Carrot & courgette bars of loveliness

Carrot cake is one of my weaknesses… nice cup of rooibos and a freshly baked carrot cake. I’m not talking about the coffee shop versions that are a little too ‘mainstream’ for me (makes me sound like a right twazzock, doesn’t it?!). One of my old work friends used to bring in a gorgeous carrot cake that her mum made… oh my heavenly taste buds. What a freaking delight and joy. There’s something about the freshness of the carrot, the blend of gorgeous spices and the little pockets of sweetness that make it a melt-in-your-mouth orgasm. Yum. I was never too crazy about the icing though (any icing actually)… it was a little too sweet for me and felt like it would plaster itself directly on my waist or hips. Hips smeared in icing might be your kind of thing, you kinky minx, but it ain’t mine.

So with my mind occasionally frolicking off in a carrot cake day dream, it was bound to make it’s way into my recipe collection at some point. I’ve been looking for a lower carb snack bar that I can share with my clients (and for me too, obviously!) in my 4 week fat blitzing programmes. And so when I stumbled across a courgette muffin recipe that I could adapt and change to make a healthy version of carrot cake, I jumped at it! (And if I had a bowl big enough, me and my hips would be swimming in it too…. mmmmm…)

Carrot & courgette bars of loveliness

Now I’m not a baker. It just doesn’t come naturally to me. So one of my absolute rules about things that I try to bake is that they have to be EASY. And these beauties are…. They’re quick, easy and relatively cheap. Not unlike some of the girls I went to school with! 😉 (I’m kidding ladies, you’re all well classy chicks and I love you enormously).

So here’s the recipe! It’s dairy free, grain free and refined sugar free… but tastes yummy. And it’s good for you (although not if you eat the entire batch in one sitting. Don’t do that.) I’d love to see some pics if you make them – just tag @NutriBelleUK in them on Facebook or Insta!

Carrot & courgette bars
Makes 6-8 bars

Mix all the ingredients together

1 cup grated carrot (roughly 1 medium carrot)
1 cup grated courgette (roughly ¾ medium courgette)
2 eggs whisked
1 tsp ground ginger
Pinch of nutmeg
Bit of allspice
1 tbsp honey
1 cup ground almonds
1/3 cup chopped pecans or walnuts
1/4 cup sultanas and dates
2 tbsp seeds

• Pre-heat oven to 180C
• In a large bowl, mix all of the ingredients (except the seeds) together well.
• Line a baking tray with baking paper.
• Tip out the carrot mix and pat down to fill in all the corners. You want it to be around 1.5cm thick. Sprinkle over the seeds across the top.
• Bake for up to 25min, or until the mix is set and is golden.
• Leave to cool, then cut into bars or squares. I got 6-8 good sized bars from this.

If you’d like to talk to about how I might be able to help you lose weight, gain energy and generally just feel a whole heap better, brighter and more balanced, why not book in for a free 30 min chat? Just click HERE to access my online schedule and book your slot. I work with people near and far to help them get in control of the way they eat and build healthy new habits.

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Sweet Moroccan Stew – love n’ beans for your 5 a day fix

So did anyone try the Glorious Green Smoothie? Are you doing more to make up your 5 a day? This week, I’m sharing an old favourite of mine. It’s something I came up with for dinner with the girls – I’d given up my job in London, had very little spare cash, but still wanted to see my friends and be able to do something nice for them. This dinner was perfect – it’s so simple, cheap to create and doesn’t mean that you’re slaving over a hot stove – plus it’s filling and GOOD FOR YOU! Not quite the 5 a day corker that the smoothie was, but it whacks in a whopping 3 ½ – 4 portions, including a portion of beans, which are packed full of fibre! I also served it as the wholesome and nutritional sustenance for our gorgeous bunch of yogi’s that joined me and Ellie from YogaByEllie at our yoga retreat in April. It certainly got the thumbs up from them! And the Spring Cleaners have loved it too – and so, I thought I’d let you all join in the love-fest for this bean-filled beauty!

Cookin’ up a mountain of Moroccan stew love for the yoga retreat!

