7 ways to “Be happy”

Hello all you happy people. I hope you all are doing great. Today I am going to share with you my views about “Being Happy”

Before writing this article, I went around asking few of my friends and colleagues what made them happy. I got varied answers ranging from enjoying with friends to doing what they love to getting surprised and so on. Some even remarked that making others happy made them happy. Some of my friends didn’t even bother to reply to my messages. I think that is their idea of being happy. Sorry I am just being sarcastic.

So friends here I present to you some of my tips to “Be Happy”

1. Do what you love – This is the sure shot mantra of being happy. If you are busy with something that you love doing, you are bound to be happy. I have seen so many people those who are frustrated with their job. Happiness is short lived for such people. So it’s always better to do what you love than being stuck up with something that you don’t enjoy.

2. Be optimistic – I know it's hard to look at the positive side of any situation, especially when the situation is not that good. But if you try to be an optimistic, you will be happier.

3. Learn to let go of the past – Let go of the past, live in the present and hope for a happier future. These are three easy steps to being happy. You need to remind yourself “Come what may, I am going to be strong and happy”

4. Enjoy little things in life – I believe that money can’t buy all the happiness in this world. Of course it can buy you stuff that you love [Did anyone hear me say lip glosses & nail polishes (wink)]. But there are some little pleasures like dancing in the rain or watching a baby laugh and many more things that can make you happy. I am a child at heart so little things make me happy.

5. Surround yourself with positive and happy people – Just as a rotten apple can rot all the other apples in a basket, an unhappy person can make everyone else feel pathetic and unhappy. So why take chances, better be with a happy and crazy person. You can’t be anything but happy when you are with a bunch of crazy friends :D

6. Smile more often – Life isn’t always sunshine and rainbows. Everybody has some bad days but smiling never hurt anybody. I always say that a smile can change your life. Smiling can’t solve your problems, but it surely does give you strength to face those problems. So please do smile in order to be happy.

7. Chocolates – Yes my dear friends, it’s scientifically proven that chocolates make you feel happy. So the next time you are unhappy, just grab some chocolates and eat away as much happiness as you can (wink). Happiness increases by leaps and bounds if you share it, so I don’t mind getting a piece or even the whole box of happiness from you, my dear friend :D

So friends these are some of my tips to be happy. If you have some more tips, please do share them in the comments. Also I would like to know what makes you all happy.

Goodbye my dear friends and I will see you soon. Until then Keep Smiling. Please do follow my blog, like the facebook page. (https://www.facebook.com/pages/A-Happy-Girl/292903830872974?ref_type=bookmark) and follow me on twitter (https://twitter.com/A_Happy_Girl2) as well as on Google Plus. If you have any suggestions or questions, please comment below.

Herbal Face Pack

Hello beautiful people. Today I have an herbal face pack to share with you all. If you have an acne prone skin or if you have acne marks, dark spots, etc. just try this out. So let’s get started.

Ingredients:

1. Multani Mitti

2. 25-30 Neem leaves

3. 15 Tulsi leaves

4. 10 Mint leaves

5. ½ cup Water

Procedure:

1. Boil the mint, tulsi and neem leaves in ½ cup water for around 7-10 minutes. You need to cool this water to use it for the face pack.

You can store this water in an air tight Glass container, in refrigerator for around 10-15 days.

2. Take 1 tbsp. of multani mitti & add the water to it. Adjust the consistency of the pack as per your choice.

3. Apply this pack on your face and neck & leave it until it dries. Then take it off using lukewarm water.

The basic ingredients used in this pack are neem, tulsi and mint leaves. All of these are absolutely amazing for oily, acne prone skin. These ingredients help to treat dark spots as well as aid in skin lightning. And if you want that youthful glow, then this is just the right thing for you.

So friends if you decide to try out this face pack, do let me know in the comments down below. Goodbye my dear friends and I will meet you next week. Until then Keep Smiling. Please do follow my blog, like the facebook page. (https://www.facebook.com/pages/A-Happy-Girl/292903830872974?ref_type=bookmark) and follow me on twitter (https://twitter.com/A_Happy_Girl2) as well as on Google Plus. If you have any suggestions or questions, please comment below.

Healthy Eggless Cake (in pressure cooker)

Hello all you healthy people. This is my first article of 2015 so I decided to share with you a healthy sweet option (Kuch Meetha Ho Jaaye). Without further ado let’s get started.

