When I was in college I had a Japanese roommate.  Her family lived in Mentor, OH so she would go home on the weekends.  When she came back, she always came back with lots of different japanese food.  My favorite food she brought back were rice balls.  They were so yummy!  I have tried making them myself several times but they never tasted as good as hers did.  She introduced me to a lot Japanese food, including seaweed.  I don’t think I ever had seaweed before I met her.

Since college I have had a chance to try many different seaweeds.  Nori sheets, seaweed snacks, rice seasoning and dried seaweeds were some of my favorites ones.

In Japan, Korea and China, people have consumed seaweed for a very long time.  They have found versatile ways to eat them.  Wakame & Hijiki are often used in soups such as the miso soup or in salads.  Wakame & Hijiki is usually sold in dried form, and is soaked in water before usage.

When compared to plants that grow on land, sea vegetables are 10 to 20 times higher in vitamins, minerals and amino acids. Seaweed nutrition is found to be higher than land vegetables.  The Japanese variety Hijiki, and Wakame contain 10 times the calcium of milk. When compared to the iron available in beef, sea lettuce has 25 times more, Hijiki 8 times more, and Wakame and other kelps, four times more.  Seaweed is also a good source of protein, iodine, fiber and known to help fight allergies.  Today there is also a growing use of seaweed in spa treatments.

Today there is a growing use of powder kelp because of it’s multi dimensional benefits.   Kelp powder is also good for dogs & cats since it has high fiber content and is important for the proper function of the thyroid gland. It is recognized for anti-tumor, anti-inflammatory, and anti-rheumatic properties and also for its ability to cleanse the digestive tract, and prevent the absorption of toxic metals.  I have been giving my dogs powder kelp with their food on and off for over a year.  I have not used the ones specially made for dogs & cats but used the regular organic kelp powder.

I would like to share a few of my favorite seaweeds that I love to eat as a snack.  My favorite seaweed snack has sesame seeds and green tea.  I love to sprinkle them on my steamed white rice.  It is simple yet satisfying and I love it.  When I don’t feel good or I feel low or down it is one of my comfort food.

Couple of seaweed snacks that are appropriate for on the go that I love are by Being Blue & Haioreum companies.  If you are on the run these are perfect because they come in small trays and are bite size.  I take it with me while I am out and about.  They are convenient to carry around with you.  I love having snacks with me all the time and I know seaweed is always a healthy snack!  They are both from Korea and are delicious.

I see a growing use of seaweed all around me.  People are more aware of what’s out there and wanting healthier products to put in their bodies.  Seaweed in any form is a good thing!!  Any thoughts or tips, please share.

My third recommendation for shampoo bar is Swastik Shikakai soap, which is also from India.  I have not used this one myself but have heard great things about it.

I feel that we have come a full circle.  We started with shampoo bars and went to liquid shampoos and today we are seeing more and more shampoo bars. Over the last year or so I have completely given up using liquid shampoo and interchange between the Ancient Formulae shikakai soap & J.R. Liggett’s Herbal Soap.

Laundry bar is another thing we use in Nepal.  To this day everyone still uses handmade or machine made laundry soap.  Powder detergent is used only for soaking whites.  In most homes washer and dryer are not used in Nepal.  Women wash the dirty laundry by hand. Every Saturday you see courtyard full of women doing laundry.  We usually have a heaping pile of it and you start with all the whites first.  First you wet your dirty laundry in water bowl (large open bowls) and then you use your laundry soap on each piece of laundry.  Then you rub them to make sure all the dirt and grimes come off.  Then you wring it from that soapy bowl and pass them into another bowl.  There usually are 4-5 large bowls and buckets full of water that each piece of garment goes through.  When the water runs clean without any suds/bubbles (by the 5^th bucket) you wring it out and then put in a clean empty bucket.  So each piece of garment goes through this process and gets piled in a bucket.  Then they are hung on a cloth line for drying.  Doing laundry can go anywhere from 1-5 hours depending on the number of helping hands.  I loved doing laundry when I was growing up back home.

I would love to hear from you if you have a favorite shampoo bar that you use.

