Mexican flavors galore

food

I don’t know about you but I am one of those people obsessed with Mexican food! I think we eat a full Mexican feast in our home at least once a week! Usually a Mexican feast consisting of tacos, enchiladas, fajitas…..can really throw away your new clean and healthy eating habits! I know it did for me when I moved here and I was probably consuming a 2000 calorie meal filled with zero nutrition and not even realizing it!

After a month long holiday of going crazy and not sticking to my new lifestyle, I woke up this week with a new agenda to healthy-fy all my favorite foods so I don’t derail again.

Firstly, I made batches of this Mexican seasoning that you can use however you want! Just a tablespoon of this as a dry rub and you can grill or stir fry any protein you like.

Mexican flavors galore

1 tsp onion powder

1/2 tsp garlic powder

2 tsp chilli powder

1 tsp paprika

1/2 tsp red chilli flakes

1/2 tsp ground cumin

1/2 tsp oregano

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp black pepper

Mix together in a bowl, this should yield about 2 tablespoons but I made like a cup full and stored it in an airtight jar.

Having made this, I wanted to try and see if I could create Fajitas at home and boy did it work! yay!

Fabulous Fajitas

With any fajitas there are a couple of components; chicken strips (or any other protein of your choice), guacamole, tortilla, pepper/onion stir fry, grated cheese and salsa.

For the chicken strips:

3 chicken breasts cut in thin strips

2 tbsp seasoning mix (from above)

Handful of chopped cilantro

1 Lime

Salt to taste

Mix together the strips, seasoning and cilantro and set aside for 15 minutes.

In a non stick pan or grill cook the trips about a minute to minute and a half on each side giving a squeeze of lime all over each time. Set aside covered with foil.

For the guacamole:

1 avocado; mashed

1 tsp chopped onions

1 tbsp lime

1/2 tsp of cumin (add more to your liking)

1/2 tsp of salt

1 tbsp of chopped cilantro

Mix together and serve. You can of course adjust the above to your liking!

For the tortilla:

You can buy flour tortillas from the store but I just used regular durum wheat ‘atta roti.’ Its a lighter and much healthier option.

Salsa:

Since I made this dinner completely unplanned, I used a store bought salsa but you can definitely make your own!

12 small-medium tomatoes chopped

1/2 large white onion chopped

1 clove of garlic

1-2 green chillies chopped and deseeded

1 handful cilantro

1 tbsp lime juice

dash of sweetener either stevia or brown sugar

salt to taste

In a food processor, pulse all the above together to desired smoothness. I kept mine chunky and of course you can adjust each ingredient to your liking. Adding some roasted red chili is also delicious!

Lastly, I cut some onions and yellow pepper lengthwise and grilled till soft and fragrant! I also served some grated cheddar cheese on the side!

Serve each item separately and allow everyone to make their own fajitas or have some hard shell tacos if you are treating yourself! Another great way to enjoy this is to create a fajita on a bed of lettuce! That’s what I’m taking for lunch tomorrow with the leftovers!

Enjoy!

Whole wheat banana pancakes and fruit platter

food

I made this for my husband’s birthday! I have to admit that it doesn’t taste like buttermilk IHOP pancakes but they are light, delicious and good for you! No guilt!

What do you need?

1/2 cup wholewheat flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

2 ripe bananas

2 eggs

1/2 cup skim milk or almond milk

Oil spray

Fresh fruits

Honey

Unsweetened fat free greek yoghurt

Mix the eggs, milk, banana, flour, baking soda and salt in a blender

Under medium to low heat, spray pan and place 3 tablespoons of the mix in pan. Let the bottom set and then turn the pancake and cook the other side.

Spray the pan in between each pancake.

Do not try to do this on hight heat! Trust me! I had to throw about 4 away! 😦

Place fruits and yoghurt in between layers and drizzle with honey! I served this with a fruit platter with pretty much everything I had at home! Mix together honey and yoghurt for a delicious dip!

Enjoy!

Honey dijon citrus whole roast chicken

food

This dish is one of my favorites! Seriously, all you have to do is marinade it and stuff it in the oven! It also really makes the table beautiful with the whole chickens and colorful vegetables!

What do you need?

4 poussin/ baby chicken with skin

5 garlic cloves, chopped

1 cup of cilantro

Juice of 1 orange and rinds

Juice of 1 lime and rinds

2 tablespoons of olive oil

salt to taste

This is what you do either the night before or 2/3 hours before putting the dish in the oven.

