Lettuce Wraps (Minced Turkey,Tomatoes and Peppers): Inspired By Daisy!

While promoting The Get Trimmer Challenge last week, I posted this picture on Instagram:

Not up to 10 minutes after posting it, I got one recipe request and a few questions on what was in it. So I thought, "Yay! A recipe blog post, my blog needs one!". Lettuce wraps are a great way of totally eliminating bread (wraps) from a meal. This is a low carb and high protein meal and can be breakfast, lunch or dinner.

I was feeling creative and decided to do an InstaVideo of the recipe. Why did Instagram CRASH on me??? Thankfully, a copy of the video was saved on my phone and because I didn't want to throw away my hard work, I uploaded it on YouTube:

Ha! It's not the usual quality of my videos but it does the job, right?

Ingredients
500g Turkey Mince
400g chopped tomatoes (Better option - Fresh tomatoes, chopped)
Lettuce (I used romaine, but any should do)
1 Red Bell Pepper
1 Yellow Bell Pepper
1/2 Red Onion
1 Tablespoon Coconut Oil
Salt
Mixed Herbs and Spices

1. Wash and chop up onions and peppers.
2. Heat coconut oil in a pan (preferably a wok).
3. Fry onions until they're lightly browned.
4. Add turkey mince, cook until the meat isn't pink. keep turning in the pan to cook evenly. Season with (1/2 tsp) salt. This should take no more than 5 minutes.
5. Add the chopped tomatoes and season with mixed herbs and spices, and two pinches of salt.
6. Immediately add the peppers. Stir contents for 30 seconds, cover and leave to simmer for a minimum of ten minutes.
7. Wash the romaine lettuce and remove the leaves (for the wraps). A tip here is too use the bigger (outer) leaves. I made 4 wraps, so I used 8 leaves.
   
   
8. Add 2-3 heaped tablespoons of mince to each wrap and enjoy :)

Shout out to Daisy for the inspiration! I usually make my lettuce wraps with eggs, sliced meat (chicken, beef) or fish.

Get Trimmer For The Summer - Sign Up!

After a great run of the challenge, which ended earlier this month, it's that time again (already!!).

Be prepared to dedicate some time and effort into this to see the results you desire :)

Online Ticketing for The *Get Trimmer* Challenge powered by Eventbrite

Healthy Recipe: Goat Chilli Soup

Happy New Week!

I'm happy to report that The Get Trimmer Challenge has officially started. Unlike previous challenges, it won't be done on this blog, there's a separate (private) blog and also a closed Facebook Group.

If you're still interested make sure you register by Friday 1st February when entry officially closes --> http://gettrimmer3.eventbrite.co.uk

On to the RECIPE
The name is inspired by one of my favourite Nigerian dishes - PEPPERSOUP!

I didn't have any peppersoup spices at home so I used the next best thing - chilli. Thinking about it now, I could have used  finely chopped scotch bonnet or ground 'Naija pepper'.

It came out yummy with that little kick that chilli gives.

Ingredients
2 medium red onions
3 red bell peppers
1kg goat meat
Generous servings of mixed spice, mixed herbs (Read --> What's In My Seasoning)
2 heaped tablespoons of chilli
Salt to taste

1. Slice the onions and peppers

Chunky slices

2. Clean the goat meat and add to the slow cooker. Add the spices, herbs, chilli and salt and rub into the meat. (I'd have preferred to marinade it for a few hours before cooking).

3. Add a teaspoon of coconut oil to a heated frying pan and lightly brown the onions. Use a spatula to move the onion around so it browns evenly. This should take no more than 5 minutes.

4. Add the onions to the meat

5. Repeat the same for the peppers. Again, no more than 5 minutes.

6. Add to the meat and onions.

7. Add enough water to barely cover the contents of the slow cooker. Cover, set on low and leave too cook for 8 hours.

Ready to slow cook for 8 hours

It didn't look this grubby!!

8. If you're like me, wake up to the aroma of scrumptious goat meat cooked with sweet red peppers and onions. Of course, the seasoning played a huge part ;)

Enjoy!

