Tag Archives: recipe
The Lifestyle Project 30 Day Online Fast Track – January 2020
30 days to change your ways!
If you are looking for real change in your health, eating habits, or nutrition knowledge for daily diet, the 30 Day Fast Track eating plan could be for you. I’ve created it because I’ve seen just how many there are who find themselves confused by conflicting information, stuck in their progress towards whatever health/weight/daily eating/habit goal they have, or just feel that they are fed up with feeling like they do. Is there a better way from a reliable source? Yes! The 30 Day Fast Track is designed to be just that!
What is the 30 Day Fast Track? It’s a month of real, focused change, inside and out, with me daily, with advice, recipes, video demos, live Q + As, guest experts and motivation to guide, support and empower. It includes mindset and exercise to bring truly holistic guidance and progress to shifting into a healthier, happier, more balanced state of wellbeing. It all happens on Facebook in a secret community for your intake.
Make a change for life, not for just January!
With the right food and everyday habits, your body can function efficiently giving you stable energy levels, vibrant health, and a glowing sense of well-being, plus of course, increased resilience to disease and stress, and reaching your happy weight, the weight that’s right for your body.
Re-energise your body, revitalise your health, reboot your lifestyle with an everyday masterplan that revolves around delicious real food! Add mindset, exercise and self care and you have a true holistic transformation. No quick fixes, no short term gains, just long term, healthier habits.
I’ve ploughed all 20 years of functional food knowledge, experience and passion into creating online solutions that can deliver a calmer, slimmer, happier, healthier you.
You get my most popular and effective eating plan. Here’s what Zoa had to say about it:
“I started The Masterplan last week and I am absolutely loving it!! I’ve already lost 2lb and an inch from my waist which is incredible but most of all I’m really enjoying experiencing loads of new food. I never really bothered too much before because life gets in the way so I would eat the same things all the time – things which I actually thought were quite healthy but wow, if this is healthy, bring it on !! I have never tried so many different foods before and I thought I had a fairly good diet! I’m also finding ways to slip gut friendly food into the family’s meals too, it’s great, I am loving the creativity of it all! It’s time for me now. Thanks Jane!”
The Fast Track is a huge holistic collection of what it takes to get you on the right track with the right tools in your toolkit – food, nutrition and diet; exercise; mindset; self care; recipes; video demos; resources; shopping and food lists; and me by your side!
Book your place on the next intake to commit to transformation today!
For the Food Foundation level, CLICK HERE.
For the upgrade to the Functional Gut Focus level with added gut support package, CLICK HERE.
There is also a general free group for all interested in changing their lifestyle holistically – The Lifestyle Project.
T&Cs: Fast Track intakes begin periodically through the year – email if you wish to confirm the next start date or check out the Functional Foodie Facebook page events. Purchases are non-refundable due to the nature of the product and process – if you have particular dietary needs, these can be accommodated by arrangement, so please email to confirm your needs and arrangements, or ask any questions before purchase.
No results are guaranteed – progress and success will depend on your own application of the information and support/guidance provided, and individual factors that cannot be predicted or accounted for in advance/without full assessment.
To discuss whether this is for you, get in touch and I’ll be happy to have a chat.
Gluten and the Gut – A Gut Health and Bread Baking Masterclass
To pay in instalments, drop me a message via the enquiries page.
Gluten isn’t always the culprit when we have problems with digestion or the gut in general. Bread isn’t the enemy! In reality, proper bread is your gut’s friend. So, how do you know whether you really do have a problem with gluten, or whether it’s something else? And how do you find a loaf that nourishes while taking action to restore balance to your dodgy digestion?
On this full day masterclass you’ll not only get the definitive good gut guide from a functional nutrition perspective, you’ll also have this info weaved seamlessly through a foundational artisan bread making experience as fine as the crumb on a loaf even Paul Hollywood would approve of!
The Bread Bit:
Sourdough is by far the healthiest way to bake and eat bread. A true sourdough uses only 3 key ingredients plus a little time and patience. Gluten itself is not water soluble and can therefore be difficult to digest. However, using higher hydration and a longer proving time we can help reduce that bloated feeling many of us now associate as a gluten intolerance. With time and preparation you can help build yourself a healthier gut.
Begin your baking by learning this:
A brief background and scientific history of sourdough and fermentation.
Make your own starters to take home and continue baking with.
Guidelines on how to feed and nurture your starter.
