Have yOu brushed yOur skin?

We read at least one skin care tip in our entire day, and we come across many innovative skin care tips and ticks. Today I am also going to share with you a tip to get smooth and soft skin. No, it isn't about drinking eight glasses of water throughout the day. Neither it is about facials and chemical skin rejuvenating processes.

You must have heard about the use of toothpaste (specially Colgate) to get clean and clear skin. I myself tried this out, and I think it worked for me. You will need a toothbrush (that you are no more using to brush your teeth!) and a toothpaste. Here are the steps that will help you to get radiant skin.

1. Take a small amount of toothpaste on the palm of your hand. with the help of your fingers apply it on your entire face and neck.
2. Now take a damp toothbrush, and start exfoliating your face. Move the toothbrush on your face in light circular motions or as per your convenience.
3. Exfoliate your lips too. Exfoliation of lips will help to get rid of dead skin on the lips.
4. Once you are done, rinse you face well with water. Pat your face with an absorbent towel or a tissue paper.
5. Apply moisturizer and lip balm. You are done!

Well I found the video, toothbrush skin care treatment on you tube. You can see the enhanced method of face exfoliation with toothbrush in this video.

I am nO mOre a couch pOtatO!

Today my morning started with music and melody. I spent almost two hours surfing music channels. I felt really lucky as I got to watch two of my favorite numbers from ‘Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi’. I must say that Shahrukh, The king Khan once again proved his charm through this movie. I just loved the geek look of him. One more song I found soothing to ears today is ‘Gajab Bhayo Rama…’ from the movie of Neil Nitin Mukesh and Bipasha Basu. It feels so relaxing to sip a cup of hot tea (chose green cardamom tea over ginger tea today) while watching TV in the morning. It is one of my favorite morning activities; of course I indulge in the activity only if I rise early on that particular day.

So, coming back to the point, I was watching TV and suddenly words like couch potato, Lazy bones, obesity, etc. started echoing in my mind. I don’t know what happened to me and I just switched off the TV, and switched on the PC. No, I didn’t switch it on for logging in on Orkut, but for checking out some exercises to lose weight. I googled for ‘various forms of exercises to tone-up various body parts’. I wanted a workout regime that won’t require a use of workout equipments. I wanted stretching and toning exercises that I can practice at home. I am keeping my fingers crossed in a hope that at least this time I will achieve my goal.

I was surfing and by chance bumped into a website myfit.ca, and found a lot of useful stuff that I was looking for. I found information on how to do stretching exercises, how to do stomach crunches, and read about eye exercises. I just spent a few moments on exploring different types of exercises available on this site, and also tried to be acquainted with them.

The next step was tough. It was time to actually perform all of them. I unfold my pink yoga mat. (It was lying underneath my writing table for quite a long period of time; finally it was the time to inaugurate the yoga mat.) I spread it on the floor and started off with my first exercise session of the season. I hope I will be successful to get rid of some of the extra mass. I hope finally I will be able to get flat abs (not six pack like SRK… ha ha!).

Here are the exercises I have picked up for daily practice. If some words with high calories are echoing in your ears too, then these exercises will be useful:

• Stretches and flexibility exercises with pictures
• Crunches- abdominal exercise
• Twisting crunches
• Bridge- abdominal exercise
• Eye exercises
  

What's CoOking?

Last week my mom's backache got pathetic and we were planning to order dinner from outside. But don't know what struck me and I pulled out a recipe book by Tarala Dalal from bookshelf. (I can’t cook without a recipe book, I should learn to cook.) I explored entire book. I stopped over a recipe called 'Soya Mutter Ki Subzi'. I thought, 'let me try out this one.' My mom was quite relieved to know that I am taking the charge of the kitchen.

Soon I got done with the preparation part with a bowl of fresh green peas, paste of green chillies, ginger and garlic, mixture of curd, milk, gram flour, and water, and of course cubes of cottage cheese. (The original recipe needs soya nuggets, but I replaced them with cottage cheese). I rolled up sleeves of my shirt and started stirring, tossing, mixing and simmering. I bent forward and filled my nostrils with the spicy aroma. ‘Hmmm, it seems that I can make a good cook,’ thought I.

Soon we all were enjoying the tangy and spicy vegetable with hot rotis and steamed rice. I received compliments from my mom, dad and sister. Here is the recipe of 'Soya Mutter Ki Subzi' by Tarla Dalal. Try it out!!!

SOYA MUTTER KI SUBZI

Soyabean nuggets and peas simmered in a tangy gravy.


Cooking Time : 40 mins.
Preparation Time : 10 mins.

Serves 2.

Ingredients

1/2 cup soya nuggets 1/2 cup green peas 1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds (jeera) a pinch asafoetida (hing) 1 teaspoon ginger-green chilli paste 1/2 teaspoon garlic paste 2 medium onions, chopped 2 tomatoes, finely chopped 1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder (haldi) 1/2 teaspoon chilli powder 1/2 teaspoon coriander powder 1/4 cup fresh curds 2 teaspoons Bengal gram flour (besan) 2 tablespoons milk 1/2 teaspoon sugar 2 tablespoons oil salt to taste

Method

1. Cook the soya nuggets in hot salted water for about 20 minutes. Keep aside. 2. Heat the oil and add the cumin seeds. When they crackle, add the asafoetida, ginger-green chilli paste, garlic paste and onions and saute till the onions are translucent. 3. Add the tomatoes, turmeric powder, chilli powder and coriander powder and cook on a slow flame for about 5 to 10 minutes. 4. Mix the curds, gram flour, milk and 3/4 cup of water and add to the onion-tomato gravy. 5. Add the soya nuggets, green peas, sugar and salt and simmer for 2 more minutes. 6. Serve hot.

Tips

You can use mushrooms or paneer instead of the soya nuggets as a variation.

It sounds delicious, isn’t it? Well, I know it is mouthwatering. Try it out, and don’t forget to leave me a comment if you liked it. All credit goes to Tarla Dalal, a famous Indian chef.