Here’s what you’re getting from this oozing pot of love:

Red onion & garlic: both of these are part of the allium family, which are rich in sulphur-containing compounds (yep, that’s the gorgeous smell!) and are packed full of antioxidants, polyphenols and flavonoids that help protect us against a huge range of illnesses and disease. They’re also awesome for boosting our cardiovascular health and bone strength and are packed full of anti-inflammatory qualities.

Turmeric: another anti-inflammatory superhero… it’s been used in Chinese and Indian medicine for centuries to treat a wide variety of conditions.

Red peppers: have over 300% of your daily requirement of Vitamin C which keeps your immune system healthy. They’re also a good source of beta-carotene which the body converts into Vitamin A to keep eyes and skin super healthy.

Courgettes: They’re rich in magnesium and potassium, which help normalise blood pressure and can help prevent the build-up of bad cholesterol in the blood.

Chickpeas & butter beans: Not only do they count towards your 5 a day with just 2-3 tbsps, but they’re also packed full of fibre and so great for your intestinal health.

AND, just to top it all off – this little beaut is an awesome freezer meal. Cook once, eat 4 times! Dinner ready in 5 mins flat! Amazebeans. Do you really need any more persuading to get your ass in the kitchen to make this? It’s a perfect #MeatFreeMonday meal. Get stuck in!

Sweet Moroccan Stew

Ingredients (Serves 4)

• 2 tsp coconut oil
  

  Spring Clean Sweet Moroccan Stew with Greek yoghurt & avo!

• 1 red onion, diced
• 3-4 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1 tsp turmeric
• 1 tsp paprika
• 2 large courgettes, diced
• 1 red bell pepper, diced
• 1 tin chickpeas, drained
• 1 tin chopped tomatoes
• 1 tbsp tomato puree
• 1 veggie stock pot/cube + 500 ml water (more may be needed)
• ½ cup red lentils
• 2-3 tbsp raisins
• 2-3 tbsps chopped dates (or add more raisins)
• 1 tin butter beans
• 1 tbsp honey (optional)

Melt the oil in a pan and slowly cook the red onion and garlic in a pinch of salt

Once soft, add the turmeric and paprika and cook to release the fragrance and flavour of the spices.

Add the diced courgette, pepper and chick peas and mix well to coat in the spices.

Add the tin of tomatoes, puree and veggie stock, then stir in the lentils, raisins and dates. Leave to simmer for 20 mins, stirring occasionally.

Check that the lentils are cooked,  give them a little longer if needed and add more water if it’s looking parched, then add in the butter beans.

Stir through and add the honey if needed, then leave for a final 5 mins or so to thicken up (if your mix is very runny, then turn up the heat, or alternatively, add another handful of lentils which will soak up the juices as they cook and expand.

This works perfectly served on it’s own, with or without a dollop of Greek yoghurt and some creamy avo slices, but you could also serve it up with brown rice, quinoa, buckwheat or couscous if you’d like. Have an extra portion of green veg or salad on the side to really earn your 5 a day halo!

Delish! Let me know if you try it!

7 tips to have a happy and HEALTHY Easter holiday

It really does feel like we’ve just gotten over Christmas (just me?) and yet here’s Easter already, come to tempt us with its family holiday treats and goodies! Easter food in my family was always mainly about gorgeously warm hot crossed buns (one a-penny, two a-penny) with butter sinking into them and about the hearty family roast dinner. But I do know that the Easter bunny likes to deposit loads of chocolate eggs – and the supermarket shelves seem to heave with a ridiculous number of choices – and have you seen the SIZE of some of them?!

So chances are, the Easter bunny is going to be ‘forcing’ you to eat a bit more than your fair share of chocolate and other waistline-expanding goodies this long weekend… not to mention the extra tipple or four that is mandatory for celebrating a Bank Holiday! So how can you still enjoy all these vices but still make sure that you’re not straying too far into ‘the land of chubs’? I’ve got a few little tips to help!

