Healthy Kale Sabzi

Everybody these days know the benefits of Kale so I am not going to talk about it. I have an awesome healthy recipe to share here. Anybody who has eaten it once has asked for the recipe so I thought why not list it out 🙂 This is a perfect combo for Rice n Fish curry -or- Rice n dal/Sambhar.

Kale Sabzi

kaleSabzi

Step 1: Get the below ingredients:

              2 cups of shredded Kale ( I prefer buying the whole kale to shred and use the stalk )

 

              3 tablespoons of shredded coconut ( optional but I think it’s a great taste maker)

              1 Onion ( sometime I replace it with swiss chard stalks and it’s even more yummy)

              2 teaspoons of oil ( I use Canola oil)

              spices as per your taste – Turmeric powder , Chilli powder

salt as per your taste

              1 Green chillies (optional)

              a few curry leaves (optional)

mustard seeds (optional)

Step 2: Put all your ingredients in a bowl.

Step 3: Add your spices and salt.

Step 4: Mix everything nicely with a fork or your clean hand. Make sure every kale bit gets mixed with spices.

Step 5: Heat a pan and add two teaspoons of oil and sprinkle some mustard seeds . After the mustard seeds splutter, add your kale mix.

Step 6: That’s it, saute your Kale mix and take it off the stove after a few minutes. I like to eat it crunchy so I try not to overcook it. Enjoy it with dal n rice or fish curry n rice.

 

Drops of water make a mighty ocean

Super excited to say that in the year 2015, Bollycardi generated $683 for some really good causes. Primarily, funds were donated to my favorite NGO Prajwala (an anti-trafficking organization) and rest were directed to relief work for Nepal Earthquake, Syria refugees, and Chennai floods.

This is my second year and I am always anxiously waiting for the year end to calculate the total fund raised by Bollycardi and shout it out. Being vocal about this endeavor kind of keeps me on track and hopefully will influence a couple more to join this path 🙂 Slowly and steadily , heading in the right direction. My gratitude to my family and friends who have encouraged and supported me in this endeavor.

Target: To raise 100k for legitimate NGOs /relief funds.

As of Dec 2015:

BollycardiFundraiser_2015

 

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Flashmob at India-fest 2014

I think fitness is the best accessory any person could have under their belt that money can never buy.

So, the good news is that you don’t need to spend money to be fit but all it takes is attitude. Summer , Winter, Fall…could be any season, your soul deserves to live in a healthy body and that is the reason everybody should go hug fitness for life.

Anyways, besides smartphones, I think this generation’s biggest phenomenon has been technology
enabling people to come together to form users group or just form a group to talk about a topic. Thank God for platforms like Facebook, Meetup, Whatsapp and so many more, that has allowed millions of folks like me who can gettogether virtually or for real.

So I was indeed looking for groups where people talk more about being healthy and aspire to be fit
forever. Yes indeed, found an amazing group called Fit n Fab on Facebook that had people like me who aspire to be fit for all seasons. Innumerable posts about fitness and local events related to being fit and healthy.

To top the chart, we, the members of Fit n Fab, did a surprise flashmob (kinda) at India Fest 2014.
We had so much fun dancing and sending the message to folks at India fest to be fit, fabulous, and be happy. We danced for the song ‘Happy’ by Pharell which was choreographed by jai Kirankumar and group.
Fab fun time with friends and family….here is a glimpse of it

 

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Seven things about Bolly-cardiate

It’s been a few months since Bolly-cardiate is launched and I have to say that it has been the most learning experience of my life. Loving to dance and a flavor for fitness is one thing and creating a fitness program and selling it is another story.

I never understood why people spent so much time marketing and advertising products at least Bollycardi_7 things_3not until I myself had a product to sell. I could clearly see the difference with the tiny bit of marketing I have done so far. More marketing – more turnout is the simplest mantra I have understood . People love a product but it is so important that they keep seeing it again and again to remember it and to get back to it.

Anyways, I wanted people to visit my website and take a few things from it for sure. So, I decided to list out the top seven things that anybody should know about Bolly-cardiate.

1. Three exercise section : Yes, Bolly-cardiate is not just about dancing to sweat-out. It has a few other elements like floor exercise for abs &obliques and breathing exercise for stress release.

2.Intermediate level of exercise: Even though it is a beginner’s program, it provides a mid-intensity cardio . Sounds conflicting but the theory is that all songs are danced with three to four dance cardio steps so it’s easy to catch up but could provide intermediate level of exercise. Amount of calories burnt will be different from person to person. Depending on their weight and how they dance it out really matters.

3.Catered to women’s fitness need: Not being biased here but as a women myself I was looking for a fitness program that would have some cardio, some ab exercise and something to get me stress-free. Especially after a baby, ab exercise took the highest priority for me . Do I need something to release my stress? Yes yes….after working for eight hours in the IT field, getting back to cooking and managing a preschooler sure creates enough stress . I needed something to zone me off and bring back the equilibrium.

4. For Dance lovers: Actually exclusively for Bollywood dance lovers. Dancing to the popular tunes of Bollywood music does make your brain release the happy chemicals. I can say that with my own experience..after a Bolly-cardiate session I feel super positive and feel just happy. You will not realize that you are working out, but you would get just about the amount of cardio you need.

5. Partial non-profit: Technically there is nothing called partial non- profit:) What it means though is that fifty percent of profit generated from Bolly-cardiate will be donated for a good cause. Like they say don’t count your chickens before they hatch, it is probably foolish to say something like this before making money. Anyways, the fact of the matter is that the intentions are  good and one should keep trying 🙂

6. Free recorded videos: At this point, Bolly-cardiate is being scheduled twice a week or so. For folks who want to practice Bolly-cardiate other days would have recorded videos as a resource to do it at home.

7. Mind-body fitness: The three exercise sections of Bolly-cardiate is meant to maintain mind and body at its best. Most of the diseases these days are linked to stress and it is very important to relieve yourself of stress to be happy and healthy.

 

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Yaaayy..Bolly-cardiate is launched!!

My first Bolly-cardiate class with my girls gave me tons of satisfaction today.

In 60s today in Eden Prairie, may be a sign from the Spring fairy to do a shubh aarambh(good start) . So it was an awesome start….my confidence soaring up high towards the sky:)

Many more classes to follow and much more fun in the coming.

With a big smile…Julie

 

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