I Tried Something New and You Can Too!

April 01, 2020 by Ezanya Nance in Blog

I hope you are doing well, staying safe! I give more details in the podcast- the link is below.

I had mentioned that I would share a bit of what we were doing and I decided to go the food route.

I had gone to the grocery store to get black-eyed peas and there were none in the dry food aisle- only red lentils- I picked them up.

Hurray! for Google- I found this link and this recipe from Sonja and Alex! It looked so easy that I told myself I had to make something with my lentils. I did; with a few items that I had at home, I made it mine, I would say it turned out delicious.

Thanks Sonja and Alex for the recipe and for giving me faith to try something different!

Ingredients

2 Tablespoon Ghee

1 Cup Red lentils (softened)

Chopped Onions

1/4th tsp Mustard seeds

dash of Tumeric

1/2 tsp of Chopped/ crushed Garlic and Ginger ea

1/2 of curry powder

1/2 cup of chopped tomatoes

1 Bay Leaf

1 Knorr Bouillon Cube

Pickled tomato (optional)

Salt to taste

About 3 cups of water

FYI!

I listened to the podcast and I had mentioned that I had put two tablespoons of dahl in the pot- oops. I had put two tablespoons of Ghee in the pot.

Steps

I softened the lentils by letting it soak in water for 30 mins and setting aside.

I put the ghee in the pot and let it get hot then added the onions, garlic, ginger and let simmer. When the onions were golden

Add red lentils (drained) to the mix, add mustard seeds, curry powder, and the bay leaf. Let this simmer for about 5 mins. Add 2 cups of water and let cook.

Add chopped onions and turmeric powder to the mix. Add chopped tomatoes too.

Season with salt and the bouillon cube.

Let simmer.

The meal is done when the red lentils are tender and or mushy- you can cook yours to a runny liquidy consistency or cook the lentils until it is nice and thick.

Eat with Rice/ paratha or Naan.

Enjoy.

And let me know if you try it.

I had gone to the store to get black-eyed peas but found red lentils and I am happy to say that this meal will be a staple in my home. With Corona Virus, we are now in a situation most of us do not want to be in or planned for. My word for you is to take what we have and make the best of it.

Maya Angelou said: “ If you do not like something, change it. If you can’t change it; change your attitude.

We cannot change whats going on in the world now but let us not let it define us, but make something good out of it.

Have a great week!

I am not being sponsored for any of the items shown. Use your fave brands and go ahead and enjoy yourself 😊

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After adding water and letting it simmer

Paratha- follow cooking instructions on pack

The end result. My ratio of paratha to dahl here was off- my excitement to eat over powered my thinking 😝

Working in a Hospital amid Covid-19 Fears

March 21, 2020 by Ezanya Nance in Blog

Hello Friends,

How are you doing? I will dare say that you are very aware of what is going on in the world today. Usually, when I start the podcast I ask what is happening and today, might be different as I will ask you, what is your new normal? Hoping you do not have COVID-19 aka Corona Virus nor a loved one. I am also going to hope that you are not being sick and or quarantined due to the virus.

How has your week been?

The news and the buzzword on every news station is Corona Virus-https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-nCoV/index.html Please go to the CDC website and read accurate and timely information on the virus. I work in healthcare, but I would rather you get accurate and detailed information from our state and health organizations.

Let us talk a little bit about what is going on around us. Living in the US, most of us have had some form of change in our ways of life. Some of us have had jobs, schools, daycare close/ shut down, travel affected and so much more. We have had to go shopping for necessities (or maybe go because we have heard rumors of store shelves being emptied.

Doctors, nurses, lab technicians, phlebotomists, researchers, daycare workers, grocery store workers, truck drivers, cleaning staff are the ones in the front line. Thank you for all you are doing.

So, you might ask, what is it like working in Healthcare during this time?

