AH! BREAD! HMMMMMMMM

 Olla peeps, Best of the season to you and yours 😃😃💃💃💃 2014 is almost out the door and in comes 2015. It is all down to Gods abundant Grace and Mercy that we are still here and as my hubby always says Lets make it count! Find your purpose in God and nothing else and everything else will be added unto you! Gbabe!

So I have this on going battle with bread and cake( I'm sure I've mentioned this a zillion times). I think the bread making process is tooo loooooooong so I haven't been tempted to try it out yet. 

So every once in a while I give in and have some bread but I try to pair it with loads of healthy stuff.

Breakfast today was a cheese croissant and a small bagguet with veggies and egg. I was going to make mayonnaise but for some reason I can't comprehend it went south😩.

This was easy. Ingredients were;

Lettuce

Cabbage

Carrots

Spring onions

Hard boiled eggs

Sharp cheddar cheese

Unsalted butter

A few 50%less sugar dried cranberries 

I thinly sliced all ingredients except eggs, spring onions and cranberries with a Mandalay , buttered the sliced breads, piled on all ingredients and voila!

Easy peasy😃😃😃

Have a fantastic new year and remember all you have to do is love like God loves you. That can't be to hard now can it?😃😃😃.

See Ya in 2015.

HAIR AND BODY NUTRITION

Olla beautiful people and the best of the season to you and yours. May we always remember that Jesus is the reason for the season and show that love to our neighbors. 

So this morning I decided a smoothie for hair and body was the best thing to do and so off I went to my kitchen and started preparing my wonderful concoctions😃 

The more mature we get(old means expired urghhh) the harder it seem to get for a lot of us to eat healthier until our bodies give us a jolt and then we start to fret. Don't get me wrong I have a tree budding everyday in my eye so I'm not looking for the speck in yours just saying we all need to make it a lifestyle to eat healthier and pass it on to our children now and not when they are mature.

So on to the Koko of the matter 😃

Body Nutrition smoothie

2 cold bananas 

3/4 of a cold mango

About a 3/4cup of G's Allfresh GREEK yogurt 

2 tablespoons coconut oil 

1 tablespoon Ólaa Naturale raw honey

2 tablespoons ground flaxseed

Grated nutmeg

A dash of cinnamon 

A dash of tumeric 

A dash of ground yellow pepper

About 2 tablespoons of fresh aloe gel

A handful of raw almonds and groundnuts 

A good whiz in the blender and voila! Smoothee done. It was absolutely yummilicious.

Hair Nutrition smoothie tee hee

1 banana 

1/4 of a mango

A few drops of tea tree essential oil

Argan oil

Coconut oil

Fresh aloe gel

Ólaa Naturale Honey

A quick blitz with an immersion blender and hair is beautifully deep conditioning. 

I wet my hair first with cold water, shook off the excess and applied the hair smoothie then wrapped in 3 layers of cling film and a towel. 

I pray to stay focused on good food this season and not go off like I usually do 🙈😃😃.

Let's all go into the New Year with Kingdom focus and remember Jesus is our centre. 

See (write 😃)y'all soon

Smoothies Smoothies Smothies

Olla peeps

Trust you and yours are doing fantastically great😁.

It's amazing how one can be so full of joy with the right focus. Thank God for Jesus in my life. 

#movingon as my sister says 😁. Seems fruits are in abundance this season and they all look so luscious and tempting too! Take it from me that's a good way to be tempted.

So I went for an appointment that didn't hold and ended up buying fruits to take home and of course for me the fastest thing to do with fruits is a smoothie. 

I got bananas, lemons, ginger, apples, pineapples(the mallams or barrow people as natural Nigerian calls them make buying fruits so hassle free with their cleaning and preparation, more than half the work done for me😁😁😁), oranges, mangoes( oh wow are they humungous these mangoes) and cocoyams which you know is not a fruit right? 😜

So in the cup for the immersion blender i i put 100ml GREEK yoghurt( G'S Allfresh yoghurt 08098442633) 2 tablespoons honey( Olaa Naturale 08020924020), 2 tablespoons of coconut oil (Clove limited 08026008553), grated nutmeg, cinnamon, a dash of dry yellow pepper  and a handful of groundnuts.

In goes the immersion blender and voila smoothie is ready. 

I had also done a variation earlier on in the week, pictures will be included with the ingredients I used. 

