I must cook this oo!!

Native Soup (Rivers State)

Ingredients:
Cat fish (cut n gutted)
Goat meat
Prawns/Shrimps
Ngolo
Periwinkle (isam)
Snail
Stockfish
Crayfish (handful)
Achi (thickner)
Hot Peppers
Onions
Uziza leaves
Palm oil
Knorr Cubes
Salt

Directions:
To wash the catfish, add some hot water to a big basin and then drop the fish in for like 30 seconds (don't use boiling water else you'll cook the fish). After 30seconds of being in hot water, remove the fish and the scrape the body of the fish to remove the slime. Wash well and put in the pot you'll cook the soup with. 

To clean the snails, make sure there aren't any shells hidden anywhere so you won't get cut while cleaning it. Clean the snail with lime to remove the slime (haha, I just rhymed). I added half a cup of freshly squeezed lime juice to the snails and rubbed together. That was easier than cutting the lime in half and rubbing on the snail one at a time. Set the cleaned snail aside.

Remove the prawns/shrimps by removing the head, shells and veins. For the ngolo (I don't know the English name), ask the sellers to show you how to clean it 'cos I can't explain the process here. Wash the periwinkle. Set all of them aside.

Blend the onions and peppers together and set aside.

Wash the goat meat and add a pressure pot. Wash the stock fish and add to the same pot. Add the cleaned snail to the pot also. Add two-thirds of the blended pepper n onions to the pot. Season with salt and knorr and pressure cook for 10minutes. Set aside.

Steam the fish with the remaining blended pepper, knorr and salt for like 5minutes. Remove the steamed fish from the pot and pour the cooked meat into the fish stock. Blend the crayfish and add to the pot and allow it boil.

Add 2 cooking spoons of palm oil and allow boil for 10minutes. Then add the shrimps, isam and ngolo. Cover the pot and boil another 5minutes.

Add the achi 1 tablespoon at a time so you don't over thicken the soup. Allow everything to boil for 5minutes then cut up the uziza leaves and add. Boil for 3-5minutes and your soup is ready to be served.

Enjoy with garri, semolina, wheat etc.

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Why do i love this? why not!!

Whole Roast Chicken

Ingredients:
1 whole chicken (broiler/fryer)
6 large potatoes
1 large red bell pepper
1 large green bell pepper
2 large onions
3 tablespoons of butter
3 tablespoons parsley flakes
2 tablespoons pepper flakes
2 knorr cubes
Curry
Salt to taste

Directions:
Season the chicken with maggi, salt, pepper, curry, onions and a tablespoon of parsley. Cover well and let marinate overnight.

Cut the potatoes, 1 onion bulb, red and green bell peppers into big chunks and season with maggi, salt, pepper and 1 spoon of parsley. Set aside.

Spray the pan with vegetable oil then, cut one onion bulb into rings and lay on the middle of the pan.

Place the chicken on the onion rings and pat it dry with a paper towel. Season the butter with some parsley and pepper flakes and then stuff the breast area (between the flesh and the skin). Spray some vegetable oil on the chicken, tie the legs up with a twine and then pour the spiced veggies on the sides of the pan.

Cover the chicken with foil and bake for about 30minutes, remove the foil and bake for about 1hour more or until well the chicken is well browned. (Baking time will vary based on the size of your chicken so just monitor it and use your discretion)

ENJOY!!!

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Hot Tubs Can Cook Your Baby’s Brain

