Fish and chips in 30 minutes...

Yep.. you can still have fish and chips!

I was never a fan of the traditional grease laden fish and chips from a takeaway, so I can't say it's something I've missed from my diet. A friend was calling round for lunch, and said they fancied fish and chips.....that meant one of two things, they were either going to have to go to a takeaway alone, or be disappointed! I like looking after people... it's probably one of the things I do best. I would hate to disappoint, so I set out to make grown up fish and chips for our lunch...Believe me, they weren't disappointed and this will definitely be added to my growing repertoire of favourite dishes..

I love meals that are quick and simple to make...they're vital tools in an argument with someone who says that they just don't have the time to cook healthy food. Cook this once for a friend who is 'too busy' too cook, or for fussy children who only ask for processed fish fingers and chips for dinner, and they'll never go back to the freezer aisle for fish fingers!

Fish bites: 

• salmon darnes (or any fish of your choice)
• almond flour (or ground almonds from the baking aisle)
• dessicated coconut
• 1 lime, zest and juice
• pinch of sea salt
• coconut oil

Start by cutting fish into bite size pieces. 

Place a few tablespoons of almond flour and dessicated coconut on a plate with 1 teaspoon of lime zest & sea salt and toss together. 

Start by rolling each piece of fish in the almond flour mix, coating lightly. 

Next dip in lime juice (you want a thick coating on eat bite, so the juice will help it stick & add flavour...you can use lemon, egg or coconut milk for this step depending on what type of flavour you want)

Roll each piece of fish in the almond flour mixture again until well coated. 

Place on baking tray, and drizzle with a little melted coconut oil.

Sweet potato chips: 

• sweet potato (you can peel it if you prefer, but I like the crispy texture the skin gives the chips)
• chilli flakes
• sea salt 
• coconut oil

Slice sweet potato into chips. 

Drizzle with melted coconut oil and sprinkle with chilli and sea salt. 

Place on baking tray with the salmon bites as they'll take about the same length of time to cook. (If you've made thick chips, place these in the oven 10 minutes before the fish bites to avoid overcooking the fish) 

Place in preheated oven (170d) and bake until fish and chips are golden and crispy (15-20 minutes)

Serve with peas and some homemade chilli & lime dipping sauce. (Just mix tomato paste, lime juice, chilli flakes, crushed garlic and sea salt together... this is very much down to personal taste so add a little of each at a time until you like the flavour)

This was a really delicious lunch, and it took only 30 mins between preparation and cooking time...I'm pretty sure it would take longer to cook frozen fish and chips, or go to the takeaway! Besides, if you can't find the time in your day to may sure you're eating food to maintain your health, then you really need to look at your priorities... 

Gooey raspberry brownies

I'm slightly addicted to the Great British Bake Off, and now that there's an Irish Bake Off too... I've got baking on the brain. I even rescheduled my training session in the gym to make sure I'm home in time to watch it... that's dedication! In fairness, that's dedication to both training and cake... I don't like to neglect the important things in life :)

I had an hour to kill this afternoon, and decided to bake brownies...a girl can never have too many brownie recipes after all... In my book, brownies are supposed to be fudgey rather than cakey, and have slightly chewy edge (that's why you always, always go for a brownie cut from the corner of the tin..they're the best!) These brownies are all that, and more... they're rich, chocolatey and best of all, they're grain, dairy and refined sugar free.. 

Brownies:

• 4 eggs
• 3 tbsp coconut oil, melted
• 2 tsp organic vanilla extract
• 3 tbsp unsweetened apple sauce
• 1 tbsp coconut flour (you can replace this with 1 1/2 tbsp almond flour)
• 75g unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 tbsp almond flour
• 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• pinch of salt
• 50g walnuts, chopped coarsely
• 50g fresh raspberries

Raspberry jam: 

• 50g fresh raspberries
• 1 tbsp unsweetened apple sauce

Preheat oven to 160d. Line an 8x8" square cake tin with greaseproof paper. 

Start by making raspberry jam. Simple add raspberries and apple sauce to a saucepan and cook until you have thick raspberry purée. Set aside to cool. 

