Last Friday I prepared a really yummy salmon served with asian greens, ginger and a side of rice. Fresh ingredients really do make a huge difference and just take your meal to a new level.

Salmon provides a great source of omega-3 fatty acids that help to keep your arteries clear. On top of that, fatty acids have been shown to improve your mental health and strengthen your immune system.

Consider adding salmon to your diet, you really can’t go wrong!

Salmon with sesame greens & ginger-soy dressing

Ingredients (serves 4)

• 4 (125g each) skin-on salmon fillets
• Olive oil spray
• 60ml (1/4 cup) salt-reduced soy sauce
• 2 tsp brown sugar
• 2 tsp grated fresh ginger
• 3 tsp sesame oil
• 1 bunch gai lan (Chinese broccoli) or other asian greens
• Steamed jasmine rice, to serve
• 1 tbs sesame seeds, toasted

Method

1. Heat a large non-stick frying pan over high heat. Spray both sides of the salmon with olive oil spray. Add salmon to the pan, skin-side down, and cook for 2-3 minutes or until crisp. Turn and cook for a further 1-2 minutes for medium or until cooked to your liking.

2. Meanwhile, combine the soy sauce, sugar, ginger and half the sesame oil in a small bowl. Stir until the sugar dissolves. Cook the gai lan in a saucepan of boiling water for 30 seconds or until bright green and tender crisp. Drain.

3. Divide the gai lan and rice among serving dishes. Drizzle over the remaining sesame oil and sprinkle with half the sesame seeds. Top with the salmon. Drizzle over the soy sauce mixture and sprinkle with the remaining sesame seeds to serve.

Sarah from Diet.com mentioned on twitter recently that they have a great little application called the workout builder that lets you select a variety of videos and string them together to create a customized routine.

It is really simple to use. You can select from a variety of videos that are categorized by core, upper, lower or combo and then by the type of equipment you will be using, for example an exercise ball or dumbbells.

Once you have made your selections, you are presented with a variety of videos. You can drag the exercises you want to your playlist area and select how many reps you want to do. For a bit of extra customization you can drag and drop the videos in any order you want.

Once happy with your playlist you simply hit the save playlist button and the workout builder compiles all the videos together for you. It’s really easy to use and a fantastic workout tool.

It appears you do have to register (free to join, involves a survey) to be able to save your playlist and while I’m not a big fan of taking surveys , it didn’t take too long and the results were pretty spot on and made me chuckle a little.

Head on over to diet.com and try it out for yourself :)

By the way, you can find me on twitter as well.

You don’t need to go to a fancy gym to get started. In fact, it’s better to do bodyweight exercises at home in beginner workouts because you won’t be intimidated by the folks at the gym. It’s not a fashion show at home!

This is a simple beginner workout you can do in the comfort of your own home with bodyweight exercises.

I should point out that heartburn is not necessarily caused by the food you eat. Some people, have an underlying health problem so you should go and see your doctor for advice and treatment, if required.

For me, onion seems to be one of my triggers so I won’t be having them in my diet for some time. Quite frankly, the discomfort of heartburn far outweighs my love for onions!

This recipe looks quite nice and is heartburn friendly. I haven’t tried this but it sounds really nice. I will make this weekend and let you know how it turns out :)

Roasted Vegetable Soup with Blue Lentils

* 1 teaspoon coriander seeds
* ¼ teaspoon cumin seeds
* 3 cups pumpkin chunks
* 2 cups fennel chunks
* 2 cobs corn
* ¼ teaspoon smoked paprika
* ¼ teaspoon turmeric
* 3 cups vegetable stock
* ½ teaspoon palm sugar
* ½ teaspoon celery salt
* 1 teaspoon tamarind puree
* ½ cup blue lentils
* 2 tablespoons light coconut milk
* 1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill
* 1 tablespoon chopped fresh
* coriander

Combine the coriander and cumin seeds in a small saucepan, stir over high heat for 1 minute. Transfer to a mortar and pestle, crush finely

Preheat oven to 200 C. Line a baking tray with a large sheet of foil topped with a sheet of baking paper. Place the pumpkin, fennel, corn, paprika, turmeric and spice mix onto the paper. Wrap up to enclose the ingredients. Bake for 45 minutes or until tender.

Remove the corn niblets from the cobs. Combine in a blender with the vegetables, stock, sugar, celery salt and tamarind puree, blend until smooth.

Meanwhile, cook the lentils in boiling water for 30 minutes or until tender. Spoon into serving bowls and top with hot soup. Drizzle with the coconut milk and sprinkle with the dill and coriander.

source: http://www.heartburn.com.au/recipes-and-lifestyle.html

I didn’t have this the first night as I had prepared another meal but my partner did try some after getting home from work late last night and thoroughly enjoyed it.
I’ve since tried it and must agree, it is really yummy!

We are trying to eat 2 or 3 meals per week without meat so healthy soups, for us, are the perfect choice. This one in particular has an amazing aroma and is wonderful served with crusty bread.

