Healthy biscuits

These are pretty much my own concoction of various healthy ingredients thrown together. The dough was delicious raw and they are pretty yummy when cooked too. 

Here we go:

Ingredients: 

100g whole meal self raising flower

1 teaspoon cinnamon, 

teaspoon of cocao powder 

3 tablespoons of melted coconut oil,

3 table spoons of honey or maple syrup, 25g designated coconut, 

splash of coconut or almond milk if it's a bit dry

Dried fruit and chopped nuts (to decorate)

Simply mix and push the ingredients together until they form a ball of dough

Roll out the dough and cut out shapes and place them on a baking tray lined with grease proof paper. Decorate if you wish with dried fruit and chopped nuts

Bake at 200 in the oven for 10 minutes x

Changes I'm making to my diet...

As I have mentioned in a previous post, my main goal for the new year is to over haul my eating habits having got into the habbit, particularly on busy days of relying on caffeine and sugary snacks rather than proper meals. Another issue is that my diet consisted of a lot of ready meals and also doing things like buying lunch at subway or Starbucks when in out and about... Could be worse I know but the issue there is more the unnecessary cost.

I'm not necessarily trying to lose weight just become more healthy in terms of evening out my energy levels and appetite. So here are a few changes I've been making:

1. Drinking bottles mineral water rather than tap water as I have read tap water which is unfiltered contains chemicals 

2. No diet drinks - these contain artificial sweeteners and aspartame and offer no nutritional value at all

3. Adding nuts, seeds and even cheese to my salads. I've always been a salad fan for my work lunches. However originally I would only add chicken and a handful of lettuce leaves. Yes this is low calorie but the problem was it was unsatisfying so I would end up snacking mid afternoon on chocolate, cereal bars or cakes. By adding things like seeds, nuts and feta cheese I'm making my salads more satisfying and getting calories from a healthy source 

4.cutting down on caffeine... As mentioned I have cut out the diet coke. I can't give up tea and coffee entirely but I'm trying to limit myself to one coffee per day and 2 cups of tea at the most. Instead I've been experimenting with various herbal teas. There are some good ones . I'm enjoying licorice tea, lemon and ginger, peppermint or nettle teas most.

5. Cutting back on alcohol- like caffeine this is something I couldn't cut out altogether but I'm now limiting myself to only having it at a weekend... No glasses of wine through the week. It's full of sugar, empty calories and disrupts sleep

6. Increasing fruit and vegetable intake- as you will see from my previous post I've invested in a smoothie maker... This will allow me to take in more fruit, milk (I'll be using almond or coconut rather than cows as I don't like the taste if cow milk in anything other than tea or coffee) and super food powder. In order to increase my veg I take I will be making more meals from scratch for the freezer and using veg and pulses to bulk them out 

7. Cutting go back refined sugar- again I can't cut out sugar altogether but I'm trying to cut out things which don't satisfy hunger like cereal bars and biscuits. 

8. Replacing normal bread with rye bread - this bread is actually nicer tasting and is particularly nice with cashew butter

9.Making my meals from scratch- instead of ready meals I intend to batch cook things like casseroles, bolognaise and curry for the freezer or making things like omelettes if I'm pushed for time

10. Eating more antioxidant rich foods ... Such as blueberries, tomatoes, superfood powders like wheatgrass and barley grass and sweet potatoes 

I have been doing this since the start ofJanuary  and am feeling less spikes if hunger and a little more energy. I'd love to see more positive changes in things like my skin and cellulite too.

Xxx

A couple of healthy meals...

Well one of my goals for the new year was to start eating better, including more foods in their natural form in my diet and eating less processed foods, refined sugar and salt. Hopefully gradually I will introduce this way of eating to my kids. However, my son is a fussy eater and very underweight for his height so sometimes it's just a case of giving him anything he will eat. Anyway, I have made a few healthy things this week so I thought I would share on here: 

1. Cajun chicken pitta:

Ingredients: diced chicken breast or mini chicken goujons, natural Greek yogurt or fromage frais (fat free if watching your weight) , Cajun spice mix or similar .

Directions: mix together the yogurt, chicken and spices in a dish, cover with tinfoil and leave in the fridge or at least a few hours. 

When ready place on a tinfoil lined baking tray in a pre heated oven or under the grill (mine is rubbish so I used the oven) until cooked right through.

Serve in pittas with lots of salad!

2. Turkey, sweet potato and butter-bean curry...

Ingredients (I won't put the amounts as this varies on how much you wish to make): pack of diced turkey breast, pack of chopped red onion (or chop a few yourself if they don't make you cry!), at least one sweet potato peeled and diced, cinnamon stick, can of butter-beans, can of chopped tomatoes, spices if your choice such as chilli powder, turmeric, garam masala, tandoori spice...

Directions: heat some oil in a frying pan and once it gets hot add in the onions. When they start to get a bit brown chuck in the cinnamon stick and the other spices and continue to fry. When they start to get browner still and smell lovely chuck in the turkey, sweet potato and butter beans and fry a little longer so they get coated in the spices. Finally add in the tomatoes . Now you have a choice. If you are pushed for time tip into a large pan and cooked on the hob for 20- 30 minutes. Alternatively you can put this into a slow cooker. In fact if you are in a rush in a morning you could just omit the frying stage and chuck it all straight in the slow cooker. I do prefer to brown it all first by frying though and seal in the flavour!

3. Super smoothie ; 

Ingredients: 10g wheatgrass powder, one banana , a handful of blueberries, 3/4 of a glass your choice of milk (I chose coconut but you might like almond, soya, oat, hazelnut or just plain old cow milk) a squirt of squeezy honey (optional)

Put all the ingredients in a blender and blend or if like me you don't have a proper blender, put it all in a jug and use a hand blender 

Enjoy xxx