Live Brave: Recipes

Image source

If you have read my recent post about my Wellness Project that I am embarking on, you will know that one of the areas that I am focusing on is removing the toxins and chemicals from my home and body. I have been doing this for several months now, trying different products and homemade recipes. Some have been a complete flop, others have been alright and a few have been fantastic. This homemade recipe is one that I love and that works so well. I am currently on my third bottle of it so thought it was time to share.

What I love about this recipe is that it uses just a few ingredients, it is easy to use, smells amazing and works really well. I use it in my bathroom, in the kitchen and even to clean my windows.

Ingredients

1/2 tsp washing soda or washing crystals
1 tsp liquid castille soap
Essential oils of choice - I use 4 drops of lavender and 5 drops of tea tree oil but you can also use lemon or sweet orange essential oils which smell amazing.
2 cups warm water - distilled is best but any warm boiled water will work
Dark glass spray bottle for storage

Instructions

Place washing soda and liquid soap into a glass jug.
Add 2 cups of warm water and stir well.
Once cooled, add the essential oils and pour into your glass spray bottles.

If you give this recipe a go I would love to hear your thoughts on it and if you have any others that you have tried and love please do share them with me.

I have recently made some changes to the types of foods that I am putting in my body and I am pleased to share that so far it is going well. The one meal that I have been struggling with a little more than the others is breakfast, so I set aside some time this weekend to do some research and reading and see what I could find.

When you start looking there is so much information out there, and for a newbie like me it is both exciting and overwhelming. Eggs are the easiest and probably the most obvious choice but I can only eat so many eggs for breakfast before I go egg-crazy. You can imagine how happy I was when I came across this little gem - gluten free, dairy free and no egg in sight - Low Carb Granola.

Low Carb Granola, serves two to three.

1/4 cup gluten free oats

1/4 cup and a bit extra sunflower seeds

1/2 cup crushed almonds

1/2 cup crushed walnuts

As much cinnamon as you like

1 tablespoon melted coconut oil

A dash of vanilla essence

A bit of Splenda or honey

Preheat the oven to 100 degrees Celsius. Combine the oats, seeds, almonds and walnuts. Add the cinnamon, vanilla essence and splenda and finally coat the mixture in the melted coconut oil. Spread the mixture onto a pan and heat in the oven for thirty minutes, checking it after fifteen.

The first thing you will notice when you open the oven is just how good it smells....and the taste doesn't disappoint either. It is great warm, straight out the oven and just as good once its cooled. I ate mine with two turkey patties but you could also have it with yogurt or ricotta cheese.

Let me know if you make it and what you think. Enjoy!

I'm trying to eat cleaner and nourish my body with the energy that it needs. Lately, I have found that when I work from home or when it is the weekend, my eating goes out of whack. I get so busy that before I know it, its three in the afternoon, I'm starving and I haven't eaten anything all day. The problem then is that I don't see the point in putting something together when dinner is only two or so hours away.

On Friday I decided I was going to have to consciously change this pattern as I know its not good for me. I got out some recipe books and made a food menu, ensuring to include food for each meal. I made this today, Bean and Tuna salad and really enjoyed it. Plus, I have enough for lunch for the next two days as well.

Here is the recipe that I made, I hope you enjoy it if you decide to make it.

Ingredients

400g canned butter beans, drained

1 Can tuna and 1 can salmon

1 Red onion thinly sliced

Chopped parsley

Salt and pepper

Salad leaves

Fat free cottage cheese

Method

Combine all the ingredients and enjoy.

Serves 3-5 people and can be refrigerated for two to three days.

If you are following SlimmingWorld, this dish is free.

Pulled Pork is one of my new favorite recipes, for two reasons. Firstly, it tastes absolutely delicious and can be eaten in many different combinations. Secondly, and often most important to me, its so easy to make. I stick all the ingredients in my slowcooker and leave to cook away for 5-6 hours. AND, I am only having to wash up minimal dishes as well - what more could you want from a dish that provides several meals and is syn free.

So, this is what you need if you decide you would like to have a go at making it.

1.5-2kg pork shoulder, all fat removed
5 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp mustard powder
500g passata
3 tbsp balsamic vinegar
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
3 tbsp sweetener
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Mix all ingredients except the pork, together in a bowl. Place the pork in the slowcooker, pour the liquid mixed earlier over the pork, and set the heating to medium or high depending on how hot your slowcooker runs.

Once your pork is tender and the sauce is almost evaporated, take two forks and pull the pork apart. Delicious with chips, rice, mash or a brown roll and of course some lovely vegetables.

If you do decide to give this a go stop by and let me know how it turned out for you.

This weekend I made this Pepperpot Stew from the Slimming World magazine. It was so delicious I had to share. If you fancy something a little different then give this a go - you wont be disappointed.