I would also say healthcare/ hospital workers will do what we always have done. I work in the histology lab and at this time, we have not been affected much. Most of the surgical procedures and or cases that come to us are critical. Elective procedures are not being performed as most health facilities are working hard to keep supplies, and spots available for people who need to be seen immediately due to Corona Virus.

We have always used PPE (personal protective equipment) because of the work we do; however, at this time, we are being more diligent to wear them. For instance, we are making sure that gloves are being worn, counters are being wiped down, phones are being wiped after calls are taken and so on.

At the doors, visitors are being screened and temperatures are taken of visitors- only guests who are not running a temperature can visit. There is an abundance of hand sanitizers at entrances and there are lots of corners by doors that have hand sanitizer stations too.

I will say that it feels like now, everyone is doing their best to make sure the work gets done. When Staff who must be off due to kids being home from school, other staff and or techs step up and do the work without complaining. It is a beautiful thing to see this selflessness and I am hoping that this teamwork continues.

You might ask, how can you help the people working in healthcare?

I will say:

1. Stay home. If you do not need to travel or go places, stay home

2. Listen to what your city/state says you should do- stay home, practice social distancing

3. If you use Google, the home page had a hand saying “Do the Five”: https://www.google.com/search?q=coronavirus+tips&fbx=dothefive

See the link and click on it if you have not seen it.

Here is the Izora Podcast five:

1. Do the five Google says you should do.

2. Check on the elderly, call, text, email. And if you need reasons to do that see Psalm 71:9

3. Share what you have with the needy- Proverbs 22:9 and if you can afford to, support local businesses

4. Do not hoard. I have gone shopping and not much is left in the aisles. I mean, just the super expensive stuff. Please just get what you need not much more, let everyone be able to get what they need.

5. Pray for the healthcare workers, pray for our cities and the nation that this will pass.

My last word for the day is: do not fear my friends… Do not fear.

Let our faith be in the God who is faithful and hears prayers.

Until next time,

God bless you and stay safe!

Ezanya

How Did You Celebrate Valentine's Day?

February 17, 2020 by Ezanya Nance in Blog

Hello and welcome back to the Izora Podcast.

How did celebrate Valentine’s Day?

I did something that I had not done before; I went to the store the day before Valentine’s Day and I was surprised at how quiet the store was.

When I was at work, some ladies at work were scrambling to get things for their spouses and family. When I got to the store, there were lots of candies, flowers, and cakes for people to purchase for Valentine’s Day.

I am not sure what camp I belong to, but I am more of a Christmas “is my favorite holiday” and plan ahead kind of gal vs I am Valentine’s day can be any day. Depending on what part of the world you are, you might celebrate Valentine’s day differently albeit we now can see that even in Nigeria, Valentine’s day is becoming Westernized.

I went to an all-girls boarding and secondary school and that was my first exposure to Valentine’s Day. Some of the girls got teddy bears bigger than some of us; candies were snuck in and so much more. I wanted to be part of the next year’s celebration and the person I was crushing on; reached out on Valentine’s Day and it put a sour taste in my mouth.

I learned then there were 2 camps:

The bragging folk- who showed what they got
The folk who did them- they did not care what they got and just were themselves.

When I was in college, my friend then, and husband now gave me a box of chocolates and I panicked and did not eat it for a week. He told me it’s what people do, had no ulterior motives. I ended up eating the chocolates with friends.

I will share some of my favorite things:

I love Coming to America the movie and the scene with Lisa and Prince Akeem dancing is my favorite scene. Go to YouTube and find Jackie Wilson’s Someone to Care and check out those lyrics.

2. Do not waste your love on somebody who does not value it- Romeo and Juliet. Do not spend your time and money on someone who does not value it.

3. As a person who believes in God, I always go back to 1 Corinthians 13:5-7

This is what Love is and or what it means to me.

However you celebrated your day, I hope you enjoyed yourself and spent time with the ones you loved. Feel free to reach out if you have any suggestions about topics to talk about - find me on Instagram and here is my email too: theizorapodcast@gmail.com

I will see you in the next episode.

