What I Ate Wednesday

I don't normally do this type of post but I really enjoy reading What I Ate Wednesday posts and looking at what other people eat throughout the day, so I thought I would give it a go and see if you find it interesting/helpful!

Breakfast

I have this most days - a cup of mango & passion fruit green tea, and a bowl of branflakes with milled linseed mix, raisins, sultanas & cranberries mix, pumpkin seeds and skimmed milk.

Lunch

Today was strange - I nearly always have a banana or some sort of snack between breakfast and lunch (I have to eat every 2-3 hours or I get so hungry), but I had an early lunch instead. It was a tuna mayo sandwich with spinach leaves, in Hovis wholemeal seed sensations bread - the best bread ever!

Snacks

I have recently discovered these Belvita strawberry & yogurt wholegrain breakfast biscuits and they are amazing for an energy boost throughout the day and taste so yummy! I would never survive off one of these for breakfast though... and of course I had my usual banana right before I went in the gym.

 After the gym I always have a Juice Plus shake, I have the vanilla one and just fill it up with water at the gym so I can have it straight after my workout. It is so so good for rehydrating after a workout, I just feel so energised after drinking this and won't feel hungry for a while after (although I do find that this is because a workout just gives me more energy anyway). This shake will give me some good nutrients and help repair my muscles etc as it has quite a high protein content. It definitely stops any post-workout-shakes too, from low blood sugar levels or overworked muscles!

 I also had a multi-seed Ryvita thin with some tzatziki while I was cooking my dinner but I forgot to take a photo of this...

Dinner

I cooked something new tonight, inspired by a Sainsbury's recipe card it's spaghetti with bacon, garlic, peas, spinach, cheddar cheese and a poached egg. It was amazing!! So delicious - keep checking back for the recipe as I will be posting it soon.

 And of course, I cannot go a day without some sort of chocolatey treat and tonight it was some Galaxy cookie crumble chocolate mmm. The honeycomb one is also amazing!

Healthy banana pancakes

Try these guilt-free pancakes for pancake day this year - or any day!

With just two main ingredients that you will most likely already have in the house, these moist, fluffy pancakes are so delicious, high in protein, and gluten-free. I actually prefer these to normal pancakes.

Very easy to make for a nutritious, delicious breakfast, brunch or dessert, and the best part is that you can top with whatever you like. I went with honey & blueberries, but anything else like natural yoghurt, cinnamon, raspberries, or even chocolate chips would also taste amazing.

There is absolutely no reason not to try these! (Unless, of course, you don't like bananas...)

Serves 1 (makes 6-10 pancakes depending on thickness)

- 2 eggs

- 1 ripe banana

- 1 tbsp milled linseed (optional)

That's really all there is to it ^

I chose to add this linseed, gojiberries, sunflower & pumpkin seeds mix from Aldi for extra nutrition.

1. Mash up the banana until smooth, beat the eggs, then combine together.

2. Heat some olive oil in a frying pan then, using a ladle, pour a small amount of mixture into the hot pan.

3. Cook for a minute or until golden brown like below, then flip to cook on the other side.

4. Then place on a heated plate to keep warm, and continue the process (making sure to oil the pan each time) until all the batter becomes lots of lovely pancakes.

5. Once all finished, top with whatever you wish and tuck in to some guilt-free pancakes that don't even taste healthy!

Enjoy :)

If you want something naughtier then try my mouth watering blueberry pancakes!

Simple Scrambled Egg

I wasn't sure if this post would be condescending but if it does anything at all, it will hopefully inspire you to fill yourself up with some delicious scrambled egg in the morning! And since breakfast is the most important meal of the day, it seems only fitting to add my favourite fresh herb to it to make it taste even better.

Serves two

- 4 eggs

- splash of milk

- pinch of salt

- black pepper

- handful of fresh parsley, chopped

- butter

1. In a jug, beat the 4 eggs until smooth.

2. Whisk in some milk, salt, pepper and parsley.

3. Heat a saucepan, and melt the butter. Pour in the egg mixture and stir intermittently over a low-medium heat, making sure the egg doesn't stick to the pan and turn into an omelette, but scrambles.

(don't forget to prepare the other parts of your breakfast!)

4. When scrambled (varies from person to person - I like my eggs fairly solid but still a bit soft and moist), serve with some hot, buttered toast, or a full English!

