$1 store is back at LNL + Vouchers for $18

Lock N Lock's dollar store is back and this time, they have a lot of EZ lock, Simple and easy containers. My favorites are the Hello Bebe feeding bowl and Cookplus Elegance serving fork. Be sure to check some other great products they have.

Also, here is how to get a $50 worth LNL voucher just for $18:

1. Headover to dealfind here and sign up.
2. Click "Buy".
3. Check the "Use promotional code" box and enter the code "FIRST5". Your total should now show $18.

Enjoy the deals.

Bournvita Cake

My cousin D is a very good cook. I was so impressed with how she manages to cook for her daughter. Everything she cooks for kids definitely looks interesting. From Alphabits laddoos to butterfly shaped dosas to Indian flag colored idlis....innovative and interesting. She made Bournvita cake for us. Bournvita is a malt based drink and needs no introduction to those born and brought up in India. You can find it in any local Indian grocery store or buy it from Amazon. The cake tasted so good and naturally, I asked her for the recipe. I got a great idea to thank all my friends who helped us when I had surgery last month. They were kind enough to take care of the kids and cook some meals for us while I was recovering. And hence this is one small token of appreciation from us.

I have these cute little EZ lock, Simple & Easy containers from Lock N Lock.  I decided to cut the cake into small pieces, and put them in these containers, tie a bow with a THANK YOU tag. This would definitely make them happy as they fell in love with these containers when I got'em through LNL supporters program. These containers are Polypropelene (Recycle No. 5) and are BPA free. Even though they don't have those famous four side locking system as the other LNL containers, they are definitely air tight because of the way they are designed. The lid opens easily and has a floral pattern on it. And these containers stack well too. If you like these containers, now is the best time to buy them at LNL's dollar store here.

Here is the recipe in case if you want to try:

Note: For these measurements, I used the cup that comes with an electric rice cooker.

Ingredients:

Butter - 1 Cup

Sugar - 1 Cup

All Purpose flour - 1 Cup

Eggs - 3

Bournvita mix - 1/2 Cup

Shredded coconut - 1/2 Cup

Method:

1. Take the flour, sugar, bournvita into a bowl. Beat them on medium speed and slowly add butter, eggs. Mix them well and add the shredded coconut.

2. Grease the baking dish and pour the cake batter.

3. Bake this in a pre heated oven at 350 degrees and make sure it passes the tooth pick test.

Yummy bournvita cake is ready!

Flax Seeds/Alsi Seeds karam podi

I used to work for a pharmaceutical company where the employees would get vitamins for free almost. So once I saw an employee getting a bottle of flax seed vitamins. And when I asked, she explained me all about the flax seeds. And later, in an Indian grocery store, I saw packets of these flax seeds also known as alsi seeds. They look just like sesame seeds. So I bought a packet just to try, but I didn't know how to use them. And then I came across this recipe. I gave it a try and it was a hit.

Recipe Source: Sailus Food

I haven't used the curry leaves and the dals which the original recipe asked for and doubled up the coriander seeds. I used Cumin powder as I already have it in the pantry.

Ingredients:

Flax seeds - 1/2 cup

Coriander seeds - 2 tbsps

Cumin powder - 1 tsp

Dry red chillies - 10
Asafoetida - 1/4 tsp

Salt to taste

Oil - 2 tsps oil

Method:

1.  Heat oil in a frying pan. Roast the coriander seeds on medium heat and dry red chillies for about 5 minutes. Remove and keep them aside.

2. Now, roast the flax seeds on medium heat until they give that crackling sound. Remove and keep them aside.

3. After the roasted seeds cool down, grind them along with roasted coriander seeds, red chillies, asafoetida. Add cumin powder and salt as well.

Serving tip: This goes well with tiffins like idlis & dosas. I also use this instead of curry powder when making curries. Another great idea is to add a tsp or two to onion raitha and serve it with chapathi. This tastes very heavenly. Trust me!

