The Super Porridge

This is a secret recipe, so please, handle it with care.  It's something you can learn to love because, yes, it is slightly grey and strange, but it's a morning punch in the face full of good fats, vitamin A, vitamin C, calcium, fibre and only about 260 calories!  This idea or recipe was passed onto me by a clever colleague, who at the ripe age of 55, swears by this morning meal and by looking at his healthy face, I really believe him.  Here it is and really, it's porridge, but it's amazing.

You will need for 1 serving:

*measurements are all approximations, measured as best as I could achieve

• 25g of organic oats (approx. 3 tablespoons)
• 1 tsp of ground black sesame
• 1 tsp of ground almonds
• 1 tsp of ground rye flakes
• 1 tsp ground linseed/flaxseed
• 1 tsp of ground walnuts
• 150ml of water
• 40ml of Oatly Organic Milk (optional, you can use other milks but bare in mind of calorie content)
• 26 grams of natural dates (not sweetened, approx. 4pcs)
• 10g of goji berries
• 1 tbs of maple syrup

 

1. Add all dry ingredients together in a saucepan, then add in water.
2. Allow to cook on medium heat until oats are soft and mixture is creamy.  If you add the dates and goji berries earlier with the dry ingredients you'll find you'll add in less maple syrup as the natural sugars fuse in with the porridge!
3. Add in maple syrup at the end and stir, then serve.

The reason why this combination is so great in the morning is because it's low calorie but really filling.  If you find this isn't enough, you can even have toast with this, or fruit or even a yoghurt. 

Black sesame is extremely high in calcium and I've found by eating this five out of the seven days in the week, my nails have become really shiny and smooth, as if I've buffed them with a nail buffer! 
The linseeds are high in omega-3s (higher than those found in nasty fish oils), fatty acids, and antioxidants. 
The goji berries are extremely high in vitamin A which really helps with our eye sight.  Where I come from, goji berries are frequently featured in our dinners and it's only now that I've come to use them myself at breakfast! 

There are so many goodies in this porridge and you can really mix this up, but this is what I eat and I guess it's subject to change!
Other things you might want to think about changing up or adding, would be ground brazil nuts for selenium, raisins instead of dates, soya milk if you want it creamier and to add in more protein and omega, and/or natural raw cocoa powder for a delicious antioxidant hum. 

Again, I know it's just porridge, but if you want to change up your high calorie and boring porridge to something skinny and nutritionally dazzling then give this a try!

Tell me how it goes for you, and good luck!

Helen

Hale & Hearty Quick and Easy Falafel Mix

  Here is somewhat of a product review!  I've tried and tested my first Hale & Hearty product and I'm pretty impressed.  This falafel mix is not only organic but it is gluten, wheat, soya and GMO free; lucky for me it is also Vegan friendly.  The ingredients are all safe to eat and so it was worth a try.  For those concerned about calories, half of the box mix (about ten balls of falafel) is only 301 calories!  So you can have five with a salad and not worry about weight gain.  They taste lovely and can be done in 25 minutes including frying off.

They can get a little dry so I would recommend some tzatziki with it or a condiment of your own choice.  Overall, a splendid weight loss and health conscious choice.  For me, this is a weekend convenience food that feeds everyone quickly without doing too much damage. 

More mini food product reviews coming soon!

Helen

Vegan Sprout Handrolls

I want to share this particular recipe with you because it's absolutely out of this world...and it also happened as a fluke!  It's great as a snack, really low calorie, vegan, delicious and can be served at a main meal with miso soup and tofu on the side.  Enjoy!

