making sarnies healthy again

TODAY'S MENU

SALMON AND SUN-DRIED TOMATO OPENED SANDWICH

Had a really busy morning, worked out for 30 minutes before getting ready for work and I new I would have to walk around London due to work events so decided do something quick and easy and as the thought pop up in my mind also did the fancy for a sarnie.

As I had some steamed salmon ready in the fridge the solution was easy

2 slices of wholegrain bread - I buy a seedy one from Salisbury's that is so yummy and has only 69 calories per slice.

1 small salmon fillet - steamed

4 chunks of sun-dried tomatoes

30g of cream cheese (I use Philadelphia extra light - one good trick is to buy the little pots that are 1 serving and very practical to take to work)

1 hand full of green salad

6 stalks of broccoli

6 baby carrots

Cut the broccoli in half length to make it quicker to cook, give it a wash and microwave it for about 2 minutes. Baby carrots are nice and soft so just chop them in small peaces; you could even leave them whole and have the whole plate as finger food.

while the broccoli cooks toast the bread then just spread it with the cream cheese, cut the tomato into small pieces and spread that and the chunks of salmon over the bread.

season the salad and veggie with very little salt some black pepper and olive oil - it I was at home would've probably used some balsamic vinegar as well and maybe even some fromage frais.

It made a lovely lunch in a whole and just as feeling as any other of my dishes because it still offered enough whole foods!! Also the amount of raw food helps a lot! If you are in a hurry and need a quick healthy lunch, what would you make???

trying new and good things

my whole life I have struggled with diets and at almost 33 and after 5 years living in London I've made a decision that my life must change and the way of doing that would be to ditch a few bad habits and find new really good ones.

As I love food it was crucial for me to find suitable menu options and about 3 weeks in, it feels great!

I really don't know how much I lost so far,  I am avoiding the scales for now,  however I can already wear a couple of pairs of trousers that haven't fit me for at least 1 year now.

I have mainly replaced processed food for wholegrain ones and replaced dinner for something smaller, usually liquid. As you'll see my lunch is now nutritious, delicious and really feeling.

Today’s menu: pasta salad

 the picture isn't brilliant as I've done that at work and my mobile's camera isn't great

50g brown rice pasta

1 small salmon fillet steamed

100g fromage frais seasoned with mustard, soya sauce

 about 6 baby carrots - raw and chopped

1 plum tomato

about Tender Stem Broccoli

+- 80g of sweet corn

1 golden delicious apple 

I will tell here how I prepared to take it to work as a pack lunch, we do have microwave there and sometimes I leave certain bits to cook there to save me on prep time.

Cook the pasta and season it with extra virgin olive oil, balsamic vinegar, oregano and thyme plus salt and pepper to taste. Steam the salmon fillet for about 20 minutes, I usually steam two fillets at a time and that leaves me with protein for 2 meals ready in the fridge. It will also avoid the salmon going off.

In a Tupperware mix the seasoned pasta and the salmon. In another container season 100gr of fromage frais (fat free) with a bit of soy sauce, Dijon mustard and ½ a teaspoon of ketchup.

Chop the broccoli and pop in the microwave for about 3 minutes, enough to cook but still crunchy. In a salad bow chop all the veggie and the apple and mix in the fromage frais sauce and the pasta with salmon.

This dish had about 590 calories which seams like a lot - but since I don’t eat dinner and providing breakfast and the snacks through the day are not high in calories – isn’t really a bit deal. That said I most confess I found it was just too much food, on a next time I’ll probably reduce the amount of veggie, maybe just the apple, broccoli and corn or carrot will do well. 

This week's Menu

On the quest of organizing my life AND to the benefit of my health I usually plan every week's menu before I set off to organize my shopping list. Since I came back from Brasil everything feels a bit too rushed so last weekend I decided to go back to that habit, so Saturday morning, having flick trough my 2 editions of the "cook yourself thin" books plus my virtual binder on the BBC 's Good Food website I came up with the following:

Spicy Italian Cooley linguine (don't remember ever having Cooley but the book says you can make it with whichever fish)

Creamy chicken curry (not the biggest fan of curry but for some reason this recipe appealed to me)

Tarragon chicken

HO FAN beef noodle

Pork chops with French beans and bakes sweet potatoes

I usually do the menu for the week days, as that's when I'm just too tired to have to think about what to cook and it becomes just too easy to fall into temptation and end up having something a bit rubbish for dinner. The order on which the dishes are cooked will depend on the "best before" date on my fresh ingredients HOWEVER hubby saw the fillets of Cod I bought to replace that Cooley and said straight away ARE WE HAVING FISH AND CHIPS???
well well...the thing is, I never fry anything at home, actually...I probably do, once an year. Christmas time probably! But not long ago, watching the 3rd season of Cook yourself thin (yes, I am a cook show addicted) I discovered this really nice recipe for "fried" fish that my best half not only likes as said he could have that twice a week every week (just expanding, he doesn't really like fish, apart form fish and chips as a good Londoner, but due to government recommendation LOL I always say I would love for us to have 2 portions of fish a week, I have tried a few things, and as a good boy he always eats everything but this was the first time a fish dish got approval and requests for more!!!)
Well I do have my menu but fish is fish and I have no problems changing the dish from pasta do potatoes although chips are usually a bit of a taboo at home...either way I headed off to the kitchen to get dinner done and as I really like this recipe decided to share with my fellows food lovers!

Baked fish and chips 

For the chips

about 300g of new potatoes 

1tsp olive oil

pepper

I still trying different recipes of homemade oven chips and I should say this one wasn't brilliant still I thought worthed posting here, someone might be able to point out where is it that I am going wrong!!!

cut the new potatoes until chips and part boil them for about 5 minutes. Toss the soften potatoes on the olive oil and pepper (as well as any other seasoning) ans spread them on a baking sheet leaving gap enough between chips. Bake for about half hour until is golden and crunchy. Mine got the the crunchy stage but weren't served straight away so ended up a bit soft.

2 fillets of cod (or other flaky firm flesh white fish)

1/2 cup of white flour (seasoned with salt, pepper, garlic powder and anything else of your taste)

2 lightly beaten eggs (i usually add 1/2 tsp of soy sauce)

1 cup of corn flakes coarsely broken (just put them on a small ball and crash 'em until they are reduced to half their regular size, it can be even smaller but not too grainy)

simply dip the fish on the seasoned white flour then on the eggs and finally on the corn flakes then place the fillets on a baking sheet and spray some oil on the top. Take it to a medium oven (about 180) for 10 to 15 min, just enough to cook the fish.

Serve with the chips and mushy peas, if you have a good recipe for it. The first time I made this fish I served it with a really nice potato salad and some fixed leaves and it goes just as well!!!

(no mushy peas recipe here as we didn't really like the one I made today, will definitely try some other ans post as soon as I find a suitable one!)