HappyMeals launches online food service in Kenya with e-takeaway

HappyMeals Kenya, the first Kenyan food Network today launches on-line food ordering and delivery services in Nairobi. HappyMeals has partnered with e-takeaway.com to avail the services to the growing number of internet users. The service connects restaurants and on-line consumers using a state-of-the-art web platform as well as user friendly mobile and iPhone applications.

HappyMeals is a young start-up that has steadily built a brand in the local food market and the partnership with e-takeaway should provide much needed technical solutions and know-how as well as a quality platform for their on-line consumers.

The deal with HappyMeals will see e-takeaway, the European on-line food company, making its first move into Africa, where internet trends are fast taking root, and with a view of spreading its wings farther in other African countries soon.

E-takeaway is a household name in Denmark and is currently operating in more than 15 countries worldwide.

 

Mini Cheesy Burgers!

Schools are about to close which means your kids will be running around the house all day. Some of you will be planning parties for your little ones for their birthdays, good results or just for the fun of it! 

Involving your children in the party planning process allows them to feel a sense of responsibility as well as keeping them busy. One way is to put them to kitchen duty! 

Of course, this is not for the young ones, but you can always slot them in some place...this is a recipe that you can gladly include them in - they can do all the preparations for you! Read more...

The Health Benefits of Pears

As these crunchy fruits are in season, I’m sure you have had a few pears in the last month. 

Pears are a very versatile fruit that is used in baking and cooking too. 

Did you know that pears can help reduce your Blood pressure? It is said that the regular consumption of pears with its well known health benefits can help to lower blood pressure thus reducing your chances of getting a stroke as well as reduce high cholesterol owing to its high levels of pectin.

Sprinkle a little brown sugar on them and pop them in the oven for a few minutes – healthy tasty snack!

To read more.....

Places to Have a Party!

The first quarter of the year is almost up! 
Wanna throw a party? Where do you throw your fabulous parties? At home or at the pub? 
There are many venues that we can employ, we just never think of them! 
So, let's get out of our comfort zones and try something new!
The greatest headache – places to have a party....Read more...

What are processed foods?

Processed foods are the most common foods we eat, leave alone the fact that we are an agricultural society.....

These processed foods are prepared for ease of eating; the products chosen as processed food are in many cases sold as hot ready to eat dishes and snacks.

They are characterized by room temperature, shelf stable products, or as refrigerated, or frozen food that call for minimal preparation....To read more....

Foods items that never go bad

Pure vanilla extract counts as one of the foods that never go bad. In fact, it gets better with age – bake cupcakes all year long! Just store it in a cool and dark place and ensure the lid is tightly shut. This goes for almond, orange and mint extracts- not the flavored kind, the real extracts.

Do you know that there are certain foods that NEVER go bad? Read all about it here....

How many meals should you have in a day?

Eating right used to be a simple affair. With just three compact meals, you were done for the day. However, with today's life getting quite complicated and busy, instead of having proper meals we now try and fit food into our schedule or just eat when we feel hungry. You need not be told that this is not the way to keep healthy.

The pure act of eating increases ones resting metabolic rate - the number of calories your body burns just to support basic functions of your body such as thinking, breathing and talking. Your metabolic rate burns at a faster rate if you eat more frequent meals, this makes it essential to have light meals at least every three hours. Having a meal every day at the same time means that you will get hungry each day at the same time thus giving your body a clock to rely on. 

Staying for more than three hours without a meal leaves you feeling very hungry and increases your chances of over indulging in your next meal or result to unhealthy snacking in a bid to feel sated. Simple sugars are what we run for when we want to snack and these are sugars that are bad for your health – Crisps, chocolate, cakes…all unhealthy snacks. When you want to add weight, it is necessary to try and consume at least 6000 calories spread over six to seven meals in a day - minus the unhealthy snacks!