Ingredients:

1. ½ cup whole wheat flour (atta)

2. 2-3 tbsp. cocoa powder

3. 1 tbsp. baking powder

4. 1 tsp. butter or ghee

5. 1/3 cup dates

6. Pinch of baking soda

7. Milk (1+4 tbsp.)

8. Water (1/3 cup + 2 tbsp.)

9. Chocolate chips (as per your taste)

10. Peanut butter (optional)

11. Pinch of salt (optional)

You will also need sand to bake the cake in the pressure cooker.

Procedure:

1. Soak the dates in 1/3 cup water and 1 tbsp. milk for about half an hour. And then puree it in a blender.

2. Mix all the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl.

3. Add pureed dates and ghee.

4. Slowly add milk and water until the mixture turns semi solid. (I added 4 tbsp. milk & 2 tbsp. water)

5. Grease the vessel with ghee and flour.

6. Add the prepared mixture to it. You can add chocolates chips on the top.

 

7. Fill the pressure cooker (use aluminium one for this recipe) with sand until the whole bottom is covered. Place the plate on the top of it as shown.

8. Place the lid on it. Don’t use the rubber gasket and the whistle.

9. Heat the cooker on high flame for 5-7 minutes.

10. Place the vessel in the cooker and let it cook on low flame for around 45 minutes to 1 hour. (Insert a toothpick into the cake after 45 minutes. If it comes out clean then the cake is cooked. If not then let it cook longer.) And then your cake is ready to satisfy your sweet tooth.

So friends I hope you like this recipe. If you give it a try, let me know in the comments below. Goodbye my dear friends and I will see you soon. Until then Keep Smiling. Please do follow my blog, like the facebook page. (https://www.facebook.com/pages/A-Happy-Girl/292903830872974?ref_type=bookmark) and follow me on twitter (https://twitter.com/A_Happy_Girl2) as well as on Google Plus. If you have any suggestions or questions, please comment below.

New Year Resolutions

Hello all you happy people. I hope you all are doing great. New Year is just around the corner. So why don’t you & I, like many other people make a few easy New Year resolutions. So here we go.

1. Smile more – Yes my dear friends I truly believe that a smile can change your life. Well not only your life but it can change someone else’s life as well. So go ahead and flash your pearls more often :D

2. Start a healthy lifestyle – Not only starting but maintaining a -body, it will love you. And healthy lifestyle is the way to a healthy mind as well.

3. Exercise more – If you want to maintain a healthy lifestyle then exercising is very important. Take time out of your busy schedule and go for a jog or a walk, join yoga class, dance class, in short anything that gets your body working :D

4. Spread more love – Spreading love is equivalent to spreading happiness. The three magical words I LOVE YOU are very precious. Use them as much as you can.

5. Gain more knowledge – Knowledge stays with you forever. So follow Baba Rancho and just gain knowledge from wherever you can.

6. Make new friends – Meeting new people is always fun. People come into as blessings or lessons. In order to experience both, make new friends.

7. Enjoy every moment – This is my sure shot mantra to be ‘A HAPPY GIRL’. Enjoy every moment of your life because only moments stay with you for lifetime. Enjoy every moment of your life and you will be happy.

So friends here are some of my New Year resolution suggestions. If you decide to include some of them in your list, do let me know in the comments below. If you have any more suggestions, do let me know in the comments below. I hope you all have an amazing, healthy and happy New Year. Thanks for reading.

Goodbye and I will see you soon. Until then Keep Smiling. Please do follow my blog, like the facebook page. (https://www.facebook.com/pages/A-Happy-Girl/292903830872974?ref_type=bookmark) and follow me on twitter (https://twitter.com/A_Happy_Girl2) as well as on Google Plus. If you have any suggestions or questions, please comment below.

Peanut Butter Chocolates

Hello my happy friends. I hope you all are doing great. Today I am going to share with you my peanut butter chocolate recipe. I have a sweet tooth so why not satisfy my sweet cravings in a healthy way. So let’s dive into this yummy recipe.

Ingredients:

1. Peanut Butter

2. 175-200 grams Dark or semi-sweet chocolate/chocolate chips

3. Nuts of your choice (grated or chopped)

4. 1- 1 ½ tbsp. Milk

 

Procedure:

1. Set up a double boiler as seen in the pic.

 

2. Add half of the dark chocolate & milk to it. Let the chocolate melt.

3. Line a box with aluminum foil as shown.

4. Add the melted chocolate to it & let it sit in the freezer for 30 minutes.

5. Then add a layer of peanut butter and freeze it for 1 hour.

6. Finally melt the remaining half of the chocolate in the double boiler & add it over the top of peanut butter. 

7. Add the nuts on the top. Cut it into pieces.

 

8. Let this freeze in the freezer for around 2 hours. And then this healthy yummy chocolates are ready to satisfy your sweet cravings.

