food blogger
Chicken & Cashew Stir Fry with Pak Choi & Rice Noodles
I love a big stirfry with lots of colour and all the Asian flavours I can possibly fit in. The brightness of the vegetables always seems to cheer me up! Stirfry is also a great way to pack in a variety of veggies and possibly sneak some in that the boys wouldn’t usually eat.
Having been craving Chinese food for some time, I stumbled across this recipe from FitLikeMummy’s blog – an inspiring view into her journey to better health and fitness. Anything with Cashew Nuts instantly grabs my attention and it looked so absolutely delicious, I had to cook it!
I just added some red cabbage for colour (and forgot that I wanted to add carrots). Hoisin Sauce was not to be found anywhere in the regular shops so I did without. On contemplation, I realised afterwards that I am literally five minutes from an entire selection of Chinese supermarkets. Notes for the future!
Gluten Free, Sugar Free, Dairy Free, Family Friendly
Ingredients
- 4 chicken breasts, cut in bite-sized pieces
- 1 cup chicken stock
- 3 tbsp oyster sauce
- 3 tbsp hoisin sauce (or soy sauce)
- 2-3 tsp crushed garlic
- 1 tbsp peanut oil
- 2 pak choi, roughly chopped
- 3 spring onions, chopped, green and white parts separated
- 1 cup cashews
- 1/2 red bell pepper
- 1/2 yellow pepper
- 2 cups shredded red cabbage
- 2 red chillies, deseeded and finely sliced (optional)
- 1 packet rice noodles
Instructions
- In a small bowl mix the stock with the oyster and hoisin/soy sauces, and the garlic. Set aside.
- Heat the oil in a large pan or wok over high heat.
- Add the chicken and cook until golden brown. When cooked, remove from the pan set aside.
- Lower heat to med-high.
- Add the pak choi, white part of the spring onions and vegetables to the same pan. Cook until the veggies are tender but still crisp, about 3 minutes.
- Return cooked chicken to skillet along with the sauce, the green onion tops, red chilli (if using) and the cashews.
- Cook until sauce has reduced a bit, about 2-3 minutes.
- Serve with rice noodles.
Original recipe by FitLikeMummy
Summery Grilled Sweet Potato & Bacon Salad
Ingredients
- 800 g sweet potato, peeled, cut diagonally into 1cm slices
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 200 g rindless bacon rashers, cut into strips
- 1/2 cup Mayonnaise
- 1 orange, rind finely grated, juiced
- 2 baby cos lettuces, trimmed, cut into thin wedges
- 60 g baby rocket
- 150 g snow peas, trimmed, blanched, thinly sliced
- 2 green shallots, thinly sliced
- 1/3 cup walnuts, toasted, roughly chopped
Instructions
- Heat a grill pan or electric grill to high heat. Place sweet potato in a bowl.
- Drizzle with oil and toss to coat. Season.
- Grill sweet potato, for 2-3 minutes each side or until tender and lightly charred. Transfer to a plate.
- Cook the bacon, stirring often, in a nonstick frying pan over med heat for 10 minutes or until golden and crisp. Transfer to a plate lined with paper towel to drain the fat.
- Combine the mayonnaise, orange rind and juice in a large bowl. Season with salt and pepper.
- Arrange the lettuce, rocket, sweet potato and snow peas on serving plates. Sprinkle with bacon and shallot, drizzle with the mayonnaise mixture and top with walnuts.
Fabulously Fast Vegetable Egg Fried Rice
Finished in a flash, this vegetable egg fried rice is so fuss free it’s an absolute life saver. If you know you’re going to be pressed for time, cook the rice on a Sunday afternoon and keep cold in the fridge. All you need to do is fry up the veggies, crack open an egg and pour a glass of wine!
Ingredients
- 4 cups cooked brown or white rice
- 1-2 cups frozen mixed vegetables (peas, carrots, corn, green beans)
- 1 egg, lightly whisked
- ⅓ cup soy sauce
- 1 tbsp peanut oil
- 1 tsp crushed garlic
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- sprinkle dried chilli flakes
- 3 green onions, diced
Instructions
- Add oil to a large pan over med-high heat and saute onion and garlic for 3-4 minutes until softened. Add a sprinkle of dried chilli flakes and cook for half a minute.
- Add in the vegetables and cook for 4-5 minutes, stirring.
- Move the veggies to one half of the pan. Add egg and allow to cook for 1 minute, then scramble it with a fork or spatula and stir in with veggies.
- Add rice to pan. Add soy sauce and stir over medium heat for 6-8 minutes until browned. Remove from heat and stir in green onions.
Notes
Gluten free, Sugar free, Dairy Free, Vegetarian, Meat Free Monday
Baby Kingklip with Tuscan Style Vegetables
Something fishy
The Mediterranean Diet prescribes plenty of fish and less meat. This baby kingklip recipe is gluten free, sugar free, super low carb and super high in nutrition.
