Health | 5 Food swaps that won't leave you hungry

I'm very much a creature of habit. I'm also not good with huge changes. 

Which means I usually fail 100% of  healthy eating kicks - what I find works best for me is making small changes to my diet, over time that adds up to one big change (well that's what I'm telling myself!).

Below are the changes I've found were the easiest to make, hopefully you'll take them on and stick at them too!

Balsamic Vinegar swap for Apple Cider Vinegar

I use this with olive oil and lime to make an easy-tasty salad dressing or I add it to my veggies as they're cooking although, it pretty much goes with everything! It acts as a digestive tonic, it keeps away harmful bacteria in the intestine, flushes out toxins and relieves water retention around the stomach. 

Coffee swap for Green Tea

This change took the longest, I'm was a complete tea and coffee addict and, if I'm honest, couldn't stand green tea! Although, with a fair amount of willpower I now love green tea and rarely have breakfast tea or coffee (2-3 times a month). Green tea helps the body flush out excess fluids, calms stomach bloating and speeds up the metabolism! It also gives you the same perk as coffee!

Sunflower Oil swap for Olive Oil

Good fats can help you lost weight! Olive oil contains poly unsaturated fats that can keep away hunger pains. Olive oil also contains oleic acid which helps the breakdown of excess fat in the body!

White Rice swap for Brown Rice

Brown rice contains a huge supply of B vitamins which can help you burn calories faster. It is also a complex carbohydrate that is rich in muscle-strengthening protein and vitamins!

Spaghetti swap for Courgetti 

Buying a spiralizer has completely opened my eyes to a whole new way to eat vegetables! I thought I was being duped into some fad trend but this one, even if it is a fad, I love! I make courgetti all the time and, not only is it filling, but it is delicious, healthy and completely free of that stodgy full feeling Spaghetti gives you! You avoid all the refined white wheat flour in spaghetti and take in extra vitamins from the Courgette! Win, win.

Let me know how you get on in the comments! Any of these changes new to you?

Recipe | Nutella Pizza

Coming from a big family I'm a big cooker, and when I say that I don't mean I cook a lot (which I do) more that I have terrible portion control and usually cook enough for the scottish rugby team and their coaches - which would be the dream!

After creating generously sized homemade pizzas I noticed there was a lot of dough left over, which only meant one thing.

Pudding!

Which turned into a sweet pizza soaked in nutella and vanilla marscapone, topped with a few strawberries to try and ward off some of the calorie induced guilt.

Here's how you make enough for 2-4 (depending on your portion control!).

260g strong white bread flour

60g strong white bread flour (for later)

2 teaspoons finely ground sea salt

1.5 sachets dried yeast

3 teaspoons golden caster sugar

210ml lukewarm water
1 teaspoon cinnamon
Dusting of icing sugar
Olive Oil

Nutella
Strawberries
Marscapone Cheese
Vanilla Extract

The dough recipe is the same as the one for Pizza a la Lucy just smaller quantities:

Add the yeast and sugar to your water, mix with a fork and leave for a few minutes. 

Place the flour and cinnamon into a bowl and create a well in the middle. Once the yeast mixture is slightly frothy on top pour into the flour well.

Use a fork and slowly bring flour into the well and mix with the water, it won't look very appetizing at the point in time! Continue to mix until you have incorporated all of the flour. When it becomes to hard to mix with a fork flour you hands and bring the dough together into a ball. 

Flour the surface with your extra flour and knead the dough by rolling it backward and forward, stretching the dough towards you with one hand and away from you with another. Keep this going for 10 minutes (who needs the gym?!) until your dough is smooth, springy and soft.

NB. If you find the dough is sticky then keep adding flour whilst you're kneading until you are happy with the consistency.

Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl and cover with cling film for about 45 minutes or until it is about double its size (keeping it somewhere warm helps this process).

Once prooved roll out (use icing sugar to dust your surface this time) into a circle about half a centimeter thick. Tear off a piece of tin foil and grease lightly with olive oil and then place the dough on top.

Lightly brush a little bit of oil or butter over the surface of the dough and prick with a fork in several place.

Bake in the oven at 200°c f for roughly 7-10 minutes or until it is lightly browned on top and has a firm spring to the touch.

Once its out leave it to cool for 5 minutes then smother in nutella, combine the vanilla and marscapone and top with strawberries!

Recipe | Pizza à la Lucy

If there is one thing you need to know about me it is that I love cooking things from scratch.

There are two reasons for this: One, I love the challenge and the satisfaction of eating something that I have created. Two, I can't stand the taste of things that have come from jars, out of plastic or 'fresh' from the freezer. 

That is why I rarely eat pizza - I don't buy them shop bought and they do take a little bit of time to prepare.

I managed to find that time this weekend and whipped up some beautiful looking pizzas for Aidan and I to munch away on the sofa with Harry Potter.

