Curry Anyone?

Bank Holiday Cooking

Bank holiday’s are always lots of fun in London, parties pop up all over the place and its a chance for friends who haven’t seen each other for ages to get together and dance their cares away. I spent a lot of the weekend doing just that, really enjoying the benefit of having the sunshine in attendance and not having to dodge puddles in your Sunday best. Monday was  a different matter. Thoroughly partied out, the last thing I wanted to do was cook, make food from scratch and wash up. No siree. Luckily I some ‘one I made earlier’ salad for lunch and then by the evening my finger was on that telephone dial quicker than you can say takeaway. Oh yes, I was doing the (possibly) unthinkable. Ordering a curry.

Now I know that nutritionists don’t advocate takeouts, fast food or processed food, but sometimes you just can’t say no. I believe thoroughly that there are times when a takeaway is the order of the day, however, I do have my limits and there are things I will and will not order. Takeaway’s are a natural part of this modern world and I would be surprised if there is anyone out there who doesn’t have one once every month or two. In keeping with the theme of this blog, I thought I’d share with you my rule of thumb to the “Do’s & Don’t’s” of takeaways.

Do’s:

• Choose a recommended restaurant that you know will cook the ingredients from fresh
• Select meals that are tomato rather than cream-based
• If the portions sizes are large, either share or keep for leftovers for the next day
• Have at least one vegetable dish per person.
• Share rice or noodles rather than have a portion each
• Chinese: my tip to tell the quality of the food is to ask if they put fresh crab or crab/fishsticks in their crab & sweetcorn soup (crab/fish sticks = poor quality)
• Curry: Spices have great nutritional benefits, therefore choose options with different spices
• Curry: go for a lentil side dish to increase fibre
• Pizza: thin crusts and add extra vegetables or rocket to balance out cheese/meat
• Choose lamb over chicken or other meat – it is the most ‘free range’ meat
• Lamb shish kebabs are fine, just have lots of salad, avoid the chips and too much mayo
• Choose the side dish or small portions – often they are still big enough
• Chew well and eat slowly – often we choose takeaways when we are hungover which means that our digestive systems will not be working as well as normal so more care is needed when eating.
• Drink a glass of water 15 mins before eating to help raise stomach acid levels to aid digestion.
• Curry: do ask if they serve brown rice, if not, choose coconut, garlic or mushroom rice to help reduce the speed glucose is released into the blood stream to avoid that energy slump.
• Chinese: ask if they can avoid putting MSG on your food. It is hard for the body to digest and may cause adverse reactions in the body.

Don’ts

• Avoid chicken unless you are happy of its source. Battery hens have little nutritional value and can be high in hormones.
• Creamy dishes are high in calories and harder to digest than tomato based sauces.
• Avoid drinking whilst eating. This will dilute stomach acid and put a strain on digestion.
• Eating fast & chewing poorly will put a strain on the stomach and digestive system.
• Curry: avoid getting rice & naan – this combination of starchy carbs will push your blood sugar out of balance and may cause bloating. White bread has no nutritional value, so chose a garlic or peshwari naan.
• Never get takeaway from a restaurant you wouldn’t eat a meal in. If in doubt, stick to lamb or vegetables – avoid fish, chicken or shellfish that can easily cause food poisoning.
• Pizza: avoid meat-only pizzas,  if you’ve had a big night out, the body will be crying out for some nutrients from vegetables – try to be nice to it even if you don’t feel like it, you’ll be pleased you did in the morning.
• Avoid deep fried foods where possible, and if you can’t deny yourself the onion bhaji or salt & pepper squid, ensure that you have lots of vegetables and nothing else deep fried to compensate.
• Refuse dessert: takeaways, like eating out, are often larger in portion size and calories than a normal meal eaten at home. Desserts will only add to the calorific burden you are inflicting on your body.
• Choose a medium spicy curry over a hot – too much chili can be detrimental to the digestive system.

At the end of the day, we are not infallible and of course there are going to be times when we just can’t be bothered to be in the kitchen for longer than ten minutes, however, too many takeaways are going to be detrimental to health due to the saturated fat content, the possible poor nutritional status of the foods and the lack of variety it gives us (hands up who chooses the same thing off the menu every time?!).

Be in control of your food & your diet at all times, make more of dishes that you enjoy and freeze them into individual portion sizes to defrost and eat at another time… all it takes is a little thought and maybe some more preparation, but believe me, its worth it.

