Food - Honey Sriracha Wings

This is a very very simple to-go recipe, and it is definitely a crowd pleaser. One of my sisters loves comparing my cooking to our mums but if you have a great cook like our mum, it is very hard to beat her, but with this recipe, I won a little bit of my sisters heart :)

Food is definitely the key to a lot of peoples hearts, especially mine!  With simple recipes like this, you will definitely be on your way to melting some hearts out there. So keynotes about this recipe - 1, its sweet.... 2, its a bit spicy, and 3.. It is DELICIOUS!.. that is all.

slightly adapted from The Woks of Life

2 pounds of chicken wings

salt, black pepper and red pepper flakes

Spray olive oil

2 tbsp butter

1/4 cup Sriracha 

2 tbsp honey (and more if needed)

more red pepper flakes

Preheat oven to 350/400 degrees

Make sure your wings/drumettes are thawed, once thawed, combine wings with salt, pepper and red pepper flakes/

Line a pan with foil or parchment paper, if you use foil, make sure to spray the foil so the chicken doesn't get stuck on it/

Spray the chicken with olive oil, making sure every bit of the chicken is oiled/

Bake for about 45-50 mins, checking to make sure they are well done/

Once the chicken is well cooked, melt butter in a wok , add red pepper flakes, and let the flavor merge with the butter/

After a minute, add the Sriracha and honey and stir all the ingredients together until the mixture becomes bubbly (not burnt bubbly)

Take the wings from the oven, well done (don't forget) and toss the wings into the sauce, and coat until all the wings have this delicious sauce on them//

I had a little bit of fun using the wok to toss the chicken

Serve with fries, rice( that's right) or eat it as a snack! 

so GOOD and SIMPLE! 

Enjoy, Dee! 

Weekend

This rose-apple pie could be yours but... its all gone! Stay tuned on how to make this! 

Have a great weekend! :) 

Love, Dee!! 

Food - Quick Lunch; Bacon-Lettuce-Kimchi Sandwich (BLK)

My taste buds are strictly Nigerian. I believe our taste buds are developed by the food that is heavily cooked or are available in the areas that we live in. I lived in Nigeria for most of my childhood and teenage years but as I came to America, I started to explore different types of cuisine outside of the normal rice, plantains, and beans that I had been exposed to all my life.

One of the types of cuisine I started to eat was Korean! I think I can link this to my excessive watching of Korean Dramas, I mean have you watched any ?! They are soo addictive! I digress, So as Jollof Rice is to Nigerians, Kimchi is to Koreans. It's a food staple and has hit American grocery stores with a bang! I've noticed that they are now selling it everywhere! From your local Whole Foods, to your local sandwich shops.

 I remember the first time I tried Kimchi, I was taken aback by the smell, but then I tasted it and it was AMAZING! I promise you!!It was crunchy, sour, sweet, spicy and everything else!  I've been buying mine from the local Whole Foods, and they have it in different spice levels. I usually opt for Hot or Medium.
Today, we will be making a Bacon-Lettuce-Kimchi Sandwich (BSK) see what I did there ? and it is everything you've ever dreamed of ! I promise you!! plus... its super fast! My brother came visiting this summer, and he was a bit skeptical but now he is a devout believer!

Croissant (your preference of bread)

Mayonnaise

Lettuce
Onions

2 slices of Bacon

Kimchi (I usually buy from Whole Foods in the fresh produce aisle)

Cook bacon according to instructions

Toast, split, and put Mayo on croissant 

Dice onions

Assemble as you like 

Eat up! 

So how does it taste?! 

p.s I've also made this with spinach instead of lettuce, and without mayo and it still delicious! 

Enjoy, Dee!

Food - Pineapple Ginger Juice

I haven't been posting anything about food for this month because... guess what ?? I'm doing the Whole30 with my youngest sister. Day 1 was a blast, Day 10 was OK, I really need cake RIGHT now and today we are on Day 16! I never diet because I LOVE FOOD. period. I love food a lot even on the saddest of days, I might not eat at the sad moment, but believe me give me 4 hrs tops, and I'll be stuffing my mouth, apologizing to my stomach for being so hurtful.

So, with the Whole 30, you are banned advised not to eat certain types of food. It has been really difficult giving up rice, and cake. But I have seen a lot of improvement in the past 16 days. My skin is a lot brighter and healthier looking and I've learnt that there are so many things you can make with sweet potatoes. Also, plantain chips become your best friend. Since we can't eat ANY sugar, except if they are naturally found in the produce or fruits we buy, we've been making a lot of juice, and not drinking excessively. Grapefruit Juice, Pineapple Ginger Juice, and Melon Juice.

Today we will be drinking Pineapple Ginger Juice. This was so good. I loved the zing the ginger provided. It is as the grapefruit juice, relatively easy to make if you have a juicer. As I said on the last juice post, we use this  juicer. So lets get right into it.

