India's Very Own Vegetarian Village

Inspired by Amirim, a vegetarian village in Israel, businessman S. Krishnachand Chordia founded a vegetarian village in Tamil Nadu, India. Read this inspiring article here. 

Things We Can All Learn From Animals

A good read from MindBodyGreen.com :)

Vegetarians in the UK offered cheaper life insurance

An insurance agency in the UK now offers cheaper life insurance to vegetarians, according to an article in the Daily Mail. Makes it a pretty good incentive to be vegetarian, when there are physicians who actually discourage you from sticking to a vegetarian diet. Hmm, I wonder how long it will take for this to catch on in Asia (if ever)?

My First North-Indian Lunch

It's rare when I post twice a week on this blog, but I couldn't resist bragging about my first home-cooked North Indian lunch :) It took me just under an hour, but I did it! I haven't been cooking for awhile now and I'd forgotten how peaceful the process makes me feel. Links to recipes are below, if you want to give these dishes a go:

Kothu Paratha Recipe 
Palak Paneer Recipe
Coriander and Mint Raita Recipe 

Happy cooking (and of course, eating!)

Clockwise (from left): Palak paneer, kothu paratha and coriander and mint raita

Six Foods To Help You Focus

Although I'm an advocate of single-tasking, there are instances when even I am forced to multi-task. In such cases, I know that I have to focus on two things at one time. (At the time of writing, I'm listening to my favourite radio station while writing this post). Multi-tasking requires intense focus, which sometimes escapes me for reasons only the universe can explain. Which is why this article by MindBodyGreen.com gave me a jolt of reality: food is the answer! The reason I can't focus very well sometimes is because I'm missing out on foods that help me focus. For you lazies who don't want to read the whole article, I've listed the six foods cited in the article: 

1) Berries

2) Whole grains- such as oatmeal, quinoa and barley

3) Omega 3-rich foods such as walnuts, flax seed and chia seeds

Note: Here's a quick recipe for getting enough Omega-3 from Patrick Holford's "Optimum Nutrition": Grind 100g respectively of flax seed, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, almonds and sunflower seeds and mix. Store in the fridge to prevent mixture going rancid. Consume 1 tablespoon of this mixture every day (I like mine in smoothies and with my meals).

4) Leafy greens

5) Caffeine

6) Foods rich in nitric oxide, such as cayenne pepper, jalapenos, dark chocolate and beets