Dumbells and Baby belles

Its been a hard days night and I've been craving.......
Its been a long and sometimes arduous journey across post par tum paunch punch out.....
Ive been following the route of Gym and Zumba classes et al but this week on a smart start session at my Y my octogenarian trainer suggested I amp it up and embrace weights also.

So what did I do... went and grabbed the pinkest set of Dumbells... Hi Girlfriends... Even my Baby is into it.. So much so that shes even pumping muscles yet
 

So here's the Plan .. I am going to continue my Zumba , Kickboxing and Musce Pump Classes with Jillian Michaels Shred in 30 Days

Here is the link on youtbe for Level 1 - trust me start from there as I just did level 2 and its Killer. There are 3 levels.. Once you are level 1 then you can search and go on from there

Here is Level 1

Here is Level 2 Killer

Finally Level 3 ... Once I complete 30 days of this Regime I am going to post some info on the same. Hold me on to that

On all Good things in life

I have been c on a lot of things and this blog is one of those.... In the past few weeks we've had quite a few events for the Baby's 2nd Birthday ... Exclusively catered and decorated by yours truly ...

Here is Party Number 1

Menu for the Party
1.Mixed Veg Pakodas
2.Matri or as Delhites call it Matar Kucha
3. Maa ki Daal....Ooops no Offence its actually Black Dal or as we Delhites like to say Dal Makhani
4.Matar and Pyaz Pulao
5.Pooris
6. Mixed Veg Kofta in Palak Gravy
7.Cake made at Chez Moi.......

I have been looking for a comprehensive Menu for throwing a party for 12 people and this actually is perfect .Let me break it down for you -
1.On the Day Prior .. Bake and Cool the cake
2. Make Butter cream icing - for me I wanted a little stable icing sooo
1/2 cup shortening
1/2 cup butter
3 cups icing sugar
1tsp Vanilla
1-2 tbsp Warm Milk/ Water based on your required consistency. You can thicken or thin it by adding more sugar for a stiffer icing and more water for a thinner spreadable consistency .
Beat the Shortening and sugar with an electric blender for minimum 5 minutes till it gets soft and fluffy.Gradually incorporate sugar , vanilla and liquid while beating the mixture...Once everything is well blended... Tint it on......
3.Make Marshmallow fondant for roses - It is cheaper and tastier than fondant
1 cup of mini-marshmallows and 2tbsp pf water...Microwave 20 seconds or till you see the marshmallows begin to melt
Dump in the goey mixture into a well made out of 1 pound of sugar and grease your hands with crisco ... Keep Greasing and kneading till you get a smooth pliable mixture .... Leave to rest for 3 -4 hours and use for any fondant decorations..I place it on cling film for ease of use and use icing sugar or crisco to handle the fondant


Coming up .. Koftas and other parties

Book reviews

These days the library's being kind to me and all the books I'm putting on hold are coming through ..what I'm reading now.

 1.The Gilded shroud by Elizabeth bailey - The premise is good but the book is one boring yawn n the characters do poorly developed that you have no empathy for anyone .Set amongst Victorian times ,the detailing leaves much to be desired for and the plot when unravels is convulated as explained by the female detective.poor ill give it 1 star. Dont pick .
Find it or dont find it here
 2. A simple murder by Eleanor Kuhns -First off why why did I pick it and why did I read it .Mystery is what I crave as much as Chinese food .Curse you postpartum weight and diet.This book is worse off than Chinese food ..why did I choose it .The premise death and yawn... sorry was that me or was it you.. Simple and boring book
 3.Come on Dudley by David Wojtowycz- Its such a cute book... Hey its not for me.. Its for my 2 year old kiddo...The illustrations are cute .. Storyline is simple and easy for the toddler to follow .The characters are soo cute especially Poppy pig.. what she does"oh my my ".5 stars
4.Curious George takes a vacations- What can I say about Curious George.. he's so curious.. sometimes I think Ive given birth to his Twin.. Nice stories .especially when george takes a vacation to Hawaii as it snowed in the Big City. Kiddo Loves it sooo 5 stars

More on Books, Her 2nd Birthday and Potty training later on ...In the meanwhile for your delectation only

Coconut - A natural elixir

The heat oops cold is on . The little weather birdies say that its the coldest in 25 years..And as always the companions of cold are dryness , itchiness and flakiness and if you have a 2sh toddler these seem to be a triple threat

Enter coconut oil- the savior (cue tune in the Head dam dam di dam)

Coconut oil has often found place in our ancient texts and ayurveda but these days... purity is a big question so if you want the best results go for cold pressed organic coconut oil. I am enumerating a few of the ways I use coconut in my daily life.... Your mission if you choose to accept it is to Try , test and report back... Damn , I wish Ethan Hawke was here right now..

