Going Raw: 5th Day!

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I survived another coffee get together today. Every Friday, a group of us ladies meet at someone’s place for coffee and treats and general chit chat. Being raw or even gluten free/sugar free means that I can not have any of the goodies my friends make. Today the host had served an apple pie, a pumpkin pie, and a pumpkin bread. None of which I could taste, but from what I heard my friends saying, they were absolutely delicious. I just consoled myself by repeating 3 more days to go every now and then someone took a bite of pie from their plate. And continued chewing on my strawberries and apple. It did help when my friends noticed that going raw/gluten free was suiting me. I do have kind friends and that gave me the nudge I needed!

It’s not all that bad either. Not since I made these bars to treat myself.

These are raw, vegan, gluten free, sugar free, butter or oil free energy bars!  And they are pretty good. Well at least the “raw me” who has been deprived of all things indulgent thinks they are pretty good! If you are into raw energy bars maybe you should try these.

They are super healthy too with chia seeds, sunflower seeds and dates instead of sugar for the sweetness.

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Garam Masala Tuesdays: Celebrating India’s Independence Day with….

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For some time now, I have been craving Jalebis– a popular Indian sweet that is made by deep-frying a flour batter in kind of a pretzel or circular spiral shape, which is then soaked in sugar syrup.

Growing up there was this ad for cooking oil that used to come on Indian television. The ad starts with this little boy who decides to leave his house because everyone shouts at him all the time. Somebody known to the family finds the small boy sitting at the station and the boy tells him that he doesn’t plan to go back home. To get the boy back home, the old guy tells him that his mom has just made hot, out of the oil Jalebis.

You should hear the excitement and the greed in the boy’s voice when he says “Jalebi”. The boy then thinks its a better idea to just go back home and there to greet him are these warm, orange colored spiral shapes, more popularly known as Jalebis. Because of the really cute boy who was the real star of the advertisement, the ad was one of the most popular advertisements of that time. But the ad also told the love Indians have for the very popular sweet Jalebi.

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Cooking with the books: KAF’s Savory Spinach Mushroom filled Whole Wheat Crepes

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(This is Post 3 in the series Cooking with the Books.)

I started the “Cooking with the books” series to reacquaint myself with the hoards of cookbooks I have on my bookshelf. And I am so happy that I did.

All the cookbooks that I have bought (new or second hand) have been bought after thoroughly going through their reviews on amazon or other sites. So I knew I have a good collection of cookbooks. But I never took too much advantage of it- always trying recipes on other people’s blogs ( I blame pinterest!) or recipes that I have come up with after eating something I like or one of my mom’s recipes. The cookbooks, as a result, always ended up eating dust.

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