Our recipes are specially created to be healthy, nutritious and family friendly. Tuck in!
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.
These bell pepper egg cups are one of the easiest nutritious option to kick start your day. Breakfast is important but it doesn’t have to be the first thing you do in the morning. What is key to a successful first meal of the day though is that is has to be quick, easy, delicious and balanced. Protein content is key to fuel the day ahead and keep you full until the next meal. If you can also include your first portions of fruit and veggies it’s an absolute winner. Give them a go! They make a fab Sunday brunch item too! Just add a sliced half avocado.
Women's health around the peri menopause stage of their life is a topic close to our heart, and we speak from experience as well as qualified professionals. Exercise has been shown to help control a number of physical and psychological problems and changes associated with menopause and midlife, including depression, weight gain, loss of muscle mass and bone density.
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.
When it’s all about meal planning, food prep and making sure you have good nutritious home cooked food ready when you need it, these are perfect to make all year round. Very quick and easy to assemble with no blender or processor, those lamb koftas can be served with a side salad or some quinoa and steamed greens. I like to serve them with a side of cumin and parsley yoghurt.
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.
My number one rule will always be to only cultivate a mindset of positive association with exercise and avoid any negative connection to physical activity being a way to “burn calories” or “compensate” for that weekend pizza and ice cream!
Teens and exercise is a very wide subject, but for now , as I write during our third period of lockdown in the UK, I thought I’d give you a few tips particularly applicable to support your teens right now.
𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙒𝙃𝙔 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙃𝙊𝙒 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙙𝙞𝙛𝙛𝙚𝙧𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙠𝙨 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙪𝙨:
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.
Soups always help making lunch quick, easy and healthy. The secret, as always, is in the planning and prepping! If you want your soup to keep you full until supper, you need to make sure it contains some protein and healthy fats. This soup contains coconut cream ticking both boxes. You could always swap for greek yoghurt, but the coconut does work really well with the garam masala spice. Perfect comfort food!
I make this soup using my slow cooker, but you could do in an AGA, or slowly on a stove.
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.
Roast chicken on a Sunday is my ultimate comfort food. What’s even better is knowing that nothing will go to waste. First make a stock/broth with the leftovers and then make the ultimate comforting and immune boosting chicken soup. Full of the warming goodness of ginger and turmeric, packed with vegetables, this soup is a winner every time. I have also added pearl barley to make it go further , but you could ommit or swap for brown rice, giant couscous or 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.
Life without the occasional brownie is not for me! For that reason, I love trying to play with swapping and replacing ingredients for those with a better nutritional value. For these brownies I have not used refined white or brown sugar but instead opted for medjool dates. You would honestly not notice the difference. But I will let you be the judge of that…Go on, have a go and let me know!
Falafels are one of my favourite “street foods”. I first discovered them when was quite young travelling with my family in Israel. They are also a staple of Lebanese cuisine that I love so much. I have tried many ways to make them and recently read about making them using dry chickpeas rather than tinned and so I thought I’d share. Falafels are versatile, nourishing, and full of plant based protein goodness. Perfect for your vegetarian friends! The tahini dressing is simple, creamy and tasty.
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.
We usually recommend to avoid snacking if possible and focus on 3 nourishing and balanced meals a day, but, family life, work, busy schedules, sporty kids and big workouts can often call for a refuel on the go. In that case, we would always prefer making our own snacks, with real simple wholesome every day ingredients we know and recognise and always include protein. These energy balls do not require any food processor or baking. 5 minutes to make and set in the fridge in an hour! Give them a go!
Creating good breakfast habits is often a very hard one to crack! Making ahead is one of the best advice we can give. Those overnight chia breakfast pots take 5 minutes to prepare the day before, keep in the fridge for 2-3 days, are rich in protein to keep you full and can be made with an endless list of fruits! What’s not to like! You can easily make a “pick & mix” batch to suit everyone in the family! Any fresh or frozen fruit can be used! Today’s choice is frozen mango!
