Light soup(Pepper soup)

Where the fufu lovers at? This is one soup that MOST people eat with their fufu. Mostly served with goat meat but can be made with chicken as well(but not the overly processed one that's usually too soft and tends to break in the soup so the "live" chicken is the best for light soup). But today's one I will be using goat meat.

Ingredients:

• 2lbs goat
• 3 onions
• 4 tomatoes
• 2 scotch bonnet pepper or Jamaican hot pepper(or more,your preference)
• 1/2 jalapeño pepper 
• Ginger
• Half a clove of garlic
• Dried fish(that's if you have any available,it's optional)
• Spices to taste

You can add 1 tablespoon of tomato paste but it's optional not everyone uses tomato paste in their light soup. I was told some use it because of the bright color it gives the soup I usually don't....depends on who I am cooking for. 

Method:

1. Wash goat meat,remove any visible fat,in a big sauce pan, season with pepper,seasoning salt,and your choice of spices. On medium heat, steam goat meat for about 10-15mins or till it's no longer red/pink
2. While meat is steaming,blend the onions,tomatoes,pepper,ginger and garlic. When meat is done steaming pour in the blended ingredients on, adding about 2-3 cups(or more) of water(you are making soup not stew so it shouldn't be thick at all) I usually add a small can of tomato sauce to it if I have it at home
3. When the soup has boiled for a while, season it with your choice of spices and allow it to cook for 10-15mins. Prepare your fufu and enjoy lol. 

Ps: Will update with more pictures as time goes on. Thank you. Enjoy

1. Seasoned goat meat 2.Steamed goat meat 3.Ingredients to be blended 4. blended ingredients
5.Blended ingredients added to the steamed goat meat 6. Water that was added 

When I talk about dried fish from the african market this is what I am referring to

Shrimp rasta pasta

So I've never been to the famous footprints neither have I ever tried anyone's rasta pasta but the first time I ever made rasta pasta was a big hit so I decided to share the recipe with you all. Because Theedee loves yall lol. So here we go.

Ingredients:

• 1lb raw shrimps 
• 1 tablespoon oil
• 1 stalk of scallions
• 1 packet knorr parma rosa
• 2  tablespoons of jerk seasoning(mild or hot:depending on how hot you want it)
• 2 cups shredded/grated mozzarella cheese or cheddar cheese
• 1 & half cups of milk
• 1 box of  penne pasta
• Bell peppers (green,red,yellow whatever you prefer)

Method:

1. Boil penne pasta until well cooked (about 8-11mins or as instructed on box)
2. Wash shrimps and season as you usually would and then add 1 tablespoon of jerk seasoning. In a small sauce pan cook shrimps until its pink(usually takes about 10mins). 
3. In a large sauce pan, add the tablespoon of oil, with chopped scallions, stir for about a minute and add the remaining tablespoon of jerk season until its fully coated with the onions. 
4. Pour in half a cup of milk and a cup of the shredded cheese, stir for a while, add in half of the  packet of knorr parma rosa, with rest of the milk and cheese, stir for a second then add in your pasta,then add in the remaining Parma rosa. 
5. Add in your bell peppers, if milk seems to have disappeared from the sauce add a little more to it.
6. Serve immediately.......Enjoy

***(You can choose to mix in half of the shrimps while it cooks or just top the shrimps on the pasta when serving.....Look at pictures below)

*** Knorr Parma rosa is hard to find in the local stores but in the big chain grocery stores like Pathmark,stop and shop and food town(for those of you in New York). Can also be found in target and Amazon(if you're not a New Yorker😬). 

--->The sauce on the pasta dries up pretty quick so you can serve immediately when done or make the sauce a lot so it takes a while for it to dry up. Either way it's still delicious☺️

Before and after mixing in shrimps

With and without the bell peppers

Plantain chips

I love plantain chips no it's very serious, everytime someone is coming from Ghana I ask for plantain chips lol so the craving got real and I decided to do it myself. It's not like they sell in Ghana but it's pretty darn close lol!

Ingredients:

• 2 green or yellow plantain(depending on what you prefer)
• 1 tablespoon salt (less if you don't want it overly salty)
• Oil for frying 

Method 

1. Peel and wash plantains. Cut into very thin slices the shape is your choice but make sure you cut it as thin as possible(that gives you the crunchy-ness of plantain chips). You can also use a potato peeler to slice the plantain into thin slices. 
2. I soaked mine in salt water for 15 mins before frying(you can choose to skip this part and just add salt after frying), heat up oil on medium heat and fry until its golden yellow.(see pictures for guidance)..

