YOU CAN BE THIN ©

Kale crisps a fab and tasty alternative to regular crisps

2011-11-10T12:42:00.002Z

Kale crisps are a great replacement for potatoe crisps they are healthy nutritious and delicious too so you can enjoy with zero guilt

Baked Kale Crisps

Recipe 1

Ingredients

Take 12 large kale leaves, (wash, rub dry and cut in half lengthwise then remove the stem and veins).
1 tablespoon olive or sesame oil
Preheat oven to 250°F. Toss kale leaves with oil in large bowl so they are coated. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Arrange leaves in single layer on 2 large baking trays.
Bake until crisp, about 30 minutes for flat leaves and up to 33 minutes for wrinkled leaves. Transfer leaves to rack to cool.
You can also cut the Kale into bite size pieces but they look impressive in halves and are great for dips

Recipe 2

Ingredients

1 Large bunch of curly kale, stems removed and leaves chopped roughly
Extra Virgin Olive Oil or Sesame oil (flavoured chilli oil is good too)
Sea Salt (Maldon sea salt flakes are best) to taste
Garlic powder

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Place chopped kale on a baking tray and drizzle with oil, just enough to lightly coat the leaves. Pour a little at a time and evenly distribute oil with your hands –don’t saturate them.
Dust the oil coated leaves with a little sea salt and a little garlic or chilli powder (just to taste you can add more later).
Bake for 10-15 minutes until some of the edges of the leaves turn brown. Remove the tray from the oven and grate some raw halumi or feta over the top so that some of it melts ( this is optional you can make them without the cheese too). Then turn the oven off and allow the kale to dry/cool in the oven. Remove from the oven when they feel crispy or immedaitely if you don’t want them too crispy

Variations

Sprinkle with sesame seeds once they’re baked.
Try chilli or onion powder sprinkled onto the kale before baking.
Sprinkle with marigold bouillon before baking and add more after for flavour
Use any other spices you enjoy or use celery salt for a different flavour.
Add soya, teriyaki or tahini sauce once they are cooked just before eating

One of the scariest ingredients in crisps is a by-product of the processing: Acrylamide, a cancer-causing toxic chemical, is created when carbohydrate foods are cooked at high temperatures. Acrylamide forms in crisps and chips cooked at temperatures above 100°C. In 2005 California sued crisp manufacturers for failing to warn consumers about the health risks of acrylamide in their products. The 2005 report "How Potato Chips Stack Up: Levels of Cancer-Causing Acrylamide in Popular Brands of Potato Chips" pointed out the dangers of crisps. Their analysis found that all potato crisp products tested exceeded the legal limit of acrylamide by a minimum of 39 times, and as much as 910 times. This might help to put you off crisps they are addictive for a reason it’s all the chemicals they add to them and potatoes are from the deadly nightshade family so a combo of potatoes and chemicals is doubly addictive. If you love the crunch and the salt you will find these kale crisps are a great alternative.

2011-08-10T18:51:00.002+01:00

How to make yogurt in a vacuum flask

You need any type of vacuum flask wide mouthed flasks are easier any type of milk will work like soya milk, sheep’s or goats milk or rice or oat milk skimmed. You need a natural yogurt preferably live natural yogurt to start. Full-fat yogurt is generally less than 10 percent fat so it does tend to have a richer, fuller flavour.

Take the yogurt you are going to use as starter out of the fridge the day before you want to make yogurt. This lets the yogurt come up to room temperature.

Measure your flask so that you know how much liquid can be accommodated. Measurements here are for a flask of one pint.

Heat just under a pint of milk on the stove. Bring it up to just below boiling point and then let it cool to around 100 degrees Fahrenheit. The milk should feel just slightly warm to touch. If you drop a drop of milk on the back of your hand it should not feel noticeably hot or cold. Anywhere from 95 to 105 degrees F is fine

Next, take a good spoonful of fresh yogurt (unflavoured) and mix it into the milk. Use a whisk or fork to ensure that the yogurt is well distributed . Pour the milk and yogurt mix into a wide-necked thermos and make sure that the lid is tightly sHUT. Wrap the flask in a towel to minimise heat loss through the lid. Put the flask in a warm place such as an airing cupboard or above the boiler.

In about 24 hours your yogurt should be ready you can continue to make yogurt using a spoonful from each batch for the next batch. Pour into a large bowl take out the amount you are to eat and add any ingredients of your choice to your yogurt my faves are fresh fruit, nuts and seeds, a swirl of peanut butter, olives, honey whatever you wish.

Now you can have yogurt that is cheap natural and free from sugar, cows milk or additives. Enjoy .

2011-04-12T11:46:00.003+01:00

Here is a recipe for alternative bread, alternative spaghetti and alternative rice

Wheat Free Bread
This recipe is for a breadmaker, if anyone out there knows how to modify it for a conventional oven please let me know I would be really grateful.
Also, it's in metric...

In a small bowl add:
2 1/4 teaspoons of dried yeast
3 eggs (or 2 if they're rather large eggs) - free range organic are the best in flavour
1/4 cup olive oil (or any other taste-free oil)
250ml- warm water
1 1/2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar or lemon juice

Mix ingredients together, let it stand while doing the next step.

In a large bowl add:
200grams Rice flour (white)
50g Soy Flour (full fat)
50g potato flour
1 1/4 teaspoon guar gum
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
2 Tablespoons of organic raw honey mixed into boiling water to fully dissolve it.

Sift (or mix with a fork) the dry ingredients and *slowly* add the contents of the small bowl. (It is important to do this slowly by making a well in the dry ingredients and stirring in slowly so the wet ingredients 'catch' a little of the dry ingredients on every circle)

Add 1/2 cup linseeds seeds (or other seeds like pumpkin,sesame, sunflower,poppy or hemp seeds) once the dough has finished being worked (so the seeds suspend in the mixture)

Transfer to the Breadmaker. Setting 'rapid crust' medium or dark

NB: the honey water can also go in with the wet ingredients to give the yeast a head start.
You can add all kinds of other ingredients like green or black olives, sundried tomatoes and rosemary, dried out onions, flaked almonds, walnuts, hazelnuts, coriander and garlic or a combination of these ingredients. Let me know your favourite and do experiment with the ingredients (and the amount of water according to the consistency of the bread that you like )until you get it just right.

