How is your resolution to lose weight?  Got going yet?  Juicing is an an excellent way to lose weight. Here’s a sample recipe that can kick-start your diet.

Weight-Loss Wonder Juice

This juice will work wonders at helping you lose those unwanted pounds.  And you’ll enjoy every drop of it, too! What an awesome combination!

INGREDIENTS

• 5 carrots
• 1 apple
• ½ cucumber
• ½ beet
• 1 stalk of celery

Place the chopped ingredients into your juicer.  Juice and enjoy!

If you think this juice needs a bit of a zing, add fresh ginger to taste!

The information and sample vegetable juice recipe above are supplied courtesy of Expert Guide to Juicing – Click Here.

More information about juicing on my other site Juicing for Health.

My Favorite Green Juice Recipe

The thing I like about this recipe is that it contains loads of “Super Foods” including kale, celery, lemons and apples.

• Celery helps create a perfect pH balance, and balances out sodium levels, helping your body assimilate and function at its best.
• Kale is the most nutrient dense food in the world, with untold number of vitamins, high in minerals and full of antioxidants.
• Cucumber, one of the most hydrating foods, rich in electrolytes, is a known beautifier. Lemon is one of the most powerful cleansers known to man.
• Apples – well they are close to the perfect food.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 bunch of kale
• 3 cucumbers, quartered
• 1 bunch of celery stalks
• 1 lemon, quartered
• 4 apples, quartered

PROCEDURE:

• Chop all ingredients into chunks
• Feed them into your juicer until all are used.
• Drink immediately – Makes 2 to 4 glasses

The information and sample vegetable juice recipe above are supplied courtesy of Expert Guide to Juicing – Click Here.

More information about juicing on my other site Juicing for Health.

If you need to get rid of a hangover after the excesses of last night, here’s a healthy juice to help you detox. It’s a beet juice drink, but with some added ingredients to give it a great flavor.

Why drink Beet Juice?

Drinking beet juice supplies you with high levels of Vitamins A, B1, B2, B6 and C, and the choline beets contain is said to help detoxify the liver, hence the suggestion of using it if you have a hangover!

As an aside: One pint of beet juice can significantly lower your blood pressure. See this 2008 study for more details:

One of the drawbacks with beets is that they must be cleaned and peeled thoroughly. If you don’t do this their earthy flavor actually tastes somewhat “dirty”.

To properly select beets at the market, be sure to feel the root. It should be firm and free of any cracks. Once separated from their green tops, beets will last for weeks in the refrigerator but will quickly become soft after a few days if left attached. The juice should be consumed immediately as it will quickly loose it potency if left in the refrigerator.

SWEET BEET JUICE RECIPE

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 beets, tops removed, scrubbed
• 3 apples
• 2 orange wedges (optional)

PROCEDURE:

• Cut the apples and beets into chunks
• Alternating between juicing beets and apples push them through the juicer.
• Divide the juice into 2 glasses and serve garnished with an orange slice.

The information and sample beet juice recipe above are supplied courtesy of Expert Guide to Juicing – Click Here.

More information about juicing on my other site Juicing for Health.

Want to get the kids eating more vegetables? Halloween presents some fun ways to “trick and treat” them.

Here’s one – more below – together with a reminder of why you’ll be doing them a favor!

Frankenstein Fingers and Sheep’s Eyes

Frankenstein's fingers and sheeps' eyes

Fill a small bowl with ready-made guacamole, houmous or other favourite dip. Take 5 baby carrots and take a thin slice off the tip of each. Then use the knife to make a small incision at the base of this cut and push a flaked almond into the slot to look like finger nails! Arrange the carrots into the dip so they look like fingers. For the sheep’s eyes, peel 4 carrots and thickly slice. Slice a few green stuffed olives and red grapes. Top each carrot slice with a blob of sour cream and the sliced grapes or olives. Arrange the eyes in pairs on a serving plate.

Why are carrots so good to eat?

Guard yourself against “things that go bump in the night” with our spooky Halloween x-ray vision carrot party menu. Not only will carrots help you see in the dark, but they can be made into great party fare.

Why not get the kids to “give you a hand” creating Frankenstein Fingers from baby carrots, using flaked almonds as finger nails and assembling them into a pot of slimy green guacamole. Sheep’s eyes are a doddle too, simply top the sliced carrots with a blob of sour cream and then sliced grapes or olives and arrange the eyes in pairs on a serving plate. Kids will love decorating Spooky Carrot Muffins with iced spiders, pumpkins and ghosts and they’ll be great for any trick or treaters too. Jacket potatoes with chilli lamb and carrot topping are another delicious party option for children and adults alike.  And they’re all dead easy to prepare. Not to mention easy on the purse in these credit crunch days!

