Lentil and spinach soup

Now this is NOT something I would normally cook but I tried it and loved it......

300g brown lentils wash really well

Can of chickpeas - don’t forget to wash them really well
3 stalks of Celery sliced
2 leeks sliced
2 onions
3 cloves of garlic pressed in garlic press
2 carrots chopped small
600g spinach chopped
Half a lemon juice and zest
Splash of olive oil
2 liters water

Place the lentils in a pot with crushed garlic and 2 liters of cold water
Cook for 25 minutes or until tender.

In another pot heat olive oil and add all the vegetables leaving the spinach and chickpeas out cook for about 12 minutes then add the lentils and their water to the vegetables. simmer for 20 minutes until it is like a nice soup consistency then add chickpeas and spinach and salt and pepper simmer for another 7 minutes adding extra water if needed.

Enjoy TASH xxx

PORTIONING YOUR PLATE

Ok so it helps me to divide our plates up in 3 sections

1. Vegetables- These should be non-starchy vegetables that are multicolored!! The more color on your plate, the better!! This should take up half of your plate.

2. Protein is your next section. Chicken, beef, pork, lamb, ham, turkey, any lean meat and egg. This should be a little over 1/4 of your meal.

3. Carbs-brown rice, cous cous, quinoa, (steer clear of bread, white rice and pasta with weight loss) try to avoid any Carbs at night time.

A few notes-
 Try and limit Carbs to morning and lunch stay clear at night time.
Potato is a starchy carb cut them out if you can all together
Eat the whole egg- the best part for you is the yolk

My Quick Lunch Time Salad

I find that if I wash all my veggies and then put them in the fridge it makes things a lot quicker for me during the week. I also wash and pull apart my lettuce and keep in zip lock bags. You can also chop up all your salad stuff and keep in the zip lock bags or fridge containers for the week so it’s easy when you want it fast!

Lettuce

Spinach leaves

White cabbage

Carrot grated/chopped

Cucumber

Tomato

Capsicum (any colour)

Feta cheese

Optional*

Sun dried tomatoes

Olives

Capers
Onion
Boiled egg
Tin plain tuna in spring water
I put a little sweet chili sauce on mine once made, you can use a vinegar mix if you prefer!

Cut up all the ingredients in to bite size bits mix and enjoy

Tash xxx

example of my eating plan

Ok so I’ve been "clean eating", "eating right" "eating fresh" whatever you want to call it for about 2 weeks now. I haven’t been as strict as I probably should be but it takes time to change your eating habits for good and permanent change.

I have been trying to make everything from scratch that go's in my mouth, I have a free day or two depending what is happening that week.
There are a few things I LOVE, I’m a huge PASTA fan. I love spaghetti, macaroni, and any pasta. So I TRY to buy the whole meal or brown pasta which isn’t really available here and I limit to maybe 2 meals a week.

Rice, well it’s really hard to eat out here and not order something that does have rice. So eating out has been limited, well trying.

Also Indonesians LOVE sweet stuff, bread here is disgustingly sweetened with sugar.

I’m really lucky here because I have the time to cook from scratch, all the time. I tend to have a BIG cooking day; usually the day after Tatie (my maid) goes to the market. I do up a huge chicken and veg soup, spinach and lentil soup, beef and red wine casserole, and a quiche and portion them into freezer containers.

So like I said there are a few things I just can’t live without: REAL FATTY MILK!!!! Pasta hit now and then, mint slice biscuits and a few beverages... All of these things are ok in MODERATION!!!!
MODERATION!!!!-this is one word that has been lost in our society for far too long! People over eat, and not good food. They get UP-sized meals; really did you need those extra chips full of sugar? And that Pepsi full of sugar? NO you really didn’t.

