Taking packed lunch to work every day can save you!!!

The New Year will have many of us making resolutions to save money here and there.
And new research reveals office workers can save more than £1,300 over the year just by taking in lunch from home each day.
This has really help my family,when i was growing up, i knew my dad eat out while his at work and i will hear him complaining how expensive it was every month, and also when i started working also i will eat out during lunch, but guess what guys? i end up spending more money, though, sometimes i took my food from home, but the urge of eating out did not help.
But now that i have my own family i realized i need to save money for my family, i made a budget on how much food we consume and i realize we spend more eating out, so i decided to always make a park of lunch for my husband to work and also mine to school which is cool,
You can still eat whatever you like (although i advice you eat  healthy) if you know the recipe of what you eat out, if you are in a country where you have coffee breaks, you can get a flask and make your warm beverage, all this will reduce your cost of eating monthly, you will realize you are saving money for yourself,
Its easy, if you are not the time that wake up early, prepare the food and put it in the fridge, in the morning you are good to go, but i prepare my food every morning, because am use to it!

Try this today, or it might even be your new year resolution,
HAPPY NEW YEAR IN ADVANCE !!!!!

Nigerian Coconut Rice with a Twist!!!

This Nigerian rice is called the Jollof Rice with a twist! It feels good to see the looks on your guests' or friends' faces when they think you are serving them the good old Jollof Rice but bam, the moment the first spoon enters the mouth, you are sure to get the looks of pleasure! It makes you feel good, doesn't it? although some people prepare it and make it a bit of white but this is kinda different!
Yes, it looks the same as the Jollof Rice you know but the aroma and taste is different. Why don't you surprise your guests tonight or this New year by preparing this easy dinner recipe?

Ingredients
Rice - 3 cigar cups | 750g
Tomato Stew 500 mls
Coconut Milk 600 mls
Chicken (whole chicken or drumsticks)
Pepper - to taste
Salt (to taste)
Onions - 2 medium sized bulbs
Seasoning – 3 Maggi/Knorr cubes & Thyme (1 teaspoon)

Before you cook Coconut Rice
Prepare the tomato stew if you don't have some in the freezer. It is advisable to prepare tomato stew before hand and keep in the freezer. This is so that whenever you want to cook any jollof rice related dish, it is just a matter of adding it to your cooking.
If you will use whole chicken, wash and cut the whole chicken into pieces. Place the pieces in a pot; add water till it just covers the pieces of chicken, add the chopped onions, stock cubes and thyme and start cooking. The cooking time depends on the type of chicken. The rooster or cockerel cooks much faster than the hen but the hen is tastier.

Cooking till done and add salt to taste. Put the pieces of chicken in a sieve to drain, then fry with vegetable oil. You can also grill it in an oven. This is to give it a golden look which is more presentable especially if you have guests for dinner.
Now is the time to extract the coconut milk.
Parboil the rice using the method of parboiling rice. Wash the parboiled rice and put in a sieve to drain.

Cooking Directions

Now we need a pot big enough to accommodate the rice till it is done. Bear in mind that the rice will normally rise by at least one quarter of its quantity from the parboiled state to the done state.
Pour the chicken stock, coconut milk and the tomato stew into the selected pot. Set on the stove to boil. Add the drained parboiled rice, salt and pepper to taste. If necessary, top up with water to bring the water level to the same level as the rice. This is to ensure that all the water dries up by the time the rice is cooked.
Cover the pot and leave to cook on medium heat. This way the rice does not burn before the water dries up.
If you parboiled the rice as described, the rice should be done by the time the water is dry. Confirm that the rice is done by tasting it. That’s the way coconut rice is cooked.

Serve with fried plantain, Moi Moi, Nigerian salad or coleslaw.

Importance of Onion

Tears and bad breath-these are the two things usually associated with onion . But there is much more to these popular vegetables, which is known not only for it's unique flavours but also for their therapeutic benefits. Onion and garlic are guaranteed to transform any meal into a profoundly aromatic culinary experience.

Onion is a vegetable cultivated in almost all the countries of the world and consumed across the globe in a country like Nigeria, you hardly cook any type of soup without using onions. Except for a few communities, onion is used for cooking purposes by almost all the people. Not only does the vegetable lend an excellent taste to dishes, but is also associated with imparting a number of health benefits to its users. In fact, onions are said to have therapeutic, antibacterial, antifungal and loads of other beneficial properties.

Onions contain more than one hundred sulfur-containing compounds. These sulfur compounds are what cause the eyes to tear up when cutting onions. One particular sulfur compound has been found to prevent the biochemical chain of events that lead to asthma and respiratory ailments.

Higher intakes of fruits and vegetables have been associated with a variety of health benefits. Research shows that onions may help guard against many chronic diseases. That's probably because onions contain generous amounts of a flavonoid called quercetin. Other sources are tea and apples, but research shows that absorption of quercetin from onions is twice that from tea and more than three times that from apples. Studies have shown that quercetin protects against cataracts, cardiovascular disease, and cancer.


The higher the intake of onion, the lower the level of glucose found during oral or intravenous glucose tolerance tests. Experimental and clinical evidence suggests that allyl propyl disulfide is responsible for this effect and lowers blood sugar levels by increasing the amount of free insulin available. Allyl propyl disulfide does this by competing with insulin, which is also a disulphide, to occupy the sites in the liver where insulin is inactivated. This results is an increase in the amount of insulin available to usher glucose into cells causing a lowering of blood sugar.


Culled from Here

How often do we clean our sponge ?

As for me, those days i don't really care about how my sponge is, although its usually clean but its not something i take note of, a sponge is excellent for wiping up messes and absorbing liquid quickly, it can also absorb harmful food-borne along the way.Though you can’t eliminate 100 percent of germs lurking in a sponge, there are several ways to dramatically reduce the risk of cross-contamination—which can lead to food poisoning
Clean Sponges Daily. To lower the risk of cross-contamination, you should sanitize your sponge. While testing common household methods used to disinfect sponges,
Replace Frequently. Even after two or three uses, your sponge may be teeming with bacteria. And while cleaning your sponge daily help reduce the risk of food poisoning, you should consider replacing your kitchen sponge regularly. If your sponge starts to smell at any point—toss it out immediately.
Store in a Dry Location. It’s important to not only wring out your sponge completely after each use and wash off any loose food or debris,i don't usually take note of this, because i remembered my mum use to have a sponge case which is usually wet, but you should also store it in a dry location. Letting your sponge lay wet on a counter-top takes longer for it to dry and allows harmful bacteria to multiply quickly as well as increases the opportunity for bacteria growth. Also, avoid leaving any damp sponges in an enclosed area such as a bucket or under the sink.
Wipe Up Meat Juices. Cleaning up spills from ground beef with a sponge can increase your chances of spreading harmful food-borne pathogens. Instead, use a paper towel or disinfectant wipes to clean up spills and other bacteria-loaded messes.

Use on Countertops. Many sponges contain millions of bacteria—and it only takes a few to get you sick. Avoid spreading those germs and bacteria to countertops by using a paper towel or disinfectant wipe to reduce the chances of cross-contamination with your sponge.