You will need, for 2 hand rolls (all approximation):

- 1/2 Cup Sprouts per hand roll
- 1/4 Cup Diced Vegan Chorizo (I use Cheatin's)
- 2 Table spoons of Veganaise or Dairy Free Mayo
- 1/2 Tea spoon of Cumin
- 1 teaspoon of dried parsley
- 1 Tablespoon of lemon juice
- 2 leave of lettuce (I used romaine lettuce)
- 1 Nori Sheet (half per hand roll)

Additional goodies I've used before
- Sliced radish
- Spring onions/scallions

How to:

1. Cut the nori sheet in half and reserve on the side
2. In a bowl, mix the washed sprouts and all the other ingredients together.  Taste before you put in your handroll.
3. Lay the nori down with the lettuce leaf on top (diagonally place it so that the tip of the leaf is pointing towards the top right hand corner)
4. Place filling on top of leaf, beware of trying to add in too much!
5. Fold over the left hand side of the nori and wrap it under the lettuce leaf. 
6. Carefully place on plate and serve.

I hope you try this and tell me how it goes!

Helen

Goodbye, Canned Corn!

All my life I've eaten corn out of a can.  Why? Because it's convenient and quick!  But nothing and I mean nothing is as satisfying as eating fresh corn on a cob, lightly steamed or even raw.  It's the most wonderful thing! 

I get mine from the farmers market and they serve as a really good filling snack or side to a meal.  MMmm, crunchy, sweet and wholesome.

Any healthy recommendations on how to dress up a corn on cob? 

Day 32 - A leap of Kind faith

Without knowing it, today I actually lived a day of a Vegan and I have to say, it's been a particularly harmonious and stress free experience. 

Having read a lot 'The Kind DIet' by Alicia Silverstone in a day, I've taken on board a lot of things she has written and overall it's an extremely inspiring book.  It's taught me a lot about the body and not only do I feel like the research correlates with a lot of what Michael Pollan says in 'The Omnivore's Dilemma' but it also makes a lot of scientific sense (although I'm not a scientist myself, I do know how to use Google pretty efficiently). 
As I've mentioned, leaping into the vegan lifestyle was never my intentions (at least for now) and I wanted to 'flirt' with it and see how things went.   As far as I could see, giving up eggs, milk and fish was just too much of a sacrifice.  Having read through her book, it's become increasingly logical to abstain from these animals and animal by-products and really start healing my body with the good foods that Earth provides.  I don't know how long I can go without beloved salmon sashimi, cheese omelettes and milk smoothies but for now, I think I can go without.
In saying this, I do have something quite interesting to report.  At the very beginning on The Slimming Strategy, I found that my skin began to clear up and my acne was rapidly disappearing.  It was phenomenal for the first week and since the second week, it seems to come back.  Having made the connection between cutting out red meat, fried goods and processed sugary crap out of my diet I slowly realised that it had something to do with reintroducing something back into my diet that was causing my skin to flare up again. 
Alas, I realised that I'd suddenly given into some processed flour goods and started consuming more dairy than before (remember that huge lump of cheese we bought last Saturday?).  I looked through The Kind Diet only to find that my hunch was correct.  She says that with the hormone levels in milk (which by the way is designed for baby cows to drink, not adult humans) milk can break her out and make her fart a lot! 
So since  yesterday I cut out a lot more dairy and today I didn't touch any and strangely enough, my skin has started healing again.  I will have to report on how to this goes but as far as I can see... I'm experiencing some amazing things with this new life style.

Furthermore, one thing that must be cleared up is that I'm not actually using The Kind Diet as a method of weight loss.  Alicia makes it quite clear that by adopting this lifestyle, you will naturally lose weight and glow from within.  Having embarked on this new flirtatious adventure with the vegan lifestyle, I've realised that without knowing, I've become increasingly concerned about my health and body, as opposed to my weight and looks.  The Kind Diet has taught me a lot and reaffirmed a lot of what I thought about my body and how I wanted to treat it.  So for the last few days, rather than concentrating on calories, I've been searching through The Kind Diet and found that it suits my style perfectly.  Now it's about finding the balance between putting nutritious, wholesome foods into my body, eating the right proportions and exercising vigorously.  This journey continues....

~~~~

Talking about exercise, I've finally completed three days of running this week.  My body is absolutely exhausted and I am very tired.  Needless to say, I feel fantastic and I can actually feel my muscles now; before I wasn't sure they existed.  I don't feel like any weight is shifting but I'm assuming my body is getting used to a lot of changes and is just adapting.  I'm sure within time, it shall drop off!

