ANOREXIA: A hidden danger!

I decided to talk about this topic not from a personal experience but from the many research and write ups I have read on it. Why now you may ask? My answer would be that it’s a trend that I see creeping slowly but gradually amongst women particularly this generation. Being thin is being celebrated and used as a yard stick for healthy lifestyle regardless of whether it’s true or not.

I see young ladies, and also the not so young ones, embarking on a suicidal mission in the name of staying healthy without a clear cut direction of why they are embarking on the diet or to what purpose other than to be able to post a selfie looking trendy with all the curves in the right places and ability to project the image. This they do without realising that they are practically starving themselves to death.

Ladies please, get in touch with a professional dietician or nutritionist before embarking on any diet of any sort because you might be dancing around being anorexia.

Anorexia is a complex eating disorder with three key features: refusal to maintain a healthy body weight, an intense fear of gaining weight and a distorted body image.

It is very important for you to know that there is a right and wrong way to weight loss and a very thin line between that and the above topic. People with anorexia often deny having a problem, the truth is that anorexia is a serious and potentially deadly eating disorder. Fortunately, recovery is possible. With proper treatment and support, you or someone you care about can break anorexia’s self-destructive pattern and regain health and self-confidence.

Remember that your self-esteem should be based on more than just weight and body image and not entirely on how much you weigh and how thin you are, you should learn to like yourself in any shape, controlling your weight should be because you want to live longer to achieve a lofty purpose, try to love yourself in whatever shape you are, most often than not lack of self confidence and peer pressure also leads one down this part without realising it.

Reading up on how the human system functions and what you need to do to stay alive in terms of food and calorie content should be your yardstick, that is intelligent information and not  someone telling you you are fat, remember health is wealth!

Aficana Salad: Utazizi

Africana salad; Utazi, utazizi or otherwise known by the biological name Gongronema latifolium is a specie belonging to the bitter leaf family is mostly used for used for pregnant, lactating mothers and for sick people,in making pepper soup, i tell you it has this beautiful flavour that gives a touch of home cooking to your soups and also used to garnished your sauce, it is one must have spice for preparing pepper soup, banga or palm kernel soup, mixed okro soup.
I always wonder why i like it so much, it bring back for me fond memories of my mother care and love particularly when i took ill and it seems i was going to fade away from my inability to eat no matter how delicious the food prepared seems, it just all taste like sawdust in my mouth. Mum prepared a simple pepper soup using this leaf with just crayfish and gave me to drink it on empty stomach, it was like a miracle because i was eating ravenously from then on.
Based on the research i carried out, i discover that aside from the medicinal value, it actually has many other nutritional benefits,it has an excellent source of protein and contain a high dose of amnion acid as well,when infused its also helpful in treating malaria.

African Salad

Cookery is not only an art but also a survival skill, our body crave nutrient in proper proportion, this recipe is an all time favorite from the Igbo tribe of Nigeria and its a bundle of wholesome nutrients from the ingredient which is made mostly from vegetable, cassava flakes, fish, meat or better still cow skin popularly called "Pomo" and raw palm oil, it does not require cooking over fire. It's very filling but at the same time does not contain much calories. However as a first time visitor to Nigeria, be careful not to eat much off it at a time so as to prevent frequent stooling 

Ingredients:

6 to 8 cups of Abacha (African Salad)
1 to 2 cups Of Ugba
1/2 cup of crayfish
1 to 2 cubes of  stock cube
10cl of palm oil
1 teaspoon of edible powdered potash
salt and pepper to taste.
3 to 5 garden eggs (optional)
Utazi leaves
Garden egg leaves (optional)
Meat/dry fish or stock fish.(optional)

Heat or soak the dry Abacha in boiled water for about three minutes, then sieve and keep on a separate bowl.

Blend your crayfish and also slice the onions, garden egg leaves. It is advisable to dissolve the powdered potash in about 5 cl of clean water; this is to easily filter out unwanted solid materials that is often embedded in potash.Pour the dissolved potash into a mortar or pot leaving out the residue.

Add about 10cl of palm oil and stir to form a yellowish paste (ncha, as addressed by the igbos), This is the first part to making Abacha (African Salad), add the ground crayfish and pepper, stir, Ugba is an important ingredient in the process of making African salad, it is considered incomplete without the present of this ingredient. Ugba is usually sold in most Nigerian markets 

Add the ugba to the mixture and stir, and then add the abacha, Stir thoroughly .

The garden eggs, the leaves and the onions are used mostly to spice up or for decoration purposes and not added during preparation but while dishing out. They are often sliced and kept aside in different plates or bowls, then added while individual plates are dished out; this also goes for the meat or fish used. Serve with the meat and also add the garden eggs (sliced) and leaves to individual plate, goes well with chilled palm wine or any soft drink of your choice. 

Enjoy your meal!

The many benefits of Lemon grass

Lemon grass, also called fever grass, is a perennial plant with thin, long leaves As the name implies, lemon grass smells like lemon, but it tastes milder and sweeter.
This herb is used in various Asian cuisines as a flavouring agent due to its potent flavour.

• Nutritionally, lemon grass is a good source of vitamins A and C, foliate, folic acid, magnesium, zinc, copper, iron, potassium, phosphorus, calcium and manganese. It also has minute traces of B vitamins.
• Along with its culinary uses, lemon grass is useful in alternative or complementary remedies for a wide range of ailments. Lemon grass tea is most often used in home remedies for various health issues. You can brew the tea by steeping one teaspoon of fresh or dried lemon grass in a cup of hot water for about 10 minutes. Strain, add any desired sweetener and your tea is ready.
• Its a very effective treatment of malaria fever, to prepare simply boil the grass with lime and drink
  
  as often as possible.

Back to School Delight!

Wow! You mean the holiday is over and we are back to school runs, early morning breakfast, pick-ups and all the things that make mothering so much fun and satisfying. That’s how I feel most times, or don’t you feel the same way?
I have had a truly wonderful time with the kids this particular holiday making me very creative in keeping those little tummies full all the time…lol! I have now confirmed that truly you eat more when you have so much time on your hand, because it’s as if as soon as they've eaten, all I'm hearing is mum I'm hungry.
Now that school have resumed, I have to put on my thinking cap and come up with food to ease them slowly back to regimented meal. You don’t want to give them too much food since they are not running around all day burning them off but filling foods that will slowly release the energy they need hence the above menu that I call “back to school delight”. It’s a medley of potatoes, baby carrot, scramble eggs and a little corned beef. You can also add peas if you want.

Ingredient:

2 Irish or Sweet potatoes
3 baby carrots
1 egg
A handful of peas
2 tablespoon corn beef or fish flakes
1 tablespoon oil
1 onion

Method:

Peel potatoes, scrape carrot and cut into 2 equal parts.
Add the oil in your skillet and sauté the diced onion until translucent.
Add the corn beef or fish flakes, stir lightly and then add your washed potatoes and a little water.
Boil until tender and add the carrot and peas.
Allow to boil together till tender, which will take about 5 minutes, before adding the egg.
Stir together and in no time it’s ready! You can serve immediately. I don’t recommend it as packed lunch, because it does not taste so great when it’s cold.

SO what's the nutritional value in this meal for a growing child? Potatoes and carrot provides good sources of several essential nutrients including vitamin A, potassium and dietary fibre couple with the fact that they realease energy slowly in the system and are easily to digest.