P.P.S (Plantains, Potatoes and Stew)

Hope you all had a great weekend! I spent mine hanging out and bounding with my hubby. It was a relaxing weekend.

I made this very simple and casual dinner on Friday night after getting the green light from hubby. Sometimes Mr.D. would come home and request to have a very small portion or lite dinner and other days he eats like the man he is. So, I've made the mistake in the past of making lite dinners and after he's done eating that, he is back in the kitchen for seconds or the fridge scavenger hunting for something or anything else he could lay his hands on to eat.  So, I texted him right before he left work to see what he was in the mood for, and I'm glad it was a lite dinner day.

Even though I got the confirmation for a lite dinner, I still had no idea what I was going to make. I had some plantains that have been sitting there for a while and were very rip, so I knew I had to fry them even if we're not eating them that night because if I'd left them for another day or two it would have become too soft for my liking. So I started frying those, half way through I thought about how nice it would be if I had yams so I could just fry that as well like (dun-dun). Well, since I didn't have any yam, the next best thing was potatoes, so I went with that. While I was frying the last batch of potatoes, I thought to myself we're not going to be eating dry plantains and potatoes with no sort of sauce are we? I still had some pepper soup left in the fridge but I felt like it wouldn't go well with the dish. I needed to make something thick, pasty and spicy. So I brought out some tomatoes and onions, diced them and some 5 mins later, I have a well fitting stew for the dish. Hence, the dishes I don't spend hours planning usually turns out being the best. It was so good and yummy that we both placed our forks aside and the fingers went to work!

For drinks, I made iced country peach passion and cozy chamomile herbal tea mixed with apple juice.











Happy Monday!!!

Outfit Post: Orange Skinny Jeans

We celebrated hubby's mentor Bday with him and his family the other day. I felt special and honored that he invited just hubby and I to join his family for a special home dinner that night. They welcomed us with open arms and made us feel super comfortable. I enjoyed the company of his wife and kids. The kids reminded me so much of my nieces and nephew and I started missing them. Ah! poor me, I'm about to start tearing up. It's ok though, a visit is definitely in the pipeline. I guess I never knew how much I've missed them. Not having the luxury or just knowing I could get in my car and drive to see them makes it harder to swallow. I'm still waiting on my Skype date with them sisters. Aunty loves you little ones.

Now onto the outfit. It just so happen that the colors I was wearing that night is hubby's and mentor Alma mater colors. Way to represent for both of them. Yah me!!!









top: Zara, Jeans: h&m, shoes: Aerosoles, belt and necklace; F21, bag: target

Happy Friday!!

Efo Riro w/ Egusi (melon seed)

I haven't made this soup in such a long time. Mostly due to the fact that I usually don't buy Egusi . But now that I do, I'm putting it to work. This post includes a recipe of how I prepared mine. keep in mind that anything goes for most Nigerian dishes as long as you have the key ingredients. You can improvise based on whatever condiments you have in your cabinet. You can add more or take something out, it's all based on your taste buds as long as the dish looks right. This is just one of many ways to make the dish. So, this recipe is more like a guideline, giving you the room to personalized the flavor. This applies to all my future Nigerian dish recipe post.

I am consciously making an effort to cook in small quantities now, so I made a small batch of the soup since there's only two of us. I am so used to cooking large which usually results in the dish lasting longer than I want it to. After a couple of days, we (hubby mostly) kind of get tired of eating the same thing. Let's hope I can keep it up. I made this soup primarily for hubby since he doesn't like okro soup which is what I had. Both were served with pounded yam (a.k.a the sleep medicine according to hubby).




Topped with pepper stew

Okro w/egusi and pepper stew
Pounded Yam for 2


Ingredients
1 10oz bag fresh spinach or choice of leafy vegetable cut and washed
5 tbsp Egusi ( dried and blended, mine was already blended)
1/4 cup diced tomatoes
1/4 cup diced onions
2 diced Jalapenos pepper
1/2 tsp minced garlic
1 tsp cayenne/red pepper
1 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp thyme
1/2 tsp Italian seasoning
1/2 tsp Cajun seasoning
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp onion powder
1 maggie cube
4oz tomato sauce
approx 3tbsp vegetable oil
approx 3 tbsp palm oil (If you don't have this, you can use just the vegetable oil)
meat of choice (already boiled and save stock - I used beef and chicken)
salt to taste  (I didn't use any salt, my meat stock had enough in it)

Directions
1. In a medium sized pot heat up the vegetable oil and palm oil together
2. Add diced onions, tomatoes, and jalapeno pepper and saute for about 5 mins
3. Add tomato sauce and meat stock
4. Add all other condiments, salt last and let simmer for about 5 mins steering occasionally
5. Add spinach and cooked meat and stir very well into the sauce, add more stock if desired and cook covered for another 7 mins
6. Add Egusi, stir, reduced heat and cook covered for about 5 mins or until all is well cooked



Outfit Post: Black Dress

Not much going on these days. I have been cooking up a storm though. Will be sharing some Nigerian dish recipes in the next couple of days so watch out for those.

Till then enjoy this post. You can never go wrong with black.







#Dress and shoe: Victoria's secret #Jacket: Agaci #bag: F21  #coat: Macys

IN NYC

Now that the long weekend is over, it's back to the regular routine. I enjoyed having my hubby at home with me for an extra day. Makes my week go by faster. We went into NYC for the first since we've moved here and that was fun. The commute was about a 40 minutes train ride, which wasn't bad at all. It doesn't even feel that long when on the train. The weather wasn't very nice, it was very cold, so that put a haste on everything. We made it to a couple of my favorite stores so I got my kick for the day.

While roaming the streets of NYC, I felt the need to climb a statue and coming down wasn't as easy as going up. Lesson Learned.



Can you tell I was cold?

















Green Spinach Smoothie

Ok, don't get nervous just because you see spinach and smoothie on the same line. I made this the other day when I inspired myself to be healthy for at least a day :) I got the idea from a pin on Pinterest. So, I threw some things together and the outcome was great and yummy. The nice thing about this recipe is that you barely taste the spinach at all, and that's a plus for me since I'm not the biggest veggie fan.

Don't mind the specks you see in mine, my blender is in need of replacement so it's a bit weak. A good blender should produce a smooth smoothie.







Ingredients
1 Banana
1 Kiwi
1 cup diced green apple
1 cup diced Pear
1 cup diced mango
1/2 cup peach
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup ice
about 2 handful of spinach

Directions
Combine all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth.

You can pretty much throw any fruit you have together, the key thing to remember is to stick with light colored fruits and of course don't forget to add the key ingredient spinach. I used all fresh fruits but you can also use frozen fruits as well.

Go GREEN!!!