The Ginger Wonder!

Hey everyone!

Oh my gosh, I haven’t blogged in ages. Loads of things have been happening, but I guess the biggest news is that my husband and I are expecting our first child. This is also why I haven’t been blogging new recipes, cause I couldn’t eat much for such a long time! Only now in the last part of my second trimester I have been able to eat everything again (excluding a few things like tomatoes, balsamic vinegar, chicken etc.)

Let’s look back... Trimester one I basically just wanted to eat starch, red meat and citrus fruit. My poor husband had pasta almost every night! (Morning sickness, is not only in the mornings…) Trimester two I could start eating salads again! I could slowly start adding veggies again. Now on trimester three I feel much better. This means… recipe time again!!

We are so excited about our little baby, and I’m sure there’ll be loads of adventures! Who knows, maybe even a post or two on baby food. I’m pretty sure I’m going to try making my own baby food, rather than buying the bottled mass produced stuff. I’m sure I won’t be the only new mommy trying to figure out what babies should start eating when…

So here’s my first new “recipe” of 2013. Guess what it’s on safe natural medicine you can use while you’re pregnant. :)

I hate the taste of ginger, but I promise you, when you feel nauseous you’ll try just about anything to relieve the feeling. Ginger helps with nausea, heartburn and it is a natural cold medicine. Added benefits are: Ginger improves the body’s absorption of essential nutrients in the body. It helps to keep your sinuses clear. It helps to reduce flatulence, and reduces stomach cramps. It is even a natural anti-inflammatory, this is why I call it the wonder root!

You can use it in different ways, fresh ginger in honey to chew on, you could throw it in your bath water and bathe in it. Or you can do what I did, and make a “ginger tea”.

The Ginger Wonder!

Take fresh ginger and cut 3 or 4 thin slices off a fresh root.

Boil water and add it to the ginger slices.

Let it stand for 5 minutes. 

You can remove the ginger and add some lemon juice and honey.

I was feeling like I was getting a cold, and had one cup, once a day for 5 days. I never got sick! It was the cheapest medicine I’ve ever used, and I shall definitely use it for the rest of my life.

Have a great day!

Tuna Cakes

We all know we need to eat more fish, but it gets boring. The same old fish and chips every week. So I decided to try something new. I call it, Tuna Cakes. I decided to use tuna, because it is high in omega 3 fatty acids. 

Omega 3 is such a wonderful supplement with great health benefits. It could lower cholesterol, reduce high blood pressure, ease joint pains, fight wrinkles, improve memory and could even boost your mood.

Ingredients:

200g mashed potatoes

2 tins of Tuna

1 egg

1 teaspoon parsley

1 teaspoon lemon juice

Pinch of Paprika (You could add more if you like hot food)

Salt to taste.

Method:

Add all the ingredients together, mix well.

Add about 5ml of olive oil in a very hot pan.

Scoop a tablespoon of the mixture into the pan and press down to flatten it slightly.

Leave it for about 3 minutes per side, or until it’s golden brown.

This mixture will make about 8 fish cakes.

I served these Tuna cakes with some sweet chilli sauce. You could serve this hot or cold, next time I might add a bit of spring onion to the mixture. Overall this is a healthy fun recipe, I hope you enjoy it!

Green Bean Stew

Another stew… I told you it cold in Cape Town! This is my husband’s favourite, I’m sure there are people out there with better recipe’s, mostly ‘cause I made it without any reference of what should go into it. 

Green Beans are a good source of Folic, vitamin B, C and iron. The best of all? It’s really low in calories. So this is my original healthy and tasty recipe.

Green Bean Stew

Ingredients:

800g Green Beans (cleaned and roughly chopped)

300g of Beef goulash

1 large onion roughly chopped

1 cup of chicken stock

1 teaspoon of lemon juice (it helps to keep the green beans, green)

1 teaspoon of Olive oil

2 teaspoons of Bistro (Gravy powder)

Salt and pepper

Method:

Firstly brown the onion and meat in the olive oil.

Add the stock and lemon juice stir well.

Add the green beans, and leave to simmer for about 20 minutes.

Lastly add the gravy powder, salt and pepper.

Stir well and let some of the juices cook away.

I love this stew, especially with brown rice. It’s a hearty and healthy winter meal. I hope you try it out and enjoy it as much as I do!!

Basil Pesto

I love pasta, so I went for a cooking class where we were taught how to make your own pasta. At this class they made this Basil pesto, and it tastes good!

The herb Basil is such a great addition to a healthy diet, not only does it have many anti-inflammatory values it also is a good source of Vitamin A (essential for vision and healthy skin), K (essential for blood coagulant and bone strengthening), and minerals such as iron, potassium, copper and magnesium.

Basil Pesto

Ingredients:

400g Pine nuts (toasted)

500g of basil

Handful of parsley chopped

1 Garlic Clove chopped

50 – 70ml of Olive Oil

Black pepper

Method:

Combine all the ingredients in a food processor add olive oil a little bit at a time. The olive oil will help to combine all the ingredients.

This is the basic recipe you can add different things to the recipe. Like sun-dried tomatoes or anchovies.

Basil pesto is great on sandwiches, pasta, marinades or salad dressings.