It also tastes divine, especially made with baby kingklip, takes only 30 minutes to make and it’s so very easy!
Browsing around my local Food Lover’s Market for fish, I wanted something other than Hake. I noticed that 500g Hake fillets were R70 and 500g Kingklip portions were R140. Then I spotted the Baby Kingklip at R89 for 800 grams and thought this was quite a good deal. Something different and for a great price relative to their fully grown kin.
Anyway, on to the recipe!
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 onion, chopped
- 2 tsp crushed garlic
- 1/2-1 tsp chilli flakes (to taste)
- 2 tsp fresh rosemary finely chopped (optional)
- 2 tins peeled & diced tomatoes
- 2 tins cannelini beans, rinsed and drained
- 200 g fresh baby spinach, washed and dried
- salt and pepper
- 800 g baby kingklip or hake fillets, patted dry and seasoned with salt and pepper
- fresh parsley and lemon to garnish
- juice of 1 lemon
Instructions
- In a large, deep pan with a lid, heat 1 tbsp olive oil. Add onion and 1 tsp garlic. Saute until onion has softened. Garlic mustn't brown.
- Add chilli flakes and rosemary if using. Add diced tomatoes and cannelini beans. Stir well then cover the pan, and reduce heat to simmer while cooking the fish.
- In a large non stick pan on med-high heat, add 1 tbsp olive oil and 1 tsp garlic. When garlic is sizzling, add fish fillets and cook for a couple of minutes. Lift the edge of the fish when it is becoming opaque on top, and see if it is nicely browned on the bottom. Carefully turn the fish using a spatula. While fish cooks on the second side, add fresh spinach to the bean and tomato mixture. Stir well, and replace the lid. Turn off the heat. Allow the spinach to wilt. Check for seasoning. Stir.
- Squeeze fresh lemon juice over the cooked fish fillets.
- Divide the vegetable mixture among your plates or bowls.
- Top each with a fish fillet, and garnish with parsley and a wedge of lemon if desired.
Mediterranean Chicken & Potatoes
Ingredients
- 8 skin-on , bone-in chicken thighs
- 1/2 cup lemon juice
- 4 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tbsp red wine vinegar
- 4 tsp crushed garlic
- 3 tsp dried basil
- 2 tsp dried oregano
- 2 tsp dried parsley
- 2 tsp salt
- 6-8 potatoes, quartered
- 1 red onion, cut into wedges
- 1 red pepper (capsicum), deseeded and cut into wedges
- 1 zucchini, sliced
- 4 tbsp pitted Kalamata olives
- Lemon slices, to serve
Instructions
- Pat thighs dry with paper towel. In a shallow oven dish, combine lemon juice, 2 tablespoons of olive oil, vinegar, garlic, basil, oregano, parsley and salt. Pour out half of the mixture into a jug and set aside for later.
- Add the chicken to the mixture in the oven dish and coat evenly. Cover and marinate for 15 minutes if rushed; 1 hour if time allows; or over night, turning each chicken thigh occasionally in the marinade.
- Preheat oven to 220°C. Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a large pan or skillet over med-high heat. Sear the chicken on both sides until golden brown (about 4 minutes per side). Place chicken pieces back into the oven dish, then arrange the vegetables around the chicken. Drizzle vegetables with the marinade from the jug, tossing them through the oil mixture to coat evenly.
- Cover the dish with or foil and bake until the potatoes are soft and the chicken is completely cooked through (about 35 minutes). Change oven setting to grill, uncover and cook for a further 5-10 minutes, or until chicken and potatoes are crispy and golden brown.
- Serve with olives and lemon slices.
The Most Extraordinary Macaroni and Cheese Ever!
Yes it is the best ever Macaroni & Cheese
Being a recipe by Nigella Lawson, you just know it’s going to be something you can’t get enough of! She proclaimed it to be the best ever Macaroni and Cheese and you know what? She really was telling the truth!
Furthermore, you might expect a ton of cheese and unhealthy ingredients but there’s only half a cup of cheddar and a third of a cup of feta. I used wholewheat macaroni to add some extra fibre to the mix. Plus hidden sweet potato for the kids! It’s a very sneaky and absolutely amazing trick.
This is our Meat Free Monday dish, not quite vegan but vegetarian. For any other day I think it would also be great with some added crispy bacon bits.
Enjoy!
Ingredients
- 500 g sweet potatoes
- 300 g wholewheat macaroni
- 4 tbsp soft unsalted butter
- 3 tbsp flour
- 500 ml full fat milk
- 1 tsp english mustard
- ¼ tsp paprika (plus another quarter tsp to sprinkle on top)
- 75 g feta cheese
- 125 g mature cheddar (plus 25g to sprinkle on top)
- 1 tsp dried sage
- salt & pepper
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 200°C. Place a large pot of water on the stove to boil, with the lid on to speed up the process (and save electricity).
