27 Breakfast ideas to help you start your day on the right note

Everyone must have heard at least once that they should not skip breakfast. A good breakfast - one that is a balanced mix of proteins, carbs and essential vitamins and minerals fills you up with energy and helps you get ready to face the day.  If you often find yourself making the same dishes for breakfast and wanting to break out of your routine, I have just the thing for you. In February, some of my fellow bloggers & I participated in the Blogging Marathon and posted breakfast dishes from different places. This is a round-up of all those breakfast dishes in one place. We have an amazing array of not just one or two, but 27 breakfast dishes from around the globe.

Priya, a versatile blogger who doesn't shy away from experimenting with different cuisines, brings us Mekitsa, a fried dough from Bulgaria, Brioche buns and homemade English muffins. Whether you make these ahead for breakfast or decide to try these out for a lazy weekend brunch, these are sure to delight.

Sandhya's Cooking journey showcases Rava kichdi, Sabudana kichdi and Neer dosa - a lacey, soft crepe. Try these out to wow your family and friends.


Whether you are fasting or feasting, Bhawna has you covered. She brings us Sabudana vada, Instant dhokla and Gobi parathas.

Sushma's posts are a perfect amalgamation of North and South Indian breakfast foods. Khara bhath and pesarattu from the South vie with Mooli parathas from the North for your attention.

The diversity of Indian food is perfectly showcased by Srivalli, whose brain child the Blogging Marathon is. Aloo parathas from Amritsar, Mirchi vada pav from Rajasthan and Lauki-nu-muthia from Gujarat offer a power packed and tasty way to start your day.

Jayanthi brings in some steamed goodies. Her idiyappam, upma kozhakattai and Kanchipuram idli are a healthy and tasty way to begin the day.

Sandhya showcases some quick breakfast dishes in the form of no-ferment dosas and upma. Check out her neer dosa, rava upma and ragi dosa.

If you are looking for something that combines nutrition and taste, look no further than PJ's aval upma, oats dhokla and matar poha chura.

My contributions to the breakfast theme are Rava rotti, Bedmi poori and Raswala aloo which are great not only as breakfast dishes, but also make for a hearty weekend brunch.

Healthy Lunchbox Ideas - Paneer - Roundup

Though late, the round up is finally here. Thank you everybody for sending in these wonderful entries. I have many of them bookmarked to try over the weekends. The round up is done in random order.
First, we have Harini who has sent in her yummy, perfectly triangular paneer onion stuffed kulchas.

Priya's paneer bhurji is quick to make, and sure to make even the most finicky kid ask for more.

Rajitha shares her paneer vegetable fried rice, which is sure to bring a happy smile to the face.

Saraswathi shares with us five wonderful entries. Do check out her
potato paneer peas pulav,

simple paneer peas pulao,
paneer bhurji,

matar paneer
&
palak paneer

No one can say NO to this delectable whole wheat homemade paneer pizza that Harini has brought in.

Kaveri's methi paneer pulao has earned her a lot of praise from her family and her kids always empty their lunch boxes when this is packed in it.

Shoba's Kesaria Paratha is so beautifully presented that people are likely to lap it up as soon as they see it.

Shoba also sends in a carrot paneer toasted sandwich.

Khushi sends in something that made even her mother-in-law happy & excited. Her grilled corn paneer pizza has passed the mother-in-law test and so, is sure to be a crowd pleaser.

Kalyani, the brain behind this event has me drooling over her tempting entries. Take a look at her Paneer Mutter,
Paneer Manchurian

Raisin & Paneer Pulao

Paneer pulao seems to be a popular dish in this round-up. Sravani sends us her version of this dish.

Kalyani shows us What's Cooking on her blog with this paneer potato curry

There's something about the combination of green peas and paneer that sets the stomach rumbling. Swetha tells us how she cooks this combo for her family.

Nirmala sends us her crispy paneer dosa - an interesting twist to the traditional dosa.