Enjoy :)

Smoothie & pumpkin seed hype

So I am a massive fan of making smoothies and although they're not always super 'healthy' since they are loaded with sugar from fruit, they are still a great way to get some good nutrients in and I love that you can put absolutely anything you want in them!

Below I have linked two smoothie recipes I have posted before, the pineapple and spinach one I particularly love and it is nearly always the one I go for when making a smoothie. It has such great, tangy flavour from the pineapple and you get all the goodness from the spinach and oooof just is too good.
http://eatrainbowlove.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/pineapple-and-spinach-smoothie.html
http://eatrainbowlove.blogspot.co.uk/2012/04/peach-and-raspberry-smoothie.html

My boyfriend has got a new blender recently which he is obsessed with so we've been making a lot of great smoothies. One of our favourites has had pumpkin seeds in which I've recently discovered and love (what have I been doing this whole time!?) - they make smoothies more filling and add a new dimension of flavour. Plus they are a great source of fibre so you can't really go wrong. I also expected them to be quite pricey since nuts and seeds tend to be, but I got these from Lidl and they weren't bad at all and they seem to last ages so I would definitely pick some up. You can also use them in baking, add them to cereal or yogurt etc.

Makes 2
- 2 bananas, broken into smaller pieces,
- big glug of almond (or soya) milk 
- 4 heaped tbsp of low fat natural yogurt
- big handful of frozen berries
- big handful of pumpkin seeds
- big handful of spinach (optional)

(Sorry nothing is very specific - the good thing about smoothies is you can add as much of anything as you want)

Another one we tried was a garlic smoothie which was a shock to the taste buds as you can imagine. Lets just say it kept the vampires away... But, garlic is really good for the immune system as well as many other things, so eating it raw is the best way to benefit from it. We used the same recipe as above but just added two cloves of garlic (one each) and a bit of honey as well. It was so strong! So I wouldn't recommend it if you want to sit back and enjoy your smoothie, but if you want a good detox, health-kick smoothie then that is the one!

I also made a garlic smoothie recently but replaced banana with pineapple hoping it would mast some of the garlic flavour but I was very wrong...

Hope you try out some of these ideas and jump on the pumpkin seed bandwagon! Just to prove how much I love them, here is a picture of the breakfasts I've been having

It's bran flakes, dried fruit (raisins, sultanas and cranberries), pumpkin seeds and soya milk - so delicious!

Enjoy :)

Smoked salmon breakfast

For a special occasion, or just a weekend treat, try smoked salmon with scrambled egg on English muffins for breakfast. It is really delicious - the rich smoked salmon compliments the soft, creamy eggs perfectly, and isn't too unhealthy either! Lots of protein and 'good' fats on wholemeal muffins that will leave you utterly stuffed and satisfied. The perfect brunch.

Serves 2

- 4 wholemeal English muffins, sliced
- butter or margarine, for spreading
- good quality smoked salmon
- 4 eggs
- dash of milk
- salt & pepper
- dried mixed herbs
- knob of butter

1. To make the scrambled eggs for two people, beat 4 eggs in a measuring jug and add a dash of milk, and season well with salt, pepper and dried herbs.
2. Melt a knob of butter in a saucepan and add the egg mixture, cooking on a low-medium heat and stirring often.
3. Meanwhile, toast the English muffins and butter them when done.
4. Keep stirring the eggs until scrambled to your liking.
5. To serve, add a few slices of smoked salmon to each English muffin, then top with a generous amount of scrambled egg. Top with some black pepper and voila!

Another special breakfast/brunch idea that is on the less healthy side of the spectrum, is smoked bacon and brie croissants - mmm.

Enjoy :)

Blueberry pancakes

These American-style pancakes are a perfect breakfast treat, or make a great brunch. I had never even eaten blueberry pancakes before today, so I was a little weary about making them, but everything went fine and they were delicious. The blueberries poking out of the batter in the pan makes it harder for the pancake to cook through, but if you squash them down it isn't a problem and the blueberries go warm and jam-like mmm. This recipe made about 10-12 pancakes so I heated the oven to keep them warm as the stack got higher and higher. I am ashamed to say that my boyfriend and I ate all of these between us with no struggles (food blogging is stretching my stomach!) I served them with a drizzle of honey and topped with some extra blueberries. We also had blueberry jam and crème-fraiche - the cold cream went perfectly with these warm fluffy pancakes, and it was the Sainsbury's 'be good to yourself' version yay. I definitely recommend making these! 