~~~~

Finally, on to today's food

 
Check out what I had for lunch.  What do you think this is?  A bowl of rice?  Surely NOT Helen. No, it's not actually.  Today I used cauliflower (yes you heard me) as a substitute for rice and fried it with spring onions and mushroom.  The cauliflower, when mashed lightly into bits, gives a similar texture to rice and therefore can become a fabulous alternative.  It was a wonderful wholesome bowl of goodness that I ate with...

Crispy baked tofu with a fruit soy sauce.  When I perfect the recipe, I shall pass it on to you.

 

For dinner I made lasagne again!  This time I use courgette as my pasta sheets and used beans instead of meat.  We even convinced my brother in law to have the vegetarian version and he gobbled it all up.  His version had pasta and cheese, whilst my sister opted for pasta-less but with cheese.  I was a bit hardcore and skipped both pasta and cheese.

Do you see which section belonged to whom?  I was so stuffed by the end of it I'm almost sure I overate.  But I overate on carrots, peppers, onions, courgettes, tomatoes and beans....so I really doubt it was serious.

~~~

Seeing as I'm not exercising until Tuesday again (turns out, I'm going to be busy on Sunday) I will be back on diligent calorie counting. Let's hope tomorrow is going to be as equally as uplifting.

Helen

Day 30 - Cabbage Soup and Running hardcore

Cabbage Soup

I made the most amazing soup today; remember that gigantic cabbage I bought from the market for £1?  Well it turned into a really good wholesome soup.

 

 

 

 

The recipe is slightly tricky because I didn't actually note it down but I will give you a good outline so you can make your own.  This recipe is very filling, low calorie and wonderfully nutritious.  Even the non soup eaters at home gobbled it up.

For stock:

1. Boil (or pressure cook) prawn shells (or chicken or vegetables), onions, 3 bay leaves, black pepper and garlic together. 
2. For pressure cooker, cook for 45 minutes.  For normal boiling, boil an hour and a half.  Otherwise, boil less and you will get a milder flavour.  Or use a stock cube!

Ingredients needed:

1. A 'good' amount of Cabbage
2. 200g of Lean Smoked Bacon
3. Spinkling of Mozzarella
4. 10g of Butter
5. Tea spoon of minced garlic

Rough Method Outline:

1. Gently saute chopped cabbage with garlic until cabbage has softened slightly.  Drop in 10g or so of butter and stir.
2. Add in stock and allow stock to heat up
3. Pressure cook for ten minutes (or boil for 20 minutes)
4. Blitz the soup with a processor (I used a hand blender)
5. Drop in some mozzarella cheese and stir.
6. Bring soup back up to boil and drop in sliced bacon and shredded cabbage.  Stir.
7. Allow cabbage and bacon to cook and then season to taste. I did not add any salt because the stock was so flavoursome (again, stock has no salt!).

So I hope that was remotely useful and perhaps gave some inspiration.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Running hardcore

Tonight was a very special night for me because for the first time, since running, I've worked my body so hard I feel absolutely shattered.  Before I used to run I would be tired and sweaty but nothing quite like tonight. 

My Sister and I decided to go running in the park at around 9.30pm and we were accompanied by my brother in law who was roller blading around. We couldn't run around the park because a lot of it was too dark and a bit scary so there was one stretch that was close to the entrance and very brightly lit.  We decided to run from one end to the other on and on and on.  It was exhausting because we would run non stop to the end and I didn't work out how long that distance was but it's long enough for me to start losing my breath by the 4/5's of each stretch.  I was training my body to  use the oxygen intake efficiently and I found that each time I ran it became easier.  Don't get me wrong, it wasn't easy for me.  I'm incredibly unfit but I am fitter than I was three weeks ago.  What a liberating training session and we are going again tomorrow.  RAWR!

I'm also seeking out a good reputable whey protein so I can start feeding my body the correct amount of protein for these intense work outs.  I am looking for one that builds lean muscle mass and this is important for fat burning so I can lose weight effectively.  I'm interested in the PhD nutrition Diet Whey and really excited about possibly purchasing it.  I feel like a frickin' athlete in the making.

