Pumpkin...Yes, I said it... Pumpkin :)

Dear Z

Later on in life, you will read this and feel like you got played, with all the pumpkins I made you inhale. The truth is, not even us parents care for pumpkins. We just make you eat them because we know they are good for you!

To inspire you (and me) into eating pumpkins, I sought out some inspiration from the southern part of the U.S; some “good ol’ down home cookin” if you may 

This pumpkin and butternut squash recipe is simple, and absolutely delicious!
It’s fall in some parts of the world, and this is the classic accompaniment to a hearty meat stew and crisp greens like sautéed spinach and kale (sukuma-wiki. Now isn't that comfort food?


All my love,
Mama Z


BROWN SUGAR AND CINAMMON PUMPKIN AND BUTTERNUT SQUASH

PREPARATION: 15 MINUTES
COOKING TIME: 30 MINUTES

¼ pumpkin thickly sliced
½ butternut squash peeled and thickly sliced
½ cup of brown sugar
1 tablespoon of cinnamon or 3 sticks of cinnamon
Extra virgin olive oil or sunflower oil
1 red onion

COOKING INSTRUCTIONS

1. Put cold water into a saucepan
2. Add in the peeled and sliced pumpkin and butternut squash pieced
3. Bring to boil until the pieces are firm
4. Rinse out in a colander with cold water to stop the cooking
5. In a separate pan, add the Extra virgin olive oil/sunflower oil
6. Add in the red onion and cook until translucent
7. Add in the pumpkin and squash and cook for 2-3 minutes, coating the pumpkin and squash with the onion and olive/sunflower oil
8. Add the cinnamon to the pan and mix tenderly to avoid breaking the pumpkin and squash pieces.
9. Coat with brown sugar (use regular sugar if brown sugar is not available)
10. Remove from the heat, cover and set aside


WHAT YOU MIGHT NOT KNOW ABOUT PUMPKIN...

Pumpkin and butternut squash are a great source of:
 Vitamin A which promotes a healthy immune system and good eye sight. Give your babies an edge over those school-borne sniffles and colds by adding pumpkin and butternut to their diet.
 Vitamin C which is essential for healthy bones, teeth, and gums. It also helps your body absorb iron and calcium; and aids your body in healing. If you are into fitness; healing and repair are critical to your well-being, so get onto those pumpkins stat!
 Vitamin E which promotes healthy blood cells, and is an anti-oxidant that protects your body’s cells from damage. Think sunscreen with vitamin E; protecting your skin from sun-damage.
 Vitamin K which allows your blood to clot normally; helps prevent bone fractures, as well as post-menopausal bone loss. So mummies, grab your fork and dig right in alongside your little ones! 

Putting the "F" in FREE!... Delivery that is! :)

Check out our lunch specials! Mama Zs is now offering FREE delivery to most areas along Ngong Road, Mbagathi Way, in Kileleshwa, Riverside, Lavington, Westlands, Kilimani,Hurlingham, Upper Hill, and parts of the CBD! Wooohoooo!

Now you can Eat Life with a super Big Spoon at super great prices!

BEEF
Slow cooked beef stew with steamed basmati rice 400.00
Slow cooked beef stew with authentic pilau 450.00
Mama Z’s Meatballs and Penne pasta 450.00

CHICKEN
Honey-barley marinated chicken with rice pilaf KES 500.00
Honey-barley marinated chicken with Mama Z’s signature “loaded” mashed potatoes 550.00

FISH
Pan seared snapper with rice pilaf and cucumber tomato salad 600.00
Mama Z’s Fish curry served with steamed rice and coleslaw 600.00

VEGETERIAN SPECIALS
Vegetable -Pasta stir fry 400.00
Spaghetti and Soya Bolognese 450.00

VEGETABLE/SALAD SIDES (choice of one is served with every meal)
Sauteed sukuma wiki and spinach
Cucumber-tomato riata
Mama Z’s ‘Slaw
Salsa Verde


*To preserve the integrity and quality of our food; our fish specials are made-to order. Cut-0ff time for all orders is 11 am for same-day lunch delivery.
We accept daily and weekly orders.
Payment can be made in cash or via Mpesa (+254722728881).
Payment prior to or upon delivery. We apologize for the unavailability of credit services.

GUILT-FREE PLEASURES... :)

Who said diner or late evening snacks have to induce Catholic guilt? Mama Zs had the pleasure of serving these amazing Chicken-Lettuce wraps at the Funky Mummy cocktail!
It is as easy as A, B,C… and you can have these delicious wraps ready for you and your family or friends in less than 30 minutes!
Check out our recipe below, and happy snacking!