Fava bean, also known as Broad bean or horse bean is gaining popularity in the States.  In Nepal we call it Bakula.  It was one of the common beans in Nepal when I was growing up.  During my childhood I did not particularly like the smell or taste of this bean.  We cut them, with pods and cooked them with onion, potato, cumin and water.  I would say that the way we used to cook this dish was not very nutritional.  It was watered down and cooked too long even though it was pressure-cooked and served with white rice.  We also roasted the dry beans.  Women and girls loved all kinds of roasted beans.  To roast them you would put them in a hot wok and use a wooden spoon to stir.  Once they start getting darker you would start hearing “pop pop” noise which means the skin on them are splitting open.  When all of them split open they are done and ready to be eaten.  They were pretty hard to chew and your teeth and jaw got a workout, but growing up it sure was a fun and healthy snack.

Since I have been seeing these bean at a local market where I shop, I thought it was time for me to get out of my comfort zone and give them a try again.  So last few times I have been buying 6-7 pods at a time.  The ones that I grew up with were soft so we would eat the beans and the outer pods.  So when I brought these home I was not sure how I was going to cook them since they were huge and pods were tough & thick skinned.

Trial #1

I ended up taking them off the pods and tried quick sautéing them with chopped garlic in butter.  I had a good idea but then I left them in a cast iron pan covered for a little bit too long.  They had lost their green color by the time I got to them.

Trial #2

My second attempt was to steam them on high heat for a few minutes.  When I got them out they still had a really nice fresh green color on them.  So I took them off the pods and tried eating them.  They still did not taste good.  The beans themselves tasted tough.  Then I decided to take a layer of tough skin off these beans and tried the inside beans.  The picture above shows the ones with tough skins and some that have the skins pealed off.  Viola!  I loved them.  Yay!  They were tender and quite tasty.  I just eat them by themselves but you can also have them with a little bit of soy sauce or salt.

So I think fava beans will be one of the vegetables on my list to buy from now on.  These little guys are high in protein and dietary fiber, very low in fat, free of saturated fat and an excellent food source of many nutrients essential for human health, such as vitamins and minerals.

In recent years I have also been hearing a lot about fava bean flour.  Maybe because it is one of the main ingredients in Gluten Free all purpose baking flour.  Bob’s Red Mill makes Gluten-Free Garbanzo Fava Flour.  I have tried making pancakes with this flour.  It is quite heavy and has a distinct smell even when using banana and vanilla.  If you attempt to make pancakes please replace only ¼ portion of the flour with this flour.  You can use Sorghum flour for the rest to create a Gluten Free breakfast.  The key is also to have your eggs separated and then beating the egg whites until fluffy.  This will help pancake to be not too flat and heavy.  Please look for my whole-wheat pancakes and some variation on this recipe that I will be posting soon.

Growing up with Henna (Mehandi)!

When my sisters and I were little girls painting henna on our hands was a very exciting event.  Girls of all ages loved painting their hands and the tops of their feet.  It was like girls pretending to be princesses and dressing up here in the states.  We loved it because it’s something the grown-up women did. If there was a wedding usually all the women involved tried pampering themselves with henna painting.  Just like painting your nails the challenge came after that.  They could not get their hands or feet wet for as long as possible to let it absorb & soak into their skin.  It was serious business to get your hands painted.  But as a kid, once it started of course you had to go to the bathroom, you were hungry, or you had itchy nose, etc.  I could never keep henna on for too long.

As little girls we would go to distance to make sure that the henna we have will turn really dark.  There was a belief that the white stuff forms on wet brick walls (efflorescence) would make henna really dark.  So my sisters and I would go on little adventures looking for wet and dark places to scrape off efflorescence and then put it in the mix of henna.  I don’t think it helped one bit but at the time we believed it did.

Even today when I get together with my younger sister we paint our hands.  It’s fun to go back and remember the old days.  I am lucky that my sister is an artist and does a really good job with painting our hands.  There are books online to learn the art.

Now that I am one of those grown-up women I have learned some good tricks of making henna dark. When mixing henna use coffee or tea water instead of plain water and some lemon/lime juice (pulp removed).  Then mix equal part lemon juice and sugar in a bowl (tablespoon each should do it) in a separate bowl and set aside.  Once your henna starts to dry on your hand apply this sugar & lemon mixture with a cotton ball.  Apply it generously.  When this mixture starts to dry, pieces of henna might come off.  Try not wetting your hands to allow for maximum absorption.  The sugar/lemon mixture helps intensify the richness of the color.  It is best to apply henna around dinner time so that you can leave it on your hands overnight.  Before going to sleep you can scrape off dry henna without washing your hands (rubbing your hands together should get most of it off) so that it does not get all over your bed.