How to work with high hydration dough and the benefits of doing so.
Making white sourdough, 100% rye.
The Gut Bit:
Wide-ranging symptoms in the gut or problems with digestion are becoming increasingly common, but are rarely a reaction directly to gluten. Those annoying niggles, and even disruptive, painful symptoms, can have a number of other root causes, triggers and aggravators, all of which can be resolved without removing bread, or anything else, from your diet.
Understanding what gremlins could be manifesting your symptoms is a crucial part of being truly healthy. Cutting out particular foods might ease or remove symptoms, but that doesn’t mean it has addressed the root cause, and cutting out foods without replacing the nutrients properly will only create a whole other set of issues later.
Get to grips with your gut by learning about these essential factors:
The gut and digestion – significant differences in symptoms and root causes.
Gluten – friend or foe?
Where and how things can go awry.
Common issues and what to do about them.
How to recognise the difference between a symptom and a problem.
Food allergies, intolerances, and the gut.
Probiotics, enzymes, absorption, and more.
The impact of factors like hormones, pesticides, microbes, parasites, food choices, sugar, bacterial imbalance, and stress.
How to calm your gut naturally, boost digestion and let calm reign!
You’ll go home with the kind of beautiful resource pack that always accompanies an effective masterclass, packed with info, advice and recipes that will see you, your gut and bread the best of friends.
And of course you’ll go home with your baking bounty!
Booking closes on June 15th.
To pay in instalments, drop me a message via the enquiries page.
BOOK HERE!
T&Cs: bookings for cookery events are non-refundable – should you unavoidably need to reschedule up to 2 weeks before the event, we may be able to defer your place to a future class or event at our discretion. There is no guarantee that this class will run again.
Gluten – friend or foe?
Gluten isn’t always the culprit when we have problems with digestion or the gut in general. Bread isn’t the enemy! In reality, proper bread is your gut’s friend. So, how do you know whether you really do have a problem with gluten, or whether it’s something else? And how do you find a loaf that nourishes while taking action to restore balance to your dodgy digestion?
The fibre in good bread is crucial to such diverse factors as gut health, probiotic environment, toxin removal, hormonal balance, energy, reduced bowel cancer risk, and much more. On this full day masterclass you’ll not only get the definitive good gut guide from a functional nutrition perspective, you’ll also have this info weaved seamlessly through a foundational artisan bread making experience as fine as the crumb on a loaf even Paul Hollywood would approve of!
There are only 7 places left – to pay in instalments, drop me a message via the Enquiries tab. Event details are here.
Deck the tree with (healthy) cookies!
The festive season means many things, but to me, on the inevitable taste and sensory level that I seem to have as a default mode, December means spices. Cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves, oranges, all spice, and so much more. Jewelled colours, rich aromas, and warmth to counteract the wintry chill.
There are so many ways to incorporate this – strategically placed bowls of satsumas, a pot pourri made of dried orange slices, cinnamon sticks, bay leaves and juniper berries, and of course, spiced biscuits!
I love making these gorgeous spiced biscuits that can be used as decorations for a few days before being eaten.
Although based around a gingerbread recipe, if you don’t like gingerbread, leave the ginger out and use other spices – all cooking should be adapted and a creative therapy in itself.
This is a lovely family activity, both creatively and food skills and health-wise. Spices are wonderful for health, as are herbs. Sprinkle around liberally, and add to everything!
Christmas Spiced Tree Cookies
175g dark muscovado sugar
85g golden syrup
100g butter
3 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground cinnamon
350g plain flour, plus extra for rolling out
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 egg, lightly beaten
Heat the sugar, golden syrup and butter until melted. Mix the spices and flour in a large bowl. Dissolve the bicarbonate of soda in 1 tsp cold water. Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients, add the melted mixture, the egg and the bicarbonate of soda solution. Mix well. At this stage the mix will be soft but will become firmer as it cools in the fridge.
Cover the surface of the biscuit mix with cling film and leave to cool in the fridge for about 1 hr or until it is firm enough to roll out.
Heat the oven to 190C/170C fan/gas 5. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead to make a little more pliable. At this stage the dough can be wrapped and kept in the fridge for up to a week, or frozen. Roll out to around 2-3 mm thick. Cut into your favourite seasonal shapes, then transfer to baking trays, leaving room for them to spread. If you plan to hang the biscuits up as decorations, make a small hole in the top of each one using a skewer. Repeat until all the dough is used, or freeze any leftovers for later, to keep the decs going all Christmas – they will get eaten after all!
