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healthy food

Breakfast

Why eating in season is so much better for our health

Why eating in season is so much better for our health

There is something exciting about eating different fruits and vegetables every season. As a child I knew that with the start of summer we would start getting cherries (in Romania cherries were the first ones to ripe),followed by strawberries and just a bit later raspberries and blueberries. Nowadays in supermarkets you can get almost anything at any time. While that might be great from a flexibility perspective, there might be many more benefits to eating in season beyond just giving variation to your menu.

4 benefits of eating food that is in season

Continue Reading…

Featured/ Mains/ Quick meals

Quick Spring greens pesto

Quick Spring greens pesto

Spring greens are a wonderful addition to our veggies during Spring, early Summer time. You can use them as a healthy side, raw or steamed in salads, mixed with millet in a wonderful tabbouleh or this amazing quick and simple pesto.

They are part of the brassica family along side cabbage, broccoli, kale, turnips and mustard seeds. Therefore, their nutritional value is similar to the other members of the family.

WHAT IS IT GOOD FOR Continue Reading…

Breakfast/ Featured

Healthy oat buckwheat granola

Healthy oat buckwheat granola recipe

Granola is possibly one of my favourite breakfasts ever! I love the toasty flavour and the crunchy texture. This recipe is a twist on your traditional granola adding buckwheat for an extra crunch so read on to see how to make a healthy oat buckwheat granola. It’s been a few weeks since I have posted a recipe but have been more active on Instagram, as it’s much quicker to to take photos of what I cook vs writing a blog post about it:). So if you want to see more of me do follow me on Instagram (on the right side of the page there should be a link to my Instagram page).

But, I am back writing and this week is dedicated to possibly my favourite meal of the day..breakfast. I am sure you’ve heard all this before, but skipping breakfast is really not doing us a favour. It delivers vital nutrients that our body needs to be able to last and function through the day…I am sure you’ve got to that stage when coming lunch after a few hours of not eating you feel you could eat furniture if you had to:). I actually I find it difficult to eat the moment I eat so I tend to eat my breakfast as I get to the office. It’s just finding out what works best for you.

So, going back to the recipe for this week…granola..such a wonderful thing and grateful, grateful to the person that has invented (apparently it dates from late 19th century and traces its origins in New York). The mass produced product mainly found on our supermarkets shelves contains fairly hight amounts of sugar and has little nutritional value. So this recipe is a healthier alternative using considerably less sugars (opted for natural sugars) and I have added buckwheat which is a great source of minerals (potassium, calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, zinc, copper, manganese) as well as vitamins (B3, pantothenic acid, B2,B1, B9). Plus is gluten free is well so all good for our coeliac friends. Just need to ensure that the oats are also gluten free! You should definitely try this healthy oat buckwheat granola! Continue Reading…

Featured/ Mains

Asian style cod with zesty celeriac quinoa

Asian style cod

This post is a very special post for me. I was lucky enough to be asked to contribute with a recipe for the Ocean Hero Campaign on Loaf App, an initiative lead by MSC (Marine Stewardship Council). This is an amazing campaign raising awareness of the importance of eating sustainable fish and I am very proud and honoured to be able to support this message and hopefully inspire you guys with this Asian style cod with a zesty celeriac quinoa salad. Amazing flavours, good for you and good for the planet.

Why is sustainable fish important and how does MSC help?

Over 70% of our planet is covered by water, mainly in form of seas and oceans. Oceans determine not only the climate for the land we live in (transferring heat from the tropics to the polar regions and creating rainfalls through evaporation) but it also has provided us with work and food (supporting the largest biosphere from plankton, to the blue whale-the largest organism on earth, to other species that have not even been discovered yet). Oceans are increasingly put under pressure by a growing population with growing needs for economic and technological developments. Over fishing was one of the major issues which lead to a dramatic decrease in fish stocks in our oceans. It is estimated that 85% of the world’s seafood are at full capacity or over fished. Therefore it is crucial that we choose fish that has been sustainably caught to ensure we are supporting a healthy ocean able to adapt better to climate changes. Continue Reading…

Nutrition/ Quick meals/ Snacks

Avocado hummus

Watching TV or when I have friends around I like to have something to snack around. Usually snacking is associated with unhealthy things but there are so many other alternatives that are good for you as well. So I am sharing my recipe for avocado hummus which you guessed it it’s incredibly good for you…food for your body and for your soul I dare to say. It’s also such a versatile dip as you can have it with celery sticks, slices of fresh walnut rye sourdough, olives or one of my favourites is fresh romaine leaves which look like a scoop perfect to hold the hummus. Why not add also a baba ganoush to have a complimentary dip to your platter? Coincidently I have a recipe for this as well…posted a few months ago:).

By now you got used to the next section of health benefits and this one is no different. Continue Reading…

Breakfast/ Nutrition

Bircher Porridge

Blood orange bircher porridge

Porridge is almost a British institution…you associate it with British culture (especially if you live on the island like me:) ), but in actual fact it is present in other menus (US, Thailand with the savoury porridge called jok).

It’s an incredibly nutritious breakfast. Usually made out of oats (however you can make it out of other grains like quinoa, millet, amaranth, etc) which contain multiple nutrients (like potassium which regulates blood pressure, hormone and water balance or magnesium which helps with the DNA repair) as well as a water soluble fibre that plays a role in reducing “unhealthy” cholesterol and prevents spikes in blood sugar levels making it a perfect meal for people suffering from diabetes. Oats are easy to digest and useful to relieve upset stomach. Continue Reading…

Healthy desserts/ Snacks

Energy protein balls

Energy protein balls

Energy protein balls is one of my favourite snacks which you can even have as a dessert…full of protein and good fats minus the refined sugar!

The beauty of this recipe is that you can be creative. You can do whatever mixture you would like for your energy protein balls. So you can use less dates and add instead cranberries, raisins, goji berries, sultanas. The same with nuts and seeds; there are so many choices you can have: macademia, sesame, lindseeds, hemp seeds. Just make sure you soak them first. You can even add some wheatgrass powder or chlorella if you feel brave!

A few benefits of the nuts and dried fruit I used in this recipe… Continue Reading…