The Referee

This past weekend, I drove to Austin to meet a few friends. This is what I wore to lunch. I moment I came out dressed, the guys told me I could be a referee in a football game. Its NFL season and I am game!:)

Shirt- TJmaxx, Jeans-Old Navy, Shoes- Target

Watch- Micheal Kors

Necklace- F21

Pony up!

You all know I got a new hair cut. And, there is a reason this new haircut makes me feel so good. I donated my hair to Pantene beautiful lengths. I have been wanting to do this for a while now, but I had layers in my hair and it took a while for me to grow them back. I am not saying it was easy. My hair one of my features that I really feel good about. I receive compliments on it once every so often. So, to cut my hair so short was a leap of blind faith. I might or might not have shed a tear when I heard the snip of the scissors and the gasp of people in the salon.
Now Imagine losing your hair and fighting a life threatening disease. That is is hard! I did my part in support of people all around the world fighting cancer and I love my new hair cut. Win-Win!:)

Have a great rest of the week!

Here's the Pantene beautiful lengths commercial.

Disclaimer: This post is not sponsored. I donated my hair and wanted to share it.

Navy

I tend to do things in phases. Moods, you can call them. I was in a very good one this weekend and I think it shows. A hair cut and some self love is all you need to get out of the funk. Now, if I could do something productive in the kitchen, that would be the icing on the cake... So to speak.
Anyway, me and a couple of friends went to the Fort worth Botanical Gardens and it was a lot of fun. All the angles in the Japanese garden, with the light and shade was breath taking and peaceful. We should visit it more often.

Photo Courtesy: Ashish Srivastav

Shoes: TJMaxx

Sunnies: Versace, Necklace: Claire's, Top: Aeropostale, Jacket: Agaci

Watch: Micheal Kors

Bag: Just Fab, Jeans: Old.

Excited!!

I am so excited! I am featured on one of my favorite blogs-- www.newdressaday.com. Marisa, the author upcycles the clothes you would never take a second look at and makes them in to one of a kind pieces. I am so honored and excited, that I burst. And Did I mention how excited I am? Check her out!

Here's the link to my creation. http://www.newdressaday.com/2013/08/25/snehas-ndad-creation/

XoXo.

By the lake

These pictures were taken during the July 4th weekend, and I did not get around to sharing them. Love the lake!! Water, peace and great company! All pictures taken by: Pranita Vakiti

Dress: Targer, Sunnies: Ray Ban

Chambray shirt: Cotton on, Sandals: Target

Necklace: F21

Summer Grilling

What I love most about summers in the bay area, are the cool evenings, conversations with good friends and home made food. We grilled paneer and chicken yesterday like most weekends with two marinades.

Marinade 1:

1/2 cup yogurt
1/2 tbsp ginger garlic paste
2 tbsp mint chutney (available in the most indian stores)
2 tbsp Green chilly paste
salt to taste.

Marinade 2:

1/2 cup yogurt
1/2 tbsp ginger garlic paste
2tbsp red chilly powder
2tbsp tandoori masala.
salt to taste

Marinate the paneer or chicken along with your favorite veggies( we used bell peppers, onions and tomatoes) for 4-5 hours. Grill it.:)

Red, White and Blue

The long weekend is over. I am exhausted from all the fun I had.:) I went to SFO with a few friends to do a little shopping on Friday. I wore a Cotton On Dress, Chambray Shirt and Target flats. Perfect for a little chill and a lot of sun.

What's cooking?: Chia seed pudding.

Well, I did not really cook anything. This is a great dessert option or a breakfast option with little to no effort at all. Chia seeds are everywhere these days. Being rich in omega-3 fatty acids, it is a great alternative to fish.(all you vegetarians out there!)  Chia seeds are very small, but they can absorb liquid and almost triple their size. The texture after soaking is very similar to tapioca. So, we can make pudding, just substitute the tapioca with Chia seeds. Here's what I made:

Ingreidents:

1/4 cup of chia seeds
1 cup of milk.
a few dry fruits of your choice (I used walnuts, raisins and almonds)
2 tbsp of sugar or honey

Procedure:

Soak the chia seeds in milk overnight in a bowl and put in the fridge. In the morning, add the dry fruits, sugar or any other sweetener you like and eat it for breakfast. You can add cereal to this, for some extra crunch, and if you want to have it for dessert, I would roast the dryfruits in  some ghee(clarified butter) and increase the sugar to taste. Tasty and healthy!:)

Outfit: Fruit Picking

So, I moved to San Jose, CA for an internship for three months. Friends, outdoors and loads of fun. We went fruit picking; originally for Cherries, but ended up picking apricots. Fresh, juicy, organic Apricots.