PS If you don't own a slow cooker, cook this on low heat and check the tenderness of the meat every 30 minutes.

What's In My Seasoning?

If you're a regular reader of this blog, you should know I stopped cooking my food with Maggi cubes, read THIS, THIS and THIS.

After a lot of trial and error, I finally found the right combination of herbs, spices and salt to give me a similar taste to food cooked with Maggi. Not only is this a healthier alternative (read above posts for more information) but the herbs and spices have many benefits which I'll blog more about in future posts..

My simple combination is mixed herbs, mixed spices and sea salt. I also use parsley when I'm cooking fish and, sometimes, pork.

BUT there are times when I don't have access to these and I go back to my childhood favourite combo of curry, thyme and salt, then I throw in a spice I LOVE - ginger, especially for chicken. Ahhh, it seems like yesterday (and not over 2 decades ago), I remember waiting for my turn (we always had a cousin or the other over during the holidays) to fry my eggs, seasoned with - curry, thyme and salt :)

Mixed Herbs
I alternate between:
Schwartz* Mixed Herbs
Ingredients: Marjoram (40%), Basil, Thyme (20%), Oregano.
and
Sainsburys Mixed Herbs
Ingredients: Dried Sage (25%), Dried Thyme (25%), Dried Oregano (20%), Dried Marjoram (20%), Dried Parsley (10%)

Mixed Spice
I usually alternate between:
The Vital Ingredient Sweet Mixed Spices (Which I purchase from GNC here in the UK)
Ingredients: Coriander, Cinnamon, Ginger, Nutmeg, Fennel, Cloves, Cardamon
and
Schwartz Mixed Spices
Ingredients: Cassia (40%), Coriander Seed (38%), Caraway, Ginger, Cloves
(Although, sometimes I use the supermarket brand)

Salt
Sea Salt or Himalayan Salt
My go-to salt is Maldon sea salt which I buy from Sainsburys or Holland & Barrett.

*Schwartz is available in most supermarkets. Large tubs (and amazing value for money) are sold in Costco.

I suggest playing around with the ratios to find out what works for you although, I have mentioned how much I use in some recipe videos. 

Healthy Plantain Recipe: 'Dodo' (Pan) Fried Plantain and Tomato Scrambled Eggs

A couple of weekends ago, I was about to prepare this meal and thought I might as well record it. That's my cooking life now - before I cook anything, I look for my camera and tripod!

Then, sometimes, I have grand plans to cook and record... and NOTHING happens. I bought all ingredients for two simple and healthy meals on Monday, today is Wednesday and I still haven't cooked either. *sigh*

Anyway, on to this recipe. If you're Nigerian, you know we love to deep fry our plantain for 'dodo', and any random vegetable oil is often used. A long while back, I thought I'd try out pan frying plantain to see if it would work out. I remember burning it the first time and this was because I'd left the heat on high and forgotten it needed more time to cook because of the little oil used.

After that mishap, I figured it out and this is how I fry my 'dodo' now.

In the video below, I fried the eggs in chopped tomatoes using the leftover oil from the 'dodo'.

My Suggestion: Eat half a plantain with a lot of eggs, especially if you're cutting down on your carbs. The eggs are a great source of protein and will definitely fill you up quick.

I have a few posts lined up including a requested one on seasonings I use. 

Plantain Recipe: 'Boli' with Goat Meat and 'Ata'

I've gotten a few requests for more Nigerian recipe videos so this month, as suggested by my friend Cucina Ceri, all recipe videos will be healthy Nigerian meal ideas.

For more Nigerian and Nigerian inspired recipes, check H E R E.

I use little to no oil when cooking my stews, this started when I was on Weight Watchers years ago and wanted to stick to my points requirement BUT still enjoy Nigerian food. I cut down on the oil and used the oil/fat from the chicken/meat and still got the expected flavour.

I've also applied this to the recipe below as usually the blended tomatoes, onions and pepper mixture is usually fried in a lot of oil to get the 'ata'.

Watch and let me know if you try this out.



I recorded another plantain video, and as it was straight forward, I might post it this week as well.

