Knowing When to Stop (repeat)

I love travelling, but I find it more convenient to go 'public' because, that way I get to observe a lot of things. I observe how people eat, sleep, talk, even how people keep to themselves. Its fun to travel and see the world when you're not driving.

I'll be talking about how people eat today, I have to because of an experience I had last week. Celebrations are unavoidable, when good things happen in Africa we celebrate. This is when we display our new shoes, dresses, and different kinds of dishes are cooked and displayed for your sense of sight, smell and taste. For those of us that are of Nigerian descent you know you cannot mix some types of food. For example, you cannot have moimoi ( beans pudding, the best way to describe it) and pounded yam on the same plate. However, you cannot explain this to a foreigner, you might end up not eating because of the time you will spend explaining.

The preceding is just w preamble. I boarded the same bus the other day, with a woman who was coming from a party. It was a burial, but that doesn't kill the appetite. She had different kinds of food packed in a bag. After settling into her seat, she brought out the pack of pounded yam, she was telling her companion of just how delicious the food was. I watched her with keen interest as she leaked up everything, she was a good eater. She washed her hands and I thought it was over. Alas, the pack of rice came out too , then I began to wonder "which stomach is that going into?".

In life, we ought to know when to say stop to our appetites. Whatever the appetite might be for...food, sex, wine etc. Until we can rule them they might ruin us. The woman in question was obese to say the least, had issues with her knees because of her weight, yet she didn't know when to say 'stop'. No matter the diet or fitness regime we must learn when we have had enough for our body weights. Think about this, before you take the next bite.

What is the Colour of Love

Love, love, love. This word is so deep that some languages have more than one word for it. In Greek the word love is divided into Eros, Filio and Agape. The Eros is the kind of love a man or woman has for a lover/ spouse, while the Filio is the love for family members. The Agape on its own part is the unconditional love that comes by grace.

My question then is, if love is so different why do people struggle to keep it all? A young man gets married, then his mother or family begin to feel threatened that she is taking away his love for them. They simply do not know that it is possible to love his wife to the moon and back, and also love his family. The English language and many other languages have made the colour of love just one single shade, but it's not. There are different shades for  every one, you don't need to crave for the other person's shade in your special person's life. You mustn't ruin your family because you feel your special person love's the other more.

Are you in a mixed family and you feel your spouse loves his children more than he does you? That is simply not true, he has a hundred percent of Eros for you and the same amount of Filios for his children. Enjoy your relationship in the light of the Grecian definition of love, and don't  constrain yourself to a conservative definition. Go on and enjoy yourself! Cheers

My Mama Made for Me

There are days I just find myself longing for some particular food my Mama used to cook while I was a kid. You know, like most children, I thought my Mama was going to live forever. I never took time to learn any particular dish, because I felt anytime I wanted I could just go to her and voila!

My advice to us all is, don't take Mama's kitchen for granted, one day Mama would be gone and I want to assure you that following the recipe would never give the exact taste you are craving for. While they are with us let's make the effort of asking questions and knowing exact ingredients, quantities and time for those special dishes. Mama's kitchen rocks!

Fast food vs nutritious food

Fast food, junk food, sweets, you name them, are ever so tempting giving us immediate satisfaction. On the long run, however, they are dangerous to our health.

In the same vein, those things inimical to our marriages, are ever so tempting. The other woman/man are the junk food destroying the body of your marriage. Just like its not so easy to get over this kind of food, its also not so easy to get over illicit affairs. They are unhealthy options, alternatives to ailing relationships, and just like the junk food option gives you temporary satisfaction but long term problems (obesity, diabetes, cholesterol) so would your life be troubled.

Your marriage is not just about you, marriage, like salad, is a blend of different people brought together by this mysterious bond. So, before you go for the junk, alternative, option that is not so healthy, think of the partner you are hurting, the children you are disappointing and the parents you are disgracing. Its not all about you, its about options beneficial to everyone involved.

He Designed This Blog

"Mummy, you can do it" my son said to me, I've never been so good with technology. I make a lot of spelling mistakes not to talk of grammatical errors, yet he insisted I could do something with the blog.

I haven't done much because I was still doubting myself, but tonight celebrating a 'believer in mummy' is setting the pace for great things ahead. Thank you 'my Baba'

Mercy's Kitchen: Potatoes and fish mashed together

Mercy's Kitchen: Potatoes and fish mashed together

Mashed Potatoes and fish

While my eldest son was being weaned, we needed to think of something healthy and digestible for him. So we came up with the idea of adding mashed potatoes and fish (porridge) to his meal. That is adding deboned fish to potato porridge.

The first one we made was not too much of a success because we noticed that he did not digest the potatoes. He, however, loved the food. So we decided to cook the porridge until very soft before adding the fish and cooking together. After this, we mashed everything together, not with a masher but a spoon, so it would look somehow like soup.

My baby loved this dish, and I can assure you that he was a very healthy baby. I'll share the recipe with you some other time. However, if you are in a hurry to try it out, take out all bones or use a boneless fish. Abiento

Noodles Enriched 2

Noodles and Veggies

"Never say never" when it comes to creating or being imaginative about foods. Cut your carrots into little bits, cut your cabbage, chop your onions, then for variety's sake you could pound your pepper. Set your pan on the fire with a tablespoonful of oil, add your onions and stir for a bit.

Your pepper comes in next. Now, make sure that the pepper is just enough for a child's taste buds. Add your carrots then your cabbage. Give your fries some taste with some seasonings.

The last thing you do is boil your noodles with some seasoning and drain. You could either mix the fries and the noodles together or set the fries at the side of your plate of noodles. Garnish with some sliced tomatoes. Voilà!

Ingredients

Noodles
Onions
Carrots
Cabbage
Pepper
Oil
Seasoning
Tomatoes

Noodles Enriched

Noodles, originally an Asian meal, has traversed the length and breadth of the global village. Almost every Nigerian child takes a variant of noodles to school, otherwise the eat it for breakfast.

On its own the noodles contain little or no nutrient, but parents can enrich it making it more nutritious by adding some protein, vitamins, fats and oils. Here we go.

Noodles and Eggs

Put some water in your sauce pan, place it on the fire to let it boil. Place a pack of your favourite noodles in the water for just a minute. Drain the noodles then set your frying pan on the fire, Put in a spoon of healthy oil (olive oil preferably), add your diced onions, chopped pepper and tomatoes. Let it fry a bit then add your seasoning (make sure its healthy), pour in your whisked eggs and stir. The noodles come in last, cover up your pan for two minutes then bring down, your nutritious noodles are ready to eat. Garnish with some grated carrots and sliced cucumber.

Ingredients

Noodles
Eggs
Onions
Pepper
Tomatoes
Oil
Seasoning
Carrots
Cucumber

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