1. Don’t buy a heap of chocolate. I know that there are often deals that entice us into spending a small fortune on a mountain of sugary goodness. Sounds simple enough, but if you don’t buy huge amounts, it won’t be in the house and you’re less likely to be sneaking into the kitchen to raid the choc-supply at strange hours.
2. Opt for the healthier kids on the block. Dark chocolate is a tasty treat and, in small quantities, it’s even good for you! Make sure that you’re opting for the 70% plus cocoa content to reap the benefits though. You can also choose cacao chocolate bars from places like The Raw Chocolate Company – cacao is basically the raw, unprocessed version of cocoa and is often mixed with natural sweeteners to make sin-free chocolate goodies! Another one of the new healthier types of chocolate doing the rounds at the moment is the tummy-loving Oh So chocolate – it’s Belgian chocolate with probiotics which are the good bacteria that look after and nurture your gut.
3. Make your own hot cross buns. I’m definitely going to be trying out a recipe for my own healthier homemade hot cross buns… I’m not much of a baker, but I’ve been eyeing out the shop bought versions since they came out (in, like, February??). I’ve spotted this recipe which uses wholemeal spelt flour and oats to pack the buns with fibre, and cuts out refined sugar… sounds right up my street! I’ll keep you posted on progress!
4. Make sure you’re keeping active. Brave the elements and drag everyone out the house! Go for a walk or a hike, organise a football/touch rugby match with your mates, dance til dawn, or get sweaty at the gym… Make sure you EARN those extra calories. And if you have little ones, why not set up an obstacle Easter egg hunt… kind of like Tough Mudder, but with eggs involved – Tough Egger?!
5. Stock up on healthy goods. Ironically, real Easter bunnies tend to prefer carrots, lettuce and foods that are waaaay healthier than chocolate! Make sure that you have lots of fruit out on display, ready for people to snack on. And if you’re cooking a Sunday roast, make sure that you pile your plate with the healthy, colourful vegetables rather than the beige spuds and Yorkshire puds…
6. Don’t beat yourself up. This is all part of family life and you’re allowed to enjoy it! Decide in advance what ‘treat’ you’re going to have and then draw the line at that. Don’t let the guilt send you into a spiral of indulgence. Make your choices and be proud of yourself for sticking to them!
7. Book in for my 4 week Spring Clean programme. Starting just after Easter, on 13 April, I’m running a 4 week Get Lean Spring Clean programme to shed off the layers of winter and help you feel better and brighter – more energy, less sludge and a perfect way to avoid that overindulgence spiral! Find out more info and book your place HERE. Go on, get booking!!

I’d love to hear about your Easter adventures – why not share in the comments box below, or swing by my Facebook page to tell your stories!

Did you know that I’ve also just started a newsletter? You can subscribe to receive the odd healthy morsel from me here.

Why you (and your inner diva) NEED to eat breakfast

My mum used to find it highly amusing that, as a toddler or grumpy teen, I always had the same morning ritual. Haul my ass out of bed (usually under great duress) and head straight for the breakfast table in a zombie-like coma. Must. Eat. Food. And slowly, but surely, with each mouthful of whatever it was, the human(ish) Bella would emerge and I’d leave the table a brighter and sunnier person (or so I’d like to believe!).

Turns out, I was setting myself up for an awesome habit that does me a power of good now that I’m a proper grown up (again, so I’d like to believe!). While I know that there are several of you out there who will argue that you can operate fine without breakfast, science backs up the fact that to get your body working properly throughout the day (not just at the beginning of it) then you need to start it right. And that means you need to break the fast and EAT! Preferably something healthy and filled with the good stuff. Don’t believe me? Here are 4 reasons why you need to find a way of starting the day right:

1. Manage your blood sugar levels. While you’re sleeping, your body is working away digesting all the food that you’ve eaten the night before. So when you wake up, there’s very little trace left of the nutrients in your blood stream and just the *ahem* remains waiting to be pooped out. And your blood sugar levels will be low enough to make you comparable with a grouchy grizzly. By gently raising your blood sugar levels first thing, you’re helping to manage your hunger levels throughout the day – leave it too late and chances are you’ll be reaching for a high calorie, high sugar ass-kicker snack mid morning because I’M-STARVING-AND-IF-I-DON’T-EAT-I-WILL-DIE (yep, low blood sugar may result in you turning into a melodramatic diva.) So give your metabolism a wake up call, get some stability in your blood sugar levels, and start the day as you mean to go on. And leave the diva at the door.

