Detox Day Five. And beyond.

Today was meant to be the last day of the detox, in the past few days I realised the importance of meal prepping, listening to your body, and keeping well hydrated but I didn't really feel that there was a physical change to my body. Only a new found appreciation for clean eating and it's principles. I'll be honest, the lack of "body transformation" was slightly disheartening and put me in a slightly defeatist attitude for the rest of the day. I still had my lemon juice but skipped breakie went straight for almonds and berries as a snack while on a walk with a friend. I didn't even prep meals for work! TUT TUT. It got worse when I got to work. A downward slippery custard slope of doom. I don't mean to drag you all down I just want to be honest about my struggles on the final day. Anyway I had taken a photo the day before I started this detox, and took one when I woke up this morning. But miraculously when I got home after my very indulgent shift at work and put them next to eachother I realised there was a change! I looked leaner, more streamlined. Yes it was a subtle difference, but one that's spurred me on to actually continue the detox. 

I know I've got a long way to go but I'm excited about it!
Also stuffing my face with custard, cakes and other silly things really made me realise how much my body doesn't appreciate it. I'd gone back to feeling bloated, overly full and slow within a matter of minutes. 10 minutes later I felt a slight sugar high which was then followed by an almighty LOW. To such an extent I felt the need to shovel more food in my mouth just to keep my eyes open. Altogether a horrible experience, but a great reminder of why I was doing this! 

So to sum up I really would suggest this detox, just make sure you make it as easy as possible for yourself by prepping your meals and following the guidelines. 

This morning I'm back feeling great! Sat on the tube writing this up as we speak with a smile on my face, water in hand, lunch boxes in bag. 

YOU CAN DO THIS! 

You're only regret will be that you didn't do it sooner. ;)

Expect lots of clean eating recipes from here on out. And for those of you that find the whole clean eating idea intimidating, start slow, make your own treats and enjoy :) 

Detox Day Four.

Evening team! How are you all getting on in this oddly muggy weather? I know, I know, us Brits are just never content with the weather... Atleast there's a little breeze today! 

Anyway it's already day four of the five day detox and I've actually decided to extend it a little. I've had a lot of digestion problems in the past and so I think it's taking my digestive system a little longer to sit up and take notice. So I'm thinking I may make it seven or possibly ten days. I'm quite lucky with the hours I work in regards to food prepping, I tend to start work at 3pm so that means I can mooch about packing little lunch boxes for the rest of the day. However when I mean (in about a week, I'm so effing excited) I'm gonna try to prep weekly. So ill let you know how that turns out. A messy kitchen I can imagine! 

Here's the food lowdown!

You guessed it, whole lemon juiced, mixed into a pint of water. Just has got soooo much easier to drink, I actually looked forward to it this morning! Never thought I'd see that day! 

Breakie was:

1 egg scrambled (I like mine still a tad runny)

Large handful of mushrooms, stir fried

2 heaped tbsp of pre-cooked Quinoa 

Quarter of an avocado. Super scrummo!

  
Once I'd eaten that I started prepping my lunch and dinner boxes for work. I say lunch but it was 2.30pm and I'd only just had my snack box before my lunch. This is why it's important to listen to your body, I knew I won't be having my "lunch" until about 5 and dinner at around 9. This may sound late in the day but its all about fuelling your body, everyone is different. Ill be at work 'till 11 so it's perfect for me :) 

For my snack box I made some spinach hummus. 

1 can of chickpeas (made sure to drain and rinse these bad boys, otherwise it messes up the consistency)

60g spinach

1 clove of garlic, grated. 

1tbsp tahini

2 tbsp olive oil

1/2 lemon, juiced

Put it all in the blender and blend until mixed, feel free to add water until you get your preferred consistency. This should make about 4 servings to give you an idea of portion sizes. 

Lunch and dinner is gonna be a selection of raw veggies and pre-cooked quinoa with a dressing that ill whip up while at work. I'll be snacking on berries and almonds. And ofcourse glugging on water or green tea. 

I was very proud of myself for not falling off the bandwagon yesterday so lets keep that up huh? 

Off I go.....

