My Favourite Healthy Smart Swap Recipes

Well we're thinking on with it being New Year; time for change, renewal and as many people do, dieting.

I've said before, I'm not 100% sure that dieting works; especially if you are substituting 'diet' products for regular.  I know this is a controversial attitude, particularly considering official government advice reported in the media today.  That said though, some people really are out of the habit of eating healthily and I know I get like that sometimes and need to give myself a shake up, wake up and start to realise how delicious healthier food can be.  So rather than swapping sugary drink for sugar free, these are MY smart swap recipes!

Not all of them are salads either (even if this goats cheese salad is delicious) I can appreciate some people reject stuff like this as 'rabbit food' and need a little more encouragement towards their 5 a day.

So here are some recipes which often contain fruit and / or vegetables and have something else about them which I think makes them worthwhile as a 'healthy' recipe depending on your approach.  After all, remember, everything is ok in moderation but the important word is 'moderation' not 'everything'!

Frittata is a great way to get the flavour of a quiche without all of the fat and refined carbohydrate from the pastry, also a great way to get vegetables into your family's diet.

Fresh tuna is an excellent source of Omega 3.  Most of us don't have the right kind of balance of these good fats in our diet and oily fish like fresh tuna is one of the best sources.  Not all kids are massive fans though.  No problem with these tuna 'meat'balls.  Don't get me wrong, I think encouraging a love for fish is a great thing but for the most fussy of kids who aren't keen; they won't even notice they're eating fish or why not try my baked Salmon fishcakes?

My son has always been a reluctant salad eater.  So I decided to practice what I preach as I often advise other parents to try serving up rejected foods cooked or even just cut a different way.  This chopped salad was a winner and I thought it was tasty too.  Or why not try my coleslaw?

I always think spice is a great way to add flavour without loads of fat or calories.  This baked spicy chicken is delicious, yet made with skin off chicken thighs.  Very easy to cook for one busy Mum too.  Or why not try my baked Southern Fried Chicken?

With British interpretations of Indian food, there are often loads of hidden calories in the accompaniments; naan breads, poppadoms, pilau with ghee.  It all adds up.  If you're smart, rather than loading up with the calories in the bits which don't add all that much flavour anyway, why not have a salad?  Kachumber is deliciously cooling and full of vitamin C.

Soups are a fantastic way to reach your 5 a day without much effort and soup is more likely to fill you up with fewer calories.  Tomato and pesto soup is my current favourite, only 10-15 mins to make and really loved by my son too.  I often make extra, freeze in individual portions and reheat for lunch at work.  Wonderful on these blustery days, maybe substitute for gazpacho when the weather gets warmer.

Talking of quick meals, making these sweetcorn fritters is an awesome quick dish.  'Fritters' might not sound healthy but use spray oil and these aren't bad and remember if you serve this alongside some vegetables or salad, you're well on your way to 5 a day.

It's worth keeping an eye out for raw frozen prawns on offer in your local shops, not only are they frozen quickly and don't go off, they are delicious and healthy.  Baked prawns with a tomato salad and some crusty bread feels like a luxurious way to live life but as long as you're not lavish with the baked goods, it will taste good and help you look good too.

While I'm on the theme of prawns; making prawns into this sweet and sour is a great way to up the vegetable content of the dish and reduce the sugar.  It's still sweet but without the sugary gloopiness of commercial versions and with fresh green peppers, fresh pineapple and fresh carrots, it's full of vitamins too.  Piece of cake to make and very cheap as well.







I also love these thai style lettuce wraps; again a great way to cut the calories because it's served with lettuce rather than rice.









But even breakfast can be more delicious than breakfast cereal and can have added fibre and fruit like these wholemeal pancakes.

We could all do worse than starting the day as our grandparents would have.  A boiled or scrambled egg used to be seen as an ideal breakfast then fell out of favour due to Salmonella and the cholesterol content in the 80's.  Little did we know back then that the dietary cholesterol in eggs has little impact on blood cholesterol and now UK eggs are vaccinated against Salmonella and eggs are a fantastic source of vitamin D, they are a great option.  Alternatively porridge is a great source of beta glucan which is known to help heart health.

It's amazing how much a proper breakfast like this keeps you sated too and less likely to snack.

So I hope that convinces you with these photos of delicious looking food that healthy isn't necessarily boring, in fact, it can be far more appetising than the alternatives and not difficult to make at all.

I hope you enjoy.  Good luck with your plans for New Year.

I've linked to Nomday Monday.

Simple Baked Southern Fried Chicken

Ok, sorry to remind you but we're approaching New Year and the time for those resolutions.  What will yours be this year?  Lose weight?  Stop smoking?

Have you ever noticed how resolutions are always about what we don't want rather than what we do want?  That's a bad thing because we're not wired that way.  Don't think about a pink elephant.  Go on, think about ANYTHING else apart from pink elephants.  Don't think about it.  You're thinking about it aren't you?  You can't help yourself!

Anyway, in general, I'm always of the opinion that a bit of what you actually fancy is better than 101 diet products.  Let's face it, if you buy diet biscuits, you eat more biscuits don't you?  Go on, we all know the truth...  So although I'm not a huge fan of dieting per se, I also managed to lose quite a lot of weight in the last two years.  You didn't know that about me did you?  I am now a shadow of my former UK size 16/18 self and am now a comfortable size 12, size 10 in Fat Face or White Stuff on a good day with a fair wind behind me (and size 8-10 in US terms which is even better!)

