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All by Kat Bright
A little breakfast pot packed with healthy seeds. Seeds are a great addition to our diet as menopause women. These little pots have worked very well for me as a breakfast option. They would work well before any workout and as a post-workout refuel. If you use the 120g of Greek yoghurt specified then you’ll be hitting 28g of protein per pot.
This is a spicy vegetarian curry that will warm your soul as well as body. It’s packed with plenty of turmeric which has amazing health benefits (see tip below). We have served with a homemade naan bread. They are so quick and easy to make and once you have tried you won’t ever buy shop bought again. The recipe for the naan/flatbread is not unique, but we have become huge fans of making them and getting our kids of make them too. They make great pizza bases.
This warming vegetarian one pot is made with chipotle paste which gives it a delicious earthiness. You can of course leave this out if you don’t have - but it does make it extra special and so it’s worth hunting out this Mexican mix of jalapeño peppers, spices and vinegar. This chilli is delicious on its own - but if you need something extra then serve with a little quinoa or brown rice.
The menopause can be a scary time with lots of unexpected things happening in your body such hot sweats, irregular periods, weight gain around the middle, brain fog and anxiety. Peri-menopause is the time leading up to the actual menopause when changes start to happen and this period can last up to 10 years which can surprise lots of women. There are lots of foods that you can introduce or increase during this time to help you manage your symptoms.
This is a great way to get children to eat salmon if they tend to be a fussy. Using tinned salmon means it’s milder in taste and then combining with the sweetness of the sweet potato and peas it’s a winner. If serving to children you can swop the raw slaw for some cut up crudities such as carrots, cucumber, tomatoes or peppers.
A salad is normally associated with spring and summer, but it doesn’t have to be that way. We enjoy a salad all year round - it’s a great way to pack in your vegetables at lunch. However, the key to a winter salad is to incorporate some warm elements. This could be some warm roasted vegetables, just cooked lentils or quinoa or some heat with a spice such as harissa.
Christmas time is often a time of excess and it’s been shown that many people manage to put on over 5 pounds in weight during the festivities. So how do you remain healthy and not sabotage all the good you have done over the past year, while still enjoying yourself?
I love a soup for lunch during the colder months - but so many just leave me hungry a few hours later. The reason is they just don’t contain enough protein or fat. We often add lentils to our soups for this reason, but when I had some leftover quinoa in the fridge I decided to use this instead. The result is this delicious soup. So easy to prepare - just put all the ingredients in a roasting tray in the oven and then blend and add the quinoa.
Soups make an easy lunch in the colder months. They are easy to prepare ahead and can be taken into work in a thermos flask. The key to a soup keeping you sustained for the rest of the day is to include some protein and healthy fats. In this soup we have two sources of protein and healthy fats - the coconut milk and the almond butter. If you are allergic to nuts just leave the almond butter out it won’t make this any less delicious.
As the winter months hit I crave bowls of warming stews to nourish me. This can easily be made vegetarian with the omission of the bacon - but it provides a lovely smoky finish. This pleases both the meat and the bean lovers in our house as it caters for all. I have added lentils to this dish. If you have children that don’t like lentils then use the red ones as they disappear to nothing - the puy lentils are good if you have someone sensitive to lentils as less likely to cause bloating issues. Likewise with the beans choose your favourites - although the darker ones such as black, kidney and aduki work best.
My husband loves a creamy mushroom soup - but we’ve recently discovered an intolerance to dairy so he’s gone dairy free. I have used some coconut milk to give this a creamy feel - but it doesn’t taste too coconutty as I’ve balanced with tamari sauce. You can blitz this smooth - or leave a little chunky it’s up to you.
Salmon is a popular fish in our house - but when I add a teriyaki sauce then it’s even more popular. Rather than the traditional brown sugar found in teriyaki sauces I have swopped to a maple syrup - so it maintains its sweetness without adding any refined sugars. I marinade the salmon for 30 minutes - but if you are short of time then you can shorten to 10 minutes. I like to cook this with one large piece of salmon fillet. I ask the fishmonger for a piece to feed 6 as my teenage sons eat more than most adults!! I serve this with buckwheat noodles and stir fried vegetables.
I never drink smoothies in the winter or cooler months - but in the summer they make a lovely light breakfast. I especially enjoy them if I am not feeing that hungry - or have trained before eating and then it might only be a few hours before lunch. I always include some protein - but if it’s close to lunch then I don’t need to go overboard. I have included flaxseed in this smoothie for its importance in female hormone health - see tip below.
Why have we called this smoothie help your hormones? We originally designed it for those that came to our Menopause workshop to highlight some fantastic hormone balancing ingredients. We have shared with you all as it’s also perfect for hormones at any age, not just women going through the peri-menopause. See our tip at the bottom for why these ingredients are perfect for your hormones. And also note the warning about grapefruit if taking some medications.
This recipe came about at the beginning of the 2020 lockdown when suddenly I had a massive surplus of carrots. I needed to get inventive as the family were getting bored of steamed carrots! My husband loved this and it instantly became a great way of using up a carrot surplus! If you don’t have the parsnip or sweet potato, just add more carrots!
I came up with this recipe during Lockdown. My daughter was getting fed up with the amount of meat her brothers were demanding at mealtimes and was begging for some vegetarian meals. Although the title states curried, this is a very mild flavour as my daughter doesn’t like super heat - she’s more of a masala girl! It’s super quick to make and so can easily be rustled up alongside other meals. You can eat this on its own, or add some brown rice for a slightly more substantial meal.
Turkey is an underused meat, but I think it should feature more on our plates. We all need to increase the diversity in our diets and adding not just different vegetables, but also different meats goes a long way to help this. You could serve these with a simple tomato sauce with some brown rice and green vegetables or include in a wrap with some salad. Using thigh meat will make them more succulent. They can be eaten hot or cold.
This is a lovely hearty salad with lots of protein so great if you need to refuel after a bout of exercise. Quinoa is a great vegetarian protein source as it contains all the amino acids needed by the body.
Don’t be put off by the long list of ingredients for the curry paste - this makes double the amount needed for this recipe and you can store the leftovers in the fridge or freezer for a super speedy curry next time. I used green beans from the freezer. I have started buying these so I can easily add some green to meals without shipping from miles away during the winter months. For a low carb meal serve this curry on its own. Or else serve with a small amount of brown or wild rice. If serving with rice then you will probably have leftovers of the salmon curry.
We always talk about eating the rainbow - incorporating lots of different colour foods, especially vegetables, in your diet. The benefits of each colour is to provide your body with different phytonutrients. This pepper stew includes red, yellow and green peppers. So many people just reach for their favourite pepper each week so we decided to celebrate all the colours with this stew. We also added both a red and yellow chilli to again increase diversity.
