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

July 10, 2016January 28, 2017 jacquelineobyikocha20 Comments

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

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

Everyday People

Get Pampered – Everyday beautiful people 83

July 8, 2016 jacquelineobyikocha10 Comments

A little bit of pampering and grooming goes a long way to boost our sense of well-being as well as therapy for relaxing stressed nerves.

You need not spend a fortune to obtain such little pleasures. Find out what works for you and indulge yourself 😊

Have a great weekend, folks.

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.

Stars, Five Stars, Logo, Icon, Symbol, Five, Rating

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

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

Gratitude

My full plate…

June 15, 2016 jacquelineobyikocha20 Comments

Crowded, Nest, Egg, Full, Overflowing, Overcrowded

For several weeks, I’ve felt listless and dissatisfied and recent incidents in the World emphasizes the sense of futility that I feel about life. My morale justs dips and I practically have to hang on with tenacious tentacles to all the positive mantras and pick-me-ups that I can think of.

My plate is heaped full of things to do and sometimes, taking a mere glimpse at them makes me want to go and lie down and sleep and hopefully, they will get themselves sorted out without much of my help and mental exertion.

I woke up this morning with a message tucked into my head that kept telling me to be appreciative of the privilege to be alive and the opportunity of having interesting things to tackle.

The message kept reverberating in my head that the gift of each day which is given, should never be taken for granted irrespective of our struggles because the death knell is a final and last call on this side of the divide.

As long as there’s life, hope lies within and today I’m grateful for my full plate of busy-ness and the opportunity to feel the Sun’s shine on my face.

I hope that are you grateful or thankful for something today. We have a lot of privileges surrounding us.

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.

Stars, Five Stars, Logo, Icon, Symbol, Five, Rating

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

Family · food

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

June 11, 2016January 28, 2017 jacquelineobyikocha28 Comments

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.

It builds their self-esteem, confidence and they feel like valued contributors.
It helps to grow their sense of independence so that even when you are not around, they can easily cope on their own.
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.
It’s fun and offers a great bonding time as well. We swap stories or just generally chit-chat.
It offers them the opportunity to learn a basic life skill and you never know what direction life can take them.
Real life science and opportunity to experiment.
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.
You increase their imagination – to the point that my children now hunt for new recipes that we can try 🙂
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 🙂

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.

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.

Wordless Wednesday

I smell Summer break…

June 8, 2016May 10, 2017 jacquelineobyikocha6 Comments

Just enjoy the simple things of life. They are the things that make our lives sweet.

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

Midnight motivation and musings

Midnight Motivation and Musings # 91

May 28, 2016 jacquelineobyikocha7 Comments

Note that there’s a difference between being centered on self and being self-centered.

In all our busy-ness, we sometimes let ourselves fall by the wayside, trying to please a, b, c to z in our lives as well as meet up with so many expected goals.

It’s absolutely important that you take care of your physical, emotional and mental well-being which will equally ensure a balanced, happier person.

When you are ragged and run into the ground, your optimum ability to achieve may not only drop, but you become miserable and possibly grouchy towards others.

As you extend kindness to others, be kind to yourself as well.

Be kind to your body. Keep active.

Cut down the meaningless and mindless entertainment and use that as a me-time to rebalance.

There are many little ways that we can take care of ourselves. In another post, I’ll share my own personal weekly routine.

It’s not perfect and a continuous work-in-progress but it’s been useful and anyone can tweak theirs according to their individual circumstances.

The important thing is to recognise that there’s constant need to take out moments in time to rebalance.

P.S. You are invited to our monthly blog party this weekend. It’s fun and you get to meet fantastic folks

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.

Out of the silent breath

A deep sense of satisfaction

of peace, I sense within

as the Sun peeks to say hello

I am happy to embrace me.

Gratitude

The speed of time…

May 25, 2016 jacquelineobyikocha20 Comments

We draw to the close of May so fast that I’m left gasping to catch my breath.

