Spiced Walnut and Squash Loaf

If you’re having guests over the Christmas period, this is an excellent – and quick! - alternative to Christmas cake. And on the plus side it has some hidden veg in it too! 

Serves 6-8 people

Ingredients:

175g rice flour

1 tbsp ground almonds

170g coconut sugar or 85g Stevia, if you prefer

2 tsp cinnamon

½ tsp ground nutmeg

3 cloves

3 tsp gluten-free baking powder 

50g dark chocolate, broken into chunks chunks (optional)

1 medium ripe avocado, pitted

½ tsp salt

230g butternut squash purée (dice a medium size squash, steam until soft, then either mash or put in a blender to purée)

1 egg

60g natural or coconut yoghurt

1 tsp vanilla paste

Two handfuls of walnuts, chopped

Method:

• Preheat the oven to 170˚C / gas mark 3, grease and line a loaf tin. 
• Stir together the rice flour, ground almonds, coconut sugar (or stevia), spices, baking powder and salt. 
• Blend together the eggs, yoghurt, avocado, squash purée, and vanilla paste until smooth.
• Stir the wet ingredients into the dry and mix until combined. Stir through the chopped walnuts and optional chocolate, then pour into the loaf tin, smoothing down the top and bake for an hour or until cooked through. If the cake is browning too much halfway through cooking, place some baking paper over the top and let it continue to bake. 
• Leave to cool.
• Slice and enjoy! 

If food isn't the problem, is it the booze?

What I hear from clients is, it’s not always the food that’s the problem – it’s the booze. 

Often partygoers who are cautious about their alcohol consumption are viewed with suspicion. If you want to have a few glasses of wine, have a few glasses of wine. But make that decision inside of what you know to be your social schedule over the entire Christmas period. 

One of the little tricks I often use is to look at my health goals alongside my social calendar and choose what I want to commit to. I choose when I want to drink, roughly how much I want to drink, and when I want to be the designated driver and not drink. 

I’m not suggesting for a minute that you have to cut back at Christmas. Yet I know that many of my clients get carried away by the spirit of Christmas (excuse the pun), whether it’s a fun wave to ride or not. This year, how about YOU choose what you want to do and when you want to do it. 

Here are a few suggestions for cutting down – if that’s what you choose to do:

• Decide how much you are going to drink (maximum) before you go out.
• Consider telling someone else who will be there (friend or partner, perhaps) to help keep you accountable.
• Don’t feel pressurised by others. It’s your life, and you are the one who makes the decisions. 
• Have an excuse ready when you want to give it a miss (remember ‘no, thanks, I’d rather have …’ is perfectly OK.)

And how much booze is too much? The official stats are no more than 14 units of alcohol a week for adults (both men and women). Consider a large glass of wine at today’s typical strength is 3.5 units, a 330ml bottle of 5% beer is 1.7 units and a single shot of 40% spirits is 1 unit. It quickly adds up. 

Without wanting to be a party pooper, the NHS considers an alcohol ‘binge’ to be drinking 6 (women) – 8 (men) units of alcohol in a single session.  Just to give you some perspective. If you’re a wine drinking, you can soon see how quickly you are in that territory. 

As a rule, try to have more booze-free nights than not to allow your body to recover. 

On those nights that you don’t drink at all, you’ll sleep better, wake feeling more refreshed, you’ll have much more energy, and your mood will be better. The impact on your waistline will be positive, too – alcohol is a major contributor to belly fat and is brimming with unnecessary calories.

And if you’re choosing what to drink over the festive period, the best options, when it comes to alcohol, are all those non-creamy, non-sugary drinks. Pretty much in this order: dry champagne, vodka and soda with a squeeze of lime (I have also tried this with gin – surprisingly nice!), dry white or dry rosé or red wine. A gin and tonic has a fair amount of sugar thanks to the tonic. Things like dark rum, port, sherry, liqueurs, fruit juice-based cocktails and spirits with sugary mixers like Coke or lemonade are total sugar bombs (sorry if you are a fan of Bailey’s or Southern Comfort and Coke…).  

But this a festive period and you definitely want to have fun! Just make sure that it’s the type of fun you actually want to have – you are in charge and you can do what you want at this time. Enjoy!

Healthy Mince Pies

Mince pies are my absolute favourite!! But rather than buying them – where the ingredients run to a laundry list of chemicals and unknown additives – why not try making them yourself? Here is my favourite recipe for gluten-free mince pies that taste *amazing*!