I decided to update this post a little after work. I still stuck to the detox however I feel like there was a constant stream of berries going into my mouth. The last hour and a half of work were incredibly busy and I didn't stop running around. I felt a little unenergised and dehydrated, but no time to drink water. Once I'm home I'm going to have atleast a pint of water before bed. I need to be able to mix it up tomorrow a bit or extended this for a few days is going to be harder than I thought. 

Detox Day Three.

Today it was time to really test the willpower. If there's food in front of me, I'm gonna eat it. Simple as that. It's the reason I got the nickname of Dustbin from my dad. So needless to say now that I'm a chef I don't really ever stop snacking. And by snacking I mean, one for you, one for me ;) One pastry, one spoonful of vanilla mascarpone, one cheeky cookie.... I dread to think of the calories I must inhale during those 8 hours. I try to tell myself it's fiiiiine, I'm on my feet in a hot environment, but still, I should be fuelling my body with the good stuff, not crap. And today, fuel it I did! It's surprising how often you think you're hungry and when you actually take a second you realise, I'm just dehydrated or bored. I can't stress enough how important it is to listen to your body. 

I don't wanna bore you with the same food routine for five days straight so I'll keep it short. 

Alarm clock. 

Ignore. 

Alarm clock. 

Stretch. 

Kitchen. 

Lemon. 

Eggs. 

Prep. 

Tea. 

Lunch. 

Work. 

Snack. 

Tea. 

Snack. 

Dinner. 

Snack. 

Snack. 

Water. 

Tube. 

Bed. 

Quick update on the squat challenge. I've been a naughty girl and crawled into my bed like a tired little bear and neglected them. But not tonight, no sir! 

Detox Day Two.

Today started off with a cheeky game of ignore the alarm clock. It turns out dancing all night long in heels after being stood statue still for 6 hours really does take it out of you. But I wasn't going to let a few yawns and blisters (stupid shoes) stop me. I dragged my butt out of my pit and made me lemon juice and water drink, there's no feeling sleeping after this bad boy. 

I felt like my hair was standing up on end....

Breakfast this morning was the Detox Smoothie, which I whizzed up and had on the tube on my way to meet my parents. I also had quarter of an avocado (it's important to get your good fats) 

Snacks, just a few veggie sticks and my trusty green tea (I'm going to make a homemade hummus tonight for snack time over the next few days. 

Lunch was 2 heaped tbsp of cooked quinoa, a few pieces of broccoli, spinach, carrot sticks, cucumber and quarter of an avocado, all drizzled with a homemade dressing of 1tbsp of apple cider vinegar, 1tbsp of balsamic vinegar, juice of half a lime and black pepper.

For dinner I just whipped up a yummy vegetable stir fry. I included asparagus, broccoli, mushrooms, red peppers, adzuki beans and tofu with a generous sprinkle of basil.

I'll be honest with you, I was NOT a fan of tofu. It had a spongey texture, but smelt like egg...odd. I'm going to experiment and get back to you guys with tastier ways to eat it. I will not be beaten ;)

Now just sat here, sipping my green tea watching House, blissful.

How's your day been?

Duck duck MOUSSE....

It's been a while since I treated you peeps to a naughty but nice post, so here you are kids....

Does it get better than guilt free chocolate mousse? 

NO. 

What about guilt free chocolate mousse that you can whip up in less than 10 minutes? 

Amazeballs!

So here's how you get your mitts on the good stuff...grab these things:

2 bananas

1 very ripe avocado

2tbsp of nut butter (not essential) 

3-4 tbsp of cocoa powder

Shove it all in a blender and whizz until smooth. This is why it's good for your avocado to be ripe. Last time I made this mine were a little too tough and have my blender had a bit of a workout. 

I'm a bit of a freezer freak, mines filled with non dairy alternatives and a tonne of frozen fruit. I decided to top today's treat with raspberries. Mmmmm dark chocolate, raspberries and a tv catch up...perfection! 

I'm off to lick the blender bowl. 

Enjoy!! 

Getting my green on.

