What I Eat In A Week

With the significant increase in training, my appetite has been yo-yoing like crazy. I've been making more effort to match my diet to my training needs, more carbs on days I'm training hard and protein for recovery. I'm not always sure if I'm over eating, and I'm trying not to reward myself with food too often. So I decided to record what I ate for five days.

I don't calorie count at the moment, although I have gone through phases, but the most effective way I've found to track my diet is to take photos. I mean, I just about always have my phone with me, it captures portion sizes and doesn't rely on my having to remember what I've had. MyFitnessPal has been useful in the past but can be a bit of a faff.

So for those of you who wonder what a fledging ironman trainee eats in a week... here you go!

Monday

Breakfast: Waffles, yogurt, nut butter, granola and fruit
Lunch: Cheese and beans on toast
Dinner: Pie and veg
Snacks: Yogurt raisins, protein shake, two brazil nuts, a peak of toblerone
Activity: 1hr turbo session, taught three classes

Tuesday

Breakfast: Carlusscios vegetarian breakfast
Lunch: Quorn ham, cheese and chutney bagel with tomatoes and radishes
Dinner: Omelette and salad
Snacks: Latte, banan, satsuma, two brazil nuts, skyr with nut butter
Activity: 3km swim, taught class

Wednesday

Breakfast: Peanut butter and jam on toast
Lunch: Halloumi and grain salad
Dinner: Dinner out at Zizzi's for mum's birthday, beet balls, wild garlic fetticuni and adffogato
Snacks: Banana, skyr, two brazil nuts, nut mix
Activity: Half hour run

Notes: I certainly didn't match food to activity today but I made some healthier choices and reined in the guilt (oh I do not have an especially healthy relationship with food when I'm training).

Thursday

Breakfast: Granola, banana and skyr
Lunch: Carrot, cheese, cucumber and chutney sandwich with tomatoes and radishes
Dinner: Roasted veg and halloumi on grains
Snacks: Latte, Apple and nut butter pudding, chia charge bar
Activity: 1hr bike, 20 minute run, taught Zumba Gold and three other classes
Notes: I ADORE these little puds. They take about 2 minutes to make with 3-5 ingredients, depending on whether you want to add flavours like cinnamon or chocolate. I don't know who though of blending an apple with nut butter and microwaving it but all hail! Here's the recipe.

Friday

Breakfast: Peanut butter and jam on toast
Lunch:Soup and bread
Dinner: Jamie Oliver's green spaghetti
Snacks: Hot chocolate, Apple and nut butter pudding, two brazil nuts, a peak of toblerone
Activity: Rest day!

So there we have it. I try to eat a balanced diet, with a few treats thrown in. I'm vegetarian so my 5-a-day isn't usually a problem and I eat the brazils to top up my selenium levels. Nut butter features heavily as I adore it and it's healthy fats, good for energy and not bad for recovery either.

Is there anything there you'd tweak? Does your diet change when you're training? What's your favourite recovery food?

Mindful Chef Food Box

Life has been busy recently. We're getting ever closer to our wedding day, work seems more hectic for both of us, our social calendar has been a little busier and training is ongoing. Both of us have been getting home later in the evening and so our Mindful Chef boxes have been a godsend, eliminating the need to think about what we're going to have for dinner and going shopping. We've had two boxes recently, with two meals in each, and they've been an absolute success!

Our first box arrived on Monday 4th September. We had chosen two vegetarian recipes for two people; Chipotle veggie kebabs with black beans and Lentil falafels with crispy polenta. By chance my mum had also ordered a box that happened to contain the same recipes, the idea being that Dad could cook the recipes while she was out at her gym classes two evenings a week.

What's in the box?

Each recipe came packaged separately, with all the ingredients in a paper bag within the box, and a sticker that corresponded to the colour on the appropriate recipe card. Handy! Dean was designated chef this week, nicknaming himself the "Hapless Chef", and pitted his skills against my dad, aka "Gormless Gourmet". Who would have greater success with the recipes? Whose would look most like the picture on the card? Ready, set, COOK!

First up, the veggie kebabs. They were pretty quick to make in our kitchen, and I didn't hear tales of anguish from Gormless Gourmet, so the "simple to make" box gets a big tick. I think Hapless Chef's efforts looked most like the picture, the kitchen wasn't a disaster zone afterwards and they tasted great. Big thumbs up from both parties on these ones.

