Today is World Porridge Day! Luckily for me, I love oats. I find them so filling and satisfying so I can actually go through the whole morning without snacking. Plus, you can make it as personal and be as creative as you want with toppings! And it takes less than 5 minutes to make!
Smoothie bowls. What the heck are those you may be wondering? Smoothie bowls are essentially a smoothie topped with fruit, nuts and anything else nutritious you can find! They are more satisfying than a regular smoothie as you can't just down it and you can really appreciate the taste and variety of texture. The best thing about a smoothie bowl is how creative you can be! The more diverse the colours, textures and types of food the better! I am pretty new in the smoothie bowl hype but my favourite recipes I have created so far are below!
Flapjacks: the buttery, sweet and yummy treat made with very few ingredients which pack in a lot of calories! Our waistlines need to watch out when it comes to flapjacks because they are extremely moreish. Stereotypical flapjacks are made of oats, melted butter and golden syrup and they are then baked until golden and although oats are beneficial to health, heapings of butter and golden syrup are not. I absolutely love flapjacks and have been wanting to create a healthy version of flapjacks for a long time. I have finally created a recipe which satisfies those flapjack cravings!
Vegetables are the main staple of my meals and they should be the main staple of yours too! 50% of your plate should be vegetable and/or fruit based. Many people believe their plate should be mainly made of protein and/or carbs which simply is not the case. Ensuring 50% of every plate of food you eat consists of veggies and/or fruit means you should easily be eating the recommended amount of fruit and veggies per day. Why are they so important?
Studying for my master’s degree in Nutrition in Practice at Leeds Beckett University is edging closer and closer. I move to Leeds in just over a month – how exciting! I basically devote all my free time preparing myself for it. Whether that be reading, watching, talking or listening about nutrition and diet. Of late, I have been super interested in how beneficial fruit and veggies are to health.
Smoothies provide that instant solution to sugar cravings which I often get. When you're watching your weight and are wanting to limit your sugar intake, sugar cravings are really real! Especially when it comes to chocolate, my ultimate weakness. I have already created a solution to get my chocolate fix in a guilt-free way, check out my recipe for healthy chocolate brownies here. But with a busy week, you may not have the luxury of time to make and bake a batch of brownies. A smoothie provides a quick solution. I really didn't even think about what I was putting in this smoothie; I just threw in a load of things I already had in my house and hoped for the best!
About a week ago, my boyfriend said he really wanted a Chinese takeaway but after the recent bank holiday weekend escapades, I said no. We had eaten far too many calories and saturated fat that weekend. Although I didn't regret it as we have been super healthy when it comes to food lately, I still didn't think we deserved it after being a little bit naughty that weekend. Chinese takeaways are certainly a comfort food, full of warm, gentle spices and flavours.
So to satisfy his craving, I made my own Chinese style chicken curry which is tonnes healthier and is just as tasty as the curry from your local Chinese. It is also so simple to make and uses ingredients I always have in the house. Plus it is super cheap in comparison to buying a takeaway!
There is nothing better than a warm bowl of comfort food full of flavour which delicately touches your soul. Comfort food is nostalgic, possibly even sentimental, and is often used when a person is either stressed, sad or has some other negative emotion. It is associated with unhealthy, high-carbohydrate or high-sugar based food but it doesn't necessarily have to be this way. Indulgence can be good for not only your taste buds but also your body. Comfort food is idiosyncratic and is unique depending on culture and country.
Brownies. Probably one of my favourite treats to bake and eat but they're not so good when it comes to health. Whilst traditional brownies are full of butter, sugar and chocolatey goodness (or not so chocolatey goodness when it comes to our waistline), they are probably one of the worst treats to eat.
Yesterday, I was having a wander around Grainger Market when I stumbled upon one of the many fruit stalls. One particular stall caught my eye as it had an amazing offer for raspberries, one of my favourite fruits. 4 boxes for just one pound. In other words, 500g of sweet, pink, tangy and delicious raspberries for just £1! I could not believe what I was seeing. At Tesco, you can get a 150g box for £2 or a 250g box for £3 so you can see why I couldn't believe it. Anyway, I bought the raspberries and wondered what the actual health benefits of eating raspberries are.
Want to make this delicious, nutritious and speedy stir fry and in under 10 minutes?
First, boil some water in a pan. Add egg noodles into the pan and allow to cook for 5 minutes.
After putting the noodles in a pan, heat some coconut oil in a pan. When it is hot, place thinly cut strips of steak into the pan and lightly fry,
Then add whatever vegetables you want to put into your stir fry. I personally used a handful of baby corn, a handful of tenderstem broccoli, one red chilli, a handful of spring onions and a handful of sugar-snap peas.
Lightly fry these with the steak and then add two tablespoons of soy sauce and a sprinkling of ginger. Cook for around 3 minutes.
Drain the noodles and toss into the pan to combine all the steak and vegetables together.
Then serve and tuck in!
You can change the amount of soy and ginger based on your preferences and you could also use chicken instead of steak if you'd like! Enjoy!
Cinnamon.