Whisk liquid brownie ingredients in a large bowl. 

Add in dry ingredients, mix well. 

Next add walnuts and raspberries.

Stir until combined. 

Pour brownie mixture into lined tin. 

Finally drizzle raspberry 'jam' over the brownies and swirl into the mixture with a skewer. 

Bake in preheated oven until just set (approx 15 minutes). Since ovens vary, I suggest you keep an eye on them to make sure they don't over-bake. 

You'll get 12 brownies from this recipe, and since they freeze well, you have no excuse for eating them all!!

Meatloaf with extra meat...

I've only had meatloaf once...it doesn't stir up happy memories! It was dry, tasteless and contained unidentifiable minced meat. You'd wonder why I decided to make it since I clearly hated it first time round.. Well, magic did not happen in the canteen when I was in boarding school, so I try not to let it impair my judgement too much.

I like the idea of meat loaf since it's one of those dishes that any leftovers will be great cold as a high protein snack on the go. Since I can't leave well enough alone, I had to make posh meatloaf...but don't worry, there has been no scrimping on the meat content... A lot of meat loaf recipes use flour or breadcrumbs as a binder, but since I exclude grains from my diet, I just left it out. You could add in some almond flour if you feel the meatloaf is a little sticky. 

Meatloaf: 

1lb minced pork

1lb minced turkey 

1 red onion, diced

4 garlic cloves, chopped

100g oyster mushrooms

2 eggs

100g Boyne Valley Blue (unpasteurised blue goats cheese) If you're strictly Paleo, just leave this out. 

100g spinach leaves

1 small tin organic tomato paste

8 thick cut smoked pieces of bacon

basil, oregano, sea salt, pepper

Start by sweating onion, garlic, mushrooms and herbs in a dry wok. There's no need to add oil, as the natural juices will keep them moist. Cook for 5 mins, tossing regularly. 

Add in 4tbsp of organic tomato paste, and mix to combine.

Next add minced meat to large bowl with the above seasoning mix, and 2 eggs.

 Mix until well combined. 

At this stage, you can pop the meat mixture into a loaf tin, top with some tomato paste and bacon, and cook for 45 minutes... OR......

Spread meat into a square about 1 inch thick onto a piece of tin foil.

Top with spinach leaves and 3/4 of the blue goats cheese. 

Next, take the edge of the tin foil closest to you, and lifting gently, roll into a roulade. This is actually really easy, you just need to lift the tin foil slowly, and the meat will fall into this shape naturally. 

Transfer to a pyrex baking dish. 

Coat the outside with the remaining tomato paste and crumbled blue cheese. 

Next wrap the meatloaf in bacon, overlapping at the edges. 

Cover loosely with tin foil, and bake for 40 minutes. 

Remove the foil and bake for a further 15 minutes until the bacon is nicely browned and crispy.

This isn't like the meatloaf I remember from school, it's full of flavour, and really moist. Whether you bake it in a loaf tin, without the blue cheese and spinach, or you make it into slightly fancier roulade, I've no doubt you'll love how simple this is to make.

Cut into slices and serve with lots of fresh salad.

Leftovers are great eaten cold or warm, and this will also freeze great as a healthy dinner back up for busy days..

Chocolate & raspberry meringue...

So I had an operation on my mouth last week, and am struggling with solid food or anything hot (and saying anything with the letter 'S'). Instead of giving in, and eating ice cream and jelly (like a 'normal' person) I have had to find ways of eating enough to maintain my energy levels for training, whilst making sure I'm getting enough protein to recover after each session. This recipe packs a serious protein punch, with 35.9g per serving... impressive right?!

I had leftover egg whites from making garlic mayonnaise, and since I hate wasting ingredients I decided to make meringues. That's where the challenge comes in... meringues are basically egg whites and sugar. How was I going to make meringue without truck loads of sugar?

Simply replacing the sugar with honey wasn't going to work, since honey is heavier than whipped egg whites and so would leave you with flat, heavy pancakes instead of cloud-like, marshmallowy meringues. Let the experimentation begin....

