Weight Loss - Why Not Eat Less Every Other Day to Lose Weight? #Healthy #Nutrition

Weight Loss - Why Not Eat Less Every Other Day to Lose Weight? #Healthy #Nutrition

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#body #clothes #fashion #fitness #girl #goals #health #healthy #style #want #fitspo

#body #clothes #fashion #fitness #girl #goals #health #healthy #style #want #fitspo

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#health #fitness #fitspo #eathealthy #eatclean #nutrition #healthy #girl #weightloss #fitspiration

#health #fitness #fitspo #eathealthy #eatclean #nutrition #healthy #girl #weightloss #fitspiration

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#aesthetic #healthy #fruits #breakfast #fitspo #health&fitness #pancakes #strawberries #workout #banana #delicious #food #tasty

#aesthetic #healthy #fruits #breakfast #fitspo #health&fitness #pancakes #strawberries #workout #banana #delicious #food #tasty

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#myfood #health #recipe #healthy #fit #fitblr #losefat #getfit #losefat #loseweight #eatforhealth #guacamole #college #green #EatHealthy #eatclean #cleaneating

#myfood #health #recipe #healthy #fit #fitblr #losefat #getfit #losefat #loseweight #eatforhealth #guacamole #college #green #EatHealthy #eatclean #cleaneating

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#aesthetic #alternative #candy #fit #food #fruit #health #healthy #inspiration #strawberry #sweet #foodporn

#aesthetic #alternative #candy #fit #food #fruit #health #healthy #inspiration #strawberry #sweet #foodporn

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#cravings #Diet #eathealthy #eating #fat #fatloss #fit #Fitness #food #health #healthandfitness #healthy #healthylifestyle #Lifestyle #loseweight #Nutrition #sugarfree #weight #WeightLoss

#cravings #Diet #eathealthy #eating #fat #fatloss #fit #Fitness #food #health #healthandfitness #healthy #healthylifestyle #Lifestyle #loseweight #Nutrition #sugarfree #weight #WeightLoss

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Include Fish in Your Diet and Enjoy These #diet #fit #fitness #healthy #weightloss #fatloss

Include Fish in Your Diet and Enjoy These #diet #fit #fitness #healthy #weightloss #fatloss

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Smoked Salmon and Tomato Salad

Although when I want to have something light to eat in winter months, I usually choose soups, I do fancy salads from time to time. The below recipe is, in my opinion, a great option for a winter salad: it is light but - thanks to the smoked salmon - substantial enough to keep you going and not feeling hungry for a few hours. The tomatoes, capers and lemony, slightly spicy dressing balance out the oily fish so you end up with a pretty refreshing and very delicious salad that can be made in a few minutes and is impressive enough to be served to your guests too.

Smoked Salmon and Tomato Salad

Ingredients

• 50g rocket,
• 150g cherry tomatoes, cut in halves or quarters, if bigger,
• 40g sundried tomatoes, cut into strips,
• 150g hot-smoked salmon, flaked,
• 1 tbsp capers,
• 2 tbsp radish sprouts,
• salt and pepper,
• 1 tbsp olive oil,
• 1 tbsp lemon juice,
• 2 tsp sweet chilli sauce.

Serves 2.

Instructions

1. Arrange on two plates the first six ingredients.
2. Mix the olive oil, lemon juice and sweet chilli sauce in a small bowl till combined to make a dressing and pour over the salad, season.

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Strawberry milkshake is surely a classic in its group although probably everyone prepares it slightly differently: some add cream, some - ice cream; some use very ripe bananas, some - frozen bananas. For a very long time I prepared it as either a treat/snack or - sometimes - as an accompaniment to breakfast.

This time I wanted it to be a wholesome breakfast and that is why I added chia seeds to my more-or-less usual ingredients. Why was chia supposed to make the difference? You may remember from one of my previous posts that chia seeds are not only nutritious but also an excellent source of dietary fiber. Additionally, these seeds are weight-loss friendly because:

• due to a pretty high (for a plant food) content of proteins - approx. 16%, they reduce appetite and
• since chia can absorb up to 10-12 times its weight in water, it becomes gel-like, expanding in your stomach making you feel fuller so you want to eat less calories.

That way when you have this milkshake in the morning you can be sure that not only you have a delicious and nutritious start to your day but also you will not feel hungry for a few hours. And did I mention it takes only a few minutes to make it?

Chia Seeds and Strawberry Milkshake[vegan]

Ingredients

• 200g fresh or frozen strawberries
• 2 bananas
• 200ml rice milk (or any other type of milk)
• 2 tbsp chia seeds

Takes 3 min, serves 2.

