I absolutely love this salad!

Fresh and alive with delicious ingredients I made it the other day when nothing was appealing to me food-wise and I was in real danger of having a carb blowout.

I wanted something simple and quick … and tasty! Fortunately I had all the ingredients already cooked and cooled in the fridge.

This salad is a little higher in calories mostly from the fats in the egg and the feta. It’s especially yummy with some added pepitas and sunflower seeds which add a nutty crunch and take the mouth on a really good textural journey.

The higher level of fat in this salad is actually a good thing as it allows for the absorption of beta-carotine (vitamin A). Sweet potatoes are also good sources of fibre, vitamin C, and vitamin B6. Despite being primarily carbohydrate, some studies have shown that sweet potatoes can help stabilize blood sugar levels and lower insulin resistance.

So if you’re looking for a more substantial lunch virtually guaranteed to address your carb cravings in a healthy way then this could do the trick!

Ingredients:

80g Baby Spinach leaves

70g Cherry Tomatoes, halved

1 Egg, hard boiled, cooled and quartered

120g Sweet Potato, boiled or dry baked, cooled and torn in to pieces

40g Lemnos Reduced Fat Feta, crumbled

Dressing: 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard, 100ml apple cider vinegar (or similar), 50ml water, salt, pepper, stevia to taste

Accompaniments: 5g Pepita seeds and 5g of sunflower seeds

 

Method:

1. Place the spinach, tomatoes, sweet potato and feta in a mixing bowl

2. Mix the dressing in a separate bowl or jar

3. Dress the salad, toss and place into a serving bowl or plate.

4. Sprinkle over the optional seeds.

 

Nutritional Information

Serves 1 and with accompaniments contains:

395 Calories

18.7g fat (of which 7.1 is saturated)

26.8g protein

26.4g carbohydrate (of which 9.8g are sugars)

6.1g fibre

Muesli can be an excellent source of energy, protein and fibre and a great start to your day.

However the issue with most shop-bought muesli’s is they are packed with sugars, in the form of dried fruits, honeys and added fruit or sugar syrups. 

The truth is it’s a snap to make your own home made muesli with my “Magic Muesli” recipe.

It’s high in fibre, protein and healthy fats, low in sugar, high in antioxidants, has anti-inflammatory fighting additives and can actually help lower your blood pressure.

Enjoy!

Ingredients:

20g Organic Raw Rolled Oats (or Steel Cut Oats)

10g Spelt or Oat Bran

5g Pepitas

5g Sunflower seeds

6g Ginger, freshly grated

1 Brazil nut, chopped

4 Walnut halves, chopped

1 teaspoon Cinnamon

¼ teaspoon Vanilla powder

Zest of 1 lemon

Stevia to taste

Accompaniments: 80g Jalna Low Fat Vanilla yoghurt and 50g frozen blueberries warmed.

 

Method:

1. Add all ingredients except the accomaniments to a maxing bowl and mix well.

2. Warm the Blueberries in a 900W microwave for about 1 minute.

3. Whip the yoghurt with a fork for a few seconds until a creamy consistency is achieved.

4. To serve place the dry mixture in a serving bowl, top with blueberries and yoghurt.

 

Nutritional Information

Serves 1 and with accompaniments contains:

334 Calories

14.9g fat (of which 2.3g is saturated)

10.6g protein

43.5g carbohydrate (of which 12.5g are sugars)

6.5g fibre

When I went to visit Michelina recently it was a very cold day and she had developed this gorgeous heart-warming soup, low in fat, high in fibre and packed with metabolism-boosting Cayenne Pepper and Ginger.

We enjoyed it for lunch together and I was thrilled (and a little proud) to see she had embraced the food principles in my book “Half The Woman I Was”.

Feel free to adjust the cayenne pepper and ginger to your desired levels, but as these are the most ‘active’ ingredients in this soup, more is better.

If you’ve got fructose-mal absobtion then don’t use onion or leek, just substitute more celery for them.

For those who have a bean problem result in excessive or uncomfortable wind, you’ll be pleased to read that adzuki beans are one of the lowest gas-producing beans. Most importantly, learn how to prepare them properly by reading my article “Are Legumes A Has Bean” here and you should suffer only minimally, if at all.