As always, please contact me on Twitter (@Adura_O), Facebook (AduraOO) or via email (info'at'adura-o'dot'com) with any blog or video requests you have.

Healthy Pumpkin Recipes Inspired By Nigerian Dishes... Happy Halloween!

Hi!

So today is Halloween (31st October), exciting stuff *dripping with sarcasm*

A good thing about this is - it's Pumpkin season. Loads and loads in the supermarkets to be carved... Speaking of carving, I saw this ugly, uncreative, disgusting looking carving at the gym yesterday.

If you're too lazy to carve, don't bother!

Anyway enough of my usual Wednesday grumpiness, I finally bought a Pumpkin and tried out a few recipes. I would have done more but I just didn't have the time!

1. Roasted Pumpkin Seeds with Suya Pepper
   Well, this was the initial idea but my suya pepper stash is running LOW. I used chilli flakes which were spicy enough.
2. Boiled Pumpkin and EggsBoiled yam and eggs <-- regular breakfast when I was growing up.  Pumpkins contain much less carbs than yam so I decided to try boiling it. I'll be honest, its obvious it's much lower in carbs as it barely has a taste. If you want to try this, I'd suggest boiling in homemade stock. I would have done this but I had none available.



3. Pumpkin 'Asaro'
   'Asaro' is a Nigerian dish, made with yam. As you can tell, I used pumpkin as a low carb substitute.This was my favourite of the three because leaving the pumpkin to cook in the tomatoes added so much flavour to it! Definitely try this if you can!

Let me know if you try any of the above. Do you have any favourite pumpkin recipes?

****
Don't forget to VOTE for my blog in the Best Health/Fitness Blog category. Please click on the image below to vote, thanks in advance :)

Food Haul: What I Bought (And Cooked) This Week

Hi!

Hope you had a nice weekend. Here's this week's video showing you what I bought this week, and also the meals I prepared for the week.

• I shopped on a budget this week. I bought healthy, fresh food and didn't break the bank :)
• I took a break from the usual supermarkets and went to the local market. I've lived in this area for 6 years and didn't know about the massive market minutes away from my house!!!
• As I had a small budget and also wanted to stick to healthy food, I planned my meals as I shopped.

If you like this video and would like to see more like it, please let me know.

★SUBSCRIBE FOR VIDEO UPDATES HERE★

How To Make Jollof Rice... with QUINOA

Happy Monday!

Yep another Quinoa recipe! See, when a reader/viewer asks, I deliver - I wasn't going to stop at one recipe, she asked for recipes!
So if you have any blog/video requests, just ask. It might take me a few weeks to deliver but I will. I'm currently working on some strength training post that Natural Nigerian requested.

This recipe was of course, inspired by a favourite in Nigeria - Jollof Rice :)

Please watch the video and rate, comment and subscribe. Also if you like the videos, please share with friends :)

(Subscribe here --> http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=HealthyDury)



Just to clarify something re: quinoa. Yes it's a superfood, it's high in protein, it's gluten and what free, high in fibre, rich in vitamins/minerals but it also contains carbs (I'm not saying you should run away from it as it's a good source of carbs unlike eg processed rice and pasta!).

Suggested serving size is 1/2 - 3/4 cup.

1/2 cup of cooked quinoa contains less carbs than the same quantity of white rice and also brown rice (better than white rice)
1/2 cup of cooked quinoa contains a similar amount of carbs as wild rice, which I can confidently say we hardly, if ever, include in a Nigerian diet.

Of course it's not just about the carb content as it has other great properties over rice as mentioned above. And remember not all carbs are bad!

I think it's worth a try, I like it! :)

How To Make Fried Rice... With QUINOA!

Happy Monday!

This is the first in a few quinoa recipes. Someone requested quinoa recipes and I'm delivering :)

This recipe was inspired by fried rice and is very straight forward so try it!

This was my first time cooking with quinoa and it turned out great :)

Watch, rate, comment and SUBSCRIBE!

Send in your requests via:
Twitter @adura_o
Facebook /AduraOO
Email info @ adura-o . com

'Suya Chops' Video

Happy Monday!

