Back on Track… Kinda

Apologies for my lack of posts recently, but it has been an absolutely hectic time for me in the last few months. I started uni in September and have had a lot going on, what with moving, studying and partying. This has proved an extremely difficult time health-wise. It turns out that it is a massive challenge to avoid all the junk and crappy foods most students indulge in daily. 

However, in the last week or two I feel I have finally got back into a more regular eating pattern which is healthier. To begin with I was living off of baked beans and fish fingers, which isn't terribly bad, but there is a bit of a tradition which has started with my flat mates of cooking a load of fish fingers after a night out. So I was eating technically 4 meals on these days. That along with the drinking, means I have put on quite a bit of weight. I have found this quite difficult to accept, but I understand now that life is also for living, and I don't want to miss out on the fun of student life just so I can be a few pounds lighter. I am going to do my best to stay on track as much as possible though. 

I have found the cheapest and healthiest dinner I can make is literally lightly frying some chicken breast with mushroom, onion & pepper, seasoned with some spices. This is what I tend to have pretty much every day at the moment, and lunches are usually a small baked sweet potato topped with tuna and sweet chilli sauce. 

The gym routine is getting back into the swing of things too. I am focusing more heavily on cardio to burn those extra calories I am consuming at the moment, but still incorporating some weighted exercises. 

Typical dinner: chicken, mushroom, onion & broccoli 

Thanks to those of you that have still be checking out my blog. I will try and post more often to keep you updated on my progress!

Lucy x

Roast Veg

I recently visited my best friend's house, and her mum gave me a tonne of fresh vegetables from her garden to take home. How lovely is she?! I had a selection of red pepper, aubergines, string beans & tomatoes. I was trying to figure out what to do with them & Ella's mum suggested roasting them so I thought that might be tasty. I had some sweet potato & mushroom to use up in the cupboard as well so I chucked that in too. The outcome was possibly one of my favourite dinners, and it left me with plenty of leftovers for a lunch box the day after. It's a brilliant way to use up any spare veg you have in such a healthy & easy way. Recipe is below...

Roast veg fresh out of the oven

Veggies topped with roast chicken and feta cheese

Leftovers for lunch the day after

Ingredients

1 sweet potato

1/2 large aubergine

1 large tomato chopped

1/2 red pepper

handful of mushrooms

handful of string beans

+ any other veg you have

1 tbsp oil (I used carotene oil)

1 tsp chilli powder

1 tsp paprika

1 tsp cayenne pepper

salt & pepper to season

1 chicken breast

20g feta cheese

Instructions

1. Pre heat oven to gas mark 6

2.  Chop vegetables into chunks

3. Put vegetables into a baking tray and drizzle the oil over the top

4. Season with the spices, salt & pepper. Mix the veg around to spread the oil and spices evenly

5. Put into the top shelf of the oven for 40 minutes

6. Whilst the veg is cooking, grill your chicken breast for 20 minutes, turning once

7. Place a pile of the cooked veg in the middle of your plate and put the chicken breast on top, then sprinkle the feta over the top

Devour!

I hope you enjoy this as much as I do.

Lucy x

Sweet Potato Mug Cake

Sweet Potato Mug Cake

Sweet potato truly is the god of all foods and I think everybody should be eating them. Compared to your bog standard potato, they have a much higher nutritional value, and are lower in calories per 100g. A sweet potato is high in complex carbs and dietary fibre, and provides slow release natural sugars so will keep you full for a long time. Out of all the root vegetables, they are one of the best sources of vitamin C, D and B6 as well as other minerals such as manganese, potassium and iron. So, those are the health benefits of eating them, now let me tell you another reason why you should be eating them... They are delicious!

There are numerous different ways of preparing sweet potatoes. I have tried quite a few recipes myself, but this is the first time I have tried it in a mug cake. I got the idea here. For dinner last night I knew I wanted a sweet potato as it would be easy to prepare and I did not have time to cook much else as I had to rush out to play tennis with my Mum. So I decided to bake one potato and have half for my main and half for my dessert - this shows how versatile they are. For the main I topped the sweet potato with shrimps which I seasoned with paprika, cayenne pepper, chilli powder, garlic powder and onion granules. I then topped it with some Greek yoghurt and chilli flakes. It was scrumptious! (see pic below)

Main Meal

 I then used the second half of the potato to make a yummy dessert, which satisfied the sweet craving I get sometimes after my dinner. A mug cake is a brilliant way to get your cake fix minus the gluten. I personally find that gluten does not agree too well with my tummy, so this is a saviour for me. The base ingredients for the cake are items that you probably will already have in your cupboards, and any extras you want to throw in, you can! So start off baking a whole sweet potato by microwaving it for 10 minutes on full power (make sure you spike it with a fork a few times first).... 

Ingredients

1/2 baked sweet potato, minus the skin

1/2 banana

1 egg white

1/2 tsp baking powder

2 tbsp dessicated coconut

2 tsp stevia (or other sweetener)

1 tbsp cottage cheese

2 tsp almond milk (can add more if mixture is too thick)

Suggested Toppings

handful of goji berries

drizzle of honey

1 tsp natural peanut butter

Instructions

1. Mash the sweet potato and banana together with a fork in a large mug (mug needs to be quite tall)

2. Add all other ingredients and mix until you have a smooth batter consistency

3. Microwave for 2-3 minutes depending on how soft/firm you prefer it. I did  mine for 2 minutes and it could of done with a little longer to be honest as you can see it collapsed slightly

4. Leave to cool for 1 minute after taking the mug out of the microwave

5. Turn the mug upside down onto a plate, the cake should just slide out

6. Add your toppings

Eat!

This meal kept me full up, and fueled me enough to be able to play tennis late into the night. If I hadn't of made the mug cake, then I probably would of just had the whole sweet potato for my main. So really I've not actually added a huge amount of calories but still managed to incorporate a yummy dessert into my meal. It's a win, win situation! I will definitely be making this again soon.

Lucy x