Leftover lamb and sweet potato soup

This is a wonderfully spicy, warming and filling soup ideal for winter evenings and it's pretty simple to make. You can make it as hot and spicy as you like it by adding more curry powder and black pepper. It's packed full of vitamins and minerals. I used lamb because that's what I had and I think lamb works really well with sweet potato but you could use any left over meat. You could also use savoy cabbage instead of the kale.

You will need:

Chopped cooked lamb (or other leftover meat)
1 sweet potato peeled and roughly chopped
1 carrot peeled and roughly chopped
500ml stock or vegetable boullion
1 tbsp (or to taste) medium curry powder 
1/2 tsp garlic granules
1 tin chopped tomatoes
1 tbsp (or to taste) garam masala
8 curry leaves (optional, I already had some so added them)
2 handfuls kale
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
1-2 tbsp natural yogurt or coconut milk/cream (optional)

Method

Add lamb, sweet potato, carrot, stock and curry powder to a saucepan and bring to the boil. Cover and simmer for 20 mins.

Add the tin of tomatoes, bring back to the boil. Turn down the heat and add the curry leaves and kale and simmer for 10 mins. Turn off the heat, add the garam masala and black pepper, stir and leave to stand for 5 minutes with the lid on before serving to allow the flavours to develop.

Stir in yogurt or coconut milk if you like a creamy soup.

Why the paleo way of life isn't another fad low carb diet

I was recently reading a BBC news report on diets that dropped in a comment about low carbohydrate diets 'like Atkins and the Paleo diet'. I always cringe when I read something like this that is likely to put people off trying a paleo style diet, thinking they will be stuffing fat and protein down like crazy and not able to eat foods like vegetables, fruit and salads.

 A very low carbohydrate diet may be suitable for some people, those with high blood glucose levels and pre diabetes or those who are very obese and looking to drop weight without being permanently hungry. However my experience of a very low carb eating plan is that can be difficult to maintain and for me being able to stick to healthy eating long term is the most important thing when changing the way you eat.

My take on the paleo way of eating is to pack my diet full of starchy veggies such as potatoes, parsnips, squash, sweet potatoes, beetroots, carrots and non starchy veggies such as greens, cabbage, sprouts broccoli, cauliflower and salads. Eating plenty of these vegetables but cutting out (or cutting down) cereals, pasta, rice and bread that can irritate the gut lining and cause IBS as well as raising blood sugar levels leading to highs and lows of hunger and energy levels during the day will enable you to keep your carbohydrate levels to a mid range rather than very high or very low. 

If you keep it simple and clean by eating foods like meat, fish, eggs, all vegetables, berries, nuts and seeds in their natural state whenever possible, listening to your body and eating when you are hungry you will find you will look and feel better than you can imagine.

Coconut Flour Carrot Loaf Cakes

These cakes are very tasty and contain healthy ingredients like butter, eggs, carrots, coconut flour and raisins and no refined grains or sugars. They are wheat and gluten free and contain coconut flour but if you don't like coconut don't worry - they don't taste of coconut at all!

Ingredients (makes 6 loaf cakes or 8 muffins)

·         50g butter, melted

·         3 tbsp coconut milk

·         3 medium free range eggs beaten

·         3 tbsp honey (raw is best)

·         Zest of one large orange

·         1 tsp ground cinnamon

·         ½ tsp nutmeg (freshly grated for best flavour)

·         35g coconut flour

·         Pinch Salt

·         1 tsp gluten free baking powder

·         2 medium carrots, grated

·         50g raisins (optional)

Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees centigrade (adjust accordingly for fan oven)

Blend together the butter, coconut milk, eggs, honey and orange zest

Combine together the coconut flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt and baking powder

Mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until there are no lumps

Add the grated carrot and raisins and mix in well

Bake for 15 minutes on the middle shelf

Five reasons why a paleo diet doesn't include grains and legumes

 

One of the main tenets of the paleo diet is the exclusion of grains, beans and legumes. This can seem to be a bit drastic to some people and is contrary to nutritional advice given in the UK and the US.
So, why does the paleo approach go against the official government advice and exclude these particular foods? Here are five very good reasons why:

1  Grains and legumes are high in lectins (gluten is probably the best known lectin) which over time can damage the lining of the gut leading to increased permeability (leaky gut) where incompletely indigested food and other substances are able to cross over into the bloodstream. There is a strong link between leaky gut and autoimmune diseases such as Crohn's disease, coeliac disease, multiple sclerosis and rheumatoid arthritis and if you have any autoimmune disease the first step should be to avoid all grains and legumes.