Horrifying Things That Can Happen During Pregnancy - a must read for women

Rh Incompatibility Your Rh factor is what the little plus or minus symbol in your blood type represents. If a woman’s blood is negative for Rh factor and her partner’s is positive, there’s a good chance their children’s blood will be positive. Since the fetus’s blood intermingles with the mother’s, she may develop antibodies to the proteins in Rh-positive blood, causing her body to reject future Rh-positive children the same way the body rejects organ transplants of incompatible blood type. Women with Rh-negative blood whose partners are Rh-positive have to take shots to prevent these antibodies from forming. Relaxing in a hot tub during pregnancy can cause major complications for the fetus. Raising your body temperature as little as four degrees (which can happen by spending even 10 minutes soaking in a hot tub) triples the risk of the fetus developing horrifying conditions like spina bifida and other neurological birth defects. The risk is greatest during the first four to six weeks of pregnancy, a time when many women don’t even know they’re pregnant.  Amniocentesis If you have certain risk factors for pregnancy complications, such as being over 35, having a family history of genetic disorders, or Rh incompatibility, your doctor may decide at some point that it’s in your baby’s best interest to stick a needle in your belly. Amniocentesis is a test performed by extracting amniotic fluid (the “water” that “breaks,” basically, the stuff your baby floats around in) by straight-up plunging a hypodermic needle into your womb through your stomach. This fluid can be tested for a ton of valuable information, but you’ll probably want to look away while they do it. Placenta Problems The placenta is an organ that grows in the womb alongside the fetus and provides it with nutrition, oxygen, and a bunch more important stuff via the umbilical cord. In theory, it attaches itself high in the uterus, out of the way of the necessary business, but sometimes it just wanders off wherever it darn well pleases. Placenta abruptio and placenta previa, which are actually not Harry Potter spells, are the two biggest problems. Placenta abruptio is when the placenta partially or completely peels away from the uterine wall and just floats around in the womb and causes all kinds of problems. Placenta previa is when the placenta stubbornly refuses to move itself up from the bottom of the womb, sometimes covering the cervix, which can be a pretty big concern since that’s where the baby needs to come out. Gestational Diabetes Did you know you can develop a debilitating chronic disease exclusively for the period of your pregnancy? You can! Gestational diabetes occurs when the hormones from the placenta that help the fetus grow cause insulin resistance in the mother. This can result in macrosomia, which is medical-ese for “fat baby.” About 18 percent of pregnant women develop gestational diabetes, and 9 percent of babies meet the criteria for macrosomia, which is a weight of more than 8 pounds, 13 ounces. Obviously, the implications for delivering such a baby are unpleasant—to say the least. Meconium Staining Most babies are polite enough to refrain from pooping for the first time until they’re well outside of their mom, but about 10–15 percent of the time, they poop while they’re still in the uterus. These first stools, called meconium, are a thick greenish-black liquid that is expelled with the amniotic fluid when the water breaks. That’s right, you may end up spewing someone else’s feces from your womanliness. Aside from being really gross, this can result in a serious condition for the baby called meconium aspiration syndrome—because poop isn’t really the healthiest thing to breathe.  Amniotomy Once labor begins, your doctor may suspect problems that necessitate examining the amniotic fluid. But what if your water hasn’t broken yet? Or maybe it’s just not going fast enough? In this case, amniotomy may be performed. In layman’s terms, that means jamming a glorified crochet hook up your cervix
Pregnancy Mask Melasma, also known as the “pregnancy mask,” happens when an increase in estrogen and progesterone throw your melanin receptors into overdrive, causing hyperpigmentation. The result is dark, splotchy patches on your body and face, most commonly on the cheeks and forehead. Because your body decided that all the weight gain and swelling just weren’t leaving you feeling ugly enough already. Episiotomy Another controversial procedure is episiotomy, which is a nice way of saying “slicing your hoo-ha open.” In an emergency situation where the baby must be delivered quickly, or if your bundle of joy was blessed with the Fat Baby Syndrome mentioned earlier, your doctor may make an incision extending from the womanliness toward the anus to widen the birth canal and prevent tearing. As horrifying as the procedure is by itself, recovery is even worse, making simple actions like sitting or standing excruciating for the busy new mother. Rectal And Genitourinary Prolapse All that pushing can wreak havoc on the surrounding organs. The weakening of ligaments and muscles caused by the strain of labor can bring on two fun conditions called rectal prolapse and genitourinary prolapse. It’s pretty easy to figure out what that entails if you know what “prolapse” means, but in case you don’t, it’s when your colon or uterus basically turns itself inside-out, making an unwelcome appearance outside the anus or womanliness. It can be treated with surgery, but that may not be much comfort for the 1 percent of people, mostly women, affected by colon prolapse and the estimated 50 percent of all mothers who will be affected by some degree of genitourinary prolapse.

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89% Of Corps Members Can’t Communicate In English

Kano State Coordinator of National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), Mr. Sanusi Abdulrasheed, has lamented that 89 per cent of corps members in the country could neither write good application nor communicate effectively in English Language. He stated that the majority of the corps members were more at home with the use of “broken English” as a means of communication. Mr. Abdulrasheed made the disturbing disclosure yesterday in Kano during the passing out parade (POP ) of the present batch of corps members, where he noted that the findings were based on a nationwide research facilitated by the management of the scheme. He told outgoing corps members: “ I don’t want you to feel insulted, but it is a statement of fact. The management of NYSC noticed one thing in you; that a bulk of you were not communicating effectively in English.

