Chickpea and Zucchini Muffins

I've already written about the benefit of chickpeas to fertility. Please read all about it here.

Today, I'm focusing on zucchini. Prior to this WOE (way of eating), I was a zucchini lover, but I'm pretty sure the way I was using it made it more harmful than helpful to me. I used zucchini ONLY in zucchini bread, which is quite lovely, but the quantity of sugar I used was out of this world. Now, it calls to mind times when my beloved Paula Deen would add parsley to one of her deep fried, butter glazed recipes,and call it healthy. Lol...p.s, I love Paula Deen!!!

Zucchini is a pretty good source of vitamin c, potassium, and fibre. These are pretty crucial to optimal fertility in both men and women. I don't want to make this a long post, I'm sure we all know how these are helpful to TTC.

This is a pretty easy recipe, I came up with it because I wanted something to snack on. It satisfied my craving, and it gets bonuses for being freezer friendly as well.

Ingredients

14oz can of chickpeas
200g of Zucchini
1 teaspoon of onion powder
1 teaspoon of white pepper
1 1/2 tablespoon of honey
2 eggs

Method

Preheat oven to 350
Rinse the chikpeas. Process or grate the zucchini. You can peel it, but I don't peel mine...added fibre or laziness? Lol!
Transfer the zucchini to a blender or switch your processor blade. Add the remaining ingredients and blend to a fine purée.
Pour the mixture into a greased muffin or cupcake pan. Bake for 20 minutes.

Enjoy, and remember,
It's sooo good for you!

Deema

Coconut Flour, the easier way

Hiiii. Okay, seeing as I'm going to be incorporating more coconut flour into my recipes, I figured I would show you a lazy way of making it. The more stressful way is to use fresh coconuts, which would involve breaking the coconuts and grating them. Well, sometimes, you just don't have the patience to grate!

Enter unsweetened desiccated coconuts. This way, you take a shortcut to both coconut milk and coconut flour.

Ingredients

500g of unsweetened desiccated coconut
Boiling water (the quantity of water depends on how light or thick your want your milk to be)

Method

In a large bowl, combine the coconuts and hot water. Stir well and cover. Leave it for 30 minutes. Pour into a sieve, making sure to squeeze out all the liquid from the chaff. If your milk is too thick, repeat with a little more hot water.
Spread the chaff evenly on a baking sheet. Put it in the oven at 300 for about 30 minutes. Check to make sure chaff is dry and crisp. Process into a powder. Use in recipes that call for it.

Enjoy, and remember,
It's sooo good for you!

Deema

Bean Pasta

I'm on a food high right now! I wish you could see me, I'm smiling from cheek to cheek. This is awesome!

I know I've lost you; let me fill you in. A friend of mine came visiting last week. She has been trying to conceive for 5 years now. That day, she told me she's also diabetic. Her greatest challenge is finding interesting food choices. She's one of those people who can't even eat wheat because it spikes her blood sugar. That reminds me, please, if you know anyone who's diabetic, they shouldn't just be eating wheat because it's healthier- they should check their sugar levels after wheat consumption, from what I hear, wheat isn't for all diabetics.

Anyway, back to my friend: I decided to look into healthier food options for her, keeping in mind that most diabetes friendly foods are fertility-friendly, especially for women with fibroids, PCOS, and endo. I got a list of foods she could eat, and started working on recreating them in interesting recipes. Well, this is the first of them, and I can tell you it rocked! I'm going to be trying out two other flour substitutes for pasta, and I will let you know how they go.

This is going to be a staple in my house, from now on. I'm drying some now to see how well they keep. I don't think I'm going to have regular pasta for a long time (it sounds extreme, I know, but I'm willing to do anything food-wise that will bring me a step closer to holding my babies in my arms) because these came out soooooo good. It's also DH approved! Lol.

Now the taste of this differs from regular pasta (duh!) but in a nice way. It absorbed the taste of the sauce excellently, and just had the slightest hint of beans.

Tips:

1. Roll out the dough as thinly as possible so the resultant pasta is light as well. Don't bother with a pasta roller, the dough is very easy to roll out.

