Food Revolution Ambassador Monthly Challenge: June 2015

If you are new here: At the beginning of each month the challenges are announced. These challenges are for inspiring the entire Food Revolution team and to make deeper connections with everyone (fellow food ambassadors, friends and family, anyone who wants to be a part of this challenge too), share our stories , whether we failed or conquered and more. The idea is to complete as many challenges as one can (Read about the earlier ones here).

For June:

Challenge 1. Family Food Launch: This month, Jamie launched his new Family Food Channel on Youtube. It's all about inspiration and guidance for feeding our families, with tried-and-tested nutritious recipes and loads of tips to make mealtimes that little bit easier. (Have you subscribed to the channel,  if not do it now here and visit the website to try the recipes.

This month was a little crazy for I was trying to complete all the work that I couldn't attend to since I was occupied with the Food Revolution Day events all May. I also wanted to wrap up majority of my work before the summer vacations began which meant I had only a few minutes each day to get healthy lunches and dinners on the table. Quick,  nutritious and tasty meals. Here are some we tried.

 Jool's Crunchy Fish

 Chargrilled Chicken Kebabs

Hit 'n'' run traybaked chicken

Challenge 2. June 1-5 was ‪#‎HealthyEatingWeek‬, an initiative of the British Nutrition Foundation, and it was all about getting kids to eat and learn about healthy food especially breakfasts. Find super healthy and quick breakfast recipes here.

I don't like to spend more than ten minutes to make breakfast each morning. We are all in a rush. The little one leaves first, followed by DH and finally me. Granola, Oats, Eggs, smoothies, Veggie Semolina and savoury pancakes are some of our favourites. Simple. Healthy, Real and Quick. We tried our hand at making Jool's Gorgeous Granola.

Challenge 3. Sharing what we thought about Food Revolution Day 2015 and looking back at it.

It is so important to be constantly thinking about how you did and how you can make things better the next time around. The entire ambassador community and the team at London gave their very best this May. Post the big day we were all happy to share what we thought went right and how we could work together to make it even better next year.

Want to join me for the July challenges? Look out for them here.

Images: If you like any of the pictures on the blog and would like to use those please write to me. I put in hours of work behind each post and would love to share it with you but it would hurt me if  use those without my permission.Just ask! 

Food Revolution Ambassador Monthly Challenge: February 2015

Good Bye February. You promised to be short and sweet and you were. Crazy too. But I am not complaining. I like this kind of a crazy. Infact crazy is my new normal. Before I say hi to March tomorrow morning a look back at the February monthly challenges.

If you are new here: At the beginning of each month the challenges are announced. These challenges are for inspiring the entire Food Revolution team and to make deeper connections with everyone (fellow food ambassadors, friends and family, anyone who wants to be a part of this challenge too), share our stories , whether we failed or conquered and more. The idea is to complete as many challenges as one can (Read about the October , November , December and January challenges).

For February:

Challenge 1: Cook for loved ones this Valentine’s day. Do you have a special recipe you cook for your loved ones? Whether it’s your kids, partner or a close friend, we want to see what dishes you make to win the hearts of your nearest and dearest. Find some sweet inspiration here. 

One doesn't really need a reason or a day to celebrate love. It needs to celebrated, acknowledged and respected each day of the year. But when the year gives you the 14th of February to tell those special people in your life that you love them , you should. For very often we love them but we don't tell them and sometimes it gets too late. Someone very wise (Read:Pooh) when asked, How do you spell LOVE? answered "You don't spell it, you FEEL it", he said. 

What is your LOVE LANGUAGE? Mine undoubtedly is FOOD. Nothing says I LOVE YOU louder than a rose kulfi and that is what I made for my loved ones this Valentines and hey rose does represent love.

Challenge 2: Embrace wonky veg! Jamie has been on a mission to cut food waste and get wonky veg back into our shopping basket. This month, we want you to embrace all leftover, wonky veg out there and try to reduce your food waste. Find out more here. 

A weird looking squash, a deformed potato, crooked carrots...you get the idea. Did you know that as much 20-40% of produce gets wasted because it doesn't look perfect. Hard to believe but true. Such a huge waste of fresh produce just because they don't look the way we have been used to seeing them in the supermarkets. Round, glossy, clean, perfect lines. 

