Pumpkin Soup with a Thai Twist

This recipe is for a yummy and healthy soup that is deliciously thick and smooth, with the flavours of your favourite Thai dishes, and is sure to satisfy.

You may wince at the thought of ‘cream’ being regarded as a heathy ingredient, however, it is important that you buy a version without the commonly added sugars and flavours commonly; one that is all natural! Furthermore, 1/4 cup of coconut cream actually accounts to just half a tablespoon per serving of soup… not very much at all! 😉

Ingredients:

• 1 onion diced
• 1 tsp grated fresh tumeric
• 3 cloves of garlic chopped finely
• 1 Tbs grated fresh ginger
• Handful of coriander leaves
• 1/4 of a cup of coconut cream (all natural)
• 750ml chicken stock (extra if you prefer a less-thick soup)
• 1kg pumpkin cut into small cubes (I recommend Jap pumpkin)
• 1/2 red bullet chilli finely sliced
• 1 Tbs coconut oil
• 1 lime – rind and juice

Method:

– Place coconut oil in a deep saucepan or wok and sautee onion, garlic, ginger, tumeric and coriander for a few minutes.

– Add pumpkin, stock, chilli, and lime rind and juice. Simmer until pumpkin is soft.

– Remove pan from heat and set aside to cool.

– Place mixture into a blender and pulse until smooth (you may have to do this in a few batches) . Place soup into a saucepan and heat.

– Mix through the coconut cream.

Enjoy!

 

JD x

 

Vegetable and Beef Spaghetti Bolognese

Who doesn’t love spaghetti bolognese! Today, at my local green grocer/health food shop – The Happy Apple, I purchased some Quinoa pasta that I had never tried before. I love it when I find something new and interesting within the health foods sector..I don’t think anybody likes to cook the same products over and over again so it is refreshing and exciting to be able to try something new!

I decided to make an extremely healthy, nutritious and delicious home-made bolognese sauce to accompany the pasta. The recipe would cater for around 5 serves so it is fairly big. Feel free to reduce the amounts accordingly. You do not need to use Quinoa pasta so you could use any other pasta, however, promise me you will not use ‘white’ pasta – it’s like eating cardboard and has limited nutritional benefits compared to its brown counterparts! Lastly, I used my ‘V-Slicer’ to finely dice the vegetables. If you do not have one then it could be a very tedious task so I would suggest grating the carrot and zucchini instead.

Ingredients:

*500g lean mince

* 3 cans of diced tomatoes (no added salt)

* 1 tub of tomato paste (no added salt)

* 2 beef stock cubes (all natural)

* 1 diced onion

* 2 finely chopped garlic cloves

* 1 cup finely diced eggplant

* 1 cup of finely diced carrot

* 1 cup of finely diced zucchini

* 1 cup sliced mushrooms

* 1 cup finely sliced celery

* 1 cup finely diced red capsicum

* 3/4 cup chopped fresh parsley

* 1/3 cup chopped fresh basil

Method:

1 – Heat a non-stick pan, spray with light olive oil and add onion, garlic, mushrooms and eggplant.

2 – Break stock cubes up using your fingers and add to the vegetables. Add the carrot.

3 – Saute stock and vegetables until they are soft. Remove from pan.

4 – Place mince in the pan and cook for a minute until it starts to brown, then add capsicum and

zucchini.

5 – Return the rest of the vegetables to the pan and combine.

6 – Pour the canned tomatoes into the mince and vegetables and add the tomato paste. Stir the mixture

until it is combined. Add half a can of water if needed.

7 – Reduce heat to a simmer. stir the herbs through and allow the flavours to develop for about 10

minutes.

8 – Serve with you favourite brown or similarly nutritious pasta!

Enjoy 🙂

JD x

Spiced Brekky Beans

I absolutely love baked beans, especially the type that come in a can. However, as we all know, they are not the healthiest of options! Whenever I go out for breakfast at a cafe, the first thing I look for is if house-made baked beans are listed on their menu. I have tried so many different variations and I can’t say that I have ever had any that I particularly did not like!

So, this morning, I decided to come up with my own home-made brekky beans to have with my usual weekend poached eggs delight! The spices and tomato flavours compliment each other deliciously and create a smokey taste. My husband loved them too!

