My Healthy Lunch Prep for the Week - Part II

Happy Sunday Everyone!!

Last week I shared my lunch prep for the week.

If you missed the blogspot, have no fear! Here is the post
http://yems-smoothies.blogspot.co.uk/2014/07/my-healthy-lunch-prep-for-week.html

This week I will be sharing my lunch prep again. I would like to encourage to find time and make your packed lunch for a few days and see how you feel and like it?

In my humble opinion home made lunches are@

• Cost effective
• Fresh
• Healthier
• Hygienic
• Quality
• More productive
• And enables better time management

Here is my packed lunch for the week.

Salad Base Prep  - Salad leaves and sweetcorn

Salami Salad, Cod Fillet Salad, Sweet Potato & Vegetables & Frankfurter Salad

Salami Salad, Cod Fillet Salad, Sweet Potato & Vegetables & Frankfurter Salad

Salami Salad, Cod Fillet Salad, Sweet Potato & Vegetables & Frankfurter Salad

Have you decided to make a change and create time to start bringing lunch to work once or twice a week, or make a transition away from the office canteen food options? 

Try it and I can assure you that the results will be worth it.  
Do you bring your lunch to work? If so, what are your favourite things to bring?

Let me know in the comments box.

Have a lovely working week ahead.

Quinoa With Prawns/Shrimps & Vegetables

 Hope everyone is having a good weekend?

This weekend has been a relaxing one for me. 
What have you all been up to ?

I fancied a light but very delicious meal today and rummaged through my cupboard for ingredients. I have had this pack of quinoa for a little while and decided to cook it today.

Before you go ahead and read my recipe here are 12 things you should know about Quinoa. http://thestonesoup.com/blog/2010/06/12-things-you-should-know-about-quinoa/

Ingredients

1 packet of Quinoa

2 bell peppers diced
I packet of prawns/shrimps

cooked corn on the cob( I did not have tinned ones at home)

1/2 ginger finely chopped

1/2 garlic finely chopped 

3 carrots finely chopped

1 lime

salt & seasoning

Bell Peppers, Carrots, Sweetcorn, Quinoa, Seasoning, Prawns, Lime, Garlic & Ginger

  Instructions

 For The Quinoa 

to cook your quinoa follow the instruction on the packet of your purchased quinoa

once cooked set aside and prep your vegetables and prawns

Cooked Quinoa

 For The Bell peppers, Carrots, Garlic & Ginger

once your quinoa is cooked

chop bell peppers, garlic, carrots and ginger finely

heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a large wok

              add chopped garlic & ginger and fry for 2mins add clean prawns/shrimps cook                                                  until it's brown on  both sides

once browned add bell peppers and carrots

Stir until brown and soft

Chopped Carrots, Bell Peppers, Garlic & Ginger

Garlic, Ginger & Prawns

                                   

Veggie Mix with Garlic & Prawns



Once your veggie mix is cooked, add the quinoa into the mix and stir nicely

Quinoa mixed with carrots, garlic, ginger & prawns

                         

                                                           

                                                  Plate up and garnish with  lime

Prawn Quinoa With Bell Peppers

Don't be deceived by the small and tiny grains, quinoa is very filling and delicious!!

Have you ever had Quinoa?

How did you make yours?  Let me know in the comments box.

Enjoy the rest of your evening.

Link Credit: 12 things you should know about Quinoa 

http://thestonesoup.com/blog/2010/06/12-things-you-should-know-about-quinoa/

Grilled Corn On The Cob On A Bed of Mushrooms With Veggies & Salmon

Good Evening,

How was your monday?

Lot of meetings to attend and emails to reply to .. ? I know the feeling ....

You do not need too many ingredients to make a healthy supper or meal as a little goes a long way.Once you have your basics you can whip up a delicious healthy meal for you and the family.

Meals for the week

Salmon, Broccoli, Lemon, Sweetcorn & Mushrooms

Hearty Vegetable Prep

Dinner is served

Have a lovely evening.

Healthy Breakfast: Spinach Omelette with Avocado & Blueberries

Good Morning,

Happy Friday!!

Another spinach omelette for you this morning, I much rather prefer a spinach omelette with fruits to a full English breakfast these days.

In the past when I have had a full English breakfast I am stuffed like pigs in a blanket and the next thing for me to do is sleep. With the spinach omelette and fruits I find myself full very lightly and I am ready to get cracking with whatever I have planned for the weekend.

 Ingredients

• 1/2 of an avocado (sliced)
• 1 egg
• blueberries
• 1/4 bell pepper ( red)
• handful of spinach or kale
• handful of mushrooms
• pinch of salt
• olive oil
• onions

Have a lovely day and weekend ahead.

Healthy Dinner:Salmon On A Mushroom & Spinach Bed With A Mango Salsa Salad

Happy Thursday All,

Hope everyone had a lovely day today.

