My week in food and a new staple recipe

Damn I've been a naughty (AWOL) blogger this week. I intended to share a few foodie/fittie posts with you this week but the impulse to write never quite grabbed me *sigh*. I've been job hunting A LOT. And when I'm not doing this, I'm in the gym, buying/eating food, reading the posts of other lovely bloggers or being totally absorbed by the olympics. As I'm sure you don't want to hear about the job hunting (and God knows, I don't want to write about it) I'll write a little about the foodie-ness of my week, and update on the fittie-ness, reader-ness, and olympic-ness side of my week tomorrow. I know I said that my next post would be fitness related....but it's my blog so there ;-)

Food.

This week has seen the birth of my addiction to baked and stuffed sweet potatoes

Above is potato loaded with houmous (my homemade formula pimped up with coriander) On the right is a potato stuffed with green lentil and mushroom ragu (I'll pop the recipe below.)

I love serving them with a MOUNTAIN of greens/purples as it makes the meal all the more filling and virtuous.


So what else has been on the menu....

Overnight oats at breakfast with a lovely big mug of green tea. I've been adding in the fruit in the morning, typically frozen mango or banana and as many berries that I can heap into the jar. It fills me right up and has meant I can get my oaty fix without breaking into porridge sweats...save the sweating for gym, I think!













This week has also played host to some exciting snacks including sugar-free banana chips, multi-seed and carob 9bars (like chocolate), and the obligatory dark chocolate squares.












And my food highlight of the week was the farmer's market! I treated myself to a Caribbean Bajan Pie from the veggie deli (you can drool over this and their other delicacies here). It is based on a Caribbean favourite - macaroni and cheese pie, but instead uses orzo (last time I had this was in Greece) and cheese-like tofu. I really enjoy the spicing of, kind of curry-like but exotic at the same time, and I topped mine with hot pepper sauce as was recommended to me. Alongside a salad made with the lettuce I also bought at the market, it was a very satisfying dinner!







I also bought these veggies (purple kale, lettuce, yellow tomatoes, aubergine and round, yes round, courgettes)....I wonder what I will do with these! I really love my farmers market, it's just a shame that it is only twice a month. I have otherwise been mostly getting fruit and veggies from a local green grocer where I can get bundles of stuff for a pound or so - buckets of broccoli/cauliflower/cabbage, punnets of avocados and pairs of mangoes!





Oh, I'm sorry, did I promise a recipe? It's oil-free, vegan, sooooo easy to make and extremely versatile. As you saw, I served mine on a baked sweet potato, but I used up my remaining servings by serving it with some toasted rye bread smothered in avocado, and just as it was with some green veggies. I can also envisage it with pasta as a bolognese sauce, between pasta sheets for lasagna, or between aubergine slices for mousaka. Ready for it? Here you go then!

Green Lentil and Mushroom Ragu (3 Servings)

1 Medium onion - chop in half and slice
1 Bay leaf
300g White mushrooms - thickly sliced
1 Clove of garlic - sliced
400g Tinned tomatoes
400g Tin of green lentils - drained
1 Big handful of chopped fresh basil

• Steam-sautee the onion and bay leaf. That is, get a small amount of water simmering in a pan before tipping in the onions. Stir until the onion is soft and translucent and bay leaf is fragrant.
• Add in the mushrooms. These will release a  lot of moisture, so you shouldn't need to top up the pan with water, though add a splash if the mixture starts to stick.
• When the mushroom are slightly softened add the garlic. Keep cooking altogether until the mushrooms seem completely cooked through.
• Tip in the tomatoes and green lentils.
• Cover and simmer altogether for about 10 minutes, then continue to simmer uncovered for another 10 minutes or until you are happy with the sauciness of it - not too watery. Be sure to stir through the basil for the last couple of minutes.
• Season with salt and pepper if you like, and then serve!

See, I told you it was easy, and I hope that your mind is buzzing with ideas of how you could use this in other recipes or as a base to make it your own.

I am submitting this post to two blogging events - Healthy Vegan Fridays hosted by Shelby at Everyday Vegan Girl , Gabby at The Veggie Nook  and Carrie at Carrie On Vegan and to Wellness Weekend over at Diet Dessert and Dogs. These events always give me inspiration and keep my motivation to be healthy high over the weekend.


Hope you've enjoyed this very food and picture heavy post. Here's to something a bit less food obsessed tomorrow....maybe ;-)


Hannah xx

Double Recipe Post!

Today I am spoiling you, and you are getting two recipes that I have recently made but not got around to sharing. First up, are stuffed cabbage leaves. I was given a lovely cabbage from James' grandfather and wanted to use it in a kitchen experiment. I'm never one for getting fussy over things like stuffed leaves or anything that requires attention to the presentation - one pot is more my style - but it definitely seemed the most inventive way to use it. To get a basic idea of how to treat the leaves and how to cook it all I found a recipe but I think I did a good job of making it my own - I subbed in my own mix of quinoa and mixed beans (soaked and pre-cooked a day before) for the can of rice and beans in the recipe. Here's what I did if you fancy having a go yourself:

Stuffed Cabbage Leaves (serves 1)

3 Large cabbage leaves - be careful whilst pealing these away from the head
30g quinoa - Uncooked
120g cooked beans - any you like. This equates to about 50g of dried beans soaked overnight and boiled for an hour, or half a tin of cooked beans.
1 Tsp coconut oil
Half a red onion - Finely sliced
1 Tsp dried herbs - I used herbs de provence
100g tinned tomatoes  - Mine were arrabiata and so had extra chili chopped in, so feel free to add your own.

