Mac cheese deluxe : Wk36/2

Serves 4 : Very easy : Quickish

Ingredients
320gm quill pasta or macaroni
2 carrots, chopped
2-3 courgettes, chopped
200gm green beans, chopped
200gm broccoli, stems chopped

200ml fat free milk
1 heaped Tblsp corn flour
400gm can chopped tomatoes
120gm fat reduced cheese, grated
50gm parmesan, coarsely grated
2 Tblsp fresh bread crumbs

Method
Put the pasta and carrots on to cook in plenty of lightly salted boiling water.
After 10 minutes add the rest of the vegetables.
Once the pasta is al dente, drain well and keep warm.

Heat the grill to 250ºC.

Make a white sauce with the milk and corn flour (add a little Dijon mustard, if you like).
Stir through the chopped tomatoes (I puréed mine).
Tip in the grated fat reduced cheese and stir until it melts.
Add back the pasta and veg.
Stir well to combine.

Pile the pasta into an oven-proof dish.
Scatter the breadcrumbs and parmesan over the top.

Place the dish under the grill for about 5 minutes until the parmesan starts to bubble.

I always feel that macaroni cheese needs tomato sauce but the addition of the chopped or puréed tomatoes makes up for no ketchup.

Courgelloni : Wk34/2

Serves 4 : Very easy : Fairly quick

Ingredients
20 cannelloni tubes
1 onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
4 courgettes, grated
±200gm butternut, grated
250gm ricotta cheese
Grated rind of 1 lemon
700gm tomato pasta sauce

Rocket salad leaves

Method
Heat the oven to 200ºC.

Spray a pan with non-stick cooking spray.
Dry fry the onion and garlic until the onion starts to soften.
Stir in the grated courgettes and butternut.
Cook until the vegetables are soft.
Remove from the heat.

Stir the lemon rind and half the ricotta through the vegetables.
Stuff this mixture into the cannelloni shells.

Spray a baking dish with non-stick cooking spray.
(The dish should be just large enough to fit all the cannelloni tubes in a single layer.)
Pour ½ the pasta sauce into the dish.
Lay the filled cannelloni tubes on the sauce.
Pour over the remaining sauce.
Top with the rest of the ricotta.

Bake at 200ºC for 25 minutes.
Serve with baby rocket on the side.

Question time

My niece recently asked me a few questions about healthy eating, and I thought since her questions are the kind that everyone ponders I'll answer them here. If you have questions about encouraging and/or introducing healthy eating into your home, leave a comment for me and I will answer.

So here is Natalie's first question:
We are trying to eat a lot of fish and those peppered mackerel which taste yummy! At lunch I try and have tuna on ryvita with sliced cucumber, but have to be naughty and have a little aromat. We eat those packet tuna 'John West light tuna' with the mixed in dressings - do you think they are bad?!

I don't know that the light tuna with mixed in dressing is 'bad' - I haven't read the label, but they probably contain some sort of synthetic preservatives. They are certainly very expensive. A plain old tin of shredded tuna in brine, drained and mixed with a little HELMAN'S LOW FAT mayo (with the green lid and very yummy!) and some finely chopped spring onion or red onion works out much cheaper. Add a little salt and a good grind of black pepper - and a little bit of tomato sauce and / or lemon juice if you like. Instead of mayo you could mix in some other low-oil salad dressing (Ina Paarman's range is delicious.) Aromat contains monosodium glutamate, and quite a few E-numbers - read your packaging. Try using a sprinkle of veg stock powder instead - Ina Paarman's has no MSG, and no E-numbers.

Don't get bogged down in having the same lunch every day - try and vary it a bit, or you will get very bored with it eventually. Try roasting a whole chicken occassionally, strip the meat off the bones and throw away the skin. Freeze in small portions for lunchtime use. When you thaw it, you can either use the slices, or chop up finely with some mayo.

Melrose low fat cheese slices and wedges are also a good breakfast or lunchtime food. And a hard boiled egg is hard to beat.

