All posts by : SMD SMD

How are you, I mean how are you really?

I know everyone comes back to you, the children, siblings, parents and husband. You are the comfort everyone runs to just as Nigeria was/is our comfort when the world looks down on us.

I know you feel hurt, broken hearted and may have even fallen ill like I have! I want you to know that your feelings are validated, I want you to know that you have all reasons to feel lost despite you needing to stay strong for everyone.

Right now I understand that cooking is far from your mind, you don’t have the strength to go to the kitchen and whip up some of your usual magic!

I know food doesn’t solve all problems, I know that when we feel so torn and ripped from different parts, food is the last thing we want to think of.

Food however is that which cures us from the inside, makes us strong for the darkness that seems to have enveloped us. Make your meals wholesome, make it nutrient field and antioxidant fortified.

Go to your kitchen queen, and as the women of the past had fed their families even through wars, you go feed your family through this heartbreak too.

While you do this, please don’t underplayed your emotions, talk about it and pray about it. We need you to be strong, but most importantly we need your heart light to help us all heal.

Food could be love, healing and cure…

With love,
Your sister Shariifah.

Lagos was loud, too fast and kind of rough for my omo ilu oke kind of person.

Over the years, I have fallen in love warts and all. I married omo eko from ile aroloya Lagos Island. My children are omo eko, and when I needed to make my passport I had to naturalize to become omo eko gangan! This is possible since it is allowed for a woman who marries a lagosian to naturalize and become a lagosian legally.

My dream started in Lagos, the realisation in Lagos. I became a mother here in Lagos, fostered a beautiful relationship in Lagos. I have spent half of my lifetime here in Lagos and I have come to love this state as mine.

For those who want to destroy our Lagos, oba Allah o ni fun yin se. Lagos has opened her arms wide like a mother who always put her children in her heart and blossom.

Whoever strives to break our Lagos, may Allah break your back!

We will work together to rebuild our home.
Let us come together to give back to a state that is most welcoming, a state kind to her people and visitors.

Emi ni Shariifah Yunus,
Aya won leko,
Iya won leko,
Omo won leko,
Awa la leko,
Eko o ni baje ooo…

Cardamom is a spice made from the seed pods of various plants in the ginger family. Cardamom pods are spindle-shaped and have a triangular cross-section. The pods contain a number of seeds, but the entire cardamom pod can be used whole or ground. The seeds are small and black, while the pods differ in colour and size by species.

Though an expensive spice, grounded cardamom is used in the SMD Multipurpose, Curry (no wonder the SMD is so curry so rich in flavour, fragrance and different to another curry in the market!), Seafood and Native pot spice mix for its wholesome flavour!

Cardamom is found in Indian cooking as well as Middle Eastern cuisine. In Indian recipes, whole cardamom pods are used in preparing basmati rice and various curries. In Middle Eastern recipes, ground cardamom spices certain desserts.

Cardamom has a strong, sweet, pungent flavor and aroma, with hints of lemon and mint. Black cardamom has a smoky note and a cooling menthol one as well

BENEFITS
1. Cardamom seeds or pods are sometimes chewed to refresh the breath and as a digestive aid.

2. Cardamom has various uses ascribed in traditional medicine.

3. Cardamom may help lower blood pressure, most likely due to its antioxidant and diuretic properties.

4. May fight cancer and stop the growth of tumors in mice and test tubes

5. May Protect from Chronic Diseases Thanks to Anti-Inflammatory Effects

6. May Help with Digestive Problems, Including Ulcers

7. May Treat Bad Breath and Prevent Cavities

8. May Have Antibacterial Effects and Treat Infections

9. May Lower Blood Sugar Levels

10. Liver Protection

11. Anxiety

12. Weight loss

Do you see why you should use the smd spice mix?

Let Your Meal Be Your Delicious Medicine!

CLICK HERE TO ORDER FOR OUR SPICES

There are two types of cinnamon,cassia and ceylon.
Ceyon cinnamon is also known as the true cinnamon.
The cinnamon you have in your kitchen cabinet is most likely to be Cinnamomum cassia, which is native to China and the most common type sold in the United States and Canada.

Cinnamomum verum, also known as true cinnamon or Ceylon cinnamon, comes primarily from Sri Lanka. It is more delicately flavored than cassia and more highly prized, though less widely used. The SMD spice mix is made from the ceylon cinnamon.
The SMD Sauce & Marinade has this amazing spice as one of the major spice(this spice mix is amazing in snacks). The sauce& marinade is wonderful in our Moroccan fried rice,Indian cuisinea,pasta and mexican diahes. The smd seafood,multipurpose and curry spice mix also has cinnamon added in varried quantities.

