Kheemo

Recipe Source : My Dad

1 lb lamb/ beef mince
1 inch stick cinnamon
4 cloves
2 green cardamoms
1 black cardamom
4 - 5 whole peppercorns

1 big onion, chopped
4 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1 inch piece ginger, finely chopped
1 big tomato, finely chopped
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1 tbsp vinegar
salt, to taste
1/4 cup finely chopped corainder leaves
chopped green chillies, as per the heat desired

1/4th cup cooked or frozen green peas

Heat oil in a wok. Add the green chillies & fry till crisp. Next, add the whole spices, onion, garlic & ginger & fry till onions turn transparent. Add turmeric powder & mix well for 30 secs. Add the mince & fry till brown. Add tomatoes & salt & fry well on medium heat, stirring continously & breaking any lumps that you see. When the meat is about 75% done, add green peas & vinegar & fry well till all water is evaporated & meat is completely cooked. Add corainder leaves & saute for a few seconds.

Serve hot with rice/ chapati.

Swagbucks !!!

If you have'nt signed up for Swagbucks yet, you are definitely missing a lot of the good stuff. Swagbucks has become my favourite search tool these days. I joined Swagbucks last month & have already earned two $5 amazon gift cards & am already nearing my third gift card now.

So what is this swagbucks? : It is basically a search engine that pays you to search the web. The search results on swagbucks are similar to google & Ask. All you have to do is install their toolbar & do your regular search through it. Everytime you conduct a search through Swagbucks, you have the opportunity to win random swagbucks in the amount of $1, $2,$3 or $5 or even $10. I have earned a $10 for nearly 2 to 3 searches. You can then redeem your swagbucks for a gift card of your choice. To earn a $5 Amazon.com gift card, all you need is 45 swagbucks, but there are more gift cards or gifts to choose from.

Note : Not all searches are a win, but there are very high chances of wining atleast 1 swagbuck a day.

Click HERE to join Swagbucks & they will give you 3 Swagbucks to start with.

I Won !!!!!

Yes people, I did !!!

A few weeks back Marcy from Stretching A Buck, had hosted a giveaway - An autographed copy of the cookbook Robin to the Rescue, by Robin Miller. Considering the fact, that i never win or have rarely ever won, I anways did leave a comment on her post hoping for that tiny ray of light to shine on my luck. To my surprise, it did. I was so happy to get an email from Marcy about her post announcing me as the winner.

For those who don't know Robin Miller, she is the host of Food Network's, Quick Fix Meals & cookbook author. The book Robin to the Rescue features 200 time saving & healthy recipes & is full of helpful hints & tips. She has also highlighted a few important meal time strategies & meal planning features which includes making meal kits to be used later in the week to help keep things simpler in the kitchen. This will definitely be one of those books that I would be referring to everyday in my kitchen.

Thanks Marcy, for such a wonderful giveaway. This arrived just in time for christmas.

My Favourite Survey Sites

Besides being a full time mom, I also do surveys at home, find deals & try to stretch our budget on one income. I am not saying that you can make a fortune just by giving surveys. It's not a lot... but it definitely helps you get a good chunk of pocket money just by doing nothing. I have been with most of them for more than a year. The best thing about giving surveys is that not only do you get paid for your opinion, but sometimes they even send you full size products to try & give your opinion about them. Till now I have tried a weeks supply of chicken nuggets, cookies, lotions, soaps, hair products etc etc & they are mine to keep even after the survey is done. I will be listing & updating some of my favourite sites. If anyone is interested in earning extra bucks, do feel free to click on the below links & register with them. Just make sure that you set another email address dedicated only to surveys. This way your regular inbox won't be overloaded. If you are not interested in giving a particular survey, just delete it. There are no hard & fast rules stating that you have to complete it.

Note : All the below sites are completely free to join. You do not have to pay anything. Basically, they are only interested in your opinion about products & in return they will pay you for your time.

Daily Survey Panel : I have been with Daily Survey Panel for just 2 - 3 weeks now & I have already made $5 with thim. Basically, they give points for each survey qualified & completed successfully. Every 200 points is worth $1. Most of their surveys come with a point value of 110 to 200 or more. You do need to have a paypal account for redeeming your points. You need to have a minimum of 200 points in your account to redeem it.

Inbox Dollars : This is again one of my favourite sites. I get paid for doing absolutely nothing, but just check their mails. Inbox dollars pays you to just open their mails & read them. You have to click the confirmation link included in the email & thats where the cents get credited in your account. Besides mails, they will also send an occassional survey & you get paid more for giving these. If you join inbox dollars now, they will also give you a bonus of $5 as a start up in your account. How cool is that? You can redeem your money once your account reaches $30. After the first withdrawal they will upgrade you to a gold member & you can then withdraw your money weekly. It's slow money, but overtime they really build up.

