Hello Foodie! Welcome!

Welcome to my food joint for African dishes. Recently, I have developed a liking for cooking especially Nigerian dishes 😀 and since I love to share, I have decided to show how awesome and delicious African meals are.

The focus of this blog is mainly on West African dishes (Nigerian & Ghanaian), with periodic specials on non-African meals cooked with a touch of African technique.

* Update *

I started this blog about 3 years ago to share my moments in the kitchen and my new-found love of cooking. Not just because I was hungry or needed to know how, but because it was really a fun activity. Using unusual ingredients, trying new things and just the whole art.

Since then, I have developed an interest in meals other than strictly African. Nonetheless, the meals I will be sharing now are still meals lots of Africans eat. I hope you come along with me on this new adventure and enjoy reading this blog.

Basil Eggs

Continuing with the basil theme of this month, I decided to try basil leaves in eggs and it turned out great! If you like to try something different for breakfast, why not try this delicious twist to your morning toast.

What you will need:

~ Eggs / Fresh or dried basil leaves / onions / seasoning / pepper (optional) / olive oil / spinach

*Note: If you see you need a bit more olive oil, feel free to add a bit more.

Want a copy of this recipe? Download your copy of this Basil Eggs Recipe here for free.

A Round Up of My Favorite Healthy Smoothies

Thanks to the Nutri Bullet and my love for Pinterest, having freshly made smoothies on a whim has been my new thing. I love fresh smoothies because they are a great way to get the vitamins your body needs through fruits and veggies (esp the not so fun ones). I love them also because I can ensure I am not taking in any extra chemicals or preservatives found is store bought juices and I can easily customize it to suit my current health need.

My favorite blends are smoothies that involve a lot of berries because of their antioxidant properties. Blends like Blueberry Banana and Berry Festivals (any fruit that ends in berries). So today I share with you a roundup of my favorite smoothies. These smoothies not only give you your daily supply of vitamins but also help with healthy skin, brain function and overall energy.

Enjoy!

From top to bottom

1. The Brain Power Blueberry Avocado by Gimme Some Oven
2.  The Kale Oat Blueberry Smoothie by Once Upon A Recipe
3. The Green Monster Smoothie by Sing for Your Supper Blog
4. Blueberry Avocado Detox Smoothie by Jillianastasia
5. The Healthy Blueberry Smoothie by Mother Earth Living
6. The Super Smoothie by The Marathon Mom

Don’t forget to comment click the Leave A Comment link below to share your favorite healthy smoothie blends.

Spinach Basil Ragati

This mouth watering and alluring Spinach Basil Rigati Pasta is like a symphony of healthy ingredients coming together to make your lunch hour just a little more interesting.
Simple and easy to make, it is ridiculously delicious.

Click the link below to get a free printable of this recipe and shopping list to help you out when shopping.
Spinach Basil Pasta Recipe

April, Month of the Basil

Basil is a spice I recently started experimenting with. After coming across it in a recipe, I decided to look deeper into it while incorporating this leaf into meals.

So what’s so great about Basil?
– Basil belongs to the mint family and is also known as sweet basil
– There are 150! varieties of basil leaves and they are native to India but now grown commercially in other parts of the world.
– It is said to calm the stomach by putting a teaspoon of dried basil leaves in a cup of water
– It has antibacterial properties and helps fight inflammation

There are numerous benefits if this pretty leaf and so, this month is dedicated to Basil Leaves! All month-long, I will share with you fun Basil Recipes.

Ever used basil before? What are your thoughts? Click the Leave Comment link below to share.

Whole Grain Pasta with Turkey Sauce.

Last night as I lay in bed, for some reason, I started thinking of what I would like to eat the next day. I knew I wanted something homemade so I started scanning the contents of the freezer in my mind. All of a sudden, pasta and sauce came to mind. I got excited about the idea and got out of bed to take out some of the ingredients to thaw overnight.

I decided to make a sauce instead of settling with regular stew or even making “jollof” pasta.

So here goes!

Ingredients:

Optional items are the corn beef and shrimps.

Steps:

Tip:
~ Since pasta doesn’t take too long to cook. You can make that last so it’s served fresh off the burner. Follow the instructions on the packaging for cooking steps.
~ If you like, you can lightly season the ground turkey before you begin cooking. This allows the season to really get into the turkey before it’s ready to be cooked.