Alternative To Spaghetti
Julienne courgettes by slicing them lengthways with a julienne or a potatoe peeler if you dont have one(they are so cheap and worth getting) Once you have a mound of spahetti looking courgette ribbons place them in pan of boiling water for just one minute then drain well and add to meatballs, meat sauces or any other dish where you previously woud have used pasta

Alternative To Rice
Take a head of cauliflower cut into chunks and discard the core as its too bitter while keeping the florets. Add the florets to a food processor and use the grating blade of the food processor to grate until the whole cauliflower has been used. The cauli crumbles really fast so give it a blast of a few seconds then check it out and repeat unti its all crumbled. Once you have your mound of rice you can add it to salads, curries and sauces raw or any dish that would have previously used rice. Or you can cook it for no more than a minute with a little oil in a wok and then add ingredients to it or use it as the base for dishes like Spanish Rice, Savoury Rice, Rissotto, Kedgeree(my favourite)

Savoury ‘Rice’

1 Cauliflower grated in food processor as above
1 Green Pepper
1 Yellow Pepper
1 Onion, chopped
4 Mushrooms, quartered
2 slices of parma ham or flaked salmon
Halloumi or Feta Cheese (about quarter of a pack, cubed)
1 tomato, chopped
Sesame or Olive Oil
light Soy Sauce
Chop the cauliflower into small chunks and use the grating blade of the food processor to grate until the whole cauliflower has been used.
Next take a large wok or saucepan and soften the chopped onion in olive or sesame oil – add the chopped ham or flaked salmon to it as it softens. Add a dash of sesame oil, then add in the mushrooms, peppers and halloumi or feta. Add in all of the grated cauliflower and stir until its mixed into all the ingredients. Add a little more sesame oil and a little light soy sauce.
Reduce the heat and leave to steam / reduce for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Add in the chopped tomatoes and stir for a further five minutes

Spanish Rice

I cauliflower shredded in processor
1 red chopped pepper
Half bunch of chopped coriander
5 spring onions thinly sliced
2 chopped tomatoes

Add to a large wok then add in

I tablespoon of basil
1 tablespoon of paprika
half teaspoon of garlic powder
half tablespoon of honey
teaspoon of chilli flakes
1 garlic clove crushed
teaspoon of onion powder
teaspoon of cumin powder

toss the 'cauliflower spanish rice' mix in the wok until it is all well mixed adding marigold bouillon powder (about 2 teaspoons) sprinkle it over the mix and saute or stir fry lightly in olive oil for about 10 minutes. Mash an avocado and add juice of one lemon and add it to the cooked ingredietns as you serve it.

2011-03-08T18:35:00.002Z

Here is a fab sugar free, wheat free pancake recipe
For four pancakes
2 cups of EITHER rice flour or spelt flour or buckwheat flour (or a blend of all 3)
Two medium eggs
Two cups of EITHER rice milk, soya milk or oat milk
Pinch of bicarbonate of soda

Whisk up the mixture, heat up a frying pan and lightly cover the base with sesame oil when its hot pour in a thin layer of the batter (pour in more if you want thicker pancakes) then loosen the edges as it cooks making sure it does not stick. Flip it over after about two minutes and cook for a further minute
then turn onto a plate with a kitchen towel on to absorb the oil.
Serve sprinkled with
Z sweet and lemon juice
Z sweet and fresh raspberries
Grated very dark chocolate and blueberries
Tahini paste
Thin peanut butter
agavae nectar
any other fruit of your choice
enjoy

what not to eat 4 a smaller bum & legs

2011-02-15T17:20:00.000Z

four things to eat to make you slimmer.MOD

2011-02-08T21:21:00.000Z

How to burn fat become slim and stay slim without dieting.

2011-02-04T21:14:00.001Z

New Recipes

2011-02-02T18:38:00.003Z

Hi Everyone
I am so sorry I have been so lax at posting new recipes for you. I have been really busy getting married, designing my new website and doing some new and amazing researching on obesity. All will be revealed here and in the meantime I PROMISE to post new recipes for you every week.
love from Marisa xx

Yay, finally today the Sunday Times stated that eating eggs does not risk our cholesterol levels and we can safely eat at least fourteen eggs a week. I have been championing eggs for years because they are wonder food that contain everything to sustain life and contain vitamins A, B, C, D, E and K as well as calcium, iron and zinc.
In celebration of eggs here are two recipes for flourless quiche and flourless sugarless cake

Flourless dairy free chocolate cake
Beetroot is fantastic for your endocrine system and is known as an anti cancer food. It makes a chocolate cake extra rich and moist but there is no beetroot taste at all. Almonds replace flour so the cake is dairy and gluten free.
Ingredients.
300 g unseasoned beetroot (freshly cooked or precooked and vacuum packed), cubed
4 eggs
4 tbsp acacia or manuka honey or agave nectar
1 tsp vanilla essence
1 tbsp pure cocoa
1 tsp baking powder
1 pinch salt
125 g ground almonds
125 g dark chocolate (at least 70% cocoa), plus 3 squares of the same chocolate for covering
4 tbsp olive oil
Preheat oven to 180°C. Line the bottom of a 23cm-round cake tin with greaseproof paper and lightly grease its sides with olive oil.
In a blender combine beetroot, eggs, honey or agavae nectar, vanilla essence, cocoa, baking powder and salt, and blend for 2-3 minutes until thick and creamy. Add the ground almonds and blend to combine.
To melt the chocolate, break into small pieces (leave aside 3 squares for decoration) and place in a glass or metal bowl together with the olive oil. Boil some water and pour into a larger bowl. Set smaller bowl on the hot water and stir chocolate and oil until they have blended into a smooth, velvety liquid. Add this to the cake mix in the blender and whizz to combine.
Pour into prepared cake tin and bake in preheated oven for 35-40 minutes. To test for doneness, a skewer inserted into the middle of the cake should come out clean. Remove from oven and place the three squares of chocolate on top of the hot cake; leave to melt and spread over the surface with the back of a teaspoon. To make it look extra gorgeous place some fresh dark red roses on top (calorie free of course) or some dark red berries like loganberries, blackberries, cherries or raspberries.

Flourless dairy free quiche
This flourless, crustless, dairy free quiche is a fantastic portable food for lunches or when you are eating on the go.
Ingredients:
4 Tbsp olive or sesame oil
1 red onion chopped
12 eggs, beaten
3 chopped red and yellow peppers
3 spring onions, chopped
1 Tbsp fresh chives, dill or coriander chopped
5 slices of torn up ham (optional)
Paprika
Preparation:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Heat the oil in a frying pan then pour half of it into a 9×11” Pyrex baking dish to grease the base, sauté the red onion in the pan with the rest of the melted oil season with paprika or pepper. Beat or whisk the eggs and add the spring onions, the pepper, the ham, chives, dill or coriander season with pepper and other spices you might like such as garlic.
Pour the egg and veggie mixture into your baking dish (sprinkle with paprika if preferred) and bake for approximately 40 minutes or until the edges are golden brown and the middle is set rather than runny.
Remove from the oven and allow to cool before slicing. The quiche will rise upon baking and flatten out a bit after it begins to cool. Cut it into six slices or into smaller cubes great for lunch boxes.
Variations
Mix in some cooked chopped bacon or flaked salmon or small prawns or some crumbled feta cheese, vary the vegetables my favorites are spinach, sweet corn, scallions, shredded savoy cabbage leaves or julienned courgettes. Add some chilli seeds or spices of your choice.
It is fantastic as a breakfast dish you can add bacon or ham with mushrooms and tomatoes and eat it warm at home or take it with you.
You can also bake the quiche in individual muffin dishes (silicone ones are best) and freeze as it makes them even more portable.
You can even make a sweet quiche by adding nutmeg or cinnamon and Zsweet and some flaked coconut so it’s like a large egg custard tart or make individual ones in muffin tins. Experiment by adding some blueberries or mashed banana or pear with ginger or some seeds or a swirl of peanut butter.

