avocado | Fitness on Toast

Posts tagged 'avocado'

BAKED AVOCADO, SALMON AND EGG !

26/05/2015

If you’ve been keeping up with my recipes over the past few months, you’ll know I’m slightly in love with avocado – be it avocado veloute, guacamole or avocado chocolate mousse to mention but a few. My recipes aim to be quick easy, delicious and nutritious. This little one is no exception. One might even say it’s barely even a recipe because it involves so little ‘production time’ – it’s rare that the ‘eating’ stage takes multiple times longer than the ‘preparation’ stage! Breakfast, I would argue, is the most important meal of the day; start it right an you underpin the everything else you’re yet to achieve… this little recipe helps you stave off Brekkie Fatigue (whereby you have the same eggs on toast every day!). My Baked Avocado, stuffed with Salmon & Egg holds the answer… (more…)

MY AVOCADO, BROCCOLI + CHICKEN VELOUTE !!!

17/11/2014

To combat the frosty chill of winter, some of my favourite warming recipes are unquestionably soups. But beware, not all soups are created equally. You might think they’re healthy because of all that cuddly ‘hearty’ and ‘homely’ PR that goes into them, but take a little look at the label first: a lot of those you’ll find on the supermarket shelves are super-high in sugars and fats, so that they taste impossibly supreme, and because they’re in liquid form, they get metabolised very quickly. These soups are calorie ‘wolves’ dressed in sheep’s clothing! One way to be sure about what you’re nourishing yourself with is to make it from scratch, which helps to ensure added freshness and keep costs down. That’s always my procedure with soups, and is exactly what I did for this healthy and warming ‘Avocado, Broccoli and Chicken Velouté’, bursting with healthy fats, high quality lean proteins, and a metabolic boost to kick! Click ‘MORE’ to find out why it’s healthy, to get the ‘how to’ and see the recipe! (more…)

CELEBRATING THE ‘HOTEL BREAKFAST’ AT HOME !!!

23/02/2014

There can’t be many amongst us who dislike the fabulousness of a hearty ‘hotel breakfast’ spread – at a time when your body desperately needs fuel to power up, gather mental alertness, and prepare you for the day ahead, the trusty hotel delivers in spades! By starting the day correctly with a healthy meal, you’ll underpin the rest of the day and your body will be less likely to panic for food or overeat later. Also, by stabilising blood sugar levels early on, regulating energy and appetite, you’re more likely to avoid the classic irritability and lack of concentration.

Becoming a morning person is all about getting into a tolerable routine and what better way to do it than by bringing a little excitement to the ritual; a hotel-like breakfast. Rather than stressing your way out the front door on an empty stomach and demolishing a coffee and croissant on the go (both responsible for eventual blood sugar dips), take some time to wake up at the breakfast table, sip a green tea, read the paper, and enjoy a colourful, restorative, tasty meal in the same way you might do on holiday! It can (and should) be a fabulous meal like any other to really enjoy and look forward to. There is a huge amount of choice too; breakfast doesn’t just have to be bran flakes out of a cardboard box… If your reason for not having breakfast is because you’re time-poor, check out my healthy muesli which only involves the time it takes to add milk to a bowl! However, my breakfast this Sunday morning was made up of a selection of healthy dishes but in rather smaller portions – a good source of protein, complex carbohydrates, healthy fats and plenty of vitamins and minerals. A bowl of porridge topped with some yummy berries, a hard-boiled egg, smoked salmon and avocado, a small glass of freshly squeezed orange juice and a cup of green tea. I’m loving grapefruit at the moment so managed to add a half as well.

See more photos and nutritional info below… Faya x 🙂

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MY HEALTHY CHRISTMAS DINNER !!!

20/12/2013

Christmas is infamous for overeating indulgent sugary, fattening foods. This post is my attempt at a healthier alternative – it’s a tour-de-force of the same foods but with a bit of a lighter twist. Perhaps you can just pick and choose a few ideas from it, and as you can see from the picture above, ‘healthier’ needn’t look any less inviting and ‘Christmassy’ 🙂 ! Click MORE to see lovely pictures of the rest of my meal & get the ‘how to’ 🙂 Faya

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FESTIVE GRILLED SALMON, LENTILS, QUINOA AND AVOCADO !!!

