Legumes

You’ve all heard of them and probably had them on your plate at one point or another. Legumes are packed with protein, vitamins, minerals and fiber with no added fat or cholesterol! They also account towards your daily vegetable serving! Legume family includes: Kidney beans, peas, soybeans, peanuts, green beans, lentils, chickpeas and alfalfa.

So why should you introduce legumes into your daily diet??

1. High in Protein

Legumes are a great source of plant-based protein. For example a cup of Chickpeas contain up to 15 grams of protein and white beans contain 19 grams!! If your goal is weight loss, eating enough protein can also encourage satiety and keep you feeling full while increasing your metabolism and the amount of calories you burn after a meal!

2. Boost Your Heart Health

Legumes have been shown to decrease cholesterol, blood pressure and inflammation.

3. Stabilizes your blood sugar

The high amount of fibre in legumes works to slow the absorption of sugar in the bloodstream and maintain blood sugar levels.

Don’t like the taste or idea of eating legumes? Well here is a delicious recipe that uses legumes in a sneaky way!!

Chickpea Protein Bars

Ingredients
1 15-ounce can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
½ cup packed, very soft dates (about 6-8)
¼ cup peanut butter (or any nut/seed butter, e.g. almond, sunflower seed, tahini)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
⅔ vanilla protein powder
⅓ cup pepitas (green pumpkin seeds), toasted
⅓ cup dried cranberries

Method
1. Line a 9x5-inch loaf pan with baking paper

2. In a large food processor, process the chickpeas, dates, peanut butter, vanilla and salt until smooth, stopping and scraping the sides of processor bowl.

3. Add the protein powder, pepitas and cranberries. Pulse until very well combined and mixture looks like a dough ball (if not, add a bit more protein powder).

4. Press mixture evenly into prepared pan.

5. Refrigerate at least 4 hours or freeze 1 hour until firm. Remove from tin and cut into bars, Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks (or freeze for up to 2 months). ENJOY!!

Blueberries

Blueberries, sweet morsels jam packed with vitamin C, K & B6, folate, potassium, fibre, manganese and antioxidants! Often labelled as a superfood, blueberries are low in calories and incredibly good for you plus super convenient snack for when you are on the go!

Instead of throwing loads of facts at you about Blueberries, I’ve picked my favourite and I think most beneficial facts about Blueberries!!

They are the King of Antioxidant Foods! 
The antioxidants in blueberries help to protect our bodies from damage by free radicals, unstable molecules that can damage cellular structures and contribute to aging and diseases like cancer. They contain even more antioxidants than green tea, and that speaks volumes about their nutrient density!

Help with weight loss!
As blueberries are rich in fiber and low in calories, this makes them an ideal snack to have in-between meals for those who are seeking to lose weight. Blueberries are rich in soluble fiber, which are the type of fiber that dissolves in water. Soluble fibers slow down the process of digestion, which in turn keeps you feeling full for a longer period of time therefore keeping those hungry pains at bay! Combine 1 cup of natural yogurt with 1/2-1 cup of blueberries and you have the perfect 3pm snack!

Powerful Skin Food
Blueberries are good for your health both internally and externally. Being rich in Vitamin A and vitamin C, blueberries nourish your skin from the inside out! Eating blueberries helps heal sun damaged skin, reduce dark spots and reduces puffiness in the skin due to its anti-inflammatory properties. 

Moisturizing Blueberry Mask

1-1/4 cups fresh or thawed blueberries, pureed (blender or other method)
1/2 cup raw or organic milk (full fat)
1/2 cup oatmeal, processed to fine powder in a blender)
1/8 cup virgin olive oil
1/8 cup raw honey

Mix well, apply to face and leave on for 15 – 20 minutes.
Refrigerate and use the remainder for up to 1 week.

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Sweet Cinnamon

Cinnamon is sometimes referred to as one of the healthiest spices in the world.

This superfood may already be sitting in the pantry – and a tiny sprinkle goes a very long way! It’s antioxidants abilities are what makes it especially beneficial to include into your diet. Just as little as 1/2 a teaspoon of cinnamon added your diet daily can have positive effects on your blood sugar levels, digestion, immunity plus heaps more! Adding a higher dosage of cinnamon can be extremely beneficial as it can help towards improving heart disease risk and even cutting your chances of diabetes, cancer and neurodegenerative diseases! AMAZING!!

