Recipe - Energy Balls. One bowl, no bake, too easy

Around the same time that I looked into doing my first marathon and ultra I also started reading "Born to Run". So, naturally, when I went Googling for fuelling on long runs I really wanted a recipe that would use Chia seed.
As with most things that I make I took ideas from a few sites and came up with this creation

One bowl, no baking required. Couldn't be easier.

The ingredients are things I always have in my pantry so I know that I can always make them.

I literally just put everything into one bowl and mix. Generally I start out using a spoon but then resort to hands as its the best way to gauge consistency

Once all of the ingredients are mixed simple shape them into balls. You could even make bars out of them but I need something little to easily pop into my mouth as I'm running.

I got 25 balls out of the mixture.

This is the size of mine

The best part of this recipe is that its fully adaptable.

Here are some things that I've tried:

* Toast the oats or coconut, or both. It's a lot nicer when toasted but most of the time I get lazy

* Add chocolate chips

* Regular oats or quick oats both work fine. Swap out with whatever you have on hand

* Shredded or desiccated coconut both work fine. As with the oats, swap out with whatever you have on hand

* Instead of coconut, use trail mix. Personally, I found this harder to chew/digest on long runs but it was really tasty

* Adjust the amounts of wet ingredients to suit your taste. I am not overly fond of honey, and too much peanut butter makes my mouth dry so I tend to add honey, peanut butter and chocolate spread into a 1 cup measure without really measuring any of them, as long as the total is 1 cup

In terms of calories I don't have an answer because I'm calorie counting challenged (ie I don't do it). 

On a few of the sites that I looked at when searching for a recipe the numbers varied between 90 and 200 calories per ball. The only time I consider calories is when I'm packing for a long run and know that I need to aim for 200-300 calories per hour. In which case I count these as 100 calories each. No idea how close to the truth that is and can't be bothered to work it out. Please tell me if you do though

Energy Balls

Makes: About 25 balls

Time: 5-10 minutes

Ingredients

·         1 cup oats

·         ½ cup shredded coconut

·         ½ cup honey

·         ½ cup peanut butter or chocolate spread (or a combination of the two)

·         ¼ cup LSA mix (Linseed, Sunflower seeds and Almond mix)

·         2 tbs Chia seed

Method

1. Stir all the ingredients in a bowl until well combined.

2. Shape into balls. 

3. Refridgerate (this helps them to hold their shape)

That’s it! Easy 

Recipe - Healthy muesli bars

Healthy muesli bars

Ingredients

2 bananas

2 cups quick oats (also called minute oats) Regular oats will also do i just like the fineness of quick ones

1 tbs LSA mix

1/4 cup cashews and almonds  - chopped. You can chop them as finely or coarsely as you like. You could even leave them whole but as I was making this for kids I needed them to be chopped. You can also use any nuts you like - I simply had almonds and cashews in my cupboard today

1/4  cup choc chips - Optional. If you'd prefer to leave out the chocolate simply add more nuts to make up to half a cup in total

1 tsp vanilla ess - Optional
Honey

 

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C (approx 355 F) and line a rectangular pan with baking paper.
2. Mash the banana

3. Add the oats, LSA, nuts, choc chips (if using) and vanilla (if using)

4. Mix until combined

5. This is where the honey comes in. If you feel that the mix is a bit dry simply add some honey. I sometimes only add 1 tbs just to help with the binding. The mix can be dry if you've used regular oats or if the bananas were on the smaller side. If you don't feel that you need it simply leave it out.

5. Press the mix into the prepared pan.
6. Bake for approx 20-25 minutes. Cool and then chop into muesli bar slices.

Great for school lunches and I find mine will keep for a few days wrapped in baking paper and in a tupperware type container

 

Recipes - Choc Orange Brownies

Choc Orange Brownies

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups plain flour

1/3    cup   cocoa

1        tsp    Bi-Carb/baking soda

1/2    tsp salt

1/2    cup sugar (Can be brown sugar or caster sugar. Either is fine. Brown sugar will give you a more caramelly flavour in my opinion)

1 tsp  Vanilla ess

1/4  cup vegetable oi;

Juice and zest of 1 orange (You can actually increase this to 2 if you really want/like the orange flavour)

1 cup Milk or Buttermilk. (You can even substitute for warm water if you want this to be dairy free)

Optional: Choc chips

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180 C degrees (355 F)

2. Grease or line a baking pan. (If you want thicker brownies go for a smaller pan, thin brownies go for a bigger pan. I tend to just get out whichever I find first)

3. Sift dry ingredients into a bowl

4. Combine the wet ingredients in a separate bowl and then add to the sifted dry ingredients.

5. Mix until all combined. Add choc chips if using

6. Pour into prepared pan and bake for 20-40 minutes (depending on thickness). Cool (or not!) and eat. Yummy

 

 

While I have no idea of the actual nutritional stats these are what I consider to be on the healthier side of baking as there is no butter, no eggs and only 1/2 cup sugar.