This is how mine turned out. I decided to serve it with Quinoa, however rice or potato or even buttered bread would be just as delicious! Let me know if you decide to make some and how you find it.

This recipe is awesome! This is definitely going into my "good enough to feed to others" recipe file. I found this recipe on slimmingworldeats site, she has some gorgeous looking slimming world recipes so make sure you check them out.

I made a few tweaks to the original recipe which you can see here, but here's my version below.

Serves 4

Extra Easy – 1 syn if not using the chesse as your HeA

Ingredients

700g of peeled russet potatoes, roughly chopped into chunks

4 chicken breast, roughly chopped into bite size pieces

1 small onion, halved and sliced

2 cloves of garlic, crushed

180g of fresh spinach

150g of extra light soft cheese

200ml of chicken stock

salt and black pepper

Handful of mushrooms

Method

Preheat oven to 200c

Boil potatoes until tender and then create mash once they are cooked.

Using low cal spray, fry the chicken, onion, mushrooms and garlic. Once the chicken is cooked, add the spinach and saute until it just starts to soften. Transfer all of the above to the oven proof dish.

Now add the soft cheese and stock to the frying pan and whisk until you have a smooth sauce. Season with a little salt and black pepper. Pour the sauce over the top of the chicken and spinach.

Top with your roughly mashed potato, place in the oven and bake until potatoes are lightly golden on top (approx 25 mins)

Serve with your choice of sides.

Enjoy!!

It's not often that I get the chance to make a pudding, so when my mom invited me round for dinner last Saturday evening I thought it was the perfect opportunity to give this recipe a go.

Servings: 4
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Fridge Time: 2 hours
Syns per serving: 3.5

Ingredients

50g milk chocolate broken into small pieces
3 large eggs, separated
3 tbsp sweetener
A few drops of peppermint extract
4 tsp chocolate sprinkles

Optional - Fat free natural Fromage Frais (or low fat cream for additional syns)

Method

1. Melt the chocolate in a heatproof bowl over a pan of gently simmering water. Remove from the heat once melted and allow to cool a little.

2. Meanwhile, in a large glass bowl, beat the egg whites with an electric beater. They should stand up in stiff but not dry peaks when the blades are lifted.

3. In another large bowl, whisk the egg yolks, sweetener and peppermint extract until pale and thick. Fold in the melted chocolate, then fold in the egg whites using a metal spoon.

4. Spoon into freezer proof dessert glass dishes, cover with cling film and put in the fridge for at least 2 hours. Decorate each dish with a tsp of chocolate sprinkles and the optional items if you wish.

I was pleasantly surprise with how these turned out. Even though they are slimming world, both my dad and brother really enjoyed them and didn't miss the full fat taste of normal desserts.

If you decide to make this, let me know how it turns out.

This recipe was so easy to make and only took a short time to prepare and cook. Plus, using this for breakfast each morning at work has meant that I could have a little more of a lay in each day - perfect!

The great thing with this recipe is that you could add pretty much anything that you want into it and it will work. So if you fancy being adventurous then by all means go ahead.

Servings: 5-7
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Syns per serving: 0

Ingredients

4 Eggs
Mushrooms
1 Red Chili
Bacon
500g Fat Free Cottage Cheese
Onion
Sweetcorn
Mixed Peppers

Method

1. Heat oven to 200 degrees.

2. Mix the eggs together, but just enough to mix them and not beat them.

3. Add the cottage cheese to the egg mixture.

4. Using Fry Light cook your mushrooms, bacon, red chili, onion, sweetcorn peppers and anything else you want to add.

5. Add this to your flan dish and then top with the egg and cottage cheese mixture.

6. Cook for 30 minutes or until firm.

This is lovely for a breakfast meal or as a lunch with salad or warm veg. Yum!

It's not very often that I get a chance to bake anymore. The thing is, is that while I love baking I end up having to eat it all. Now most people wouldn't see that as too much of a hardship, but for me it would definitely be counter productive to my health journey.

So when I come across lighter versions of my favorite treats or snacks - I have no choice but to get baking.

Servings: 8
Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 12 - 14 min
Syns per serving: 1

Ingredients

3 eggs
6 tbsp sweetener
1 options chocolate or 11g Cocoa powder
1 mullerlight yogurt
50g Flour
1 tsp vanilla extract

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C/Gas 4.

2. Whisk egg whites and add the sweetener a little at a time.

3. In a separate bowl beat the egg yolks, yogurt, vanilla and the options or cocoa powder.

4. Gently fold in the egg whites and fold in the flour.

5. Fill 8 muffin cases and bake for 12 - 14 minutes.

Hope that you enjoy!

There are so many options that you could do with this, instead of the chocolate options consider trying the white or mint options and consider using flavored yogurts for example cherry or strawberry. Whatever you think will go together. The one other tip that I would give is that I would cook them for fourteen minutes rather than twelve as they were still a little "wet" in the middle.