Cinnamon is a spice obtained from the inner bark of several tree species from the genus Cinnamomum. Cinnamon is used mainly as an aromatic condiment and flavouring additive in a wide variety of cuisines, sweet and savoury dishes, breakfast cereals, snackfoods, tea and traditional foods.
Cinnamon is a highly delicious and medicinal spice.

It has been known for its medicinal benefits before modern science confirmed it.

Some of the health benefits are:

– It is loaded with antioxidant
– Cinamon has the potential to stop the risk of heart diseases
– It has anti-inflamatory properties.
– Cinnamon may protect your body against the growth of cancer.

– It help fight bacterial and fungal infection

– Cinnamon can increase sensitivity to the hormone insulin.

– Cinnamon Lowers Blood Sugar Levels and Has a Powerful Anti-Diabetic Effect

Please read and feed your soul with the healing power of cinnamon spice.
With the SMD range,you are not only using our spice for our delicious fragrant flavours, but you’ve turn your meals to medicine with SMD spice mix while nourishing your body!

I have spent about 8/9 years mixing spices and herbs to suit the Nigerian palate.
To make amazing flavours, you need to understand certain things;

1. Understand the flavour profiles of each spice and herb,
know which spices& herbs work well together,

2. What spices and herbs works in different dishes!

3. How to cook naturally using these mix.

I try to understand the fear of the average Nigerian who worry over the cost cooking naturally. The cost of cooking with our spice mix for three times a day cooking, is just about #60 per meal! And that is if you use the mix every time you cook breakfast, lunch and dinner for 2months, with an average of 6 members in a family!

Can see it would last longer if you dont cook that often and your family is smaller?

I tell people that the value we place on our health and well being is decided by the actions and priorities we make over it.

Ill health is so much more expensive. The best we can do is to ensure healthy cooking and eating habits,(removing artficial additives in our meals is one of the ways).

Spices and herbs are rich in antioxidants that boosts your immunities and protects you from common and not so common ailments.

Cooking healthy isnt as expensive as people think,lets take care of our bodies now so it can take care of us in our older years.
Best wishes…
Xoxo

There is no general rule for the correct amount of spices and herbs to use the pungency of each spice and herb differs and its effect on different foods varies.

It is best to start with recipes that have been well tested or from a reliable source(The SMD Cookbook eCopy and hardcopy helps you with specific measurements of our ready to use spice mix!).

The amounts can later be adjusted to suit and personalize individual tastes. When no recipe is available, try starting with 1/4 teaspoon for 4 servings, per 250 grams of meat, or for each pint (2 cups) of sauce or soup; adjust as necessary.

For cayenne and garlic powder, decrease to 1/8 teaspoon; adjust as necessary. Red pepper flavors increase in intensity upon cooking. Use in small increments to allow the flavor to intensify during cooking.

For traditional meals like Obe eja umoyo, efo riro and the likes I don’t add spices directly to the dish, but use broth that already has our spice mix

When using fresh herbs, use at the tail end of cooking.
Dry herbs and spices carry more pungent flavours so you use less quantity to fresh. It is best added at the beginning of the cooking.

Remember that our natural spice mix does not have a single artificial additive including perspective. Herbs and spices do not like heat, so move far away from the heat source and do not keep it closed cupboards(especially in hot climates like Nigeria). You may store in the fridge and freezer if you prefer and it can be kept this way for over 6 months!

If your spice mix grows weevils, do not be too worried, this shows that the mix is devoid of artificial preservatives, so pour out and remove weevils. Just as beans devoid of chemicals grow weevils without refrigeration, and you still eat by picking them out so do 100% natural spice mix!

Did you find this beneficial?
Tag a natural cooking #nomsggeng.

You want to learn how to mix your own spices and herbs?
Watch out for our coming online workshop!

@smdnigeria, changing our world a meal at a time…

Look for farmer’s market to get fresh produce, avoid as much as you can chemically grow vegetables.

Buying on market days(usually called ojo ooja in the south-west)makes it easy to buy fresh produce that are cheaper too. Locate any farmer’s market around you, ask for their market days where they just harvest new vegetables and fruits.

If you find it too much to buy at once, you can partner with your neighbours or anyone who is willing to share from the goodies.

However, you can decide to stock up and keep in the freezer or fridge

Oya, go and start your hunting before the weekend.
Do you have any tip for buying fresh produce, do share and tag your friends that will benefit from these…

Image Credit: Google.