Chunky Fishcakes

Fishcakes tend to have too much potato in them so here are some less carby fishcakes that I love
Serves two
• 4 portions of fish either salmon, tuna, cod or coley (about 400g) either fresh, frozen or canned chopped into bite size chunks
• 2 tbsp or red or green thai curry paste
• Ioz grated ginger
• I large bunch of fresh coriander roughly shredded
• I tsp olive or sunflower oil
• I tsp light soya sauce

Mix the fish in a food processor with the paste, ginger, soya sauce and coriander until roughly blended but still lumpy. Remove mix and form into 4 round or oblong fish cakes. Heat the oil in wok or frying pan and fry the burgers for 4-5 minutes on each side, turning until crisp and cooked through. You can also fry them in pure lemon juice and no oil or use the spray oil. Serve with Julienned courgettes; stir fried Savoy cabbage or roasted peppers and red onions.

Fava Bean Falafel
I discovered this in Egypt where the falafels are bright green and delicious. Falafel does not have to be fried in can be oven baked and is one of my favourite portable foods great for travelling, for snacking and for lunch boxes
Ingredients:
• 1 15-19 oz can fava beans, drained OR
• I cup of dried peeled fava beans soaked overnight with half a cup of soaked or drained chickpeas
• 1 chopped red onion or three chopped scallions
• 2 cloves of garlic, chopped
• 2 tablespoons of fresh parsley, chopped
• Medium size bunch of fresh coriander chopped
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• salt and pepper
• 2 tablespoons olive oil for baking
Make sure the ingredients are dry rather than wet then place the beans in a blender and blend then add all the other ingredients apart from the oil and blend again to form a thick smoothish yet gritty paste, if too thick add 1 tablespoon of water at a time until it is the correct consistency.
Form the mixture into small golf balls or patties. Arrange on a tray and leave to stand in the fridge for 30 minutes.
Drizzle the oil evenly into a baking dish and preheat oven to 350. Place the mixture into the baking dish and oven bake for 15-20 minutes turning halfway through cooking. Serve with vegetables or salad drizzled with tahini sauce.
Make extra to take with you for lunch they are just as delicious cold. You can make bright green hummus by replacing chick peas with fava beans.

Halloumi Cheese Made of 100% Sheep's Milk

2010-04-07T17:10:00.004+01:00

Finally I have found a Halloumi cheese that has no dairy and is only made of 100% sheep's milk. It is Marks and Spencer's award winning Halloumi, it's gorgeous and you can enjoy it without consuming all those cows growth hormones, perfect if you have allergies or sinus problems as sheep's cheese does not aggravate them.

My favourite quick meal is to put some frozen spinach pieces and some frozen prawns in an ovenproof dish, place in the grill for 20 minutes top with slices or chunks of halumi and return to the grill for a few minutes until its all melted and a little brown on the top.
It is also fab as a starter- put some large tomato slices in the grill topped with sliced halumi cook for about 10 minutes until the halumi is pale brown on top, serve drizzled with balsamic vinegar or a little olive oil and a sprig of parsley (you can also use cooking apples or peach slices in place of the tomatoes)
You can cube halumi and skewer it onto kebabs and if you add it to scrambled eggs or omelettes its delicious just make sure it melts completely into the eggs.

Fantastic Low Carb Porridge Recipes

2010-01-29T18:48:00.001Z

Here are some fab porridge recipes
Luxury weekend porridge
For two servings 30g pinhead oatmeal, l35ml soya, oat or rice milk, 3g goats butter or pure olive or sunflower spread, 2 teaspoons of cinnamon, nutmeg to taste, Z sweet to sweeten if required.Soak the pinhead oatmeal overnight in water in the morning drain off the excess water and add the drained oatmeal to a pan, add either soya, rice or oat milk and simmer gently for about 15 minutes stirring occasionally until the oats are thick and soft then beat in goats butter, cinnamon and nutmeg. You can add a few sesame seeds or flaked almonds or hemp seed for added flavour and a little crunch. By using no fruit or dairy this is a high protein very low carb excellent breakfast and the cinnamon will speed up your metabolism.

Cinnamon keeps blood sugar levels under control and helps speed up your metabolism by 15% for 6 hours so its a great asset to those of us who want to control weight or suffer with diabetes. Adding 3g or 1 teaspoon of cinnamon to oats daily maitains levels of insulin (the hormone that controls blood sugar)
half a teaspoon of cinamon daily will lower your blood sugar levels which is a great way of burning fat. If you dont eat oats you can add cinnamon to curries, roast meats, fish,vegetables, fruit or simply soak a cinnamon stick in a cup of tea or add cinnamon to hot water and lemon

Basic Everyday Porridge serves two 3 cups of oats (not instant ), pinch of salt, oat,rice or soya milk to serve, cinnamon, z-sweet to sweeten (only if required, the less you sweeten food the less you will need sweet things)

Put the oats into a bowl cover with water soak overnight. then add the oats to a pan and add 1½ cups water and the salt. Bring to the boil, stirring, then cover and reduce the heat. Cook on very low heat, stirring occasionally, for about 10 minutes add the cinnamon then serve the porridge and and add the milk.
For a creamier porridge, replace some or all of the water with rice,oat ,soya milk.

If you want variety at breakfast add coconut, peanut butter, some almonds or cashews or any kind of seeds. You can also stir in a swirl of soya yogurt or goats cream (it tastes the same as regular cream -honest). Again by leaving out dairy which is high in lactose (milk sugar) and all fruit you are making this a high protein, filling, fat burning breakfast.

You can also make fast porridge by simply soaking oats and almonds overnight in water then eating them without cooking them it tastes really good.
You can find recipes for porridge bars in my blog post on portable foods

Face time: The top five skin-friendly foods

2009-10-30T13:22:00.004Z

check out this article in Metro-vancouver by clicking on the following link or read it here:

http://www.metronews.ca/vancouver/blog/post/354494

Sometimes, the most scientifically advanced face creams and cleansers are useless if your diet isn't up to par. "Your skin is an organ, it will respond to what you eat," says London-based celebrity food and weight loss expert Marisa Peer. She lists the best foods to eat for clear, smooth and plump skin.* AvocadosThe wonder food fights aging among other skin woes. "Avocado is the best, it is rich in glutathione, which protects the body from toxins and is the most powerful antioxidant."Oily fishFish such as salmon, mackerel and sardines are great weapons against aging and dry skin because they contain essential fatty acids, which keep your face hydrated and fresh-looking according to Peer.Red fruits and vegetables"These are high in antioxidants," Peer says. "So berries, red cabbage, red peppers, red grapes and red tomatoes, for example, are the best." They help promote clear skin and even skin tone.

Seeds"When people eat nuts they tend to go for salted cashews, not healthy raw nuts," she explains. "Seeds and raw nuts contain the vital oils our skin needs to fight dryness." Peer says seeds also have skin-clearing vitamins and minerals like zinc and magnesium.

Apples and apricots"Apples are rich in oxygen and peptin, which help reverse sun damage. And apricots are rich in beta-carotene and lipocene, which both protect the skin from age-related cell damage."

