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A Dinner Time Favourite – Chicken and Mustard
This Chicken and Mustard dish is one of our favourite dinner time recipes. It’s taken from the Jamie Oliver 30 minutes cook book and is by far the best tasting chicken dish there is because even the kids love it! Winner!
The original recipe is served with dauphinoise potatoes and leafy greens, but we choose to forgoe the potatoes.
Ingredients
- A few sprigs of fresh rosemary
- 6 x chicken thighs
- 4tsp English mustard powder
- 3 baby leeks or 1 large leek
Chicken and Mustard – Jamie Oliver 30 minute meals
- 4 cloves of garlic
- White wine
- 75ml single cream
- 1 heaped tsp wholegrain mustard
METHOD
TO START: Put a medium saucepan and a large ovenproof frying pan on a low heat and turn the oven on to 220C. Fill and boil the kettle. Turn the heat under the frying pan up to medium. Pick and finely chop the leaves from the rosemary sprigs and sprinkle them into the pack of chicken. Sprinkle 1tsp of mustard powder over each thigh, then season and drizzle some olive oil over the chicken and in the frying pan. Massage and rub these ingredients into the chicken. Continue by putting the chicken thighs into the pan, skin side down. Wash your hands well. Press down on the chicken to help it cook. It should take around 18 minutes in total. Trim the leeks and halve lengthways. Wash them under the cold tap, then finely slice them and add to one side of the chicken pan. Crush 4 unpeeled cloves of garlic into the pan of chicken. Flip the chicken thighs skin side up, then press down on them again. Stir the leeks and add a good swig of white wine. Check the chicken is cooked through, then pour 75ml of cream into the frying pan. Turn the heat off. Transfer the chicken thighs to a board and slice into uneven pieces. Stir 1 heaped tsp of wholegrain mustard into the sauce, then taste and adjust the seasoning, if necessary. Spoon the sauce on to a platter and put the chicken on top. Drizzle over some extra virgin olive oil and take straight to the table along with the veg you choose to have.
You can serve as it is with the chicken, leeks and potatoes, or you can choose to add a side of greens, perhaps some spinach or chard…
Enjoy
Keith
Winter Warmer Butter Bean and Chorizo Stew
As the weather gets colder the last thing I want for lunch is a salad, I just crave warm home cooked food. It’s so much easier to make the wrong food choices in the winter! So for lunch today I found a lovely recipie for a winter warmer Butter Bean and Chorizo Stew, and it only took 20 minutes. Bounus!
Ingredients
200g cooking chorizo
2 x 400g cans chopped tomatoes
2 x 400g cans drained butter beans
1 tub fresh pesto
Firstly, slice the chorizo and tip into a large saucepan over a medium heat. Fry gently for 5 minutes or until starting to turn dark brown.
Add the tomatoes and butter beans, then bring to boil and simmer for 10 minutes.
Swirl through the pesto and season lightly. Spoon the stew into bowls and serve.
This stew is great eaten as it is, or with quinoa.
Enjoy!
Slow Cooked Beef Stew
It’s that time of year again, when a salad for dinner won’t do. The days are shorter and the temperature is dropping so it’s time to get the slow cooker out and try this delicious, tender slow cooked beef stew.
I like to add a few more vegetables to my stews than the recipe shows, but it’s up to you. So here you go.
Recipe
1 Onion , chopped
2 celery sticks, finely chopped
2 tbsp coconut oil
3 carrots, halved and cut into chunks
2 bay leaves
½ pack thyme
2 tbsp tomato purée
2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
2 beef stock cubes or stock pots
900g beef
Beef for braising such as skirt, buy a whole piece and cut it yourself for bigger chunks or buy ready-diced
2 tsp cornflour (optional)
½ small bunch parsley
Parsley , chopped
Cauliflour rice or Quinoa (optional)
- Fry the onion and celery in 1 tbsp coconut oil over a low heat until they start to soften – about 5 mins. Add the carrots, bay and thyme, fry for 2 mins, stir in the purée and Worcestershire sauce, add 600ml boiling water, stir and tip everything into a slow cooker. Crumble over the stock cubes or add the stock pots and stir, then season with pepper (don’t add salt as the stock may be salty).
- Clean out the frying pan and fry the beef in the remaining oil in batches until it is well browned, then tip each batch into the slow cooker. Cook on low for 8-10 hrs, or on high for 4 hrs.