• Bring a large pot of water to the boil and carefully put the cabbage leaves in so that they are totally submerged. Leave to blanch for about 5 minutes, then drain and rinse in cold water so that they don't continue to cook and are easier to work with. If the stalks running through the leaves are thick, carefully use a knife toshave the stalk down so it doesn't protrude so much.
• Meanwhile, saute the onion in the coconut oil and stir the dried herbs in. When they are translucent, add the quinoa and cover with water by about a centimeter. Quinoa can take about 15 mins to fully cook in my experience and you will need to keep a close eye on whether or not it dries out. Add more water if you need to.
• Stir the pre-cooked/canned beans through the quinoa and onion mixture. You could also season at this point and add in any herbs you like.
• Spoon a third of the mixture into  the centre of each leaf and roll them by first folding in the sides and rolling them up (sorry, I realise that I should've put in a photo as it's kind of hard to describe). Put rolls in, 'seam' side down into a pan large enough to fit all the rolls in the base.
• Thin out the tinned tomatoes with a little water (a couple of tablespoons should do) and then pour over the rolls.
• Bring the pan to low heat, cover and simmer for about 30 minutes. Like the quinoa, keep an eye on the pan for moisture to keep the rolls from sticking.
• Serve up with any side you fancy, or just simply on their own.

I quite enjoyed these, and it's safe to say I was very proud of how they turned out, i.e. intact. Next time I will definitely look into adding more flavour as they were a little bland, by perhaps adding herbs, adding spices to the onions, and some bouillon when cooking the quinoa.

And your second recipe.....

Yesterday afternoon I verged on a food rut. If I'm hungry in the afternoon and now that I need a smallish meal to carry through a workout and onto dinner I'll have something easy - banana toast, cottage cheese, dark chocolate. But I didn't have any of those things to hand and I had the time to spare so I decided to cook something with the odd veggies I could find. I went for soup because it seemed the best way of incorporating the lentils and veggies I had to hand

Pea and Lentil Soup (serves 1)

50g Dry red lentils - Rinse throrougly
1/4 Tsp turmeric - Optional
1/3 Vegetable stock cube or 1/2 tsp of vegetable bouillon
Small handul of shelled broad beans
1 Spring onion - Roughly chopped
1/2 Cup of frozen peas
1 Tbsp fresh mint - Chopped

• Bring the lentils to a boil in enough water to cover by an inch and stir through the stock and turmeric (I nearly always add turmeric to lentils out of habit which is why they are randomly included in this recipe) 
• After about 10 minutes of boiling add the spring onion and broad beans
• Another 10 minutes later add in the peas and mint.
• Cook all together for another 5 minutes or until the lentils have completely softened.
• Transfer to blender and blend. Some blenders will need you to allow the mixture to cool before blending, otherwise there will be a soup explosion! Alternatively use a hand blender.
• Once smooth, transfer back into the pan and bring the soup back up to temperature.
• Season with salt and pepper if you prefer, and serve.

I really liked the fresh flavour and the bright green colour brought on by the turmeric. The lentils helped give body and a protein boost. Even Barney the dog was eyeing it up ;-)

I am submitting this post to two blogging events - Healthy Vegan Fridays hosted by Shelby at Everyday Vegan Girl , Gabby at The Veggie Nook  and Carrie at Carrie On Vegan. This is the event's first week so why not support them by checking out the page or submitting yourself? Also I am submitting to Wellness Weekend over at Diet Dessert and Dogs which always gives me inspiration and keeps my motivation to be healthy high over the weekend.

Get in touch if you try anything out!

Hannah xx

Stuffed with Success!!!

Hello all!

Today has been an exciting day on both the fitness and food front so I shall split the blog into two

Fitness

A PB for outdoor running - six miles (almost 10K) - the furthest that I have ever run outside before, and I did it on sore legs too (thanks to just 10 minutes of messing around with a kettle bell yesterday). I then followed it with a quick yoga sequence recommended by Sarah at Sarah Learns and I could really feel it stretching all those key running muscles - very satisfying! Sarah says that it has changes her running recovery experience so I'll keep this up in the home of similar results.

My feet are now a mess though! They were already in pretty poor condition thanks to wearing high heels a couple of weeks ago and running in worn out trainers didn't help....I'll spare you the photos anyway!

For those of you on facebook, I also wanted to share with you today a page called Reasons to be Fit - check it out, motivattional images are posted daily with great mantras to inspire you. I loved this one today:

 

Definitely a healthier and more accurate saying than the 'nothing tastes as good as skinny feels', in my opinion!

