Beauty Out of Africa

Things to do in Bamako, Mali - The BlaBla

Rahama Wright of Shea Yeleen International took Zainab and I to one of her favorite spots in Mali. Cafe BlaBla is owned by Seba Blabla and is a local hot spot for great food. The grilled chicken with couscous is just incredible. Well seasoned and delicious. BlaBla is located on BlaBla Street at the Hippodrome in Bamako. All the Cab drivers know this spot, so you won't have any trouble getting there

Rahama and some of the great staff

Funlayo and SeBa BlaBla, Owner of BlaBla

Second Night out at BlaBlah with Petra (GTZ), Sonja(Technoserv), John (Terra Global Capital)

How Does My Garden Grow?

Red Peppers, Tomatoes, Egg Plant

Rosemary, Basil & Thyme

Tolu rests after an afternoon of hardwork:)

Our Vegetable Garden Part 1

The rising cost of gas and food definitely added to my motivation to start a vegetable garden this Spring. Hubby and I have always done a few tomato plants every summer, but this year we decided to build a raised bed and really grow some serious veggies. The kids joined in on the fun this weekend. I am looking forward to a bumper crop of tomatoes, peppers, egg plants and lots of herbs this Summer

 

Put my 10 year old to work :)

He did a pretty good job too!

We're gonna have fun watching our food grow

Keeping Our Food Real Part 2

I am not a food purist by any stretch of the imagination, you can find chicken nuggets in my freezer and a few other decadent things from time to time. My kids love hot dogs and look forward to summer barbeques and picnics to chow down on them. What I do try to do is keep our regular meals real. I buy fresh fish from the fish market or the Asian store and have it cleaned, but you can definitely tell it's fish when I cook it. We prefer to buy fresh fowl (chicken) from the African grocery stores, because they have less fat and are a little tougher and so hold up really well in heavy sauces.

Cooking fresh foods can be a little time consuming, but well worth the benefit in terms of nutrition and taste

Lets's start re-introducing our kids to real food

Keeping Our Food Real Part 1

Is it possible that your kids will grow up not knowing what real food looks like? Most kids are fed so much processed food they don't know the taste, smell and feel of the real thing. Would your child be traumatized if you took him/her to a fish market where fish are in full display - head, fins, scales and all? Are they so used to eating processed, prefectly shaped breaded fish sticks that real fish becomes disgusting? Are your kids so happy eating other mystery meats like chicken nuggets, hot dogs and the like, that if you showed them fresh fowl, they would lose their appetite? 

Without being preachy, I want to encourage us to pay more attention to what we stock our refriderators and freezers with. How much processed and prepackaged food does your family eat. I know these packaged foods are convenient in our hectic and busy lives, but there is a cost to over indulging in these conveniences.
First there is the issue of the chemicals and preservatives that are used in these convenient foods. There is also the issue of salt and fat that is adding to our national problem with obesity. But most of all our kids especially are missing the opportunity to enjoy and relish real fresh foods.