The Multiplying Grain🌽

I love it. I love it roasted than boiled. I love it popped too. I almost forgot to include its a whole different vibe when flaked.

A little fun fact, it originated from southern Mexico and comes in a variety of colours like pink, white, red, blue and even black . Well there’s the popular yellow coloured.

Ok so while I was growing up, whenever it was the corn season, a lot of people come down with cold in my house. Trust me I have had my share of it too.

Last week I took terribly ill, had a bad cough, cathar and a cold. Everything in me that was already stereotyped about the corn and cold collaboration thing and I so wanted to blame it on the corn being in season. Like I actually wanted to blame the corn for my cold. Pardon me. My experience made me have such thought pattern. But no more! I have broken free from the shackles of an awkward mindset.

Contrary to the believe that the advent of corn brings about cold related illnesses and all, theres actually a load benefits to be derived from it.

Wait first, is it corn or maize? This matter will be settled later.

Back to original matter, I discovered that if you want to increase your body blood supply, go for corn.
Corn is rich in iron, which is an essential mineral needed for the production of red blood cells in the body. It thus helps in reducing the risk of Anemia.

Glow baby glow!

All the goodness you need to have that skin glow is embedded in corn. Yes! I said what I said. In Corn. Eating yellow corn can provide you with a ton of beta-carotene, which is extremely good for your skin. Antioxidants for anti-aging is a check. Helps you remain young and youthful.

If you are battling with pimples scar let’s gather here so we can know ourselves. I found a solution in corn. Owing to its high vitamin E content, a paste created with sweet corn can work wonders to remove facial acne scars. Is God not too good?

Hair loss trauma? You’ve been saved!

The vitamin C, lycopene content, and various other antioxidants present in sweet corn helps in strengthening the hair strands. The corn oil enhances blood circulation in the scalp, thereby promoting the follicles to produce healthy and strong tresses (hair curls). No more hair loss!

I got something for pregnant women too. Yunno the way folic acid is essential for you babies yeah, It’s importance for cell growth? Search no further! Sweet corn contains a high concentration of folic acid, which is actually prescribed to women during pregnancy. Get on some corn diet preggies.

Blood pressure saga? Just eat corn. Phytonutrients found in corn inhibit ACE, lowering the risk of high blood pressure.

All this been said, there’s still more corn can do for you. Just jump on that diet. The awesome thing is its in season so it’s relatively cheap!

Come next blog post I will be sharing some not your regular, a break from the norms kind of corn meal recepies. I promise y’all.. you will shocked!

Till the next blog post, I’m sending

❤💡

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Disguise Downsided!

I sincerely don’t know why you would just decide to be cruel to people. I’m sorry I’m ranting here there’s no other person I would rather share my pain with than my virtual family.

Sorry guys.

How was your week tho? Weekend’s in a little bit but I’m not that excited about it. I foresee a weekend full of work and no play. What can I do about it? Absolutely nothing. And it really sucks.

Lately I’ve been evaluating myself and it feels like I’m not enough for me. But I listened to this podcast by my sister and it gave me strength. I hope you receive strength when you listen too. I will share the link to the podcast at the end of this post.

Focus dear Focus.

Ok so back to what we have in store for today.

The downsides of catfish.

The number one for me ehen is it’s takes long to marinate. And when it’s not marinated properly, it tastes yulk. I had this catfish peppersoup a few days ago and I felt really disgusted. I had high hopes for it only for the soup to fall my hand because the fish didn’t marinate properly. It tasted so bland. Yulk.

Another thing is excessive consumption of catfish could increase the chances of developing cardiovascular diseases according to Dr Arikawe Adeolu. Yeah we know how too much of everything turns out bad. Thus is just a friendly advice. If you belong to the excessive squad, you need to cut down on the spree.

While researching, I saw a couple of things about omega 6 in catfish causing colt and arthritis and all sort. I low key don’t buy it but it’s better to be safe than sorry.

And that’s why we are applying moderacy in out consumption.

Virtual family, happy fish feasting. Remember, modreacy in our eating so we don’t end up bingeing.

To the podcast I listened to earlier this week, click here to listen.