Enjoy a fruitful weekend😘

SMOOTHIE

2tbsp of coconut oil 

1 tbsp of honey 

Juice of half a lemon

Nutmeg

Cinnamon 

Dry yellow pepper 

3 cold bananas 

Half an avocado

Ground flaxseed 

Handful of groundnuts 

About 4 tbsp of Greek yoghurt 

Had this with a kale salad; 

kale massaged with coconut oil,

Toasted Brazil nuts, 

toasted sesame seeds, 

50%less sugar cranberries

Some smoked catfish

A drizzle of honey

A dash of dry yellow pepper

So posting the picture I see broccoli 🙈.

Bamboo steamed broccoli florets

2 hard boiled eggs

Mushrooms 

4 cloves garlic

Half an inch fresh ginger

Spring onions

Toasted almonds

Pine nuts

A drizzle of honey 

A dash of dry yellow pepper 

The mushrooms, ginger and garlic were sautéed in butter and coconut oil the all the ingredients were tossed together and salad done.

The Juice was 

2 small beets

6 green apples

1 lemon

1/2 an inch of ginger

😁😁😁😁😁😁

I found KALE!!! 💃💃💃💃💃

So I discovered the wonders of Kale in dubai a while back and if one can overdose on something for me it was Kale! I had it with and in anything you can imagine or not😁

Did I say Olla peeps? Forgive my manners. I trust you're all doing splendid 😁. 

Now on with my story, so I went veggie shopping in Victoria Island today and tried not to overdo it but hey! What can I tell you😁

I got Kale, lemons(sour and sweet), broccoli(hubby looooves), beetroot, spring onions, okro, garlic, ginger, strawberries, mushrooms and as I still had change I stopped by my friendly neighbourhood side street fruit guy and got bananas, apples and groundnuts. 

I have decided I will eat everything in moderation ( that's still a battle with the cakes but I have overcome! Hear! Hear!)

So for dinner I decided to make a salad  as I'd had 1 moin moin for breakfast and wheat with okro for lunch. With plenty of water all through the day of course😁

About 10 long leaves of kale

A handful each of walnuts and raw almonds

A small portion of raisins 

8 small mushrooms

An inch of fresh ginger finely chopped

3 cloves of garlic finely chopped

A dash of pink Himalayan salt

A dash of ground dry yellow pepper

A squeeze of fresh lemon juice 

A drizzle of honey

I massaged the kale for a couple minutes on its own then added a bit of  coconut oil and massaged for another couple minutes. 

Toasted the nuts in a hot pan for roughly 2 minutes, tossed with the massaged kale. In the same pan I added a knob of unsalted butter and tossed the ginger, garlic,mushrooms, salt and pepper for about 2 minutes or until mushrooms are done.

Once this was done I added it to the kale and nuts and mixed with a spatula. 

Plated up and added a squeeze or two of lemon juice and a drizzle of honey.

Now how can you not want to try that😁😁😁. 

Enjoy a fruitful sunday y'all😘

Why the silence abi?

So more often than not once I'm quiet it means I'm up to no good😁😁😁 or have fallen off the wagon🙈🙈🙈🙈. Thank God for Jesus if not I no know where I for dey o! Hian! 

Ok #movingon😁

Food glorious food my 2nd or 3rd best Favourite past time depending on how you look at it. I manage to maintain a fairly healthy lifestyle even when I fall of the wagon. In these instances which happen quite a bit I must confess I eat more of my Favourite pleasures cake than I do food and what makes it worse is that I don't make them a myself. 

Today I tell you about 2 chicken based meals. I buy and eat quite a bit of chicken and I love love love love it because it's pretty quick to cook. 

3 pieces boneless chicken breasts

I large red onion

4-6 cloves garlic 

About an inch of fresh ginger

2-3 red scotch bonnets/ata rodo 

Zest of half a lemon

Juice of half a lemon

1-2 tablespoons of honey

Sea salt

I has some boneless chicken breast which I marinaded/marinated in onions, ginger, garlic, red scotch bonnet/ata rodo peppers, lemon zest, lemon juice, honey and sea salt. Left that in the fridge for about 24hrs(i was actually going to cook immediately but time grew wings and flew so I left it till the next day)

I put a pan on the gas and let it heat up until it was smoking then I added a bit of butter and coconut oil, placed my chicken breast which i'd sliced thinly and allowed to sauté in its on juices first on high heat for a couple minutes and then I turned down the heat and poured in all the juices and chopped marinated garnishes and allowed to cook for a further 5-7minutes. I turned them a couple times to allow for even cooking through. Voila first meal ready and I ate this with a few slices of a multi cereal bread I came across. Yum yum yum

5-6 pieces chicken drumsticks 

A large handful of ugwu leaves

1/2-1cup local ofada rice

I large red onion

4-6 cloves of garlic

2-3 red scotch bonnet/ata rodo

About an inch of fresh ginger

Pink Himalayan salt

A splash of water to get the chicken going

My 2nd chicken dish had all of 3 major ingredients and was my fastest way of cooking 😁 one pot😂😂. 

