Quick and Easy Low Carb Meal: Cauliflower Fried Rice With Peppers & Prawns

I can't get over how quickly it is to make this meal, I just posted this on Instagram (@Adura_O), and had to share the recipe here with you. So before you you say healthy eating is time consuming and expensive, just read on!

I went for a 1.5 hour walk on Sunday, yes ME, the-one-who-hates-walking went for a long walk. 

Things are happening! :p 

Huge thanks to my friends at Fitter London for organising a bank holiday walk on Saturday, it was so much fun and inspired me to download 'Striiv', a pedometer type app. 

There's a a competitive edge to it thanks to the 'Leaderboard' feature, love it! Some of my friends walk over 20,000 daily, not me ...YET! 

My aim is 10,000 steps daily and as you can see -->

I have a lot of walking left to do today. 

Oops I'm getting carried away as always!

Back to the reason for this post! While on my Sunday walk, I found a farmers market in Alexandra Palace, woohoo! I had some money on me (in case of emergency) and bought some fresh, locally grown produce including cauliflower and bell peppers, which inspired this very simple meal.

INGREDIENTS

Cauliflower (1/2 a head)

Red Bell Pepper (1)

Prawns (1 cup)

Onion (1/4)
Coconut Oil (1 tbsp)

Curry powder (1 tsp)

Parsley

Cinnamon
Salt (to taste)

Serves: 1-2 (I ate it all on my own!)

1. Wash and grate the cauliflower (for more info on this, read: http://www.adura-o.com/2013/04/nigerian-twist-on-cauliflower-rice-from.html).
2. Wash and chop up the red pepper and onion.
3. Heat the coconut oil in a pan, and brown the onions. Season the prawns with the curry, parsley, cinnamon and salt.
4. Add the prawns and pan fry for a few minutes until they start to turn pink. Add the peppers and stir fry until prawns are completely pink. Remove from pan and set aside.
5. Add the grated cauliflower, add a pinch of salt and stir for 3-5 minutes.
6. Add the prawns and peppers, stir for a short time, turn heat down to low and leave to simmer for 5 minutes.
7. Eat!

Lettuce Wraps (Minced Turkey,Tomatoes and Peppers): Inspired By Daisy!

While promoting The Get Trimmer Challenge last week, I posted this picture on Instagram:

Not up to 10 minutes after posting it, I got one recipe request and a few questions on what was in it. So I thought, "Yay! A recipe blog post, my blog needs one!". Lettuce wraps are a great way of totally eliminating bread (wraps) from a meal. This is a low carb and high protein meal and can be breakfast, lunch or dinner.

I was feeling creative and decided to do an InstaVideo of the recipe. Why did Instagram CRASH on me??? Thankfully, a copy of the video was saved on my phone and because I didn't want to throw away my hard work, I uploaded it on YouTube:

Ha! It's not the usual quality of my videos but it does the job, right?

Ingredients
500g Turkey Mince
400g chopped tomatoes (Better option - Fresh tomatoes, chopped)
Lettuce (I used romaine, but any should do)
1 Red Bell Pepper
1 Yellow Bell Pepper
1/2 Red Onion
1 Tablespoon Coconut Oil
Salt
Mixed Herbs and Spices

1. Wash and chop up onions and peppers.
2. Heat coconut oil in a pan (preferably a wok).
3. Fry onions until they're lightly browned.
4. Add turkey mince, cook until the meat isn't pink. keep turning in the pan to cook evenly. Season with (1/2 tsp) salt. This should take no more than 5 minutes.
5. Add the chopped tomatoes and season with mixed herbs and spices, and two pinches of salt.
6. Immediately add the peppers. Stir contents for 30 seconds, cover and leave to simmer for a minimum of ten minutes.
7. Wash the romaine lettuce and remove the leaves (for the wraps). A tip here is too use the bigger (outer) leaves. I made 4 wraps, so I used 8 leaves.
   
   
8. Add 2-3 heaped tablespoons of mince to each wrap and enjoy :)

Shout out to Daisy for the inspiration! I usually make my lettuce wraps with eggs, sliced meat (chicken, beef) or fish.