2. Leave the dough to rest for 3-5 hours, I find it is easier to work with after it has rested well.

3. Don't leave this dough in the fridge overnight- I did, and I wasn't pleased with the colour the next day. If you don't have the time, wrap it in cling film or put it in a freezer bag and freeze.

4. This pasta doesn't like being turned too much, once you start cooking it, toss it once or twice with thongs or 2 forks-never with a spoon; it's prone to breakage.

I tossed mine in tomato sauce. You can serve it anyway you like. I also put oregano in my doughy, this is totally optional, but the options you can add in are endless. I'm thinking red pepper flakes or spinach. Yum! In fact, before the week runs out, I'm soooo making lasagna with this!


Ingredients

1 3/4 cups of beans flour (I took mine to the market to grind) I used brown beans
2 medium eggs
1 tablespoon of almond oil
1/2 teaspoon of sea salt
1 teaspoon of oregano (optional, use red pepper flakes, garlic powder, spinach, anything you like!)

Method

Sift the flour and salt together in a mixing bowl.
Add the eggs and oil. Use a fork to mix to form a dough. If your dough is too dry, add 1 teaspoon of water and mix. Cover the dough with a tea cloth and let it rest for at least 3 hours.
Dust your rolling surface with a little bean flour. Roll out the dough very thinly and cut into any shape you like. I made bow ties, you can make fettuccine by cutting straight strips.
Bring water to the boil in a large pot, add the pasta. Cook for 8 minutes, then drain. Serve anyway you like, and enjoy.

Aminata, this one is for you!

Remember,
It's sooo good for you,

Deema.

Too Easy Tilapia (or any fish you like)

Heyyy! I'm happy to inform you that I'm noticing major changes in my general health.
For one, my skin is glowing! As in! My skin was nice before, don't get me wrong. Now, however, wow! More people are starting to ask me what cream I use. And they think I'm lying when I say it's not the cream (I use Vaseline, by the way), it's my WOE (way of eating). Lol!

The second thing I've noticed (and this is MAJOR for me, like a miracle) is I now sleep properly.
Ever since I can remember, I've had to read myself to sleep or watch cartoons to sleep. Now, for the past 5 days, I've slept without cartoons or books. Imagine the ordeal my poor Dh has had to put up with for almost 4 years now. In fact, I don't know who's happier now, him or me. For 5 days, I'm off to dreamland  as soon as my head touches my pillow (now if only the million-pound cheque I get in my dreams can just stay in my hand when I wake up...dream on, dreamer!).

Anyway, this is a really easy meal. And it's really filling. Everything on the plate is fertility-friendly, without me having to go into the nutrition of each ingredient. This is also safe for pregnant and lactating women.

Ingredients

8oz Tilapia, (mine is just half of a whole fish)
7 atarodo (habanero)
2 teaspoons of sea salt
3 carrots, cut into matchsticks
Handful of green beans, trimmed
Pinch of salt

Method

Blend the pepper with 3 cups of water. Pour into a large bowl. Add salt, mix. Put the fish in and leave to marinate for 1 hour.
Heat a non-stick pan over medium-high heat. Spray with cooking spray. Place the fish in the pan and cover. Cook for 5 minutes on one side.
When you turn over the fish, add the Veggies and sprinkle a pinch of salt over them. Cover and cook for 5 minutes.
Serve and enjoy

Remember, it's sooo good for you,

Deema

Coconut Jollof Rice and Cowtail Gravy.

I'm an unrepentant foodie to the core! If loving good food is a crime, please lock me up and throw away the keys (don't even bother with a trial). This recipe examplifies my love of food.

I just had to find a way to combine two wholesome, tasty meals into one healthy, delicious, fertility-friendly meal. If you aren't like me, you can serve your cowtails with white rice, couscous, bulgur, pretty much anything you like. Or you can serve the rice with fish or chicken.

Now, to the nutrition...did you know that bone broth is a 'treatment' for infertility? Well, neither did I, until I started eating this way. Apparently, when bones are cooked down, all the nutrients from the bone marrow-calcium, magnesium, potassium, etc- seep into the broth, making it one of the most nutrient-dense foods you can consume.