Ryvita's are crunchy and tasty. Have you tried all the different varieties? I particularly like the ones with sesame seed. Provita are also yummy, specially with marmite, cucumber and tomato. I have a problem with crackers and savoury biscuits - they just taste like 'more' (gotta have some 'more')! Have some bread occassionally, too - rye bread is one of my favourites.

Make the effort and make more of salad veg at lunchtime. Eating a plate of mixed salad is very satisfying, fills you up a bit more, and helps you meet your 5-a-day. And there is pretty well no limit to what you can put in a salad. Did you know that butternut and sweet potato are both good raw? Chickpeas (garbanzo beans), cannellini beans and butter beans are all salad friendly. Throw in some chopped mango or pineapple and add some nuts and you have a very healthy nutritious lunchtime feast.

Pita pizza

Serves 4 : Easy : Quick
Ingredients
4 whole wheat pita pockets
300gm sweet potato, cubed
1 medium aubergine, cubed
1 ±400gm can chopped tomatoes
1 large onion, sliced
20 pitted black olives, sliced
80gm low fat feta, crumbled
60gm low fat mozzarella, grated
Dried oregano

Method
Cook the sweet potato and aubergine chunks.
(The aubergine cooks much faster than the sweet potato, so start the potato
and add the aubergine for the last 10 mins.)
Lightly toast one side of the pita breads under the grill.
Spread the untoasted side with the chopped tomatoes.
Cover with onion slices.
Pile on the sweet potato and aubergine cubes.
Scatter over the cheeses and olives.
Sprinkle with oregano.
Grill until the cheeses melt and start to brown.
Serve with a salad.

Rocket Risotto

Serves 4 : Easy : Quick
Ingredients
300gm Arborio rice
±600ml hot chicken stock
1 Tblsp olive oil
2 onions, finely chopped
2 sticks celery, thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, crushed
200gm button mushrooms, sliced
2 – 4 courgettes, sliced
60gm grated parmesan
2 cups coarsely chopped rocket

Method
Spray a large frying pan with non-stick cooking spray.
Add the mushrooms and cook until tender.
Stir through the garlic.
Remove mushrooms and garlic from the frying pan.
Add oil to the pan.
Cook the onion and celery for 5 minutes until softened.
Tip in the rice.
Stir well to combine, and to coat the rice with oil.
Add ½ cup of stock and stir until the liquid is absorbed.
Add the courgettes.

Waiting until the previous stock has been absorbed, keep adding stock, ½ a cup at a time.
Stir frequently.
When all the stock is absorbed and the rice is cooked and creamy add back the mushrooms and garlic.
Stir through the parmesan and the chopped rocket.

Serve with freshly ground black pepper and extra parmesan, if desired.

A good night's sleep

Within certain boundaries, we can will ourselves to stay awake, but willing ouselves to go to sleep - in my experience - is largely ineffective. Nothing is more frustrating than not being able to get to sleep at night. We toss and turn. We watch the clock. We know we have to get up in a few hours and cope with the usual hectic schedule. In the end, we may even abandon all hope of nodding off, and go and make a cup of tea.

Here are a few ideas to help you drift off a little bit faster.

1. Simple deep breathing - in and out, through the nose. Inhale to a slow count of three, exhale to a slow count of three. Wait for a slow count of three before repeating. Keep this up for about ten minutes each night. Deep breathing is relaxing. Concentrate on keeping count, that helps clear your mind of all the niggles and irritations of the day.

2. Keep your bedroom clear of hi-fis, computers and TV. If you must have a TV in the room, make sure it is turned off properly, and not sitting with the beady little red standby light glaring at you.

3. Set a bedtime routine. The repeated actions of a routine are soothing. So take a warm bath if you normally bath at night, brush teeth etc, and then read for fifteen minutes - something light, not a text book or the newspaper!

4. Don't eat for the three hours before bed. A heavy or spicy meal can lead to heartburn, which will make falling asleep more difficult. If a meal was 'heavy' it was too large and too fatty for your general health, not just your sleep.

5. Avoid alcohol and caffeine. Alcohol is a natural diuretic - a full bladder will make sleep difficult. Alcohol also leads to snoring, which reduces airflow to the lungs, which reduces oxygenation of the blood, which is what causes a hangover - or even just a headache. (Snoring disturbs your sleep-partners's sleep, even if you think it doesn't spoil yours!)
Caffeine is a stimulant which stays in your system for several hours - in fact it only kicks in about twenty minutes after consumption. So avoid tea, coffee and chocolate.