All pictures by Dushyant Vipradas, Ram Vishwanath and me.

Shoes: Target

Dress: limited, Watch; Micheal Kors, Sunnies: Versace.

What's cooking?: Home made strawberry ice cream ( no icecream maker!!)

I love this recipe. I found this on pinterest; while just browsing through the site for hours. It is my favorite way to postpone the things I am supposed to do. I wanted to make icecream without an ice cream maker and this is just perfect. The ingredients are few and easily accessible and the recipe can be modified and flavors incorporated based on the time of the year and your mood. The recipe I found was for vanilla icecream, but I added strawberry puree and some chunks for texture.

Ingredients:

11/4 cup whipping cream
1/4 cup sour cream
1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk
1/2 tbsp vanilla extract.
1 cup straw berries.
4-5 more strawberries for texture

Procedure: Whip the heavy cream for about 4 minutes with a hand mixer or until stiff peaks form. In another bowl mix the sour cream and condensed milk and keep aside. Puree the strawberries in a blender and add the puree to the sour cream/condensed milk mixture. Cut the remaining strawberries and fold the sour cream mixture in the whipped cream. Transfer to a container with a tight lid and freeze for around 6 hours.
Enjoy!!

The hardest part is to wait the 6 hours, but it is worth it. The texture is really good and my sister said the vanilla ice cream I made ( just add 2 tbsp of vanilla and no fruit) was exactly like a store bought one. You can add coffee, chocolate, other fruit, any thing you want. Go crazy!

What's cooking?: Zucchini squash-pecan muffins

I distinctly remember when I had my first Zucchini bread. It was at Starbucks, a few years ago, with a friend, and was looking to try something different. OMG! it was amazing. It was not overly sweet, just the right amount of spice, just the right amount of every thing. I wanted to make it on my own and I found a recipe on the world wide web. I made a few changes to it. I reduced the amount of sugar to 1 cup and added about   1/4 cup of honey and added pecans for nuts. Also, I made them in a muffin tin instead of making a bread. This reduces the baking time to about 25 minutes.Eventually, I will probably master it by changing a few proportions, but as of now, it tastes pretty darn good! Perfect for breakfast or for a snack with tea.

Here is the link to the recipe:
http://whatscookingamerica.net/Bread/zucchinibrd.htm

Also, I found out that Zucchini and Zucchini squash are two different things and the closest kroger does not sell zucchini yet. Next time, I am going to make it with zucchini and not zucchini squash.

Try it and let me know if you don't fall in love!

Outfit: High-low.

Spring is here and so are all the music festivals. I did not get to go to "Coachella" or other popular music festivals, but we have our own Jazz festival in Denton. Chocolate dipped cheesecake, a little bit of shopping and lots of music. What's not to love?

Sunnies: Versace; necklace: Borrowed from my sister

Dress, camisole, earrings and boots: JCP; watch: Micheal Kors; bracelet: Limited

Denim Jacket: Izod (gift)

What's cooking: Shrimp noodles

Well, you can see that I have been on a shrimp kick lately. I tried this recipe when I went to see my sister in New Jersey. We  just put together a few ingredients and this happened. Loved it!! So, went ahead and made it again.
Ingredients:
1. 1lb peeled, deveined and cleaned.
2. 1 yellow pepper
3. 1 red pepper
4. 3 garlic cloves
5. 3 tbsp soy sauce
6. 3 tbsp chili vinegar
7. 1/2 onion
8. 5 tbsp garlic chili sauce
9. salt to taste
10. chili flakes (depending on how hot you want it)
11. one packet chow-mein noodles.