- If you want to thicken the gravy, mix the corn our with a splash of cold water to make a paste, then stir in 2 tbsp of the liquid from the slow cooker. Tip back into the slow cooker, stir and cook for a further 30 mins on high. Stir in the parsley and season again to taste. Serve with cauliflour rice or quinoa if you like.
Snacks That Won’t Harm Your Weightloss Goals
Snack Attacks
The key is to snack right – and to snack right, you need to plan ahead. When you’re prepared for snack attacks and have a healthy snack on hand, you’re in control of your diet and your weight loss.
Choosing to diet and change the way you think about food can be very difficult. If you have been eating a certain way for many many years it can be a challenge. Cravings, hunger and the stress of trying to manage a new and healthier diet can lead to snacking on the wrong foods, which will sabotage all of your hard work.
Hummus is great as a healthy snack.
However, if you’re prepared for these potential challenges you can keep your diet on track.
Healthy Snack That Won’t Harm Your Weightloss Goals
Here are seven quick healthy snack ideas that won’t sabotage your weight loss:
- Nuts – A bag of nuts is a great snack because contain the kind of healthy fat your body needs. Grab small snack bags and fill them with a handful of nuts. Almonds, hazelnuts, pistachios and even walnuts are all a fantastic and delicious snack.
- Vegetable crisps and guacamole – vegetable crisps (the healthier option) and homemade guacamole are a great snack. Avocados, like nuts, are rich in healthy fats. A dollop of guacamole and five or six vegetable crisps is a perfectly healthy snack.
- Yogurt – Natural yogurt is perfect as a snack. Add a few nuts and seeds and some fresh berries for a well-rounded and delicious snack. If you aren’t able to eat dairy, we love coconut yogurt from Coconut Collaborative.
- Tuna or sardines – Fish is full of omega fatty acids and it’s high in protein. Tuna and sardines with crackers is a healthy snack.
- Nut butters – Almond and Cashew butter is great on top of celery, apples, bananas or even in a spoonful in small smoothie.
- Veggies and hummus – I love Hummus and is always something that we have in our fridge at home, it makes a great snack, just add celery sticks, carrots and other sliced vegetables and you have a super tasty snack.
Snacks are a healthy part of a diet, if done right. Plan ahead and make sure you have your healthy snack with you or in a convienent spot. Use these healthy snacks to help you keep cravings at bay and get all the nutrients you need to get and stay healthy.
Keith
Top 3 Ways To Drink More Water This Summer
Top 3 Ways To Drink More Water This Summer.
Its been a hot couple of weeks and love it or hate it the heat set to continue for another couple! We all know that we need to drink a lot more water (me included) but with our busy days, it’s hard to remember to pick up a pint of water let alone 7! And in the summer months we usually require more. In this post I will help you with top 3 ways to drink more water this summer.
Why Drink Water?
Drinking water is the most important thing that our bodies need to survive and provides a tonne of benefits.
- Flushes out all the toxins from your body in the form of sweat and urination.
- Helps promote clear skin, again by flushing out rubbish from your body.
- Helps to promote weight loss by increasing your metabolism, helps to reduce hunger and helps you to eat less if you drink a glass 30 minutes before a meal.
- Increases energy and reduces fatigue. Feeling tired whilst sitting at your desk all day? Drink a glass of water, it definetly helps me get through the rest of the day.
- Boost your immune system. Drinking plenty of water helps you to
stay healthy, you are less likely to suffer colds and flu, it helps to fight against cancer, heart attacks and other health aliments.
- Helps with with digestion. Water helps keeps bowl movements regular, it is important in helping digest food and stops constipation.
- Got a headache? Drink some water, chances are you are dehydrated and will soon feel much better once you have had a couple of glasses.
How Can You Get More Water in This Summer?
So as you can see water is super important to have in our diets, but for most difficult to drink because of time,
forgetfulness and for some, dislike of the taste. Here are three reasons I use to help me get my 2 litres.
- Buy yourself a water bottle or simply refill an empty waterbottle. I find I drink more if I have a bottle next to me that I can refill. It’s best to have a 2 litre bottle and aim to finish the bottle by the end of the day. If you aren’t use to drink that amount, start slow and increase the amount you drink each day.
- If you aren’t a fan of the taste of water, try adding some lemon to add flavour. You can even create some flavoured water using fruits and spices. I make a jug full in the morning and keep in the fridge to drink throughout the day.
- Set some kind of reminder to help you drink more throughout the day. Set and alarm to go off in set intervals or place red dots around your desk or workplace, everytime you see a red dot, drink some water.
Well I hope my top 3 ways to drink more water this summer, helps you stay hydrated.
Keith