Driving me crackers

You are what you eat

Homemade and healthy

I had just returned after walking the dog and happened to catch something on BBC Radio Devons, afternoon programme that grabbed my attention.

A lady, born in Appledore, North Devon, now living in Canada was describing the larger individuals on this planet as ” Butterballs on legs “. Her words conjured up various mental images in my head, maybe the most amusing being a Mathews Butterball turkey – others are available -. The shape of this frozen lump of Xmas fowl with tiny arms and legs attached was reminiscent of many bodies seen on our streets today. How and why have they got to this stage? We all know we have to eat less and move more, but it’s not just a question of how much we stuff into our mouths it’s also the quality of the food and drink we consume that matters.

I quite agree with Boris Johnson’s statement regarding the state of the nation’s eating habits, especially in the light of the pandemic. We need to keep ourselves healthy and fit in order for our bodies to function efficiently and assist our immune systems in the fight against disease. I have always been an advocate of healthy eating and home-cooked, natural food, however, getting the message across is a difficult thing to achieve. Maybe the only way to make the general public see sense is to put a “Butterball” tax on all unhealthy, processed foods & drinks.

What drives me crackers, is crackers. A quick perusal of the savoury biscuit section in the Super Market the other day revealed that the second ingredient, after flour in any of the well-known makes of crackers is SUGAR. Why? To entice you into eating more, that’s why. Sugar is as addictive as nicotine and we all know what’s been said about that. Moving on to another aisle I am confronted with Sauces and Dressings. Barbeque, Tomato, Sriracha, Ceasar, Chilli you name it, the second ingredient after water, this time is SUGAR. apart from the fact that they are not just heavy on the hips, they are heavy on your purse as well.

Dietary No no’s

Making your own food, does not need to involve long complicated recipes or mounds of pots and pans to wash up. With a few simple ingredients you can produce, healthy tasty meals which are not swamped with sugar, salt and processed ingredients all added to give them taste and get you addicted.

Sugar laden dipping sauce

From the ingredients label on this sauce bottle, you can see that its main ingredient is water! what comes next SUGAR. This dipping sauce only contains 2% chilli & 1% garlic. That means that 97% of this bottle contains nothing that is actually good for you, or nutritious.

You can make yourself a perfectly delicious, quick dipping sauce, by finely chopping a 2 fresh chilli’s – remove the seeds if you don’t like heat – mix with 1 crushed clove of garlic, add 2 Tbspns Tomato Ketchup – contains SUGAR. mix well & thin with a little water, or red wine vinegar, if liked. To make a marinade simply omit the water adding 2 Tbspns oil & 1 tspn red wine vinegar. Brush onto chicken, fish, pork etc before cooking. A recipe for a spicy chilli chutney can also be found on this website.

Next time you are shopping, read the labels to find out exactly what you are eating. Help yourself to get and stay healthy, you will find you save money and you will feel more healthy. If you are a gardener you may like Love your Lettuce and other healthy recipes to be found on this site.

The rest is up to you. Stay Safe and Healthy.

Fish is the dish

Daily recipe 27 March 2020

Hey all, how are you doing? Hope you are all keeping positive and ready for today’s recipe. How much fish do you eat each week? Fish, especially oily fish is a very important addition to our diets and a good source of Omega three and vitamn B12. To keep your immune system healthy you need to eat a well balance diet, including fresh or frozen fruit and veg. Sorry to be a spoil sport, but you also need to remember, while self isolating and lazing in front of the TV, you need to reduce your calorie intake. Less activity means less food. Simples.

Today is not so much a recipe, but suggestions for you to create tasty dishes using fish. Fish is a great brain food, so no excuses. Use you imagination.

Cook some brown rice or quinoa in vegetable stock, add chopped apple, walnuts and celery. Stir in some flaked smoked Mackerel , dress with olive mixed with crushed garlic, lemon juice and a teaspoon of horseradish. Sprinkle with chopped parley or dill. Serve with a light lunch or supper.

Cooked brown rice – leftover, perhaps – can be mixed with lightly fried, chopped onions, celery and grated carrot. Mix in tinned tuna fish, olives and a tin of chopped tomatoes. Spoon into halved, de-seeded pepper shells, sprinkle with grated cheese. Bake in the oven until the peppers are just tender. approx 40mins.

In a food processor add two tins of sardines in olive oil, drained. Add half a grated onion, half a teaspoon of curry powder, two chopped hard boiled eggs and two skinned, chopped tomatoes. Process until smooth. Spread on toast and grill or serve with crackers.

Process two skinned smoked mackerel fillets, with 250ml greek yoghurt, chopped parsley and a teaspoon of grated lemon rind. When smooth, turn into a bowl, serve as a dip with cucumber, celery and carrot sticks.

