Courgette quinoa lentil lasagne

Hey

So after yesterdays post on iron, I started my mission to concentrate a little more on iron rich recipes. The other day when I was browsing blogs, I came across this recipe for courgette quinoa lasagne. It sounded good to me, so I have made a few tweaks (added in lentils, spinach, pepper and taken out the cheese) to make my own version.

Mine made 3 portions and I had trouble fitting them in the foil tubs!

First, cook 60g quinoa in some vegetable stock (I use a tsp vecon stock in about 150ml water). Once the quinoa goes “wiggly” add 1 tin chopped tomatoes, some dried basil + oregano, a chopped pepper and a tin of drained lentils.

While this simmers, slice 2 courgettes and line the bottom of the trays with half the courgette.

After about 15 minutes (once it has thickened a bit) add in a big bag (150g) of spinach, and some garlic puree.

Then spoon half the mixture onto the courgettes, top with the last of the courgettes.

(Excuse the blurry shot!)

Then bake in the oven for about 25 minutes. I would probably add a little grated cheese on the top, but I wait until it comes out of the oven as I do not like burnt cheese. The rest is going in the freezer for another day.

While I was making this I did think that I could amp up the protein (and iron) content even more, by blending in some silken tofu with some of the sauce to make a creamy layer. So I might try that next time as I love the creamy texture of the tofu pumpkin pasta bake.

According to WLR, one portion (no cheese or anything, just the ingredients above) contains 209 calories, 12.7g protein, 32.6g carbs, 3.5g fat, and 7.1g fibre, and I reckon it would go perfectly with some home made bread. Yummy.

Onto other things- body pump was great last night, although I found it harder than usual, and did not have the extra weights for the back track. But by next week I am sure I will be back to normal.

Today I also tried some of the raw chocolate (I shared a bar with Andy this afternoon alongside some tea)- I had the Twilight bar which is made of cacao butter, fructose, cacao mass and carob. It was lovely- the texture was a bit like an aero bar or something, not crunchy but not totally smooth. It was lovely and sweet too (the combination of fructose and carob I suppose), so if you are vegan and liked milk chocolate, this would be a good one to try I would say. Although Andy objected to the name!

We shared the 44g bar, and half was the perfect amount which is always good.

I was originally considering a run today, but I did not sleep well and was very tired, so I settled for a walk and decided to rest my legs in preparation for my long run tomorrow instead. I find it hard getting the balance between keeping the legs loose, and just tiring them out. If I have not run on the wednesday, then I find a gentle run on friday does not affect my run on saturday, but in fact I have not had a rest day since sunday, and as I am still not quite 100% I did not want to make myself over tired.

I need to plan my route now, as I have only run 13 miles during my half marathon races, not around here- how do you guys go about planning routes? I have a main route of about 8 miles that I can add loops to here and there, but I think now I need to get another “base” route to add to.

Oh, and the nakd offer I got here– it is still going on at the moment. 🙂

Am I getting enough iron?

This is a question I ask myself all the time. I went vegetarian as a teenager, and my Mum was very worried that I would not get all the nutrients I needed, so I started taking a multivitamin with iron, only I took it every other day as all the supplements gave you 100% RDA and I was sure that I got some. I have continued with this multivitamin “habit” into adulthood, and still take them every other day (and every day on holiday as I am sure my diet is much worse). I did used to give blood, as they always check your iron levels before you do it, and mine were always fine, so I was reassured that something I was doing was alright. (I don’t give blood any more as every single time they took the tube out of my arm I would faint- they even tried taking less blood and I still fainted so I am afraid I do not go any more).

Anyway, I have been reading Vegetarian Sports Nutrition , dipping into a chapter now and then, and was interested to read the chapter about boosting iron intake and absorption. Now I did know that iron from plant sources is harder for the body to absorb, but what I did not realise what that the RDA is 10 times what you actually need as iron is poorly absorbed by the body. Interesting. Now according to the book I need 18mg per day, and the book has a handy table with common iron sources in them. Now although my meals do vary, there are lots of things I eat every day, so anyway, I decided to have a look and see if I get enough iron without the supplement. It was difficult to work out as the measurements are all in cups, as oppose to grams, but it gave me a fair idea.

