veg | A Crafty Chai

Tag: veg

11
Apr
2014

Feeling Fabulous and More Healthy Meals

I’m still on the hunt to make meals that are healthy, full of vegetables and made from scratch. It’s been tough, I won’t lie. The amount of time it takes to find meals to eat, plan a menu and shopping list in order to have meals that are healthy and that we actually we want to eat is immense! I know it’s because we’re trying new things and it’ll get easier and quicker, but it’s slightly overwhelming at times. Especially when you find a recipe to try and instead of taking the 50 minutes it says it takes to prep and cook, it takes an hour and a half and you don’t get to eat until 8pm. That’s really annoying. Please note, recipe writers, we don’t all have Michelin chef standard chopping skills!

Banana Berry Pancakes

Regular readers will know that pancakes for breakfast is my favourite. However, eating lots of white flour makes my tummy unhappy so I’ve been looking for alternatives. This was another recipe that looked quite easy and delicious, but took me a little longer than anticipated! They take a bit longer to make than regular pancake mix and they weren’t as easy to cook as the mixture is quite sticky, hence the darker colour! I liked these and I especially liked the berry sauce that went with it. I might make them again, but I’ll probably try another recipe or two first.

Winter Tagine

I wrote about this last week and I’ve made it again for me to have for lunch. It works perfectly as a lunch, as it’s quick and easy to warm up, tastes delicious and is far more exciting than an egg sandwich. This time, I halved the amount of liquid and cooked it for longer, though I’m not sure how much longer, I just did it until it looked thick enough. The good news is, that in it’s reduced liquid state, my OH has said it can go back on the menu! Hurrah!

Quorn Paella

We got this from the Quorn cookbook. It’s packed with veg, which is ace and it’s really, really nice. However, we think we used the wrong kind of rice and it took ages to cook. By ages, I mean at least an hour longer than anticipated. How we didn’t give up and get take away, I’ll never know! We will be making it again, though, as it was really tasty.

Pasta & Sausages with homemade sauce

This is our go-to super quick dinner. Quorn sausages, wholemeal pasta and a massive salad. It can be ready in about 10 minutes if you thaw the sausages out. We normally use a jar of Seeds of Change organic tomato and chilli sauce but I fancied making our own from scratch and came across this recipe on Pinterest. It was incredibly easy and I’ll definitely be using it again. I’m going to try and add some chilli next time to spice it up a bit but it was really good.

Lentil & Mushroom Ragu

I had high hopes for this recipe. Not only is it full of veg and lentils (I feel super chuffed whenever I use lentils this days!) Plus, in the write up for the recipe, it said that it’s great for meat eaters. It took a bit longer to prepare (30 minutes instead of 10!) and a bit longer to cook (over an hour instead of 40 minutes!) than it states, but for me, it was well worth it. It was delicious. I’m glad there’s leftovers as it’s really good, really filling and healthy too. I’d like to think I’ll make it again, but knowing how long it takes, I’m not sure if I will.

I’ve found it quite frustrating this week, to be honest. I’ve been overtired a bit and staying on track has taken a huge amount of willpower, especially as I’m a reluctant cook at the best of times. However, we have stayed on track, which is nothing short of a miracle! I’ve been close to ordering take away more than once this week but have stayed strong and I’m sure it’ll pay off. I’ve already got a few recipes I want to try next week so I’m looking forward to testing them. Have you tried any new recipes this week? How did it go?

26
Mar
2014

Feeling Fabulous and Healthy Eating

categories: Food & Drink

I’ve spent most of my life counting calories, working out sneaky (& unhealthy) ways of making sure I can eat junk food. Where has it landed me? In my early/mid thirties, still hating my body, still unable to fit into most of my wardrobe and being fed up to the back teeth of diets that DO NOT work. The reason they don’t work is that I have the attention span of a gnat and can only stick to them for a short amount of time, then I get bored and hit up Dominos. Fed up of swinging between feast and famine, I started the Feeling Fabulous 12 week course. It’s amazing! I know I’ve always been a rubbish vegetarian (there’s no meat in chocolate, right?!) so I finally feel like I’m eating like a proper veggie and a proper grown up. It’s not easy, because every meal takes planning and organising, making sure I do the online shop right (which I don’t!) but I’m never hungry, I’m not craving anything and I don’t feel like I’m missing out on anything. Take a look at some of my recent meals, most of which have come from Laura’s ace blog, Keeping Healthy Getting Stylish.

I’ve been enjoying Berry Baked Oatmeal for breakfast

Carrot & Cumin soup from the Soup for Every Day recipe book

Lentil and Feta salad with chilli, lemon and mint

Red Onion and Feta Crustless Quiche

This is what I’ve been enjoy for lunch. So delicious. I never thought I’d willingly buy a tin of lentils and actually use them! They were delicious. Everything is also really easy & quick to make.

For snacks, I’ve been enjoying lovely fruit, smoothies and a delicious homemade chai cake.

I’ve always stuck with boring ol’ apples and got fed up of them very quickly. No more, my friend. I love watermelon and pineapple so I’m enjoying them much more often.