Stages

Theedee's yummy plantain chips :-D

I used a potato peeler to achieve this style plantain chips

Waffles

I finally got my hands on a belgian waffle maker SO I said goodbye to frozen waffles and decided to make my own. They weren't too sweet or too blah they were just right for my taste buds. GO THEEDEE!!! LOL


Ingredients:

• 2 cups of flour
• 2 tablespoons of sugar(more or less depending on your sugar preference)
• 2 eggs
• 1/3 cup of butter
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 and 1/2 cup of milk(or more depending on how thin you want the batter)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 4 teaspoons baking powder

Method:

1. In a separate bowl mix eggs,milk,butter and vanilla. Set aside. 
2. Heat up the waffle iron
3. Combine the flour,sugar,salt and baking powder, then slowly pour in the egg mixture, mix thoroughly and then spray waffle with cooking spray(I used PAM), laddle into the waffle iron(Cook until its golden brown) until there's no more batter left. 
4. Serve immediately with bacon and scrambled eggs, or fruits,whipped cream and syrup whatever your taste buds are in the mood for

Ps: This made about 6 waffles depending on how much batter you put in the iron.

This is how my batter was coz I like my waffles very thick

I put this up to show you what not to do(DO NOT OVER FILL YOUR IRON like I did :(, the cleanup was real) 

Served with strawberries

Served with turkey bacon and scrambled eggs :-) 

Theedee's barbecue chicken wings

My little cousin turned 8 in feb(I know I am so late with this post) and I made these chicken wings for his party. One thing I know from babysitting so many kids in the past is that they love bbq chicken. So that's why I decided to do it. I mixed 2 different sauces for this.

Ingredients:

• 1 bag of chicken wings (usually has about 30 wings in there)
• 1 medium sized bottle original barbecue sauce
• 1 medium sized bottle honey barbecue sauce
• 2 tablespoons seasoning salt
• 2 tablespoons black pepper
• 1 tablespoon ginger powder
• 1 tablespoon cayenne pepper(optional)
• 1 tablespoon thyme

PS: You can make this as spicy as you want, I didn't make this spicy at all because I knew I was cooking for children and 90% of them don't like spicy food lol. 

Method:

1. Wash chicken wings(if you have the kind of chicken wings that has the feathers on them please becareful and remove them all before seasoning)
2. After washing, season with pepper,thyme,seasoning salt, then pour a combination of both honey barbecue and original barbecue sauce on it. Allow it to marinate overnight in the fridge,if you don't have that much time let it marinate in the fridge for an hour or 2
3. Preheat your oven at 370 degrees F(188 degrees C), in a greased baking pan pour out the seasoned chicken, add more of the barbecue sauce to it and bake for 30 mins, add the remaining of the sauces and bake for an additional 15mins. (It's easy for bbq chicken to burn so you can reduce the temperature of your oven if you think its too high)

Will post the process pictures next time I make this. 

All ready to be eaten. Yummy yum!!

Theedee's chicken tenders

Another thing some children love besides nuggets are good ole chicken tenders!! Mmm good tenders lol.

Ingredients: 

• 1 chicken breast
• 1 teaspoon thyme
• 1 teaspoon seasoning salt
• 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1 teaspoon parsley flakes
• 1 cup bread crumbs
• 1 egg
• Oil for frying

Method:

1. Wash chicken breast and cut them into long strips(see pictures below), season with all the spices. 
2. In a medium sauce pan, pour enough oil for frying, and heat up the oil on medium heat.
3. Take one strip of chicken put it in the egg,then into the bread crumbs, then into the oil(Repeat step until theres no more chicken left). Make sure the chicken is well coated with the eggs because that's what allows the bread crumbs to stick to the chicken. Fry until golden brown. Enjoy. 

Ps: You can increase the amount of ingredients depending on how many you want. This was a recipe for 2 people(LOL) 

Steps 

Yummy chicken tenders

Theedee's chicken nuggets

I don't have any babies of my own just yet but I do have little cousins,nephews and nieces who LOVE chicken nuggets. Just add some ketchup and French fries and you will have some very happy children. And I enjoy cooking with my little sweethearts, because they sometimes love being useful in the kitchen. So today we made some small chicken nuggets. It can be fried or baked, depending on what you want

Ingredients:

• 1 chicken breast
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 teaspoon seasoning salt
• 1/2 teaspoon parsley flakes
• 1/2 teaspoon thyme 
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper 
• 1/2 lemon
• 1 egg
• 1 cup bread crumbs

Ps: You can increase the ingredients to your preference, this was for a very small group of people. 

Method:

1. Wash chicken breast with lemon, then cut into very small pieces(look at picture below). season with spices then set aside 
2. In 2 separate bowls, break the egg in one bowl, pour bread crumbs in the other bowl(if you have plain bread crumbs mix it with some small cayenne pepper) 
3. If you are going to fry this,it needs to be deep frying on medium heat. If you are baking this preheat your oven to 320 degrees F.  
4. Pick the chicken,dip into the egg then into the breadcrumbs then into the oil(if frying), set aside in a baking sheet(if baking). Make sure the chicken is well coated with the eggs because that's the only way the breadcrumbs is able to hold on.
5. Fry or bake until golden brown, ENJOY! 