2 pineapples, diced

ginger (based on your judgement), diced

1/4 cup of water

see the tiny ginger on the bottom right, that's all the ginger I used. 



Peel and dice pineapples (just like how the other republicans where peeling and dicing Mr. Trump at the Republican Debate yesterday) and ginger so that when you are processing them, your juicer doesn't have any problems.

Using your juicer, process the fruits.

Sieve to remove any unwanted pulp (some people like pulp, so if you are one of them, you can leave the pulp)

Pour into bottles (we got these from IKEA!!) and add water for the right consistency. 

Tada!! Feel the Zing

Pinning my Interests - Yum!!!

I joined Pinterest about 3 years ago, and it has been my daily addiction ever since. If you do not have a Pinterest... Join now! and hmm... follow me.  I have 13 boards and some secret boards... My boards range from womens wear, home inspiration, D.I.Y's, quotes that really speak to me, and lots of food recipes. My top three boards are Wear!!! Yum!!! and These Words!!!. I'm sure the board names are very self explanatory and I just love the exclamation marks because they show intensity! (I'm a secretly intense person). They also show that I really love the pin and that is why I pinned them.  A lot of the Yum!!! pins are recipes I've not tried but of food that I think just look so good that even now that I'm doing the Whole30, I can imagine just by looking at the pins what they taste like, and that makes me full! Hahaha :) ( Am I the only one that gets full by looking at pictures ? ) Anyways, I shared Wear!! yesterday, and I'll be sharing These Words!!! tomorrow.

Today is my Yum!!! board. If you look at the board, you'll guess immediately that I love desserts... I'm a sweet tooth.  Do you have a Pinterest account ? If so what's your favorite board ?!

This is a Fine + Casual recipe which can be found here

S'mores Ice Cream Cake - This looks so easy to make!

They reminded me of  the donuts made by a popular food chain back home called Mr. Biggs

Melon Pizza - So easy to make! 

Korean BBQ is just the best.. that is all. 

If you would like to, you can follow me here, I always post things from the blog. 

all images from Pinterest

Food- Chicken Soup - American Style

American Style Chicken Soup....Or maybe it's everybody's style ? except, I'm used to Pepper Soup - Nigerian Style (coming soon). When I was texted to make Chicken Soup.. my first instinct was.. hmm you mean pepper soup ? and I was obviously wrong. I had never made chicken soup before so I googled "Chicken Soup Recipe", and researched all the cookbooks I had.

I finally decided on the one below and I was super proud of how mine came out. It was very rich, the soup was clear, the chicken was so so soft and the vegetables were not soggy/crunchy. What more could you ask for in chicken soup ? My requestor was very pleased (I think).

Recipe adapted from here

*I tweaked mine because I felt like...

6 boneless chicken thighs, cut into pieces  (you can use breasts but I prefer thighs) 

1 large carrot, peeled and cut into pieces

4 individual stalks of celery diced, and celery head 

2 stalks of green onions, diced

4 sprigs of parsley

1 purple onion, sliced

1 tbsp of diced garlic

2 tbsp of salt

2 tbsp of thyme

2 tbsp of whole black peppercorns

2 tbsp crushed red pepper flakes

Water (as much as you think you need)

2 Chicken Bouillon cubes ( you might want to add more, depending on your taste)

*the chicken is underneath all the veggies*

In  a stock pot, put in the chickens, onions, carrots, celery, green onions and parsley,

Put in the diced garlic, salt, thyme, peppercorns, and crushed red peppers,

Put the bouillon and mix until everything is incorporated,

Add water, and bring to boil. 

Cover the pot, and let it boil/simmer for about 2 hrs (check periodically)

About 30 mins, check for taste, and adjust with more salt/more bouillon. 

After an hr, check the chicken to see if its cooked

around this time, since I didn't think they would like the soggy parsley, I sieved the stock and started placing veggies that I thought they would like back into the pot with the stock, 

I tasted for any seasoning adjustment, and let it simmer until I was satisfied with the taste, and softness of the chicken, and veggies. 

It took a long time but it was worth it and we all loved it!

Weekend

Baileys infused Ice Cream -  Photo by Adeola - Fine + Casual

Food - Honey Almond Cream Cheese Spread

 Hi!! I'm going to be adding some calories to your system today.. so I apologize in advance :)

My youngest sister always seems to find the food deals going on and one of the most recent ones she introduced me to was the 13 bagels for $6.99 at Panera Bread that happens every Tuesday. So of course when Tuesday came rolling in, we got 13 bagels. When the bagels got home, we realized we forgot the cream cheese spread. Instead of driving all the way to Panera, as a DIY enthusiast, I decided to make our own Honey Walnut Cream Cheese Spread. I'm allergic to Walnuts, Hazelnuts and Pecans so I opted for Almonds - Marcona Almonds.