Bake for around 12-15 mins until they colour a little. If the holes you have made have closed over while baking, remake them while the biscuits are warm and soft using a skewer or knife. Cool for a few minutes on the baking tray, then transfer to a wire rack to cool and allow them harden up completely for decorating. Decorate with icing, edible glitter, or any other decorations you fancy.
If hung up on the tree or around the house, the biscuits will be edible for about a week, but will last a lot longer as decorations. Maybe make in the few days before Christmas for decs that last through the celebrations for some new year nibbles!
How To Cook Vegan For Health – June 2018
EARLY BIRD PRICE OF £45 AVAILABLE UNTIL MARCH 31ST (subject to availability)
Vegan eating is gaining popularity and ground as a diet that’s better for our bodies and the planet. A plant-based diet can be very nutritious IF it’s done properly. Too often becoming vegan can result in simply cutting out meat, dairy, and animal products without considering what unique macro and micro nutrients need to be substituted in other ways. Removing significant sources of essential nutrition can result in health issues, defeating the object of changing our diet to be healthier!
So, if you’d like to try a vegan diet, want to ensure that your diet is giving you everything you need, or just want to see what the possibilities are and add more animal-free meals to your diet, this class is for you.
You’ll learn exactly what and how to eat for blooming, plant-based health, cook a selection of delicious vegan meals, and take away the information and recipes you need to carry on cooking at home.
BOOK HERE!
This is a very popular class and sells out quickly, so book early to ensure a place!
Early bird price of £45 applies if booked by March 31st, subject to availability. Full price of £55 after this date.
Please note, booking closes on May 26th to allow for ingredient purchase, information production, and staffing.
T&Cs: bookings for events are non-refundable, but attendance can be transferred to another event or a later date at my discretion if I’m informed a week or more prior to the event, or two weeks prior for a cookery class.
Prices will be increasing significantly for future classes to cover increased costs – to take advantage of this class at an amazing price, book one of the remaining spaces.
Also note that you will be added to an email list to be sent joining details and event information, plus any resources. Your data is kept safe and secure at all times on a dedicated email platform. You will not be sent marketing or other newsletters unless you create an account on the website or sign up via my Facebook page to receive my free resource.
Clean Florentines – the perfect Christmas cookie!
We might not be in December’s Christmas madness yet, but Bonfire Night is over, it’s nearly Thanksgiving across the pond, and I’m being booked for events with kids around healthy eating next year. What does that have to do with Christmas cookies, you might ask! Working with organisations and charities that support children and families is something that I love doing, demystifying healthy eating, and how delicious and achievable real food is. The opportunity to be introduced to them via a Christmas Cookie workshop is ideal!
So, what cookie will last well as a gift, be easy to make, and is a Christmas crowd-pleaser? Florentines are perfect, with their scope for adapting and their healthy ingredient swaps. You can make them as ‘clean’ as you please, depending on your budget and what is in your cupboard already. The jewelled nuggets of apricot, blueberry and cranberry makes the biscuits like beautiful seasonal stained-glass feasts for the eyes as well as the taste buds with the chocolate hiding on the bottom of the biscuits. Lovely!
This is the healthiest version, and what I use most often, but there are plenty of swaps you can make:
- coconut sugar can be swapped for golden caster,
- coconut oil can be swapped for butter,
- buckwheat flour can be swapped for ordinary flour,
- coconut milk can be swapped for ordinary whole milk,
- almonds can be swapped for whatever nuts or combo you prefer,
- the fruit can be whatever you choose.
Here’s the full recipe:
Makes about 20
100g almonds, roughly chopped
100g oats
40g dried apricots, chopped small
40g dried blueberries
40g dried cranberries
30g coconut oil
50g coconut sugar
1 1/2 tbsp honey
20g buckwheat flour
150 ml coconut milk
200g dark chocolate
Preheat the oven to 170 degrees, and line a baking tray with baking parchment. Mix the almonds and oats with the fruit, ensuring there are no clumps of fruit sticking together. Melt the oil with the sugar and honey gently in a saucepan until combined, then add the flour, whisking briskly for a couple of minutes until it thickens up. Quickly add the milk, whisking briskly again for a minute until you have a smooth, thick mixture.