Chocolate meringues

• 3 large egg whites
• 2 tbsp raw organic honey
• 2 tbsp unsweetened apple sauce (simply stew peeled & chopped apple in microwave until soft and mash until smooth)
• 2 tbsp water
• 2 tbsp raw cocoa powder, sieved
• 1 tsp organic vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp cream of tartar
• pinch of salt

In a bain marie (heat resistant bowl set over gently simmering water), heat honey, water and apple sauce until you have a thin syrup. This should take around 8 minutes. Stir regularly to avoid the honey burning. Remove from the heat and beat in sieved cocoa and vanilla. 

Whisk together egg whites, cream of tartar and salt until you have firm peaks. 

Slowly add syrup mixture, while whisking egg whites constantly. 

Once you have combined the syrup and the egg whites, place mixture on parchment lined baking sheet and bake for 30 minutes at 140d. 

Once you have a firm, baked meringue turn off the oven and allow to cool in the oven. (This keeps the meringue crispy on the outside, but tender and marshmallowy on the inside)

Filling: 

I did say I've been conscious of getting enough protein over the past while, and seriously... this really hit the spot, and tasted great! You can of course substitute the fillings to your own taste...

• 4 tbsp Greek yoghurt (I love Fage 0% Greek yoghurt which is available in Donnybrook Fair) 
• 1 scoop vanilla whey protein (25g) 
• 1 tsp Meridian almond butter (most good health food stores will stock this)
• small handful of frozen raspberries, crumbled into small pieces
• 1 small kiwi or chopped nuts 

Whisk together first four ingredients until combined. The frozen raspberries will start to melt, giving a gorgeous colour to the yoghurt, as well as adding some moisture so the filling won't be too thick. 

Fill your meringue with the yoghurt, and top with chopped fruit or nuts depending on your preference. 

If you're looking for a dessert that is simple to make, and is full of protein,has healthy fats from the almond butter/chopped nuts and isn't full of refined sugar, then you really need to try this! 

The meringue won't have the same crispy exterior as a standard meringue, it'll be more chewy in texture, but that's okay cos it tastes pretty damn good. 

My fitness revolution....

An awful lot of people have read my post 'Bigger isn't always better', and the main question I need to address is, "How did you lose all that weight???"

I warned you before, I don't have all the answers, or a quick fix to help you drop a dress size in ten minutes... but I do have a really simple formula that I promise will work... 

EAT LESS + MOVE MORE = DROP BODY FAT + LOOK GREAT + FEEL FABULOUS 

Simple right? So why did I never do it before? Why are you not doing it right now?

Motivation

I didn't/ you don't want it badly enough...When I decided, I was going to do it; I never looked back. For me, it was the realisation that life is really short, and that my weight was not only damaging my enjoyment of life, it could actually be the cause of a far shorter life than I wanted for myself. 

Like most people, I started out losing weight by cutting out the obvious things...chocolate, pizza, crisps etc, and by doing the obvious exercise... walking aimlessly on a treadmill. It worked. I lost weight. 

Initially the weight loss was pretty effortless, all I needed to do was not eat crap. Simple. My body was so conditioned to eating all the wrong foods, that once I started eating 'healthy'* food, the scales started to drop immediately. I became an avid gym goer for two main reasons. Firstly, I wanted to see results faster, and secondly, I had to get away from being sick; I needed something to distract me... to help boost my mood and energy levels, to get my out of the house, and most importantly, to help me feel like I was taking positive steps towards restoring my health. 

After a year or so, I had lost over 9 stone...fantastic right? You'd think I'd have been thrilled... to a point, I was. But..I wanted more...I still had weight to lose, I still had my eye on a particular dress size, I still didn't feel happy with myself. 

Lack of progress

I hit a wall. The scales stopped moving...this was going to be a real issue for me. It was the weekly movement of the scales that had kept me motivated so far. I was still eating 'healthy'* food, and going to the gym... what had gone wrong? 

