Ukodo

Ok so its the season of plantain and yam and this easily send me back memory lane remembering my childhood and the many incident that set me on this food journey and the passion for cooking.
Whenever any of us 8 children fall sick in the family, i see mum wiping out many delicious and tempting food to get us to eat because in her own opinion, you simply cannot fight off the illness if your immunity is low but you will no doubt agree with me that the smell of oily food is a complete turn of particularly if you are down with malaria fever.
It is more especially difficult to get me to eat because on normally even without being ill i am very choosy and particular about what goes in my mouth. But the day she decided to cook this plain oil free dish for me, she won my respect as a cook and since then the dish has remain a favourite of mine, it has really come in handy when i grew up and started having kids of my own,
Ukodo is a dish from the riverine area of Nigeria and is made with Yam,Unripe plantain, semi ripe plantain cooked in pepper-soup sauce. You can decide to use fresh/dry fish or goat meat for the protein, these combine together leaves a therapeutic taste to your mouth making you hungry for more. The spice in the pepper soup boost appetite while cleansing your system, it is highly recommended for new mothers as it helps flush the system from stale blood.

To make this dish, you need:
3 fingers of Unripe or semi ripe plantain
Dry fish
Dry grind pepper
pepper soup spice
Crayfish
Salt
Stock cube

Method:
In a clean pot add peeled plantain cut into chunk, add water according to your specification, this form the stock of the dish, the idea is to have runny porridge not too thick or watery. add a little pepper depending on how hot you want your dish and all the other ingredient. Bring to boil until the plantain is tender, correct taste and serve hot.

Jingle bell,Jingle bell,Jingle all the way!

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A meal a day Foundation

A meal a day as the name implies is a soup kitchen towards eradication of hunger for the less privilege in the society. 

It is a give back to the community through distribution of food items, cooked food and cookery training for the less privileged in the society.

Our Vision: 

To help eradicate hunger in the society thereby reducing the poverty level in the nations of the world.

Our Mission:

★To feed the less privileged in the society. 

★To help them build a sustainable business venture through free training in cookery.

★To bring the hope of Christ by releasing the en-grafted word of the Lord through evangelism.

★To build a kitchen under this umbrella where the less privileged can come in for at least a decent meal a day.

The scripture that was given for this mission is in Matthew 14:13-21 where Jesus fed 5,000 men besides women and children with 5 loaves of bread and 2 fishes and still has 12 baskets of left over. It is my belief that with the little we have plus the input of the Holy Spirit, we will birth a miracle that will be transnational and mind blowing.

This initiative was founded in 11th October 2014 for the sole purpose of feeding the less privilege and easing the burden of women in our society, the bigger picture is to have a permanent site where cooked food are served for free daily for the destitute and also a training section where young ladies and women will be given free training in setting up and running a sustainable food business.

Our Outreaches:

The first outreach was held in the Makoko community where we have people live on water without any means of sustaining themselves except with the little money they are able to make as profit selling fishes they caught from the river.

The first time we went on a fact finding mission to this community, i was sad to see that people live in an environment that is not fit for humans, we saw children running around in still dark water full of dirt that serves as toilets, cooking area and refuse dump. The children have no access to education as there is only one school in the area and their parents cannot even afford to send them to study. 

Since inception we have been able to carry out outreaches quarterly, reach out to orphanages in donating food items and sponsor two children to school from one of the communities we regularly feed but that is just a drop in the ocean as there are still lots and lots of them that have not been reached.

Partners: We partners with other like-minded organisation who are on mission field to make a difference in the lives of citizen anywhere there is a need, we just came back from a mission trip to South Africa under the Female Ministers Apostolic Network {FEMAN} an initiative headed by prophetess Success Oyewole who is committed to nurturing and networking for excellence in life, marriage and ministry for nation building as a volunteer where we were able to lay foundation for a training programme for young ladies who have been traumatized and give them a new lease of life.

We are also partnering with Nehemiah Hope Initiative {NHI} headed by Mrs Lara Adelusi to reach out to internally displaced citizens in Jos by volunteering out services to help train the young girls in starting and sustaining a profitable food business.

Registration: Our organisation is in the process of registration with the Corporate affairs Commission and so we do not have a bank account yet but our lawyers are working hard to ensure all registration are completed and account open before the end of this year, we owe our sponsors transparency in all our dealings hence a report that is sent via email detailing our outreaches complete with pictures.

Our request:

 To this end we solicit your support,

      in distributing cooked foods,

      relief materials like children clothes and women clothes,

      non-perishable foodstuff that can be distributed and also

      funds to train more children educationally and  in extra-curricular skill

You can make your donation to the following account:

Franker Aligbe

Guaranty Trust Bank

0011156809

Thanking you in anticipation of your kind response.

Franker Aligbe

Director

08097382595

08023196375

MENOPAUSE: Food that helps 2

Omega-3 fats may help with hot flashes suggests a new study in the journal Menopause.They think that omega-3s may assist in the production of neurotransmitters that help the body to maintain an even temperature.The Mediterranean diet—which includes lots of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, olive oil and even a daily glass of red wine—is associated with healthier hearts and slimmer waists. Additionally, new research shows that menopausal women who eat a Mediterranean-style diet are about 20 percent less likely to report hot flashes and night sweats.