Eating less food or light meals frequently makes your stomach size small over time. Frequent meals ensure that your stomach feels full for longer and it also helps in stabilising your blood sugar and insulin levels. Eating large meals will only make you feel sleepy and lethargic. It is therefore wiser to spread the meals to small amounts to gain more energy, better focus on your work, and no stomach upsets. Knowing that you will have a healthy meal every three hours psychologically makes it possible stick to a healthy diet.

It has been observed that people who have light frequent light also meals weigh much less compared to those that have only three or less than three meals a day. Lack of time to prepare good meals should not be the reason why you cannot have the right number of meals in a day. If you cannot have a good meal, then opt for healthy snacks instead of going hungry.

Snacking doesn't mean slowly working your way through a bag of chips. But even reaching for so-called "health" bars, nuts, and fruit still leaves you low on certain good-for-you foods like vegetables and lean protein. Make sure your snacks involve the nutrients you really need and aren't geared toward convenience alone in the form of simple sugars. This ensures that even with you snacking most of the time, you still maintain a healthy diet.

Popular Juices in Nairobi

Pick n’ peel, Del Monte, Minute Maid, Afia, Quencher… are some of the juice brands that adorn our retail outlets. A walk into any store in Nairobi will have you feeding your eyes on a variety of brands, such that making a choice would be a task. Nevertheless, your choice will ultimately boil down to whether you prefer the processed juices or fresh juices.

Fresh juices extracted from fresh fruits are mostly offered as an alternative option in restaurants. They also feature prominently in households that possess juicers and blenders, which allows them the luxury of preparing the juice themselves. Processed juices come packaged and are mostly found in supermarket shelves and in various retail outlets. They are popular especially for consumers on the go who prefer to carry the juice with them as opposed to taking it in one sitting. Brands like Del monte, Pick n’ Peel and Minute Maid are popular among juice lovers from this category. The packaging, branding and marketing has made this brands stand out among other juices.

Given the competition between brands, manufacturers of processed juices try to outdo each other in order to lure more consumers to sample their products. Most manufacturers have been pushed to modify their packaging e.g adopting the easy-to-open juice pack with a lid that can be screwed shut which helps to maintain freshness and prevent spillage. With such innovations, brands that are unable to keep up with the stiff competition are slowly eliminated out of the market.

Whereas most homes in Nairobi stock their refrigerators with packets of processed juices of choice, there are those who prefer to invest in a juicer or blender which they use to prepare fresh juices. Since this necessitates the need to invest in the juicer, the bulk of consumers end up going the processed way or visiting restaurants that offer fresh, unprocessed juice.

A spot check in most restaurants in Nairobi shows that they are indeed stepping up their game by including a variety of freshly squeezed juices in their soft drinks menu. WestPot restaurant in Westlands is one such restaurant. At West Post you get to enjoy a variety of juices ranging from the thick and awfully delicious banana juice, Mango, strawberry, Grapple - a blend of Grape and Apple juice, among others. They even offer blended vegetable juice. 

Take the NairobiSunset for example: This is a drink prepared by blending together Carrots and Beetroots then adding ginger and fresh Orange juice to create a perfectly healthy juice. The sheer fact that West Pot restaurant is located in Westlands presents stiff competition in itself due to the many restaurants that dot the area. They therefore work twice as hard to outdo each other. How else would you explain spotting a juice like Ziwani, in their menu? Ziwani being a combination of pineapples, banana, yoghurt, coconut, blended with fresh orange juice, ice, lime and honey. This goes to show that when it comes to juices, it is no holds barred for this restaurant!

Kenyan culture on drinking bone soup

Soup can enhance the flavor of any meal. Bones are main ingredient in making potage (thick stews and soups of meat and vegetables), and especially because they bring out its real taste. It can be from chicken, ham, vegetable, which can be added to cooked food. Using bones is an excellent way to save money and resources because one can consume the meat after extracting the broth. Kenyans, for example, love vegetables, and they think drinking it out of the cup is fashionable. This is especially during cold and rainy seasons where they drink it, to maintain their body temperatures during such seasons. 