Hapless Chef

Gormless Gourmet

The second recipe attempted was the lentil falafels... these were a little trickier and we had quite different results from Gormless Gourmet and Hapless Chef. These were messier to make (some fell apart), still relatively quick, but not as fast, and I think both parties went a little off-piste with the recipe. However still a really tasty dish and both said that they would make this again. In fact, Gormless Gourmet has already started to think of ways to make other "meatball" type things in the future... the creativity has been sparked!

Hapless Chef

Gormless Gourmet

Our second box contained recipes for Giant Celeriac and Herb Rosti, and Roasted Squash and Buckwheat Risotto. Hapless Chef made the risotto and I made the roost. Both, again, were excellent in the taste department and easy to make. Although we've paused the boxes for the moment, we will definitely be using them again soon. Having meals ready to cook waiting for us when we come home from our wedding and honeymoon will be so useful! At £28 for two meals for two, it may not seem cheap but you pay for the convenience, avoid impulse buys at the supermarket, and claim back some time - we think it's worth it.

If you've been inspired to give Mindful Chef a try but aren't sure about the cost, why not order your first box using this link to get £20 off your first delivery. Alternatively, if you'd like to get your hands on some Mindful Chef recipes without buying the book, enter my Mindful Chef apron and recipe card giveaway so you can try them out for yourself (you will have to buy the ingredients though). There's also a runners up prize of another apron (no recipe cards). All you have to do is enter via the Rafflecopter widget below. Good luck!

Mindful Chef

On August Bank Holiday Saturday, Dean, Mum and I spent the day at The Big Feastival, a food and music festival on Alex James' (he of Blur fame) farm in Oxfordshire. Mum and I went last year and enjoyed it so much that we got early bird tickets for this year and we're hoping to go for two days in 2018. It's a family-friendly event where you can attend cookery classes, watch top chefs in action, listen to great bands and DJs, buy from local producers and sample all sorts of delicious goodies.

Amongst the producers showing off their wares were Mindful Chef, a health-focused food box company set up by school friends Giles, Myles and Rob and funded by Sir Andy Murray and Victoria Pendleton CBE. They've been around since 2015 and have shipped over 500,000 healthy recipes from small farms in Devon where they grew up. Their USP is reducing your intake of refined carbs, so their boxes and recipes will never contain pasta, bread or white rice - instead all their recipes are based on innovative uses of fresh vegetables.

I was initially drawn to their stall because they were giving out free samples of two vegetarian recipes, a chilli and a smoky lentil and mushroom dish. Both were outstanding and I must confess to having more than one sample during the course of the day. We grabbed a few recipe cards and resolved to head back a bit later to sign up.

One of the smaller tents in the foodie area was hosting some Table Sessions, where some of the top chefs and producers put on some tasters, talks and demos, and I was delighted to see that Mindful Chef was doing one. We managed to get a spot near the demo counter for Myles' engaging talk about their origins whilst Giles whipped up one of their recipes. They claim that every recipe in their food boxes has 10 ingredients or fewer and should take no more than 30 minutes to prepare - the time element of that was certainly proven at the Table Session!

Myles, me and Giles

During the Table Session, Dean had snuck off to sign us up for a box containing two vegetarian meals for two, taking advantage of their 25% off two boxes plus free cookbook deal, which Myles and Giles and they very kindly signed after the demo. The book has sections about gut health, eating for training, stress and sleep as well as a stack of enticing recipes and I'm really looking forward to getting stuck in to it!

Myles and Giles came across as really nice chaps, very engaging, passionate about what they do and with a genuine interest in helping people to have a healthier diet. I found out that Giles used to be a Personal Trainer and we talked about the virtues of different PT and Nutrition courses. We also met Louisa, their chef who develops all the recipes and walked away with yet more recipe cards.

