How to eat well while travelling

I’ve just gotten back from a lovely little trip to Hawaii with a couple of friends and while I am a self-proclaimed seasoned traveller, I know quite well the difficulties of maintaining a healthy diet with so much eating out and exotic foods. While you may assume the sole purpose of maintaining some semblance of a good diet is to ward off the holiday kilo creep, there are other reasons. Providing your body with nutritious foods while travelling puts you in prime condition for handling long, stressful journeys including kilometers of walking while exploring new cities and helps your digestive system acclimatize to a new food culture (one particular story from a trip to Asia springs to mind, but I think you get the idea).

1. Stash your suitcase with a few shelf-stable (sealed) healthy snacks from home, such as raw nuts, wholegrain crackers, roasted chickpeas or muesli bars. Pop one in your handbag or backpack each day and you have an emergency snack to carry you through to the next meal.
2. Keep hydrated! I swear the air-conditioning on planes sucks the water from your skin 10x more than our home ACs. Judge your hydration by the colour of your urine- the scale being nearly clear= good job, keep it up, to dark orange= have some water NOW! Also, keep in mind that not every country has drinkable tap water as good as ours so you may need to buy the bottled stuff.
3. When booking accommodation, try to stay close to a supermarket or convenience store. This way you don’t have to lug grocery bags for kilometers and you’ll be more inclined to pick up a (cheaper) healthy meal or snack. Also, pre-washed salad bags, individual bread rolls, deli ham or tins of tuna and a tub of hummus make for a quick and easy lunch will little-no utensils required.
4. If possible, have a good breakfast before you set out for the day to keep you going. Pick up a box of muesli and some milk or yoghurt and pack a plastic bowl and spoon if you’re staying somewhere without a kitchen (because most places will still have at least a mini-bar fridge to store cold items in).
5. Seek out fruit as snacks throughout the day. Particularly the deliciously fresh stuff you can pick up at local markets, farm doors or vans on the side of the road! Aim for 2 a day to get much-needed vitamins and minerals, as well as fibre and fluid.
6. When you’re exploring your new surroundings be sure to take note of any good-looking cafes or restaurants for later on. And ask the locals for recommendations! Make a note on your phone, or mark it on your map, so you can actually find it later.
7. When going out for meals, ask for rich sauces and creamy dressings on the side so you can add your own. And remember, chefs tend to be more heavy-handed with things like oil and salt so go easy (or your body may pay you back with heartburn or reflux later on).
8. Watch your portions. It’s easy to overdo it when you’re eating something delicious but rather than eating as much as possible, practice the art of mindful eating and really savour your meal. That way you won’t feel the need to finish your plate just because there’s still food on it.

Yep, I went there!

      

       Happy travels!

Raspberry swirl yoghurt bark

Sydney has been ramping up the heat this Summer and I've been searching for refreshing foods and drinks to cool me down. While ice-creams and ice-blocks are delicious (and I certainly do enjoy them from time to time), sometimes you're after more of an everyday healthy treat. This certainly delivers on both counts.

I've seen recipes for yoghurt bark floating around on the internet and thought, what a great idea! You really can use any type of yoghurt and top it with just about anything- nuts, seeds, fruit, coconut, mint, lemon, etc. Get creative with it! Here's the basic recipe for raspberry swirl yoghurt bark, but you could always just top it with whole raspberries (or any other fruit) instead.

Raspberry swirl yoghurt bark 

300-400g reduced fat plain Greek yoghurt (e.g. 2x tubs Chobani)

½ C frozen raspberries

3 Tbsp boiling water

2 tsp honey

Toppings:

Flaked almonds

Coconut flakes

Chopped mint

1.       Blend raspberries, water and honey until smooth.
2.       Pour yoghurt into a bowl and swirl through a third of the raspberry mixture.
3.       Pour onto a tray lined with baking paper and spread out evenly until 0.5-1cm thick.
4.       Drizzle over some more of the raspberry mixture (you probably won’t need it all but make sure you save it for a later use!) and sprinkle over toppings.
5.       Freeze for a few hours or until hard. Break into pieces (‘bark’) and store in a snap lock bag in the freezer.

