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You are here: Home / Archives for healthy

Veggie Bean Burgers

June 7, 2014 · by munchiesandmunchkins · 3 Comments

Before I start I will admit this recipe was totally inspired by Jack Monroe and her famous 9p burgers. As with most recipes I try after I have made them and enjoyed them I have to fiddle about and then try my own versions with tweaks and adaptations. After all that’s how most recipes come about yes?

These burgers were made as a bit of a hurried mid week meal when I wanted to get some goodness into my daughter after a few days of not great meals due to tiredness and general stress. They are easy to make, quick to prepare and cook and taste really, really good.

Veggie Bean Burgers

You will need:

1/2 a large sweet potato grated
1 tin of kidney beans ( I used asda smart price )
A bunch of chopped coriander or parsley chopped roughly
A tsp of cumin
Black pepper
2 chopped black garlic cloves
1 shallot finely diced
Plain flour
Olive oil

Firstly drain, wash and place your kidney beans in a pan of cold water. Bring to boil and simmer until soft ( about 8-10mins). Whilst you do this sauté your grated sweet potato, coriander( or parsley) cumin, garlic, shallot and pepper in a little olive oil until softened. Add your cooked beans and mash together with your other ingredients with a fork or spoon. It doesn’t need to be completely smooth. Some texture makes it that bit better. Add a tbsp of flour and stir thoroughly. With floured hands shape into balls and flatten slightly and place in a hot pan with a little oil and cook on either side for a few minutes until golden brown.

Serve in rolls or not. We ran out of rolls so to make it look like a burger for Izzy I used a cookie cutter to cut rounds out of bread and then put them in the pan with the burgers for a minute to brown slightly.

These are totally delicious in a yes I don’t feel guilty about always eating meat and yes they must be healthy because you know..beans and green stuff. Go make them.

I didn’t take any photos of the cooking process as I didn’t expect them to be that amazing. But they were so next time I make them I’ll add some pics. For now here is a brief shot I stole of the finished burger before Izzy devoured it.

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Filed Under: Family, Recipes · Tagged: bean burgers, healthy, jack monroe, low fat, veggie burgers

Heart Healthy Meals This Valentines Day with Waitrose

February 12, 2014 · by munchiesandmunchkins · Leave a Comment

When Waitrose asked me if I wanted to try out some of their recipes from their Healthy Heart Project I of course said yes!

I really love that at a time of year when we are bombarded with adverts for chocolate and wine Waitrose have shown that you can have delicious, romantic (if you get a babysitter) meals whilst still eating healthy food. Although of course they still sell chocolate and wine – thankfully. Check out the link above to find our more about the Foods of love including things like oats, nuts, pulses, salmon and more.

I chose to make Butternut Squash and Chickpea Curry and a Spiced Fruity Crumble I followed the recipes exactly other than to make two substitutions. I swapped the chopped spinach for baby leaf spinach and the forest fruits for mixed summer fruits.

Here is how it went:

Prepping my squash:

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Rinsing my chickpeas:

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Some of my ingredients:

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Simmering:

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Even my toddler enjoyed the end result…yep not quite the romantic meal we imagined but the norm right now:

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And onto dessert:

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Beautiful berries:

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Ready for the oven:

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Bubbling hot:

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We were all thoroughly impressed with the quality of the food. We didn’t miss having meat in the curry and I thought I’d miss having butter in my crumble but it was delicious and the addition of muesli to the topping was just fabulous.

Looking to make another crumble for our Valentines meal on Friday and possibly this recipe as well as enjoy a glass of something pink and sparkly which I nabbed for a bargain £6.99.

Why not check out the Waitrose website for some healthy heart inspiration.

*I was provided with a shopping voucher to purchase my ingredients.

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Filed Under: Recipes · Tagged: healthy, heart, Waitrose

Love Your Eggs

February 4, 2014 · by munchiesandmunchkins · 4 Comments

I didn’t used to like eggs much, I only really ever ate them in cakes and it was only when I was pregnant that I missed having them.. I know you can still eat them but having to cook them into submission didn’t really appeal.
In the last few months I have developed a real addiction to poached eggs and recently I have started trying eggs in new recipes..not just cakes!

One of my favourites is Frittata I was going to share this recipe soon as part of one of my eating on a budget blog posts but here it is sooner than planned.
The best thing about this dish is you can throw anything in, leftover boiled potatoes, peppers, meats,spinach, onions.. I could go on. Let me know if you have any special combos that you use.