Ps:If you don't have breadcrumbs at home, do you have corn flakes(YES THE CEREAL), crush a cup full of cornflakes in a bowl until it resembles breadcrumbs, add a little cayenne pepper and do as it says in step 2. :-) 

Step by step, this was fried but you can also bake yours

BBQ Ribs

So I don't really eat much pork but I was craving some ribs so badly and so I went to the store got some pork spare ribs and used the rest of the  ingredients and spices I had at home and well yeah here we have it lol.

Ingredients:

• 1lb spare ribs (pork or beef)
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder 
• 1 tablespoon black pepper
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ginger powder
• 1 small bottle of BBQ sauce or 1/2 cup BBQ sauce(depending how much BBQ sauce you prefer....also I mixed original BBQ sauce with honey BBQ sauce)

Method:

1. In a sauce pan,season the ribs, pour enough water to cover the ribs , cook until the ribs are no longer pink and the water boils
2. Preheat oven to 330 degree F
3. In a baking pan, pour BBQ sauce all over the ribs and bake for an hour and a half. 
4. Enjoy with mashed potatoes, baked potatoes,jollof or whatever you want :-)  

After boiling, this is how I coated the ribs with the BBQ sauce before putting it in the oven

This is how my ribs turned out and this is what I enjoyed it with. Pepper shrimps, baked potatoes and corn

Served with fried rice,rasta pasta,kelewele and some salad

Served with jollof,kelewele and some salad

Curry chicken

I tried this once & I liked but not as much as the other Jamaican recipes I have tried lol. But that's just me. But my cousin Crystal well oh she's a big curry chicken lover! Can be eaten with rice n peas or white rice,tried it with fried rice and jollof too lol.

Ingredients:

• 3 lbs of chicken
• 6 tablespoons of curry powder
• 4 teaspoons of thyme
• 1-2 cloves of garlic
• 3 stalks of scallion (aka spring onions)
• 1 teaspoon of ginger
• 2 scotch bonnet pepper(Jamaican hot pepper)
• 2 teaspoons of salt
• 2 teaspoons of black pepper
• 1 tablespoon cayenne pepper(optional)
• 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil
• 2 cups of water
• 1 teaspoon of flour (use as a thickener for sauce)

Method: 

1. Wash the chicken with lime or lemon juice,chop the chicken into small pieces
2. Chop onions,scallions,garlic and pepper, rub the chicken with all ingredients excluding the water and potatoes allow the chicken to marinate in the fridge for 2 hours. 
3. Fry the chicken for 10minutes or until chicken is sealed.
4. Chop your potatoes then add to the chicken and water into a sauce pan, cover and allow the sauce to be thick(this would take about an hour or so).

Ps: I wanted my food to be ready quicker than the hour wait so I mixed half a teaspoon of flour and water and poured it in the mixture and about 15-20mins it thickened for me. 

Just squeezed lemon juice on it for the washing

Seasoned and ready for marinating

Chopped potatoes

Frying the chicken

Almost done frying

Water and potatoes added

Served with white rice,  fried plantain and steamed veggies

Clean Thai Curry By Hayet Rida

Allow me to introduce the lovely Hayet Rida. I came across this woman's page on instagram while looking for other healthy meals to prepare for my mom. & BOY was I inspired. She's Ghanaian just like me(WOOHOO!) and is on a journey which she hashtags as #Hayetisonadiet on instagram. What impressed me the most about her is her ability to experiment with food and also her encouraging pictures on instagram. Let's just say I look forward to her posts on the gram. She was kind enough to share one of her go to healthy meal with us today. NO SALT! NO PERSERVATIVES!! Check her out on instagram at @hayetrida. Watch out for more healthy recipes from her. 

Chicken ingredients: 

• 1 can coconut milk
• 1 bell pepper
• Chilli peppers
• 1 onion(optional) 
• 1 tablespoon curry paste
•  6 drumsticks 

Fried rice ingredients:

• 1 cup brown rice
• 1 or 2 green beans
• Pineapple
• Chilli
• 1 bell pepper
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce

Method:
The most important thing is to make sure that the chicken is fully cooked. 

1. Using a cooking spray,spray a medium cooking pot, steam chicken till its no longer pink(for about 10-15mins), add in vegetables, stir for awhile then add in your curry paste,stir for awhile then pour in the coconut milk. Allow it to simmer for 10minutes. 
2. Cook the brown rice until its done, allow it to dry. 
3. Using a cooking spray, spray a medium sauce pan, stir fry the vegetables, add the pineapples stir for awhile and then add in the brown rice after a few more stirs add the soy sauce. 

