April newsletter
Hello!
It’s an exciting time of year here in Edinburgh. The days are getting longer and milder, leaves are appearing on the trees and I have a brand new website! Have a look at www.tracygriffen.com and let me know what you think. All feedback is valuable, and I always appreciate it when you make the time to email me. If you ever need motivation, or some recipe ideas, have a look at the newsletter archive.
Anyway, here’s goes with April’s swag:
What’s in Season
It's good to eat seasonal fruit and vegetables, so here's a list of what's in season locally:
Asparagus, broccoli, purple sprouting broccoli, radishes, rhubarb, parsley, mint, beetroot, carrots and leeks.
Oatcake Topping of the Month
My mother bought me back a jar of black olive tapenade from France and I’ve been eating it on everything. Olive tapenade is basically olive paste, so you can make it easily at home (blend kalamata olives in a food processor with a squeeze of lemon juice and some capers). I like tapenade with a slice of feta on my oatcakes. You can add a slice of tomato for extra colour and juiciness. How Mediterranean!
Easy Recipe
Warm Feta Salad
Really simple and looks impressive too… Whilst the fat content in feta is about 20%, by combining it with salad and pita bread, it spreads the fat content out over the whole dish.
Serves 2 people
200g block feta cheese
Sprig fresh mint, chopped
Fresh thyme, parsley, oregano or other green herbs (optional)
one whole red chilli (optional)
1 lemon, cut from it two circular slices, then juice the rest
Ground black pepper (no salt as feta is already salty)
Your favourite salad ingredients
2 – 3 pita bread (brown is best)
- Preheat over to 200 degrees C
- On a piece of tin foil, arrange half of the chopped herbs and chilli, a grind of pepper and a slice of lemon.
- Place the block of feta on top of the herbs, then arrange the other half of the ingredients on top of the feta.
- Wrap feta in foil into a parcel and place in the middle shelf of the oven.
- Cook for 15 minutes.
- Whilst this is underway, wash and arrange some lettuce and /or rocket leaves on two plates as the beds for the salads.
- Sprinkle chopped olives, sun dried tomatoes, artichoke hearts, sliced red or green peppers, finely sliced mushrooms, red onion or whatever you fancy on and around the lettuce.
- Drizzle with lemon juice and a touch of good quality olive oil.
- After fifteen minutes - Unwrap top of feta and move it down a shelf in your oven. In the top of the oven, grill 2 – 3 pita bread.
- When the pita bread are warmed on both sides, slice each into six triangles and arrange around salad plate.
- Remove feta from oven, chop in half and place in centre of salad bed. Finish with another grind of pepper and enjoy!
This is also a cracking recipe to take camping. Prepare the feta parcel in advance and keep it in a cool bag (an esky if you’re Australian). You can cook it directly on hot coals in a campfire, or on a BBQ.
Resisting Temptation Hint of the Month
Many of us eat large evening meals. To boost your metabolism, your dinner should be a small meal and your breakfast and lunch more substantial. Try serving yourself less for dinner, perhaps on a smaller plate. You can always have seconds if you’re still hungry, but remember to wait for half an hour (how long it takes for your dinner to go down) before replenishing your plate.
Exercise of the Month
At the moment the evenings are light but still a bit too chilly to be sitting around. So if you like to make the most of your after-work evenings, get down to your local park with a friend and a bat and ball. Any old bat (cricket, tennis) will do, and an old tennis ball is perfect. It doesn’t matter if you’re not a sporting superstar, just swat the bat around and hope for the best! It’s amazing how much extra exercise you get when running after a ball hit in completely the wrong direction…
 Article: Damage Control
Occasionally we all like a little treat, and whether chocolate or crisps be your weakness, here’s a guide to choosing healthy options. The list is not exhaustive, and please let me know if you have any additions. If you disagree with any categorisation and would like to defend your favourite snack food, please do email me and I’ll have an update in my next newsletter.
|
Most damage |
Somewhere in between |
Least damage |
Crisps |
All potato crisps are mainly oil and salt |
Corn or rice based snacks tend to be lower in fat (i.e Quavers, tortilla chips) |
Twiglets, Ryvita minis, home made popcorn |
Chocolate |
King size chocolate bars
Most milk chocolate in general |
Malteasers |
Plain dark chocolate
(low GI as it takes longer to process and also has possible antioxidant properties) |
Biscuits |
Digestives (designed by an evil person who knew that adding lots of fat, salt and sugar would make the biscuit moreish) |
Fig rolls, ginger nuts, bourbon creams |
Oatcakes (either fruity or plain), of course! |
Lunch food |
Pre-made sandwiches (M & S sandwiches average about 25g fat per sandwich, that’s about 1/3 of your daily fat allowance), Pastries |
Made to order sandwiches, quiche |
Salad boxes (careful on the dressing), soups, sushi, fruit, oatcakes |
Nuts |
Peanuts |
Brazil nuts (very high in fat, but also high in the mineral selenium), Cashew nuts |
Almonds and seeds (lower fat and lots of vitamins minerals etc) |
Alcoholic drinks |
Beer, cider, white wine |
Red wine in moderation,
white wine spritzer |
Vodka & soda, G & T as pub-mix spirits contain less alcohol units, Japanese sake. |
Party nibbles |
Crisps, sweets |
Cheese board, guacamole and tortilla chips |
Olives, fruit, hommous and carrot sticks |
The next newsletter will be distributed on Tuesday 15th May. Until then, have a happy and healthy month.
Tracy
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