2  Grains and legumes are high in phytic acid which binds to minerals such as calcium, magnesium, iron, potassium and zinc making these minerals unavailable to be used by the body. These are important minerals that are increasingly deficient in our population. 

3  Grain based foods contain digestive enzyme inhibitors that can block the breakdown of food into smaller particles before it can be used effectively by the body. This can cause nutritional deficiency, damage the gut barrier and lead to an imbalance in gut flora.

4  Grain based foods are less nutritionally dense than meat, fish, eggs, vegetables and good fats. Gram for gram animal based protein foods and most vegetables will provide many more valuable nutritents to keep your immune system strong and your body healthy.

5  95% of seratonin production is carried out in the gut. Seratonin is a neurotransmitter vital in preventing depression and anxiety; therefore a healthy digestive system is important in keeping the mind healthy.

Easy Peasy Sauerkraut

I resisted making sauerkraut for a long time as I thought it looked a bit time consuming and complicated. In the end I decided that the benefits for my gut were worth it and set about finding an easy foolproof way to make it. It took a couple of batches but this is a simple and relatively quick way of making tasty healthy sauerkraut.

You will need:

800g chopped cabbage (keep the large outside leaves)

1 tbsp Himalayan sea salt

1 x 1 litre clip top preserving jar (I used Bormioli Fido)

Put the chopped cabbage into a large bowl and add the salt. Mix together and leave to stand for a few hours or overnight. This will  help the cabbage to release moisture to form the brine in order to allow  the sauerkraut to ferment.

Using your hands squeeze the cabbage for a few minutes to release the moisture. Add the cabbage and the brine to the jar a bit at a time pressing it down with your hands or a mortar as you go.

When you've added all the cabbage to the jar roll up the large outside cabbage leaves and add to the top of the jar, again pushing down as you go. (When you close the lid it should be a tight fit to force the cabbage down into the brine). 

Put the jar in a cupboard or on the worktop to ferment for around 21 days. 

Once opened store in the fridge, it should keep for a few weeks.

Want to jump off the diet treadmill? Read on....

OK, so here's a scenario;

You are out all morning and very busy, its lunch time and your stomach is growling at you and you are feeling a bit wired and shaky and VERY grumpy. You need some food but don't have any with you. You are trying to eat much more healthily and have been doing pretty well, you had some belvita biscuits for breakfast, all the adverts say they are very healthy and keep you going all morning but you have reached the end of your patience with being hungry. You stop at a garage and look for something healthy but there are just rows of sandwiches, crisps, chocolate bars and some amazing looking cookies and doughnuts. You buy a sandwich, it looks healthy as its made with brown bread and has some salad in it and you get some of the special low calorie crisps, only 99 calories per pack. You avoid the cakes and feel virtuous because you bought a cereal bar instead. You get back in the car and eat it all very quickly as you are so hungry. By 4pm you are hungry and again and your hands are shaking and you've got a headache. Unfortunately you are in the car and have nothing to eat. By the time you get home you head straight for the fridge, you were going to make something healthy but you can't be bothered and need to eat right now so you open a big bag of 'lower fat' crisps and a dip and munch your way through those while you are buzzing about doing chores. As you've eaten those you don't want any dinner but just before bed are feeling peckish again so you have another 'healthy' diet cereal bar and crash out in bed exhausted.

So what is wrong with this scenario? Why are your weight loss efforts not working? You think you are making much more healthy choices and eating special low fat diet foods but you are still struggling with your weight and quite frankly are feeling quite tired and drained - not what you were expecting.

This is how many people approach weight loss. The food industry has created all sorts of special 'diet' foods that purport to fill you up and keep you full, release energy slowly and give you all the nourishment you need with synthetic added vitamins and minerals. You are actually eating the worst possible diet for health and weight loss; what your body needs is real food that we were designed to eat and that will nourish us and help us maintain a healthy weight for us.