Instructions

1. Process everything in a blender for 40-60 seconds.

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Quinoa Porridge with Apples

I have already written about quinoa and its unique features, especially important for people who follow plant based diets. And because of the health benefits, I have used quinoa in dishes instead of rice, in salads and even in a cake. But since I never used it for breakfast dishes, I decided to give it a try. 

When I was at university, there was a time when each day I ate my healthy breakfast - "doctor Bircher's muesli". The name of the dish came from a Swiss doctor who served it to his patients in his clinic. The dish is made of porridge oats that are not cooked but soaked in water overnight, grated apple and all sorts of nuts and dried fruit. So I decided to borrow this concept, but use quinoa (cooked) instead of oats. 

Although I am unable to compare health benefits between the two options, one thing is for sure: the quinoa variation is at least as tasty as the oat one, so you can try it and enjoy.

INGREDIENTS (for 1 portion):

1 apple, cored,

a squeeze of lemon juice,

3 tbsp cooked quinoa*,

3 dried figs, chopped,

4 dried apricots, chopped,

a handful of chopped nuts,

1 tsp pumpkin seeds,

a pinch of cinnamon.

METHOD:

1. Grate the apple (with its skin), sprinkle with a squeeze of lemon juice and mix with the cooked quinoa.
2. Add the dried fruit, nuts, seeds and some cinnamon, stir.
3. The porridge can be optionally served with a dollop of yoghurt and some honey.

* The quinoa can be cooked a day earlier as per the following instruction (the rest can be used in salads or the next day):

1 cup quinoa,

2 cups water,

a pinch of salt,

dash of olive oil

Put the quinoa to a fine mesh strainer, rinse it under running cold water rubbing the seeds with each other with your fingers (for at least 1 minute) and drain well. Heat a drizzle of olive oil in a pot over a medium heat and fry the drained quinoa for about 1 minute till the rest of water evaporates. Add water, salt and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and cook covered for approx. 15 minutes. Take it out from the heat and let it rest covered for 5 minutes more. Fluff the quinoa with a fork.

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Healthy Avocado Brownies [gluten free]

Who doesn’t love brownies? For sure I don’t belong to this group of people because I love them like almost everything else that contains chocolate. I especially adore brownies that my daughters have baked for the last few years. Their brownies are moist, chocolaty and rich. They are unfortunately also full of calories and fat as there is butter and plenty of sugar in them… So whenever I have those brownies, my guilt grows proportionately to the number of pieces I eat.

That’s why when I came across a brownie recipe that uses avocado instead of butter, I quickly had to test it out. To be honest I wasn’t ecstatic about the final outcome: I used chocolate with a very high percentage of cocoa solids and the cake was on the edge of being bitter. As I really liked the concept of healthier brownies, I didn’t want to give up and adjusted the recipe to make it sweeter without adding any more sugar. So I used a different type of chocolate and added lots of nuts as well as cranberries. That strategy worked really well: the result of my second attempt was most delicious.

INGREDIENTS (for 16 pieces):

100g dark chocolate (no more than 65% cocoa),

2 medium, ripe avocados, peeled and roughly mashed,

150g sugar,

2 tsp vanilla extract,

2 eggs,

40g cocoa powder,

45g almond flour or ground almonds,

40g dried cranberries,

100g mixed nuts (cashews, pistachios, Brazil nuts), roughly chopped,

METHOD:

1. Preheat an oven to 175 Celsius degrees (or 150 for fan ovens).
2. Line a small (e.g. 14cm x 24cm) baking tray with a parchment paper.
3. Melt the chocolate in a microwave or over a pan of simmering water.
4. Put to a food processor the avocados, sugar and vanilla extract; process them till smooth.
5. Stir in the melted chocolate then add the eggs and process again till everything is combined.
6. Add the cocoa powder and almond flour, mix well until combined.
7. Stir in the dried cranberries and nuts; transfer to the baking tray and smooth the top.
8. Bake for 30-35 minutes.

Based on a Half Baked Harvest's recipe  

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Mexican Salad with Avocado, Tomato and Red Beans [vegan]

I called this salad Mexican but in truth it could also be called Guacamole Salad because it uses more or less the same ingredients as the ones that are required to make this well-known dip. However – to make it more filling so it can be a proper, nutritious lunch option - I also added red beans.

