Tag: Tomato

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Food Recipes

Chicken And Moringa Tomato Sauce Recipe

Chicken And Moringa Tomato Sauce Recipe

This is a chicken and Moringa tomato sauce recipe submitted by Chef Esther (Esther Ibizugbe). She uses a combination of chicken and moringa in tomato sauce. Below is her recipe with ingredients, instructions and other tips.

If you have ever read the article we published in the past about the importance of Moringa, you will know how important that plant is. Don’t get it confused, the post talked about seeds. This one right here is talkin about Moringa seeds.

Chicken And Moringa Tomato Sauce Recipe

Chicken And Moringa Tomato Sauce Recipe – Chef Esther

Chef Esther says;

Hey all, you know how most people say Moringa leaves can cure everything (don’t know how true that is oo), well my Mum (Chairlady) decided to plant the tree within the house. It is easy to plant and they grow really fast.

Anyways I ran out vegetables today and decided to try out the fresh Moringa leaves for a change and it came out amazing and tastes great. I hope you try this out and remember you can always substitute ingredients. 

Ingredients For Making Chicken And Moringa Tomato Sauce

Below are the ingredients you need to make your own Chicken-moringa tomato sauce;

  • Moringa leaves (washed)
  • Tomatoes
  • Pepper
  • Onions
  • Ginger (peeled)
  • Garlic (peeled)
  • Knorr cubes
  • Curry
  • Thyme
  • Tomato paste
  • Grinded crayfish
  • Canola oil (can use whichever you have)
  • Chicken (boiled or fried)
  • Chicken stock/Water

Instructions For Preparing The Chicken And Moringa Tomato Sauce

  • Place your tomato, pepper, onions, ginger, garlic and a little water in the blender and grind to a paste, depending on your preferred consistency.
  • Heat up oil in the pot for about a minute and add the chopped onions. Stir for another one minute so it does not burn before adding the blended paste.
  • Allow to boil for 5 minutes before adding chicken and grinded crayfish (people start the method by frying tomato paste first before adding the blended tomato. You can do whichever)
  • Boil for another 3-4 minutes then add tomato paste, chicken stock/water and salt to taste. If you are using chicken stock, be careful when adding the spices because they were already added when boiling the chicken, so it doesn’t become too salty.
  • After about 4 minutes, add the Moringa leaves and boil for about 2 minutes to retain the freshness and serve!

IMPORTANT NOTE:

To have a different taste and flavour, you can use seafood, beef, stock fish, etc to garnish the sauce.

ALSO SEE: Moringa Seed: Benefits & How It Helps In Weight Loss

Categories
Food & Health

Foods People With Blood Group B Should Totally Avoid

Foods People With Blood Group B Should Totally Avoid

Many people do not know that their Blood Type is the key that opens the door to the secrets behind their health, diseases, physical vitality, emotional strength and long life. In fact, it determines a lot of things in our life than many would believe.

I have not always known this myself too. A doctor friend of mine introduced me to a book by Dr. Peter J. D’Adamo with Catherine Whitney, titled “Eat Right 4 Your Type”. The book talks about 4 Blood Types, 4 Diets, revealing the individualized diet solution to staying healthy, living longer and achieving your ideal weight for blood types O, A, B and AB.

Foods People With Blood Group B Should Totally Avoid
I cannot discuss all what the book contains because there are about 388 pages of it, in fact I think that would be illegal to do. So, I am just going to discuss some of the thing I learnt inside, and take excerpts from the books where necessary.

Food That Persons With Blood Type B Should Avoid

You blood type determines how susceptible you are to illness, foods that you should eat or stay away from and how you should exercise. Here, I will talk about those foods you should stay away from because do do more harm than good to you.

1. Corn

For people with Type B blood group, the biggest food concern when it comes to weight gain are corn, buckwheat, lentils, peanuts and sesame seeds. Each of them has it’s own type of lectin.

Corn Blood Group B Should Avoid
Each of these lectins affect the efficiency of Type Bs metabolic process, which results in fatigue, fluid retention and hypoglycemia. Hypoglycemia is characterized by severe drop in blood sugar level after eating a meal. This leads to tiredness/fatigue.

2. Wheat

Just like Type Os, Type Bs react to the gluten in wheat germ and products made from whole wheat. The gluten lectin adds to the problems caused by the other metabolism-slowing foods.

