Run Banana Run

Don't be fooled by so-called healthy pre- and post-exercise snacks. Most of them are gimmicky and loaded with sugar that most likely you haven't burned doing your event (marathon runners and iron men and women....you are excused). 

The easy answer - grab a banana. Sorted. 

What You'll Need:

A banana 

Trainers

The need for speed

The How-To:

1. Attach trainers to feet.

2. Start Running.

3. Keep running.

4. Keep running.

5. Run a little more.

6. Almost there. 

7. Really nearly almost there..

8. Stop running. 

9. Peel banana and put in face. 

10. Sorted. 

Raspberries: Nom

Raspberries - little cancer-fighting nuggets of awesomeness. A perfect treat for a warm summers afternoon. 

What You'll Need:

Per Person

1/2 cup raspberries (fresh or frozen)

1 cup Greek yoghurt

A good drizzle of honey or agave nectar

To up the anti: Flaxseed to sprinkle on top (about 1 tablespoon), a handful of mixed nuts/seeds, more fruit!

The How-To:

1. Pop Greek yoghurt in a bowl

2. Gently mix through the raspberries

3. Drizzle with honey/agave nectar

4. Nom. 

All Aboard the Blender Bus

Carrot, Apple and Ginger Smoothie: "The Zinger"

A wee shout out to the Breville Blend Active blender - the perfect 'introductory' blender for those wanting to dip their toes in the green smoothie pool, rather than splashing out circa £500 on a Vitamix (a very good, but very high-end blending wizard).

It costs around £25 (buy from Amazon here) and blends carrots (see recipe below), raw oats, frozen berries, beans...

At the risk of sounding like an ad, it is an absolute dream. All aboard the blender bus...!


Carrot, Apple and Ginger Smoothie: "The Zinger"
Pictured

What You'll Need
Serves 1

2 large carrots, roughly chopped
1 gala apple
1cm knob of ginger, peeled


The How-To:
- Pop the carrot and ginger into the blender.
- Add in enough water so that it fills up approx 1/3 to 1/2 full.
- Blend for about 1 minute.
- Add in the apple and blend a further 1 minute.
- For best effects, drink immediately.

White Rice Who? Introducing Cauliflower Rice

White rice. A staple food in so many places, but at the end of the day, not the best thing for you. Often used in stir fry, sushi and curries with reckless abandon, these innocuous little white grains seem to sneak in everywhere. It's cheap, easy and readily available yes, but unfortunately, this little devil isn't as innocent as it seems. This is where cauliflower comes in.

Gram for gram, cauliflower contains a fifth of the calories (23kcal/100g, as opposed to 130kcal/100g), has double the "fullness factor", six times the dietary fibre, and has 74% of your daily vitamin C requirements to banish away pesky winter sniffles (white rice, needless to say, has 0%).

Need more convinving? The 'amino acid score' of a food indicates how 'good' a protein it is - that is, how many of the nine essential amino acids it contains, and in what ratio. An amino acid score of more than 100 indicates a good quality or complete protein. Rice has an amino acid score of 71. Cauliflower? 102.

I could go on (a good source of Thiamin, Riboflavin, Phosphorus and Potassium, and a very good source of Dietary Fibre, Vitamin C, Vitamin K, Vitamin B6, Folate, Pantothenic Acid and Manganese anyone?) but what you really need to know is what do do with this magical ingredient.

Cauliflower Rice - The How-To:

1. Whack your cauliflower in a blender and lightly pulse (don't over mix or you'll end up with purée. Great for baby food, less so for faux-rice).

2.  Add a good shake of turmeric to give an interesting flavour and colour (also high in vitamin C and magnesium, and a very good source of Dietary Fiber, Vitamin B6, Iron, Potassium and Manganese - what a coincidence!)

3. Microwave on high for 1-2 minutes until cooked but still a bit crunchy

3. Voila!

It really is that simple. Such a snap to make compared to boiling rice for years.

Sources:

White rice nutrition: here

Cauliflower nutrition:here

Cauliflower image: here

Doctor Peppers

A pepper a day keeps the scurvy away!

Peppers. Bell peppers. Capsicum. Whatever you choose to call them, these little beauties are a one-way ticket to a healthier you. 

One of these rainbow beauts, be it green, red or yellow, has more than three hundred times your daily vitamin C needs. And that my friends is good for your immune system (what winter sniffles?), fast wound healing (sayonara papercuts), increases absorption of iron (giving you more energy) and is a powerful antioxidant (a cancer-fighting superhero).

But forget all that jazz. Just know that peppers are damn good for you and make any dish look like a Mexican fiesta! Olé!

Mixed Peppers with Tuna and Pine Nuts (pictured).