Wash and dry the chicken and coat completely with olive oil, garlic, lemon juice, orange juice and salt. Stuff the rinds of orange and lemon.

Cover the chicken and leave overnight.

Take the chicken out of the fridge about 20 minutes before putting it in the oven

Preheat the oven to 250 C ( I use a fan oven) and place the chicken in.

For the glaze:

1 tbsp honey

1 tbsp course mustard

1 tbsp water

Let the chicken cook for 30 minutes then brush half the glaze on it.

Let it cook for a further 25 minutes and when you poke it, the juices should run clear. 5 minutes before taking it out brush the remaining glaze. Take the chicken out and let it rest under foil paper till you make the jus.

Take the drippings from the pan and throw out the oil floating on top. Reduce it under low heat, add cornstarch + water to thicken it or reglaze with some white or red wine.

I added some corn, tomatoes and more fruits for garnish.

It’s definitely a crowd pleaser!

Enjoy!

Celebrating our birthdays!

Lifestyle

This week was extra special! It was my birthday followed by my husbands. The person that I am I had to celebrate it to the fullest!

It’s really easy to dread any upcoming celebration when you are trying to lead a new lifestyle. I was brainstorming for weeks trying to figure out what to do for our birthdays, the healthier way!

I had a lunch party for my cousins and really also a way for me to show them that healthy foods can be just as delicious!

The menu:

Honey Dijon citrus whole roast chicken

Seafood salad with chili, lime and coriander dressing

(I simply cooked the seafood with the sweet chili sauce and added in lime and coriander. Tossed that with salad greens!)

Cilantro brown rice

( Warm brown rice + 1 tbsp olive oil + salt + coriander + lime)

Sweet and spicy ground beef lettuce wraps

Fresh salsa and guacamole ( one of my friends made this!)

Cheese platter and flavored waters

Brownies ( I will add this recipe at a later date as it did not turn out exactly as I wanted, some liked it some didn’t so…..)

Every dish was wiped clean! YAY! I also gave the sweet chili sauces as birthday party favors 😀

Since our birthdays were on a weekday, well mine was, I had the lunch party on a Sunday before. I felt so pleased being able to feed my family what I was eating on a daily basis and what was making us feel so good! It wasn’t a no carb thing nor was it a huge table full of death warrants, it was something I could feed my guests, guilt-free!

Moving onto the mandatory midnight cake cutting ritual, I was really hell bent on not eating a cake at midnight!! I mean I know it was my birthday but c’mon it just didn’t make sense! I have recently discovered my love for unsweetened fat free greek yoghurt and I thought why not a parfait? My husband and I put it together and it looked as great as it tasted!! We scrapped it off! It was full of goodness rather than refined sugars and butter. I didn’t think it would do the job but it clearly did as I repeated the same parfait for Zayed’s birthday, candles and all!

You can layer is however YOU want! Add any fruits YOU want! So no sieving through prepackaged yoghurt bowls of the things you don’t like! It is also a great mid day snack!

What do you need?

Unsweetened fat free greek yoghurt, you can also use natural yoghurt

Sugar free granola or any sugar free muesli or cereal

Fruits of choice

Acacia honey or any good quality honey

Easy to make, full of nutrients and great for your body!

I know this is getting quite long but here’s the last part of the ‘homemade’ birthday celebration! I made my husband brunch in bed!

Whole wheat banana pancakes and fruit platter!

It was the perfect weekend brunch and it allowed us to ‘cheat’ without feeling devastated about it! I mean if you call 1/2 cup of flour cheating! 😉 He was ecstatic saying that he wanted to eat really slowly as he was afraid to finish it! Success!

There’s no reason to be scared about falling of the wagon during a celebration nor is there a reason to make yourself believe that it is okay to fall of the wagon because it’s your birthday! I worked out twice on my birthday and went to my favorite japanese restaurant for the the miso black cod! I couldn’t be happier with the way I felt, this isn’t a fad diet or a crash diet, this is my life!

Happy birthday to us!

Sweet & spicy and garlic & lime chicken dinner

food

Planning dinner really gets me frustrated! There is no room for cheating or mistakes and when you are as exhausted as I am at the end of the day a one dish oven chicken dish sounds just about perfect!