Aparna has chosen ingredients that both her son & husband love, to cook this delicious Paneer Mushroom Masala.

Vardhini shows us three different ways in which paneer can be used as a side dish.
Check out her paneer koftas in gravy,

healthy mutter paneer

& spaghetti with paneer balls.

The final entry is from Denny who gives us a fool proof, easy, versatile and simple recipe to make Grilled Paneer & Veg Tikkas.

I would like to thank all of you for sending so many entries my way and to thank Kalyani for giving me the opportunity to host this event.

MEC-Celebrating bloggers round-up

I have always wondered why people host events. Sending out e-mails, checking entries for adherence to rules, collating all the entries in one place, and then thinking out a post that would put all these together in an interesting manner – PHEW!!! To me, that has always seemed like too much work.
When I said YES to hosting Valli’s MEC, it was the analyst in me that was at the forefront. I really wanted to find out for myself what made people do this.
Now that I’ve done it, I can tell you – THIS IS ADDICTIVE. I would never have thought that receiving a mail with the subject line MEC in it could make me so happy or that a day without any entries could have me so worried. Believe me, I loved hosting so much, I am already thinking of other event ideas.
Here’s the lineup of entries that Celebrate fellow bloggers.

“Bookmarking dishes from other blogs and trying them out is no more anything new to me..I do that all the time!!” says Divya, as she cooks up some amazing looking Chundo from Srivalli’s blog.


“It was a simple, yummy dessert, which could be prepared under 20 minutes in a MW”, is what Suma has to say about this Beet halwa made from Mahima’s blog.


Paneer is a guaranteed party pleaser. Nandini sends in Palak Paneer which she tried from Cham’s blog.


Here’s one entry that I can vouch for because I tasted it and polished it off by the end of the day. New blogger Nirmala cooked up this amazing Chocolate Cashew Almond burfi from My Culinary Endeavours.


“Iam getting very tensed, when the stuff is in oven, like i was in exam hall. i have successfully burnt cookies in my previous attempt's.” If you look at the eggless coconut and raisin scones that Lavi has made from Aparna’s blog, you will definitely not believe what she says about her cookies.


I started following Priya’s blog recently and am awed by the number of posts that pop up on my reader each day. She sends in not one, but two entries. Check out the brinjal chips she has made from Valli’s blog

and the mixed veggie halwa made from her namesake’s blog.


Sowmya sends in two entries, both chosen from my blog – Kasi halwa

and tandoori aloo,

Thank you for choosing my recipes, Sowmya. You have no idea how happy I am.

Valar makes halwa making sound like a breeze with this Carrot halwa made from Lubna’s blog.


Blogging introduces me to something new each day. Never before reading Jayasree’s post (based on Priya’s recipe) did I know that fresh jackfruit could be used to make payasam.


"Whenever i return from India first thing he checks with me is Did u get Grand Sweets/Aavin Thirati Paal?", says Priya , talking of her husband’s love for therattipal. Now that she has this microwave version tried from her friend’s blog, she doesn’t have to make trips to Aavin any more.

It is not just a sweet tooth that Priya satisfies…..she also brings in a healthy microwave spinach raita cooked from Suma’s blog

and baby-corn potato stir fry from Valli’s blog.


How long do you think it will take to make tandoori paneer? Iam sure there’s no way you would have guessed five minutes. That’s what Umm Razeen does – she whips up a mean looking dish of tandoori paneer from Priya’s blog, quicker than you can say Microwave Easy Cooking.


Aparna’s scones find another taker in Tasty Curry Leaf. Curry leaf says she is surprised that scones can be made in the microwave.


I made Sowmya’s eggless chocolate cake which is just perfect to satisfy any cravings for something sweet in a jiffy

and Indira’s strawberry cake which was baked close to midnight and polished off in a remarkably short amount of time.


Thank you all for you lovely entries. If I have inadvertently made any mistakes or left out any entries, please do let me know.