CHICKEN LETTUCE WRAPS

Total time:25 minutes
Preparation:15 minutes
Cook time:10 minutes
Yield: 4 servings
Level: Easy

INGREDIENTS

1 kg thin cut chicken breast
2 tablespoons light colored oil, such as sunflower oil (extra virgin olive oil is okay)
Salt and (fresh ground) black pepper
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 inch ginger root, finely chopped or grated, optional
1 orange zested
1/2 green bell pepper, diced small
1 avocado thinly sliced
2 ripe tomatoes thinly sliced
1 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce
1/2 large head iceberg lettuce, core removed, head quartered
Wedges of navel orange -- platter garnish

COOKING INSTRUCTIONS

Chop chicken into small pieces.
Preheat a large skillet or wok to high.
Add oil to hot pan.
Add chicken to the pan and sear meat by stir frying a minute or 2.
Add salt and pepper to season, then garlic and ginger. Cook a minute more.
Grate zest into pan; add bell pepper bits and cook another minute, continuing to stir fry mixture.
Add soy sauce and Worcestershire and toss to coat the mixture evenly.
Transfer the hot chopped chicken to a plate to cool
Slice avocado and tomatoes and season with salt and pepper, and add a little sunflower or olive oil. Mix gently to avoid breaking the slices
Roll chicken, avocadoes and tomatoes into leaves of lettuce.
Leave them open while serving, or secure with a toothpick for an easy biting
Add wedged oranges to platter to garnish.

NOTE...

Be cautious when handling raw chicken. Use a seperate chopping board to handle the chicken and wash the dishes separately to avoid contamination.

Make sure the lettuce leaves are washed and dried prior to serving. Wet leaves are more likely to break when piled with the filling ingredients.

It is okay to use liquid vegetable oil in the absence of olive oil or sunflower oil. The latter present healthier eating options.

If you have no soy sauce, increase your Worcestershire by 1 tablespoon and add 4 tablespoons to the mixture.

Use mangoes as a delicious substitute in the absence of avocadoes.

"The" Funky Mummy in our kitchen!

What a treat hanging out with Funky Mummy extraordinaire this evening! Way past our babies' bedtimes, but labors of love don't sleep! :) Not just yet anyway!
Here's what Ciiru Waweru-Waithaka of Funkidz Funky Mummy posted:

"Good evening super people!! Congratulations again to the 10 Lucky ladies who won the Free meals every day for 5 days courtesy of Chase Bank/ Chase Woman, Funkidz Funky Mummy, and Mama Z's. I am currently sat in Mama Z's kitchen and watching start her preperations for the different selected meals!! What a treat!!:-)..A whole week of Nyummy healthy food!!

Thank you Rehmat Roma Sumra for your donation of your winning to a needy cause!! We have decided to donate your food equivalent of Kshs. 3,250.00 to www.angelcentre.org, www.facebook.com/Angelcentre . It is a centre for abandoned children and Funkidz/Funky Mummy will match the amount too!!:-).. We will match the Kshs. 3,250.00 per day for the 5 days!!... Kindly join us in donation if you would like, any amount and we will put it all together and make the donation on Saturday. Kindly MPESA us on 0721240634. We shall make a donation of food stuffs, feel free to donate other items if you would like to these needy babies. Kindly let us know we can collect or you can drop items off at our offices located at museum hill centre."

Please log onto www.angelcentre.org to contribute, or send Mpesa to the above number for a group contribution.

Pssssst! Don't forget to place your orders for this week! :)

Mama Z's all week! :)

I hope all the lovely ladies had a wonderful Mother's Day! And if you're not a mummy, I hope you used this as an excuse to pamper yourself anyway! :) Guys... not forgetting about you; and hoping you paid special attention to your mum, sister, girlfriend, wife, best friend...!

Since Chase Bank and Funkidz have been extremely supportive to Mama Z's this week; we are open for lunch delivery from tomorrow (Tuesday May 15th to Friday May 18th, and Monday May 21st! (Normal lunch resumes Tuesday and Thursday schedule next week)

Check out our lunch specials, with a special "Every day is Mother's day" discount! The first two people to call/text/FB/email/Tweet their orders for lunch tomorrow get FREE DELIVERY! Yay! Talk about a "Tasty Tuesday!"

Tamu Tuesday!

Lamb biriyani (450.00)
Cajun style tilapia with rosemary pilaf or herb potatoes (600.00)
Vegetable biryani (450.00)
*Served with your choice of coleslaw or cucumber-tomato riata

Wicked Wednesday!

Oven baked meatballs with penne pasta (450.00)
Fish curry served with steamed long grain rice (600.00)
Vegetable curry with steamed long grain rice (450.00)
*Served with your choice of roasted Italian vegetables or sautéed cauliflower and broccoli

Tasty Thursday

Chicken Biriyani (450.00)
Chicken curry with Caribbean rice and peas (600.00)
Vegetable curry with Caribbean rice and peas (450.00)
*Served with your choice of red and white cabbage salad with spicy mayonnaise or Sautéed sukuma-wiki and spinach

Fab Foodie Friday

Slow cooked beef stew with “the” loaded mashed potatoes or steamed long grain rice (450.00)
Pan-seared tilapia with vegetable stir fried rice and Mama Z’s signature sauce (600.00)
Swahili coconut beans with steamed long grain rice (450.00)
*Served with your choice of sautéed sukuma wiki or salsa Verde


aMazing Monday!