Just to give you a little bit more on the contents of cinnamon. One single tablespoon of ground cinnamon contains:

0 grams of fat, sugar, or protein
4 grams of fibre
68 percent daily value manganese
8 percent daily value calcium
4 percent daily value iron
3 percent daily value vitamin K

Cinnamon can be included into your diet whether it be breakfast, lunch or dinner! For example your morning coffee! Most of us are adding either creamer, milk (whole or skim) sugar, or butter to your coffee to improve its taste at some point. If you're looking for something different, though, try a new twist with a dash of cinnamon. This sweet, sharp spice can do so much more than improve coffee's taste! Adding cinnamon to your morning coffee can prove to be very beneficial. According to a research conducted, the simple act of smelling cinnamon can help to improve your processing capabilities and ingesting the spice is even more beneficial. The study participants were better able to complete tasks when eating cinnamon, and improved their attention overall. This is due to cinnamons ability to improve your brain's cognitive processing, spur brain function altogether, and help you master your visual and motor responses! Hopefully this makes you think twice before adding sugar to your coffee!

To help you start introducing more cinnamon into your diet, below are my fav cinnamon inspired recipe!

Golden Cinnamon Sweet Potato

INGREDIENTS
1 Medium sized sweet potato, diced
1 - 2 tablespoons of cinnamon
Drizzle of olive oil or coconut oil
Pinch of sea salt

METHOD
Pre-heat oven to 400 Degrees F. Toss the sweet potato in the cinnamon ensuring all the sweet potato pieces are evenly covered, place on a baking tray in the oven until golden brown. Serve with a fresh salad, add to your omelette or by itself for a healthy snack!

The Queen of Spices

Turmeric may be one of the most effective nutritional supplement due to its major benefits on not only on your body but on your brain! Turmeric really is a superhero spice! It contains a wide range of antioxidant, antiviral, antibacterial, anti-fungal and anti-inflammatory properties! To add the to the list of benefits, it is also loaded with many nutrients such as protein, dietary fibre, Vitamin C, Vitamin E, Vitamin K, Sodium, Potassium, calcium, iron, magnesium and zinc! And it has been found from over 6000 + studies that when turmeric is compared to conventional medicine its benefits EQUAL that of many pharmaceutical medications!!

As well as all the benefits above it has been found that a particular component of turmeric has the ability to prevent premature aging, reduce depression, manage arthritis and blood sugar!! How amazing is Turmeric!

Turmeric is one of those spices that can really be added to any meal, breakfast through to dessert! To help you with including Turmeric into your day I have included a few yummy recipes below. This shows you how simple it is to add extra nutritional value to each and every meal!
 

Day Starter

1 cup of coconut water
½ a teaspoon of turmeric (fresh or dried)
½ a teaspoon of ginger
Juice of a lemon
½ teaspoon of sea salt
½ teaspoon of cayenne pepper or ground chilli (optional - for an extra ZING)
1 teaspoon of honey (optional)

Place ingredients in a blender and give it whirl. Add lemon juice, sea salt and honey to taste!
 

Tropical Green Cleansing Smoothie

2 cups fresh kale
2 cups coconut milk
2 cups pineapple
1 cup mango
Juice of ½ lemon
1 Tablespoon fresh ginger
¼ teaspoon to 1/2 ground turmeric to taste

Blend all ingredients until smooth and enjoy!
 

 

Turmeric Omelette

2 eggs
Handful of Spinach
Handful of kale
1 Medium Sweet potato, diced & pre cooked
Handful of chopped Cherry tomatoes
Teaspoon of turmeric

Whisk two eggs with turmeric, pour into a lightly greased with coconut oil pan.
Pour the whisked eggs into the pan, allowing it to settle for a bit.  Then place on one side of the omelette, spinach, kale, sweet potato and tomatoes. Leave it to cook for a little then flip the opposite side to close it up like a sandwich.
Leave to cook for few minutes.

Remove from pan and serve with some avocado, salt and pepper to season.
 

Turmeric Chicken

Marinade
2 x Chicken breast
Tablespoon of turmeric
2 sprigs of oregano
Juice of a lemon

Dressing
2 x tablespoons of Greek yogurt
Tablespoon of turmeric
Juice of ½ a lemon

Marinate chicken breasts for 30 minutes to 1 hr in the fridge. Pre-heat the oven at 250 degrees. Place chicken breasts on baking tray and cook for 30 minutes or until golden. 

While cooking prep the dressing, 1 tablespoon of turmeric with Greek yogurt and a touch of lemon juice and stir.

Serve Chicken with a grated carrot & zucchini, corn, mixed beans of your choice & a handful of spinach! ENJOY!