So I will see you next week. Stay glued to this page. Something big is coming!

Snizzzlling hottie😁.

Your Truly,

❤💡

Eel in disguise.

Hello guys. How have y’all been?I would like to take this moment first of all to sincerely apologise for not making any post last week. This was due to the issue my phone developed and I couldn’t fix it on time.To be honest I missed you all. I hope you are still with me yeah?Yes!!! We are back and and we are excited to serve you better.Ok so today we would be looking at something a lot of people have superstitious beliefs about.In fact ehen you see Yoruba people ehen they avoid taking it because they feel like it is majorly used for rituals. Well all thanks to Nollywood do implanting that mindset in people’s minds.But since its more of farm raised than wild caught of late, a lot of people don’t buy to that mindset not anymore.Can you take a wild guess on what it is?I did a mini survey and I got a couple of interesting responses.Well I guess you know what it is already.Catfish!A low calorie, high protein seafood that’s a great source of nutrients, including vitamin B12, selenium, and omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids.
Nutrient-dense protein sources like catfish may aid weight loss by boosting feeling of fullness.
This fish is also a great option for people who are watching their calorie count but want to make sure they’re getting enough nutrients. You don’t wanna add weight but you want to get you nutrients is one meal, opt for catfish.It’s particularly rich in heart-healthy omega-3 fats and vitamin B12. Infants, pregnant women and the elderly are especially vulnerable to B12 deficiency. A diet with catfish supplys a great amount of B12Looking for way to get vitamin D? The sunshine vitamin (lol). Turns out catfish provides an excellent source of vitamin D too.To y’all catfish lovers congratulations as to are on the right track.Now before you runoff on a eating spree, don’t forget everything has it’s downsides.Stay tuned for the next blog post on the cons.❤💡

Kit-Hacks!

Virtual family, hello!

I have a question for y’all. When last did you read a book? I read this amazing book during the week and I would love to share it with you. Say something in th comment section of you want the book.

Ps. It’s less than 15 pages

So yesterday, I wanted to boil eggs but they had been in the house for a couple of weeks and I couldn’t tell if they were bad or not.

Then I remember I had learnt a couple of cooking hacks when i took an intensive class on catering and culinary art.

Of course I’m going to share them with you. I’m nice like that.

Back to the egg, I was able to figure out which was bad by doing the simple egg test. I put them all in a bowl of water and all sunk except one. Yes! I got the bad one out.
If eggs sink to the bottom of a bowl of cold water and lie flat on their sides, they are very fresh. If they are less fresh but still good to eat, they will stand on one end at the bottom. If they float to the surface, they are no longer fresh enough to eat!

Take note of at the bottom. The egg has to sink to be edible.

Even when you get eggs from a retail store, you could do the check to figure out how long the eggs has been in the store and if they are still fit for consumption.

A few other food hacks you could use at the convenience of your house include;

Freezing onions before cutting them. You could also dip them in a bowl of cold water about 5-10 mintues before cutting. This won’t make you cry.

I know i know. You really want to reuse that cooking oil . The slouttion is simple, fry some ginger in it first and the taste of whatever that was cooked disappears leaving you with good oil.

To prevent your unripe plantain from ripening, keep in a bowl of water for as long as you want them to remain unripe, take them out when you want to ripen.

Burnt a pot of rice?Solving it hasn’t been any easier. Place a piece of white bread on the hot rice, place the lid back on and leave for about 5 minutes. The bread absorb all the burnt smell. Open, take out the bread, serve and enjoy!

I used to tell my mom I’m allergic to red pepper to avoid touch them. They are just really hot. Not anymore tho! I found the solution. Rubbing a little bit of vegetable oil on your palms befor handling it and the hotness of the pepper won’t hurt your skin.

While try to make the perfect fried stew, cook ingredients in this order-onion, garlic, ginger, tomatoes, spices. It is based upon the time required in cooking them. It really works.

Try these hacks when you are cooking and you will be sure to see a difference🤗

See you all next week on the next blog post. Have a fab weekend!

Oh and don’t forget to leave a comment if you want the book.

Love you much.