Here is another scenario;

You make yourself a 2 or 3 egg omelette in the morning cooked in healthy fat like coconut oil and with mushrooms, tomatoes and in fact anything you have hanging round in the fridge. Sounds time consuming but actually takes minutes. You are busy all morning but you don't get the growling hunger like you do when you eat cereal or toast. You feel hungry by lunchtime but you have brought a large salad with you with a tin of tuna, an avocado and some olive oil dressing. You eat this and feel satisfied. Mid afternoon you are feeling a little peckish so you have a handful of mixed raw nuts that you keep in a pot and take everywhere with you. Good job you do as the trains are delayed and you are hungry at the station, you nibble on a few more nuts to keep you going until you get home. When you get home you griddle a steak, wilt some spinach and cook some mushrooms in butter and have with some sweet potato wedges you have in the fridge from yesterday (you always cook more than you need and put some in the fridge for the next day). It only takes ten minutes and you feel satisfied and all the food you have eaten today will support your health and weight loss goals.

Moral of the story - ditch the diet foods and processed foods marketed as health foods and eat real food! Your body will be nourished, satisfied and happy so cutting cravings and binges that sabotage your long term goals.

Go on, give it a try! What do you have to lose. If you want help transitioning to a new way of eating that will improve your health and wellbeing contact me on eatrealfooduk@gmail.com.

PS See my next post for an explanation of why the second scenario will help you achieve your long term health and weight loss goals and why the first will keep you stuck on the diet treadmill forever.

Coconut Flour Chocolate Muffins

 Note: if you don't like the taste of coconut please don't worry - these really don't taste of coconut at all! They are light and moist and taste heavenly!

Ingredients (makes about 8 muffins)

·         50g butter (or coconut oil for dairy free cakes) melted

·         2 tablespoons coconut milk

·         3 medium free range eggs beaten

·         1 tsp vanilla essence

·         3 tbsp honey (raw is best)

·         20g coconut flour

·         20g organic cocoa powder

·         Pinch salt

·         1 tsp gluten free baking powder

·         50g dark chocolate (70% solids or above) chopped

Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees centigrade

Blend together melted butter, coconut milk, eggs, vanilla essence and honey 

Combine together the coconut flour, cocoa powder, salt and baking powder
 
Whisk the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients until there are no lumps

Add the chopped chocolate (or good quality chocolate chips)

Pour batter into 8 muffin cases (silicone is good as its non-stick)

Bake for 12 mins on the middle shelf 

Coconut Flour Lemon and Poppy Seed Muffins

These muffins are really light and moist and make a great treat with a cup of tea!

Ingredients (makes about 8 muffins)

50g butter (or coconut oil for dairy free cakes) melted
2 tablespoons coconut milk
3 medium free range eggs beaten
1 tsp vanilla essence
3 tbsp honey (raw is best)
Juice and zest of one large organic lemon
30g coconut flour
Pinch salt
1 tsp gluten free baking powder

Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees centigrade
Blend together melted butter, coconut milk, eggs, vanilla essence, honey and juice and zest of the lemon
Combine together the coconut flour, salt and baking powder
Whisk the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients until there are no lumps
Pour batter into 8 muffin cases (silicone is good as its non-stick)
Bake for 12 mins on the middle shelf

Note: if you don't like the taste of coconut please don't worry - these really don't taste of coconut at all!

Cauliflower and Sweet Potato Frittata

I made this today as I had a friend round for lunch and it tasted amazing! Really good way to use up left over veggies, you could put almost anything in it but I would include the cauliflower as it does give it body so you can cut it into slices. The cumin adds a bit of warmth to it and eggs provide a powerhouse of nutrients including good quality protein, Vitamins B2, B12, vitamin A, vitamin D, selenium and iodine. An inexpensive way to get so many nutrients in one meal. I added some greek feta cheese on top but if you don't include dairy in your diet then leave this out.

Eggs are one of the most nutritious foods money can buy - they are a natural source of many nutrients including high quality protein, vitamins and minerals. A medium egg contains less than 70 calories.
Eggs are naturally rich in vitamin B2 (riboflavin), vitamin B12, vitamin D, selenium and iodine. They also contain vitamin A and a number of other B vitamins including folate, biotin, pantothenic acid and choline, and essential minerals and trace elements, including phosphorus.
- See more at: http://www.egginfo.co.uk/egg-nutrition#sthash.35gvAhM5.dpuf

You will need:

6 free range (preferably organic) eggs
1 small cauliflower cut into florets
1 small sweet potato, cubed
4 large salad onions, chopped small
1 tsp toasted cumin seed, lightly crushed
1 tsp coconut oil
50g feta cheese, chopped (optional)
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Steam the cauliflower and sweet potato for 10 mins or until tender

Beat the eggs then stir in the cumin, salad onions and vegetables. Season to taste.