Local ofada rice, fresh UGWU leaves from my mums garden and chicken drumsticks. 

I boiled the drumsticks in their own juices with onions, garlic, ginger, pink Himalayan salt and red scotch bonnet. Once this was almost done, I had washed my rice and washed and chopped my ugwu leaves and I just added water to the pot of almost done chicken, poured in the rice and left to cook for 15minutes after which I added the ugwu stirred with a wooden spoon turned off the gas, covered the pot and 5minutes later lunch was ready. 

SALADS SMOOTHIES AND JUICES

Olla my fellow heathy lifestyle loving people and even if you're not and are just starting your journey welcome😁.

So today I'm talking(or writing as the case may be😁) salads, smoothies and juices. This post will have a bit more pictures in it as we have a bit more to write about.

Aha on with our story! I can't quantify how much I looooooooooove salads and most if the time without dressings too! 

It's amazing how once one takes the step of faith everything falls into place by His Divine Grace.

I try as much as possible to have vegetables in my fridge regularly(truth be told sometimes I go weeks without 1 single veggie or fruit in the fridge🙈 shameful I know but I'm getting better).

My staples for fruit, herb and veg are lettuce, sometimes cabbage, spring onions, parsley, bak Choy, lemons, spinach, leeks, basil, ginger, garlic, onions, lemons, oranges, apples, pears, beets, pineapples, bananas and carrots.

So to the salad that I made, ingredients were;

Green pepper 

Green apple

Lettuce

Spring onions

Cheddar cheese

Eggs

Carrot

Almonds

Cranberries 

Sunflower seeds

Pumpkin seeds 

I either shred by hand the ingredients that are shredable or use a pair of kitchen scissors makes the job faster😁😁. That said I do enjoy slicing or chopping as i have a Mandalay for even thin slices and sharp knives for chopping.

I don't do precise quantities with my salads I just go with the flow and make sure it looks pretty and I would enjoy it. I have a pretty good idea what all these elements would taste like combined and I haven't been disappointed yet😁.

Most of these items are available locally and I'm ecstatic that the market has truly opened up to new tastes and palettes. 

Salad done and dusted💃💃💃

JUICE

My juices go the same route as my salads, no precise measurements or portions just go with the flow. I think it helps to know what each food item tastes like on it's own and that would help to inform your decision on what to put together to make what. I always add ginger to what ever I cook or juice though for me that's a standard staple.

For the juices I had;

Beets

Carrots

Apples

Pineapple

Grapefruit

Oranges

Lemon

Lime

Ginger

Celery

Washed, prepped and ready for the juicer. The juicer I have takes whole fruits so I don't have to chop up and I just take the peels off the oranges, grapefruit a, pineapples, limes and sometimes I leave the skin on the lemon but as I had celery I didn't do that this time.

This juice was absolutely yum yum yum. The celery was a bit strong but asides that I was quite happy with it. The colour was absolutely divine too thanks to the beets😁😁😁

SMOOTHIE

I had mentioned that the only way so far that I can seem to eat avocado is by putting it in a smoothie. I don't particularly like the taste but as it's good for me I shall be eating it more regularly in some way or the other.

The ingredients I had for the smoothie are;

3 frozen bananas

6 strawberries

Half an avocado 

Juice of 1 orange

1/3 cup Greek yoghurt

1 heaped tablespoon of ground flaxseed

1 teaspoon turmeric 

Honey

Coconut oil about a tablespoon each

Pumpkin seeds

Sunflower seeds about a tablespoon each

Cranberries 

What better way to get in all ones fruits and seeds and so forth😁😁😁.

All ingredients sourced locally without any hassle and no breaking my pocket either.

Healthy clean eating isn't any more  expensive than eating all the regular/normal foods we've been used too. Yes it does take a mind shift but I tell you it is so so so so worth it and your body will thank you for it.

