Super Boost Salad

January 21, 2014January 21, 2014Leave a comment

I love this recipe because it is a simple list of ingredients that you can get in your local supermarket. It is ready in minutes………. just chop everything up and toss in to a bowl. I tend to roast the pumpkin and sunflower seeds as I much prefer the flavour and texture to raw (just grill for a few minutes until they start to turn brown). The zingy ginger dressing is delicious. I ~~cheat~~ make a sensible short cut by using ginger in a tube.

The intense colour of the red cabbage gives away it’s superb antioxidants, the humble carrot contains a fascinating combination of phytonutrients, carotenoids, anthocyanins and are a very good source of biotin, vitamin K, potassium, vitamin B6, and vitamin C. Apples are full of polyphenols, fibre and vitamin C. Seeds, a fabulous combo of healthy fats, fibre and protein. Ginger has anti inflammatory properties. The amazing medley of nutrients in this recipe truly make it a super food.

If you feel sleepy and lethargic after your usual lunch of a bagel, sandwich or jacket potato, try a big bowl of this instead! Add some protein from fish or chicken, and this can help you to feel full up, bright and alert for the rest of the afternoon. If you are very active or are an athlete in training, add some wholegrain rice or quinoa to boost the healthy carbs.

Make a big batch, and you’ll have enough for the next day too!

350g red cabbage grated/shredded
3 carrots grated
20g pack parsley, roughly chopped
2 Cox’s apples (or any red apple), quartered, cored and sliced
handful of radishes or 2 celery sticks, sliced
1 tbsp pumpkin seeds
2 tbsp each sunflower seeds

For the dressing

2 tsp grated root ginger
1 tsp clear honey
2 tbsp lemon juice
4 tbsp light olive oil

New Year’s Day Turkey Dinner – 5 tips on what NOT to do!

January 2, 2014January 2, 20142 Comments

It’s a tradition in the Danaher family to have another Christmas Dinner on New Year Day.

Christmas Day – Conor, Evie, cousin Tilly, Beth and cousin Toby

Having spent a lovely Christmas up at Dec’s parents’ in Cricklewood in North London, I volunteered my services to provide the New Year offerings. I’ve never done the turkey dinner before, but thought ‘how hard can it be?’. It’s just a big chicken.

Dec left for rugby training and coaching duties at 7.30am on New Years Day, with an ETA for returning home at approximately 6pm. Impeccable timing as usual (insert raised eyebrow emoticon here).

As I was saying “How hard can it be?”. With the three children to keep an eye on, I wanted to keep it straight forward, so I was offering one choice only at each course (my mother in law puts me to shame with at least 4 options for the starter and pudding, and three choices of gravy).

The menu

Starter: Homemade Tomato Soup & Wheaten Bread

Wee Man Chef, fashioning vintage London Irish Hat

Wee Man Chef stirring the soup, fashioning vintage London Irish hat

Main course: Turkey, stuffing, carrots, broccoli, roast potatoes, gravy

A surprisingly fabulous combination

Pudding: Christmas Crumble homemade (berry, apple and cinnamon), custard and ice cream

Booze: wine, Magners, Gin and Pepsi Max Cherry (forgot to buy the tonic)

With a cheat sheet of timings to ensure everything went tickety boo, what could possibly go wrong?

Top 5 things not to do when cooking the turkey dinner:

When in the presence of toddler, check oven temperature regularly: Wee Man aka Conor, 19 months old, has a radar for locating and messing with all things he shouldn’t. This includes oven knobs. So two hours in to the cooking time I discover he’s wacked the temperature up a significant number of degrees. On a positive note, better too hot than too cold. Cremated better than food poisoning.
Remove tiny plastic bag from the turkey innards (of whatever that stuff is in it), before putting turkey in oven for 3.5 hours: I did remove some ‘stuff’ from inside the turkey (as per instructions) before cooking, however, upon carving Dec discovered an extra little plastic bag. In my defence, it was hidden right up at the closed end so was easy to miss. In a ‘glass half full’ way, we made the assumption that Sainsbury’s took in to account idiots like me and made sure they use heat proof bags (it was intact and not melted). Luckily, this minor drama unfolded in the kitchen and was not witnessed by the awaiting guests.
Monica checking for tiny plastic bags
Remove spongy sheets from under the turkey before plopping in to the baking tray. I discovered these while discarding the carcass at 10pm. I had NO IDEA they were there (there was no mention of them in the instructions).
Check that the foil is fully covering the turkey. An hour before completed cooking time, the instructions told me to remove the
I did a Ross on the turkey