Bone broth, while being good for all men and women who are trying to conceive, is particularly helpful for women who have PCOS, as the nutrients in the bone marrow promote thyroid health.

If I still haven't piqued your interest with all the above, I'm sure I will now- the gelatin in bone broth is proven to reduce the appearance of wrinkles and cellulite. AHA! I've got you now! I can see you rushing to your freezer to bring out ALL the bones you have...cool down!

I chose cowtails because they contain more gelatin and juicy marrow than most bony cuts of meat.

Extra: in your quest for bone broth, pepper soup is fine! You can use chicken bones, cow, goat, anything!

Nutrition aside, this meal is hecka tasty...you're making it, period!



Ingredients for Cowtail Gravy

1.5 kg of cowtail, cut into 2-inch chunks.
2 juicy tomatoes, diced
1/4 teaspoon of freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons of freshly ground atarodo (habanero)
2 tablespoons of freshly ground onions
1 teaspoon of mustard seeds, ground
2 bay leaves
1 teaspoon of dried basil
1 14oz can of chickpeas, rinsed (totally optional!)
1/2 teaspoon of worcestershire sauce (optional)
2 teaspoons of salt
2 teaspoons of garlic powder
2 large carrots, peeled and diced
3 tablespoons of cornflour, mixed with 2 tablespoons of water to make a slurry


Coconut Jollof Rice

3 cups of rice, washed and parboiled
3 tablespoons of coconut oil
3 tablespoons of freshly ground atarodo(habanero) and onions
4 medium tomatoes, chopped
5 cups of coconut milk
2 Knorr double stock cubes
1 teaspoons of salt
1 bay leaf


Method-Cowtail Gravy

Place the cowtails in a pressure cooker on medium-high heat. Add all ingredients except chickpeas and carrots. Add enough water to just cover the cowtails. Cover and cook for 45 minutes.

Open the pot after letting the pressure come down (don't cover the pot again!). Reduce heat to medium-low, add the carrots. Cook for 3 minutes. Add the chickpeas and the cornstarch slurry. Simmer for 3 minutes. Remove from heat.


Coconut Jollof Rice

To a pot on medium-high heat, add the oil. After 30 seconds, add the tomatoes, pepper paste and bay leaf. Stir and cook for 5 minutes.
Pour the coconut milk in. Add salt and stock cubes. Stir and bring to boil.
Pour in the parboiled rice. Cook till all the water is gone. Fluff with a fork and remove from heat. Serve with cowtail gravy and YUM!

Enjoy, and remember,
it's sooo good for you!

Deema

Poultry and Vegetable Sunday Bake

I told you before: I suck at naming recipes. Let's not even get into that now! Just know that this recipe is chockfull of vegetables and poultry (chicken and turkey, because I didn't have enough of either to cater to guests I had coming over).

I used to avoid eggplants like the plague before I started this fertility diet. The only way you could get me to eat eggplant was with a trailer load of peanut butter. Then I started my research on this diet and found that, in some places there's a 'remedy for infertility' which has milk and eggplant as its ingredients. That made me take another look at eggplants, and I realise that, cooked right, they actually make for delightful eating.

Eggplants are rich in antioxidants which help to lower LDL cholesterol. They are also rich in Vitamin A, Vitamin C, and folate. We all know how beneficial those are to men and women who are trying to conceive.

This recipe is perfect for having guests over on a Sunday. Just prep the veggies, toss into a baking dish, throw in the oven, set an alarm and go take a nap (no, not really, because you have to baste the meat after about 30 minutes in the oven).