Fiber: adding more fiber to your diet during menopause helps prevents constipation while lowering cholesterol and blood glucose,Using fiber-rich products to replace things such as pasta and white bread (i.e., refined carbohydrates) can make your system run much smoother.

Calcium: With age comes the greater concern over bone health. Calcium is well known to be great for building strong bones and it can ensure that you don't suffer from the potential debilitating symptom of osteoporosis. Find it in almonds, orange juice, and salmon.

Soy: Soy products contain phytoestrogens; these plant compounds mimic the effects of estrogen in the body and can help balance hormones.Getting soy from foods is encouraged,  soybeans, including edamame, are high in isoflavones which are credited with producing the healthy benefits, experts now believe they also work in other ways, such as having antioxidant properties, they can be found in soy flour, soy protein isolate, and miso soup  action. 

Fat: Good fats are needed in your diet every day. Whether you are 10 or 50, they are important to the body – in moderation, of course. They help balance hormones whilst also moderating appetite and vitamin absorption. One should research further to learn which fats relate to any specific medical problems.

Beans: are nutritious and capable of helping your body functioning. They regulate your system and they are also high in folic acid, vitamin B6 and calcium. Chili and salads are two great places to add beans, so that your diet incorporates this essential food.
In all this is a natural time in the lives of every woman and not to be dreaded nor be scared of, with sufficient information, you could actually enjoy the process with less stress and much more control.

MENOPAUSE: Food that helps!

Suddenly sweat poured down her face as if a bucket of water was dumped on her, even at night after taking a cold shower , it was still same, this minute her body will cool down enough for her to sleep the next she's jumping up opening all the windows for fresh air and practically freezing her husband to death because he's not even sweating while she was drowning in it, coupled with the fact that she could not sleep through the night.
 `What is happening to me', she kept asking herself but she just could not come up with any answer, going to the hospital she felt will be a stupid move i mean how do you tell the doctor that you came to see him just because of sweat; ridiculous! Then the headache started that defied all analgesic ,she had no choice at this point but to go see the doctor because without being told, she knew something is certainly wrong with her.
Imagine her shock when at the hospital her blood pressure reading was literally gone through the roof, the doctor laugh and said, 'madam you have entered one chance', what's that she asked, well turned out she was not dying afterall but experiencing serious hormonal changes...welcome to the world of MENOPAUSE!
Menopause is the end of a woman's menstrual cycle and fertility. It happens when the ovaries no longer make estrogen and progesterone, two hormones needed for a woman's fertility, and periods have stopped for 1 year. As a woman ages, there is a gradual decline in the function of her ovaries and the production of estrogen. Estrogen regulates the menstrual cycle and affects the reproductive system, urinary tract, heart and blood vessels, bones, breasts, skin, hair, mucous membranes, pelvic muscles, and brain. As a result, women can experience the symptoms of menopause over their entire body which includes hot flashes, irregular menstrual cycle, low libido, insomnia or problem sleeping; However, good nutrition can help prevent or reduce certain conditions that may develop during and after menopause. Next week as its our pattern we will focus on the type of food that helps women going through this period or preparing for it as its a necessary cycle in the life of any woman between the age of 45-52years.

World Egg Day!

Its world egg day and though a food blogger on the side i was rather taken aback when i first heard this. I didn't know nor realised that there is actually a day set aside to celebrate egg or rather encourage people to eat more eggs.
Over the years i have read a lot of research on the nutritional benefit and the importance of including egg in our food, growing up as a child i was not deprived of eating this in fact great emphasis was place on us children eating eggs as oppose adults especially when i hear of egg being a delicacy in some homes due to inability of parents to afford such simple meal for their children. But i have realised growing up that egg dish is actually not a main dish in our food in Nigeria and so one could excuse away the emphasis on not having it in regular dish, we derive our source of protein from other food like Beef, Beans and fish.
Eggs are very versatile food that can be prepared in different ways or be incorporated into meals and serve a just meal on its own, like baking,boiling, frying, or steaming. The whites are rich sources of selenium, vitamin D, B6, B12 and minerals such as zinc, iron and copper and the yolks contain more calories and fat. They are the source of cholesterol, fat soluble vitamins A, D, E and K and lecithin - the compound that enables emulsification in recipes such as or mayonnaise.
My favourite way of eating egg is as a snack when i make it into scotch egg, absolutely delightful, very easy and fast to make and tasty too.

Heres a free recipe for this snacks, go ahead!
6 Hard boiled eggs, cooled and peeled.
1 pound tube sausage.
2 eggs
1 tbsp water
Salt
1 cup crushed bread crumbs

Method: Cut a little bit of the sausage meat and use it to cover one egg, roll it in your breadcrumbs and whisk egg, then back in breadcrumbs again and deep fried. Do same for the remaining eggs and enjoy,

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!