Even though I know that eating salads are more associated with spring and summer, this one is still a good option for autumn or even winter, since the addition of red chilies (the amount of which you can always adjust) will surely warm you up ;)

INGREDIENTS (for 4 portions):

2 big tomatoes, cut into cubes,

2 avocados, cut into cubes,

1 can of red beans,

1 small red onion, thinly chopped,

chopped coriander,

red chili, thinly chopped (the amount used depends on you but it is better to start with less at the beginning and then slowly add),

Dressing:

2 tbsp lime juice,

3 tbsp olive oil,

Salt and pepper.

METHOD:

1. Put all the salad ingredients to a bowl.
2. Make the dressing by mixing the ingredients.
3. Pour the dressing over the salad, season and stir.

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Delicious Fruity Porridge

Porridge is very healthy – how many times did we hear that when we were children, or how many times have we told this to our children ourselves? But do we really know why it is so healthy? Since I wasn’t sure myself, I decided to do a little research on oats myself.

Right at the beginning I have found out that by eating a bowl of porridge every day, people with high cholesterol can decrease its level by 8-23%, and as a result also reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease and stroke. Additionally, oats contain fiber called beta-glucan that boosts the immune system’s response to bacterial infection which means that immune cells react faster and are more able to fight out many bacteria.

Eating oats (and other whole grains) from one hand lowers the risk of getting type 2 diabetes disease but from the other – it helps to keep changes of the blood sugar level under control for people who already suffer from this illness. It also decreases the risk of childhood asthma.

And finally (although I am sure not lastly) whole grain fiber helps in protecting woman against breast cancer: premenopausal woman whose daily intake of this type of fiber amounts to at least 13g, lower the risk of breast cancer by 41%.

Now, with all this newly garnered information I know that when I have my own porridge in the morning, I not only have a delicious breakfast but I also invest in my health at so many different levels :).

INGREDIENTS (for 1 portion):

4 tbsp rolled oat flakes (porridge oats),

0.25 cup water,

0.25 cup milk,

To serve: raspberries, blueberries, pumpkin seeds, walnut pieces, raisins, honey.

METHOD:

1. Pour the water and flakes into a small pan, stir and bring to boil; add the milk and after everything boils again cook stirring for 5-8 minutes.
2. Pour the porridge to a bowl and sprinkle with the berries, seeds, nuts and honey.

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Tabbouleh – Healthy Parsley Salad [vegan/vegetarian]

If somebody had told me, when I was a child, that years later I would not only eat but really enjoy a salad in which parsley was a main ingredient, I would have never believed them. My mother added chopped parsley to many soups and sauces and I really didn’t like it. In truth, I didn’t understand why she was doing it. So when I started cooking myself, I would always omit that – unnecessary in my opinion – ingredient.

But a few years ago, I tried Tabbouleh in a Lebanese restaurant and was surprised how delicious a Parsley Salad could be. I also know now how healthy it is: parsley is an excellent source of Vitamins K, C and A as well as folate and iron.

Tabbouleh requires a lot of chopping so a good, sharp knife is very useful but other than that the salad preparation is very straightforward. It can be served along with other mezze (meze) like hummus, olives, babaghanoush, falafel but it also tastes great with grilled or roasted meat.

P.S. In the below recipe I have included ingredients for 2-3 people only because guess what: my daughters don’t like parsley (yet ;-))!

INGREDIENTS (for 2-3 portions):

leaves from 2 bunches of parsley (approx. 40g),

a handful of mint leaves,

300g tomatoes (approx. 2 pieces),

1 shallot,

5 tbsp couscous,

2 tbsp olive oil,

juice from 1 lemon,

salt and pepper.

METHOD:

1. Rinse and dry the parsley and mint leaves very well. I dry them in a salad spinner.
2. On a big board, chop them very finely and transfer to a bowl.
3. Chop the tomatoes and shallot finely and put to the bowl with the parsley, add the couscous, stir and leave for 20 minutes.
4. Add the olive oil, lemon juice, seasoning and give it a stir.

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2 Method Pasta with Squash, Mushrooms and Spinach [vegetarian]

It was almost like a love at first sight: I tried a pasta dish with pumpkin and mushrooms fried on plenty of butter and with double cream added to it for extra taste, and I fell for it completely. But just as it sometimes happens with falling in love, after the first euphoria the common sense takes over. In case of that wonderful pasta it was about fat: I knew I had to keep my cholesterol level under control which meant I couldn't have this dish as often as I would have liked.