How I wish I could be this cheerful every Monday :)

I just HAD to share this picture with you:

My friend, CY attended my Friday morning class and that was how she felt about me later that morning. I think I'm the opposite... I'm angelic ;)

And on to the actual reason for this post, I've uploaded another recipe on my YouTube channel, your feedback would be appreciated so please - Rate, --> Subscribe <--and if you have the time, leave a Comment.

More recipes are lined up :) Have a GREAT week ahead!!!

Patience is a Virtue... The Journey To My Healthy Mosa Recipe

Before you read this post, please click on THIS LINK to subscribe to my YouTube Channel, it'll take you less than 30 seconds, thanks in advance!
Happy Sunday :)

Remember that burnt mess (The frittery mosa thingies) in this video?:



Well, I took my time today.

• I made sure I wasn't hungry
• I used all the ingredients
• And I used medium heat

Here's a comparison picture:

Even the best of us make mistakes ;) :p

I'm very happy with the results and can't wait to try it again, I won't share the ingredients yet because I'm still working on it ;) One thing I'll say is, I replaced the flour with ground almonds.

Enjoy your Sunday and have a nice week ahead!

Recipe Credit: Avartsy Cooking

PS Watch all of last week's Food Diary videos:

And read all the blog posts here: Food Diary Blog Posts 

Recipe: Baked Plantain Chips

Hello! Hope you had a nice weekend, mine flew by as always!

I decided to bite the bullet and finally try to record a recipe video. I almost did about 4 months ago but gave up because my kitchen is quite small and I just couldn't get the right angles.

After a conversation with my friend on Saturday, I decided to start with a simple recipe and I think I got it right. What do you think?

Anyway, on to the video. I love plantain chips and I can easily finish 2 packs without taking a break. They're just so yummy, crunchy and moreish! It wasn't until after I baked them that I realised I probably eat 3-4 plantains when I inhale those 2 packs! 3-4 DEEP FRIED plantains! *sigh*

If you love plantain chips, you can still have them - just prepared in a healthier way. Yes, they are high in carbs but as a staple Nigerian food, you don't want to cut them out. Just prepare them in healthier ways and eat in moderation.

Cut out the random, nameless oil they're usually deep fried in and replace with a maximum of 2 tablespoons of coconut, olive or avocado oil.

Take a look at the easy recipe below and try it :)

Your feedback would really be appreciated, please 'like' the video (of course if you do like it!) and leave a comment. Also, I'd like to know what other recipe videos you'd like to see.



Have a nice week!

Recipe: Suya Chops!

I'm envious of you all in Nigeria - you have easy access to Suya! On July 4th this year, my brother-in-law made suya and I stuffed my face - I love it :)

Thanks to my Aunty T, I have suya pepper here in London. I hadn't put it to good use in a while until I bought some pork chops 2 weeks ago.

Now after eating this about 4 times in the last 2 weeks, I'm happy share one of my new (and favourite) recipes with you. It's high in protein which is great!

Ingredients

• 4 Pork Chops
• Mixed Herbs
• Mixed Spice
• Rock Salt
• Suya Pepper
• 1/2 an onion

Steps

After 3 hours in the fridge.

1. Season the pork chops with the salt, herbs and spices.
2. Slather (yes, slather) the pork chops in suya pepper
3. Chop the onions and add.
4. Allow to marinade, in the fridge, for at least 3 hours.
5. Preheat oven to 200C
6. Add the pork chops and roast for 15 minutes (I like my meat well cooked).
7. Turn them over and roast for another 15 minutes.
8. Done :)

Serving Suggestions

• With steamed vegetables

• With roasted sweet potatoes and vegetables

Grilled Fish

Do you like fried fish? I know I do! But of course, I'm living a healthier lifestyle now so I can't be randomly *deep* frying my fish.

Here's the next best thing:

Ingredients
Fish, Seasoning and a Grill/Oven

Grilled Tilapia

• Preheat grill (high heat)
• Season the fish as you like (I used left over fish prepared for the Tilapia & Efo). I used Ginger, Parsley and a pinch of salt.
• Reduce the heat slightly and add fish to oven (or grill)
• Grill for 10 minutes, flip fish over. Repeat. 
• Serve.