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14-year-old Pupil Wins N1m For Rescuing Boy In Boat Accident

A 14-year-old pupil, Divine Toruemi, has been rewarded with N1m for rescuing a boy during a boat accident in Mgboudohia waterfront, Port Harcourt, Rivers State. Also, Mohammed Kenubu, who rescued a baby in a bomb blast in Kano, received N750,000; while David Adekunle, who cannily got the police to arrest some armed robbers, got N500, 000. The trio earned the Indomie Independence Day Heroes Awards for 2013 at an event organised by Dufil Prima Foods Plc in Lagos. They were among the 14 children earlier selected for performing bravery act by the organisers. Toruemi, a Senior Secondary School II pupil of Foundation Group of Schools, Port Harcourt, said her recognition by the firm would spur her to serve humanity better. The youngster, who said she did not expect any reward for her act, pledged to always go the extra mile in assisting people. She said, “We were travelling in a boat on Mgboudohia waterfront that day when the boat capsized. Those of us who could swim maneuvered and luckily, we found ourselves at the bank of the river. From that point, I saw a boy who was still floating and struggling to swim. “I felt pity and decided to risk my life to return to the water to rescue him. Others that escaped did not bother to do anything. But thank God, I brought the drowning boy out of the river successfully and he did not die. At the end, 49 people died in the accident. “If I had not done what I did by saving the drowning boy, I probably wouldn’t be here for this award. My message to children out there is to help save lives whenever they can. I’d like to say a big thank you to Dufil Prima Foods for the cash prize, which will be very helpful to me and my family.” For Kenubu, who picked a baby in a blast in Kano, it was mere instinct that propelled him to accomplish the feat. He said, “I was going and I just heard the sound of a blast. Everybody started running and I ran too. As I was running, I decided to look back and I saw a woman with her baby beside her. “People were jumping over the mother and baby, but my mind told me to go and pick the baby. I later ran back to pick the baby and took him home. When I got home, my mother was shocked and furious at me. She asked me to return the baby to where I found it, but I begged her to let us save the baby’s life. “She agreed, reluctantly. The second day after the blast, we decided to go back to the garage to see if the mother was alive or looking for her baby. We met those in the garage and they told us that the mother had been crying around looking for her baby and when we found the mother, we gave her the baby.” Eight-year-old Adekunle of Galaxy International School, Minna, Niger State, who got robbers arrested through his intelligent, careful and good judgment, said he took the decision because he hated stealing. He said, “I was washing plates in the kitchen that day when three robbers came into our house. They went into our bedroom and took my daddy’s laptops and other electronics. “They never knew I saw them. Immediately they went down, I followed and started tracking them. Luckily, I saw a neighbour of mine who rides motorcycle. I stopped him and explained what happened. I told him I wanted to know where the robbers were going to. “The robbers at a point suspected that I was tracking them, but each time they did, I pretended as if I was playing. I later found out where they were going to and went to my dad’s office to explain everything to him. My dad and I reported to the police station and the robbers were arrested.” The winners, who were tagged ‘Heroes”, thanked the firm for the money given to them. Justifying the awards, the Chairman, Dufil Prima Foods, Mr. Haresh Aswani, said the gesture was meant to identify and reward children whose heroic acts touched lives. He added, “This event is significant because it is rooted in the recognition of those whose best efforts are very often overlooked by the society. On a daily basis, our beloved Nigerian children perform thousands of heroic acts at great personal risk. “In 2008, we decided to take up the challenge by not only recognising these young heroes, but also providing them scholarship opportunities since their actions have touched lives in their immediate communities and beyond.” The company’s Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Deepak Singhal, in a documentary tagged ‘IIDA: The Journey So Far’, promised that the company would always celebrate children who serve as change agents in their communities. Human rights activist, Dr. Joe Okei-Odumakin, who spoke on “Children as Agents of National Transformation”, lamented the dearth of moral standards in the country. She said, “The future of every nation is dependent on the youth, many of whom are children. Hence, it is pertinent for a nation that wants to grow to make conscious efforts to provide a better future for them, as the nation’s destiny lies in their hands. “Initiatives such as the Independence Day Awards were necessary, since they gave children the hope of a brighter tomorrow. Dufil Prima Foods Plc is rekindling the hope of the Nigerian child with this enviable initiative, which rewards unique acts of bravery and heroism among our children, thereby inspiring them to aspire to greater heights.”

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