Monthly Archives

January 2021

ANZAC BISCUITS

By Recipes, Snacks No Comments
A true Aussie classic, these biccies are quick to make, will last for a week in an airtight container and there is history behind them and their story being sent to the soldiers fighting in world war 1.
Makes 18
INGREDIENTS
85g oats
100g plain flour
100g caster sugar
85g desiccated coconut
100g unsalted butter
1 teaspoon bicarbonate soda
1 tablespoon golden syrup or honey
METHOD
Preheat oven to 160C .
Line 1 or 2 trays with greaseproof paper or grease the trays with butter/oil.
Mix the flour, sugar, coconut and oats together in a large bowl.
Melt the butter over a low heat. Once melted add the golden syrup (or honey if you don’t have any).
Boil the kettle.
Add 1 teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda to a mug with 2 tablespoons of boiling water.
Combine this with the butter and turn the heat off. Be careful as when you stir this in it will rise and foam up.
Add this to the dry ingredients and mix together.
Make into small round balls and place on baking tray 2cm apart (they spread quite a lot during the cooking process).
Bake for 12 minutes until golden brown.
Leave on the tray for a few minutes to cool as you will notice they are quite soft when they first come out of the oven. Then transfer to a wire rack.
Enjoy with a lovely cup of tea.

#41 KETONE SUPPLEMENTS

By Sunday Shutdown Series, Supplements No Comments

These are doing the rounds again. Promoted by celebrities and influencers as a miracle cure when it comes to weight loss. Time to set the record straight.

What are they?

Ketone supplements tell you they will put your body into ketosis without you having to restrict carbohydrate intake to get there. You ingest the supplement and they provide the ketone bodies rather than your body actually producing them. (As an FYI – ketones are produced by your body to use as energy when it is in the absence of carbohydrates. The body’s preferred method of energy is carbs, when you don’t have them it has to convert fat into ketones to then use them for energy instead).

I’ve covered the keto diet itself in sundayshutdown40 so check that out for further explanation. And the same principle really applies here. The ketones don’t make you lose body fat. You lose body fat because you are in an calorie deficit. If you consume these ketones and don’t adopt a calorie deficit you will not lose weight and there are no scientific studies to demonstrate this not to be the case.

Ketone supplements are expensive. One brand is retailing at £95 for 20 servings with a recommendation of 2 per day. That’s around £300 a month. They not only claim to make you lose fat but also give you extra energy and clearer thinking and put you into ketosis in 1 hour.

Claims

They also claim that to burn body fat you first have to burn through all the carbs and then all the protein within your body. If that was the case you’d have nothing left, no muscles, no bones just a ball of fat. Basic biology 101.

To top it off they apparently rapidly repair DNA, support healthy immune function and elevate essential amino acids. I mean it seems this drink is the be all and end all to living your best ever life with no challenges. No wonder vulnerable women (and probably men) are spending their hard earned cash for false promises that will leave them feeling worse off than they were before.

There are no scientific research papers showing any of this. Why? Firstly because it’s bloody difficult to measure any of these functions and secondly you’d be hard pressed to conduct a study demonstrating these and being able to state it was the supplement causing the effect. I mean if there was a drink that did all of this surely it would be promoted by the worlds leading health authorities, wouldn’t you think?

To conclude…

…these supplements are advised to be taken in conjunction with a calorie controlled diet and for the best results to reduce your carbohydrate intake. I’ll let you in to a little secret, you will lose body weight by doing these things without the supplement.

RED LENTIL CURRY

By Cooking, Recipes, Vegan No Comments

I have been making this for years and it’s so easy I wanted to share it. I have tweaked and changed the original recipe and now find this is the quickest, cheapest and tastiest option. Suitable for freezing too.

Serves 4
INGREDIENTS
1 teaspoon rapeseed oil
2 onions, finely chopped
10g fresh grated ginger or 2 teaspoons of minced ginger
10g grated garlic or 2 teaspoons of chopped garlic
200g dried red lentils
300ml vegetable stock
1 teaspoon chilli powder (leave out if you want a milder version or for children)
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon garam masala
1 tin of chopped tomatoes (400g)
1 tin of coconut milk (400g)

METHOD
Heat the rapeseed oil in a large pan and add the onions. Then cook on a medium heat until softened and translucent.
Add the garlic and ginger and cook for a further 2 minutes.
Then add the spices and mix with the onions, then add the lentils and mix until coated.
Add the chopped tomatoes, coconut milk and vegetable stock and stir.
Reduce to heat to low and simmer for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. If the mixture looks like it is getting too thick then add some more water. You know it’s ready when the lentils have softened and the curry is a thick consistency.
Serve with rice, couscous, quinoa, naan bread, poppadoms or even potato wedges. A dollop of yoghurt and some coriander go well too.