As I promised you all last night this morning I got rid of all my naughty foods in my cupboard and replaced it with veggies and healthy alternatives! My first green smoothie in a week or so and I think we can safely say I've made up for lost time. Yep that's a pint glass ;)

In today's breakfast in a glass was: 

2 bananas

60g of spinach leaves

1 heaped tsp of almond butter

1 dash of cinnamon

1 squeeze of honey

3 or 4 generous handfuls of gluten free oats

4 gluggs of almond milk (delicious on its own by the way if you're scared to buy it)

And WHIZZ! A big fat glass of yum!

Speaking as a girl that's used to feeling like a pufferfish after any meal or drink its astonishing that after drinking a pint of very thick smoothie, (I'd rather have it thick than watered down, means I know I'm getting a boat load of goodness) I don't feel like a fat slug at all. Infact I just ran to the tube and then had a fight or flight moment legging it across a busy platform to catch a different train.That may not sound like much at all, but this is coming from the girl who's been feeling like she's stuck on slow motion the last week.

Green Smoothie: The Hulk

This smoothie was a monster. It was such a beast I had to chuck all the ingredients into the food processor before the blender would even look at it. It's also super green and packed with slow releasing energy, so you can take over the world all day long! I was in a rush to catch some rays today, I've got my priorities sorted ;) so I didn't take any step by step photos as such but I did get to use my portable smoothie flask for the first time.

So in todays smoothie we have:
Half a Cucumber
1 Pear
1 Green Apple
3 handfuls of Spinach
2tbsp of Honey
2 dashes of Cinnamon
2 dashes of Nutmeg
3 handfuls of Rolled Oats
5 ice cubes

This one took a while to get down to a consistency that didn't make me want to chew it. But my word it was refreshing on a day like today! The cucumber made it chilling and perfect to slurp on the sticky tube so stop me losing my marbles. The crazy colour may put off some people from trying it but that just means more for us...wahoooo!

Granted, it is super green but it tasted a little like an iced chai latte minus the coffee YUM! Even my buddies that work in Cocktail bars were impressed. And that's saying something for a bunch'a'boys who love their liquor. 

Feta, Beetroot, Broad Bean and Mint Salad.

So for any of you that follow my Instagram you'll know that Monday day shifts are my favourite. Mainly because there is more free time so I get taught new skills, but also because we have Sampling.
Sampling is where I get to eat my weight in food. we make a few of the new dishes that are appearing on the menu that week, sit, eat and critique them.

Today I was left in the kitchen to basically get on with everything on my own. This just means that the following dishes were made purely by myself.

Here's the salad, since eating it I've pretty much decided I'll be living off this all summer long.  Which in England could mean a week....

This salad tastes like summer, if you could eat it.
Summer tastes great!

More perks to follow...

Roasted Butternut Squash Stuffed with Ratatouille

At work this week we're giving the menu and shake up. It's important to do this to keep it interesting and to keep up with seasonality. This is one of the new dishes, as a veggie lover I thought I'd share it with you. As you know I'm in the very early stages of the Clean and Lean Lifestyle and this adheres to the principles well. So long as all the ingredients are organically sourced and clean. Here's a little step by step of how to make this yummy, colourful dish.

 

Isn't she a beaut! All you do here is slice the ends off, cut in half length ways, and scoop out the pips.

 

Next up, score Mrs B and rub with rapeseed oil, salt and pepper. Pop into the oven for 45 minutes at 180C, now lets move on to preparing the ratatouille.

One of the many reasons I love ratatouille, other than it reminds me of those cute chubby little mice in the film, is that you can ram pretty much any veg in and it just works...

 

As well as the Peppers, Courgettes, Tomatoes and Red Onion, I also used Garlic and Yellow Courgette too.  Once you've finely chopped all your veggies, put in a saucepan for about 20 minutes with some bay leaves, and tomato puree and a touch of water and leave on simmer, cook until the veg has just gone from crunchy to slightly softer.  By this point the Butternut Squash is about ready to come out of the oven, now at this stage you scoop the majority of the "BNS" out from its skin, add most of it to the Ratatouille and then fill the "BNS" with it.

 

All done, depending on how hungry you are feel free to accompany this with a side salad, this was so yummy I wanted tempted to just shove my face in it.

