Curry that tastes like a cheat meal but is 100% clean! -Chris' favourite Chicken & Squash curry

Hello again!

This is a tried & tested recipe which has been a firm favourite at my gaff! In fact it's my fiancée's favourite clean meal I cook him that is so good it's worthy of a cheat meal!

You will need:
- 1 large chicken breast per serving , chopped into chunks
- 1 large onion - finely diced
- 2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped or minced
- 1 thumb sized piece of fresh ginger, peeled & finely chopped or grated
- 1 red chilli, (omit seeds for a milder curry), finely chopped
- A good sized bunch of fresh coriander
- About half a butternut squash (more the merrier) peeled, deseeded & cubed
- 1 red pepper, chopped into good sized chunks
- 2 tsp ground coriander
- 2 tsp ground ginger
- 1 tsp Tumeric
-2 tsp of ground cumin
- 1/2 tsp of chilli flakes (more or less if you don't like it spicy)
- Salt & pepper
- 1 cup chicken stock
- 1 tbsp ground nut oil
- 1 tin of good quality coconut milk
- Fresh spinach to serve

Heat your oil in a large saucepan & add the fresh spices (garlic, ginger & chilli) with your dried herbs and onion & fry it off until fragrant & your onions are translucent.

Add your chicken chunks & brown off (but don't cook through!) and season with some S&P.

Add the squash ,pepper, chicken stock & coconut milk & bring to the boil.

Once boiling reduce the temp to a simmer and leave to cook for a good 45 mins stirring occasionally or until your squash has almost melted & thickened your sauce naturally.

Keep tasting as you go & if it's not got a good chilli bite behind the coconut you need more chilli.

At the last 5 mins of cooking chop 2/3rds of your fresh coriander in the curry & stir.

Serve on a bed of fresh spinach or with some bulgar wheat & with more fresh coriander on top.

Top tip!
This is so much better the day after so make enough to have as left overs!

Nutrition:
Calories: 650 Kcals
Protein: 43.4g
Carbs: 50g
Fat: 34g

(This may seem like a lot but don't forget this is from completely clean sources & you are allowed fat in a diet! Good fat burns fat, but your body stores sugar as bad fats- that's cellulite ladies!)

Protein bars, the 1st go!

So the husband to be and I thought we would follow our cookie success with trying to make some protein bars that would be a great post workout boost of protein.

Here's how I made them! (makes 14 bars)

You will need
- 1/2 cup of almonds
- 1 cup of oats
- 2 bananas, chopped
- 2 tbsp coconut
- 1 cup of chocolate whey protein
- 1 cup of milk (I used Almond milk)
- 4 tbsp of gluten free flour (mine was rice flour)
- 1/2 a cup of sultanas
- Lined brownie tin
- electric hand whisk or food processor

Preheat your oven to 160 degrees C
Blitz everything (but the sultanas) until you have a smooth batter with a few nut chunks still in.
Pour half your batter into the lined tin & spread with a spatula
Sprinkle your sultanas on top
Pour the remainder of the batter on top & spread around until smooth.

Bake for 35 mins

Leave to cool before portioning.

Nutrition per bar:
Calories: 151 kcals
Fat: 5g (from nuts)
Carbs: 17.6g (2.4g from fibre)
Protein: 9.4g

Perfect for a recovery treat!

Spanish chicken bake!

Hi folks,

So with it being Sunday & I really fancied something "comforting"... This is my answer!

You will need to serve 2: (add 1breast per extra person)
- 2 skinless & boneless chicken breasts (Chopped into chunks)
- 1 large onion, diced
- 2 cloves of garlic, peeled & minced
- 1 low Salt chicken oxo cube
- 1 tin of chopped tomatoes
- 1tsp dried thyme
- 1tsp dried oregano
- 1tbsp smoked paprika
- salt & pepper
- 2 large carrots, peeled & chopped into small pieces
- 1 large green or red pepper chopped into small pieces
- 200g of peeled & cubed butternut squash

Preheat your oven to 200 degrees C

Place your onion, garlic, squash, pepper & carrots into a large casserole dish
Place your chicken chunks on top
Sprinkle your herbs & oxo cube on top & season with salt & pepper
Pour your chopped tomatoes on top
Fill your empty tin of tomatoes with water & pour into the dish with the rest of the ingredients

Bake in the oven for 45 minutes at 200 degrees stirring occasionally then turn the heat down to 160 degrees C and bake for a further 15 minutes.

Serve with some greens of your choice & sprinkle some fresh chopped basil for extra yum factor

Macro breakdown per serving:
Calories: 296 kcals
Protein: 45.8g
Carbs: 21.3g (from clean sources)
Fats: 2.7g

Xxxx

Sweet snacks the clean way!

So this week I've realised I need to keep myself out of trouble on the weekends as boredom really does make me hungry! So I've done some research into baking with protein powders and developed these little beauty's with my husband to be!

Chocolate, oat & raisin protein cookies ( I need to come up with a catchier name really...)

