Tag: Nutrition

A Click A Day

Spice it up – A Click A Day.

jacquelineobyikocha6 Comments

I went to buy a bit of ground cinnamon and found myself buying a few curious blend of spices that I’ve never tried before.

I also bought some Chickpeas that I’ll use to prepare Hummus and I’ll share the recipe with you later 🙂

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A Click A Day · food

My Yummy Chicken Mango Salad – A Click A Day.

jacquelineobyikocha35 Comments

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This is mango season and the delicious fruit abounds in the fruit stalls right now.

Taking advantage of its sweetness asides from juicing them and making smoothies, they can be used in fresh salads as well.

I made this platter yesterday evening and you have to take my word for it that it’s yummy and of course, you are welcome to give it a try 🙂

Quick Recipe

2 Tablespoons of Olive Oil

1 lemon, juiced

1/4 flat leaf parsley leaves, chopped

1 long red chilli, deseeded and chopped (optional)

1/2 of a tomato, deseeded and chopped (optional)

1 stick of cucumber (optional)

2 – 3 cups of chopped roasted chicken – remove the skin

2 mangoes, peeled cubed or sliced into small bits

150g of mixed salad greens

Preparation Steps:

  1. Combine the Olive oil with the lemon juice and add the parsley and chilli if you are using chilli.
  2. Combine the chicken, mango, salad greens, tomato (optional), and cucumber (optional) in a large bowl. Drizzle your dressing, toss lightly to mix and serve.
  3. Enjoy 😉

© Jacqueline Oby-Ikocha

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Echos Of My Neighbourhood

Tea At TWG – Echoes of my Neighbourhood.

jacquelineobyikocha19 Comments

On Thursdays, I share pictures about ‘Echos of my Neighbourhood.

I would like to invite you to participate. The challenge is quite simple and you can find out more about it through this link.

In search of the health benefits of more antioxidants, I decided to make a conscious effort to reduce my coffee intake and replace it with tea, so I went tea tasting the way a wine connoisseur would go wine tasting 😉

We all know the benefits of tea but it’s worth recapping them briefly:

  • Tea is a superfood whether black, green, white, Oolong and other types.
  • It’s rich in polyphenol antioxidants that detoxify all damaging free radicals in the body.
  • Helps to lower LDL cholesterol.
  • Reduces the risk of heart diseases and possibly helps to prevent various Cancers and Alzheimer’s.
  • Contains disease-fighting flavonoids.
  • Soothes stress by reducing the stress hormone, Cortisol.

I visited TWG, a Tea house in this area that has a plethora of different types of tea from all corners of the World and I must tell you that I sampled some cups of tea that were so smooth they didn’t require cream or sugar. Of course, I made some purchase of several interesting flavours and you are welcome to join me for a cuppa. To our health 🙂

Let’s zoom to Munich through our e-portal on a quick trip with Lady Lee. Absolutely gorgeous photos 🙂

So what’s your neighbourhood and week been like? Feel free to share with us.

© Jacqueline Oby-Ikocha

P.S. Any place that I feature on my series of Echoes of my neighbourhood is my singular choice. I don’t receive any form of incentive to give my opinion or to promote the establishment.

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Health

Date Juice – Easy, Peasy Recipe

jacquelineobyikocha7 Comments

Dates

Dates are not only delicious, they are filled with healthy surprises. Abundant in the UAE, Egypt and parts of the Persian Gulf Region/Middle East, this highly nutritious, cholesterol-free fruit has so many varieties that are endowed with nature’s bounty of providing you with various health benefits, though it’s downside maybe it’s richness in sugar for diabetic patients.

The fructose that it contains is far better than the refined sugar that we consume these days and I am exploring using date syrup as my go to sweetener instead of sugar.

A quick look at the health benefits:

Contains vitamins like B1, B2, B3, B5, A1 and C

  1. Boosts heart health.
  2. Anti-Inflammatory properties
  3. Reduced Blood Pressure
  4. Promotes Digestive Health, Relieving Constipation
  5. Boosts Brain Health
  6. Bone Health and Strength
  7. Dietary supplement for anaemic people – increases energy
  8. Increases sexual stamina – when soaked overnight in goat milk and consumed the next morning.
  9. Helps reduction of night blindness
  10. A quick remedy for alcoholic intoxication.
  11. Great for hair and skin.

How to make date juice:

Contents: Water, Dates, Vanilla essence or lemon juice, (Almonds and ground Cardamon are optional).

Note that the quantity of dates that you use depends on how many people you are serving, but for 2 refreshing glasses, a handful of dates will suffice.

  1. Remove the seeds and soak a handful of dates in warm water for 3o mins to 1 hour to soften.
  2. Once the dates have soaked, drain the water then add the dates, One and a half cup of water, lemon juice or vanilla into the container of a high-speed blender and blend for 60 seconds or until smooth.
  3. If desired, you can add ground cardamom or almonds into the mix and blend.
  4. Serve slightly chilled.
  5. Enjoy and satisfy your sweet tooth 😉

© Jacqueline Oby-Ikocha

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Cooking · Guest Posts

How to preserve your tomatoes and pepper sauce using jam bottles. Guest Post

jacquelineobyikocha20 Comments

Tomatoes

Are you concerned that the only way you can preserve fruits, vegetables and tomato paste is only by refrigerating? Some people just want their vegetables fresh; I mean in our generation we preserve everything by adding preservatives that sometimes are not as healthy as we think. No wonder then that we battle with so many new diseases in our times.

