The Paint Job & Lunch

 After nearly seven years of us moving into our new apartment in the same street as our old (we had our old apartment for almost nine years) we decided to get the place painted and polished to cheer us and our spirits. I have been suffering quietly for quite some time when it came to cleaning our open balconies especially at the rear.

 I do not have a domestic help by choice and I do all the work on my own which I prefer and am passionate about.

 I do not have a nine to five job to run to, no deadlines other than the ones I keep for my family. I retired recently after my nineteen years as a home tutor so now am home most of the time home bound and work from home. I do miss having my students around me and being the child that I actually am with them.

I sell a few of my rustic bakes to known friends or family on my food page on FB. I also string beads and sell that from another Fcebook page of mine C'est La Vie.
 But this March-April before the new academic year began, I had to comply to a few requests that demanded my presence with my family. The students would take all my time and their schedules were mine! So it was difficult to run off or pack off for a holiday with the husband. So after a great deal of brain washing from his side and some melodrama, I finally relented!

The guy did have a valid point. Age has taught me to agree with him before he pulls out any more melodramas with that puppy faced sad eyes, Gosh! love that fella!

Whenever I clean those balconies, I end up finding loads of rat excreta or pigeons nesting and the works. This happens more when I return from these so called lightning holidays, Okay so now I was in a position to get the husband to literally do anything for me in return for making me quit my tutoring, "tit for tat" is never my policy but at this juncture, I was tired of these animals ruling my life.
In your mid forties, you are not as energetic as you were in your twenties or thirties with an over worked brain or brain storming on how to trap a rat or shoo away a nesting pigeon with an egg or two. At this age you want easy solutions! I have run out of patience! Hormones I say!!!

So he finally agreed that whenever we do paint our home, we would close these open windows such that I could slide open the windows whenever I desired. To all the Jerry Mouses/Mice , I stick out my tongue at you...My man's on my side and is my knight in shinning armour right now!

So that's the paint work happening at home and some minor renovations. I continue to make our meals at home despite the massive dust and paint at home. I would wake up earlier than usual and prepare a few veggie dishes and rice to suit both our tastes. Hence, I am literally off my personal food page for a while as well on Face Book. I do try to update a recipe or a restaurant review almost on a daily basis but I know with the work happening at home and painter brothers all over the place, taking pictures and conceptualizing them all would take the back burner right now.

 I just clicked this when the guys went out for lunch. That's their paint smeared ladder. Does make a good backdrop though! They promise to give me back my kitchen today...am keeping my fingers crossed. So these two simple dishes were what I made for lunch. I already had yesterday's left over rasam. Made some fresh rice. Pressure cooked some green Moong dal until it became quite soft.

In a saucepan, saute a finely chopped onion in a tbsp. of coconut oil, a few garlic pods, some cumin seeds, a pinch of turmeric and once the diced onions become translucent, add to it some frozen peas or fresh peas and let that merge well. Once that cooks through, add salt to taste followed by the cooked moong dal.Toss it all about. You can garnish with a handful of grated coconut. I was out of coconut hence refrained from that. A wholesome meal rich in protein. If you want you can add a tsp. of cumin powder as well!

The second dish was a stir fry. I had Brussels sprouts at home, roughly chopped them up as well along with a carrot and an onion and sauteed them in a tbsp. of olive oil, salt and pepper. Once that cooked through, that went as a side dish to our rice. I love such crunchy veggies as sides for our lunch.

Please excuse the lame cell phone uploads as well as  the dishes they were served in. That is how I placed them without adding on more plates to wash later on. We just had them from the same one pot in which I cooked the dish,