2. Wake up your brain. After a night’s sleep your brain cells will be running on empty – they need energy from the food you eat (that’s the glucose from complex carbohydrates) to refuel. Without that refueling, your brain will struggle to operate on all cylinders, which means that processing information or managing complex challenges (so things like forming and retrieving memories) are all a little bit too tricky. But by giving your brain the boost that it needs through food, it’s all set to be bright and alert and all those other things that you’d probably find life easier with!

3. Get your vitamin fix. Grabbing some fruit, yoghurt, and wholegrains for breakfast is a sure fire way to make sure that you’re getting a swift vitamin shot. It’ll pump you full of vitamin B for maximum energy and keep your immune system healthy with vitamins A, C and zinc. And that diva that you left at the door? She’ll be replaced by the happier version thanks to a lift in your seratonin levels. Happy shiny people!

4. Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate. I’ve waffled on about the importance of drinking enough water before and breakfast is a great place to start. I like to down a glass of the good stuff first thing to help make sure that my body has the fluid it needs. And don’t forget that pile of digested poop waiting for you to wake up… water will help with that too! But you can eat your water too – fruit is packed full of it! Don’t get too attached to strong caffienated drinks though – that diva might make a re-appearance.

UGH FINE… But I don’t have TIME.
Just because you need to kick start your system doesn’t mean you need to labour over a mammoth feast, or get up a gazzilion hours earlier to create some exquisitely complex sensation for your taste buds. When it comes to my top 3 breakfasts, taste and simplicity are key. I tend to eat mine either at my desk or before I leave the house. Either way, I don’t have a lot of time to hang about faffing over the preparation. Sometimes, that means getting things prepped the night before. Trust me, that little bit of effort can make morning life a whole load more peaceful!

Fruity yoghurt-to-go: This is a night-before-er. Half-fill a Tuppaware with frozen berries (I prefer the mixed ones). Chuck 20-40g of oats on top, spoon in some Greek yoghurt and sprinkle with a tablespoon of milled seeds/nuts. Takes you 3 mins to make. Then all you need to do in the morning is remember to take it with you! And there you have a vitamin-packed breakfast, super tasty, with all the nutrients.

Smashed eggs on toast: Sounds like a palava, really isn’t. Stick your toast (wholegrain, or sprouted if you can!) on while you’re heating a pan with a tsp of coconut oil. When the pan is hot, crack in 2 eggs and smash them up (it’s a less-hassle scrambled egg!) and season. Plop them (as elegantly as you can for first thing in the morning!) onto your toast. To get the full nutritional brownie points from this, whack in a handful of spinach at the same time as the egg and smash it all up together. Or just serve with some avocado or tomatoes. That’ll do too.

Chia and cinnamon oat pot: Might be flashing a few ‘health freak’ warning bells to some of you, but you can get chia seeds from pretty much anywhere these days! They’re packed full of omega 3 and are hailed as a superfood of the moment. I like to chuck a tablespoon into my trusty Tuppaware pot along with a tbsp of desicated coconut, milled flax seed, 40g oats and a tsp of cinnamon. Cover the mix with milk of your choice (I like this one with almond milk) and mix it up, ready to soak in the fridge overnight. Chia seeds start to soak up the liquid and make it go gooey… which is perfect for you to take out in the morning, top with greek yoghurt, blueberries and a drizzle of honey if it’s not sweet enough for you.

I have loads more breakfast ideas – from smoothies and pancakes to sweet bakes and savoury delights! Why not share some of yours below? Are you a breakfast lover?

Meat-free made easy: 3 tasty tips for veggie newbies

It’s the end of my meat free month. And if truth be told, I’m a little mournful. But then again, I am SO EXCITED about my simple salmon supper tonight (yep, not the massive steak that I thought I’d be devouring at one minute after midnight on 1 May)! I did genuinely love it. I had to deal with massive energy slumps and the occasional pang for something slightly meaty… but the experience was definitely more positive than I expected. I haven’t lost any weight (that’ll be the cheese then), but I haven’t gained any either. I don’t feel noticeably healthier, but I do love the new tastes and luscious goodness in the dishes I’ve been trying. And I’m also super conscious of restaurant choices when I now meet up with my veggie friends – man alive, sometimes the choices for veggies can be DIRE. Sort it out restaurateurs!

