We all know there are so many delicious and healthy Nigerian food recipes.
Now, let me tell you a secret: If you have never tasted the Nigerian Porridge, commonly called Asaro, o boy! you don miss so tey!
Don't worry, you could still be pardoned for that.
But, if you have never tasted the all famous Nigerian Edikaikong or Afang soup. O boy! If you're already in America, you had better jumped on your flight to have a feel of this sumptuous soup.
But, today, we are not just talking about the Nigerian jollof, Ikong or Afang. We are talking about the Nigerian food timetable.
What makes it interesting is that we have compiled a list of super delicious Nigerian dishes and menus suggestions, you would love to add to your own family timetable.
What is a food timetable?
A Nigerian food timetable is just a table or a chart that outlines a set of food to be served in a Nigerian home at specific periods of time in a day.
For instance, on a family food timetable a Monday, you can have something that looks like this:
- Bread, Tea, and Stew - 8:30
- Amala and Egusi plus Asamo Egungun - 2:00 PM Afternoon
Omg! Okay, so sorry about the Asamoegun!
A Nigerian food timetable does come with lovely recipes and mouth-watering menus that would make you drop your spoon and go for a Shovel.
Benefits of eating a well-balanced diet.
- A well-balanced diet gives you a healthy skin
- A good and healthy diet gives you strong teeth and bones and helps you to keep health
- It raises your immune system and protects your body from a wide range of diseases.
- The right diet consumption can help to builds up your body frame or helps you to shed some weight respectively. You can always come up with your own Nigerian food time table for weight loss or flat stomach to help you with the goal.
Normally, an average Nigerian family eats three times a day.
So a Nigerian food timetable is broken down into three periods:
Breakfast
In most Nigerian families, the common time for having breakfast fall in between 7 am to 9:00 am in the morning.
Most Nigerian families place great values on a breakfast.
For someone who spent a good couple of years in a small Nigerian town, I know this is true.
But, o boy! It's not always the period for bread, tea plus sardines.
You got to stuff your bowels with some wide bowls of Akamu, such that your abdomen become like a big round ball.
Also, thank God for the love of Akara. It was always a great delicacy to top it up.
Now, that may not be the case in urban areas anyway! You probably have to take some slices of bread or yam and kill some eggs - I joke.
So, what are the best types of food to have for a breakfast?
Simple, the breakfast gets us prepared for the day's work, ideal foods for a breakfast must not be too light or too heavy. Furthermore, it must be able to supply the needed energy to start up the day's work.
We included some list of nigerian breakfast for your family timetable the food timetable image featured in this post. But then, some good food recommendations for a breakfast are Yam, Bread, Rice and Beans etc.
In most Nigerian families, the common time for having breakfast fall in between 7 am to 9:00 am in the morning.
Most Nigerian families place great values on a breakfast.
For someone who spent a good couple of years in a small Nigerian town, I know this is true.
But, o boy! It's not always the period for bread, tea plus sardines.
You got to stuff your bowels with some wide bowls of Akamu, such that your abdomen become like a big round ball.
Also, thank God for the love of Akara. It was always a great delicacy to top it up.
Now, that may not be the case in urban areas anyway! You probably have to take some slices of bread or yam and kill some eggs - I joke.
So, what are the best types of food to have for a breakfast?
Simple, the breakfast gets us prepared for the day's work, ideal foods for a breakfast must not be too light or too heavy. Furthermore, it must be able to supply the needed energy to start up the day's work.
We included some list of nigerian breakfast for your family timetable the food timetable image featured in this post. But then, some good food recommendations for a breakfast are Yam, Bread, Rice and Beans etc.
Lunch
Normally, the lunch period falls between 2:00 PM and 3:00 Pm.
Now, back to my story of growing up in a small Nigerian town.
The Lunch period was always the time to launch some swallows of Amala, with a nice Egusi dish and a stew-soaked Ponmo down your throat.
O yes, not really far from the city experience anyway. But, tick out those pepper soups and shawarma. Not many city Lagos folks have tasted it anyway.
So, what's the chill? - Sorry, my Lagos peeps!
Okay, what types of foods are best for the lunch period?
The lunch hour is a time of activity, both for the office guys and the ever busy business Nigerian women in the village market square. So, to keep up with the calory requirement, you may want to go for fiber foods with enough calory.
Some good food recommendations for lunch are Eba and soup, amala and soup, Rice, Yam, Corn and beans etc.
Normally, the lunch period falls between 2:00 PM and 3:00 Pm.
Now, back to my story of growing up in a small Nigerian town.
The Lunch period was always the time to launch some swallows of Amala, with a nice Egusi dish and a stew-soaked Ponmo down your throat.
O yes, not really far from the city experience anyway. But, tick out those pepper soups and shawarma. Not many city Lagos folks have tasted it anyway.
So, what's the chill? - Sorry, my Lagos peeps!
Okay, what types of foods are best for the lunch period?
The lunch hour is a time of activity, both for the office guys and the ever busy business Nigerian women in the village market square. So, to keep up with the calory requirement, you may want to go for fiber foods with enough calory.
