Healthy one pot stew and not a carb in sight!

HAPPY NEW YEAR! I can't believe we are already on day 2 of 2014..... 3.5 months now until we get married and time's going so quickly! We are both ridiculously excited, but as you can imagine the diet.is.ON. 

With that in mind I decided to make a hearty but healthy stew with what I had in the fridge and cupboards, with not a carb in sight (not a complex one anyway)! 

What you need: (enough for three hungry bears, with enough for seconds!)

5 medium/ large carrots

1 medium onion

1 large leek

1 large handful of fresh cranberries (please note, these are sour and not sweet!)

2 tsps paprika

1 tsp salt

2 tsps mixed herbs

1/2 tsp pepper

1 1/2 tsp dried sage 

5 chicken thighs

2 chicken stock cubes (in 800ml boiling water)

2 tsp coconut oil

Directions:

• Set oven to 180 degrees (fan assisted) 
• Chop up all veg and set aside  Keep cranberries separate to main veg

• Place a pan on high heat with coconut oil. Brown off your chicken thighs on each side (5-6 minutes)
• Take the chicken out and put on a plate to rest

• In the same pan, sweat off the vegetables until they begin to soften
• Add in your salt, pepper, paprika, mixed herbs and sage
• Add back in the chicken thighs and cranberries and mix together

• Sweat off for a little longer (1-2 minutes) 
• Add chicken stock in 800ml of boiling water and mix 

• Pour all pan ingredients into large casserole dish 
• Put in to oven and leave to simmer for 35-45 minutes

• Take out of the oven and add 2 inch cube of butter (allow to melt, stir in) and serve straight away

We had ours with some stir fried cabbage and peas but you could have it with anything, sweet potato, butternut squash, mashed potato, parsnips and other roasted veg or even just bread and butter- for those not needed to diet! 

 If you find that your sauce's still quite watery at about 20 minutes in to cooking then I recommend adding 1 TSP corn flour added in with some warm water. 

 Enjoy!

A slice of health....

Courgette bread is one of my favourite things to make, not only because it tastes delicious but also because it's gluten and (virtually) carb free. 

As a Christmas treat and massive thank you for all my yelps of pain... (and abuse) over the last 6 months, I made this one especially for my wonderful personal trainer, Henri. 

What you need:

• 275g of almond flour 
• 1 TSP of baking powder
• 2 pinches of sea salt
• 1 pinch of dried rosemary
• 1 handful dried cranberries *
• 1 handful chopped almonds / pecans/ walnuts *
• 3 eggs (free-range if possible) 
• 1 TBSP of honey
• 2 courgettes

*Optional 

Directions:

• Set the oven to 180°C (fan assisted)
• In a bowl mix the almond flour, baking powder, rosemary, cranberries, nuts and salt together 
• Grate the two courgettes and leave to one side
• Beat the eggs with the a hand held electric beater for 2 minutes then add the grated courgette and honey in and beat for a few more seconds until the mixture is fully mixed
• Add the dry mix into the wet mix, stir with a spoon and mix well
• Poor the mixture into a medium loaf tin (make sure that you have lined it with greaseproof paper!)
• Bake for 30 minutes

Eat within 2/3 days and keep stored in a tin.

It's delicious when still warm from the oven or cold or even toasted. We like to have ours with houmous, beetroot and beef tomatoes, or even as an accompaniment to a hearty bowl of soup. 

Cooled down, packaged up and a big blue bow later, it was ready to give to Henri.

I am sure you could use many different vegetables as alternatives to courgette, I would like to try beetroot and maybe even butternut squash too.

Emi x