As a vegetable-lover, it wasn’t a hardship to eat more of the green and fresh stuff. But (wo)man can’t live by veg alone (well… you can… but… you know…!) So there were a couple of additional special ingredients which, although I’ve eaten regularly before, were my go-to favourites.

All hail halloumi

Halloumi became my carnivorous craving-stopper.

• On the BBQ, try skewers with halloumi and a range of veg (peppers, courgettes, mushrooms, tomatoes) marinaded in either a fresh n’ zesty lemon (zest and juice for maximum zing!), lime and mint; or for a bit of a kick in chilli, garlic and ginger with lemon juice.
• For a comfort food cuddle on a plate, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with a bit of halloumi and pesto with pasta. I like to dry fry the halloumi with extra garlic (I’m a delight to sit next to the following day!) and chuck in some green stuff – whatever you’ve got going to be honest – peas, mange tout, courgette, baby brussel sprouts, green beans…. Add a couple of teaspoons of pesto (make sure it’s proper vegetarian if you’re being ultra-veggie) and add your wholewheat/gluten free pasta… Nyom.
• And another quick n’ easy delight was grilled halloumi with a cheeky little salsa of chopped cherry tomatoes, sweetcorn, spring onions and avocado with a bit of parsley, chilli, olive oil and lemon juice – I often ate this on it’s own, but it worked great with a  wholewheat wrap, pitta bread or mexican style rice.

Praise be for chickpeas!

• A stolen recipe from a friend of mine – chickpea curry, straight up and simples. Just fry up your onion and garlic, add your chickpeas, curry powder and tin of tomatoes and simmer right down… I added aubergine and red peppers to flesh it out a bit, but you could add anything that tickles your fancy!
• Chickpea salads were an awesome filling lunchtime extravaganza. With some fresh chopped tomatoes, cucumber, onions, sweetcorn, radish, leaves and a bit of a sesame oil/tahini/lemon juice dressing… you were in for a treat. Add loads of fresh herbs (I love that my herb garden seems to have survived the drowning of the winter months!) and maybe a handful of feta for a creamy boost, and all for less than £2 for a massive lunch… A prime example of why packed lunches kick ass.
• Warming Moroccan spices, mixed with onions, garlic, chickpeas and aubergine, served with a bit of couscous or quinoa, felt almost holiday-esque!

Ave avocado

Avo has always been a firm favourite of mine. Growing up in Zim they were the size of small rugby balls… none of this palm-sized malarky that we get in the UK. And the abundance of them in the tree outside my childhood home means that I am so happy with finding a gazillion things to do with avo’s for breakfast, lunch and dinner… but sometimes the simple things are the best!

• My absolute favourite breakfast (instead of the fry up that the man in my life prefers!) has long been to have avocado mashed on toasted rye bread with scrambled egg, bacon and grilled tomatoes on top. And all I had to do to vegetise (if that’s not a word, it should be!) it, was to avoid the bacon! Easy! And AMAZEBALLS.
• To me, avocado isn’t just a fruit, it’s something that can immediately take something a wee bit bland and amplify all it’s tastiness in one massive hit! So you have a mixed bean salad. Meh. Add avocado to it and suddenly you’re transported down the taste super highway! Okay, maybe not that extreme, but you get what I’m saying. And the good thing is, it’s packed full of the natural, good monounsaturated fats that are good for us… unlike cheese.
• The simplest dinner of all… and the one that kicked ass for me time and time again: the humble avocado on toast. Rye bread (I like the ultra nutty rye, but even regular wholemeal works a treat), with nothing but half a ripe mashed avo, with black pepper, a touch of salt and (if you’re feeling well posh) a drizzle of balsamic glaze.

Thanks for the recipe ideas and inspiration during the month of April. I’m not going to lie, I won’t be giving up meat entirely. But I’m already quite happily settling in to my ‘more-veggie-days’ existence. Tomorrow night, the meat-eater-man is having steak, and I’ve actually opted for a bean stew. Wonders will never cease! … 🙂

 

How to work out what a ‘healthy diet’ means for you

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If you’re anything like me and you have a slight interest in keeping healthy, you would have done your fair share of reading things about how to adopt a healthy lifestyle. You may even have made some changes to your diet as a result of this… Carbs are the devil sound familiar to anyone?