Let me know what you tried and like or not. Feedback in the blog would be highly appreciated.

Till my next food adventure which should be sooner than you think, be at peace.

😘😘😘

CHICKEN CHICKEN CHICKEN

Olla peeps, 

Trust y'all are doing fantastic😁. So my mum sent us frozen chicken and quite a bit if it and IKEDC(our electric power supplier) hasn't been nice of recent. I also don't like storing food in the fridge or freezer as I have found I totally prefer fresh food. Thank goodness I love to cook eh😁

Oh and by us I mean my sisters and I. So I started off thinking why don't I just boil the chicken and bag it in portions and stick in the freezer awaiting sisters pick up abi? Hmmmmm then my cooking mode kicked in and I thought naaaa I'll make a broth kinda something sauce😁.

I had about 24 pieces of chicken

2 huge onions

12 cloves of garlic

Just under 2"of fresh ginger 

Sea salt

Black pepper

Dry yellow pepper

1 heaped teaspoon of turmeric 

Juice of 1 orange

Honey 

Spring onions

Parsley 

Light and dark soy sauces

Grated nutmeg just under half a seed

Cornstarch to thicken

In a huge stock pot I placed all the chicken pieces, added the chopped onions, garlic, ginger, salt, peppers, orange juice, nutmeg and left to boil until just done. Note I don't add any water to my meats or chicken when boiling. I allow the juices from produce boil the produce instead. Gives a richer stock and that's how my mama taught me too😁😁😁

At that point I added turmeric, soy sauces and honey and left to boil for about 10 minutes covered.

Mix your cornstarch with cold water in small batches so you see building up the thickness of your sauce little by little.

Add the mixed cornstarch to the boiling stick and stir to achieve your desired consistency.

Turn off you gas or burner add the chopped spring onions and parsley and serve with couscous, rice, quinoa, yam, potatoes, plantain. 

The frozen chicken has quite a lot of fat, I had earlier trimmed off as much as I could before boiling and them also drained out as much as I could after cooking

I had the first taste on it's on and the 2nd with ofada rice. Yum yum yum

Enjoy a fruitful rest of the week😘

HAVE I DINE SMOOTHIES BEFORE? 😁

So lately I've been getting pretty hungry after 7pm and that's not really a great thing in the living healthy lifestyle circles neither is it great for my amazing looking bod right now( agama praising itself here tee hee hee). 

At the risk of falling off the wagon and just stuffing myself with all sorts of things I shouldn't be I have to find creative ways to quench the hunger that won't compromise the level of healthy eating I have managed to attain ekwa?

Tonight I had just under 2 cups of Greek yoghurt, 6 strawberries, a dash of grated nutmeg, a dash of ground cinnamon, a table spoon each of coconut oil and honey, a heaped teaspoon of ground flaxseed and half a handful of 50%less sugar cranberries. 

It hit the spot and I was yummilly pleased.

Most times when I put up a picture I'm asked in surprise where I get my ingredients from. What we are looking for in Sokoto is mostly inside our sokoto pockets😁. There are vegetable and fruit markets springing up everywhere in lagos, most of the big supermarkets have  an array of fruits, vegetables and herbs you wouldn't believe possible. 

Enjoy my smoothie😘

I SOOOOOOO LOVE SALADS😁💃💃💃

Olla peeps,

My body always knows when I need a salad. Truthfully one should eat a salad at least once a day but alas I don't quite achieve that and can go weeks without one. Shameful🙈

So a salad is one way to curb my sweet cravings as I'd ordinarily include raisins or cranberries or honey for a bit of sweetness and it always hits the spot.

My salads aren't necessarily done a certain way, it all depends on what I have at home at that point in time and with this salad I had; lettuce, spring onions, parsley, cheddar cheese, raisins, cranberries, slivered almonds, sesame seeds, apples and for the dressing I used the freshly squeezed lemon and lime juices I used for the thinly apples to stop them going brown, coconut oil, honey, dry yellow pepper and freshly chopped ginger.

I normally store the dressing in a seperate container as I found from experience that the salad becomes limp faster if it's tossed with the dressing and kept in the fridge. 

I make enough for 2 or 3 healthy portion servings 😁. Note I didn't indicate quantities per item as I mentioned earlier I use up what I have at home at that point in time.

Enjoy

WHAT TO DO ABOUT SUGAR SWEET CRAVINGS? HMPH!!!

