Christmas tree cookies

Ingredients (makes 24)

120g olive oil spread
10g Stevia sweetener
1 egg
Finely grated zest and juice of one lemon
30g currants or cranberries
240g plain flour

Method

·         Preheat oven to 180 degrees C.

·         Line two baking sheets with baking paper or lightly grease a baking sheet

·         Cream margarine and Stevia together until light and fluffy. Then beat in the egg.

·         Add lemon zest and juice and currants or cranberries.

·         Sift flour into mixture and stir to form a stiff dough. Knead well and then chill in fridge for 20-30 mins.

·         Roll out dough on lightly floured surface to about ½ inch thick. Cut into Christmas tree shapes and place on baking tray.

·         Bake for around 15mins until pale and golden.

·         Cool for 2 mins then lift on to wire rack to cool. Decorate with icing sugar if desired.

Cheeky chicken nuggets

Ingredients:

2 large chicken breasts, cubed
wholemeal breadcrumbs (1 or 2 slices)
cous cous
40g parmesan, finely grated
2 tbsp olive oil
Olive oil spray
salt and pepper to taste

Method:

Place the breadcrumbs in a large bowl and stir in the grated parmesan. Put the cous cous in a different bowl. Dip the chicken cubes in the olive oil, then the breadcrumb mixture, then coat in cous cous.

Lightly spray the olive oil spray on a large baking sheet. Place the chicken pieces on the baking sheet and cook in a preheated oven at 220 degrees C for around 12 minutes, turning halfway through.

Serve with sweet potato chips and green veg and any condiments you like (I love these with tomato salsa).

Lemon drizzle polenta cake

This polenta cake doesn't contain any flour which makes it perfect for those on wheat-free diets. It's also low GL so you can have an extra slice and not feel too guilty!

Ingredients:

200g ground almonds
115g polenta (coarse cornmeal)
1 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt
3 eggs
125g unsalted butter
50g natural yogurt
225g caster sugar (or 150g xylitol/Stevia)
Zest of 4 whole lemons and juice of 1 lemon
For the drizzle:
juice of one lemon
2 tbsp granulated sugar or xylitol/Stevia

Method:

Mix all of the ingredients in a food processor or with an electric whisk. Grease a springform 25cm cake tin and pour in the mixture.

Bake for around 1 hour at a low heat (160 degrees C) or until a cocktail stick comes out clean and top is golden.

Get yer fill of oats - biccies in 20mins!

Quickest, easiest biscuits ever (now there's a promise!)

Ingredients:

75g porridge oats
75g wholemeal flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tbsp milk
70g butter
70g sugar (or equivalent of sweetener - Xylitol or Stevia are best)
1 tbsp agave syrup

Method:

Mix the oats, flour and baking powder in a large bowl. In the meantime, melt the butter with the milk and agave syrup on a low heat in the microwave. Add to the oats and flour and mix well.

Divide into 12 small balls and flatten. Place on a lightly greased baking tray and cook in preheated oven at 180 degrees C for around 15 minutes - or until lightly browned.

A quick tasty treat for when you've not got anything sweet in the cupboard - or they make a great elevenses snack or pre-gym energy boost!

Quick and tasty falafel

Ingredients:

300g dried chickpeas, soaked overnight and cooked or 2 tins ready-cooked chickpeas, drained
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 carrots, grated
1 tbsp plain flour
11/2 tsp baking powder
3 tbsp lemon juice
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp dried coriander
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp chilli flakes or 1/2 tsp dried chilli
1 handful fresh coriander, chopped

Method:

Place all of the ingredients in a food processor and blend until smooth. Make small balls with the falafel mix and put onto a plate. Heat the oil in a large frying pan. Add the falafel and cook for a few minutes until golden brown all over.

Serve with salad, tzatiki, or tomato salsa.

Finally, the perfect banana cake!

Every time I get those brown bananas in my fruit bowl I think 'ooh lovely, a yummy banana cake' and it never quite works out. BUT practice makes perfect! 

Here's the recipe for moist, sweet, moreish (and not too unhealthy) banana and walnut cake.

Ingredients:

3 small ripe bananas (the browner the better!), mashed
100g plain flour
3 eggs
100g butter or other spread
100g soft brown sugar / 50g sweetener (or you could use all sugar or all sweetener)
1 tsp baking powder
small handful chopped walnuts (or any other nuts)
handful of raisins
2 tsp cinnamon or ground ginger

Method:

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C and grease a loaf tin.