- Peel the sweet potatoes and cut them roughly into 2–3 cm pieces. When the water is boiling, add salt to taste, then the sweet potato pieces, and cook them for about 10 minutes or until soft. Scoop them out of the water into a bowl using a slotted spoon. Lightly mash with a fork, without turning them into a purée. Keep the water in the pot to cook the pasta later on.
- In another saucepan, gently melt the butter and add the flour over medium heat, whisking until smooth. Take the pan off the heat, slowly whisk in the milk. When it’s all combined and smooth, put back on the heat. Using a wooden spoon, continue to stir while simmering gently until the sauce has lost any floury taste and has thickened.
- Add mustard and ¼ teaspoon of paprika. Season lightly to taste, keeping in mind that you will be adding Cheddar and salty feta later.
- Cook the macaroni in the sweet potato water, checking 2 minutes earlier than packet instructions state, as you want to make sure it doesn’t overcook. Reserve about half a cup of the pasta water and then drain.
- Add the macaroni to the mashed sweet potato, folding in to combine.
- Crumble the feta cheese into the sweet potato and pasta mixture. Fold in the white sauce, adding the 125g grated Cheddar as you go. Add some of the pasta cooking water, should you feel it needs more moisture.
- Check for seasoning again, then, when you’re happy, spoon the macaroni cheese into a large rectangular oven dish. Sprinkle the remaining Cheddar over the top, dust with the remaining ¼ teaspoon of paprika, then sprinkle the sage leaves over the top as well.
- Bake for 30–35 minutes, until piping hot and bubbling.
Find the original recipe by Nigella here.
Broccoli Bacon Cheese & Chicken Bake – an Instant Family Favourite
Broccoli, Bacon, Cheese & Chicken Bake
This recipe looked fantastic when I found it, but was even better than expected! An instant family favourite, the boys loved it, yes, even though it was mainly broccoli. That’s always a measure of a successful dinner… the broccoli and chicken baking together result in such tasty juices at the bottom of the dish. If you were to add rice to the mix (not necessary at all) you would have a lovely broth to go with it.
Blanch the broccoli before baking to enhance the colour and flavour.
Ingredients
- 1 head of broccoli
- 1 packet diced bacon
- 6-8 chicken breasts
- 1 cup cheddar cheese
- 1 cup mozarella/white cheddar cheese
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 200 C.
- Place chicken breasts flat on a cutting board, drizzle with a little olive oil & cover with cling wrap.
- Bash with your fist to flatten them evenly (great stress reliever).
- Remove cling wrap and season with ground salt & black pepper.
- Spray an oven dish with olive oil cooking spray and place chicken breasts into the dish.
- Bring a pot of salted water to boil, add broccoli and boil for 2 minutes to blanch.
- At the same time, fry bacon bits in a small pan until golden.
- Drain broccoli well.
- Add broccoli and bacon bits to dish with chicken. Sprinkle cheese evenly over the top.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.
Pauli’s Food Co. Wholegrain Calamari Wraps with Saffron Chutney Chilli
Wholegrain Calamari Wraps with Saffron Chutney Chilli
I have come to absolutely adore Pauli’s Food Company’s sauces and marinated veggies, not only because they’re the perfect companion to any dish ever but also because they have such a great attitude towards food and they’re pretty great people too! No preservatives, additives, colourants and just simply delicious, good food made with love and the freshest ingredients.
Check out their website for stockists.
These calamari wraps are absolutely amazing with Pauli’s Saffron Chutney Chilli. Add some optional humus or plain cream cheese.
Ingredients
- Wholegrain tortilla wraps
- lettuce, sliced into ribbons
- cherry tomatoes, halved
- baby cucumber, quartered and sliced
- yellow pepper, cut into thin strips
- 2 tbsp butter
- 1 tsp crushed garlic
- juice of half a lemon
- 400g calamari rings
- Pauli's Saffron Chutney Chilli
Instructions
- Heat butter in a frying pan on the stove over med-high heat.
- Add garlic and saute for 30 seconds.
- Add a splash of olive oil (this will stop the butter from browning too much).
- Add the calamari rings and lemon juice.
- Saute until just opaque (2-3 minutes).
- Heat tortilla wraps as per packet instructions, I prefer heating them in a non stick pan.
- Place lettuce on wrap, with tomatoes, cucumber, peppers and top with calamari rings.
- Wrap up, serve and enjoy!
Notes
I would cook the calamari in the Pauli's sauce if not for the boys. It's slightly too hot for them so I add it to ours after as a condiment. Add humus, cream cheese or any veg you prefer to add. A super quick meal guaranteed to leave smiles on faces!
