The weekend I turned 30.....{Fish Pie Stew}

Well I made it to 30. Amazing! I had a fantastic weekend with lots of fun and laughter and I can honestly say I feel very blessed to have so many wonderful people in my life.

So now that the celebrating is over its time for me to put my head down and overhaul my lifestyle a bit. I have been trying to loose weight for so long and I always put it off or had an excuse. Time to get focused and get exercising!

This is a new-ish recipe that has become a really nice staple evening meal. I started off by making the original but I've changed it around a bit to make it a really nice alternative to fish pie, It's also much less time consuming so there's that as well...

Fish Pie Stew 

Inspired from the recipe here 

1 tbsp coconut oil

1 onion, chopped

3 sticks of celery, chopped

1 garlic clove, crushed

175ml white wine

300ml chicken stock or vegetable stock if you prefer

1 tbsp cornflour, mixed to a paste with 1 tbsp cold water

200g raw prawns 

300g fish pie selection (the one I used had smoked haddock, cod and salmon)

small bunch flat leave parsley, chopped

300ml half-fat crème fraîche

150g new potatoes, already boiled and slightly squashed with a fork

heat the oil in a large frying pan and cook the onion and celery until soft. add the garlic and cook for another minute them pour in the wine and simmer until most has disappeared. p

our in the stock and cornflour mix and simmer for 5-10 mins, stirring often until thickened. season, then add the fish, new potatoes and most of the parsley. simmer for a few mins until piping hot, then stir in the crème fraîche. serve with a sprinkling of parsley. you could have this with some bread, but I find that the addition of potatoes makes this plenty filling. 

Healthy Weekday Meal #13........{Chicken and Sweet Potato Chilli}

For  a while now I have been seeing lots various posts for turkey and sweet potato chilli - and for a while I have been intending to give it a go. When I got in from work yesterday I was going for a run so I wanted to make something that was quick and healthy so I could devour it when I got back form said run. I didn't have any turkey mince but I did have some chicken so I just ground that up in my food processor and it worked just as well. You can do what I did and blend up all the sweet potato for quite a thick chili or you can keep half as chunks and just blend the other half. Both seem to work.  

Chicken and Sweet Potato Chilli

400 - 500g chicken breasts, blended until small chunks / or just use turkey mince

1 onion, sliced 

3 cloves garlic, finely diced 

2 dsp chilli powder (i used hot but you can use medium if preferred)

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp dried red chilli flakes (optional)

1/2 tsp smoked paprika

2 medium sweet potatoes , diced (i kept the skins on but you can peel if you want)

400g tinned chopped tomatoes 

2 fresh tomatoes, diced

200g black beans, drained (alternatively use kidney beans)

300ml chicken stock

water

S&P

Greek yoghurt to serve 

in a tbsp of olive oil cook the chicken, onion, garlic and spices until chicken is browned and onions are soft, make sure you season well. I added a bit of water at this stage to keep the mixture moist. remove from pan. add the sweet potatoes to the pan and cover with the stock (add some extra water if you need to) then let boil until soft. blend the potatoes and stock until smooth. Add back in the pan with the chicken and onions and the tin of tomatoes and fresh tomatoes. simmer and add some water until you have the desired consistency. after 10 minutes add the beans  and cook for a further 10 minutes, season. Serve with a dollop of greek yoghurt. You can serve it with rice or a salad and avocado but I found it filling enough on its own! 

Healthy Weekday Meal #12.........Coconut Salmon Zoodles

My how I love spiralizing! So quick, so easy and so healthy!

Rewinding a bit, the past few months I feel that I have definitely lost my path on the whole healthy eating journey. I blame Italy, and Ice cream and pasta. I'd be lying if I told you I wasn't totally frustrated with myself. I hate that I can be a bit of a quitter. So I decided that it's time to stop and start again. No fads, no gimmicks just healthy eating and exercise. I believe in me.

Back to spiralizing. It's great and no doubt in the coming months there will be many more zoodles and coodles and all the other things.......

Coconut Salmon Zoodles 

2 fillets salmon

1 tin coconut milk

3 tbsp Thai green curry paste 

200g prawns (optional)

1 tbsp coconut oil 

2 leeks finely sliced

3 courgettes, spiralized (or use a peeler to make ribbons if no spiralizer)

handful of soya beans 

season the salmon fillets. in a ovenproof dish mix the coconut milk and the curry paste and add in the salmon fillets and the prawns. put in moderately heated oven for approx 20 mins until the salmon is cooked (if your prawns are already cooked then add them in the last 5 minutes rather than at the beginning). in a pan heat the coconut oil and add the leeks, once they have softened add the courgette and soya beans. take the pan from the oven and add about half of the Thai sauce to the noodles and cook off for a few minutes. serve the salmon and prawns on a bed of the courgette noodles, leeks and soya beans. 