To make a dozen you will need:

- preheat your oven to 160 degrees C
- Measuring cups (I have some super cute nesting doll ones)
- baking tray & grease proof paper
- 6 egg whites
- 1 & 3/4 cups of oats
- 2 tsp of stevia or Splenda
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 a cup of apple sauce, ( I used Bramley apple as I like the chunks)
- 4 scoops of chocolate whey protein, (I used bulk powders chocolate whey protein concentrate 82% instantised but you can use any in theory!)
- 1 tsp of virgin olive oil
- 1/2 a cup of raisins or sultanas

You literally mix the lot together, portion onto your grease proof paper & bake for 20 minutes!

The nutritional value is as follows per cookie:
122 kcals
12.8g carbs
10.9g protein

Compare this to your average chocolate cookie from a bakery....
226 kcals
29g carbs
2.8g protein

I know what I'd prefer!!!

LOVELY!
Xxxxx

The trouble with Cyprus

With all the financial troubles in Cyprus and the amount of small businesses going into administration out there, you would think we are mad to want to marry there?
In fact the complete opposite, you can plan the wedding of your dreams in one of the med's most beautiful and friendly islands for half the price of the UK and do it safely if you know what and where to look.

Luckily my mum & dad own a villa in east Cyprus where we plan to get married so I have had a bit of experience of the island. Get on forums or visit the place 1st for gods sake! I wouldn't recommend marrying somewhere you've never been!
(how many times have you been on holiday and thought "I wouldn't go back", can you imagine thinking this about your wedding destination after the big day?)

Take advantage of the "low season" we plan on marrying on the 2nd of October l which is sooo much cheaper than in high season but is still great weather wise!

The biggest tip I can give is RESEARCH RESEARCH RESEARCH don't go to a tour provider (they'll charge through the roof) and avoid wedding planners if you can, you risk loosing every penny you have deposited if they go bust!

Cleaning eating???

So when I discovered clean eating I didn't really know what to make of it. The concept that protein is more filling than carbs boggled my mind! I've always associated being full with a big plate of pasta etc.. But yet I always knew that carbs weren't the best for loosing body fat. In fact your body stores sugars as fat and carbs are sugar, but ironically your body burns fats that you eat before sugars. So getting my head around Sugar= bad and Fat= ok was revolutionary.

So my diet has changed in the following way

NO REFINED SUGAR-This means no chocolates, sweeties, flavoured yogurts that claim to be "low fat" etc... The trick I guess is to read every label, know what you're putting in your body.
No simple carbohydrates- no white potatoes, bread, pasta, white rice etc...

MORE GREENS = LEAN - Try to have as much as you can stuff in!

MORE PROTEIN- Try to have at least 100g of protein source each meal, whether it be eggs, chicken, fish or nuts.

EAT LITTLE AND OFTEN- Try to eat 5/6 times a day, it's not easy when you work long hours like me but if you can find time to snack on a chocolate bar you can replace that with some nuts or a protein shake. This stops your body going into "starvation mode" and your metabolism will be quicker and therefore you'll burn more calories!

DRINK MORE - Water!!! Not booze, alcohol is empty calories and sugars and we already know sugars are bad. A tipple every now and again is ok but replace that evening glass of wine with a fruit tea!

EXERCISE- Try to exercise as much as you can, do weight training before cardio and you will see more change quickly. 1 hour of exercise a day is only 4% of your day....

MEASURE PROGRESS NOT WEIGHT- It seems obvious but not many people do this! I was used to starring sadly down at the scales wondering why I didn't lose weight when I started, but when I took my measurements I realised I'd lost inches instead of pounds, what's more important? What the scales say or how you look & feel? I know what I wanted and seeing the inches drop quicker than my weight is more of a motivator.

KEEP EVERYTHING IN PERSPECTIVE- we all have "hungry days" and being a woman, hormonal changes are a big factor in this. It's ok to fall off the wagon, as long as you get back on again quickly! 1 salad won't make you thinner, just like 1 bar of chocolate won't make you fat. Enjoy yourself, happiness burns more calories thank being stressed so go out for dinner with your friends occasionally but make sensible choices and work out the next day if you decided to have that sticky toffee pud!

Remember this is a lifestyle change not a diet

About me....

About me!!

Hi guys, so this is my first ever blog post so I thought it would be fitting to tell you a little about me and why I decided to start.
I am 25 living in Preston Lancashire and work in IT recruitment and have done for the past 3 years. In 2009 I met my fiancé whilst at university and on our 4 year anniversary the soppy sod proposed :-)
Now I'm on a mission, a mission to look & feel good on my wedding day which is in October 2014 in Cyprus. I've always been one of those girls who hates how they look in photos and complains about their weight but I've never "seriously" done anything about it... Until I got that ring! It's amazing how the prospect of seeing your wedding pictures and hating them motivates you.

So I've decided after years or yo-yo dieting I want to make a positive change to my health and life with the help from my husband to be by eating clean and exercise.
The point of this blog, I guess is for me to share my experiences to one day help others to make their lifestyle change and share my recipes and wedding planning experiences!
One thing I've forgotten to mention is that I LOVE food... And I mean love! I have always used cooking as a "de-stressing" tool and when your job is as stressful as mine you need a release! So I guess this is something I'm not willing to give up, I won't give up good food, I won't starve myself and I won't compromise on taste but I will give up those foods that we see as "filling" and "comforting" that start that cycle of binge and bad eating habits.

Hope you enjoy my blog, because after all, I love to eat!