Finally if you’re making your own home-made chicken stock, be sure to let it cool in the fridge overnight and skim the fat before use. If you don’t have time then feel free to grab a pack of Campbells Salt Reduced Chicken or Vegetable stock instead. It’s not quite as good as home-made, but it will do nicely.

Enjoy!

Ingredients:

1 cup of Adzuki beans

3 full sticks of Celery

3 medium Carrots

1 leek or onion

3 small cloves of garlic

2” piece of Ginger root

1 litre home-made chicken stock, fat skimmed off

½ teaspoon Cayenne pepper

1 teaspoon Coconut oil

Fresh Coriander and Parsley

Himalayan sea salt

 

Method:

1. Soak adzuki beans over night

2. Put the adzuki beans in a saucepan and cover with water

3. Bring saucepan to the boil

4. Simmer for about 40 minutes until the beans are cooked

5. Once cooked, rinse, drain and set aside.

6. Finely chop the celery, leek/onion and garlic

7. Chop the carrot into slightly larger pieces

8. Roughly chop the fresh herbs

9. Finely grate the ginger

10. Sauté leek or onion, garlic, ginger in coconut oil for a few minutes until the leek/onion is translucent.

11. Add all of the other ingredients and bring to a boil

12. Simmer for 30 to 40 minutes until all ingredients are cooked

13. Taste for and additional seasoning

14. Serve and garnish with additional fresh chopped herbs.

 

Nutritional Information

1 Recipe Serves 3 and 1 serving contains:

255 Calories

3.3g fat (of which 2.0g is saturated)

13.5g protein

46.0g carbohydrate (of which 12.5g are sugars)

11.4g fibre

 

Who said you can’t eat chocolate for breakfast? You can if you follow this easy recipe using these deliciously crunchy cacao nibs.

So what are cacao nibs? They are one of the world’s best ‘Superfoods’ – an organic wholefood rich in antioxidants, and magnesium which also increases happy neurotransmitters to make us feel good throughout the day.

Those from Professional Whey originate from the criollo cacao bean from Satipo in Peru and are Fair Trade. But don’t think sweet chcocolate, these tiny super crunchy morsels are very bitter, and may take some getting used to.

This recipe is a raw take on the warming Ginger Spiced Oats I posted the other day. Deliciously moorish, this is a higher calorie recipe designed to be eaten as two half meals, or to serve two.

And with pomegranates in season it’s a great opportunity to boost your antioxidants and fibre intake, keeping you fuller longer. Pomegranates are best when they’re red and BIG! They shrink in size as they dry out making the seeds hard and tasteless. Deseeding a Pomegranate can take a bit of time and effort (Click Here to see the easy way to deseed a pomegranate), but the seeds can be kept in an airtight container in the fridge for a week or so.

If pomegranates aren’t in season in your neck of the woods, then usually berries are. So substitute the same weight for blueberries and raspberries.

If you’re gluten or wheat intolerant oats, whilst GF, can be contaminated with wheat product during processing. So to be safe you can substitute the raw rolled oats with Macro’s Rolled Spelt or GF Steel Cut Oats.

For a ‘softer’ more easily digested recipe I soak the oats overnight, particularly if using rolled spelt or steel cut oats. But you can also eat this straight away if you like a more raw texture.

Ingredients

20g Raw rolled oats or rolled spelt flakes (available from Macro)

10g Oat Bran or Barley Bran

2g Ground cinnamon

2g Groung mixed spice

10g fresh ginger root

80g Jalna low fat vanilla yoghurt

60ml milk

5g pepita seeds

5g sunflower seeds

10g Cacao nibs (Click Here for Supplier)

60g Pomegranate seeds

4 raw almonds

1 raw brazil nut

2 raw half walnuts

Method

1. Place the oats, bran, spices, yoghurt and milk in a breakfast bowl.

2. Finely grate the ginger, and add to the bowl.

3. Stir and cover and place in the fridge for 12 to 24 hours so that mixture thickens and softens.

4. Just prior to serving, roughly chop the nuts, add these and the pepitas, sunflower seeds, cacao nibs and pomegranate seeds to the bowl.