Yesterday was just December, and now we are done with the 1st quarter of the year, with some water gone under the bridge and quite some notable celebrities have crossed over to the other side.

Today, my thoughts have been on a reminiscent drift. It’s three years today that my dad passed on and I find myself replaying a lot of scenes of the past in my mind. Not in a bad way but in a bitter-sweet way.

I find myself filled with peace. Peace for having known him as my father.

I’ve not achieved all that I set out for myself for this quarter. I’ve been slow, but I’m thankful for the much that I’ve done.

I’m grateful for the Grace and Favour received each day, to wake and see the rising Sun and pursue my dreams. To drink my warm cup of beverage and hope for tomorrow. I’m grateful.

There’s always something to be grateful for. You canYou can join Colline’s or Maria Jansson gratitude challenge platforms.

P.S. You are invited to our monthly blog party this weekend. It’s fun and you get to meet fantastic folks 🙂

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.

Out of the silent breath

When his face is sought with such fervent endeavour

huge burdens become less of a pressure

for he adorns us with unquantified favour

which takes us up to a higher measure.

Guest Posts · Health · Wellness

You’ve got to meet graceful Yentl of Younfolded.

May 22, 2016 jacquelineobyikocha17 Comments

Today, I have beautiful Nena telling us a bit more about herself and giving us a peek into her World.

She’s one of the encouraging and refreshing voices that I’ve met in this space. I enjoy her posts on showing simple ways of how we can be kind to each other as well her health and wellness posts.

Thank you, Nena for sharing a bit about you with us.

Hi! My name is Yentl (like the Barbara Streisand movie), but close friends and family call me Nena so I like for my blogging family to call me that as well.

Nena is a term of endearment in Spanish and it means “baby girl” and although I am a woman in her early 30s there is a sense of warmth every time I hear my nickname.

I was born and raised and still live in hot, sunny, and very humid Miami, Florida. If you haven’t guessed it already I am Latina and speak English and Spanish fluently. My dad is from Venezuela and my mom from Guatemala; two very distinct and beautiful cultures.

I like cooking healthy (and sometimes not so healthy) meals, staying active, exploring my world via traveling and reading, and expressing myself through writing and connecting with others.

I dislike criticism, judgments, and insults that break others down. We go through enough pain and despair in our lives so there is no room for hurtful words from people that don’t know any better.

For this reason, I try to always uplift those around me even if it’s through using simple, positive words like, “You are appreciated” so that they come to see their own worth.

My husband had been telling me for years to start a blog or YouTube channel mainly because of all the different hairstyles that I would do and also to share my nutrition knowledge.

I was hesitant because I was passionate about more than just nutrition and hair. I wanted to inspire and uplift others so when I started the blog it was more about unfolding bits of myself to promote self-discovery and self-love.

That is where the name YOUnfolded comes from.

I fell in love with blogging because of the supportive community. One of my fears with YouTube was all the competition that you see amongst vloggers so I was a bit apprehensive about what I was getting into with blogging. But I am so happy to have taken the plunge!

When I received my first like on my very first post “How Could I Forget?” I was elated!

It felt good to express myself and share info that could be helpful to others. Now I can’t wait to sit down and write up my recipes like The Pumpkin Soup that was a hit with my loved ones, my weekly workouts on my Move It Monday posts, and get my creative juices flowing when I write expressively like I have been doing for my Pet Series.

My favorite is when I get to showcase some of you lovely bloggers in my Pay It Forward Friday posts as a way to demonstrate my appreciation for all that you do.

I also started a YouTube channel to finally do some hair tutorials and decided to do them bare-faced (no makeup) to continue to promote self-love and the beauty of simply being YOU. Watch Younfolded on YouTube.

Lately, I have been waking up at 8am with just enough time to get up, brush my teeth, take my girls (dogs) out, get dressed, and start work at 8:30 am.

