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  1. Recipe: Home Made Apple Crumble

    November 20, 2011 by admin

    I love making this dessert, it’s so easy and super tasty!

    Preparation:

    Preheat fan forced oven to 180 Deg Celcius (350F).

    Grease an 20cm x 40cm rectangular baking dish with light cooking oil spray.

    Bring a large pot of water to the boil.

    Ingredients:

    • 4 granny smith apples
    • 1 tablespoon of brown sugar
    • 6 shortbread biscuits
    • 1 teaspoon of unsalted butter
    • A large sheet of baking paper

     

    Method:

    Apples

    Dice the apples in to eights and place in to the boiling water leaving the skins on (this step is optional, I like to leave the skin on because I like the taste, it’s up to you). Bring the water down to a simmer and cook the apples until they are tender (poke a knife in to them, if the apple doesn’t get caught, the apples are ready).

    Crumble

    Wrap the biscuits up in the baking paper and place on a hard surface. Beat the biscuits with a wooden mallet until they are crushed in to a coarse mixture. Put the crushed biscuits in to a bowl and add the brown sugar and give the whole mixture a big stir.

    Combine

    When the apples are ready, strain them and spoon them in to the baking dish. Pour the crushed biscuits and brown sugar mixture over all of the apples. Finally melt the teaspoon of butter in the microwave for 30 seconds on high, and pour evenly over the dish. Place in to the oven for about 10 mins or until the biscuits start to go golden brown. Take it out and serve hot with fresh whipped cream. Enjoy!

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  2. Is dark chocolate good for your health?

    November 25, 2011 by admin

    Dark Chocolate

     

    Chocolate has long been a favorite food across the world. Originally from Mesoamerica, chocolate was made into a bitter drink and used in Mayan and Aztec religious ceremonies. Europeans added sugar and milk to the cacao, making a richer and sweeter version which is more like the chocolate commonly eaten today. Overtime, more fat and sugar were added to the chocolate, making it richer, but also increasing its calorie content. Today a variety of chocolates, including white, milk, and dark are available. Recently, some unsuspected health benefits have been associated with eating dark chocolate, but does that mean dark chocolate is good for your health? To answer this, we should first understand what makes dark chocolate different from other types of chocolate.Dark chocolate has been touted as a “healthy chocolate”. This is because dark chocolate has a higher percentage of cacao, the natural bean component that gives chocolate its unique flavor. Cacao is usually bitter if sugar is not added. For this reason, dark chocolate is less sweet than other types of chocolate. However, it is the higher percentage of cacao that gives dark chocolate its reputed health properties. Cacao beans contain a variety of healthy compounds such as antioxidants and micronutrients including flavonoids, catechins, and theobromine. Antioxidants prevent damage from free radicals, which can harm cells. Theobromine has been shown to stimulate the heart and act as a vasodilator, so in small doses like those found in the cacao, theobromine is considered to be quite healthy.

    In most types of chocolate, the amounts of cacao are quite small or have been overly processed. This means that the healthy compounds mentioned above are no longer present, or are in insufficient quantities. Dark chocolate, especially versions in which the cacao has been minimally processed, have higher quantities of theobromine and antioxidants. To obtain the optimal health benefits from dark chocolate, it is recommended that you eat chocolate with higher percentages of cacao, generally between 75-85%. However, though dark chocolate has higher levels of healthy compounds, it still contains substantial quantities of fat and sugar that serve to bind it together and to lessen the bitter taste. It also contains more caffeine. So while dark chocolate may have some health benefits, the added calories and saturated fat content are important to consider. The key to eating dark chocolate for health is to enjoy it in moderation alongside a balanced diet.

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  3. How do I make yellow rice?

    November 24, 2011 by admin

    Making yellow rice is actually really simple!

    Follow these steps and you’ll have yourself yellow rice faster than you can say… heck I don’t know , but you get the picture (if you come up with a good one add it to the comments section below and I might publish it).

    Before you begin, you are going to need the two main ingredients… Saffron and Turmeric. Saffron can be pretty expensive, but it’s worth it and you don’t need a lot!

    Anyway, Yellow Rice method below:

    1. Begin by starting to cook the rice as you normally would. For this method I am going to use the absorption method, but yellow rice can be made with any method (If you want a recipe for cooking rice click here).
    2. So in a medium saucepan, bring 2 cups of water to the boil and add 1 cup of rinsed ‘Basmati’ rice (ratio of 2:1 for absorption method). Cover the pan and reduce to simmer.
    3. Add in a little bit of olive oil to stop the rice sticking to the bottom of the saucepan, and add a pinch of salt (optional) for flavoring.
    4. Now comes the yellow rice part: Grab a good pinch of Saffron, drop it in to the rice and give the water a stir (you should notice the water begin to turn yellow almost instantly).
    5. Now add half a teaspoon of Turmeric and stir.
    6. Cook the rice, covered, simmering, for 20 minutes.
    7. Remove from the heat, give the rice a quick stir, replace the lid again and leave to stand for a further 5 minutes. Serve!

