Ginger Madness: Quick Stir Fry Recipe

As if the mint & ginger infused green tea wasn't enough to satisfy my craving for ginger, I had to take it a step further. This week, I was wandering around the food isles at Woolies trying to figure out what I would make for my lunch. As usual, I wandered aimlessly for about 20 minutes before realising what my body craved. See, I have to walk around and let my eyes take it all in and communicate with the belly to see if the little man inside jumps up for joy or curls up writhing in feigned pain.

So anyway, after scanning the near empty salad shelves (it was evening-time, and they only had those pasta salads - grossums), my eyes settled on the stir-fry veggie mix. He was jumping for joy- this had to be the meal! Then I had to make the decision- to noodle or not to noodle...I know it sounds crazy but a stir-fry is perfectly good without rice or noodles. Right. Settled on no noodles, no rice. What follows is the recipe I've had for the last two days. It's deelish. Please try it. I don't really do the thing of measuring quantities when cooking, so bear with me please.

Ingredients

Stir-Fry Mix from Woolies/Spar/P&P - or you can make your own using

julliened carrots
florets of broccoli
chopped onion
cabbage (red,white or chinese)
spinach
chinese/regular mushrooms
julliened baby marrows
chopped coriander (not a lot-so it take your taste buds' attention from the ginger-chillies taste)

and whatever else you fancy in your stir-fry

cloves garlic
ginger root
soy sauce/fish sauce
Whole chillies
olive oil/grapeseed oil

Method

Pour a tablespoon of chosen oil into pan. Heat.
Using a pestle and motar, crush chillies, ginger and garlic, then throw it into the pan for frying.
When flavours release, throw the veggies in and mix it all up
Keep turning the veggies over to ensure heat distribution and to make sure all veggies are cooking.
If you like to add salt to everything, this is the part where you add some salt.
Pour some soy or fish sauce and simmer- BUT DON'T LET THE VEGGIES DIE.

Serve with whatever tickles your fancy.

It's very quick to make but it tastes soooooo good!

P.S Sorry for the kak pic, I ate the food faster than I could blog about it. LOL

Artists I Like: Marc Baptiste

I've been meaning to blog about Marc Baptiste for years now, and I still haven't. Marc is one of my faourite photographers, and when you see some of his work, I'm sure you'll understand why. Haitian by birth, this man's work is often emotive- but then again, what's the point of a photograph if it's not emotive?

Anyway, so Marc has shot for a gazillion magazines including Cosmopolitan, Vanity Fair, Harper's Bazaar, Trace and (my favourite magazine) Clam.He's shot more celebrities than I want to fit into this post and has also worked with various clients including Nike and Reebok.

Marc's work caught my eye around '07 when I was paging through a Clam magazine - and then even more a few months later when I heard about his book Beautiful. The book challenges the same old boring stereotypes of nudity of black women in the media: draped semi-naked across cars, grinding against a man, fighting with another woman over a man who probably doesn't care about them (Flavor of Love, For The Love Of Ray Jay) and all the other depictions of black women in magazines like King, XXL, The Source as well music videos.

In his book Beautiful, he's photographed some of the most beautiful women in different phases in their lives. Some of the models are very well known, while others might not be immediately recognisable.

You can see more of his images and profile on his website and his blog.

Tea Infusions: Mint Green Tea

So I really love drinking tea. My main kind is ceylon tea, but I generally venture into other kinds depending on my mood. I love teas from everywhere, and I especially love adding masala to  , I've decided to lay off the regular ceylon tea though, because drinking it means I end up consuming a lot of sugar. So in my effort to be healthy, I haven't had ceylon tea in 10 days. At all. Instead, I've been making tea infusions and the one below is by far my favourite. It has such a fresh taste and everything inside it works towards helping my body function.

Mint Green Tea

Ingredients

Green Tea
A few sprigs of mint (according to taste)
Ginger slices or chunks (according to taste)
A pinch of aniseed

Stick em all in a teapot, tea infuser or a cup, pour some boiling water and allow to stand for a few minutes so as to bring the flavours out, and then enjoy. If you prefer a more lasting taste, put the ingredients in a flask and allow to stand for about two hours before drinking.

I enjoy the taste of mint in tea- it's fresh and lasting- and I love that mint is good for my dodgy digestive system. Ginger is great for the immune system, so I know the flu isn't touching me again this winter. Aniseed is also a digestive aid, and has a great licoricey taste.

I'm still deciding whether I should substitute the mint for cinnamon sticks, but we'll see in time.

Bad Ass Females: Nicole Lyons

If you know me, then you definately know that I love to have bad ass women around me. If not around me, I at least love to know of them. Imagine my giggles when I discovered one Nicole Lyons- the first black woman to race and compete in the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA), the drag racing authority States-side. She's so into her cars, that she's built some award winning engines (She once won an award for building an 1100 hp 565 naturally aspirated engine. I'm not sure what that is but I think it's good) AND she owns a muscle car restoration shop called "Cole Muscle Cars". If I was a dude, this is the type of girl I would be gunning for; fearless, stunning, ambitious and feminine.

Cyanide...

R.I.P Lumumba

This is one of my heroes and inspirations to be a better person and a better African. Patrice Lumumba. His birthday would have been on July 2nd, and he would have been 85. He was a man of vision, and his vision was one of a united, powerful Africa. It can happen. I know this because he would have never been murdered if it was impossible. They know how a powerful Africa could level the playing field, that's why they continue to have a go at our Achilles. We can still do it.

In the memory of our fathers and mothers, we have no choice but to rise, or face a future where those who have had no hand in our liberation victoriously walk over fields of our skulls.

Without dignity there is no liberty, without justice there is no dignity, and without independence there are no free men. - Patrice Lumumba '60