Wheat Blood Group B Should Avoid
“When food is not efficiently digested and burned as fuel for the body, it gets stored as fat.”

3. Chicken

You need to give up chicken. Why? Chicken contains a Blood Type B agglutinating lectin in its muscle tissue. Yes, this may not be easy to give up because chicken is already a part and parcel of many diets in this part of the world.

The agglutinating lectin attacks the bloodstream and potentially lead to strokes and immune disorders. Now, here is a good reason to let it go.

Chicken Blood Group B Should Avoid
If you are already too used to eating chicken, then you should explore other poultry options like turkey and pheasants. People have been told chicken is healthier than beef but this is not the case for Blood Type Bs.

4. Shellfish — Crab, Lobster, Shrimp, etc.

They contain lectins too. These lectins are disruptive to the type B system. This is not to say that you should run from sea foods. In fact, Type Bs thrive well on sea foods, especially fish such as cod and salmon, which are rich in nutritious oils.

Shellfish Blood Group B Should Avoid

Other common ones to avoid include, Anchovy, Beluga, Butterfish, Clam, Crab, Crayfish, Eel, Frog, Herring, Octopus, Lobster, Mussel, Oyster, Salmon roe, Shrimp, Snail (escargot / Helix pomatia).

5. Nuts and Seeds

People with Blood Type B should avoid consumption of most nuts and seeds. Peanuts, sesame seeds and sunflower seeds contain lectin, which interfere with Type B insulin production.

Type Bs can eat some beans and legumes without any issue. However, beans such as lentils, pintos and black-eyed peas, contain lectins which interfere with Type B insulin production.

Nuts and Seeds Blood Group B Should Avoid

Some other seeds and nuts (and their products) to avoid include, Cashew, Hazelnut, Pistachio, Peanut butter, Pumpkin seed, Sesame seed, Sesame butter, Sunflower seed, Sunflower butter.

6. Tomatoes. Yes, Tomatoes!

According to Dr. Peter J. D’Adamo, author of the book, “Eat Right 4 Your Type”, Type Bs should eliminate tomatoes completely from their diet. “The tomato is are vegetable called a panhemaglutinan. This means that it contains lectins that can agglutinate every blood type.

While the tomato lectin has little effect on Type O and Type AB, both Type B and Type A suffer strong reactions, usually in form of irritations of the stomach lining.

Tomatoes Blood Group B Should Avoid

I am not out here to spill everything in the book to you. I just noticed we in this part of the world consume these groups of food a lot. These are just some of the foods you should avoid.

Beyond the dark side, there is also a wide range of foods you can choose from to remain healthy. You may also be surprised that there are groups of food which Type Bs thrive on, but are no-go areas for other Blood groups.

If you would like to learn more about this. You should get yourself a copy of the book.

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General

The Cause of Risen Cost of Tomato In Nigeria (Tomato Ebola)

Damage Caused by Tuta absoluta on Tomatoes Caused Increased Prices

If I say the cost of tomato has risen in Nigeria, I would be lying because that is not even close to what happened. The price of tomatoes all over markets in every part of Nigeria has skyrocketed and keeps increasing at what looks like an exponential rate. Even if you don’t cook, you would have felt the effect of the rising cost of tomatoes when you buy any food they use tomato to cook.

A small basket of tomatoes that used to cost around N500 about three months ago now goes for like N12,000 in the market. A lot of people have lamented this problem but trust Nigerians, the happy people that we are, a lot of Nigerians are already making humour out of this.

What Is The Cost Of Increased Tomato Price In Nigeria?

For a lot of Nigerians, the Government is really making life hard in Nigeria. A lot of people I spoke to believed that the high cost of tomatoes was a resultant effect of the increase in pump price of petrol (PMS). Only a “handful” cared to investigate what the real problem was. The cost of tomatoes in Nigeria today has nothing to do with the removal of subsidy, deregulation of the downstream sector, fuel price increase or whatever you call it.

What Is the Cause of The Problem?

A moth called the Tomato Leaf Miner, or Tuta Absoluta, has ravaged 80% of tomato farms, Commissioner of Agriculture, Kaduna State, Daniel Manzo Maigar said. He said 200 farmers together lost at least 1billion Naira (about $5.1m; £3.5m) over the past month.

