All Posts By

Kate Taylor

Oct 31

LASAGNE

By Recipes No Comments

A family standard but surprisingly something I didn’t make very often until we moved to Australia. Since we arrived I made it once for mum and dad and they loved it so much it’s now on weekly rotation. I try to “add in” as many veggies to dishes like this as I can. It helps to bulk it out, add flavour, texture, fibre and micronutrients too.

Serves 6
INGREDIENTS
1 teaspoon rapeseed oil
1 onion, diced
2 celery sticks, finely chopped (optional)
1 tablespoon minced garlic
500g beef and pork mince
1 carrot, grated
1 tin chopped tomatoes (400g)
1 x veg stock cube
1 tablespoon tomato sauce
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
125 ml red wine
½ cup red lentils
Lasagne sheets
2 teaspoons butter
50g/ or 1/3 cup plain flour
150ml milk
100g cheddar cheese (grated) plus extra for the top
salt and black pepper

METHOD
Preheat the oven to 180C
Heat the oil in a large pan over a medium heat and add the onion, celery and garlic. Gently fry until soft and translucent (about 5-7 minutes).
Add the mince and grated carrot. Break the mince up with a wooden spoon and stir to combine with the other ingredients.
Once the mince has browned add the tinned tomatoes, Worcestershire sauce, tomato sauce, red wine and red lentils. Dissolve the vegetable stock cube in 150mls of boiling water and add that to the pan too. Season with black pepper.
Bring to the boil then simmer for 30 minutes.

While that is simmering make the cheese sauce.
Melt the butter in a small saucepan over a low heat.
Once melted add the flour and mix until it forms a paste. It may go into lumps which is fine, these will dissolve when the milk is added.
Whisk in the milk and keep whisking until all the lumps have dissolved and it starts to thicken. You may need to add a little bit more milk if it gets very thick.
Add half the grated cheese and stir until melted.

Assembly
Place a tiny amount of the mixture mix on the very bottom of the dish, this is so the bottom layer of the lasagne cooks. The mixture shouldn’t even cover the bottom of the dish.
Then place a single layer of lasagne sheets on the bottom, break them with your hand if you need to, it’s always a bit like a jigsaw!
Place a layer of the met mixture over the lasagne sheets until they are fully covered. Cover the mixture with a layer of cheese sauce.
Layer over the lasagne sheets ensuring they are not over lapping.
Then repeat the layering again.
You should finish the lasagne with either a layer of sheets on top or a small layer of the meat mixture, it doesn’t matter which one it will just depend on how thick you have made the layers. Top this with any remaining cheese sauce and then two handfuls of grated cheese.
Bake in the oven for 40 minutes, until golden brown and bubbling.
Serve with a side of greens such as broccoli, sautéed spinach or bok choi.

Feb 26

SPINACH PANCAKES

By Recipes No Comments

These are a simple way to get extra veg into your diet and also make pancakes green which the kids just love. Spinach doesn’t have a really offensive flavour which means it’s the perfect ingredient for colouring! These will keep in the fridge in an airtight container for 3 days and can also be frozen.

Makes 16 small pancakes
INGREDIENTS
175g self raising flour⠀
175ml milk⠀
1 egg⠀
1 handful of spinach

METHOD
Boil the kettle.
Place the spinach in a colander or sieve and pour the boiled water over it until it wilts.
Place the spinach in a blender/nutribullet and blend to smooth (ish) consistency, don’t worry if there are still small lumps these wont be obvious in the pancakes themselves.
Whisk the flour, milk and egg together.
Add the spinach and stir until it’s green and well mixed.
Oil a large frying pan. I use a pastry brush to spread the oil evenly over the pan.
Use a dessertspoon to place small spoonfuls of the mixture in the pan.
Once the pancakes have small bubbles forming on the surface flip them over and cook on the other side.
Serve as a stack with layers of grated cheese in between, topped with chopped cherry tomatoes and a sprinkling of black pepper.

Jan 26

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.
Jan 17

#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.

Jan 08

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.

Dec 03

PICKLED BEETROOT

By Food for thought, Recipes No Comments

Another one from Dad. Not gonna lie, grating beetroot is messy but the end result is worth it. Great on crackers with cheese or as a topping on a burger. Also a very thoughtful gift.

INGREDIENTS
3 medium beetroot, grated⠀
1 1/2 medium onions, thinly sliced⠀
250mls cider vinegar⠀
1 teaspoon rapeseed oil⠀
Salt⠀
Black Pepper⠀

METHOD
Cook the onion in the rapeseed oil on a medium heat until it’s caramelised. ⠀
Add the beetroot, vinegar, salt and black pepper and bring to the boil.⠀
Simmer for around 30 minutes until most of the liquid has disappeared.⠀
Spoon into jars and keep in the fridge.⠀

⠀

Nov 21

TOFU UDON NOODLES

By Recipes No Comments

Honestly one of the best stir-fry dishes I have ever made. Firstly with chicken and then with tofu. The spices and sauce mix definitely make it super tasty.

Serves 2
INGREDIENTS
300g tofu OR 2 chicken breasts, diced
1 small onion, roughly chopped
3 cloves of roasted garlic
A handful of spinach
6 brussel sprouts, quartered
4 small florets of broccoli, roughly chopped
15 green beans, trimmed and halved
Udon noodles (2 x 200g packs)
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon nutmeg
Black pepper
1 tablespoon fish sauce
2 tablespoons soy sauce
Small handful of coriander roughly chopped
Rapeseed oil
Sesame seeds/pumpkin seeds

It’s the roasted garlic that makes the difference here. I know it sounds like a lot of effort but it’s quite simple to do. Get a whole bulb of garlic and put it in the oven for about 20 minutes at 180C. Throw the bulb in the oven whilst you are cooking something else.

