Quaker Bowl IndiBlogger Meet April 2016

'Join us to discover the awesomeness that is stored in a bowl of Quaker oats...'

Thus ran the first line to invitation to all bloggers from IndiBloggers, a cause for concern for me since I would rather watch Kim Kardashian count all her lip glosses forwards AND backwards rather than touch anything with oats. It is always so lumpy and frumpy,I have no idea how anyone can eat it. However, IndiBlogger meets are always occasions to remember. So keeping aside my chortling for oats,I was pretty geared up to meet the surprise celebrity chef who was going to indulge us in a session of Quaker Bowl. Hmm...interesting :)

The venue JW Marriott in Juhu is one of the most gorgeous places to have any event. I am already mentally organizing all my matrimonial events in those glittering ballrooms. Having reached the venue really early,my sister and I took a mini tour of the hotel and hobnobbed with some other amazing bloggers. It was a laid back Sunday morning that soon took a turn for fun and wonder as we swayed to the tunes of Taher Shah's 'Angel'. Oh Good God.

The best was however yet to come as the surprise celebrity chef was reveled to be none other than THE Vikas Khanna who has associated with PepsiCo's Nutrition Ambassador. Now when he talks, everyone listens because this guy knows food, not like me who just loves to eat and actually knows zilch about the various ingredients and their benefits!

It was mesmerizing to listen to him talk about nutrition and health in modern life. I could resonate with his every word as my own life is so busy,I often end up having unhealthy food since I have no idea how to make healthy food on my own using easily available ingredients. Oats is one of those brilliant ingredients which can be used to make anything and it comes with a host of health benefits for our heart, cholesterol levels, digestion and so on! Phew! And to think that for nearly one third of my life, I have not even gathered courage to touch it! But then,I never knew that it could be used in dishes as varied as soups, gravies or making dosas and dhoklas. All I knew was that lumpy mass served for breakfast. Well, thanks to PepsiCo & Chef Vikas Khanna, I now know that health problems are at a peak in our modern societies and it is up to us to take care of ourselves. Quaker is here to make it easier for us which can only be a God-sent in our super hectic and stressful lives :)

The vibrant food quiz and the on-the-spot 'create a delicious oats dish in 10 minutes' contest made us put our brains together in a rush to win some lovely hampers by PepsiCo. While I did not personally win one, I made some new friends and we did end up making a delicious Oats with Sauteed Veggies which was the runner up,this here is the complete recipe :D

Step 1- Heat some oil in the pan

Step 2- Look at your teammates,if they know how to cook

Step 3- Add veggies like corn, broccoli, papaya to the pan & sprinkle some chilli flakes and oregano on top

Step 4- Look up, see Vikas Khanna roaming around, swoon and lose focus

Step 5- Look down and remember to saute the veggies

Step 6- Take some oats, cook with water to make something lumpy but not revolting

Step 7- Scratch head

Step 8- Look at Vikas Khanna once more, swoon

Step 9- For lack of a better idea, just mix oats and veggies together

Step 10- Try decorating it the way they show in MasterChef, give up, pray that Vikas Khanna likes it, swoon some more

This is how my team (Team 1) finished the challenge. I was actually so much more interested in stalking Vikas Khanna for as long as possible and taking a perfect selfie with him that cooking was far from my mind. Later of course as I was tucking in the magnificent lunch at the venue and had these amazing Oats Pastries,I got inspired to finally try my own hand at cooking. Voila, we were given a cookbook and a complimentary pack of Quaker Oats as takeaways from the meet!

Reaching home, my sister and I made a very palatable Oats & Veggies Delight, recipe as under :D

Step 1- Open refrigerator. Search for veggies

Step 2- Chop Tomatoes, Carrots, Capsicum, Cauliflowers in little pieces, 25 grams each approximately

Step 3- Heat little oil in a pan. Add some Jeera, lightly fry some onions and then add all the veggies

Step 4- Roast about 250 grams oats in a pan while the veggies are being sauteed

Step 5- Find some leftover rice in refrigerator. Take it out.

Step 6- About 5 minutes of saute-ing and roast-ing later, mix them together with rice and cook all together for 5-8 more minutes

Step 7- Try not to gloat to friends with 'I got a selfie with THE Vikas Khanna today'

Step 8- Try and decorate it like a MasterChef. Fail horribly. Give up. Take a ridiculous picture. Eat.

And that's how,for the first time in my life, I actually ate something made of Oats. Thanks #QuakerBowl and #Indiblogger :)