I need to rest... I might dream about running now.

Good night!

Warm Kale and Quinoa Salad

Previously I had made a different version of this kale salad and you can view that here.  I wanted to show you the basic components of my current favourite kale dish that is packed FULL of nutrients and is incredibly filling.  For the sake of those who are counting calories, I will note them down for you but for those who are just into food, use whatever you want and however much!  Just enjoy :)

 

Ingredients:

• Kale (80g = 22kcal)
• Boiled Egg (Large egg approx. 78kcal)
• One sheet of Nori Seaweed (10kcal)
• Sesame seeds (1tsp = 52kcal) - Nice toasted
• Mushrooms (100g = 28kcal)
• Quinoa (30g = 110kcal)
• Peppers (50g = 16kcal)
• Courgettes (50g = 8kcal)

Season with some salt, pepper, chilli flakes, sesame oil and lemon juice.  Try some sweet balsamic vinegar as well!

Other substitutes that are great included:

• Grilled onions
• Grilled tomatoes
• Balsamic Vinegar
• Butternut squash
• Broad beans

Method:

1. Cook quinoa to instructions
2. Boil egg to your preference
3. Try fry the mushrooms in a tiny bit of oil (I like sesame oil) and make sure not to overcook
4. Shred and blanch the kale
5. Shred up all ingredients
6. Mix together in a bowl, toss with seasoning
7. Pile all together on a plate and halve the egg on top.  Eat.

Granola and Yoghurt Breakfast / Cheese Salad Tortilla

 

Yeo Valley Organic Natural Low Fat Yoghurt 140g / 58kcal
Strawberries 60g / 19kcal
Blueberries 20g / 11kcal
Jordan's Strawberry Country Crisp 20g / 88kcal
= 176kcal

 

Asda Wholemeal Tortilla Wrap (not recommended, full of weird stuff) 72g / 199kcal
Raw Red Pepper Sliced 30g / 9kcal
Cucumber Sliced 50g / 8kcal
OrganicTomatoes Sliced 123g / 22kcal
Asda Mild Grated Mozzarella Cheese 10g / 30kcal
Drizzle of Passion Fruit Balsamic 1/2 tsp 10kcal (estimate)
= 278kcal

 

x

Day 25 ~ I love life

I woke up at about 9.30am this morning and it was wonderful to have the morning again.  I spent the morning sorting small things out and making breakfast.  I've given the smoothies a short break to try out some organic yoghurt with granola and fruit - something I used to eat a lot.  I'm starting to consider breakfast options for the winter.  I've done enough diets to be familiar with a lot of recipes but rediscovering them is both daunting and exciting.

Like I said yesterday, I managed to rope my Sister into going running with me today.  You may recall that I also went running yesterday so it's been two days in a row and I'm so proud I did that.  Last night, I walked 1.77 miles and ran 0.39miles.  I decided that I did well but I needed to push myself further today because I no longer had bladder infection as an excuse and it was a beautiful day.  To warm up out bodies we walked the 1.18miles route and then half ran half jogged the same route twice!  So I estimate that we walked 2.36miles and ran about 1.18miles altogether.  Of course the 'running' was a bit more like a jog but there were some parts we pushed ourselves to run longer or faster.  I am aching tonight but I feel so good to have soaked up the day in the park.  The most fascinating thing was that I saw more joggers today and a lot of them were actually very old.  There was a very old man who was pacing around the park and I thought it both admirable and inspiring. 

We spent a lot of time running errands after that and even though we were both tired, my Sister expressed that she would like to do this morning and possibly we could do it every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday mornings.  Expect to hear a lot about running in the future everyone!  Also, everyone was right - running buddies really are the shit.

Today I made a lasagne for the first time and it was a low fat vegetarian one.  To be honest I never really calculate calories in dinner because I have the responsibility to cook for a lot of people quite quickly.  I've adapted to cooking a lot of low fat meals and I've become able to estimate calories and portion sizes - something I really thank Weight Watchers for.  I thought I'd post up the process of my low fat vegetarian lasagne.  This is my first time so I want to make some other ones in the future.

The vegetables lightly fried: Green & Yellow peppers, onion and carrot

The passata I made blitzing up chopped canned tomatoes and adding herbs and seasoning

Topping the vegetable filling

Sprinkling mozzarella  cheese on top

Using Sainsbury's Basic Lasagne Sheets. It's OK, it's just wheat flour, no weirdness! 

