Conquering The Comfort Food

After believing that I would never get my cooking mojo back for almost 2 years, I suddenly had these 'Cravings to Cook' yesterday.

Now if you know me, I am not the one who wants to cook every single day with the same 100% involvement. One Reason: I can not cater to large spectrum of food-type requirements by the entire family, every day. 'Wish to Cook' for me, should come from within- or else it is an every day chore.

The family I am coming from is full of foodies, but is a stickler for discipline- whatever is cooked, is generally consumed without being fussy or passing on a comment on how delicious it does not taste. (Because, hey- Diabetes and BP in the family do not generally want you to have delicious food! Haha!) Now, in 2014 I got married to a man who is a foodie and also a taste-fussy guy (now, a little less thanks- to yours truly) Pleasing his taste buds is not an easy thing. (Who cares every day about it though!) The same trait is shared by my dad-in-law, however I am mostly forgiven from his fussiness. My Mom-in-law (who herself follows certain food restrictions) somehow strives with a unique mixture of attitudes- I-don't-care-attitude and I-am-stressed-what-would-they-like-attitude.

So, when yesterday I decided to cook something of my choice (thanks to the 'Crave to Cook' Phenomenon) , as my Mother-in-law is out of town- I had two major challenges:

1. My Dad-in-law should like it. It was not too tough. He is generally not fussy when I cook and a little bit of spice and chilly would please him anyway.
2. My own Husband should like it too. Not that easy, if he already likes the dish made by some one else or from some where outside.

I zeroed down to Palakh Khichadi. Mr.ISB loves Khichadis made in restaurants only, hence it was a risk but I was up for making a mean Palak Khichadi anyway!

In the evening, I shopped for required vegetables and headed home while browsing recipes online in the cab. I was excited as I had my favorite gang of vegetables to my help: Garlic, Ginger and Onions!

After 1.5 hour of relishing cooking while listening to songs - Palak Khichadi was ready to serve to my dad-in-law who immediately had smelt that something 'nice' was being cooked from the lobby.
I waited patiently for his reaction when he tried first spoonful of Khichadi.  "Wah Wah", I was relieved.

Next challenge was Mr.ISB , while serving my husband I secretly prayed the super power. He, himself looked nervous as homemade Palakh Khichadi was a disaster years ago.

He served himself some Khichadi, smelt it and tried it.

"Wow!! Seriously Nice!"

Challenge-2 conquered.

I went numb afterwards. I was busy doing virtual victory dance, while my taste buds were relishing the dish...

Resolutions 2019!

So, let me start the Hisab of the resolutions I had made in 2018 for the year and how I performed, before I start penning down my goals for 2019.

Let me just say, on the health front I won several times after a couple of failures. I could follow 4/5 resolutions and well, the one I did not perform well was the 5th one. I did not start cooking the way I would have liked to. While I do not want to argue with affecting parameters, I do not have the bandwidth to get into the cooking mode for various reasons. I would just let me go easy this year on cooking front. Atleast for a while.

On personal goals - I got 3/5. Driving and Gardening- are a miss. They are not going to be there in the resolutions I would make this year anyway. I am sure some day, I would write a post about the situation which is a root cause but hell, I performed well on personal goals too. Let me feel good about myself ;-)

While I was thinking of skipping this entire making resolutions session for this year, I realized putting concrete to-dos make me competitive and the joy of ticking off is just too enjoyable for me to miss. (*I can see my husband rolling his eyes*) So let me start with a goal sheet where there is no bifurcation of professional and personal goals.

1. Keep Activity Level High.Cleaning rooms and closets ( No giving up this year, hygiene is the anyway the important factor now for yours truly), Regular walks in the evening, 10 minute walks several times during office hours etc.

2. Co-work More. I have been very fortunate that Mr.ISB is one of the most gender neutral and understanding person when it comes to chores, even when in traditional Indian set up boys are rarely taught to share domestic responsibilities. I believe sharing house hold and financial load always create mutual respect and care towards each other in a couple and kids if any (On a different note, guys who can cook a mean dish or two are sexy, I truly believe!) - So even if I am a person who has an OCD and Mr.ISB can not even register mess- I wish we could do household chores together in a fashion that it becomes fun.

3. De-clutter. I am sure, Mr.ISB hands down win when it comes to keeping a minimalist wardrobe. This year, I am going to throw out every piece of dress (except from the pretty category called 'Sarees') which was not used after January 2018. I am not joking - we tend to cling to such clutter in the hope that one day 'that thing' would be useful and well, it does not happen. Time to donate to people who actually need them! Not only clothes- random stuff bought in impulse, cosmetics, accessories, all those things, which we thought are going to be useful before 5 years!

4. Recycle More: I do not want to listen from the next generation that I did not do anything to reduce the use of plastic, did not recycle even paper bags more and my stubbornness has created problems for them. I certainly don't want them to worry about it (Which looks like a hypothetical situation right now!) India (Read: Indian Aunties and Uncles) lags behind on this front- Unless and until you float religious flags and threats of cancer epidemics for them on social media, they hardly worry about it. Even when they are now replacing plastic Dabbas and tiffin boxes with steel products - when it comes to buying those plastic Diwali and Christmas - disposable decorations, gift articles which would be tossed out of the window just to live in the landfill forever- we Indians are all over. Who are interested in decorating actual plants and using earthen Diyas any more? So 2019, be the year where I would do my part.

5. Three Personal Projects: There is no other better way than taking up personal projects to upgrade yourself. It can be a work of art or coding, constructing something or cooking. Whatever suits. I would want to blog more often, Write more often, learn to use Procreate on Ipad, may be sew? Minimum 3 new skills I need to build or develop further in 2019.

Did you make your 2019 goals or giving it a pass?

:-)