So I've been having really bad sugar sweet cravings lately, so bad that I broke a 3 day cleanse with some yummy delicious icing laden cake on Saturday which shamefacedly I admit was only day 2 (morning I might add of my cleanse). So cleanse broken I came home to face moin moin and garri with groundnuts(resisted the temptation of adding sugar, yes! Victory dancing up and down for absolute joy😁.

Anywho by evening my craving was back and I was like oh no! You don't! I shall not succumb to this again today so I looked in my trusty fridge and freezer and out came the lovely ICECREAM ingredients. Hold your horses naaaa😁, you need to know what the ingredients are innit?

3 frozen bananas

6 frozen strawberries 

Juice of 2 lemons and 1lime

1 whole avocado 

1 handful of cranberries and almonds together

About a table spoon of honey(which I know I really didn't need)

About a tablespoon of coconut oil

And a splash of pineapple juice(juiced pineapples myself) to get the blender going. Blended until smooth which was about 2minutes.

To show you how good this was I tasted it in the kitchen and before I got to my room it was half gone so I don't have any pretty pictures this time sorry. . . 

It is most definitely worth a try. And it beats Ice cream hands down any day. 

Sugar sweet craving busted! Wooo hoooo. 

Enjoy a blessings filled week y'all😁😉

Avocados yuck! 😁

Ok so you all know by now that I'm trying very hard to live healthy in all ramifications and though I fall of the wagon a few times the thought of the lasting benefits promptly puts me back on track.

I made mayonnaise the other day and had some potatoe salad with avocados in it.

Seriously though I don't get avocados, I know they are full of all sorts if goodness but it's completely bland to me🙈 and people rave about it's creaminess, deliciousness etc etc I'm like ok? are we on about the same thing?

Any who I buy some regularly and it normally goes bad in my fridge(read somewhere that it shouldn't be put in the fridge until after it's been cut open).

So this time around i started with using it in my deep condition mixture for my hair😁, I know if you can't eat it don't feed your hair with it😁😁, then as a face and body spa treatment( these 2 were absolutely glorious)

Then I put a bit in my potatoe salad and I still had some left so I made a smoothie with bananas, avocado, lemon(freshly squeezed none of that bottled stuff), slivered almonds, nutmeg, cinnamon, cranberries and a bit of honey to finish it off. 

I think it's safe to say I appreciate it in a mix not hot on it by itself but as it's great for my whole body I shall continue to invest in it😁😁.

Enjoy a blessings filled weekend.

ANYTHING GOES SALADS

Sooooooo it's been mighty quiet in here lately abi? And normally quiet with children's generally presupposes that they are up to no good🙈🙈🙈😁. 

Wellllllll ask me no questions and I'll tell you no lies

So I have missed salads and bread like no mans business and have succumbed to bread under the guise of my nephew wanting some(really bad behaviour I tell you tsk tsk tsk)

Went to my veggie guy on Friday and alas he only had lettuce and a few other little bits and bobs! I was not thrilled to say the list meeeeeeeen. Anywho I got lettuce, parsley, cabbage and coconuts( been craving those had 2 whole ones 🙈).

So 3am Sunday morning and I'm in thi kitchen making my salad( weird right😁)

So what didn't go in the salad should be the question but here are a list of ingredients;

Lettuce

Half a small cabbage

Medium sized red onion

6 tomatoes

About an inch of fresh ginger

Goji berries

Cranberries

Slivered almonds

Sesame seeds

Ground flaxseed

Coconuts

A huge bunch of parsley

And for the dressing;

Coconut oil

Apple cider vinegar

Avocado oil

Pink Himalayan salt

Ground dry yellow pepper

Honey 

Basically I used a Mandalay to cut the onions and cabbage, sliced the tomatoes and ginger with a knife and snipped the lettuce with a pair of kitchen scissors 😁

Tossed all the ingredients together, mixed  the dressing ingredients with a fork, toasted the bread and viola! Lunch was ready 💃💃💃💃💃💃

CHOCOLATE GLORIOUS CHOCOLATE😁😁😁

It looks like rain again this Thursday morning in Lagos and I couldn't be happier or more at peace💃💃💃

Have I mentioned that I just love the rains? It's just an amazing miraculous work of The Most High. Utterly amazing😁😁😁

Moving on, so I have a sweet tooth and that's been my greatest challenge upon making the switch to a healthier lifestyle but alas with Facebook and twitter and the internet one comes across healthy alternatives for the sweetest cravings. Some hit the spot and some fall flat but with twicking and experimentation one comes up with a recipe that works and makes you not wallow in guilt and self pity at the calories 😁

I bring to you "our yummy chocolate cake"

I've been baking this cake for quite a while now and I didn't make up the recipe sad to say but I give kudos to Hershey's for their amazing chocolate recipe book.