This is what I used in my last frittata recipe so adapt however you like:

You will need:

1 large cazuela or pan you can use in hob or in oven
Olive oil
Chopped boiled potatoes
Chopped ham
Chopped peppers
Chopped onions
Chopped spinach
6-8 eggs beaten (dependant on size of pan)
3 or 4 tablespoons of cheese. I use pilgrims choice. Yum.

Preheat oven to 190C/fan 170C/gas 5.
Warm a little olive oil in a pan and add all ingredients apart from the eggs and cheese, sauté for 5 minutes then add your beaten eggs and cook until the mixture has set on bottom and is starting to set on top,sprinkle with your cheese and some cracked black pepper & herbs of choice and put in oven for 10-15 minutes until completely set.

When this has cooled slightly you can cut like you would a pizza or quiche and serve with a nice big salad for a healthy, budget friendly lunch. This is also great chilled and taken on picnics.

Another eggcelent (sorry I had to put it in somewhere) recipe I have recently made is spaghetti carbonara.

You will need:

1 large saucepan and 1 frying pan or cazuela
Olive oil
250g bacon, diced or roughly chopped ( I used lardons)
300mL single cream
3 tablespoons Parmesan cheese ( I have substituted other cheeses and its just as good)
3 egg yolks
Salt and pepper, to taste
350g spaghetti or tagliatelle ( I used Lidl egg spaghetti last time and it was tremendous)
Seasoning

Start to cook your pasta by the packet instructions whilst frying your bacon in a little olive oil until golden, add your cream and cheese and remove from heat to stir through. Return to heat for 2 mins before adding your egg yolks and again removing from heat to stir through.
Remove from heat, drain pasta and combine. Serve immediately with fresh grated Parmesan and black pepper.

Its so good.. This serves 2 with leftovers.

After the carbonara recipe I had 3 egg whites leftover which I didn’t want to waste so I made a quick Baileys chocolate mousse which I’d never made before but it worked really well. I adapted this from a weight watchers recipe and simple to make but very tasty.

You will need:

1 microwaveable bowl and 1 mixing bowl
Electric whisk
100g of good quality dark chocolate (70% cocoa)
3 egg whites
2 tsp of Baileys

Break your chocolate into pieces and melt in the microwave I do in 30 second bursts to make sure it doesn’t burn. Leave your chocolate to cool slightly and whisk your eggs until stiff ( the peaks should stay up when you pull the whisk out). Put a tablespoon of the egg whites into the chocolate to loosen and mix well. Gradually mix the rest of the whites in, not too fast as you lose too much air. Once it’s all mixed in add your baileys, mix once more and spoon into 4 ramekins or glasses. Refrigerate until set, mine took an hour or so to set but I left them there until the following day.

These taste so scrumptiously naughty it’s hard to believe its a low fat recipe. One is more than enough to satisfy a sweet tooth and you don’t feel overly full afterwards.

If any of you have any more egg recipes to share please do!

This should go without saying but please only use free range 😀

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Filed Under: Recipes · Tagged: Budget, Eggs, healthy, meal planning, recipe, weight watchers

Toddler Treats

March 25, 2013 · by munchiesandmunchkins · 8 Comments

Sometimes I find it hard looking for healthy but tasty snacks for Izzy. Sure she loves cheese puffs and give her a biscuit and she will love you forever but we all know that’s not ideal. Yoghurts, cheese, carrot and pepper sticks all go down well here but I think it’s good to be creative and make it a bit fun for your toddler.. I mean food before 1 is just for fun but does that mean food after 1 can’t be fun? Surely not.

So over the next few months I’m running this feature ..aptly named Toddler Treats.
I’d love you to get involved and Instagram/blog or tweet your children’s favourite snacks or light meals – just use the hash tag #toddlertreats

The first snack idea I stole from Brittany at A Healthy Slice of Life I LOVE this blog. Sometimes I wish I lived in America so I could eat and shop in the amazing places that she does. Jealous much? Anyway she has fab ideas for food for children and adults which has even earned her a little tv spot in America. Anyway it’s a cute blog so go follow it and if you live in the UK you will find a nice little email notification on many an early morning with a post to read while your still tucked up in bed.

Brittany mentioned Banana Sushi and it looked so simple I had to give it a whirl especially as Izzy loves peanut butter and bananas. I can’t really write a recipe out for this as its too simple but what I did ( slightly adapted ) was use a whole grain tortilla wrap and spread it with smooth peanut butter and then place a banana on one end and roll up tightly to form a sausage shape. Then slice into rounds to look like sushi. Tada. Brittany suggested a small pot of honey to dip but as Izzy loves yoghurt sooo much I used a fromage frais instead… It went down so well! She loved the whole dipping aspect and was very excited when she discovered the slices of banana.

