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😘

GREEK YOGHURT😁😁😁💃

Olla peeps,

For someone who never liked milk talk less yoghurt, it's amazing my turn around! I absolutely love yoghurt and if it's home made all the better. I discovered a lady in my estate who makes the best yoghurt I have ever tasted( in all of my yoghurt drinking years tee hee hee). It's called G'S ALLFRESH, absolutely amazing and to make matters better😁 she also produces low fat no sugar Greek yoghurt💃💃💃. 

Even for a sweet tooth like me(I know I know I'm working on it🙈) I can eat the Greek yoghurt without honey(even though I still put in a tablespoon full).

To make it exciting for breakfast, lunch or dinner I add a few nuts and raisins in the mix. This has pecan nuts, slivered almonds and raisins. Yum yum yum yum. 

You can order your G'S Allfresh yoghurt by calling 08098442623 or 08033030316. You'll thank me😁😁😁

Olaa Naturale Pure honey 08020924020.

Enjoy the rains Gods abundant blessing😁😁

QUINOA AND BANANA SMOOTHIE😁😁

This was one if those days when I thought I had nothing at home to cook. It still amazes me how sometimes all one needs is not more than 4 ingredients to make a meal.

Out came the forgotten drumsticks in the freezer, the garlic, ginger, onions, salt, dry yellow pepper, black pepper and my Quinoa😁. 

Drumsticks in pot with the crushed and chopped garlic and ginger, chopped onions, salt and peppers and a smidgen of water to cook. Once cooked I added about a cup of water to the pot, that came to a boil and I then added my already washed Quinoa and let it all simmer for 15minutes, garnished with spring onions and voila! Lunch💃💃💃💃

Just before I made the one pot Quinoa I had to have something in my rumbling tummy so I whipped out the blender and in went the almond milk, bananas, avocado, vanilla flavoring, cinnamon, nutmeg, honey, almonds and groundnuts😁😁. Needless to say they were both absolutely yummy!

Breakfast

Most mornings I wake up hungry and dilly dally about what to have for breakfast and this could take several hours "mega eye rolling". Today was one of those mornings. Finally decided on eggs (as I try to stay away from bread as much as possible😁 doesn't always work sha), so I put the pan on the gas, a drizzle of olive and sesame oil and some unsalted butter and then BAM!!! I though pancakes💃💃💃. So out came the flour, almond milk, 1 egg, nutmeg, salt, springs onions, yellow pepper and garlic and all natural honey from Olaa. Yum yum yum. Even though breakfast became brunch my tummy was satisfied and my soul most definitely lifted! Welcome to the beautiful month of June people and My God crowned it with abundant showers of blessings😁😁😁