08/12/2013

OK, so it’s hardly festive-themed food, but in my calendar, we’re not quite there yet. In the meantime, I’m staying on the straight and narrow with this immensely nutritious ‘Grilled Salmon, Quinoa, Lentils Avocado and Almond’ dish. Weighing in at a reasonable 480 calories with just 20 minutes of low-intensity preparation time, it ticks so many healthy boxes and leaves me feeling totally contented… though obviously a Selfridges mini mince pie (my personal kryptonite) complements it beautifully for dessert 🙂 ! Read more here… (more…)

“WILL FRUIT MAKE ME FAT ???”

05/11/2013

In moderation, and the right type, no! I’m marking the change of seasons with some yummy winter berries. This healthy dessert should satisfy your sweet tooth (guilty!), whilst offering plenty of nutritional value too. I’m regularly asked whether ‘fruit will make you fat because of the sugar content’; true, too much of any type of sugar is bad news. However chomping on the right fruit (like these berries) means you’re not only eating fructose (the lowest-GI form of sugar with a glycemic index of 19, versus a glass of apple juice at 30, table sugar at 65, and glucose at 100), but also enjoying other benefits like fibre (helps digestion) & plenty of vitamins and minerals. By chewing solid food and metabolising it slowly (rather than drinking it straight into your bloodstream) you suffer less of a blood sugar spike. I’d rather have a delicious, beautiful, tasty, bowl of fresh berries with nutritional value including some protein (thanks to the yoghurt, plenty of calcium & vitamin-B too) than a dry cardboard biscuit that claims to be ‘low in sugar’.

The purpose of this berry dish is to promote the intake of… (more…)

HOW ENTERTAINING !!!

22/06/2013

Because I’m only human, I find it incredibly difficult to resist all the dangerous ‘food temptations’ that lurk at social functions – whether it’s calorific ‘feta’ starters at a restaurant, deep-fried canapés at a party, battered pub grub, caramel-topped ‘frappucino’ coffee with friends (and the list goes on…), when there are beautiful bowls of yummy nibbles laid out in front you, the willpower alone can crumble (yum, crumble!), especially when everyone else starts tucking in. Chips, crisps, popcorn, sweets, chocolate drinks… An indulgent evening out can quickly mount up to 1000 calories! This post is about a couple of suggestions for hosting your friends in a more healthy and nutritious way that won’t fill you with guilt or saturated fat!IDEA 1: FRUIT PLATTER
Instead of sweets, the sugar here is natural vs. refined, it’s hydrating, and has a host of anti-oxidant and vitamin benefits. If you’re struggling with sugar cravings and don’t want to cut out sugar instantly (resulting in cold turkey), then a tasty & healthy fruit salad can help make the transition. Arranging it in a bite-sized way, and serving with cocktail sticks, is a great alternative to greasy mini-pizzas!

IDEA 2: SWEET POTATO CHIPS

More sweet carbs you say? How about some home-made potato chips? (See my previous post for more info on sweet potato here). They are sweet yet have a surprisingly low Glycemic Index. Sweet potato is also high in fibre and the caloric energy is slow releasing, providing sustainable energy to carry you on for longer than a low-fiber simple carb, like a pack of Walkers. Plus you don’t need to go heavy on the salt because they’re already rich in flavour. So in all not too bad! And certainly healthier than sodium, fat-packed crisps.

For more on Ingredients and ‘How to’ click here:

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TUNA UNCOVERED…

25/01/2013

PROTEIN POWER !!!

30/12/2012

STAGE 3) PROTEIN POWER!!!
Sugar cravings under control √. Complex energy understood √. Now it’s time to fuel your training! Protein is part of any balanced diet; in the gym environment it’s often known for ‘growth and repair’ properties, but every function in our cells/organs/bodies are regulated by protein – ‘growth and repair’, yes, but also, digestion, absorbtion, healthy blood oxygenation, bone strength, antibody production, brain activity etc. With this in mind here’s a good recipe to make a yummy dish packed with high quality sources of protein!

This picture is of my healthy, home made, grilled (avoid frying) tuna steak ‘burger’. Tuna is a naturally rich source of lean protein (c. 25g of protein per 100g), and has very low saturated fat content especially when compared to red meat. The calorific content is also low, at c. 220 calories per 150g tin. It also contains healthy omega-3 fatty acids, iron, potassium, zinc, vitamins B12 & B3 and other essential fats. I topped it off with half an avocado (tasty, with essential fatty acids), rocket (for iron and a vitamin boost) and some chilli powder (to set my metabolism racing)! Also, the bun is wholegrain (complex carbs, slow release energy)!

Burger King, eat your heart out! x