Soak it. Sprout it. Sexy!

Remember how you always saw your mum or grandma or if you've never been a kitchen ninja then your helper soak all your lentils before cooking them?
In our household, most lentils are soaked a night before.I wondered, wah, what planning! Well, there was more to it that just planning. It was actually healthy!
What if i just wanted to pressure cook it a little more rather than soak it? 
For one, it tastes way better if they are soaked overnight and two, soaking actually initiates a chemical reaction in them. This chemical reaction apparently improves the quality of antioxidants, phytoestrogens, vitamins and minerals found in lentils/pulses. One step further is sprouting them. Oh sprouting! Sprouting is like that special superfood process that truly brings out the best in these little dots. Sprouting definitely enhances the iron content, is better digested and broken down in the body and sprouting, researchers say, is the one method that helps the body fight cancers. Especially breast & prostrate. 
See here's the way i see it. If you can soak & sprout it and consume it, you'll get a better dose of healthy stuff. More healthy stuff=less junky stuff. Less junky stuff= a sexier you. 
That wasn't such a complicated formula was it? 

Look at my sexy green mung sprouts! 

Things That Make You Go Ummmmm

THINGS THAT MAKE YOU GO UMMMMMMM

Life gets hectic. Life gets tough. Life gets challenging and life definitely gets rough. 
It's so important, good or bad, right or wrong to do the things that make you feel warm and fuzzy in your belly. There are a few things no matter where you are in the world and how bad it gets, always brings a smile to your face.
For me personally, it's lolling with the husband and a book in bed all day and a jar of nutella within reach.
For a close friend it is a brazilian blowout. For my mum it used to be a good aroma oil massage.
I know someone who loves going for a drive in the middle of the night- That really brings back the love for him.
What is your Ummm? Spending moolah on a bag? PS11? Having your hair oiled by your tender loving mumma's hands? Even at 40 years of age?
Well, research shows doing certain things that you love actually decreases the level of cortisol (stress hormone) in the body and improves the percentage of oxytocin (love hormone).
Now who doesn't want to look and feel like they're in love ha? Lancome's been trying to trap that formula in a bottle for years- That look that you have when you're totally happy and loved. No shade of MAC compares to that natural blush.
And it is true, those that feel loved age much slower than those who feel otherwise.
So go ahead, get a little bit of that thing that makes you go Ummmmm. 
Chapter 3, Page 71....coming honey!

THE GOODNESS OF SPINACH- REDEFINED

I grew up in a quintessentially middle class household. 

Being very modern in her upbringing, my mother tried very hard to learn, experiment and teach us the roots of our culture, lest we grow up without a social identity. 

Sindhianism. The kind that know bits and pieces of being Sindhi without having to practice teejri, worship jhulelal or tork tooh dadhee in Sindhee.
The one thing Sindhianism helped our household with was the lavish use of spinach in the traditional Sindhi dishes- Sai Bhaji, Sayel Palak, Daal Palak, Doodi Palak etc.
Spinach was very affordable, gave a beautiful emerald color to your dish and excellent nutritively or as mumma said- "It's good for your insides."
Except, there was one problem. The spinach was cooked and cooked and cooked to an extent it could have been mistaken for grass and no one would be able to tell the difference.
Today, after having studied nutrition, i can tell you one or two very important things about spinach.
Here goes:
1. Spinach is best had in the form of salad or juiced to optimize nutrient absorption.
2. Once juiced, it must be consumed almost immediately.
3. Spinach accompanied with vitamin c- lemon juice, tomatoes, orange juice etc, the iron in spinach is better absorbed.
4. Menstruating women should have a glass of spinach juice every day while in cycle.
5. You absolutely must wash spinach well, else you'll ingest a lot of mud.
6. Spinach when cooked beyond 30 SECONDS, looses 85% of its nutrient value.
7. If your child or anyone has suffered a bout of jaundice, give them spinach juice everyday.
8. Spinach has a very poor shelf life. Hence, you must consume it as soon as fresh.

Go ahead, try your (pa) luck! 

xxx- Wellness Woman!