These brekky beans are very easy to make and are very good for you – very low in fat and sugar and high in protein! As you can see, I served my beans with grilled ham, avocado and poached eggs on sour dough and it was so yummy, but you could serve them however you like! 🙂

Ingredients:

–       1 can of butter beans

–       1 can of diced tomatoes (no added salt)

–       2 tsp of tomato paste (no added salt)

–       2 tsp of paprika

–       2 tsp of cumin

–       1 tsp of moroccon spice

–       Handful of chopped coriander

–       1 onion roughly cut

Instructions:

– Saute onion and spices over medium heat until onion is soft.

– Mix in the can of tomatoes and the tomato paste and reduce heat to a simmer. Add a little water if needed.

– Rinse beans thoroughly under water then add to the tomato.

– Simmer mixture for 5 minutes until it starts to thicken, stirring on occasion to ensure it does not stick to the bottom of the pan.

– Add coriander and mix through.

Enjoy 🙂

JD x

 

Roasted Vegetable and Beef Lasagne

1

This recipe is so seriously tasty and I think it is my best recipe yet!

It is extremely healthy – very low in fat, no added sugar or salt, packed full of veges, herbs and lean beef as well as brown grains in the pasta sheets. Ticks all the boxes I think!

My Mum, sister and I enjoyed it for three days in a row so it is just as delicious re-heated. A great recipe for lunches and dinners for days in advance for busy people!

Ingredients:

2 eggplants

2 large zucchinis

2 red capsicums

1 large sweet potato

1 onion chopped

3 cloves of garlic chopped finely

500g lean mince

1 beef stock cube (all natural)

2 cans of diced tomatoes (no added salt)

1 small tub of tomato paste (no added salt)

2 vine ripened tomatoes diced

1/2 cup of finely chopped parsley

1/2 cup finely chopped basil

Packet of brown pasta sheets for lasagna

2 tubs of reduced fat cottage cheese (I used Weight Watchers)

Small packet of parmesan cheese

Steps:

Slice the egg plant, zucchini and sweet potato into ½ a centimeter slices.

Cut the capsicum in long wide strips.

Lay the veges on baking paper on oven proof dishes and roast until soft in a 180 degree celsius oven. Put aside. Don’t spray the veges with oil, add salt or do anything to them as they do not need it and neither do you 😉

Place onion, garlic and stock cube in a heated deep frying pan and sauté, breaking the stock cube up, until onion is soft.

Add mince and cook.

Add diced tomatoes and cans of diced tomatoes and stir.

Add parsley and basil and simmer for 20 minutes.

Spread a thin layer of meat sauce on the bottom of oven dish.

Lay pasta sheets on top of the meat sauce and cover sparingly with cottage cheese.

Sprinkle a little parmesan on top.

Layer eggplant, capsicum, zucchini and sweet potato on top.

Spread another thin layer of the meat sauce mixture on top and continue layering pasta sheets, cottage cheese, parmesan cheese and vegetables until the dish is full. Make sure your top layer’s order is: pasta sheet, meat sauce, cottage cheese and then parmesan cheese.

Cook in the oven for 40 minutes or until the cheese on top is lightly browned.

* This recipe made a large lasagne in a deep oven dish. I had two layers of vegetables and three layers of meat sauce, pasta and cheeses. You may wish to alter these quantities however I think it was perfect this way!

Enjoy 🙂

JD x

Healthy Chicken Cacciatore

A friendly follower, Brent Thomson, sent me this yummy recipe on my Facebook page for good old Chicken Cacciatore. He was a previous client of mine in my group fitness classes and was always very enthusiastic when it came to training hard and eating well!

The recipe is very simple to make, containing mostly natural ingredients, and of course, very low in sugars and fats! I served my chicken cacciatore with brown rice the first time and then brown pasta the next and both options were delish. However, I don’t really think it has to be served with anything other than vegetables (of course!). The sauce seems to thicken up nicely on its own but I guess you could consider mashed potato depending on what your dietary goals are.

Thank you Brent for your recipe and I hope you all enjoy!

