Four ways cook with courgettes

When I was out with a friend of mine, Sammi from Daisy Daydreams, we got chatting about food and cooking. She told me that she didn't like courgettes. Courgettes are one of my favourite vegetables as they are so versatile and delicious. Courgettes, also known as zucchini in the States, have so many health benefits as they are full of fibre, vitamin C and antioxidants! An all-round great vegetable that can be eaten in so many different ways! I decided to put together a list of ways you can eat courgette in meals and some more ideas about how to use it in cooking and baking!

1. Zoodles! Courgette (or zucchini) noodles! For this, you need either a spiraliser or a julienne peeler to create the noodle shape. I would HIGHLY recommend getting a spiraliser as it makes them so much better and is easier. You can have these noodles wherever you would usually use pasta or normal noodles. Using courgette noodles means you get less simple carbs and more nutrition from the yummy courgettes. I've had them with pasta sauce and with pesto and vegetables but the possibilities are endless.
2. Roasted. Courgettes are great cut into pieces sprayed with a little oil and put in the oven to crisp up. They have such a great flavour to them that they work perfectly with other roast vegetables like tomatoes, peppers and sweet potatoes.
3. Courgette boats (as we like to call them!) This was a recipe I found on good ol' Pinterest which has become a firm favourite in our house. You scoop out the flesh and fill the hole with a layer of cooked rice/pasta, then sliced pepper (I change this up for mushroom) and then chopped tomatoes. Sprinkle with cheese and put into a roasting tin filled with stock and cook in the oven for around 45-50 mins. It is so delicious I really can't get enough.
4. Courgette lasagna. This is another recipe that caught my eye on Pinterest. I love lasagna but you can be left feeling very full and bloated. With this, you get all that you want from a lasagna but without the pasta carbs and with more vegetables!
Other ideas I've seen for using courgette include:- Baked parmesan courgette (wedges) Courgette oat chocolate chip cookies Courgette fritters Baked courgette crisps Courgette CAKE
Will you be reconsidering the good old courgette now? Have you got some good cooking ideas? Let me know if you make any of these or use courgettes more in your cooking! Also, let me know if you have any other good courgette recipes, I need to try them!

Healthy Chilli Con Carne Recipe

Recently I've been trying to eat clean with fresh ingredients and no added nasties, which means store-bought sauces have been removed from house! Instead, I've taken to Pinterest for healthy versions of our favourites. I'm a huge lover of chilli con carne, whether it be with rice, in a wrap, or with a lovely salad - it is just a yummy dish. I found this recipe on the Southern-In-Law blog and I've edited it to add some extra goodness! This has become a firm favourite in our house because it is tasty and such an easy recipe to whip up.

Ingredients - serves 4

- 250g beef or turkey mince

-1/2 onion chopped (I use frozen to save time!)

-1 medium carrot, grated (with skin on for more nutrients)

-5 mushrooms, chopped

-1 or 2 tomatoes, chopped into chunks (optional to add more freshness)

-1 clove garlic, crushed (I use lazy chopped garlic)

-1/2 tbsp cumin 

-1 tsp oregano

-1 tsp paprika 

-1/4 tsp chilli powder

-1/4 tsp cayenne pepper (add more or less chilli and cayenne depending on how hot you like it)

-2 tins of crushed tomatoes (800g)

-1 tbsp tomato paste (I usually use more!)

- a cube of beef stock powder

-1 bay leaf (optional)

-1 medium can kidney beans, drained and rinsed (about 450g)

1. First cook your mince until browned off, if using turkey mince add the beef stock now to add more flavour. Move your mince to one side of the pan so you can cook your onions. When they start to soften add your spices and garlic and combine. Give that a few minutes then mix the mince and the onions together.

2. Next add your chopped mushrooms, tomatoes and grated carrot. Mix together and leave to cook for a few minutes making sure to stir.

3. Add your tinned chopped tomatoes, tomato paste and beef stock (if you are using beef mince), stir through and bring to the boil. Turn down to a simmer and add your bay leaf. Leave for around 30 minutes to an hour depending on how thick you like it.

4. When it has reached your preferred consistency remove the bay leaf and add your kidney beans and stir through. Leave to cook for around 5/10 minutes longer before serving.