I’ve spent a lot of time (and in some cases money) following trends, fads, lifestyles in the past… and yes, I’ve seen results. Me and my inner cave girl loved the lean feeling from the Paleo diet for example – you cut out all grains, dairy, starches and legumes, and basically live off the natural protein and vegetables that cavemen would have (the argument being that this type of nutritional approach appeals to our natural genetic makeup). It’s fairly similar to the Harcombe diet which says that sugar is the absolute spawn of Satan and that (good) fat is the way forward (so again, basically, just eat meat and veg). And there are hundreds of other ‘ways of life’ (as in ‘oh hell no, this ain’t another diet, this is a way of life man!’) that undoubtedly have the right kind of reactions and suit an awful lot of people. But not me.

My problem with these different lifestyles is that I just couldn’t make them stick – the extremist in me just couldn’t make it work. So I’d follow the rules religiously for a few months, lose weight and feel good…. but then it would all come crashing down around my feet (my arse that is), as I couldn’t sustain it. There are a number of reasons why, and they all sound like excuses:

• I didn’t have the time or desire to bake my own healthy paleo snacks that didn’t really taste like the things I was actually longing for
• I was doing it on my own with little support except for the online community I’d found
• There were RULES man, RULES. And lots of them. Who wants to follow rules?!
• PMS vs paleo…. PMS wins. Hands down.

I could go on, but you get my drift. And for everyone of my friends who have had some amazing success with other ways of life, man like WeightWatchers, Slimming World and all that jazz, there are other friends who have given up all hope in a point-counting whirlpool of frustration. So I’m guessing I’m not alone.

When I started this nutrition course, I was faced with the Eatwell Plate. The actual nemesis of someone like Dr Zoe Harcombe. It says we should EAT CARBS *GASP*! And, not only that, it makes allowances for foods high in FAT and SUGAR *DOUBLE GASP*!!!! I can’t tell you how this screwed with my mind… I was genuinely torn. I’d just committed to doing a course that went against everything I’ve spent the last few years of my life believing.

But then as I carried on with the course, I think I got it. You only need to watch programmes on TV like Secret Eaters to realise that the majority of the population are incredibly naive when it comes to understanding the basics of healthy eating. And who can blame them, with there being 1,001 uber confusing messages out there. To me, the Eatwell Plate is a classic representation of everything in moderation… it’s a guide. Something to help people understand what moderation looks like, to get people thinking about what ‘healthy’ might mean for them. It’s not asking you to give up entire chunks of your diet. It’s letting you know how much of those chunks is a good/bad thing. For people who can and are able to commit to a more intensive way of life, then that’s great – if it’s working for you and you can stick to it, that’s awesome. But for others who find it difficult to wade through the sea of conflicting messages, moderation is healthier than doing nothing.

Packin’ a good lunch

I love a packed lunch. Not just because I’m a penny-watcher (although it’s without a doubt more cost efficient to bring your own), but also because I get to choose what I want to eat and I know that it’s fresh and healthy with no hidden nasties. To some people, watching your weight and bringing in a packed lunch might mean that you’re faced with the prospect of eating a portion of yawnsville with a side serving of dullness. I’ve seen the containers in the fridge at work – that tell-tale Tupperware filled with iceberg lettuce and a dry looking piece of chicken. Or a few celery sticks and a rice cake. Or, the worst offender (for the poor individual, but also the rest of the office), a watery-looking cabbage soup. I’ve mentioned before how mixing things up and adding a bit of variety can be motivating and help you enjoy your food and stay on the right track. Just because you’re counting the calories doesn’t mean you need to lose your sense of lunch time adventure!

There are several reasons why you might not do a packed lunch. The most obvious excuse is always the lack of time. But if you’ve thought it through, it’s actually something that can be done whilst you’re making dinner the night before. All it takes is a little habit forming. Yes, I know, it’s easier said than done.

My trick is down to menu planning. Long before my growing interest in food and nutrition formed, I was planning menus to make sure that we could eat nice food on our measly budgets. I have a notebook, which I plan out breakfasts, lunches and dinners for me, and mostly for him too… I have been mocked by friends for years for it, but hey, you know what? It works for me! It means that when I go to the supermarket, I know exactly what I need to get. And I’m less likely to stray. It also means that I can spend a Sunday prepping as much as possible before the week ahead so I don’t have to faff around on weekdays when the whirlwind of life is swooping me up and spitting me out.

