Photo credit: Wiffygal’s

As the weather starts to get cold and winter approaches we all love to keep warm, and with food there isn’t much difference.  I have a great selection of winter warmers that will suit most tastes.

1. Carrot and Ginger Soup Recipe
2. Leek and Stilton Soup Recipe
3. The Ultimate Pick Me Up Soup Recipe
4. Cullen Skink Soup Recipe
5. Vegetable and Bean Soup Recipe
6. Wild Mushroom Soup
7. Smoked Haddock and Corn Chowder Recipe
8. Cock-a-Leekie Soup Recipe
9. Cauliflower, Broccoli and Mustard Soup Recipe
10. Left Over Soup Recipe

 All soups listed above are curtesy of Britishfood.about.com

For those of you that like the low fat version of soups a list in the link provided brought to you by lowfatcooking.about.com.

Tast.com also has some lovely recipes that are their low fat collection.  Take a look and you will be surprised at what you will find.

Enjoy the colder whether and if you have any soups or recipes that you think my readers will enjoy please send them in and I’ll post them up on the site.

Photo credit : bautistalh

There has been extensive research into Low Gi (Glycemic Index) and how it affects our body with weight loss.  PCOS is common in women and the experts have associated a Low Gi diet as a great way to combat weight loss, Diabetes and of course PCOS.  For me personally I am trying to incorporate some recipes that you would cook everyday and convert them into Low Gi meals.

You can search the Low Gi database in the link above to obtain your favourite recipes with Low Gi in mind.  I am taking my own advice and doing just that.  My weight struggle has been a long and heat breaking battle.  I have tried everything under the sun to lose weight, change my lifestyle and just generally be healthy.  I have also been diagnosed with PCOS and it has definitely not helped me to lose weight. 

Every case is different and in my case it has been very difficult to manage my eating patterns, not to mention the constant pressure I have to try to fall pregnant.  It has been like a vicious circle.  I have read a few books on Low Gi and found that it may just assist me in losing weight, and ultimately fall pregnant.

Another great book to read on Low Gi is (Gi Feel Good – Health & Weight loss) by John Ratcliffe Dip. TCM, Grad Dip Psy.  Very interesting reading as well as great recipes and food charts with Gi numbers beside them, just like the chart on www.glycemicindex.com with high, medium and low Gi as a guide.  This book gives you an insight that you may not have even thought about but explains the ins and outs of the process.

Other useful websites are:

 www.glycemic-index.com

www.low-carbohydrate.com

Photo credit: Absolute Apetite

I was looking over Angie All The Way’s blog the other day and it suddenly dawned on me that all of her food that is displayed looks absolutely fantastic.  So presentation may be the key to healthy eating too.  If you make a dish and slop it in your plate or use ugly crockery the food is just food, but if you use your nice white dinner plates and present the food well you have a masterpiece.

How to cook gourmet will show you how you can present your food.  I believe that if you can make healthy food look interesting you are more likely to enjoy it and stick to it.  Have you ever steamed some vegetables and thought how bland they are, why not try to sprinkle some oregano on them with a pinch of sea salt.  You will be amazed how well it tastes and gives the vegetables some texture too.

Here is an interesting insight of how to steam your vegetables and a handy video, there is definitely a knack to it and after all you don’t want soggy vegetables for dinner, nothing worse than that.  It would be any wonder you dove off the couch for that packet of chips in the cupboard.   

So next time you are in the kitchen and trying to think of something healthy to cook, remember healthy doesn’t have to be boring and there are many websites you can find to help you with presentation, perhaps for your next dinner party.

Photo credit: tofu666

Ingredients

1 chicken breast (no skin) (trimmed of fat)
1 sprig of parsley
1 Bok choy
1 Juliane Carrot
baby corn (canned)
watercress (canned)
1 large onion
1 tsp corn flour
Soy sauce (use your judgment)
2 chicken stock cubes
Pepper to taste
Pinch of Salt
(use any herbs or spices that you like)
2 cups rice

Method

Start to cook your rice as you normally would before you start the stir fry. Whilst this is cooking you can make the stir fry.

Cut chicken into small cubes. Use wok or large fry pan. Use canola spray to spray your wok or fry pan. Heat wok/fry pan and put chicken, stock cubes, salt pepper (herbs & spices) and fry up till golden and or semi cooked.

Take chicken out and put aside in another dish.

Put carrot, onion, corn and watercress and fry up till carrots start to soften but not too soft. (Onions can be either softer or you can add at the end if you like them crunchy). Add chicken back into fry pan and cook for another 15 minutes constantly stirring.

Add bok choy and you can add a little water and cover for 2 minutes so steam cooks and makes the bok choy all nice and green. Take the lid off add a little more water and put some soy sauce to taste and stir through. At the very end add some cornflour in a little water and add to the mixture and stir constantly till it thickens.

Serve on the rice you cooked.

Serves 2

Photo credit: Computix 

Everyone talks about fat free food, low fat food, and we forgot about the Vegan’s, they too need to eat low fat.  The link above is to a site that provides you with all the fat free Vegan food you can eat.  It is fantastic.  And for all us Meat lovers, why not try to incorporate some nice meat free dishes as a side dish? 

Vegetarian recipes are great too.  Here are some fantastic vegetarian recipes that can be used as a main meal.  Let’s try to keep it healthy and use these fantastic recipes to better our health and incorporate more vegetables in general in our diet.