JD x

Ingredients:

Cooking oil spray
800g skinless chicken breast
1 medium onion, chopped finely
1 garlic clover, crushed
2 x 400g cans low-salt tomatoes
300g button mushrooms, sliced
1 tablespoon no-salt tomato paste
1 cup (250ml) low salt chicken stock
½ teaspoon dried oregano
1/3 cup (65g) red lentils
½ cup (80g) seedless black olives
1 tablespoon drained capers
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

Heat a large non-stick pan and coat with cooking-oil spray. a

Add chicken and cook, turning occasionally until browned. Remove from pan and drain on paper towels.

Saute onion and garlic in pan and cook until onion is soft. Add undrained crushed tomatoes, mushrooms, paste, stock, oregano and lentils.

Return chicken to pan, simmer while covered for about 30 minutes or until chicken is tender.

Stir in olives, capers and parsley before serving.

 

Gym Workout

Yesterday I competed in a triathlon as a team and ran 10km. I pushed myself pretty hard so today I wanted to take it a little easy and do something that involved low-impact exercises. The workout I developed was still challenging as I am not used to walking, so I could feel my calves getting worked and burning!

If you are a walker and can’t run for whatever reason, then this first treadmill workout would be perfect for you!

Today’s workout was:

25 min walk on treadmill – speed was set at 6.5. Walk for 1 minute on the following inclines: 5, 10, 15, 10, 5. Repeat 4 times. I then walked for 5 mins on speed 7. I am definitely a runner and not a walker so it was good to do something different! My heart rate was up around 160 during the walk so I was pretty happy with that!

Strength: 10 push ups (chest to floor), 15 tricep pull down, 3 chin ups, 12 single leg squats (total), 30 lunge jumps (total). Complete 3 sets with little to no rest!

Abs: 10 sit ups (wrist to knees), 40 bicycle crunches, 40 medball twists, 6 threes. Complete 3 sets. Try not to rest until you have complete 1 set!

JD x

Rice Paper Rolls

Yummo….who doesn’t order rice paper rolls when they go to their local Thai/Vietnamese restaurant?! I think you’d agree with me that they’re definitely up there as a favourite dish to order!

Well, now you can make them at home, knowing that they are 100% fresh, healthy and delicious. They are a great meal option for both dinner and lunch and the best thing is that you can create your own version, choosing whatever ingredients satisfy your needy tastebuds!

We often serve these when we have friends over for dinner. They are a great meal for social occasions as you can take your time carefully constructing your own magnificent creations while critiquing each other’s folding ability, making it actually quite fun 🙂

For my recipe, I use the following ingredients:

Marinated prawns (corinader, paprika, onion, garlic, ginger and coconut oil)

Lettuce (shredded)

Carrot (cut into thin strips)

Capsicum (cut into thin strips)

Cucumber (cut into thin strips)

Bean sprouts

Mint

Vermicelli noodles

Rice paper

Tips:

* Don’t overfill them or you will find that you will not be able to fold them!

* Make sure you have a tea towel – place the rice paper in a bowl of warm water for around 10 seconds then spread it onto the tea towel to remove excess water, then place it on your plate.

* Make sure you do not over-soak the rice paper in the water or they will become too flimsy to fold.

* To fold, I place ingredients in a neat line towards one edge of the paper, leaving the edges free. Fold the end over that the filling is closest to then fold each side over (kind of like a burrito). Then roll to the other end of the paper.

* For a dipping sauce, there are so many options! Natural peanut butter and light coconut milk, soy sauce, sweet chilli, hoi sin or store bought rice paper roll dipping sauce are just to name a few. Just go easy on the sauces because most are very high in sugar!

 Enjoy 🙂

JD x

Spiced Coriander Vege Patties

If you’re like me and you love your veges, then these patties will surely impress! Of course they are very good for you but the added bonus is that they are super tasty and are a great meal option for using up those left over veges waiting to be used in the fridge – no wastage here!

Serve them for dinner with some protein and leafy greens, use them as a burger pattie or take them for lunch at work. I find the yummiest additive is a dollop of Greek yoghurt…the spice, veges and yoghurt are a perfect partnership!

