recipes

If you read my blog on a regular basis you will know that the importance of eating breakfast and the great health benefits of eggs are 2 things that I bang on about a fair bit! Read my blogs on breakfast and eggs respectively to find out why. Of course you could just have simple boiled, poached or scrambled eggs, but I thought I would share a slightly more interesting, spiced egg recipe that really packs a completely different flavour punch.

Spiced Egg Breakfast – The Recipe

This recipe is for one and comes in at 350 calories. But it would be a good dish to do a bigger batch of for the family.

Ingredients

1/2 small red onion
1/2 fresh red or green chilli
1 small clove of garlic
½ a bunch of fresh coriander

1 small clove of garlic
½ tsp rapeseed oil
½ teaspoon cumin seeds

2 large ripe tomatoes
½ teaspoon garam masala
½ teaspoon ground turmeric
3 large free-range eggs
1 piece of wholemeal toast

Cooking Instructions

Heat the oil and sweat the onion, chilli, garlic, coriander stalks for 5 mins or until soft. Then add the spices and cook for 1 more minute. Then add the tomatoes for another minute or so. While that’s happening beat the eggs with a touch of milk and pinch of salt. Then add the eggs and turn the heat right down and cook nice and slowly until the eggs are cooked through. Add the coriander over the top and serve with a slice of wholemeal toast if you so desire!

Conclusion – Spiced Egg Breakfast

Eggs are serious good for. Spices are seriously good for you. Breakfast is really important. And it tastes great, so its win, win, win win! This recipe really does show that flavour and healthy eating can exist together, so give it a try.

Visit the main page of my website here; Complete Fitness 4 Life – Personal Trainer Tunbridge Wells.

Add serious flavour to any simple dish with any of these 3 seriously tasty sauces.

Barbecue sauce recipe
(95 calories)

Classic sauce we have all had before, but without the sugary, salty addition of tomato ketchup. But it doesn’t lack in flavour, just give it a try.

1 onion, finely chopped
1 tbsp water
400 grams (14 oz) tin of chopped tomatoes
1 tbsp of tomato purée
3 tbsp of cider vinegar
1 tsp tamarind purée (if you have it)

half  tsp chilli powder
½ tsp cinnamon
½ tsp paprika
salt and pepper all to taste

Ginger/Asian dressing
(75 calories)

Really punchy, strong flavours here. If you like Asian food you will love this.

2 tbsp onion, minced 1 carrot, shredded 2 tbsp white wine vinegar 2 tbsp cider vinegar 1 tbsp soy sauce 1/2 tsp sesame oil 1 tbsp mustard 1 tbsp fresh ginger, minced

Mango Chutney
(350 calories)

You will notice this recipe is a fair bit higher in calories than the other 2. That’s largely down to the mangoes. But this recipe makes a fairly big quantity and you don’t need a lot of it to give the dish a real flavour punch.

2 ripe mangoes (150g each), peeled and finely chopped 2 tsp olive oil 1 large onion, finely chopped 1 tbsp ginger, finely chopped 1 chilli, seeded and diced 2 tbsp light brown sugar 60 ml (1/4 cup) cider vinegar 250 ml (1 cup) orange juice bunch of coarsely chopped cilantro (coriander) salt and pepper to taste
Directions;
1/ Cook the onion, ginger and mangoes for about 3 to 4 minutes.
2/ Add the chilli, sugar, orange juice and vinegar and simmer for about 20 minutes.
3/ Stir in the cilantro (coriander) and add salt and pepper.

Conclusion – Seriously Tasty Sauces

These 3 sauces will add a real punch of flavour to what would otherwise be a pretty bland dish. Which means you can really quickly put together some veg/salad and a piece of protein and bring it all to life with one of these pre prepared sauces. Maximum flavour, minimum time!

Visit the main page of my website here; Complete Fitness 4 Life – Weight Loss Trainer Tunbridge Wells

Most people love baked beans. And they are quick and easy to prepare, making it a real go-to choice for a lot of people when they don’t have much else in/are short of time. The problem is the sauce they come in is seriously unhealthy. Highly processed, full of preservatives, high in sugar, high in salt to name of few examples. But the beans themselves are really good for you. High in fibre, protein and lots of vitamins and minerals. So try my bakes beans recipe. It really isn’t time consuming at all. Basically just throwing the ingredients in and letting them cook.

Baked Beans Recipe (2 meal size portions)

(780 calories)

Ingredients;

400 grams (14 oz) white beans, soaked overnight
2 medium onions, finely chopped
6 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 tbsp tomato puree/paste
200ml (3/4 cup) red wine
800 grams (28 oz) tinned tomatoes
2 bay leaves
3 tbsp brown sugar
Salt to taste

Directions:
1/ Drain the beans and simmer for 30 minutes.
2/ Heat some oil in a pan, add onion and garlic and cook for around 15 minutes. Then add tomato puree and cook for a further 2 minutes.
3/ Add wine and reduce for a few minutes.
4/ Add beans, tomatoes, bay leaf and sugar. Cover and cook for 1 hour.
5/ Serve with a baked sweet potato.

The best thing to do would be make up a batch quantity and then freeze the portions in individual servings. That way you can just get them out of the freezer and heat them up instead of doing the same with the much less healthy tinned option.

Conclusion – Homemade Baked Beans

A great way to pulses into your diet without all the added salt, sugar, preservatives of the tinned option. And far more tasty and fresh as well.