Linking up with Honest Mum for #tastytuesdays

Healthy Weekday Meal #8 ...........{ham & mushroom coodles/zoodles!}

Spiralizing - it's a craze that you just can't get away from at the moment - it's everywhere. And my oh my I'm jumping on the bandwagon with gusto! I'm pretty focused on changing my diet for the better and I love the fact that by making "coodles" (because I'm English not American) I can make my favourite pasta dishes but they are so much healthier and low carb. This is a old favourite for me and it works really well with the courgette noodles. If you don't have a spiralizer then you can use a peeler to make ribbons, and if you did want to have pasta, add in the courgettes to the sauce and then serve over pasta.

Ham and Mushroom Coodles

1 onion, sliced

75g chestnut mushrooms sliced

3 courgettes, spiralized into noodles / or sliced using peeler (If you are serving this with pasta you only need 1 courgette)

2 good handfuls sliced ham, or you could use pancetta or parma ham

4 tbsp low fat creme fraiche

grated Parmesan

sweat of the onion in a tbsp of olive oil until soft. add in the mushrooms and courgette noodles and cook for five mins or so - the mushrooms should absorb the moisture released by the noodles. stir in the creme fraiche, ham and a couple of tbsp of Parmesan cheese and cook of a few minutes before seasoning and then serving.

Healthy Weekday Meal #5..........{Creamy Roasted Cauliflower with Courgette ribbons}

I need a Spiralizer in my life. I'm kind of sick of using my peeler to make ribbons and I'm sick of having zoodle envy, except in the UK would it be coodle envy?! This recipe is kicking around the internet quite a lot at the moment and I am jumping on the band wagon with my version! Roasted cauliflower makes this dish a bit more filling and the yoghurt dressing really compliments the dish perfectly. Healthy and very satisfying with a pretty unique selection of ingredients - be prepared to be surprised!

Creamy Roasted Cauliflower and Prosciutto with Courgette Ribbons   

1 small head cauliflower, cut into florets
extra virgin olive oil
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
5 slices prosciutto, roughly torn
1 banana shallot, chopped
3 cloves garlic, crushed 
pinch red chilli flakes 
3 - 4 courgettes, cut in to half and then peeled into ribbons (or use your spiralizer to make zoodles)
3 tbsp 0 fat greek yoghurt
zest half lemon 
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp djion mustard
1 1/2 tbsp grated parmesan

Toss the cauliflower in a bowl and toss with a tbsp of oil, lay on a baking tray and season with S&P and paprika. roast in the oven for about 20 - 25 minutes until golden brown (i left mine in a little too long!) in separate bowl combine yoghurt, lemon zest and juice, parmesan and mustard and whisk together. season. add a tiny bit of oil in a pan and cook off the prosciutto until it has turned a deep red colour. remove from pan and then add in the shallots, garlic, and chilli flakes and when they become fragrant add in the courgette ribbons. let the courgette cook until al-dente (about 3 minutes) and then remove heat. add the prosciutto and cauliflower and then stir in the dressing, i do this a bit at a time as you may not need it all. serve  

Healthy Weekday Meal #3...........{Chicken Puttanesca}

Many moons ago when I wasn't dieting I blogged a favourite pasta recipe Puttanesca Spaghetti. Now as I am avoiding processed foods and my diet is pretty low carb I wanted to find an alternative to this favourite sauce of mine. Step in courgette (zucchini) ribbons to replace the pasta and a chicken breast to bulk up the dish and add lots of protein. I loved it, the heady flavours kid you in to thinking you are eating a much richer dish and the courgette compliments the sauce really well. Its going on the list of my favourite easy and healthy weekday meals.

Chicken Puttanesca 

Inspiration for this recipe came from BBC Good Food (here) and Supergolden Bakes (here)

2 chicken breasts 

1 small onion, diced

50g anchovy fillets, drained and then chopped

2 cloves of garlic, chopped 

1 tbsp dried chilli flakes

400g tinned tomatoes

1 large tomato, diced

2 tbsp pitted black olives

2 tsp small capers

olive oil

small handful of parsley, chopped

1 courgette

olive oil

brown the chicken in a pan with a little olive oil. remove and de-glaze the pan with a little water. add a splash more olive oil and then the onion, garlic and anchovies, cook until the onions are translucent. stir in the fresh tomato, tinned tomatoes and then fill the tin halfway with water and add that. sprinkle in a little sugar to help sweeten the tomatoes. bring the sauce to the boil and then turn down the pan to a simmer. add the olives and the capers and season well. place the chicken in the pan and cook covered for 20 mins and then uncovered for 10 mins so the sauce thickens up. sprinkle with  parsley. 

for the courgette, use a potato peeler to get long slices of ribbon the length of the whole courgette. I find one courgette for every 2 people works, add a tsp olive oil to a pan and a dash of water and cook the courgette - it only takes a few minutes.

serve the chicken and sauce over the courgette ribbons