I work from home, but I am on a schedule (currently it is 8:30am – 5pm) and don’t have a lot of free time. I am a dietitian and I work as a health coach where I provide nutrition counseling to people over the phone.

I mainly make calls back to back and my lunch break consists of 30 minutes of eating in front of a Netflix show with my hubby.

After work, I clean (I use my cleaning schedule : ) take the girls out again, and work out. My hubby is usually the main cook in the house, but sometimes if he’s still working I cook dinner. Dinner is also in front of the TV watching one of our fave shows.

Once dinner is done, I take care of any pending things like taking a webinar for continuing education for my dietitian/nutrition license, shooting pics or videos for either my site or my husband’s work, writing posts, catching up with friends or family. Then it’s time for a shower and bedtime (around 11pm-12am).

I recently moved my WordPress hosted blog to a self-hosted one because I wanted to try to generate some income from it. My original plan to support and encourage others remains the same.

I found myself spending a lot of time putting together things for the blog, brainstorming ideas, and promoting companies whose products I have been using and truly believe in. I figured that it would be great to gain even just a bit of income from the free advertisement I am already providing to various companies out there to keep the blog running because, as most of you know, it is not free to have a .com without the word “WordPress” in there and it takes time to put together content.

With my already busy schedule, blogging and doing YouTube videos feel like a part-time job so why not make a bit of money doing something I love and dedicate a lot of time to.

I have plans to continue to provide content in each of the categories on my blog that will hopefully inspire others to take care of their entire well-being; whether it’s through nutrition, fitness, fun, or relaxing, as long as they find joy and fulfillment from within.

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

Out of the silent breath

Never leave me lonely

With words left unsaid

You walk away into the dark

Like a mist, that melts away.

Everyday People · Photographs · Quotes For You

Hydrate….Every day beautiful people # 37

May 9, 2016May 9, 2016 jacquelineobyikocha17 Comments

Drink lots of water and give your liver a surprise. Your skin, hair, mind and body will thank you.

How do you see the glass of water of your life, half full or half empty? Perspectives and attitude make a lot of difference.

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.

Out of the silent breath

Dance to your heart’s delight my African child, until echoes of your stamping feet, beating heart; bright eyes, smiling lips; and waving hands, resonates over and over like thunder claps, reverberating throughout the Universe.

Blog · Guest Posts · Interviews

This Might Interest You…BE MY GUEST.

April 10, 2016April 10, 2016 jacquelineobyikocha51 Comments

When I started my blog eleven months ago, I decided to take it a day at a time and see where the path is leading to.

I didn’t want to jumpstart far too many things and it would become difficult to get a grip on what exactly it is that I am doing here.

As each blogging day goes by, my vision for my blog keeps becoming crystal clear and I want to raise the bar a notch higher. It’s all part of the evolving and change. We have to keep aiming for growth.

My blog is a primarily a lifestyle blog and not just self-centric focused blog. I am a very community minded person and in as much as my blog is my voice in this space, it’s a space for all of us.

I am introducing a weekly GUEST POST (4 times a month) and Interview opportunities to other bloggers.

I am also available to write guest posts if you require that.

The guest posts that I seek are posts that will enhance and improve the lives of others. It would be on topics such as (but not limited):

Parenting, Family, Relationships, Finance, Exercise, Health, Wellness, Inspirational, Motivational, Security, Cooking, Lifes Lessons, Self-Help etc.

On the interview aspect, I am introducing bi-monthly interviews of fellow bloggers, which will involve short snippets about you and a feature of your blog.

Lastly, after due consideration and due to the success of parties that I hosted in the past, my theme blog party will take place once every month. I am contemplating the 3 or last weekend of the month.

So, tell me what you think. Please, and thank you.

If you are interested in the guest post or interview, you can send me an email JacquelineObyIkocha@gmail.com or check my ‘getting in touch page’

I might also knock on your door, so don’t be surprised if you see me outside 🙂