    There you have it, yellow rice, perfect for any Indian dish!

    Enjoy!!

     

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  4. What are the best diet shakes?

    November 22, 2011 by admin

    The best diet shakes can help with weight loss by reducing your intake of calories. Keeping the weight off and maintaining a healthy weight takes a food plan with the proper nutrients on a daily basis. The food plan should incorporate a low carb eating plan along with the shakes for the best results.

    Best diet shakes need to contain a balance of nutrients, especially since shakes are typically used as meal replacements for food. For the short term diet shake strategies work on weight loss and for long term shakes may work as quick meal replacements, particularly when we have a limited amount of time to prepare a food meal.

    Best diet shakes may be essential for jump starting a new diet regime. Generally, you should limit weight loss to no more than 2 pounds per week. A food plan and a low carb eating plan along with the best diet shakes may actually work. Plan on keeping shakes in your long term diet, remember that shakes will simply reduce the amount of calorie intake for weight loss. Maintaining the weight loss requires a lifestyle change that includes a daily burn of the daily calories consumed.

    If diet shakes are going to be part of your diet and meal plan, you need to determine the allowance of calories needed for weight loss. Normally 1,500 calories a day with a combination of exercise works best to promote good nutrition and a healthy weight. A first step to developing a balanced food plan is to identify the shake replacement meal. Most diet plans recommend breakfast or lunch as the meal more appropriate for replacement with a shake. Next a low carb eating plan with fruits, vegetables, whole grains and a source of protein; the shake may be your source of protein.

    Homemade shakes are ideal to make ahead of time with the right amount of calories that contain fat, carbohydrates, protein and sugar. Here’s a breakfast shake mixture that fits our daily nutrients and calorie limits; fruit, low fat yogurt, honey instead of sugar and flavoring of mint or vanilla. For fruit selections think about bananas and peanut butter is a great source of protein. For lunch, think about adding vegetables in place of fruit with some yogurt and protein powder. You’ve had a shake for breakfast or lunch; it’s time for dinner built on a low carb eating plan.

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  5. Recipe: Chicken Parmigiana with Boiled Potatoes

    November 11, 2011 by admin

    Chicken Parmigiana is a tasty dish that doesn’t need to be unhealthy or high in fat. Try the following recipe on a cold winters evening.

    Ingredients

    Crumbed Chicken

    • 500g skinless chicken breast fillets or tenderloins with fat removed
    • 2 eggs
    • 1 tablespoon milk
    • 3 pieces of wholemeal bread
    • Cooking Oil Spray
    Tomato Relish
    • 3 garlic cloves – finely diced
    • 1 brown onion – finely diced
    • 1 can of diced Italian tomatoes
    • 1/2 cup of white wine
    • A handful of basil leaves – finely chopped
    • Salt and Pepper
    • 50g of grated light cheddar cheese
    Boiled Potatoes
    • 10 small chat potatoes

     

    Method

    Preheat Oven Grill to 180 Deg Celsius (350F) or turn to Med-High

    Boiled Potatoes

    In a large pot, pour 4 liters of water in and bring to the boil. Dice chat potatoes in to 8 pieces per potato and place in to water. Cover pot and simmer potatoes for 20 mins or until semi-soft.

    Tomato Relish

    Bring a saucepan to a medium-high temperature on the stove. Lightly spray the surface with the cooking oil. Place diced onion in the pan and gently fry until it begins to soften. Then put in the finely diced garlic and cook for a further 1 min. Pour in the white wine and let the alcohol boil and evaporate out for about a minute. Pour in the canned tomatoes and bring the whole pan to the boil, and then reduce heat and simmer for 20 mins, adding chopped basil leaves and salt and pepper towards the end.

    Crumbed Chicken

    Heat a large saucepan to a medium temperature. In the griller, place the 3 slices of bread in and grill each side until crispy. In a large bowl, place the 3 cracked eggs in and milk and whisk until combined.  Take the bread out, place it in another large bowl and break the bread in to crumbs with a wooden spoon. Now to crumb the chicken, dip the chicken breast one at a time in to the egg mix, then bread crumbs. Then place the crumbed chicken on to the now hot saucepan and fry each side for about 2mins each or until almost cooked through.

    Prepare a baking tray, and place the cooked crumbed chicken on the tray, then place with a spoon, the tomato relish over the chicken, be sure to cover the whole chicken. Now place the grated cheese over the tomato relish, you can put as much as you like on, however you only need a little for it to taste great. Now place in to the griller and grill until the cheese melts to your liking.

    Strain the potatoes, and prepare on to individual plates as is, with the crumbed chicken parmigiana next to it. Delicious!

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