Raksha Bandhan(Rakhi) Sacred Thread

 

'Raksha Bandhan' festival is the celebration of the strong bond that exists between a brother and sister with a beautiful handcrafted 'Rakhi'. 

The sisters tie a knot of Rakhi on the wrist of her brother, who promises to protect his sister from the evil. The Frail of thread of Rakhi is considered as stronger than iron chains as it binds the most beautiful relationship in an inseparable bond of love and trust between brother and sister.

Significance of Raksha Bandhan:

Raksha Bandhan is the day of love and protection. This day is mainly celebrated between brother and sisters to bestow their love and affection of each other. Sisters tie Rakhi to her brother and pray to god for his well being and the brother pledges to protect her from the evil.

When is it celebrated:

Raksha Bandhan is celebrated in Shravana(August) Month during full moon day or Purnima day. That's why this ancient Hindu festival is also known as "Rakhi Purnima". 

How is Raksha Bandhan celebrated?

On the day of Raksha Bandhan, everyone wakes up early and take a bath. They then perform puja and do the aarti of the gods. Then, the sisters apply a red Kumkum

 on the forehead of their brothers, tie the Rakhi and give them sweets to eat. Brothers then give gifts to their sisters and they both have a meal together.

Return Rakhi Gifts for Sisters:

It is in the ritual of Raksha Bandhan when sister ties Rakhi to the brother, he has to give a gift to his sister. We have listed down a list of return gifts for sister

• Apparels
• Cosmetics
• Pieces of Jewelry
• Soft Toys
• Mugs

What to wear for Raksha Bandhan:

Raksha Bandhan is an auspicious festival that also requires dressing up for the celebration. On this day, people wake up early in the morning, take a bath, and dress up to get ready to celebrate the festival. Consider dressing up traditionally like Lehenga, Saree, Salwar, Kurta etc.

Mango Rice

 Mangoes are rich in Vitamin C. Mango rice is a quick lunch box recipe for those Busy mornings.

Preparation time: 10 minutes (Provided we already have boiled rice)

Cook Time: 5 minutes

Ingredients:

2 cups of Rice

1 cup grated mango

3 sliced green chilies

3 teaspoons of peanut oil

Tempering: Hing, Jeera, Mustard seeds, curry leaves

10 peanuts

5 cashew nuts

salt as needed

Preparation:

1) If we have cooked rice, it would be easier, else Cook 2 cups of white rice and allow the rice to cool

2) In a pan, add 3 teaspoons of oil and add all the ingredients specified under tempering section

3) Add green chilies

4) Add peanuts and cashew nuts

5) In a separate Bowl, Mix cooled rice with grated mango

6) Now, Add all the fried ingredients to rice. Mix well. Serve

Lettuce Wraps

 Lettuce wraps are summer favorite at our home. Those humid hot days would be cooled a bit with lettuce. I made it protein dense for the kids.

Preparation time: 10 minutes

Cook time: 10 Minutes

Ingredients: 

2 cups of scrambled paneer

1 cup diced onion

1 cup diced tomato

1 green chili

Tempering: Jeera

1 cup-soaked green gram

Turmeric powder

chaat masala

salt as needed

Lettuce leaves

1 cup sliced Radish

1 cup vertically sliced purple cabbage

1/4 cup of spring onion.

Steps:

1) In a pan, put some oil, add Jeera. Add Onions and sauté for a minute

2) Add diced tomato and sauté for 2-3 minutes

3) Add turmeric powder, chaat masala and salt. sauté for a minute

4) Add Scrambled Paneer and mix well. Let it cook for 5 minutes. Garnish with Spring onion. (Adjust the spices according to your spice level).

5) Before serving arrange all the ingredients in a platter. As shown in picture

6) On a lettuce leaf, keep 2 tablespoons of curry and add green moong along with Radish and purple cabbage. Eat immediately.

Variations:

1) Instead of paneer we can add Tofu or minced chicken

2) According to your spice levels, add hot sauce for that extra spice.

Lemon Rice

 This is a quick lunch box recipe.

Preparation time: not needed, if we have boiled rice 

Cook Time: 5 minutes

Ingredients:

2 cups boiled rice

2 teaspoons oil

1/4 cup lemon juice

Tempering Ingredients: Hing, curry leaves, Jeera, mustard seeds, peanuts, chana dal, 1 red chili

3 split green chili

1 teaspoon Turmeric

salt as needed

coriander leaves

Steps to prepare:

1) Add Lemon juice, salt to Boiled rice and keep it aside.

2) In a pan, heat oil, add all the tempering ingredients, then add green chilies. Allow them to fry.  

3) Add turmeric powder.

4) Add sautéed ingredients to rice and mix well.

Notes: Grate a carrot and add to rice for more nutrition.

Noodles

We are going to learn how to make noodles. This is very quick recipe

Preparation time: 10 minutes

Cook time: 10 minutes

Ingredients:

2 packets Hakka Noodles

1/4 cup carrots

1/4 cup peas

1/4 cup Broccoli

1/4 cup spring onions

2 eggs

5 teaspoons olive oil

soya sauce 1 tablespoons

Hot sauce 2 tablespoons

1/2 tablespoon Vinegar

Grounded pepper 1 teaspoon.

Salt as needed

Steps to Prepare:

1) On a frying pan, put 1 Teaspoon oil and eggs. Scramble eggs and put some salt and pepper.  Keep it aside

2) Boil water in a pan, Put Hakka noodles and allow noodles to boil. Drain water and add a spoon of olive oil. Tose the noodles.

2) In the same pan, put 4 tablespoons of oil and add Broccoli/Carrots. Sautee for few minutes

3) Add rest of the vegetables. Allow all the vegetables to cook. Now add some salt.

