New Year new post: Powered entirely by my phone because my laptop is being a diva. Including pics and recipes

Top of the New Year humans!!!! Forehead kisses and good will to all mankind! I hope you all enjoyed Christmas, mine was nothing short of Merry! I also hope you all are looking forward to a prosperous and productive year! Tis the season to make resolutions and my twitter timeline and Facebook feed have never been more full of hope and strong will with an equal dose of scepticism and nay saying. 

I'm truly in awe of the power of the human will and the depth of perspective which we all posess at the beginning of each calendar year. Almost osmosically, social media has been the megaphone for many resolutions and good intentions which quite frankly has been beautiful to watch. Everyone has either gone down the "new year new me" route,which is receiving the most amount of ridicule from the half empty glass tweeters and facebookers, or "I'm unstoppable and a change is gonna come." I admire the infectious positivity but also have a degree of scepticism which is however wrapped up in bows, balloons and all things pretty as opposed to my down right doom and gloom counterparts. 

I understand the thrill of making resolutions but we also forget to put into account the hard work requires to keep it up. It seem as if we have all the good will but missing the discipline to carry on at the best of times. My message has never been "don't dream or expect the best" but it's always been for everyone to practically and informatively make the right steps to a better future. This is irrespective of time, circumstance or popular opinion.

I decided to change my life and started gradually eating healthier in November of of 2012 and by March 2013 I was exercising with as much vigour as an Olympian in training. By April I was dropping dress sizes and by July I had achieved the silent goal I had made three years earlier at my heaviest, to lose weight by my 21st birthday. I say all this to stress the point that you don't have to wait for the new year to change your life for good. Change comes when you put action to words and stick to it! 

Before and after 

I say this to encourage all the people who want a change in their lives for the right reasons and have weighed all the aspects to practically go about it. I also urge everyone who has been caught up in the wind of the "new year new me" phenomenon to put thought into what they are saying saying. I congratulate you on being discerning and capable of brining change into your life, it's not an easy thing to do! But I urge you to have the courage, discipline and grace to carry on what you have boldly declared at the beginning of the year when it's in vogue. Remember those words and that same will power when it's raining and the trip to the gym is daunting, when you're emotional and all you want to do is drown your sorrows with cake but pick up a piece of fruit instead. It's then when it matters and counts and deserves a thousand retweets!

Speaking of food here's a run down of how I fed my family and myself over Christmas. Some of the recipes work all year round! Enjoy!  

Christmas face stuffing (pics and recipes)

2013 was very tough for myself and my family and most of our hanging out was done around me in a hospital bed and they were always worried and helping me in every way. As a result I wanted to treat them to a good Christmas dinner even if it killed me! I mustered up every ounce of energy I had and made them a feast. Let's not however mention how I fell terribly ill for a week later and was unable to get out bed for day. They were worth every effort and they enjoyed it so that's all that matters! 

Starter: Smoked Salmon salad with sour creme ramoulade

There wasn't any cooking involved in this dish which is why I chose it. I didn't want to add a complex starter when I was doing four courses on borrowed energy amidst a recovery and ongoing symptoms from the list of ailments I'm daily kicking butt. The only recipe here is for the spicy sauce and it was:

1 cup sour cream

1/4 cup mayo

1 tbsp dill

1 tbsp parsley

1 tbsp chives

2 tbsp spring onions 

1 tsp paprika 

1 tbsp habanero hot sauce (more to taste)

Salt and pepper to taste 

Mix everything and get right balance of herbs-sour cream-salt-spicy 

Adjust accordingly. Put in bowl to serve with the salad and garnish with a splash of hot sauce and chopped chives. 

Main: Turkey/ Salmon Encroute with red wine and cinnamon red cabbage, crushed and herbed new potatoes, creamed leeks and cranberry sauce

We had two mains, a side of salmon encroute mainly for my pescetarian self and a crown of turkey for the meat eaters. Whereas there's no one standard recipe for turkey I have tips to keep it moist and give it more flavour!