Another layer on top

The finishing product

Voila, dinner is served.

It was a lovely dinner and I ate well today.  I'm still not drinking as well as I could be and I've somehow fallen off the raw wagon so starting from tomorrow I will try and fit in more raw foods.  As the colder months charge towards us in England, I'm also beginning to think of warmer food options.  I've decided to make some batches of soups soon and I will fill you in on that.  I think my first one shall be broccoli and cheese (maybe ham) because we've come into a lot of broccoli recently. 
I live in a take away shop and the shop uses a lot of broccoli florets however they usually throw away the stalk.  We've recently had a talk in our family about saving what we can and so I was handed this during the day:

 

It's such a waste and I know it's not the florets but it still tastes great.  Personally I love the stalk because it tends to be sweeter especially when eaten raw.  I decided to cut it up and freeze it so I can make soup some other time.  You can also use it in things like lasagne or stir fries.  I wasn't going to let it go to waste and I know it's not organic but food is a gift and I won't allow it to be wasted.

Isn't it beautiful?

My life is beautiful at the moment.  I don't have a lot of money and I'm not partying as much as my friends, I may not have a job at the moment and I might still be overweight but I'm quite pleased about the way things are and excited about how much it will change.  I'm finding the beauty in a lot of small things I missed in life and I feel like exercising and being away from my computer really helps.  This is definitely a part of my life I will always keep up with and there are so many possibilities.

I spoke to my Sister today about goals and dreams and we jogged side by side, fantasising about what we want to do and what we hoped for.  I thought about the things I hope to achieve and while there are many, one of the significant things would be to become very fit and healthy and excel in some sort of sport. I want to have a sport.  I want to take people on this incredible journey and this is just the beginning.  I want to make things happen for me and eventually, everything will be wonderful.  I just know it. 

Helen

PS.  Here's a question...how much oil do you use to fry things?  If you're not using the calorie sprays which I used to fry the vegetables, how much do you use to fry chicken?  I use a teaspoon for two large chicken breasts.

A teaspoon of oil (it spreads fast because it's getting hot!)

Day 17 - Another day in the world of skinny

Tip of the day: When making a smoothie, don't use only frozen fruits because you will get brain freeze.

I went to bed SERIOUSLY late last night and so I woke up at noon.  This meant that today has been such an off day because my schedule was completely turned upside down.  I made the best out of a messy situation and had my smoothie as usual.  For lunch I made the most AMAZING salad!

I was teaching my sister about quinoa and filing salads so this is what we came up with. Quinoa with organic egg, kale, tomatoes and grilled peppers and mushroom and onion.  We seasoned it with a lot of chilli flakes to speed up at metabolism and shredded seaweed.  It was absolutely delicious and this was about 264kcal - I kid you not.  I definitely recommend it!

By the time we finished it was around dinner time so in the end I've kind of under eaten. The trouble with that is that your body ends up storing fat because it's worried about starvation but really I ate next to no fat today.  I had some fish I made for dinner (everyone else has to eat you know!) and then a handful of blueberries.  Then I had the most wonderful chocolate experience. 

 

If you've been wondering what my hot chocolate looks like, this is it.  I drink 100% fair-trade cocoa powder with water and brown sugar.  I use a lot of cocoa powder so it's very rich and aromatic.  I've discovered the best thing that goes with this type of chocolate elixir:

100% dark organic chocolate from Hotel Chocolat!  It's not for everyone and probably can only be stomached by a few in this world and I'm one of them.  It's bitter with an amazing aromatic roasted flavour; it's not too acidic but to most people it just tastes like bitter nothing.  To me, this is heaven.  The most amazing thing is if you take a bite and suck it and then drink my hot chocolate elixir, the chocolate becomes flavoursome, indulgent, rich and luxurious.  Oh god, I'm going to die thinking about it.  I didn't eat a lot of it but it was enough.  I can't believe how low calorie this is and how amazing it is!