Beautiful Intention Part 2 – Eating Balanced & Nutritious Meals
Eating positive!
Now that we’re drinking more water and have the blood flowing through the body smoothly, one of the basics is in place. The next step is to consider the food. Here’s your guide to cooking and eating healthy, balanced and nutritious meals.
Obviously there are a multitude of different diets out there, many of which make some sense and many of which just don’t.
My personal opinion with regards to healthy eating is the same as with most things, life’s too short to be worried about a complicated diet that involves a million rules, counting of any kind (I count enough in my business) or not having wine! I feel it’s best to keep it simple and delicious, again treating your body with love and not punishment.
I also mentioned my food philosophy in a post from last year, which essentially echoes the philosophy of Jamie Oliver.
The philosophy of eating
The main thing is that food shouldn’t be made to be an enemy. The latest research that aimed to determine which was the most evil between carbohydrates and fat may surprise you in its outcome. You can read the article here. What it boils down to (and while I’m at it, don’t boil your veggies) is that neither actually makes much difference!
What does matter is the quantity (amount of calories) and quality of the food you’re eating! You don’t have to go counting every calorie but eat sensible portions and make healthy choices. One thing that must be avoided though, is sugar.
Why avoid sugar?
I always want to know the why’s. Aside from weight loss, here’s a quick list of reasons to avoid sugar from MindBodyGreen.com
- Directly linked to higher levels of anxiety, stress and depression
- causes inflammation which in turn
- negatively impacts the immune system
- increases blood pressure
- adversely affects mental function
- Speeds up ageing and can cause acne
- Blood Sugar spikes and crashes, affecting energy levels
- Increases risk for chronic diseases such as heart disease and diabetes.
How to avoid sugar
Cooking your meals from scratch using fresh ingredients means that you avoid eating processed foods, premade sauces and meals that contain high amounts of sugar (and sodium).
Ditch the sweets for fresh fruits and berries, nuts and look for snack or treat recipes you can make with eg. raw honey, nut butters and dark chocolate. There are soooooo many different options for healthier choices.
Dump the fizzy colddrinks and fruit juices and instead, drink water*, unsweetened rooibos or herbal teas etc.
Don’t choose low fat products as they generally contain added sugar to make up for the taste.
Healthy eating
After all this, what are the healthiest food and diet choices?
Firstly, crash diets and fads are so old hat. The only way to lose weight and maintain a healthy lifestyle is with a sustainable eating plan, balance and moderation and yes, some exercise. You don’t need a gym, walking is also great and there are various fantastic workout apps including all different kinds of exercise.
Back to food!
The Mediterranean Diet is my guideline of choice for several reasons. It’s widely known as the world’s healthiest diet mainly because it largely reduces risk of heart disease, strokes and cancer. Let’s be honest, if your heart has stopped working it won’t really matter what your body looks like.
It also wards off chronic disease, promotes brain health, aids weight loss and slows ageing… what more could you possibly want?!
The key aspects of the Mediterranean Diet are:
- plenty of fresh seasonal vegetables and fruits
- fish and white meat, with red meat in moderation
- whole grains along with nuts, beans, lentils and seeds
- olive oil for the win!
- lots of herbs and spices for wonderful flavour without excess salt
- limit dairy to hard cheeses and plain yoghurt
- a glass of red wine daily (again, moderation applies)
Stay away from the cakes, sweets and processed foods. Stick to produce as close as possible to it’s natural form. Choose whole grain over white.
Give yourself a treat now and then! Don’t be mean to yourself for having a block or two of that choccie, it’s not going to crush the scale tomorrow morning… a small treat once a week is fine.
What appeals most to me about the Mediterranean Diet is that it’s the closest to the way we eat as a family in any case, therefore I don’t have to make different meals for different people.
If I don’t feel like having pasta for example, I simply don’t dish the pasta portion and happily have the delicious protein and veggies or salad. It’s uncomplicated, easy to cook, incredibly tasty, GOOD food!
Change your mind – change your life
Food is a friend. You don’t need to make it your enemy. Approach food with positive energy, cook with love, feel the joy of sharing healthy, nutritious meals with your family and caring for your body in the most loving way. You will be surprised at how much this changes your relationship with food as well as your body!
Favourite Weekday Meal Feature – Mediterranean Tuna Lettuce Wraps
Mediterranean Tuna Lettuce Wraps
The perfect weekday meal for hot summer evenings when you just can’t bring yourself to eating anything that has been near a stove.
These tuna lettuce wraps are healthy, refreshing and substantial enough to fill even the hungriest of tummies! Gluten free option with lettuce as a wrap only, or add some fibre with a wholegrain tortilla wrap. It’s juicy, crispy, tasty and ready in a flash!
Click on the image for the recipe card.