Chicken breasts are a great source of lean proteins and with the availability of cleaned and cut chicken breasts this is easy peezy! I did add in boneless chicken thighs in my dish, feel free to use whichever pieces you like but remember this recipe is measured for boneless pieces!

What do you need?

You can adjust the measurements if you are cooking for 3 or more people. I made enough for 3 persons.

4 boneless chicken breasts and thighs

1.5 tablespoon of olive oil

A mix of chili sauce, honey and whole grain mustard, a tbsp of each. However if you have made the amazing sweet chili sauce you can use 2 tbsp of that and add a tbsp of mustard of choice. Also in that case decrease garlic to just one clove as the sweet chili sauce contains garlic. (I hadn’t tried out the sweet chili sauce when I cooked this!)

2 garlic cloves, roughly chopped

2 – 3 red or green chilies, chopped

Juice of half a lime

Roughly a cup of chopped cilantro

2 tbsp water

Salt and pepper to taste

Wash the chicken pieces and pat dry

Make sure to place a cling wrap over your cutting board when cutting raw pieces of meat. The juices get soaked into the boards, especially if they are wooden and basically the bacteria harvests in there and you do the math! Ech! Always remember to cling wrap your boards, may it be plastic, granite or wood when handling raw meats or fishes!

Cut the pieces into equal sizes, this completely depends on you! But make sure they are roughly equal so that they cook evenly.

Sprinkle with salt and pepper

Mix sauces together with the juice from the lime and add 2 tbsp of water. Mix and set aside.

Under medium heat, put half of the oil and sear the pieces to give some color and lock in the juices

Preheat the oven to 250 C ( I use a fan oven)

Place the remaining oil, cut chilies, cut garlic and half of the cilantro into an oven proof dish

Transfer the pieces into the prepared dish, try not to crowd them too much and then cover each piece completely with the sauce. Leave some to add on after the cooking process.

Place it in the oven and watch the cooking and caramelization happen!

It should take 30 – 35 minutes before its done. Turn the pieces half way through. The chicken is cooked when you insert a toothpick and the juices run clear! You can even take a piece and cut it to make sure! No one’s judging here!

Transfer the chicken into your serving dish and cover with foil.

Take the drippings from the dish and reduce it down. You can add in a tsp of cornstarch mixed with water to get a thicker sauce but honestly it’s not necessary!

Serve the chicken in slices or whole, smear it with the remaining sauce and garnish with cilantro.

Serve with a side of steamed crunchy vegetables!

This is easily a dish you can make for many people, its hassle free and you can really skip the searing part if you are feeling extra lazy!

Enjoy!

Sweet chili sauce: Just the way you like it!

food

It’s been 4 months that I’ve been following this new cleaner lifestyle and I realized that I was constantly looking for the sweet and spicy flavor in my dishes. You might have noticed in my recipes that I was constantly making the honey + chili combination!

Before that I was using store bought sweet chili sauce which has a shelf life of more than 1 year and obviously full of the ‘bad’ stuff. One of the major hurdles of leading a healthy life is the addition of condiments, most of them are full of sugars and preservatives! It’s such a necessary but unnecessary addition!

So, while trying to come up with a new chicken recipe, I thought out the way I could bottle this sweet chili sauce! And it worked!!

I ordered these jars even before trying it out! 😀

What do you need?

1 cup honey
1/2 cup water
1 1/2 tbsp vinegar (I used apple cider vinegar it’s healthier)
1 tbsp lemon juice
Red and green chilies ( the amount depends on how spicy you want it)
3/4 cloves of chopped garlic
1 tbsp of cornstarch with 1.5 tbsp of water

You will make 6 110ml jars!

Sterilize the jars by placing them in a hot oven for 15 to 20 minutes. Be careful when taking them out!

On low heat, bring the honey and water to a simmer and add in the chilies and garlic

Continue to simmer for 5 minutes then add in the vinegar and lemon

Simmer for a further 5 minutes and add in the cornstarch and water mixture. Keep whisking slowly until sauce has thickened.

Fill the jars with the sauce and keep open to cool completely.

Once cool, you can refrigerate and enjoy for up to a month! I doubt it will last that long!

I gave these jars as favors for my husband’s birthday lunch! I was happy to share this healthy change with my loved ones!

Enjoy!!

What do I do with chia seeds?

food

In my last post, I mentioned the benefits of these tiny, relatively inexpensive seeds!

Why chia seeds?