Dip fresh Mackerel fillets in beaten egg mixed with a teaspoon of English Mustard and coat in rolled porridge oats. Lightly fry in 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Serve with baked potatoes and grated carrot and orange salad.

There’s a few ideas to keep you going You can use different fish and vegetables, the choice is yours. Post your fishy photographs to twitter or Instagram, using the #northdevondoesfish. We will share them in next weeks blog. Stay safe. Eat healthy.

Stay safe, eat healthy

Spice it up

Start a saucy affair

How do you fancy something hot this summer? We all like a bit of spice in our lives now and again. Well, this week I’m going to give you all the ingredients you will need to “start a saucy affair”!

Some like it hot

There are any number of sauces and marinades on the market, all winking at you from the Supermarket shelves, with their bright labelling and clever marketing slogans all begging you to “EAT ME”. Do you ever pick up one of these products and read the ingredients? In most cases you will find the second one is usually sugar! Below you will find two recipes for sultry summer days, which are quick and easy to make and do not contain huge amounts of sugar, salt and other additives. Both recipes can be made in advance and stored in the fridge:

Reserved roasting juices

Spicy Barbequed Chicken

You will need one large fresh free range chicken, or you can use, chicken pieces, thighs, drumsticks etc. If using a whole chicken, turn the chicken onto its breast on a chopping board. Using a sharp knife. cut through the chickens back bone from one end to the other. Turn the chicken over, place in a roasting tin, flattening the chicken and make slashes into the breast and legs of the chicken, to help absorb the sauce into the meat. The chicken will cook through quicker, with this method.

Set the oven

• 1tbspn Mustard Powder
• 1tbspn Curry Powder
• 2tspns Chilli powder or to taste.
• 1tbspn Worcestershire Sauce
• 1tbspn Maple syrup
• 1tspn Cider Vinegar
• 4tbspns Tomato Ketchup
• 2tbspns Olive oil

Place all ingredients in a bowl, whisk together to emulsify.

Spread all over the chicken, rubbing well into the slashes you have made. Roast at 200c, Gas Mk6, 400f, for about 1 hour, ( or barbecue ) still thoroughly cooked through. (If you use the Barbeque for this dish, you will not have the juices for the salad).

Drain the juices from the roasted chicken into a bowl. Whisk in 1 crushed clove of garlic. (Reserve for pasta salad)

Remove chicken to a serving dish.

Pasta & Veg Salad

Pasta and Veg Salad

Cook 1 packet of wholemeal pasta, in salted boiling water, with a drop of oil, until al dente. Meanwhile, in a large wok or frying pan gently fry for 10 mins:

• 1 chopped red onion
• 2 chilli’s chopped (or to taste)
• 2 large courgettes. halved lengthwise & sliced
• 2 large red peppers, deseeded and sliced

Drain the pasta, Pour the reserved juices from the chicken over the veg, allow to bubble for 5 mins. Remove from heat. Add the drained pasta to the veg and mix to blend. Add:

• 4 chopped fresh tomatoes
• 2 tspns Capers, drained
• 2 anchovy fillets, drained and chopped
• 3 tbspns Olives, drained.
• 2 tbsns Fresh basil and parsley chopped
• Seasoning to taste

Mix together well, season to taste, serve with the chicken and salad leaves.

Any left over pasta salad and chicken can be stored in the fridge and mixed together to serve for tomorrows supper.

Enjoy your home made food and say NO to convenience foods. Its better for you and your pocket.

Fresh and Healthy

Say No to convenience foods

Following on from last weeks blog: https://truffleicious.blog/2019/07/06/summer-salads/ This week we continue with the fresh and healthy eating theme. Firmly saying NO to pe-packed, sugar and salt laden convenience foods.

Convenience foods, are notoriously bad for you as well as being considerably more expensive than fresh foods cooked from scratch. The salt and sugars added to these products are there to enhance the flavour and texture of otherwise, tasteless, over processed ingredients.

Super Summer Salads

This week, I have for you a few quick recipes and tips, which I hope will inspire you to change both your eating and shopping habits for good.

Make your own dressings

Its really easy and much more cost effective to whisk up you own dressings. If you make a large amount in one go – I make 1ltr – and divide it equally into four different screw top jars. Empty gin or wine bottles are excellent or storing dressings, you are also doing your bit to save the planet at the same time. Special equipment, is not needed to make dressings. A simple balloon whisk will do, failing that a fork will combine the ingredients. After decanting into the storage bottles or jars, give them a good shake before serving, the ingredients will then emulsify – make sure the top is securely screwed on -.

Gin bottle dressings

• For the basic recipe you will need:

• 180ml extra virgin Olive oil or Rapeseed oil

• 60ml white, red or cider vinegar

• 5ml Dijon on coarse grain mustard

• Freshly ground salt and black pepper

Makes 240ml. Place all the ingredients into a large jug or bowl and whisk together, taste and adjust seasoning to taste.