The seriousness of this condition has made Nigerians to liken it to the Ebola Virus outbreak. They now call it Tomato Ebola. The causative agent of this condition is Tuta absoluta.

Tuta absoluta is a devastating pest of Tomato which originated from South America. Recently Tuta absoluta considered to be a serious threat to tomato production in Mediterranean region. The pest is now finding the shores of the Mediterranean a perfect new home where it can breed between 10-12 generations a year. Each female can lay 250-300 eggs in her life time.

The Damage Caused by Tuta absoluta on Tomatoes

The larvae of Tuta absoluta mine the leaves producing large galleries and burrow into the fruit, causing a substantial loss of tomato production in protected and open filed cultivations.

Damage Caused by Tuta absoluta on Tomatoes Caused Increased Prices
Photo: tutaabsoluta.com

The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Audu Ogbeh, has said that his office had commissioned experts to look at the issue as “ordinary pesticides cannot tackle the disease because the tomato moth multiplies so fast.”

With this development and increase in the cost of tomatoes, a lot of Nigerians are now switching to the use of imported packaged tomato paste and purees in sachets and tins. Nigerians should however be cautious when choosing the tomato paste they want to buy. NAFDAC, recently told us in this report that “Imported Tomato Paste brands in retail packs (tins or sachets) from a particular country and sold everywhere in Nigeria falls far below National Food Safety Standards.

Categories
Food Safety

Tomato Paste Sold In Nigeria Far Below Food Safety Standards – NAFDAC

Imported Tomato Paste Sold In Nigeria Far Below Food Safety Standards

The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has disclosed that tomato paste imported and sold everywhere in Nigeria falls far below National Food Safety Standards. This was contained in a news article published by Sahara Reporters.

The news outlet reported that this information was contained in a 2015 internal memo given to them by Nigeria’s Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (FSAN) office of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC).

Imported Tomato Paste Sold In Nigeria Far Below Food Safety Standards

This is not even about an article we wrote on the unhealthy side of Tomato paste and purees as they are produced and sold. This is even worse at it has standards as the bone of contention. When it comes to this topic, everyone has to be very careful.

Imported Tomato Paste Sold In Nigeria Far Below Food Safety Standards
Photo: prettytomato.cn

If you recall, this is not the first time we have seen safety and standard issues when it comes to foods widely consumed in Nigeria. In 2015, we got a warning from NAFDAC about the dangers associated with consumption of imported frozen chicken and turkey. Also, a 2012 study found that certain chocolates and candies imported in Nigeria contained dangerously high levels of metals.

In this new development, FSAN conducted a study in which 314 packets of tomato paste purchased in Lagos. The tomato paste samples were subjected to analysis in a laboratory to determine whether they had a tomato content of at least 28 percent. This 28% is the minimum requirement specified by the Codex Alimentarius Standards and Nigerian Industrial Standards.

The results of the study revealed that 91.1 percent of the samples examined, had tomato contents that are below the standard 28 percent recommended as minimum. 

The findings of the study, indicate that tomato paste product companies are conspiring with Chinese tomato paste manufacturers to distribute substandard products to unsuspecting Nigerian consumers. It also recommends that retailers refrain from selling tomato paste imported from China until further notice.

The agency also recommends issuing a nationwide recall of all tomato paste brands imported from China, saying “Imported Tomato Paste brands in retail packs (tins or sachets) from China (High Risk Countries) should be suspended until further notice.”

In the light of these findings, we at FoodsNG are also advising consumers of tomato paste (be it in sachet or can) to check the pack of any tomato paste they want to buy. You may want to check if it was manufactured in China. If that is the case, you may want to refrain from purchasing it.

Categories
Knowledgebase

Tips For Keeping Tomatoes Fresh For Longer

storing tomatoes right
Photo: seriouseats.com

Some people don’t like buying tomatoes and keeping because of the damages they are susceptible to. Yes, when you buy almost or fully ripe tomatoes, they will get spoilt in no time if you don’t keep them appropriately. So, how do you keep your tomatoes to keep them fresh for a longer period?

How To Store Tomatoes To Keep Them Fresh

At this point, I know some people would say, “just keep it in the refrigerator”. No! In fact, I would say that is one of the worst ways to store ripe tomatoes. Remember that we also mention them as one of the foods you should not keep in the freezer.

storing tomatoes right
Photo: seriouseats.com

You should only store tomatoes that are not ripe (green) in the refrigerator. When you keep tomatoes that are ripe in there, the low temperature halts tomatoes’ flavor-producing enzyme activity. Tomatoes stored in the refrigerator also end up with poor flavor development, coloration, and mealy texture.