How to color your own hair with henna!   

Application of henna on hair can be a messy business.  Here is my version of the process that I learned from my sister-in-law to help you get started.  Make sure you have plenty of time when starting this process.  The process below is for short hair.  You might need to increase henna and water as needed.

Supplies:

(1) metal bowl for mixing
(1) cup henna
(1) cup of hot water
(1) tbsp Instant coffee
 juice of (1) lime
(1) egg yolk
(1) spoon
(1) hair dye brush or 1″ wide paint brush
(1) hand towel
(1) shower cap
(1) pair of latex gloves
(3) hours of patience!

Mixing:

• Mix instant coffee with hot water and let it cool.
• Place henna in a metal bowl
• Mix with coffee water as needed
• Mix well.
• Add egg yolk & lime juice
• Mix together.  Mixture should have a consistency of gravy (not too runny).  If you did not use all of your henna mix you can store it in a mason jar and leave it in the refrigerator until the next time.  It keeps very well.

Leave henna mixture alone for at least an hour before applying it on.   The longer you leave it the better it is.

Preparation:

• Wash your hair to make sure it is free of oil and conditioner.
• Make sure your hair is dry before applying henna.
• Wear something that can get messy.  A tank top would do.
• When ready stand in front of your bathroom mirror with a henna   mix and dye brush or a paint brush.

Application:

1. Starting from left side of your temple, take a little bit of hair at a time in your fingers and paint henna on them.
2. To ensure you get all the roots/gray use your brush on the scalp as you go.
3. After you finish painting, move the brush forward, backward and repeat until all hair and scalp are completely covered.  This process takes anywhere from 30 – 60 minutes.
4. It is nice if you have someone who can help apply henna on your hair.  I usually do my own.
5. When done wrap a wet hand towel (wrung out thoroughly) on your head as best as you can and cover it with a shower cap.  Keeping henna moist seems to help absorb color better.
6. Keep this for at least 3 hours.  By the end of 3 hours your head will feel pretty heavy and cold.
7. To avoid that I usually spend some time out in the sun reading or working in the yard.  I have known people leaving henna on their hair all day to maximize the color absorption.
8. When ready rinse under the faucet in the bathtub first.
9. You can shampoo or use hair soap after rinsing.

Also it is always a good idea to massage your hair and scalp with warm coconut or olive oil every few weeks to stop from getting dry.

After I came to the States 20 years ago I started using Nice’n’Easy on my hair about every couple of months.  For 15+ years I used these products on my hair.  As I became more health concious I decided to go back to using more natural products to cover my gray and I am so glad did.  Because of henna I am now not nauseated when I color my hair and my house does not smell of chemicals.  However henna does have a smell some people might enjoy.  My 6 six year old son runs away and hides in his room every time I color my hair because he really does not like the smell of henna.  My sister-in-law Nida inspired me to start using henna again.  It is funny how you forget the simple things from your childhood or heritage.  Maybe it is less about forgetfulness and more about abandonment in this world of convenience over awareness.

I would love to hear if you  have any henna tips or tricks.  I would also love your feedback on this article as well.

When I first came to this country I remember disliking Avocados but today I can’t live without them.  Following is my version of a delicious Guacamole.

Guacamole

3 ready to use Avocados
½ red small – medium red onion (diced finely)
1 roma tomato (diced)
4-5 sprigs of cilantro (chopped)
Juice of 1-2 limes*
½ tsp cumin
1 tsp salt (or to taste)
2-3 Jalapeno peppers (seeded & finely diced)

1.  Cut avocados in half and remove pits (put them aside)
2.  Smash avocados with a spoon
3.  Add rest of the ingredients in a bowl with avocados
4.  Mix them well.
5.  Add the seeds back in the mix of guacamole**

*Note:  I like the taste of lime so I tend to put a lot of lime juice in mine
**Note:  Avocado seeds help guacamole from turning fast.  For some reason it preserves the color and freshness.