There are lots of different meal box solutions around these days, from vegetable boxes, to spice packs and boxes containing all the ingredients you need to cook a meal for 2, 3 or 4 people. I've tried several in the past and they all have their merits. So what appealed about this one, apart from the delicious samples and the offer? Being able to talk to the producers definitely played a part. Finding out that there is a PT/Nutritionist approach to the recipes is also a draw. Half of their recipes are vegan and there appears to be a much bigger selection than many other companies, where I would come across the same meals too often for my liking. They are not the cheapest around, and certainly not as cheap as buying the ingredients yourself, but there's no temptation to impulse shop and there certainly won't be any food waste. It'll be perfect for when I'm working or training late and Dean is on dinner duty!

Keep your eyes pealed for a post in the next couple of weeks where we'll let you know how we get on with the boxes and a Mindful Chef competition.

Have you tried meal boxes? Which ones and what did you think of them? Do you think they are an indulgence or have they saved you money?
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Decoding Food Labels

As we head into New Years Resolutions I wanted to share this article with you from Fix.com about food and nutrition labels. As a tutor for Eat4Health, I regularly talk to people about food labels and how to decipher them because it's one thing trying to eat healthily but if you don't know what's really in the food you're picking up in the shop then it's really hard to make healthy choices.

Not only is it important to understand what's in your food but what we should be eating on a daily/weekly basis and how that fits with our government guidelines. It's a minefield! Bear in mind that food companies want to sell us their products and don't always have our best interests at heart. The traffic light system that we have in this country has gone some way to making it easier to make healthy choices but again don't feel that you can't pick up anything that has a "red" or "high" rating... it all depends on how often you're eating the food and how much of it.

So digest the article and good luck with making your food shop healthier in 2017!
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Post-Workout Snacks

Food! My favourite subject. I run to eat and I eat to run (other exercises also feature). I have my tried-and-tested pre-long run or race breakfast of choice which consists of a coffee and either overnight oats or porridge with banana and nut butter. And as I've learnt through some rather scary, wobbly experiences, post-exercise fuelling is also vital.

My go-to replenisher for post long runs is a chocolate protein shake or milk. It's easy to consume if I can't face real food and has a great carbs to protein ratio. A ratio of 3:1 carb to protein ratio is favoured for lean muscle mass and endurance work and it's important to get this in fairly quickly to optimise recovery. I also turn to things like protein bars, nakd bars, nut butter on rice cakes and the odd cheese sandwich as sometimes I need something savoury after the sweetness of energy gels. 

American company Nuts.com have sent me this cute infographic with a few more suggestions for post-workout snacks. I think I may try edame beans sometime as a recovery snack as I love them anyway. Nuts have an overwhelming selection of foods including healthy snacks and high-protein snacks and do ship to the UK but it's worth checking out your local stores for interesting snacks too. Lidl and Aldi, for instance, often have good value nuts and seeds for making your own trail mix, and Holland & Barrett have some great new snack lines. Companies such as The Protein Works or MyProtein have great deals on whey protein, bars and nut butters. It's personal preference but great to get more inspiration than the standard post-race banana!

What's your post-workout snack of choice? 

Recipe: Mellow Okra and Chickpeas

Although I have a wealth of recipe books and try to base my meals on what I have in the house already, there are times when the yellow sticker section of the supermarket comes up trumps and I find some gems that are too good to resist. The latest example of this was a pack of okra for 20p. I rarely see okra, let alone buy it, but I've had enough good dishes in Indian restaurants to know I enjoy it. 

I'd remembered seeing a recipe in Plenty that featured okra but in the end I made up my own version of a dish that was colourful, different and satisfying. It has elements of curry recipes I've made in the past but is far gentler. 

Mellow Okra and Chickpeas

Ingredients

• 1 pack okra (~150g)
• 1 red pepper
• 400g chickpeas, drained
• 400g chopped toms
• 1 tbsp corriander seeds
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tbsp coconut oil
• 80g quinoa, dry weight
• Fresh coriander, chopped

Method

1. Melt the coconut oil in a large pan over a medium heat. Add the cumin and coriander seeds and cook for 1-2 minutes.
2. Cut the stalks from the okra, trying not to cut so low as to expose the seeds, and slice the red pepper into strips. Add to the pan and cook for 5-6 minutes
3. Add the tomatoes and chickpeas and simmer until the okra is tender and the chickpeas are warmed through, about 10 minutes.
4. Meanwhile, cook the quinoa according to the instructions, this usually takes about 8-10 minutes.
5. When cooked, drain the quinoa and alongside the okra and chickpea mix. Serve with fresh chopped coriander or a little sour cream or yogurt if you like.

