Our recipes are specially created to be healthy, nutritious and family friendly. Tuck in!
This soup is best served in April and May when the nettles are young and sweet, but the days still have a chill and warrant a soup. If you've never cooked with nettles before do give this a try - no sting we promise! Pick the top shoots from young nettles with thick protective gloves and wash thoroughly before using in this dish.
A savoury flapjack is a mixture of oats, seeds and vegetables baked until crispy. What's not to love? Here we've used carrots, spinach, feta and coriander to give a fresh vibrant flapjack. If you, or your children, don't like seeds then finely blitz them in a food processor before adding to the oat mix. To make this vegan, substitute the feta cheese with a vegan cheese or nutritional yeast. Can be served cold in a packed lunch or warm straight from the oven for a perfect vegetarian meal.
I started writing this post back in January, and decided to leave it until now, early April, as days are longer and brighter. Why? because this is NOT a story of January resolutions forgottenand abandoned come February. At the Health Boost, we don't believe in quick fixes, we are passionate about making small changes for long term, long lasting benefits. Personally, I am not a big fan of the word resolution. I prefer stronger, more positive and upbeat words like goals and challenges and changing the mindset. Like strategy and tactics, goals and challenges work hand in hand: they range from a daily challenge to a milestone goal or never attempted before challenge. They can be very personal or shared with family and friends.
Since getting my waffle maker at Christmas, we have had lots of fun with it. The kids keep coming up with some of their favourite flavours and I experiment with lots of different flours or starch in order to offer good nutritional value as well as fun. As always, no refined sugars, gluten free and easily dairy free if you chose so. This winning lemon & poppy seed combo worked beautifully, especially when served warmed with greek yoghurt, fresh blueberries and a drizzle of honey!
Heart disease is unfortunately still on the rise and is still the leading cause of death for both men and women in the world. Nutritionally there is much that you can do to protect yourself and since prevention is invariably better than cure itโs time to protect your heart.
This is one of those quick and easy meals that can be rustled up when nothing else is planned. Apart from the chicken fillets, the other ingredients are probably already in your cupboards. The recipe below uses chicken fillets as they cook quickly. However this can also be made with chicken breasts cut in strips, just make sure they are cooked through before serving.
At The Health Boost, we are foodies and passionate about good food to be enjoyed with our friends and family. And who doesn't enjoy a nice cookie! As always, we try and keep it free from nasties and rich in the good stuff. Including lavender flowers into the cookie dough has transformed those little thumb print cookies into real taste buds adventures. Don't get bored, be bold with food !
As much as we keep going on about green vegetables, a large helping of warm coloured soup makes everyone happy! Packed with great fibres, vitamins and health boosting spices this heart warming soup makes a great starter or one pot supper . Soups are one of the best "batch cooking" meal to make ahead and freeze. Great healthy option for busy family lives.
You've all heard the saying "breakfast like a king". However the typical Western diet breakfast of cereal with skimmed milk or a piece of toast grabbed on the way out of the door is not eating like a king. I understand that time is a particular worry when you're trying to get to work and ferry children to school. However I often find that cooking a breakfast for the children results in cleaner plates much quicker and we are usually out of the door earlier. The key is to get the children involved. Get them to stir the eggs, while you unload the dishwasher or do their hair! My husband leaves the house at a ridiculous hour of the morning so he takes his breakfast in, which he eats after his 8am meeting. Many of the breakfasts below are easily portable in a container and carried into work.
I enjoyed my very first falafel on a family trip to Israel as a teenager. Served very spicy with mixed salad, in a flat bread. As a chickpea fan, I naturally love them and I enjoy playing around with ingredients, flavours and colours. This beetroot falafel is not just pretty, it's quick and easy to make, healthy, packed with whole ingredients, ideal to make ahead and really filling. If you've never tried them, have a go!
We are always striving to come up with healthy breakfast ideas that are quick and easy to make and ensure that no one is left hungry. Make this the night before and then breakfast is on the table in seconds. This is my son'r current favourite breakfast as he says it leaves him full until lunchtime. He likes to mix it with some homemade granola for added crunch. This can be made dairy free by substituting the Greek yoghurt with coconut milk or coconut yoghurt.
With all the talk and noise about snacking or not snacking, government guidelines not always suitable for all, what to do? As busy mums to active sporty kids, we prefer to make sure that if our children need to refuel between meals, we make nutrient dense homemade snacks available. These energy balls are nut-free too, so can be taken to school or the local sports club. And for those who like a strong boost, add extra turmeric, go on!!
I'm not sure I can claim any credit for this soup. My daughter was chatting about her love of carrot, apple and ginger juice and saying she wished it was hot since she didn't like drinking a cold juice in winter. So I suggested that I make it into a soup and she was very excited. It was her idea to include turmeric as our local cafe serve a carrot and turmeric juice which she loves.
Baked beans are a quick and very popular meal. However the variety in a tin are full of hidden sugar which I'd rather not eat or give to my children. These beans can be adapted spice wise to make them more child-friendly (just reduce the cayenne pepper). Serve these on toast for a quick breakfast or stir in a handful of spinach at the end of cooking and make a well and crack two eggs in and you have a very filling and delicious, hearty breakfast. You can use whatever beans you like - I have used butter beans, but haricot beans are the traditional beans used in baked beans. This is also delicious with chickpeas.
These are a healthy and gluten free alternative to the frozen fish finger. By making them yourself you can be confident on the quality of the fish and ensure there's no added nasties. Many fish fingers from supermarkets are coated in unhealthy oils, which have no place in our diet. Serve with a side of sweet potato fries and a couple of green vegetables as a perfect balanced meal. If your child is suspicious of 'green bits' then leave the parsley out!
At The Health Boost, Kat and I aim to thrive on a balanced lifestyle including lots of good real food, being as active as possible in the time we have, so treats do feature there somewhere. This is one of those treats! Delicious, nutritious and a little naughty! Coconut is a bit of favourite ingredient of mine and luckily it offers many health benefits aside from tasting delicious.
As you may have noticed by now, I love nothing more than playing around with ingredients, textures and flavours of the waffle kind. Still very much wearing my healthier cap on, I have managed to get the right balance of whole foods real ingredients and classic favourite. Those waffles have come out tasting like a good old fashioned brownie! Do try and you won't be disappointed.
The search for nutritious healthy snack bars is never ending. With the added restriction of the "nut free" policy in schools, making your own is the key to success. These bars contain oats and seeds, no nasties, no refined sugar and no nuts. These are really quick and simple to make ahead, and add to a packed lunch or your gym bag for a post-workout refuel.
Whatever diet you are on... paleo, vegan, vegetarian, nordic, LCHF or a typical Western diet there's no doubt that increasing your vegetable intake is something that will benefit you. The benefits for our cardiovascular system, immune system, brain health and weight are huge and we should be aiming at hitting at least 10 portions of different vegetables a day into our diet. Ten I hear you say, thatโs impossible! But actually itโs much easier than you think, as I will outline later. Eating an abundant rainbow of vegetables really will leave you feeling so much better.
It is very much soup season all year round as far as I am concerned! Why? Soups, whether hot or cold, are a fantastic way to easily include lots of daily veggie portions. This soup is packed full of real food pre-biotics, very light and works really well as a warming starter. Soups are a great make ahead and freeze healthy option for busy lives.