*Don't forget the ultimate friend to your skin, water! Eat foods that have lots of it; Spinach, berries, and watercress are all skin-plumpers. And drink it too: Five to eight glasses a day will keep you looking your best.

CAN YOU THINK YOURSELF THIN?

2009-10-21T09:25:00.001+01:00

Here is the "CAN YOU THINK YOURSELF THIN" article in Elle magazine, that you asked me about:.
http://www.marisapeer.com/article_elle.html

Check out how much fat is in one crisp

2009-09-02T16:42:00.006+01:00

1)8 crisps

2)Light them & see the fat burn
3)The heat from the oil burns a hole in the bowl

4)Draining off the fat

5)A spoonful of fat per crisp

Eating on the Go- How to eat on the move and stay slim and healthy

2009-01-20T17:36:00.004Z

The number one reason that diets fail and one of the major factors causing weight gain is that people eat on the run they don’t carry food with them and therefore eat the wrong food and they snack all the time. Over 50% of the calories in our diets today come from snack food and junk food. One third of British people never ever cook.
Fifty years ago we took out food with us, now we expect a sandwich shop to provide lunch and we are all getting fatter and unhealthier because of it.
Research shows that people break their diets when they are too tired to wait to eat so they grab sugary snacks or the nearest available food or anything to boost their flagging energy. Once you start eating correctly you will have more energy to prepare portable food.
One in four people visiting their Doctor report being tired all the time and this is mostly caused by dehydration a poor diet or the wrong diet for that person. 175 million sick days were taken in 2006 costing the economy over £13.4 billion in 2006 (Reported by AXA ins and the CBI). The bottom line for all companies is that 80% of absenteeism due to illness has been proven to be diet related.
The most indigestible foods are dairy and grains unfortunately they are the staple of office workers.
We need to get into a lifelong habit of having the right food in our car, bag, office, desk or locker and having the right food at home and buying the right things in triplicate so we have healthy food we can prepare in minutes.
If you want to keep the weight off and look and feel fabulous you need to buy portable food and to always have it to hand. The simplest portable foods to buy are unsalted nuts and seeds, fruits and cans of tuna, salmon, sardines and mackerel. When you are rushing out of the door it’s so easy to grab a can of fish, some cherry tomatoes an avocado and some fruit and nuts and you have something very healthy and sustaining to eat. It may not be the best food you have ever eaten but if your alternative is pre-packaged sandwiches and a packet of crisps you have already made a massive improvement. If you keep nuts and tuna (you can buy tuna in foil pouches) in your car and keep some canned fish, some nuts, fruit and cartons of soya milk and soya yogurt (long life obviously) and some nuts and seeds in your desk or locker at work you will always have something to eat in an emergency situation. Take it seriously and buy your essential items in triplicate so that you never run out of anything we all have to shop just shop a little smarter or do it on line.
As well as having some portable food at work make sure you have some staple items at home, like eggs and some frozen prawns so you can make a prawn omelette in minutes, you can add frozen spinach or sweet corn too or open a tin of tuna and eat it with an avocado and some tomatoes and sweet corn it takes seconds to put together and is filling and nutritious. If your weakness is reaching for food when you come home and not being able to wait to eat then have a bowl of king prawns or hard-boiled eggs shelled and ready so that you can snack on two hard boiled eggs, some tomatoes, lettuce and a little dressing. In place of biscuits buy some sugar free nut and seed bars.

These are the contents of bag that I keep in my car. Keep similar contents in your desk, locker or briefcase:
2 foil pouches of tuna or salmon in oil or water
1 ring pull can of tuna, mackerel or sardines
1 packet of sun dried tomatoes
Small ring pull cans of unsweetened sweet corn
Packets of unsalted nuts almonds cashews Brazil nuts or assorted nuts
I packet of seeds pumpkin hemp or sunflower
Long life soya yogurt
I packet of dried berries or dried apples pears mango etc
These are your emergency staples that you can make lunch from anytime by just adding some fresh fruit and maybe an avocado or some salad.

Your new eating plan:
Breakfast every day
Oats with oat milk or rice or soya milk with a spoon of milled flax seeds.
Scrambled eggs or omelette made with oil not butter.
Fruit compote or fresh fruit with nut and seed mix (almonds cashews Brazil nuts, pumpkin seeds, sunflowers seeds, hemp seeds, sesame seeds).
Smoothie of fruit and soya or rice or oat milk.
Soya yogurt with berries.
If you are not a breakfast person and can’t face breakfast take some food with you for later.
Make up a pan of porridge oats (ensure they are thicker not runny) add some seeds and berries spread it on a baking tray and bake slowly in the oven for 20 – 30 minutes then cut into slices and take it with you for later. This really is breakfast in a bar unlike those you buy in supermarkets which are full of sugar and milk. If you like it crunchy you can add hemp seeds and some popcorn or nuts and cook it for longer if you like it chewy add some grated apples or mashed banana and cook for less time.
Make a frittata (recipe below) take a slice of it to work for mid morning brunch or late breakfast
You can buy ready made tortillas in Sainsbury’s made by Floristan.
Want to make it really simple take a banana, a pear and some cashew or almonds maybe a soya yogurt. There is a new breakfast granola that I approve of called Perfekt Granola. It is wheat and sugar free and low GI.

Lunch (you can bring leftovers from any of the evening meals or make up these)
Mon -Salad of avocado, sweetcorn, cherry tomatoes, lettuce, peppers, cucumber and tuna
Tues- Salad of cold roast chicken or turkey with cold roast sweet potato, spring onions, peppers and tomatoes. See recipe below:
Wed –cold cooked ham or Hummus and falafels with salad or vegetables.
Thurs-Thai Rice noodles with prawns or tofu see recipe below:
Friday-prawn skewers with cherry tomatoes, courgettes, button mushrooms, sun dried tomatoes, cubed feta or halumi and olives (just put it in a tupperware if you can’t be bothered to skewer it.) Or Avocado with pine nuts and prawns Or Hard boiled eggs with salsa or tomatoes and low fat mayo add fruit and soya yogurt if you like a little dessert.
You don’t need to skimp on quantities as these are low carb high energy fat burning foods so always have at least a fist sized amount of protein and 2 fist sized amounts of vegetables and salad. When you eat like this you are fat burning instead of fat storing and you will have more energy as well as being slimmer with a flatter stomach and smaller waist.
Mid morning or afternoon snacks
• My favourite snack is to put dry popcorn kernels in a paper bag and microwave it for 3 minutes then sprinkle it with a little soy sauce, you can add tamari or any light sauce, its oil free and has hardly any calories but is yummy and filling. When I lived in LA all the celebs snacked on it, it is better than crisps and air popped popcorn is good for you.
• Seed bar
• Fruit with a handful of almonds or seeds
• Raw carrot sticks and hummus (home made with less oil more lemon, coriander and herbs)
• Celery sticks spread with a very small amount of sugar free peanut butter
• Raw courgette sticks and tzatziki
• Raw red and green pepper sticks with low fat hummus (home made with more lemon less oil add coriander and herbs to make it more tasty)
• Small quantity of nuts, especially almonds, walnuts and hazelnuts
• Small quantity of seeds such as sunflower, pumpkin or hemp
• No added sugar seed or seed & nut bar
• Oatcakes with very small amount of soya spread or a sliced peach apple or pear
• Humus & rice cakes or oat cakes
• Tangerines grapes blueberries

Dinner
Make an extra portion to take to work the next day they all taste just as good cold
Monday
Make salmon or crab fish cakes by adding 100g mashed sweet potato to 75 cooked flaked salmon or tinned salmon or crab add some fresh coriander black pepper and lemon juice. Dip in beaten egg and fry in olive oil and serve with salad or stir fry vegetables.
Tuesday
chicken or turkey salad.
Dressing:
½ cup olive oil
¼ cup balsamic vinegar
1/8 teaspoon coriander
½ teaspoon salt
Salad Ingredients
2 cups cooked chicken or turkey, cut into cubes
Tomatoes, peppers, cucumber and spring onions
In a small bowl, combine the olive oil, vinegar, coriander and salt.
In a medium bowl, place all the remaining ingredients. Whip the dressing ingredients together with a fork, and then pour over the chicken mixture. Gently toss and refrigerate until served.