Mix the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the flour, eggs, baking powder and cinnamon. Mix thoroughly. Stir in the banana, nuts and raisins. Pour the mixture into the tin. Bake in the oven for around 50 minutes (until a skewer comes out clean).

Serve warm with a dollop of creme fraiche, ice cream or greek yogurt.

Starbucks - skinny brekkie?

Best choice brekkie in Starbucks

Yesterday morning I had a dilemma – rushing for a long train journey and having not had time for breakfast. What would be the healthiest option to keep me full until lunchtime?

Under the pressure of a quick moving queue, I failed and went for a soya cappuccino and a ‘healthy’ granola bar – as soon as I took a bite I knew it wasn’t the healthy choice.

So what would’ve been the best brekkie option?

• Starbucks porridge – 244 calories (204 with soy milk) and very berry or dried fruit compote (avoid the honey or maple syrup)

• Natural yogurt and a fruit salad – 215 calories

• Buttermilk pancakes – 227 calories

And what to avoid:

• The granola bar (grrr) – 390 calories (25g sugar!!)
• Luxury fruit bread – 481 calories (39g sugar – that’s around 10 tsp!)
• ‘Skinny’ lemon and poppy seed iced muffin – 399 calories and 49.6g sugar – 12.4 tsps!
• Sausage buttie – 449 calories, 22.1g fat (almost a third of your recommended daily intaken and almost half of your recommended saturated fat intake).

And drinks?

The best

Skinny/Soy decaf cappuccino – 70 calories, 0.1g fat

Green tea – 0 calories, 0 fat

Breakfast tea w.skimmed milk, 0 calories, 0.1g fat

The worst

Grande latte made with whole milk – 223 calories, 11.5g fat

White chocolate mocha with whipped cream – 500 calories, 22.1g fat, 58.6g sugar (that’s 2 mars bars!)

Perfect post-workout drink

Who needs expensive recovery shakes? I whipped this up in less than a minute and it cost around 40p a serving!

1/2 tin of peaches (get the ones in natural juice)
1/2 pint skimmed milk (or soya milk if you prefer)
 
Blend together and ta-dah! Perfect mix of carbohydrate and protein. And milk boosts post-workout muscle recovery. 

Eggs again?

Watched a great programme last night on the beeb Britain's favourite supermarket foods. Once again it highlighted that eating eggs won't raise your cholesterol significantly. Two or three a day in fact is fine! Great source of protein and vitamins A and D too.

Also showed rugby players drinking milk instead of a sports drink after exercise and their muscles recovered much quicker. Get downing the white stuff after exercise (just go for skimmed or semi-skimmed!)

Success!

So the Valentine's feast was a success. Here are the recipes if you want to try your hand at some Cuban cuisine:

Crispy plantain:
2 ripe plantain, peeled and sliced finely like a banana
1 tsp hot paprika
1 tsp rock salt
1 tbsp olive oil or sunflower oil

Boil the plantain for around 5 minutes in lightly salted water. Remove using a slatted spoon. Heat the oil in a large frying pan and add the plantain. Sprinkle with paprika and rock salt. Cook over a high heat until crispy and golden brown, turning regularly.

Black bean stew:
1 tin black beans
1 onion
4 garlic cloves – 2 chopped, 2 whole
1 green pepper
1tsp coriander
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp oregano
½ veg stock cube
½ chopped red chilli
Pinch of salt
Black pepper
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp white wine
1 tsp brown sugar
1 tbsp tomato puree
It looks like loads of ingredients but literally just throw them all in together and cook for about 30 minutes! You could pick and choose which ingredients to keep or miss.  Taste as you go along!

Coconutty prawns
 
450g frozen or fresh, peeled, jumbo prawns
1 medium onion, sliced

1 tbsp garlic and ginger paste
1 tbsp butter/olive oil
2 tsps ground coriander
1 tsp tumeric
1 tsp chilli powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
2 tbsps vinegar
2 tbsp tomato ketchup
1/2 - 1 tin of coconut milk (depends how creamy you want it!)
1/2 tin of chopped tomatoes.

Fry the onion and garlic paste in a pan with the butter/oil. Mix spices, vinegar and ketchup in a bowl. Add to the pan and cook for around 3 mins. Then add the coconut milk and tomatoes. Cook for around 10 minutes then add the prawns and cook for a further 3 minutes. Serve with brown rice.

Happy Valentine's Day

What's on the menu tonight? Caribbean/Cuban fusion. Which means black bean stew, coconutty prawns, rice and (slightly fried) plantain. Oh yes, and a couple of mojitos (nutritionist's drink of choice don't you know!)

I'll take a photo and let you know how I get on with my experiment.