These are especially Kenyans who know the benefits of drinking soup. They have also generated improved ways of cooking their soup, especially vegetable soup, to improve the flavour of their broth. Most people acknowledge that they find it difficult to consume vegetables because they lack knowledge on preparing them soo they would rather get their nutrients from soup.

There are some vegetables that are rich and should not be used while making a soup or broth, Some of them are broccoli, which should be included in every diet and loses its nutritional value if boiled. They contain all the necessary nutrients and can be taken as a whole meal. Many people in Kenya get their broth from renowned restaurants especially those who cannot make their own. Such restaurants give people the option to choose from a variety of drinks, that it is on almost all menus round the country. Kenyans have soup before a night of drinking as it is said to help keep the stomach strong and the next day too, to kill the hungover feeling.

People take different soups for a variety of occasions. There are some people who drink it, especially women who desire to lose weight, and many people have taken such broths seriously. Such broths are mostly expensive and sold in health fitness clubs, where they are trained on how to take them, and the duration they are supposed to drink. It has become customary for wealthy families in Kenya to include soups in their diets. They are mostly taken along with sweet breads as appetizers and this is especially onion and bone potage. This has made making the broth easy and fun to consume. There are some people who stock bones for making the broth, because they also add some nutrients in broth.

In summary, soup has become a tradition in many Kenyan families and people are learning ways of spicing their broths. Many people make their soup in large quantities, and store them in their refrigerators where they only take a small portion and warm it when necessary. Some people also prefer taking the broths as an accompaniment in their whole meals, and this has turned out to be the best method of drinking the broth. 

So, when you feel cold next time, go out and have some soup. Meanwhile, learn how to make it here

Have a warm day!

Domestic birds

If you grew up in shagz you probably had a couple of chicken running around the homestead. Chicken are the most popular bird kept by our various communities. There are however more birds that you can keep for either a profit or your own consumption such as ducks, geese and quails. Let's have a look at some of them;

Domesticated Pigeons

Also known as 'thoroughbreds of the air' are said to be the oldest domesticated birds in the world. Used as a messenger for sending messages across a large areas due to its homing ability has earned this little bird a good amount of fame. Used for food as well, Pigeon meat is known as squab and is harvested from young pigeons who are yet to learn how to fly.This is about a one month old pigeon.

Ducks

Ducks have been raised for their meat and eggs for thousands of years, probably starting from South East Asia. Ducks are less common than chicken because people are more attracted to chicken because they have more lean meat and are less expensive. chicken are also easier to keep confined than ducks..

Turkey

This is a big domesticated bird that has its origins in mesoamerica. Female turkeys are called Hens or chicks while the young are known as turklings or poults. the males may be referred to as Stags or Toms. Turkey is an important meal in various countries and is served as a main dish.

Guinea fowl 

These birds are indigenous to Africa, fairing well in arid / dry regions. the young of a guinea fowl are called keets and they lay about 25 - 30 eggs. They are also kept with other fowl as a natural method of fighting ticks and other insects, lice, worms and spiders. They will shriek when an intruder approaches and are very sociable birds. Their meat can be cooked like that of chicken but tends to be more flavorful thus expensive.

Geese

These have been kept by man for their meat, eggs and down (feathers). It is a flightless bird which jumps up to about a foot when startled, flapping its wings. geese eggs can be cooked just like chicken eggs but they have more yolk than chicken eggs.




Quails 
This is a general term given to a type of mid sized bird species. Many of the larger species are bred for their meat and eggs. Popular in several countries such as France and Malta, some Indian cuisines also favour quail in their meals as well as Portuguese and Polish cuisine.

Of Flowers and Valentine's Day...

Valentine’s day is fast approaching and you can already hear the hushed complaints from men. The truth is, Valentine’s day has been highly commercialized and although it is supposed to be all about love, the day is riddled with all kinds of bad attributes.

