June 21st - the first day of summer was a perfect day. Not too hot and not too humid. We decided to celebrate the beginning of summer by doing some outdoor grilling. As I decided to be a vegetarian atleast for this year, I felt our options were pretty limited. I did not want to do the usual veggie patty burger. So I decided to make delish Paneer Kababs. This is my take on the scrumptious dish.

Ingredients:-

-250grams Paneer (Indian Cheese) - cut into medium sized cubes.

-2 green peppers (cut into large pieces)

-2 onions

-10 to 12 button mushrooms( halved)

Marinade:-

1 1/2 cups whole milk plain yogurt

4 cloves garlic

1 inch piece of ginger

1 tsp cumin powder

1/2 tsp coriander powder

1/2 tsp chili powder( I like it spicy but if you don't you can reduce the amount)

juice of one lemon

2 tsp melted butter

Instructions:-

-Combine all the ingredients from the marinade list and process to a smooth paste in a blender or food processor.

-Combine the cut vegetables and cheese cubes with the marinade. Marinade atleast for 1 hr to 8 hrs.

-Skewer the vegetables and cheese. I made sure each skewer had atleast two of each item.

- Heat up the grill or indoor griddle. Place the loaded skewers on a well oiled surface of the grill.

- Grill each side for atleast 1 minute or until the pieces are well cooked.

This idea came to me when I saw a take out salad container being thrown out into the trash by my H. I gave it a good wash with soapy water and decided to plan out how I would make it into a bird feeder. I could paint it, I figured but that didn't sound to special. Then the idea hit me as I swirled a beaded necklace around my neck with my finger. I had tons of plastic beads in my storage of junk. I could make a bejeweled bird feeder out of it. This is what I came up with.

Ingredients:

-Clear rounded take out container.( you could use a round tupperware bowl with lid)
-Plastic beads ( mardigras type beads) - I used several colors: blue,green and black.
-Glue gun.
-Two new pencils
-thin flexable wire.
-Metal skewer.

Instructions:-

-Using the metal skewer pock three holes at the bottom of the bowl. To make this easier I heated the skewer by putting it on direct fire for a seconds. The heat ed skewer will allow you to make the hole without breaking/bending the plastic container.

- Thread the metal wire through holes. This wire will be used to hang the bird feeder.

- Hot glue gun the lid to the bowl.

-Using the heated metal knife cut two half circles on opposite sides of the bowl. These will be the opening for the birds. I ran the heated knife across the cut edges so they would become dull and not hurt the birds.

- Using the heated metal skewer poke round hole below the half circle cuts on the both sides. This is where you will put the pencil so that the birds will have a perch to sit on while having their seeds.

- Once you insert the pencil into the hole hot glue gun it into place to secure it.

- Next using the glue gun start gluing on the beads to the bowl in whatever pattern you wish. I didn't choose a specific pattern and choose random beads.

- Once you have covered the whole bowl with beads you are done.

I wanted to incorporate more whole grains, proteins and green leafy vegetables into my diet. I am a picky eater but definitely a foodie with taste buds that crave new exciting flavors all the time. My first challenge - a healthy breakfast. This is where I needed to get a little creative. I headed to Whole Foods to begin with. As I zig zagged through an aisle filled with a thousand variety of cereals my eyes fell upon a package of Quinoa. I had read about this so called superfood in one of my health magazine. It is considered to be of very high nutritional value specifically high in protein (approximately 13%). It is also high in fiber content and contains all 9 essential amino acids. Apparently it can be eaten like oatmeal with a little milk and suger. My reaction - yuck. I have never been into sweet breakfasts especially sweet warm breakfasts that are sticky and goey. So I had to come up with my own creative concoctions.


In my first attempt to use Quinoa I replaced the semolina with Quinoa in the Indian breakfast dish UPMA.

Ingredients:-
-1 cup Quinoa ( Make sure to rinse the grains several times in water. Natural quinoa is suppose to have a bitter outer coating which is removed before being sold. To insure the coating is completely gone rinse several times)
-2 cups water
-1 large onion - cut into small cubes.
-Juice of one lemon
-2 green serano chillis ( optional) - diced small
-1 inch piece of ginger( cut into small pieces or smashed)
-1 tsp black mustard seeds
-4-5 curry leaves( can be left out if you can't find them)
-10 cashew nuts( broken inhalf)
-salt
-2tbs butter ( you can use extra virfgin olive oil )

Instructions:-

Combine the rinsed Quinoa with salted water and bring to a boil in a pot. Once boiling reduce, cover with lid and simmer until all water evaporates and you are left with fluffy quinoa grain

In another pan add butter and heat until completely melted. To the pan add the mustard seeds,cashews and curry leaves. Let the mustard seeds pop. Be careful as they will splutter.

Add ginger, chilis and diced onion.

Fry until Onion is translucent.

Add the fluffy Quinoa to this mixture and combine throughly. Add the juice of half a lime.

Voila you are done.

This Creative madness came from my inability to find a plant stand that I liked and even if I did like it, it wasn't in the price range I was willing to pay. My search for materials that could be used for this contraption took me far and wide - ikea, lowes, home depot and my little storage of junk I keep in the hope that I may use them one day. My eyes finally fell upon a clump of metal in the garden center of a major drug store. I had no clue what it was...The label read "Tomato Cage". Price: $1.99. Still clueless about why a tomato plant may need a metal cage( hey, I have never grown tomatoes..geez how am I suppose to know). I saw potential in the contraption that had three wire rings connected with three wire legs and bought it. By the way I did get the " Why do you need that for " comment from my H. With sparkle in my eyes I replied as always "I have got an idea". His reponse - Shake of the head and subtle roll of the eyes ( since I have bought many an items in hope to hack them into useful beautiful creations). On the ride back home I got it. I knew what I was going to do with it.

Ingredient:-

• Tomato Cage ( $1.99. round one ...apparently there are square ones aswell..I guess you could use those)
• Jute Roping ( $1.00. Found it in the dollar shop. You could use thin ribbons or nylon roping. Just make sure its strong since it has to hold the weight of the plant pot.
• Scissors
• Wire Cutter ( Need it to cut the top portion of the tomato cage. I did'nt have one so I bent the wire back and forth till it broke.
  

Steps to create:-

• Cut the three wires right above the top circle. At the point dotted red. I did'nt have wire cutters so I bent it back and forth at that point till it broke. Please where some worker gloves so you don't hurt yourself.


• Before Cut

• After you cut the Tomato Cage:

• You now have the frame in place. Take the jute roping and tie it to the bottom wire. Start twisting the jute around the wire and keep going until you have covered all of the wire with the jute.
  
• Once all of the wire is covered with the jute your next step is to create an intricate pattern on the bottom and middle circles as I have done below.
  

• The top circle will need a little more support to hold the plant. I weaved the top circle as shown below. If you don't want to put in the effort to weave the top circle you could also find a plate that would fit perfectly on the top circle.
  

• Voila you're done. :)