ICED PEACH GREEN TEA

Good evening peeps!

So to update everyone, it is REALLY HOT in Dubai.

Also, I am tired of buying drinks which are just plain sugar. Even Iced teas are just filled with a lot of sugar. Occasionally it is ok, but on a regular basis it is not healthy and also expensive i.e- slowly affects your health and budget.

So without further ado, lets’ begin the recipe for my drink of the week– Peach Iced Green Tea. You can take this to work/ picnics etc. It is a refreshing, sweet and light drink. Perfect for Summer 🙂

The sugar is reduced, also you get the benefits of green tea with mint, which is great to cool down your body during these scorching hot months.

Makes up to 1 big bottle to chill and store in the fridge to last up to 1 week.

Ingredients:

-Green tea and mint tea bags- 5 sachets (Any brand will do)

-Fresh peaches- 3 chopped

-water- 5 cups

-Honey-2 tbsp

-Ice cubes-7

-Dried mint- 1 tbsp (you can get it from any supermarket, in the spices and dried ingredients section)

Method:

-Boil the tea bags and let the tea water cool. Discard the tea bags.

-Boil the peaches, let the flavor simmer, till they are nice and squishy. The idea is to make a puree’.  Sieve it in a bowl, remove as much of the juice as possible. Discard the dried pulp. Let it cool.

Mix the tea water with the peach puree’. Add 2 big tbsp of honey, mix well. Get a jug or a glass bottle of choice, add in the tea.

Add 5 cups of water and the dried mint. Mix really well. Keep it to chill in the refrigerator.

Add in the ice cubes, at the time of serving.

Serve it in fancy glasses or mugs, the choice is up to you. Cheers & Enjoy 🙂

Don’t forget to share your love ❤

 

 

Print AD- Joy by DIOR

Hello folks!

So I came across this Print AD  in Cosmopolitan magazine the UK Version.  I bought the magazine from Delhi International Airport.

It is the Joy by Dior perfume. It features Jennifer Lawrence, lying down near the pool, soaking up some sun.

They added a bit of the fragrance to the magazine paper itself.. for readers to get a sample/tester. It was simply brilliant . The most creative ‘perfume’ Ad that I have ever come across.  The only thing they should have added a small arrow or sign indicating to readers to ‘smell the paper’ 😀 . Someone (aka regular reader) just flipping through the magazine wouldnt have guessed it out.

Share your thoughts 🙂

Of course, Share your love ❤

Featured in Khaleej Times

My recipes featured twice in Khaleej Times newspaper. Feel humbled and extremely ecstatic. Such stuff is really great motivation to do more.

Share your love ❤ 🙂

PRINT AD-PIZZA HUT

Hi, guys!

I hope everyone is well. I know it has been some time since I last posted for you guys. Honestly, it is really the effort and persistence and patience that is required to do something organic and of your own from scratch. I am only human so some time back I did give in to the vices, but here I am now!

Excited to share our AD POST OF THE WEEK. This was by Pizza Hut Middle East. They had marketed these massive leaflets with Khaleej Times newspaper.

I am not very sure if you can see how massive the leaflet is in the photograph above. The reason it deserves a mention on our blog is that it’s unique and quirky. It is eye-catchy and stands out. So it excites the reader’s curiosity as to what is this leaflet about. The image of the pizza is almost life-size, like for 6-8 persons.

It really gets the reader tempted as it looks so real like you are about to eat a hot cheesy slice right now! At that moment, the reader has only 1 thought in their mind, it’s Pizza Hut Time!

It is a creative yet simple tactic, but it is effective. The image itself looks so tempting, the reader is bound to place an order at Pizza Hut, to enjoy a slice and share a fun moment with their loved ones/work colleagues.

Simple brand strategy to connect with their customers and create more memories with Pizza Hut. All the important details are given such as the brand name, where to order, other dishes to add on to the meal etc.

After all, it is Pizza Hut, a place where families have been coming to celebrate for years, creating memories and happiness. It is a credible and trusted family brand serving fine quality pizzas and more.

Another way they could use the leaflet would be instead of keeping half the pizza image open to the reader, completely conceal the image in the leaflet. Once you open the leaflet, it unfolds itself, like a plate of pizza being magically created in front of you, similar to children’s storybooks; characters and surroundings open up when you open the book and fold when you close the book.

This was one of the ideas I had.You are most welcome to share your ideas and your creativity 🙂  Also, don’t forget to Share your love ❤ 🙂

NUTTER BUTTER NICE-CREAM (SUMMER DESSERT)

Hello, lovely people.

Ramadan Kareem to everyone!