If Valentine’s day held some genuine meaning, many of us would take it seriously. That explains why many couples enjoy and celebrate their love unashamedly while everyone else tries to find an excuse not to. In my opinion, Valentine’s day is often celebrated by people in strong, solid, difficult but loving and enduring relationships. How do you gauge your own relationship? Is it worth the thought to send beautiful flowers and express your love to your

partner?

Our Kenyan man finds it so hard to walk around with flowers hence booming business of flower delivery. Well, if you will not carry them, at least make a point of ordering the right flowers for the occasion. Below are five popular flower suggestions for Valentine’s day:

Roses

Roses are associated with love hence their popularity worldwide. They come in different colours which have different meanings.

Red- Romantic love

Yellow- Friendship, wish you well and to express happiness

Lavender-  Love at first sight. Perfect if you were totally smitten

Pink- Caring, love, appreciating your partner

White- Pure love

Orange- Passion and desire

So when placing the order for your roses, make sure you pick the correct colours. You can also have them mixed up a little bit to say a lot on one bouquet.

Storage tips: Cut the stems of fresh roses and rub some aspirin on the cut before you put them in fresh water. Place them in a well aerated area to keep them blooming.

Orchids

There are many different types of orchids in the world. However, they are rare and might cost you extra to find them. These flowers are not only lovely but portray a form of understated beauty, wisdom, seduction, love and refinement. Orchids are perfect if you not only love the person you are sending them to; but also have a deep admiration for them.

Tulips

Like roses, tulips are great for expressing love. Pink tulips express care, yellow tulips express being hopelessly in love and red tulips make the ultimate declaration of love.

Carnations

These flowers are not only beautiful, but come in a wide variety of colours and are quite playful. They are perfect to express light hearted emotion and to express fascination and admiration of the other person. If you are still in the ‘honeymoon stages’of your relationship, these flowers are perfect. They can also be given among friends and since they are light-hearted, they are a safe choice from a woman to a man (Yes ladies! You can give your men flowers too) I think clandes would benefit in this category as well, no?

Lilies

Lilies are so adorable! These flowers are very beautiful, colourful and generally give a feeling of ‘life’ they signify beauty, ambition, enthusiasm and celebration. Make sure you order your lilies as part of a bigger bouquet as they are best in complementing other flowers.

Cheese!!

Food preservation processes allow the nutritional and economic value of a food material to be preserved. In this case, cheese is derived from milk through various methods. 

 

Cheese making has been in existence for millennia, thought to have originated from normadic herdsmen who stored milk in sheep and goats’ stomachs. Because their stomach linings contained lactic acid, the milk would ferment and coagulate. Cheese is a concentration of the major milk protein, casein, and milk fat. 

Cheese making methods vary. The method used to make cheddar cheese may be similar to blue cheese but not exactly the same. Cheese is fermented milk from which water and lactose are removed from the milk. 

There are four basic steps to making cheese;

      1. Curdling – separating the milk into curds by using bacteria to ferment the lactose

2    2. Draining – removes water from the cheese milk to ensure good quality and prevent decomposition of the milk product.

3. Pressing

4    4. Ripening

Its taste, texture and style of cheese depend on a variety of factors;

• ·         Origin of the milk – did it come from a cow or goat?

• ·         Animal’s health at the time of milk production

• ·         The method of curdling milk

• ·         Whether the milk is pasteurized or not

• ·         Butterfat content in the milk

• ·         Herbs and spices used in the cheese making process eg black pepper, cranberries and the amount of salt and seasonings used

• ·         The bacteria used in the ripening process

·   

Experiment in your quest for cheese, there are too many flavors and uses for cheese, enough to make a foodie like you sleep happy!

Have a cheesy day!

Let's have Duck!

I had duck over the holidays...it was really good! I don't know why I ever thought it would be boringly bland. Since it's a new year, perhaps you can fit this into your menu list..

