Breakfast Only on Weekends

In my house breakfast is only made on weekends.  We have a house guest this weekend so I've been cooking up a storm.  Thursday dinner was Hawaiian style short ribs, veggie stir fry and rice.  Yesterday lunch we had chicken fried rice made with the leftover rice from dinner.  Dinner last night was meatballs and spaghetti.  And for breakfast I made omelets and bacon.  I should probably start thinking about what's for dinner....but oh well, I blog instead!  

The omelets were Mohlajee style.  What's a Mohlajee omlet you ask...well, its one made with Mohlajee masala! (Also known as Garam Masala)  For party favors at our wedding, my husband I decided to do spice jars filled with seasonings since we both love to cook.  Mine was called Mohlajee Masala and contained a homemade blend of garam masala while my husbands was called Lowry Seasoning ( you know like the brand Lawry's) and contained a spice rub for ribs he likes to use.  We got the spice jars at Cost Plus and tied a recipe to each one using ribbon.  The labels were designed by my nephew and printed at home.  I was cheap and frugal for my wedding even.

So to make a Mohlajee Omelet you'll need eggs, garam masala, onions, jalepeno, bell pepper, and whatever other veggies you'd like to add.  Mushrooms, tomatoes, italian squash are all great options.

Finely dice the veggies, you can decide how much you want to add.  Fry the onions in butter or olive oil if your health conscious like most of my family.  Add in the rest of the veggies and saute for a little bit (maybe a minute on medium).  Beat egg(s) in small bowl add salt and pepper to your liking and pour into frying pan with the veggies.  Let it cook for a bit then sprinkle with garam masala.  If your fancy like me do the tri-fold when almost cooked through and then flip or if you prefer just flip over and cook the other side.  

If you are wondering where you can find garam masala I would try your local grocery store if you live in an area with lots of Indian folks as it probably has an Indian foods section.  If not, then you may have to google where your local Indian store is or buy it online.  Its a very versatile spice mixture commonly used in North Indian cuisine.  

Dress: Nordstrom Rack~ Purple sweater dress with flower things- $20
Tank Top: Gap~Neon green tank top-$7
Jeggings: Target-$22
Boots: Ross-Aerosoles Knee high black boots-$20
Coat: Thrift Town: Bebe Fushia Trench Coat-$20
Approximate Total Cost-$89

Hope everyone is enjoying their weekend!  I know I am! My blog reached crossed 3,000 hits today! Woohoo!  Yes, I'm a little obsessive about checking the stats, but I really do find statistics interesting.

What to do with all those wedding cards...

Make an scrapbook album of course!

WARNING: I am NOT a "scrapbooker". I did not buy fancy stickers and stuff to put in it however,I may have indulged in a book of pretty paper that was on sale. I simply cut up the cards cause they had their own pretty designs, cartoons and decorations and glued them to pages. Sometimes I needed to photo copy the notes from guests to include as they were written on the backside of the pretty stuff. Other times it required careful deconstruction of the card by taking apart different layers. I tried to pair up similar looking designs or buy type of guests...grouping together related family members or close friends. Anyway, here is the result.

The cover is actually a card sent by my relatives in England. The card came in its own box and actually had several large pages inside and confetti!  I just love the art deco style of the card and the little details like the lace print down the left side and embedded rhinestones. 

The first page has a card signed by many of our friends at a picnic we had before the wedding.  The picnic was to celebrate my recent graduation and our upcoming wedding.

I just loved this peacock! I hate birds but make exceptions for peacock designs and penguin everything.

Love all the pale pink on this page and the contrasting green background!

One of my favorite card designs.

Just love the flowers going down this card.

Just thought I'd share what I did with my box of wedding cards!  Maybe it'll inspire someone to dig out their box and re-purpose them into something new. I had thought about adding photos to the scrapbook but decided my bright colorful Indian wedding clashed with the white and light colored designs of most wedding cards, but I imagine it could go quite well with a traditional American wedding.

Ist Wedding Anniversary

Wishing my dear husband a happy 1st wedding anniversary! <Insert mushy romantic heartfelt feelings here> Though seriously, I can't believe its been a year!

I enjoyed planing, shopping and creating decorations for my wedding so much. Today's post is a photo flashback of those days (yes, I had a big multi-day Indian wedding)

First and foremost, my dress:

Lengha-Sari Palace in Berkeley-$1000

My wedding lengha I purchased at the Sari Palace in Berkeley.  They had the blouse custom made for me. The original blouse paired with this skirt was a hideous yellow and gold sleeveless thing and looked terrible with my skin tone.  We decided to get the blouse done in the green shade found on the lace on the bottom of the skirt.  I think the combination is beautiful, but a little watermelon like.  The amount of beading and embroidery is pretty minimal for an Indian wedding lengha, but I don't normally go for bling so it suited me perfectly.  Also, lenghas can get pretty heavy with lots of work on them so I was looking for something light.(I was a lot skinner then :P)  The embroidery and beading is on tulle while the undershirt is a satin type material. The blouse portion is a raw silk material.  This lengha is by far the most expensive clothing I own but compared to what people seem to spend on wedding dresses on "Say Yes to the Dress" I think i came out with a bargain.

The jewelery was bought by my aunts in India. I hardly ever wear jewelry and having so much on was quite uncomfortable.  Getting all those bangles on to my wrist was just plain excruciating.  They bought a size too small thinking I had given them the wrong information.  My hands are not petitie nor do the fold easily!

 

My shoes were from Nordstrom rack.  I don't remember the brand nor the price but if i had to guess they were likely 25-30 bucks.  My wedding ceremony was outdoors and the aisle on grass so it was important to me to get wedges so not to fall.

Did I mention there were multiple outfits?

Reception:

Reception Sari-Turquoise silk Benarsi sari~$600 when you convert from Rupies

I absolutely loved my reception sari and how the red and white bangles contrasted with the color.  The sari was purchased for me in India by my aunts on my mom's side.  Lots of Indian brides will take a shopping trip to India before there wedding.  I saved on airfare and outsourced the shopping duties to my extended family in India.  I like when other people buy clothes for me as it brings more variety into my wardrobe.

Sangeet:

A sangeet is a singing and dancing party to celebrate and kickoff the wedding events.

 

Sangeet Lengha-Meena Bazaar in New Delhi-~$300

Jewelry-Some store in Artesia, CA ~$100

Me, dancing like crazy.  Had to get all the movement out of me before the Mehndi the next day.

Mehndi:

The green suit I wore as a dress was purchased at a sari shop in Sunnyvale, CA...not sure the name of it.   I think it was around 80-100 bucks.

I did my makeup myself for all the events.  I don't normally wear makeup and before the wedding didn't own anything.  I made several trips to the mall trying out different brands and getting mini makeovers.  I was able to learn some techniques for applying makeup and what shades looked nice on me.  I ended up liking Bobby Brown makeup and purchased quite a few things which I still use if I'm going out somewhere nice.