Slow Cooker Recipe with Sausages, Sweet Potatoes, Peppers, Tomatoes and Onions

I can't get over how cold it is here in THIS COUNTRY! It was 1degC today! ONE! In April!!!

Anyway... here's a quick recipe which I'll be using on Friday for a nice warming dinner, I can't wait!

Preparation time is less than 10 minutes and you leave the slow cooker to do the rest of the work. It's best to leave the lid on the entire time to keep the heat in.

Let me know if you try this and I really hope it's warm where you are!

Nominated for a Leibster Award

Daisy from 'Living in Lagos' nominated me for The Liebster award, which is given to up and coming bloggers who have less than 200 followers.

I remember when I used to blog years ago (as 'LondonBuki'), I used to love stuff like this - they made blogging more fun!

Here goes...

The Rules

1. Thank and link back to the giver.
   Thanks Daisy :)
2. Answer the giver's questions 
   a.  What is your favorite book of all time and why?
   I can't pick just one book! A few of my favourites are:
   Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett
   His Dark Materials (a trilogy) by Phillip Pullman
   Harry Potter (Great series but my two favourites were the 3rd (Prisoner of Azkaban) and 4th (Goblet of Fire) books)
   Ake by Wole Soyinka
   ... and quite a few more!
   
   b What are you most passionate about and why?
   As you can see from my blog, clean & healthy living inside and out. Outside of this, I'm passionate about taking care of my loved ones and ensuring their happiness - I've learned this about myself over the last 10 years. Don't you dare say a bad word about anyone I care about or do anything to hurt them, you'll have ME to answer to... seriously!
   
   c. What are you up to at the moment?
   Apart from writing this, working on a few important things that I hope will make a huge impact in my career (wish me luck!)
   
   d. What would you say to your 10 year old self?
   Show your Mummy how much you love her, every single day. Enjoy every single call she makes and never get annoyed by her constant calls - she loves you :)
   
   e. Where and what would you like to be & do in 5 years?
   In the USA, but honestly - where I'm meant to be. To have advanced greatly in my career (I prefer not to share my future plans online, sorry!).
   
3. Nominate 5 other blogs with fewer than 200 followers I nominate any blogger who reads this and has less than 200 followers ;)
   
   
4. Ask five questions for nominees to answer
   1. Why do you blog?
   2. If you could pick any country, where would you live? What city/town?
   3. What are your top 3 all time movies?
   4. What are your top 3 meals/dishes?
   5. What do you think about healthy eating/living? Do you eat whatever you like, when you like because "life is too short"? Or do you know the benefits but struggle to et/live healthy? I'm curious to know :)
5. Post it on your blogYou're reading it, so it's obviously on my blog ;)

My March Favourites (2013)

Happy New Month :) I can't believe it's April already! 

I decided to keep this short and sweet, leaving the image below to do most of the talking :)

Green smoothies: http://www.adura-o.com/2013/03/green-smoothies-im-loving-em.html

Palm Oil Mask: http://www.adura-o.com/2013/03/palm-oil-face-mask.html 

Organic tampons: http://amzn.to/10sIYsM

I've used these for a while but finally got my hands on the ones with applicators (halleluyah!). And before you say anything about, "They're probably expensive", they're not! We focus on what we eat and put on our bodies, how about what we leave in our bodies for hours on end? Using a sanitary pad/towel is obviously better (Read: Toxic Shock Syndrome) but, in my opinion, messier. So I'm embracing these chemical free tampons :)
Do they work: Yes they do!

Have you tried any of the above?

Have a wonderful April!

'No Oil' Stew Recipe

Someone was referred to me for this recipe and although I talk about it a lot, I didn't have it on this blog! I recorded a video LAST year and still haven't edited it. *sigh*

So I decided to do this quick recipe card, which I think is the next best thing, if not as good!

This recipe helped me a lot when I initially lost weight in 2002. I've made a little change here, extracting the oil from the stock. When I was at university, I didn't bother with separating stock and fat,.

Being Nigerian, I was used to generously pouring oil into stew and this was the first thing I changed. I remember my friends teasing me about my 'Weight Watchers Stew' but over 40 pounds later, I was the one laughing :p

Honestly, I wasn't aware of the benefits of animal fats/stock back then, I just used stock in my food because it added flavour and helped me eliminate the use of oil.

Why chicken fat? Because animal fats are highly nutritious (and natural!) and essential for many body functions - heart, lungs, bones, etc (Read more here: http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2011/09/01/enjoy-saturated-fats-theyre-good-for-you.aspx). 

Taking off the skin will result in less fatty stock but you'll still get stock from the bones (marrow) of the chicken which actually contains a lot of the nutrients stated above :)

PS For personal reasons, I've been advised to eat less chicken skin NOT because it's high in fat but because it's high in omega 6.

I use this recipe a lot and very often, I do it the much easier way:

• fry the onions in 1 tablespoon of coconut oil
• And add the chicken stock (with the fat) to the blended tomato mix

Have you tried this? Let me know what you think!

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

Green Smoothies: I'm Loving 'Em!

I love green smoothies! 

I just haven't been able to get into the habit of having salads which contain, highly nutritious and hydrating, raw, green, leafy vegetables into my daily diet. I have tried, I really have but I prefer my veggies stir fried or steamed, the former being my favourite way of getting those veggies in. Vegetables start to lose their nutrient values once they've been picked and heating them further reduces this value.

I finally decided to give green smoothies a try a few months ago, to ensure minimal alteration (in my control) of my veggies before consumption. I've enjoyed them from Day 1!

A few things I learned from my first try were:

• Keep it simple - my favourite everyday green smoothie consists of spinach, cucumber, lemon juice, lemon zest and lime juice.
• Lemon peel (zest) in addition to the juice makes a great change to an otherwise simple, bland mix of spinach and cucumbers. The taste of the peel almost removes the need for any sweetening eg berries, bananas, apples, etc
• Lemon and lime juice are a great combination
• Berries add a nice sweetness to the green smoothies. 

Most of my green smoothies contain spinach (contains flavonoids which have anti-cancer propertiesm rich in antioxidants, Vitamin K, calcium and magnesium), cucumber (contains phytonutrients that give it anti-cancer properties, rich in antioxidants, high water content, Vitamin K, potassium, magnesium), fresh juice from a lemon (read this for the benefits of lemon juice) and lemon peel/zest.

I aim to buy organic spinach and cucumbers. If you can't, make sure you wash them properly (apple cider vinegar + water rinse and brush the cucumber skin).

I have a jar/cup once a day, in addition to my meals and supplements. Not as a food replacement! Although I've had a smoothie some mornings I've had not appetite, which is a very rare occurrence ;)

If you're like me and have to force salads down your throat, try green smoothies :) One very lazy evening, I had 2 homemade turkey burgers and a green smoothie for dinner!

I've been putting my very cheap and durable blender through a lot of work and I can hear it falling apart each time I use it.
I'd love to get the Magimix 1.8L Blender which is a bit pricey at over £200 but it looks like it'd be worth it! For now, it's on my wish list for when I am richer ;)

For now, I've added the two blenders below to my 'immediate' wish list and I think I'll get the Villaware soon. They're both on sale at great discount (I'm still looking through reviews), click on the links for more info :)

1. Duronic BL1200 - Stainless Steel Body Table Blender (1.8L Glass Jug)
    £199.99 £59.99

 2. Villaware BLVLLAZ05H 2 Litre Jug Blender Die Cast Metal
     £79.99 £58.25

Have a great week!