But who is to decide what is perfect? As far as I remember WE WERE BORN TO BE REAL AND NOT PERFECT. A quote that holds true for both people and produce. 

I came across this wonky sweet potato at the local organic store. Sad and forgotten because no one was picking it up. I decided to give it a home and it was unlike most sweet potatoes I had worked with before. A gorgeous purple from the outside with "curves" and black and sticky from inside. After I baked it with some olive oil, rosemary and some grated cheese it tasted like a cross between a sweet potato and banana chips. A texture we loved.

So let the new mantra be I AM NOT WEIRD I AM LIMITED ADDITION. Lets pledge to pick up that "imperfect" vegetable/ fruit and give it a "perfect" recipe ; one that promises to make our taste buds sing.  

Challenge 3: Start planning your FRD! If you haven’t already, now is the time to start thinking about what you’ll get up to on Food Rev day. Sign up for the day and get your friends and followers to do the same at www.foodrevolutionday.com. Maybe you’re hosting a potluck dinner with your friends? Or perhaps you’re going into your local school to get cooking with kids. Whatever you’re planning, we want to know how you’ll be getting involved on the day! 

With the big day just a little more than two months away I am really excited. The month was spent thinking, planning, making contacts with people who "care" about what goes into the bodies of our little ones and want to give children the life skill called cooking.

So since there are so many wonderful people and opportunities out there instead of a Food Revolution Day it is going to be a Food Revolution Week. We are planning to celebrate food education through the entire week and the plans are just about taking shape. 

We already have a school on board who have shown great enthusiasm for bringing about a Food Revolution amongst their little ones (They even have a cooking club!).  We are going to sit down March end and make this happen together. More children will join us in making the Squash it sandwich at Galeries Lafayette’s Gourmet wing. The Culinary Director there strongly believes in cooking from scratch and is as excited as us about the Food Revolution Day. Also on the big day will be an event for Jamie’s Juniors; where else but at Jamie’s Italian!  The team at Jamie’s and I are looking forward to be working on it together.

Hopefully before the the end of the next month you will hear about more collaborations and I will have more specifics to share. 

To food revolution and to putting our heads and hearts into this, together. 

Also if you haven't signed up till now, do it here. There is something that I have planned for all you lovely readers for the big day as well and I promise you it will be a lot of fun. Invite your friends and family to sign up as well :)

EXTRA CHALLENGE We want to follow you! If you have a Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or Pinterest account that we don’t know about, let us know so we can see all your amazing work and share it with others! 

Find me here : 

   

Get ready to welcome the third month of the year. Happy March everyone!

Images: If you like any of the pictures on the blog and would like to use those please write to me. I put in hours of work behind each post and would love to share it with you but it would hurt me if  use those without my permission.Just ask! 

Food Revolution Ambassador Monthly Challenge: January 2015

We are already in the second month of the year which means it is time to look back at the January monthly challenges.

If you are new here: At the beginning of each month the challenges are announced. These challenges are for inspiring the entire Food Revolution team and to make deeper connections with everyone (fellow food ambassadors, friends and family, anyone who wants to be a part of this challenge too), share our stories , whether we failed or conquered and more. The idea is to complete as many challenges as one can (Read about the October , November and December challenges).

For January: 

Challenge 1: Download YOU-app. Jamie's been working on a new and exciting app called YOU-app. It focuses on four areas – food, mind, move, love – and is all about completing one micro action each day to help you live a happier, healthier life.

I can't remember who said it but a fellow Food Ambassador said "it is like instagram with an intent" and I couldn't agree more. I have to admit ever since this app got launched the first thing I do each morning is to check the micro action of the day. 

Let me take you through the app. The app encourages you to make small changes in your life each day. It could be matter of your heart, mind or body. It is about enjoying the little things we do everyday for often little things are the ones that make the biggest differences in our lives. 

It is about taking notice of our beautiful surroundings that we often ignore because life takes over. It is about making a shift to real food because you need to but without making it difficult and yet indulging in whatever you heart fancies when you want to. It is about making memories and thanking the people who make your life complete and it is about a fitter, healthier, happier and a more positive YOU. 

This app has me giddy with excitement and if you have been following me on instagram where I share my YOUapp posts as well you will see how much fun I have been having. I'd love you guys to check it out and connect with me and the lovely community there. I am orangekitchens there as well.