Wednesday
Baked sweet potato with tuna fish, soya peas and sweet corn and or mixed salad 4oz veg and 4oz of tuna 2oz soya beans 2oz sweet corn

Thursday Thai noodles
Cook a large handful of rice noodles per person according to instructions and in a wok stir fry veggies like mange tout, leeks, peppers, bean sprouts, mushrooms, spring onions and cherry tomatoes until al dente add cooked noodles to veggies add tofu or prawns stir fry for a further 5 minutes add light soy sauce and sesame seeds
4oz noodles 3oz prawns 3oz veg per person

Friday
Spinach Parma and basil frittata made with oil (not milk or butter) served with salad and sweet potato wedges
4oz frittata 4oz salad
4oz Parma ham
3tsp olive oil
I onion chopped
I chopped garlic clove
6 eggs
Small bunch fresh basil torn
Medium bunch of spinach torn

Heat one tbs of olive oil in an ovenproof frying pan and cook one onion and one garlic clove finely chopped for 2-3 minutes or until softened.
Beat 6 eggs in a large bowl and season with salt and peppers. Stir in the onions and garlic, spinach, basil and parma ham.
Preheat grill on high heat. Wipe out the frying pan and add a little oil. Heat over medium heat then pour in the egg mixture. Cook for 5-6 minutes or until almost set. Grill for 2-3 minutes or until golden, then slide gently out of the pan and cut into wedges to serve.
Cut sweet potatoes into wedges rub in oil and cinnamon bake under a hot grill or in the oven for 30 minutes.
You can make a breakfast frittata with parma ham and mushrooms
You can make them for lunch and dinner with prawn’s courgettes and any other veggies you choose.

Desserts
Baked apples with fruit or dried fruit and nuts
Berries and sesame seeds heated in a for 5-7 minutes pan with fresh mint and a little honey.
Soya yogurt with fruit
Low cal jelly with soya cream
Roasted bananas
Hot berry compote
Fruit kebabs

Great healthy and Easy Alternatives

2008-10-20T17:09:00.007+01:00

so many of you have asked for the details of my drink and snack healthy alternatives so here are some
Alternative to Diet Coke
Buy Crazy Jacks concentrated fruit juice from Holland and Barret, they do lots of flavours but for a coke alternative the apple and blackcurrant is best. Dilute 1 part juice to 7 parts fizzy water and you have a delicious healthy drink that tastes very close to diet coke but is a million times better for you. You can add zsweet healthy sweetener to it if you like it to taste really sweet.

Alternative to crisps
Buy plain popping corn/popcorn kernels, you can find them in most food shops, put about 40g or a handful into a brown paper bag fold it at the top and microwave for 3 minutes and you will have a large bag of air popped popcorn which has hardly any calories. Sprinkle it with light soy sauce or light tahini sauce and you have a healthy filling snack of under 100 calories. Popcorn is full of lutein which guards against macular eye degeneration.

Alternative to spaghetti
Use a julienne vegetable parer on courgettes to make courgette ribbons, place the courgette ribbons in boiling water for one minute to soften them than you can add them to bolognaise sauce. You can use them in place of spaghetti or pasta in any pasta dish and also in place of noodles in stir fry dishes you can also add them to soups once the soup has been cooked.
You can also cook beansprouts (they only need a few minutes to cook )and use them as an alternative to pasta and noodles.

Real Breakfast Bars
Cook a large pan of porridge oats using water or water and rice, oat or soya milk once its cooked leave it to asborb all the liquid and thicken then add other ingredients to it like hemp seeds and microwaved popcorn or sunfloweer seeds, flaked almonds, sesame seeds, pumpkin seeds etc. Pour the mixture onto a baking tray and cook in the oven for about 20 minutes. If you like it chewy cook it for less time and if you like it crunchy press it down so it is thinner and cook for a little longet then cut into squares or slices and enjoy. You can experiment with lots of added ingredients like chopped up pear and ginger or grated apple and cinnamon or mashed up banana and peanut butter (smooth or crunchy and of course sugar free) or blueberries or any berries and dessicated coconut. In fact any kind of fruit, seeds, nut combo is good; dont use dried fruit as it is too high in sugar. These bars will keep for at least a week in foil or an airtight container and are great for breakfast on the go, or as alternatives to biscuits and snacks for you and your children.

Alternative Spreads

Fantastic Home Made Hummus
Here is my recipe for hummus its much nicer and lower in calories than the shop bought stuff.
400g tinned chickpeas drained
2 tbsp light tahini paste
2 crushed garlic cloves
juice of 1 lemon (you can also add lime juice )
2-5 tbsp virgin olive oil
small handful of parsley
small handful of coriander
half tsp mild smoked paprika
2-4 tbsp water according to how thick you like it

blend all the ingredients in a food processor season with salt and or black pepper. Spoon into a tub or individual bowls and place in fridge for an hour before serving. It will thicken up so you can thin it with more water or olive oil.
Sprinkle with smoked paprika or tumeric for colour and a few sprigs of corinader or parsley.

You can make hummus different by adding tomatoes, peppers, olives or sun dried tomatoes to the mix. If you have time its lovely to roast or grill peppers or tomatoes or a mild red chilli or all 3 for for about 7 minutes until the skins blacken then remove the skins and add the roasted peppers, chilli and or tomatoes to the mix before blending. its also great to add avocado to hummus. When you add ingredients like cucumber, tomatoes or peppers you naturally lower the calories, just make sure the salad ingredients have been dried in kitchen towels so they dont make the hummus watery.

Butter Bean Spread/Butter Bean Hummus

One large tin of butter beans, 2 cloves of garlic, 3 tblsp olive oil, fresh garlic and 6-8 sun dried tomatoes or 2 roasted red peppers. drain the butter beans, press the garlic and blend all the ingredients in a food processor until they are smooth and creamy add a little lemon juice and more olive oil if you like it thinner. You can experiment with this recipe by adding some fresh peas and mint, some mild chillies, an avocado, more sun dried tomatoes, more peppers, or some olives, more coriander etc. It will keep for about 5 days and can be frozen.