These devilish delights are packed with carrot goodness. They are brimming with the powerful antioxidant beta-carotene, which is converted into vitamin A in the body. In fact, of all fruit and vegetables, carrots are actually the best source of beta-carotene – an 80g serving contains more than twice the recommended daily amount (RDA) needed by adults. Vitamin A aids the growth of healthy bones and teeth and is essential for the proper functioning of the immune system. Carrots are also high in fibre, naturally low in fat and saturates and count as one of your five-a-day.

So what are you waiting for? Hop on your broomsticks, don your pointy hats and get carrot crunching this Halloween. Try out the spooky recipes below or visit www.britishcarrots.co.uk for more recipe inspiration.

For a bit of Halloween fun, here are some more spooky ideas! They are quick and easy and get the kids eating veg too!

Firey Jackets

Firey Jacket Potatoes

Preparation: 10mins
Cooking: 1hr 10mins
Serves 6
Per serving: 335 calories, 9.4 fat, 4.0g saturates, 10.3g sugars, 0.37g salt

Ingredients
6 baking potatoes, scrubbed
1 (400g) pack lean lamb mince
1 onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 green pepper, deseeded and chopped
10ml/2tsp ground cumin,
10ml/2tsp coriander
10ml/2tspsmoked paprika
1/2-1tsp/2.5-5ml chilli flakes
450g/1lb carrots, peeled and coarsely grated
1 (400g) can tomatoes
15ml/1 tbsp tomato puree
salt and ground black pepper
45ml/3tbsp chopped fresh coriander
sour cream mixed with chopped coriander to serve, if liked

Method
1. Preheat the oven to 220C/ Fan 200C/450F/Gas Mark 7. Scrub the potatoes clean, then place on a baking tray. Bake for 35-40mins or until tender.
2.  Meanwhile, Heat a large pan or wok, add the lamb mince without any extra oil, and  sauté  over a medium heat for 6-8mins, stirring to break up the mince, until it is nicely browned. Add the onion, garlic and pepper and  sauté for 2mins.
3.  Add the spices and carrots, cook for 1 min. Then add the tomatoes, puree and plenty of salt and pepper. Bring to the boil, cover and simmer for 10mins. Stir well, then simmer uncovered for a further 5mins or until the juices have thickened slightly. Adjust the seasoning.
4.   Split the baked potatoes and spoon a little of the mince mixture into each. Serve topped with sour cream mixed with chopped coriander if liked.

Halloween Carrot Muffins

Carrot Muffins

Preparation: 20mins
Cooking: 25mins
Makes 12

Ingredients
200g/7oz soft light brown sugar
200ml/7floz sunflower oil
2 medium eggs
200g/7oz plain flour
2.5ml/1/2 tsp baking powder
2.5ml/1/2tsp bicarbonate of soda
pinch of salt
5ml/1 tsp ground cinnamon
200g/7oz carrots, peeled and grated
50g/2oz walnut pieces, chopped
5ml/1 tsp vanilla essence

For the icing:
225g/ icing sugar, sifted
25g/1oz unsalted butter
75g/3oz chilled full fat cream cheese
food colouring and writing icing

Method
1.   Preheat the oven to 170C/Fan 150C/325F/Gas Mark 3. Line a deep 12-hole muffin tin with paper cases.
2.  Place the sugar, oil and eggs in a large bowl, then beat together with a wooden spoon until the mixture is smooth and thickened. Sift over the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, salt and cinnamon then fold in until well mixed. Fold in the carrots, walnuts and vanilla essence.
3.   Divide the mixture between the paper cake cases. Bake in the middle of the oven for 25mins or until golden, risen and the middle bounces back when lightly pressed. Leave to cool in the tin for 5mins before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
4.   For the icing: Use an electric whisk to beat the icing sugar and butter together in a large bowl until fluffy. Add the cream cheese and briefly beat together again until just combined. Don’t overbeat or it will become runny. Spread the icing over the muffins, then let the kids go mad icing the cakes with spooky characters.

Freezing instructions:
Un-iced these muffins freeze well. Once cold pack them into a freezer proof container or bag and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw at room temperature for about 1 hour, then ice as instructed.

Thanks to Steve at Foodamentalists for these Christmas dinner tips

Best ever roast potatoes

Use red potatoes for your roast potatoes. If you need to use white ones be sure to use Maris Piper and par-boil them so they are cooked outside but still slightly hard in the middle, drain off all the water, replace the lid onto the pan and shake it lightly to fluff up the outside. Put them on a roasting tray and add melted goose fat (which can be cooked at a higher temp than other fats to give you a crispier roast). Roll the potatoes in the fat so that they are completely covered, cover with tin foil and place in a hot oven to cook for 10 minutes, then remove the foil and cook until golden brown.

