You are a working woman who is pressed for time as you juggle your domestic life and your professional one. At times, you do not have enough time to cook luxurious meals to take to work for lunch, and finally end up spending money to buy food from your office cafeteria or hotels. But can this be an everyday affair? No; right? Home-cooked meals are always the best as it is healthy and nutritious, and cooked as per your preferences. So, here are a few healthy lunch options that can help to save time as well as provide healthy amount of nutrition and your choice of taste.

Salad

If you are someone who watches weight, then salad is a good option. Chopping a few onions, tomatoes, carrots, cucumber and coriander, and mixing them with boiled corn, a pinch of salt and few drops of lemon can be an easy early morning recipe. You can even add legumes and mushrooms to the salad. This big bowl of salad with your favourite veggies can provide you with the necessary vitamins and minerals. If dicing these vegetable can be hectic during mornings, you can chop them the previous night and store in the refrigerator. All you have to do when you wake up is to mix and pack them.

Roti roll

There are many easy sabzi recipes that can go well with rotis. You can make chapati dough the previous night and store in the refrigerator. The next day, you can make the chapatis and a quick sabzi and pack your lunch. Alternatively, you can stuff the sabzi inside the roti and roll it. While eggetarians can make scrambled eggs, non vegetarians can opt for chicken sausage roll.

Dal rice

Dal rice is one of the most favourite food combinations in India. It does not require too much effort and is easy to cook. You can mix dal with rice and pack as one, rather than carrying both in different lunch containers. Remember to mix extra dal to avoid drying up of your lunch.

Vegetable pulao

Pulao is a mix of rice with veggies and few spices, and can be cooked easily. You can chop some veggies the previous night and store them in the refrigerator to keep them fresh. There are many ways of cooking pulao, but an easier option would be to cook the raw vegetables along with spices and rice together.

Idlis

Idlis are a south Indian speciality cooked by steaming rice batter. Best combinations for idlis are chutneys. There are a variety of options; but, coconut or peanut chutneys can be made easily when you are in a hurry for your day’s work. Pack a couple of idlis along with any chutney and your lunch for the day is ready.

Stuffed parathas

If making the batter/dough and chutney/sabzi separately is a tough job, stuffed parathas are a good option. When you are preparing the chapati dough, you can mix spinach and roll it to make palak (spinach) paratha. You can also combine potato, paneer, radish and onions to the dough to make the respective paratha. In this way you don’t lose out on your veggies as well as a home-cooked lunch. Stuffed parathas can be combined with curd or pickles.

Now, can you give yourself a reason to not pack lunch from home?

Aspri Spirits, one of the leading importers and distributors of premium wines & spirits in India, presents exceptional cocktails for Valentine’s Day using globally the most popular liqueur, Amrula.
Amarula Cream originates from Africa and is a perfect drink to celebrate your love with your partner this Valentine’s. Enjoy it plain with ice or concoct a delicious cocktail, this drink will surely bring alive the romance & love. So entice your taste buds with these creamy cocktails.

Below are some recipes of the drink you can savour :

1) AMARULA STORM IN A SHORT
37.5ml Amarula Cream Liquor
Slash of fresh grated ginger and a turn of honey
15ml bourbon
50ml half and half (half cream and half milk)

2) AMARULA SPICED DRAM
35ml Amarula Cream Liquor
20ml spiced infused whiskey (clove, cinnamon, juniper, star anise & cardamom)

3) AMARULA CITRUS CRÈME
50ml Amarula Cream Liquor
20ml triple sec
Zest of an orange

4) ULA COFFEE SURPRISE
60ml Amarula Cream Liquor
Mug of strong filter coffee
50ml whipped cream
8 marshmallows
20ml brown sugar
20ml hot chocolate powder

5) AMARULA RED VELVET
30ml Amarula Cream Liquor
20ml Red Berry Vodka
20ml Beetroot juice
20ml white chocolate syrup
10ml grenadine

About ASPRI :

Aspri Spirits Pvt Ltd was established in 2004. The company today represents some of the finest brands in the world of Wines and Spirits and is one of the leading players in the imported alcoholic beverage segment. The company with its commitment to ensure highest quality standards focuses on the sales, marketing and distribution of its diverse portfolio and is dedicated to building premium international brands in travel retail and domestic markets across South Asia.

I think I speak for all when I say Gingerbreads are synonymous with “holidays are approaching”. Can you think of a scent so warm, comforting and ah!, so delicious that your mouth start watering. Gingerbread was first baked in Europe around the 11th century when Crusaders brought ginger as well as other new and exotic spices back from the Middle East. At first, gingerbread was mainly baked by Catholic monks and used in religious ceremonies, but over time it became more and more popular throughout the continent. 

The Germans started the tradition of baking a house out of gingerbread around the holidays in the 16th century, but the practice didn’t become as popular as it is now until the publication of a certain fairy tale a few centuries later. German immigrants to America brought the gingerbread house tradition across the ocean with them, and now we see it everywhere, from home kitchens to department store holiday window displays. 

People in Europe had been eating gingerbread for centuries, but we can thank the Brothers Grimm for the popularity of gingerbread houses. They published Hansel and Gretel in the 19th century—remember that one? It’s the fairy tale where a witch lures a brother and sister duo into captivity with her house made out of gingerbread and candy, and then tries to fatten them up to eat them. The story became immensely popular in Germany, and people started baking gingerbread houses at the holidays as a result.

So, let’s celebrate this day with baking loads of Gingerbreads with the help of this traditional Gingerbread recipe: 

Ingredients: 

150g Unsalted butter, cubed
1/2 cup (125ml) golden syrup
1/2 cup (110g) firmly packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
3 cups (450g) plain flour
1 tablespoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 egg, lightly whisked
Writing fudge, to decorate
Rainbow choc chips, to decorate

Method:

Preheat oven to 180°C. Line 2 large oven trays with baking paper.

Place butter, golden syrup and sugar in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Cook, stirring, for 3 minutes or until sugar dissolves. Bring to the boil. Remove from heat. Add bicarbonate of soda and stir to combine. Transfer to a large heatproof bowl. Set aside to cool.

Sift flour, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and baking powder over butter mixture. Add the egg and stir until combined. Turn onto a lightly floured surface and gently knead until smooth. Divide dough into two portions. Shape each portion into a disc and cover with plastic wrap. Place in the fridge for 45 minutes or until firm.

Roll one portion between 2 sheets of baking paper until 5mm thick. Using a 6-7cm Christmas pastry cutters, cut shapes from dough, re-rolling scraps. Place on the lined trays, 3cm apart to allow for spreading. Repeat with remaining gingerbread portion.

Bake in the preheated oven, 1 tray at a time, for 8 minutes or until just firm to touch. Remove from oven and set aside on trays for 5 minutes to cool before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. Decorate gingerbread using writing fudge and rainbow choc chips, if desired.

Now, you can use these Gingerbreads to make your own cute little or big house and celebrate this day with your family and friends.

Happy National Gingerbread House Day to all <3