Send Earnings : This is again the same as Inbox Dollars.

I will keep updating more & more sites as & when possible. I have a few more good sites. If anyone needs a referral to these, pls leave you name & email address in the comments. I will send you a referral link.

Swagbucks : Get paid for searching. You anyways use google for any internet search. How about getting paid for searching. Thats what swagbucks is all about. You will need to earn as little as 45 swagbucks for a $5 amazon gift card or 50 swagbucks for a $5 starbucks card. There are many more prizes & giftcards to choose from. The search results are the same as google & ask.

Mindfield Online Surveys : Again one of my favourite survey site. Minimum cash out value is $10. Each survey will usually pay you a minimum of $1 atleast or more. If qualified, the amount will be credited into your mindfield account within 10 - 14 days.

Green Masalo Daal Maas

Recipe Source : My Mom

Vegetarians can skip the meat & just use the 16 beans mix.

1 lb chicken, mutton or beef, cut into small pieces (preferably with bones) (I used chicken)
1 cup dry 16 bean mix (soaked for 4 - 5 hrs)
1 medium sized onion, finely sliced

Grind to a fine paste without adding water:

1 tsp poppy seeds
2 tbsp grated coconut
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 inch ginger
6 cloves garlic
1 1/2 inch big piece cinnamon
3 cloves
3 tomatoes
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1 small marble sized tamarind
3 green chillies
1/2 bunch corainder leaves

If using beef/ mutton - pressure cook these along with the soaked 16 beans mix till done. If using chicken, pressure cook the 16 beans mix till done. Then add the chicken & let is boil along with the lentils till done. Its ok if the beans mash up. The more they mash up the better they taste.
Heat oil in a vessel & fry the sliced onion till golden brown. Pour the masala & fry well till the oil seperates. Put in the cooked lentils & meat & bring to a boil. Switch off the flame & serve hot with rice or chappatis.

Boblen Ani Sungata Kadhi (Bottlegourd & Prawns Curry)

Recipe Source : My Mom

1 medium sized bottlegourd, peeled & cut into big cubes
1 cup prawns, shelled, deveined & washed
Salt, to taste

Grind to a fine paste :

1/2 cup grated coconut
1 tbsp corainder seeds
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
3 - 4 dried red chillies (I used the kashmiri variety)
1 small onion, cut into big chunks
2 flakes garlic
1 marble sized piece tamarind
1/2 tsp turmeric powder

Set the ground masala paste aside. Put a cup of water into the blender & pulse the blender to remove any remaining masala sticking to the sides of the blender. Pour this masala water into a vessel. Add the bottlegourd pieces to the water. Cover & let it cook on medium flame till the bottlegourd pieces are cooked. Next add prawns & salt & stir to mix well. When prawns turn pink, add the ground masala paste & bring to one boil.

Serve hot with steamed rice.

Potato Chops

Recipe Source : My Mom

Potato Mixture :

4 large potatoes, boiled & mashed
salt, to taste
pepper, to taste
Add salt & pepper to the potato mixture. Mix well & set aside.

Filling :

1 lb meat mince (lamb/ chicken/ beef/ turkey)
2 tbsp oil
3 - 4 green chillies, finely chopped
4 cloves of garlic & 1 inch ginger, ground to a paste
1 large onion, finely chopped
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
2 medium sized tomatoes, finely chopped
salt, to taste
1 tbsp vinegar
1/2 tsp garam masala powder
1/2 bunch of corainder leaves, finely chopped
Heat oil in a pan. Add chopped green chillies & fry well till they turn crisp. Add the chopped onions & fry till transparent. Add the ginger - garlic paste & fry till the raw smell goes away. Add turmeric powder & saute for a minute. Next, add the tomatoes & salt & fry well till the tomatoes turn pulpy. Add mince & saute well & let cook till it is almost done. Sprinkle vinegar & garam masala powder & mix well. Turn the flame to high & saute till all the water from the meat evaporates & the mince is well cooked. Add the corainder leaves, mix well & turn of the flame. Set the mixture aside to cool.

Coating :

2 eggs, beaten with a pinch of salt
rava/ semolina, as required

Heat a little oil in a pan. Take the potato mixture (apporximately the size if a huge lemon) & form it into a ball. Form the ball into a cup. Place about a tbsp or 2 of the mince mixture into the cup & enclose the potato mixture. Shape it into a ball again. If there are any cracks or if the mince is leaking out, just patch up the portion with some of the potato mixture. Flatten the ball into a round patty. Roll the patty into the egg mixture & then coat it with semolina/ rava. Place the patty into the oil. Fry till it turns brown on one side & then flip the patty & let the other side brown well. Repeat the process for the remainder. Make sure that in the entire frying process, you flip the patty just once. Frequent flipping can crack or break the patty.

Serve hot.