Read all about YOUapp and join here.

Challenge 2: 10 meals to kick-start a healthier 2015. This year we're helping you to kick-start a healthier new year with 10 delicious recipes from Jamie and his friends, plus loads of other helpful tips, ideas and inspiration. 

You don't need a New Year to kick start healthy eating but a New Year gives you a fresh plate to fill and I absolutely love new beginnings for they give us a chance to look back on how the last year was, an opportunity to start afresh, several new possibilities to grow, to learn and to experiment.  

So this year fill up your plate with foods you have never tried, cuisines you have never experienced, ingredients that have never said hello to your kitchen. Keep it healthy and keep it real. 

This Hit n run traybaked chicken we had earlier this month is a family favourite now. It took like all of five minutes to assemble and the oven did the rest of the work. It was bursting with the goodness and flavour of the bell peppers and tomatoes. We had it with some greens and some crusty bread to soak up all the ambre juice.

Get the recipe here and get many more such recipes here. 

I love it when someone had already done the menu planning and given me the list of ingredients I need to buy too. 

Challenge 3: Share the Food Revolution Day! It's 2015, which means time to start thinking about this year’s Food Revolution Day on 15 May.  

Its about the little changes and the big ones. And the big one (which I earlier shared with you lovely readers on the Orange Kitchens FB page)has been announced. Yay! Food Revolution Day is going to be on the 15th of May this year. 

"Food Revolution Day is a global day of action for people to make a stand for good food and essential cooking skills. It's a chance for people to come together within their homes, schools, workplaces and communities to cook and share their kitchen skills, food knowledge and resources. Food Revolution Day aims to raise awareness about the importance of good food and better food education for everyone by focusing on three simple actions – cook it, share it, live it".

I have put on my thinking cap, meeting and connecting with some lovely people already to plan for the big day and I'd love you all to spread the word around. Lets get our little ones into the kitchen and make some noise. 

But I am going to need your help.

All you awesome parents, hardworking teachers, the enterprising teams running local businesses and restaurants, wonderful conscientious people who are behind the farmers’ markets, the ever giving community groups and organizations, the voice of Dubai; local newspapers, radio stations and magazines who would like to be a part of this or have ideas on what I can do for our kids at Dubai or are in position to help me spread the word around please get in touch with me.

Let us make a difference in lives of our kids and bring about a Food Revolution at Dubai.

Images: If you like any of the pictures on the blog and would like to use those please write to me. I put in hours of work behind each post and would love to share it with you but it would hurt me if  use those without my permission.Just ask! 

Food Revolution Ambassador Monthly Challenge: December 2014

Time for my favourite post of the month where I get to share the monthly challenges that we as Food Revolution Ambassadors look forward to doing each month.

If you are new here: At the beginning of each month the challenges are announced. These challenges are for inspiring the entire team and to make deeper connections with everyone (fellow food ambassadors, friends and family, anyone who wants to be a part of this challenge too), share our stories , whether we failed or conquered and more. The idea is to complete as many challenges as one can (Read about the October and November challenges).

For December:

Challenge One: Join #JamiesChristmas. Join Jamie and our global community in getting into the festive season, whether you celebrate Christmas or not, we can all celebrate the food revolution today! Look out for tips from Jamie and the team and some fun and games to join throughout the month!

Christmas is always a special time of the year. I studied in a convent so though we didn't celebrate Christmas at home initially, as I grew older and learnt more about Christmas I became very very fond of everything connected to Christmas and mum dad became part of this new tradition at home. 



When my little chefling came along she joined us in the festivities. Each year we work on an advent calendar for her, she makes Christmas cards, we make edible gifts, we sing carols, we play Christmas games, write a letter to Santa and she invites her friends over for Christmas festivities. 

This year we did the same and just like the twinkling fairy lights on the tree little eyes sparkled, just like the glowing baubles their faces lighted up and we celebrated Christmas.

I hope everyone had a beautiful Christmas yesterday.

Challenge Two: Share your greatest Food Revolution moment from 2014. Whether conquering a certain recipe, getting your picky eaters to try new foods, or joining FRD 2014 we want to know your best food revolutionary moments from this year - send us your quotes, images, achievements and favourite photos. 