Remove from the heat and stir in the fruit and oat mixture. Measure out spoonfuls of mixture onto the baking tray, leaving a bit of spreading room between spoonfuls. Even out and flatten slightly, then bake for around 15 minutes, turning the tray around half way through to ensure an even bake. Leave to cool, and when ready to decorate, melt the chocolate in a bain marie. Place the cookies on another sheet of baking parchment, face down, then drizzle and spread melted chocolate over the bottom of the cookies, and leave to cool and harden. You can also dip the cookies into the chocolate so that you have half and half versions. the choice is yours!
Enjoy your clean cookies with a cuppa before, during or after the seasonal madness!
Seaweed sandwich, anyone?
If your consumption of sea vegetables thus far on your culinary journey has been limited to a bit of sushi from the supermarket, then you’re missing out. Whether it’s for flavour or health, seaweed is a fantastic food to add to your diet, and best of all, it doesn’t have to be from imported sources at the health food shop or oriental market. Our shores are teeming with varieties of seaweed that are not just edible, but absolutely delicious too.
Even more surprisingly, those of you who are currently thinking that seaweed is the last thing that you would want to eat may change your minds when you taste dulse, one of our most commonly found varieties – it tastes like bacon when it’s cooked. Maybe not as convincing as a bacon sandwich, but still, not exactly what you might expect.
So, what is it, and how do we make the most of this natural harvest right on our doorstep? Dulse is part of a large family of edible saltwater plants and algae that also include more readily known varieties like nori and kelp. Like all edible seaweed, dulse provides a wealth of nutrients, fibre and protein, rich in vitamins, trace minerals, healthy fatty acids, and antioxidants.
It’s easy to buy dried dulse, and as its nutritional value doesn’t degrade after it’s converted into powder or flakes, having some on hand to sprinkle into salads, soups and stews is convenient. Store it in a dry and dark place and it’ll last for at least two years, making it truly a go-to health booster to use in all kinds of ways.
The assumption that seaweed will taste a bit too, well, seaweedy, has doubtless put many people off trying it at all, but with the accessibility, sustainability, and variety of uses, surely it’s something that we need to consider as conscious consumers. The big bonus is in the health benefits – while all natural foods have distinct and purposeful nutrient profiles, seaweed is a truly exceptional all rounder. Just some of the health benefits of dulse include its ability to protect vision, boost the immune system, build bone health, optimise the function of the thyroid gland, increase growth and repair, support the gastrointestinal tract, lower blood pressure, strengthen the brain and nervous system, and boost circulation.
A fantastic food, and a great focus for your next beach visit! To achieve that bacon-like effect, pan-fry some dried whole-leaf dulse with oil over medium-high heat until crisp, then make up your dish or sandwich. Delicious!
Another way to use dulse, or any other seaweed that you have chosen, is to cut strips from a sheet, or take some larger flakes, and allow them to float gently in this lovely broth. Health in a bowl!
Miso Broth
miso paste (authentic paste from an oriental market)
pak choi, each leaf sliced in half lengthwise
sliced greens or cabbage
red pepper, thinly sliced
garlic, very thinly slivered
ginger, very thinly slivered
good quality bone broth or stock of your choice
seaweed strips
chicken, fish, beef or tofu pieces
Pour the required amount of bone broth or stock into a pan, bring to a gentle simmer, and add a teaspoon or two of miso paste, stirring to dissolve. Add the garlic, ginger, meat/fish/tofu, and sliced veg and simmer very gently for a few minutes until the veg is just tender and the meat is cooked through. Add the seaweed and turn off the heat, allowing the seaweed to steep for a couple of minutes. Serve up in big bowls and enjoy!
The Walnut has landed!
After a few days of strange, unusual, and if I’m honest, chaotic events (culminating in nearly running over a suicidal seagull focused only on the lollipop clamped jealously in its beak, proving how dangerous junk food is!), I was thrilled to receive the inaugural copy of Walnut magazine – I was approached to write foodie health articles for it a while ago and completely forgot about it, so this is my first view of the finished mag and my mental health nutrition article.
If you’re in the Bristol area, you’ll be lucky enough to be able to grab a copy – beautifully designed and produced, and packed with wonderful information, advice and recipes. If you don’t live in the distribution area, you can purchase a copy of this hefty quarterly gem here: Walnut Magazine
Welcome to Walnut! Great stuff, Dermot!
Take your foodie health to a new level with The Functional Foodie hub!