I get really excited about dinner just as much as I get excited about my smoothies along  with a whole lot of other things that I won't mention on here ... *chuckles*

I love to browse the web and search for healthy ingredients that consists of the contents of my fridge as I have lot of things in my fridge...fruits, veggies you name it I got it :-)

So I came across this lovely hearty belly filling dinner and thought... YES that's what I am having. 

So let's get started....

Ingredients 

bell peppers ( Red & Yellow)

coriander

cherry tomatoes

red onion

salmon

spinach

lime

mango chunks

mushrooms

olive oil 

seasonings

For the Mango Salsa Side Salad

dice the onions, bell peppers, mango slices and place in a clean bowl
chop some coriander leaves finely, add to the mix with black pepper, a pinch of salt and olive oil

mix well and place in the fridge

For the Salmon

preheat the oven and oil your baking tray or foil

remove from package and clean gently with some white vinegar

season with some salt and black pepper

place in the oven for 25-35mins until it's cooked and nicely done

I like my salmon nice and brown

For the Bed of Spinach

heat a tea spoon of olive oil in a wok

add washed mushrooms,onions and tomatoes and stir fry for 4-5 mins

add salt and black pepper

add washed spinach or kale to the wok and stir

squeeze some lime juice into it and stir

Place the spinach mix on the plate with the juices flowing, add salmon on top and finish it off with your mango salsa side salad

                                    

                                               Enjoy and have a lovely evening.

Credit : Dean Henry https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_PK7c4dtTf4TfFaFIQ2kGw

Stir Fry Noodles with Runner Beans & Skewered Beef

Skewered Beef

Meat and poultry form a good part of our diet.I  fancied some beef and chicken this weekend so I did a little bit of meat shopping and also bought some mushrooms and vegetables to make a lovely supper.

Noodles, Beef and Vegetables

Dinner is served

Ingredients

All purpose seasoning

Beef

Black pepper

Bell peppers ( Red & Green)

Light Soy Sauce

Mushrooms

Noodles

Onions

Olive oil

Runner Beans

Salt

Sweet Corn

Stir Fry Vegetables

Wooden Skewer

Instructions

For the Beef 

Preheat Oven

Cut beef into square pieces

Wash well with vinegar and let it stand for 10mins

Rinse  and season with beef seasoning, black pepper,salt, onions and place in the fridge for a little while.

Chop bell peppers into squares

Remove wooden skewers from pack

Place beef squared pieces unto the wooden skewer with bell peppers, repeat process till you have no more beef or bell peppers left

Wrap the end of the wooden skewer sticks with some foil so it doesn't burn you when you turn it over

Brush the foil with some olive oil and place skewered beef in the preheated oven.

Turn over 25mins later, ensure the beef is cooked

For the Stir Fry Vegetables

Preheat a little bit of olive oil in the wok and add already washed vegetables to the hot oil and turn until the vegetables are nice, soft and crunchy

Pour in a separate bowl

For the Noodles

Preheat a  teaspoon in the same wok, add noodles and stir till soft, add  some soy sauce

Add the stir fried  vegetable waiting in the bowl to the noodles

Stir until both vegetables and noodles are nicely merged

For the Runner Beans

Add runner beans to already boiling water for 5-8 mins, remove and drain

Serve Stir Fry Noddles with Runner Beans and Skewered Beef.

Enjoy.

How to Make A Healthy Smoothie By Diatta Harris

Hello Smoothie Lovers,

I hope you've all had a lovely Tuesday.

As I was doing some research today on the www and making notes for some new recipes the following video popped up in my YouTube recommendations list.

It's a video from Diatta Harris from the Femme Fitale Fit Club. She has a fitness fit blog that talks about fitness, go check it out : http://femmefitalefitclub.com/

In her opening remark she states "drinking smoothies is very popular right now and did you know that you could be sabotaging your fitness gains"?

I smiled when I read the first line and then nodded in agreement when she asked the question did you know it can sabotage your fitness gains?

She further went on to say smoothies are a great way to get in much needed nutrition but too many times people are overloading them with sugar so much so they are no better than drinking a soda or fast food milkshake.

Smoothies are a great way to have a meal if you can't cook or if you don't have time.

In the past she would have a smoothie which consisted of two cups of sweet juice, fruits and then add some protein powder and this was her routine for a year of which she noticed she was not loosing any weight, rather she was gaining weight and she was still exercising.

But smoothies are meant to be healthy aren't they? So why was she gaining weight instead of loosing it? ....One word SUGAR!!

In the video she talks about the sugar intake of smoothies which could have an adverse effect on your fitness gain.

A healthy smoothie should have a good balance of fruits and vegetables (green vegetables), also adding seeds such as Chia and Linseed are also good.

I love a green smoothie mixed with fruit so this was a great eye opener for me. I was also glad to hear that unsweetened milk and the use of water was a good liquid to use when blending your smoothies.

Read more: http://femmefitalefitclub.com/2014/05/make-healthy-smoothie/

Watch the Video : How to Make a Healthy Smoothie by Diatta Harris 

Thanks to Diatta Harris for this very informative video and for letting me share it on the blog.