Early this month, I had the opportunity of putting sixteen little children, red juicy apples, a couple of really really funny songs and a story in a room. In return I got giggles, grins, sparkling eyes that went wide, crunching and munching,millions of questions, amusing tales and a lot of fun.

This and more was exactly what I took back home with me from the Apple Workshop that I put together for the little ones as part of my Food Revolution Diaries (The workshop was for the children between the ages of 3-7 and was free for everyone who wanted to attend).

This for me would be my Food Revolution moment of the year. I joined the wonderful and very encouraging team of Food Ambassadors very recently (third month here so technically not the moment of the year type of a moment but hey it is the drop that counts!) and I am so happy that we enjoyed our apple story and biting into apples. Post the workshop even if a handful of kids out of the group of sixteen who came that day end up including apples in their diet and in turn convince their friends to try a bite from theirs I think we may have a little proud moment here.

2015 is almost here and it is going to be my goal to connect with more and more children this year through cooking, telling stories, getting parents and kids to be in the kitchen together, writing and more.

Then there is the big day on the 15^th of May that I can’t wait for and together we will bring about a Food Revolution at Dubai.

To the little changes. To the big ones. To healthy eating. To real food. To Food Revolution.

Read the complete post here

Challenge Three: Festive cooking. Share your favourite festive recipes from your home country, what food gets your friends and family together to share the love and enjoy time together?

I come from India where every festival, celebration, special occasion like so many other cultures translates into making and eating some Meetha (sweets). We take our "meetha" so seriously that "kuch meetha ho jaye" is like a national anthem (Let us have some sweets). 

India is a pretty large country where food habits change every few kilometers but what is interesting is that across the country we all have our very own rice pudding and that is what I'd like to share with all the other ambassadors who come from so many different countries for the third challenge. 

Our rice and milk meetha is something we all like to make to mark our special days.  Kheer,Khiri,Khir, Payasam, Payasa, Payesh, Payoxh, Phirni,Gil e Firdaus and more. Each state has its own variant. 

It is made by boiling rice with milk and sugar (sometimes jaggery); it is flavoured with cardamom, raisins, saffron, cashew nuts, pistachios or almonds. Ghee (clarified butter) / cream are added at times to up its richness quotient. 

With 2014 coming to an end and a promising 2015 almost here, I'd like to share this "meetha"with all you lovely ambassadors and my awesome readers. 

Phirni (makes 4-6 servings)

Ingredients

• a few saffron  strands
• 1 litre milk (full cream)
• 4 tbsp long grained (basmati) rice
• 6 tbsp sugar

To finish

• a few chopped almonds
• A few saffron strands

Instructions

1. To the saffron strands add 1 tbsp of warm milk and keep aside.
2. Soak the rice in water for about 1 hour.
3. Drain the rice and grind it in a mixer to a coarse powder.
4. Add ½ cup of cold milk and mix to make a paste. Keep aside.
5. Boil the rest of the milk and stir in the rice paste.
6. Cook for about 20 minutes on a low flame, stirring continuously.
7. Add the sugar and saffron milk and simmer for another few minutes.
8. Pour into individual containers and let it come to room temperature. Refrigerate. 
9. Serve chilled garnished with almonds and saffron strands.

p.s I added some cardamom pods to the milk as well.

Wish you all a sweet, sparkly and a shiny New Year. May 2015 be filled with magic, memories and madness. 

See you in 2015.

Images: If you like any of the pictures on the blog and would like to use those please write to me. I put in hours of work behind each post and would love to share it with you but it would hurt me if  use those without my permission.Just ask! 

Food Revolution Ambassador Monthly Challenge: November 2014

Hello lovely people. It is that time of the month when I get to share the monthly challenges that we as Food Revolution Ambassadors aspire to do. 

October Challenges. Check. 
November Challenges. Check. 
Double whoa.

(I had so much fun attempting the October challenges, read my experiences here and jump right here to read how my tryst with making pasta from scratch made the entire world conspire in helping me mastering fresh pasta) 

If you are new here: At the beginning of each month the challenges are announced. These challenges are for inspiring the entire team and to make deeper connections with everyone (fellow food ambassadors, friends and family, anyone who wants to be a part of this challenge too), share our stories , whether we failed or conquered and more. The idea is to complete as many challenges as one can.