It is always a good idea to store this karam podi (or for that matter any karam podi) in an airtight container. I always store mine in the LNL air tight containers. I make the karam podi in large quantities, store them in the air tight containers. But I take few portions and store them in the Silby seasoning container set and this set stays on my dining table. What I like about this set is that the containers are airtight. The set has 3 containers, available in plain as well as wave body, and comes with a stand which holds all the 3 containers. Each container in the set is 1.7 cup and is completely lead free. What more can we ask for?

An organized kitchen: Part 2

So here I am presenting rest of the story! Incase, you haven't looked at the starting of this story, here you go......

Upper Cabinets: Every Indian kitchen has different variety of lentils, spices, flour etc etc. Mine is not different. To tackle this problem, I ordered different types of glass canisters from Lock N Lock.

To store the lentils that I use on a day to day basis, I ordered 10 cup glass canisters. To store flour, peanuts or other that I use twice or thrice a week, I ordered 7.6 cup glass canisters. And to store the items that I use once in every two weeks, I ordered the 5 cup ones. Whats so nice about these containers? Well, they are glass and hence no worries unlike the plastic ones. These are clear glass which makes it easier to see what's inside. And the lid is airtight, I mean AIRTIGHT. So, not so frequently used canisters stay in the top rack. Less frequently used ones are kept in the rack below those and the most frequently used ones stay in the bottom rack of the cabinet. This way, I don't have to strain my arm while taking these out regularly.

Then, for the spices I used a lazy susan which holds atleast 8 - 9 spice bottles. I have also used cabinet shelves like these to utilize the available space.

And then, coming to the food storage containers, I have kept the mostly used containers in the bottom shelves of the upper cabinets and the less frequently used ones on the top rows. Notice that I haven't stacked the containers (that I mostly use) one inside the other because I don't want to keep looking for the lids when I want to take a container out.

As you can see, there is a mini LockNLockPlace here in these cabinets in the form of containers (wink)! What can I do? I am more so addicted to LNL products.

I also ordered this to store the lids above each set of containers. There are a variety of under the shelf organizers out there with which you can utilize the space available.

My kitchen organization is still in progress, but I am pretty much satisfied with what has been done so far. I think with little planning (and shopping!), you can easily organize not just the kitchen, but any space.

Lock N Lock Party anyone?

Me and my friends used to have Tupperware party. But then, we started mostly using glass containers and because of my obsession with LNL, I have my kitchen filled with LNL cookware, storage containers, tableware etc etc. Needless to say, I have influenced my friends too. They too started buying lock n lock. So, one day it occurred to me that we should have Lock N Lock party instead of tupperware party.

Courtesy: Lock N Lock

This party has one and only one simple rule:

Make either a new dish (meaning that none of us have made it before, it could be someone else's recipe too) or use a new LNL cookware to make the dish that you'll be bringing to the party or bring the dish in a new food container. This is one challenging rule...ain't it?

Its okay if you have already used the cookware or the food container before, but it should be new to the party. And if its a new recipe, then the rule is that you'll have to bring in a copy of the recipe for each of the participants. If any one of us can't satisfy these conditions, we volunteer to host the party at our home. We also take some pictures during the party and share them with all the participants the next day.

So, for all those who are LNL fans, I hope this is an inspiration to have fun with your friends and family and enjoy your LNL at the same time.

New friends in the Kitchen

I would like to show you all my new found friends in the kitchen. Drum roll.......

Lock N Lock Air, airless container When they went on sale, I bought a couple of these containers. You put the food in these containers, lock the four sides, lock the clip on the top of the lid and push air out (and you hear a sound when the air is pushed out). It is claimed that this prevents air from reaching the food and it deters the growth of bacteria. It's true, I mean I don't understand all the science behind this, but I am pretty impressed with what this container does. I saved curry leaves, coriander leaves and some mint leaves and they all stayed fresh for about 2 weeks. For the first time (and because of preserving my herbs in these containers), I haven't thrown any of the herbs into the trash bin which is a very good achievement for me. This container also has an arrow mark, which can be rotated to set the date. This gives you an idea on how old the food is, really liked this feature. This way, I don't have to write on the containers using a marker.