Heat the coconut oil in a 20cm (8 inch) frying pan and pour in the egg mixture. Cook on the lowest heat for 12 minutes until almost cooked and then scatter on the cheese.

Preheat the grill to medium and cook the top of the frittata for 4-5 minutes until golden and completely cooked all the way through.

Slip the frittata on to a board, cut into wedges and serve with a large salad.

This would make a great portable snack to take to work for breakfast/lunch as it is just as tasty cold.

Eggs are one of the most nutritious foods money can buy - they are a natural source of many nutrients including high quality protein, vitamins and minerals. A medium egg contains less than 70 calories.
Eggs are naturally rich in vitamin B2 (riboflavin), vitamin B12, vitamin D, selenium and iodine. They also contain vitamin A and a number of other B vitamins including folate, biotin, pantothenic acid and choline, and essential minerals and trace elements, including phosphorus.
- See more at: http://www.egginfo.co.uk/egg-nutrition#sthash.35gvAhM5.dpuf

Eggs are one of the most nutritious foods money can buy - they are a natural source of many nutrients including high quality protein, vitamins and minerals. A medium egg contains less than 70 calories.
Eggs are naturally rich in vitamin B2 (riboflavin), vitamin B12, vitamin D, selenium and iodine. They also contain vitamin A and a number of other B vitamins including folate, biotin, pantothenic acid and choline, and essential minerals and trace elements, including phosphorus.
- See more at: http://www.egginfo.co.uk/egg-nutrition#sthash.35gvAhM5.dpuf

Eggs are one of the most nutritious foods money can buy - they are a natural source of many nutrients including high quality protein, vitamins and minerals. A medium egg contains less than 70 calories.
Eggs are naturally rich in vitamin B2 (riboflavin), vitamin B12, vitamin D, selenium and iodine. They also contain vitamin A and a number of other B vitamins including folate, biotin, pantothenic acid and choline, and essential minerals and trace elements, including phosphorus.
- See more at: http://www.egginfo.co.uk/egg-nutrition#sthash.35gvAhM5.dpuf

Get back into your jeans with a paleo style diet

In the past I have been a traditional dieter, counting calories, eating low fat foods and diet meals and ending up in the diet/binge cycle. Luckily I have never had what I considered an 'eating disorder' but my eating could be considered disordered as it wasn't consistent and I was ignoring basic signals such as hunger and satiety.

For the last two years I have been eating a mainly paleo 'caveman' style diet which is naturally high in good fat and low in carbohydrate and amongst many other health benefits I have found it easy to maintain a weight I feel happy with without constant hunger and cravings. So how does this happen?

Five reasons a paleo style diet can work better than a traditional low fat high carb diet:

1. Fat and protein fill you up for longer than carbohydrates so you don't feel as hungry in between meals.

2. Carbohydrates (especially processed carbohydrates such as cakes, biscuits) cause insulin to be released from the pancreas to 'mop up' the glucose in the food and send it into the cells of the body for energy to brings your blood sugar levels down. If you are on a see saw of eating a lot of processed carbs regularly your blood sugar levels will be unstable causing hunger and cravings for more carbohydrates making it much more difficult to stick with a diet.

3. The hunger and deprivation caused by dieting causes psychological problems such as binging which has an impact on self esteem - who hasn't thought "I'm useless because I can't stick with this diet".

4. When you restrict calories you will lose weight at first but your body will compensate by slowing your metabolic rate (the rate at which you burn food) making it more and more difficult to lose weight on less and less calories.

5. Low calorie dieting can cause nutritional deficiencies, especially when a lot of low fat processed diet meals are being consumed.The body then craves more food in the hope of making up the nutritional deficiency. 

Be aware that you may not notice any changes on the scales when you eat a higher fat and protein, lower carbohydrate diet but you should notice it in your clothes especially around the middle where you would normally store excess weight. Find a pair of jeans you want to get back into and keep trying them on! You will notice a difference. 

