Honey I Ate Your Dinner – Succulent Mango & Coriander Chicken Legs

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What’s the dietitian eating tonight?  Mine and everybody else’s dinner! OOps!


This is a delicious Thai influenced dinner recipe based on the teachings from a cooking workshop that I attended in Changmai, Thailand.

This is so Thai!  It's based on the usual fish sauce, sugar and oyster sauce threesome.  The star ingredient is mango of course, another great way of sneaking in another serving of fruit!  


The high point of this recipe is that it requires very little preparation.  It will demand a loving hand though.  You will need to keep stirring constantly over a slow fire to ensure that the chicken is permanently smothered in the rich sticky sauce.

Ingredients

2 x free range chicken legs (skinned and trimmed from visible fat)

1 medium mango, mashed (150g)

2 large garlic cloves, chopped

Seasoning

1 teaspoon fish sauce

1 teaspoon brown sugar (I used Agave Nectar as I need to use this up)

3 teaspoons oyster sauce

Garnish

2 tablespoons spring onions, sliced

1 tablespoon coriander, chopped

Directions

Add the chicken, mango and garlic to a saucepan.  You will not need any oil.  Allow the ingredients to mix well together over a low heat.  Cover for 10 minutes, but ensure that you check often, stirring continually.  


Uncover and continue to cook for a further 30 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through and any juices run clear.  Ensure that the chicken is coated in the mango sauce at all times.  


In a separate bowl, mix together the fish sauce, brown sugar and oyster sauce.  Pour over the chicken and cook well.  


Before removing from the heat, add spring onions and coriander.  Personally, I did not need any further seasoning, but you may add salt if you wish.  Always taste your food first.

Serve with a salad and wholegrain bread or rice.  I was so hungry after my run that I ate both legs as I couldn’t wait for the rice to cook!  Not ideal and definitely not recommended. 

It tasted so good that I just could not stop myself.  Thank god that the French man is out for a black tie dinner tonight.  Ignorance sure is bliss!

Additional notes
This meal served with a salad and rice is wheat, gluten, milk, egg and soy free.  
Make sure that you read all ingredient tables carefully in the sauce bottles first.

Beachy Tropical Mango, Strawberry & Oat Breakfast Smoothie With Agave Nectar

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London is simply divine this week.  I thoroughly enjoyed my run through the park today, which looked spectacular with swans, ducklings and a large expanse of flowers through-out. 

Isn’t exercise amazing?  I feel like I am on cloud 9 and probably will remain there for the entire evening!

And so to celebrate summer, I’ve got a delicious breakfast smoothie for you - for the busy woman on the go!

It's delicious and you won't regret making it.

Ingredients

1 x banana (approx 90g peeled)

8 strawberries (150g)

1 slice mango (70g)

3 tablespoons oats (35g)

2 tablespoons peach flavoured yoghurt (reduced fat)

1 tablespoon Agave Nectar

Methods

Put all ingredients in a blender.  Blend for a minute or so and serve immediately.  You can use ice if you desire, but personally, if you mix all ingredients cold, straight from the fridge, you may not need it.  

I am feeling posh so I'll have mine in a martini glass tomorrow..

Enjoy this low GI breakfast with Agave Nectar.  For those who have yet to discover this, read my article The Sickly Truth About Agave Nectar.  Don't forget - brown sugar or honey will work brilliantly in this recipe too.

8 Perfect Reasons To Indulge In Berries

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With a perfect circle of smouldering sun in our English sky, it really is time that we celebrated this long awaited moment of joy with the promised goodness of berries.  Here are some reasons why you should start your morning with a lovely handful of berries.

# 1 Memory Booster

Packed with antioxidants, berries are the splendid catalyst for reducing oxidative damage that occurs with aging.  Blueberries in particular, are thought to increase verbal memory performance as per an article in the Journal of Nutrition.

# 2 Anti-Aging

Similarly, the anti-inflammatory polyphenolic compounds found in blueberries and strawberries may protect you against your aging brain and body.  To keep your mind and body alert the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry advocate a diet rich in fruit such as berries.