Basic Roast Vegetable Frittata

Eggs are such a versatile protein: you can boil, poach, scramble, fry, whisk, beat or bake them. Not to mention the countless dishes that couldn't work without the powers of egg. Here is a basic recipe for a roast vegetable frittata that could be altered in many ways to work as a great easy lunch or dinner with a simple salad on the side. 

You could add:

- fresh herbs e.g. rosemary, thyme, parsley, basil

- garlic (try roasting on the tray with the veg then just mashing)

- a different cheese e.g. fetta, ricotta

- a different mix of veg e.g. asparagus, grated zucchini, carrot, parsnip, etc

- change the size/shape e.g. make them in a muffin tin and these mini frittatas would be great for school or work lunches (in an insulated lunch box of course!)
- Line the base of a round flan tin with a few layers of filo pastry before pouring in the veg and egg filling and make a quiche

Basic Roast Vegetable Frittata

1 medium potato, peeled and diced into small cubes

Equivalent sized piece of pumpkin, peeled and diced into small cubes

½ red capsicum, cut into small wedges

¼ red onion, cut into small wedges

1/3 C cooked, finely chopped spinach (e.g. from 2 frozen cubes)

4 eggs

½ C skim milk

1 tsp mixed herbs

1 heaped Tbsp plain flour

2 Tbsp grated parmesan

Salt to taste

¼ C cherry tomatoes, halved

To serve:

Large garden salad

1.     Preheat oven to 180°C and place potato, pumpkin, capsicum and onion on a lined baking tray and spray with a little extra virgin olive oil. Bake for around 20 minutes or until cooked through. Leave oven on.
2.     Whisk eggs, milk, garlic, herbs, flour, parmesan and salt in a medium sized bowl or jug.
3.     Spread baked vegetables and spinach on the bottom of a 20cm square baking tray, lined with baking paper. Pour over egg mixture and sprinkle with tomatoes (halved side up).
4.     Bake for around 25 minutes or until cooked through and golden. Serve with salad

Serves 4

Top 10 tips to lower your blood pressure

Have you just been told by your doctor that your blood pressure’s a bit too high? Don’t stress (really, that could make it go even higher!) because there is plenty you can do about it.

What does high blood pressure mean?

It means that it’s harder for your heart to pump blood around your body. In conjunction with high blood cholesterol (and the subsequent formation of fatty plaques inside your arteries) it could lead to blockages, heart attacks and strokes. But there are many risk factors and the tips below also cover some of these (such as being overweight, smoking, drinking to excess, having a poor diet high in salt and low in veg, having high cholesterol and being physically inactive).

1.       Quit smoking- we all know it’s bad for us in just about every way possible (and is a risk factor for just about every disease). But I know it’s hard, so if you need help, chat to your GP or contact Quitline.
2.       Cut back on the alcohol- aim for no more than 2 standard drinks per day and at least 2 alcohol-free days per week.
3.       Stop stressing- identify the stressors in your life and find a relaxation technique that helps to combat them.
4.       Increase the vegetable and fruit portion of your shop and cut back on the processed foods- the extra potassium will help counter the sodium in your diet (not to mention all the benefits of all the other nutrients!).
5.       Swap refined, white and processed carbohydrates for wholegrains- such as grainy breads, oats, brown rice, barley, quinoa and bran-based cereals.
6.       Get a healthy dose of heart-loving fats- from oily fish like salmon, tuna and sardines, olive oil, nuts, seeds and avocado.
7.       Make takeaway a treat food- most takeaway foods are laden with salt and fat (usually far more than you would add if cooking it yourself). So embrace the homemade version! 
8.       Get familiar with food labels- salt is used as both a flavouring agent and a preservative so you’ll find it in many staple foods (including breads and cereals). Aim for <400mg sodium/100g and opt for reduced, or no-added, salt sauces, stocks and tinned products where possible.
9.       Make water your main drink- cut back on soft drinks, cordials and fruit juice (the whole fruit is so much better!). Add lemon and mint to flavour it, make it ice-cold with ice cubes, or rediscover tea.
10.       Start moving- exercise doesn’t have to equate to hours slogging it out in the gym. It can be in short bursts and something you enjoy. Just try to get your heart rate up (and remember that every bit of incidental activity counts).