Sauce

1) In a non stick pan, add 1 cooking spoon of olive oil and heat using medium flame. It should be just enough to create a little pool of oil.

2. Pour in diced onions and stir fry till it’s lightly transparent, then add some salt (about 2-3 sprinkles).

3. Add in the tomato paste and allow to fry for about 5 – 7mins with occasional stirring to prevent burning.

4. Next pour in the diced tomatoes and allow to cook for another 7 mins.

4a) Add in the minced ginger & garlic, thyme, pepper and 1 seasoning pack. Stir and cook for another 7 mins.

5. As the tomato cooks, it’s time to prepare the ground turkey.

5a) In a frying pan or skillet, heat up some olive oil or cooking spray using mid flame.

5b) Once the oil is hot, add in the ground turkey. Note: There is going to be a lot of oil splashing so be careful!

5c) As the turkey starts to cook, gently stir it around till it’s no longer pink. We aren’t going to fully cook it yet. We will finish it off with the tomato.

6) Add the partially cooked ground turkey to the boiling tomato sauce. Stir and cook for about 5 mins.

7) Add the green bell pepper and cook for about 7 – 9 mins. By now, you should be able to perceive the aroma of the bell pepper. *hmm yuuummm*

8) If you decide to use the corn beef and shrimps, you add them last so as not to over cook them. Add to sauce, stir and simmer for about 5 – 7 mins under low flame.

Sauce is ready!

Serve with whole grain pasta

Mission Accomplished! 🙂

 

 

For the tea lover

Growing up Lipton tea was something my family and I drank aside from other beverages like Milo or Bournvita. Since then, tea has been a drink I love so so much no matter the time of the day.

Recently I discovered a brand of tea called Yogi Tea. They not only come in various awesome flavors but each tea bag with wonderful messages to energize your spirit, remind you to spread love to those around you and remember what life is truly about.

I love this tea so so much and went as far as creating a frame of some of the tea bags I have used.

Here are some of my favorite quotes.

Something to Lighten Up Your Weekend

Have a wonderful weekend everyone!

Easy to Make Healthy Drink Options

How To Make Microwave Baked Eggs

Ever since I discovered this method of cooking eggs (thanks dad 😉 ), it has been my go to method on the lazy days when I just want to get into the kitchen and get out without spending forever in there. I really like this method because I can skip on the oil and I have less dishes to wash and worry about when I am done. Today’s microwave baked eggs, I will be adding corned beef to make things a little interesting.

Ingredients: ~ Corned beef ~ 2 Eggs ~ Salt ~ Dried Pepper (optional)

Steps

~ Break the eggs into a microwave safe bowl

~ Open up the corned beef tin, take out as much beef you would like. Using a knife or fork, break it up into smaller chunks and add to the eggs. (Remember to store the left over corned beef in a bowl in the fridge. DO NOT store it in the tin)

~ Add salt and pepper to taste and whisk everything together.

~ Place bowl in the microwave for 1 min. After this 1st minute you will notice the egg is not fully cooked so you flip it over and bake for another 1 min & 30secs. Note, depending on the intensity of your microwave, you may need less or more time.

~ Your nicely baked microwave eggs are ready to devour. Serve with any of your usuals like bread, fried plantain etc.

Beans and Yam Porridge

Hi guys! It has been a while since my last post but I finally got some free time to write this post.

Today, I will be writing about how to make beans with yam made as porridge. This meal is super easy and full of nutrients.

Ingredients

:: 4- 5 slices of yam

:: 3-4 cups of beans

:: Dry pepper or fresh pepper (1 red bell pepper or 2-3 rodo pepper)

:: Salt

:: 1 tablespoon of crayfish

:: Maggi

:: 1/2 – 1 Spoon of palm oil

:: Onions

Steps

– Measure out the beans and pick it clean of any dirt or dried out beans

– Wash the beans once and pour into a clean pot

– Add water to about 2 inches above the beans, sliced onions and allow to boil till the beans is partially soft. (Note, beans takes a while to soften so you may need to add more water if the initial water dries)

– While the beans is cooking, peel the yam, rinse and cut into chunks

– If you are using fresh pepper, blend them and keep it aside.

– Once the beans is half soft, add the sliced yams and allow to cook for about 7-10 mins.

– Add the pepper, salt to taste, maggi, crayfish and palm oil.

– Allow to cook till the yam is soft and any excess water is dried

– Meal is ready to serve! 🙂