Your Shallow and Incomplete Guide to Cooking Food:

For people who are locked in and are worried about running out of food soon.

How to prepare nutrient rich green gram sprouts  (ndengu zimemea kiasi)

After a while  you get to that point where you have no idea what to cook.
I got to that point this week. I get hungry but I am not interested in anything I have been cooking.

I have also been thinking I need to pump nutrients into my body, as compared to just filling my stomach.

I am keen on what I eat but I am imagining a situation where I have to ration my food.
I trust in God to provide but even Noah kept some food to eat when he would be in lockdown.

Would it not be better if I figured out what food combinations in small quantities can provide me with at least a balanced a mix of nutrients daily.
Rather than ending up cooking ugali with a soft ugali for stew.

My neighbour gave me a bunch of greens from her garden. She knows ni kubaya.
So they are in the recipe.

 I remembered some green grams I bought a while back and was planning to throw out.

I don't cook green grams for the simple reason that I don't know which ones have less rocks and everyone claims to sell ndengu from Makueni.

The ones I buy  must be from Kwale.
They have at least 200 gms of small rocks and sand inside for every kilo.
Though this is a good time to clean them up and store them clean.

But I remembered I used to make sprouts. Then stopped when I read that they can cause food poisoning.

I did some reading and found out kumbe it's mishandling that causes e.coli to grow in sprouts.
A safe way to eat them is by cooking them thoroughly.

But do we ever eat salads willingly in Kenya? Let's see by a show of hands.

We are okay.


Sprouts have high percentages of protein, higher than the normal boiled ndengu.
In fact one YouTube video I watched claimed that sprouted ndengu have 50% more protein than when eaten as a regular lentil.

Gimme gimme some sprouts right now.

They also have antidioxants, vitamins and vitamins which you can Google later.

I cooked my sprouts for lunch yesterday and after eating I deliberately lay down to 'listen to myself' in case food poisoning was coming. I woke up to an alarm an hour later.

I still haven't  got any running stomach or reaction. So we are good.

Disclaimer: Sprouts, according to my taste buds are quite flat. But it's like how mothers always have githeri around the house in a big sufuria during school holidays so the kids can have something to keep their mouths engaged. So if you want taste, look somewhere else.


HOW TO

• Clean the lentils by picking out small rocks and the hard green grams.
• 
  
• Wash them
• 
  
• Soak in water for eight hours
• 
  
• Drain the water after the soaking
• 
  
• Transfer them into a dry container and cover it with a wet kitchen cloth.
• 
  
• Leave for another 12 hours.
• 
  
• They will start sprouting.
• 
  
• Wash them
• 
  
• Put them in a pot with a bit of water and cook for 10 minutes.
• 
  
• Add salt and turmeric.
• 
  
• After the 15 minutes I added oil, ginger, garlic and chilli  then cooked for another five minutes.

It was a bit dry yes so I had it with this superdelicious cup of peppermint tea.

I don't know if it's just me or is this quarantine making anyone else crave sugar?

But maybe coz I don't have many interesting things to eat in the house.

When you are walking about outside you come across yummy things like bananas and avocados from Mexico and njugu.
I walk around my house and all I see is dry foods that need to be boiled or roasted.
Also, should I be rationing my food intake? Should I limit my meals to one per day in case we are here until July?

I despair sometimes.
Then I go online and discover people like  Chris Mann and I'm not so frightened anymore. His vogue parody is the best. Check out his Hello from the Inside if you are going out of your mind.
I am
And I think it's good for me somehow.

I started responding to my neighbours efforts to talk.
Today we were planting ferns for a few hours with  my neighbours' kid.

I typed this yesterday.

We kept social distance. We sanitized and he was in charge of the soil, and I in charge of the containers.

He is more bored than me.
Everyone is bored.
But I think we are mostly just in a serious panic.

Next I'm going to have a wall of all the things that are keeping me sane this Corona Season.

I'll also look for more frugal living tips to help you maximise your lockdown supplies.

Your Shallow and Incomplete guide to cooking food:

For people who are locked down and cannot run to the kiosk to get some fresh meat.

So we are just going to make recipes out of what is in the house.
Now that I am here. I have a craving for things I don't even eat.

Tropical sweets
Kdf
Cream cakes
Roasted Chicken feet

Yeah.

'Eating seeds as a pastime activity The toxicity of our city, our city.'

I can post another fried omena recipe for you. It's basically what I am eating this week. And beans. But beans are nasty. They make You second guess your digestive system.
Omena with Apple Cider Vinegar
Omena in milk
Omena with tomatoes only
Deep fried omena.

But we'll get creative. Three weeks is a long time to be within the home area.
I watched two and a half men burning  a carpet for an entire morning . A three meter pvc  carpet which would be insequntial in non-corona times but became the main agenda for these men today.

One of my neighbours got married into the next plot. She just moved one item after another with her baby on her back to her new man's house next door.

On Monday I had a rush of blood to my head. I thought of the overstretched time ahead of me. The hustler me who needs to go out every day to hunt and gather. The hasla me who isn't on a payroll and needs to harangue and think and think and think everyday how to keep surviving.

Then I stopped panicking, because it has been worse. And I have food, clothing and shelter.
And books, and hobbies, and friends and sanitizer.
And I haven't got my head buried in the sand.
I have made some plans in case this gets out of hand.
And I am in touch with those who matter.
But I cannot help it when my head is playing.

'We are going down sugar.
Sugar plum going down swinging'

Maybe I'll go back to growing sprouts.
And brewing fruit wine.
And sewing shapeless covers to cover things. From my old clothes.

I've checked on everyone.
I think almost everyone.
And I came up with a new list of the things that really matter to me in life.
I have summarised my basic needs to two major items
And three minor items.

We are assuming their is WiFi and and a garden outside.

1. A big kitchen with space for a radio and shelves and cabinets everywhere. Big extra large sinks with faucet taps. And solid work spaces I can sit on without freezing my bottom.

2. A  big spacious bathroom with big Windows that look out into a big expanse or a jungle. It should have a high counter for a music player. A big basket with hair and body washes and snacks.

My minor needs
1. Wheat flour
2. Tomatoes
3. Tea

Yes Suzie,I'm hungry again.

I know I need large Windows in my bathroom. Don't ask why. I just know.

Feed the birds.