You'll need:
520g strong white bread flour

120g strong white bread flour (for later)

4 teaspoons finely ground sea salt

3 sachets dried yeast

6 teaspoons golden caster sugar

420ml lukewarm water

Passata (or any tomato based sauce Jamie Oliver has a good recipe here.)
4-5 handfulls of Grated Mozzarella
4-5 handfulls of Grated Cheddar

And the all important topping! I chose Chorizo, Proscuitto, Chesnut mushrooms and a sprinkling of Spinach.

Method:
To start add the yeast and sugar to your water, mix with a fork and leave for a few minutes. 

Place the flour into a bowl and create a well in the middle. Once the yeast mixture is slightly frothy on top pour into the flour well.

Use a fork and slowly bring flour into the well and mix with the water, it won't look very appetizing at the point in time! Continue to mix until you have incorporated all of the flour. When it becomes to hard to mix with a fork flour you hands and bring the dough together into a ball. 

Flour the surface with your extra flour and knead the dough by rolling it backward and forward, stretching the dough towards you with one hand and away from you with another. Keep this going for 10 minutes (who needs the gym?!) until your dough is smooth, springy and soft.

NB. If you find the dough is sticky then keep adding flour until you are happy with the consistency.

Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl and cover with cling film for about 45 minutes or until it is about double its size (keeping it somewhere warm helps this process).

Once prooved roll out (dust your surface with more flour if need be) into a circle about half a centimeter thick. Tear off a piece of tin foil and grease lightly with olive oil and then place the dough on top and then on a baking tray.

Smear the tomato passata or sauce over the dough and right to the edges. Place your toppings evenly over the surface and then give them a good covering of cheese (don't forget to save some for yourself). 

 Give it a good season with salt, pepper and/or garlic powder if you're that way inclined and pop it in the oven at 200°c for roughly 7-10 minutes or until the cheese is melted and lightly brown around the edges.

Happy Munching! What toppings will you use?

Eaten At | The Magnum

After a hectic week full of meetings Bex and I decided to escape the madness and head to Edinburgh for a few hours, our health kick waning we decided to go all out on food and headed to the beautiful restaurant, The Magnum.

If there is one thing I have learned about myself over the last few months it is that I love Scallops!

I literally can't resist them.

I was over the moon, as you can imagine, to discover they had them on the menu!

Now, most restuarants have a tendency to be incredibly stingy with their scallop servings, the best things come in threes?

Not how I see it will scallops.

Clearly The Magnum recognise my line of thinking as they presented me with Six, (SIX!) beautifully plump scallops served with a chesnut veloute, crispy prosciutto, apple batons and drizzled with maple syrup. Just look at them...

I was in heaven. I have never had scallops with apple and maple syrup and when ordering was slightly aprehensive that it may've been too sweet but it was absolute perfection. I can't resist, here is another picture...

Bex went for their soup of the day which was sweet potato and coconut milk, a delicious combination that was flavoured with eastern spices to give it a really interesting twist.

Although, she did end up in my bad books - how are you supposed to make a bowl of soup look interesting?! I did my best...

For mains we were both incredibly torn on two things, so we ordered both and shared.

I had the cold smoked scottish rib eye with thyme infused polenta, grilled tomatoes, wild mushrooms and onion rings.

This was the best steak I have ever had! The smokiness was subtle and delicious and cooked to absolute perfection, to the point it literally melt in my mouth.

I don't think I'll ever be able to eat steak again, it will never be as good as The Magum's one! The wild mushrooms were beautifully cooked - I'm a huge mushroom fan and they definitely didn't disappoint.

Bex had seared rump of lamb with butternut squash, wild garlic risotto and horseradish crisps. She asked for it well done (Sacrilege, I know). The chef had cooked it beautifully and it was still incredibly moist with a delicious salty skin!

The star of the plate, for me, was the wild garlic risotto. Risotto and I never get on too well but I do love garlic and I will definitely be coming back for a whole plate of it to myself!

Pudding was a tricky affair for us, that health kick was still playing on our minds, however we didn't let it get us down and ordered anyway.

I had the treacle tart with mixed peel brittle and cardamom chantilly cream. This was a little plate of christmas, the warm rich flavours were delicious and the chantilly cream was a welcome addition, cutting through the heavy treacle tart.

Bex had the lemon meringue creme with a shortbread biscuit base and basil sorbet! The basil sorbet didn't endear itself to her at first, however, as soon as she had the sorbet and lemon creme together she soon polished off her plate! I had a sneaky taste and the basil and lemon were delicious together, so fruity and fresh!

We left with huge smiles on our faces, and not just because of the amusing door handles...

Dashing back to the station we took a quick moment to admire the Balmoral in all its glory before hopping on the train back to Stirling.

Been To | Easter at Home!

Living and working in Scotland means I rarely travel home to Suffolk however, this Easter I managed to scrape together a few days off and headed south for a weekend in the country!

I was greeted at the house by an incredibly festive wreath.

And following a sleep in the best bed ever (my own) I woke up to a huge easter brunch!

After brunch I explored the garden, which was looking amazing with all the spring flowers! I also said hi to its inhabitants, including some very curious cockerels.

After a walk I plodded back inside to finish off the last of the easter treats....

What did you get up to over your easter weekend?