METHOD
If using tofu: In a wok (or similar shaped pan) fry the tofu in a teaspoon of rapeseed oil until golden brown and remove.
If using chicken start here: In a wok (or similar shaped pan) fry the onion and roasted garlic until softened in a teaspoon of rapeseed oil (about 5 minutes).
Add the diced chicken and fry until it has some colour
Add in all the veggies, spices and sauces.
Stir fry until the veggies are cooked, roughly 5-8 minutes.
Cook your noodles as per the packet instructions. This is usually to boil them for 2 minutes.
Drain. Then add them to the stir fry pan. And add in the cooked tofu if using.
Mix until everything is combined.
Serve topped with sesame or pumpkin seeds and coriander leaves.

Oct 25

#40 THE KETO DIET

By Sunday Shutdown Series No Comments

AKA the ketogenic diet. A very low carb, high fat and protein diet which aims to put your body into ketosis. Depending which advice you follow your carb intake could be less than 20grams – for reference a banana has about 25grams.

There is still a lot of hype about it.

Does it work?

To clarify, if you follow the principles you will 100% lose weight. Why? Because you are consuming less calories than you were before. Not because you are in ketosis.

How long will it last?

Well how long is a piece of string?
The results are pretty quick, partly because the process of not consuming carbohydrates means not only will you lose body fat, your stored carbohydrates will deplete and you’ll also lose a hell of a lot of water. And the scales will reflect that loss of stored carbs and water as weight.

It is so restrictive that adhering to the diet for longer than a week or two is going to be tough. It’s also going to bring up all sorts of emotions because you are told you can’t have a lot of things you love to eat. And what happens when you are told you can’t have something?

And exercise – forget about it. Anything cardio based is likely going to be extremely tough and unenjoyable due to the lack of fuel (carbs) you’ll have. It could even be dangerous.

So the bottom line is…

You will lose weight. Would I advise it? No. Because by the time you’ve lost a chunk of initial weight, quickly, lost your mojo and felt guilty because you’ve started eating normal food again, probably over indulged in all the foods you weren’t allowed to have you’ll almost be back at square one. And I’ll be there to pick up the pieces and support you on your ling term journey to better health and sustainable fat loss.

For coaching enquires click here

Oct 23

SCRAMBLED TOFU

By Breakfast, Cooking, Recipes No Comments

I know so many people want to cook tofu but don’t know how. So here’s a really simple and quick way to use it which works for breakfast on toast with baked beans or lunch with a salad or in a wrap. This will also keep in the fridge for 3 days.

INGREDIENTS
1 x 280g pack of firm tofu (plain of smoked)
1 x tomato
Spinach or greens of some sort
1 teaspoon of chopped garlic
1 x teaspoon rapeseed oil
Mixed herbs
2 x tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
Salt & black pepper

METHOD
Roughly chop the tomato and shred the spinach or greens. Thickly slice the tofu.
Heat a frying pan over a medium heat with 1 teaspoon of rapeseed oil. Lightly fry the garlic for 1-2 minutes.
Add the tomato and mix, cook gently for 1 minute.
Turn the heat to low.
Crumble the tofu into the pan and stir.
Season with mixed herbs, Worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper. Cook for 5 minutes over a low heat.
Stir through the spinach or greens.

Oct 16

#39 A1 & A2 MILK

By Sunday Shutdown Series No Comments

SUNDAY SHUTDOWN #39 A1 & A2 MILK

What is it?

A1 and A2 refers to the type of casein found in milk. Casein is one of the main groups of proteins.

A1 casein is typically found in breeds of cows from Northern Europe – think Holstein Fresian (which is also most common in Australia and America)
A2 casein is typically found in breeds of cows from the Channel Islands, France and in Asia.

The milk we regularly consume contains both types of casein as the domestication of cows caused them to mix. However there are still cattle with only the A2 casein which produce pure A2 milk.

What are the claimed health benefits?

It has been claimed that regular milk (with both A1 and A2) has less health benefits than pure A2 milk. The main claims state that the consumption dairy with both A1 and A2 casein is linked to the development of type 1 diabetes, digestive discomfort, cardiovascular disease and many others too. The primary point being that A1 casein is the problem.

To date there have been no clinical studies in humans testing the effect of A1 casein on type 1 diabetes.

The evidence supporting the statements that consuming A2 milk will be preventative in developing non-communicable diseases (like cardiovascular disease) is unfounded. And when you dig a little deeper it seems these claims are mostly made by the companies selling A2 milk. Funny that isn’t it.

What do we know?

Firstly there may be a benefit for those who experience digestive discomfort after consuming standard dairy milk to switch to A2 milk. There is moderate evidence to suggest that A2 milk may be beneficial for these individuals.
However not all individuals.
And not all the time.
This means it will be a bit of trial and error.

If you don’t have any digestive issues then there is no reason for you to change your chosen milk.

In the UK A2 milk has recently been removed from many supermarkets shopping aisles due to it not being purchased. It is still available but may just require a bit more looking.

So we aren’t solely shutting A2 milk down, just partly.