The Kindest Cut

In an effort to participate in the "kindest cut" program that is run my pantene, I have been wearing my hair long since almost a year. And hopefully by the end of next month I should have the stipulated 8 inches to donate and still have some length to retain...

Considering we all so often have a hair cut and the locks simply find their way to a broom and basket.. I thought why not make a difference for a change... Long hair does take some maintenance..But then, if you are not much of a stylist, spray, blow dry, straightening kind of person.. but someone who simply does a wash, brush and wear it the way it is.. it's a lot easier to let it grow.... Here is what i do -

1. wash hair twice a week, thrice in summer

2. Once a week deep condition (coconut oil massage and leave it for one to two hours. Then wash it as usual)

3. Always condition the hair after shampoo

4. Try to use a soft shampoo/conditioner (organic if you can) . I use Dove and it has suited me just fine. 

( From experience i have noticed garnier and tressemme are the worst.. too strong)

5. towel dry with a soft towel and docile-like 

So before I make the cut next month.. if any of you can tell me of any salon they know where they donate hair, I'd be glad to take an appointment there, or have to do the 'pantene kindest cut' and make the cut myself and then head to the salon to shape it up...

So, anyone got any other tips for maintaining hair?? Anyone else willing to make the kindest cut??

May be we can start by spreading the word.. i just did :)

Chocolate Nut Bread

To add to the flavorful bread recipes so far in this blog, here is my version of the Chocolate Nut Bread. I found this recipe on the back cover of Nestle chocolate Morsels which I customized. To my surprise this recipe doesn’t use butter except for greasing.

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 large eggs
• 1 cups milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla syrup
• 1/3 cup or 4-5 tsp of canola oil or vegetable oil
• 1 cups NESTLÉ® TOLL HOUSE® Semi-Sweet Chocolate Morsels
• 1 cups chopped walnuts

Directions

Preheat oven to 350° F. Grease one 9 x 5-inch loaf pans with butter.

COMBINE flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, vanilla syrup and salt in large bowl. Combine eggs, milk and vegetable oil in medium bowl. Add to flour mixture; mix just until moistened. Stir in morsels and nuts. Spoon into prepared loaf pans.

BAKE for 50 to 60 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pans for 10 minutes; remove from pans.

TIP: If you are looking for even more chocolate flavor, try drizzling the cooled loaves with chocolate! Microwave 1/2 cup semi-sweet morsels in heavy-duty plastic bag on HIGH (100%) power for 45 seconds; knead bag to mix. Microwave at additional 10- to 20-second intervals, kneading until smooth. Cut a small hole in corner of bag; squeeze to drizzle over bread.

Next time I plan to add more chocolate :)

Tip of the day!

Look for spring onions, leeks and ramps (a wild onion) in your supermarkets this month. They make great omlette toppers. Eating whats in season is usually the way to go!
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Try bananas or dates before working out. It is an instant and healthy source of energy. Banana if you are working out for over an hour, otherwise like me for running for half an hour first thing in empty stomach in the mornings, one date should suffice. Way healthier than energy drinks that people gobble... don't you think?

****** I am adding a sidebar to keep the tip of the day or tips in general going.Post your tips there******

New Ideas?

Hi everyone!

I am back after a little while following a good vacation and some writer's block as well! Divya's entry motivated me to spring in as well ;) pun intended!

so here are some ideas:

1. How about a tip of the day item? I love reading tips, they are always fun!

2. This idea comes from the foodie in me.. post pics from great restaurants you visit/visited and rate them. I love reading picture blogs and I'm sure you do too!

what do you guys think?

Onion Fritters

Its been raining cats and dogs in the east coast and all I seem to think of is making (and ofcourse eating) pakodis aka fritters. I was happy to see a change in weather but did not take too long before I was wishing that it stopped raining.. turns out I am never happy with any weather ;). Since I always have a more-than-happy-to-eat-fried-food husband at home, I wasted no time and quickly whipped up the batter to make onion(one vegetable I always always n always have in my kitchen) pakodi. I am sure there are many many more variations of the batter for this recipe but me being very lazy did the quick and the easiest one :)

Ingredients
1/2 cup Rice flour
1/2 cup Besan
1          Medium onion
Oil for frying
Salt
Chilli powder

Procedure
1. Mix the rice flour, besan, salt and chilli powder with water until you have a batter with the consistency to coat the onions.
2. Peel and cut the onions in rings. Seperate the layers or rings.
3. Dip the onion rings in the batter and deep fry them in hot oil until brown.
4. Enjoy hot with Maggie Hot and Sweet sauce.

Note: I am used to only using besan for making the batter but I found rice flour gives a little crispness to the pakodi.