5. Stir and enjoy.

Nutritional Information

1 recipe contains:

459 Calories

20.4g fat (of which 4.3g is saturated)

13.2g protein

58.3g carbohydrate (of which 26.3g are sugars)

4.8g fibre

Serves 2

When you’re in a hurry and on the go it can seem simpler just to grab a ready-made shake or breakfast drink. But these products are not healthy, and they’re generally full of wheat and simple carbohydrates which means you’ll be craving more food quickly because your blood sugar is elevated, and this will most likely mean you’ll end up eating more throughout the day!

If you’re going to have a breakfast shake, then you need to learn how to do a healthy version at home – and here it is!

Making a classic creamy smoothie at home doesn’t require complex ingredients or a lot of milk or yoghurt. But it does require the right equipment and a little of the right kind of protein powder, without fillers or added flavourings or sugars.

The right equipment is a powerful blender. The best blender is a Thermomix, but if your budget doesn’t stretch to this marvellous machine then do some research and buy the most powerful blender you can find, one with a chopping function and a good warranty.

As for protein powders there’s a huge array to choose from. With the exception of some Misashi powders, very few are worth using as they are not pure protein, and generally higher is simple carbohydrates which defeats the purpose of using the powder in the first place. When I do use powders (which isn’t that often) I only use them from Professional Whey. Owner Stephen has developed a great range of pure protein powders (all aimed at his main market of muscle building gym freaks, so forgive the masculine looking site).

My favourite is the Micellar Cassein MPI Powder as it’s a slow release protein powder, and it’s low lactose and gentle on the old digestive system. It is, however, a bit grainy, so when I get it I Thermomix it with his Vanilla Bean powder and some of his Stevia for a short time and it becomes a really great addition to this smoothie, making it really creamy, thick and luscious.

Ingredients

15g of Micellar Cassein MPI powder (Click Here for supplier)

60g Raw carrot

60g Raw celery

10g Fesh ginger root

50g raw lemon (no peel)

80g raw orange

80g fresh (or frozen) banana

220ml Water (or ice in summer if you prefer it granita style)

Stevia to taste

Method

1. Roughly chop ingredients and add to blender or Thermomix

2. Add protein powder and water

3. Blitz the heck out of it until it’s smooth. In a thermomix it’s 1 minute on Speed 10.

4. Pour into a large glass, and enjoy.

Nutritional Information

1 recipe contains:

182 Calories

0.4g fat (of which 0.2g is saturated)

16.2g protein

32.8g carbohydrate (of which 25.2g are sugars)

7.5g fibre

Serves 1

OK this may not look like the yummiest breaky out there, but I have to tell you it’s so delicious it is surely one of my favourite, hearty winter breakfasts!

It’s a favourite not only because it’s high in fibre to fill you up, but it’s also packed with complex carbohydrates to keep your energy levels sustained throughout the morning.

The cinnamon helps lower your blood pressure, and the ginger (my favourite miracle spice) not only helps reduce inflammation, it also has carminative, anti-flatulent, and anti-microbial properties. And there’s plenty of vitamins and minerals in there too, so it’s all good stuff.

Feel free to substitute the steel cut oats with raw rolled oats, but it’s best not to use instant oats as they’re chopped smaller, will cook quicker, have less fibre and your body extracts more calories from them than more wholesome, less processed ingredients. You can also add a spoon of Chia Seeds to Step 1 if you want to boost the protein levels.

Finally, 10g of ginger is a lot, so if you’re not a huge fan of it start with just a little and work your way up.