God bless,

Ezanya

Did you get a Flu Shot?

February 10, 2020 by Ezanya Nance in Blog

I tested positive for the flu… Listen here on the podcast!

Going to the Market in Nigeria!

February 02, 2020 by Ezanya Nance in Blog, Podcast Notes

Hello Everyone,

And a very Happy New Month to you! If this is your first time listening, I want to welcome you and also say that I am happy you are here.

In my next few blog posts, I will be sharing about my trip to Nigeria.

In the last podcast episode, I had mentioned that my younger brother had passed away and I had gone home to Nigeria to pay my respects and be part of the funeral. In the time I was there, I was in the city Lafia and for some reason, we had little to no electricity.

In the US, people might worry about the lack of electricity being an issue but there, my family members did not seem to be worried about it. They only planned to cook just the amount of food that was needed for the people who were home, and the need to have their phones charged which they would do by turning on the generator.

I, on the other hand, was not loving this. It was HOT and no electricity meant no cold water and or cold anything to drink… Yes, I will say that I have become too accustomed to having cold water from the fridge.

Moving on. ..

To cook, one had to go to the market. Now, going to the market is not like going to Walmart/ Meijer/ Kroger or Publix or any of your neighborhood grocer here in the States. Going to the market was more like going to a farmers market and then some. Most of the fresh produce that was sold was grown by the people selling it or was sold by people who bought from people who grew it. Depending on what you needed to buy, you might need to go to a certain market, at a certain time or day but, for the most part, you would find what you needed.

We arrived at the market and I will tell you it has been a while since I saw that many people in the same spot. It was loud, and a bit chaotic. There were people in stalls, people selling their wares on wheelbarrows, girls/ women selling stuff on metal trays very well balanced on their heads. I had missed this, it was good to see this again.

There is sooooo much fresh foods my dears and the sun shining on these fresh foods I would say made it all the more appealing to me. There were tomatoes, peppers, green vegetables, beef, fish, fruits, sugar cane, and so much more.

A few things to note:

-Should you desire and or decide to travel and visit the markets; you should know that the meats especially beef is not wrapped and or sold from the refrigerator (like in the States) but it is sold right there on top of the table. It is pretty much from the butcher house to the market and when you purchase it, it is from the butcher house to your house. The butcher or meat seller would usually swat of the flies to keep them away but you know those things do not get the message so they come back. I will tell you that when you purchase your meat, wash it at home and cook it thoroughly- there is no such thing as rare or medium-rare cooking here!

-Some of the fruits and vegetables are sold off mats on the floor and or from the wheelbarrow. The one thing I will advise you is that do not let this deter you, buy the quantity you need or want and then wash it when you get home and then enjoy your purchase.

I will give you an example: when we got there, we were offered the African garden egg (in the States I will say it looks like the Thai eggplant) and spicy peanut butter which I ate with relish. I cannot tell you how long it has been since I had this combo but I will say it was delicious. We also found guava in the market and I washed mine with bottled water and ate a little bit of it. The skin was too dense for me, I am used to the guava we have in southern Nigeria where the skin is thin and the middle of the guava is pink- you see in the pic the middle of the guava is not pink.

There was so much food and I WILL add that if I was going to strictly have a mostly vegetarian diet, it would be easy to do it when I am home because the fresh “organic” food is very very cheap. And you can get it every single day- no such thing as seasonal and so on.

One caveat I will add to all this talk of food is that if as an American you mention you are traveling to Nigeria and or other countries you have to see your primary care doc and or visit the international clinic before you travel. You would be told what you can eat and the medication you should have -anti-typhoid, anti-malaria and diarrhea medicine to name a few. Listen to your medical team and do what they tell you.

I washed my fruits with bottled water and drank bottled water and prayed to not be sick and thank God I was not. I had made up my mind that I will not be afraid to eat good food and I tell you, I enjoyed everything I ate.

So if you want to travel, keep these points in mind