The Healthy Eating Guide

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We use lots of self-justification to explain why we are not eating a healthy diet, even though healthy eating guidelines are to be found everywhere. Perhaps the most common excuse is that we are just too busy and too stressed to think about choosing a whole pile of suitable foods to make one of those boring healthy eating recipes. Then we go and pick up a ready meal or fast-food as if to justify our lack of time abandoning all thoughts of healthier foods. This compounds the problem because these meals are generally full of saturated fats, sugar, salt and cholesterol. The good news is that even if you only have a very limited amount of time you can still eat healthily without spending all day in the kitchen. It just takes a bit of planning.

Food shopping is not the greatest of experiences, in fact most of us dash round the supermarket at break neck speed throwing all sorts into the trolley. To eat healthy you need good ingredients and that means shopping sensibly. Take a little time and plan your meals for the next couple of weeks, bearing in mind your work and social commitments. You need good quality ingredients to have a good diet so make sure you always buy the best you can afford and take advantage of Continue Reading »

I have just been on holiday in France for a few days and I love the French style of eating. One of my favourite things are the delicious salads, which often have Walnuts in them. I love walnuts tossed in a little honey and gently roasted but they are a treat I don’t often have. The crunchy salads reminded me of a quick and easy recipe that I like to make now that picnic season is upon us. I like lush Pates and Dips but they aren’t always the best thing as they can be high in fat but this one uses low fat soft cheese and is full of minerals and vitamins. It is delicious, and ideal scooping with crusty bread or even spreading!

Ingredients

1 lb (400 gms) low fat soft cheese
2 tbsp (30 ml) chopped fresh herbs (or substitute 1 tbsp dried)
3 ozs (75 gms) fresh walnuts - pieces are fine
Bread or Carrot and Celery Sticks to serve.

Method

Put all the ingredients into a bowl or food processor and mix until well blended.

Put the mixture into a dish and smooth the top.

Cover and put into the fridge for a minimum of 20 minutes

Serve with chunks of bread or vegetables to scoop up the pate.

Serves 3 or 4 as a Starter sized portion

Asparagus is my favourite vegetable - and one of the things I love best is Asparagus Soup. It is best made with Sprue, which are the fine, thin spears of Asparagus. These are not generally regarded as being suitable for eating as spears but they have the most fantastic flavour and so are ideal for soups and purees.

1 Round (about 1lb or 400 gms) Sprue Asparagus
1 Onion, finely chopped
1 tbsp (15 mls) Olive Oil
1 tbsp (15 gms) plain flour
30 fl oz (300 mls) light vegetable stock
30 fl oz (300 mls) milk
Salt and Pepper to taste

Cut the tips off the Asparagus and put to one side, cut the rest of the stems into pieces about 1 inch long.
Heat the oil in a large pan and add the finely chopped onion, cook gently until softened but not brown.
Add the cut asparagus spears, but not the tips and cook for a few minutes.
Add the flour and continue to cook for one or two minutes.
Add the stock slowly, stirring gently, then add the milk.
Cook gently until the asparagus is softened.
Pass the mixture through a blender and then pour through a sieve into a clean pan to remove any stringy bits of asparagus - or you can just use a mouli, it takes a little longer but you get a better texture.
Add the asparagus tips and heat through gently.
Season to taste.

Serve with Brown Bread and Butter.

Serves 6

For more Asparagus recipes you can try Chris Sheehan’s wonderful book - A Passion For Asparagus

I love going to the Farm Shops and local markets to buy food. It’s so much fresher and better for you than out of season foods that have traveled goodness knows how far. It is almost like going on a treasure hunt when you set off, armed with your shopping basket, to see what you can find that is good to eat today. One of my favourite foods is very seasonal, and I have to say, I am also very fussy about it. I love Asparagus, but I only like the local Asparagus grown here where I live. It has a flavour and texture all it’s own that nothing else quite matches. It is delicious served just on it’s own with absolutely nothing else. The season is short, only a few weeks so I always aim to make the most of it.

A good friend of mine has written the most fantastic book about the best Asparagus in the world, the ‘Gras’ that grows in the Vale of Evesham. A whole industry has grown up around this wonderful vegetable, sadly it has suffered from the cheap imports from as far away as Peru, but the season is still eagerly awaited by the local residents and we munch our way through tons of the stuff from mid April to early June. A Passion For Asparagus is a beautifully written and illustrated book that is a joy to read for anyone who has the remotest interest in food, it’s place in our lives and the joys of fresh, local produce.