Ingredients

20g of Organic Steel Cut Oats (Click Here for supplier)

8g Oat Bran or Barley Bran

2g (1 level teaspoon) Mixed Spice

2g (1 level teaspoon) Cinnamon

10g of fresh ginger root, finely grated

150ml Water

60ml Low fat milk or soy of your choice

100g fresh banana

Stevia to taste

Method

1. Put steel cut oats, bran, mixed spice, cinnamon, stevia and water into a microwave proof bowl.

2. Mix thoroughly and place in microwave.

3. Cook at 450 Watts for 10 minutes.

4. When cooked, scrape down sides and stir in milk and banana.

5. Place back in the microwave and cook for 1 minute on 900 Watts.

6. Let stand for 3 minutes to cool.

7. Stir and enjoy.

Nutritional Information

1 recipe contains:

216 Calories

3.1g fat (of which 1.0g is saturated)

7.8g protein

44.8g carbohydrate (of which 20.7g are sugars mostly from the banana)

5.3g fibre

Serves 1

Tom Khaa Soup (also known as Tom Yum) is the most famous of all Thai soup recipes; it features all four flavours – salty, sour, sweet and spicy – and is guaranteed to get your metabolism racing. I’ve had plenty of Tom Yums in Melbourne but they’re rather mild compared to the ones I’ve had in Thailand.

This is the most traditional recipe I have found and one which will instantly clear out your sinuses, warm you up and get that metabolism fired up.

Helpful tips: Lemongrass is quite a woody spice, and the galangal and ginger can be quite strong and unpalatable to eat whole so you can either remove these prior to serving, or mince them before cooking with them.

And remember, if you’re making your own chicken stock at home (which is very easy by boiling up a couple of chicken carcasses in water with some finely diced onion, carrot and celery for an hour or two) then make sure you cool the stock in the fridge overnight first. This way any fat from the chicken will congeal on the top and can be removed prior to using, making the stock low fat.

Ingredients:

6 cups good-quality low fat chicken stock

4 kaffir lime leaves (can be purchased at most Asian food stores), OR 1/2 tsp. lime zest

2 stalks minced lemongrass, finely sliced

2 cloves garlic, minced

12 thin slices of galangal or ginger root

1 fresh red chili, with seeds, finely sliced

1 Tbsp. Thai Nam Prik Pao chili sauce

Fresh shiitake mushrooms, sliced

Juice of 1 lime

2 Tbsp. fish sauce

1 Tbsp. soy sauce

12 medium to large shrimp, shells removed

A handful of fresh basil

1/2 cup Carnation evaporated milk

1 tsp sugar or equivalent sweetener

A handful of fresh coriander

Optional: Additional vegetables of your choice, e.g. handful of broccoli, cherry tomatoes, or baby bok choy

Method

1. Place stock in a large pot over high heat.
2. Add the lemongrass and lime leaves and bring to a boil.
3. Reduce heat to medium.
4. Add the garlic, galangal/ginger, chili, chili sauce, mushrooms, lime juice, fish sauce and soy sauce.
5. Stir well and simmer 3 minutes.
6. Add the shrimp, basil leaves and any optional vegetables, if using.
7. Simmer until shrimp are pink and plump (about 3 minutes).
8. Reduce heat to medium-low and add the milk.
9. Ladle soup into bowls evenly and serve with fresh coriander.

 

Time: 25 minutes

Serves 4

 

This tasty Thai salsa has no oil, is low fat, extremely low calorie and high on protein and fibre so it will fill you up fast.

With the Asian flavours of coriander, mint and Thai basil, it has the unmistakable sweet, sour and salty balance thanks to a little sweetener, fresh lime juice and some fish sauce.

It makes a great healthy dip with your favourite vegetables (carrot, celery, capsicum crudités) or a small handful of organic corn chips (see here for the low down on corn and corn products).

Thai salsa is also perfect fat-free topping for any piece of steamed or oven baked fish, especially oily fishes like Atlantic salmon.

And blizt it into a sauce for cooking chicken, turkey, lamb or even tofu! How many ways can you use this Thai Salsa?

Ingredients

½ cup fresh mint leaves

½ cup fresh coriander leaves

½ cup Thai Basil leaves

1 small chilli (or more if you like your salsa firery!)