Turkey tip1- for extra flavour add herbs to the butter before you put it under the skin for the turkey baste itself when cooking. I used thyme, rosemary, chives, garlic and a bit of paprika alongside salt and pepper

Turkey tip2- since it was just a crown I cooked our turkey for the recommended 1hr 45min with an extra ten minutes just to be safe even when the juices were running clear (to check if poultry is cooked when roasting- pierce with a knife, press it against flesh and let the juices run, if cloudy it's not cooked yet and if clear it's cooked)

Turkey tip3- cover with foil for half the cooking time and then took it off to brown and crisp up. a) it makes sure it's cooked on the inside by keeping the heat from escaping 

b) it stops any garnish (bacon, herbs etc) from burning prematurely and being wasted 

Turkey tip4: Make a vegetable trivet ( veg between turkey and oven dish) from root veg. I used quartered onions, potatoes, carrots, celery and parsnip. The tip to this tip is to keep the veg cut very big so it's doesn't disintegrate when cooking. Try and and achieve a uniform cut so they cook evenly. These veg not only get all the flavour from the turkey and taste good but also if left in the oven for 10 minutes to crisp up, they can make a good garnish for your bird!   

In the left corner we had the salmon encroute which was every bit tasty and tantalising. This can be made all year round for dinner parties, gatherings and such.  I didn't make my own pastry on account of life being too short to make your own pastry for a four course dinner and I refuse to go into Tachycardia on Christmas Day from all the stress. Ready rolled pastry had to suffice and it actually worked well. I also made another short cut by asking for the fishmonger to take the skin off the salmon for me since my knife set containing my filleting knives hadn't been touched since the day I gracefully bowed out from my position as Commis chef at Brasserie Blanc; it made sense and it was free! 

To prepare it I greased a large, square oven dish. 

Placed one sheet of ready rolled pastry. 

Added the raw side of salmon on top

Topped with leeks (sautéed with garlic, dill, parsley and stirred in Philly cheese)

Applied egg wash to the sides 

Added top pastry

Folded in edges tightly, scored the top with a knife to let air out and brushed with egg wash. 

Cooked for 45 mins- 1hr on gas mark 6

Mains went with creamed leeks and red cabbage. I did the traditional creamed leeks. For the red cabbage:

Sautée cabbage with red onion and add cinnamon stalk. Add red wine and then cook in the oven with the rest of the food for 25 mins. I prefer to make a cartouche out of grease proof paper instead of a lid. That's how we did it in chef school and that's how it stuck! 

Instead of roasting potatoes I boiled mine  (baby potatoes) whole with skins on. Crushed and added sour cream, chives, spring onions, salt and pepper

Dessert and cheese courses: Christmas pudding, Ice cream, chocolate mousse and profiteroles cake,cheese and fruit platter plus coffee, port and baileys

This colourful feast fit for Roman gods was easy as 123 to assemble. I bought a variety of cheeses including Cheddar, Red Leicester, Brie, Stilton and Wensledale with cranberries. In lieu of my French culinary training where cheese is usually served with walnuts and dried apricots etc I went for grapes, crackers, breadsticks and persimmons which worked well. Try Stilton with crackers and persimmons, it's amazing! I totally mellows out the sharp notes in the Stilton, rounds the flavour up with a creamy finish!

The filtered coffee ended up making Irish coffee with the baileys with a hint of cinnamon which went well with the cheeses and desserts. 

The Christmas pudding was the best I've ever had thanks to Harrods, the profiterole chocolate mousse cake was also a shop bought delight which only required putting on a platter and dusting with icing sugar!  Usually don't take this many shortcuts but I've been unwell and on bed rest since coming out of hospital. 

Leftover Makeover: Leftover Birdie Pie

The next morning the unexpected happened, I felt hungry again! After the big feast the day before I never thought I'd want for another morsel of food but lo and behold, the whole household woke up ravenous!! Overwhelmed with the amount of leftovers also nursing a slight hangover I came up with what I feel will be a tradition in my house for years to come! I made Left Over Birdie Pie! 

I put the left over parsnips, carrots and stuffing in the good processor. 

Shredded the turkey

Put it in an large oven dish alongside some left over veg for texture, turkey bechamel sauce from the night before, paprika, dill and parsley and mixed 

Made breadcrumbs with the left over French stick, breadsticks a little bit of cheese to bind and some chives and parsley. 