Quick & Healthy Breakfast: Eggs & A Green Smoothie

I can't count how many times I've been asked, "Could you please suggest a healthy, quick breakfast?". Most of us are busy and don't have time to spend over ten minutes preparing breakfast, then another 5-10 eating it. This is where most people end up eating one of those snack bars that claim to be healthy but are packed with sugar... let me know if you want me to name names ;)

ENTER - *planning your meals* <-- This is a key step in sticking to your healthy goals. The days I've had no food in my fridge have been the hardest for me to eat clean and healthy. And my best days have been those where I've planned in advance so I don't find my self starving and nowhere near healthy enough options.

Anyway, back to the reason for this post! A healthy serving of protein, healthy fats and carbs & vitamins from green vegetables makes for a well rounded breakfast. My ideal breakfast is an omelette with veggies and fish, yum! But I don't have time to make an omelette, especially during the week when I have a 7am start at the gym. I make my green smoothies in 2 (sometimes 3) day batches, |

e.g. I made some on Monday night, I had one serving on Tuesday morning, another on Wednesday morning and a half serving on Wednesday afternoon.

• Tuesday's breakfast was: green smoothie and eggs, 
• Wednesday's was green smoothie and baked mackerel.

As seen in this video below, it takes very little time to make eggs, if you're REALLY pressed for time, you could go one better and boil 2 eggs the night before, cutting your preparation time right down.

Have you tried this combination for breakfast? Or green smoothies with something else? What did/do you think?

As One Challenge Ends, Another One Is Set To Begin.

If you follow me on Instagram (@adura_o), your timeline should have been bombarded with daily posts from me in plank position.

The reason is explained in "I'm Challenging Myself..." but if you can't be bothered to click on the link, here's a summary of what I did for 28 days:

1. 2 minutes of plank, daily.
2. 2 strength sessions, weekly.
3. Yoga 1-2 times, weekly.
4. Eating clean - Processed sugar free and low sugar.
- Completely treat free.
5. Cutting down carbs, except on workout days. Examples of carbs allowed: plantain, sweet potatoes and quinoa.
6. I teach 3 spin classes a week, that covered my cardio and HIIT.

I LOVED IT! Cutting out treats was a challenge for the first week, but after that - it was just fine. When I had cravings (e.g. time of the month), I just had bigger portions of carbs and that always helped. One day, I had roasted sweet potatoes and plantains!

RESULTS: Although, the change isn't drastic, I see I've definitely lost some fat and even better, I feel GREAT!

The moral of the story is: Nothing Is Impossible. Stop making excuses, "Ahhh, I can't NOT eat bread or biscuits, etc". You can if you put your mind to it. I always tell people - If I can do it, anybody can.

It's good to challenge yourself often, to keep you motivated and always on your toes. I've found myself relaxing back into bad habits, and this challenge has helped me get back on track.

My treats will be 0-1 weekly now. And I will continue with the daily planks :)

I have another personal challenge, which will start in a couple of days but enough about me!!

Speaking of challenges ending and beginning, Get Trimmer 4 JUST ended on Sunday 2nd June. The next one, GT5,  starts on Monday 17th June and a few spots are already gone! Sign up now to get the early bird offer.

I've had a few questions about alternative payment methods, send me an email and I'll send you details ---> email @ GetTrimmerChallenge.com.

I have a few weeks off work so I will be recording videos and blogging more often :)

Turkey Burgers - Recipe & Why You Should Make Yours

Next time you buy prepared burgers from the supermarket, take a look at the ingredients. Expect to see some unnecessary, and unhealthy, ingredients e.g. breadcrumbs, oil, preservatives and more.

Here's an example of one such burger from a popular UK supermarket:
Beef (82%), Caramelised Red Onion (12%) (Onion, Muscovado Sugar, Malt Vinegar, Sugar, Water, Cornflour, Rapeseed Oil, Salt, Black Pepper), Breadcrumb (Wheat Flour, Water, Yeast, Salt), Fresh Chive, Salt, Cracked Black Pepper, White Pepper, Preservative: Sodium Metabisulphite; Black Pepper. Meat Content 82%

My point is - it takes very little time to prepare your own burgers, with much less ingredients... ingredients that you are in control of.

I made some today with turkey, green and yellow peppers, anchovies (weird I know, but I wanted to try something different!) and seasoning. I should have added an onion but I forgot, I'll include it in the recipe below.