 Makes 10-12 pancakes
- 250g plain flour
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 3 tbsp sugar
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 250ml milk
- 2 eggs, beaten
- 50g butter/margerine, melted - plus extra for frying
- 100g blueberries

To serve:
- honey or maple syrup
- blueberry jam
- blueberries
- crème fraiche

1. Sift the flour, salt, sugar and baking powder into a mixing bowl.

2. Combine the milk, eggs and melted butter in a jug. Pour the liquid ingredients into the dry ingredients and whisk together. Stir in the blueberries.

3. Heat a frying pan and add a small knob of butter. Ladle some batter into the pan and flip when the underside starts to go golden brown. 

4. Repeat until all the pancakes are done; keeping them warm on a plate in the oven until you have a huge stack of them.

5. Drizzle with honey or syrup, top with blueberries, and serve with crème fraiche.

Enjoy :)

Brie and bacon on fresh, rustic bread

 A delicious Mother's Day breakfast! We are lucky to have a bread machine - my mum prepares the mixes and puts the machine on before bed so it is ready in time for the morning. This is a rustic loaf, half wholemeal half white flour and is so delicious. There is nothing like fresh bread, I seriously recommend getting a bread machine if you love soft, fluffy bread with a crispy crust, and don't want to be rushing to the supermarkets at opening time! I will not put the recipe for the bread on here as if you have a bread machine, it comes with a series of recipes and instructions, and this is where this recipe came from. I decided to finish off the bacon and open a fresh pack of brie to melt on top of the bread and it was yummy as anticipated. Quick and simple but thought I would share anyway if you were ever stuck for breakfast, brunch or lunch ideas!

1. Simply slice the fresh bread and butter it, dry-fry the streaky bacon in a pan until crisp all over, and place on top of the bread.
2. Cut slices of brie and place on top of the bacon on the bread, and grill until the brie has melted.
Enjoy :)

I made a tiramisu cake yesterday for mother's day today so will post the recipe for that later today - it looks and smells delicious can't wait to taste it and share it with you! We are going for lunch/dinner at my sister's today for a Chinese-style feast - she is roasting pork belly with sweet chilli sauce and a noodle stir fry mmm. I may take pictures and post the recipes but not sure yet, check back soon!

The perfect soft-boiled egg

As requested by my lovely friend Charlotte, here are some tips on how to cook an egg so that the white is cooked through, but the yolk is deliciously runny and creamy. I love soft-boiled eggs for breakfast, they are a great, nutritious way to start your day and as said before in a previous post, I love how the yolk tastes so creamy and rich even though they have been cooked in nothing but water. I way prefer them to any other way of cooking eggs, such as fried, although sometimes this is easier because you can tell exactly when the egg is cooked. Now I'm not saying that I'm an egg-boiling expert because it is quite rare that you get that perfect hard egg white and soft, oozing yolk - but here is how I cook my egg to try to achieve that... (it usually works!)

- First of all, make sure the egg is at room temperature - take it out of the fridge half an hour before cooking or run it under the hot tap for a bit. This is so that it reduces the chance of the shell cracking when you place it into the hot water.
- It would probably be wise to put the egg in luke-warm water and bring to the boil and cook that way, however, I never do this because who really has time to wait for some water to boil in the morning!? I nearly always just boil water from the kettle. I put a little bit of water in the pan, place the egg in and leave for a few seconds while it adjusts to the heat, then I add the rest of the boiling water to cover the egg. Now this is quite dangerous and every 1 in 4 times the egg cracks... but this depends on how fresh the egg is. So sorry if yours cracks!
- A large egg will need about 4 minutes to be soft-boiled once the water is at boiling point. I usually cook it for about 4 mins then take the pan off the heat and leave for another half a minute or so. It is a bit hit and miss but it's also quite fun peeling the egg and seeing the surprise of whether it is done to your liking or not haha
- Carefully tip away the hot water in the pan (you don't want the egg falling out in the sink!), then pour cold water over the egg. This cools the egg down to stop them continually cooking, and also makes it slightly easier for you to touch because it will not be scolding.
- At this stage you can either place the egg in an egg cup and slice off the top to dip your toast in, or, as I normally do - peel the egg (making sure the thin layer beneath the shell comes off too) and place on a piece of  generously buttered toast, or bagel or english muffin etcccc - cut open so the yolk oozes out, and enjoy :)

Berry smoothie

Smoothies are so simple to make at home, deliciously healthy, and so much cheaper than buying cartons from the supermarket like Innocent Smoothies.