# 3 Cancer Prevention

Numerous studies have explored the relationship of berries with cancer risk.  A recent Polish study in Journal of Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Analysis reported that flavonoids and polyphenol extracts from raspberries may quench the risk of colon cancer.

# 4 Vitamin C

A cup of strawberries provide more than 100mg of Vitamin C.  Vitamin C is another antioxidant that is important for healthy teeth and gums.  It enhances absorption of non-haem iron from plant sources and helps build your body’s defence against infection.

# 5 Low in Calories

A cup of strawberry halves will only set you back around 50 calories.  Have another bowl and no-one will even notice.  Only that healthy glow from eating the berries might give you away!

# 6 Quality Time with Kids

Berry picking is one the most fun activities that I’ve enjoyed with children in France.  It truly is a wonderful and relaxing way to spend time with the children.

# 7 Taste & Colour

The beautiful shades of reds and purples also add colour and vibrancy to any dish.  Not only do they dress up a lacklustre plate, the sweet juices from these fresh berries can tantalise just about anyone’s taste buds.

# 8 Party Starter

Hosting a party but you only have white wine for the aperitif?  Don’t fret, ‘put a strawberry in it’ and you’ll literally get the party started!

Happy Summer!  If you have great ideas for enjoying berries then please do share below.

Is Ghrelin Making You Fat?

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Ghrelin is an appetite-stimulating hormone that has been riding the waves of fame.  If you know the expression ‘keep your enemies close’, then you know that it’s sensible to start getting familiar with the ins and outs of our dear 'food greedy' hormone.

# Does ghrelin increase your appetite after weight loss?

Sadly a review in Obesity 2010 thinks so.  You may have lost a few dress sizes, but your gorgeous new figure and weight loss may lead to compensatory increase in hunger, cravings and decreased ghrelin suppression that encourages weight re-gain. UH OH.

# Am I doomed to stay fat?

Of course not and there’s loads that you can do to overcome temptation island.  Keep reading for the good news.

# Do you eat breakfast?

What a sensible start to your day to prevent over-indulging later.  ‘Break the overnight fast’ with petit dejeuner.   

What you may not know is that a study in Steroids this year showed that ghrelin levels were suppressed almost by half after eating breakfast.  Include protein and carbs in this meal and you’ll also enjoy significantly improved hunger and craving scores. 

Egg on toast anyone?  Sound good?  Better still, you are more likely to continue to lose weight if you eat carbs and protein, than just a low carb breakfast due to increased satiety from protein.  So ditch the low carb meal and somebody please pass me the banana and yoghurt!

# Are you coping with stress?

Research suggests that ghrelin is drawn to stress like bee is to honey.  It responds by increasing its levels with heightened stress hormones. 

Are you stressing already?  Stop panicking!  Jump off that stress wagon and find ways of coping with stress. 

Schedule in regular exercise, it could be as simple as walking 30 minutes a day.  So before life stressors make you ditch your diet plans, just follow these simple tips and you’ll help keep surging levels of ghrelin at bay. 

Regular exercise is also of course a great way to help maintain your beautiful new body.  If you don’t believe me, one study in Endocrine 2008 showed that exercise decreased ghrelin levels, leading to smaller meals and lower body weight.  Time to get your walking shoes out?

Don’t forget, losing weight is the easy part, maintaining this weight loss, is the more challenging part.

# Are you sleeping enough?

Before you trade in your beauty sleep for an extra hour on the books, thanks to the Journal of Sleep Research, we also know that even a single deprived night of sleep could lead to increased hunger and appetite as a result of higher ghrelin levels.  It’s the calorie-dense, sugary foods that you’ll most likely be after too.

The Purple Impression

Eat breakfast.  Exercise and find ways to cope with stress. But most importantly, think twice before burning the midnight oil. 

On that note, I think I am going to get my beauty sleep.

What are your thoughts on ghrelin?  If you have juicy new research at your finger tips, then please do share.  I love hearing from you. 

Are You Being Deceived By Food Labels - Screen Your Fats

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Thanks to my shopping experience at Marks & Spencer today, I was compelled to share this story with you.  I believe all my readers are now shopping savvy.  If not, please read Be Shopping Savvy.