4) Add Noodles to vegetables and then soy sauce, hot sauce, vinegar and grounded pepper/salt. Mix well. (Adjust the quantity of hot sauce to your spice level)

5) Add spring onions and serve.

Tips: 

I generally prepare vegetables while noodles are boiling.

Variation: Along with egg, we can add either fried paneer/Tofu or fried chicken

Healthy Habits

Healthy Habits aren't just eating and exercising. They are also creative activities, time with friends/family or time for us. 

Healthy habits are important. They help us manage stress and challenging situations. Building up routines that help us take care of our bodies, hearts and minds is a valuable investment we should do.

so, how can we build healthy habits. Below steps would help us to make healthy activities as a habit.

• Consistency: Be consistent with the activities we decide to do. This would also set an example for our kids. Consistency with what we have decided to do would help us to convert a healthy activity to a habit. It shouldn't be a one day event or activity. If we really want to make it as a habit we should be consistent with it. For example: we wake up in the morning and brush our teeth, make some teacoffee, take shower, start making breakfast. All the activities we are doing became our habits for a day. This should be the same way if we have to make a healthy activity to a habit

           

• Time: It is easy to start a bad habit, but it takes lot of time and effort to build a healthy habit. Are we bored of doing a healthy activity everyday? do a self talk to yourself, think of all the benefits you would be receiving by doing the activity. 
• Is the habit yours? question to self? Is the habit I am trying to make as part of my routine would really fit my schedule and will that be a good investment for my bodymindemotional wellbeingamily? what works for one person might not be for another. 

self care is a high priority when things are challenging and they will help you handle any situation efficiently.

Summer Activities

                                                                  Summer Activities

 Summer is the most beautiful time of the year and it is also the time we would be able to have fun time with our kids. Early sunrise and chirping sound coming from birds will keep us active in the mornings. 

Summers are the best time of the year with less busy schedules in the morning. Below are the activities we can do with kids and for ourselves to recharge ourselves

1. Family game night:  Have a weekly game night, and on rotation basis make your family to choose the game. 

2. Family movie night: Show a movie on the Main television in your home. This would be easy for the family to snuggle and watch movie at one place.

Serve popcorn and if feasible order pizza for a quick dinner.

3. Family dance party: Host a family dance party to all sorts of different music and show the kids your favorite moves.

4. Do a puzzle: If you're bored with your puzzles, trade with a friend or family.

5.Lego challenges: Give everyone a bag of Lego pieces and charge your crew with building a house, a store, a park, their school or their favorite cartoon character. This would help to keep their fingers strong as well.

6. Grow herbs and flowers:  Make a plant bed and put seeds and make kids watch them grow. See if you can take kids with you to local farmer's market or local flower farms. Also, take them to fruit picking to cultivate healthy eating habit.

7. Visit a zoo:  For the kids of younger age, take them to local zoo and watch how animals look like. Make them to touch and learn about animals.

8. Art Museum: Take kids to a local art museum and make them to explore art and culture from different countries.

9. Hiking: We don't need to stress younger kids with miles of hiking. We can take kids out to local parks with trails and make them get used to walking in trails. If incase of elder kids, find your nearest state or national park or national forest.  This would help them to spend more time outdoors in a clean environment and get fresh air.

10. Movie Marathon: Make them to collect all their classic or Favorite Disney movies and allow them to continuously watch movies. Pair this with Pizza night or order food from kid's favorite restaurant. For teenagers, allow them to watch their favorite 

11. Let's have a picnic: Picnic or grill in the backyard or in your local park. This will help kids to spend some time outdoors. Also, see if you can add some outdoor sports Ex: Play Soccer, Bubbles, Basketball etc.

12: Lemonade Stand: Help Kids to set up a lemonade stand and give the proceeds to a good cause.

13: Declutter:  We might be busy with our school and class schedule during academic year. It is a good to do deep cleaning and make sure we remove all the unwanted things from the house. 

14. Bike Riding: Summer is the time we get a chance to spend more time outdoors. That paired up with Bike Riding would allow us to spend more time outdoors.

15. Baking: Roll your sleeves, out your apron and get into the kitchen and have fun with kids baking their favorite cookies or banana bread. Kids would love to see what they have made with their hands. while cookies are baking, make some lemonade and turn that into Tea party.

16. Library: Summer reading would help kids to maintain the vocabulary. This would also help them to explore new books they would enjoy reading. Make frequent visits to local library.

17. Go Stargazing: Finish your dinner early and go out for a walk with kids. These summer walks would be cool and sky would be clear. Watch for stars and make kids to looks for clouds and ask them to connect to shapes. 

18. Sandcastles: If feasible, make a sandpit in your backyard. Kids would have fun building castles and decorating them. Have fun Sunday morning building castles with kids. Tip: It is easy to buy a foldable bath tub and fill the tub with sand. 

19. Sleep outdoors:  Hammock. Kids can get their favorite books and spend their summer afternoons swinging in Hammock and reading their favorite cartoons.

20. Mini Golf: Make a visit to local Golf. you can also invest in Golf Mat and reuse every summer.

21. Eat something new : Explore local restaurants and find out a place you would like to enjoy.

22. Watch Fireworks : Independence Day fireworks generally come during summers. Find some time to go out and watch Fireworks. Also, make kids to see local parades and sing national anthem.

23. Have a pretend campout: Camping is fun way to spend more time outdoors. If we are busy with our schedules, it is fun to make kids do camping in their backyards. Join kids inside camping tent and play games.

24. Beach: Hot summers always would get better with sometime inside water and playing with sand.

Enjoy your summer's.