They are perfect for breakfast, a snack/drink, or for dessert!

Ingredients:
- Skimmed milk
- Natural yogurt
- Banana
- Fresh berries (I used strawberries)
- Frozen berries (I used blueberries, raspberries and strawberries)
- Honey
- Oats

Tips:
- Make sure you add the wet ingredients to the blender first (milk and yogurt) so nothing gets stuck. I will usually add milk, yogurt and banana, and blend until mixed, then add the berries and mix, then add honey to taste until it is sweet enough.
- Oats can be added to make the smoothie more filling and thick, but can often change the flavour so they are optional depending on what you like.
- The good thing about smoothies is you don't need exact quantities - you can add as much of each ingredient as you like depending on the texture or flavour that you want! I usually use 1 medium-large banana and then work the other quantities around it. That should make 2 smoothies - like in the picture.
- If you aren't using any frozen berries then add some crushed ice so it's nice and cold!

Other smoothie ideas:
- To alter the flavours, most ingredients can be kept the same (banana, milk and yogurt) and you can just change the fruit, for example using kiwis or pineapple etc.
- You can also buy flavoured yogurt, which I try and stay away from as it tends to be higher in sugar/sweeteners, but it is good occasionally. I used Onken peach yogurt once which was delicious with strawberries!
- Pretty much anything can be blended - all fruits which is obviously the healthy option, but other ingredients like chocolate and nuts could work, and try adding different things to change the sweetness/flavours like jam.

Nutritious breakfast

One thing you need to know is that i LOVE eggs! I will usually have them soft boiled on wholemeal and/or seeded toast, but they're amazing on english muffins for a treat. The reason I usually choose soft-boiled is because i love how they can taste so creamy and rich, particularly from the yolk, without anything extra - no oil, no butter; just good old eggs boiled in water! It can be, however, difficult to time them to the right amount of boiled that you like, and difficult to peel them when they're soft.

Scrambled egg also make a nutritious breakfast - combine with skimmed milk, some margarine and some herbs mmm.

I try to alternate between having eggs one morning and cereal the next, as the yolk is fairly fatty and contains cholesterol, although i'm sure eggs have more health benefits than drawbacks so i don't worry too much about this.

I stay away from sugary cereal and try to stick to filling whole wheat or bran ones like branflakes or shredded wheat. I have noticed recently, however, than branflakes are quite high in sugar. I therefore bought cornflakes the other day which are low in sugar but have noticed that they don't fill me up nearly as much (i guess cause they're corn and not bran?) I also love special k but can get a bit addicted to it!
I have my cereal with skimmed milk because to me it tastes the same as semi with cereal, and it's less fat so win win! In the case of shredded wheat though, for some reason i only like that heated up in the microwave with milk and honey mm.

I really want to get into porridge in the near future as it is so filling, and warming especially in winter. I would probably vary making it with water or skimmed milk depending on what flavours i was adding, if any.

I love cinnamon sprinkled on things, and in porridge it would be delicious - maybe even with chunks of warm apple in as well.

I am a huge fan of honey which would work perfectly with porridge but i get a bit carried away with it (i love it with everything...) and would have to be careful not to make it too sugary, as it defeats the point of the healthy, nutritious breakfast.

I would definitely recommend buying plain porridge oats rather than the ready flavoured ones - like Quakers cinnamon or golden syrup etc. It would work out far cheaper to buy plain and add your own flavours, and that way you can mix it up daily instead of having to use up a dozen of the same flavours.

Other flavours I would want to try would be slicing bananas with it, adding blueberries, or sweetened dried fruits like cranberries or raisins.

If you are on a healthy diet I would recommend putting as much effort into breakfast as possible as it really should be the most nutritious and filling meal of the day - it starts off your metabolism for the day which is key for tackling any weight loss.


Just having fruit would not be enough for breakfast, but if you really want to block out carbs (which isn't the best idea...) then i would suggest teaming the fruit with some low fat natural yogurt, which is delicious and you can add so many flavours! Likewise if you want to make a smoothie make sure it consists of fruit like berries and a more satisfying fruit like banana to thicken, as well as low fat yogurt or milk, maybe some fruit juice, and adding oats in to keep you full for longer is also a good idea!

Anyway, i will definitely be doing more specific posts on natural yogurt and smoothies in the future because yogurt is one of my favourite healthy night time snacks, especially with blueberries and cinnamon.


Hope you start your day in a satisfying, healthy and delicious way :)