Bangle Bracelets
Beautiful Fabric Wrapped Bangles and Metallic Bangles
My latest obsession!! I love to stack a whole bunch on one arm, mix and match different colors and add some of my old favorites with the new ones.
Wednesday, August 29, 2012
Tuesday, August 28, 2012
From Day to Night
Labor Day Weekend 2012
What style will you be sporting for this official last weekend of Summer?
With the warm days but cooler evenings, a light cardigan and sheer scarf are helpful accessories to keep handy.
5 Sure Signs That I'm Getting Older
5 Sure Signs That I'm Getting Older (Possibly wiser too?!!)
1. Once a wannabe dance extraordinaire, I zoned out during Zumba class last week (it was a 20 second day dream before I realized I wasn't salsa'ing), but I actually enjoyed the smoother, slower movements of yoga and pilates. This is rather strange considering I once walked out of a pilates class a couple of years ago because I found it boring.
I have no clue what this sudden mind shift is all about, anyone care to explain?! By the way, not a good idea to forget to move in Zumba or else you may get cha cha cha'd by the person next to you, not to mention the glares...ooops!2. I dreamt I was 20 years old, and was being pursued by a hot guy. When he proposed I didn't willingly oblige and melt in his arms, not only did I decline the offer, but proceeded to lecture him on the importance of completing college, finding a stable job, saving money and then consider these romantic frivolries. WHHAATT!!?!!
3. I would boast that I could sleep anywhere, anytime, just lend me a comfortable pillow. Thanks to the grueling training by my two kids, if I am woken up in the middle of the night, there is absolutely no way I am able to fall asleep. it takes at least 3 hours to fall back into a restful slumber, sometimes it's not even worth the effort so I am up at all odd hours of the morning these days.
4. Twitter? Flickr? Tumblr? I can't keep up, technology is moving way too fast for me to keep up to date. I give up, i'm turning into my parents. The way I see it is, as long as the iphone is cool, so am I, heaven forbid the day some other company takes over the universe and my iphone becomes a thing of the past, so too shall my coolness quotient take a beating.
(BTW, you can like me on Facebook here:
5. Glee, the most amazing show on the planet, i've been hooked since the pilot almost 4 years ago. Like I mentioned earlier, my secret goal was to be a performer and this show provided a way to live vicariously through the characters and witness their amazing talent. Now, I watch the show through a slightly different lens. I watch it as a kind of case study dealing with the realities of being a teenager in America. It's a way to educate myself on how to deal with my kids when they turn to me (hopefully) with their teenage issues. Yes, I know, a little bit over prepared, just slightly, but what can I do, i'm a mom now!!Monday, August 27, 2012
Bindi's Bazaar is Back in Town
I'm Back!
A Summary of What I've Been Up To plus 3 Huge Changes.
It's been a long while since I wrote my last blog entry, a lot of reshuffling and reorganizing has been taking place, both with the shop and at home. It sort of started out with planning my daughter's first birthday, that took on the scale of nothing less than a wedding reception. I tend to take on several projects all at the same time without realizing how much effort it takes to get through them all, all the while juggling two kids. Well, baby number 2 had a great party, we were so happy to have all our close friends and family from all over town and Bay Area celebrate with us. The day went well including the cupcakes surviving the 90 degree weather. I had so much help from my neighbors, friends and loved ones that in the end we managed to pull the butterfly/princess theme all together!
After the birthday weekend I felt as though I had been hit by a bus, I don't recall ever feeling so tired in my life. It took 2 weeks and a strong reflexology foot massage to get over the fatigue.
During that 2 week recovery period, I had no energy left to do anything other than think, a lot! I began to think about the direction in which I wanted to take this blog and the store. I realised that it was time to make a few basic changes, it's just that those basic changes took over 2 months to set straight and there is still a whole lot more to be done!
So here are the major changes:
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1. Name change: I'm no longer using KurtiTown as my business name. For one if you're not Indian, it's way too hard to pronounce correctly. Second of all, the name kind of limits my scope, I don't want people to think that all I house are tunics. Where did the name Bindi's Bazaar come from? That was courtesy of the fine ladies of Corporate Rejects, but why did I choose that one out of a whole myriad of possibilities? Well I will save that for another blog entry.
2. New website: I now have my own website which gives me the flexibility to design my little portal on the internet, I like being able to create a layout that I choose, and to be able to add multiple pages. This is where I have to admit most of my time in the last couple of months has been spent. Check it out at www.bindisbazaar.com
I have learnt so much over the last 6 months through my children and business, met some awesome people, and strengthened old friendships, which have helped nudge me onto the correct path. I am so excited about the future and its possibilities and am looking forward to your company!