Prep time: 25 mins

Makes 24

Ingredients

For the filling:

1 large apple, like Braeburn, Gala 

75g raisins

75g golden sultanas

75g currants

65g dried, unsweetened cranberries

60g other dried fruit (sour cherries, blueberries, mango, apricots 

(dried but unsweetened))

Zest and juice of an orange

50g coconut palm sugar (or 2 tsp Stevia if you’d prefer)

4 tbsp organic butter, cubed

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp ground nutmeg

1 tsp ground ginger

1 tbsp brandy

For the pastry:

150g ground almonds

75g coconut flour

1 tbsp coconut palm sugar

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp sea salt

Zest of an orange

115g butter, frozen. Plus, a little extra for greasing

1 egg, lightly whisked

Method:

• Firstly, make the filling:
  • Add all of the filling ingredients (other than the brandy, if using) into a large saucepan over medium heat and stir. 
  • When the butter is fully melted, turn the heat to low, cover and cook for 15 minutes, stirring often. 
  • Take the saucepan off the heat and stir through a tablespoon of brandy and decant into sterilized glass jars. 
  • Leave to cool with the lid slightly ajar, then secure tightly and store until you’re ready to use. 
  • This can be done in advance

• Make the pastry:
  • Put the ground almonds and coconut flour in a bowl with the sugar, baking soda and salt. Stir in the orange zest. 
  • Grate the frozen butter into the flour and mix together with your fingers till a crumb forms. 
  • Stir in the egg and bring together with your hands to form a dough. 
  • Divide the dough in half, wrap each in film and place in the fridge for 1 hour (or overnight). 
  • Pre heat the oven to 175˚C. Grease the moulds of a muffin pan with a little butter. 
  • Remove the dough from the fridge and place between 2 sheets of baking / greaseproof paper. 
  • Roll with a rolling pin to flatten out the dough till it is pie-crust thin.
  • Using a cookie cutter (or an upturned jam jar - needs to be about 8cmdiameter) cut out 25 circles and lightly press into the muffin pan moulds.
  • The pastry can be tricky to work with as there is no gluten holding it together. Be patient. If the pastry splits just push it back together with your fingers and use any pastry scraps to fix it up.
  • Fill up each pie mould with a heaped teaspoon of the mincemeat. 
  • Using the remainder of the dough cut out 25 stars to top each pie. Bake in the oven for 12 minutes. Leave to cool in the tins, before gently easing them out. Don’t be tempted to remove from the tin when they come out of the oven. They WILL fall apart!
  • Enjoy!

Are you at the mercy of Christmas FOMO?

Christmas events and entertaining can seem relentless at times. Apparently, we cram 44% more social occasions into December than any other month.  How many social engagements/ parties do you already have in the calendar for the month of December?  

I know how it can go… parties, drinks dos, buffets, secret Santa. You’ll go to everything because you can’t resist. You’ll feast like you’ll never see another meal, and you’ll consume many festive tipples because otherwise you’ll be missing out on all the fun.

FOMO – shorthand for ‘fear of missing out’ – is the acute and often unjustified belief that everyone is having way more fun than you. And it reaches its annual high any day now. FOMO really is not your friend this month (or indeed any month) – especially if you want to maintain your weight or healthy living over the holidays. 

Let’s take a look at how that festive FOMO usually pans out…

You’re committed to healthy eating at Christmas, and you go to buffet parties or events. The food looks delicious, but you have made a decision to not eat unnecessarily, so your mouth can only water. There’s a very subtle fear that you are never going to be able to have any of these delicious treats ever again. The fear of missing out activates your survival instinct to consume everything and anything. And so you may go on a binge, and your healthy eating plans are obliterated. The self-recriminations start. 

Here’s what you need to know about FOMO: We are culturally programmed to over-value losses and under-value gains, so it’s really not your fault. So, we put more importance on the food we may be missing out on, and less on our goals and wellbeing.

The big question, of course, is what are you really missing out on? Nothing. OK, maybe some sweet or high-carb treats, some booze-filled evenings and such. But eating and drinking these have a flipside: blood sugar imbalance and energy crashes, poor sleep, almost certain weight gain (if you consume in excess) – and that’s without mentioning the negative self-talk for having over-indulged. 

There are several things going on when it comes to food. Your fear of ‘missing out’ on that delicious dessert is the first. But also refusing food is mired in emotional meaning both for you and for the host. 

The answer is not to find more and more creative ways to say no. If you have to own up to eating healthily around this time or being gluten- or dairy-free, this seems to compound the original offence of not wanting to eat. 

Your action plan is this:

1. HAVE A PLAN - Before you go to bed each night, plan out your food for the next day. This is never truer than at Christmas, when parties, chocolates, cookies, and “treats” are just about everywhere.
2. DON’T TRY TO DIET JUST NOW - Set a maintenance goal instead. This is much more realistic, and it is achievable, even at this time of year. It will also give you the freedom to enjoy yourself without feeling deprived, or that you’ve failed, which in turn means you’re more likely to rebel (and this is code for heading straight for the box of chocolates without a second glance).
3. WATCH YOUR PORTION SIZES - especially when it comes to fast-release carbs like white potatoes, pastry, breaded items, cakes, biscuits, and other sweet things.
4. DON’T GO TO A PARTY HUNGRY - If you do, you will be fighting a losing battle. Have a low-GL snack before you go – just a little something that includes protein and slow-release carbs (cottage cheese or unsweetened nut butter on an oatcake, for example).
5. KEEP FAMILY CHOCOLATES OUT OF SIGHT, so you’re not tempted to tuck in just because they’re there. Ever heard of the ‘see food and eat it’ diet?