If you try it, don’t forget to come back and share your thoughts on it!

INGREDIENTS

• 4 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 cups chopped onion
• 1/2 cup chopped celery
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 2 cups diced peeled sweet potatoes
• 2 teaspoons paprika
• 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 pinch ground cinnamon
• 1 pinch cayenne pepper
• 1 bay leaf
• 3 cups vegetable stock
• 1 tablespoon tamari
• 1 cup chopped fresh tomato
• 1 1/2 cups cooked garbanzo beans (chickpea)
• 3/4 cup chopped green bell pepper

DIRECTIONS

Source: Allrecipes.com

There is something unbelievably soothing about curling up in front of a fire with a bowl of soup and crusty bread. The best thing about making your own soup is that it’s economical and healthy providing you stay away from adding cream and cheese to the mix.

Soup is still yummy even in the warmer months and we usually make batches throughout the year regardless of the weather.

This hearty vegetable soup recipe is the one I made this week has been a huge hit at home, I’ll certainly be making again. It’s easy to prepare and one I think you’re kids could help to make.

Ingredients

• 1 cup dried soup mix ( I went for a mix of lentils, red kidney beans, chick peas, barley,green split peas, yellow split peas, red split lentils, borlotti beans
• 1 onion chopped
• 2 zucchinis sliced
• 2 celery sticks sliced
• 125 g mushrooms sliced
• 2 carrots sliced
• 1 potato chopped
• 500 g pumpkin chopped
• 2 ltrs vegetable stock

Instructions

1. Soak soup mix in cold water for 8 hours and then strain or as per packet instructions
2. Using your soup pot, cook off onion, zucchini, celery and mushrooms in a little olive oil for 5 mins on med-low heat
3. Add carrot, potato and pumpkin
4. Pour in stock
5. Add pre-soaked soup mix
6. Partially cover with lid and simmer for 45 minutes

I took out about 3 cups when cool and blended to make the soup a little thicker. This is optional and is delicious either way.

If it isn’t all eaten within 3 days I would suggest freezing in batches.

I hope you enjoy!

P.s I apologize for the average pic, I took it earlier tonight in pretty bad light. Trust me, the soup is much, much better than this pic does it justice!

I must admit that adding pumpkin as a sweet or to smoothies is quite a new thing for me.
In Australia, we eat pumpkin more as a vegetable. It wasn’t until my partner who is from America made me a pumpkin pie that I realised it was such a versatile food! To this day, whenever we serve pumpkin pie to our Aussie friends and family they are always surprised and a little aprehensive about trying it. That changes pretty quickly though once they eat it!

The first time I cooked a roast dinner for my partner , I got that same puzzled look when I served the roast pumpkin with all the other vegetables. It is now a firm favorite and we eat it almost every night with our meal. We have family visiting from Texas next month and I don’t think they are used to eating it as part of their main meal so that should be interesting ;)

You can find the complete recipes at Camilla’s blog, www.enlightenedcooking.blogspot.com (posting for 1.24.08) A really lovely site with some beautiful recipes which I am going to try out.

This video shows you how to make oat bars using a few simple ingredients.. This particular recipe is vegan but you can use milk rather than the rice milk used in this recipe.

I eat porridge almost everyday of the week and while I really enjoy it and find that it keeps me quite full until lunch, I’m a little bored.

I do eat boxed cereal on occasion but I’ve found in the past that it just doesn’t keep me sustained. Most times I’m really hungry by 10.00am and feeling drained and tired.

So I decided this morning that I’d give fruit smoothies a shot. I’ve spent the afternoon looking for some recipes and discovered that the choices and variety are endless. You can add protein to help maintain lean muscle mass and to keep you feeling full for a longer period of time. Adding fiber has many health benefits as well. By including yogurt, you are adding a very good source of calcium.

There are literally thousands of recipes out there. If you google “healthy smoothie recipes”, you will see what I mean!

These two caught my eye. The first is apparently one that Oprah makes (or perhaps made by one of her many staff ;) ) It sounds good though. I also like the extra things you can add. So here they are, enjoy!

Oprah’s Smoothie Recipe

• 2 cups 8th continent Light Chocolate Soy-milk
• 2 medium banana
• 2 cups strawberries (you can use frozen strawberries)

Put all ingredients in blender and blend until smooth.

Optional additions to your smoothie:

• 1/2 tablespoon flaxseed oil
• 1-2 teaspoons Psyllium seed husks
• 1-2 tablespoons protein powder

Banana Oatmeal Smoothie

• 1 banana (frozen and cut into chunks)
• 1/4 cup oatmeal
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1/4 cup orange juice

Healthy Optional Additions:

• 1/2 tablespoon flaxseed oil
• 1-2 teaspoons Psyillium seed husks
• 2 tablespoons protein powder

They have three recipes this week to check out.

• Grilled Flank Steak with Sautéed Beet Greens and Creamy Horseradish Beets
• Beets, Leeks and Onions
• Beets, Walnuts and Feta Salad

Find these recipes over at Mark’s Daily Apple