Prawn Calzone - Recipe!

My experiments with yeast are not that great. That's changed now. The other day we went shopping and I picked up Instant yeast at a supermarket. It's not easy finding instant yeast near by my place.

I was searching for recipes that included yeast and I was not too convinced that I could make it. But, I saw a recipe for Calzone on raks kitchen and I instantly decided to make it.

Gathered all the ingredients and in no time it was out of the oven and into our stomachs. It was that good. I tweaked the recipe a bit and added prawns for the filling.

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups All purpose flour
• 1 tsp Instant yeast
• 1 1/2 tsp sugar
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1/4 cup oil
• 1/4 cup water
• Italian seasoning
• Pasta sauce or ketchup - as per requirement
• Mozarella cheese 1/2 cup or 3/4 cup - shredded
• Prawn masala filling

Method:

• Add flour, salt, sugar and yeast in a wide mouthed bowl, mix.
• Warm up water and milk, it should be luke warm or the yeast will die if its too hot.
• Add the water and milk into the flour by making a dent in the pile of flour.
• Add oil and knead well. I kneaded it for about 5 mins.
• Use cling film to close the mouth of the bowl and keep in a warm place.
• I kept mine in the oven.
• After an hour, the dough would have doubled in size. Punch down the air and knead again.
• Make 3 to 4 small balls and flatten using your fingers.
• Place the stuffing in and pinch around to make a purse like form.
• Pinch on all sides and make sure there is no opening.
• Before you close the dough around the stuffing don't forget to place the cheese.
• Place in a baking tray and bake in a pre heated oven for 20 to 25 mins.
• Each oven is different, mine took around 20 mins to cook and extra 5 mins to brown on top.
• Allow to cool a bit on a rack and serve with sauce or any salads.

Here are the pictures.

Living it Stress-free.

The other day I was tired, sick, fed up and stressed. I try not to get stressed often, due to the fact that it affects my physical being and that in turn affects my whole self.

However, once in a while we all get stressed. And, I came up with some of the things that makes it stress free for most of us if we try following some of these examples.

These steps are mostly my personal stress busters and works for me most of the time. I'm no expert or pro in this but, I'm sure it might help someone.

Here we go.

Do the thing you love. For me, its baking.

1. Baking:
My stress is relieved when I bake. The feeling of creaming the butter and sugar, cracking open the eggs, the splash of vanilla itself is enough. Finally when all of it is mixed and ready to be tipped in the oven. I'm no longer stressed and I'm a happy me. The finished product gives me immense joy and happiness that nothing can give me till date.

2. DIY and Crafts:
Off late, I've been obsessed over DIY and the things you can do to make your house or room look better. I've created a few DIY decors and accessories and I love it. It distracts me from the stress I am into.

3. Going for a walk or exercising:
You must have heard this a zillion times or read about it. Yes, it does work. I tend to breathe well and by the end of the walk or exercise I'm more than alive.

4. Children:
As a part of my full time job as a Kindergarten teacher I interract with children on a daily basis and the thought of not being with them for a while actually stresses me hence, I expose myself a lot around babies and children. The activities and the tantrums they pose helps us de - stress.

5. Reading:
This slows my speedy mind and brings it to a halt as I immerse myself into whatever I'm reading. Be it a book or an article or blog.

The other mentions are

• Praying - You feel better when you pray or talk to God about it and hand over everything to him.
• Talking to a friend or close one.
• Sleep on it.
• Writing about it in a journal or a blog.

DONT'S

• Don't be on social media or the internet. It messes with your brain.
• Don't listen to music that might disturb you more.
• Don't do retail therapy. You might regret later.

Hope you enjoyed reading. Do let me know what are your stress busters in the comments below.

Until next time.

Review on Zahana Chennai!

I'm someone who is drawn towards jewellery, in particular earrings. Recently I was on Instagram and I came across a page that lured me into its pictures and by the time I knew, I was on their website booking a pair of earring and contemplating on buying one or two for the start.

But, now I'm regretting. I should've ordered more. The page is called zahana. Zahana is a contemporary creation and the selection of colors are beautiful, trendy and classy at the same time. The moment you enter you get attracted to all their products and are compelled to try some. The page is colorful and attractive. You can shop from anywhere and the process is that simple.

I love oxidised silver earring and I already have a collection of them. Will share that soon. This site has more than what we could ask for and the quality is beyond words.

I ordered a black and gold antique earrings which was on sale. The products have a additional amount of Rs 50 for shipping. I had a pleasant experience with them and unbelievably I received my order in 2 days despite the Chennai monsoon and rains. Too good.

I was so excited and cut open the package to take a look at my order. I was so surprised by the package and I was wondering why there were two pairs inside and outside the transparent ziplock, a handwritten note saying it was a FREEBIE with a small heart beside. That's it! I fell for it.

My earrings were packed so well with the brand card and a freebie, all carefully kept inside a plastic box so its safe and secure.

I wore the earrings and absolutely loved it. Will definitely shop again and I already added few items to the wishlist. The site is a must try and you wont regret it.

Here are the pictures.

This is the cute packaging.

Th is is the pair that I ordered.

The freebie.

Both of the earrings.

All of the pictures in a collage.

Jewelry lovers and online shoppers will fall for their collections.

Thank you ZAHANA for such a wonderful experience and I'm heading to your site soon after.

Until next time.

The most awaited trip with the Fam!