Tilapia with Efo

Oh food, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways ;)

Okay seriously, I have a bit of a sore throat and I'm a little tired so I needed to make something easy, yummy and hot (I promise I'm talking about food here!).

Before I go into the recipe, I have to say I try to make preparations for my meals in advance. Even if I don't know exactly what I'm making yet.

E.g. I bought 2 bunches of spinach and some tilapia on Monday. By Tuesday, I knew I wanted to cook the tilapia on Wednesday so... I washed, picked and chopped the spinach and stored it in the fridge. I cleaned/washed the fish and seasoned it. Again I stored it in the fridge. When I woke up feeling a little rough, I knew exactly what I was going to cook and as most of the preparation was already done, it didn't take long to cook AT ALL.

Ingredients
2 x Whole Tilapia (sliced)
1 Onion
1 cup of Passata
2 tbsp Coconut Oil
2 x Spinach Bunches
Seasonings - Ginger, Parsley, Mixed Herbs and Salt
Chilli

Tilapia with Efo

1. Wash and chop the spinach.
2. Clean/Wash the Tilapia and season (salt, ginger and parsley).
3. Chop the onion
4. Add the oil to a pot and allow it heat up. Add the onions.
5. Once onions are nicely caramelised, add the passata and reduce heat to medium. Season with salt and herbs. Cook for 5 minutes.
6. Add the spinach and stir contents of pot together.
7. Add the fish almost immediately, I always add my fish flat (to make sure one entire side of each piece is flat on the surface of the pot or stew)
8. Cover pot and leave to cook for 15 minutes (maximum).
9. Serve and Enjoy :)

YUM!

Serving Suggestions

• You can eat it on its own, which is what I did.
• With baked sweet potatoes, which is what I'm doing tomorrow ;)
• Boiled or Pan Fried Plantain
• 1-2 (1/2 inch) slices of yam
• The list goes on and on and on

Quick Recipe: Efo

Daddy's Girl asked me to share the recipe of the Efo in this (http://www.adura-odesanya.co.uk/2012/02/currently-loving_14.html) post.

I posted a video (not a recording of me cooking) but I hope you find this useful :)

Mackerel Stew

I love fish! Apart from it's nutritional benefits including protein and omega-3, I love that fish cooks in less than half the time of meat or chicken.

If you're a regular reader of my blog, you'll know I like quick recipes so I was so happy when I discovered Passata (thanks to my friend Busola). I always have a couple of bottles in my fridge! I use this when I don't have the patience to blend tomatoes, onions and peppers, which is very often now.
Ingredients: Organic Tomatoes & Salt

My friend told me he looked through my recipes and wondered why I didn't have any fish recipes - that's going to change :)

This is a recipe from last year, the picture below was taken with my camera phone.

Ingredients
2 Whole Mackerel
1/2 a bottle of Passata (350g)
Half an onion
2 tablespoons of coconut oil
1 tablespoon of ground chilli
Seasoning: Herbs, spices and just a pinch of salt.

Mackerel Stew

• Clean and soak the mackerel in a bowl of water. Add herbs, spices and salt to the fish and allow to soak for at least 20 minutes.
• Add 2 tablespoons of oil to a pot and allow to heat up.
• Slice the onions and add to the oil, leave them to brown for a few minutes.
• Add the passata, season lightly and add the chilli. Cook for no more than 5 minutes (if you're using fresh blended tomatoes, increase the time to at least 10-12 minutes)
• Add the fish, cover the pot and cook on high heat for 5 minutes.
• Reduce to low-medium heat and cook for 7-10 minutes.
• Serve.

Alternatives

• Canola or Sunflower Oil instead of Coconut Oil
• Any fish of your choice (but remember if you're pregnant or breastfeeding, you should limit your intake of fish. speak to your doctor about this)
• If you're using blended fresh tomatoes, onions and pepper, you'll have to add a little more salt.

