The Madeleine Shaw Post #1: Cauliflower Pizza

I've always been a fan of Madeleine Shaw and her inspiring recipes, but it's not until recently that I have decided to try some out for myself! 

I was intrigued by the 'cauliflower pizza' which she continually swears by, but always thought they'd be quite tricky to make so was pleasantly surprised at how quick and easy these babies are to make from scratch! This was my finished masterpiece: 

To make 2 pizza bases you will need: 

1 cauliflower

2 eggs

1 tbsp oregano

3 tbsp's ground almonds (you can also use buckwheat or quinoa flour) 

Salt & pepper

Coconut oil to brush over the bases before baking 

...As you can see we ran out of baking paper so I oiled up some foil...I do not recommend this as it proved rather tricky to separate the base and foil once cooked! They definitely connected during their quick 20 minute bonding sesh in the oven #bezzies. 

Simply take the bases out of the oven after 20 minutes, add your toppings, and place them back in the oven for a further 5-10 mins, depending on how well done you like your toppings to be.

Toppings I used: 

Pancetta
Mushrooms
Onion
Cherry Tomatoes
Rosemary
Basil
...and of course grated parmesan to top it off!

My sister opted for melted mozzarella, onions, peppers and a biiiig old pile of rocket. 

So there we have it. Dairy and gluten free pizza! 

And for those trying to be a little healthier, or just simply to beat the bloat...it's a great way of still being able to enjoy everybody's favourite! Oh, and I know what you're thinking. Cauliflower base= ew? But it tastes really good! You wouldn't even know it was cauliflower really...

For Madeleine's recipe, click here. (she also very recently made another one with the same cauliflower base but instead topped with prawns and sweet potaaaato here- I will be trying this next!) 

XOXO

'Courgetti': The Healthy Pasta Alternative

Hey party people! 

This evening for dins I decided to cook myself some 'courgetti', in other words, shredded courgette that resembles spaghetti. I've read a lot of food blogs which have hyped about this wannabe pasta dish for a while now, so thought I'd see what all the fuss is about! 

I didn't have a Julienne peeler (which magically turn vegetables into thin, delicate strips), so had to settle for a potato peeler...meaning the main part of my dish was less 'courgetti' and more 'peeled courgette' or 'courgette ribbons'. 

...but they tasted just as good!

I potato-peeled one courgette and added it to a wok with some coconut oil, salt and pepper, like so: 

This is what a close-up picture of my half-cooked peeled courgette looks like:

Very interesting, I know. 

Oooooh, there goes the lemon! ... Just call me Jamie Oliver.

For the sauce, I (and by I, I mean my mother for our dins last night) stir fried some chicken, chopped some veg (onions, celery, peppers, tomato, aubergine) and added this to some tinned tomatoes. Seasoned of course, with some salt, pepper, garlic and chilli.

Tonight I was feeling lazy so simply reheated this wonderful sauce in a pan (thoroughly...don't wanna be getting any food poisoning!). Here is me doing this:

Then I added the sauce to the courgette ribbons, grated some fresh parmesan on top and was ready to rock 'n' rollll baby (by rock 'n' roll, I mean enjoy some dinner with the fam in front of the television). 

This is the finished product: 

FYI, I added lavishings of pepper on top as well because pepper is my favourite seasoning ever. 

And honestly, it was pretty god damn tasty. As of this week (and after the sickening amount of food/alcohol/chocolate I consumed over the Easter period) I've been really trying to be healthy again, and this is def something I'll be whipping up in the future! Next time, I think I'll try them with my favourite pasta dish toppings: pesto, pancetta and pine nuts. Deeellliiisshhh. 

Things got serious, as you can see:

Not so superior now, are ya Mr. Courgetti?

For all you health and fitness fanatics out there, go grab yourself a courgette and make yourself some super easy, super quick courgette ribbons!

XOXO

Healthy Banana Pancakes!

Yay, it's Friday!!! 

To celebrate, I whipped up an impromptu post-workout treat in the form of clean banana pancakes! They were spontaneous but so delicious, so thought I'd share the recipe.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 Large Ripe Bananas
2 Eggs
5 Tbsp's Oats (I used porridge oats)
1 Tsp Almond Butter
Pinch of Cinnamon
Pinch of Baking Powder
A Small Amount of Coconut Oil (to cook them in)

There's no difficulty involved in the making of these beauties, and I would know, as I'm generally a terrible cook! So no excuses.