You can experiment by using different flavoured oils, mustards & vinegars to your liking. If you find olive oil to strong a taste, replace half or all with rapeseed oil.

If making double the above recipe, divide into four. Add to each of the four portions of oil, add one of the recipes below:

Garden fresh herbs

• Fresh Herb Vinaigrette 4 tabs Chopped herbs. eg: Basil, Mint, Thyme, Lemon Balm, Dill etc. A simple dressing for any salad.
• Garlic and Chilli Dressing Add as many fresh crushed garlic cloves & chopped chillies to your taste. Drizzle over you home made pizza or mixed with sweetcorn & pulses for a ziggy bean salad.
• Blue Cheese and Chive Dressing Mash 100g Blue Cheese with 2 tabs Milk. Add 2 tabs, freshly chopped chives. Whisk into the oil dressing. Gorgeous with wedges of Iceberg Lettuce.
• Feta and Dill Dressing Mash 100g Feta Cheese with 2 Tabs Lemon Juice, Stir in 2 tabs freshly chopped dill. Whisk in the oil dressing. Lovely served with a traditional Greek Salad, or a simple cucumber salad.

You can experiment with the different ingredients, to make your favourite dressing, to use with your BBQ goodies.

Instead of buying tubs of Coleslaw or Potato Salads try making your own, by combining, grated or shredded veg (carrots, courgettes, red onions & fennel), or cooked potatoes with one of the dressing above. Your options are endless. Go on. Have a go, you know you want too.

For more recipes you can make from scratch, click the link below:

More Recipes

Summer Salads

Healthy Eating

We all love eating al fresco, whether it be a formal meal, in the garden or seated on the sun drenched terrace of that little Greek Taverna. Out door eating, brings out the best – or worst – in us all. It takes just a few golden rays pushing through the grey English gloom and POW! we go into lunatic mode and out comes the Barbeque. Of course, that means a frenzied rush to the Supermarket to gather the lurid red, synthetic coated, chicken wings, pork chops and gristly burgers, made from more animal derivatives than you would find in your average tin of dog food. In the bread aisle we grab a couple of packs of cotton wool textured baps – I can’t even call them bread. – Next you head for the chiller cabinets to pick up some salads? Why? OK, I can hear you crying “I don’t have the time”. Of course you do, with a little bit of organisation and less time on Social Media, you can make the time.

Home made and healthy

Recently, through the media, we have been made aware of the dangers of obesity and various medical conditions, emanating from our consumption of unhealthy foods. Processed, fast food is all about flavour enhancing sugar, salt, fats, chemical additives and preservatives. The craving for these foods, have little to do with the food itself, but more to the added synthetic textures & flavours, giving you a sensory overload, to get you hooked. – Think nicotine. – Why do we want to eat these and feed them to our children, encouraging them to develop a taste for over sweet, salty, synthetic foods. Give them a taste of real homemade food & they won’t like it. You, have fed them these unnatural foodstuffs and denied them the fresh natural taste of homemade, unadulterated food. Processed foods and ready prepared, chopped fruits and veg, apart from being more expensive, have less nutritional value than their home made, freshly prepared counterparts. Pre-packed fruits and veg, once chopped quickly leak their Vitamin content and many have sugar, salt & preservatives added to them to preserve there colour. How long does it take to chop carrots or shred a lettuce?

Next time you visit the Supermarket, take a look at the labels on the foods you are purchasing. Out of interest, I looked at a pack of pre-cooked chicken breasts. You will be aware that foods have to be labeled with the ingredients in decreasing order. These chicken breasts contained, chicken, sugar, salt and various preservatives! Why do cooked chicken breasts need sugar?? I will leave it for you to work out.

Chop yourself some chillis

Prepacked, processed, convenience foods are not in the shops to provide you with healthy options, despite what the labeling might say. They are convenience foods which have been designed by marketing agencies. With their smart packaging and snappy slogans they fool you into believing you are providing yourself and family with fresh, healthy, natural food. In reality they are convenience foods, placed on the shelves to play on your insecurities. Forget it. These products are there to make money for the Supermarket and food manufacturing companies, they have no thought for your health.

Don’t give in, make the time, to prepare your own food from scratch. What have you got to loose? you will save money, eat healthier and once you become aware of the taste of real food, probably lose weight and certainly not expose yourself to the plethora of illness associated with unhealthy eating. Go on, you owe it to yourself and your family.

In my blog next week, I will be giving you some simple recipes, for salad dressings and salads. All will take you under 30 mins to prepare. If you make up a large amount of the basic dressing recipe, you can use you imagination to add different ingredients to create other dressings and salads of your choice. You can find some of my previous recipes by following the links below: https://truffleicious.blog/2018/02/10/warm-butternut-squash-black-kale-salad/ https://truffleicious.blog/2019/03/22/harissa-chutney/

Until next week. Happy healthy eating.