Hope everyone is doing well, even in this heat (The Summers in Dubai are on another level altogether)

With Ramadan going on, it is going to be really hard to maintain the weight (I hear ya!) Delicious and scrumptious iftar dinners and parties, inclusive of succulent biryanis and divine baklava cheesecakes and puddings and more, much more. Then there is Eid coming up- Need I say more 😀

So making a few small changes here and there could really  make a huge difference to our health and well-being and not put us in the negative spiral of food guilt.

This brings us to our RECIPE OF THE WEEK. NUTTER BUTTER NICE-CREAM. This quick and extremely easy dessert, satisfies the sweet tooth as well as the heart and you can eat it everyday without any guilt! Awesome or awesome? 🙂

So let’s  begin.

TOTAL TIME TO PREPARE: 1 1/2 hr.

Makes 1 box.

INGREDIENTS:

1/2 cup Frozen Banana

1 Frozen Pear-chopped

2 tbsp Organic Peanut Butter( You can make them at home, before hand, like the way I did in the images above, or you can also use the organic store bought variety, still tastes great)

2tbsp Organic Almond Butter

1/2 cup Chocolate Chips

Handful of Golden raisins

2 tsp Yoghurt

A medium sized rectangle box to store in.

HOW TO PREPARE:

Add in all the ingredients in a blender, except the raisins. Add only a handful of chocolate chips not all.

Blend really well, it would take some time. When you see a good creamy texture, that’s when its ready.

Pour the nice-cream in the box, add in the chocolate chips and raisins. Put it in the freezer.

Just before serving, remove it out for a few minutes for it to soften a bit. Enjoy with family and friends.

You can add in some creamy wafer biscuits or chocolate biscuit rolls for some crunch or even some nuts like walnuts or almonds.

Share this recipe with loved ones. Share your love, share your kindness.

🙂 ❤

 

 

 

PINK SORBET (SUMMER DESSERT)

 

Bonjour! Wonderful people.

How are you? Vous allez bien?

Well summer has arrived in Dubai. The super hot days are longer than the quiet peaceful nights. That time of the year has arrived when you just happen to stand out for a few minutes and the weather is trying its very best to make a  grilled hot kabab or tikka out of you. Its that kind of heat, where you just feel like your soul is melting away and you are left looking like a scarecrow. Damn, I painted some picture in your mind didn’t I ? 😀

On a more positive note, it is the time for ICE CREAM!  Repeat after me: I  scream, You scream, We all scream for…for …ICE CREAM! Yes  Bravo 🙂 No one is too old to say that!

So inspired from the colors of summer, our Recipe of the Day is PINK SORBET. A delicious fruity sorbet. The sorbet sold commercially has lots of sugar in it. The one we are making today is refined-sugar free, it has only pure, natural fruit sugar in it to sweeten it.

It’s a great treat for this boiling heat to cool down. It is great for those days when you just want to eat ice cream all day along, also a great accompaniment to your breakfasts/desserts. Yummy! So here we go.

TIME TO PREPARE: Half a day

Makes 1 box

INGREDIENTS:

Fresh Raspberries-15 Frozen for a few hours

Pear-2 small ones, chopped and frozen

Almonds-chopped

Water- 1 cup-per requirement

HOW TO PREPARE:

In a blender, blend together pear and raspberries until smooth. As shown in the images above. Keep in mind, you do have to blend well, so that would take some time. Add some water in to get a smoother texture.

But don’t add too much, you have to check continuously. Once you get a sorbet like texture, you can add in a few almonds, to give the sorbet a little crunch. Add in the sorbet in  a box, sprinkle in the almonds, cover the lid and freeze for 1 hour.

After 1 hour, remove it out and enjoy with family, friends or even just your own awesome self. Maybe you can try adding it on some hot pancakes, like below.

These are the famous and delicious 2 ingredient pancakes- just mashed bananas and eggs and some coconut oil and VOILA!

Enjoy my sugar-free sorbet. You can add your own toppings too if you like. I particularly think chocolate chips would go well too. Enjoy your summers and don’t forget to share your love. ❤ 🙂

Merci beaucoup et Salut! (thank you and bye 🙂 )

PRINT AD-IMPERIAL JEWELERS

Bonjour Mes Amis! Tu vas bien? Hello folks, how are you?

As you can see, I am trying my hands on learning French. So far so good eh? Or should I say jusqu’ici tout va bien. I know it has been some time since I shared my ideas and thoughts with you guys, I havent exactly been feeling really well, mentally, emotionally and physically. Changing weather allergies, keeping the positivity and motivation up and running everyday especially when you are surrounded with the opposite of that.