10g fresh ginger, peeled

3 large cloves garlic

250g tomatoes

100g qukes or peeled and seeded cucumber

100g red onion, spring onion or celery (for fructose mal-absorption)

2 tablespoons fresh lime juice

1 teaspoon fish sauce

Stevia to taste or 1 tablespoon SplendaTM

Method

1. Chop the tomato finely and set aside in a colander to drain any excess liquid

2. Chop the qukes and onions or celery finely

3. Chop the herbs and chilli, finely, removing the chilli seeds if you prefer a mild salsa

4. Peel and mince the ginger and the garlic

5. Mix the above ingredients in a bowl and add the fish sauce, fresh lime juice and sweetener

6. Serve immediately, or store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.

Alternatively if you have a Thermomix, place herbs, chilli, garlic and ginger in a bowl and blitz using the Turbo button for 2 seconds. Add the remaining ingredients and process for 10 seconds on speed 4 or until combined and chopped to the desired consistency

If the salsa is too ‘juicy’ let it sit for 20 minutes in the refridgerator to infuse and then drain in a colander.

Nutritional Information

1 recipe / 500g contains:

126 Calories

1.0g fat (of which 0g is saturated)

6.3g protein

24.1g carbohydrate (of which 11.1g are sugars)

7.1g fibre

Serves 4

 

Remember the old school days before the word peanut struck fear into the hearts and minds of school teachers everywhere? As kids we used to eat a lot of peanut butter. But with our new view on healthy eating we’ve come to realise that commercially bought peanut butters are generally packed with sugar, salt, oil and additives, which are best avoided.

In actual fact homemade nut butters are a healthy option, and in moderation can form a delicious and nutritious part of a healthy eating plan. There are plenty of nuts that contain real health benefits – walnuts, Brazils, almonds just to name three. Read my blog on the benefits of different nuts here.

And when it comes to homemade nut butters the bottom line is that healthy versions should contain only one ingredient… NUTS! So here’s how to make your own healthy home-made nut butters.

Making homemade nut butter can take up to 15 minutes of actual time in the food processor to release the oils from the nuts, so this is a job of patience. You’ll need a good quality food processor or a Thermomix and for best results follow these tips.

Tips

Always start with fresh raw and unsalted nuts.

Nuts are high in natural oils and can go rancid when stored at room temperature so store them in the freezer until ready to use.

You can roast your nuts just prior to making homeade nut butter (on 80 degrees Celsius for about 40 minutes), but raw nuts are best used to preserve the natural oils, vitamins and minerals.

For a runnier consistency include a proportion of nuts with a very high natural oil content like macadamias, cashews or Brazils.

If your homemade nut butter is a little too firm you can add a small amount of nut oil such as macadamia oil to get the desired consistency.

Once your homemade nut butter is finished you can season to taste with spices, herbs, mineral salt or a sweetener if desired.

Remember to store your finished homemade nut butter in the refrigerator and remember it will firm up when cold and keep up to 2 weeks (if it lasts that long!)

Sigrid’s Basic Homemade Nut Butter

Ingredients:

60g raw almonds (with skin)

40g raw Brazil nuts

30g raw Pecan Halves

40g raw Walnut halves

30g raw hazelnuts

A little macadamia oil (if required)

Pink salt flakes

Method:

1. Place the nuts in the work bowl of a food processor fitted with the regular cutting blade.

2. Process the nuts for about 45 seconds and stop the machine and then scrape down the sides of the bowl. You will have nut crumbs.

3. Continue processing for another 1 to 2 minutes until the ground nuts come together into a ball. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.

4. Taste the nut butter and add a little mineral or pink salt flakes.

5. Continue to pulse the nut butter until it reaches the desired consistency – up to another 10 minutes depending on the quality and strength of your food processor.

6. Stop and scrape down the sides of the bowl regularly to ensure even texture.

7. Store your homemade nut butter in a sealed contained in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.

This butter is delicious on a piece of toasted 100% rye sourdough or pumpernickle.

For Chunky Nut Butter

Remove 35g of the nuts prior to processing.

Follow the nut butter instructions to step 6 when the nut butter is finished.

7. Then stir in the nuts that you had set aside.

8. Process for a few seconds to cut the whole nuts into chucks.

9. Store your homemade nut butter in a sealed contained in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.

Cinnamon Walnut Butter

Ingredients:

200g raw shelled walnuts

½ teaspoon (or more) of cinnamon

Pink salt flakes to taste

Sprinkling of Stevia extract to taste

Method:

1. Place the walnuts in the work bowl of a food processor fitted with the regular cutting blade.

2. Process the nuts for about 45 seconds and stop the machine and then scrape down the sides of the bowl. You will have nut crumbs.

