Happy Days 1-10

As you may have seen

I've joined the 

#100HappyDays project.

And to ensure I don't loose 

momento,

I've decided to share my happiness

every 1o days.

(In case you missed them on

Instagram

or Facebook)

So here's my first 10 days

of happiness.

Day 1 - blueberry waffles

Day 2 - an afternoon of NCIS

Day 3 - Coffee with mates

Day 4 - lunch with Lara

Day 5 - a very berry smoothie

Day 6 - Sushi date with my favourite boy

Day 7 - Long Islands with a view

Day 8 - Lego Movie

Day 9 - Coffee with a new friend

Day 10 - Going to see the elementary musical with my boy

100 Happy Days

About a week ago,

a friend of mine posted on Facebook

how she got her luggage wrapped for free

at Jo'burg airport.

She hashtagged her post with

#100HappyDays.

Hmmm....

I thought.

The next day,

she posted again about meeting a friend

and again 

there was

#100HappyDays.

Well now I want to know what's going on.

Someone commented to her about this

and she replied how she was starting

her happy journey.

Wanting to know more

I looked it up and found what

#100HappyDays

is all about. 

So here's the deal

for 100 days

you take a picture of something that makes you happy

and you share it.

Sounds easy

right?

Well here's the thing.

Apparently

70% of those people who start the challenge

do not complete it.

They either forget.

Or don't find something that made them happy.

Or cheat.

Cheat you ask?

Well yes.

Not intentionally.

But think of it this way.

I have a great day 

and have some great moments.

I share one of them today

and think of sharing the other one 

tomorrow.

But then is that really another day of happiness?

The idea is to find something 

each day.

Not a whole bunch of things on one day

and spread it out for the days you have nothing.

Think you can do it?

Care to join me?

Cooking with Swarn

We had another amazing class with Swarn.

I've decided

whatever we cook on the Tuesday

my cook makes for the family on Wednesday.

That way, 

I know how it should taste.

Yes I know...

very snobby of me.

But seriously.

This week's menu was amazing.

Fish in Coconut Curry

Jeera Rice

Kadhai Paneer

and

Naan.

Can you say yummy?

Flour, salt, sugar, ghee/oil and instant yeast for the naans

Onions, garlic, ginger, tomatoes, red chilies, salt, cumin, garam masala
and vinegar for the coconut curry sauce

Fry the fish

Adding coconut for the fish sauce

Swarn showing us how to roll naans

The sauce for the paneer

Fish has been added

Naan is ready

Paneer is ready

Defy - Sara B. Larson

I decided to join

The Story Siren's 

2014 Debut Author Challenge. 

The idea is, 

each month you read a

Young Adult novel

by a debut author.

For January,

I picked

Defy

by Sara B. Larson.

Defy is the story of Alexa Hollen.

Her parents are killed during a war

by a sorcerer.

She can either be held captive

and shoved into a birthing centre

(basically where girls are repeatedly raped

until they get pregant)

or she can guise herself as a boy

and serve as part of the prince's guards.

She chooses the later.

For three years she pretends she's a boy.

Then one night,

while trying to protect the prince,

she, the prince and fellow guard, Rylan

are abducted.

Rylan admits he always knew she was a girl.

The prince,

who gave the impression of being an idiot,

turns out to be a nice guy.

Oh, and he suspected she was a girl too.

See where this is going?

So now Alexa has two men in love with her.

A prince and a guard.

Who do you think she'll choose?

But Defy is a little more than that too.

Alexa learns she wasn't the only one keeping secrets.

She is given the opportunity to help the prince

end this war

and bring peace to the land.

But at what cost?

Cooking With Swarn

Being back in Dar

also means returning to

Cooking with Swarn.

Yes I know I don't cook.

That's the best part of

Cooking with Swarn.

I don't have to!

I get to watch my fellow classmates

participate in some great cooking skills

and enjoy their labour!

This week's menu was

beef kebabs,

vegetable kebabs,

coconut chutney

and

garlic chilli chutney.

Red chillies

Blended with vinegar and garlic added to heated oil.

Add tomato paste

Shredded coconut

Add some green chillies

Add yogurt and coriander leaves

Blend together

Mince, onions, green chillies, mint leaves and coriander leaves.

Add soaked bread to bind it

Start rolling

Shredded cabbage, beans, cauliflower, green peas, and carrots

Add potatoes, salt, coriander, garam masala, cumin, black pepper, lemon juice and bread to bind

Dinner is ready!