So, I’m sharing it with all of you.

Whoever this barrista is, he has skills. Just watch this video to see how he takes the art of making a good coffee to a whole other level!

via: Coffee Art

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At the bottom of this post I tell you of 2 Woolworths Foods products that you HAVE to try. If you do, let me know if you agree with me…

What are your favourite foods from Woolworths? Do you even shop at Woolworths?

There are a few options here in SA:

Pick n Pay

They’re upping their game to cater for all the people who think that Woolworths is getting too expensive. As well as being something of an upmarket store in the townships.

Spar

My wife and I try to avoid the Spar (except for BroadAcres) because 90% of the time we’ve gone there, there’s something wrong with the fruit and veg.

For example, the last time we went (IN SANDTON, of all places) there was hectic fungus growing on some vegetables, which had expired 6 days before!!!

Woolworth Foods

My wife and I tend to shop at Woolworths for 95% of our groceries. It may be a little more expensive (though I’m not sure, because some of the things we buy are only available at Woolworths), but the quality tends to be a lot better.

IF they have stock!

My favourite foods

So, the point of this article. There are 2 things that I recommend that EVERYBODY go try out:

Roast Chicken

Woolworths sells a roast chicken, marinaded and packed in plastic.

You cook this chicken for about 1 to 1.5 hours in the oven, IN the bag (with 2 small incisions in the plastic bag). After it’s been cooking long enough that it’s ready, we take off the plastic, and turn on the grill in the oven for about 5 minutes to make the skin crispy.

It is REALLY tasty, and thanks to the bag which has kept the juices in, it’s not dried out at all.

And if I can cook, it, ANYBODY can cook it.

Full Cream Ayreshire Coconut Yogurt

Everybody knows yogurt’s healthy, right? Ok, maybe not the full cream yogurt, but it’s healthier than cake I hope.

Next time you go to Woolworths, look out for the yogurts in the black tubs. There are various flavours like Lemon Cream, Vanilla and Coconut.

My personal favourite is the coconut yogurt. It is SO good, my wife and I buy it for desert.

Try it and see if you don’t agree with me. You’ll stop buying biscuits and cakes and puddings for a while.

Any other foods you recommend? Please let everybody know by leaving a comment below.

© James for Make a good house a GREAT home, 2009. | Woolworths Foods is doing SOMETHING right | 9 comments. Click here to add yours... |

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It’s great for lunch, and she says it can be made in advance, which is always cool. I have taken it to work in a lunchbox, so I can definitely say that it keeps.

This recipe serves 2 people, and goes down really well on a Saturday afternoon when you’re looking for a light, healthy meal.

Low GI Salad Ingredients

- 125g of shaved chicken loaf, cut in squares (with scissors )
- 1 cup of cooked pasta (we use the “pasta shells“)
- 1/2 red or yellow pepper, finely sliced
- 1/2 cup of green peas
- 2 tablespoons of fresh parsley, chopped
- 5 tablespoons of low-fat Mayonnaise
- 5 tablespoons of “lite” chutney
- shredded mixed salad leaves
- salt/pepper/dried herbs (to your taste)

Preparing your low GI Chicken Pasta Salad

1- Combine chicken and cooked pasta

2- Add chopped pepper, green peas, parsley and shredded lettuce leaves

3- Mix Mayo and Chutney together and add to the salad. Mix it in well…

4- Season with salt, pepper and dried herbs to your liking.

5- Let me know how it goes and if you like it

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The problem with this is, you shouldn’t be drinking an energy drink like Energade as a normal, everyday drink, unless you’re doing a LOT of exercise.

It is SO high in energy that it can actually help you to put on weight!

A few dietitians have said that it’s actually healthier to drink Coke than Energade if you’re not replacing energy spent doing exercise.

So, here’s an alternative.

Instead of using Energade, try buying a low energy fruit drink that you need to mix with water.

An example is one that we’ve bought from Woolworths: low kj Peach Apricot Nectar Concentrate

It tastes good, and of course, it’s low energy.