This recipe makes around 5 patties.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup peas

2 cups diced sweet potato

1/2 cup grated carrot

1/2 cup grate zucchini

1 onion diced

2 garlic cloves cut finely

1 egg yolk

1 Tbs natural peanut butter

1 1/2 tsp curry powder

1 cup chick peas

1/2 cup chopped coriander leaves

Yoghurt to serve

Method:

1 – Cook sweet potato until soft (microwave is easiest!)

2 – Brown onion in a pan then add carrot, zucchini, peas and garlic and saute until soft and cooked.

3 – Place chick peas is a bowl and mash.

4 – Place sweet potato, cooked veges from the pan, egg yolk, coriander, and curry powder in a bowl and combine.

5 – Using your hands, create patties and then place them on some baking paper on a tray and put in the fridge for about 20 minutes to chill.

6 – Heat a fying pan and cook patties until browned on either side

Enjoy 🙂

JD x

Coconut, Date, Nut and Seed Bliss Balls

These delightful balls of goodness aren’t called ‘bliss’ for nothing! They are so delicious..I challenge you to try and eat just one; it is almost impossible! They are super easy to make, full of natural goodness and are perfect for that afternoon or evening treat.

Ingredients:

1 cup oat bran

1 cup natural dates

1/4 cup chia seeds

1/4 cup sunflower seeds

1/2 cup shredded natural coconut plus a little extra for coating

3/4 cup chopped almonds

1/4 cup water or sugar free maple syrup

Recipe:

* Place dates in a tall cup/glass and fill with water until level with dates. Heat in the microwave for 1 minute, stir, then heat for an extra minute (be careful that it does not overflow). Remove dates from the microwave and mash them using a knife or other utensil while they are in the cup, allowing the dates to absorb the water and go mushy.

* Empty the date mixture into a medium sized bowl. Place all other ingredients into the bowl and combine.

* Using your hands, roll mixture into small balls then roll in the extra coconut and place on a tray/plate.

* Place bliss balls in the fridge to cool.

Tips:

* To chop the almonds, place them in a snap lock bag, seal and hammer them with the end of a rolling pin. Alternatively, place them in a blender, however they will be a finer texture!

* Wet your hands before rolling the balls to avoid the mixture sticking to your hands.

Enjoy 🙂

JD x

2 Minute Ab Blitz!

I hate prone holds! There, I admit it and I think anyone who says they ‘like’ them are mad! But the only reason I hate them is because they are so damn challenging both physically and mentally.

So, as I am a fan of creating workouts that try to eliminate that boredom factor often associated with exercise, I have improvised the prone hold to involve more movements whilst still achieving the same benefits.

Personally, when someone says to me, ‘perform a 2 minute prone hold’ I cringe. That 2 minutes is the longest 2 minutes ever known to man! So instead, I am going to break that 2 minutes up into 10 second intervals – makes it much more interesting and easier to achieve whilst still being a fantastic, challenging abdominals workout!

The abdominal exercises involved are (colour relates to picture):

1 – Prone hold (red)

2 – Up downs (yellow)

3 – Shoulder taps (blue)

Most people are familiar with prone holds but the main elements you need to be conscious of are keeping your body flat as though a straight line could be drawn from your feet to your shoulders (try not to raise your bum in the air), keeping your feet close together and trying not to hunch your shoulders.

For up downs and shoulder taps, the same techniques as the prone hold are administered (flat body, feet close together) but the most important is trying to hold your body stiff and not rocking from side to side while you complete the movements. Also, perform the movements slowly and with control e.g. for up downs, don’t just move from your elbows to your hands super quick as you will not be in control and clearly not using your abs!

2 Minute Abs Blitz

Every 10 seconds you will change exercise. Perform a prone hold for the first 10 seconds, then change to  up downs for the second 10 seconds (until you get to 20 seconds) then change to shoulder taps for the next 10 seconds until you reach 30 seconds in total. Repeat this 4 times until the 2 minutes is up – you should be desperate for the end of that 2 minutes!

If you think you are up for it, have 1 minute rest before completing the 2 minutes again!

Add this to your usual gym routine or do it at home while watching TV and get your partner or housemate or whoever to time you. I hope you feel the burn and love it 🙂

JD x