And don’t forget – you can always get in touch with me, if you’d like to discuss further. Part of my role is to support my clients in their habit changes – I can help you. Just book in a call.

Seven Steps to Good Health this Winter

If you're looking to ramp up your immune health over winter, you might be wondering, "How do I gear up my body to tackle those pesky illnesses?" Well, boosting your immunity isn't a walk in the park, but a few tweaks in your lifestyle and diet can give your body's defence system a serious upgrade against those sneaky pathogens.

1. Get Your Beauty Sleep

There's a real connection between sleep and keeping your immune system in top-notch shape. Skimping on sleep? That's like sending an open invitation to sickness. In a study with 164 healthy adults, the ones catching fewer than 6 hours of Zs were more likely to catch a cold. Adults, aim for 7 hours or more; teens, 8–10 hours; and the little ones, up to 14 hours. Having trouble dozing off? Try ditching screens an hour before bedtime and make your sleep space as dark as Batman's cave.

2. Plant Power

Load up on the good stuff – fruits, veggies, nuts, seeds, and legumes. They're packed with nutrients and antioxidants that put up a strong front against those nasty pathogens. Think of them as your immune system's cheerleaders, fighting off inflammation and giving those free radicals a run for their money. Plus, they're like a feast for the good bacteria in your gut, making your immunity top-notch.

3. Fats That Love You Back

Embrace healthy fats like those found in olive oil and salmon. They're like the superheroes that calm down inflammation, preventing it from taking over. Olive oil is not just anti-inflammatory; it's linked to keeping chronic diseases like heart disease and type 2 diabetes at bay. And let's not forget omega-3 fatty acids from salmon and chia seeds—they're inflammation-fighting champs too.

4. Sugar Watch

Keep an eye on added sugars and refined carbs. Research hints that they might have a hand in the overweight and obesity drama, and that duo could make you more susceptible to falling sick. According to a study, folks with obesity were twice as likely to catch the flu even with a vaccine. Cut down on sugar, dial down inflammation, lose a bit of weight, and decrease your risk of chronic health issues.

5. Move That Body (Moderately)

Exercise is like a booster shot for your immune system. Not the hardcore, intense stuff, but a moderate, feel-good workout. It can even make vaccines more effective! Regular moderate exercise is the friend your immune cells need to stay in shape and ready for action. Think brisk walks, steady biking, a bit of jogging, or a splash in the pool—aim for at least 150 minutes a week.

6. Hydration Station

Water, water, water—it's your health's best friend. While it won't shield you from germs, staying hydrated is crucial for overall well-being. Dehydration can mess with your head, focus, mood, and even kidney function, making you more prone to getting sick. Keep that urine pale yellow, and you're on the right track. Watch out for the sugar content in other types of drinks, especially juices and fizzy drinks.

7. Chill Out, Stress Less

Stress and your immune system? Not best friends. Long-term stress can mess with your immune cell squad and promote inflammation. Kids aren't spared either; their immune response can take a hit. Combat stress with a dose of meditation, a bit of exercise, scribbling in a journal, yoga, or anything that brings zen vibes. Talking to a counsellor or therapist, virtual or in person, might be a game-changer too.

If you’d like to find out more about how you can support your body’s natural immune system over Winter, why not book in a call here.

Spice Up Your Immunity

Spicing up your meals isn't just about making them tastier—it's also a clever way to sneak in some immune-boosting goodness onto your plate.

Take garlic, for instance. It's like the superhero of superfoods, armed with allicin, an active ingredient that's a real champ at fighting off viruses. People have been relying on garlic for centuries to give their immune systems a boost. Pro tip: crush, chop, or grate those garlic cloves and let them chill for a bit. This little trick unleashes more allicin, and the best part? It can take the heat, literally.

Now, let's talk herbs. Most of them bring some anti-inflammatory firepower to the table, thanks to their cool phytonutrients. But if we had to pick the top players, oregano and thyme would be up there. Sprinkle these guys into your cooking, and you're not just adding flavour, you're giving your immune system a little extra love.

And who can forget the dynamic spice duo—turmeric and ginger? They're not just culinary rockstars; they're known for boosting your immune system. So, toss them into your recipes for a flavour explosion that comes with a side of immune support.

In the world of cooking, each ingredient is like a superhero bringing something special to the table. So, when you're in the kitchen, think of it as a fun way to treat your taste buds and show some love to your immune system. Happy cooking!