And finally, this post on FitFluential caught my eye as I will be trying to keep my 10K training up (and general fitness) while holidaying in Greece for the next fortnight. It's about adapting and preparing yourself for changes in climate for runners and couldn't have come at a better time!

Food

I fuelled  my run this morning with one of my usual green smoothies (kiwi and strawberry this time)

I ate lunch out with my mum and indulged in a butternut squash and rocket risotto and I'm kicking myself for not photographing it for you! However it looked pretty much like this:

And dinner was an actual success! My first ever proper attempt at stuffed peppers based largely on this recipe from The Vegan Foodie, a blog which I shall be exploringa bit more in future I'm sure!

I followed the recipe almost exactly, though I had to use a combination of green and red lentils (ran out of green) and I unveganised it by subbing the crumb topping for some lovley melty cheese! I also used kale rather than spinach as I save spinach for breakfast. Aren't they sexy????

And I had it served with some pitta chips and some mushed up avocado with a squeeze of a lime to pump up the goodness...oh yeah...

These went down a treat with my mum and her boyfriend (both meat-eaters), so would definitely recommend if you're wanting to feed omnivores a veggie option!

Thanks again for reading, gang! I'll be checking in again tomorrow for perhaps my last blog for a while as I'm not sure how easy it'll be for me to blog in Greece.

Hannah x

What turned you?

Today's blog is inspired by a day-time repeat of Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's River Cottage Veg TV series (the accompanying book is also rather good). It reminded me of how much eliminating meat has changed my lifestyle, something I often forget given how normal it is for me now! I have eaten a meat-free diet for almost 18 months now (or ovo-lacto-vegetarian, dabbling in pescetarianism when choices are very limited), and I'm still often asked 'what turned me'.

However, there was no pivotal event that 'turned me', it was more a collection of good reasons that finally culminated in a resolve to eradicate meat from my diet:

• I wanted to be healthier - that isn't to say that I believe meat to be unhealthy, I simply found that the identity of being a non-meat-eater drove me to make healthier choices. A simple example is how easily I can turn down sweets that contain gelatin (and haribo used to be my addiction). Telling myself "not for me, I'm a veggie" has meant that I have never had to use will-power to resist.
• I wanted to save money - I was a student and a meat-free diet seemed a great way to save money. Even though I am now happy to spend more than most do on veggies, it seems a fair price to pay for the healthfulness I have discovered through eating more of the green (and orange, and red...) stuff. 
• I wanted to get better at cooking - cutting meat out offered an amazing opportunity to expand my repertoire beyond bolognese. The more I explored recipe books and website for recipes and inspiration, the more excited I was to try!
• To be greener - being an ethical consumer had been at the back of my mind for a long time as I used to work for a cosmetics company that prided itself on defending animal rights and sustainable use of resources. Vegeterianism, if done appropriately, is the more sustainable and ethical option given the considerable impact of the meat industry.

There are also considerable health benefits, such as lowering susceptibility to a whole load of illness, which weren't on my agenda 18 months ago, but given my mum's recent illness, I feel I have all the more reason to continue with this more healthy lifestyle.

The next question is inevitabley 'the protein question' or 'the so-what-do-you-eat? question'. I get sufficient protein, thank you very much, and I have only become stronger and fitter since I 'turned'. And I eat all kinds of soups, curries, stews, salads, open sandwiches/pittas etc. It just takes a little imagination, that's all, and when you think about it, all dishes are meat-free until the meat is added. I stick to staple smoothies, lunches and snacks, but in the evening I get creative! Here is tonight's meat-free experiment:

Kale and Aubergine Dal (for one)

1 tsp coconut oil (or whatever oil you normally use!)
Half a medium onion, sliced
Half a large aubergine, cubed
Half a tbsp medium curry powder (or use your favourite spices)
Tomato and red pepper sauce (half the quantity in yesterday's recipe) - or half a tin of tomatoes
50g dried red lentils, rinsed well
75g (2 good handfuls) kale, chopped

1. Soften the onions in the oil on a medium heat and then add the aubergine. Cook both together for 5 or 10 minutes until well softened.
2. Add the spices, cook for about a minute, then add the sauce/tomatoes
3. Stir in the lentils then add water (enough to cover the mixture well)
4. Allow the lentils to cook through, about 20-25 minutes, and stir regularly and add more water if needed.
5. Before serving, tip in the kale and allow it to steam through, mixing it into the dal.
6. Season (if you're into that kind of thing) and serve.

**This is a meal in itself for one, with no need for bread or rice, though you could share this between two and add rice etc. if you like **

I found this meal to be really comforting and satisfying, without leaving me with a stuffed or bloated feeling. Oh, and it was a tidy 326 calories, with 18g of fabulous plant-based protein. Let me know what you think if you try it!

Hannah x

P.S. Some resources on 'turning' if you're interested...
Peta
Vegetarian Society
49 Good Reason For Being a Vegetarian