For extra crispy roast potatoes, sprinkle them with a bit of starch (corn, tapioca or potato) before you put them in to the hot oil.

Pigs in Blankets

NEVER USE SAUAGES for your “pigs in blankets” (most sausages contain mechanically recovered meat).  If you have a good butcher buy pork mince, otherwise buy pork loin, steaks, fillet and mince it yourself.

• For 500g pork mince add 2 egg yolks,
• 3 slices organic bread with crusts removed,
• 100ml cows, goats, soya milk
• Add a little thyme, sage, crushed garlic, sea salt to your own taste

Now for the fun bit – get your hands in there and squish it and squash it until fully mixed.
Lay some cling film on your work top and dust with corn flour. Roll out your mince into a sausage shape, lay some Pancetta or bacon out to the full length of your sausage and roll your sausage up in the Pancetta/bacon.

Slice it to required sizes, cook eat.

(Always make more than you need because you will want to eat some straight out of the oven!)

Carrot Paneer and Pea Curry Christmas season

Christmas food and feasting seems to start earlier each year, with the results that even before the big day I’m feeling weary of rich food and cakes, and looking forward to something tasty and savoury. And with the snow that has been falling, and is still plaguing many people, something to beat the chills would be great too.

So here’s a warming and tasty curry that’s good for you too. Enjoy!

CARROT PANEER AND PEA CURRY
Serves 4

Ingredients
300g (4 medium) carrots, diced
125g frozen peas
200g tinned tomatoes
2 tbsp vegetable oil
30g butter
1 tbsp medium strength curry paste
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 lge onion, peeled and finely chopped
227g packet of paneer
3cm fresh ginger, peeled and finely chopped
1/2 red chilli, seeded and finely diced
3 cardamom pods
1tsp black mustard seeds
75g creamed coconut
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp cumin seeds
200ml vegetable stock
1 handful chopped coriander

Method
1. In a deep pan, heat the oil and butter. Add the carrots and onion and fry for about 5 minutes. Season with the sea salt and black pepper. Add the ginger and garlic, followed by the mustard seeds, ground coriander, turmeric, cumin, chilli, curry paste and crushed cardomom pods.
2. Add the tomatoes and vegetable stock. After 5 minutes add the creamed coconut. Chop the paneer into 1cm cubes and add it to the stock mixture with the frozen peas. (If the mixture is too thick add a little water).
3. Serve on a bed of Basmati rice with mango chutney and poppadoms. Garnish with the chopped coriander.

Notes
Paneer is a type of cheese used widely in Indian cuisine and some Middle Eastern and Southeast Asian cuisine. Unlike most cheeses, the making of paneer does not involve rennet as the coagulation agent, and therefore is completely lacto-vegetarian.

Looking through the window these last few days, instead of the recent crop of bright red tomatoes, I’ve been faced with green tomatoes – and wondering what to do with them. Of course, I’ve ripened some of them on the kitchen window sill, but I was wondering what else I could do with them….. and it’s obviously been on Mickie_G’s mind too, because she’s put together a great supply of recipes for green tomatoes to get us all cooking and enjoying green tomatoes.

To be honest I would never have thought there were so many delicious ideas, so head on over right away! The green tomato is NOT useless.

Please use “Share This” (below) to tell your friends about these great recipes for using up the last of their tomato crop.

How to Use Avocado

The avocado is a great source of vitamins, minerals and essential oils, but often all you can think of doing with it is cutting it in half and popping some prawns or tuna in the hole that’s left.

Which is fine in itself, but you may want to get a bit more creative.

I posted a rather yummy avocado recipe a few months ago when I was writing about the avocado being a good food source of magnesium.  I was reminded of that when I bumped into interesting information on how to use avocado on another website you may be interested to check out.

Don’t just read the one post, enter the word “avocado” in the search box at the top and you’ll find lots more information about using the avocado in tasty and healthy recipes. Enjoy!

If you like this post, please use the “Share This” tool below to let your friends know.

For a themed recipe, on Pancake Day, here’s a different way to serve your family with pancakes, by adding some yogurt and tasty red berries – which will turn them into a much healthier snack, instead of adding sugar. But if anyone in the family insists on something sweet, remember to use honey instead of sugar.

And for a completely different approach to pancakes, check out this recipe I found for Potato Pancakes. Be sure to read as far down as the healthy option!

With Pancake Day on the horizon, a couple of people have contacted me to ask about alternatives to wheat for making their pancakes. Try these Soy Flour Pancakes.