Some good food recommendations for lunch are Eba and soup, amala and soup, Rice, Yam, Corn and beans etc.
Dinner
Well, for Dinner, you may want to fix your Dinner between 6:00 PM and 9:00 Pm on your food timetable. No chill!
But, It's advisable to take have dinner at least 3 hours before the bedtime. Doing so helps to prevent acid reflux and stomach upset while sleeping.
It also ensures food digestion long before the bedtime and helps with weight loss.
Finally, for someone whose first beau is pounded yam and the second beau is Okro soup, oh sorry Tom! but the dinner period is only good for a light meal!
Now, for an average Nigerian family, what are some good foods to have on your food timetable?
Some food recommendations are toasts, bread or rice, mielie pap and moinmoin etc
Well, for Dinner, you may want to fix your Dinner between 6:00 PM and 9:00 Pm on your food timetable. No chill!
But, It's advisable to take have dinner at least 3 hours before the bedtime. Doing so helps to prevent acid reflux and stomach upset while sleeping.
It also ensures food digestion long before the bedtime and helps with weight loss.
Finally, for someone whose first beau is pounded yam and the second beau is Okro soup, oh sorry Tom! but the dinner period is only good for a light meal!
Now, for an average Nigerian family, what are some good foods to have on your food timetable?
Some food recommendations are toasts, bread or rice, mielie pap and moinmoin etc
How to come up with a health food timetable
Coming up with a healthy food timetable is so easy.
But, it's not just about Suya for the morning, Yam for the Afternoon and Garri to top up the evening love stories.
There are some tips to help to take note when you intend to make your family food timetable for your own family.
What to consider before making a family food timetable
i. Balanced diet
All the meals tipped for each day must add up to a balanced diet.
To be considered a balanced diet, a meal doesn't have to come on an expensive bill, but it must feature a small portion of each class of food.
i. Balanced diet
All the meals tipped for each day must add up to a balanced diet.
To be considered a balanced diet, a meal doesn't have to come on an expensive bill, but it must feature a small portion of each class of food.
ii. Food Allergies
If one member of a family is allergic to a certain food. It helps tick the food and slot in a replacement.
For someone who is allergic to peanuts oil. You may want to go for Almond or Walnut Oil.
If one member of a family is allergic to a certain food. It helps tick the food and slot in a replacement.
For someone who is allergic to peanuts oil. You may want to go for Almond or Walnut Oil.
iii. Period of the day
Energy-rich meals are the shot for the breakfast, heavy meals are okay for the afternoon while light meals are for the dinner.
Energy-rich meals are the shot for the breakfast, heavy meals are okay for the afternoon while light meals are for the dinner.
iv. Health Goal
If your health goal involves keeping up with your weight or even shedding some excess weight, then your choice of meals must align with this goal.
So, Tom! a vegetable is your hero, a fruit is your heroine but red meats and candies are your brunch monsters.
If your health goal involves keeping up with your weight or even shedding some excess weight, then your choice of meals must align with this goal.
So, Tom! a vegetable is your hero, a fruit is your heroine but red meats and candies are your brunch monsters.
v. Budget
Sure, it goes without saying.
The choice of foods on your food timetable must be within your monthly food budget.
All you need for a good, healthy food timetable is the right choice of moderately priced food items.
What more? a healthy diet rarely comes all dressed up on an expensive tray?
Sure, it goes without saying.
The choice of foods on your food timetable must be within your monthly food budget.
All you need for a good, healthy food timetable is the right choice of moderately priced food items.
What more? a healthy diet rarely comes all dressed up on an expensive tray?
vi. Shifts
You've probably been there a couple of times, where you feel like you've already filled up your bowels with all types of foods you could think of.
It almost always has to do with repeating the same set of meals a couple of times. So, here are a couple of ways to prevent that.
You've probably been there a couple of times, where you feel like you've already filled up your bowels with all types of foods you could think of.
It almost always has to do with repeating the same set of meals a couple of times. So, here are a couple of ways to prevent that.
- You may want to have the menu items rearranged for each week of a month.
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Obviously, that could mean having four different food timetables, one for each week - Slot in a couple of different food items for each week. This approach also helps to keep a balanced diet table for a week.
- Introduce vegetable snacks in between meals.
Nigerian Family Food Timetable
A food timetable for a Nigerian student
Imagine sitting down in yoyr anatomy class, the boring prof keeps talking about the human digestive organs, but you're there thinking of the nearest Mama-put to jump in for your Ewedu lecture. That's just the typical rush life of an average Nigerian student. So, it comes with a bit of challenge having a fixed food timetable and sticking to it. The campus life is so unpredictable! So, you sometimes resort to some soaked Garri formulas and balance it up with Kuli Kuli. Lest I forget, thank God for the love of sugars as a great catalyst. But, you can still manage to make it work. A good approach is to prepare your daily meals during your free periods of the day and slot in some fruit snacks to balance things up. Okay, its a secret, but banana and pineapple got me some love. Now, for a typical Nigerian student, here is a food timetable template to model after.