Detox Tea and a salad : A tea that soothes your stomach and a salad which curbs your hunger.
It’s 2016. Life and time passes so fast. I am sipping a cup of tea and writing this post, while listening to some music.
2015 was a quite fulfilling year. I learnt so many new items in photography. I gave up and started loving Photoshop. Blogging and bloggers also taught me many valuable lessons (as I always say, every single experience counts). I learnt and enjoyed learning so many new dishes from my mom through Skype. I never thought of recreating my grandmother’s classic in my modern kitchen in Boston – but sailed through it smoothly. I loved exploring Italy, Berkshires, Disney and Bretton Woods and capturing our moments there. I published about 20 articles on Globe and learnt how to write a perfect recipe. There were some lows (like weight gaining and recurring infections), but overall, 2015 was not too bad.
I had a long break in December (about 10 days) so I had a lot of time to ponder my life, future, GOALS and where I am going. As I mentioned before, in 2016, super long recipe posts are going to take a back seat in my life. I am going to focus more on PHOTOGRAPHY. I already made a list of subjects I want to shoot and I also want to explore outdoor shooting much more this year. I shot one farm last year, and this year I am trying to increase that to many more local farms.
We are doing TWO LONG TRIPS this year – South of Spain in March and India in November (tentative). We are also planning a short trip to Buffalo and Ithaca just to visit our universities. At my work, I am going to focus again on FRONT END TECHNOLOGIES AND WORDPRESS DEVELOPMENT. I am even planning to do a blog post on how to start a blog, what hosting service to choose and everything else! It might help a few people.
I am going to reduce my FACEBOOK attachment to an hour a day and focus more on my life. I already purchased a FITBIT (and yes, I did not like the jawbone) and a Thermos Smart Water Bottle, where I can count how much water I am drinking each day (need it for my UTI infection). As you can see, I am taking my health condition very seriously. I have stopped eating junk (chips and Indian Snacks) and focusing more on whole and hearty grains. At night, rather than gorging on cheese, I am eating dark chocolate, cottage cheese and fruits. My goal is to EAT CLEAN this year.
After a long holiday break, this week I am craving simple food and clean eating. So, I researched a simple detox tea and I drank it quite a few times over the past few days. This is a very simple recipe and is extremely beneficial for your stomach. Prepare a big pot of detox tea and keep sipping the whole day.
I have also shared a winter salad recipe, which I am munching as an appetizer every day. It has goodliness of winter vegetables and a yum low-calorie mustard based dressing and homemade croutons. What can get better than that?
I would love to know your goals and plans for 2016. Don’t forget to share them with me in comment.
We wish everyone a very Happy New Year!
Recipe for Detox Tea and Winter Salad
Detox recipe is from here.
Tea
- 4 cups (8oz cup) water
- 1 piece (2 inches) fresh ginger, thinly sliced
- 1 whole cinnamon stick
- 10 whole cloves
- Juice of 1 lemon
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
In a sauce pan, over high heat, heat water, ginger, cinnamon stick, cloves, lemon juice, honey and cayenne pepper. Bring it to boil. Reduce the temperature to medium-low and simmer for about 5 minutes. Set it aside and let it steep for about 15 minutes. Bring it back to flame and heat it before servin
Salad
- 4 cups lettuce, finely chopped
- 1 cup field greens
- 12-14 cherry tomatoes, halved
- 3 bunches of green onion, chopped
- 1/2 cup green olives, pitted and halved
- 1/2 cup black olives, pitted and halved
- 1/2 yellow pepper, seeded and julienned
- 1 red pepper, seeded and julienned
- 3 persian cucumber, chopped
- 1 carrot, peeled finely shredded
- salt to taste
- 1 tablespoon feta cheese
In a mixing bowl add lettuce, field greens, cherry tomatoes, green onion, green and black olive, yellow and red pepper, cucumber, shredded carrot. Add a generous amount of salt and toss it to mix it well.
Mustard Vinegar Dressing
In a bowl, add crushed garlic, vinegar and dijon mustard. With spoon stir to mix it well.
Homemade Croutons
- Set the oven to 350F. Have a hand on a baking sheet ready.
- Add bread pieces. Drizzle olive oil and sprinkle a generous amount of salt and pepper. With hands mix them gently. Bake for about 10-12 minutes, or until they golden brown and tough. Take it aside and serve fresh with the salad.
Perfectly written article and recipe, and I must say that I am impressed with your 2016 resolutions/determination as it sounds something like which I want to do or I would do. I am definitely gonna try this recipe.
Meanwhile I would love if you can share your journey on photography, how did you start and what did you follow to learn skills. I am very excited to learn this skill but not sure how to proceed further.
Also please write on starting a blog as mentioned.
Thanks and have a wonderful year ahead!!!
Thank you so much Neha! Yes, I do have a post on my photographical journey : https://www.storyofcooks.com/food-photography-journey-through-my-lens/
However, I have already started an “How to start a blog”
As a regular follower here love how u set long and short term blog goals much impressed by how u stick to it too.
Spring onion close up reminds me of tires and tubes sooo pretty. Detox tea with steam is stunning so is the 1950s like bw window view. I smell the sachet u gave me every now and then its so soothing. Looks like I might keep it for another 20 yrs 🙂 I am a hoarder so better believe that 🙂 For the blog I have big back log I am thinking on cleaning that up to make space for new ideas.Meanwhile thank u for keeping me inspired as always.
Oh meena, we inspire each other – don’t we?
Wishing you a very happy new year too. I have learnt a lot from your work this year. Thanks for all the guidance and reading materials . Will look forward to your support in the coming years also . November India sounds interesting
That Tea!! Aaaahhh
That Salad… Refreshing!
Article- wonderfully expressed! ❤️
And yes, beautiful photos Dol ❤️
Making new goals is something I do and I set myself a few things as well, something very similar to yours. Facebook has been taking away a lot of time and I have decided to cut down on Facebook time. There is so much productive we can do in that time. Love your goals Dol, cause it sounds more like mine 😛 😀
Btw I love that ingredient shot… the styling is so elegant!
Hi..Am a big fan & follower of ur recipes & always wonder how u took so beautiful photos of ur delicious dishes…now I got u! keep posting the detailed process of making food & photography..being a Bengali am a biggg foodie & drooling over ur blogs all the time 😛
Congratulations on all that you achieved in 2015 Dol. And wishing you many more achievements in the future. Keep rocking girl!
Thanks darling!
Happy New Year Dol! Wish you a fantastic 2016 and I hope you achieve all this and more. This year I’m rediscovering my love for salads and it looks like so are you.
Happy New Year to you Dolphia. I am in awe of your pictures and also your posts that are so well written. I always felt that I need to focus on Fb as I am absolutely pathethic with that. Amazed how your goals are different.
Loved every part of the post Dolphia.. Beautiful pictures.