Talking of eating at high speed, it's super bad for you, and your digestive system to take your time and enjoy your food. NOMNOMNOM. 

 

Pea and Brocolli Risotto

I made a huge breakfast bludder yesterday! I woke up way too late and had to plump for Tescos Wrap for breakfast :( In the past few days I feel like my taste buds have become accustomed to fresh ingredients, they've grown rather snobby in their old age. And it seems chemically enhanced, processed foods just won't do! ;) To make amends I rustled up a lovely risotto dish, heavy on the veggies ofcourse! YUMSO! 
Here's a quick snap!

 

I am a huge veggies fan! But please don't over cook them, It zaps all the goodness out of them, and I like my veggies CRUUUNCHY! If I wanted to slurp them I'd make a smoothie!

Right off to work, I'm opening the kitchen for the first time on my own, wish me luck?

Chocolate Brownies

Yesterday I made Gluten Free Brownies, as my first attempt at a "No Flour" recipe I think it went ok. It was also the first time I'd used LactoFree milk, Canderel Sugar Alternative, and gluten free rolled oats. As I tell you about the recipe I am going to alter it slightly so it is better! If like me you like your brownies naughty and gooey then I would suggest cooking them for only 15 minutes as opposed to 20. I would also suggest being quite generous with the Canderel, its slightly confusing as it says on the packet to use a tenth of what any recipe says for standard sugar. I think because I used Bournville Dark Cocoa Powder it needs more. I also decided to add Dates to mine. I LOVE DATES! Hit me with any Dates recipes you have! 

(amended) Ingredients:
180ml of milk (lactofree, soy or almond are fine)
64g of cocoa powder (I would now suggest milk chocolate)
180g low fat yoghurt (if you can get bio, do)
43g wholegrain rolled oats
1 egg
64g sugar (I would suggest about 12-15g of Canderel)
1tsp baking powder
90g Dates (optional)

Method:
Sling all the ingredients in a blender, blend til smooth and then pour into a greased baking tray. I would suggest a small baking tray, as this doesn't make a huge amount and I'd rather have thick brownies.

Not bad for a first timer....

 

Big Hunks of Cucumber on Buttery Toasted Bread, Topped with Rock Salt.

The other night, Cherry and I were taking a break from our Breaking Bad marathon...how AWESOME is it by the way?! When we decided we needed a midnight snack 10pm toast fix. I'll be honest with you, since our BB tradition began, 8 glorious episodes ago neither of us have made it to midnight. We're getting old now ladies!
So there we were buttering our toast when Cherry says, "Fancy some Cucumber on that?" Say what child, are you bonkers I laughed.
Turns out yes she is bonkers, we already knew that, but she's right on the money with this one! Apparently her old boss introduced her to it, and I am rather glad she did! 
Here's a quick photo! Gotta get back to Breaking Bad!

If you have any other TV recommendations let me know! Cherry and I have promised eachother we shall only watch Breaking Bad together and she's going away for the weekend! HELP?!

Quorn Sausages, Sweetcorn Fritters, Spinach and a Poached Egg

One of the things I am allergic to is Pork, now that doesn't sound so bad until you really think about it. Say Goodbye to:
Ham
Bacon
Sausage
Pepperami's
Pork
You get my drift...

For that reason I am rather grateful for these as I think they are tasty and also a healthier alternative. Ok you don't get anywhere near the variety available with proper piggy sausages, but mustn't grumble!

This morning I teamed mine with, Wholegrain seedy toast, wilted spinach, sweetcorn fritters, and to continue my current breakfast love, a poached egg.

Sweetcorn Fritters are super fast to whip up and if you make too much mix, just clingfilm and whack in the fridge for the next day!
    
For the Fritters:
  
100g plain flour
2 free range eggs
75ml milk
350g sweetcorn
1tsp baking powder
salt and freshly ground black pepper
1tsp smoked paprika


In one bowl combine all your dry ingredients, and in another beat your eggs and milk together. Gradually stir your dry mix into your wet, and once you've got a smooth batter add your sweetcorn. Next step, just heat up a frying pan and spoon in a generous helping! 
Now just stack it all up and enjoy!