That sweet and fragrant spice you dust over porridge and use in desserts not
only adds a delicious zing to our foods but also a zing to our health. Recently,
George Lockhart, a performance nutrition specialist and dietitian to UFC
fighter Conor McGregor, says the best way to curb those sugar cravings is with
cinnamon and this got me wondering. Could cinnamon be beneficial to our health?
 |
| Homemade cinnamon oat muffins. |
Cinnamon
contains cinnamaldehyde, cinnamyl alcohol and cinnamyl acetate. Cinnamaldehyde
has an anticoagulant property which can prevent strokes and an
anti-inflammatory property which has been shown to relieve the symptoms of
asthma, arthritis, muscle soreness and the severity of some allergic reactions.
It
has been shown to relieve bloating and flatulence.
Cinnamon
produces an antibacterial action that can prevent yeast and candida from
growing.
It
is loaded with polyphenols, a type of powerful antioxidant, meaning the body
can be protected from oxidative damage caused by free radicals which is a cause
of cancer and heart disease.
It
can reduce the level of total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, triglycerides and
blood pressure which are all contributing factors to heart disease.
It
can improve the sensitivity to insulin which regulates blood sugar levels and
also lowers blood sugar levels if they are high.
So the answer is yes. Cinnamon can be of benefit to our health so grab yourself
some cinnamon from your local supermarket and add it to your morning breakfast
and reap in the benefits. Do you eat cinnamon on a regular basis? If so, how do
you incorporate it into your diet? Let me know in the comments below.
Best of
wishes.
Lately, I have realised how central food is to me and my boyfriend, Matt, on an everyday basis. Specifically healthy food that tastes as good or even better than it's healthy counterpart and how altering just a limited number of ingredients can make a meal so much more healthier and tastier. Because of this, I am thinking of perhaps changing the direction of my blog towards food. Mainly healthy food with the odd treat. I cook and experiment with food everyday so it makes total sense. I absolutely love eating out and I also get compliments on Instagram on the photographs of food and the places I eat at. I don't know why I haven't thought of this previously!
I will still document the odd lifestyle post particularly when it comes to travel but I think food is the way forward for me. By no means am I a nutritionist, dietitian or chef but I love the power, goodness and taste of healthy ingredients. I hope you enjoy the new direction that I take my blog in. I can't wait to share all my food experimenting with you all!
Wanting a sweet snack without any artificial sugar and packed full of protein? You've come to the right place. This deliciously soft and fluffy banana bread is the perfect snack for you and it can be made and baked in under an hour.
What you need:
- 4 mashed bananas
- 1 cup of oats
- 1 cup of plain flour
- 4 scoops of banana protein powder
- 6 egg whites
- 5 teaspoons of apple sauce
- 10 teaspoons of sweetener
- 2 teaspoons of baking soda
- 2 teaspoons of chia seeds
First set your oven to 190 degrees Celsius.
Mash up 4 bananas (the riper the better!)
Add all the dry ingredients (excluding the chia seeds) to the mashed banana and mix.
Then add the remaining ingredients (still excluding the chis seeds) and mix thoroughly.
When completely mixed, pour the mixture into a loaf tin.
Then sprinkle the chia seeds onto the top of the mixture.
Bake for 40 minutes, ensuring that when a knife is inserted into the middle of the loaf, it comes out clean and without any unbaked mixture.
Allow to fully cool then tuck in!
What are your thoughts on this recipe? Let me know in the comments below!
Best of wishes.
Happy Monday morning! It's the start of a new week and there's not a better way to start the week than with a healthy breakfast. And a coffee of course. Porridge. The first thing I used to think when I saw or heard the word 'porridge' was a bland, cement-like and just very boring food. But porridge isn't boring and is the perfect breakfast or snack for these cold winter months.
Porridge on it's own is I openly admit very boring and is more like a chore to eat rather than an enjoyment. Food is there to enjoy and porridge can be yummy believe it or not!
An excellent quality about porridge is that it compliments a variety of foods ranging from fruit to nuts, seeds to nut butters, sauces to syrups and even chocolate!
My favourite toppings include:
- Peanut butter
- Chia seeds
- Goji berries
- Cacao powder
- Golden syrup
- Linseed
- Nicecream
- Frozen mixed berries
- Sunflower seeds
- Pumpkin seeds
- Banana
- Chocolate
- Jam
- Desiccated coconut
I love a different combination of these toppings so my breakfast always tastes different but my key ingredient is cacao powder. It makes eating porridge so much more easier and it tastes amazing along with any of the other toppings listed above.
So why is porridge so good you may ask? The fact that you can make porridge in just two minutes in a microwave means there is no excuse for not having the time to make it. And the health benefits of porridge make it one of the top food staples to eat.
Oats are the predominant ingredient in porridge and have many health benefits. Oats are packed full of minerals, vitamins and fibre along with evidence of lowering cholesterol and high blood pressure. They also release energy slowly giving you the feeling of being fuller for longer. Oats contain vitamin A which reduce the risk of chronic disease as free-radicals are destroyed by this vitamin. Iron is also found in porridge which helps transport oxygen to red blood cells around the body. Making porridge with milk, which is what I prefer to water, also means calcium will be found in this breakfast which is involved in hormone secretion, muscle function as well as the strengthening of bones.
So involve porridge in your daily diet as either your breakfast or for a snack and reap the benefits! Experiment with toppings until you find your perfect combination and enjoy!
What are your favourite toppings? Let me know in the comments below!
Best of wishes.