Stir-fried ginger chicken with spaghetti (450.00)
Pan-seared red snapper with rosemary pilaf and Mama Z’s signature sauce (600.00)
Vegetable stir fry with spaghetti (450.00)
*Served with your choice of Sautéed sukuma-wiki and spinach or tomato-cucumber salad with sweet oranges

Check out our Facebook Page at https://www.facebook.com/MamaZsfood
on Twitter @mamazawadis

"Seize the moment! Remember all those women on the 'Titanic' who waved off the dessert cart?" :)

Not just a Woman... a Funky Woman! May the Month of aMazing Women!

As a woman, we know you have many roles; daughter, friend, sister, aunt, grandmother, wife & friend. These roles call for sacrifice & time, which is why Chase Bank and Funkidz Funky Mummy want to spoil you!!!

Chase Bank will soon be launching Chase Woman, a banking product that offers holistic services for women by women. Chase Bank has partnered with Funkidz Funky Mummy, to bring 10 lucky women a healthy yummy lunch meal delivered to your home/ office every day for 5 days!!:-). Made by??..you guessed right, a woman, Mama Z's

Here's to banking for women but most of all here's to sharing a moment to tell you how special you are.. Happy Mothers day.. Happy women day.. Everyday!!!!:-)

If we googled you, what would we find out about you that makes you a funky woman? ( does not have to be true, can be as imaginative/ funny as you like :-)). The first 10 women with the most likes on their post on Funkidz page, are the lucky winners!! Voting closes in 24 hours starting now. Open to women in nairobi only, out of town coming soon:-). Deliveries start Monday. Winners will be given a menu with nyummy choices to make..

So-yum... ! Tasty soy based options

As a lover of all things red meat, it was a little shocking to find out that it takes anywhere from 24-72 hours to digest red meat; depending on a variety of factors including one's metabolism, health, current medications, food accompaniments, etc. No wonder athletes' eat carb-heavy meals prior to any major game. The sheer energy that goes into digesting that succulent T-Bone steak must be pretty significant!

Having read up on this while weaning my daughter, I decided to minimize the amount of red meat in her diet, and focused on finding tasty protein alternatives. That is how I stumbled on soy(a) mince. Perhaps the first question that comes to mind for most, is "what is soya?". Soya comes from the seed of the soya plant. Each pod of the soya plant can contain 1 to 4 circular soya beans similar to peas but generally larger in size. Soya beans are one of the best sources of protein in the whole plant-kingdom.

To the touch, soya mince feels and looks almost like a cereal of some sort. When cooked right, with enough seasoning, soy(a) offers all the nutrition that red meat does. It is important to note that the actual soy beans can be very tough on the digestive systems of our little ones, so soy(a) mince is a much gentler (and faster to cook) alternative.

Here's a soy(a) based recipe that is great for the whole family. (try keeping it a secret until AFTER diner and see if anyone, especially the guys in the household actually notice the difference! I assure you, there are some who haven't figured it out quite yet! :) )

Vegetarian Louisiana Dirty Rice
Ingredients

1/4kg of soy(a) mince
2 cups of rice
4 cups of water or vegetable broth
1 cup of shallots (spring onions) finely chopped
1 cup of parsley (you can substitute this with cilantro/dhania)
1 cup of chopped celery
1 cup of red onion
1/2 a cup of green/bell pepper
2 tbsp. of tomato paste
salt and pepper to taste
3 tbsp. of sunflower/olive/canola oil (*heart healthy cooking oils)

Brown the soy(a) mince
Add the shallots, celery, red onion, and green/bell pepper
Add the seasoning and tomato paste, and cover to cook for for 5-7 minutes
Add the parsley/cilantro, water or vegetable broth, and the rice
Add the washed rice and cover
Simmer for about 25 minutes or until the water/broth has dried out
Lower the heat and uncover for about 5 minutes

Dirty rice can be served with "Kachumbari" or Salsa Verde, or your choice of leafy green veggies!


*To turn this into a meat-lover's special, simply substitute the soy(a) for regular ground beef and add 4 chicken livers for added taste! As a heart healthy option, use lean beef for your mince, such as top rump steak.

Tasty Thursday's Lunch Specials! Yum! Yum!

Starches
Vegetable fried rice or steamed rice
Homestyle pilau

Meat/Protein
Pan-seared tilapia (600.00)
Thai-coconut chicken (650.00)

Greens/Salad
Sautéed sukuma-wiki and spinach
Vegetable stir fry

Call +254722728882 or +254787847833 to order.

Inbox us on this FB page or on twiRRA @mamazawadi
Last order in; Thursday at 9.00 am :)


*KES 200.00 for delivery to most of the 'burbs (Ngong Road, Lavington, Kileleshwa, Upper Hill, Museum Hill, Kilimani, etc and the CBD) If you are outside these areas, feel free to call us and we can work something out for you!

Happy Tuesday Folks!