Cooking from scratch

I am constantly telling clients that the only true way of knowing what is going into your body is to make everything from scratch, preferably using the best ingredients you can find.
Not only will you know what is going into your body, you can also be in total control of how balanced your diet is - tweaking things in recipes to increase your protein intake or reduce carbs for example, depending on what you are trying to achieve.
You may think it's easy for me to preach this, as it's my job and I do it all the time, but really it's just common sense, not only for your health but also for your budget - buying prepared food costs more too!
And even though it's my job, it doesn't always go according to plan!  This gorgeous looking vegan chocolate ice-cream tasted very odd (I was trying to be clever by using delicious coconut oil in ice-cream), so instead I melted it down and used it as a rich chocolate sauce.  So playing with food and experimenting is a great way of learning.
And cooking from scratch doesn't just apply to healthy main meals - these amazing coconut bars (Bounty lookalikes!) are very easy to make and taste one hundred times better that the shop bought ones - plus they are much lower in sugar and salt and higher in protein and fibre - a great reason to eat a few more!

Coconut Bars

Makes 18

175 g coconut oil

200g block creamed coconut, roughly chopped

2 tbsp honey

1 lime (or lemon)

175g desiccated coconut

200 g dark chocolate (85% cocoa), roughly chopped

·          - Base line a 20cm square tin.

·          - Place the coconut oil, creamed coconut and honey in a bowl over a pan of simmering water and stir occasionally until fully melted.

·          - Finely grate the rind of the lime and stir this into the bowl along with a tbsp of lime-juice and the desiccated coconut.  Mix together well.

·          - Spoon the mixture into the prepared tin and level the top.

·          - Chill in the fridge for 20 minutes.

·          - Remove the tin from the fridge and turn out the coconut block.  Cut into 18 bars, place these on a sheet of baking paper on a cooling rack and place in the freezer while you melt the chocolate.

·          -Melt the chocolate in a bowl over a pan of simmering water, until completely melted.

      - Using two forks, toss the bars in the melted chocolate and then leave on the greaseproof paper to set.

-    - Place in an air-tight container to store.

  

Stressful Times Need Food

Although we think of stress as something that comes from too much work, not getting to a date on time, burning dinner or just being totally disorganised and having too much on your plate, it's important to remember it also comes from your emotions too.  So if you are upset or sad, your body sees this as another stress, and it's important to know how to deal with this, to prevent it from causing long-term illness, such as excess weight, heart problems, depression or anxiety problems.
Stress uses up vitamins and minerals that are needed for every function in the body, so while your nutrients are being used for stress they are not being used to digest your food, support your immune system, produce energy or keeping you hair and skin healthy.
The B vitamins are especially important with regards to stress - B1 and B3 play a vital role in maintaining a healthy mental attitude, B6 helps to produce serotonin, a neurotransmitter that helps the body to deal with depression (serotonin is know as the 'happy hormone'), B12 is called the memory vitamin as it used mostly in the brain.
In general B vitamins are also needed for the production of energy, and without energy it's hard to cope with anything!
To ensure a good intake of B vitamins eat a variety of colourful vegetables, wholegrains, legumes, nuts, seeds and eggs.

Vegeree

Serves 4

1 large red onion, peeled and cut into wedges
350 g butternut, deseeded and chopped
2 large courgettes, sliced
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp curry powder
1 tbsp olive oil
300 g basmati rice
4 large eggs
handful parsley leaves
seasoning

- Preheat the oven to 200° (400°F) Gas mark 6.
- Place the onion, butternut and courgettes into a roasting tin.  Sprinkle with the cumin seeds, curry powder and oil.  Roast for 40 minutes, tossing a couple of times.
- Meanwhile, cook the rice according to the pack instructions.
- Softly boil the eggs.
- When the vegetables are cooked, drain the rice and stir into the roasting tin with the vegetables, along with the parsley.  Season to taste.
- Carefully peel the eggs and serve cut in half on top of the dish.

Happy, stress-free eating.

Joy xx