Love Your Gut

Christmas Leftovers!

Monday, December 26th, 2011

We tend to go a bit crazy when buying food for Christmas and end up having lots of left overs. Why not try these Christmas left over ideas that will ensure you don’t have to throw too much away.

Quiche

For a standard Quiche base:

• 175g  plain flour,  plus extra for dusting
• salt
• 75g butter, plus extra for greasing

Quiche filling:

• 2 eggs
• 150ml milk
• 50g grated cheese
• salt and pepper
• leftover meat and vegetables of your choice

If you still have too much food left over, quiche is something that can be frozen and used at a later date. To help our digestive health, why not use wholemeal or brown flour to increase the fibre content.

Pizza

Topping

• ½ Onion
• 200g Canned tomatoes
• ½ teaspoon herbs
• 1 tablespoon tomato puree
• 1 tablespoon margarine
• salt and pepper
• leftover meat and vegetables

 Pizza Base

• 650g 00 flour (strong white flour)
• 7g sachet of easy-blend yeast
• 2 tsp salt
• 375ml warm water

Whole meal flour can also be used for the pizza base to help with our digestive health.

Noodle Stir Fry

• 1 Tablespoon Oil
• 2 Garlic cloves
• A Thumb of Ginger
• 1 Small Onion
• 2-3 Tablespoons Soy Sauce
• 1 pack of Noodles/Rice
• leftover meat and vegetables

Tags: dietary fibre, digestion, digestive health
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Fireworks!!

Monday, November 7th, 2011

Did you celebrate Guy Fawkes Night over the weekend with bonfires, fireworks, sparkles?

Bonfire night wouldn’t be the same without the right food and drink to celebrate the festive occasion – usual something warm for a cold night! Below are a few recipes to celebrate the occasion throughout the week…

Roasted Chestnuts

Chestnuts come into our supermarkets just in time for Bonfire Night – a bag of chestnut is a great hand-warmer!

Ingredients:       1kg / 2¼ lb chestnuts

Method:

1. heat the oven to 200^oC/400F/Gas 6
2. Prick chestnut with fork to prevent it from bursting
3. put on a roasting tin and bake until the skin open and the insides are tender – approximately 30mins

Chestnuts come into our supermarkets just in time for Bonfire Night – a bag of chestnut is a great hand-warmer!

Bonfire Toffee

Ingredients:

• 1lb sugar, preferably Demerara
• 1/3 pint water
• 1¼ ozs butter
• 2 level tablespoons golden syrup
• 1 teaspoon vinegar

Method:

1. put all the ingredients into a saucepan, adding the sugar and syrup gradually to avoid burning, and stir over a steady heat until the sugar has dissolved
2. bring to the boil and cook slowly
3. pour into oiled or buttered tin and allow to set
4. break when completely set

Toffee Apple

The good old classic – a must have during this occasion!

Ingredients:

• 6 sweet and crunchy apples
• 6 tablespoon caster sugar
• 85ml water
• 600g Demerara sugar
• 100g unsalted butter
• 2 teaspoon vinegar
• 2 teaspoon vanilla essence

Method:

1. wash and dry apples, remove the stalks and push into a lollipop stick
2. place all the ingredients (apart from the apples) into a deep based pan and bring to the boil. Let it cook for approximately 30mins
3. dip each apple into the toffee, remove and air – cool a few seconds then repeat until thickly coated
4. dip into a bowl of cold water and place on a tray/rack until cool
5. wrap each apple individually with cling film to stop the toffee from going sticky

Parkin

Ingredients:      

• 225g self-rising flour
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 115g caster sugar
• 60g butter
• 115g golden syrup
• 225ml milk

Method:

1. preheat oven at 150^oC/Gas 2
2. grease a 25 x 18cam cake tin and line with grease proof paper
3. sift the flour, ginger and bicarbonate of soda into a bowl. Stir in the egg and then the caster sugar, mixing well
4. melt the butter and the golden syrup in a small saucepan, remove from the heat and stir in the milk
5. stir the milk mixture gradually into the flour and egg mixture. Stir until smooth, then pour into the prepared tin
6. bake for about an hour until the mixture starts to shrink away from the sides of the tin
7. remove from the oven and let it cool on a wire rack
8. cut into squares and serve. If you can, leave the parkin for 3-4days before serving so that it becomes nice and sticky

After all the delicious snacks (although maybe be high in sugar and fat) don’t forget to top up on your friendly bacteria – probiotics!

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Halloween pumpkins!

Monday, October 31st, 2011

Find yourself scooping out the pumpkins for the children and not too sure how you can use all the flesh? What not try these delicious recipes!

