Food Items for Healthy Lunch - Make Your Colleagues Jealous with these Mouth-watering Meals.

While working in an office for years, my excitement for lunch was almost over. The reason behind that is my company canteen never changes their lunch menu. I've had the same lunch (rice and chicken) for almost 1 year. Then the major problem started, when you eat heavy dishes like this, you end up feeling sleepy during the working hours. So I decided that this was the last time I'd ever eat in my office canteen.

Super Food Items for a Healthy Instant Breakfast

In the morning, we are always in a rush and hoping that today I will reach the office at the right time.
Being a mom for years, I had a lot of work in the morning. From packing your lunch, make kids ready for school, prepare them food, etc.

Breakfast Idea - Bacon Strips without all the Fat

Bacon is one of those guilty pleasures one knows they shouldn't make a habit of, yet you can't stay completely away. I just love the salty, smoky, and crispy taste and texture of bacon. Even the fat makes the meat product a comfort food sometimes, but most times I want to get rid of that.

Menu Idea - Moi Moi Cooked With Sliced Sausages

This was one of the best moi moi I've made in a while. I think I'm really getting the hang of using beans flour to make moi-moi. Recipe coming soon.

Bon Apetit!

Egg Noodles Pasta With Grilled Salmon

Served with Cucumber

This is one of those meals you call a concoction. I had pasta, I had some cheese and some mushroom and I just threw them together. It tasted so wonderful I simply had to share. This post is just a menu idea, recipe coming soon :)

Fried Plantain and Scrambled Eggs

Dodo aka fried ripe plantain, when paired with scrambled eggs or omelette, is for me one of the best comfort meals ever made. I think most people know how to make it, but if you need some few pointers, check out this recipe.

Fried Plantain With Tomato Stew and Chicken

Fried plantain is also called Dodo in Nigeria. The usually ripe plantain is cut in slices, diced or chopped and deep fried in oil till it is done, about 8 - 10 mins on medium heat. We don't often eat fried food, I know it's not too good for you as one gets older, but once in a while you just want to chill and eat some foods of your childhood or simply have the variety available. I also enjoy unripe plantain, boiled or cooked, see recipes here and here, or ripe baked plantain here.

Someone moaned on my Lasagna post about how much calories the meal must have, and I responded by saying that for me, when it comes to healthy eating, I can't count calories. Generally, I'm more spontaneous than methodical and so choosing what to eat, when, and how much, is easier for me than being so detailed on each meal, or cutting out some meals entirely. I promise though, after this, I'll post some healthy eating, salads and stuff, LOL...

BTW, I do not deep fry my dodo, I use just enough oil to cover the bottom of the fry pan. I use medium heat and turn over the plantain a couple of times.

Menu Ideas - How to Make Amala, eat with Ogbono

I've blogged about how I prepare my ogbono soup with Okro and this is a continuation. Most Nigerian soups are eaten with a variety of foo-foo, from poundo yam, cassava, amala, and eba. Some have added blended oatmeal to the list as well as mash potatoes. Today's menu idea is using amala, which is dried yam flour, also called Elubo by Atala. The preparation is simple;

Ingredients

Elubo
Water

Directions

1. In a medium sized pot, bring the water to a slow boil. Also heat some water in an electric kettle, or set aside some of the boiling water in a cup.
2. Add the Elubo flour to the water in the pot, and stir.
3. If it is thick, add some boiled water from the kettle. If too soft, add some more elubo.
4. Continue to stir until you get your desired consistency, it should ideally be smooth in texture without lumps.

How to Make Squash Salad - Serve with Roast Beef

This is related to my carb-free menu ideas, sometimes I just want to load up with vegetables and protein and stay away from carbohydrates for a meal or two. Squash is a great vegetable and when it is roasted, it has a deep flavor that stands and gives your salad so much more personality. I made this with roast beef, but chicken and other meats or fish will suffice too.

Ingredients

One large green pepper
2 medium sized green or yellow squash
5 medium sized tomatoes
1/2 a large onion
a small pack of mushroom

Roast Pork Ribs with Cheese and Lettuce Salad

A. THE PORK RIBS

This is similar to how I prefer the Beef Ribs

1. Defrost the ribs in the fridge
2.  Cut into single pieces and rub all over with the spices
3. Put cooking spray on your oven-proof tray and place the ribs side by side
4. Grill in the oven on low heat for 15 minutes on each side.
5. Your meat is ready.

Menu Ideas - Chili with Rice and Tomato Stew

What we call chili over here is very close to our beans stew, but made with more tomato paste, minced meat and a variety of vegetables and spices. I will be sharing the full recipe soon. On this occasion, I combined it with our traditional white rice and stew for a very hearty meal topped of with chicken. Enjoy.

Boiled Potatoes With Celery and Tomato Stew

I love vegetable sauces, I like that between 15 - 25 minutes I have a ready meal when I need it. I can either stir-fry, fry, steam or just saute a mix of my choice of vegetables and voila! Food is ready. Celery is one of those vegetables I got introduced to after I left Nigeria, and I fell in love with it's refreshing taste and flavor. I had to be sure how it is cooked, and unlike most vegetables, this actually requires 15 - 20 minutes to be well cooked.

To make this stew, you need the following;
2 tablespoons of vegetable oil
A small bunch of celery stalks with some hearts if possible. Washed and sliced
Four medium sized tomatoes, chopped
Half a medium sized onion, sliced
Ground pepper,
Salt and spices to taste.

Menu Ideas - Oven Roasted Chicken Drumsticks

Chicken is a staple protein in out household, and Atala's favorite, so you will usually find it in the fridge. It gets so bad sometimes that when I don't make mine, we buy the rotisserie or BBQ types from the store. But more often, I prepare oven-baked or oven-roasted chicken that will last a week or so, both for meals and for munchies.

If you're used to fried chicken, you may wonder why oven-prepared chicken. I haven't fried chicken for over three years now, and I don't know that I ever will again. Since I started trying to eat healthier about 7 years ago, I have always known two not-so-nice things about chicken.

Being white, chicken is the better meat than beef which is red, but when you fry it, or eat the skin, some of that advantage gets wiped off. Now, I love me some skin on my chicken so that was hard for me. But fried chicken, that I could work with removing from my diet.

Menu Ideas - Curried Rice with Chunky Beef

This will not be a full recipe post as I believe most of us already know how to cook these basic meals in our own different ways. That doesn't mean there won't be more recipe posts coming up though. Just that for this and some other food posts, I'll be sharing some pictures of what I consider menu ideas.

I'm someone who gets easily bored by routine, and this extends to the food I eat. While I can eat the same meal everyday, especially if it is tasty, on an ordinary day, I'd rather do something to switch it up or spice it up. For instance, I may cook white rice in enough quantity for a few days and we'll eat some while the rest goes into the fridge. The next day, instead of the same rice and stew of the previous meal, I'll make a vegetable sauce, turn it to stewed rice, or even use a soup like Egusi or Okazi.