My Healthy Eating Blog: 2006
READ MY BLOG IN PROGRESS 1 February 2006Easy healthy recipes hits the 100!I’m celebrating! There are now over 100 easy healthy recipes on the site. Lovely warming soups, quick chicken dishes, fruity desserts, dishes for kids to cook, salads, sauces, food for special occasions – there’s masses to choose from. Every recipe uses fresh ingredients, and is guaranteed to be quick and simple to prepare.I started putting together the recipe collection because I knew there had to be an alternative to ready-meals, that didn’t involve hours in the kitchen. I’m happy to chop an onion, stir a pasta sauce, or prepare a few veg in the evening, but I don’t want to spend hours cooking – and neither do you. But, and it’s a big but, I do want my family to have healthy food. I hate the idea of piling their plates with food that has a long string of weird additives in it. Simple fresh food, full of flavour – that’s what you’ll find in easy healthy recipes. I hope you enjoy them, and please remember to send me any of your great recipes, I’d love to have them. Want to comment on my blog? Or do you have a tip or recipe you'd like to send me? Use this form to get in touch.
31 January 2006Supermarket responses to the fast food factsIt often seems to me, reading the newspaper, that there’s not that much good news around. So it was very refreshing to see a story this week, about two major UK supermarket chains, Sainsbury and M&S, who are removing man-made fats from their foods.What are man-made fats? They show up on labels under the name ‘hydrogenated vegetable oils’ and they are to be avoided like the plague. Eating them has been shown to be bad for your heart and bad for your arteries. They are fats that have been chemically treated to alter their structure. This makes them work well in the factory, but once they get into your body, it means they coat the inside of your arteries – yuk. In the long term, that can lead to all sorts of diseases, including stroke and coronary heart disease. Clearly this is something we’d all like to avoid – but just today I was in the local mini-market and wanted a packet of biscuits. I looked at 10 – yes 10 – different types. They all contained hydrogenated vegetable oils. No thank you. You can find out more about the nasties that lurk in processed foods on my page on fast food facts Meanwhile, thanks Sainsburys and M&S, for taking that concern on board. I hope others follow suit.
18 January 2006Easy apple pie recipeEvery night, the hopeful cry goes up: ‘What’s for pud?’. I’d like to report that every night there’s something delicious and home-made on offer, but I’d be lying. As a work-at-home mum I have to prioritise my time, and making a dessert isn’t always at the top of the list, especially when I’m always looking for ways to get ‘em to eat more fresh fruit. What’s wrong with a juicy pear, or a couple of clementines?But sometimes I take pity, especially if I feel like cooking, it’s cold and drizzly outside, and I want to make the kitchen warm and inviting. That’s when a recipe like these mini apple pies made with filo pastry comes into its own. It doesn’t take long, it’s pretty, low-fat, contains fresh fruit, and makes kids happy. And that is all I ask. Want to comment on my blog? Or do you have a tip or recipe you'd like to send me? Use this form to get in touch.
17 January 2006Unhealthy diets and mental illnessFascinating report in the paper today about how changes in diet are an important factor behind the UK’s rise in mental health problems. Apparently there’s more and more evidence linking poor diet to behavioural problems and depression. A test group of patients were treated with nutritional therapy, and, guess what, their mood and energy improved.Hardly seems like rocket science, does it. Remember in the film Super Size Me, how Morgan Spurlock found his mood profoundly affected by the junk he was eating – he became more and more depressed, yet his mood was boosted when he gave himself another blast of sugar, salt and fat – he became addicted. All this is why it’s so important to feed not just ourselves, but our kids consistently, on good, wholesome, nutritious food, with plenty of fruit and veg, oily fish, nuts, seeds and grains. The more you do it, the easier it becomes. I can’t believe how different my shopping trolley is now, from two years ago, when I first started to learn the horrible truth behind many of the foods I was routinely buying. Next time you’re out, shun the choccy bics and spend the money on a big bag of grapes instead. Makes sense, doesn’t it? Source: Guardian online. Want to comment on my blog? Or do you have a tip or recipe you'd like to send me? Use this form to get in touch.
12 January 2006Apple crumble or crisp recipeWe woke up to a thick frost today, but we weren’t surprised, because the temperature plummeted last night, as soon as the sun went down, and the sky was clear and full of stars, a sure sign of frost to come. Good thing I’d decided to make a real dessert for a change. This recipe for apple crumble, or apple crisp as it’s known in the States, is very simple to fling together, and is especially good served with custard. I make custard with a mixture of half skimmed, half semi-skimmed milk and it turns out nice and creamy.
11 January 2006Warming winter soupI’d been trying out the recipes on my new easy healthy apple recipes page, and had half a Bramley apple left over. Never one to let good food go to waste, I used it up in a quick and easy butternut squash and apple soup. To make it, chop and onion and soften it in a little oil with a couple of crushed garlic cloves. Add 2 diced potatoes, the flesh of one small butternut, peeled and diced, and the cubed flesh of the apple. Pour on 500 ml (2 ½ cups) hot vegetable stock, bring to the boil, then simmer for 15-20 minutes until the veg are tender. Put it through the blender, and you have a beautiful, golden soup, creamy and full of flavour.
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6 January 2006Winter fruit and vegetablesThis week, we are eating plain and simple food – and no one’s complaining. After the rich dishes we enjoyed over Christmas and New Year, it’s good to turn to something that is fresh flavoured and lower in fat. I like to make the most of winter fruit and vegetables, and we’ve had several veg-based meals this week.Potatoes are an old favourite, and I love to bake them slowly in the oven so that the flavour has a chance to develop thoroughly. There isn’t always time to do that, though, and you can use a quicker method. Scrub the potatoes, prick the skins, and microwave until soft, but not completely cooked through. Cut the potatoes in half lengthways, and place them flesh-side down on a lightly oiled baking tray. Put them in a moderate oven for 30 minutes or until tender, and you’ll find the skins are crisp and the flesh appetisingly browned. This may seem odd, but I often serve a few steamed Brussels sprouts with baked potatoes at this time of year. I toss them lightly in a little oil and garlic when they’re tender, and they add a welcome touch of greenery to a simple winter supper. Want to comment on my blog? Or do you have a tip or recipe you'd like to send me? Use this form to get in touch.
3 January 2006What is a healthy diet?Happy New Year! And here’s to another 12 months of happy, healthy eating – all made enormously easy. At this time of year, after the excesses of the last couple of weeks, I find it useful to remind myself, just what does constitute a healthy diet.First point – vital point – to remember, is those all important fruit and veg. Very few of us eat enough, and a lot of it is down to habit. Make a deal with yourself, that every day you’ll add some sliced banana or chopped apple to everyone’s cereal. You’ll have a piece of fruit as a mid-morning snack, and another one mid-afternoon, and you’ll put plenty of fruit into packed lunches, too. You’ll chop up a quick plate of veggie sticks, and plonk it on the table before a meal, rather than offering crisps or nuts. And every meal you serve, will be accompanied by not one, but two vegetable portions, or one veggie and a salad. Once you’re in the routine, you’ll find you do it automatically, and you’ll enjoy it. And over a year, that’s a heck of a lot more fresh fruit and veg you’ll be eating, and that has to be good. Want to comment on my blog? Or do you have a tip or recipe you'd like to send me? Use this form to get in touch.
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