Honestly, with all things that money can buy, I would really like to buy a life manual or a troubleshooting manual for life. I’m sure it would sell faster than hot cakes or croissants whatever you fancy 😛 Moving on.

Our AD POST of this week, is a Print Advertisement by Imperial Jewelers. The double page spread was in Cosmopolitan India magazine. It was printed for the May 2016 issue of the magazine.

The reason the advert has made it to our blog is because it’s so beautiful, everything is so beautiful about it.Firstly you have Diya Mirza, the Bollywood Actress as the model for the AD. Her look for this particular AD speaks of elegance, beauty, grace, feminity, simplicity and royalty.

On the second page you have the text ‘I am Dhairya-The patience to hold on’.Dhairya means patience in Hindi. It is also written in Hindi in the background. The imagery and text come together as a whole story rather than sub-parts of a story.

You think of a woman who is beautiful and strong, inside & out to choose this brand of jewelry. Someone who is calm yet determined to be victorious through the struggles of life. Someone who has a delicate face but she has this powerful strength in her eyes, which would make anybody think twice before they try to mess with her.

This collection of the brand is for the simple yet fierce woman of today. She has a mind of her own and is sort of like a rebel, doesn’t sacrifice her trueself for how society/media would like to see her as (flamboyant, pretentious, vain etc.).

The color scheme used compliment with the brand messages as well as the product (i.e the extremely beautiful choker necklace and earrings). Artistic paintings, vintage mirrors speak of regal elegance.

I also love the piece of jewelry that has been selected for this AD.It enhances Diya Mirza’s beauty with this simplistic design, it is not overly flamboyant in the way that it hides the woman’s natural beauty.

She is wearing white and the colour signifies peace and positivity and purity.  I absolutely love how the AD communicates modesty, strength, beauty and confidence so effortlessly. I am sure, many women like me would connect to the brand as we share similar values.

The name of the company itself, Imperial-Since 9 generations, conveys credibility and trust to the customers as it is an established successful business with family values at its core. They have got the ‘Call To Action’ and the mandatory information on point too. The phone numbers, website and social media pages are mentioned to not miss out on the instant connection with the customer.

So here you go guys, this is why I love this AD. Any creative ideas and thoughts are always welcome, you know that 😀

Share your ideas. Share your love.  ❤ 🙂

P.S. Credit for 2nd image-https://fr.fotolia.com/tag/%22%C3%A0%20bient%C3%B4t%22

McCAFE AD

Hey you. The awesome one. Yes, YOU!

How you doin 😀

Yes, I know it’s been some time since I posted an interesting review of an interesting advertisement. As you may already experience this yourself, there is a LOT of trash out there, when it comes to advertisements.

Finding simple, impactful, straight-forward Ads, that create meaning is a rare find. That is why after searching for a long time, I present to you, our first Ad post of the year. WOOHOO!

Or do I say AHA!( You know like the big idea moment) 😉

This was a newspaper print Ad. It was published in Khaleej Times newspaper, in the Nation’s section on the top left hand corner.

While skimming through I didn’t quite understand, what it meant. Then as everything else in the world, a closer look and I got the answers. Picture is totally worth a gazillion words in this matter.

Single most persuasive idea: Get yourself to McCafe, we got WiFi and freshly brewed coffee.

Now,who doesn’t love the sound of that?

Key messages could be: ‘good quality coffee now being served by your favourite family brand’. ‘Swipe on your day to a quick and delicious start.’ ‘Being an adult is hard, but we got you covered.’ or even ‘Mmmmornings with McCafe, I’m lovin it.’

I get the objective could be to create more awareness about the coffee that McCafe serves.  I love how simplistic and to the point it is.

The green swipe suggesting an app being switched on, on the smart phone.

The color green really stands out. The color stands for growth, life, energy, nature etc. In context to this Ad, it could mean, replenishing your energy with freshly brewed coffee. Awakening growth in you.

Green also subconsciously persuades you, that you are making the correct decision, in comparison to a red suggesting danger or stop. The placement of the coffee cup also emphasizes those persuasive ideas.

The brand logo at the bottom corner, tells you everything that you need to know in order for you to make the next purchase. McCafe is by Mcdonalds. An established and well-loved brand by families for generations, that makes it easy for the audience to believe in this Ad and this new product.

So guys, this is what I think about this Ad. Share your ideas would love to know if you agree with me or even disagree ( Yes, I am open to disagreements too-they lead to newer perspectives)

Share your creativity. Share your love.

🙂 ❤

 

OATS POHA(SNACK/LUNCH)

Hello everyone!

How is everyone doing. It is the end of the first month of this new year.