Serves Two

What You'll Need

A rainbow of peppers - one red, one yellow, one green

1 onion (white or red- your call)

3 cloves garlic

1 large tin tuna

Handful pine nuts

Dash olive oil

Salt, pepper and crushed chilies to season

The How-To:

1. Add pine nuts to a frying pan over a low heat and toast gently for 3-4 mins until lightly golden

2. In the meantime, finely chop onion and garlic

3. Remove pine nuts from pan and set aside

4. Add olive oil to the pan, and the onion and garlic, and salt, pepper and chili flakes

5. Leave to gently sweat (~5 min) whilst chopping peppers into bite-sized chunks

5. Add peppers to pan and turn up heat

6. After ~5 minutes, add tuna and stir through for 1-2 minutes to warm through. 

7. Remove from heat, pop in a bowl and top with pine nuts. 

8. Optional: wear sombrero whilst consuming

Easy Chick-Peasy Cookies

Cookies made from chickpeas. Yes - it is a thing and no, you won't taste them!

These cookies are gooey, golden, scrummy and won't turn you into a grouchy Cookie Monster from the inevitable post-consumption sugar low.

But why would you want chickpeas anywhere near your cookie jar?

Good question.

To keep it short and sweet, chickpeas (known as garbanzos in the States) give slow-release energy (huzzah!), are high in fibre (brilliant!), contain lots of protein (superb!) and are high in iron (fantastic!).

Basically, you want them in your life.


What You'll Need
Makes 6-8 cookies

Dry Ingredients

1/3 cup cookied chickpeas (drained and rinsed)
2/3 cup porridge oats
1/3 cup dessicated coconut
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup flaxseeds

Wet Ingredients

1 tablespoon greek yoghurt
1/3 cup milk (any)
2 tsp vanilla extract

Optional Extras to Mix Through
Dried fruit (raisins, cranberries, sultanas, dates etc)
Choc chips

The How-To

1. Preheat oven to 180c, and line a cooling rack with baking paper
2. In a blender mix all dry ingredients, leaving 1/3 cup of porridge oats out.
3. Transfer to a mixing bowl and combine with all wet ingredients
4. Mix in remaining porridge oats and any additional extras desired

(Note: here ideally leave mixture to sit for 10 mins to allow oats to absorb moisture from the mixture. But not a mandatory step)
5. Scoop into cookie-shaped balls ontothe baking paper, leaving at least 3cm between each as they will spread out while cooking.
6. Cook for ~18 minutes (until lightly bronzed)
7. Take out of oven, take the bisuits off the baking paper and put back onto the cooling rack.
8. Put back in the oven for a further 6 minutes (this should stop the bottoms being too sticky)
9. Leave to cool before eating.

Easy, breezy, chick-peasy. 

Quarter-Hour Cookies: Oat, Coconut and Dates

Cookie hankering? Got 15 minutes to spare? Perfect. 

Oats, dessicated coconut, milk, dates. No flour, no eggs, no butter. Let's face it, they're practically porridge!

Oats for slow release energy instead of instant-energy-rapid-energy-slump plain flour, and dates for chunks of sweetness that contribute to your 5-a-day. 

These little beauties pack up nicely in your lunchbox for a cheeky mid-afternoon pick-me-up!

(Original recipe modified from www.chocolatecoveredkatie.com)

What You'll Need:

Makes 6 cookies

3/4 cup oats

2 heaped tablespoons dessicated coconut

2 tablespoons brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

Handful chopped dried dates

1 tablespoon oil

3 tablespoons milk

1/2 teaspoon salt

The How-To:

1. Blend oats, sugar, salt and baking powder 

2. Add into a bowl with the rest of the ingredients and mix. 

3. Place on tray lined with baking paper in cookie-shaped blobs (relatively flat)

4. Cook for 10 minutes in 180c

Options

- in place of dates, use raisins, sultanas or nuts 

- add a good pinch of cinnamon for a festive flavour hit 

- sub 1 tablespoon of maple syrup for 1 tablespoon of sugar (be sure to use less milk)

- decrease sugar, and add in mixed nuts and seeds for a more savoury flavour

- an easy recipes for young bakers: mould into fun shapes or letters of your name!

Carrotuccine: Carrot Fettuccine

Carrot-uccine. A healthy, crunchy, colourful and yummy take on fettucine. 

Why so good?

One large carrot gives a whopping two and a half times your daily recommended vitamin A intake - helping to keep your peepers sparkling and healthy and improve night vision. 

According to Wikipedia (so therefore fact, obviously), during WWII the RAF hid their advanced radar technology from axis powers by spreading rumours that their gunners' high carrot consumption had resulted in amazing night vision.

Whether or not this humble little root vegetable is really responsible for helping the allies, we do know it can help you work our way towards a healthy waistline. 

The perfect option for a warm summers evening. 

The How-To:

1. Wash carrot well

2. Use a potato peeler to cut carrot into thin strips

3. Optional: add to pasta sauce a few minutes before serving to soften a little. Or just go ahead and use raw!