Recipe: Pumpkin Soup

Ingredients: (serves 4)

• 1/2 a medium-sized pumpkin or 2kg (peeled and chopped)
• 2 garlic cloves (crushed)
• 20g butter
• 2 cream delight potatoes (peeled and chopped)
• 1L chicken/vegetable stock
• 2 Tbsp natural/Greek yoghurt or cream
• Pepper & herbs to taste

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 180c fan-forced. Line a tray with baking paper, place pumpkin onto paper,drizzle with oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake for 40 minutes or until golden and soft.
2. While pumpkin is baking, prepare other ingredients
3. Then melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat and add the garlic.
4. Add potatoes and cook for 5 minutes.
5. Add the stock, bring to boil and then reduce to a simmer until potatoes are fully cooked (15 minutes)
6. Stir in the roasted pumpkin and yoghurt/cream and keep on heat for a few more minutes.
7. Allow a few minutes for the soup to cool before blending.
8. Using a blender or food processor, blend the mixture in batches, then return to saucepan over low heat. If using a stick blender, blend in the saucepan over no heat and then return to low heat.
9. Serve and sprinkle with pepper, herbs, chives etc. to taste.

Credit goes to Taste.com for this recipe. For the original recipe go to:
http://www.taste.com.au/recipes/29499/roasted+pumpkin+soup

Recipe: Sweet Chilli & Soy Fish with Asian Greens

Ingredients: - Serves 4

For the fish:

• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 2tbs sweet chilli sauce
• 2tbs lemon juice
• 3cm piece of ginger
• 1 clove garlic
• 4 pieces of white fish (~600g)*
• 2 green onions/shallots

Veggies:

• Broccoli
• Green beans/snow peas
• Pak choy or buk choy (Chinese cabbage)
• Asparagus
• Carrot (Not green ... I know)

Serve with:

• Brown/white rice 

Method

1. Preheat oven to 200°C. Put saucepan of water on stove and cook rice per packet instruction. 
2. Finely chop ginger and garlic and place in a bowl. Add soy sauce, sweet chilli sauce and lemon juice. Mix.
3. Place each piece of fish on a separate piece of foil. Top each piece with finely chopped green onion. Spoon 2 tbs of the sauce mixture over each piece of fish.
4. Fold up foil to form parcels. Place on a baking tray and bake for 10 to 15 minutes or until cooked through.
5. While fish is cooking, prepare the veggies. Cut broccoli into large florets and carrot into sticks. Roughly chop stalks of pak choy and keep the leaves separate. 
6. Place veggies except pak choy leaves in a pot with a small amount of water.
7. Cover with lid and steam over medium heat for 3-5mins until just soft. Add leaves and cover for a further 30secs. Drain.
8. Once fish is cooked, place rice and veggies on plate and open foil. Pour liquid from foil over rice and veggies. Place fish on top of rice. 

Notes:

* Basa is a very affordable fish. It’s from Vietnam and Thailand so it always comes frozen

and you can actually buy it from the frozen section at Aldi for super cheap. If you’re looking

for something a bit more fancy go for some Blue Grenadier.

Credit goes to Taste.com for this recipe. For the original recipe go to: http://www.taste.com.au/recipes/18487/chilli+soy+fish+with+egg+noodles

Recipe: Yellow Chicken and Vegetable Curry

Ingredients

• 600g chicken breast, cut into 3cm cubes
• 2 tablespoons yellow curry paste
• 1 onion sliced
• 270ml light coconut milk 
• 80ml water
• 150g green beans or snowpeas
• 1 capsicum, thinly sliced
• 1 zucchini, thinly sliced
• Fresh coriander, to garnish

Method:

1. Heat oil in a wok (or frying pan) and add chicken to the pan. Cook for 2 minutes on medium heat or until the chicken is golden on the outside.*
2. Add curry paste and chopped onion to the chicken. Continue to cook for another 2 minutes or until the onion is soft.
3. Add the coconut milk and water to the pan. Heat until boiling and leave to simmer for 3 minutes. 
4. Add the capsicum, zucchini, beans/snowpeas to the pan, and cook for 2 minute. 
5. Serve with rice and coriander leaves

Notes

#You can use any vegetables you may have in your fridge already. Pumpkin, sweet potato, corn, broccoli, cauliflower and carrot are all great substitutes!

*Don’t cook the chicken the whole way through at this stage, as your chicken might dry out as you continue to cook the curry.