foil to allow for browning. Unfortunately, the fan oven had blown the foil off half the turkey. So we had one anaemic side and the other half with an oompa loompa tan. Not to worry, I just covered the brown half for the final hour to let the other side catch up.
Don’t forget the cranberry sauce – when Beth (6) announced that her dinner “was a bit plain”, it reminded me that we had made a special trip to the shops in the torrential rain for this essential turkey condiment (and for Uncle Tim’s Magners).

The results:

All in all, everyone was terribly gracious and polite regarding their New Year’s Day meal (bar Beth ‘a bit plain’ Danaher). So far, there have been no reports of food poisoning. Rest assured, in future I shall be taking on board the above tips for what not to do. Next year we’re off to my folks in Bangor, N. Ireland, for the first Christmas there in 7 years! My final top turkey tip for 2014 is for my Mum…….perhaps I should take responsibility for the drinks and leave the festive food to the seasoned experts. Gin and Pepsi Max Cherry anyone? Yehaaaaaaaaaaaaa*!

*always drink responsibly

Dinner is served! Granny and Grandad are hiding behind Tim and Tamara

Turkey – post tanning drama, pre discovery of added extras

2013 – the year of chronic sleep deprivation

January 1, 2014January 1, 2014Leave a comment

So following a month long sabbatical from blogging, I’m hoping to get back on the wagon!

I took a bit of a break because four months of getting up at 5am to write blogs and do client admin everyday (including holidays, weekends etc), took it’s toll and I was getting burnt out. Existing on 5 hours of broken sleep is doable over the short term, but chronic sleep deprivation was not compatible with looking after 3 children, a husband, shopping, cooking, cleaning and trying to build a business! Husband Dec works long hours (today, New Year’s Day when most have the day off, he’s leaving at 7am and home 7/8pm…..ish) so I’m on my own with the kids pretty much all the time. I’m not complaining, just telling it how it is.

Chronic sleep deprivation was making me tired and a bit (!) cranky with the kids, leading to a vicious circle of them and me being grumpy and stressed. Getting three children out the door to school on a cold winter morning with packed lunches, school bags, coats, hats, gloves, scooters and to the gates ON TIME with no tears on the way is a major achievement!

I was also becoming dependant on coffee fixes. I LOVE coffee, but was having up to 5 cups most days. I don’t think coffee is a bad thing as it does have health benefits. However, for me 5 cups a day didn’t feel right (although could be considered within recommended limits). ‘Needing’ the coffee fix was probably purely psychological……..I was telling myself that it would get me through, and that coffee was good for me. If I had stopped and asked if I really wanted it in the physical sense the answer was ‘no’. Although I love the taste, it made me feel a bit bleurgh and with a dull headache.

The Nutrition Business

From the business perspective, tiredness meant I was losing sight of where I was going. My original plan about this time last year was to stay broad with the types of patients I would advise and to see where the road took me. I have 12 years experience of working with both children and adults in most dietetic specialities within the NHS. But the chronic tiredness meant a fuzzy head and I couldn’t see the woods for the trees. Any business advisor will tell you that you need to focus on your niche. Over the last month, with 7 hours sleep under my belt each day, the fog has cleared and I have been able to identify that my speciality is becoming digestive health. About 70% of my clients contact me for help with gut problems, usually a diagnosis of Irritable Bowel Syndrome.

A recent development in treatment of IBS is the low FODMAP diet. It sounds gimmicky, but I can assure you it is not another fad diet. One in 5 people suffer, and the scientific evidence is proving that it is extremely successful for 75% of people. Results are fast (symptoms can be resolved with in a few days) and although it doesn’t cure IBS, the change to people’s lives is wonderful to see. Professionally, helping people with IBS using this method is truly the most rewarding thing I have done.

