Archives for November, 2014

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No Comments November 5th, 2014 Blog

I’ll have my cake and eat it!

So the #30daychallenge is over. It coincided nicely with a christening we were having, so I enjoyed the food, the cake and the wine even more. I found the last 4 days very hard. Probably because I knew the end was in sight and I was sick of limiting myself to certain foods.

Overall, I found it a very beneficial exercise. I’ve a lot more energy and I am sleeping sounder each night. I did lose weight at the start, but as that was not what I wanted, I added some extra food into my diet and finished at the same weight I started, although much more toned. I do have the before and after photos and the difference is very noticeable. (My wife won’t let me post the photo, so you will have to take my word for it!)

Will I keep to the changes? I’ll keep to the majority of them. First back into my diet is oats and dairy and having tried a few paleo/gluten free/sugar free attempts at cakes, I think I’ll just treat myself to the full on, sugar laden, fat filled authentic version of Tiramisu every now and then (and less than before.)

I’ll definitely be cutting out the bread, pasta, grains (excluding oats) and pulses, as well as significantly cutting back on sugar. But if a recipe calls for some soy sauce or some baking powder, then I’ll have no problem using it.

For something healthy-ish, here is a recipe for tasty banana bread.

http://terrylyons.ie/recipes/healthy-banana-bread/

 

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No Comments November 5th, 2014 Recipes

Chicken and Chorizo Stew

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Chicken and Chorizo Stew
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Serves: 4
 

Ingredients
  • 1 onion, finely chopped
  • 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
  • 100g chorizo, fresh if possible, sliced
  • 6 chicken thighs + 2 chicken breasts, chopped
  • Red and yellow pepper, chopped
  • 300ml Chicken Stock
  • 15 baby tomatoes

Instructions
  1. Cook the onion for 5 mins and then add the garlic
  2. After 1 minute, add the chorizo and cook for 1 minute
  3. Add the chicken and cook for 3 minutes
  4. Add the peppers and the tomatoes and cook for 1 minute
  5. Finally, add the chicken stock and cover with a lid, cooking for 30-40 minutes until the stock has reduced.

 

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No Comments November 5th, 2014 Recipes

Healthy Banana Bread

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Healthy Banana Bread
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Serves: 10
 

This is a healthy version of banana bread. If you use gluten free bread soda, it classifies as Paleo. Wrap it in tinfoil when it is cool and it is fantastic with some almond butter.
Ingredients
  • 1 ½ cups of ground almonds
  • 2 tbsp coconut flour
  • ¾ tsp salt
  • 1 ½ tsp baking soda
  • 5 eggs
  • ¼ cup coconut oil
  • 1 tbsp honey
  • 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
  • 2 very ripe bananas, mashed

Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 170 C
  2. Mix the ground almonds, coconut flour, salt and baking soda together
  3. Mix together the eggs, oil, honey, vinegar, vanilla and bananas.
  4. Add the wet mixture to the dry mixture and mix with a hand blender
  5. Put the batter into a greased loaf tin and cook for about 30 minutes until cooked
  6. To check if it is cooked, stick a skewer in the middle of the cake and it should come out clean.

 

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