Superfood Omelette

I was tempted not to post a picture of this but just leave it to the imagination as its not too pretty! However it tasted great and is packed full of nutrients and superfoods so ignore what it looks like and try it!!

2 eggs
Any cooked veggies/mushrooms/tomatoes
1 scoop supergreens powder
1 tbsp coconut oil

Whisk the eggs and supergreens powder well

Heat the coconut oil and gently fry any vegetables of your choice until warmed through

Add the egg mixture to the pan and wait until they start to set. Turn the omelette over and cook until the underside is set.

The Supergreens powder I use is from Neals Yard Remedies and contains the following nutrients:

• Spirulina Powder – Antioxidant and promotes vitality
• Spinach Powder – Rich in chlorophyll to help maintain a healthy alkaline balance
• Parsley Powder – Supports healthy function of the kidneys
• Chlorella Powder – Purifying and supports immunity
• Seagreens® Wild Wrack – Helps support healthy digestion
• Barley Grass Powder, Wheat Grass Powder – Raw food source of essential nutrients
• Green Tea Powder Extract – Promotes breakdown of fats
• Acerola Cherry Powder Extract – Excellent source of vitamin C
• Oat Grass Powder – Beneficially promotes the body’s detoxification processes

For further details have a look at this website
 https://uk.nyrorganic.com/shop/julieshore/area/shop-online/category/supplements/product/5402/organic-greens-complex-100g/

The main reason diets fail and what to do about it - Part One

Here's the thing - you have been on a weight reducing diet for a few weeks, sticking to it rigidly even to the extent of refusing invitation out to dinner because you don't want to stray off the diet path.  You are possibly weighing and measuring all your food and counting calories. You may be weighing yourself once a day, or even twice. You are euphoric when you see the number on the scales go down and miserable if it hasn't moved, or worse and moved up. You might have joined a weight loss class and are buying all their special 'diet' foods and magazines. You think about your diet a lot and talk about it with friends who also might be joining you on the quest to lose some weight.

Then comes an occasion that you can't dodge, a family birthday, your birthday, Christmas, a good friends party. You go to the party/restaurant/dinner party and there is an amazing array of food there. You start to tuck in and end up eating a lot of food, chips and cake maybe as you haven't had them for so long and drink a few glasses of wine or beer or some sugary soft drinks. You go home feeling full and a little bit cross with yourself for 'breaking the diet' and vow to start again the next day.

But, and this is the big but and cause of many diet failures, you find that you can't get motivated the next day to eat 'diet' foods or even healthy foods. It's like a switch has gone off in your brain and you want to eat all the time, sabotaging your weight loss efforts. You think 'oh well I've broken my diet, I'm hopeless at dieting, I can't lose weight, I might just as well eat what I like'.

A TV programme in the UK on BBC2 demonstrated this very phenomenon in a very clever way. A group of people who had been on a diet for around 8 weeks were split into two groups and each offered a slice of cake as a reward for doing so well for the last two months. The first group were told the truth about the cake, that it was highly calorific at 700 calories per slice; the second group were told that it was a special low fat and sugar cake and only contained 190 calories. All the participants ate the cake but something very interesting happened afterwards. Both groups took part in cake making classes later on in the day and were told they could eat what they had made. The group who thought that the original cake was low calorie and compliant with their diet ate EIGHT times less cake than the ones who thought they had broken their diet.

It's clear that many people have an 'all or nothing' mentality around what they eat. They are either 'on a diet' or eating whatever they like, often unhealthy processed foods that taste good but aren't filling or nutritious and can be highly addictive. So, how can you get off this merry go round?

Firstly find an eating plan that contains mainly fresh unprocessed foods. Ditch all 'diet' foods. Eat protein (meat, fish, eggs, cheese) with every meal. Eat some good fats like nuts, coconut oil, butter, avocados. Eat high carbohydrate foods (pasta, rice, bread) sparingly. Avoid foods containing sugar and sugar derivatives whenever possible. Eat like this 80% of the time and you should be able to indulge in little treats without sabotaging your weight loss.

So what do you do when you do go out and indulge? How do you make sure you can stick with the 80/20 and not throw in the towel and go back to old habits. Look out for part two of this post which will give you strategies to manage the day after the night before!