This is another easy recipe and it literally takes 5 mins, plus you know what's going into your spread.  I didn't want to make a lot because I knew we would finish it before the end of the week so I made half a portion.

 4 ounces Cream Cheese

1/2 tsp Raw Honey ( I used this)

1/2 tsp Unsulfured Pure Blackstrap Molasses (I used this)

1/2 tsp Cinnamon powder

11/2 tsp Brown Sugar

1/4 cup chopped Marcona Almonds ( you can use any nuts you desire)

 Chop Marcona Almonds

Soften Cream Cheese ( leave out for about 10 mins, and if already softened... oops, next step)

 In a mixing bowl, pour all ingredients except the nuts, whip cream cheese and other ingredients  until they are fully incorporated

Once you are satisfied with the fluffiness, mix in the nuts and,  

Eat off the bowl :)

or transfer to a container ( I used a recycled jam/jelly jar)

 Refrigerate

 EAT EVERYDAY!!

Enjoy!!  

Food - Grapefruit Orange Cayenne Juice

Growing up, one of the fruits I hated (and I'm sure most kids do) was Grapefruit. It was just BITTER. It had no redeeming qualities. I mean why would I take grapefruit instead of it's friends - Orange and Tangerine ? It made no sense to me why this was even created. Created ? Yes, the grapefruit is a cross between sweet orange and the pomelo.

 

As I got older, I started to realize that although it was bitter, it had a certain kind of sweetness to it that not many people enjoy and had a lot of benefits, one being that it makes your skin glow! The juicing fad seems to be slowing down a bit and I would say I enjoyed my own fair bit of buying pressed juice from Ardens Garden ( Georgia-Made), Naked Juice, Evolution, Pressed Juicery, and most recently, Wild Poppy. I also found out that my local whole foods made juice from scratch if you buy the fruits you want and give them to juice it for you!

My mum bought a juicer (this one) and we've been making amazing juice, saving my wallet and diminishing revenue from the juice makers mentioned above.

I loved the Wild Poppy Blood Orange Chili, I decided to make mine at home! If you are not a fan of bitter/sweet/spicy juice... Please do not make this or you can make it without the Cayenne!  I made a Grapefruit Orange Cayenne Juice! And it was delicious!! It's a very good WAKE UP NOW kind of juice that just kicks your eyelids open every morning without fail!

For this recipe, I used one sweet orange to liven up the sweetness of the grapefruit (honestly, that was the only reason :) )

To make 10 ounce juice -

4 grapefruits, peeled and chopped

1 sweet orange, peeled and chopped

cayenne pepper ( measure for your taste)

 





Peel and Chop grapefruits and sweet orange so that when you are processing it, your juicer doesn't have any problems.

Once you've done the above, mix the fruits with cayenne pepper ( as I said above, please use your discretion, a pinch, a handful....)

Using your juicer, process the fruits.

Sieve to remove any unwanted pulp (some people like pulp, so if you are one of them, you can leave the pulp)

Pour into bottles (we got these from IKEA, but I recycled by Wild Poppy 10 ounce bottle)

Chill and Enjoy!!

 

Spicy isn't it ?!!

Food - Mini Indulgence : Breakfast Style!

Hello!! 

Today I'm sharing a little something I've been experimenting with for a second now. Well, lets be honest, it didn't take a second, it took a lot shorter than that! Last year, one of my sisters had her birthday at Seasons 52 (click here to check them out!). The food was great (honestly it was) but what made me so happy was all the mini indulgences they had.

What is a Mini indulgence you ask ? They are shot-size glass desserts bursting with flavor! They had Peanut Chocolate Torte, Red Velvet, Mocha Macchiato, all in shot glasses. I was surprised when they told us we could take them home and of course I started making my own shot glass heaven at home!  My other sister and I came up with different types of Mini Indulgences - see below and we are going to definitely make them as time goes by (forever is a long time). 

Aren't we the cutest ? ? 

What we have here today is a yogurt/coconut/granola/cranberry(repeat) breakfast shot.

 

Yogurt ( I prefer Honey flavored Noosa, check them out!)

Granola

Coconut Flakes

Dried Cranberries

Go to Seasons 52 and get a shot glass (seriously though you can get them at Amazon)

In the shot glass, place a small amount of your choice of yogurt/

followed by your choice of granola/

top with another small amount of yogurt/

top with coconut flakes/

top with yogurt/

top with granola/

top with yogurt/

followed with coconut flakes

finish with cranberries and 

TA-DA!! 

Although it's little, it's really delicious and very cute! 

Let me know if you try it! 

Have a wonderful day!! :)