There are two other recipes, which are my favourites - I'll make sure I blog about them in the near future. One of them has plantain in it, yep!!

Ingredients
1 kg turkey mince
1 green pepper, chopped
1 yellow pepper, chopped
1 onion, chopped
4-5 anchovies
Seasoning (mixed spice, salt and thyme)

1. Rinse and chop up the peppers and onions.
2. Add the mince and anchovies to a bowl, add the vegetables and seasoning.
    Note: Anchovies are very salty so be very careful when adding salt. I added just a teaspoon.
3. Preheat the oven to 220C. Mix all the ingredients and make small burger patties.

4. Put the burgers in the pre-heated oven.
5. After 20 minutes, flip the burgers to evenly cook both sides.
6. After 15 minutes, they're ready! Take them out of the oven and allow to cool down for 5 minutes.
7. Serve :) I served my with steamed vegetables lightly stirred in tomato puree and suya pepper.

Number of Servings: 3 - 5

I'm Challenging Myself...

...and you, maybe?

I'm very proud of myself - after months of feeling stuck in a rut, I did my #CleanNineteen challenge in March. At the end of the 19 days, I felt more like myself than I had in ages, it almost felt like I had reset my attitude to my diet - I needed it!

So, to continue to motivate myself, and others I hope, I set myself another challenge for the month of May. It doesn't matter what your starting point is, it's the progress and results you get at the end that matter.

I've used the #GetRippedWithAdura on Instagram hashtag because the other one I wanted to use had already been used for something else.

My starting picture is here: http://instagram.com/p/Y5dQl0ADW-/

Goal: More definition in my abs - to see a significant change in my abs/mid-section

How?
1. Doing 2 minutes of plank daily.
2. Doing 2 strength sessions a week
3. Doing Yoga 1-2 times a week.
4. Eating clean
- Processed sugar free and low sugar.
- Completely treat free, especially during the 1st two weeks. And the option to have one treat per week during weeks 3 and 4 (but I plan not to).  By treats, I mean foods with processed sugar (cakes, ice-cream, etc)
- Cutting down carbs, except on workout days. Examples of carbs allowed are: plantain, sweet potatoes, brown beans and quinoa.

If you're interested in following my progress or you want to join me on this challenge, follow me on Instagram: @Adura_O, where I'll be posting daily updates on anything from my planks to the meals I eat. If you're on Pinterest, I'm also posting daily updates ---> http://pinterest.com/adura/get-ripped-with-me/

I started yesterday:

Please be aware this will not have the same structured approach and direction as the Get Trimmer Challenge. If you want weekly plans, tips, a forum and regular support, sign up for the next Get Trimmer Challenge HERE (starts on the 17th of June).

Slow Cooker Recipe with Sausages, Sweet Potatoes, Peppers, Tomatoes and Onions

I can't get over how cold it is here in THIS COUNTRY! It was 1degC today! ONE! In April!!!

Anyway... here's a quick recipe which I'll be using on Friday for a nice warming dinner, I can't wait!

Preparation time is less than 10 minutes and you leave the slow cooker to do the rest of the work. It's best to leave the lid on the entire time to keep the heat in.

Let me know if you try this and I really hope it's warm where you are!

'No Oil' Stew Recipe

Someone was referred to me for this recipe and although I talk about it a lot, I didn't have it on this blog! I recorded a video LAST year and still haven't edited it. *sigh*

So I decided to do this quick recipe card, which I think is the next best thing, if not as good!

This recipe helped me a lot when I initially lost weight in 2002. I've made a little change here, extracting the oil from the stock. When I was at university, I didn't bother with separating stock and fat,.

Being Nigerian, I was used to generously pouring oil into stew and this was the first thing I changed. I remember my friends teasing me about my 'Weight Watchers Stew' but over 40 pounds later, I was the one laughing :p

Honestly, I wasn't aware of the benefits of animal fats/stock back then, I just used stock in my food because it added flavour and helped me eliminate the use of oil.

Why chicken fat? Because animal fats are highly nutritious (and natural!) and essential for many body functions - heart, lungs, bones, etc (Read more here: http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2011/09/01/enjoy-saturated-fats-theyre-good-for-you.aspx). 

