Healthy eating on the go!

We all have those frantic days where grabbing takeaway seems like the only viable dinner option! One of the most common dietary pitfalls I see is people turning to nutritionally poor take-aways on a far too regular basis. Now, enjoying an occasional pizza is no problem, but it shouldn’t be part of your weekly menu… so here are 5 easy dinners, that you can make with pantry and freezer staples, in 10 minutes or less!

Eggs and veggies
Scrambled eggs with spinach (fresh or frozen), and any other veg you have (eg tomato, mushroom) on grainy toast, in a wrap, or with a serve of baked beans on the side, and some avocado. Or try popping some thin sweet potato slices in pan with the eggs.

Baked beans
Tinned are fine (go for salt reduced). Serve with any veggies you have, an egg, and grated cheese.

Salmon
Keeping salmon portions in the freezer is a fantastic idea. It cooks nicely in a frypan, grill or bbq straight from the freezer. Serve with veggies and lentils or mash (finely diced sweet potato, pumpkin, potato and carrot makes a quick cooking nutritious mash, add a splash of milk and cheese, if you like).

Salad
Try tuna, beetroot wedges, feta, rocket, cherry tomatoes, dressed with extra virgin olive oil and pepper. This great recipe comes courtesy of Adelaide dietitian, Sally Johnston. Or see more salad ideas here.

Pasta
The trick to making a pasta meal a healthy option is making it nutritionally balanced (so, at least ½ vegetables, ¼ protein, ¼ carbs, FYI, pasta is low GI). For 2 people, try: 1 cup cooked pasta shells, 1 cup peas, 1 cup spinach, 1-2 tomatoes diced, 1 can of salmon, lemon juice, pepper, ½ avocado cubed. Mix and enjoy!

Or simply grab a BBQ chicken and salad!

Shopping list of handy staples:

Eggs

Frozen peas

Frozen spinach

Tinned tuna

Tinned salmon

Frozen salmon

Tin of lentils

Tin of chickpeas

Tin of beetroot

Tin of baked beans (go for low sodium varieties)

Burgen Soy Lin bread or similar

Lentil burgers with guacamole

I love nourishing my family with healthy, delicious meals, and this is one you’ve got to try.

Lentil Burgers with guacamole

Burger ingredients
Makes 12
1 tin lentils, drained and well rinsed
5 eggs
1 medium tin of tuna in olive oil, drained
1T wholegrain mustard
1 onion, finely diced
1C baby spinach leaves
3 carrots, grated
1 red capsicum, finely diced
1C finely chopped herbs, I used basil and parsley
Oil suitable for frying over medium heat (Eg. macadamia oil/ rice bran oil/ sunflower oil/ olive oil, not extra virgin-save that for salads)

Guacamole
1-2 ripe avocado
1 ripe tomato, diced
Lemon juice
Fresh herbs, eg coriander/parsley

Simply combine all burger ingredients well, then use a 1/2C measure to make patties in fry pan. Fry over medium heat until golden brown on both sides.
Serve with guacamole and beetroot.
Enjoy! The leftovers are great too.

Living healthy.

Health was once thought of as simply the absence of disease, but
in recent times many agree that it is much more than this; having physical, mental, social, emotional, spiritual, and environmental components.
It has recently occurred to me that it also has a strong attitudinal component. This idea has come into focus over the last few months as I’ve seen several elderly clients in my clinic who have all struck me as being “healthy”, despite having serious ailments. They each possessed a certain zest for life. Although this may seem contradictory, I don’t think it is. You see, each one saw me to help look after and optomise what they had. And this, i.e. what they had rather than what they did not have, was their focus. It strikes me that this attitude is closely coupled with another; gratitude.
Focus is a powerful thing, and I believe our health benefits as we focus not on what we don’t have, but on all that we do, and being thankful for and cherishing it.