Loaded Veggies & Cream of Wheat Upma
This winter season has been pretty rough, since the week before Christmas we've gone through 3 ear infections and 2 colds, so when I heard the first dreaded cough last night, I knew I had to go all out to drive this infection away. I decided to make upma, which is a hot vegetable pudding usually made from semolina but a good friend once suggested I use cream of wheat instead as it has lots of good stuff like iron, calcium and its not too bad in protein content either.
Upma is very simple to make, you can use almost any vegetable you already have in your refrigerator, and with ingredients like ginger, tomatoes and turmeric its a great boost to the immune system.
Ingredients to make 4 hearty servings:
Ingredients for tempering/seasoning:
1. 1/2 tsp black mustard seeds
2. 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
3. 1/2 tsp asafoetida powder (also called "hing". Don't get turned off by its odd smell, I promise it smells a lot more pleasing after it hits the heat! Hing is great for digestion and is said to help fight the flu)
4. curry leaves (not necessary but if they are lying around in your fridge then you may as well use them as they provide a nice aroma to the dish)
5. 3 tbsp of ghee or cooking oil
(If you don't have any/some of the seasoning ingredients it's ok, you can still carry on with the recipe.)
Method:
6. Add the tomatoes, cover the pot and let them cook until they are nice and soft
7. Add the remaining diced vegetables and enough water (2 cups) required to prepare the cream of wheat.
8. Mix in the turmeric and salt, cover the pot and let it cook on a medium/low flame until all the vegetables cook and the flavors come together (which is about 10 minutes).
9. Bring the pot to a boil, now is a good time to check the salt content and to adjust the taste if needed.
10. Mix in the cream of wheat as per the instructions on the box, or if you're like me, just keep adding the cream of wheat until you get the consistency you desire.
And there you have it, your loaded cream of wheat, soothing comfort food and the veggies are soft enough that even the fussiest of toddlers wont realise what they're putting in their mouths!
** Here is a list of vegetables that can be used in upma, its really up to you what you use and what is available: corn, peas, carrots, zucchini, bell pepper, broccoli, asparagus, spinach, squash, potato.
To make this a more adult flavor, you can add green chilli's and red chilli powder to the recipe at the time when you add in the water to the veggies.
Enjoy!
Upma is very simple to make, you can use almost any vegetable you already have in your refrigerator, and with ingredients like ginger, tomatoes and turmeric its a great boost to the immune system.
Ingredients to make 4 hearty servings:
- 1 small onion, diced
- 1 tomato, diced
- 1 tbsp freshly shredded ginger
- 1/2 cup of each: corn, peas, carrots, zucchini, bell pepper ** (all larger veggies should be diced)
- 1 tbsp turmeric
- 1/2 tbsp salt
- Cream of wheat
Ingredients for tempering/seasoning:
1. 1/2 tsp black mustard seeds
2. 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
3. 1/2 tsp asafoetida powder (also called "hing". Don't get turned off by its odd smell, I promise it smells a lot more pleasing after it hits the heat! Hing is great for digestion and is said to help fight the flu)
4. curry leaves (not necessary but if they are lying around in your fridge then you may as well use them as they provide a nice aroma to the dish)
5. 3 tbsp of ghee or cooking oil
(If you don't have any/some of the seasoning ingredients it's ok, you can still carry on with the recipe.)
Method:
- Heat the ghee/oil in a pot on a high flame
- Add the mustard seeds and let them sit until you hear the first "pop"
- Add the cumin seeds and drop the flame to medium
- Add the asafoetida and mix well
- Mix in the onions, curry leaves and ginger and let the onions cook until they are golden brown. Make sure you have enough ghee/oil to coat the onions, adding a little more if necessary.
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| Seasoned onions, ginger and curry leaves |
6. Add the tomatoes, cover the pot and let them cook until they are nice and soft
7. Add the remaining diced vegetables and enough water (2 cups) required to prepare the cream of wheat.
8. Mix in the turmeric and salt, cover the pot and let it cook on a medium/low flame until all the vegetables cook and the flavors come together (which is about 10 minutes).
9. Bring the pot to a boil, now is a good time to check the salt content and to adjust the taste if needed.
10. Mix in the cream of wheat as per the instructions on the box, or if you're like me, just keep adding the cream of wheat until you get the consistency you desire.
And there you have it, your loaded cream of wheat, soothing comfort food and the veggies are soft enough that even the fussiest of toddlers wont realise what they're putting in their mouths!
** Here is a list of vegetables that can be used in upma, its really up to you what you use and what is available: corn, peas, carrots, zucchini, bell pepper, broccoli, asparagus, spinach, squash, potato.
To make this a more adult flavor, you can add green chilli's and red chilli powder to the recipe at the time when you add in the water to the veggies.
Enjoy!
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