I get very angry when I hear or read usually oh I didn’t know that was bad for me.......REALLY you had no idea that if you sat down and ate that whole packet of chocolate biscuits that there would be no side effects?

ahh anyway totally of the track, all I’m trying to say is that people need to stop playing dumb, ask for help, or research and take some accountability for their own lives.

ok so just 2 short weeks into changing my eating for the better, (not that it was veer really bad) iv never really been a junk food person but with kids you find that pasta's and rice dishes, and breads are on your main shopping list a lot of the time because their easy, cheap, and you know the kids will eat it! But our children have to learn the difference between fresh eating and bad habit eating as well and grow and expand there taste’s.
I only had knee surgery in March; I’m really impressed with the results so Far., following is an idea of what I have been eating:

DAY 1
Breakfast: Oats with brown sugar and whole milk
Snack: Banana and berry smoothie with whole milk
Lunch: Lentil and spinach soup
Snack: Muffin (Homemade) Sometime miss this snack if I had a late lunch or having early dinner
Dinner: Baked Lemon chicken with steamed veg.

Day 2:
Breakfast: scrambled eggs half a piece of toast (homemade bread) (whole meal)
Snack: smoothie
Lunch: tuna + a quick salad
Snack:  strawberries
Dinner: Grilled salmon fillet with stir fry veg.

There are just 2 examples of some meals that we eat. I will be posting a recipe a day so stay tuned.

Tash xxx

REST. RECOVERY AND INJURY

 

Ok so we are going to talk REST and RECOVERY and INJURY for your body today.

It’s fantastic to see people get right into exercise and wanting to get fit. Your body on the other hand is probably in shock if you haven’t done anything in a long time, you need to ease into it, gradually increasing your time and making your workout harder.

I recommend doing 1-2 weights sessions a week but not the same body part (muscle group), 2-3 intense cardio sessions and then as many "light" sessions as you want-nice strolls, soft bike ride etc.

The body repairs and strengthens itself in the time between workouts, and continuous training can actually weaken the strongest athletes. Rest days are critical to sports performance for a variety of reasons. Some are physiological and some are psychological. Rest is physically necessary so that the muscles can repair, rebuild and strengthen.

Recovery time allows these stores to be replenished and allows tissue repair to occur. Without sufficient time to repair and replenish, the body will continue to breakdown from intensive exercise.

There are a few things you can do to help your body repair itself,

* Drink plenty of H2O before, during and after exercise.

*Stretch well after exercise, even better get someone else to stretch you.

*Make sure your eating- and eating good food.

*Rest.....

When exercising you are meant to feel "the burn" example, if you are doing lunges you muscles in your legs and butt will hurt. Your knees shouldn’t hurt if you get sharp pain in your knees or say back you’re not doing it right so STOP! This is where having a personal trainer/professional to show you how to do exercises with proper form so you do not injure yourself by having poor incorrect form.

TASH xx

Daily Recipes

Hey Guys, from now on I’m going to try and post 1 recipe a day!

So I have made a few yummy things in the past few weeks. Keeping in mind that I have 3 growing children that DO NOT want to lose weight, I usually make 2 dinners. :)

I made an awesome Beef and red wine casserole last week it was awesome:

Preheat oven to 180degress c

500g round steak (just some nice beef)

1 onion (I like it just sliced)

3 cloves of garlic crushed

5 diced tomatoes

1 cup red wine

1 cup hot water

2 table spoons plain flour

1 beef stock cube (dissolved in the 1 cup of hot water above)

Drops of oil (olive, rapeseed etc)

Add a drop of oil in a non stick pan, add onion and cook until soft. Add garlic, cook for 30 seconds put into casserole dish.
Toss meat in flour reheat pan add one more drop of oil, fry meat until all is brown (6 minutes) put into casserole dish.
reheat pan add tomatoes, wine, stock bring to the boil and add salt and pepper to taste add to casserole dish cover and cook for 1.5hours.

(You can add in carrot, capsicum, peas or mushrooms)

Nice warm winter dish! Yummo enjoy!
Tash xx