Visit the main page of my website here; Complete Fitness 4 Life – Personal Trainer Tunbridge Wells Area.

As promised another simple, tasty and healthy recipe to learn. Who doesn’t love Thai curry? Done this way it is actually really healthy, packed full of nutrients and still tastes great. I am using chicken here but you could easily substitute for prawns, fish or even tofu or quorn if you wanted. The flavour will be great whatever protein you use in this easy curry recipe.

Thai Chicken Curry

(make a big batch of the paste and freeze some for the next time you make it)
(410 calories per person)

300 grams (10 ½oz) chicken breast, cut into chunks
4 kaffir lime leaves (just use lime juice if you can’t get it)
200 grams (7 oz) coconut milk (low fat)
1 red pepper, cut into chunks
1 zucchini (courgette), cut into chunks
½ tbsp olive oil
a big bunch of fresh basil
50grams brown rice, boiled.

GREEN CURRY PASTE:
4 small green chillies (less if you aren’t too keen on spicy foods)
1 onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
20 grams (3/4 oz) ginger, minced
1 stalk lemongrass, diced
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp shrimp paste
3 Tbsp fish sauce
1 tsp brown sugar
2 Tbsp lime juice
Big bunch of fresh coriander/cilantro leaves and stems, chopped

Cooking directions;
1/ Put all the curry paste ingredients together in a food processor. Blitz into a paste.
2/ Heat a pan/wok, then add the green curry paste.
3/ Stir-fry briefly for around 1 minute, then add the coconut milk.
4/ Add the chicken, bring to the boil, then reduce to a simmer for 5 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.
5/ Add the pepper and zucchini, plus the strips of lime leaf, then simmer for another 2-3 mins.
6/ Add the fish sauce to taste, then serve with boiled brown rice.

Conclusion – Easy Curry Recipe

Curry is a great thing to learn to cook. It doesn’t have to be fancy. Garlic, ginger, spices etc are great ways to get flavour without the calories. That way it doesn’t taste like you are eating ‘diet food.’ Give it a go!

Wherever you are in the world chances are you are in lockdown right now with plenty of time on your hands and wondering what to do with it. As terrible a time as it is in a variety of different ways, we all have to look to find positives to take from our current situations. And learning to cook/learning a variety of healthy recipes can definitely be one of them.

When I talk to people about eating healthily and preparing their own meals with fresh produce one of the big stumbling blocks I come across is time. People either don’t or at least don’t think they have the time to cook healthy meals from scratch. Now is a great time to get good at it! You really don’t have to be a chef or even a decent cook to prepare a tasty meal in next to no time. Now is a great time to practice cooking some healthy recipes and (a) see which ones you like best and (b) to get the recipes down so in the future you can bring it together in no time without even thinking about it. Try this great fish recipe and see how easy it is!

Trout with mixed steamed vegetables and couscous

(320 calories per person)

2 whole trout – approx. 300 grams de-boned

¼ tsp cayenne

1 tsp paprika

1tsp Mustard

½ tbsp Balsamic Vinegar

Selection of vegetables, e.g. carrots, courgette, etc

50 grams couscous

Salt to taste

Directions:

1/ Mix the cayenne, paprika, mustard and balsamic vinegar and smear over mackerel. Then oven cook (180C/350F/GAS4) for 20 minutes or until fish is cooked.

2/ In the meantime steam the veg and cook the couscous.

3/ Serve.

Conclusion – Learn to Cook in Lockdown!

If you can set yourself up with 5 or more tasty, healthy recipes that you are confident in cooking you have won half the battle. Use this time to try different recipes out and perfect your skills. More recipes from me in the coming weeks.

Visit the main page of my website here; Complete Fitness 4 Life – Personal Trainer Online at the Moment!

What to eat for breakfast when you are trying to lose weight can be a bit tricky. You could go for an omelette with plenty of veg added to it which would be great. But most people don’t really have the time to prepare and cook that in the morning. You could go for porridge, but that still takes a few mins cooking time and I find a lot of people still find that tricky. You definitely want to stay away from toast and even worse would be a processed sugary cereal.

A lot of people love either a muesli or an oat crunch cereal/granola. The problem is they are full of refined and processed sugar and will therefore spike your blood sugar levels, not fulfil you and will mean you will be hungry again mid-morning. But the good news is you can make a really healthy and natural version of an oaty crunch cereal yourself. It takes very little time to prepare and you can make a big batch and store it in a container and it will last for weeks.

Homemade Oat Crunch Cereal – Recipe

This recipe makes 27 servings. This is on the assumption of a 50 gram portion serving.

1kg  – Oats (I prefer jumbo oats but that’s totally up to you)

150 grams runny honey

100 grams sultanas

50 grams mixed seeds

50 grams hazelnuts

Put the oats in a large oven proof dish and mix in with the honey. Put in a 150 degree oven for an hour. Then mix in the remaining ingredients and put back in the oven for a final 15 minutes. That’s it! It couldn’t be simpler.

The total for the recipe is 5132 calories. So for a 50 gram servings that’s 190 calories. Add 100ml of semi skimmed milk you have a total of 240 calories. Of course you don’t have to put in all the nuts and seeds. Whilst they are very good for you and add a nice crunch you could reduce the calories even further by not adding them.

Conclusion – Homemade Oat Crunch Cereal

This is a seriously quick and easy recipe that will last you weeks. So much healthier than any cereal you can buy.

Visit the main page of my website here; Complete Fitness 4 Life – Personal Training Studio Tunbridge Wells