How do food bloggers do it?

No seriously..this is one of the random things that plagues my life.

Time to digress: Went to church this Sunday (mama was so pleased that I went..she woke me up so early even though I’d decided I was going for the 10.45 service. Apparently in some churches the 11am/12pm service is for walevis or those guys who went out Saturday night..haha sikujua.) Anyhu moving on to my point. The pastor (my guka) was talking about reconciliation. Anyway one of the points that really stuck with me was how we all have good intentions, but they mean nothing unless they are put into practice. That was such a timely message for me as I’ve started putting some of my intentions (like going back to Church) into practice. Now what does this have to do with food blogging and my issues?

One of my intentions this year (and every year since I left my teens) was to eat healthy..I’ve documented on this blog about my love for bread, my love for chips when I’m tipsy, my dieting, my detoxing and all things food related.But I decided to turn my intentions to healthy eat into practice and save my beloved foods for my cheat days (or crap days at work, or PMS related days, or other emotional roller-coaster induced moments.)

Now, I’m a fan of food blogs. I subscribe to many, and even if I don’t make the foods they post about I still read..it soothes me when I’m stressed or depressed or any emotion in between..and naturally it makes my food cravings (which are already wierd) go haywire! Si last week I was craving chocolate cake french toast. Yes this is chocolate cake dipped in a yummy eggy, creamy, vanilla concoction, fried and topped with chocolate sauce and icecream. Sema hips (which are already a problem) going haywire!!! Mind you I haven’t made it yet so there’s hope. But I always wonder how food bloggers eat such things. I mean I know some exercise like mad or are stay at home mum’s to five boys (GFF!) but still…the rest, how do you do it?

I read them as I eat my chicken and steamed veg and roasted garlic (one thing I learned from food blogs is that roasted garlic is the be all and end all..and guess what? They were right..its so yummy and buttery and doesn’t give one that garlicky breath!) So food blogs can be good for something..and yes I know there are healthy food blogs out there….

Now my sister says if I want to stay on the healthy bandwagon I should give up my food blogs because they are the sauce of my anxieties when I’m starving and know I should reach for a fruit salad bowl or handful of nuts or smoothie yet I think of cheese, cheese and more cheese (and in some cases all the different types of french toast out there).

So do they (food bloggers) eat like that everyday ama? Cook then strap on the Nikes and go for a 20km run? What?

I may have read a post about a lasagna with cheese (duh!), spinach, (splash of health there), roasted garlic (yummers!) before I wrote this post…

That is all…

ValFM:

• Wacha waseme- Dan Aceda and Eric Wainaina
• No-one knows tomorrow- Asa

Shooop, shoop, shoop, shoobey-doo

I feel like I’ve been holding my breath for the past year and half…

Wishing, hoping, waiting….(gotten out of the habit of praying..not good Val)

Like now, I feel like I need to breathe out deeply, like I do after a walk up a hill..and it comes  out like a sigh…which invites questions, which I’m not ready to answer…

Need to get back to church…small steps but major ones nonetheless. I can’t believe I’ve stayed away this long…even when I wake up early on Sunday….time just slips by and I find myself not going..

Took a trip to Jinja this weekend with himself..it was all kinds of awesome…if I lived there my uniform would be shorts, short dresses, short skirts and t-shirts/ vests. I felt like I couldn’t breathe here..I was tired of the routine. I read in the sunshine, put my feet up, sipped cool beverages, ate what I wanted, slept, stared at the water, dipped my feet at the Source of the Nile, played cards, gossiped a little, woke up to no alarms and was at peace.

Back home…and antsy again….thinking of yet another roadtrip…

ValFM:

• Exhale (Shoop shoop)- Whitney Houston (RIP)
• The presence of the Lord is here- Byron Cage

Green smoothie time!

Hoped back on to the smoothie wagon.

Looks appetizing no?

source

Yes last time I did it, it drove me slightly insane but hey..the good feeling you get from drinking healthy stuff is always good. Kinda cancels out all the yummy but evil things I like to indulge in such as wine, chocolate and anything potato-ey.Plus I’ve realized that living away from mummy sort of makes me revert into my bread and cheese loving self…I still eat fruits (love) but veggies? Not so much..so I had to get some down my system with the quickness.

I decided to be making green smoothies and other vegetable/fruit mixed juices. So jana I got syke to make a sukuma, pineapple, ginger and apple smoothie for breakfast. I got the sukuma from the garden and placed them on the counter so I’d would have no excuse in the morning (I’m not a morning person so yeah)…my dad meanwhile was looking at me and asking me why I’m eating raw nyeni (greens)..haha I just told him I’m making a smoothie. He nodded and moved on to other things (like why my sisters and my mom continuously spoil all the electronics in the house and car but that’s another story).