My plan for 2014 is to set up a dedicated private IBS Clinic in Kingston where I can devote my time to helping people with IBS. Skype appointments are also a definite possibility too giving access to consultations for people unable to travel to KIngston. Currently there are very few NHS dietitians experienced in the low FODMAP diet (it is quite a complicated to start with) and waiting lists are long. The big hurdle is letting people know about the clinic and the effectiveness of the treatment. Advertising, marketing and publicising my service is very new to me. As a dietitian working in the NHS it is not something I had to think about! I’m working with Sue at B1 Creative who is helping me with the marketing side of things…..firstly a nice poster to put up in GP surgeries, libraries and anywhere else that will oblige!

Today, New Year’s Day, we’re having Dec’s family this evening for a turkey dinner. It’s a Danaher family tradition to have a repeat of Christmas Day, minus the presents. Wish me luck……..I’ve never done the turkey before. Here’s the menu:

Tomato Soup with wheaten bread
It all got a bit much for Sarah while cooking the turkey
Turkey, stuffing, roast potatoes, carrots, broccoli, gravy
Christmas Crumble with vanilla ice cream and custard

How hard can it be?! If I’m not losing the plot, I’ll post some pictures of the preparation. Wish me luck!

Shepherd’s Pie – healthy make over

October 11, 20137 Comments

It has become popular for recipes, especially those online, to display the nutrition information. Hopefully this will empower the reader to make better health choices, as without this information, people generally underestimate the calories and fat in a dish.

BBC Good Food’s Shepherd’s Pie

Despite it being one of my jobs to estimate the nutritional value of food, I was a little shocked by the nutrition information that had been added to the Shepherd’s Pie recipe I’ve been using for years. One portion weighed in at over 660kcal and 39g of fat (and let’s face it, we usually have a little bit more than our allocated amount!) 660 calories is great for my 102kg rugby player husband who requires over 4000kcal per day, but for most of us, this is too high in saturated fat, calories, and too low on the veg and fibre. Most of us should aim for about 2000kcal, 45g of fat and 75g fibre per day.

So hoping to adopt the culinary equivalent of Laurence Lewellyn-Bowen’s Changing Rooms makeover genius (raised eyebrow), I set about reinventing my favourite shepherd’s pie recipe.

So how did I make the recipe healthier?

Reduced saturated fat: swapped lamb mince to lean beef mince, drained the excess fat, left out the butter from the mash.
Increase veg and fibre: added an extra carrot, replaced half the stock with a carton of tomatoes, added cooked red lentils (you really don’t even notice they’re in there), used half normal potatoes, half sweet potato for the mash

Result? 33% fewer calories, 70% less fat, 50% more fibre.

Here’s a comparison of the nutritional analyses of the original and made over recipe per portion:

	original	healthier
Kcal	660	440
Fat	39	12
Protein	33	32
Fibre	6	9

And do you know what? It was actually rather good! The children and their friend from school finished a plate full each. Sounding a little perplexed, the friend said that she doesn’t usually finish her dinner. Ha! Healthier doesn’t mean less tasty!

5 Feel Fabulous Breakfast Foods

October 5, 2013September 7, 20141 Comment

Reasons to eat breakfast:

It doesn’t have to be a soon as you get up, but try to have something within an hour or two of waking. Here’s why……

breakfast eaters tend to be a healthier weight
breakfasts tend to be nutritionally dense with, fruit, dairy, whole grains, setting you up with a healthy start to the day
breakfast will stabilise blood sugar levels resulting in enhanced memory, improved cognitive ability, and increased attention span
children who eat breakfast perform better in school and in sport. They have better concentration, problem-solving skills, and eye-hand coordination

Here are 5 of top breakfast foods:

Oats – filling, high fibre, low glycaemic index, cholesterol lowering. Make traditional porridge, summer oats, or homemade muesli. Play around with the various oat textures. If you like very smooth porridge, go for Ready Brek; or if you like chunky, nutty and a bit chewy sprinkle some jumbo oats on to some yogurt.