Simply mash the banana, whisk the egg and blend both together using a fork. Then mix in the rest of the ingredients, and voila! You have your mix ready in no longer than 10 minutes.

Add a teaspoon of coconut oil to a frying pan, and spoon the pancakes mix into the heated pan.

I got a bit carried away watching Hollyoaks (multitasking at its finest) and sort of burnt the first sides.

Oops! 

The second sides turned out a lot better. Learning from my mistakes!

You can add whatever tickles your fancy, but I used the following to top them off:

Choc Shot - my new found favourite chocolate condiment...and it's all natural! (Click here for a full post on Choc Shot, Three Ways)
Raspberries
Chopped Roasted Hazelnuts
Pecans

And this was the outcome... orrrrrrgasmic in taste and look.

I enjoyed them with a cup of green tea and my favourite magazine.

Try them! And if you don't like, I will personally come over and apologise. Or buy you a drink for providing you with false information. Your choice.

How do you enjoy your pancakes?

XOXO

Confessions of a Runaholic

Helloo!

Sorry for the lack of postings; this week has been somewhat of a different experience, to say the least.

I finished up at my job on Friday, and boy did it feel weird on Monday morning without the sound of my dreaded alarm going off at 6am. I actually cried at the fact I didn't have to go in to work...weird, I know. 

This week has also been a tad alien because I have re-discovered shin splints, or should I say, shin splints have re-discovered me! I thought I had got rid of the buggers for good last year! For those of you who don't know, shin splints are every runner's worst nightmare!

I have made the mistake of continuing to run on shin splints on numerous occasions in my life. Usually, people learn from their mistakes, but not me... no no no... I'm far too stubborn. Instead, I decided to attempt to run through the pain last week, and it's left me a crippled, limping mess. Serves me right really.

If my physio/doctors knew, they'd be screaming "I TOLD YOU SO!!!!" 

Alas, they will never know. (Oh dear, Rory's lah-de-dah mannerisms are having an effect on me). 

I wish this was me...

I guess the point of this story is that it's made me realise how much I love and miss running! I'm one of those annoying people who go to the gym solely to use the running machines. You may ask...why not save yourself the money and run outside? 

Well there's a few reasons for this: 

1) I like to interval train, control exactly what speeds I'm running at and challenge myself to complete certain distances in the fastest time. My record for 5K is 23 minutes, 20 seconds, and the pride I felt from seeing this in front of me on a screen outweighs the benefits of outdoor running where the only screen is the windscreen of the several cars zooming past (I live in London). 

2) Outdoor running = even more pressure on the legs = increased likelihood of developing injuries.  Every pound on the concrete is like a dagger to the poor, defenceless leg joints. Trust me, I've learnt the hard way. 

3) I always feel that with outdoor running, I am more likely to stop when tired, whereas in the gym, the sheer embarrassment (as well as probable flying off the treadmill/ risk of death) of suddenly pressing stop is enough to keep me powering through. That, and Beyonce of course.

4) As picturesque and beautiful it may be to run outside, it's not so fun when it's bucketing with rain or gail force winds threaten to blow you in front of the nearest car. I know spring is now here, but I live in London, so all of the above still applies. Plus, it's motivating to work out in the gym when others are "feeling the burrrrn" all around you (...it's got absolutely nothing to do with the drool-worthy guys at every corner, with their arm muscles on show and the whole sexy, sweaty look they have going on). Oh no, definitely not! 

So for now I'm going to have to take it easy *sigh*

I've made a pledge to myself to go on bike rides around Richmond Park whilst I recover, as well as use the cross trainer in the gym...just to make that gym fee a little less painful! I may even broaden my horizons and attempt the weight machines... who am I kidding? Four personal trainer chats (aka attempts to get me to employ them) later and I still can't bring myself to listen to their advice and change my workout! Yes, I am aware that strength training builds muscles, thus increases your  metabolism and overall calorie burn, even when you're not working out. And no, I don't have that made perception that "weights are only for guys". I simply just don't enjoy it...

and the one thing I've realised about exercise is that you have to enjoy what you're doing, or you won't keep it up!  

This whole shin splints setback has also made me appreciate and embrace the fact that I, Nish O'Connor, am a runaholic. There's nothing like the feeling after an intense, hardcore run. Not only does it relieve stress, but it also gives me an excuse to listen to One Direction/Taylor/Beyonce/Top40 tings at top volume for half an hour straight. What more could a girl want? 