Made the mistake of using the food processor and adding too much ginger. So what I had was finely mashed green mush, not juice as I intended..and I know ginger is good for me (kwanza the way I have a homa now..) but eh..there is something about raw ginger..it has a ka-kick to it. But I’m a ninja so I guzzled that mix down as I was getting ready..but yeah I’ve learned my lesson. I’ll use the blender kesho and add some banana and def less ginger.

Anyone else a green smoothie lover? What do you put in yours? I’m planning to put some spinach kesho.. Things to try include: avocado, carrot, nuts, pawpaw, pineapple, apple, cucumber, orange, lemon, lime, broccoli (how this will go down sijui), lettuce, mint, natural yoghurt, fruit juices (the kind without sugar), but no celery! The stuff makes me gag..

I figure I may as well try as many combinations as I can while I’m still excited about them.

ValFM:

• Work (original mix)- Masters at work
• Hello it’s me- Groove Theory
• Adorn- Miguel
• Crescent moon- Lynden David Hall (I’ve been listening to his two albums on and off recently..love him!)

 

Tim Tams and other Wednesday musings

• Chocolate is so soothing. Especially when you’ve had one of those weeks (I’m still in denial that today is not Thursday) where you sleep drained and wake up drained..and walk around drained, and try to be productive but you’re drained, and you can’t drink coffee because it gives you jitters..so what do you do? Chocolate! From the nearly finished bar of rum and raisin (which I can’t seem to find here in A-town) to Tim-tams (these need an explanation all by themselves)..Sugar high is imminent!

• Tim Tams..the most delicious Aussie chocolate covered biscuits. Now I was given a box by one of my best friends and proceeded to eat half the cookies in a go. Sigh, the rest I’m saving for a weekend Tim Tam Slam with Amarula. This is when you take bites of opposite corners of the cookie, then use it as a straw to drink some warm milk or booze! Then you throw the cookie in your mouth and let it melt. GFF! My eyes rolled back and I slid down the stool. I need to find a place where they stock these (I am full of hope).

 

• The guys from Stones and Klay have set up camp outside the office. Sigh, I go there every lunchtime like an addict just to stare…and convince myself why I need a turquoise necklace in my life. They are here until Friday…and they have such pretty things!!! Sigh!

ValFM:

• Another life- Robin Thicke
• Oh what a night- Frankie Vallie & The Four Seasons

 

Random thoughts

1. I’ve just realized how much over-sharing I used to do on this here blog. Makes me miss it..or is it that I had drama in my life then? Anyhu a post I read juzi and a discussion with one of my blogger turned friends just reminded me of how much *kufungua roho* went on in here. Some days I’m mortified to the point of wanting to delete some posts (and I have deleted some) but for the most part I giggle. Because they remind me of how far I’ve come, in terms of my temper, food issues, temper, relationships (family, friends, the inexplicable XY species), temper.. (Haha many anger or irritation filled posts back there.)

2. I need to travel..to someplace I’ve never been. Last trip I took was to Dar early this year with some of my best friends. I loved it! Drank a tad too much, lazed in the sun, learned how to float (I was as excited as a 2 year old), ate my weight in watermelons and pineapple, lazed on a beach..sigh. So yeah, that needs to happen again soon! I keep seeing all these fab places that I want to go to…and my over-active imagination pictures me there (This usually happens when I’m busy at work).

3.  So I discovered the Gikomba of Arusha, otherwise known as Tengeru market. It opens on Wednesdays and Saturdays. I went there with some of my co-workers and bought some cute things. BUT I am not going there any time soon. Every time I look at my coral shorts or sequined sweater (which is the softest thing in the world ever! I love it!) I tell myself I should go back there one Saturday..then I remembered the madness that is Tengeru, from pickpockets (I managed to avoid being pick-pocketed because my Kenyan self never walks around with her handbag open, it is usually clutched to my chest like a baby!) to sellers who try to grab your arms (Now one of the things I hate is being touched by a stranger. It makes me feel so icky and just want to rush home and shower. I don’t care wtf you are…if I don’t know you, don’t touch me!), men shouting insults because they thought we were too good for them. (I’m like really? So you think insulting me is going to make me wander into your section and buy things from you?) Anyhu, I’m sure I’ll be headed back there anyway one of these weekends. On the plus side, the market is walking distance from Lake Duluti Eco Reserve, which is beautiful! And has tamu chicken!

4. I need to go home. Like I don’t know what’s come over me lately..but the thought of traveling after work on Friday just bores me. I start telling myself, “how about lunch and a nap?” and before you know it, months have passed. Ahem. Maybe this weekend…we’ll see.

ValFM:

• Antenna- Fuse ODG
• Feeling single- R. Kelly
• Nobody’s perfect- J. Cole
• Kenchic- The Villagers Band
• Something about you- Liquid Deep