So- Breakfast- porridge- 1.6mg, raisins- 0.7mg = 2.3mg

Lunch- 2 slices wholemeal bread- 1.6mg.

Snacks- nuts- 1.2mg, cereal 2mg= 3.2mg.

Dinner- Lentils- 6.6g OR kidney beans 5.2mg OR tofu 6.7mg OR chickpeas 4.7mg, tomatoes 0.5mg.

So I have 7.1mg for breakfast, lunch and snacks, but I would not be getting 11mg from my dinner although on some days I would be close. Some vegetables are listed (eg squash between 0.9-1/4mg) and clearly there are sources of iron in other foods too. It did not list many fruits, but frozen raspberries contain 1.6mg iron, and I have some in my freezer and often add them to snacks. It also emphasised the need for some vitamin C to enhance the iron absorption (something I remember from my Home Ec GCSE!) and as I normally have roasted peppers in my sandwich, and eat a lot of tomato sauces for dinner I know I am getting enough to help the iron.

It also explained a little bit more about factors that inhibit iron absorption- I knew that tea could (and I normally have a cup of tea after my dinner), but there were a few other things listed (and in fact it said it was some herbal teas too, not just normal black tea), so it was nice to be made aware of other factors- for examply soya can inhibit the absorption, but the process of making it into silken tofu will lessen this effect.

 I found it really interesting to see the variety of sources. I did not realise tofu was such a good source of iron, and it was interesting to see the difference between certain legumes- for example black eye beans gave 3.6mg, whereas kidney beans 5.2mg, and chickpeas 4.7mg and lentils a whopping 6.6mg. This is going to encourage me to look for different recipes which will also give me the iron I need. I saw a lovely lentil recipe this morning, which I think I will have to try now. I think I still need to take the multivitamin, but at least I know that I am getting lots from natural souces. So I am interested to know how other people manage this. Do you keep an eye on your iron intake? Do you take supplements?

Now for the non-science bit!

I caved in and ordered the nakd bars! I was not going to, but then I worked it out, and £5 for 18 bars (when normally £5 would get you 8 bars) seemed too good to miss. Andy will eat the banana bread ones as I am not a fan, but I like all the others (and I love the apple pie ones). We are going through snack foods more quickly now we are both running more, so I am sure it will not take us long to eat them. Plus the freebie pixie left a couple of bars- double bonus!

Yesterday was a fab day- after breakfast I headed out on a run. I was going to do the 6 miles again, but the secret voice in my head was wondering if I could manage 8 miles (as that is what was on the plan). Although it was raining (and my waterproof jacket stopped being waterproof and my clothes turned into a sponge) I really enjoyed it. I avoided the muddy puddles and my new shoes were alright. So after running 10k, I decided to go on a little more. My Nike+ says I did 8.1 miles in 75 minutes, but that is way to fast for me so I think I must have done around 7.5 miles. Still, pretty good. I do seem to run better when I leave the display on the miles as oppose to the pace or time, so I am going to keep doing this. Then it was a rush as I had friends coming over so had a speedy shower and blow dry. We had a lovely day of catching up (and healthy nibbles of mini wholemeal pittas, peppers, cucumber, carrots, tzaziki, grapes, cherries and then some sugary fudge and brownie cupcakes), but by the evening I was really feeling the effects of my run! I did have some yummy pumpkin tofu pasta, but I still wanted some carbs before bedtime;

I randomly had 1/2 a pack of bear granola left, so I had that and then topped up the alpro (and a pear, and a bit of homemade choc pb) with some dorset chocolate granola. Can I just say there is no comparison? I love dorset mueslis and porridge, but the granola is really just oat pieces in a sugary coating. Can you see the size of the bear granola chunk? It was bigger than my teaspoon! That is what granola should be like!

Today I had a nice walk in the sunshine (this was an attempt to loosen my calf muscles which I clearly did not stretch enough yesterday oops), and attempted some kind of creation with my chickpea flour.