You don’t REALLY need to use sparkling water, but I prefer it sometimes. It just makes a boring fruit juice not so boring.

© James for Make a good house a GREAT home, 2008. | Healthy Energy Drink that won’t make you fat | No comments yet. Click here to add yours... |

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But I’ll tell you how I like my tea made, and you can decide whether it’s a good way to make tea.

How to make tea

- Boil the kettle

To save energy and money, it’s preferable that you only put as much water in the kettle as you’ll need to make the cup of tea.

- Let the kettle settle

Let the kettle stop bubbling. Don’t put water that’s still boiling into your cup.

- Insert the tea bag

Put your tea bag in your cup. Lay it out so that you can pour water through it

- Add the sugar

I like 3 teaspoons of sugar in my tea. Though it’s the number 3 that’s key for me. They don’t have to be full teaspoons, just as long as it’s 3

- Pour the water

Pour your water in the cup, but pour it through the tea bag, and slowly. I think this is what brings out most of the flavour.

- Let it brew

I generally only let my tea bag sit in the hot water for about 1 minute, but the stronger you want your tea, the longer it must sit there…

Then, obviously, strain the tea bag, and take it out…

- Add the milk

There’s research that says adding milk to your tea blocks the health benefits, but I can’t drink tea without milk, so I normally add the milk now.

I add enough to make it look a little creamy, but not too white.

- Stir your perfect cup of tea

The only thing left now is to stir the cup of tea…

And enjoy…

© James for Make a good house a GREAT home, 2008. | How to make the perfect cup of tea | 6 comments. Click here to add yours... |

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The latest buzz word when it comes to healthy eating and achieving your goal weight is ‘LOW GI‘.

Upon discovering the LOW GI diet, my husband and I adopted the principles of this and were on the hunt for easy, quick recipes that are healthy, delicious and obviously, LOW GI.

This is one of my favourites – great for a quick Saturday lunch at home.

And kids love it too

Ingredients

(Serves 2)

• 2 Slices of 100% Rye Bread
• 2 Tablespoons Tomatoe Paste
• 4 Mushrooms, sliced
• 1 Jalapeno, thinly sliced
• 2 Handfuls of grated Mozarella
• Dried Herbs/Pepper

Preparation

1. Toast the Rye Bread slices in the toaster
2. Spray ‘Spray and Cook’ onto a baking tray
3. Place the slices on the baking tray
4. Spread the slices with tomatoe paste
5. Place the sliced mushrooms on top
6. Sprinkle the thinly sliced jalapeno’s
7. Top with the mozzarella cheese
8. Add dried herbs/pepper to taste
9. Pace in the oven under the grill for approximately 4 minutes
10. Enjoy with a side salad!

© James for Make a good house a GREAT home, 2007. | Low GI Pizza Snack | 2 comments. Click here to add yours... |

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Ingredients

- Thick/strong tin foil – Enough to wrap each potato twice
- Herbs, like Rosemary and Thyme from the herb garden
- Butter – A good tablespoon’s worth per potato
- Potatoes
- Garlic – 1 or 2 cloves per potato

Preparation

- Wash the potatoes, and don’t dry them afterwards
- Using a knife, put a few cuts into each potato. This is just so that the melted butter and herbs can be soaked into the potato
- Cut the tin foil in squares big enough to wrap a potato twice
- Rub the potato with a little butter
- Lay the potato on the the foil
- Put pieces of butter on the foil next to the potato (or on top of the potato)
- Crush a clove of garlic and put it next to the potato
- Leave a few twigs of rosemary and thyme next to the potato
- Wrap the potato (not too tightly) with the foil

Cooking

Place the potatoes in the braai between the coals. It is better if you don’t let any coals touch the potatoes, though they can be as close as possible, and completely surrounded.

Leave them there until all the meat is ready. I would say that you need to give them at least 1.5 hours cooking, though my braais always seem to take a LOOONG time to finish, so mine have stayed in the coals for up to 2.5 hours. If it’s too hot for the potatoes, then the skin might burn a little, but the middle will be soft. As long as the coals aren’t touching the potatoes, you should be fine.

