HAPPY NEW YEAR LOVELIES.
2012 will be a GREAT year for food and music!
Let me get straight into this... reading glasses on, this is a long post.
Last year a few girlfriends told me they were going to try reducing or cutting out carbohydrates in order to lose weight. At that time I expressed my disgust and joked about it, now karma has slapped me in the face and during the end of 2011 my body was not loving rice, pasta, potatoes and bread.
The pain of acknowledging this was unbearable! How I craved a cheese and pickle sandwich at lunch, or wanted to dash to the chip shop for my favourite comfort food, and now a chip butty is completely out the question for a few months.
Bloating after consuming one of the above staples is common in many women, however it is not the end of the world, a healthy balance can still be achieved. There are many alternatives out there that we don't pay enough attention to.
FIRST
Go see your doctor especially if pain is excruciating.
SECOND
Switch to having or adding salads, soups, nuts, pulses, cous cous, bulgar wheat, or tortilla's to accompany meals instead of bulky potatoes or pasta.
THIRD
Eat fresh fruit and raw vegetables when hungry either as a snack (mange tout/apple/red pepper at the desk) or at the start of the day- at the moment when time permits, breakfast is a fruit salad with pro biotic yoghurt.
Here is a lovely meal idea if you fancy a light salad on the side with a warm and herby fish in gorgeous broth.
♬
I tuned into Jo Whiley on radio 2 as I prepared this mean looking dish:
Baked Sea Bass with Greens
▶Recipe for 2
Ingredients:
4 small mint leaves
3 sprigs of dill
5 basil leaves
1 Romano red pepper cut in small chunks.
The next three vegetables came in a pack so add however much you prefer of each.
Broccoli
Mange tout
Peas
Olive oil
2 crushed garlic cloves
1 tsp rock salt
Small lime wedge
Whole Sea bass with head and tail off (or two fillets 230g)
Method:
: Preheat oven 200°c
: Chop the dill and mint finely.
: Place the sea bass, all the vegetables, herbs and garlic in a medium pie/casserole dish.
: Pour olive oil, 200ml water and sprinkle rock salt.
: Make three big cuts in the fish then squeeze lime over the fish, then place on top.
: It should look like this...
So bright and beautiful.
: Bake for 30 minutes.
: When ready to serve cut the fish horizontally and lift the bone out the middle.
: Obviously as I am steering away from potatoes, a fine rocket, cherry tomato and parmesan salad with balsamic vinegar went beautifully on the side.
DONE.
Not a bad start to 2012 if I don't say so myself!
Next Time:
⤵ If sea bass not available another chunky white fish like monkfish, cod or scallops would work.
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Favourite part of the show:
Jo spoke about the raw talent that was brewed in 2011 and how women took over music, so very true.
These were the top five albums in 2011:
1 - Adele 21 by Adele
2 - Christmas by Michael Bublé
3 - Doo-Wops & Hooligans by Bruno Mars
4 - Adele 19 by Adele
5 - Mylo Xyloto by Coldplay
Ladies to look out for in 2012:
Emeli Sandé
Lana Del Ray
Madonna
Nicki Minaj
Mita Patel
Exciting times ahead.
xx