In Bangladesh, a substitute for these seeds is basil seeds or ‘tokma.’ They are usually taking during the month of Ramadan to keep feeling fuller for longer. They have the same properties as chia seeds whereby they swell up upon contact with liquids.

You can make these cups for a week at a time and they are really delicious for that afternoon pick me up snack or dessert cravings. They are slow releasing so they also work really well as a snack pre work out giving you the fuel to push through, thats when I usually take it.

Everyone needs that bit of chocolate in their lives, I know I do! This is a great dessert packed with nutrients and satisfies that sweet tooth.

What do you need for chocolate chia pudding cups?

2 tbsp chia seeds (black or white)

1/2 cup of fresh almond milk or skim milk or unsweetened coconut milk

1 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder or baking cocoa powder

1.5 tsp honey, you can increase it to your liking

Shaved chocolate for garnish

Mix all the ingredients together, fill cups and chill overnight. Serve with fruits and shaved chocolate.

You will make 6/7 shooter cups

What do you need for vanilla chia puddings?

2 tbsp chia seeds (black or white)

1/2 cup of fresh almond milk or skim milk or unsweetened coconut milk

1 tsp good quality vanilla extract

1 tsp honey

You will make 6/7 shooter cups

Whisk all the ingredients together in a bowl and fill shooter cups. Refrigerate overnight and enjoy! You can add more honey or nuts or fresh fruits on top when enjoying this cup of deliciousness.

I also add them directly to my morning smoothie. You can sprinkle them over your salad or soup. There is no one way to enjoy this superfood!

Fresh as fresh! Not your average tomato basil pasta

food

The pasta supper is clearly the most common ‘go to’ dish in most households. Its easy; boil some pasta, dump a jar of the store bought pasta sauce and add in some protein! Voila! You have food on the table!

There are a few problems with that:

1. White refined pasta: Choose whole wheat pasta over refined white pasta because it has fewer calories, carbohydrates, fats and higher fibers.

2. Store bought pasta sauce: Its full of preservatives and sugar! In a minute you’ll see that pasta sauce from ‘real’ tomatoes is not that bright red color!!!

3. Adding a protein into a carbohydrate intensive meal: Its a big no no in the food plan I follow, my next post will explain in details why there is no mixing!

So I present to you a fresh-fresh, healthy and yummy pasta dish that you can can serve guilt-free to your guests, kids or loved ones 🙂

What do you need?

250 gm (raw weight) whole wheat pasta – cooked

5 large tomatoes

1.5 cups sliced mushrooms

2 large garlic cloves, one chopped and one whole

Fresh basil leaves

4 sprays of oil of choice

1 teaspoon of EVOO

salt to taste

This will make 4 servings!

Cook the whole wheat pasta and set aside

Steam the tomatoes until completely softened

Spray the oil onto the pan on high heat, sauté the garlic and mushrooms. Add salt to taste.

Take the softened tomatoes and peel the skin off. It will come right off!

In a blender, add the tomatoes, teaspoon of EVOO, clove of garlic, basil and salt. Blitz together until well mixed and looks like a sauce. See I told you there’s no bright red color!

Transfer this sauce onto the pan containing the sautéed mushrooms and simmer in low heat for 5 minutes.

Add in the pasta bit by bit into the sauce until well incorporated.

Enjoy while warm!

You can add in chili for an extra kick!

You can also make the sauce ahead of time and mix together right before serving! Garnish with a fresh basil leaf!

Dinner: Sweet and spicy ground beef lettuce wraps

food

Lunch is always slightly easier than dinner as you have the whole day to burn it off incase you eat something extra. Dinner on the other hand is less forgiving which is why by 7:30 pm, I eat the proteins and vegetables!

I cross a Chinese restaurant almost everyday and today I woke up determined to eat a healthy version of my most favorite dish! Lettuce wraps without the excessive fats, sugars or MSG and I did it!

I also served it to some guests I had over today and they loved it! I was so happy to have served something healthy and fresh! You can easily make the filling ahead and put it together when your guests have arrived! Very versatile!

What do you need?