Eucale’s Festive Food Management Plan

I love to have a plan. Correction. I need to have a plan. Drives my husband nuts! But the festive season, sometimes called the “eating season”, is one time of year that it really pays to have a plan.  I’d love you to feel even more fabulous after Christmas than you do now, not lethargic and regretful! These seven tips should help!

1)      Keep active! Exercise is not only important for keeping our bodies healthy but it’s also paramount for our mental health as well. So, do all you can this festive season, to fit-in that 30 min brisk walk, jog, swim, dance, spin class, game of touch-footy, bush-walk, mountain climb, snorkel, beach walk, cycle etc, each day. Exercise is an invaluable stress-busting tool at this time of year. Better than food. Better than alcohol.

 2)      Enjoy the foods you love! You don’t have to eat everything just because it’s on offer. If you don’t love it, don’t eat it. If mince pies, potato salad and trifle aren’t your thing, pass them up, and go for the things you really love.  Paradoxically, by choosing indulgences we really love, rather than settling for whatever is at hand, we feel more satisfied and generally eat less. Pass me the scorched almonds please!

3)      Eat lots of veggies! At each meal fill half of your plate with leafy greens and other colourful non-starchy veggies.

4)      Stop grazing! If you find yourself grazing or eating when you’re not hungry, simply because the food is there, or because you are tired, or stressed, or bored, or lonely, or happy…  step away from the food! You need to get into a different space and do something different, until your brain registers that it is not meal time. Try watering  the garden, pulling out weeds, tweeting, doing the washing, enjoying a cup of mint tea, going for a run, walking the dog, catching-up with your partner, or playing with the kids.

5)      Watch the alcohol! When you arrive at a party, start with a water or mineral water and have another water or mineral water in between each alcoholic drink.

6)      And the snacks! Steer clear of pastry, chips and lollies; your body will thank you.

7)      Christmas is just one day! We will probably all over-indulge on that day. No big deal.  It is what happens over the surrounding month that really matters when it comes to weight management.

Have a fabulous Christmas and stay safe everyone,

Eucale  xx

Mini cherry almond cakes!

I’ve done lots of experimenting with cherries from our backyard over the last few weeks, and this is one of the success stories. They are quick, healthy and delicious. A win in my book!

Cherry almond cakes

Ingredients:
1.5 C almonds, ground
3 eggs
2 T olive oil
2-3 T honey
generous shake of cinnamon
1 t vanilla
Ripe cherries (with stems if possible)

whisk oil, honey, eggs and vanilla. Mix in almond meal and cinnamon. Spoon mixture into an oiled mini-muffin tray, and place a cherry atop each cake. Bake at 150*C for 20-25 mins. ENJOY!

Cherries, cherries, cherries

Currently two trees in my backyard are exploding with bright red cherries. I love it!
We’ve eaten LOTS, cooked with some, given some to friends and family, but there are still so many. Good ‘problem’ to have right!?
I’m thinking of preserving some for use throughout the year, i may just stew and freeze them (thinking winter cherry crumble!), but I’d love your ideas. What would you do if you had oodles of cherries?
Oh and Canb peeps- if you’d like some let me know. I’m happy to share!

Tasting plates

One of my favorite things to do is feed people; family, friends, myself! I think enjoying a tasty and healthy meal together is time very well spent. I don’t think spending hours to make it is though!
Enter the tasting plate. Ready in 10-15 minutes, looks fantastic, can be really healthy, and FUN.
The starring ingredients are bright, seasonal veggies. Lots of them! Accompanied by some marinated meat, or seafood, or boiled eggs. Fresh hummus is brilliant. Seeds, nuts, grainy crackers, sweet potato wedges, olives, cottage cheese, goats cheese all make brilliant additions. Really anything nutritious and tasty fits well.
Cut veggies roughly into generous strips (briefly steam beans, corn etc). Grill meat. Dollop hummus etc. Place all on platter… Oh and pour the vino! A fun meal for 2 or 10.
Here are a few I’ve made recently…