Some people just want their vegetables fresh; I mean in our generation we preserve everything by adding preservatives that sometimes are not as healthy as we think. No wonder then that we battle with so many new diseases in our times.

At a women’s group meeting, we got talking about how women from our mother’s generation seem to be stronger than our own generation. By that we mean the number of children they gave birth to (a football team 😉 they worked outside their homes and still managed to run large households; plus they live longer.

In the opinion of many of the women present, our mothers fed their families with fresh vegetables and foods planted in their home gardens. Every time they want to prepare a meal all they had to do was pluck a few tomatoes, carrot, and cucumber and so on and a sumptuous meal is set. Interestingly this helped saved some of the resources which were used to provide for other needs of the family.

So how do we manage our homes and resources as women? Not so long ago the cost of tomatoes skyrocketed and the supply of electricity became a once in three week’s activity (in my country, Nigeria). In the absence of a refrigerator, here is what I learned about keeping your tomatoes and pepper paste fresh with no additives.

• Buy the amount of tomatoes, pepper and Tatashe you want; blend to your taste then boil until it is no more watery and it forms a thick paste.
• Get small and big sizes of your empty jam jars…fill each with your tomatoes and pepper paste still steaming hot; cork or close lid tightly.
• Next, get a big pot and arrange your jar bottles in it, then pour some water but not to the brim. Place the pot with your jam bottles containing your paste on a stove; allow boiling for ten minutes.
• Switch off the gas, ensure again that the lids of your containers are tightly corked then arrange them on an airy place on your shelves.
The freshness of your blended tomatoes and pepper paste would last for three months.

Note:
• For each jar of tomatoes that you pick to cook, finish using the contents once the lid has been opened.
• Pay attention to seasons of the year that tomatoes and pepper become expensive and prepare ahead by buying in bulk and preserve using the above method.

Fresh foods are healthier and safer. Have a backyard/home garden.

Adebisi Adetunji

Quick glossary: 

Tatashe is a red species of Capiscum/Pepper that’s native to Nigeria. It’s not the same as Bell Peppers and used for its flavour and rich colour given to stews and other West African dishes.

P.S: If you are interested in guest posting, send an email to JacquelineObyIkocha@gmail.com.

Below is my first just published Poetry Book “Out of the silent breath” which is available on Amazon and Smashwords.

When you buy my book, you support me in an invaluable manner.

 

Wonderful, evocative poetry by a talented writer. Left me hungry for more. Jacqueline can write! Linda Bethea

Out of the silent breath

If you enjoy my works and would like to do so, you can fuel my creativity with a slice of cake or coffee😉

Family · food

9 Great benefits when our young children cook for the family.

jacquelineobyikocha28 Comments

Cooking[1]

For quite a while now, most weekends I involve all my children in cooking a meal or two.

This was how I learnt in my mothers’ kitchen and it’s invaluable to start them young (as soon as they are old enough to help with bringing the tomatoes) for so many reasons.

  1. It builds their self-esteem, confidence and they feel like valued contributors.
  2. It helps to grow their sense of independence so that even when you are not around, they can easily cope on their own.
  3. It helps you a great deal on days that you are just too worn out to think straight. They can easily whip up an omelette for you.
  4. It’s fun and offers a great bonding time as well. We swap stories or just generally chit-chat.
  5. It offers them the opportunity to learn a basic life skill and you never know what direction life can take them.
  6. Real life science and opportunity to experiment.
  7. Calculation skills are introduced here as well as better comprehension; I ask them to write down what they learnt or to read a recipe and explain it to me.
  8. You increase their imagination – to the point that my children now hunt for new recipes that we can try 🙂
  9. A nice way of sneaking in the vegetables, since ordinarily, two of my children avoid veggies, but taking part in making it does a wonderful thing to the mind.

…and yes, the food tastes extra special 🙂

Food1[1]

Yesterday, we made our own version of baked potatoes and vegetable casserole with meatballs.

My daughter selected and washed the items according to my directions – I was the Operations Director 😉

They all participated in the paring, grating, cubing of the vegetables and potatoes, whilst mommy’s responsibility was to add the spices, assemble the processed items and set it to bake.

Unfortunately, I forgot to take pictures of the finished product before we dug into it, luckily, I took a couple of photos when we started.

Recipe:

1 big sweet potatoes – peeled, washed and grated

3 medium sized Irish potatoes – peeled, washed and cubed

Half a head of Broccoli

3 large tomatoes

1 large onions

4 medium carrots – peeled, washed and grated

4 big white mushrooms

I large yellow bell pepper.

2 beaten eggs for binding.

Fresh garlic – out of a clove, I use like 4 pieces.

Spinach – a handful

A sprinkle of parsley

Oregano – half teaspoon

A dash of curry spice

Salt – 3 teaspoons

2 cubes of Maggi stock

25-50 gms of grated cheddar cheese – layered through and sprinkled on top.

1 pack of minced meat – spiced and rolled into balls with breadcrumbs.

Served a family of 5 with generous helpings and leftovers 🙂

Have a great weekend and do share your tips with us.

© Jacqueline Oby-Ikocha

Below is my first just published Poetry Book “Out of the silent breath” which is available on Amazon and Smashwords.

When you buy my book, you support me in an invaluable manner.

 

From the very first poem, “Dreams,” this book captivates with passionate and perceptive words. Jacqueline Oby-Ikocha captures a broad expanse of the human experience in this book of richly layered poems.

Out of the silent breath