Serving suggestions - I like to eat mine in a baby gem lettuce leaf with a dollop of Greek yoghurt and a sprinkling of cheese. Mmmmmm!

Do you have any good Pinterest recipes you can suggest?! *I left out the mushrooms and kidney beans by accident in my haste to get these pictures done! Oops!

Healthy snacks I've tried

Recently I've been trying to eat better. I am eating less processed junk and sticking to clean eating with gorgeous meals full of vegetables and snacking on lots of fruit. I've been looking for alternatives to snacks that I would have eaten such as crisps, jelly sweets and chocolate bars. I've been snooping round ASDA and Holland and Barrett to find these below.

Metcalfe's Skinny Popcorn - ASDA £1.00

Popcorn is a great alternative to snacking on crisps as it is lower in calories and can come in savoury or sweet flavours to suit whatever you are craving. Although this is a light snack it is packed with flavour and you'll never feel like you are eating plain popcorn! I've tried sweet and salty, sweet cinnamon spice and Sargent salt. My favourite has to be the cinnamon one, it is so tasty!
Beauty Sweeties - H&B £1.99 I picked these up because even through the packaging these sweets smelled amazing! Such a sweet, subtle melon smell. They are gluten, lactose and gelatine free with a high fruit juice concentrate. The texture of these sweets is very strange, they kind of melt away in your mouth as you chew. The taste is okay but very sweet. I'm not really a fan of these but they could be a possible swap for people who love sweets!
Nature Crops Quinoa Nutrition Bar This nutrition bar is a great alternative to a chocolate bar as it is filled with protein-rich quinoa. A lot of people may have had quinoa and thought it wasn't very nice but I assure when you get it right it is lovely. In this bar, the quinoa doesn't have a strong taste but acts as a base for the bar, almost like a biscuit would in a chocolate bar. It is filled with almonds which contain a lot of good fats and dark chocolate which is good for you in small doses. This bar is very yummy but I think to make it cleaner I want to start making my own!
Quinoa Crisps - H&B £1.99 These crisps have the texture of Walkers' Sunbites and are corrugated rectangle shapes rather than a traditional crisp shape. Made primarily with quinoa flour these crisps are suitable for vegans and vegetarians and gluten-free. They are great tasting crisps but the flavouring was a little bit too strong, but I'm sure that won't put some people off.
Urban Fruit Baked Mango - ASDA £2.00 I picked this up after seeing a few people review these on their blogs. This is basically mango that has been baked and nothing else - no preservatives or sugars. Although having said there is no sugar, this is no added sugar, the sugars from the fruit are quite high so you have to be mindful if you are eating a whole bag! The bite-size pieces in the bag aren't the most attractive snack but they do taste nice, almost like a tangy chewy mango. I'd definitely go and get another bag when I eat them all!
Although I've been trying out these few snacks you can't beat the basics. I've been trying to take as much fruit as possible with me to work so that I have something to eat when I am hungry to stop me buying something else from town. What I do struggle with is snacking on vegetables, this is my next task! Getting more veggies into my snacks.
Have you tried any of these? Got any new ones I should try? Any good snacks you can recommend?

Healthy Breakfast Idea - Overnight Oats with Strawberry and Mango

Breakfast for me is usually a bowl of chocolate squares or coco pops when I get to work. Not exactly the most healthy of starts to the day! Researching clean/healthy eating led me to overnight oats. At first I thought they seemed very hard to make and that I wouldn't have all the ingredients, but how wrong I was. This is one of the easiest breakfasts that is very filling and can be changed to suit anyone's tastes.

Now please don't be afraid by the look of this (I added a bit too much milk to mine - we all get it wrong sometimes!) it does taste really nice!

Strawberry and Mango Overnight Oats
1/3 cup of oats
1/2 cup of almond milk (can be any milk you fancy)
A squirt of agave nectar (for sweetness - is optional)
1/2 tbsp chia seeds (again optional but good for you!)
2 handfuls of different fruit
These are rough measurements and if you like your oats more milky add more milk. This recipe will develop as you try it!

