Archives March 2015

Want a tasty way to use zucchini before the seasons over?  This zucchini pesto slice is just the thing.  It’s simple and delicious, and if you grow your own zucchini you can pretty it up with zucchini flowers. I ‘ve always thought that zucchini flowers were quite beautiful and looked lovely stuffed.  But for me, the thought of stuffing them looked too fiddly (although I’m sure it’s not actually that hard…).  With the last of the zucchini in my garden I decided to make the most of them and their pretty flowers and came up with an easy way to use the flowers, as decoration on top of a zucchini slice.

This slice can be eaten for breakfast, lunch or a light dinner alongside other vegetables or salad.   It makes about 6-8 pieces, depending on how big you cut them.  We had this for dinner with crusty sourdough bread and salad, then I had the leftovers for lunch the next day.  I love it when there are leftovers for lunches!

Ingredients:

2 zucchini grated
100g feta cheese
1/4 cup parmesan cheese + 3 tablespoons extra
3 heaped tablespoons basil pesto
8 eggs
1/4 cup chopped parsley
salt and pepper
Optional: zucchini flowers

Method:
Place the grated zucchini in a large bowl.  Crumble over the feta cheese and add the 1/4 cup parmesan cheese, pesto, eggs and parsley. Sprinkle over salt and pepper. Mix well until all ingredients are combined.  Place into a greased oven safe dish.

For the zucchini flowers – Cut the flowers in  half lengthwise.  Remove the stamen from the flower and discard,  Gently rinse.  Place the flowers on top of the zucchini slice.

Sprinkle over the remaining parmesean cheese.

Bake at 180 degrees Celsius for 20-30 minutes

Years ago, when I didn’t have such a healthy relationship with food, snacking would be one thing that would play on my mind. Should I snack? Should I just ride out the hunger until my next meal? Would skipping snacks make me lose weight? I had so many questions, and there were lots of opinions on the answers, but the real answer came from within and could be answered with this question. Are you really hungry? If yes, then eat! But choose something that’s filling, nourishing and delicious.

Learning to listen to your body and eat a nourishing diet that works for you are two of the best things you can do for yourself. As a nutritionist, I work with my clients to do this and I’d encourage you to do it too. Following the latest fad diet, following strict food rules or cutting out whole food groups isn’t a sustainable way to be healthy and feel great (unless of course you have a specific food allergy or health condition).

Now I’m in tune with my body and have a healthy relationship with food, I trust my hunger. So if I’m hungry, and it’s a while till the next meal, then I’ll eat. And I’ll choose something delicious and nourishing that keeps me full in between meals.

Choosing healthy snacks can:

• boost your nutrient intake
• improve energy levels
• help you avoid going for those not so healthy food choices when you’ve avoided your hunger signals
• Choosing a snack containing protein and carbohydrate can also help your muscles recover after a workout if you’re not going to get a chance to eat for a while.

One snack I’ve recently tried that is super delicious is Anchor Greek. It’s a low fat creamy yoghurt that’s high in protein and taste. It’s thick and creamy, with a tasty fruity layer of either strawberry, passionfruit or pear. Being high in protein, it helps keep you nice and full, and the fruit layer adds such a delicious flavour. Basically it’s deliciously good for you!

It comes in perfect 180g snack sized pottles, or you can get bigger 450g tubs. If you prefer your Greek plain, there’s a bigger 900g plain tub. My favourite flavour is the passionfruit, but the others are also delicious.

You’ll find it at New World or Pak n Save supermarkets nationwide.

Join the #SnackChat on Facebook and Instagram.

This post was made possible thanks to Anchor Greek. All opinions are my own.

Last week I received a So Good smoothie kit in the mail which included a Magic Bullet and So Good Almond and Coconut milk.  I’ve wanted a Magic Bullet for a while, so naturally I was super keen to try it out.  It lived up to it’s expectations, making a delicious smoothie that crushed through frozen banana, ice and mushed up the spinach to perfection.

I also tried out the So Good Almond and Coconut milk for the first time and that was really nice too.  I’m usually a cow’s milk kind of girl, but I do use Almond milk too, especially on my oats or in smoothies. The coconut was a nice touch and the flavour wasn’t overpowering.

Because our plum tree is overflowing I decided to put some to use in this smoothie.  It turned out delicious. Even the husband enjoyed it and didn’t notice it had spinach in it. That’s always a good sign!

Ingredients:

1/2 cup So Good Almond Coconut milk
3 heaped tablespoons Greek yoghurt
3 plums, stone removed1/2 cup frozen blueberries
1 frozen banana
1-2 handfuls of baby spinach
1 tablespoon chia seeds
3 ice cubes

Place in blender and blend until smooth.  Enjoy!

This raspberry, almond and coconut chia pudding has become a new favourite for me, and not just as a  pudding, but as a snack or even breakfast served alongside some yoghurt and fruit.  It’s simple to make and you can easily double the dose to make more as it will keep in the fridge for a couple of days.

Chia seeds are packed full of nutrients, including omega 3 fats. They’re high in fibre so help keep your digestive health in good order and this makes them filling too.  Chia seeds soak up loads of liquid and  you’re left with a smooth pudding that’s filling, tasty as well as nutritious.

The prep for this is really easy, the only thing that takes a little bit of time is letting the chia seeds soak up the almond milk mixture.

Raspberry, Almond and Coconut Chia Pudding

For 2 serves:

1 cup almond milk
2 tablespoons coconut
1 cup raspberries
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
2-3  teaspoons of honey (or sweetener of choice)
5 tablespoons chia seeds

In a blender, blend together the almond milk, coconut, berries, vanilla essence and honey until smooth.   Pour into a medium sized bowl.  Add the chia seeds, whisking the mixture together so the seeds don’t clump together.

Place in the fridge and leave for at least an hour.  I left mine overnight and it was perfect in the morning when I tasted it.

To serve, place some raspberries on top and you could also top with Greek yoghurt.

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