How has it been for you guys? Any new changes or back to old comfortable me.

Me? Im hanging in between. There are days of positivity and energy and action.There are also days of serious procrastination, laziness and crankiness. Well sue me, I’m human. I got 50 shades of every emotion! 😀

Republic Day of India just happened. One of the days to be really proud and amazed at my country and roots and what it has to offer. Different states have different varieties of food. We have all experienced Indian Moghlai and Indian Punjabi cuisines, through dishes such as Chicken Tikka , Biryani , Samosas etc.

So I bring to you today a specialty from the Maharashtrian region, it is called OATS POHA.It is very  light, completely satisfying and might I add extremely delicious. Back in India, people eat it as a savoury breakfast.

So here we go.

TIME: 30 mins.

Serves 2-3 ppl.

INGREDIENTS:

1 1/2 cup Quaker Oats

Coconut Oil for cooking

1 tsp Mustard Seeds

1 Red Onion-chopped

1/4 cup Red Onion-chopped to use as toppings(Optional)

2 Green Chilies-chopped

1/2 cup Fresh Curry Leaves

A pinch of Asafoetida

1 big tsp of Dried Mango Powder(Amchur Powder)

1/2 tsp Dried Coriander Powder

1/4 cup Unsalted Peanuts-crushed

Juice of 1 lemon-to add before serving

Salt (optional)

Fresh chopped coriander for garnish (optional)

HOW TO PREPARE:

Take a non-stick pan. Add in the oil and on medium heat add in the mustard seeds and let them crackle. Add in the asafoetida and mix.

Add in the onions and cook them until light pink in color.

Next add in the chilies and curry leaves.

Add in the oats and the mango powder and coriander powder and salt. Mix well.

Add in the crushed peanuts and give it a mix. Take the pan off the heat, let it cool.

Just before serving, add in the lemon juice and chopped coriander. Mix and Enjoy.

Tip- you can roast the oats if you like, before adding them to the pan.

Take the Oats Poha for a light lunch or even as tiffin treats for the little one. It is a great pick for travel, as it is delicious and without the mess. Add it to your quirky adult lunch boxes and you are ready to go.

Share your love 🙂 ❤

P.S.-Credit for second image-https://www.alibaba.com/showroom/quaker-oats.html

 

 

MACCOLI (LUNCH/DINNER)

Hello wonderful people! May I say I am pleased to meet you in 2017 🙂

A new year filled with new possibilities, new chances and new outcomes. How many of you have made new year’s resolutions ? How many of you are STILL being able to follow them? If you are, kudos to you, you are very strong ! Me on the other hand, just like the others, gave up on the last day of the first week. (I am guilty but not charged -_-)

All is not lost my friends! Let us not give up, let us get stronger. The fact that we realise that maybe we are falling back to our old self,is a great start to something different. We just have to take a step back, look at our actions and distractions and make the necessary changes accordingly.

Trust me I am at that stage myself, fighting every second to make the better choice. For me it involves, eating healthier, fighting fear and anxiety , motivating myself to make choices that scream self-love and self-respect. What does it involve for you? 🙂

On that exciting note, let me present to you our first food post of 2017 YAY!! 

MACCOLI. It is a quirky name, I know. 😀 It is whole wheat delicious macaroni with spicy broccoli and garlic sauce on the side. Yummy, comfort food for the sort-of cold weather we have here in Dubai, with a little fiery kick. So here we go.

Serves 1

TIME TO PREPARE:

15 mins.

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup Whole Wheat Macaroni-cooked (You can use the brand that is easily available to you)

3/4 cup Broccoli-chopped into small florets (You can eat them raw or steamed- I used raw for a good crunch).

1 tbsp Dried Parsley

1/2 cup Jalapeno Chili-chopped

3/4 cup Black Olives-sliced

1 big tbsp Fresh Garlic Sauce-I bought it fresh from Spinneys’ supermarket. Point is it needs to be fresh, not the pre-packaged ones.

Salt(Optional)

A squeeze of Fresh Lemon Juice(Optional)

HOW TO PREPARE:

Once the macaroni is cooked. Strain it and keep aside. Let it cool for a few moments.

Take a bowl, add in all the ingredients including the macaroni.

Mix well and serve. Enjoy!

Great for lunches and dinners with family. Absolutely perfect for work.Just prepare it a night before or even in the morning and take it with you in a pretty lunch box or a grown-up bento box.Love those!  Happy 2017 once again!

Share your love.

🙂 ❤

 

P.S-Credit for second image-http://www.all-creatures.org/recipes/images/i-pasta-elbow.jpg