Recipes

Ingredients for curry paste:
Fresh Coriander Root/ Stems (½ Cup)
3 x Cloves Garlic
1 tsp Ginger
1 x Fresh Chilli
1 Tbsp Curry Powder
1 Tbsp Olive Oil

Method:
1. Pound ingredients in mortar and pestle or combine in a food processor
2. Fry off curry paste in a large non-stick pot until fragrant
3. Add two brown onions and ½ butternut pumpkin (cut pumpkin into 1cm cubes)
4. Cook onions until softened. Add small amount of water if needed to prevent paste from sticking and burning
5. Add one can of low fat coconut milk and one can of water
6. Add 750g – 1kg chicken
7. Cover and bring to the boil
8. Turn down and simmer until pumpkin has completely broken down and has become like a sauce. At this stage the chicken should have broken down also
9. Take off the heat and stir in one lime leaf finely sliced and a handful of coriander leaves
10. Add desired steamed cook vegetables stirred through, serve and enjoy!

Breakfast: Eggs & Porridge
Post-Training: Protein Shake
Post-Training Meal: Chicken Stir-Fry & Rice Noodles
Lunch: Prawn Salad
Afternoon Snack: Egg Salad
Dinner: Steak & Salad

So this is what I’m eating six days this week with one day of  food flexibility as I like to call it. I have noticed recently that when I do indulge in something different that my stomach and digestive system don’t necessarily agree with my choices and have no problems letting me know either. A lot of bloggers are experiencing this in one way or another and like them I’m doing something about it after seeing my naturopath on the weekend. Lift Health & Sport where I buy all of my supplements employs a variety of staff who are either nutritionists and/or naturopaths. So when I was there on the weekend picking up my supplements (Vital Greens & HMB) I asked about this very topic as well as my skin allergies. What I’ve been recommended to do is a three stage detox program each lasting two weeks. Unfortunately I’d already bought and prepared my food for this week so will start next week and document the process.

Someone mentioned a chocolate flourless cakes which immediately tweaked my interest, I am a girl after all. I’ve always wanted to try one so I checked out my recipe book collection, I was right there was one in my 80/20 Diet Cook Book. Next thing I knew I was at the supermarket buying the couple of ingredients that I didn’t have for them ready to cook up a storm in my kitchen, it’s been a while. Instead of baking a cake size I opted for a muffin size, which in my opinion is a much better portion size for us health and fitness ladies. I was happy with how the recipe turned out and liked the cake best, the chocolate topping was not to my liking and the defrosting raspberries were a little bit on the tart side for my taste buds. The remainder chocolate flourless muffins have been frozen for if/when the need may arise for that ‘food flexibility’. I’ll even post the recipe up at some stage on Fit for Comsumption.

Time to wrap this post up. I’m about to head outside on this beautiful autumn’s day for my afternoon cardio.

Eggs and bacon might sound like an unlikely inclusion in a healthy cookbook but cook in the right way and served with one or two vegetables provides a perfect balance of carbohydrates, protein and fat.

Preparation Time: 10 Minutes

Cooking Time: 10 Minutes

Ingredients:
4 Eggs
4 Lean Cut Bacon Rashers (all excess fat trimmed)
4 Multi-Grain English Muffin Halves
Handful Fresh Spinach Leaves

Spicy Tomato Salsa:
12 Cherry Tomatoes (finely diced)
1/4 Red Onion (finely diced)
1 Fresh Red Chilli
Juice of 1/2 Lime
1 Tbsp Chopped Coriander

Method:
1. To make the spicy tomato salsa, combine all the ingredients in a small bowl and set aside.
2. Bring a lard saucepan or deep frying pan of water to a simmer. Crack the eggs and gently slip them, one at a time, into the simmering water. Cook for 3-4 minutes, or until the egg whites are opaque and the yolk is still quite soft. carefully lift out the eggs with a slotted spoon and drain.
3. Preheat the grill to high and cook the bacon until crisp. Meanwhile, toast the muffin halves.
4. To serve, layer the muffins with a handful of spinach leaves, the bacon and top with a poached egg and a spoonfull of tomato salsa. Garnish with coriander.

Cook’s Tips: To minimise the spreading of the egg whites when poaching the eggs, break the egg into a teacup, then gently slip the egg into the water. Some cooks also like to add a dash of vinegar or lemon juice to the water before they poach the eggs. This helps the egg white to set, but may also flavour the eggs slightly.

Per Serve:
Calories: 270
Protein: 23g
Carboydrates: 27g
Fibre: 5g
Fat: 8g

Note: The Low GI Diet Cookbook has the original recipe but I’ve made a couple of ingredient adjustmenets to suit my requirements. Enjoy ladies!