Fast Food in Kenya

After a long day in class I decided to take a walk in town sampling fast food joints so that I can get some snack. Walking through most of the fast food restaurant I realized they all serve the same food items but at different rates. These food items include pizza.

Pizza is a pastry case that is flat and then it is topped up with either beef, chicken, vegetables or cheese. The topping depends entirely on you, best pizza places in town include steers in Nairobi and gallitos. when you are in Mombasa and you feel like pizza I highly recommend ilcovo restaurant situated along the north coast.

In Mombasa we have a local pizza known as Mombasa pizza. This pizza is normally shallow fried.

A very popular fast food in Kenya is chips and chicken. Chips are made out of peeled potatoes that are cut into strips then deep fried in fat. The chicken is always grilled and when you top up with the tomato ketchup the lunch is so very ready. Chips can also be served with sausages. Continue reading “Fast Food in Kenya”

The Values of Ground Provision Compared to Fast Food

Ground provisions are foods that are natural and easily digested by the stomach. Some of these foods are yams, sweet potatoes, eddoes, cassava, carrots and beets. Foods of this nature are great for the body and those people that consume these foods tend to live a long life.

Foods like this can be cooked in soups which in turn can give it a lot of body making soups fulfilling and enjoyable. The amount you use depend on how rich you want the soup. Ground provision like sweet potato and cassava taste great when stewed and are definitely healthy. No frying is necessary with these foods so nutrition is at its highest. If you wanted to do a stir fry it would just require you to slice some of those mentioned foods very thin. Please note that sweet potato and carrots are the candidates for stir fry. You can even bake potatoes which can be tasty. Continue reading “The Values of Ground Provision Compared to Fast Food”

Is the Egg a Considered Healthy Food? Find Out the Truth!

A few years ago eggs were thought to be the culprit in producing artery clogging cholesterol in the blood (all of the cholesterol is in the yolk of the egg). But in recent years, the School of Public Health at Harvard University had traced over 100,000 nurses for about 10 to 12 years and could not find any difference in the risk of heart disease for anyone eating 1 egg a week or anyone eating more than 1 egg a day.

Recent studies have shown that eating 2 eggs may actually improve your lipid profile. (cholesterol is also known as lipid, the fatty substance that is produced by the liver and also found in highly saturated fatty foods) Also, regular consumption may help to prevent clotting of the blood, heart attacks and even strokes. In another study, women who ate 6 eggs per week lowered their risk of breast cancer by 44%.

The egg is a healthy food because of the nutrients that it contains. 1 large egg is about 70 calories – which is about 10% of the recommended iron, minerals, protein, and B vitamins including folic acid which is recommended for pregnant women. Just one egg contains all the nine essential amino acids and about 6 grams of the high-quality proteins. They are also a very important source of carotenoids-lutein and zeaxanthin (for eye health). Continue reading “Is the Egg a Considered Healthy Food? Find Out the Truth!”

Childhood Obesity – It May Be Caused By School Lunches

While there are a few model school lunch programs that show how tasty school food can be they aren’t the norm. In fact, if you talk to kids attending the neighborhood school you might find out that either a) the school isn’t following suggestions about healthy food or b) the food is inedible. Here are a few things to think about.

1) Cost of Quality: If you’ve been to the market recently you may have noted how expensive fresh meat and produce is. If paying $25 for a beef roast for your family is hard on the budget try buying quality meat for a school.

When our children were young we were told they had switched to healthy food. Sorry, when the lettuce in the salad bar is rusty and the other vegetables are hard to differentiate it doesn’t qualify to me as being healthy. Neither is the cheese pizza with a tablespoon of grease in the middle. Been there, ate that. Continue reading “Childhood Obesity – It May Be Caused By School Lunches”

Salt Damage in the Landscape

How Salt Damages Trees

Salt damages trees through two pathways: via airborne salt spray, as on a busy highway, and via the soil. Salt spray that lands on a dormant twig can enter the tissue through leaf scar and kill the dormant bud.

When salt in the soil dissolves, it separates into sodium and chloride ions. The ions act differently to damage the tree. In early spring, the chloride ions can be taken up by the roots, enter the sap, concentrate in the shoots, and prevent buds from opening. Later, they can be transported to actively growing leaf margins, causing leaf scorch, curling, or death. Sodium ions use the same “chemical route” as necessary tree nutrients. As George Hudler, professor of plant pathology at Cornell explains, the sodium can “tie up the plant’s shuttle system and restrict uptake of magnesium and potassium, two chemicals that are essential for making chlorophyll.” Potassium deficiencies are common in plants suffering from salt injury, says Hudler. Salt in the soil can create a physiological drought. Brine near underground tree roots can be a more concentrated solution than the sap in the roots. The roots therefore can’t take in water through osmosis. Water is so unavailable to salt-stressed tree that they are actually dying of thirst. Continue reading “Salt Damage in the Landscape”

