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Introducing Navy Beans (+a Recipe!)
The bulk aisle at my local Whole Foods market is one of my favorite places to unearth new and exotic foods. During most visits, I try to pick up an item that is totally foreign to me, research it and generate a recipe from it. I shop at the bulk aisle for various reasons – for foods I am not familiar with; I like to first experiment with smaller proportions first. Secondly, I like to cook with the freshest possible ingredients at all times and because of that, I tend to buy smaller portions more frequently. Thirdly, Whole Foods stands…
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Coconut & Mushroom Soup
K & I have made it a recent habit to have soup for most dinners. This was the best way for us to pack nutrients into our daily meals and is also a very tasty way to eat fresh vegetables and herbs. We’ve been experimenting on a variety of globally-inspired healthy, nutritional soups using fresh, unprocessed or minimally processed ingredients. It’s been an exciting trip so far! The Coconut & Mushroom Soup is one of my favorite go-to dinner soups. It’s simple, has very few ingredients. It’s quick; you can pull this off in 20 minutes or so. It’s low-carb,…
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Introducing the Holy Cauliflower (+ a Recipe!)
Anyone who’s explored the Keto or a low-carb lifestyle can vouch to Cauliflower being their best friend! A huge surprise when I started this journey was the horde of Cauliflower-based products we readily get in the grocery store these days – Cauliflower rice, nuggets or my guilty pleasure, Cauliflower Crisps. I never thought I would enjoy Cauliflower Pizza, but honest to god, I don’t even notice the difference these days. Now, I am not someone who follows fads, I do my own research before starting anything new. I have always liked Cauliflower (I make a killer Cauliflower tempura!) Aside from that,…
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The Red Banyan – An Inside Look
There are many reasons we chose the Red Banyan – the interior design was most definitely not one! As much as my heart skipped a beat when I saw the house, I must accept, it had pretty drab and dull interiors. The realtor had asked the previous owners to paint the whole house matte white, to appeal to a broader buyer pool, but it somehow didn’t work in creating an impression. Now, white walls are beautiful, but it is only so when accented with colorful wall décor and fabrics. White walls minus any staging, seems just cold, sterile and hospital-esq. And that…
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Keto Mornings with Bulletproof Coffee
A grande vanilla whole milk latte has close to 40 grams of carbs. Let that sink in for a minute. As I ponder on this fact, I longingly think back to the time (which was last week…Meh) when I had those decadent foamy lattes with the side of a warm croissant, guilt-free. Aarghh…well, no one said a lifestyle redo is fun or not depressing. LOL My morning latte is an absolute must, can’t live without it. But if this one item in my daily menu comes close to my net-carb limit for the day, I know we have a problem.…
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We tried the Keto Diet for One Month
To kick-start our lifestyle change and to understand what we were up against, we downloaded a free app called the “MyFitnessPal” and kept a strict journal of the foods we consumed. We tracked our intakes for a month. The insights were fundamental in understanding our food habits and to charting a path forward. We understood that we were consuming close to 3,000 calories/day and 500 grams of total carbs! (Damn you, my favorite Jalapeño bagel!). We were eating all the wrong foods! On those busy days, I would grab a quick blueberry muffin for breakfast at work. Little did I…
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Self Rx – Nature & Nurture
The pandemic hit NYC and New Jersey hard. It was one of the first few places where the wrath was unbridled. It was eerie to see the climbing death toll in our neck of the woods and feel utterly helpless about it. Like a brick thrown at our face, most of us understood that health is the best wealth there is. Until we semi-retired recently, K & I were technology consultants for close to 12 years. We have both been through the grinder – worked 14+ hours/day, 2 Starbucks Latte’s before 9AM, vending machine chips/Doritos for lunch, a pizza dinner,…
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Fool Proof Steps to Choosing a Real Estate Agent – Part 1
If it were up to K, he would advise against using a real-estate agent. Like, ever. According to him, the process of buying or selling a home is intense, but not unmanageable if you properly educate yourself. While I kinda want to agree with K, I also understand that working with an agent could be inevitable for various reasons. We recently sold our townhome and purchased a single family home. While the process was intense, most of our stress was attributed to our real-estate agent. We stayed razor-focused on the end goal, we ignored all bad behavior. But, it was far…
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30th Time Is the Charm!
In March 2020, K & I purchased our first home together. This is my first ever home purchase and my 30th move! I kid you not. Being a consultant, I have lived off the suitcase for many years. I never felt I “belonged” anywhere and yet I was comfortable everywhere. A true nomad, I called myself; normal life bored me, I would quickly counter those curious questioners. And then, I met K. Normalcy didn’t seem so boring anymore. Introducing The Red Banyan! We moved into our new home just a few days before the pandemic shut down NYC/New Jersey in March…