Sunday afternoon was the great week ahead cook off! My week evenings are so busy that I thought I would be a little better prepared for this week by cooking up a few dishes to separate and freeze. It honestly didn't take me that long and now I have a freezer full of delicious meals. One of the recipes that I tried this week was the Slimming World Caribbean Turkey and vegetable Stew, and here are the details below.

Serves: 4
Prep time: 30 minutes
Cook time: 1½ - 2 hours
Syns per serving: 1

Ingredients

1 red onion, peeled halved and sliced
2 garlic cloves, peeled and chopped
1 tbsp jerk seasoning
750g skinless turkey breast steaks, cut into 3cm pieces
1 green pepper, deseeded and cut into 2 cm pieces
1 yellow pepper, deseeded and cut into 2 cm pieces
1 red pepper, deseeded and cut into 2 cm pieces
300g cherry tomatoes
250g button mushrooms halved
1 tbsp fresh thyme leaves
400ml chicken stock
1 level tbsp gravy granules
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Fresh thyme leaves to garnish

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C/Gas 4.

2. Put all the ingredients into a large casserole dish, place over a high heat and bring to the boil. Season well.

3. Cover the dish with a lid and transfer to the oven.

4. Cook for 1½-2 hours or until the turkey is tender.

5. Remove from the oven and garnish with the thyme leaves before serving.

Hope that you enjoy!

Today I received a German Friendship Cake. "A what?" I asked. "His name is Herman and he is a German Friendship cake", I was told.

Herman arrived in a little Tupperware container along with instructions on how to look after him. Ten days of tender loving care and I have been assured I will be rewarded with a delicious cake and the ability to share Herman with my friends. He smelt a little strong, but I went ahead and put him into a larger mixing bowl and covered it with a dish cloth.

For the first few days, all you need to do is give him a stir. Halfway through you add milk, sugar and flour followed by more days of just stirring. On day nine you add more ingredients and then divide it into four servings. Three of them you give away to friends and the fourth you use to bake yourself a Herman.

Instructions for Herman

You cannot put me in the fridge or I will die. If I stop bubbling, I am dead.
Days:

1 - You get Herman and put him in a large mixing bowl and cover loosely with a tea towel.
2 - Stir well
3 - Stir well
4 - Herman is hungry. Add 1 cup each of plain flour, sugar and milk. Stir well.
5 - Stir well
6 - Stir well
7 - Stir well
8 - Stir well
9 - Hungry again! Add the same as day 4 and stir well. Divide into 4 equal portions and give away to friends with a copy of the instructions. Keep the 4th one.
10 - Herman is ready to be baked.

Ingredients:

1 cup sugar
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups plain flour
2/3 cups cooking oil
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla essence
2 cooking apples cut into chunks
2 heaped tsp cinnamon
2 heaped tsp baking powder

Instructions:

Pre-heat the oven to 170 - 180C
Mix everything together.
Put into a large greased baking tin.
Sprinkle with a quarter of a cup of brown sugar and a quarter cup of melted butter.
Bake for 45 minutes or until cooked.
When cold, cut into fingers.
Cake freezes well and is delicious with cream or ice-cream.

When Herman was brought round to me - he came with a piece of his brother, Herman the first. He was delicious!

If you don't want to wait for someone to give you the Herman, why don't you consider creating your own and get the giving started.

The Herman Starter Mix

If you cant wait to receive a starter for this great little cake, the starter mix is very easy. Here's how to start your own.

Ingredients:

5oz plain flour
8oz Castor sugar
Half a pint of warm milk
2 fl oz lukewarm water
1 packet of active dry yeast

Instructions:

Dissolve the yeast in warm water for 10 minutes then stir.
Add the flour and sugar then mix thoroughly.
Slowly stir in the warm milk.
Cover the bowl with a clean cloth.
Leave in a cool, dry place for 24 hours.
Now begin at day one of the 10 day cycle, as per the instructions above.

If you decide to have a go or have had a Herman in the past, let me know how it went and if you added anything different to the recipe above.

My mom is currently studying her little socks off for an exam that she is writing on Monday so I offered to cook dinner for the four of us tonight. That way it relieves some of the pressure on her while also saving her time. Now my normal go to for cooking for the four of us is either shepherds pie or lasagna, however I wanted to try something different. I needed something that would be easy to transport from my flat to their place and I needed something that didn't contain potatoes. I reached into my huge pile of "to try" recipes and came across a gorgeous looking recipe for stuffed marrows.

So I chopped up my onion and started cooking

I also made a few changes to the recipe because I was looking for something a little more healthy and little more weight watcher points friendly. I exchanged the beef mince for turkey mince and I added spinach, mushrooms and some medium heat taco seasoning.