So, let me take a typical week of working packed lunches for you:

• Monday: leftover venison sausage and quinoa casserole. I made a big pot for lunch on Sunday and had enough leftover for a really tasty lunch. Packed with protein and vegetables, it wasn’t too heavy to leave me flailing on a Monday afternoon.

• Tuesday: homemade butternut and lentil soup. I made 4 portions on Sunday and froze two for next week. The lentils gave a good boost of protein, and I’d normally eat this with an oatcake or Ryvita for some wholegrain carbs. The soup pots are super easy to just pick up in the morning – no mess, no fuss. So it’s great for days when I’ve had a really busy evening the night before and no time to think about things.

• Wednesday: tuna mixed with Greek yoghurt (extra protein and makes it creamy), with a salad of spinach, olives, tomatoes, red onion and my absolute fave, avocado. A little bit stinky, but oh so tasty. Not to mention super easy. I chopped up the salad while dinner was cooking and literally just chucked it in. I dressed the salad with lemon juice, great with the yoghurty tuna.

• Thursday: leftover rice, quinoa and butternut squash from my meal the night before with grated carrot, cherry tomatoes, feta cheese and beetroot. I dressed it with balsamic vinegar and a touch of olive oil. Was more-ishly more-ish.

• Friday: I had the second pot of butternut and lentil soup. Nice n’ easy!

How do you make time for healthy, homemade lunches?

Juicy, juicier, juiciest…

Everyone, and I mean EVERYONE, seems to be jumping on the juice-tastic bandwagon in their January-month-of-detoxing-and-healthiness-festival. When I say ‘juice’, I’m talking about any type of squishing, bashing, squeezing, lumping and pummeling of otherwise solid foods into a liquid state. Call it juicing, call it smoothie-making… call it creating the happy tears of fruit and veggies… people are doing it with a vengeance!

And naturally, I am a part of that bandwagon. Well, it would be rude not to, wouldn’t it? But I’m a simple soul with not much cash to splash on fancy kitchen equipment (never mind the space to actually keep it!) so in November I bought me a little Kenwood blender for the princely sum of £25. Seemed to be a good investment given that I had recently rediscovered my passion for fresh smoothies, thanks to the lovely folk at Crussh. Man, oh man, those cheerful little taste-makers know how to smooth up a smoothie. And a juice. And porridge. And healthy pots of salady goodness. And soup. And… ARGH. Enough! They’re just awesome, okay?! But sadly, they have to make a living and charge the usual prices for London lunches. So I thought I’d save myself the money in the long run by making the odd smoothie at home. And, let me tell you, it’s been a DELIGHT.

My two current favourites, although I’m always open to experimentation, are:

LURGY-FIXER-AND-PREVENTORER (aka The Green Smoothie)

Ram-packed with goodness, it really does taste like you’re drinking HEALTH. Yes, despite it looking a little like snot. People use a variety of different ingredients and no doubt have their own preferences. Here’s mine:

• 1 large handful spinach
• 2 stalks of celery
• 1 green apple
• 1 kiwi fruit
• 1 scoop vanilla protein powder
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• slug in coconut milk (I use KoKo) until it’s the consistency you like

And because I’m aiming to make things as simple as possible, I’ve taken to chopping up the fruit and veg (squirt of lemon juice to keep the apples going brown) and storing it ready in the fridge the night before. Then it’s just a case of chucking it in the blender, zjhuuzzjing (you know, that thing that the blender does), and pouring it into a bottle to take on my commute. BEAUT.

PRETTY-IN-PINK: Antioxidant boosting berry smoothie

Now most of the shop-bought varieties of berry smoothies are sugar-playgrounds. Not just the fructose type of sugar, but they normally add a heap too. I prefer mine a little more wholesome (do I get my sugar-free halo yet?!):

• frozen mixed berries: usually blackberries, blueberries, cherries, raspberries, strawberries, cranberries, and other berry beauties that they chuck in!
• around 200g of natural Greek yoghurt. full-fat or low fat, it gives a nice dose of hefty protein.
• around 40g of rolled oats for a carb-boost
• a tbsp of milled nuts/seeds for some of the good fats
• slug of coconut milk as before.

