Now for something a little more...creamy

Chicken satay!  The first of the appetizers I am creating for a small get-together I'm hostessing tomorrow.

2 tbsp peanut butter (in the comments section it suggests a couple of extra tbsp in order to get a more "authentic" taste)
1/2 c soy sauce
1/2 c lemon or lime juice
1 tbsp brown sugar
2 tbsp curry powder
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 tsp hot pepper sauce
6 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves- cubed

Combine peanut butter, soy sauce, lime juice, brown sugar, curry powder, garlic, and hot pepper sauce in a mixing bowl.

Healthy pasta? Sure, why not?

I eat a LOT of pasta.  I love Mediterraneo and frequently walk around the corner to Osteria for some pasta, but is there such thing as healthy pasta?  Probably, but I don't know it.  Since I'm on this health kick, I thought I'd try to whip up something with a lot less calories than my cream based love, Alfredo sauce.  I found a marinara sauce recipe online and figured I'd give it a shot and will hopefully have something fabulous and healthy to take for lunch tomorrow. I actually found multiple recipes online but this looked the simplest and took the least amount of time.  Again, I'm eyeballing the figures; it worked the last time....

And the adventure continues...in cooking that is

It's really less so an adventure and a need to not eat ugali and stew once again.  It's not the healthiest of options and while I love some Kenyan foods ugali is definitely not their claim to fame; it's a mixture of flour and water and bland. 

Today I scavenged through the pantry and decided to make a tuna salad.  There were some chopped peppers and a few slices of cucumbers left over and so I tossed those in with some chopped tomato, onion, garlic, and coriander.  Hopefully it will suffice for lunch tomorrow.  Save me from myself and give me some suggestions for more exciting *healthy* meal options!

And if you have some ideas for easy to make appetizers, do tell.  I am hosting a small home party for one of my favorite non-profits here in Nairobi in a few weeks and would like to serve some homemade bitings with drinks.

Diet cooking is for the birds

In an attempt to lose some of the weight that I've put on traveling over the last 6-8 months I'm back to my standby Scarsdale Diet since apparently having regular bouts of Harvey (my imaginary intestinal worm) hasn't kept off the weight.  While I was hopeful the weight gain and other symptoms could be explained away by a potential thyroid problem I was depressed to learn that, in fact, my thyroid is working perfectly.  Therefore, evidently my weight gain is just a symptom of being in my 30s.

So, back to Scarsdale I go.  Yes, there are some off the wall remarks in the book that one should ignore about women and PMS; keep in mind it WAS written in the '70s.  However, as the overall diet is healthy and simple to stick to in theory, I am going to start the 2 week trial once again since my daily diet of home cooked Indian food is thickening under my belt. I even contemplated buying a cute new apron at Amani ya Juu yesterday to begin the quest.

Today I figured I would start with something simple, like a fresh garden salad.  With no dressing in the house and just me and my clumsy fingers for chopping, I think it's going to be more difficult than it sounds.

The Neuron Project

So this past year has been a rough one.  As you know, I went through a traumatic event that produced some unintended side effects that have stubbornly lingered on.  I'm not one to talk about my feelings or outwardly express emotion but, in an effort to appease the powers that be (my parents), I spoke to someone about the persistent remnants of this event that I continue to experience.  (I promise my blog is not going to turn into some ooey gooey emotionally sappy space.  I am just giving you a little background of why I am starting this so-called project.)