❤💡

Err-Chen!

New week fam!

Have you ever gotten a beating from your mom because you made a cooking error? OR Have been able to successfully cover up a cooking mistake?

I couldn’t cover up the mistake I made this weekend, it was a real mess, my mom ate out of the food but I didn’t get a beating. I’m too old for that. (Flips hair)

I was trying to make Jollof rice and fried fish. Of course my rice came out well but the fish didn’t. Getting it perfectly fried was a whole struggle. It kept scattering in the oil despite the fact that I used a non sticky pan. After the whole cooking i tried to figure out what went wrong with the fish.

I made it a point of duty to research so I could find out what happened because I reasoned that a couple of people in this virtual family would have had a fair share of this trouble one way or the other.

Great news! I found out what went wrong and so long to imperfect fried fish.

I cooked the fish while it was still cold.

This is a mistake most people make while cooking and we don’t seem to pay attention to.

Letting the protein (meat, fish or chicken) sit in the sink for about 30 minutes before cooking so it reaches room temperature. This allows it to be evenly cooked and drastically reduce the effect of the protein breakage while cooking; fish especially.

A sure hack that can be used when you can’t wait for about 30 minutes is to flour coat the fish. This also makes it sturdy, reduce breakage and enhances even cooking.

Before you run off to making your perfectly fried fish, listed below is a few other cooking mistakes we should try as much as possible to avoid,

  • Not heating pan properly. Cooking surfaces need to be hot; for about 5minutes; before placing anything on it.
  • Pan-filling. I know you want to get the cooking over with especially if you are extremely hungry but overcrowding your pans means more uneven heat distribution and inturn leads to partially done food.
  • Overseasoning. It’s easy to get aggressive with the salt and other seasonings. You might even lose focus. When this happens, use water to dilute it. For a meal that you can’t add water, put in a slice of yam to absorb the excess spice.
  • Never ever on any occasion toss a hot food into a cold fridge. Make sure it has enough time to cool off before putting it in the frezzer.
  • Fiddling with food. “Leave it be!” says Cayne. “So many people feel the need to poke and stir and flip way too early. Don’t do that. It ruins the cooking.

    Learnt a thing or two? I’m positive you did.
    I will see yall on the next blog post.
    ❤💡

Smore_D

Hey guys! How was the week?

Last weekend was really busy for me and I can foresee this weekend already.

Sighs. Stress over stress over stress. Is it going to be easy? Nope. Is it going to be worth it. Absolutely!

This was my slogan for this week and it’s been really helping me refocus my drive.

How have your refocused your drive this week?

Share your Instagram handle in the comment section and let’s connect!

Moving on… I promised to share the perfect fruit to attain a smoothie benefit in the last blog post.

For fat bursting benefits/ weight loss effect, berries are the best options to use. This is because fruits like berries are a secret weight loss weapon. It is even suspected that blueberries can actually stop fat cells from developing.

To reduce the effect of too much food consumption, thee best fruit option for your smoothie is avocado. Avocado.is one example of a smoothie that will leave you sated until lunchtime and curb your urge to snack and you only need half an avocado to get its benefits. Click here to check out the preparation method.

Our skincare routine smoothie! I did tell.you that ingredients for smoothies are really flexible and fun. In the last blog post I mentioned carotenoids as the major ingredients to get a healthy glow. You can do for your skin a huge favour by going for smoothies with pumpkin and mango and carrot. Prep method; click.

And our brain boosting effect, generally just grab a fruity smoothie. Smoothies are a great way to easily get lots of fruit and vegetables into your day-to-day routine and if you’re including things like coconut, you’ll be benefitting from the omega-3 fatty acids to help your brain to work at its best.

So it’s till we see again on the next blog post.

Don’t forget to share your Instagram handle in the comment section. I promised to follow!

See you around;

❤💡

Smooo-D😅

Hi guys! Happy new week.

How was the last week for you?

Mine turned out to be a eat-a-thon spree. It was a food in good out all week. So I decided to embark on a challenge and I hope you will join me on it.

Ok so this week,the challenge I and we are taking on this week is start the week with and most likely end with fruits and veggies rather than with pizzas and shawarma.

