Healthy Eating, An Easy Decision To Make?

After the realisation that I have been stuck in a huge food rut, I noticed that I haven't been blogging all that much about the foods that I eat. This was something that I did during my 30 day vegan challenge and it put a little bit of welcomed pressure on me to mix things up regularly. I made a mental note to take a couple of pictures this week to give a demonstration of some good clean foods and snacks that your bodies will welcome.

In sticking with my new 'One New Recipe A Week Challenge' my boyfriend and I made lamb with green chillies for dinner on Saturday and it was delicious. You can see the recipe here: Lamb with Green Chillies BBC Food

Home made curries are a great weekend dinner and they're so tasty! Most curry recipes have a long ingredients list but don't let that put you off. Most of the time they're based on garlic, ginger and a lot of different spices! Although this might be expensive the first time you make it, building up your repertoire of spices is an investment that will pay for itself in delicious foods! It will widen your recipe choices and it can be so interesting to discover new spices you didn't even know existed (this weekend we had to go on a hunt for nigella seeds and white poppy seeds, we didn't even find the latter!).

The only real preparation for this dish was marinating the meat over night (we just did it in the morning) cooking it was so easy. My boyfriend and his family had theirs with rice & nan breads, I was going to just have a big helping of the curry alone but as it was lamb I decided couscous would be a good addition, and it was. I really enjoy couscous, it's been totally overshadowed by quinoa (a similar grain that's MUCH higher in protein) but the fact that it can be ready in 5 minutes by just pouring water over it sways me every time.

If you're struggling to change your diet because of those around you, be it family, your significant other or your housemates, learning how to make dishes like this can be a saviour. You can all enjoy a healthy meal but let everyone choose their own sides. There are tasty alternatives everywhere! Tortillas instead of bread (corn tortillas for extra brownie points), sweet potato wedges or mash Instead of potato... Use your imagination. Most people have an idea of how a meal should look but what's important to remember is that everyone's ideas are completely different and no one is necessarily right.

I often hear from ladies that they are told by those around them that they're not eating enough because they decided to make a healthier decision, like having salad instead of chips or trying to eat smaller portions. It's hard to make healthy decisions when the people around you don't necessarily understand why you are making those changes, and why should they? You're making those changes for YOU, and as long as you are eating a well balanced nutritional meal and you feel good from within for those changes then it shouldn't matter what anybody else thinks. The decision to live a healthy lifestyle is easy, it's the changes that are hard, but that's what makes it worth it. Give it time and those around you will adjust to your changes and in time it will be second nature for everyone. It's up to you to prove that your choices are not a fad, but a lifestyle. I go to my boyfriends pretty much every weekend and I am now no longer offered afternoon cake or puddings! It makes it a lot easier to say no when you're not offered!

Anyway, I digress. Saturday, Dan and I sat down to watch Taken 2 - now what's a Saturday afternoon movie without snacks? This used to be microwave popcorn covered in god knows what or a bag of m&m's, this weekend we tried something different. Some good quality venison biltong and a popcorn recipe that I got from this months Women's Health magazine.

Biltong & Beef Jerky are both good snacks for those trying to get lean (or anyone that loves meat...) it's a high protein snack which means it will fill you up more than a packet of crisps - try to buy good quality though as the cheap stuff can be a little fatty. Either way, these products usually have little or nothing added to them which makes them unprocessed and that's good news for all. Except vegetarians of course.

For the popcorn you'll need: plain popped popcorn (you can buy kernels in all supermarkets, just stick them in a frying pan with a little oil, cover with a lid and shake around. Then leave on heat (shake occasionally) until it begins to pop - take off the heat when popping slows, same as you would with microwave popcorn. Discard any unpopped kernels. OR you could buy a popcorn machine, it's inexpensive and a saviour for quick, easy and cheap snacks.

- 1tbsp coconut oil
- 1tsp ground cumin seeds
- pinch of curry powder, turmeric and garlic powder

Melt the coconut oil in a small pan, pour it on the popcorn and stir in the spices. Done!
I mixed it around a lot to make sure all the popcorn was coated.

We both enjoyed this - it was quite aromatic and not too strong. Definitely worth a try. WH mag also offered a few other popcorn recipes which I will be looking to try out down the line :-)

Finally I just wanted to share with you a typical dinner of mine - stir fry sans noodles. This is something I end up eating twice a week usually. It is delicious but after a while one does get bored! I just stir fry a lot of veg (I don't like leafy veg so I can't buy regular stir fry packs) with oil and garlic, chuck in 1tbsp of soy sauce and a handful of cashews then add steak. I usually buy M&S or Tesco quick cook steaks, they're about £4 and you usually get about 4/5 in a pack. I just slice 1 or two of them up and add them in at the last minute. Perfect quick cook week night dinner!

I hope to be blogging a bit more about food now so keep an eye out for recipes and clean eating ideas :)

Minnie
XxX