A great way to use the mountains of oranges growing on my tree.

 

 

Meal Plan and Recipes - Disclaimer/explanation...whatever you want to call it

As I know that a few people actually read my meal plan each week I thought I should put a little explanation to the logic behind the plan

I am not a dietitian nor calorie counter.
I make meals that I think are healthy and something that the whole family of 2 adults and 2 boys will eat.
Years ago, bc (before children) my husband and I followed a Weight Watchers point system on our food and we learnt so much about portion sizes and lower fat versions. So much so that we still remember some of the points.
I don't do separate meals for the kids. They have 2 choices for dinner - Eat what's on their plate or don't eat at all.
I will adapt a recipe to a healthier version (eg. evaporated milk instead of cream) where possible and will generally add extra vegetables.

Here's some other things you should know:

* I will only post meal plans for Monday to Friday. On the weekend we either have leftovers, are out and about, or make lazy meals

* I don't do lamb, at all. This is because it makes me feel sick (nauseous) when I smell it cooking. I don't even know how easily it substitutes into a beef recipe so you can decide that on your own.

* Our youngest son is allergic to prawns so, obviously, we don't have them (unless he is on a sleepover at a friends house, in which case we jump at the chance and do a little happy dance). We are not certain on other shellfish so err on the side of caution. In any case there won't be a lot of that type of seafood on the menu

* I will grate carrot and zucchini into EVERY mince meal. This is simply to get extra veg into my boys. Omit if you like

* I have a little rule that my boys must each 3 vegetables per night. So, in general, I will make 4 vegetables. My logic is that I am then allowing them to choose the 3 that they want out of the 4, hence they feel like they make some of the decision. The eldest is beyond great with veg and will help himself to seconds on nearly all of them. The youngest varies on a day to day basis.

* I try to include one meat free meal per week. That being said I will generally add ham or bacon or chorizo (or something like that) to the kids portions as I believe that they need the protein

Recipes - Middle eastern chicken with chickpeas

Middle eastern chicken with chickpeas

 

Ingredients

500g            Chicken breast fillet, diced (I normally  don't weigh; just do 2 average size fillets)

                     Cooking spray (or 2 tbs oil . I simply prefer cooking spray)

1                   Red onion, sliced

1 tbs            Cumin

2 tsp            Paprika

1 tsp            Lemon zest/rind finely grated

1/2 tsp        Tumeric

400g (1 tin) Baby corn  , drained                 

400g (1 tin) Chickpeas, drained

1/2 cup        Pistachio kernels (unsalted)

1/2 cup        Orange juice (or the juice or of orange)

60g               Baby spinach leaves (I normally don't measure this, but use a couple of handfuls)

1/4 cup        Fresh flat leaf parsley, chopped      

Method

 

1. Spray a wok or frying pan with cooking spray and heat to medium-high heat. Add the onion and cook until tender, about three minutes. Stir in the cumin, paprika, turmeric and lemon zest and cook for another minute.

2. Add the chicken to the pan and stir-fry until nearly cooked through (the chicken finishes cooking through when you add the other ingredients)

3. Add the baby corn, chickpeas and pistachio kernels. Stir fry for approx 3 minutes or until the chickpeas are warmed through

4. Add the orange juice and baby spinach leaves. Stir fry until the leaves have just wilted.

5. Stir in the parsley. Serve with couscous

 

 

* Adapted from a recipe from a Family Circle cookbook 'Quick Short Chicken recipes'

 

Recipes - Cream cheese beef rolls

Cream cheese beef rolls

 

Ingredients

750g            Beef sizzle steak (sometimes called minute steaks) *
125g            Packaged light cream cheese (can be full fat if you want but the light spreads better)
2 tbs            Mixed herbs (you can add more or less depending on your taste preference)
                     Cracked pepper (optional) for taste
                     Flour
                     Cooking spray (you can use oil if you prefer)
1 tbs            Salt reduced soy sauce
1/2 cup        Beef stock
200ml          Light evaporated milk (again this can be the regular evaporated milk if you prefer)
1 tsp             Cornflour
 2 tsp            Parsley      

