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😁😁😁