Just don’t forget to take them out of the braai when everything’s ready.

Eating the potatoes

I personally like to cut them in half and put big blobs of butter on top. Of course, this is all up to you.

© James for Make a good house a GREAT home, 2007. | Braai Potato Recipe | No comments yet. Click here to add yours... |

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But, it is also National Braai Day.

For those of you not from South Africa, a braai (pronounced like “eye” but with “br” in front of it) is a barbecue. Only with proper meat, and done in South African style of beer, boerewors and biltong. And steak, and lamb chops, and potato salad, and malva pudding…. you get the idea

BraaiDay was started by Jan Scannell in 2005, and is being heavily promoted now, with people being asked to SMS the number of guests around a braai on the day. It is a great way for all friends and family to spend an afternoon together, because braais are always fun. According to www.braaiday.co.za:

National Braai Day is a non-profit initiative that aims to unite all South Africans around the braai on 24 September. The idea is that in a few years it will reach the same status as a day like St Patrick’s Day.

And, just to give you an idea, here’s a video with a tongue-in-cheek look at “South African Braai Etiquette” giving you a pretty typical view of a braai taking place.

So, if you have any comments or braai tips, leave them in the form below. I’m hoping to add a few recipes and ideas over the next year, all in perfect time for BraaiDay 2008!

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Shopping List:

• 10 artichokes in olive oil
• A handful of sundried tomatoes in olive oil
• A handful of dried black olives in chili/herb oil
• Approximately 30 ml of the olive oil from the olives or normal virgin olive oil
• 1 clove of garlic
• 1 green chili
• 2 Handfuls of Parmessan shavings
• 250g of Pasta (Penne or Fusili)

Most of the ingredients above can be found at a local supermarket. If not, any ‘Italian’ deli would stock all of the products.

After you’ve shopped, you open up all your jars whilst your pasta is boiling and follow the step-by-step guide below:

• Reserve approximately 30 ml of the olive oil from the olives and add to the bowl
• Crush the garlic clove and add to the oil
• Chop up the chili finely and add to the bowl
• Drain the Artichokes, cut into quarters and place in a medium sized bowl
• Drain the sundried tomatoes, slice into thin slithers and add
• Pit the olives and chop them roughly before adding to the bowl
• Prepare your 2 Handfuls of Parmessan shavings

When your pasta is ready, drain, and place back in the pot. Pour your sauce over the pasta and mix well. Then serve up and add a handful of parmesan shavings to each plate…

You can also try this with other ingredients – see what you have in your fridge or what you find at the deli and just mix it up, experiment! That’s how I came up with this one and it’s one of my husband’s favourites now!!

© Lulu for Make a good house a GREAT home, 2007. | Jars Pasta sauce | No comments yet. Click here to add yours... |

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Serves 2-3 people

Ingredients:

• 1 tin of Salmon
• A handful of cherry tomatoes (Halved)
• A large handful of fresh basil leaves (Roughly chopped)
• 3 stalks of celery (Finely chopped)
• 1 bunch of celery leaves (Roughly chopped)
• A handful of olives (Pitted and roughly chopped)
• +/- 60 ml Olive oil
• 250g Pasta

And here are the 3 easy steps to making this very impressive pasta…

1. Boil the pasta – Make sure that your water is salted and is boiling before putting the pasta in. You can also add a drop of olive oil to your water

2. While your pasta is cooking, combine all your ingredients – place your salmon from the tin into a medium sized bowl, add the halved cherry tomatoes, olives, celery leaves and stalks, and basil. Pour approximately 60 ml of olive oil over your ingredients (you may need a bit more or less, depending on preference)

3. When your pasta is ready, drain, place back into the pot that it was boiled in and throw your already-prepared sauce over this. Mix and stir!

ENJOY!

© Lulu for Make a good house a GREAT home, 2007. | Salmon Pasta Recipe | No comments yet. Click here to add yours... |

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