Healthy Eats-Along 2012

[FruityLoops]

So here are my healthy snack recipes finally!  Oddly I tend to prefer savoury usually, but these are both sweet, seems to be doing the job though and keeping me away from chocolate and bread ;-)

Spiced Apple Muffins
(from TescoDiets)

• 125g diced apple (without peel)
• 80ml apple sauce (or stewed apple)
• 180ml milk (I use skimmed/<0.5% fat milk)
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 65g white sugar [/color(I use golden caster sugar)
• 220g plain flour
• 1/4 tsp ground ginger
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

Mix together sugar, cinnamon, ginger.

In a large bowl, mix flour, baking powder, sugar mixture, salt, milk, and apple sauce or stewed apple.  Stir in diced apples.  Spoon batter into 12 lined muffin cups.

Bake at 200 degrees C for 20-25 minutes, or until tops spring back when lightly touched.  Allow to stand for around 30 mins before serving.

Each muffin approximately - 105 calories, 0.5g fat

My tip though is to add more spices than they suggest, and also next time I'm going to add sultanas or raisins

Virtually fat-free tea brack
(from TescoDiets)

• 227g of self raising flour
• 227g of sultanas, or any dried fruit
• 1 mug of strong tea
• 1 large egg (or I use around 60g egg whites)
• 57g of soft brown sugar

Add the fruit and sugar to a bowl, cover with the tea and leave to soak overnight.  The tea should just about cover all the fruit.

When you are ready to bake, turn the oven to 150 degrees C and prepare and line a 1lb loaf tin (I didn't have any greaseproof paper so I just buttered my tin and it was fine)

Add the egg and flour to the fruit and mix.  If the mixture is a little dry, add a little more tea until the consistency is that of a fruit cake mix.

Pour into the prepared tin and transfer to oven.  Bake for 1 hour, checking that the cake is cooked before removing from the oven.

Makes 12 slices
Each serving approximately - 140 calories, 0.5g fat

Of course when I made it yesterday I accidentally put in plain flour instead of self-raising, oopsy, added some baking powder and it did rise ok but think it would have been lighter with the correct flour!!

[FruityLoops]

Things going well for me this week so far anyways, feel like I'm eating tons of [healthy] food, have cut down on carbs like bread/pasta/potatoes as planned and lost 2lbs since the weekend

Mind things could all change as the in-laws are taking us out for a meal this evening so it'll be a bit harder to avoid the naughty food methinks!  Had a quick check online to see if they had a menu for me to pre-check, but alas they change their menu fortnightly so only an example one on there, mind you all seems very poncy food and there was only 1 thing on the menu that I would eat so could come away having only eaten a very plain salad, lol.

[MareMare]

I'm ridiculously excited that my peanut flour and coconut flour came in the mail yesterday! Now I have a dilemma--smoothie with peanut flour, or muffin with coconut flour for breakfast?

Hope you can find something yummy and healthy to eat for dinner FruityLoops!

[Jinjeet Phoenix]

Oh MareMare! You are soo lucky that I don't live near you!

[felix-xx]

@elliot_anne - Found this awesome recipe in my stash and thought you might like it!

Greek Quinoa Chicken Salad
3 oz raw boneless skinless chicken breast
1 cup cooked quinoa
2 tsp apple cider vinegar
1/2 tsp minced garlic
1/2 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp extra-virgin olive oil
3 black olives, chopped (i prefer kalamata)
1 tbsp each chopped parsley, cilantro, red onion
5 cherry tomatoes, halved
6 marinated artichoke hearts, sliced
1/4 cup chopped cucumber
1 tbsp feta cheese

Cook quinoa as per package directions. Cut chicken into small pieces and cook in non-stick pan. In a small bowl, combine vinegar, lemon juice, garlic, and olive oil. Whisk well. Gently toss quinoa with remaining ingredients, omitting feta. Pour oil mixture over salad, add pepper to taste and lastly stir in the feta cheese. Top with cooked chicken and enjoy!

I love this recipe because it makes a relatively small batch, my and the man like to have this as a lunch! I throw some seasoning on my chicken, like a little oregano or something to give it extra flavor. One thing about eating healthy - i definitely amp up my herbs and spices to add extra flavor!

unfortunately this probably won't be in my book much longer. Adam and I are starting the 'Paleolithic' diet this week.. Hopefully it's for the best! Any advice, ladies?

[FruityLoops]

Hope you can find something yummy and healthy to eat for dinner FruityLoops!

Was fab in the end, wasn't much on the menu I liked but went for seabass with butternut squash puree and crayfish and chorizo butter (with seasonal veg n new potatoes) which was delicious n healthy! Managed to resist the lemon n ginger cheesecake and abstained from dessert, but had a little whisky fruit cake since getting back to the in-laws

[MareMare]

That sounds yummy! I hear lots of times that the chef will make you something healthy not on the menu too! One of the blogs I read is vegan and she went to some restaurant in Disneyland and the chef made her an amazing vegan meal off the menu!

[FruityLoops]

Oooh nice! I'd be too embarassed to ask for something custom tho :-s

[elliot_anne]

I was bad today... in the sense that I woke up at 10.30 this morning, it's not 7.00 at night, and this is the first time I'm eating all day. Yea, no bueno.

However, my cute little snack tray looked so appetizing (to my half-starved, delirious brain) that I decided to take a picture of it before devouring it. So, here you go.



I've got half an apple (ate the other half yesterday. Was a little too tart to eat the whole thing all at once), a banana, a hard-boiled egg, a few strawberries, a string cheese, and the heel of some yummy french bread my grocery store makes daily. Most of my lunches look like some form of this (my mom calls it a "snack tray") now that I'm vegetarian. Most of the time, though, my bread product is a PBJ sandwich, and I sub a tangerine for the strawberries (which were a special treat from my mom yesterday, YUM).

[hgddm]

That looks DELICIOUS! That is my favorite kind of lunch/dinner