Fridge Clearout Recipe | Spicy Prawns Rice Mix

There were two reasons to how I came about with this recipe:

1. It was time for my fridge clearout. I sometimes refer to this as a cleanse
2. I needed something hot and spicy to shift a head cold that suspiciously also feels like hay fever. #Springishere. 

Baking|| Banana Walnut Coconut Chocolate Bread

Banana Walnut Coconut Chocolate Chip Bread

Well its officially now Spring and yep; you read it right and the title says it all. It's another version of Banana Bread folks. The third I have made by my count, which probably makes me bonkers for Banana Bread. One thing they all have in common though is that they have been well received by my privileged circle of critical tasters.
This version however turned out more moist and stickier in comparison with the previous ones I have made. So I recommend allowing it to stand for about an hour before slicing to avoid crumbling.

Tastes of Nostalgia:: Akara/Kosai (Fried Bean Cake)

Akara (Fried Bean Cake)

Referred to as "akara" in southwestern and southeastern parts of Nigeria, and "kosai" in the northern parts. No matter what it is called, it is a very popular breakfast meal which is served alongside corn, millet or sorghum porridge called "ogi"

Baking:: Oatmeal Coconut Cookies

Cookies have been a while in coming back on this blog. Simple reason being that, everything just seemed "samey samey" to me. I find that now 6 months into blogging, I have somehow evolved into a form of snack snob - so hard to please!

Now oatmeal cookies have never been a favourite of mine; not sure why, but I think it has always seemed just so boring in flavour.

Oatmeal Coconut Cookies

Whenever I have come across foods that waver within the precipice of not appealing to me, I always feel left out because I seem to be the only one in the universe who ever owns up to not liking the such foods. I mean there has to be someone else out there who finds oatmeal cookies a tad boring!

Ingredients :: Rooibos Tea (Aspalathus Linearis)

Rooibos Tea Leaves

Jams have now featured twice on my blog within the last one month; the latest being the Raspberry & Rooibos Tea Jam. One thing both jam recipes did have in common was the mix of the usual jam ingredients with the unusual. As with my first jam recipe of Strawberry & Roselle Jam, whereby I later touched upon the benefits of the Roselle, I am now highlighting the benefits of the Rooibos tea from the Raspberry & Rooibos tea jam I made recently.

Rooibos tea, otherwise known as Redbush tea, is local South Africa - which was precisely where a dear friend sourced the one used for my jam making from. 

Originally frowned upon as "the poor man's tea", the world has now wisened up to the numerous and proven health benefits of the Rooibos tea, with the lack of caffeine increasing the benefits considerably. 

Cancer: 

Experiments conducted on laboratory rats have shown inhibitions in the growth of oesophageal cancer as well as significant reduction of pre-cancerous lesions

Cardiovascular Health:

Tests conducted on humans showed an increase in anti-oxidant levels in subjects' blood who consumed about 400ml/day; which inhibited the angiotensin converting enzyme associated with cardiovascular diseases

Cholesterol:

It's been proven to reduce the level of "bad cholesterol" while increasing the levels of "good cholesterol"

Mental Well-being:

The high mineral content and lack of caffeine helps to reduce anxiety and sleeplessness

Weight Loss:

It reduces the number and size of fat cells as well as lowering the serum cholesterol (fat in the blood)

Intestinal Inflammation:

The antioxidants soothes gut intestinal inflammation such as Colitis (Inflamed Colon)

In addition to the mentioned benefits, researches have also shown promising and exciting results so far in relation to diabetes - although this is more relatable to the Green Rooibos Tea which is unfermented. 

Sources

Komatsu K, Katro K, Mitsuda Y et al. Inhibitory effects of Rooibos Tea, Asphalathus Linearis, on X- ray induced C3H1OT1/2 cell transformation. Cancer Lett. 1994;77:33-8

Bramati L, Aquilano F, Pietta P. Unfermented Rooibos tea: quantitative characterization of flavonoids. J. Agric. Food Chemistry 2003;51:7472-4

Joubet E, Winterton P, Britz T J et al. Anti-oxidant and pro-oxidant activities of aqueous extracts and crude poly phenolic fraction of Rooibos (Aspathalus Linearis. J. Agric. Food Chemistry 2005;53:10260-7

Mini Crab Cakes | Conversation Starter

Mini Crab Cakes

After the unusual December - February (weather-wise) that we've had in this neck of the wood, March seems to have finally arrived with some very late chill in the air. And at the beginning of last month I decided to take things easy after the hectic start of the year that I had. This included sticking with easy recipes for the blog, which I think worked out alright. I am thinking that March might be following along with that theme, but we'll just have to wait and see what how that intention pans out.