This post is about the trip we went to Pondicherry with the family.

Its more of a rambling post.
So, we took off in the early hours of the day. We packed Salami and cheese sandwiches for breakfast, coffee for a refreshment and some tit bits to munch on the go.
My outfit was more of lounge pants with a comfy top as we were on a road trip.
We left with the boy, my mom and me along with a professional driver on the wheel. On the way we picked up my mom-in-law and headed on the ECR road. It was a scary drive I must say and the weather was helping us that day by being cloudy but, no rains.

We pit-stopped for a stretch break and had our sandwiches and the coffee. We reached by around 11ish. It got delayed due to the pit-stop. We roamed a bit in pondy.
We went to a lake side and just drived by. Later, we went to Lunch at Kamatchi Biryani Veedu where all of us had a wonderful lunch.
The highlight of this hotel is they serve rasam with white rice towards the end for digestion and the rasam is something I've never tasted anywhere.

We finished and headed to the beach for a walk. By, this time it was kind of sunny. We did some shopping of clothes and eats. Back to the beach and dinner at Surguru.

We left by 9ish and reached by midnight. Both the moms loved it though they struggled a bit with their aches and pains.

Here are the pictures

On our way, at one of the tolls. 

Loved how green this looked and the different green hues.

Inside the car.

Welcome to the French colony.

The scenic view.

One of the corners.

The beach road.

Our dinner.

Black coffee with sugar.

I didn't click pictures of lunch as I was too hungry and couldn't wait to eat. This was our trip and the pictures. We had a lovely experience and we will definitely be going back.

Until next time.

Choco chip cookies - Recipe.

Chocolate chip cookies was on my to do list like forever. I had Chocolate chips and butter, eggs and all the baking staples but, never found the perfect recipe.

Finally, while browsing Fb found Fondbites. This is one of my favorite baking site. I used to be part of their bake alongs sometime back. Found the choco chip and made it.

 It was delicious. Especially, while warm I devoured two of them.
There was a small change though. I ran out of maida and added wheat flour instead. Worked out as a healthy option too.

Here's the recipe.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 1/2 cups flour (I used 1 cup maida, 1/2 cup wheat flour)
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 tspn baking soda
• a pinch of salt
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips
• 100 grams unsalted butter
• 1 tspn vanilla essence

METHOD

• Line a baking tray using butter, ghee or oil or even parchment paper
• Preheat oven at 180 degrees for 10 mins
• In a bowl, melt butter to liquid form, cool it down.
• Add sugar and beat with electric beater on high for about 5 mins.
• Add the egg and beat gently, add vanilla essence and mix well.
• Sift flour, salt and baking soda and add this to the butter and egg mixture.
• I used my hands at this stage.
• The mixture was a bit too sticky and wet, so I added 2 tbspns more flour and it was the right consistency now.
• Add the choco chips and incorporate well.
• Make small round balls and place on the baking tray at a nominal distance.
• The heat is going to melt this and bring it in the form of a cookie so note the distance here.
• Bake for 15 mins. I kept an eye on mine at 10 mins and took it out by 15 mins. 

Let it cool and devour to your hearts content. Trust me you can't stop.

Store in an airtight container. 

Lloyd's Tea house - Restaurant review!

Lately I've been visiting Lloyd's tea house regularly. like say, once a month and I've always had something to drink there. Once, I had the Bruschetta platter and I was kinda ok with the taste. I could make that at home.

But, last week on a Sunday evening the boy and me decided to have something there as we were really hungry. Read through the menu and the boy decided on Pan Seared Basa with Pesto while I had Chicken Lasagna. 

The Lasagna came in first, we loved it and half way through the Basa arrived and we never let it go. The basa was accompanied with a salad, sauteed vegetables and mashed potato. The mashed potato was out of this world. The food was great and great ambiance too. We finally ended with something warm. The boy had peppermint tea while I had my favorite Hazelnut cappucino (I've never had such an amazing cappucino anywhere). We thoroughly enjoyed our food.

The service was good and the place is a great one to try

Here are the pictures.

The chicken lasagna.

The pan seared basa with pesto.

The basa alone. It was divine.

The accompaniments.

The beverages.

Overall, a wonderful dinner and the total cost was Rs 1011 including vat. The cost is a bit on the higher side but, wonderful food.

Rating ****.5/5 minus 0.5 for the price.

Until next time.

Perks of being a teacher - Part II

Here I am again with the series - Perks of being a teacher. I'm glad I received several comments on the Part I and I enjoyed reading and writing it too.

Today, the Perks of being a teacher are Semester breaks. Oh yes, I love this profession for this reason as well. Which job pays you to sit at home?. That's just another benefit however, there are more to list and they are on their way.

So, I had this 10 day break last week and I so loved it. The early morning chaos and routine was given a pause button and I took all the rest I needed though I missed my kids from school at times.
Throughout this time I baked, went for walks, slept like there's no tomorrow and helped with the boy getting prepped for work. I watched Breaking Bad back to back.

Now, I'm back to school but, recalling that break feels good and I believe every profession needs this as it helps you reflect on your life and unwind. No stress involved.
I've worked in a corporate, as a nurse, as a Nursing tutor and at a Hospital in administration but, nothing gave the amount of happiness and rest I receive from Teaching.

Hope you enjoyed reading. 

Until next time and the next Perk. 

This is written for #MondayMusings on WriteTribe.