'Healthy' crap food

You might be wondering why I've been referring to 'healthy'* food... Well, it turns out that I was actually still eating crap food, the only difference was that the fancy packaging and marketing campaigns were telling me that it was 'healthy'! Like a lot of people, I never really considered that Special K isn't actually healthy, or that Weight Watchers bread wasn't good for you, or that low fat yogurts weren't the better option. 

Educate yourself

I spent a lot of time on the internet looking into why my weight loss had stalled...it turned out that whilst I was eating a low fat diet, I was consuming an awful lot of sugar without even realising it. Like a lot of people, I had always thought that a low fat diet was the way to go for weight loss. Consider this...food producers remove the fat but what do you think they replace it with? Short answer... sugar. Check out this video, read this book, visit this website and you'll most likely change your opinion of how clean your diet is. 

Real food

I decided that unprocessed, whole foods were the way to go. For some reason, it just suddenly made sense to me. If I was going to heal my body, and fuel it with food... why not make it the best food I could. Now my diet is fresh meat, vegetables, fruit and nuts. That sounds restrictive, but it's really not. I'll show you that if you promise to stick around and keep reading for a while longer... 

The most difficult thing to get your head around is that you're basically going against everything that you've been told about nutrition in the past... basically fat is the devil, you'll have no energy without bread and potatoes etc etc. I promise you.. take a look at both Paleo and Primal and you'll see that eating real food is how you'll see real results. I jump between Paleo and Primal... it doesn't really matter, my focus is on eating good food that will not harm my health. 

Starvation diet...

So my diet was clean... I still wasn't losing weight.. This was driving me to despair. Weight loss is meant to be as simple as consuming less calories than you're burning, and therefore arriving at a calorie deficit. Wrong again...I wasn't eating enough, and my body was hanging onto the fat. How the hell did that happen?! 

I had become so frustrated with what I perceived to be a lack of progress (lack of weight loss), that I reduced my food intake to ridiculously low levels, and increased my gym activity. When I started to eat real food, I was so used to eating very little, that I worried any increase in calorie consumption would cause weight gain. 

Lifestyle overhaul part 2..

I had focussed on cardio training for the first year, and had seen great results which as I mentioned had stalled. A lot of the Paleo/Primal sites I frequented recommended strength training...I wasn't convinced... 

• 'lifting weights is boring'
•  'you need cardio exercise to be fit'
•  'lifting weights makes girls get big and muscular'
•  'I've no idea how to lift weights'

All of these concerns were popping into my head, but I knew that training hard, eating little and seeing no results wasn't sustainable. It was likely that I'd return to former bad habits, and I really didn't want that. 

My fitness revolution...

I booked a few sessions with a personal trainer, but didn't feel like he had much interest or passion in his job, so I didn't feel motivated by him at all. It was then I decided I was going to do it right... I had developed a taste for lifting weights, and I wanted to push it further. I got in contact with James Hanley of Revolution Fitness and straight away knew that I'd found a trainer who could help me get results. You'll find lots of into about James on his Facebook page (link above) and website. I'm not here to sell RevFit, or James to you, I'm trying to show you that sometimes it takes a a few tries to reach our goals, but with the right people around you, you will get there. I've found a gym that I love training in, with members who genuinely care about health and fitness rather than quick fixes, and a trainer who left a desk job to help people achieve their goals. 

RevFit isn't a commercial gym who don't care if you show up after your membership fee is paid. Honestly, I think it's got something special...trainers who are accountable for your results, and members who push each other through every training session.

The best description I've heard so far is ripped straight from a RevFit email which quoted Gar as saying "People ask me about how we train. So I tell them we lift really heavy things, then we lift not so heavy things, then we lift ourselves (usually really fast)".

I eat lots, train hard a few times a week and am shocked by the results I've seen. Sometimes it takes a while for it to make sense, but once you find the right balance between nutrition and training, you'll never look back.

I can't give RevFit all the credit for my results. James is a reasonable guy, so he wouldn't expect me to. I've had to work seriously hard, throw myself into every session and commit to good nutrition. BUT... and this is really important, James has shown me how to train properly, effectively and safely. I'm really strong these days, but what's more important than the numbers, is that I don't injure myself. I need James to slow me down sometimes, and remind me that good form and technique is non negotiable. For me, this is one of the key things to look for in a trainer.... someone who looks out for you, and stops you being an idiot and destroying yourself.