Ingredients

1 1/2kg of chicken or turkey (or a mix like mine), cut up.
1 large eggplant
1 medium leek (cut off the green part)
3 large tomatoes, sliced into rounds
4 large carrots, sliced into rounds
1 large red onion, sliced into rounds
300g of green beans, cut into 2-inch pieces (or however you like them)
10 atarodo peppers (habanero), blended
2 Knorr double stock cubes
2 tablespoons of salt, divided
2 teaspoons of curry powder, divided
1 teaspoon of dried thyme
2 tablespoons of coconut oil

Preheat oven to 350. Slice the eggplant and leek. In a bowl, put the oil, 1 double stock cube, 1 teaspoon of curry powder, and 1/2tablespoon of salt. Mix well, and add the eggplant, leek, onions, carrots, and green beans. Stir to coat well. Pour into a 13 x 9 inch baking dish. Ensure that the veggies line the pan evenly.

To the same bowl in which you mixed the vegetables, add the blended pepper, 1 double stock cube, thyme, 1 teaspoon of curry powder, and 1 1/2 tablespoon of salt. Mix well. Remove 4 tablespoons of the pepper sauce and reserve. Add the meat to the bowl, stir to coat and leave aside for 10 minutes. Then place the meat on top of the vegetable bed in the baking dish. Arrange the tomatoes on top of the meat and bake for 1 hour, baste the meat after 30 minutes with the reserved pepper sauce.

To make a sauce for rice, after the meat is done, pour the liquid from the baking pan into a pot. Add a slurry of cornstarch and water and simmer for 3 minutes. Serve over the vegetables and meat.

Enjoy, and remember,
It's sooo good for you!

Deema

Coconut Prawns

Prawns have kind of a bad rep for being high in cholesterol. A serving of prawns (about 100g) contains 179mg of cholesterol, which is more than half of the recommended daily amount of 300mg.

I started this on a crazy note, didn't I? Now, you're wondering "if they're that high, why do you have a recipe for Coconut Prawns here?". Don't worry, I'm heading somewhere. Prawns, like every other food, or even water, should be consumed in moderation. You can actually enjoy prawns as part of a healthy, low-cholesterol fertility diet. In fact, in a 1996 study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, researchers found that the cholesterol in prawns lowered LDL levels of cholesterol(bad cholesterol) and increased HDL levels(good cholesterol). They concluded that the cholesterol in prawns doesn't have a negative effect on health.

Also, prawns are rich in vitamins B-6, B-12, and Omega-3. Low levels of Vitamin B-12 have been linked to recurrent miscarriages. Studies have been carried out on women who have had issues with recurrent miscarriages, and, after being treated with this Vitamin, most of them (11 out of 14) went ahead to have their first full-term delivery! Now, if that's not amazing, I don't know what is.

Vitamin B-12 is also linked to sperm count. Researchers have found that men with low sperm counts saw a significant improvement (in one study, 400% increase) in sperm count after taking 1000mcg of Vitamin B-12 daily.

Next time I make prawns, I'll harp on the benefits of Vitamin B-6 (in moderation) and Omega-3 to male and female fertility. Till then, make these and have fun!

This recipe is soooo easy to make. The hardest part of this recipe is deveining the prawns. It's really that simple.
They will make a rocking appetiser at parties, and people you serve them to will love them, so make lots!

What I love about this recipe is that you get the toasty crunchiness of the coconut, the hint of nuttiness with the almond flour, and then you bite into the delicious moistness of the prawns. Yummy!

If you aren't a prawn person, you can do this with chicken breast strips, or some other kind of fish.

Ingredients

100g of peeled, deveined prawns
1/8 cup of desiccated coconut, unsweetened
1/8 cup of almond flour
Pinch of black pepper
1 1/2 teaspoon of salt


Method

Mix the almond flour, coconut, black pepper, and 1/2 teaspoon of salt in a flat plate.
Sprinkle 1 teaspoon of salt over the prawns, refrigerate for 10 minutes.
Spray a nonstick pan with cooking spray and place over medium-high heat.
Coat the prawns with the coconut mixture and add to the pan.
Depending on the size of your prawns, cook them for 6-10 minutes. I had 2 smaller prawns, I cooked them for a total of 6 minutes,flipping them after 3 minutes. The larger prawns took 10 minutes, I flipped them after 5 minutes.

Serve these anyway you like, with mayonnaise or any dip you like. I just served mine on napa cabbage.

Enjoy, and remember,
It's sooo good for you!


Deema