Vegetable Upma is a nutritious meal that is easy to cook, healthy to eat and delicious to taste.

Watch this video and learn to make vegetable upma.

Vegetable Upma

Indian Food- Vegetable Upma - Ingredients in This Balanced Diet

Main Ingredients:

Semolina, Vegetables (beans, carrot, tomatoes, potato, peas), cooking oil, clarified butter (optional)

Garnishing Ingredients (optional):

Coconut, Curry leaves, Coriander leaves, red chillies, green chillies, mustard sees, two dals (white lentil and chickpea)

Listen to the Tamil words for these ingredients

I think you should read Tamil stories and ebooks while relishing this vegetable upma.

I don’t know about you, but I have a lot more time to cook some nights than others. When I do have extra time, I try to cook an extra batch of food, stick it in the freezer and then just grab a meal that’s ready to be heated and served out of the freezer on the days when we’re really busy. Here’s a list of things I tend to either cook in batches, or cook while I’m working on that day’s regular dinner and then freeze for later.

- Lasagna – anything from regular meat versions to vegetarian ones. Just assemble and freeze, then bake as usual straight from the freezer.

- Soups or Stews – Almost any type of soup or stew freezes well. I always cook these in double batches and freeze one. The only exception I’m aware of is chicken and dumplings. The dumplings just don’t turn out well when they are frozen. Some soups with chunks of potatoes can also get mushy, so test a small batch first.

Read more about Quick Meal Ideas Freezer Cooking…

Have you ever thought of serving breakfast foods for dinner? Many of the really good breakfast dishes, like eggs and bacon for example take a bit too much time in the morning, but are perfect for a quick and easy dinner. Here are our favorite breakfast dinners

Eggs

· Scrambled Eggs With Toast

· Cheese or Ham and Cheese omelet with toast or home fries

· Frittata with a side salad

· Farmer’s Pan – cut up a batch of potatoes and fry them in a little butter with some onions. Add ham or bacon and then crack a few eggs in the pan and cook until the eggs are done. Sprinkle with cheese and serve with a salad.

· Eggs Benedict

· Creamed Eggs with cheese served on toast

Pancakes

Continue Reading…

Quick Meal Idea Three - Breakfast Any Time

 The Times of India says:

“LONDON: The one billion pound Indian food industry in UK is showing signs of decline as most young ethnic Asians are not interested in working in kitchens and new immigration rules make hiring chefs from the Indian sub-continent difficult.

There is not a single British town or village which does not have an Indian restaurant, but staff shortage has led to several of them closing down”.

According to the news Children of first generation restaurant owners prefer to take up professions other than those of their parents.  And they don’t want to work in the kitchens.

I can understand that because I hardly spend time in cooking. Just today I had a conversation with another lady who is not been able to pursue a desired course because most of her time is spent in cooking and cleaning.

Not only in developed countries, but even in India where most people love home cooked meal, it is becoming more and more difficult to find time for cooking. At the same time we have to have healthy food rather than go for junk foods.

This has started a trend of instant ready to make items that save time, help you churn out dishes in minutes and are filled with healthy nutrients. In such food items you have to carefully note their shelf life and what type of preservatives are used.

Instant Dosa Mix that is used to make dosa batter in minutes has no artificial preservatives. Whatever is added to the mix is rich nutritious ingredients that help you keep fit. You can preserve the powder for months.

Our body needs carbohydrates, proteins, calcium, fats, vitamins, mineral salts, fibre.

Dosa has all this.

Carbohydrates are the source of energy. Carbon, Hydrogen and Oxygen are essential to keep us energetic and active. Food items such as potato, rice, spaghetti, yams, bread and cereals contain carbohydrates. These are the food items rich in starch.

Dosa has rice - starch - carbohydrates.

Proteins are turned into amino acids by our digestive system before they enter our blood. Proteins contain Carbon, Hydrogen, Oxygen, Nitrogen and Sulphur. Proteins are absolutely necessary for the growth of our body and for repairing injured cells.

Dosa has lentils - proteins

Fat is also a source of energy. Just like proteins fats too contain Carbon, Hydrogen and Oxygen. Just by avoiding fat we cannot avoid putting on weight. Carbohydrates and proteins can also turn into fat. So it is necessary eat the right amount of energy containing food. How much energy we can take in? Naturally it depends on how much we can use through physical day-to-day activities and exercise.

To make dosa you use cooking oil. That gives you fat. And you can make it, according to your preference. Make it almost fat free or add more oil to make the dosa crispy, the choice is yours.

Mineral salts such as iron, calcium, sodium and iodine are necessary for different purposes. Iron is necessary for making hemoglobin. Decrease of hemoglobin leads to symptoms of anemia. Especially for pregnant women it is crucial to avoid problems of anemia. Calcium is essential for our bones, teeth and muscles. Nerve cells need sodium and our thyroid glands require iodine.

Dosa has calcium, iron and magnesium.

Fiber is important for good digestion, clear skin and healthy bowel movements.

Dosa has dietary fiber.

You can make different types of dosa. For example, carrot dosa gives you A. If you need more carbohydrates you can make masala dosa. Masala dosa has potatoes and that gives you more starch and more carbohydrates.

Dosa can be a good nutritious healthy meal for young and old including children.

The usual way of making dosa is laborious, but with instant mix, dosa is easy to cook. It takes just a few minutes to get things ready and prepare a dosa.

Dosa is healthy to eat because it has carbohydrates, proteins, calcium, iron and magnesium. For toddlers, old people as well as young and energetic adults, dosa is a complete meal with all the required nutrients.

The taste of dosa is has to be relished and felt. If you taste dosa once, the delicious taste will remain in your memory for years to come.

You can learn more about dosa from Instant Pancake Mix
.