Have you been inspired by any unusual reduced items at the supermarket?

Recipe : Breakfast Quesadillas

What do you go for when you want a breakfast that tastes a bit naughty but is actually fairly good for you? Banana pancakes? A "carrot cake" smoothie? Maybe porridge with nutella? I've got a new one for you... breakfast quesadillas.

I love the traditional quesadillas and have made them myself for lunches or dinners before now but it's only recently I've tried them for breakfast. Sweet or savoury, it's all good and definitely feels like an indulgent breakfast. Here is my suggestion for a sweet version, but you can certainly play around with the fillings to your heart's content.

Sweet Breakfast Quesadilla

Ingredients

• 1 wholegrain tortilla wrap
• 2 tbs nut butter (I like crunchy peanut)
• 1 small banana, sliced
• Handful of blueberries
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp coconut oil

Method

1. Heat the coconut oil in a pan large enough to hold your tortilla wrap folded in half
2. Spread the tortilla wrap with the nut butter and arrange the banana and blueberries onto one half of the wrap. Sprinkle with the cinnamon.
3. Fold the rest of the wrap over and place in the pan. Cook on a medium heat for 5-6 minutes, until the underside is golden. Carefully flip over and cook on the other side for another 5-6 minutes until golden.
4. Remove from the pan, cut in half and serve with a sprinkling of icing sugar, some greek yogurt and more fresh fruit as you see fit.

Another good combination is banana and strawberry with chocolate hazelnut butter!

Let me know what you think and of any other tasty fillings you come up with.

Transforming Your Grocery Habits

Life seems to have a way of making me reassess my food buying and consumption habits every once in a while. Most recently it was the arrival of a housemate, necessitating the need to clear out kitchen cupboards and the fridge-freezer in order that she too could store food. I'm nice like that. But I digress...

I saw just how much I had in the kitchen cupboard; a huge range of lentils, flours, pasta, nut butters, preserves, dried fruit and nuts. There were a lot of oddments; things that I couldn't quite bring myself to use up so had a handful of cranberries here, a bit of couscous there and so on. Why?! There's no harm in using things up and in fact it's better to do so than just use the freezer as a stopping point on the way to the bin. I don't need 6 different types of grain on hand "just in case". So I reinvigorated my mission to use things up and even managed a whole week eating meals made only from what I already had in the cupboard, fridge and freezer. At the end of it, I realised I could do a second week, so I did.

I'm not the only one guilty of stoking up on too much food. Many of us over estimate what we will consume and ambitiously plan weeks in advance leading to eventually throwing out the excess. Something that surprised me in a recent report from the World Resources Institute was that about one third of all the food produced worldwide never makes it from production to plate. However, where it does, food waste is usually due to an overly prudent food industry, ambiguous food labelling, and over-cautious or ambitious consumers. Although written from an American viewpoint, there is still a wealth of good advice and tips in this article from fix.com.

Some of the tips to reduce food waste at home include:

• Taking cookery classes - learning how to make use of those random ingredients in the fridge
• Track your grocery and eating habits for a month to help you understand where you can buy less and use more
• Buy fresh more often - only buying bread, fruit and veg with the next 2-3 days in mind
• Understand the true meaning of use by and best before dates, and how storage can affect these
• Learn how best to store the fresh food you buy

Take a look at these info graphics for more insight.


Source: Fix.com


Source: Fix.com

Do you think you could eat for a week from what's currently in your kitchen without buying anything else? 

Waste Not : Asda Promotes Ugly Veg

In the aftermath of Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's War on Waste program, I've not only been keeping an eye on my own habits but encouraging others to be less wasteful too. So it was a delight to read in The Times today that Asda has taken a step towards helping us to improve our habits and help farmers too.

A trial has been launched in 128 stores today, after the success of an earlier, smaller trial, of "wonky veg" boxes. The boxes, selling for £3.50, contain enough vegetables to feed a family for a week but rather than perfectly straight carrots and smooth spuds, you're more likely to find a much bigger range of sized vegetables, forked parsnips or curvy cucumbers, all still perfectly edible.