Ok moving to the more mundane

1. Add a few cubes of camphor ( sold in packets ) in coconut oil. Keep it in the sun for 20 minutes. Apply this oil on your hair and scalp. It helps in tackling dandruff.Test a patch on your skin for any allergies
2. Deep conditioning treatment - Apply warm oil and massage into scalp. Cover with a towel soaked in hot water and wrung out to provide a steam and heat treatment. Leave in for 30 minutes .
3. Make up remover – use a cotton sponge and a dab of coconut oil 
4. Massage Oil – Warm a bit of coconut oil and massage and massage 
5. Stretch Mark Cream and Scar fader – coconut oil is great at nourishing damaged skin. It is specially beneficial for new scars that are red . It helps in fading the scars and improves the overall appearance of skin making it softer and more supple 

Here's a new product that seems to offer  a lot - Introducing .....parachute Advansed body Lotion. First off the fragrance - Cool mint and coconut milk doesn't overpower you and punch you in the face with coconut.It soothes and comforts you with a pleasant fragrance.It readily absorbs into the skin and doesn't  leave a greasy aftereffect making it perfect for early on and all day application  

First off the ad is so mushy mushy and trust me if it leads to even an inch of the magic provided then I'm in .This year they have launched a variant called deep nourish. My husband has quite a sensitive olfactory nerve to my surprise and Im sure the fragrance of this will entice him for another touch ooops smell

This post is written for the PABL Blogger Contest 2013.

The new "hair " aka new year party

And we are back with a bang literally after the new year . Welcome 2013.. 
Lots to party and plan but more about that later. I was thinking of something that happened 
over the course of the new year party where I wish I had opted for my hair removal in time for this year literally .
Picture this..Background Noise- Toddler wailing on full volume . Soft focus zoom out -Pretty lady all dressed up.Move to Zoom in - the lady struggling with her tights and realizing somethings not right . The Doorbell rings and in waltzes the Romantic Hero.. Paramaparam... Cut to Romantic orchestra and the baby wailing louder and louder. The Time's now 7 pm and the Hero aka husband insists that the Chariot awaits and he is here to spirit the angels away to a new year party . The Husband takes the Ladies...in a swoon and with a dramatic pause states.. Is stubble the new female thing.?... OOOOppppsss , I forgot to Wax and then there was no time... So that's why my tights were struggling. I wish I had a product to do the job for me asap as time was a wasting. But , Alas there was no time and I had to leave as I was thankful for the dim lights .Still I wish I had used the Gillette products for a smooth and speedy job well done.This taught me a lesson and I was prepared the next time the Hubs announced a further soiree.


This post is a part of the Gillette Satin Care contest in association with BlogAdda.com

Lets try this one more time....

Its that time again.. procrastination and sheer boredom have again forced me to turn to the wise worldly web .... After poring through countless pages on pinterest and being told by my husband... MT that I'm living in an alternate universe .. namely cake world.. Its time to wield the baton again .. or to be more precise indulge in more culinary adventures as well as some more things ... This blog was always the pursuit of happinings so.. lets start afresh....
Coming up... Freshly baked chocolate chip cookies ... From Nestle Toll house dough.. Too Nice not to be shared.. so they're on their way to my friends house...
Halloween costumes for mini-me and the Halloween Party
My attempts to engage her in some scheduled activities based on some books form the library
Update on my reading list from the Library
My Zumba experiences
Finally trying to lose weight and how I go through navigating it with some great eats of my own and my Progress through it
New things that the baby Does .....
Phew.....
See you on the other side....

cake decorating Haul

I heart Kitchen and company.... I got a coupon to shop at this outlet that,s opened a cross my one an only love TARGET.. And I said why not.. So I had a look see and got home simemamazing stuff... why a haul
I Got an amazing cake comb/ smoother
Ateco tip 81 .. just on a whim.. I don't even know what's its for
amazing cookie cutters .. amanagerie if u please.. for my babes specially a Teddy,  cat and a dog.. Flowers and butterfly and for moi the most disposablenet important tools for cake decorating. A bag of disposable bags Yay...
as and when I use this stuff I'll update.