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Thursday 16 January 2014

Cooking it up Pakistani Style!

Hey guys, 
It was all blood sweat and tears in the kitchen last night.. Ok, no I joke, but it was a hectic and stressful 7 hours in the kitchen preparing and cooking food for my parents (and brothers) as they had returned from a business trip to Germany. To welcome them home, I  thought it would be great to surprise them with some traditional Pakistani food. It was worth it as it went down really well! 

What I made:

-Traditional Pakistani Chicken Curry
- Aloo Baingan (potatoes and aubergine)
- Fresh homemade naan
- Cardamom tea cake 

The recipes for the two curries and cake came from the lovely blog 
www.thespicespoon.com. Her blog is wonderful, each recipe comes with an enchanting story and all the recipes are great. There hasn't been one that I have tried and haven't liked. 

The naan recipe was easy, simple and so delicious. I love the fresh smell and taste of homemade naan - no shop can ever beat that! 


Traditional Pakistani chicken curry 




Fresh naan with butter 



Aloo Baingan - Potato and Aubergine (eggplant) cooked in 
a Pakistani way



Please excuse the background. Rolling out naan = floury worktops : )




 I was so intrigued to see what the cardamom tea cake would taste like. I did burn the outside 
a little and may have slightly overdid it with the cardamom but it was still delicious and I know what to do for next time. 





I'd highly recommend any of these recipes, they went down really well *sighs in relief* 
Let me know if you try any of them

Until next time...

Maryam 


Thursday 9 January 2014

New Years Resolutions..?!

Hi!Its been a long time since I last blogged! This I must apologise for as college has been my main priority. Upcoming mocks and coursework deadlines are looming so I have been busy prepping for those. I did have a couple of posts planned over the Christmas break but unfortunately technology failed me – yet again – and I lost all of my pictures *grumpy face*

Today we shall be discussing the oh-so controversial topic of New Year’s Resolutions. I am sorry I couldn't get this post up any quicker but I suppose better late than never! This is a completely random post, I just feel like I have a lot to talk about.. A new year has embraced us with its presence and with it come the endless tweets, Facebook statuses and YouTube videos addressing how we want to better ourselves in the new year and how they never last.
New Year’s resolutions are all about making a positive change whether you would like to become fitter, more organised or generally live your life in a more positive way.

MOTIVATION
Motivation is key if you want to achieve something – reach a certain weight? Achieve an A grade? Go to the gym more regularly? Whatever it may be you must be determined to work hard - think of the effect it will have on you. One of the best feelings in life is to achieve something excellent when you know you have worked so hard for it. You have to keep telling yourself I CAN DO IT. Motivation comes within so if you put yourself in a certain mind set and have the right attitude you can achieve anything you want, anything is possible. Think of that feeling when you’ll finally be able to fit in a size (whatever) pair of jeans.. Or whenever results day comes around. That relief and happiness knowing you are where you’ve wanted to be is so much better than lazing around and then being disappointed at the end, right?

Another tip is to not give yourself a time limit e.g.’ I must lose this amount of weight in a month’. When you put yourself in a time limit you are pressurising yourself. Take each day as it comes. When you want to make a change, it should be a change for life not just for a few weeks or months. It is all about quality, not quantity. Try to make your workouts fun, don’t think of them as a chore – go for a walk in the park, swim, whatever you think is fun and active at the same time (a sport you may enjoy - for me that's badminton). All this advice applies to me too; I’m writing this as a guide for myself but any of you out there who need a push to do change your lifestyle in a more positive way.

STAYING HAPPY :)
Life is too short to be unhappy. Life is brilliant when you are happy and to be happy you have to push all the negativity away. Surround yourself with people who you love and who care for you. Try to turn negatives in to positives, remember everything happens for a reason so if something doesn’t turn out how you wanted it to, just think something better is in store for me.  A great way to remain happy is to get yourself a nice jar (or a  box or anything) and every time something good happens write it on a piece of paper and put it in the jar. When the year ends or whenever you are feeling down you can look back and reminisce all of the amazing memories that will guarantee to make you smile. It’s a lovely way to keep your memories – preserve them in a jar! =P

DON'T WORK TOO HARD!
Don’t push yourself too hard, our bodies can only take so much. Keep everything in proportion, an overload leads to stress. Create a timetable or schedule for each day of the week and plan out what you will do. It’s a great feeling isn’t it when you plan to be productive and that sense of accomplishment when you have stuck to your routine. All work and no play is too harsh. Create time to relax with friends or family. If you’re trying to become more active, make time for it. Getting up early and working out is so hard yet so refreshing and makes you feel awake and ready for the day ahead.

I know this isn’t excellent advice, I’m no expert at all, but I just felt the need to write this up for all of you who feel you need that extra push to make 2014 a great year. It’s never too late to make a change, go out there and mould yourself in to the person you want to be! This year I want to become fitter, more active and organised.  Now that I have written this I know I have to stick to it! Don’t give up because you will regret it in the end. As the Chuckle Brothers would say: ‘No slacking!’

Let me know how it goes!

Maryam
Twitter: @dimples4evr
Instagram: @m4ryam 
Email: maryamfarooq18@gmail.com