2008-06-27T10:46:00.003+01:00

Hi everyone here are some recipes and menus for lunches and dinners that should help you live without bread, cheese and pasta I would love it if you would add some of your favorite recipes and I will add my own favorites.
My current favorite fast lunch is to open tin of red salmon add to it a small packet of cashews and some sun dried tomatoes and eat with half an avocado and some salad leaves.
My favorite fast dinner is to put frozen spinach, frozen sweetcorn and frozen prawns in an oven proof dish and bake for 20 minutes adding a small amount of cubed feta for the last 5 minutes. Frozen veg (as long as they contain no salt and sugar are a perfect alternative to fresh veg)

Breakfast
• Eggs boiled, poached, hard boiled,
• Scrambled eggs made with olive oil
• Omelette made with oil NOT milk or butter
Cook your eggs with any kind of vegetable including tomatoes, mushrooms, spinach, peas, sweet corn, onions or ham, prawns or salmon and add coriander for serotonin.

• Soya yogurt with almonds and/or mixed seeds sunflower, hemp, sesame, pumpkin (a dessert spoon size of mixed seeds and nuts) add cinnamon if you like it.

• Stewed fruit apples, pears, plums (sprinkle with a mixture of nuts and seeds) add half teaspoon of ground cinnamon to reduce blood sugar and reduce sugar cravings

• Smoothie made with any fruit combination or fruit and soya milk add seeds and half a spoon of cinnamon if liked.

• Any fruit especially bananas for the serotonin eat with 10 almonds or cashew or a spoonful of seeds for the protein

• Oats made with water add soya or rice milk and cinnamon.

If you need breakfast on the go either make a frittata see recipe below and take a slice of with you or cook up a pan of porridge oats (ensure they are not runny) after cooking add some seeds and berries spread it on a baking tray and bake slowly in the oven for about 15 minutes cut into slices and take a slice or two with you for a late breakfast. This really is breakfast in a bar unlike those you buy in supermarkets which are full of sugar and additives.

____________________________________
Lunch
SALADS:

Chicken or turkey salad
Dressing
½ cup olive oil
¼ cup balsamic vinegar
1/8 teaspoon coriander
½ teaspoon salt
Salad Ingredients
2 cups cooked chicken, cut into cubes
tomatoes peppers cucumber spring onions sweetcorn
In a small bowl, combine the olive oil, vinegar, coriander and salt.
In a medium bowl, place all the remaining ingredients. Whip the dressing ingredients together with a fork, and then pour over the chicken mixture. Gently toss and refrigerate until served.
Add tofu or nuts and seeds or quinoa if preferred
Serves 4.

• Salad of avocado, sweetcorn, cherry tomatoes, lettuce, peppers, cucumber and tuna, salmon, mackerel, sardines, pilchards
• Salad of cold roast chicken or turkey with cold roast sweet potato, spring onions, peppers and tomatoes.

• Baked sweet potatoes or yams with a filling of chicken or tuna, sweetcorn baby tomatoes

• Cold cooked ham or Hummus and falafels with salad or vegetables

Mid afternoon snacks
• any fruit
• soya yogurt with seeds or fruit,
• endemame beans
• hummus with raw vegetables
• Popcorn put popcorn kernels in a brown paper bag fold in half and cook in the microwave for 3-4 minutes, sprinkle with light soy sauce and enjoy.

Dinner
• Thai Rice noodles with prawns or tofu
Cook I large handful of rice noodles per person according to instructions and in a wok stir fry veggies like mange tout, leeks, peppers, beansprouts, mushrooms, spring onions and cherry tomatoes until al dente, add the cooked noodles to veggies add tofu or prawns, light soy sauce and sesame seeds stir fry for a further 5 minutes
4oz noodles 3oz prawns 3oz veg per person

• Spinach Parma and Basil Frittata
made with oil (not milk or butter) served with salad and sweet potato wedges
4oz Parma ham
3tsp olive oil
I onion chopped
I chopped garlic clove
6 eggs
Small bunch fresh basil torn
Medium bunch of spinach torn

Heat one tbs of olive oil in an ovenproof frying pan and cook one onion and one garlic clove finely chopped for 2-3 minutes or until softened.
Beat 6 eggs in a large bowl and season with salt and peppers. Stir in the onions and garlic, spinach, basil and Parma ham.
Preheat grill on high heat. Wipe out the frying pan and add a little oil. Heat over medium heat then pour in the egg mixture. Cook for 5-6 minutes or until almost set. Grill for 2-3 minutes or until golden, then slide gently out of the pan and cut into wedges to serve.
Cut sweet potatoes into wedges rub in oil and cinnamon bake under a hot grill or in the oven for 30 minutes.
You can make a breakfast frittata with Parma ham and mushrooms
You can make them for lunch or dinner with prawns, smoked salmon courgettes, sweetcorn, peas and any other veggies you choose.

• Fishcakes
Make salmon or crab fish cakes by adding 100g mashed sweet potato to 75 cooked flaked salmon or tinned salmon or crab add some fresh coriander black pepper and lemon juice. Dip in beaten egg and fry in olive oil and serve with salad or stir fry vegetables.

• teriyaki turkey or beef

1 1/4 pounds turkey pieces
5 tablespoons teriyaki sauce, divided
2 tablespoons peanut butter (sugar free)
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1 tablespoon (or more to taste) Hot Chili Sauce
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1/2 cup cucumber, seeded and chopped
Cut turkey or beef into 1/8 inch thick strips. In medium bowl, combine turkey and 2 tablespoons teriyaki sauce; toss to coat. In small bowl, combine remaining 3 tbsp. teriyaki sauce, peanut butter, 1 tablespoon water, ginger and hot chili sauce.
Meanwhile, in large nonstick skillet or wok, heat oil over medium-high heat until hot. Add turkey (1/2 at a time) and stir-fry 1 to 2 minutes or until outside surface is no longer pink. Remove turkey from wok. Toss turkey with peanut butter mixture to coat. Sprinkle with chopped cucumber. :

• Roasted cauliflower with baked ham

Ingredients
1 head cauliflower, broken into small flowerets and washed
2-4 garlic cloves, sliced
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoons water
1 teaspoon seasoning salt

Preparation
1 Bake the ham in the oven and 25 minutes before its finished
2. Place all other ingredients in a large storage bag and shake well to coat.
3. Place on a baking sheet and roast for 25 minutes. Spraying with additional water after 15 minutes as needed. If a more tender bite is enjoyed continue to cook till desired.
Mustard can be added to the cauli and the ham for taste

• Ratatouille of tomatoes, onions, courgettes , eggplants, peppers sweetcorn and herbs
It can be served with tofu, chicken or turkey
4 servings

Ingredients

2 teaspoons
Finely minced garlic
1 cup chopped onions
1 large eggplant
3 medium zucchini
2 large green peppers
2 cans sweetcorn
1 teaspoon dried oregano
Tablespoon fresh basil or 2 teaspoons dried basil
2 teaspoons chopped parsley
2 cups crushed canned tomatoes
fresh ground pepper

Preparation
1. Heat oil in oven or large pan
Cook garlic and onions until tender.
2. Cut vegetables into 1-inch pieces.
3. Add the eggplant, zucchini, pepper, oregano, parsley
and stir well.
4. Sauté for about 5 minutes.
5. Add tomatoes, cover and cook over low heat for about 45 minutes.
6. Serve hot or cover mixture and refrigerate to serve chilled.