Nut Milk

What is ‘Milk’?

‘Milk’ is used to describe any liquid that is white(ish) in colour and can be used, in some places, as a replacement for Dairy milk – aka Cow Juice. Dairy is one of those food groups that isn’t very well tolerated by humans, however we have been marketed to so well over the decades by the Milk Marketing Board & various dairy-led manufacturers that it is now in our psyche that milk is a key element of our diet. This is mainly due to the abundance of calcium within it, however, research has shown that it is actually pretty hard for the body to absorb this calcium and that there is more calcium available from green vegetables than there is in dairy.

I don’t want to get too involved in the science part this evening as it’s late and I want to write another post with more detail at a later date, however, suffice to say, I’m one of those people who just doesn’t really get on with milk. I wouldn’t say I’m ‘intolerant’ but I have never really taken to it, nor enjoyed cream and if I drink it then I don’t feel tip top, more bloated and like I have a film across my teeth. That said, I’ve always had a soft spot for cheese and yogurt however, it doesn’t mean that my body thrives on it (it doesn’t), however it probably tolerates it more due to the processing that both products go through.

So tonight, I’m going to tell you about nut milks and how easy they are to make… you can use then as a replacement for liquid in cereals, as a topping for porridge, instead of cream and in smoothies. You can also make ‘cheese’ out of them… however, I’ve not done that yet, so you’ll have to wait for that!

My Nut Milk Story:

I’ve been making nut milk since 2008, but as with many things, fell out of practice of it as my routine changed. I visited  Unpackaged last week and had a fresh batch of gorgeous organic pecan nuts to play with. I first discovered nut milk in  Rawsome! by Bridget Mars – a book that I was recommended whilst I doing my nutrition training. I’m a wannabe raw foodie, but always get sucked back into the cooked food lifestyle… maybe its because I always ‘try’ when its cold and get that need for warming food when its so cold outside.

When I first heard about it, I was really daunted about trying to make it as I thought you needed some fancy implements to make it, so avoided doing it for ages. Many books suggest you buy a nut milk maker, muslin and it was totally different to what I was used to, but I found some nut milk in my local health food shop so I tried that first. I thought it was really tasty, but it was pretty expensive and on closer inspection, I noticed the ingredients including ‘maltose’ which is a sugar, and as I was in a stage of my life where I was trying to be as pure as pure can be with regards to food, I stopped buying it.

On closer inspection the recipe in Rawsome! was really simple, so I tried it out and I’ve been a fan ever since. I no longer follow the recipe as I’m totally confident now, and like to try different flavours. I’ve even made pumpkin seed milk – which was an interesting shade of green(ish) white.

The great thing is about Nut Milk is that it is full of goodness, it has protein, essential fats, minierals and vitamins and some carbohydrate, depending on what nuts you choose. It is very moreish… so watch out, otherwise it can get very expensive!

Top Tips:

1. Soak your nuts & fruit of choice overnight in filtered water – this rehydrates them and makes the nutrients more available to the body to absorb. But don’t forget to rinse them before putting them into the blender.
2. Try out different nuts, but remember that some may need a little more sweetening that others.
3. Using a variety of dried fruits not only changes the taste but also provides your body with different nutrients.
4. If you don’t have any muslin (like me) then a sieve in a bowl is the next best option, but the liquid won’t be as smooth as the holes are bigger
5. Don’t through away the fibrous left overs, you can add this to your breakfast cereal, or to a pudding such as cooked apple/pear with some cinnamon or nutmeg. You can even make a humous-like spread but adding olive oil & tomatoes to it.

Have a try and see what you think…

Ingredients:

1 cup pecans (soaked overnight)

2 dried figs (soaked overnight)

2 cups water

Implements: Blender, seive, large bowl, jug & (preferably) glass bottle.

Method:

Soak nuts & fruit overnight in filtered water, rinse at least once before adding to the blender with the water.

Put the blender on for 5 mins or until the liquid is white and looks smooth.

Place the sieve into the bowl and pour the contents of the blender into the sieve. Scrape a sppon around the side of the sieve to help push the liquid through and seperate it from the husks. When all the liquid has gone through the sive, press against the side of the sieve to remove as much liquid as possible.

[You can also pour the liquid into a nut bag or through some muslin which will remove more of the nut husks].

Pour the liquid into a jug and decant into a glass container.Keep in the fridge for up to 3-4 days.

Spoon the left over husks into as container and keep in the fridge and use as suggested above.