I was so excited about the prospect of MAC Cosmetics shopping with a girlfriend this afternoon.  I knew that my body needed sustenance before proceeding with the next hour of blissful shopping, so I headed to Marks & Spencer for a quick lunch stop.

After settling on pita bread and houmous, I automatically reached for the reduced fat version of ordinary houmous made with extra virgin olive oil.  I quickly glanced at the fats which stated 19g of fat per 100g.

Houmous is not a low fat food.  I would class this as moderately high in fats.  I make allowance for this as chickpeas are an excellent source of both protein and slower releasing carbohydrates. 

Houmous is usually prepared by blending chickpeas with tahini and vegetable oils such as olive or rapeseed oil.  Although tahini is rich in fats, only a small proportion of these are saturated fats.  Olive and rapeseed oils are also abundant in good fats such as mono and poly unsaturated fatty acids.

As I planned to eat this meal without any other added fats, I was quite happy to indulge in this vegetarian feast. 

Feeling adventurous, I then reached for the ‘spicy red pepper houmous’.  I was pleasantly surprised when it read 15.2g fat per 100g.  

Had I not bothered to read labels, I would have missed the opportunity to screen the fats myself. 

It was a bitter sweet moment when I realised that even I had almost fallen for deceptive food labels.  And yet, there was certainly nothing wrong with the labels for these varieties of houmous.  Just a tiny case of labeling deception.

Afterall, the reduced fat version of houmous prepared with extra virgin olive oil certainly had a lower fat content when compared to its original. But not, when compared with alternative flavours such as the 'spicy red pepper' version.

This is an excellent example to illustrate that it really is worth investing time to read labels.

If I eat a 100g portion or half the tub of the red pepper houmous, I will eat 15g of fat compared to 19g.  I save a total of 4g of fat in the day.  This equates to roughly 36 calories or a small clementine. 

It may not sound like much, but it all adds up.  It’s exactly the same scenario when you sneak in an extra eyeshadow at the MAC counter and then realise your £36 bill has suddenly climbed to £48.  How did that happen?  ‘All that glitters’ sure is a lovely eye shadow, but life is not always full of glitter and promise and do you really need all of the eye shadows?  Likewise, do you really need the extra 4g of fat?

Possibly not and sometimes, it’s not all about the total amount of fat either.  The proportion of fats are important too so know your sources of fat.  Read your labels.

For example, if you read the ingredients list for ‘spicy red houmous’, you will notice that the second ingredient is ‘pulped sesame seeds’.  These provide one of the sources of fat to the final dish.  Rapeseed oil is listed as the fourth ingredient, whilst extra virgin olive oil is listed towards the end of the list of ingredients.  All are sources of mono and poly unsaturated fats.   Tahini is also a useful source of calcium.

I believe houmous gets my tick for fat, but as it's moderately high in fat, consider the amount you plan to eat.  Just don’t eat the whole tub in one sitting!

Do You Teach Your Kids To Say Yes To Veges?

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Parents you already know this, but research says that you play a pivotal role in shaping children’s food preferences.  A very recent study in Appetite this month indicated that in child food trials, vegetable consumption was not influenced by fussiness as you may have thought, but with drink accompaniment. 

Adults had a strong preference for pairing soft drinks with high calorie foods.  Vegetables were not chosen with soft drinks. 

When adults pair soft drinks with energy dense foods instead of vegetables, children as young as 3 years of age are already mimicking these food patterns. 

Is it possible that adults who choose water during meals as their default drink of choice also follow a healthier diet?  These parents are likely to include vegetables regularly with meals, whilst modelling the healthy eating plate to their children at the same time.

Parents, you are the role models for your children.  An earlier study in Public Health Nutrition said just that. 

Healthy eating behaviours begin at home.  Young children and adolescents ate fruit and vegetables, when their parents did.  Employ rules for healthy eating in your home and encourage your children to eat fruit and vegetables every day.

How can you tempt your child to eat fruit and veg?

Give them a choice.  It’s as simple as that.  