This recipe has been adapted from ‘Yellow Chicken & Vegetable Curry’ from taste.com http://www.taste.com.au/recipes/20037/yellow+chicken+vegetable+curry

Recipe: Chicken, Vegie and Barley Soup

Ingredients:

• 2tbs olive oil
• 1 medium brown onion
• 2tbs tomato paste
• 1tbs fresh thyme leaves
• ¾ cup pearl barley#
• 2L vegetable stock
• 1 chicken breast fillet
• Salt and pepper
• Paprika*
• 1 medium potato
• 1 carrot
• ½ frozen peas
• ½ pkt baby spinach

Method:

1. Heat oil in a large saucepan over high heat and add sliced onion. Cook for 2-3 mins until starting to soften. 
2. Add stock, tomato paste, pearl barley and thyme. Bring to the boil, then cover and reduce heat to low-medium heat. Simmer for 30mins.
3. While soup is simmering, lie the chicken breast flat and slice horizontally into two thinner halves. Season each side with salt, pepper and paprika.
4. Heat oil in a frypan over high heat and sear the chicken on both sides for 3-4mins or until brown and cooked through.
5. Add potato and carrot to soup and simmer for further 10mins, until tender.
6. Roughly pull apart/shred chicken and add to soup with, peas and spinach.
7. Stir, cover and remove from heat.

For extra delicious-ness serve with cheesy toasted pita bread:

1. Cut pita bread in half and fill each with ¼ cup grated cheese
2. Toast in toastie machine and serve

Notes:

# We used soup mix, which has a mix of pearl barley and green and yellow split peas. It is usually easy to find – even Aldi sells it.
* Don’t worry too much about paprika if you can’t be bothered, it will still be tasty. If you’d like a slightly different flavour, sprinkle some curry powder on instead or whichever spice takes your fancy. This recipe is adapted from ‘Chicken and barley soup with cheesy flatbread’ from Taste.com for a bigger vegie fix. Find the original recipe at http://www.taste.com.au/recipes/35167/chicken+and+barley+soup+with+cheesy+flatbreads

The easiest way to get healthy – without exercise!

Getting healthy without exercise, effort or money? Surely not. Until you discover the magic of drinking water. The significant benefit of drinking water is no secret, yet the vast majority of us do not consume enough H₂O each day. Dehydration, even in its mildest form, can have detrimental effect on our metabolism and bodily functions. In fact, your body needs to be adequately hydrated to reap the rewards of a hard workout. So in case you have forgotten or been living under a rock for your whole life, I thought I would give you a quick refresher on the benefits of H₂O:

• Vital to maintain bodily functions and metabolism: our bodies are roughly 60% water and thus is goes without saying that by not replenishing these stores we are adversely impacting its function. Water is also vital to speed up metabolism and clear toxins from our system.
• Suppresses hunger: over 75% of the time when we feel the need for a quick snack or meal we are actually not hungry, rather we are dehydrated. Thus, the calories we consume during this time is surplus and going straight to our waistline or thighs. By maintaining adequate hydration we would be saving our bodies from these excess, unwanted calories.
• Helps you stay alert and maintains energy levels: dehydration commonly leads to fatigue and lethargy, and hence, by staying hydrated we can avoid these feelings – especially during exercise.
• The healthiest drink: no sugar, no preservatives and nothing artificial. As long as its not brown and you can see through the glass, it’s the best liquid for you.
• Other benefits: decreases incidence of headaches, colon cancer, urinary tract cancer and kidney stones; also improves the appearance of your skin.

How much water do you need per day?

The general recommendation seems to be roughly around 6-8 glasses per day. But this variable depending on the water content of the food you are consuming and also the level of daily activity. So what is the perfect amount? Check your urine! If your urine is a lemonade or pale-straw colour you can pat your self on the back because your body is well hydrated. If it’s a distinct yellow or yellow-green colour you should grab your bottle and head straight to the tap. (If it’s any other colour you either need your eye checked or you should see a doctor).

Tips to stay hydrated:

• Get yourself a drink bottle and take it everywhere. Sip throughout the day rather than waiting for the thirst sensation.
• Go for a glass of water first thing in the morning – yes, that is, before (or, instead of) your morning coffee.
• Drink a glass of water before and after each meal.
• If you want to make things interesting, slice up a lemon and a few strawberries, put them in the bottle and throw it in the fridge overnight to let the flavours infuse. Experiment with other fruits or vegetables – acidic ones work best.
• Green tea is a great hot substitute instead of black tea or coffee, plus you get an added dose of antioxidants.