Credits: Diatta Harris from the Femme Fitale Fit Club.

Keep making those healthy green smoothies, keep fit & drink those sweet smoothies in moderation!

Freestyle Veggie Salad

Ingredients 

• avocado
• aubergines (grilled)
• bell peppers (red)
• carrots
• cherry tomatoes
• courgettes (grilled)
• cucumber
• leaves

Delicious Freestyle Veggie Salad

Enjoy!

Healthy Pancakes with Fruits and Honey

Hello Pancakes Lovers,

Happy Sunday!!

I hope you're having a lovey one.

Before I head out to Church I wanted to share with you a quick breakfast recipe that you could incorporate with fruits, this was my breakfast this morning to get me ready for the early morning praise and worship!!

Someone might ask are pancakes healthy? The answer to that is Yes they are.

Pancakes are a hearty option, providing a high quantity of carbohydrates and a range of vitamins and minerals, but pancakes are relatively high in fat, calories and sodium. With careful meal planning, you can include an occasional serving of pancakes in your diet, unless you have a wheat gluten allergy.

Pancakes with Kiwis, Raspberries and a drop of honey.

Vitamins and Minerals 

A serving of pancakes is a good source of phosphorus and calcium, with 20 percent and 18 percent of the daily recommended intake, respectively. This makes pancakes a smart option for boosting bone strength and your body’s ability to make RNA and DNA. Pancakes serve up 12 percent of the iodine and riboflavin you need each day as well, and you’ll take in smaller quantities of vitamin C, thiamine, vitamin B-6, niacin, vitamin B-12, magnesium, zinc, copper and iron. 

So go ahead and have a healthy pancake with some fruits to give you that boost to start your day.

 Enjoy!!

Credit:Livestrong

Welcome To My Smoothie & Foodie Blog

Welcome to YemSmoothies!!

My name is Yems.I am a Business Analyst by day, a Smoothie Addict -Blogger by night/my spare time and a smoothie addict 24-7.

If there's such a place called "Smoothies Anonymous" then you'll need to check me right in!! haha!

In July 2013 with a lot of research I decided to embark on a one month smoothie detox/complete healthy eating regimen. My meal plan included the following:

• A Green Smoothie or a fruit & vegetable smoothie for breakfast;
• Home made salad for lunch, they are always the best;
• Nuts for when I felt peckish(my drawer at work was fully stocked up with nuts) my boss always called me a squirrel as I was always chewing on nuts; ha ha!
• Lots of infused water & herbal tea
• Vegetables and salmon/chicken for dinner all day everyday;
• And sometimes a smoothie meal replacement for dinner if I was to tired to cook.

The plan was to eliminate hard to digest foods, all carbohydrates, caffeine, dairy, sugar,  and sweets which was my biggest challenge. My focus was to stick to fresh fruits,fish(in my case salmon as I despise every other type of fish) vegetables, nuts, seeds, healthy oils and drink lots of water.

Drinking water was a big challenge for me as I very rarely drank water in the past. I did some research on how to improve my water intake and found out about "infused water" which helped me  a great deal.

Infused water as many of you might already know is when you infuse your water with fruits or herbs to improve the taste. This helped me a great deal and I found myself drinking lots of water on a regular basis. Water was my best friend and I  drank it like a fish!

Another part of my detox was to get plenty of rest and also make an improvement with my exercise. I took up yoga and my body was tested to it's limits but I stuck to it, I also did a lot of walking in the evenings and  home exercises via YouTube videos.

During my detox I struggled a lot as my body was adjusting to me not overly eating, no intake of sugar and it was also eliminating the junk. 

By the end of my one month detox, my belly fat had lessened,love handles were gone ha ha!!  ... and I felt lighter, alert and alive and I had also lost a few stones too, I think I lost too much weight as my clothes didn't cling to my body as they did before:-)

 Friday Selfie in the lifts at the office in July 2013.  In August 2013 at the Africa At Spitafield Event & Spa Day  

The one month detox and the changes my body went through encouraged me to continue with a healthy eating,drinking process  and regular exercise on a daily basis and also continuously cut out an excess amount of carbohydrate from my meals as an excess of carbohydrate constantly made me feel bloated.

To date, I rarely go a day without having a green smoothie for breakfast. Smoothies, healthy eating, drinking and exercising have now become my routine and a part of my life and I have never felt better.

I created YemSmoothies to share my smoothie and meal recipes and to encourage people who aren't keen on their fruits and vegetables that by making smoothies or juicing you can get your recommended 5 a day intake. You can also go on a personal detox journey from time to time to get you to that place of feeling great!!

I am by no means a chef rather I am a lady who likes to experiment and concoct  a few meals in the kitchen, I care about the contents of my food and my stomach.

We all know how important it is for us to have our 5 a day and smoothing/juicing with the right balance of fruits and vegetables is a great way to get the right portion into our bodies.

I hope you will stay tuned and keep an eye out for my various healthy smoothies recipes and concocted meals :-)

Stay tuned and connected!!

Stay Healthy,

Yems