Meal Plan - 30/12/12 - 05/01/13

Christmas is over and things are nearly back to normal, so food wise things should start getting easier once again. I struggled to make sure I ate well last week and while I did stick with my food plan for most of the days I did indulge in a large amount of chocolate and other sweets over the week. As for Christmas day, well that was a right off, I ate everything I said I would, as well as everything else I could see, but what would be the point of Christmas day if you didn't eat until you passed out?

One of many Stir frys!

Meal Plan - 23/12/12 - 29/12/12

It's only 2 days till Christmas so I'm sure lots of you are starting to panic about not finishing your shopping and preparing for the big day itself. For once I've been really prepared this year so except for a couple of things I picked up last Friday I finished my shopping a week ago, the only concern for me was that I'd have enough food in the fridge to last me until Thursday as I've got no intention of going to any big food stores before then!

Spaghetti in Aubergines

Super Foods - Leeks

Winter is well and truly here, and on a cold winters evening there is nothing better then a nice warm bowl of soup with some crusty bread. When it comes to soup leeks often play a big role in their make up, with their distinct flavour and aroma. Nutritionally they are great as well as they contain lots of nutrients while remaining low in calories!

Leeks!

Leeks contain lots of antioxidants, so unsurprisingly they have been linked with helping prevent cancer (notably prostrate, ovarian and colon cancers!) while also being thought to lower LDL (bad) cholesterol and raise HDL (good) cholesterol.

An Average leek contains:

Kcal	61
Fat	0.3g
Protein	1.5g
Carbs	14g
Fibre	1.8g
Vitamin E	0.8mg
Potassium	180mg
Calcium	59mg

RDA for an adult:

Kcalories	For Men: 2500 For Women: 2000
Fat	65g
Protein	50g
Carbohydrate	300g
Fibre	25g
Vitamin E	30mg
Potassium	3500mg
Calcium	1000mg

As the tables show, leeks are low in calories, fat and also relatively low in carbohydrates. They look fairly low on the other things on the table but they do contain lots of other important things as I mentioned before!

As I was talking about soup before it's only fair that I finish with a recipe for Leek and Potato soup that I've taken from Gino D'acampo's 'Fantistico!'. Its a really cheap recipe that's healthy as well, plus it's freezable so it can be made well in advance!

Leek and Potato soup

Ingredients:

• 60g Butter
• 1 onion chopped
• 2 diced potatoes
• 2 large leeks chopped
• 900ml chicken stock
• 150g rocket leaves
• 150ml double cream

Method:

1. melt the butter in a saucepan then add the onion, potato and leeks and cook for 10 minutes, until the vegetables have softened.
2. Add the chicken stock to the saucepan and then bring to boil. Once it is boiling reduce the heat and leave to simmer with a lid on for about 20 minutes
3. blend the soup until there are no lumps left and then add the rocket and gently heat for another 5-6 minutes
4. Stir in the cream and then season to taste. Serve with croutons and or crusty bread.

You can make this recipe healthier by not adding the double cream though I do find that it gives the soup an extra kick. On the other hand if you want to go the other way and make this recipe taste even better you can grill some bacon bits and then add them to the soup after it has been blended. This meal works well as a main or as a starter and if you make it in advance its a great quick meal after a long day!

Cheers,

Rich

Meal Plan - 16/12/12 - 22/12/12

We're now well into the festive season, so its about now that it becomes very easy to start eating badly and start snacking on things that you shouldn't really be snacking on. It's important to remember that this is OK! If we couldn't indulge from time to time and were only allowed to eat healthy things then what would be the point of being alive? While it is fine to indulge it is even more important to keep some structure during this period as if you stop doing all of the good things that you were doing then there is a good chance you'll completely fall off the wagon.

Chicken Tikka Masala

Running Clubs

I've always enjoyed the occasional run, but I've never really taken it too seriously. I've done a couple of half marathons in the past though I never really trained for them and apart from that I'd only do the odd run of a weekend. I've always wanted to do a full marathon though I've always been worried that I wouldn't have the commitment for the training and Id end up being on the eve of the race realising I'd only done a couple of 5K's

My new well broken in Running Top!

Meal Plan - 9/12/12 - 15/12/12

Last week for the first time in a couple of months I didn't do a meal plan for the week ahead. This happened for a couple of reasons, the first being that I had a really busy weekend playing hockey and being at the good food show, and the second was that I spent a large part of the week moving house.

Now I expected that this would lead to me eating a bit worse then usual. What I didn't expect was the degree to which it would have an impact. Not only did I eat poorly but I also ate inconsistently. I'd skip breakfast, eat dinner at 10pm and more importantly I didn't snack. Now you may think "surly missing snacks isn't too bad?" Well you would be wrong. It caused me to eat more unhealthily as I'd just think "I've not had any nuts today, I guess having double cheese on pizza won't hurt!" and as you will be aware, when you begin a binge, it's very difficult to stop.

Scrambled Eggs

The BBC Good Food Show

A couple of weeks ago it was my Mom's birthday. She's one of these people who is notoriously hard to shop for as she doesn't have many interests beyond food and reading, and as I got her a kindle for her last birthday I'd severely reduced my scope for gifts this year!