So friends I hope you like this simple sweet recipe. If you decide to try it out, tell me in the comments below. Goodbye my dear friends and I will see you soon. Until then Keep Smiling. Please do follow my blog, like the facebook page. (https://www.facebook.com/pages/A-Happy-Girl/292903830872974?ref_type=bookmark) and follow me on twitter (https://twitter.com/A_Happy_Girl2) as well as on Google Plus. If you have any suggestions or questions, please comment below.

DIY Lipbalm

Hello beautiful people. I hope you all are doing great. Winter has just arrived. And for me & many other girls winter is synonymous with chapped lips :D. So today I have an easy DIY lipbalm recipe to share with you all because nobody loves a chapped pout :D. So let’s get started.

Ingredients:

1. 1 spoon Vaseline

2. 3 spoons coconut oil

3. 1 spoon olive oil/castor oil

4. 1 ½ - 2 crayons

5. Few drops of food flavoring

You will also need a glass container.

Procedure:

1. Break the crayons and put them in the glass container. You can even mix 2 colored crayons, I mixed purple and pink to get mauve color.

2. Add Vaseline, coconut oil, olive/castor oil.

3. Put this vessel in a double boiler as shown and turn on the heat.

4. You need to keep stirring the mixture until everything is mixed well.

5. Finally add few drops of food flavoring and turn off the heat.

6. Store this in plastic bottles or in empty lipbalm/lipstick cases. Let it sit in freezer for around 2 hours. And then your lipbalm is ready to treat your chapped lips.

So friends I hope you like this easy DIY Lipbalm recipe. If you decide to try this out. Let me know in the comments below how it works for your pout.Goodbye my dear friends and I will see you tomorrow. Until then Keep Smiling. Please do follow my blog, like the facebook page. (https://www.facebook.com/pages/A-Happy-Girl/292903830872974?ref_type=bookmark) and follow me on twitter (https://twitter.com/A_Happy_Girl2) as well as on Google Plus. If you have any suggestions or questions, please comment below.

P.S.: Crayons contain very less chemicals as they are used by little kids. So they are safe to be used in making a lipbalm.

Tofu masala

Hello all you healthy people. I hope you all are doing great. Today I have a healthy gravy vegetable recipe for you. The gravy is generalized in the sense that you can pair it with your favorite vegetable. I decided to go for tofu as it is a little healthier substitute for panner and I am a paneer lover :D. So let’s get started.

Ingredients:

1. 1 cup diced tofu or any other vegetable of your choice

2. 1 tsp. oil

3. ¼ tbsp. kasoori methi

4. ½ tsp. cumin (jeera) powder

5. ¼ tbsp. garam masala

6. ¼ tbsp. turmeric powder (haldi)

7. ¼ tbsp. coriander powder

8. ½ tsp. Chili powder (or as per your taste)

9. ½ tsp. lemon juice

10. 1 medium sized Tej patta

11. Pinch of cinnamon powder

12. Water for washing

13. Salt to taste

To be grinded:

1. 1 cup chopped onions

2. ½ cup tomato

3. 3-4 cloves of garlic

4. A bit of ginger

5. ½ tsp sesame seeds

6. 1-2 cloves (laung)

7. 2-3 black pepper 

Procedure:

1. Soak the tofu in water for about 15 minutes and the drain the water. You can just wash other vegetables.

2. Grind all the ingredients mentioned under the label. I did grind clove & pepper in mortar and pestle but you can grind it in electric grinder as well.

 

3. Add ¼ tsp. oil in a non-stick pan and stir fry the tofu/vegetables until they turn light brown.

4. Add rest of the oil in the pan and add tej patta to it. Later add the grinded mixture (as well as the clove-pepper powder) to it. Cook it for around 7 minutes on medium flame.

5. Add turmeric powder, cumin powder, cinnamon powder, chili powder and salt and mix well.

6. Then add ½ cup water to it.

7. Add tofu to it.

8. Finally add kasoori methi and garam masala. And let the vegetable cook for around 5-7 minutes.

9. Serve it hot with chapatis. 

So friends I hope you like this more ingredients, less steps recipe. If you decide to try it out, tell me in the comments below. Goodbye my dear friends and I will see you tomorrow. Until then Keep Smiling. Please do follow my blog, like the facebook page. (https://www.facebook.com/pages/A-Happy-Girl/292903830872974?ref_type=bookmark) and follow me on twitter (https://twitter.com/A_Happy_Girl2) as well as on Google Plus. If you have any suggestions or questions, please comment below.