A 2010 issue in Public Health Nutrition suggested giving children a choice during fruit and vegetable eating situations.  Instead of offering an apple alone, offer them the apple and a pear.  Let them make the choice.  This is a positive method that you can employ for increasing fruit and vegetable consumption in your own home.

To get you started, why not try my Asparagus & Spinach Risotto.  It’s delicious with a feta & tomato salad.

Asparagus & Spinach Risotto

Ingredients

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 large onion, chopped

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 bunch Asparagus (approximately 12 – 14 spears), cut into 1 inch pieces

6 large button mushrooms

200g baby spinach

1 cup Arborio rice

2 cups stock of your choice

2 tablespoons reduced fat crème fraiche

Handful of parmesan, grated

Serves 4-5 persons

Methods

Heat the oil in a large saucepan.  Add garlic and onions and fry until golden brown.  Add asparagus and stir fry for a few minutes.  Then add rice and stir regularly.  Gradually add a third of the stock and allow simmering.  Now add mushrooms.  Add the second third of your stock, followed by the spinach.  Keep stirring continuously.  Finally add the remainder of the stock.  Mix in the crème fraiche just before removing from the heat.  Serve with a generous coating of the parmesan and a lovely salad.

Tip – if you are entertaining, you can try replacing a bit of the stock with a large glass (250ml) of white wine.  If you choose to prepare with wine, then add this first, then the remainder of the stock.  Delicious!  

This was our first meal in Spain so forgive the Sangria that you can see in the background!  I also prepared it with a mixture of white wine and stock.


What tricks have you got up your sleeve to get your kids to eat fruit and veges?  Do share!

The Sickly Truth About Agave Nectar

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My god It’s true! I have a sweet tooth.  I've said it.  In fact, I eat something sweet every day.  Imagine my delight when I stumbled upon Agave Nectar.  The label promised a low glycaemic index.  Indeed I found this to be true.

A quick literature search told me that Agave nectar is quoted to hold a low glycaemic index of around 11, as published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 

This is an incredibly low index, considering that glycaemic index refers to how quickly a carbohydrate food is broken down and then released as glucose in your blood (commonly referred to also as blood sugars).

On reading the nutrition label, I was slightly shocked to learn that 1 teaspoon of this sickly nectar provided 14kcal, so no different to regular sugar.  To learn more about nutrition labelling, see my article Be Shopping Savvy.

What is Agave Nectar?

Sourced from a plant in Mexico where tequila is made, many consider this as a ‘natural sweetener’.  The label behind the bottle certainly quoted ‘Agave Nectar comes straight from the originally grown Blue Webber Agave Plant in Mexico’.  Premium agars are considered to be sourced from Blue Webber Agave plant.

What does it feel and taste like?

I tried it today with strawberries.  I was pleased that it wasn’t sticky like golden syrup and was certainly much lighter in its consistency.  To me it resembled very much like honey.  It was pleasant tasting without an after taste.  I could happily have this on my plain Scottish oats instead of brown sugar for breakfast.

It can even be used in cooking or baking without the bitter after taste that may be produced when cooking with alternative sweeteners.

Too good to be true?

Maybe so.  The ravaging truth is found in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics which showed that when compared to dark molasses, sweeteners such as refined sugar, corn syrup and agave nectar had minimal antioxidant activity. 

After molasses, maple syrup, honey and brown sugar showed the highest antioxidant activity.  Antioxidants are crucial in reducing oxidative damage that have been linked with cardiovascular disease and cancers.

BUT Before you rush off to load your plates with maple syrups and honey, did you know that fruit and vegetables are abundant in antioxidants?  I’ve enjoyed my antioxidant load with strawberries today, what will you have?

The Purple Verdict

I am not entirely convinced that this is a wonder product.  I regret my purchase but glad that I've given it a try.  Low glycaemic index or not, calorie restriction is vital for weight loss.  I normally wouldn't have eaten my strawberries with any added sugar!  I think I might be returning this sickly sweetness back into the cupboard, until I decide to bake something.  Perhaps my banana cake, see Banana & Pecan Delight.

If you’d like to share your knowledge on agave nectar, then please do comment below!