Chris has spent a great deal of time researching his subject and his passion for asparagus really does show through. The lore and legend of asparagus as well as it’s history is all well covered and there are a raft of excellent recipes included as well, even tales of some visitors to the area who were obviously not initiated into the joys of asparagus eating and tucked into the woody end, leaving the tender and delicate buds on their plates! There are some wonderful photographs of the annual Asparagus Auction which is held at The Fleece Inn in Bretforton, the only pub owned by the National Trust (and worth a visit in it’s own right). This is the culmination of the Asparagus Festival which started this year with a ‘dash’ to London to take the first Asparagus to the Houses of Parliament.

If you are interested in Chris’s book you can find out more, or obtain a copy here - A Passion For Asparagus.

I’m a great believer in Breakfast – if you start the day off properly with a well balanced meal, you seem to function better all day – and your body is better for it too.  Trying to do a day’s work on an empty stomach is really not sensible, you soon find yourself flagging and unable to function properly.  During the working week we tend to breakfast on the run but at weekends when you have a little more time, you can do something a little more special.

This baked egg dish is a real favourite of my family, either just as it is or if we are promoting it to ‘Brunch’ after a long lie in perhaps, I might add some crisply grilled lean bacon, or maybe some fresh muffins.  I like to use Tarragon but you can substitute any favourite herb.

Serves 4

Ingredients:-

2 tsp olive oil
4 ozs (100 gms) sliced mushrooms
2 large ripe tomatoes – chopped
1 – 2 tbsp chopped fresh Tarragon (2tsps if using dried)
4 eggs
Black Pepper to taste

Warm the oil in a pan and gently cook the mushrooms for two or three minutes.
Add the tomatoes, tarragon and pepper and remove from the heat
Pour everything into an oven proof dish and make 4 hollows in the mixture
Break an Egg into each hollow
Put the dish into a large roasting tin with sufficient hot water to come half way up the sides of the oven proof dish
Bake at 180C, 350F or Gas mark 4 for about 10 minutes or until the eggs are cooked toyour taste.
Serve!

There has been a great deal in the newspapers, on TV and Radio this week about Vitamins and Supplements and the potential damage they can do. I am not a Doctor, however I like to think I am a woman of reasonable intelligence and common sense.

This is my ‘common sense’ view on the topic which is raging all around us at the moment. If you have a healthy, balanced diet - why do you need supplements? I fully accept that there are some times in life when, following illness or as a result of certain health conditions your body might need some support, but surely not all the time. The human body does not hold vast reserves of vitamins and you should get all you need if you ensure that you have a diet that includes all the food groups. Anthing else is a waste of money and a strain on your body to process it.
It strikes me that we often take the ‘pop a pill’ approach to good nutrition because we are aware that we eat too many junk foods that we know are not good - we use them as an antidote. To eat a healthy diet is not difficult - even if you are not the greatest cook in the world, or are pushed for time - there are plenty of healthy and nutritious ready prepared foods available now, and they are a lot less expensive than vast quantities of unnecessary pills

These bars are just delicious - you can use Chocolate or Carob for the topping if you want something healthier.  There is no added sugar in these bars as the Dates contain all the sweetness you need.

8ozs (200gms) stoned, washed and roughly chopped dates
5 fl oz (125 mls) unsweetened Apple juice
2 oz (50 gms) Walnut pieces
4 ozs ( 100 gms) polyunsaturated margarine
4 ozs Plain Wholemeal flour
2 ozs (50 gms) Porridge Oats
1 Egg lightly beaten
2 ozs (50 gms) Plain chocolate or carob.

Lightly oil a 7 inch (18 cm) square tin
Put the dates and apple juice into a pan and bring up to the boil.  Simmer gently for 4 -5 minutes until the dates are soft.
Cool slightly before adding all the remaining ingredients, except the chocolate or carob
Press the mixture into the tin and bake at  180C, 350F Gas Mark 4 for around 30 minutes or until it comes away from the side of the tin.
Turn out and cool on a rack.
Melt the chocolate or carob over hot water and spread over the top of the cake.
Cut into 16 Bars.

Delicious with Coffee!