Mesquite Trees in Arizona

Mesquite trees belong in Arizona. As Jay Sharp, editor and author for the website DesertUSA.com, expresses, “the mesquites symbolize our Southwestern deserts” as much as “the Coyote, the Black-tail Jackrabbit, the Western Diamondback, scorpions, the Saguaro and prickly pear cacti.” Indeed, mesquite trees in Arizona are “as blended into the life of the land as cornbread and tortillas.” (Lometa)

Perfectly Adapted to the Desert

Mesquites are very hardy desert trees, having adapted over the centuries to life in the desert landscapes in and around Arizona. All of their physical characteristics ensure their survival here, including their foliage, their bean pods, and their root systems. They grow well in full sun and high temperatures, but will also tolerate the cold during Arizona’s winter (down to 0º Fahrenheit). They are sometimes found in rather high elevation and will adapt to shallow rocky soils. According to reports by the U. S. Department of Agriculture and Forest Service, a mesquite tree can live for more than two centuries. (Sharp) Continue reading “Mesquite Trees in Arizona”

6 Great Reasons to Visit Grenada in the Caribbean

Grenada is a beautiful island that sits close to Trinidad and Tobago. Most famous for it’s beaches, almost perfect weather and people, it’s also got a ton of great tourist delights. There are many incredible reasons to visit Grenada including the beautiful vegetation, the carnival and laid back vibe. Whatever your motivation, here are the top 6 reasons for visiting the Spice Isle.

Beaches

If you want beaches and you want them with white sand and warm crystal clear waves lapping on the shoreline, then you’ve got the right island. The strongest point of most islands, you get a lot of beaches! Grand Anse is beautiful but then so are the other beaches further north such as Levera, Sauteurs and the one on Sandy Island is truly unbeatable!

The People Continue reading “6 Great Reasons to Visit Grenada in the Caribbean”

All About the Chicken Egg

You’ve probably heard the saying “which came first, the chicken or the egg?”. Well, we’ll probably never know what the answer is, but we can learn as much as we can about the Chicken and the Egg. In our case, we’ll discuss about chicken eggs. I am here to answer all the questions you might be having in relation to this topic.

So, sit back and get ready to learn all you need to know about chicken eggs.

The Anatomy of a Chicken Egg

Most folks generalize the parts of an egg into three parts only; the shell, the albumen and the yolk. However, you’ll be surprised to know that these are not the only parts. There are many components that make the chicken egg what it is. Here is the complete anatomy of a chicken egg. Continue reading “All About the Chicken Egg”

Guava: Member of Myrtle Family

Guava is a plant of the myrtle family scientifically known as Myrtaceae. It is represented by the genus Psidium with 100 species of tropical shrubs and small trees known. They are native to Mexico, Central America, and northern South America. They have now well established in the tropics and subtropics in Southeast Asia, Hawaii, the Caribbean, Florida and Africa. The most frequently encountered species of guava is the Apple guava variety.

Guavas are typical plants with tough and dark leaves. The leaves are arranged opposite on the stem and are elliptic, to ovate measuring 5-15 cm long. The flowers are white with five petals and numerous stamens. The genera Accara and Feijoa were formerly included in the genus Psidium. They are most frequently used as food plants by larvae of many lepidopteran insects. The bacterium Erwinia psidii causes rot diseases in Apple Guavas. The fruits are highly relished by humans, many mammals as well as by birds. The animals help in the dispersal of guava seeds to long distances along with their droppings. In some tropical regions including the Hawaii many varieties have become invasive species. Several species have also joined the category of rare species due to habitat destruction. One species particularly the Jamaican Guava has become completely extinct. Continue reading “Guava: Member of Myrtle Family”

Tuba the Coastal Drink of Manzanillo

Tuba: a large, valved, brass wind instrument with a bass pitch? Correct, but that is not at all what I’m talking about. The tuba I have in mind is a coastal drink in our area of Manzanillo. This drink is made from coconut palm sap and is sweet and pleasant by itself but can be fermented to a type of wine. Tuba is unique to the coast, Manzanillo and Colima.

Workers climb the palm tree, one not used for coconut production, and bruise the coconut flower stalk until the liquid begins to flow. The stalk is tied with bamboo strips and a bamboo container, or bottle, is used to collect the sap. Up to 3 flowers from one tree may be made to produce sap. Each flower produces tuba for two months then dries out and is cut from the tree. Tuba quenches the thirst and is said to be good for indigestion.

Continue reading “Tuba the Coastal Drink of Manzanillo”