Actually, a shift in the fruit and veggies. Transforming them into drinks. Into SMOOTHIES!!!

Smoothie are fun drinks that comes in different colours and they are super easy to make.

I really don’t know how tasty smoothie are but what I do know is that they are super healthy.

And the awesome thing about them is flexible recipes! You can always switch one ingredient for the other.

No stress too. Which is like my thing. Who would want to make something they probably know would take out all the energy out of them before coming together in one piece.

Now there’s a whole lot of goodness you could derive from having smoothies.

One of the most efficient way to live healthy and lose fat while having fun with the recepies and preparation is to include a smoothie in your diet. Now you need to be really clever about your choice of fruit to get the right taste and the weight loss secret weapon.

*I will be sharing the best fruit choice for this weight loss effect in the next blog post*

Another awesome benefit derived from taking smoothie is that it literarilly helps cut down on consuming too much food. Well I’m sure we know the dangers of eating too much already. Click here to find out more about it. The fibre present in fruits leaves you sated for long and curb the urge to always want to eat.

Smoothie for skincare routine. Studies have shown that drinking smoothies made from foods containing cartiniods can give you an attractive glow. Well not all kind of fruit can give you this glow. Just stay tuned to this page to get more info on what fruit to use.

My favorit part yet. The nutrients in fruit and vegetable smoothies are often said to boost your brain function and make your mind feel clearer. Who doesn’t crave a clear mind? Our days tend to turn out busier than expected and the mind becomes cloudy. Yet we still want to function to full capacity and the only way out is smoothie!

I really want to continue but I have to go now.

I love you much, see you soon.

I miss you already!

See you in the next blog post!

❤💡

What’s cooking?

Hello guys! How has your week been?

I hope you have been implementing the working the progress strategy. Let me know how it’s been coming along in the comment section below.

A couple of days ago I tried to fix meal, Noodles to be precise and it got burnt. Trust me it wasn’t a deliberate action because I was in the shower and I took longer than calculated. So my food got burnt.

That brings me to how many not deliberate food mistakes that we might have made that we don’t know how it affects us.

One paramount mistake that is evident and quite of number of people can relate to is the mistake when boiling rice.

Make a mental rundown of how you boil your rice. Do you just put everything inside the pot and wait for it to get soft? Or are you part of the gang that waits to the water to boil before pouring in the grains?

So basically a common mistake for some people, is adding salt to their meal. It poses as a huge problem. Not knowing how to add the right amount of salt to the food. It is either the salt is too much or too small. The only way to find a balance is to ensure that you taste the meal as you cook.

Another mistake is adding too much water. The food gets to a point that it gets all soggy and almost becoming a paste. This is really easy to correct. Just seive out the excess water once the rice is boiled and leave to steam. Now the salt might drop a little so before you drive out the water make sure to salt check.

A major hack I use when boiling my rice is to allow the water to get warm to an extent, the pour in the rice add the salt and wait till it brings to a boil.

Now when the rice gets soft, if there’s no water in it, add some water, stir so the excess starch can get off the rice. Sieve and leave to simmer on low heat.

It’s important to remove the starch in the rice as it could have an adverse effect on the health.

Not removing the starch is linked to a higher risk of diabetes, heart disease and weight gain. In addition, they can cause blood sugar to spike rapidly and then fall sharply.

Therefore make sure to note that it’s a mistake the shouldn’t be made anymore. Consciously make an effort to de-starch the rice before consumption.

I’ll see you all on the next blog post.

Remember we are working the progress.

Yours truly,

❤💡

Drive Boards!

New week; new drive!

For some reason I didn’t feel too excited about this new week because it felt like I wasn’t able to achieve a lot last week .

You know the weekly goal thing, I wasn’t able to pull it off because I was sorta occupied so I got distracted and it feels like I’m behind schedule on my life.

You might probably feel this way too. But don’t you worry because since we have the will, the way will show up.

So I decided to review how much I wanted to achieve in a week and I had to slim down the schedule. I took a step back. Yeah I want to make progress but that doesn’t mean I should bring all the steps into one.