This is great news for farmers as they can still sell the produce to the supermarkets rather at a massively reduced rate for animal feed, or simply digging it back into the ground. Good news for us as consumers as we can pick up some budget friendly fruit and vegetables, eking out those pounds and pence a bit further and improving our diets in the process.

Other supermarkets are also starting to relax cosmetic standards for fruit and veg, but we all need to play our part. So next time you're out shopping, look to see if your supermarket is offering something similar, and if not, ask if they will.

PURE Fast and Listen Food Coaching Course

Last year I was lucky enough to win a competition in Personal Trainer magazine for a place on a food coaching course run by dynamic American duo Robyn and Geoff Randolph from Pure Healthy Way. Robyn and Geoff have written a number of articles for PT magazine recently including this one on intermittent fasting, something I have learnt a lot about first hand recently.

The six-week ‘PURE Fast and Listen’ course was specifically targeted at professionals such as personal trainers, massage therapists, nutritionists and dieticians and was very much a "try it for yourself" approach. I'd been expecting it to be more of a book-based learning course but it was actually very hands-on, as you were expected to participate in changing your own approach to food and eating. The course provided information and tools on food coaching and education, increasing my awareness of subjects such as intermittent fasting and raw food cuisine, explaining how these food choices can impact on your lifestyles. It was delivered through a mix of videos, coaching and downloaded handouts which I found really easy to work through and revisit as and when needed.

Before the course started I had a phone call from Robyn to discuss the course, what I hoped to get out of it and whether I was right for it. Part of the course involves eating PURE for 21 days and a good two weeks were spent preparing us for those 21 days and what it would involve. In summary, for me, that meant no cow's dairy, refined sugar, gluten, caffeine, alcohol or grains (with some exceptions) and two days of fasting per week. I was particularly nervous about intermittent fasting at first, because I've suffered with sudden low blood sugar in the past and it's been quite scary but Robyn reassured me that she'd been through the same and that I had nothing to worry about.

Examples of meals I was eating and loving.

Spending so much time in preparation, changing my mindset from what I *couldn't* eat to focussing on what I *could* eat, and getting some strategies in place for socialising, meant that the 21 days were actually relatively easy. I built new habits, drinking lemon water first thing in the morning and barley grass shots three times a day. Small adjustments meant that I could still eat versions of my usual meals in most cases and I soon found that the sugar cravings, and in particular my cake habit, was no more.

A cake that was compliant, served with sheep's yogurt

I realised that a lot of the time I was eating "just in case"; having a snack in case I started to dip in the middle of a session or class at work, even though I wasn't hungry. I learnt to notice when I was sated and what sort of food my body actually needed. I was most surprised at how stable my blood sugar levels were but also how much speed and power I lost as my body adapted to burning fats for fuel rather than carbohydrates. Although I hadn't started this with any intention to lose weight I lost about 5kg and 2 inches from my waist. I felt brighter, looked leaner and wasn't thinking about food so much. I also no longer had my morning "sniffly nose" which has been a constant for months, which makes me think it is diet related. Indeed I didn't realise just how much better I felt eating this way until I stopped and reverted over Christmas!

Before

After: you can just see a bit more definition on my stomach.

The coaching I got from Robyn was a huge help. We also had a Facebook group where all participants on the course could share experiences and ask questions. I was dubious about the whole thing, I'll admit, and while I don't think I've necessarily learnt anything new about food itself, I have learnt about a new approach to eating, more about coaching, and that actually trying these things for yourself is absolutely key. This isn’t a one size fits all approach but it has the potential to make a difference to a lot of people and to instil healthy habits for life.

I mentioned that I didn't keep this way of eating up over Christmas but I fully intend to re-incorporate elements of eating PURE into my life now the last mince pies have been banished from the house; starting the day with lemon water, having fasting days, cutting out most grains and refined sugars. I will have the occasional tea or coffee, but I've a good stash of caffeine-free teas I love that I drink most of the time, and limiting alcoholic drinks to the occasional glass of wine over dinner with friends or family won't be difficult. I'm looking forward to feeling better in my body again.

Have you ever tried cutting things out of your diet and did it make any difference to you? Whole30, Lean In 15, paleo, vegan or some other approach. I'd love to know what way of eating makes you feel your best.