Topped it with breadcrumbs and browned in the oven for 45 minutes. Served with left over red cabbage and a selection of salads (beet, coleslaw and green salads)

It went well with both red and white wine suprisingly! 

Deserted dessert:

Again I still had some leftover dessert and decided to do a frothy baileys custard and topped it with left over Christmas pudding crumbs, served with the profiterole mousse cake and Irish coffees ......And that is you keep on gaining weight, even the day after Christmas! 

The night after two nights before: 

The day after Boxing Day I still hadn't used the left over potatoes and for dinner I made quorn cakes with a Brie cheese center. 

I added flaked quorn chicken, spices and herbs (paprika, chives with salt and pepper) bound with an egg. Placed Brie slice in the middle of the patties. Baked for 25 minutes turning halfway though and served with a (mayo, honey, Dijon mustard and lemon dressing) salad and Shiraz. 

That did away with all the leftovers except the salmon encroute I froze which came to my rescue New Year's Day when the meat eaters where having a leg of lamb which I wanted no part of. 

I hope you indulge with the timeless recipes all year round and put a twist on next Christmas with the rest. If you have any food questions please leave a comment. 

I will be doing the Daniel Fast (Google it!) from the 5th for 21 days. I call it the meat free, Christian sister to the Paleo diet! With that I will be posting Daniel Fast, vegan and vegetarian recipes and a few treats along the way, in the month of January. 

That's all I had on my heart to share with you this time! Thanks for reading and don't forget to share and spread the good will and good food! Finish as you started, let's go ahead and keep at these goals till we see results! 

Happy new year!

With every blessing

Kymmiisha 

Xoxo

The fact that you're reading this means that I have beatenprocrastination!!!

Hello internet users! I'm Kymmiisha and in true AA fashion and as aforementioned....I'm a huge procrastinator!!!! However as a believer in breaking habits irrespective of time and season (not waiting for the New Year) I am going ahead and posting my very first blog post!!! 

Let me assure you that whatever you're procrastinating against in your own life couldn't not be as bad as mine because I secured this domain a long time ago and downloaded the app months ago so 1) you are not alone and 2) please join me in breaking the habit and get off your butt too!!!

Blogging has become the new black and anyone who has as much as an opinion and the aptitude to use the internet to express it in a way more coothed and acceptable than trolling and social media ranting has taken to the the keyboard. I too felt the need to share my vast array of passions (yes passions I don't just have hobbies I do fall deeply in love and obsess over everything I do or have an interest in!!) 

So I'm sure you're wondering what this blog will be about, who I am and what gives me the right to blabber on the World Wide Web and demand an audience.....here's a brief introduction!!!

My name is Kymmiisha and I'm 21 years old. I'm keeping my precise location undisclosed in lieu of over sharing but I live near London, England. I do most of my interactions, business and pleasure in and around London and haven't travelled in the last year for reasons I will explain later. 

I am obsessed with fashion in every form and I'm that girl who sits, stares and drools at fashion editorials and takes clippings of inspiring things and I also save pictures of all my favourite things. Part of this is because I'm a very visual person in learning and in dreaming and I also love to capture moments and take pictures of EVERYTHING!!! Sooooo this is an example of my obsession. I'm sure some tweeted this picture, I gasped and I saved it on my phone!!

I was mostly raised by my grandmother who was a beautiful woman of Botwsanian and South African heritage and lived in Zimbabwe where I was born and lived during some of my childhood. As a result my world came crushing down when she died on May the 7th 2011. Though it was hard and I never got closure after she passed. With time and counselling I have gained so much peace about it and find inspiration in all she taught me and I'm grateful for the times I spent with her.  I am also grateful for times spent with my grandad (another dearly departed soul who left a big imprint on my life and played a key part in raising me.) 

Pictured above is my piano Ms Brown Sugar who was first called "Tinkerbell" derived from the saying "having a tinker on the piano." I bought her when I was 18 as a quarter life crisis instead of buying my first car like other normal teens with a grasp of reality as I had little training but fell in love with her whilst browsing a vintage warehouse. The fact that she only had one previous owner and at that point she was a hundred and ten years old and had been sold by the old lady who owned her from charity proved too good a history to pass. Also the thrill of bargaining with the owner was my first ever experience of a thrift high!  All those year later she adorns my dining room and is an aid for my vocal excercising, composing when song writing and as a guide when I give vocal lessons. 