Definitely one to recommend.

Next post will be an easy peasy hummus/houmous recipe -delicious for you as well as your toddler.

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Dipping

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My happy wild child

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Filed Under: Parenting/baby, Recipes, Uncategorized · Tagged: balanced, healthy, meals for toddlers, nutritious, Snacks

Super (food) sides

January 6, 2013 · by munchiesandmunchkins · 6 Comments

Curly Kale may not be that familiar to you. Not all supermarkets stock it and its only readily available from September- March. Kale is a brassica and part of the cabbage family, it’s very attractive in dishes due to its green curly leaves and packed full of nutrients – considered by many to be a superfood. I have only recently started buying it but I can tell you it’s delicious and versatile.

The recipe below is one I have made previously with Savoy cabbage but I actually prefer this with the Kale.

Sautéed curly kale with bacon and sweet potato

You will need:

Curly kale ( I buy washed and ready to cook) break up any big bits and discard chunky stalks
2/3 rashers of bacon diced
1/2 a sweet potato chopped very small
2 cloves of garlic minced
1/2 a banana chilli diced finely
1/2 a red onion diced
Butter
Olive oil
Seasoning

Heat a little butter and olive oil in a large frying pan or cazuela, add your sweet potato, onion, garlic, bacon and chilli and sauté for 10 minutes or so until bacon is golden and everything else is softening. Add your curly kale, season and cook for a few more minutes. Don’t overcook and ensure it doesn’t burn.

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Serve immediately on warmed plates – cold kale is like cold cabbage. Not good.
This is great as a side with chicken or fish or on top of spaghetti aglio olio – yum.

Last time I made this I threw in a handful of peppery rocket right at the end and it was very good!

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Served on top of spaghetti with a small amount of crumbled extra mature cheddar.

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Don’t neglect one of the most nutritionally rich vegetables in Britain. Next week I’m going to try making Baked Kale chips as a low calorie alternative to crisps.

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Filed Under: Budgeting, Recipes · Tagged: bacon, butter, chilli, curly kale, garlic, healthy, iron rich, Kale, olive oil, onion, seasoning, side dished, superfood, sweet potato

Losing the Mummy Tummy

June 6, 2012 · by munchiesandmunchkins · 6 Comments

Twitter is a funny old world. I seem to chat to other mums, mums to be and dads more than anyone else on twitter these days and obviously there are many contrasting opinions on everything from pregnancy to parenthood but a few days ago I read a tweet from someone who seems pretty sensible stating how they were on a strict calorie controlled diet whilst heavily pregnant as they didn’t want to gain as much weight as their friends had while pregnant. I was shocked. Pregnancy isn’t an excuse to eat all the rubbish you want ( well maybe a little) but eating enough is SO important for your growing baby. When I was pregnant I did have a few worries about how my body would look afterwards as I’m sure everyone does but I didn’t once consider dieting.

losing the mummy tummy

losing the mummy tummy

Pic: At 6 months pregnant.

When my daughter was born I kind of expected my stomach to just vanish and all the other chubby bits which appeared in the last trimester to come off with ease but I’m not one of those lucky ladies. For the first 6 months I was breastfeeding so I didn’t think about dieting as I know how important it is to eat well at this time but I started to cut back on the naughty stuff. A month after I finished breastfeeding I thought it was time to get back in shape so I started eating healthily and exercising ( a lot ) and the weight very slowly started to go down but then it was my birthday and a holiday to France ( there’s always an excuse) which resulted in a 2lb gain and I thought enough is enough so I am now on a strict but healthy diet and I have so far lost 7 &.1/2lbs. I am disappointed that I didn’t complete the 30 day shred but I got to day 25 so I know it’s achievable and I’m starting it again from the beginning as of next week. So far I have attended a jubilee party and a birthday BBQ and not wavered from my diet so my willpower is strong.

Losing baby weight is hard. I’ve dieted a few times over the years and this is the hardest weight I have ever had to lose but to have Isabelle in my life I would have happily put on 5 stone! Thankfully it wasn’t that much.

I really want to have lost a stone by June 17th so I can take my OH out for a meal for his first Fathers day and eat without guilt.

Help motivate me to keep going please with success stories and exercise tips. If anyone would like a copy of the diet I am on send me your email addy.

*If anyone needs inspiration to diet just go to the South of France. Nobody is overweight.

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Filed Under: Parenting/baby · Tagged: 30 day shred, baby weight, breastfeeding, diet, exercise, healthy, insanity, mum, weightloss

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