

·       In the same frying pan, add broth, tomato paste, Worcester sauce (if using), mix all for a min until tomato paste incorporates with broth (typically less than a min is all it takes).

·       Pour the sauce in to the baking pan. Add the sprigs of thyme.

·       Cover with a foil, add a few slits of steam-vent, bake for 2 hours. Carefully remove the foil.

 

I have served this on its own, with bread, with rice and no matter how its served, you both always asked for seconds.

This pic below is before it went into the oven, just to give you an idea of liquid proportion.



 

Tuesday, September 21, 2021

African Lion Safari Sept 2021

 It was one of the last warm weekends of the season and we took advantage of that. African lion Safari is something that I specifically like as the animals (most of them) are not caged. They roam around in the designated areas freely as we drive slowly around them. 


Tanush has never been here. Both Megha and Tanush absolutely enjoyed the Lion's roaming around the car...while I asked Anand to double check the locked car doors at least 10 times. 

Kids got a kick out of the huge Hippo's, especially when it went pee. :) 

We took Megha when she was about 18 months old...

8 years apart, with our family complete. 



Tuesday, September 14, 2021

Big sister helping her brother

 So, Tanush was being bullied by another kid at school. The pushing, pulling and things like that. When Tanush told his teacher, it was kind of brushed off; now, it highly likely Tanush didnt fully explain or articulate what the issue was. 

Megha took things in her own hand and yesterday, she has requested her own teacher that she be excused for a few mins to go talk to his brothers teacher. When asked why, She has explained the whole bullying story to her teacher. Then Megha's teacher said, "dont worry, i will let Tanush's teacher know"....and thats how Tanush's teacher got to know about this again and Tanush and the teacher had some "talk" on how to defend themselves and also a quick lecture to the class about not bullying each other. 


way to go Megha. 

Monday, September 13, 2021

Lunch box on the first week of school

One of the things I have always found it hard to imagine/execute are the lunch/snacks. I keep looking at a lot of ideas online and mostly, they all boil down to adding a bunch of relatively healthy stuff and hope the kids eat. Snacks are always prepared the night before and for now, i am making lunch first thing in the morning. This could change after I return to work and not work from home. 

Below are what went to school in Megha/ Tanush's lunch bags, on the first week. More than likely, this is the pattern we would follow the remainder of school year.

Day one: Pasta with beef/marinara sauce and some veggies. For snack, there was fruit.


Day 2:  Veggie wrap, 1/2 avocado, 1 bear paw, goldfish, raspberries/cucumbers


Day 3: Chicken nuggets, carrots/cucumber, strawberries, apples, cheese.
Day 4: Pasta with minced meat (think beef again but I usually add chicken too), 1/4 avocado (after the feedback that 1/2 avocado was too much), raspberries, cucumbers, goldfish. 



Thursday, September 9, 2021

Same spot - 6 years apart

 How time flies. Megha on her first day of school, JK 6 years ago vs Megha and Tanush (grade 5 and Grade 1). 



Even the home entrance looks different :) 





Tuesday, September 7, 2021

First Day of School 2021

 Megha is in Grade 5 as of today, in-person school after over 1.5 years of online schooling due to Covid-19. She was half excited and half scared. Suddenly last night she realized she doesnt like her L.O.L school bag and thought other girls would make fun of her. After some gentle reassurance, she seemed a lot better. 

Tanush started his Grade 1 today. Since he barely had any school experience, in person, he pretty much forgot what its like. He was very excited to make new friends, play. 

Its safe to say, both were very happy to be able to spend some time away from mommy/daddy after being stuck at home with us for over 1.5 years. 

Today's lunch was Pasta with beef/marinara sauce, some carrots and broccoli. Snacks were apples and grapes. 



Friday, January 15, 2021

5 years and something

 Tanush talks so much lately. I absolutely love hearing him. There are so many funny conversations and below are a couple, in the last week alone :)

Tanush: Momma, how did dinosaurs go gone?

Me:  what do you mean "go-gone? You should say, 'how did dinosaurs become extinct' ". 

Tanush: mine sounds better. 


Another one: 

Tanush: I made a card, can i show you it? 

Me: what is "show you it? I would say, 'can I show you' ?" 

Tanush: Ooh what are you going to show me?

Me: ..............