Running endorphins, I look forward to having you back in my life (hopefully sooner rather than later!) 

XOXO 

Personal Trainers: A Lesson For The Gullible!

Happy Friday beautiful people!

So as I mentioned in my last post, one of my New Years Resolutions is to keep up going to the gym three times a week, alongside a healthier diet (standard). So far I have kept up the gym, but not done so well on the latter resolution…it’s a work in progress!

I recently swapped gyms to one nearer my work, and I won’t mention which one it is, but my experience there yesterday left me with a strong urge to voice my opinion on a very popular fitness issue; personal training, more specifically, personal trainers.

I left work yesterday evening, feeling fairly tired but optimistic about my complementary personal training session to come. Little did I know that an hour later, I’d be leaving the gym in floods of tears and £140 less off!

It began with a quick introduction with Mr Personal Trainer. His charm (and muscles) were endearing and we discussed trivial matters; when / why I joined, what exercise I do, my previous gym. However, the session took a turn for the worst when I was told to stand on what looked like a high tech set of scales. The seemingly harmless little machine was incredibly deceiving. It’d certainly give Aladdin’s magic carpet a run for its money I’m telling ya, as just from standing on it and entering my height, it calculated my weight and supposed body fat percentage.

Body . Fat . Percentage . 

These words will now haunt me for life. I was told my BFP (or more fitting, Big Fucking Pain) fell in the 'overweight' bracket. Now I'm no Einstein, but I have a mirror, and I'm pretty sure I'm no Gemma Collins. Despite this, an overwhelming sense of panic took over and a whirlwind of questions span around my head.

Am I fat? What if I keep getting bigger? Obesity? Health problems?

I NEED HELP!!!?!?

This fear was heightened when I was then talked through a variety of exercise positions...and I failed half of them. What??? I always thought I could squat! I've been doing squat exercises at home in the mirror for a year?!! I didn't know you needed a personal trainer to teach you how to squat...

Far from an encouraging, positive and motivational meeting, the poor guy was left with one emotional wreck staring him in the face hoping for some words of reassurance. I say poor, but he had won me over in his attempt to sell himself as a trainer. I handed over £140 there and then, cash in hand, in return for five half an hour sessions where he promised to "teach me how to do these positions properly" so that I'd be able to do them myself.

After speaking to my friends and family, I've realised that I shouldn't be so gullible. I did some research and it turns out that  the 'healthy' range of Body Fat Percentage for 20-40 year old women is 21-33%, of which mine falls into. For women of the same age bracket, those who fall in the region of 33-39% are considered 'overweight', and those who carry over 39% fat are in the 'obese' category. As far as I can tell, this is the most authoritative, as it is based on World Health Organization and National Institutes of Health recommendations, and takes age into account. Still not convinced, I also did an online test which calculated my BFP from my height, weight and waistline in inches, and it was considerably lower than the result the magic machine at the gym had given.

As my dad rightly pointed out, if Mr Personal Trainer had sat there telling me that my fitness routine was perfect, that my body was really healthy, and that there was nothing that needed changing...then he wouldn't be doing his job, and more importantly, he wouldn't have a job. No customers = no money = out of business. Being surrounded by sales people at work 24/7, I should really have picked up on this whilst I sat there with tears dripping down my face...but hey ho.

Thankfully, there's no real harm done. I called up Mr Personal Trainer and got my money back today. However, it does leave me worrying that other, more impressionable young women are being fed false facts, shit sales chat and are left feeling insecure and helpless. Please don't get me wrong...I don't mean to generalise about all personal trainers, as I know some are lovely, truthful and far from pushy (my friend Jayne is a personal trainer). I also must say that I don't entirely blame Mr PT...after all, a man's gotta pay the bills somehow! 

Upon reflection, I've realised my spontaneous and reckless tendencies don't always work in my favour! Also, having had time to think about it, I believe it's true that some 'overweight' people who exercise can be healthier than their leaner non-exercising counterparts. It's all about a combination of how you feel , what the mirror tells you and whether you lead a healthy / active lifestyle....not what some silly digits on a machine say. So on that note, I will be having that Domino's come Sunday when I'm hanging like a motherfucking sloth. 

Lesson of the Day:

Don't always believe everything you hear! (especially if the lesson comes from a bald man from Stoke-Upon-Trent).

Be healthy, be happy, have fun.

xoxo