Serving Options

• I ate mine with steamed carrots because I had eaten more than enough that weekend ;)
  To keep it healthy, eat with:
  - sweet potatoes
  - 2 thin slices of yam
  - plantain
  - 1-2 serving spoons of fried (basmati, jasmine or brown) rice 

Photo Credit: MySupermarket

Moin Moin

A fellow tweep (twitter friend) mentioned she was cooking moin moin today so that inspired me to do the same :) The great thing about moin moin is it's quite a healthy Nigerian meal. Beans are high in protein and contain a moderate amount of carbohydrates :) Unlike akara, which is fried, moin moin is steamed and can be eaten on it's own as a snack or with vegetables and meat  or chicken.

Recipe was a modified version of this: Moin Moin Recipe to make it a little healthier:

• I used coconut oil instead of vegetable oil
• I replaced Maggi with Rock Salt and Herbs
• I used crushed chillis

Ingredients

• Brown Beans (~ 500-600g)
• 3 tablespoons of virgin coconut oil
• 4 tablespoons of ground crayfish
• Salt and Mixed Herbs
• 2 Red Onions
• 1 tablespoon crushed chillis
• 2 red bell peppers
• 3 eggs (optional)
• 2 tins of sardines/mackerel in spring water or brine (optional)

Moin Moin

• Soak the beans in water for 20 minutes. Now this is the most annoying part: You have to rub the beans between your hands to get the skin off, I did this while watching X Factor so it didn't feel as bad.
• Leave to soak for another 2 hours to soften the beans:
  
  
• Boil 3 eggs, peel and slice. 
• Peel and chop the onions and chop the bell peppers. Add to the bowl of beans, also add chillis and crayfish.
• Fill your blender halfway with the mix. Add a little water and blend, note that if you don't have a strong blender, this will take forever.
• Pour the mix into a bowl and repeat this process till it's all blended.
• Now add the mix back to the blender (still filling it halfway) and add 2ce blended mix into another bowl. Repeat till you've 're-blended' it all.
• I repeated this process one more time and this was the result:
  
  
  
• Melt the coconut oil and add to the mixture. Also add your salt and herbs.
• I used aluminium foil, check out this easy tutorial to make the aluminium cases: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVdFyxK8Qd4
• Fill each container halfway with the mixture and as much or as little of the sliced eggs (1-2 in my case) and sardines. Seal. Continue till the mixture is used up.
• If you own a steamer, use this instead. My home-made steamer: Add some water to a pot (I added 2 cups) and I used a pot stand (similar to the image below but minus the wheels:
  
  
  I inserted it into the pot of water and boiled the water
• I placed the moin moin (bags) onto the pot stand, covered the pot and cooked on medium heat for 1 hour. I made sure I checked the level of the water every 15 minutes and refilled as required.

Sunday's Snack: Pan-Fried Plantain and Tomatoes

I absolutely love lazy Sundays. I've done nothing productive today except my laundry. I'll deal with cleaning and cooking later ;)

I was in the mood for a snack before a quick nap... I will be twisting my hair (myself) this evening and it takes HOURS.

I planned to grill plantain but decided to try pan frying it just to see how it would turn out. I was going to eat the plantain on its own then remembered I had some tomatoes from last week which were past their sell by date. They still looked edible to me so I decided to eat some today before throwing the rest out. Plus veggies are good for you ;)


This is a much healthier alternative to 'dodo' (plantain shallow or deep fried in much more oil) and the best thing is it tastes the same . Try it and see! :)

Ingredients

1 plantain
2 tomatoes
2 tablespoons of coconut oil

Plantain/Tomatoes

1. Heat the coconut oil in a pan
2. Peel and slice the plantain (each slice should be ~ 1/2 an inch thick)
3. Add the plantain to the pan and fry on medium heat.
4. Turn after 4 minutes and cook for another 3-4 minutes.
5. When the plantain's cooked, serve it on a plate.
6. Chop the tomatoes and add to the pan (heat another tablespoon of oil)
7. Add some mixed herbs and toss tomatoes in pan every 30s.
8. Serve with plantain

Preparation Time: ~10 minutes.

Alternatives:
Any vegetables of your choice and here I used sliced green peppers with mackerel.