Finding RevFit was a game changer for me. I've learned, and continue to learn so much from the trainers and members, that I couldn't see myself training anywhere else.

What I've learned about nutrition and training...

• You need to eat to lose weight.When I finally listened, and started eating a decent amount of real food, I started to see progress again.
• Healthy food doesn't come in a brightly packaged box, or have a marketing slogan behind it.
• If your nutrition isn't right, all the training in the world won't get you your desired results.You can't out-train a bad diet. 
• Food is your body's fuel. You wouldn't put crap petrol in your car now would you? 
• Commit to your training... make it part of your routine. Don't loiter in the gym... 45 minutes of pushing yourself, and get out. Go have a life... 
• Overtraining will destroy your body. I was putting in ridiculous hours in the gym and seeing no benefits, just constant fatigue. 
• Lifting weights does not make you big and bulky, it makes you strong, and with physical strength comes mental strength. 
• Experiment with your food.. if you enjoy it, you're less likely to want to eat crap. 
• Enjoy training. Find something you like doing. Find a trainer who understands your goals and will help you get there. Be honest with them about your hang ups, bad habits and make them earn their money by helping you.. 
• Sleep. You need sleep allow your body to recover. 

Shifting the goal posts... 

I'm constantly adding to my 'to-do' list. My goals and constantly changing, and as I achieve one, I add another. 

When I started losing weight, my goal was to be 'skinny'. That's what was important. Things change... I've no desire be 'skinny'... and that's not an excuse for me not being at my goal weight yet (cos I'll get there) that's me saying, that once I'm healthy, fit and strong, I honestly don't care what number is on the scales or a dress.

Don't forget...

EAT LESS + MOVE MORE = DROP BODY FAT + LOOK GREAT + FEEL FABULOUS 

Peach and raspberry custard tart

It's time for a dessert I think...

I made this for dessert with Sunday lunch, and I quote "this is the nicest dessert you've made in ages". That's saying a lot! Usually the desserts I make for this lot, are laden with sugar and wheat, needless to say, I was pretty impressed! Clean plates all round, and people going back for seconds. It just goes to show, once you have the right recipe, you can do wonders...

Raspberries are a fruit that I have in the house all year round. I prefer them fresh, but I always have a supply of frozen berries for snacking or baking. Frozen raspberries are really nice as a snack, and since they're frozen, you're less likely to devour a whole punnet of fresh berries (I hear some people do this...not me obviously, other people!) 

This is a primal custard tart, with a nut base and lots of fresh peaches and raspberries. Now is the perfect time to bake it, since the peaches in the shops at the moment are deliciously juicy...make the most of fresh ingredients while they're around... 

Nut base:

• 120g walnuts, chopped coursely
• 120g flaked almonds
• 75g unsweetend dessicated coconut
• 75g organic, gluten free oats (not technically Primal, but you could do a lot worse! You can sub for more chopped nuts if you prefer)
• 50g pecans, chopped coursely
• 3 tbsp ground almonds
• 1 large egg
• 2 tbsp raw Irish honey
• 1 tsp organic vanilla extract (found in the baking aisle)
• 3 tbsp butter

Add all your ingredients to a bowl, and using your hands, mix ingredients well until combined and you have a stiff mixture.

It shouldn't be too sticky, or it'll be hard to work with so add more ground almonds or dessicated coconut if you need to. (This totally depends on the temperature of your eggs and butter... and how many nuts you've eaten while chopping them...just make sure the dough is stiff)

Next, take a 9" loose bottomed flan tin and start pressing the crust into it. This requires patience, but trust me, you'll get an even crust if you persevere. It's worth using damp fingers for this, as it stops the butter melting and the crust getting sticky.

Place in a preheated oven (160d) for 15 minutes, or until your crust has firmed up and is lightly browned. It will harden when it cools, so don't worry about it being really hard when you take it out.
Set aside and allow to cool while you make your filling.