So I had only one option: to come up with a healthier but still very tasty dish. What I didn't know then is that I would come up with two ways of making this delicious pasta dish and I would not be able to decide which one was tastier. And that is the reason why at the end I decided to include both methods. If you - just like me - don’t know which one to choose, I can give you some hints. If you prefer to have a very healthy option and an almost-straight-from-the-oven-to-the-table dish, choose the Roasting Method. But if you have more time to be involved in cooking and you are not so concerned about a bit of fat (as it does use a little butter), choose the Frying Method. However the truth is that whichever option you decide on, you will be very happy with the result!

INGREDIENTS (for 4 portions):

1 butternut squash (weighing approx. 1 kg), peeled, seeds removed and cut into 2cm cubes,

3 tbsp olive oil,

250g mushrooms (champignons), cut into quarters,

350g cherry tomatoes, halved,

2 garlic cloves, minced,

250g  spinach,

2 tsp thyme,

400g pasta (preferably tagliatelle or pappardelle),

Salt and pepper.

Parmesan cheese.

2 tbsp butter (for the Frying Method only).

METHOD 1 (Roasting):

1. Preheat an oven to 180 degrees (fan).
2. Place the cubes of butternut squash on a big baking tray, pour 1 tbsp of olive oil over them, sprinkle with salt and pepper, mix well (you can do it with your hands) and put to the hot oven for 20 minutes.
3. Take the baking tray out of the oven, move the squash around in case it got stuck to the bottom of the tray; push to one side; add the mushrooms and the tomatoes. Season, pour 1 tbsp of olive oil over the added vegetables and put back to the oven for further 20 minutes.
4. Approx. 5-10 minutes before the vegetables are done, cook the pasta per packet instruction. Keep half a cup of cooking water before you drain the cooked pasta.
5. In a big frying pan heat the 1 tbsp olive oil, add the garlic, spinach and fry only till wilted.
6. Add the roasted vegetables and thyme, season.
7. Pour a few tablespoons of the pasta cooking water to the baking tray in which vegetables were roasted and deglaze it. You can do it by moving a spatula to dissolve the brown residue from the bottom of the tray – this way you will get some extra flavour.
8. Pour the sauce to the pan with the vegetables, stir and mix gently with the cooked pasta.
9. Serve with grated or shaved Parmesan cheese.

METHOD 2 (Frying):

1. In a big frying pan heat up 1 tbsp of each: oil and butter, add the mushrooms and fry them (stirring occasionally) for 5-7 minutes until golden, put aside.
2. In the same frying pan heat up 1 tbsp of oil and 2 tbsp of butter, add the cubed squash and thyme, fry on a medium heat for 15-17 minutes making sure the squash doesn’t burn. If it starts sticking too much, you may add a bit of boiled water.
3. Just before the squash is ready, cook the pasta per packet instruction. Keep half a cup of cooking water before you drain the cooked pasta.
4. Add the tomatoes to the squash and fry for 5 minutes more.
5. In another frying pan heat 1 tbsp olive oil, add the garlic, spinach and fry only till wilted.
6. Transfer the wilted spinach to the pan with the other vegetables, season and mix gently with the cooked pasta. If the dish is a bit too dry, you may add a few tablespoons of the pasta cooking water.
7. Serve with grated or shaved Parmesan cheese.

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Bad Beginning of a (Nice) Adventure - about Physical Education in Polish schools several years ago (and hopefully not now)

Physical Education was a subject at school that I always hated. Straight A’s from everything else and barely D from PE. I was slim, I was healthy and fit so why? When I think about it now I know it was due to Polish educational system and my teachers. PE wasn’t about being active and having loads of fun, it was about passing tests. I can still remember how at the beginning of elementary school my best friend and I tried to throw a 3kg ball behind us to score A. And however hard we tried, we never managed to achieve that since we were so skinny, we could barely hold the ball above our heads. Or later when we were learning how to play volleyball and our teacher right at the beginning of that school year picked a few girls who were afterwards properly trained to represent our school at tournaments and the rest of us were just given a ball to kill time with. Of course at the end of the semester we had to pass tests from playing volleyball and I guess you know who was not doing well then ;-) And since I did not like the feeling of doing badly, I hated Physical Education even more.

My daughters have been attending international schools and that is why I have had a chance to see a completely different system of physical education. It focuses on making sure pupils are active and engaged. It realizes not everyone is going to be a champion but everyone should be given opportunity to try different sports. It grades students on the basis of approach to the subject and not achievements.  It results in students loving their PE classes and I am sure it also results later in adults treating physical activity and fitness not as a must but as a normal part of a balanced lifestyle.

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