Duck is said to be red meat and is primarily derived form the breast and the legs of the duck. Duck is generally darker than that of chicken and turkey as the legs of the duck tend to be darker and somewhat fattier as they have a layer of heat insulating subcutaneous fat between the skin and the meat.


Duck is a delicacy in many cultures world over as it is a very flavorful type of poultry. It can be grilled like steak, usually leaving on the skin and the fat. Internal organs such as the heart and kidneys may be eaten.

Duck consumed without the skin is way healthier than the same amount of chicken consumed without its skin.

Duck is a good source of proteins which play a fundamental role in body building activities. It is also a good source of vitamins such as Vitamin B - a good source of thiamine and riboflavin and to some lesser extent Vitamin A, E and K and B12. It is also high in Selenuim (a great antioxidant that protects the cells from free radicals), Zinc, Iron and potassium. It also contains calcium, magnesium and potassium.

Duck also provides us with Omega -3 and Omega -6 fatty acids, choline and betaine, all useful and contribute to heart health as they are vital for cell membranes, lipid metabolism and reducing levels of homocysteine.

Duck is however high in fat and cholesterol compared to chicken and turkey, so those who have heart problems must consume it with due care. The skin is what carries most of its fat so it is advisable to remove the skin in order not to exceed your daily fat intake levels, even if you are not looking to lose weight or have heart problems. Choose duck meat that is prepared without the skin, or you can go for roasted, baked or braised duck over fried duck. When you choose to eat duck in one of your meals, be sure to consume other foods that are low in fats and saturated fats.

Most of us do not cook duck at home but several restaurants serve it in their menu, so go ahead, try some next time you are out!

Benefits of plums

These beautiful fruits must be in season, they are everywhere - and quite cheap!

Plums are a member of the drupe fruits family (think peaches, almonds and cherries). Drupes are fruits that have a hard pit at the centre of their fleshy insides. Granted, they may sometimes not be very sweet, but they are very healthy and for just a handful going for Kshs 20/- there is really no reason why you shouldn't make this your daily snack for the season!

1. Fresh plums are a good source of several vitamins and minerals such as Calcium, magnesium and vitamin B. A good cup of plums supplies you with your recommended daily intake for vitamins C,K and A. Vitamin C is good for you on several levels. Vitamin C is beneficial in the prevention of colds and flus,boosts your immunity levels, essential for the growth, maintenance and repair of bodily tissue including the skin and many more. Vitamin K is essential in blood coagulation while Vitamin A found in especially the Mirabelle (yellow) plums is essential for good vision, together with beta carotene.
2. Plums are sweet. But their sweetness has no effect on your blood sugar! This is good news for diabetics as they are low in calories and they will not mess with your sugar levels, making them an excellent snack.
3. Like mentioned above, they are low in calories and have no saturated fats making them a good snack for those seeking to lose weight. Buy a few on your way home, clean them and pack them into your bag for the office, you can nibble on them all day long without increasing your waistline.
4. Prunes have been used as a laxative as they contain significant levels of insoluble fiber, the type that softness of stools while quickening material through the intestinal tract. So the next time you are feeling a little constipated, have a few of these and see what happens...
5. High in antioxidants that fight free radicals that damage our skin and organs keeping us looking youthful and radiant. Plums have six times the antioxidant potential than other fresh fruits. Only berries beat plums in antioxidant levels (more about berries)
6. Research has shown that plums boost bone health especially for post menopausal women as it reverses bone loss as it has a higher bone mineral density in the spine and forearms while also improving your body's overall bone density.
7. Plums contain a good amount of folic acid and calcium, necessary for pregnant women.

A point to note however, plums contain measurable amounts of oxalates, a naturally occurring substance found in plants, animals and in human beings. When these levels are too concentrated, they build up in the body fluids and cause health problems. If you have an existing kidney or gall bladder problems, speak to your doctor before having any.