Filling

• 200g Kilbeg Dairies Mascarpone (Yes I really do like buying Irish)
• 2 large egg yolks
• 2 tbsp raw Irish honey
• 2 tsp vanilla extract 
• 2 tsp Creme de Cassis or Peach Schnapps 
• 100g raspberries (frozen work fine here)
• 4 ripe peaches, sliced
• handful of flaked almonds

Whisk together the first 5 ingredients, until you have a smooth thick custard base. You can beat it all together with a wooden spoon, but whisking aerates the mixture and makes it lighter when baked. 

Fold in berries to your prepared custard.

 Pour into the crust. 

Next arrange peaches on custard, and scatter flaked almonds on top.

Place back in the oven for 15-20 minutes until custard is set. You don't want to over bake it, or you'll end up with a chewy custard. It should be just set, with a slight wobble in the centre. It will firm up more as it cools. 

Once cold, remove from the tin, and serve... Do not blame me if you go back for more, this really is delicious.

I've noticed the more I have people taste my wheat, and refined sugar free desserts, the more positive the feedback. The recurring theme is that they don't leave you feeling uncomfortably full like you generally do after a traditional dessert... 

Pizza!!!!

This is rapidly turning into the best blog EVER! A pizza recipe that is healthy and actually tastes like pizza... My work here is done!

Traditional pizzas don't exactly fit in with a Primal/Paleo lifestyle, so I felt it was absolutely time to see if I could change that. It's a running joke with a friend of mine, that it's been so long since I had pizza, I'll eventually cave and break into Dominos. No need for that thankfully, since I've found a pizza base that is actually firm enough to lift up a slice without it crumbling apart. 

I need you to bear with me when I tell you what it's made of though...no snap judgements that it'll smell like old person or feet (just two of the more tame reactions received!) I can't take credit (or blame depending on who you ask) for this, there are lots of similar recipes online, I've basically just worked on this for a while to make sure it's not just edible, that it tastes bloody good too.. 

Ok so the secret ingredient is..... 

Come back!!!! I swear it works well!

For the base (makes a 9" pizza)

• 1/4 head of cauliflower
• 1 garlic clove
• 3 tbsp almond flour (this will be packaged as ground almonds in the baking aisle, or you'll get certified gluten free in the health food stores)
• 2 tbsp ground flax seed (most good supermarkets will stock this)
• 1 tsp gluten free baking powder
• 1 egg
• sea salt
• oregano (dried is fine) 

Good, you're still here! It's only a cauliflower... stop being such a whine!

Start by pulsing the cauliflower and garlic clove in the food processor until you have fine, rice-like grains. Careful not to overdo it or you'll end up with cauliflower purée, and sorry that is kind of gross.

Microwave for 5 minutes in a heat proof bowl (or a non microwave safe bowl like I did, burn your hand and curse loudly and often) Actually, just use the heat resistant dish.

Set aside to cool.

Add flour, flax, baking powder, egg and season as much as you want.

Mix until just combined. You're looking for a firm, pliable dough. If it's sticky you need to add more flour, and if it's dry a few drops of water.

Once the dough is made, it's a good idea to let it rest for 15 minutes in the fridge. It gives the flour time to absorb the liquid, and just makes a more firm base. If you don't have the time, or you're really hungry, you can skip this step.

Meanwhile, place baking tray in oven preheated to 170d to warm up.

Roll dough out  to about 1/2 inch thick onto a piece of parchment paper. Do NOT place the dough directly onto the tray..

Once you've preheated the oven, place the base (including the parchment) on the hot tray and bake for 10 minutes until firm and golden.

Now, you're going to be glad you used the parchment paper... you need to flip the base upside down to bake the other side for 10 mins. It's far easier to do if you've the parchment to help you. If you don't do this, you're going to end up with a sticky base. Not pizza like at all... and we want pizza for dinner right?
When you have an evenly baked, firm base, remove from the oven and set aside.

