Category Archives: food is medicine

Wild keta salmon on courgetti, chickpeas and pine nuts

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Serves 2

Ingredients:

2 salmon fillets

2 courgettes – spiralised                     1/4 cup pine nuts

1 cup of chick peas (tinned)                1 tsp ground ginger

Tamari to flavour – 1 tbsp                  olive oil for cooking

Method:

Bake the salmon fillets in the oven in a tin foil parcel for 10-15 minutes – no additional flavours / oil added.

Whilst it is cooking, heat  the oil in a frying pan. Add the chick peas, pine nuts and ginger and cook for 1 minute. Add the courgetti and cook for a further minute. Add tamari  – heat through and serve.

Banana and walnut muffins (gf)

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Preheat oven to 180c / gas 4

12 muffin tray  – good quality non- stick ( I used Prestige – didn’t need to grease)

Ingredients:

120 g gluten-free self-raising flour       120 g butter

120 g light muscovado sugar         3 eggs (2 if not using gf flour)

2 ripe bananas – mashed               1/2 cup of walnut halves (12 to put on top before cooking)

Method:

Put all the ingredients ( except bananas / walnuts) for the muffins in to a bowl

and mix well until smooth. Add mashed bananas and walnuts and gently fold in to the mixture.

Spoon the mixture in to prepared tin and place half a walnut on the top of each.

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Bake for about 15 mins – until skewer is clean.

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Leave to cool before removing.

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Make 12  – only 11 made it to the plate…muffin thief entered the kitchen!!

 

Power of the mind

Posted in eating disorder, food is medicine, fructose free, functional food, healthy eating, mental illness, specialised diet, Uncategorized by

This week has been a hard one for me…I have really struggled with both sleeping and staying positive. What I have found interesting, now I can reflect back, is the speed at which both these factors impacted on my dietary desires and motivations.

I have been virtually sugar-free for months now yet this week the craving for sugar was really strong – I succumbed to cake a couple of times and even though it tasted hideously sweet, I persevered! It would have been so easy to fall back in to old habits – shockingly easy in fact – the addictive power of sugar is so scary. With a supreme conscious effort I have had a good talking to myself and ignored the voice of sugar whispering to me.

Once upon a time I would have chastised myself for this ‘slip’…but instead I am celebrating my strength and the overwhelming desire to be healthy.

Carbohydrate -friend or foe?

Posted in eating disorder, food is medicine, functional food, healthy eating, mental illness, specialised diet, superfood, Uncategorized, vegetables by

I have really tried to change my view of carbohydrate over the last year. I always believed it to be my foe, my nemesis even, and would try and avoid it like the plague. Each day I would try to keep my intake to below 50 g – 60 g a day – 200 -240 kcal of carbs a day. Each day I would mentally beat myself up if I hadn’t achieved this.I always felt that carbs were the reason I would put weight on and when I severely restricted them…the weight came off. Then I started to think more logically:

I need carbs for my energy needs; I can control the types of carbs I eat.

Government guidelines presently state 50-55% of daily food intake should be carbs – of that 45% complex starchy carbs and non-starchy polysaccharides – fibre and no more than 5% from free sugars. (I know this guideline has been challenged recently because of the rise of obesity – but it is all about eating the right carbs – eating carbohydrate is not just about eating white bread, pasta and potatoes!) The healthy high carb foods I eat include vegetables,legume, whole grains, nuts and berries / low fructose fruits. I avoid unhealthy carbs.

This thought process has enabled me to take back control – with careful food choices I can ensure I give my body sufficient energy sources for its needs. Intake of carbs from refined foods will have a totally different effect on my body than if I get all my  carbs from unrefined foods…in other words …if I cook from scratch, opt for foods high in fibre and with a low GI, and just eat real foods I will be eating ‘properly’ and giving my body the nutrition it needs. So this is what I do 🙂

Doing this, and keeping my free sugars to below 5% of my daily intake has improved my health, ensured any excess weight has come off and means I don’t have blood sugar spikes during the day and crave snacks in between meals…and counting calories is a thing of the past!

 

 

 

Chestnut and coconut flour pancakes

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Recipe testing and experimenting with flavours and balance resulted in these pancakes. Eaten hastily by my husband and number 1 food critic – which I take as a sign he enjoyed them!

Ingredients:

1/4 cup coconut milk                                    1 tsp apple cider vinegar

1/4 cup coconut flour                                    1 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda

3/4 cup chestnut flour

4 eggs (seems a lot but tried with 3 and the pancakes were very dense)

Method:

Whisk the eggs and then add all the other ingredients and mix thoroughly. Spoon out mixture on to a hot griddle and cook till golden brown on both sides.

To complement the sweet nutty flavour of the chestnut flour I served them with Greek yoghurt and then a fruit topping.

Vegetable bake

imageIngredients:

1/2 butternut squash de seeded and cut in to cubes

1 red onion sliced in to large chunks

1 yellow pepper de seeded and cut in to large pieces

Broccoli and / or cauliflower

Coconut oil

Butter

Milk

Gluten free plain flour

Cheese e.g. cheddar – grated – some for sauce and some to sprinkle on top

Method:

Prepare the squash, onion and pepper. Drizzle with coconut oil and roast in hot oven until cooked – about 35 minutes. Cut the broccoli and cauliflower into large florets and steam until cooked – but firm.Drain thoroughly. Make the cheese sauce with the butter, flour, milk and cheese. Assemble all the cooked vegetables in an oven proof dish and pour the cheese sauce over the top. Sprinkle the remaining grated cheese over the top and bake in a hot oven until hot throughout and golden brown with a crisped cheese top.

I eat it on its own. My husband like to have it with a couple of rashers of grilled bacon placed over the top.

So what’s happening to me…

Posted in eating disorder, food, food is medicine, fructose free, functional food, gluten free, healthy eating, meat free, pescatarian, specialised diet, Uncategorized, vegetarian by

Several weeks ago (17th April to be precise)  I gave up meat for 4 weeks to see what would happen – would I feel any better, no different or not as good.

Much to my fascination, I have not eaten it since and more amazingly for this carnivore, I have not missed it. In fact, the other day I cooked some bacon for my husband – I thought this would be the ultimate test as I have never been able to resist the aromas of bacon assaulting my olfactory senses. Not only did I resist, but I found the smell decidedly unpleasant. What is happening!

I know when I first gave up fructose I was told it would take 6-8 weeks to recalibrate. Is this the same with any dietary change?  How long does it take to make a lifestyle change become habit?

I make sure I eat a balanced and nutrient diet  – getting the macro and micro nutrients  I would have ingested from meat sources from other sources.

Before writing this tonight I googled, ‘giving up meat for a month’  – it seems I am not alone !! Not such a threshold adventurer after all…but not quite a lemming either. Just another person who wants to try different ways to improve their health. 🙂