Challenge One: Slow Cooking! We live in a fast food world, but this month we’re asking you to slow things down, try out and share your slow cooked food recipes with us. 

I agree we are all pressed for time. There are household responsibilities that we can't look away from, children who we want to do everything for, work where we need to show up each morning, interests and passions that I think everyone in life needs to develop for sanity and give meaning to our lives and more. In between all this we need to feed our tummies. Feeding our souls isn't enough. So we begin to look for shortcuts in the kitchen and rightly so. Frozen peas, ready to roll out pastry, tomato purees all become our friends. They help us put a meal on table in under thirty minutes.

But sometimes it is nice to slow down things. Endlessly stirring that pot of risotto with music in the background is my favourite thing to do when the mind needs some calm. Have you tried it? Getting the oven ready to dry tomatoes that will be used across meals is another. The oven does the work here, slowly; while we get to enjoy the results.

The pleasant weather here at Dubai called for a slow cooked lamb and date tagine. I cooked it in pomegranate juice with mejdool dates for company. It was slowcooked and after three hours of being on low heat it was exactly what I had imagined; rich, sweet and sour. Tender too. We had it with spiced couscous sprinkled with generous quantities of dried barberries and an onion and pomegranate relish.

Challenge Two: N is for November, and nectarines, and nutmeg… we want to see your recipes for dishes beginning with the letter N or using ingredients with the letter N. 

A for Apple, B for Ball, C for Cat and D for Dog. This challenge for it took me back to my kindergarten class. Wasn't singing the alphabet a lot of fun? Only this time it was double the fun for it we were singing food. Sara and I often play this game at home and in the past I have had the kids loving this exercise in some of my food workshops when asked to name fruits and vegetables for each alphabet. So I decided to play this challenge with Sara.  N was a tough one for. She stopped at Nectarine. That is when I gave her a hint. Who do you like watching on TV, I asked. She rattled all the names that came to her mind. Siba, George and Gary, Ina, Jamie. Aannd I asked? N for! Nigella mamma. Nigella she screamed. I showed her the ingredient that matched the name. She was quite amused. How can she share her name with some seeds? :) May be one day we will come across seeds that are called Sara I laughed.

N is for Nigella Seeds: With Christmas around the corner I tested a batch of tomato and raisin chutney tempered with "Nigella Seeds". I also added ginger and red chilli powder for that little kick. I love giving edible gifts to all our loved ones on festivals and I am hoping this little jar of red garnet chutney dotted with black nigella seeds will make everyone around me happy. Trust me no store bought gift can ever match up to handmade love.

Challenge Three: Share your holiday traditions. Holiday season is almost upon and we want to know what your holiday traditions are and what food makes it to the table for your family gatherings.

My favourite challenge for the month. Celebrations, company and the customs. There is something so magical about the festival season. Be it Diwali, Holi, Thanksgiving or Christmas...I heart them all. Observing family traditions some that my parents made and we love to observe and some that we are creating for my little chefling each year.

Each festival comes with its own customs and rituals but certain tradition remains constant; making edible presents for loved ones, filling up our home with candles & flowers, setting up the "welcome table", making sure there is abundant home cooked food for everyone and that essential element; the spirit of sharing that for me translates into going overboard when it comes to dips, mezze, platters and fondues. That and more.

But what I love most about the festivities is seeing the happiness shining on my little girl's face, yet somehow reliving my own childhood memories.

Thank you lovely readers. For being there and motivating me to show up here; each time I a little voice in my head whispers hey is any one even reading this? For the kindest emails and messages you send me. For making Orange Kitchens a part of your lives. 

Happy Thanksgiving everyone. 

Eat real. Stay healthy.

Images: If you like any of the pictures on the blog and would like to use those please write to me. I put in hours of work behind each post and would love to share it with you but it would hurt me if  use those without my permission.Just ask! 

Food Revolution Ambassador Monthly Challenge: October 2014

A lot of you may be aware that a couple of weeks back I became part of the Food RevolutionAmbassador team and I can’t be happier. I am looking forward to working towards food education for children and already making my little game plan to achieve the same.

One of the many things that we as Food Ambassadors aspire to do are the monthly challenges. At the beginning of each month the challenges are announced. These challenges are for inspiring the entire team and to make deeper connections with everyone (fellow food ambassadors, friends and family, anyone who wants to be a part of this challenge too), share our stories , whether we failed or conquered and more. The idea is to complete as many challenges as one can.