Waste Not : Leftover Veg Stir Fried Rice

During the time I spent scrutinising my food habits recently I learned that I'm inherently frugal with my food. I can't abide throwing things out and the key to this is having a few reliable recipes to make the most of odds and ends of things that are left over. One of my favourites at the moment, aside from the ever present "bung it all in" soup I make quite often, is vegetable fried rice. You can throw all sorts of bits and bobs in and end up with a tasty, nutritious meal at the end of it. The addition of cashews and egg means there's a good protein hit, good carbs in the form of brown rice or quinoa and of course, lots of veg.

Left Over Veg Stir Fried Rice

This makes a great lunch or perhaps a light dinner.

• Handful of cooked rice (I prefer brown) or quinoa per person
• A good amount of left over veg (broccoli, peppers, mushroom, courgette, green beans and sweetcorn are all good but don't feel restricted)
• One egg per person, beaten
• A small handful of cashews, toasted (optional)
• Soy sauce
• Chilli flakes (optional)
• Oil

1. Heat the oil in a large frying pan or wok
2. Once hot, add the veg and rice and cook until heated through. I sometimes like to heat up left over rice in the microwave first to ensure it's piping hot and not harbouring any nasties.
3. Add the soy and chilli flakes to taste. 
4. Move the rice and veg to one side of the pan and add the egg to the other side. This is easiest if the pan is tilted slightly in the egg direction. Let it sit for a moment and then use a spatula or chopstick to scramble the egg without mixing it in to the rice mixture.
5. Once the egg is softly scrambled, remove from the heat and mix in with the rice.
6. Serve topped with toasted cashews.

Waste Not : Another Week in Food

I realised that looking at my food consumption for jet one week wasn't really going to show any trends or habits so I decided to keep going and scrutinise my habits for another week. I was rather worried, at the beginning of the week, that I would have to throw a lot out but I managed to make use of most things before they were lost forever. So here's the update for last week...

Used

• Almond milk, avocado, spinach, apple - smoothie with spirulina powder, cinnamon, vanilla and frozen banana
• Squash, leeks, onions - roasted veg soup
• Avocado, broccoli, sweet potato, eggs, beetroot, spinach - "healthy bowl" meals

• Carrot and apple juices - used for my barley grass shots
• Spinach, lettuce, apple, red pepper, cheese - salad

• Apples - snacked on these, some plain and some with almond butter
• Avocado, tomatoes, spinach, eggs - a lovely brunch

• Sheep's yogurt - this was mixed with granola 
• Apple juice - soaked some granola and topped with yogurt

• Left over lentil soup
• Left over rice, red pepper, broccoli, egg - egg fried rice

Bought
Avocado
Tomatoes
Sweet potatoes
Pomegranate juice
Sheep's yogurt

Wasted
I had to throw out  more tomatoes that had gone mouldy and the rest of the clementines.

What's Left
Excluding the things I bought this week...

• A broccoli stalk
• Half a red pepper
• Beetroot
• Apples 
• Chillies  
• Onions 
• Sheep's cheese
• Eggs
• Condiments and protein shakes
• Roast veg soup

So at the end of this experiment I'm fairly happy that I don't waste any fresh food but what I DO need to work on, and what will be a priority project in the new year, is to start using up my store cupboard staples. I've got stacks of pulses, grains, nut butters and so on, that I seem to keep adding to rather than using up. And there's no harm in using things up, I don't have to ration things out just in case, nor have a huge variety of these things on hand.

Are you guilty of hoarding dry goods? What store cupboard essential can't you be without?

Waste Not : My Week In Food

Last week I shared with you the contents of my fridge with the intention of sharing with how it's used and what waste I actually produce. This was inspired by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's War On Waste programme as I wondered if I was actually as good as I thought. So time for an update on what's gone in and out of my fridge this week.