Taking off the skin will result in less fatty stock but you'll still get stock from the bones (marrow) of the chicken which actually contains a lot of the nutrients stated above :)

PS For personal reasons, I've been advised to eat less chicken skin NOT because it's high in fat but because it's high in omega 6.

I use this recipe a lot and very often, I do it the much easier way:

• fry the onions in 1 tablespoon of coconut oil
• And add the chicken stock (with the fat) to the blended tomato mix

Have you tried this? Let me know what you think!

Get Trimmer For The Summer - Sign Up!

After a great run of the challenge, which ended earlier this month, it's that time again (already!!).

Be prepared to dedicate some time and effort into this to see the results you desire :)

Online Ticketing for The *Get Trimmer* Challenge powered by Eventbrite

Green Smoothies: I'm Loving 'Em!

I love green smoothies! 

I just haven't been able to get into the habit of having salads which contain, highly nutritious and hydrating, raw, green, leafy vegetables into my daily diet. I have tried, I really have but I prefer my veggies stir fried or steamed, the former being my favourite way of getting those veggies in. Vegetables start to lose their nutrient values once they've been picked and heating them further reduces this value.

I finally decided to give green smoothies a try a few months ago, to ensure minimal alteration (in my control) of my veggies before consumption. I've enjoyed them from Day 1!

A few things I learned from my first try were:

• Keep it simple - my favourite everyday green smoothie consists of spinach, cucumber, lemon juice, lemon zest and lime juice.
• Lemon peel (zest) in addition to the juice makes a great change to an otherwise simple, bland mix of spinach and cucumbers. The taste of the peel almost removes the need for any sweetening eg berries, bananas, apples, etc
• Lemon and lime juice are a great combination
• Berries add a nice sweetness to the green smoothies. 

Most of my green smoothies contain spinach (contains flavonoids which have anti-cancer propertiesm rich in antioxidants, Vitamin K, calcium and magnesium), cucumber (contains phytonutrients that give it anti-cancer properties, rich in antioxidants, high water content, Vitamin K, potassium, magnesium), fresh juice from a lemon (read this for the benefits of lemon juice) and lemon peel/zest.

I aim to buy organic spinach and cucumbers. If you can't, make sure you wash them properly (apple cider vinegar + water rinse and brush the cucumber skin).

I have a jar/cup once a day, in addition to my meals and supplements. Not as a food replacement! Although I've had a smoothie some mornings I've had not appetite, which is a very rare occurrence ;)

If you're like me and have to force salads down your throat, try green smoothies :) One very lazy evening, I had 2 homemade turkey burgers and a green smoothie for dinner!

I've been putting my very cheap and durable blender through a lot of work and I can hear it falling apart each time I use it.
I'd love to get the Magimix 1.8L Blender which is a bit pricey at over £200 but it looks like it'd be worth it! For now, it's on my wish list for when I am richer ;)

For now, I've added the two blenders below to my 'immediate' wish list and I think I'll get the Villaware soon. They're both on sale at great discount (I'm still looking through reviews), click on the links for more info :)

1. Duronic BL1200 - Stainless Steel Body Table Blender (1.8L Glass Jug)
    £199.99 £59.99

 2. Villaware BLVLLAZ05H 2 Litre Jug Blender Die Cast Metal
     £79.99 £58.25

Have a great week!

Quick Catchup: Clean Weekend and a New Video

Hope you had a good weekend. I had another sugar free weekend and feel good for it today. I went to help my friend at her Ermioni's Bake Shop stall in Archway Market and didn't have anything! Not even  a tiny sample of her scrumptious baking. Funny thing was - it wasn't difficult, not one bit!

It helped that there was a hog roast stall in that market so I bought a portion of it (on its own) and my friend bought me more later :) The worst thing to do when you're avoiding sugar is to be hungry around sugar!

On Sunday, I made some plantain chips and had them with an omelette and a banana shake (1 cup of organic farm fresh yogurt and 1 banana). A couple of sunny-side-up eggs with runny yolks would have been perfect to dip the chips into... yummm! Next time ;) I absolutely LOVE plantains, can you tell?

