The NutriBullet

What is all the fuss about?

I don't tend to set New Year Resolutions . They just make me feel like a failure as I never am able to achieve what I set myself. However, a few general re set goals never hurt anyone and as most people at this time of year I need to sort out some of my eating habits that have fallen by the wayside recently.

Since returning to work full time in January last year a lot of things have become less of a priority to me. I used to think I ran quite a tight ship at home. I like things neat, tidy and clean. I am organised and rarely forget dates. We eat good , home cooked, healthy meals. 

However, bit by bit things have become a little less organised on the food front with myself. Although on the whole I don't think it's a bad thing to realise that when the winds of change come you can't be unbending and you must change and mould with the times.

 BUT the one area that has slipped and I am NOT happy about is my diet.

 I have kept the home cooked meals going, but I am a bit of a grab what you can, when you can kind of girl when I am working. All of my Eat Clean principles have been taken over by my need for sugar and caffeine and it makes me feel sluggish and lacking in energy. Quite the opposite of what I want to achieve! Over the summer whilst my middle child was in and out of hospital regular meals went out of the window and my weight fluctuated up and down with the stress of it all. The first thing that disappears with me when stress occurs is my appetite.

I do love fruit though and the taste of a juice. However, the problem with juicing in the week is that it is time consuming and messy and I just don't have the luxury of time. I am up at 6.15am making a cooked breakfast for my son who is on a weight gaining diet anyway.

So when I saw this Nutribullet blender I was very tempted. I resisted for a while, but after a bit of research have gone ahead and got it. It is very pretty and cordinates beautifully with the kitchen ( yes I am serious here - if you don't understand dont try !). The plan is to use my Nutribullet in the week and the juicer at the weekend when I have more time.

NutriBullet

Additional Cups

Base

Large Blender

 As I understand it the difference between juicing and blending is that juicing takes out the fibre and retains just the pure juice of whatever you are juicing. This gives an instantly absorbed energy boost as there is no fibre to slow digestion down. It is great for a boost, but can lead to unstable blood sugar if not used properly. Blending retains the fibre which gives a more sustained release of energy into your system. The argument is that there is a place for both depending on your need. 

I love juicing - I did a 7 day detox and felt fantastic , but long term it is very time consuming and my life does not allow for it on a daily basis anymore . I tend to start the weekend with a juice which is a real treat now.

The NutriBullet is really simple. You blend in a cup, which you can also drink out of. The blender comes with consice instructions and recipes, explaining how to get the most out of your machine. It is so easy to clean. There is some preparation time, but it is minimal. You can either get your fruits ready and leave them in the fridge the night before ready to turn into a smoothie the next morning or use frozen fruits direct from the freezer. I prefer the taste of the fresh fruits, but again time wise, frozen is quicker before work in the mornings! The fantastic element of the Nutribullet is that you can include nuts and seeds in your smoothies and they blend seamlessly - no gritty bits are left like there would be with a normal blender. The cleaning is also a revelation - 2 minutes and it is done.

I haven't been gifted this - I just researched and decided it suited my needs and I love it! A couple of my friends have since got a Nutribullet and are finding the same. 

My favourite recipe is a simple one just with  berries and a banana to thicken it up:

A couple of strawberries

A small handful of blueberries ( fresh taste best)

A small handful of raspberries ( frozen are fine!)

One small banana

A small cup of coconut water ( or filtered water is fine)

A large tablespoon a fat free bio yogurt

You cut all the fruit up roughly and add the other ingredients.

You turn the bender the other way up and attach to the base unit with a simple twist which turns it on.

When it has reached the consistency you like pour and enjoy . 

Not quite the same effect as a pint of Doom Bar , but a lot more healthy!

Eating Clean Recipies

Frugal Friday

Keeping to a budget and eating healthily ( part #3)

We are following the principles of the Eat Clean diet by Tosca Reno at the moment. When I first looked at starting this diet with my family I was a little daunted at the prospect of how to incorporate this into our daily lives. We eat as a family. I have never been a parent who cooks separate meals for different members of the family. What is for dinner is for everyone. If someone chooses not to eat it , then that is their choice - there is no other choice on offer. I am not saying I think it is wrong to offer alternative, just that I don't have time to be cooking various meals each day.

So , although my children aren't following the detailed diet principles to lose weight on this plan, they are eating the healthy Clean Meals and I have cut back on some of the more sugar filled items in the larder for them to snack on. 