Here is the recipe if you want to give it a try. It was absolutely delicious and only 6 ww pro points. My recipe serves 4 but it can easily be doubled if need be.

Ingredients

1 tbsp olive oil

1 chopped onion

1 punnet of mushrooms

1 small bag of spinach

1 tin of tomatoes with garlic

450g turkey mince

1 large marrow

grated cheese

Brown chopped onions and turkey mince in a pot. Add the spinach, chopped mushrooms, spice mix and the tin of tomatoes. Let it simmer on the oven for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, preheat the over to 200 degrees and chop the marrow into quarters. Use a spoon or ice cream scoop and take out the middle section of the marrow. Place these in an oven proof dish.

Once the mince is cooked, spoon the mixture into the centre of the marrow and place in the over, covered with foil for 1 hour. After the hour, check the marrow is cooked. Place the grated cheese on top, remove the foil and cook for a further 10 minutes.

Serve and enjoy.

I tried Quinoa for the first time last weekend at my mom's, it was weird but not too bad. I love trying new things and I knew that it was healthy for me, so while my first taste of it didn't go down as a complete love I knew I had to give it another go. And then I cam across the recipe below and after trying it, i knew I could make Quinoa a regular part of my menu rotation.

This salad is soooo easy to make and is ideal for both lunch at work or a quick dinner. Plus it makes about four decent size servings so you could have a few meals out of it - perfect for a single gal. Enjoy!

BBQ Chicken Quinoa Salad

Ingredients

2 cups cooked quinoa
1 cup corn
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 cup shredded BBQ chicken
BBQ sauce
1 green pepper, chopped
cilantro for garnish
avocado for garnish

Instructions

Pre-cook quinoa (the night before, or the day of!).
The recipe calls for pre-cooked chicken. Add chicken thighs, BBQ sauce and water to crock pot and let cook fully.
In a large bowl, toss together the quinoa, corn, black beans, chicken and avocado. Season with salt and pepper.
Transfer mixture onto a bowl and top with BBQ sauce, avocado and cilantro.
Serve warm or at room temperature.

This week has been yet another bad food week. It all started out well, oats were had for breakfast, salads were eaten for lunch and then IT happened.......my friend Julie brought in her famous Apricot Oat Bars. Now these lovely little bars are just too good for words. I promised myself that i would only have one, but one turned into two and two turned into three. Three of these delicious Apricot Oat Bars. Oh my gosh....if you only try one new recipe this year - this is the one to try!

Apricot Oat Bars

150g Jumbo Oats

125g Light Muscavado Sugar

2fl Oz Sunflower Oil

50g Chopped Dried Apricots

25g Sunflower Seeds

1 Egg - Beaten

Mix together the first three items and leave them to stand in a bowl for one hour.

After the one hour, mix the remaining ingredients together.

Place spoonfuls of the mixture onto a baking tray and press down.

Bake at 180C for 12 - 15 minutes.

Thank you Julie - these are gorgeous and well worth a try.

Saturday was pretty much a day filled with food. We went to a beautiful garden centre and i was treated to a huge, fresh, still warm cherry scone with butter.

We then went home, did some shopping and then went round to my mom's for dinner. She made a South African meal, Babootie, and then my dad brought out these gorgeous Cherry Chocolate cupcakes.

Bobotie
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 onions, peeled and sliced
2 1/4 pounds good quality lean ground beef
1 thickish slice of white bread
1 cup milk
1 tablespoon medium curry powder (or hot for the hale and brave)
1 1/2 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons salt
freshly grated pepper (about a half teaspoon)
3/4 teaspoon turmeric
1 1/2 tablespoons malt vinegar
1/2 cup seedless raisins
2 tablespoons strong chutney
2 bay leaves (or fresh lemon leaves if available)
2 medium eggs

METHOD
Preheat oven to 350°F.
Heat oil in medium saute pan. Stir in onions. Cook over medium heat until transparent. Add ground beef. Cook until lightly browned and crumbly.
Soak bread in half the milk, squeeze out excess milk and mash with a fork - DON'T TOSS SQUEEZED OUT MILK! Pour it straight back into remaining milk. Set milk aside, and ad pulled-apart bread to the meat mixture.
Add curry, sugar, salt, pepper, turmeric, vinegar, raisins, chutney to the beef mixture. Spoon the mixture into a greased baking dish, and place bay leaves on top.
Bake for 50-60 minutes in preheated 350°F oven.
Beat egg with remaining milk and pour over mixture approximately 25 - 30 minutes before end of baking time.
Serve with steamed rice (traditionally yellow!) and extra chutney.

Serves: 6

Older
Stories

Pages

Instructions for Herman

The Herman Starter Mix

About me

Search This Blog

Follow Me

Labels

Contact Form

Blog Archive