RECOMMENDED : How Deteriorating Tomatoes Can Land You In The Hospital

Tomatoes need to stay at room temperature (even the almost ripe ones), out of direct sunlight. It is also advised that you should store them stem side down while for a number of reasons.

Why Should You Store Tomatoes Stem End Down?

Simple, to make them last longer. Storing a tomato stem-end down (room temperature is best) prevents air from entering and moisture from exiting its scar, prolonging shelf life. So, now you know. Share this with your friends on Social Media.

ALSO SEE:  How To Make A Delicious / Nutritious Tomato Bread

Categories
Knowledgebase

4 Foods You Should Not Keep In The Freezer

frozen tomatoes
Photo: pbs.org

There are just some foods you should not keep in the freezer. I have friends that think the only way to keep the leftover of foods is by putting them in the freezer. God, this always makes me sick and I try every time to correct them but it just keeps repeating itself.

From bread to fruits, vegetables, and soups, they keep anything that remains of those foods in the freezer. Yes, I know cold storage is an effective way to keep and preserve foods to last longer but I can tell you it is not suitable for every type of food.

do not freeze

In this article, you will see some food materials you should not freeze or even refrigerate. You will also get to know the reasons why you should not freeze them.

Foods You Should Not Keep In The Freezer And Why

Onions:

Placing uncut onions in the refrigerator makes them mushy and soggy by the time you take them out. When you remove the peel, you see that there is only one thing such onion is good for — bleeding with other types of foods.

You can no longer slice and dice such onions into foods because they would have lost their traditional colour (they have different colours). So, it’s best to keep your onions in an open, cool and dry place.

Watermelon:

It’s really an unpleasant sight when you bring a frozen watermelon out of the freezer. Apart from the fact that it no longer looks good, the flesh becomes fibrous and not easy to bite.

If you have ever tried eating a frozen watermelon that was thawed, you would know that such watermelon loses its kind of crunchy texture. They become fibrous and tough in the mouth. Also, research has shown that keeping them at room temperature might even help preserve the antioxidants present.

Tomatoes:

One of the things freezing does to your tomatoes is to damage its tissues — just like it does to many other foods. The only way most foods can be kept frozen is by using a rapid and uninterrupted freezing process.

frozen tomatoes
Photo: pbs.org

When you freeze your whole tomatoes and bring it outside, what you have is nothing more than the juice and flesh of the tomatoes with the skin peeling off. You can no longer slice this kind of tomatoes. All you can now do is to blend with other foods.

Potatoes:

You cannot put potatoes in the freezer for more than one reason. You should not even refrigerate your potatoes because the cold temperature makes them develop a sweet taste to the level that it becomes unpleasant.

This happens due to the conversion of starch in the potatoes to sugar. This increase in sugar will cause potatoes to darken when cooked. It is usually recommended to let your refrigerated potatoes cool totally — if you refrigerate them before you cook them. This will help reduce the level of discolouration.

Even though freezing damages some food materials, its benefits outweighs those damages caused. If you still want your food to remain safe to eat over a long period, then freezing is a very good option.

Categories
Food Recipes

How To Make A Delicious / Nutritious Tomato Bread

tomato bread

We all know that bread is full of carbohydrate and anyone striving to always get a balanced meal in terms of nutrients should not eat bread alone. There are several other types of foods that we eat bread with in this part of the world — beans, fried and boiled egg, margarine, mayonnaise, stews — to mention a few, but we can even make it more interesting.

How about making this more interesting and nutritious by using tomatoes with your bread to make what is called “tomato bread”? Don’t write it off yet until you have tasted it and do not like it but I think you should like the taste and nutritional benefits tomatoes bring into the combo.

tomato bread

Adding olive oil and garlic into the mix will make it even better. If you read the articles we wrote on how garlic helps improve sperm quality in men and how olive oil works as an anti-ageing agent, you would want to add them to your tomato bread.