I'm on Day 15 of my personal #CleanNineteen challenge and, honestly, I don't feel deprived because I've been making extra yummy meals and green smoothies <-- all homemade and natural :) Looks like I might just continue past the nineteen days, I'm enjoying it :)

I started this week as I plan to continue and finish it - cleansed and refreshed, let's see how long that lasts!!
Palm Oil Face Mask before my shower and a big glass of leftover homemade green smoothie (from the weekend).

Finally, here's a video I uploaded on Friday on treating yourself with unhealthy food. I do that a lot and it's a habit I'm trying to curb. I've been doing well these past few weeks by making berry or banana smoothies over the weekend (I have some pictures on my Instagram). And also making extra scrumptious meals, which makes a huge difference.

Watch the video here:

Have a productive week!

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Dinner & A Bug

The title's ridiculous right?! Read on and it'll be explained... I think! If not, let's blame it on me feeling a little under the weather ;)

Anyway I've been fighting some kind of bug/flu all day! I'm one for resting completely to recuperate but I had a 7am Fitter London Spin class which I taught off the bike so shouting and standing were the limit of my exertion. 

I listened to a friend's advice and had a long sleep until 1pm before trying to get some work done including writing up one short recipe and throwing together today's dinner. Then it was back to bed for a couple more hours.

I also increased my Vitamin C dosage, drank a lot of ginger/lemon tea, green tea and water.

I had an evening class (Fitter London Kettlebells) which was fun to teach as always, with more of standing and shouting at people (ha!).

Hot shower on returning home and served a massive portion for myself fresh & hot from my slow cooker. Yummy and so so warming!

Now it's time for a LONG sleep.

Quick & Healthy Recipe: Turkey and Kale Stir Fry

I love this recipe because it's so simple and can be modified in many ways. This was inspired by a turkey mince and green peas meal I put together a few weeks ago, on a Thursday night.

If you read my blog posts, you'll know I find it quite hard to eat a raw salad (no matter how good it is for me). I much prefer making green smoothies or stir fries using highly nutritious green leafy vegetables like spinach, collard/spring greens and kale.

I was at the supermarket last week and saw packs of kale calling my name so I bought one and decided to follow the same steps as the turkey mince/peas stir fry...

INGREDIENTS

- 400g turkey mince

- 200g kale

- 2-3 tbsp tomato puree

- 1/2 onion diced

- 1tbsp coconut oil
- Seasonings

- Salt to taste

1. Heat the coconut oil in a pan. Fry the onions until they start to brown.

2. Add the mince and start to cook in pan. Stirring in pan often to ensure it cooks evenly. 

3. Season as desired.

3. After it's been cooking for 5 minutes, add the tomato puree. Leave to simmer for a coupl eof minutes.

4. Add the (washed) kale, cover, turn down heat to medium and allow to simmer for 5 minutes.

Enjoy :)

• Sweet potatoes can be used instead of plantain. 
• Kale can be replaced with spinach, greens, peas, broccoli, etc

Healthy Recipe: Goat Chilli Soup

Happy New Week!

I'm happy to report that The Get Trimmer Challenge has officially started. Unlike previous challenges, it won't be done on this blog, there's a separate (private) blog and also a closed Facebook Group.

If you're still interested make sure you register by Friday 1st February when entry officially closes --> http://gettrimmer3.eventbrite.co.uk

On to the RECIPE
The name is inspired by one of my favourite Nigerian dishes - PEPPERSOUP!

I didn't have any peppersoup spices at home so I used the next best thing - chilli. Thinking about it now, I could have used  finely chopped scotch bonnet or ground 'Naija pepper'.

It came out yummy with that little kick that chilli gives.

Ingredients
2 medium red onions
3 red bell peppers
1kg goat meat
Generous servings of mixed spice, mixed herbs (Read --> What's In My Seasoning)
2 heaped tablespoons of chilli
Salt to taste

1. Slice the onions and peppers

Chunky slices

2. Clean the goat meat and add to the slow cooker. Add the spices, herbs, chilli and salt and rub into the meat. (I'd have preferred to marinade it for a few hours before cooking).

3. Add a teaspoon of coconut oil to a heated frying pan and lightly brown the onions. Use a spatula to move the onion around so it browns evenly. This should take no more than 5 minutes.

4. Add the onions to the meat

5. Repeat the same for the peppers. Again, no more than 5 minutes.

6. Add to the meat and onions.

7. Add enough water to barely cover the contents of the slow cooker. Cover, set on low and leave too cook for 8 hours.

Ready to slow cook for 8 hours

It didn't look this grubby!!

