Info all Articles

Wow its really feeling autumnal at the moment, its been dull dark weather all day but at least the trees are turning a beautiful colour. I really do love this time of year, I’m even starting to get excited about Halloween!

I started my day with my usual hot water and lemon (I always have a mug of warm water with the juice of half a lemon everyday when I wake up) and then a yummy bowl of Dorset Cereal Tropical Fruit and Fibre Cereal with two chopped figs, a chopped plum and soy milk.

This tasted really good! I’m not that fussed on cereals usually but this hit the spot. Probably something to do with the fact I ate twice the recommended serving amount, haha!

Mid morning I snacked on some carrot and cucumber with a little home made white bean dip (1/2 can of cannellini beans, juice of half a lemon, 2 garlic cloves, 1 tablespoon of olive oil, water, blended in food processor for two servings)

This was really tasty, will be making my own dips and hummus a lot more often me thinks!

Lunch was a beautiful salad including kale (massaged with garlic olive oil), quinoa, spring onions and flaked almonds mixed with grated carrot, courgette and apple. I dressed it with a little bit of apple cider vinegar.

This was really tasty and filling, the apple added a lovely sweetness. I also had an orange.

Before heading to the gym I had a Beet It Shot (review to come soon!)

At the gym I did 30 minutes of HIITs on the step machine and cross trainer followed by my abs exercises and my spin class. We had a new instructor today and she was great, it was a much tougher class, I really felt the burn!

For dinner I made an Asian Chicken and Vegetable Noodle Broth (serves 2):

• 2 chicken breasts (I used 1 super big one)
• 3 cups of hot chicken stock
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 chilli, finely chopped (I use the pre chopped chilli from a tube)
• thumb size piece of fresh ginger, peeled and minced
• 3 tablespoons of soy sauce
• juice of one lime
• 2 carrots made into ribbons using a veggie peeler
• 1 courgette made into ribbons using a veggie peeler
• handful of mushrooms sliced
• 4 spring onions, chopped
• 2 heads of pak choy sliced length ways
• Egg noodles (optional)

Heat the pan of chicken stock and add the soy sauce, lime juice, garlic, chilli and ginger. Slice the chicken into strips and add to the pan to poach in the hot stock. While the chicken is cooking make the noodles according to the packet instructions (or if like me your going for the veggie ‘noodles’ make into ribbons using vegetable peeler). When the chicken is cooked through add the mushrooms, spring onions and pak choy to the pan. Place the noodles or veggie noodles (or both) into a bowl then ladle the chicken and broth on top. Serve with more lime juice or soy sauce if desired.

This is a great recipe if you have a cold or feel a cold coming on. The garlic, chilli and ginger are excellent for making you feel better and the warm broth and chicken are so comforting. I wouldn’t use pak choy in this recipe again though, it went a strange chewy texture in the hot broth, yuk!

For desert I decided that I would make some protein pancakes. I combined a scoop of chocolate whey with 8 tablespoons of liquid egg whites, 1/2 teaspoon of baking powder and a few drops of natural orange flavouring. I made 5 little mini pancakes by frying the batter on a medium high heat with spray oil and flipping when the underneath of the pancake becomes set.

These are great, the inside stayed gooey – yum! They’re a bit like having a protein cake from the microwave but I found these a bit more filling. I ate them plain with some cacao nibs but as this recipe is less than 200 calories you could add some nut butter, yoghurt or agave syrup too. I also had an un pictured apple with cinnamon.

Talking of protein filled deserts…

Protein Ice Cream

I’ve had a couple of emails and comments from readers about the protein ice cream I’m currently addicted to so I thought I’d include a bit of information for you all. I got the idea from Heather Eats Almond Butter – she did a great ‘how to’ post here. This gives a great breakdown of how to make it including a video so if your really interested check this out. I’ve had to amend the recipe slightly to suit as I don’t have all those ingredients but what I end up with is still very tasty!

This is how I make my double chocolate protein ice cream:

To the blender add: 1 scoop of chocolate whey powder, 1 tablespoon of cocoa powder, 1 tablespoon of agave syrup or sweetener (to taste) and then about 1/2 cup of soy milk. I then add 4 ice cubes. You really need a decent blender with an ice crush function for this to work really well. I then blend this for a few seconds until smooth. Then add another couple of ice cubes, blend, add another couple of ice cubes and blend again. I tend to use about 8 ice cubes in total. Then I add 1/2 teaspoon of xanthan gum, blend and then check the thickness. If I want it thicker I add a 1/4 of a teaspoon more then blend, and so on (be careful not to over do it with the xanthan or it can go a bit of a strange texture)

Scoop the lovely thick mixture into a bowl and add the topping of your choice, my favourite is a few dark chocolate chips.

Holy yum!

I’ve found that the volume in this along with the xanthan gum makes me feel really full and has helped me to beat the Friday night snackies.

Heather also advises using guar gum but I am yet to find somewhere that sells it. I get my xanthan gum from the gluten free section of the supermarket.

Have you tried making protein ice cream before? What’s your favourite recipe / toppings?

Oh and before I go I read this fantastic article with Jamie Oliver, his show 30 Minute Meals started tonight on C4, I didn’t realise it would be shown so early so I’m going to have to catch up on 4OD. I’m such a big fan of what he’s trying to achieve, getting more of us to eat home made food. Are you a Jamie fan? I think you either love him or hate him!