Ingredients For Making Tomato Bread

  • 4 slices of Bread
  • 2 ripe Tomatoes (each sliced into two)
  • 1 Garlic clove (finely chopped)
  • 2 tablespoon of olive oil (optional)

Equipment Needed

  • A Grill or Toaster
  • A Knife

Instructions For Making Your Tomato Bread

  • Preheat the grill, then toast the bread under a hot grill until you get lightly golden brown on both sides of the sliced bread.
  • Now rub each slice of the bread with half a fresh juicy tomato. If you decide to use any of garlic and olive oil, sprinkle a little of each over the top.
  • You can cut into smaller sizes, serve and eat immediately.

Some cannot eat fresh tomato as it is, so they put all the ingredients in-between two slices of bread before heating in the toaster. This makes the tomato a bit cooked and tastier but remember that it is at the detriment of some nutrients.

You can give this a try at home for your breakfast and share your experience and pictures with us. You can make your comments below. You can send pictures to us foodsng2015@gmail.com and we shall duly attribute them to you.

TIPS & WARNINGS:

Categories
Food & Nutrition Food Safety

How Deteriorating Tomatoes Can Land You In The Hospital

damaged tomatoes

The money you saved while buying those damaged, deteriorating (esha) tomatoes could eventually be used to cure the illnesses that come with them.

Food products or items of a lower quality are usually what some people prefer to purchase regardless of their financial status. In fact, It could be said to be in their genes.

One food product that falls into this category is tomato.

In many popular markets in Lagos and other parts of Nigeria, there has been visible popularity in the purchase of deteriorating Tomato (popularly called Esha tomato) even among people who appear comfortable purchasing fresh tomatoes.

This I have seen countless times in the popular Lagos mile 12 markets.

damaged tomatoes

I have always said to people who care to listen that you do not need to be a ‘Bill Gate’ to buy fresh food produce like tomato for your family.

Usually, poor quality food might not necessarily translate into low prices. All these ideas are only in our perception.

Deteriorating or partially rotten tomato commonly called Esha among the Yorubas is a sure way of depriving your body essential nutrients that are needed for growth and development.

In the process of spoilage, bacteria begin to utilize the nutrient content of tomatoes in order to increase in number and to further cause more deterioration.

When this happens, tomato loses its firmness and nutritive value. Many of the spoilt tomatoes result due to far distance between the farms and markets.

It further exposes the lycopene loaded vegetable to bacteria and fungi attack.

Have you ever wondered why you are faced with diarrhea after eating from a local food store or mama put joint?

Asides from the unhygienic method of food preparation, it will surprise you to note that most of the cases of food poisonings that occur are due to poor quality food ingredients like spoilt tomatoes used in the cooking.

The future implication of consuming this kind of meal cooked with deteriorated or rotten tomatoes is damage to the internal organ due to released toxins which might not be noticed in a short term.

Some of the associated illnesses with the consumption of rotten tomatoes are liver inflammation, diarrhea and vomitting. These conditions are life threatening when there are severe.

Opt for fresh tomatoes and not rotten/Esha in order to benefit from the good nutrition that the vegetable can provide.

Categories
Food Safety

The Unhealthy Side Of Tomato Paste or Puree Consumption

tomato puree in can

HOW HEALTHY IS THE CONSUMPTION OF TOMATO PASTE OR PUREE? — Food processing has been quite helpful to our development as humans and I am proud to have been part of such movement during my undergraduate days. However, the proliferation of processed foods that do not conform to Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) has left many food experts like me in doubt of the proclaimed health benefits associated with the consumption of processed foods.

Recently there has been a push for the ban of certain food products in Nigeria due to health concerns. While I seem to agree in a way with the government on such actions, on the other hand, I feel there is need to critically look into the situation.

Over the years, busy mothers have opted for fast ways of preparing foods for their families and that is one of the reasons pureed or paste tomatoes seem to have taken over the shelves of many store both in urban and rural areas. The need to share this article is due to the many question I have received concerning if tomato paste or puree is healthy to consume. Before we dissect that, let us find out what pureed tomato is.

tomato puree in can

WHAT IS TOMATO PUREE OR PASTE:

This can be described as liquid obtained from cooking and pulverizing tomatoes. The major difference between paste and puree is its consistency. The process of making both is usually the same. As I continue in this write up, I will be using the word tomato puree to describe all other liquid form of tomatoes.

NEXT [2]: The Healthy Side of Tomato Paste/Puree…