Mixed Gingham Shirt

It is speculated that the fabric now known as gingham may have been made at Guingamp, a town in Brittany, France, and that the fabric may be named after the town. Some sources say that the name came into English via Dutch. When originally imported into Europe in the 17th century, gingham was a striped fabric, though now it is distinguished by its checkered pattern. From the mid-18th century, when it was being produced in the mills of Manchester in England, it started to be woven into checked or plaid patterns (often blue and white). 

I went to the haberdashers to buy a simple zip and this fabric (ordinary gingham I call it ordinary as i is fabric we use for summer school uniforms here in the UK) started crying for my help! I usually close my eyes but my zeal got the best of me so I rushed home cut it and made a smart casual shirt. I used purple for the button stand collar and cuffs, yellow for the collar stand and yoke and navy blue for the body.Happy with how it turned out. I have made it in various configurations ever since

See more of this Shirt here

My Curly Kale Smoothie

I try to have a Curl Kale or a Spinach smoothie every week day morning in keeping with my lifestyle change of sitting at a sewing machine hours on end. What I like about this recipe is that it gives me enough energy for the job (bananas & iron) 

 and I am getting the benefits below:

• Great fibre content so aids digestion and elimination
• Kale has more iron than beef! 
• Kale is high in the K vitamin which can help fight various cancers
• Kale is great for your cardio health it helps lower cholesterol its also a good anti inflammatory food

Recipe:

1. Curly Kale (put as much as you like I usually use one bag for 3 smoothies)

2. 2 Bananas

3. Half a Cucumber

4. 1/3 of zero fat Yoghurt

5. Coconut Milk

Blend to your desired smoothness, if you like it a little thinner be sure to add half or a whole cucumber to your recipe.You may not have Kale in your part of the world but you will have Spinach or Water leaf as it is called in Africa you can use this instead I prefer Kale

FitFam Jollof Rice

Instagram was lit with various Jollof Rice recipes in the past few days it was world Jollof day I wonder who started this trend! Anyway Jollof Rice is a main meal eaten in the West African countries of Ghana, Nigeria, Senegal, Gambia, Mali, Cote D Ivoire, Benin, Togo Sierra Leone, Cameroon and Liberia. It is derived from Senegambia word "Wolof" or one pot. I decided to make a FitFam variation with less oil and an accompaniment of a whole meal salad

Ingredients
Jollof Rice:
1. 2 cups of Easy Cook Basmati
2. 8 tomatoes or 2 cans of Plum tomatoes
3. 1 tube of tomatoe purée (find this in your nearest supermarket)
4. 2 scotch bunny peppers
5. 3 medium sized onions
5. 4 tablespoons of Extra Virgin Olive Oil
6. Sea Salt
7. Bay Leaves

Chicken
1. 1 pack of Chicken drumsticks
2. Garlic, Ginger, Black Pepper, mixed herbs and salt

Salad
1. Quinoa
2. Green peas
3 Black Eyed peas
4. Edamame beans
5. Broccoli
6.Nuts
7. Honey and Mustard dressing


Method

Cook your peas, beans, broccoli and Quinoa and set aside to cool (I usually have this already prepared in the fridge)

Season your Chicken and put in the oven

Blend Tomatoes, peppers and Onions add chicken stock if you have some or water. If you use chicken stock then do not add oil but if you use water add the oil.
Add your seasoning and tomatoes puree and bring to the boil. Add your washed rice and lower the heat to the lowest point, close the pot and leave to cook until the liquid is absorbed and rice is tender to your taste. Use your spoon to turn the rice around to to loosen all grains and to ensure it has the same colour all over.