I decided to work the progress. I step at a time. And I feel someone needs to hear this too. We work the progress one step at a time. Let’s redirect our drive!

In line of redirecting the drive, I am here with something different from the regular food and health.

Let’s go to the kitchen!

So I figured that a while lot of people well families barely use chopping boards.

Even this morning while I was peeling yam I just put it on the kitchen table and cut.

It’s a whole lot easier that way. Before we will think of chopping board, we have finished cutting what we want to cut.

An average Nigerian family has a chopping board in their kitchen and proly use it 1 out of 20 times. Mostly during large cooking. Drop a comment if you are on this table.

A chopping board is basically used for cutting in the kitchen.

No kitchen is complete without a cutting board.

If you take cooking seriously, you need a cutting board. It adds style and enhancement to your kitchen.

It usually comes in plastic or wood. But i think the wood is kinda retro compared to the plastic.

Although there are pros and cons of using each one either wood or plastic, we are going focus on the plastic boards.

Plastic boards barely damage the edges of knives cos they are designed not to. Now hold up, a serrated knife shouldn’t be used on a plastic board.

You could wash with cleaning chemicals without having to worry about the chemical retaining on the board surface unlike wooden boards.

There are colour code as regards cutting boards.

I just discovered too and finding out gave me a sort of thrill.

Imagine knowing about one new thing!

• Red cutting boards: raw red meat.

• Green cutting boards: vegetables and fruits.

• Yellow cutting boards: poultry

• Blue cutting boards: cooked meat

• White cutting boards: dairy and breads (also for universal if no other board is available.)

Now it doesn’t necessarily mean you need to have all this. I mean let’s be realistic, this is Nigeria.

But knowing wouldn’t cause any harm. Taking a step futher to actually having them would be just great.

I’m sure you now know what to do with that board that has been lying idle in your house.

Don’t forget consciously work the progress and slowly redirect the drive.

Yours Truly,

❤💡

Retro from leftovers!

Weekend in a bit! Who’s excited?

How has the week been? Tell me all about it in the comment section.

Confession Time. Shhhhhhh

I have been on an eating spree all week. Back to back. But i made sure to pay close attention to the caloric content.

If there’s one food I’m very sure you’ve eaten this week it’s RICE! Call me a seer.(lol)

I mean who doesn’t eat rice. Except my former roommate tho. Rolls eye. Banke catch your sub.

How can you not like rice? And judging by the fact that you are Nigerian. It’s like our signature food in this country😂. A must eat for every family.

There’s this thing that is apparent in every Nigerian home and I’m sure you agree big time. Leftover meals for breakfast especially rice.

In my house gan my Mom deliberately cooks excess rice if we are to have it for dinner.

She does that so we can reheat the leftover for a pre breakfast meal.

Yes! That meal that you eat before you make the actual breakfast. Drop your favourite emoji in the comment section if you can relate with this.

Even if my Mom do that all the time I’m no longer affected cos I found the perfect way to transform that leftover rice into something awesome.

Turning it into the perfect rice pudding.

I feel like this is the best recepie that could work for me. You could as well try it out or cook your rice from the scratch.

I mean why waste good when there’s already leftover rice. If you want to make it from the scratch that works too.

Making it is relatively easier than you think.

It takes about 25 to 30 minutes for four servings.

You will need;

  • 2 cups cooked long grain rice (short groan too might do the trick)
  • 2 cups whole milk preferably evaporated milk
  • 4 tablespoons of sugar

Basically you just pour everything into the pot and allow to cook but close attention must be paid to avoid it getting burnt.

OR

You could bake it in an oven. It is a decadent and creamy rice pudding recipe that you can serve either as a sweet breakfast or for dessert. Just mix and heat everything together on the stovetop for 5 minutes then stick in the oven for about 20 minutes or so.

And your pudding is set!

So I got quite a number of entries for suggested topics on the blog. And I’m gonna give room for more.

You want me to talk about something, you know how we do it. Drop it in the comment section.

I love you all and I see you soon.

Bonus Tip: Check this page for amazing food contents. Click here.

❤💡 Familia.