You love good food and great health. You live life to the full, and want the energy and joie de vivre to squeeze everything out of every day. So, how do you do that, with all the demands of modern living? Keeping up to date with the latest news, information and advice on health and food is an essential part of protecting yourself and your loved ones.
Recipes, health information, wellbeing motivation, and the most accurate advice – that is what the hub is all about.
We all have health concerns, or have loved ones who do. What would it be like to be able to access the professional input of an experienced functional nutritionist without having to spends hours, and a fortune, in consultations? Get the latest, researched knowledge and advice every month, with a different issue, condition or niggle under the spotlight each time.
Members can access my advice round up on the focus issue, a targeted recipe and demo video for that issue. Our private Functional Foodies closed Facebook group is yet another benefit of joining us.
Food is the ultimate healer – it’s our fuel, our nourishment, our daily foundation for energy and existence. What could be better than knowing exactly what foods can do to heal and protect, with recipes right there for you to use?
Each month members have access to recipes targeted at healing the health focus for that month. As the months go by, the scope of professional advice and healing recipes broadens and builds. Your personal health library and cooking bible, all in one place.
Get the inside track on foodie health from me every month, with videos, targeted recipes, your questions answered, and a private Facebook community, plus an extra recipe hub and exclusive resources. Daily healthcare made easy!
Here’s a peek at the Foodie Focuses for the next few months:
In January we had Real Food for Real Life: What IS the ideal diet?
In February I talked about The Omega Question: The essentials about fats.
In March I gave members the inside track on Supercharging: Easily boost the nutrients in your daily diet.
In April I’ll let Foodies in on Beating the Bloat: The causes and how to beat it.
May will be about Gluten: Hard to stomach?
In June we’ll examine The S Word: Conquering the sugar monster.
And so it continues every month!
There is so much confusing information out there, often contradictory, and it can be hard to know who and what to trust. This is a place where my members’ questions and concerns are addressed, where information can be relied upon, and where you’ll get the inside track on health and how to use food as daily healthcare. The professional input of an experienced functional nutritionist at your fingertips – what’s not to like?
The price for full annual Foodie membership will rise monthly this year as the content keeps on going and keeps on growing, so joining earlier locks in a year of amazing value for an incredible price – in April it’s only £55 (approx $78 USD). Awesome value!
Check out this blog post on how to influence your mood with food – it’s the essence of functional food. Check out the hub and membership here.
Kale and Walnut Omega Pesto
Kale is the daddy of nutritious greens! Very fashionable for a little while now, it has been an autumn/winter staple for much longer, and rightly so. It’s a potent source of plant betacarotene, cancer-fighting sulphorophane and indoles, as well as vitamins C and E. The amount of kale in this recipe alone outstrips the RDA for C, E and betacarotene. Calcium, potassium, and a host of other nutrients, also feature.
Kale is an easy cruciferous veg to include in our diets several times a week, shredded in stews or soups, steam-fried with mushrooms or bacon as a side, or lightly bound with crème fraiche after steaming. Using for a pesto is a great way to make a fridge standby for those frantic days where a quick, comforting, easy meal is all you’re thinking about.
The oils and walnuts join in to give the recipe its omega title – flax, rapeseed and walnuts are fantastic sources of omega 3 precursors, and with a touch of olive oil, the range of oils is available for your body and brain. Walnuts are high in B6 and folate too, along with magnesium, zinc, iron, manganese and phosphorous.
Garlic and lemon juice top up the health benefits as well as flavour. So, for your heart, immunity, mood, and many other benefits, get these choice ingredients down you with this simple recipe. And the parmesan? Well, you can’t have a pesto without the scrumptious Parmigiano Reggiano……
Kale and Walnut Omega Pesto
100g chopped walnuts
1 tsp salt
100g kale, ripped into pieces
2 cloves of garlic, minced
organic rapeseed, flaxseed or extra virgin olive oil (or a mixture of all three)
100g parmesan
juice of 1 lemon
Toast the chopped walnuts carefully in a dry pan, ensuring they don’t burn.
Cook the kale in water with 1 tsp salt, uncovered, until just tender, then drain.
Whizz up the garlic, walnuts and kale until combined, then pulse or whizz slowly, adding the oil in a slow stream.
Stir in the cheese, then add lemon juice and seasoning to taste.
Weave through beautiful wholegrain organic pasta, keeping the rest (if there is any!) in the fridge for another meal. Enjoy!