Used

• Lettuce, avocado, eggs, tomatoes - these made several salads with sprinklings of seeds and a dressing of left over sundried tomato oil and balsamic vinegar
• Left over spinach omelet - had this for lunch with some avocado
• More tomatoes, some lettuce and half an avocado - used the tomatoes to make a batch of "butter chick peas" rather than using tinned or carton tomatoes. I had this with rice one night and with lettuce and avocado another night as I was craving greenery

• Half a butter nut squash and 2 onions - these went into a big batch of soup along with some lentils
• Half an avocado and 4 tomatoes - made a raw cream of tomato soup for a lighter eating day.
• Spring onions, half a red pepper, a little broccoli, an egg, left over rice from curry night - veg fried rice

• Pomegranate juice - used all of this to disguise the taste of the barley grass powder
• Sheep's yogurt - this was mixed with granola and used to tone down the chickpea curry. Surprised at how much I liked the taste
• Apples - snacked on these, some plain and some with almond butter

Bought
I only bought one fresh thing last week which was a bag of spinach.

Wasted
I had to throw out a few tomatoes that had gone mouldy (they had been there a loooong time) and
one clementine that I didn't get to in time. Not bad!

What's Left

• Some broccoli
• A red pepper
• Beetroot
• Apples 
• Chillies 
• Onions 
• Leeks 
• A little bit of lettuce
• An avocado
• Half a tub of sheep's yogurt
• Sheep's cheese
• Eggs
• Half a butternut squash
• Almond milk
• The rest of the juices, condiments and protein shakes

This has really highlighted to me how little I really consume during the week and how far I can make things stretch. I certainly don't need to buy anything fresh this week unless I need something specific although I suspect I'll buy some more tomatoes. 

Have you ever taken a good look at what you *really* use in a week? Would anyone like any of the recipes for any of the meals I mentioned?

Waste Not : What's In My Fridge

Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall may have left our screens for the time being but the message of his War of Waste programme are still with me. Think about what you buy. Try to avoid waste whenever possible. Be fair to the producer. I always thought I was pretty good at avoiding food waste and not over buying but I thought it would be interesting to put this to the test and so I'm going to share with you the contents of my fridge and over the next few weeks, give up dates about what else I buy, what I use up (and how) and what I've had to throw away. This is a completely honest look. No styling or filters here!

Let's start with the salad drawers. Drawer one contains a head of broccoli and a red pepper I bought this week. There's also some beetroot and a courgette from a veg box, apples and a bag of salad tomatoes, chillies and a red pepper from mum's garden. Drawer two contains more apples, onions and two leeks from the veg box.

Drawer one.

Drawer two.

Ok, so far so good. The bottom two shelves are the ones I'm not keen on sharing but here we go. Booze! The bottom shelf is all booze. I don't drink a lot so it's all been there for months, but I like to be prepared for guests so there's a bottle of fizz, some beers, white wine and pimms. This is also the condiments zone. Olives, artichokes, mustards, jam and chutney. Oh and some lettuce that wouldn't fit in the drawer.

The top two shelves are a bit better... The lower one contains an assortment of protein drinks, pomegranate juice, coconut water, avocados and sheep's yogurt. Aside from the protein shakes these are not usual fixtures, but I'm playing with cutting out cow's dairy and trying to find ways to disguise barley grass powder in drinks. The top shelf contains half an avocado in a box, a tub of boiled eggs for snacks, a wealth of tomatoes and some sheep's cheese.

The door is a jumble of eggs, butter, cordials juices, condiments and almond milk.

There was also a plate in the fridge that had half a spinach and paprika omelette on it. Left overs from dinner destined to be lunch in a day or so.

It's not the best, nor the worst fridge. Most of these items are destined for specific recipes which I'm happy to share as we go if you like. I'm quite interested to see how this plays out.

Do you end up throwing food away or are you a frugal, well organised cook?

Waste Not

It's rare that I'll write something resembling a rant on this blog but it was with real outrage, sorrow and frustration that I watched Hugh's War On Waste on the BBC iPlayer during a bout of insomnia recently. I have been so moved by this program that I feel compelled to write about it.

Credit: WasteNotUK.com

I sometimes refer to myself as a passionate foodie. I mean this in as much as I ADORE food. You won't find me in michelin star restaurants, creating "foam" to garnish my dishes or waxing lyrical about the latest superfood. Even whipping up any meals requiring more than two pans is usually a step too far, but I believe in eating good food, real food, knowing where it comes from and avoiding waste wherever possible.