This (made 2 lots) was 50g chickpea flour, half a mashed banana, some water, vanilla and spices, baked in the oven. I was planning on adding date syrup, but I forgot. It was ok (and nice topped with choc pb) but I think I prefer the chickpea flour in savoury items. I think it has a funny aftertaste but I am not sure if I imagine it or not. I really must try using it as pizza dough as I think that would be lovely.

Currently I am being very civilised and enjoying some Earl Grey tea. Tis how we do it in England you know.

And I am looking forward to body pump tonight hooray! As I missed it last week I know it is going to be hard work, but I am looking forward to that in a weird way.

Gluten free brownie cupcakes

It was time to get creative in the kitchen. My lovely friend (who is also a coeliac) was coming, and I find it so hard to know what to make. I have a good brownie recipe which is delicious, but comes out very moist and is so hard to cut. But I wanted to use my cupcake stand. So I attempted cupcakes with a few tweaks (eg less eggs, less time in the oven) and this is what happened!

I preheated the oven to 170C and put cupcake cases in the tin.

In a pan I melted 210g butter (well actually Pure spread) and 200g dark chocolate, and then added 200g caster sugar.

I whisked up 2 eggs, and once the chocolate mixture cooled (I left it about ten minutes while I made the spiced nuts) I beat the eggs into the mixture, with a couple of drops of vanilla. Then I stirred in 150g ground almonds. I then spooned the mixture into cupcake cases (this made 12) and baked in the oven until the tops looked firm. They did actualy puff up in the oven (must be from the eggs) but they sunk a little bit once they came out. In the end they cooked for about 17 minutes, as they are supposed to be squidgy in the middle still.

So problem solved! Gluten free baking? Check! Using my cupcake stand? Check! No need to slice the brownies? Check! Hooray!

What more baking?

Yes I am afraid that is how I spend my days!

But first I decided to get rid of my old trainers as during my run yesterday it felt more like they were made of cardboard than rubber or anything. (To be fair they have done over 600 miles, well, I say they have done it, I have actually run that far but while wearing them) so I took out the sensor and put it in my new shoes.

Now I have a run planned for tomorrow morning, and have just seen that it is supposed to be raining- so they are going to get wet. But I must not be precious about my shoes- they cannot stay pristine forever! I will always have this picture anyway!!

Also now exciting news is that I am back to having tea- big news I know! I popped to see my Mum this morning and even had a cup of tea there- all is fine on that front I feel 🙂

Lunch was delicious- I saw these Food Doctor pittas and decided to try them- they are wholegrain and have seeds and whatnot- turns out they are delicious too! I can’t believe all these years I have been putting up with supermarket wholemeal ones. These are the business!

The combo of cream cheese and beetroot was too good to miss (I think if I made this to take to work it would be a soggy purple mess by lunch so I am taking advantage of the holidays)- plus some sweet chilli oat bites. These were not very spicy at all- I much prefer the onion ones I had the other day.

I have been getting busy in the kitchen again;

And with the creation of the pumpkin tofu pasta, there is still some pumpkin puree left, so I might attempt pumpkin cookies later in the week. Or I may just add it to my porridge.

I also made some spiced nuts and some brownie cupcakes (recipe to follow) for when I have some friends over tomorrow. Although I dropped one of the cupcakes on the floor, face down, when I was putting them in the tin- booo.

Mid afternoon was a snack of a Mule bar and some mint tea;

Now I am back on the tea I can start trying out the cosy teas- hooray 🙂 The Peppermint one was lovely- not too strong a minty taste but light and refreshing. The Mule bar was quite nice, but very sweet tasting- I preferred the apple flavour (shame they don’t do those ones in tescos) but this one was still good and provided me with some energy for aerobics.

Aerobics was hard work, but it is hard to take it easier (unlike running when you can slow down, you have to move with the music and keep up with the line)- some good tunes helped though.