6. Remember the old wives tale about cheese giving you nightmares? Well eating cheese can certainly keep you awake, because it contains a chemical which causes the release of a brain stimulant. But it's not just cheese. Bacon, ham, aubergines, red wine, avocado pears, nuts, raspberries and soy sauce all do the same thing!

Good night. Sleep tight. Don't let the bugs bite.

Recipe : Week 9 : Day 5

Ricotta pasta with fennel
Serves 4 : Easy : Quick
Ingredients
300gms curly spaghetti
2 fennel bulbs, thinly sliced
500gms cherry tomatoes
10-12 fresh basil leaves, shredded
1 Tblsp balsamic vinegar
80mls water
100gms low fat ricotta, crumbled

Method
While the pasta is cooking:
Spray a saucepan with non-stick cooking spray.
Put the tomatoes, fennel, basil, balsamic and water in the pan.
Bring to the boil and immediately reduce to a gentle simmer.
Cover with a lid and allow to cook gently until the pasta is done.
(By this time the tomatoes should be squishy).
Spoon the sauce over the pasta.
Crumble the ricotta over the top.
Serve with a crisp green salad on the side.

Recipe : Week 9 : Day 2

Spring veg lasagne
Serves 4 : Easy : This takes longer – but you can leave it to do its own thing once it’s in the oven.

Ingredients
12 baby corn cobs, each cut in 3 or 4 pieces
2 large carrots, sliced
2 large parsnips, sliced
1 medium aubergine, chopped
2 – 4 large courgettes, sliced
bunch of spring onions
1 x ±400gm tin chopped tomatoes

8 – 12 sheets no-cook lasagne

500ml fat free milk
2 Tblsp maizena

50gm fat reduced cheddar, grated
2 Tblsp grated parmesan
8 cherry tomatoes, halved

1 – 2 Tblsp chopped parsley

Method
Preheat oven to 180ºC.

Spray a large saucepan with non-stick cooking spray.
Put all the vegetables, from the baby corn down to the tinned tomatoes into the pan.
Stir well to combine.
Bring to the boil, then reduce to a simmer.
Cook for about 15 mins, until the veg are tender.

Make a white sauce with the milk and maizena.

When the vegetables are cooked, it’s time to assemble the lasagne.

Spray a large ovenproof dish with non-stick cooking spray.
Spoon one third of the vegetables into the dish.
Place lasagne sheets, in a single layer, over the veg.
Spoon quarter of the white sauce over the lasagne sheets.
Repeat these three layers, finishing with the white sauce.
Sprinkle over the grated cheeses.
Decorate with the halved cherry tomatoes.

Bake, uncovered, for 45 – 50 minutes.
Allow to stand for 10 mins before serving.

To ensure the lasagne sheets cook nicely, I usually lay them in hot water while I spoon the other stuff into the dish.

Recipe : Week 8 : Day 3

Talking sticks

Serves 4 : Easy : Quick
Ingredients
180gm haloumi
2 large courgettes
neck of a large butternut
1 medium aubergine
4 Tblsp reduced fat pesto mixed with 4 Tblsp water
Small bunch of fresh basil
240gm pasta screws
Method
Cook the pasta in lightly salted water.
Drain when al dente and keep warm.
Peel the aubergine and the butternut.
Cut them and the courgettes into fat juliennes.
Cut the haloumi into similarly sized sticks.
Spray a wok with non-stick cooking spray.
Dry fry the haloumi until it browns nicely.
Remove from the pan.
Lightly spray the wok again.
Tip in all the vegetable sticks. They will make a lovely squeaky noise.
Keep stirring and turning the vegetables over.
Add a splash of water to stop them catching.
When they stop ‘talking’ to you, the vegetables are cooked.
Stir the pesto and water through the vegetables.
Add the pasta.
Toss to combine well.
Serve the pasta and vegetables topped with the haloumi, and
garnished with basil leaves.