Hotel Chocolat have a wonderful Purist range and it's become my new favourite treat!  I am going to seek out their dark chocolate buttons soon :)

I also picked up my bike from my Brothers and it's been pumped up, cleaned and adjusted. I now have to find a helmet but that will come a bit later.  I've found running shoes so it will all come in to place soon.  Tomorrow is another long day out with my girl friends (the ones I drink with) but it's a days worth of shopping.  So I will walk a lot and hopefully make good choices again. I must remember how great it felt to have controlled myself so I don't fall into that trap again. I refuse to ruin it now!

I also sneakily weighed myself this morning and I was 12st 3lbs!!!! OH MY GOD!  Don't take it seriously, it's not even mid week yet but I just couldn't help myself.  YAY!!!!

Day 13 - Farmers Market Experience, the Pressure cooker and WORKING OUT!

This morning I woke up at 8am ESPECIALLY to make my way to my first farmers market experience in Wimbledon.  I was so excited despite being incredibly tired and hormonally emotional.  Perhaps its because of that that I felt so in love with all the stuff when I got there.  For the past few days I've not been eating 100% on plan so I was excited to get back on track.  Here are some pictures of the produce I picked up!

It was a lot of fun and I felt particularly good knowing that the food I was eating was organic.  Unfortunately, this world is twisted and organic food is more expensive than 'regular' food so I can't keep doing this.  I guess organic is still classed as a luxury!

I also worked out how to use my pressure cooker so I'm particularly pleased.  This will help so much this winter because I make a lot of soups and stews so this will speed things up.  I made an oxtail soup today!

The most thrilling thing that happened today was that I worked out!  While I was falling asleep in my chair I just suddenly decided to do a ten minute work out to wake myself up.  Would you believe than 10 minutes turned into 50?!  CRAZY STUFF! 

I've been working out to some Youtube videos I found because well, to be quite frank, it's free to do it at home.  This was the first video I did and quite like.

I liked this but I didn't find that it raised my heart beat enough.  It did warm me up and it kicked started me into wanting to keep moving.  So I recommend this for a quick ten minute work out to maybe wake yourself up. 

I started searching for more and you wouldn't believe what I came across!  I came across a 'Jordan' aka Katie Price work out with her trainer 'Richard' called 'The Jordan Workout'.  Actually, it's so far from Jordan's work out it's unreal.  I think this was before she was Katie Price and I have to say the video can be off putting for a few reasons.  First of all, she looks like she's not putting much effort into it.  Her trainer is amazing but I have no idea why she is there.   As always her boobs are distracting and I think they distract the trainer too!  The video is also pink!
Despite all that, i found it to be a great work out.  It starts off slow and each set he does gets more intensive but there is always gradual progression.  It's very straight forward yet effective and the music is great as well.   If you can ignore the small things, it's a good video to follow and it definitely worked me out.

This first video was a great warm up.  I thought it lame at first but you will be pleasantly surprised at how steady and well put together it is.

Part 2 gets intense and I loved it.  Again, it's slightly annoying with her boobs but never mind.

By this time I was passing out!  But I kept going! 

The resistance work out was much harder for me because well...I'm weak!  But it was so good it made my body feel like jelly afterwards.  I couldn't do much of the other resistance training because I don't have much space or a mat so I cooled down and finished off. 

I shall post the other two videos anyway.

So it was on day 13 that I really did a proper work out and I feel good.   I found my moods were elevated afterwards and suddenly my body felt less tense.  I think I might do it again tomorrow...

That's it for day 13, what a success!  I did well with the water and ate within calories.  Tomorrow is day 14 which means weigh in soon.  I'm so nervous but I'm really hoping for some inch changes now!

Helen