The best thing about it all is that I put pictures of family, both dearly departed and living, which feels like motivation to work hard as they are looking down at me. 

I was unfortunately born with a fairly rare heart condition called Wolff Parkinson White Syndrome with which I have suffered symptoms from the age of ten and was diagnosed on the 17th of May 2013. I passed out during a rehearsal with my  then band, suffering from chest pains and breathing difficulties. To cut a long story short I felt like my life had come to a screeching halt and my whole world was upside down. As my birthday is in July, this meant planning a surgery to fix this and I was becoming increasingly weak and tired and worst of all my surprise 21st birthday was cancelled and couldn't have a party at all. I had the procedure done 12 days after I turned 21. I felt like my life was over, little did I know the journey was about to get rougher. The procedure I had was called a catheter ablation and not only was it unsuccessful I also found myself fighting for my life twice that day. First it was a reaction to the general anaesthetic and the second time my blood pressure was dangerously low and I was dehydrated. Again, the fight wasn't over because ten days after the procedure I was in a so much pain I was crying. Was taken back to hospital only to find out I had some nerve damage in my right leg as the procedure involved sticking 7 catheters into my groin through arteries that led to the heart and when effective, the catherters are used to apply heat and burn off the extra connections in my heart that caused dodgy heart rhythm and fast heart beat. I was then to go on for almost eight weeks in a lot of pain half the time and drugged up on medication and unable to walk for the rest of the time. So yeah, that was my 21st birthday summer!!! 

Not all hope was lost however, and as a believing and practising Christian, I and so many amazing family and friends were fervent in praying for me to get better and my prayer was answered in one service when a pastor asked to lay hands on my leg since he had seen my limping. Lo and behold after months of prayer and in a room full of brothers and sister who compassionately cried out on my behalf the pain on my right side ceased. It took a couple of days and I was walking again like my old self and the pain was fading away. 

I have been able to inspire many through my faith God and my story from adults to young people as I would share it with anyone who cares to listen and had the privilege speaking at a youth conference in November!!! 

The story of my health is still being written and every day I fave new challenges and have to adapt my lifestyle with my new found knowledge of the condition up until I'm completely cured of it (yes my faith is big and crazy but I know one day it will just be a name!!)

Meanwhile I'm often in hospital if not for tests (I've had an MRI, Tilt table, Treadmill test, Echocardiogram, Ultrasound, Many ECGs and Blood Pressure tests just to name a few and cardiologist appointments) I have been rushed there and stayed due to atrial fibrillation and  tachycardia attacks, chest pains....the lot!!! I always find that many junior doctors have either never seen a case like mine since medical school or they have only dealt with one or two patients like me. Most nurses can't pronounce it and have often never heard of it. I have been asked for my ECG to teach people about the disease as it's rare and most staff at my local hospital know me on a first name basis! Google WPW and educate yourselves and please remember me in your prayers :). I have had to have faith in God because the doctors often use trial and error, for which I don't blame them, it's been a heavy road but it would be nice to know that they know what they're doing!! 

My most recent hospital stint was due to a virus that most people bounce back from within a week or so but due to having WPW and frequent Vasovagal Syncope attacks among the list of ailments I'm fighting against including Chronic Anaemia I was wiped out. I had to spend a gruelling four days in hospital including ambulance transfers to other hospitals nd am still not back to my old self. 

I say all this to tell my colourful story that has had a lot of trials (and I still am dealing with a lot) but I choose to be open and wear a smile but also don't wear a mask on the rainy days and often use the torch of my faith as a light to not only light up the end of the tunnel but to light up my surroundings. In all this I also hope to inspire anyone going through similar or worse to love, live, dream and to know that they're not alone because I spent a lot of time feeling alone in my journey! 