This recipe is extremely simple as you add all the ingredients together in a bowl or cup like mine (has to have a  lid) then shake it up and leave in the fridge overnight. In the time it spends in the fridge the oats and the chia seeds will soap up the milk and juices from the fruit to produce something like porridge in the morning. The difference is it is cold and full of fruit - very tasty!

I think the cold porridge takes a little getting used to but once you really get into overnight oats you can start making any creations you fancy! I've had strawberry and blueberry, but you could do apple and cinnamon or banana and almond butter - the possibilities are endless! Just to note I used frozen mango in mine, so you don't just need fresh fruit making this recipe even easier! What more do you need ey!

Love to know if you have a go - and if you like it!

Little changes you can make

First of all let me say I am no means an expert on this stuff but I've done some research and I'm a believer in all these tips.

I've been seeing lots and lots and lots of resolution posts and many people saying they are starting their healthy eating this month. To help you all meet your goals I've put together 4 tips that are small ways to change your lifestyle and improve your health. Most of my tips were inspired by clean eating, made most famous by Tosca Reno.

Image source

1. Water is your best friend.

Drinking water to most people feels a lot like a chore and it is not hard to see why most people don't drink enough. Water has so many health benefits which is understandable as we are made of 50-60% water! To ensure we are our best selves inside and out (hello beautiful skin) we need to keep hydrated. 

It is recommended that woman drink 1.6 litres of water a day and men slightly higher at 2 litres. A lot of people might look at these numbers and think they are unattainable. Try thinking of it like this... The average office usually has a water cooler with plastic cups that are around 0.25 litres. In order to reach your target of 1.6 litres in a day, you have to drink 6 and a half glasses in those cups. If you work for eight hours a day and you try to have a cup one every hour it is pretty easy to meet!

If you don't have a water machine then how about this... Purchase a 500ml water bottle and drink 3 of these and an extra 5th of the bottle to meet the daily recommendation. If you are struggling to pick up your water bottle and drink how about setting yourself time limits. For example, I will drink 2 cups or 1 full bottle by 10am.

2. Eat good carbs.

Carbs, we love them, but we hate them. We all need carbs in our life for energy and if you were to think of carbs you'd probably think: potatoes, white bread, pasta, white rice and crisps. Many diets insist on cutting out carbs all together but we all know that when the diet is over and we can eat carbs again the weight goes back on instantaneously. 

I'm going to let you in on a well know secret (that you may not know about) - there are such things as good carbs. They give you energy, not sugar rushes, provide you with vitamins and minerals.

To make the change from bad to good you can start by replacing these popular items. Instead of white bread eat whole meal, instead of rice or pasta have quinoa, brown rice or wholegrain pasta. instead of normal potatoes try sweet potatoes (these can be mash, roasted or made into chips and wedges) and most importantly don't eat ready meals, cook with real ingredients and lots of veg! By making some of these small changes you will see a difference in your weight and also how you feel. Try this website for more info.

3. Limit yourself but don't cut yourself off completely!

I think this point is really important. Everyone is human, we all enjoy a treat and we don't want to be saying no to ourselves all the time. If you want something, have it but don't go overboard. Instead of making yourself sick on a large bar of chocolate, have a few pieces and save the rest for later. Be sensible!

4. Drink less caffeine.

This may be difficult for all of you coffee lovers out there but you should really consider cutting back on caffeine. Caffeine is mildly addictive, can stimulate your nervous system which increases heart rate and blood pressure, can interfere with iron absorption and can irritate your stomach causing headaches and insomnia(web MD + Caffeine informer). Not really what I want from my morning drink...

I'm not saying cut out tea, coffee and fizzy drinks altogether because let's face it I couldn't live without a cup of tea and some biscuits. There are many decaffeinated versions of our favourite drinks on the market. Nescafe, Tetleys, Yorkshire Tea, Twinings, Starbucks and Coke all offer decaffeinated versions of your favourites. Now I can't speak for coffee, as I don't drink it, but for me, caffeinated and decaffeinated tea taste the same. Try changing and see if you feel any different!

In my eyes, these 4 things are relatively easy to alter but for you, it maybe be harder. If you push yourself to achieve these I think you'll feel much better.

Any questions, or maybe conflicting arguments please feel free to comment. I am only trying to suggest some healthy lifestyle changes that I have seen so many apply.