I can't pretend that I'm healthy all of the time either.  It's not true.  I do exercise but I also occasionally eat chips and, very occasionally, fried chicken.  But that said, I can't bring myself to actually fry chicken at home, I can feel my arteries hardening at the thought and there is something a bit gross about the extreme fattiness of it.  If I ever do buy fried chicken (from a certain well known High Street chain), I always drain it on the paper towels to make it a bit less greasy before eating.

So this recipe is good all round.  Lower in fat but also much less greasy which is a good thing and makes it tastier.  No frying smells to stink out the house and you can feel slightly more virtuous for having your cake (or chicken) and eating it!  Just don't eat 10 pieces because it's 'healthier'!

Southern 'baked' chicken - Makes 4 pieces

Ingredients

200ml, 7 fl oz Semi Skimmed (2% fat) milk
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
1 dried chilli
4 large chicken thighs, skin on and bone in
60g, 2oz Plain (all purpose) flour
2 tsp Paprika
80g, 2.5oz Cornflakes
1/2 tsp Garlic powder
Salt and pepper
Spray oil

Method

Mix the milk with the mustard and chilli.  Soak the chicken in this mix for about an hour.

Crush the cornflakes then add to the flour, paprika, garlic powder and seasoning (miss out salt for very young kids).

Preheat the oven to 200oC / 400F / Gas Mark 6.

Take each piece of chicken out of the milk mixture.  Put each into the dry mix covering them, then onto a lined baking sheet.

Repeat with all of the pieces of chicken and then spray with the spray oil then put in the oven for 40 minutes, turning once.

The result was crunchy, gently spiced and tasty.  A hit with my 3 year old and me!

Mix it up; to make it more spicy if making just for adults or adventurous kids; use more chilli in the milk mix or a touch of cayenne pepper in the dry mix.

This would be great with coleslaw







So remember, when making your resolutions, think about what you do want this year, not what you don't and you never know, you might just achieve it!

I've linked this up to Nomday Monday and create, link inspire

Merry Christmas From Mamacook!

I hope Santa brought you everything you could wish for!

Merry Christmas!

Simple salt free poultry stock and how to make gravy

It's Christmas Eve Eve (i.e. the 23rd) and I picked up our goose yesterday from Seldom Seen farm.  Yes, goose is an extravagance but even at the pampered free range prices you're looking at less than £3 per portion for each meal we will eat it for.  You can't even get a meal in a Toby carvery for that!

So we're having goose but even if we have turkey I always make stock a day or two in advance.  I've been warned though that although you get masses of fat (great for roast potatoes) juices can be a bit thin on the ground with a goose so I'm making some stock.

Stock is stupidly easy to make.  Think about it as bones and water and you get the idea.  At other times of year I make stock from left over roast bones (especially chicken) but for Christmas it gets a bit special, albeit not expensive.


So why chicken wings?  It's all the skin, bones and stringy bits which make stock taste great and wings are not only cheap, they're full of that stuff.

Scared of giblets?  Get over it.  They are basically a free bit of the bird and full of flavour.  Use them!

Simple Poultry Stock - mine made approx 1 pint, just over half a litre of stock

Ingredients

Up to 1kg (approx 2lbs) of chicken wings - if you don't have any, it's still worth making but might not be as strongly flavoured
Turkey, chicken, duck or goose giblets (but not the liver; heart, and neck are great and any other bits and bobs they throw in)
2 Bay leaves
Water to cover

Method

You can just cook this from raw but to add extra flavour, I roast the wings first.  (It's all about the Maillard reaction if you want to know!)  Roast them for 40 mins approx at 200oC / 400F or until lovely and brown.  I do this on baking paper so I can get as much of the sticky brown bits off as possible.

A slow cooker is ideal for making the stock.  If you have one, put everything in, the giblets, roasted wings and bay leaves then boiling water to cover.  If you only have a sauce pan, do the same and put on the heat.

Bring to a boil on high on the slow cooker or on the hob then turn down and simmer with the lid on (or put on low) for approx 2 hours for the hob or 3-4 hours for a slow cooker.  Keep an eye on it if it's on the hob and add more water if needed.

Strain, remove any fat (see below), and taste.  If it tastes a bit weak, put into a saucepan and reduce (boil off some of the water) until it's flavourful (or you can do that later when you're making the gravy.)

Because this is totally salt free, it's great for gravy for babies or if you have too much, make some risotto.  Otherwise if you want to, mix with any juices from your roast bird on the big day (removing any fatty layer first) then heat to a boil.  Mix with cornflour / cornstarch paste (made by mixing cornflour with cold water in a cup then pouring in, whisking constantly) to thicken bringing back to the boil stirring constantly.  Start with 1 tbsp of cornflour mixed with about 1-2 tbsp water.  You might need more but you can't take it out once you put it in so add it slowly until it's at the consistency you like.  Add seasoning if you think it needs it.

I hope you have a very merry and very tasty Christmas!

Fat; goose fat is a marvellous thing and a tasty thing.  If you get a fatty lump in with your goose giblets, don't throw it away.  Put it in with your stock then, when it's cooling, scoop off the layer (the rendered fat) and save it for either putting on the goose thighs to help them not burn during cooking or for roasting your spuds!