Marinate the shrimp in the garlic chili sauce, soy sauce, grated garlic, chili vinegar for about 30 min. Mean while, cook the onion, peppers with some salt in one vessel. After the onions and peppers and cooked, add the shrimp till it is cooked for about 7 minutes. Cook the chow-mein till done and then mix the shrimp and the peppers. Add the red pepper flakes , mix and serve hot.

What's Cooking: Garlic Shrimp with Couscous

 Today's recipes is a quick one. I did not want to go through too much trouble. So here it is. I made Garlic Shrimp with Couscous.

Ingredients:
1. 1lb Shrimp; fresh or frozen, peeled and deviened.
2. few cloves of garlic. (depending on how garlicky you want it.)
3. salt and pepper to taste
4. cumin powder 1/2 tbsp
5. 2 green chillies.
6. 1/2 cup green peppers, yellow and red peppers.
7. 2 tbsp olive oil.
8. 1/2 cup couscous.
9. 1/2 onion.
10. juice of 1 lemon.

Procedure:

In a saute pan, heat the oil and cook the onions, green chillies, garlic and the peppers with the shrimp until done. Add the salt, lemon juice
and cumin powder and stir until mixed.
In another vessel, cook the couscous in hot  water or stock until cooked but al-dente.
Serve hot couscous with shrimp on top. Garnish with cilantro and finish with a fresh squeeze of lemon.

DIY: Studded shoes

This past month for me has been busy. I have cooked, travelled, met friends, did all the things that you are supposed to do, but did not blog. This month, I hope to be diligent about that. This DIY is courtesy my sister. The idea was mine, but the work she put in to it gave us a very good "after". I love this. I hope you all love it too.

What you will need:
1.Pair of cheap loafers
2. Studs.
3. Nail Cutter.

We decided that we wanted to do something very simple. So, we just studded the outline of the shoe. Not too crazy. My sister did not use any major equipment, just a nail cutter, but a lot of strength and patience.:)

Here are the pictures!

Outfit: Neutral

 I was at home the whole day and I wanted to go out, just for the sake of getting out of the house. So, me and a friend went out to coffee and I did some groceries on the way. And this is what I wore for coffee and running some errands.

I wore almost a neutral outfit with browns. A brown sweater from H&M, skinny jeans, and a leopard print scarf bought at limited. The booties; I bought at JCP. I added some gold hoops and a delicate necklace and was ready to go!

What's Cooking?: Pan fried Paneer

For people who don't know me, I cook when I am bored out of my mind. I was at a friend's place and this dish happened.

Ingredients:

1. Store bought Paneer

2. 1/4 cup Yogurt

3. 1/2 tbsp turmeric

4. 1/2 tbsp cumin powder

5. 1/2 tbsp chaat masala

6. 1 tbsp chilli powder

7. salt to taste.

Paneer!!

Cut the paneer in to cubes and marinate in yogurt mixed with the spices for about an hour. On a hot pan, put some oil and fry the paneer until golden. Serve hot with any chutney. My friend had some pre-made spicy garlic chutney and tamarind chutney on hand. It can served as a snack or as a side dish.  

What's Cooking?: Apple Pie

Don't we all have those days when you open the refrigerator over and over again, hoping to satisfy the craving that you are not even sure you are having? Well, I was having one of those days and after all those trips to the refrigerator, the saw the apples that were not eaten and a pie shell staring at me and I thought "Hmmm....Apple Pie!!" Well, I have not made apple pie before, and I am not even sure what I made is infact an apple pie. But, here's what I did.

Apples- 5
Store bought Pie crust- 1
Brown sugar- 1 cup
Butter- 1/4 stick.
Wheat flour- 1 tb sp
I peeled and cut the apples, and added them to the butter and brown sugar and cooked them down for about 15 min in a dish. I wanted to make sure that the apples would be soft and I did not think that the apples would be cooked down enough just in the oven without burning the crust. I added some wheat flour so the pie would not be too runny. I then transferred my half cooked apples in to the crust and put in the oven and baked for about 40 min at 380 C. After the apples and the crust were cooked, I took it out of the oven, let it cool for a few minutes and then served it warm.
Well, Mission accomplished and Craving satisfied.
I would add some spice next time, like cinnamon or nutmeg for some depth in flavor.