Bar Keepers Friend The main reason I bought this is to clean my Cookplus Charming stainless steel cookware that I bought during the Thanksgiving sale from LNL. I should say, that this is one very good product and it definitely does what it says. I was boiling some milk and thanks to my DS, i forgot that the milk was boiling and then a few minutes later, I realized that something was wrong. I went in to see the steel bowl turning to a dark (non stick coating like) thing in it. I applied BKF paste and that's when I was really impressed. I wish I had taken a BEFORE and AFTER picture just to give you an idea. Nevertheless, I would recommend this to all my friends. One thing, you have to be really careful is to wear your gloves while using this product.

Holiday Special Sale

Lock N Lock has a special sale going on for this holiday season. Some of my favorites are:

Cookplus Charming SS Cookware 13 piece set - $145.90

8 Piece Silby Ceramic Bake & Serve Storage set (white) - $7.99

Silby Ceramic Seasoning 4"(W) 4.7"(H) Seasoning Container 3PSet (Plain Body) - $14.99

Silby Ceramic Dome Style Container 3P Set 6"(1P),7"(1P),8"(1P) (Plain Body) - $17.55

Silby Ceramic Baby Lunch Box Set, Pink - $12.99

Lock&Lock InPlus Wing Big Size Stackable Basket 3-Piece Set (Blue,Pink, Green) - $19.99

Lock&Lock Cookplus Ceramic 4-Pieces Set 05 - $69.99

The sale is on from 12/13 - 12/19. These will definitely make some great gifts. 

$50 Lock N Lock Voucher for $20 from Eversave

If you are looking for some great gifts this holiday season, here is one to start with. You can get a Lock N Lock voucher worth $50 for just $20 if you are new to the daily deal site Eversave.com. Sign Up here and you will receive a $3 credit valid towards any purchase. You can grab the LNL voucher here (this actually says $23, but you can use your $3 credit towards this purchase).

Enjoy!

Silby Ceramic Set (Review Event Prize) + Fall Back Special

Fall Back Special + Sweepstakes – Before showing you my prize, I would like to share with you all that Lock N Lock has some selected containers sets that are 49% off. But that's not all. One purchasing customer per day wins a $100 gift card till November 7, 2011. Winners will be announced on Facebook every day (gift card will be delivered in December). I'll be trying my luck. I hope you do too!

And now, drum roll........

I received my prize from Lock N Lock for the review event. A part of the prize was the Silby ceramic set. When I received these containers, they looked much more CLASSY AND ELEGANT than the pictures shown in the website. I was so impressed that I would like to purchase more of these sets for the Christmas season as gifts. The lids are made of clear plastic, so it is to identify what's inside. These are airtight and keep food fresh. These containers are lead free and the lids are polypropylene. Hence I don't hesitate to carry baby food in these containers. I have made pasta for dinner and served it these bowls. I should say that the size of these containers is perfect for portion control. I have been packing my DH’s lunch in this box. He told me he had several people asking him where he bought the box (thanks to LNL!!!). These containers resist stains which is very important for me because I use a lot of turmeric in the food that I cook. And I’ve had bad experiences with Tupperware which when heated would be stained yellow (from the turmeric used in food).

And then the “I’m not a paper cup”. This is one cute cup. DH drinks a lot of coffee, and he loved this one. My only concern would be not to overfill the cup. The cap hole doesn’t have any closure (unlike those paper cups), so if you fill this cup to the top, the liquid may spill. I am not a coffee person. But, I found this one useful to carry soup for my outings with the kids. I close the cup with LNL plastic wrap and then put the lid over it.