In some ways it was a ridiculous time to start a new eating plan. My cooker had just been cut off , leaving me with a microwave, a narrow, one shelf electric oven and a one ring induction hob. However, it has been simple - lots of one pot meals and salads, baked potatoes and steamed fish - easy. I am missing having batch baked meals stored up in the freezer. I find this is one of the easiest ways to keep the budget down and save myself time. Hats off to those of you who cook fresh every day - I find it relentless. My new mission is planned leftovers - I have to have a couple of easy cook nights a week.

These are the changes I have made to help me on my journey to eating clean:

• I make a batch of cakes and/or biscuits at the beginning of the week. (If I had a freezer I would freeze half- roll on new kitchen!). I know what I am putting in these compared to not knowing the quantities of sugar hiding in most shop ones. I have made some with limited sugar and some cookies from Tosca Renos cook book which are sweetened with honey.
• I make my own bread so I know this has minimal amounts of sugar in. ( 1 tsp)
• I have stopped buying cereal that has any sugar listed on the ingredients. I have made some homemade granola ( even the "healthy" granola in the pretty packets has sugar in it at the supermarket). 
• I've been trying wholemeal pancakes with the children for breakfasts - sweetened with some maple syrup.
• I am using more olive oil for cooking with.
• I have switched white rice for brown and pasta for wholemeal pasta. The children are coming round to the taste. I find mixing the two a happy compromise.
• I am including more fish in my meal plans.
• I have introduced the idea of planned leftovers to give myself a day without cooking from scratch. This replaces the days I used to have my batch baked meals from the freezer. I can't wait to go back to this.
• We are eating more fibre. An interesting addition during the first week - fairly smelly in the Appleby household!

Day	Week 1	Week 2
Saturday	Mexican chicken and wholegrain wraps with salad	Frittata with new pots in skins and asparagus
Sunday	Roast chicken roast veg/pots tray, steamed broccoli	Roast beef, roast veg/mini pots/sweet pots/butternut squash/steamed veg
Monday	Steamed cobbler fish, brown rice, asparagus	Chicken and bean one pot with rice, broccoli
Tuesday	Spaghetti bolognese with wholewheat spaghetti	Turkey bolognese with wholegrain wraps
Wednesday	As above with veg	As above with wholegrain pasta and salad
Thursday	Turkey lasagne and salad	Poached cod and olives  with baked pots and veg
Friday	Poached salmon baked sweet pots salad	Egg and home made chips/sweet potato chips with peas

 

I think the thing I have tried to keep in mind is that any step along the way is positive. I could go totally organic and shop at only whole food shops etc, but I do need to keep my budget down. With any diet you can be quite radical and restrictive, but with a family it is hard to do this so I am trying to be sensible about it . There are meals and recipes that suit us and our lifestyle that I have adjusted slightly and continue to cook. It is all about balance. However, I do feel strongly about cutting out sugar from our diets as much as possible. I have a child who has some health issues and who is hyperactive - sugar is a huge trigger for these issues. It is hidden in so many of our every day food stuffs - see here.

Here is the recipe of the homemade granola. Breakfasts are a hard one to get right. Cereals are so full of sugar. I have been offering my children wholewheat pancakes - I got an electric pancake maker which is so easy to use and makes fabulous pancakes. 

Clean Granola

2 cups rolled oats
I cup rye or spelt or other flake
I/2 cup flaxseed
1/2 cup wheat germ
1/2 cup bran
4 tbsp oat bran
1/2 cup unsalted sunflower seeds
1/2 cup sesame seeds
1 cup unsalted almonds
1/2 cup walnut pieces
4 tbsp unpasteurised honey
2 tbsp honey
spices - cinnamon, ground ginger
1/2 cup chopped dates
1/2 cup chopped prunes
1/2 cup chopped apricots
1/2 cup of dried ( unsweetened) blueberries

• Line two baking trays with baking paper
• Place oats,rye,bran,flaxseed and wheatgerm on one and seeds and nuts on the other.
• Bake in the oven at 180 degrees until browned. Give the trays a shake to ensure even browning.
• Combine honey and coconut butter over a low heat and add spices - keep warm.
• In a large bowl combine the cereals, nuts, seeds and honey mixture.
• Spread the mixture back onto the two baking sheets and bake for a further 15 minutes stirring occasionally.
• Allow the granola to cool completely.
• Store in an airtight container.

