Love Your Gut

The festive season is looming!

Monday, November 28th, 2011

It’s that time of year again, can you believe it!!! With lots of parties on the horizon and our glad rags at the ready we really do want to be looking and feeling in tip top shape. Admittedly, as I am sure many of you will agree it can be hard to get motivated in the cold dark winter nights, all we really want to do is snuggle up on the sofa with a nice warming drink. As mentioned on our blog on the 14^th November winter soups and stews are warming and wholesome whilst also helping our digestive health due to the fibrous lentils and beans which also contain an array of vitamins and minerals to help us fight those winter bugs. Why not try the following tips which will help keep our digestive health in good working order whilst still being able to enjoy the odd festive drink, or two over the Christmas and New Year period.

Warming food suggestions:

• Porridge topped with blueberries (or another readily available citrus fruit) – This will give us a warm and filling start to the day whilst also supplying us with a good source of fibre for our digestive health but also some antioxidants from the blueberries which will also help us to fight those common infections.

• Wholemeal bread toasties (work facilities permitting) with filling of your choice. – This will add more fibre to help keep your bowel movements regular.

• Scotch broth – An oldie but a goodie for this time of year. Soups are so nourishing and filling. Scotch broth is packed full of lentils and beans also keeping our digestive system in full working order. 

Practical tips:

• Before heading out for a razzle ensure you have something filling to eat. This will be kinder to your tummy and digestive system if you end up having one to many.
• Drink lots of water to maintain your hydration – Alcohol is a diuretic so drinking a glass or two of water before going to bed after a night out will maintain your hydration and help make you feel better the next day.  
• Try to go for a quick brisk walk (even if it is just around the block) – This will help to prevent the after dinner slump where you want to have a nap as well as burn off some of those calories you have consumed.

Tags: antioxidant, antioxidants, bacteria, blueberries, bowel cancer, constipation, dietary fibre, digestion, digestive health, fruit and vegetable, holiday health, immune system, immunity, nutrition, probiotics, Vitamin C, vitamins
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Winter is here!

Monday, November 14th, 2011

Get out your winter warmers, winter is well and truly here! This is great news for our gut as the foods associated with being warm and wholesome are great sources of fibre. For example winter soups and stews contain lots of potatoes and vegetables. Why not try this delicious cheap and cheerful Irish stew to help keep you warm on a winter’s night. It’s packed full of goodness and is extremely easy to make.

Ingredients:

• 1 onion
• Two carrots
• 5 large potatoes
• 25g stewing beef
• 2 Tbsp Worcester sauce
• Salt and pepper to season

1. Peel and chop onion, potatoes and carrots.
2. Sautee onions until soft and add stewing meat and cook until brown.
3. Add the remainder of the ingredients (carrots and potatoes) and fill saucepan up with water.
4. Once the stew reaches the boil, turn temperature down and leave to simmer until potatoes are soft and most of the water has been absorbed.
5. Serve immediately or cool and place in fridge or freeze for a later date.

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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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Healthy Shopping Basket…

Monday, October 10th, 2011

How does your shopping basket look? Does it contain more of a certain food group? Are there more chocolate and sugary items in the basket when you’re shopping with the children?

Make sure you pick up a range of foods, which will make your diet varied and interesting. A diet based on starchy foods such as rice and pasta, with plenty of fruit and vegetables, some protein-rich foods such as meat, fish and lentils, and some milk and dairy foods (and not too much fat, salt or sugar) will give you all the nutrients that you need.

So try to include different food groups in your shopping basket;

• Fruit and vegetables
• Meat, fish, eggs and beans
• Bread, rice, potatoes, pasta
• Milk and dairy foods
• Foods and drinks high in fat and sugar (treats once on a while)

But achieving a healthy balanced diet in the modern life can be tricky. After a long day, it is very tempting to grab the first ready meal on the supermarket shelf, which is OK occasionally. But the nutritional labels on these foods show that many ready meals contain high levels of fat, added sugar and salt. If you eat ready meals too regularly, they’ll upset the balance in your diet.

So why not pay attention to the “traffic light” labelling system on the packaging of many foods in the supermarkets. Foods with red labels contain a high amount of sugar, fat or salt. Foods with a green label contain less sugar, fat or salt so will be a healthier option.

So when placing things in your basket, why not opt for foods with more green labels on its packaging?

Tags: fruit and vegetable, healthy diet, healthy food, healthy shopping basket
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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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