8. If you're like me, wake up to the aroma of scrumptious goat meat cooked with sweet red peppers and onions. Of course, the seasoning played a huge part ;)

Enjoy!

PS If you don't own a slow cooker, cook this on low heat and check the tenderness of the meat every 30 minutes.

Braids and Food

What a clever title, right? I've had my braids hang into my food and that wasn't nice :/
I just couldn't think of an interesting title so this is going to have to do!

Anyway..... This is just a quick update on my hair (which is now in braids, as seen below) and food, I'm sure you had no idea!! :p

I got my braids done on Monday and after an early start (the lady rang my doorbell at 6am!), enduring a numb backside and trying to stay awake, she was done before 2pm :)

If you're wondering how I take care of my hair while it's in braids, watch the video below. Which reminds me, I need to make another bottle of my braid spray:



As usual, I'll keep the braids in for no more than 3 months.

I'm so happy it's Friday because I get done with work early so I get to relax and cook :) I bought some lambs' livers on Thursday night with the intention of making okra soup today. Well, I got home today and realised I forgot to get some!
There was no way I was going back out in the freezing cold for nonsense okra!
So I had to improvise and just pan fried the livers with red onions (seasoned with salt, paprika and mixed herbs) for about 10-12 minutes and added some spinach to cook with it for a few more minutes.
It doesn't look great but it tasted very good (I cooked it so of course it did!) and has many nutritional benefits :)

LUNCH

And then my dinner was YUMMY :) I recently purchased a slow cooker and I have tried out three meals in it so far. I think I got it a week and a half ago!

This was a simple stew: venison sausages, sweet potatoes (the Jamaican ones here, very similar to the ones in Nigeria), red onions and chopped tomatoes. I pan fried the sausages and onions for a couple of minutes before adding to the slow cooker and left everything to cook for a few hours.
And I finally bought courgettes (zucchinis) for the first time ever! Thanks to some tips from Ceri (of Cucina Ceri), I didn't add it to the stew, I sliced into large chunks, season with chilli, drizzled some olive oil on it and put it in the oven for 20 minutes.

The clean plate in the picture shows exactly how I felt about it ;)

So that's my Friday update done, I'm just finishing up some documents to send out for the Get Trimmer challenge now and then BED :) #TGIF

You can still sign up for the challenge by clicking on the image below:

FYI: In Naira, it's N5,000 if you prefer to do that. Just send me an email asking for a/c details. Once the Early Bird offer runs out, it will go up to £26.99 or N6,750. This will be available until Friday 1st February, when registration will be officially closed.

HEALTHY EATING OUT: California Pizza Kitchen

I'm going to make a huge effort to share any healthy meals I have when I eat out. It, of course, goes without saying that I will still share my home made meals ;)

I was at a mall with my sister in the US and she suggested California Pizza Kitchen. It has PIZZA in the name so of course I expected I wouldn't have much to choose from if I wanted to stick to healthy eating.

Thankfully, I was wrong :) They had a good range of salads and some other healthy (enough) items on the menu.

I had the Grilled Chicken Chimichurri with the chimichurri (finely chopped parsley, minced garlic, olive oil, oregano, and white or red vinegar) with the dressing on the side. I ended up using less than half of the dressing so although it wasn't unhealthy, it's proof that restaurants tend to be a bit to generous with their dressings!

For a list of all the salads available in CPK, go to: http://www.cpk.com/menu/

How To Stay Healthy Over The Festive Period (Pt II)

Happy New Week!

Two weeks to Christmas, whoop!

So, I did well enough at the Fitter London Christmas party on Saturday. Like I mentioned in the previous post, I ordered the yummiest cake ever from Vickii. Well, I had a couple of generous slices. What saved me wasn't my self control, it was the yumminess of the cake! Almost everyone came back for seconds so it was gone with in 2 hours.

I didn't get the chance to eat before the party so I ate more cake than I should have (because I hadn't eaten before leaving home, so I was hungry). Which leads me to today's tip that should help you eat responsibly at one of the many parties you're going to attend this month:

Tip #3 Eat In Advance.