I know you're thinking Hershey's? No way hozay! That can't be healthy abi? Well once I swop the original ingredients for healthier options we get a chocolate cake that is filled with absolutely finger licking goodness😁💃💃💃💃

1/2 a cup of light brown sugar

11/2 cups of natural raw honey( these 2 items could be substituted for 2 cups of raw honey)

1/2 a cup of white flour

11/4 cups of wheat flour(these 2 items could also be substituted for 13/4cups of wheat flour)

11/2 teaspoons each of baking powder and bicarbonate of soda

1 teaspoon of salt 

1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon

1/2 a teaspoon of ground yellow pepper( I usually use 1 teaspoon if paprika but mine looked dodgy hence the substitute)

2 eggs

1/2 a cup of olive oil or coconut oil

1 cup of skimmed milk 0.3% fat( couldn't find almond milk)

2 teaspoons of vanilla essence( need to make my own extract really)

1 cup of boiling water

On a whim I added the juice of 1 whole lemon

I had my nephew and his friend help with the mixing and tasting and they both did a pretty great job😁😁. Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures of that process.

Mix all the dry ingredients together, then add the wet ingredients and whisk for about 2 minutes making sure there are no lumps. Add the vanilla essence( use extract it's a whole lot better) and lastly the boiling hot water which thins out the consistency of the batter.

Put in a pre heated 350F/180C/ gas mark4 oven for 30-35minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. I generally under bake by just a few minutes so the cake retains it's moistness and is kindly fudgy inside.

This quantity makes roughly about 2 dozen cupcakes. I made 12 cupcakes and a loaf.

Now doesn't that just want to make you go bake?

You can also use coconut oil instead of olive oil, it works quite well. I have also used all honey before and it was absolutely delish. 

Let me know what you think when you try it out😁😁😁

BREAD OOOOO BREAD

Olla peeps, 

Trust you're all fantastic😁. So who doesn't love bread? I am unashamedly a bread lover even with my change to eating healthier it's been a huge battle to leave it out of my food🙈. But alas from the day we started the 7 day challenge I have stayed off bread until yesterday when I had 1 slice with homemade peanut butter and unsalted butter. Oooooooh did it feel good. Now as I have lost some weight I felt I needed the reward( uh huh make myself feel good abi and be justifying the bread eating; mega eye rolling) 

So this morning I had my veggie wheat pasta mix with was yummy and then at 11am I started dreaming of bread and I'm like oh boy this is not good at allllllllll🙈. Now whenever I have a craving I try and resist and sometimes succeed for up to a week and then I'm like ok give in but donut sensibly😁😁😁💃

So how do you eat bread healthy? There are many options; you can bake your own bread with the variety of healthier flours out there(bread making is still the one thing I haven't gotten around to doing cause the process just seems sooooo long and this is coming from someone who's mum used to bake bread! Shameful! 😁)

 

You can also eat something healthy with the bread; home made peanut butter, a salad, boneless chicken breasts grilled or pan fried, lean cuts of meat if you're a meat lover, eggs boiled, poached or fried with vegetables, the options are endless.

I made a salad with rocket, lettuce, spring onions, carrots, cabbage, parsley, basil, almonds, goji berries, toasted sesame seeds and today I also made a dressing which had half a tablespoon each of fresh orange juice, sesame oil, coconut oil, black pepper to taste, pink Himalayan salt, ground dried yellow pepper and honey. 

Might not do bread again in a while but this sure hit the spot😁😁😁💃💃💃

Enjoy a blessings filled week ahead.

NEW FRONTIERS😁😁😁😁

Olla people,

Trust you're all fantastic😁💃💃 I am now. Funny how food takes away some of ones anger. Yes anger, woke up this morning quite miffed and the best way to avoid a major blast off is to do housework and cook. By the time I'm done I can assure you all anger has evaporated.

