VirgysKitchenandGarden

Pot of Scotch Bonnet Peppers with California medley veggies This Christmas season fuels my desire to continue eating well. Not that I had any choice in the matter. My body rebelled and decided to reject everything man-made that comes boxed, canned, packaged, and otherwise assembled in a way that Mother Nature never intended. Hence I cut off a lot of carbs from my diet. An example is this Christmas meal that my daughter and I prepared in her new home. It was so simple and so healthy that I thank my body daily for speaking to me and for demanding that I yield not to the food pressure of the seasons: Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter, Fourth of July, and any other occasion where we indulge according to societal pressures and dictates rather than eating according to the health benefits of food. Black-eyed peas, mashed sweet potatoes, Jasmine rice topped with chicken stew, and roasted broccoli and  carrots As Cassie and I cooked (and as if planned), the PBS (Public B

For years I have wanted to own gold utensils and flatware. I walked into Tuesday Morning one Saturday morning and beheld my culinary dream in flawless, dazzling color: gold. My mind rioted and fulfilled a long-standing dream. Another desire was to own bronze. I found a unique bronze can opener at Ross. As I snatched it up, I glowed with the pride of one who conquered a colony for his/her majesty. The only thing is, I conquered the "colony" for this majesty, me. This Thanksgiving and Christmas, I look forward to preparing tasty dishes with the ideal tools in the right shade of desire fulfillment: GOLD. Next stop: gold flatware From left to right : Two chef's knives with bone handles, black handle  chef's knife, big and small santoku knives, utility knife.  paring knife, bottle opener, can opener, cake server, spaghetti  fork, slotted spoons in opposite directions, turning spatula,  skimming spoon, gravy ladle, and cooking spoon (horizontal)

This is a follow-up report on my weight loss activities in my in-home weight loss clinic. In April of this year (2017), I wrote a detailed blog post of my acquisition of several weapons of mass destruction :  I gathered effective machines through Aldi, TJ Maxx, and Thane. This resolution has intensified, and I use these machines several times a day and sweat up a storm. My regimen includes my mats and exercise balls for yoga and Pilate, fitness ab/arm wheel , Step (aerobics) , dumbbell sets , the mini-Stepper , mini-cycling , and my newest possession, The Abdoer 360 . Watch me sweat!!  Working out on Abdoer 360 Food continues to be a handicap in my quest for the perfect weight for me. However, there is a gleaming light at the end of that weight loss tunnel. As of first week of April 2017, the monitoring stats were-- weight,  172.2 lbs; waist, 36”; hip, 43”; and body mass, 31.82.  On April 19, 2017 , my

Brown rice spaghetti, spinach, and turkey meat sauce I am immersed in my Smartpoints. I am sold into it, and I am already reaping the rewards. I am a label reader, a strategic food planner, and a believer that food is our best friend and our worst enemy, depending on our relationship with it.               As in all things, moderation is key. Eat as often as you like but eat in moderation. As here in this picture, one cup of most carbohydrates per meal is enough to sustain the body to fulfill its functions. Here I have a cup of brown rice pasta (yes, there is such a thing!), spinach, and ground turkey in spaghetti sauce.             I love the Weightwatchers program. I wanted to eat spaghetti today with meat. I did not want to compromise that by eating some plastic food or some frozen food, or some doctored/laboratory version, or TV dinner, or packaged food. I wanted to cook my food from scratch or as close to scratch as I can get. At church this morning, we were of

Clockwise from top left: Kidney beans, blanched broccoli, liver stew, and Jasmine rice  I just donated blood, which I do two times a year. I searched my brain for the most effective way to replenish my blood supply without eating the usual banana. I remembered that I ate a lot of liver for my baby's health years ago, so I wanted to pump up my iron/folate supply. Voila, liver! I wanted a way that would allow me to eat liver in a more enjoyable way than the regular plain liver topped with rings of onion. Voila, liver in the stew! The organic liver pieces from free-range chicken were the right size and became the center of attention in the stew/sauce without beef or fish usurping the kingdom of pot. I love the flavorful taste of Scotch Bonnet peppers (which is the cousin of the  habanero --Spanish). I cannot overemphasize the b enefits of peppers. Th ey are packed with potassium and vitamins A, C and dietary fiber .     The story of this chicken liver: I went  grocer