Pumpkin soup

Ingredients

• 1 small pumpkin
• 1 white onion, roughly chopped
• 2 cloves garlic
• 2 sprigs rosemary
• 2 tbsp clear honey
• 3 tbsp virgin olive oil
• 500 ml chicken stock
• 1 glasses dry white wine
• 150 ml double cream
• 1 lemon, juice only

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 220C/gas 7.

2. Peel the pumpkin and scoop out the seeds. Dice the flesh into large cubes and put in a roasting tray. Scatter around the chopped onion and garlic and tuck in the rosemary sprigs.

3. Drizzle over the honey and olive oil and roast in the oven for 30-40 minutes, or until the pumpkin is tender and golden. Baste half way through to stop the honey catching on the bottom of the tray.

4. Meanwhile bring the stock to the boil. When the vegetables are cooked, put in a blender with the hot liquid and white wine. Blend until smooth before adding the cream and lemon juice.

5. Return to the pan and season with salt and pepper.

Pumpkin Jam

Ingredients

• 825g pumpkin puree
• 1/2 tablespoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

Method

Mix pumpkin puree, spices and dry pectin in a medium saucepan over high heat. Bring to the boil. Mix in sugar all at once. Stirring constantly, return to a full boil and boil 1 minute. Remove from heat. Transfer immediately to sterile containers. Seal and chill in the refrigerator until serving.

Pumpkin Muffins

Ingredients

• 60ml vegetable oil, plus extra for greasing
• 180g self-raising flour
• 130g wholemeal flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
• pinch salt
• 3 fresh rosemary sprigs, finely chopped
• 2 free-range eggs, lightly beaten
• 100ml plain yoghurt
• 275ml milk
• 1 tbsp honey
• 240g cooked pumpkin, cut into ½cm/¼in cubes
• handful pumpkin seeds

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/Gas 6. Oil a 12-hole muffin tin and line with 12 squares of baking paper. Push the squares down into each hole so that the paper sticks up.
2. Sift the flours, baking powder, and bicarbonate of soda into a large bowl. Stir in the salt and rosemary. (Reserve any wholegrain left in the sieve.)
3. Meanwhile in another bowl, mix the eggs, yoghurt, milk, honey and vegetable oil until well combined.
4. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and fold the ingredients together, but be careful not to over-work the mixture.
5. Sprinkle the reserved wholegrain, pumpkin and the pumpkin seeds over the muffins. Bake in the centre of the oven for 20–25 minutes, or until the muffins are well risen and a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean.

Tags: Gut Health, halloween
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Guilt free chocolate cake!

Monday, October 17th, 2011

Do you find it hard to get your little ones to eat their veg? Why not disguise them in this deliciously scrumptious chocolate, beetroot and blueberry cake which is packed full of vitamin C and Fibre. Or better still why not invite the ladies round for guilt free afternoon tea. This is proof that you really can have all the sweetness of a normal chocolate cake but with added gut loving goodness!

 Ingredients

• 200g good dark chocolate
• 100g dried blueberries
• 300g grated beetroot
• 100ml light oil
• 200g self-raising wholemeal flour
• 4 tbsp dark  molasses sugar
• 1 1/2  tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp bicarbonate soda
• 4 large eggs

Method

1. Peel and grate the beetroots.
2. Next, melt the chocolate in a bowl set over a pan of gently simmering water.
3. Blend the sugar, oil and eggs until smooth
4. Tip the mixture into a large bowl and sift in the flour, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda.
5. Gently combine with a spatula and then add the grated beetroot and blueberries. The mixture should be quite tight and ‘dry’ but if it’s totally un-moveable, add a few tbsp of milk or water to loosen slightly.
6. Turn the mixture into an 8 inch, greased and lined cake tin and bake on gas mark 4 for 30 minutes but check it after 25 minutes. (If the cake is risen but slightly gooey in the centre this is fine).

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Ladies who dine

Monday, October 3rd, 2011

 Having your friends round for afternoon tea doesn’t need to be unhealthy. Why not try these delicious low sugar scones to impress the ladies. Furthermore if you want to increase the fibre content, why not use wholemeal self-raising flour instead.

 Orange, Carrot and Sultana Scones

Method:

1. Weigh out the flour and the margarine and place in a large bowl.
2. Rub the margarine into the flour until it resembles breadcrumbs
3. Grate the orange rind onto a chopping board.  Add to the breadcrumb mixture.  Squeeze the juice of the orange into the bowl.
4. Top and tail the carrots.  Peel and grate onto a chopping board.  Add to the mixture.
5. Measure out the milk, and add gradually to the mixture.  Mix together until it starts to bind.
6. Knead on a floured work surface until the dough is not sticky.
7. Roll out on the work surface evenly.  Using a cutter, cut out the scones from the outside in.
8. Place on a baking tray and wash with milk. 
9. Place in the oven for 10-15 minutes until cooked

Tags: fibre, good digestion, Vitamin C, vitamins
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