Also had a few friends coming for lunch so it all worked out and what other excuse do I need to do a new post 😁😁😁

So I started off with a smoothie this morning and this is my first without milk and hubby gave it a thumbs up 💃💃💃. I was juicing some oranges, apples, pears, pineapples and ginger and I thought why not try a smoothie💬? So I whipped out my blender(still saving up for a Vitamix) and in went some juiced orange, a couple pears cut, some pineapple, a handful each of groundnuts and almonds,bananas and  grated some nutmeg over it and whizzed until smooth. It was soooooooo good I thought why haven't I done this before. So that was breakfast.

For lunch as I mentioned earlier I had friends coming over for lunch and I thought why make them something they can make themselves 😜. We seem a bit timid on the food scale in Nigeria and most of us are quite wary of new tastes. I had gone to the vegetable market earlier in the day and they had bak choi, basil, spinach, rocket and so much more I was in veggie heaven honestly😄😄

So I made a variation of my ugwu chicken. I love prepping food, all the washing, draining, storing away, chopping it just builds me up for the tasting and eating😁😁😁

I started with cutting the boneless chicken breasts in strips, chopped up onions, garlic, ginger and yellow scotch bonnets. I lightly oiled a huge wok with coconut oil just to coat it and put it on to heat up until the wok started smoking. I put in the chicken and cooked until just done then added the garlic, onions, ginger and peppers covered the wok for about 2minutes. Next in was fresh basil leaves roughly chopped, a few dashes of light and dark soy sauces, about a table spoon of sesame oil, spring onions, juice of half an orange, carrots, 2 teaspoons of honey stirred it all up and then topped with bak choi, covered to simmer for 2-3minutes and lastly added roughly cut fresh parsley, sea salt and steak chop seasoning stirred, turned off the heat and lunch was half done. While this was going on I had also soaked some quinoa in cold water for 15minutes, rinsed thoroughly and cooked. Also I had washed and cut up potatoes and steamed in a bamboo steamer.

Lastly salad was lettuce, spring onions, carrots, raisins, almonds, basil, parsley, pink Himalayan salt and some freshly ground black pepper.

Did I say lunch was widely accepted( at least no one said otherwise to my face) I thoroughly enjoyed it😁😁😁

EDIKAINKONG BEING THE BASE😁

Olla peeps,

Trust you're doing great? Looking forward to the holidays I get to see my nephew almost everyday, you can't understand how much joy that brings to my heart 😁

So I haven't posted anything in a bit mainly because I have kinda sorta fallen off the wagon( happens to the best of us) had 4 cupcakes the other morning🙈🙈🙈. 

Here's what keeps me going though the fact that I know that I know that I know that I know that eating healthy does me and my body sooooo much good. I have lost some weight and I'm quite happy I can feel it💃💃💃💃

So today for breakfast I had brown rice vermicelli noodles with my soup of the century Edikainkong and it was absolutely yummilicious 😁😁😁😁💃💃💃💃.

All you have to do with the noodles is soak them for 5minutes in room temperature water and drain for another 5minutes and add whatever takes your fancy to make it a complete meal. 

As I had edikainkong on hand all I had to do was heat it up in a small pot on the stove(trying to wean myself off the microwave) and add the drained vermicelli noodles to it. Stir and it's ready, wasn't that easy?😁😁😁😁 and my Favourite part all done in about 10minutes and oh boy was it delicious.

Let me know what you think when you try it out. Enjoy a blessings filled weekend😘😘😘

UGWU INSPIRED STIRFRY

Olla foodies😁

So yesterday I was inspired by one of the ladies on our group challenge to achieve and maintain a healthier lifestyle to make this dish. She had put up a stirfry with Ugwu in it and I was like hmmmmm. . . 

You know how sometimes or rather all the time we just do things the same way and are confined by our minds? Well this was one if them but perhaps Ugwu is a veggie and can be used in different ways aside from in the Edikainkong soup😁😁😁

Reminds me of the song "free your mind and the rest will follow"💃💃💃💃

Aha back to cooking or talking about it tee hee hee

3-4 pieces of boneless chicken breast

3 cloves of garlic

1 whole onion(looooove loooooove loooooove onions)

About half an inch of fresh ginger

1 green pepper

6 leaves of cabbage 

Spring onions

Sesame seeds

Half a teaspoon of turmeric 

A few grinds of Pink Himalayan salt

A few grinds of steak chop grind spice

Fresh mint

Fresh parsley

A table spoon of honey 

A table spoon of sesame seed oil

A smidgen of unsalted butter

Ugwu

I started off with cutting the breasts into strips and placing in a bowl with the salt, steak grind, sesame seeds, turmeric, sesame seed oil and honey. I set that aside while I chopped the onions, garlic, ginger, cabbage, spring onions and green pepper. 