• Steamed fish with Mediterranean vegetables and aioli

(Serves 4)

4 x firm white fish fillets e.g. haddock,
2 tbsp olive oil
1 red onion chopped
2 cloves of garlic , crushed
2 red peppers, sliced into strips
2 courgettes cut into matchsticks
2 tomatoes skinned and chopped
few thyme leaves
1tbsp balsamic vinegar

garlic mayonnaise : 2 cloves garlic crushed
2 egg yolks
200 ml olive oil
100ml sunflower oil
3tbsp lemon juice

Preparation

To make the garlic mayonnaise: put the garlic, egg yolks, lemon juice and a pinch of salt in a large bowl. Start whisking, and very slowly start adding the oils a little at a time, whisking all the time, until the mixture starts to thicken. Do this until all the oils are used up. Add the lemon juice and check the seasoning.

Using the 2tbs olive oil, sauté the onion, garlic, peppers and courgettes gently for 5 minutes until slightly softened. Add the tomatoes and thyme leaves and cook for another 8-10 minutes, adding the vinegar after 5 minutes. Season.

Meanwhile season the fish fillets as required, place on the steam grid and add water to the bottom part of the steamer or steam in the pan

Serve the fish with vegetables and mayonnaise

• Garlic-Ginger Chicken Strips

2 skinless boneless chicken breast halves

1/4 cup soy sauce

1/4 cup dry sherry

1 tablespoon fresh basil

6 to 8 cloves garlic, minced

2 teaspoons grated ginger root

1/2 pepper

1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper

1/4 teaspoon five-spice powder

Cut each chicken breast half lengthwise into 4 long strips in a medium non-metal bowl, combine all other ingredients. Mix well. Add chicken pieces and cover with marinade. Let marinate for 15 minutes at room temperature or 4-24 hours refrigerated.
Drain chicken. Place chicken pieces on hot grill; grill 4-5 inches from heat about 5 minutes or until light brown. Turn and grill another 3-5 minutes until golden brown and no longer pink inside. Serve hot with mixed roast vegetables (peppers, onions. leeks, courgettes and tomatoes)

• Foil bake a 150g trout seasoned with lemon and parsley and black pepper. Serve with caramelised red onions and a 130g baked sweet potato

• For a special dinner put a chicken in a casserole dish cover with fresh coriander add a tin of coconut milk and a little curry powder and turmeric or lemongrass and some baby sweetcorn . Roast the chicken and alongside roast some scallions, peppers and artichokes (once roasted they taste just like roast potatoes) 5 mines before the end of cooking add more fresh coriander to the chicken. I cook it until it is caramelized and the coconut milk is almost cooked away you may prefer to keep the coconut milk as sauce in which case add half the tin at the beginning and the other half 15 mins before the end of cooking.
Cooking salmon and sweet potatoes in a base of coconut milk is also lovely

SOUPS:

• Spicy tomato soup
8 fresh tomatoes pureed
1 cup of water
1 cup of chicken broth
1 red onion finely minced
2 gloves of garlic mixed
2 red peppers diced
1tsp of cayenne pepper
1tsp paprika
¼ green chillies diced
¼ chives diced

Combine all ingredients in a large soup pot and cook on low heat for one hour
serves 6

• lentil soup
4 sticks of celery
4 leeks
4 carrots
2 red onions
cup of lentils
tsp garlic
cook vegetables in 1 ½ pints of marigold stock for I hour
take out and blend half the mixture then return to the pan
serves 6
For a variation of the soup roast 6 parsnips 6 carrots 12 scallions chop into chunks and add to the soup 5 minutes before its finished cooking.

• Chicken and mushroom soup
6 cups of water
meat of I chicken diced
2 cloves of garlic diced
2 onions diced
I tsp black pepper
18 button mushrooms

in a large pan combine water chicken garlic onion bay leaf and pepper bring to boil reduce heat cover and simmer for 2 hours until chicken is tender. Remove bay leaf ,discard. bring to boil. Reduce heat add mushrooms cover simmer for 20 minutes
serves 6

• Cabbage soup
3 cups non-fat broth (beef, chicken or vegetable)
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon tomato paste
2 cups chopped cabbage
1/2 yellow onion
1/2 cup chopped carrots
1/2 cup green beans
1/2 cup chopped zucchini
1/2 teaspoon basil
1/2 teaspoon oregano
salt & pepper to taste

1. In a large saucepan sprayed with non-stick cooking spray, sauté carrot, onion and garlic over low heat for 5 minutes (until softened).
2. Add broth, tomato paste, cabbage, green beans, basil, oregano, and salt & pepper to taste.
3. Lower heat and simmer for a about 10-15 minutes until all vegetables are tender.
4. Stir in zucchini and heat 3-4 minutes. Serve hot.
Makes 6-8 servings

• Spring minestrone
3 rashers of pancetta
2tbsp olive oil
I chopped onion
1chopped celery stick
I sliced leek
3 crushed garlic cloves
2ltr stock
1 bay leaf
1 sliced courgette
2oz sliced French beans
2oz shelled broad beans
1head of broccoli
5asparagus spears
Chop panccetta heat olive oil in large saucepan add the pancetta onion celery leek and garlic and fry for 5 minutes add the stock bay leaf and oregano to season bring to the boil simmer for 5 minutes add courgettes and French beans simmer for a further five minutes. Add the broccoli asparagus and broad beans simmer for another 5 minutes. Stir in dried basil add more seasoning if desired serve sprinkled with chilli.
serves 4-6

• Baked sweet potato with tuna fish, soya peas and sweet corn and or mixed salad 4oz veg and 4oz of tuna 2oz soya beans 2oz sweet corn

• prawn skewers with cherry tomatoes, courgettes, button mushrooms, sun dried tomatoes, cubed feta or halumi and olives brush with sesame oil and grill for about 25 minutes.

• When cooking chicken or turkey make it different by cooking it in coconut oil, sesame oil or any flavored oil: it’s also really good to fry chicken or fish portions in a base of pure lemon juice.
• Grilled fish, cook in lemon juice for 5 minutes then add fresh or frozen spinach to the pan cook for a further 2 minutes add a handful of pine nuts and brown a little.
• Roasting veg like onions peppers leeks celery carrots peas soya beans tomatoes mushrooms garlic spring onions scallions spinach sweetcorn or yams with a dusting of cinnamon and oil gives them a great flavour
• mashed cauliflower with olive oil instead of potatoes mashed with butter is lovely you can also fry it into delicious potatoe cakes
• You can cook quinoa and add it to soups salads or serve it with meat instead of rice potatoes and pasta-quinoa is a seed not a grain
• DelUgo Spaghetti made from chickpeas is a great substitute for pasta
• place frozen peas and runner beans in a casserole dish add a little boiled water and a dessert spoon of marigold bouillon place fillets of any fish on top of the veg and cook in the oven for about 10 minutes

Desserts
• Bake a banana in foil sprinkled with vanilla essence orange juice 1 tsp honey and some crushed cardamom seeds.

