healthy eating Archives - Freedom At The Crossroads

April 9, 2022

Gut Healthy Hot Chocolate

A favorite all-weather beverage As we’re breaking into spring I still can’t resit a dose of my gut healthy hot chocolate to get me through those chilly spring mornings here in the Midwest! As most of you know, I love hot healing beverages throughout the …

Life Balance

by Tonye

September 23, 2020

5 Women’s Fitness and Self-care Tips for this Season

Staying fit and healthy through the holiday season We all know how busy the holiday season can get especially when you’ve got multiple tasks to juggle. Let’s not even talk about trying to maintain a healthy lifestyle! This is why I’ve pulled together 5 women’s …

Execise, Fitness, Nutrition, Self care, Self Love, weight loss

by Tonye

May 10, 2018

Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup: An African twist on an old favorite

If you haven’t heard about the proven benefits of homemade chicken noodle soup, you’ve probably been buried underneath a pile of rubble by now! Let me just start by saying, momma knew what she was talking about when she said that chicken soup is a cure-all staple!

Needless to say, the power is in the bone broth (i.e. chicken bones Y’all!), spices, and other healthy ingredients that make up this recipe. For me, I’m putting an African twist on this favorite recipe so make sure you head over to my Youtube site to see how the full recipe comes together in real color!

My inspiration for this Afro-fusion homemade chicken noodle recipe comes from childhood nostalgic moments living in Nigeria. When I was a little girl, my mom gave us all kinds of potions and tonics to keep illness and poor health at bay. To this day I can still taste that pungent flavor of Norwegian cod liver oil on my tongue! We also had all kinds of soups, and beverages that she and the elder women in our neighborhood swore by!

This is a lot different from the condensed canned stuff masquerading as “as good as” homemade chicken noodle soup! The only things you’ll find in those cans are some GMO chicken, lots of sodium, overcooked bleached flour noodles, preservatives, and more.

With that in mind here are the ingredients you will need for this Afro-fusion homemade chicken noodle soup:

1. 4 medium chicken drumsticks (organic, free-range chickens)

2. 1 small red onion

3. 1 small yellow onion

4. 1/4 cup of chopped green onions (organic)

5. 3 cloves of garlic (medium)

6. Organic gluten-free spaghetti pasta (follow directions for serving size)

7. 2 tablespoons curry powder

8. 1 teaspoon turmeric

9. 1/2 teaspoon of allspice

10. 1/4 teaspoon spicy paprika

11. 2 tablespoons of Himalayan pink salt

12. 3 tablespoons of Braggs Amino Acids

13. 1/4 teaspoon of nutmeg

To bring this recipe to life is really easy and there are no fancy steps involved. Simply fill a large soup pot with 6 cups of water and bring to a boil while tossing in all over your dry spices and the other ingredients. Next, add the onions, garlic, and chicken drumsticks to the pot and boil at medium heat for 25 minutes. Also, you can add other veggies to this mix as well (i.e. carrots, etc) in order to make this dish your own.

Next, turn the heat down to low and allow your homemade chicken noodle soup creation to simmer for an additional 20-30 minutes and add your noodles in the final 20 minutes. To see what this dish looks like check out the video!

About the author

Tonye Tariah, Holistic Health Strategist and founder of Freedom at The Crossroads Blog. She helps free women from inaction and unhealthy habits so they can get fit, healthy, and live free. Her belief is that “the cookie-cutter method only works for cookies”. This means that she helps each woman in a way that is unique to each woman. By doing this, she’s better able to help them transform their lives from the inside out. Her ultimate goal is to help women become healthy and empowered through the transformative self-care journey!

Healthy Recipes, Nutrition

by Tonye

November 24, 2017

Simple healthy recipes for all seasons

[et_pb_section bb_built=”1″ admin_label=”section” _builder_version=”3.0.51″][et_pb_row admin_label=”Row” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” background_size=”initial”][et_pb_column type=”1_3″][et_pb_image admin_label=”Image” _builder_version=”3.0.51″ src=”http://freedomatthecrossroads.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/IMG_4758.png” show_in_lightbox=”off” url_new_window=”off” use_overlay=”off” sticky=”off” align=”left” always_center_on_mobile=”on” border_style=”solid” force_fullwidth=”off” /][/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”2_3″][et_pb_text admin_label=”Text” _builder_version=”3.0.51″ background_layout=”light” text_orientation=”left” border_style=”solid” text_font_size=”18″] We all know how expensive groceries can become especially when you move between seasons or are making …

Healthy Recipes, Nutrition

by Tonye

July 28, 2017

15 Min Vegan Black bean Stew: Afro-fusion

[et_pb_section bb_built=”1″ admin_label=”section” _builder_version=”3.0.51″][et_pb_row admin_label=”Row” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” background_size=”initial”][et_pb_column type=”1_3″][et_pb_image admin_label=”Image” _builder_version=”3.0.51″ src=”http://freedomatthecrossroads.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/time-for-a-bowl-of-goodness.jpg” show_in_lightbox=”off” url_new_window=”off” use_overlay=”off” sticky=”off” align=”left” always_center_on_mobile=”on” border_style=”solid” force_fullwidth=”off” /][/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”2_3″][et_pb_text admin_label=”Text” _builder_version=”3.0.51″ background_layout=”light” text_orientation=”left” border_style=”solid” text_font_size=”18″] It’s always fun to come with yummy healthy recipes that are quick and easy! Today, I spent …

Healthy Recipes, Nutrition

by Tonye

March 5, 2017

Bone broth: Real talk about it’s benefits

Okay, so everyone is talking about it; some even making huge claims about the near-miraculous benefits associated with taking copious amounts of “bone broth” and incorporating it into your daily nutrition plan. It’s time for some real talk about bone broth!

So what is it? What’s the big deal?

For those wanting a few more specifics, the Mayo Clinic definition or term for bone broth is, that it is essentially stock derived from roasted bones (typically, beef or chicken) which may or may not still have some meat attached. They are then cooked for 24 hours or more with the goal being to extract the gelatin from the bones as well as release the nutritious minerals contained within the bones. The final step in the preparation process is to strain the broth (and season to taste) from the bones and then season to taste.

I don’t know about you, but spicy chicken soup, pepper soup, and broths have been a mainstay in my family for years! Not only that, traditional Nigerian pepper soup (in all it’s regional iterations) has been a cure-all for years. We use it for everything from recovery from malaria to the common cold! Is the science to back it up? the jury is still out on that although there are a few studies out there that seem to suggest that there are “some” medicinal benefits to consuming bone broth.

My final thoughts

Will I be stepping out to my fave health food store to buy some bone broth or bone broth supplements? Nope! Especially when I have all the “traditional” ingredients, spices, and secret stashes (available at African food stores only, lol), in my own pantry-Boom! Any real “medicinal” properties, mostly lay in the spices themselves. These spices have everything from turmeric (a natural anti-inflammatory), curry (also contains turmeric), and nutmeg, to garlic, and so forth.

Before you go

If you really want to detox YOUR body, start with detoxing your pantry! After all, if your pantry is loaded with toxic crap, so will YOU! You can read more about making healthy food choices and detoxing your fridge and pantry right here.