I've found that when I eat a big, healthy meal before going out, I do so much better at sticking to my healthy goals. Imagine going out on an empty stomach, and having to wait a while before your food is served (if it's one where food will be served). You'll most likely keep picking at anything that's available, healthy or not. And by the time your meal arrives, eating everything on your plate and having a second helping would be the natural thing to do.

Even if it's a party that serves 'nibbles', that's more of a reason to eat a meal beforehand so you don't end up picking at the usual unhealthy sweets and treats that would be lying around.

Tip #4 Water Down Your Alcoholic/Sugary Drinks

Alcoholic and sugary drinks contain empty calories - a high sugar content. And these are usually available in abundance at parties!

FYI
An 8oz glass of red wine, which is the least sugary alcohol option, contains 2-4g of sugar, depending on the type of red wine. (It helps to check the bottle.)
A 330ml can of coke contains ~40g (10 cubes) of sugar.

The best thing to do is to control your portions of alcohol and drink a lot of water too. This is important, not only to control your sugar intake, but to help keep you hydrated as high alcohol consumption can lead to dehydration.

Another thing you should take note of is - alcohol causes a sharp spike, then dip in blood sugar levels and you're more likely to want to snack with a high consumption of it. If you eat in advance, I expect you'd drink less and snack less too!

Christmas Parties in 2011 and 2012. I always seem to find myself hovering around the cake ;)

Yes, it's the festive season and it is okay to relax on your eating of course, I'm not going to pretend I don't! BUT try not to overdo it. You don't want to start the next year feeling like you've set your progress back by months just for a few weeks of celebration. 

What's In My Seasoning?

If you're a regular reader of this blog, you should know I stopped cooking my food with Maggi cubes, read THIS, THIS and THIS.

After a lot of trial and error, I finally found the right combination of herbs, spices and salt to give me a similar taste to food cooked with Maggi. Not only is this a healthier alternative (read above posts for more information) but the herbs and spices have many benefits which I'll blog more about in future posts..

My simple combination is mixed herbs, mixed spices and sea salt. I also use parsley when I'm cooking fish and, sometimes, pork.

BUT there are times when I don't have access to these and I go back to my childhood favourite combo of curry, thyme and salt, then I throw in a spice I LOVE - ginger, especially for chicken. Ahhh, it seems like yesterday (and not over 2 decades ago), I remember waiting for my turn (we always had a cousin or the other over during the holidays) to fry my eggs, seasoned with - curry, thyme and salt :)

Mixed Herbs
I alternate between:
Schwartz* Mixed Herbs
Ingredients: Marjoram (40%), Basil, Thyme (20%), Oregano.
and
Sainsburys Mixed Herbs
Ingredients: Dried Sage (25%), Dried Thyme (25%), Dried Oregano (20%), Dried Marjoram (20%), Dried Parsley (10%)

Mixed Spice
I usually alternate between:
The Vital Ingredient Sweet Mixed Spices (Which I purchase from GNC here in the UK)
Ingredients: Coriander, Cinnamon, Ginger, Nutmeg, Fennel, Cloves, Cardamon
and
Schwartz Mixed Spices
Ingredients: Cassia (40%), Coriander Seed (38%), Caraway, Ginger, Cloves
(Although, sometimes I use the supermarket brand)

Salt
Sea Salt or Himalayan Salt
My go-to salt is Maldon sea salt which I buy from Sainsburys or Holland & Barrett.

*Schwartz is available in most supermarkets. Large tubs (and amazing value for money) are sold in Costco.

I suggest playing around with the ratios to find out what works for you although, I have mentioned how much I use in some recipe videos. 

My Weekend...

I *really* treated myself this weekend, unfortunately BUT I'm back on track ;)

Here are a couple of pictures from the last 2 days:

On Saturday, I went to my friend's Thanksgiving dinner, yes we're in London (!!!), and had an amazing time with an amazing assortment of food... YUMM!

I didn't have enough time so I co-washed my hair, applied my leave in conditioner and blow dried my hair. Did two flat twists in front and held the rest of my hair up with a banana clip. Finished with a big flat twist at the back.

I'll put up a tutorial video soon

On Sunday, I went to visit my big-sis-from-another-Mama and this was my dinner, yum!

Look our for some requested posts in the next few weeks.

Have a great week ahead!