3. Continue processing for another 1 to 2 minutes until the ground nuts come together into a ball. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.

4. Taste the nut butter and add the cinnamon, salt and Stevie. Adjust any quantities you require.

5. Continue to pulse the nut butter until it reaches the desired consistency – up to another 10 minutes depending on the quality and strength of your food processor.

6. Stop and scrape down the sides of the bowl regularly to ensure even texture.

7. Store your homemade nut butter in a sealed contained in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.

 

Iced tea can be one of the most refreshing things to drink on a hot day. Particularly popular in America where it’s been drunk since the 1700’s, it’s not seen the same widespread enjoyment here, although it is enjoyed all over Europe and Asia.

Low in calories and high in anti-oxidants getting the perfect iced tea recipe is also quite healthy. According to the National Cancer Institute, the presence of catechins in tea may help in treating and preventing cancer. And according to the Linus Pauling Institute studies have shown that certain teas, especially green and oolong, may assist in weight loss.

So why not give this refreshing beverage a try, and to make sure your experience is enjoyable, try these handy hints for the perfect iced tea recipe.

1. Use Enough Tea Bags

When foods are served cold, the flavours become dulled. So stronger teas, like Darjeeling, Jasmine or green teas, work better when served cold. Use at least two tea bags for every 750mls of water for best results.

2. Don’t Over Steep

If you prefer your tea stronger, use more tea bags rather than lengthening the steeping time (which is usually only around a minute or two). Allowing tea to overstep brings out the tannins in the tea and can make it bitter. For weaker tea, use the same number of bags and simply reduce the steeping time for better flavour.

3. Add Sweetener to Hot Water

If you sweeten your tea, add the sweetener to the hot tea in order to dissolve the grains. If you prefer to sweeten your tea afterwards then make a simple syrup from your sweetener rather than use granules which will leave grains in your glass.

4. Cool Before Refrigerating

Putting hot tea into a cold fridge will often result in cloudy tea. Allow your tea to cool for at least 30 minutes before you refrigerate. If you do end up with cloudy tea sometimes adding a bit of boiling water to it can fix it.

5. Stay Real

Don’t use artificial juices or ‘fake’flavoured tea bags. Only use real fresh squeezed juices for the very best flavour.

6. Fresh is Best

Your perfect iced tea recipe tastes best when it is freshly made. Make only what you will drink in two or three days.

 

Iced Tea on a Hot Day

2 fruit tea bags (whatever is your preference)

12 mint leaves, torn

500 mls boiling water

500 mls unsweetened pineapple or other fruit juice, chilled

2 passionfruit, halved and pulp removed

2 cups ice cubes

250 mls diet ginger beer, chilled

 

1. Place tea bags and half the mint in a large, heatproof jug.

2. Add boiling water and steep (jiggle) tea bags for 1 minute then remove

3. Let tea cool for 30 minutes then refrigerate until cold.

4. In a 2 litre container add chilled tea, fruit juice, passionfruit pulp and mint.

5. Stir until passionfruit seeds separate and tea is well combined.

6. Chill until ready to serve.

7. To serve half-fill each glass with tea, add ice cubes and top with ginger beer.

 

Irish Apple-Teas

2 Irish breakfast tea bags

500 mls boiling water

1 cinnamon quill

½ Vanilla pod, split in half

500 mls clear unsweetened apple juice

½ red apple, sliced

½ lemon, sliced

Sweetener to taste

Crushed ice, mint sprigs and honey (optional), to serve

 

1. Place tea bags in a large, heatproof jug.

2. Add boiling water and steep (jiggle) tea bags for 1 minute then remove

3. Add cinnamon quills and vanilla bean and let tea cool for 30 minutes.

4. In a 2 litre container add tea, cinnamon quills, vanilla and apple juice, then cover and leave to chill and infuse overnight.

5. To serve pour the tea into a jug. Add the apple and lemon slices, crushed ice and mint sprigs, then serve with honey or a non-sugar sweetener if desired.

 

More Ideas

T2 Has a range of additional recipes you can find in their blog here: http://blog.t2tea.com/how-to-brew-ice-tea/