My late night snack was scrumptious;

Some muesli topped with vanilla alpro and a little blob of my home-made chocolate pb (which I did keep in the fridge in the end). Scrummy 🙂

I am off to cross my fingers that it does not rain too much tonight- night 🙂

Yes!!!! And also lots of purple

Good evening friends, I hope this day found you well.

I have had a brilliant day- hooray.

Even though I was feeling better, even yesterday I was not feeling my best, and I was still having a dull ache in my stomach, but today I awoke with no pains or aches at all- yes! It is the last day of the antibiotics, and although my tum feels a little delicate (one of the side effects) I think they have managed to rid me of the infection.

Anyway, today I was having my car serviced, and had originally planned on driving it there and running back (it’s about 5 miles) but as I was not sure how I would feel, Andy followed me and dropped me home before he went to work. I sat around for a bit but still felt fine, so I decided to try a run. There is a 5k loop near my house, which I could cut short if I started feeling tired or whatever, but actually I felt so good I went around again. I was taking it steady, but in fact did 6.2 miles in 63 minutes, which for me is pretty fast. I was so hungry when I got home! And also so happy!

(That super cool head gear combo is a head band that is a bit too big which means that my running earphones fit under it- super cool as I said).

I was cold outside and I fancied something warm, so I heated up some coconut milk and made a hot chocolate- delicious! Along with a stoats strawberry and coconut bar.

After a shower it was lunch time, and I just had to take a picture (half way through excuse the crumbs!) when I saw how colour co-ordinated it all was.

My purple themed lunch was a sandwich with cream cheese and beetroot, some nairns caramelised onion bites which have purple on the packet (also with some cream cheese as a sort of dip), on a purple plate. The purple plate was the one at the top of the pile- not planned at all. (I also had a pear which was not purple but does begin with P- am I turning into sesame street?).

Then I got going in the kitchen-I have some friends coming to visit so I made some rocky road fudge (the good old Rachel Allen fudge recipe with some chopped toasted pecans and dark chocolate chips in the middle), (plus can you see the purple stripes on my jumper?) and (I am so excited about this) my own dark chocolate peanut butter! Emma I love you for inventing this recipe 🙂

I did cheat and used meridian crunchy pb (instead of peanuts as I am not sure my mini chopper would hold up), and it is sooooooo good!

In a jar for laters (should I keep it in the fridge though?)

Of course I could not waste the scrapings on the inside of the mini chopper, so I added some cherries and some chocolate alpro for (actually another purple) a choc PB&J style pudding! I thought that only bananas went with pb, but then I remembered apples do (don’t have apples) and jam (so – cherries right?). Scrumptious.

Also I just realised that my breakfast was purple as I had blueberries in my porridge (no piture though you will just have to believe me on that one). Although dinner ruins the theme as it is lentil and spinach chilli on a sweet potato- more orange and green. Should have been a stuffed aubergine….

Anyway, mostly I am excited to finally be feeling well again. In case you have not noticed, I am not good at being ill. I get annoyed with myself for catching the germs, and I also start to invent terrible things in my head and imagine myself lots of “what if’s”, and I start to forget how feeling “well” feels. I have a tendancy to try and get back to normal too soon (possibly my saturday run is an example of this as I was shattered after and was still having dull achey pains), as I do not want to believe that I get ill. But so far today I have been feeling fine. A little tired, but nothing unusual.

So at the moment the plan is aerobics tomorrow with my friend (I was worried I would have to cancel on her and she has not been for weeks, but fingers crossed the good feeling continues) and another 6 mile run on wednesday if I feel like it (or shorter). My plan has 8 miles but I am not sure I will have time as wednesday is a busy day, plus want to take it fairly easy still), body pump thursday and then a rest on Friday, before attempting 13 miles next Saturday. But still I am going to see how I feel and be flexible with the revised plan.

So as my theme is colour today- if you could eat one colour for the day, what colour would it be? 🙂

PS- just saw on facebook that nakd are having some good offers on their website at the moment including 4 boxes of nakd bars for £20- not bad. And they now do a mix box of all the “nudies” (oat/ gluten free ones)! Check it out here.