Now this might not be sweet enough for some. If you want to, add in a tsp or so of honey or agave nectar. Or, rely on the berries own sweetness and get in the queue with me for the sugar-free halo!

Something that I’ve learnt with these luscious delights is that they are actually full MEALS. Just because they’re in liquid form does NOT mean that you can attempt to down them in one. Tummies don’t like it much when we do that. Sip and slurp is the order of the day. Give yourself time to enjoy it. And you’ll feel all the more better for it.

So, those are two of my faves – and I KNOW that you folk are going to have a few gorgeous treats up your sleeves… Share the love?

Simply wonderful: lessons from my simple eating resolution

So it’s been a full three weeks of my resolution-that’s-not-a-resolution of living life more simply. And while I’m feeling better for it (more in mind than in body if I’m honest – I’ve got the really gross type of snotty lurgy going on that’s unavoidable when you travel on the London Underground!), it’s actually been harder work than I anticipated.

But there have been some brilliant learning from the last few weeks which hopefully you might find useful if you’re looking to make your own simple tweaks! And I’d love for you to share your simple eating hints and tips with me..

1. By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail: Benjamin Franklin once again doles out some super ‘mazing genius advice. And it’s the truest truth I’ve found! Simplifying things take preparation. For the last couple of years, me and my OCD have made a bit of a tradition out of spending Sunday afternoons planning and prepping a week of lunches. But to keep life and meals as simple as possible, I’ve had to do a whole heap more forward thinking. So, Sunday roast becomes carefully orchestrated chilli beef stirfry, salad fillings, sandwiches for my other half. The freezer is stacked with soups for an easy lunch. And frozen berries are a brilliant with Greek yoghurt, made the night before for a breakfast at my desk that makes my colleagues INSANELY jealous. Oh yes!

2. All of this preparation would be ridiculously futile if it wasn’t for the right kind of storage. And I’m not ashamed to admit, I am a Tuppaware geek. My little drawer of plastic pots has blossomed and grown into a cupboard full of brightly coloured wonder. The Sistema range is my current fave, particularly their microwaveable beauties. I have teeny pots for small snacks of nuts, salad pots, the soup and noodle pots for warm lunches on winter days. And my all time favourite, the banana guard… although I will warn you, it has the potential to be a conversation starter and the subject of a few embarrassing questions in the office.

3. Life isn’t simple. Unless you’re super human, it’s almost impossible to be prepared every single day. I’ve found that some of the things that I’ve decided are important to me in my quest for simplification can sometimes conflict… which then leads to complications in my tiny brain! For example, keeping my diet clean and simple is one of my top priorities because it makes me feel good. But another simple priority is to spend time with the people I value most. So when that involves going to a pub for a Sunday less-than-clean lunch that will be oh-so-yummy, with awesome company and a few glasses of wine… then you know what, it’s okay to compromise on one ‘simple’ for another. And interestingly, I’ve just been learning about this in my nutritional diploma; about the psychology behind why some people find it’s impossible to maintain and sustain a healthier way of life. We need to learn to accept the relapses and move on. Hell yeah.

So, it’s Sunday. I’ve had an awesomely simple weekend with the food and friends I love. And I’ve just spent the last hour prepping some bits for the week. As the meerkats would say… SIMPLES.

Quinoa Peanut Butter Pancakes with Cinnamon and Pear – Best Grain-free Pancakes Ever

I’ve been on the hunt for recipes to trick my body into thinking it’s still in the throes of jolly-holiday overindulgence, whilst actually slowly but surely easing it into a more healthy routine! So these sound awesome to me – I’ll be trying these with coconut milk and rice flour since that’s what I have in the cupboard, and will top them with frozen berries and greek yoghurt. Yum. Thanks Food to Glow!

food to glow

I said on Monday that I wouldn’t be back unless I had some kind of brainwave. I don’t know if this qualifies as a brainwave, but we have just demolished a stack of the best pancakes we have had in ages. And it all started from a pack of something that the health and safety brigade would have chucked in the bin.

Here is how it happened that our near-trash turned into bona fide treasure.

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