1 whole lettuce bulb

450 gram lean ground beef ( I used 5% fat ones)

(you could also use chicken or turkey mince)

1 cup diced peppers

1 cup diced carrots

2 tablespoons of good quality honey

2 tablespoons of chili sauce or to make it even healthier use chili flakes/paste

2 tablespoons wholegrain mustard

2 tablespoon finely chopped cilantro

3/4 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

3 sprays of your oil of choice

salt and pepper to taste

You will make enough for 3 dinners! 😀

In a bowl, mix together the honey, mustard and chili sauce with 2 tablespoons of water and set aside

Spray on the oil into the pan on high heat

Add in the garlic, peppers and carrot with a dash of water to soften and sauté

After sautéing for 2-3 minutes add in the ground beef and salt/pepper

Stir the beef and break it up and you will notice the ‘fatty juice’ collecting

Put the lid on and drain that liquid out, it is the fats from the ground beef and its gotta go!! Ech!

Return the pot onto the heat and stir in 2/3 of the mixture of honey/mustard/chili sauce that you had set aside.

Close the lid and let it cook for about 10 -12 minutes more. Make sure to stir occasionally during that time. You will notice the char on the beef and peppers and then add in that remaining honey/mustard/chili sauce mixture and the cilantro.

Keep tasting the beef as you cook! Thats just standard operating procedure 😀

Take it off the heat, arrange the lettuce and fill them in!

Enjoy while warm! I had it with a side of steamed mixed vegetables!

* You can also add in sweet and sour chili sauce in which case leave out the honey and chili sauce however I would highly recommend using a chili sauce and honey mixture as you eliminate the high amounts of sugar in those sweet and sour sauces.

* A great alternative would be to use a freshly made chili paste! That would be ideal especially if you used a mixture of fresh red chili and roasted chili. YUM! I will surely do that next time!

Also I do apologize for not including the calories, thats because I don’t calorie count and you shouldn’t either especially when you are eating clean and healthy!

Stoup (stew + soup) : Red lentils with squash and spinach

food

We often overlook the simpler ingredients when devising a healthier food plan, we think we need the fancier stuff and equipped with the usual excuse of, ‘its so expensive to eat healthy!.’ Its not.

Lentils are one of the best food source of slow-digesting carbohydrates! Perfect for lunch! It is an excellent source of fiber, folate, manganese and iron. It’s especially great because it is not like the usual carbohydrates like white rice or bread where your sugar levels spike immediately after consumption instead it takes its times to convert to glucose. Along with these, it has been proven that it aids colon health, diabetics and absorption of essential minerals like calcium.

Available everywhere and you can make it so delicious by simply boiling it and adding your favorite vegetables, even if you cant boil an egg you can boil lentils!

So this is what I made for lunch today, again it is extremely versatile to carry out and you can make it for 2/3 days at a time.

What do you need?

1 cup of red lentils

2 cups of butternut squash

2 cups of spinach

1/2 cup of cilantro

3 tsp of turmeric powder

1 cup of cooked brown rice

Sea salt to taste

This should yield 4 to 5 servings ( each serving is 1.5 cups)

Clean the red lentils under water until it runs clear

Cover the lentils with water making sure it is completely submerged. Add the turmeric powder and salt.

On medium heat, boil the lentils for about 10 minutes

Add in the butternut squash and cover the pot and let it simmer until the squash and lentils have completely softened.

Using a masher, mash the squash and lentils as it simmers

Add in the spinach

Mix together until the spinach wilts and take a taste. Beware it’s super hot! I say this from experience! Ouch!

Add in the cilantro

Allow it to simmer for an additional 5 minutes under very low heat. It’s ready!

Spoon the stoup (stew + soup) into a bowl and add a tablespoon of brown rice. The combination is perfect!

Enjoy! No fats, good carbs and lots of vegetables!

You can add any vegetables you want, pumpkin, beans, jalapeños, tomatoes, the list goes on and on! You can even skip on the rice but the texture really adds a little something.

It was a perfect meal on this cold London afternoon especially on a day I was feeling extremely homesick .

fklifestyle

Sometimes the smallest step in the right direction ends up being the biggest step of your life. Tip toe if you must, but take the step!

homemade

Mexican flavors galore

Whole wheat banana pancakes and fruit platter

Honey dijon citrus whole roast chicken

Celebrating our birthdays!

Sweet & spicy and garlic & lime chicken dinner

Sweet chili sauce: Just the way you like it!

What do I do with chia seeds?

Fresh as fresh! Not your average tomato basil pasta

Dinner: Sweet and spicy ground beef lettuce wraps

Stoup (stew + soup) : Red lentils with squash and spinach