Berries – these are low in calories but pack a mighty nutrition punch. High in antioxidants and anti inflammatory anthocyanins, they fight chronic conditions such as heart disease and diabetes. Add to oats,porridge, greek yogurt, or in a super shake

Eggs – eggs have received a bad press over the years due to the cholesterol content of the egg yolk. We now know that dietary cholesterol doesn’t have a significant effect on blood cholesterol, in fact recent studies show that 2 eggs a day may improve cholesterol levels. They are one of the most nutritious foods that you can eat: omega 3 fats, lutein, choline, all the B vitamins, as well as vitamins A, D, E, K, high protein, iron. Health benefits: regulate blood sugar, anti inflammatory, heart, brain, hormone, eye and skin health. Have 2 scrambled, dry fried, poached eggs on a piece of wholemeal toast, or try a sweet breakfast omelette.

Seeds – pumpkin, sunflower, sesame, flax/linseed, all provide essential fats that benefit the heart, brain, skin and are anti inflammatory. Sprinkle on to yogurt or into porridge to bump up the protein and good fat content.

Toasted pumpkin & sunflower seeds

Greek yogurt – this type of yogurt has been strained resulting in a concentration of the protein. Normal natural yogurt has 4g protein/100g. Greek yogurt has double this, making it high in protein therefore more filling. Being dairy, it is also high in calcium. Try to buy greek or ‘high protein’ yogurt, as greek ‘style’ doesn’t have the same high level of protein (greek style & normal natural yogurt not a bad choice though, just not as high in protein).

Total Greek yogurt

Danio high protein yogurt

Chocolate Spread

October 2, 2013October 2, 20131 Comment

Here’s a recipe for a healthy chocolate spread which has evolved from my Cocoa Bar recipe. Nutella is the most well known chocolate spread, but did you know that as well as hazelnuts and milk, the main ingredients are sugar and palm oil? One tablespoon has 100kcal and 11g sugar (that’s more than 2 teaspoons of sugar per tablespoon i.e. it’s 75% sugar).

In this recipe I use cocoa powder, ground almonds, almond milk (or any milk!) and honey for sweetness.

Nutella 1 tablespoon: 100kcal, 11g sugar

Homemade Chocolate Spread: 30kcal, 2g sugar

Ingredients:

1/2 cup ground almonds

1/4 cup cocoa powder sieved

1/4 cup milk

Cocoa Powder

2 teaspoons honey

Ground Almonds

Just mix all of the ingredients together. Have a taste, if you want it a bit sweeter, add a little extra honey!

Delicious spread on toast, or try mixed in some plain yogurt with a sliced banana!

This should keep for up to 5 days in the fridge. It depends really on the milk you have used eg. cow’s milk should be used within 3 days of opening the bottle, while Alpro Almond Milk should be used within 5 days of opening.

Cocoa Bar recipe

September 30, 2013August 12, 20146 Comments

Being a dietitian, I can’t help myself but to study food labels.

The popular Nakd bars are pleasantly short on the list of ingredients. Cocoa Delight is made from 48% dates, 29% cashew nuts, 17% raisins and 6% cocoa powder.

On the face of it an ideal healthy snack, especially for hungry kids after school, with no added sugar, oils, butter, additives, preservatives etc. (more after school snack inspiration). So I’d limit to one a day, mainly because the dates and raisins make it very sweet, albeit with natural sugar. There is the equivalent to a tablespoon per bar (that’s almost 50% sugar). A ‘high sugar’ food has more than about 20g/100g sugar. These bars have 43g/100g. On a positive note, the almonds make it low GI (digested slowly), high in vitamin E and the cocoa powder, dates and raisins are high in antioxidants.

Homemade Cocoa Bars

So, as a ‘treat’ food, I thought I’d experiment with my own version…..I just took the %s from the ingredients list and equated that to the weight (and doubled to make more). I also substituted the cashews for ground almonds. These can be bought already ground up, making it a bit easier.

Here are the ingredients and quantities (makes 6 bars):

ground almonds

100g dates, blended or very finely chopped

Dates

60g ground almonds/cashews

30g raisins, blended (or finely chopped)

Cocoa Powder

10g cocoa powder

Mix all the ingredients together either in a small blender/food processor or by rubbing in with your fingers, it takes a few minutes, and it will be quite dry and crumbly.

Press in to a tin, taking time to pack the mixture in so it is well compressed. Put in to the freezer to cool. The will be ready to chop in to bars after about an hour.

Nutrition info for each bar: 123kcal, 3g protein, 14g (natural) sugar

Lots more healthy snacks

5 reasons Mums can’t lose weight