Credit: Hugh's War On Waste

What has this got to do with health and fitness? We need to eat well to be healthy, for a start, and given that around a quarter of all fruit and 45% of all salad is binned, that surely must be having an impact on how often we reach our 5-a-day. We import a huge amount of fruit and veg from abroad, simply because our own supermarkets deem the home-grown produce too ugly for sale. Just last week a friend of mine commented on how his online grocery shop had included carrots from South Africa! In October! I've got more carrots than I can eat in a large pot outside my front door and we're shipping them in from South Africa? The more fresh produce is handled, the longer it takes to get from field to shelf to plate, the fewer nutrients it contains. It just seems mad.

So over the next few weeks I intend to look very closely at my food habits. How much do I really waste? Can I get even better at reducing my food waste, either by buying less in the first place, or by being more creative with what I have. I intend to share the state of my fridge, cupboards and freezer, my existing meal planning routine and some of the meals I come up with to help reduce waste.

Green tomatoes destined to become salsa, chutney or cake.

Of course wastage comes from the supermarkets directly as well, not to mention restaurants and fast food outlets, and that's difficult to impact as one person. But. If we all do something (pledging your support on the WasteNot website is a start) then perhaps we can make a difference.

To get you started in a new way of thinking, the WasteNot website has an abundance of useful tips and links to websites such as The Rubbish Diet, Love Food Hate Waste and Too Good To Waste.
It covers a lot more than just food. I remember collecting bottle tops at school to be sent to charities but these days they usually get binned, as I've lacked the impetus to collect them when I've not known what to do with them. However, I've discovered that you can take them to LUSH to be recycled into their cosmetic pots. As I buy LUSH products occasionally it's a great tie in for me.

So please, pledge your support to the WasteNot campaign and have a look at your food waste habits. Try to change just one thing. Then another, and another. Thank you.

Review : Thud Subscription Box

Oh I am a sucker for a subscription box! I'm a big fan of getting my fruit and veg box every few weeks from Abel & Cole (even more so since they've revamped their service to give you more control) but getting a big box of veg delivered doesn't suit everyone, especially if you live in a block of flats, are just one person or get stuck for what to do with those slightly exotic items (hello celeriac).

At the Good Food Festival this year I was drawn to Thud's stall, not least because it was one of the few that had fresh produce rather than row upon row of sauces or condiments. The premise is that enough fresh produce for 2 meals for two (or four) is packaged in a box small enough to fit through your letter box, along with the recipes, thus eliminating the need to be in to receive the delivery or running the risk of a box being nicked.

I took advantage of their introductory offer of a box of 2 meals for two for £5. I ordered on Saturday and the box arrived on Tuesday. My postman did ring the bell to deliver it, but he knows I'm often in during the day so I'll forgive him. I did test though and as promised, the box would have fitted through my letterbox. My parcel contained crab apples, tomatoes, shallots, spuds, kale, mushrooms and parsnips, as well as garlic, fresh herbs, ginger and turmeric, all cleverly packaged (the secret compartment along the front of the box escaped notice for a while) and in good nick.

My recipes were mushroom risotto with kale and crab apple and parsnip soup with bruschetta. Now I know how to make a risotto and I'm happy cooking kale so that wasn't too much of a departure for me. I've never used crab apples or fresh tumeric though so I was keen to try out the soup recipe.

The recipes are fairly quick to make at 25-40 minutes, with minimal prep (mainly chopping) and are very straightforward. The soup was pretty thick in consistency, extremely and actually made enough for three portions even without the bruschetta (which I'm planning to have as a lunch in it's own right). Now I know how to deal with these, I'll be foraging from a nearby crab apple tree in the future to recreate versions of this soup, or perhaps use them in a crumble.

The risotto was also very tasty and the portion size was about spot on, but not terribly adventurous or unusual to me. There isn't a choice of recipes each week but that wasn't something that bothered me. Other recent recipes include Asian stir fry, leek and mushroom parcels and a broccoli and cavalo nero curry. A nice touch to the service was the emails I received before the box arrived, containing expanded step-by-step instructions for the recipes and advising what store cupboard items you would need to hand. This certainly isn't the cheapest way to get your veg but it certainly meets a need. At £10 for 2 meals for 2 for £10 or £18 for 2 meals for 4 it is reasonably priced and the range of recipes is good. 

Would you consider trying a service like this? What's the most unusual fruit or vegetable you now use regularly?