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

Frit Ta Ta! My skinny pizza....

A healthy, quick dish which can be eaten for breakfast, lunch or supper and served hot or cold. What is this wondrous creation you ask? The Frittata.

 

An Italian dish, seemingly similar to an omelette or quiche- but without the crust! The Frittata is usually packed with a multitude of ingredients such as meats, cheeses, herbs, spices and / or vegetables.

 

The difference from the Frittata to an omelette is that the omelette is usually folded in half, with half the filling on one side whereas the Frittata stays flat and is usually stacked with the ingredients all over it, making it thicker and slightly more indulgent!

 

The great thing about the Frittata is you can literally put whatever you want in to it. We decided to make our Frittata with the following ingredients:

 

2tsps coconut oil

10 eggs

10 large baby tomatoes

1 large onion

1 red pepper

Chorizo (we used about 10cm cut in to cubes of a normal supermarket chorizo)

3 large handfuls of Spinach

1 log of goats cheese (about 100 g)

 

Pepper and rock salt to flavour

 

Pan:

Best to use a deep frying pan, the smaller the pan, the thicker the Frittata etc - depending on how many ingredients you have and how many eggs you want to use. 

 

Oven:

Pre-set oven to 200degrees to bake the Frittata for 10 - 15 minutes once it has set in the pan. 

 

What you need to do:

• In the frying pan allow your coconut oil to heat up, then put in all your vegetables and fry off until softening

 

• Add in your chorizo and fry off for another minute
• In a jug whisk up your 10 medium sized eggs, add a pinch of salt and pepper

• Add your spinach and cover all the vegetables, then mix in. You will find that the spinach wilts very quickly- even though it may look like a lot when you put it in

• Pour in your egg and stir around until it begins to set. Leave for 5 minutes on a low heat to allow to set

• Add in your lumps of goats cheese and allow to melt slightly on top

• Once the goats cheese has melted, place in the oven (or under the grill) and allow to bake for 5 - 10 minutes until golden brown

• Take out of the oven and allow to cool - you will find that it shrinks slightly as it cools

 

• Season with some more pepper and serve hot - or allow to cool and serve cold with some salad. The Frittata can last up to three days in the fridge and as the flavours infuse the more the tastier it gets!

I am going to try this again next week with brocolli, sundried tomatoes, butternut squash and bacon, you can literally try it with anything! The "healthier" pizza, some could say!

Enjoy!