This was my first time and YAY I completed all three. Each of the three challenges come with a specific reason those that make you stop and think. Let me explain.

Challenge One: Using leftovers: Challenge submitted by Ambassador Alex in Cheltenham, UK. Make something awesome from what you have left in your fridge and/or cupboards without heading to the shops.

As a child I was always taught that wasting food was a complete no. Sure there will be leftovers but there is no reason why they can’t be turned into bestovers. This is one of the many things I learnt from my parents and would like to pass the same to my little chefling. Plus, clearing up the fridge before getting in fresh produce feels like therapy, right? Show off hands if you agree. Infact when it came to my mum, there was a designated day of the week (which would always be before she did her weekly groceries) when she would fill up this yellow round tupperware box with numerous compartments she had (still has!) with all the leftovers and announce dinner was ready. It is a grand buffet she would add. 

Do you turn your leftovers into bestovers or serve up a buffet for your family or freeze it for a later date? I’d love to hear how you minimize food wastage at your homes.

For the leftover challenge, I put together this lettuce chicken wrap. With Diwali just two days away I was on a mission to finish all the leftovers to make space for Mithai (Indian Sweets) in our refrigerator. The Lettuce Chicken Wrap made from leftover roast chicken from the last night’s dinner, two halves of bell peppers threatening to go bad, a lonely onion caramelized, pomegranate seeds and pinenuts for some crunch and a yoghurt dip. I am now addicted to lettuce wraps of any kind.

Challenge Two: Scare yourself this Halloween. With Halloween just around the corner, why not try out a recipe that has always scared you, whether it is because you are not sure your family will like it, or it uses techniques that you have never tried before. Halloween doesn’t just have to be about scary ghouls and junk food; let us know what real food recipes you’ll be conquering for the first time!

I loved this take on Halloween. Do one thing that scares you every day they say. What a beautiful thought to make Halloween more meaningful! The thing is I cook and bake a lot and more often than not people assume that when you write food stories and put out all of your cooking out on the blog you must be able to make everything. Right? Wrong. We all have our fears when it comes to the kitchen and mine is making pasta from scratch. Three years back (honestly, three years back) I got home a pasta maker and till date it has been in one little corner of my cupboard packed. When the year began I set out some food resolutions for myself and one of them was to finally open that box and use that pasta maker. This challenge made me conquer my fear and meet my resolution as well.

I decided to make this pumpkin goat cheese pasta. It is Halloween after all :) So much more better than the candy and sugar and salt loaded Halloween goodies out there. The scariest thing about Halloween for me is this sugar overload and ever since we started being part of Halloween last year I have made little attempts to give the kids a chance to observe it with real food. Sweet mandarins last year, boiled eggs with scary faces this year. This pasta too.

Challenge Three: Corn chowder. Make our recipe of the month, the hearty corn chowder. We have been talking about comfort food recently with the launch of Jamie’s new book and we think that this corn chowder is up there with some of the best comfort foods! Try it at home, teach it to friends,take it to work to share with colleagues… however you make it and whatever variations you use due to culture, season or taste preference – let us know by sharing your photos and recipes.

Like so many of you, I too am huge fan of Jamie’s approach to real food and how if we decide to eat healthy cooking up a complete meal is a matter of few minutes. We often eat unhealthy food in the garb of comforting our hearts and souls. Tired after long hours at work lets order in a cheesy thing,  fought with a friend time for a tub of icecream, nursing a cold the ghee laden paranatha is a must and more. While there is nothing wrong in eating any of the above but making it a bit healthier is always a big YES in my dictionary.

This chowder was really simple to put together and just what I needed after a stream of guests at home and nonstop cooking & hosting post Diwali. I wanted something effortless, filling and comforting, something that would literally come together on its own and I could just put my feet up on the coffee table and watch reruns of MasterChef on TV all alone. A one pot meal that used milk and not cream that a corn chowder usually would have. That made me happier. I added some bacon for some crunch and well because bacon either you love bacon or you are wrong :)

Till we meet again. Eat real. Stay healthy.

Images: If you like any of the pictures on the blog and would like to use those please write to me. I put in hours of work behind each post and would love to share it with you but it would hurt me if  use those without my permission.Just ask!