* If you can't find the sizzle/minute steaks you can use rump steak. What you then need to do is trim the fat and flatten each piece with a meat mallet until about 2-3mm tick (basically flatten them to as thin as you can without destroying them or getting holes if that makes sense) 

* I will aim to have  'how to' photos to follow this week


Method

1. Combine cream cheese, mixed herbs and pepper (if using). It is best if you can get the cream cheese out of the fridge at least 15 minutes prior to using to allow it to soften which makes spreading it that much easier.
2. Spread cream cheese mixture evenly over the steak pieces. You can do this as a bulk thing which allows you to make the distribution as even as possible.
3. Roll us each steak and secure with toothpicks. Personally, I like to use 2 toothpicks per roll, even if it only needs one. My logic is that when I am ready to remove the toothpicks I know to look for 2 in each roll (so no worries about if you have left any in there)
4. Light coat each roll with flour.
5. Spray a frypan (I use an electric frypan on medium) with cooking spray (or heat oil if using)
6. Brown rolls. Depending on the size of your frypan you may need to do this in batches.
7. Combine soy sauce and stock. Add to the pan on a low, simmering heat.
8. Use this time (as rolls are simmering) to remove the toothpicks. In total I simmer for around 5-10 minutes
9. Use a little of the evaporated milk to mix with the cornflour then add the cornflour mix plus remaining evaporated milk and parsley to the meat. (Sometimes I use the whole 375ml can of evaporated milk, it depends on my enthusiasm to make something with the leftover during the week)
10. Bring to the boil until reduced (by about half) and thickened. If you are concerned about the meat becoming too tough at this stage you can remove to a plate to keep warm.

Great served with a combined potato & sweet potato mash. The sauce is so good on mash.


* Steps 1-4 can be done ahead of time, ie. in the morning, as you rush around hanging the washing, cutting up fruit, nagging kids to get dressed and brush their teeth so they're not late for school. You know, a normal carefree morning!!







 

Recipes - Cheesy chicken rissoles

Cheesy chicken rissoles

 

Ingredients

500g            Chicken mince
1                   Zucchini, grated
1                   Carrot, grated
1                   Onion, finely chopped
2                   cloves of garlic, finely chopped
150g            Mushrooms, finely chopped
1                   Egg
3/4 cup       Breadcrumbs
1 tbs             dried herbs (parsley or mixed). Fresh would be better, I just didn't have any
2 tbs            Mayonnaise (whole egg mayo is best)
1 tsp            Maggi seasoning (optional)
6 rashers     Bacon (optional)









Method

1. Put all ingredients  (except bacon if using) in a bowl and mix until combined. Roll into 12-24 rissoles (the number/size is up to you. The size I have made, when flattened on a BBQ plate, are a great size for smaller bread rolls).
* If you are using the bacon: Wrap a bacon rasher around each rissole and secure with a toothpick. I didn't do it this time as I made smaller rissoles and the bacon would have been too much. It is best done is you are making the bigger size










2. Heat BBQ plate on high until hot. Reduce heat to medium. Flatten rissoles and cook 5 minutes each side or until cooked through.
3. Place on bread rolls and add whatever salad veg suits you (I do tomato, baby spinach leaves, cucumber and beetroot)


 

Recipes - Slow cooked beef roast

 

Slow cooked beef roast

 

Ingredients

750g-1kg              Topside beef roast

½ cup                     Red wine
2 tbs                      Mustard (I use Thomy brand but a seeded mustard would also be fine)
2-3                          Bay leaves          
2 tbs                      Gravy powder

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Method

1. Spread mustard over the top of beef.

2. Place roast in slow cooker with red wine and bay leaves.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3. Cook on low for 6 hours.

4. Approximately 10-15 minutes before serving, place beef in oven at 160 degrees to keep warm and to firm up the outside a bit (this makes it easier to slice too)
5. Add enough gravy mix to red wine/pan juices in the slow cooker to create consistency that you like. (I will admit that I never measure this out and only put 2tbs at the top as a guide)
6. Slice roast and serve with gravy and roast vegetables.
I love this recipe for roast potatoes and often do my pumpkin and carrots the same way: http://natashaskitchen.com/2013/05/29/oven-roasted-baby-red-potatoes/