• Poach 100g apples and 135g pears with cloves sprinkle with toasted pumpkin seeds. Add a swirl of soya yogurt if desired

• For a fab and quick dessert add any berries; blueberries, strawberries, raspberries (fresh or frozen) to a saucepan with a dessertspoon of honey a handful of sesame seeds and some shredded mint leaves cook on a high for 5 minutes and serve
• Baked apples with fruit
• Soya yogurt with fruit
• Hot berry compote
• Fruit kebabs
• Stewed fruit with cinnamon, nuts and seeds
• Fruit compote with apple cinnamon and raisins

Other breakfasts
Herb and veggie omelette
Yogurt with seeds nuts or fruit limit the variety to three
Yogurt with Seeds
Yogurt with Linwoods milled flaxseeds and nuts
Yogurt with fruit
Fruit with seeds and nuts
Halumi cheese with olives
Feta cheese with olives and tomatoes

Desk bound lunch
Tuna with salad
Cold chicken or turkey with salad
Soup with vegetable noodles
Cold fish
Hummus with salad or vegetables
Olive’s nuts and seeds
Feta or halumi cheeses with salad
Avocado with pine nuts and prawns
Hard boiled eggs with salsa or tomatoes and mayo
Lentil soup
Lentil and herb salad
Frittata or tortilla (Spanish omelette without the potatoes)
Add fruit veggies and soya yogurt or smoothies if you want more

Dinner
Spinach and eggs
Prawns and eggs
Tortilla without potatoes
Salmon and pine nuts
Salad with tuna
Chicken
Sweet potatoes and yams
Baked sweet potatoes with peppers, sweetcorn, cucumber and halumi
Baked sweet potatoe wedges with ham
Casseroles
Stews of fish poultry or lean meat
Grilled lean pork with steamed red cabbage and onions
Roast meat or fish with roasted vegetables and roasted sweet potatoes
Cooked lentils with onions tomatoes peppers and feta
Kebabs of steak chicken turkey or fish with vegetables
Minestrone with chick peas instead of pasta
Roasted peppers stuffed with lean lamb mince or turkey mince
Red onions stuffed with veggies and tofu
Spinach frittata
Ratatouille with clams

SNACKS:
Fruit with a handful of almonds or seeds
Raw carrot sticks and hummus (home made with less oil more lemon, coriander and herbs)
Celery sticks spread with a very small amount of sugar free peanut butter
Raw red and green pepper sticks with low fat hummus (home made with more lemon less oil add coriander and herbs to make it more tasty)
Small quantity of nuts, especially almonds, walnuts and hazelnuts
Small quantity of seeds such as sunflower, pumpkin or hemp
No added sugar seed or seed & nut bar
Oatcakes with v small amount of soya spread or a sliced peach apple or pear
Humus & rice cakes or oat cakes
Tangerines grapes blueberries
Olives
Japanese soy beans

2008-05-12T12:34:00.002+01:00

Hi to everyone who attended my most recent You Can Be Thin seminars in March, April and May this blog is a way for you and anyone else to communicate with me and with each other through your comments.
You can post any comments, messages or feedback to me or to each other you can swap recipes and menus and get support so please do add any comments
thanks
marisa

2008-05-12T00:20:00.004+01:00

The most effective and painless way to shed weight over 2 days is to just eat fruit, vegetables and very lean protein.

This programme is designed to ensure you not only drop between 2-4lbs it will also ensure that you are not bloated, have a flatter stomach and shed the weight and inches predominantly from your waist, stomach and hips, perfect if you want to look good in little black dress. Its particular combination of foods and spices specifically work together to minimise sugar cravings, burn fat and lower the levels of sugar in your blood while satisfying hunger.

It is quite simple to drop a few pounds by just eating fruit or fruit and vegetables but adding lean protein keeps your energy levels high throughout the day and keeps you full. The amino acids and catecholamine in protein send a message of fullness to our brains. Protein-rich foods encourage the production of the hormone peptide YY which is known to suppress appetite.

The body works hard to properly digest protein the longer and the more effort put into digesting protein, the more calories your body uses up and the more your metabolic rate will increase. Lean protein has 2-3 times the thermic effect of carbs or fat meaning it elevates metabolism by up to 10% more than when carbs or fat are eaten.

This 2 day programme is based around lean fish and vegetables as most people who crave sugar are low in magnesium. Magnesium-rich foods lessen sugar cravings these include apples, celery, parsley and fish. A diet deficient in magnesium can cause weight gain as well as sugar cravings, as an added bonus the fish is very nourishing for your skin so will look glowing rather than haggard as a result of this 2 day detox programme.

Day one

Breakfast: Any kind of water based fruit like apples, pears, grapes, peaches, plums or berries don't have more than 3 varieties as too much variety stimulates the appetite.
Sprinkle with half a teaspoon of ground cinnamon, cinnamon reduces sugar levels in the blood and reduces sugar cravings. Warm the fruit in a little water if you like hot food for breakfast. If you don’t like fruit have 2 hard boiled eggs instead or scrambled in oil no milk or butter.

Drink herb teas, cinnamon, rooibos and green tea are the best. No milk, cream or any dairy products at all. Japanese Green Tea can burn fat more rapidly. The catechins in Green tea can reduce waist circumference and abdominal fat by boosting metabolism. Drink several cups a day hot or iced and several glasses of water with lemon, orange or lime slices or a strawberry added for a little flavour.

Lunch: Spicy salad a mixed salad of green vegetables, peppers, celery, parsley, tomatoes and a fist sized serving of prawns, prawns are naturally rich in zinc which lessens craving for sugary foods add ginger and cayenne pepper if possible as they can help to stimulate thermogenisis (heat generated by the body) and promote weight reduction, add chillies if you like them. Chillies speed up the metabolism and reduce hunger. Hot spices can boost the rate at which calories are burnt by up to 15 per cent for a few hours after eating

Dinner: spicy fish and vegetables Steamed or stir fried vegetables (with the tiniest amount of oil) with cooked prawns parsley and the same spices as above, serve them on shredded lettuce. If you can’t face prawns twice have a fist sized serving of sardines mackerel, tuna or salmon (canned in water not oil) with cumin, ginger, cayenne pepper and chillies to further boost your metabolism. You can add a sauce of canned tomatoes and garlic for extra flavour.

Snack on fruit, again no more than two varieties (apples are the best), or cherry tomatoes, raw vegetables or soy beans without salt (you can buy birds eye frozen soy beans) Soy protein slightly increases your metabolism. The isoflavones, glycine and arginine in soya milk can accelerate the breakdown of fat, especially stomach fat and reduce the levels of sugar in the blood.

Day two

Breakfast: As day one, any 3 types of fruit with half a teaspoon of ground cinnamon.

Lunch same as day one but you can replace the prawns with any fish.

Dinner same as day one any type of fish and vegetables or salad with tomatoes and spices. If you hate fish replace with eggs or skinless chicken.

Snacks same as day one

Absolutely NO alcohol, sugar, wheat or dairy foods and NO salt or artificial sweeteners, the spices will give the food all the flavour you need.