Phew I need a drink after all that heart pouring and seriousness!! Right, on a more hopeful and happy note, I am a songwriter and I also sing (in that order!) Although l love performing and come alive on stage but it's something I'm not always able to do due to breathing problems and other complications. On the plus side I can always write a song anywhere and and any time and get that pleasure even at times I can't perform. My goals and dreams are one in the same and at the forefront of it all is to have a Publishing Deal. This will allow me to bring my music to the masses one way or another, and one voice or another and as long as I can create, I will grow, inspire and be fulfilled so this is at the top of my goal list! I hope one day those of you who are reading this post will be able to recall this moment when it was all a dream and my songs are being played on a global basis!  Trust and believe! All of this is not to take away from the pleasure I get from pouring out my soul through song and connecting with an audience and finding new dimensions to my voice. Since we're on this topic here are my top musical influences:

Patti LaBelle

Chaka Khan

Aretha Franklin 

Jenni Rivera 

Erykah Badu

Corinne Bailey Rae

Chrisette Michele 

Ledisi

Tamela Mann

Luciano Pavarotti 

Qtip 

Earth Wind and Fire 

Whitney Houston 

Luke James

The Clark Sisters 

Just to name a few!!! The list really does go on, I get inspiration from so many other artists. The Neo Soul, Rhythm and Blues sound with a Gospel influence is what my natural instincts produce and I feel most at peace singing and listening to it. Though I have had the chance as a writer to my words to Dance, Hip Hop, Reggae and so many other genres for other artists.

As I've mentioned before I have a great passion for fashion and have had the privilege of being a plus size model for a couple of designers, campaigns and more recently fashion week. It's something that is a source of inspiration for myself and other little girls and young teenage girls I meet who don't necessarily look like what they see on tv or in the media and find it hard to find what they see in the mirror beautiful. I'm in a position (and gratefully so) to encourage them on the basis that beautiful and healthy comes in different shapes and sizes. That they were fearfully and wonderfully made and in order for them to love others they need to healthily love themselves, and take care of their minds, bodies and souls so that they have both inner and outer beauty. Funny enough I've spent less time and at shoots and fashion shows and more time speaking to ladies of all ages and sizes and encouraging them that it can be done and find the modelling work that I do as proof and a tangible example that it can be done more than anything really. 

I myself have had my own struggles with my weight and despite all the attacks and obstacles felt that this summer was the first summer I truly and wholely felt beautiful, complete and content on the inside and out. I had gone on a life cleanse since February that included unhealthy relationships and unproductivity and took up excercising as a way of dealing with problems in life. Instead of replacing inner work with excercising I did both and started taking prayer walks, jogged listening to my gospel music and would find myself so isolated in the country side far away from home and anyone for that matter and in a matter of months was able to shed 33 pounds and go down up to 4 dress sizes. 

Although it's been a struggle to stay healthy and maintain my size due to health issues and found some medication side effects to include weight gain etc, I found a formula that works. Your body, soul and mind must be healthy. Whereas dieting may be the quick fix you need but a healthy lifestyle is better than a quick fix because food is medicine and exercise is for the mind as much as it is for the body! 

 As time goes by I want to be able to share recipes and pictures of food etc. What qualifies me, you may ask....well!!! The picture above was taken in September 2012 when was a Commis chef at Brasserie Blanc (one of Chef Raymond Blanc's restaurants) and the bottom is my winning entry for "Young Chef 2012" whilst in chef school! Yup I'm a trained chef!!! Some may be mind boggled because it has nothing to do with glamor (hours spent in a hot sweaty kitchen making food in bulk and carrying heavy things at the helm of a vulgar and loud head chef for insanely long hours and pay that doesn't really equate to the ulcer giving stress you're subjected to on a daily basis) but I fell in love with cooking when I was 16 and for a while whilst training and working as a chef found, purpose and expression through cooking and making food art. Though for previously mentioned health reasons and a loss of my passion for restaurant work I still find myself writing recipes, food and restaurant reviews and have dreams of one day being a published cook book author, getting to travel and write about food and making merchandise as part of my business empire which stems in my love for writing and creating be it music or food. 

This is much as I had on my heart to express and introduce myself to you all!!! Please stay tuned as I will be conquering procrastination and posting on this blog on a fortnightly basis!!! Please do spread the word to your friends, family, colleges, enemies, heck even strangers let them know there's a new music, food and lifestyle blog in town!!! 

Lots of love and God bless

Kymmiisha

Xo