I’ve never really been a fan of smoothies, but now, I’m almost addicted. I love my afternoon Green Monster and have even started a Pinterest board for recipes that I want to try.

I came across this recipe for a Flourless Cinnamon Chai Fruit Cake on Pinterest and knew I had to give it a whirl. While I’m not following a gluten free diet, my tummy is happier when I limit white flour and such like. This cake is delicious and I’m in love with the recipes on Wallflower Girl’s blog!

This week, I’m taking on our evening meals with a vengeance so tune in next week to see how they went!

How do you make sure you get enough fruit and veg in your day to day diet? Are you a smoothie addict? What’s your favourite recipe?

13
Mar
2014

Feeling Fabulous

categories: Fitness, Food & Drink

If you have been following my Instagram feed, you will have noticed quite a few images of fruit, veg and healthy snacks. My sister asked if I was on a diet. While the answer to that is no, I am trying to eat better. I’ve written before about not having much energy, and whether it’s down to lack of sunshine, a poor diet or just laziness, I’m trying to change things up a bit. Which is why I signed up to the Keeping Healthy Getting Stylish eCourse, 12 Weeks to Feeling Fabulous. Click on the image below to find out more (and sign up!).

My aim throughout the course is to try and get my mojo back. At the start of last year, I was quite restrictive in my diet. I lost a bit of weight, which was ace, but then I fell off the wagon in epic style and put all the weight back. Not great. And this has been happening for years and years… Not a great way to live. So I decided that enough is enough. I need to eat for healthy and energy, exercise because it’s good for me, not because it’s on my to do list and try to improve my self-confidence. It’s not easy, because when it comes to me, I’ll take the easy option thanks! So getting a takeaway, sitting on the sofa, being a couch potato, yep, love that. But I know it’s not good for me and I know it’s not good long term. (Plus, I can’t fit into most of my ‘work clothes’. Not great.) I didn’t want to go on *another* restrictive diet, where I’m ‘good’ while I’m on it, then stuff my face when it’s over. That shit makes me miserable. And life is waaay too short for that! So I decided what I needed was a new perspective. And that’s where Feeling Fabulous came in.

Some things I get right, day in, day out. Like breakfast. I’m pretty much a creature of habit with this. Here’s my Winter Breakfast: Porridge, banana, flax & sunflower seeds, local honey and cinnamon. I also drink plenty of water throughout the day and don’t drink too much tea or coffee throughout the day. And while I may go on about drinking lots of wine and gin on Twitter, in reality, I’m a real lightweight and can take it or leave it. What I needed to work on are things like making sure I eat more fruit and veg, sort out portion control and reduce my carb intake. I have a slight carb addiction but my tummy is no longer happy with that and doesn’t like too much bread, white flour/rice and processed junk.

I’ve started eating more fruit, which is the easy bit, and have gone for more exciting fruits, like watermelon, pineapple and raspberries, rather than just sticking with apples, because, lets face it, apples are pretty dull. I’ve also added more seeds to my diet and have also tried goji berries and pomegranate seeds. I’ve added more veg to my diet, but think there’s still room for improvement on that score so next week, I am going to try making my own green smoothie, with spinach and avocado. This is a big deal for me, as I am super fussy, but what’s the harm? I’ve been trying new things left, right and centre:

I tried both of these from Itsu last week. I really liked the juice, which I did not expect, mainly because it contains broccoli, my pet hate veg. But it was lovely. The coconut water, on the other hand, was vile and I couldn’t drink it. Gross! I’ve also been thinking about the products I use on my skin too. I’ve started using shampoo and conditioner from Lush and, inspired by Laura, who runs the blog and the ecourse, I’m going to be trying out vegan nail polish and organic body cream and makeup.

I’ve started exercising again too, beyond walking Poppy. I’ve been doing the Davina McCall Fit in 15 DVD, which is really good. It’s not too long and it makes a nice change from the 30 Day Shred. I’m also going to a Body Combat class later on today, which I used to go to all the time and loved it! No idea why I stopped going. I love a good roundhouse kick and uppercut punch 😉

So that’s what’s going on with me right now. This doesn’t mean that I am not eating the odd Thai takeaway or slice of carrot cake, as I am, just in balance with the rest of my diet. After all, a little of what you fancy does you good. Just as long as it’s a little! If you’ve got any tips or suggestions, I’d love to hear them! What exercise are you doing at the moment? Do you find it helps you feel better?

15
Jan
2012

Roast Veg Risotto

categories: Food & Drink

I wouldn’t normally do a risotto on a Friday, as they take a lot longer to cook. But I often finish ‘working’ earlier on a Friday so thought I’d give it a go. A lot of people worry about making risotto because it takes time & stirring. But pour yourself a gin or a vino & sip that every time you add some liquid to your rice & you’ll be fine!

Roast Veg Risotto

This is not a quick dinner but it is very tasty & super healthy. It’s another one from the value meals on the NHS Meal Planner website. It doesn’t take long to prepare and is very easy, if not a little time consuming. I set aside an hour to cook this & was pretty much bang on with that. Don’t be put off by the amount of stirring – it’s totally worth it in the end! x