Today seemed a good day to play in the kitchen and prepare whatever I found in the refrigerator and shelves. I found plenty for dinner. Brunch was a breeze (two scrambled egg whites and fried plantain); no picture needed. I saw Oprah's "O, That's Good" commercial earlier this week. She mentioned  mashing potatoes with cauliflower . I took the idea and ran with it and made my own mashed potato almost entirely of one head of cauliflower. The only starch was one fist-size boiled and mashed potato. I added seasonings: parsley, black pepper, chopped white onion, garlic, and a pinch of sea salt; no butter or grease. Red cabbage, kale, and almost raw spinach Cauliflower/mashed potato, vegetable medley, black-eye peas, and salmon  --Frances Ohanenye maintains this unusual site. Click on the "Open Source Cooking" tab for enlightening information. Thanks for visiting. Have a fruitful day!

Nutrition is my recipe. Start with rice as base. Throw in broccoli and cauliflower mixed in a sauce. Wrap with kale and spinach medley. Cradle with black-eyed peas. --Frances Ohanenye maintains this unusual site. Click on the "Open Source Cooking" tab for enlightening information. Thanks for visiting. Have a fruitful day!

I found this salad recipe on the WebMD website and created it. It was truly scrumptious!   Ingredients: Romaine lettuce, Mandarin orange, salmon chunks, red bell pepper, and no salad dressing. --Frances Ohanenye maintains this unusual site. Click on the "Open Source Cooking" tab for enlightening information. Thanks for visiting. Have a fruitful day!

Hello, Here's wishing Happy Fourth of July to all the men and women who served or are serving so that we can know peace. Thank you!! Happy Red, White, and Blue to you! To everyone, after indulging in the cookouts, the rare concoctions, and the belly-bulging food, take a moment to enjoy coffee or tea. Most teas will help you breath easier, especially green tea. That begs the question: The coffee diet or the tea diet? Don't worry about deciding today. Have a cuppa each instead! Breathe. --Frances Ohanenye maintains this unusual site. Click on the "Open Source Cooking" tab for enlightening information. Thanks for visiting. Have a fruitful day!

Discovery : I get more health conscious with each passing day. My new discovery is avocado oil, which is actually better than and more expensive than olive oil. Who knew? Health/Weight loss report : I had a relapse due to sitting down a lot this week to grade a boatload of essays, so my workout suffered. However, I tried to make up for it with 45 minutes of jogging and walking on the treadmill yesterday. I had to work out, what with eating two slices of cheese pizza and setting myself back a few years. Mother's Day dishes : no fatty food today. Sensible dishes and very, very healthy. (The pizza from three days ago cost me a lot of calories.) Raw Red Spinach Seasoned Red Spinach Stacked from bottom to the top: Cabbage, Chard, and kale Red spinach turned red and soft. Forbidden (Black) rice with mackerel Organic black beans with seasonings Cabbage-chard-kale combination Dinner is ready and will be served with a rare find, a 1999 Pinot Grigio, w

Weight loss is an unending challenge, to be watched, monitored, and bemoaned. When I hit 50 years of age, fat glued itself to my body and refused to let me go. As sensibly as I eat, and as low-fat and low-calorie as my diet is, I cannot seem to shake off the 30 pounds I collected over the years but mostly last year when I fell a victim to one of the most fattening and most delicious ice cream man ever created. Food is a great salvation. Food is the nourishment we need to survive and to overcome, but food is crippling and defeating. Food needs to be paired with the most effective exercise regimen for fat to drop off and to stay away. The fight against the bulge has led me to accumulate different “weapons of mass destruction;” that is mass as in body mass. (Every pun intended!) All the weapons of mass destruction amount to a bowl of corn (which I am allergic to) if they are not paired with sensible eating. That sensible diet is portion control. Not only should we watch what we

Hello fans: I apologize for my sporadic postings over the last two years. I was chasing after my dream of obtaining a second Master's degree in English and Creative Writing. I have achieved that goal as of March 2017! I promise to post with more frequency. ========================== My childhood friend and I went to visit an older friend yesterday who served us “designer's soup,” and I was very curious.  "Designer’s stews" have been circulating for decades. The irony is that they originated from roadside vendors called "Mamaput" rather than from opulent restaurants or from the in-house restaurants of expensive hotels.  Not to split hair, but putting an apostrophe in the word "designer" means that someone owns it: Designer’s Stew, and as an English professor, my mind is in a riot. Should I correct this perceived error first?  Should it not be “designer stew” or “designer soup?” Anyway,  what determines which Nigerian dish gets th