Now it's simple... you need to add meat. Ok fine, add some other stuff too. But don't be mean with the meat. I hadn't got any bacon when I was making this pizza, I felt a bit cheated even though I had half a dead cow. I honestly did consider putting a fried egg on top...just cos...

I'm in no doubt that there are people reading this thinking....but... 'red meat is bad', 'eggs are bad for your heart', 'frying eggs is terrible'... Sorry, but you're wrong. Meat is great, you need protein. End of... chances are, you're not eating enough protein, so go snack on some meat. Fried eggs are also amazing.. fat WILL NOT make you fat. (I promise to rant more about this later...lucky you!)

Sorry... I digress..

Toppings:

These are just what I threw on, obviously you can use whatever you have/feel like.

• Organic tomato paste
• Meat, with some extra meat. I use cooked steak. Mainly because I felt like steak and pizza for dinner so this ended up being the resulting compromise
• Spinach (you really should have spinach in your diet, it's full of vitamins, flavenoids, iron and is an excellent anti-inflammatory) 
• Peppers 
• Sun-dried tomatoes
• Mushrooms 
• Goats cheese (St Tola raw milk goats cheese is so unbelievably good!) If you're strict Paleo or lactose intolerant, leave this out.. but please don't add a 'cheese substitute', they're full of additives and basically not healthy at all. Like I mentioned in a previous post, I have no issue with cheese (once it's not sold in a triangle with a laughing cow on it), so I'm happy to add a raw milk cheese to my meals. 
• Fresh parsley

Piled high with fresh ingredients...hardly compares to that frozen pizza you have been eating now does it?!

Place back in the oven for 10-15 minutes until golden and all your toppings are cooked and warmed through. 

I think this will really surprise a lot of people when they try it. The base is firm and crispy like a thin base pizza. Best of all... there no grains to leave you feeling bloated afterwards. 

Hope you enjoy... 

Crunchy chicken bites..

I'm a little shocked at how many people viewed my last post! What the hell do people Google to get to a post entitled 'Bigger isn't always better'?! In any case, I'm happy people read it!

I'm glad I've the before and after's out of the way so at least you know that I'm not just another self professed know it all when it comes to nutrition, I've been at rock bottom without a clue of how to change things. Mind you, I definitely don't know it all now; not even close, but I do love cooking healthy food, and training hard to get to my goals. One thing I'm 100% sure of is that regardless of how hard you train, if your nutrition isn't hitting the mark, then you're not going to get the results. 

So dinner tonight... something quick and easy, I had a really long day so didn't want to spend ages cooking. These chicken bites are really quick to make, taste great and they're worlds apart from nasty processed chicken nuggets you'll get in the supermarket. 

I'm a baker at heart, and in a really nerdy way, I love how baking is an exact science and you really have to follow a recipe to the letter, unless you're a really competent baker who understands the function of each ingredient. Cooking savoury dishes on the other hand, is more about taste preferences so you've far more freedom to adapt recipes to suit your palate. For that reason, a lot of my savoury dishes won't have exact measurements for the ingredients.. 

You'll need: 

• 1 beaten egg
• saucer of almond flour (you can use arrowroot starch if you have a nut allergy)
• mixed seeds (I used sesame, pumpkin and sunflower, but you can vary this depending on your preference)
• chicken fillets, cubed

Preheat oven to 170d. 

Start by dipping chicken pieces in egg. 

Roll in almond flour, then return to bowl of beaten egg. 

Coat generously in seeds. 

Repeat until all pieces are evenly coated in seeds. 

Place on baking tray and cook for 10-15 mins, tossing mid way through to ensure both sides are crunchy. 

I served these with a spinach salad, a little crumbled St. Tola goat's cheese, and some home made tomato relish.

You need to be careful of store bought relish, as they often contain gluten and lots of sugar. It's simple to make your own, and it tastes amazing when freshly made. I'll post the recipe for it over the weekend. As for the goats cheese, when I'm food shopping I try to buy Irish, and look for ingredients that are as natural as possible... St Tola is a raw goats milk cheese which I know is available in Fallon&Byrne and Superquinn.