Fried rice prep

Presented 2 for the picture

All yummy fried rice

Doesn't it look great?

Brownies

Who loves brownies?? Well I Do(once in a blue moon...lol)!!! And so does my little cousin Vanessa lol. I made these for my babies at sunday school and they loved them!

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup butter (1 stick)
• 1 cup white sugar 
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 
• 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour 
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder

Method: 

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour an 8 inch square pan.
2. In a large saucepan, melt 1/2 cup butter. Remove from heat, and stir in sugar, eggs, and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Beat in 1/3 cup cocoa, 1/2 cup flour, salt, and baking powder. Spread batter into prepared pan.
3. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes. Do not OVERCOOK(SERIOUSLY)

Butter,sugar,eggs and vanilla mixture

I used butter to grease my pan for baking

Before going into greased pan

Ready to be baked, I used a bigger pan because I made a bigger batch of brownies

Moist and yummy brownies

Kebab

Nothing like the kebabs they sell on the streets of Accra at night with that hot pepper on it lol. But since I'm not in Ghana this is the closest thing I could make to satisfy my cravings. This is what you will normally see at MOST Ghanaian events in New York. You can tweak this according to your preference. Some like it really spicy and some would rather not have spicy at all.

Ingredients:

• 2lbs beef 
• 1 big onion 
• 1 green pepper(optional) 
• Kebab powder(you can get some of this at some African markets. I brought mine from Ghana) 
• 1 tablespoon seasoning salt
• 1 tablespoon black pepper
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon of parsley flakes
• 1 tablespoon of crushed red pepper(optional)
• 1 -2 tablespoons of red pepper or cayenne pepper(optional)

Method:

1. Wash the beef and cut it into small pieces
2. Season it with the seasoning salt and black pepper,parsley,crushed pepper,red pepper and two tablespoons of the kebab powder(if you have time you can put it in the fridge over night so it marinates well)
3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (177 degrees C), spread the seasoned beef in a greased baking sheet and bake it for 30-45mins(depending on how deep your pan is) with constant stirring until its ready
4. In a small sauce pan,melt a 1/3 teaspoon of butter add your chopped onions and green pepper,stir in a tablespoon of kebab powder and saute it for a minute. Now the fun part begins lol, if you have the kebab sticks this would be perfect, stick one beef, add an onion and green pepper, keep going until there's no more beef and veggies left. (You should have about 3 beef on each stick,depending on how big you cut the beef). 
5. Sprinkle some kebab powder on them and serve, ENJOY!

PS: Some people complain about how dry some kebabs are,to prevent this if you have some plain tomato stew at home you can toss about 3 tablespoons on the baked meat and put it back in the oven for about 10 minutes. 

Beef

I had to cut a lot of fat out of this. Before seasoning. (This was for a larger batch of kebabs)

Seasoned and ready for the fridge to marinate well or ready for the oven

Spread foil in oven and bake it (PS:This creates alot of mess)

Easier method to bake(PS:Just takes a little more time to cook)

Step by step of the veggies that were used for the kebabs

This was for a friend's birthday party that's why it looks like a lot but this is how your kebabs should look when you are done. Sprinkled with a little more kebab powder

Ghanaian Pancake

As I was going through my blog stats, I saw that someone was searching for the recipe for this. Then I asked myself, how did we make pancakes in Ghana when we didn't have Auntie Jemima. Since I couldn't remember very well I went straight to my mom and asked,she wasn't so sure either,its been a while so pardon us lol but we finally figured it out!! So here we have it. They remind me slightly of crepes because of how thin they are lol.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup of flour
• 1 tablespoon of butter
• 2-3 tablespoons of sugar or more(depending on how sweet you want it)
• 2 eggs
• 1/4 teaspoon of salt
• 1/3 teaspoon of nutmeg
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 cup evaporated milk
• 1 teaspoon of oil for frying(I use coconut oil for everything now but vegetable or canola oil will do too)

Method:

1. In a bowl, melt the butter(you can melt it in the microwave), then beat in the eggs, add half a cup of water, add in the flour and mix very well till there are little to no lumps in the mixture. 
2. Add in the sugar, milk, salt and the remaining half cup of water, continue mixing till its very smooth with minimal lumps(Some people like to blend their mixture so it can have a very smoother consistency, but that's extra work for me so I just mix by hand)
3. On medium heat , add the teaspoon of oil to a small frying pan, when the oil is hot, pour some of the batter in, tilt the pan in a way that the batter fills up the whole pan(see pictures), fry till there are bubbles on the top(see picture)
4. Using a spatula turn the pancake and allow that to also fry till its golden brown.

Step 1.1

Step 1.2

Step 2

Step 3

Step 4

Lets Eat!!!..Hehe