See my instagram feed for photos of the granola and breakfast muffins.

Here are some photos of my wholewheat pancakes made on my electric pancake maker!

Eat Clean wholewheat pancakes

Design ©2012 Another New Day

www.takingachanceinlife.blogspot.uk 2012 - 2013

All personal images are owned by Another New Day

unless stated otherwise.

Images may not be downloaded,manipulated or reproduced without prior written permission. All rights are reserved.

Commercial or Private use without explicit written consent is prohibited and action will be taken through UK and worldwide copyright laws.

Keeping to A Budget

And Eating Healthily ( Part 2)

Frugal Friday

As I said in my last post on this subject - two of my favourite topics rolled into one!

Eating Heathily

I mentioned previously that we have been following  Tosca Renos Eating Clean diet.

Tosca Reno - Eat Clean

The reason behind this was twofold. While, on the whole do eat pretty healthily and I cook most of my meals from scratch, we were becoming increasingly concerned about the amount of sugar we consumed without even realising it. My husband also wanted to lose some weight that he had gained through being unable to exercise due to a damaged muscle.

The Eating Clean principles see you cutting out processed food and sugar, and adding in as many natural food elements as possible. You eat a lot more protein  than you would naturally do. You are also encouraged to eat 6 times a day to keep energy and metabolism stable. This is the biggest change for me. I could easily eat porridge for breakfast then go all day without anything before crashing at 4pm and eating toast and jam. Not good!

Do you realise how many items contain sugar ? Do what I did and go through your cupboard and look at the ingredient lists of the sauces and cereals you have. You may be a little shocked - as I was. Sugar features in everything. Here are some interesting articles on processed sugar.

Sugar

Hidden Sugar in Foods

If you want more details of the plan have a look at her site here. It makes very interesting reading. Basically the longer you spend in the fruit and veg aisles and the longer you spend buying products that look like they did at the beginning of their journey ( pre processing) the better you will be doing.

My husband has lost just over a stone so far. I would say he has been doing this seriously for about a month. He is still unable to exercise. The loss has been through the eating plan alone. I am hoping that it will help me with my immune system and my health as I return to teaching too.

Keeping to a Budget

However, my dillema of course is how do I keep my budget down and still maintain this healthy lifestyle? We are a family of 5 so our food bills could easily run away with us. Despite this I have realised that just because we are eating healthily it doesn't have to cost lots more. The only item I find increases my food bill considerably is meat so I am careful about how much I factor in. Fresh fruit and veg does not need to cost the earth and can be a useful filler of stews and soups. I have found a local bulk supplier of my nuts and seeds which keeps that cost right down. I think sometimes we feign horror at the cost of some healthy foods, yet we don't hesitate when throwing a multi pack of crisps or biscuits in the trolley without a second thought to the cost. Just a thought.....

Can we put a price on our health?

The kids are embracing the meals, but to be honest they eat anything that I don't lock away so that doesn't surprise me! 

This is what I have learnt so far:

• Plan your meals
• Protein doesn't have to come just in the form of meat
• Plan to have leftovers that you can use for meals the following day.
• Buy items such as nuts and apricots in bulk . SO much cheaper.
• Find reliable local suppliers of meat and veg. They may not be organic, but are as good as, but cheaper. The organic standards are quite high and some suppliers just haven't been trading long enough to meet the requirements - thats all.
• The tinned and whole foods asiles are eating clean havens and not expensive. Black bean curry with wholegrain rice - yum.
• Buy organic on the things that matter to you and that you can afford. 
• Make reasoned, sensible decisions.
• Cut back on/out the expensive unhealthy snacks, more money for the good stuff!
• Make your own healthy cakes, snacks, granola - cheaper and you know what's in them.

A lot if these principles I was following anyway. I think the biggest changes have been:

• The removal of sugar from our diets
• The increase of protein and wholegrains
• Eating more often and regularly
• Smaller portions ( for hubby!)

Have you tried the Eating Clean Plan at all?

How do you continue to keep your food budget down and yet maintain a healthy element to your menus?

Design ©2012 Another New Day

www.takingachanceinlife.blogspot.uk 2012 - 2013

All personal images are owned by Another New Day

unless stated otherwise.

Images may not be downloaded,manipulated or reproduced without prior written permission. All rights are reserved.

Commercial or Private use without explicit written consent is prohibited and action will be taken through UK and worldwide copyright laws.