I set an empty pan on the burner on high heat for a few minutes to heat up then added the chicken strips. About 5-7 minutes later I added the butter, onions, garlic, mint and ginger, stirred and covered the pan for just under 5 minutes.

I added the cabbage, green pepper stirred then the ugwu, spring onions and parsley tossed together, left on the heat for about 3 minutes turned off the heat and served.

I must confess I had seconds 😁😁😁. Hubby came home and dusted off what I had thought would be breakfast for me the following morning. Alas!

Consolation it got the hubby approved stamp and that's a great one for me😁😁

Enjoy a blessings filled weekend😘

HOMEMADE THINGYS 😁

Olla peeps, 

Trust you're enjoying the abundant rains as much as I am😁. I just love the rains makes me marvel at the works of my Almighty God.

So I've been on a 7 day habit forming start to a great healthy eating lifestyle with a few ladies on bbm, it's amazing what team effort can achieve😁. 

I will post pictures of the meals I have had so far and break them down individually in the next few posts.

My journey to eating and maintaining a healthier lifestyle started maybe like 6 years ago and I can assure you it was and sometimes still a struggle(I have an incredible sweet tooth). Suffice it to say I have almost won the battle with sugar aside from the odd cravings here and there, I have substituted sugar with honey and even in my baking and found that it works beautifully. Phew enough of the history lesson and on with today's topic.

Hummus was something I always looked at with funny eyes and swore never to eat it until last year in Dubai at a Lebanese restaurant with family and I was urged to not knock it till I tried it. I didn't really need much persuasion as there was lots of hot flat bread to go with it😁. Wow! Was I pleasantly surprised! It was absolutely positively delish. We had 3 bowls between the 3 of us before the main meal and I tell you I could have just eaten nothing else and been a happy camper😁. 

I also came across vegannigerian's blog www.vegannigerain.com and she had a recipe for homemade hummus what a delight.

Chickpeas; 1 cup cooked✅(of course I made mine fresh from scratch😁)

Olive oil; 2 tablespoons✅

Garlic; 2 cloves crushed ✅

Pepper;1/4teaspoon as it was really hot✅

Freshly squeezed lemon juice; half a yellow lemon✅

A dash of salt; a few twists of pink Himalayan salt(plenty effizzi)✅

Blend all ingredients together in a food processor and voila hummus is ready to be eaten. 

Admittedly it doesn't taste exactly like the one I had in Dubai but it was yummy none the less and as I'm off bread this week had it for lunch with some veggies. Quiet filling😁😁😁.

Enjoy a fruitful blessings weekend😘

ONE POT WONDER😁😁😁

You know those days when you're hungry, rather starving! and you almost absolutely positively know you'll be sprawled passed out on the floor if you manage to get through the prepping the ingredients stage? Wellllllllll I go through that quite regularly🙈 but as I loooooove to eat and loooooooove food I found out that popping every single ingredient in the pot at the same time works absolute magic😁😁💃💃💃and more often than none the food is done in about 20 minutes max 25minutes ( doesn't work for beans o! Ehen)

Jollof rice is one thing I still don't cook very well at least compared to the iya alase's ( Women who cook at your home for a few as in local firewood and huge cauldrons and stuff) they get it right all the time and in such huge quantities too!

Anywho so I get home starving like Marvin and alas rice( which I try not to eat too often) is the fastest thing to cook so I wash the rice severally(1 cup) pour some already blended pepper about 4 cooking spoons In with the rice in a pot, add salt to taste, chop 1 onion, 3 cloves if garlic add half that to the pot, about a teaspoon of dried yellow pepper, about a handful of ground dried crawfish, a couple pieces of smoked catfish(love love love), add water to cover and cook for about 20 minutes or until water dries. I tasted for softness, stirred and then added turmeric powder, dried sweet basil and the rest if the chopped onion and garlic with a little more water reduced the heat and steamed for just under 5minutes and voila my one pot wonder was ready. I was patient enough to plate and take a picture😁.

Ps mostly I don't cook with oil and I have found out the food tastes just as great if not better and a lot healthier too. That said when I do cook with oil I hardly ever add more that a couple tablespoons and that would be for a huge pot.

I use mostly cold pressed olive, sesame and coconut oils.

Enjoy😘