Toasted Coconut & Date Slice

The other weekend I had it in my mind that I wanted to bake a healthy slice. So I looked through all my recipe books and searched online, with no luck! Eventually I came across a date and coconut slice recipe from One Handed Cooks  but after pressing the mixture into the pan realised I had forgotten a key ingredient- the coconut! As it turns out, the coconut on the top of the slice rather than mixed in it turned out really well as it gave a lovely toasted coconut flavour. You'll notice there's no sugar in this recipe which is because the dates give a lovely natural sweetness without being over-powering. This slice makes a great healthy snack!

Toasted Coconut & Date Slice

1 C pitted dates, roughly chopped

½ C water

1 tsp lemon juice

1 C wholemeal plain flour

1 C rolled oats

¼ C flaked almonds

1.5Tbsp (30g) table spread, melted (or oil)

½ C apple puree

¼ C desiccated coconut (unsweetened)

1.       Preheat oven to 190°C. Line a 20cm square dish with baking paper.
2.       Put dates and water in a small saucepan over medium heat, stirring     until the water is just absorbed and the dates are smooth.
3.       Remove date mixture from heat and add lemon juice and apple puree.
4.       Combine flour, oats, almonds and table spread or oil in a medium     sized bowl. Add dates and stir to combine.
5.       Press mixture in square dish and sprinkle with coconut. Bake for ~25 minutes or until slice is cooked and coconut is golden.

Makes 16 squares

Should you really be cutting foods from your diet?

There's been a lot of lively debate in the nutrition-sphere recently- both publicly and privately. And while I'm not going to open that can of worms here (as it's a complex topic and one which I can both agree and disagree with), I would like to discuss something else which I have seen quietly spring up alongside many of these new suggested ways of eating: dietary restrictions. And by this I mean the whole spectrum of 'free's'- dairy free, gluten free, sugar free, fructose free, fruit free, grain free, and so on and so forth…

Now, don't get me wrong, there are several health conditions that require the exclusion or reduction of food groups to prevent, manage or treat their symptoms- food allergies and intolerances being the most obvious ones. And even when there hasn't been a diagnosed nutrition issue or reason for diet manipulation, sometimes people just feel better when they don't eat something. Fair enough. We are the masters of our own bodies and we tend to pick up on the signals they're sending us better than anyone else.

But where the waters get a little murky is when you introduce outside influencers to this decision making process. I'm talking about media (new and old), the stories of friends of friends, various interpretations of new research (yes, believe it or not facts can be interpreted very differently by different people) by health professionals or celebrities that pull us along for the ride when there really was no issue in the first place. New diets can seem bright and shiny (like a new toy, perhaps?) and are sold to us with such fervour that we get washed up in the excitement of it all.

Before you know it we're doing our research on what foods to add to, and which ones to cut from, our trolleys, buying fancy kitchen equipment and shaking up our old recipe rut. This can be great! It can renew excitement in wholesome fresh foods and home cooking, reduce reliance of processed and packaged foods and get us more in touch with nature.

Unfortunately it doesn't always lead to a great, lifelong improvement in diet and overall health. What happens when you start having to cook separate meals for the rest of the family because they don't understand why they can't have good ol' spag bol anymore? Or you have to turn down social events because they're based around meals at restaurants which you know won't be able to cater to your special dietary requirements? Or you fall into a cooking rut because you don't really have time to make your own stock or ferment your own foods and you end up falling back on a few key meals that you know are on the 'good' list. Or the grocery bills start piling up because if you do buy anything packaged it must be organic and gluten free and dairy free and low in FODMAPs and no added sugar and no more than 3 ingredients, and not only does the shopping process take a lot longer, but these products always seem to cost a mint! And then you have to forgo that weekend away just to keep on top of it all. And worse still is that secretly, you don't think you really feel any different.

Now, I know this may seem like an over exaggeration to many, but these are the kinds of problems that CAN face normal people simply trying to follow the latest health advice. So MY advice is this: if you feel better by cutting back on carbs or excluding dairy or whatever, and you can happily and easily make these changes to your life, then enjoy! All the more power to you! But if you find yourself losing pleasure in food, or putting strain on your friendships or the hip pocket, then maybe you've taken it a little too far. Eat healthy, wholesome foods most of the time and that one slice of cake or bowl of pasta won't kill you, but it will make life more enjoyable. And isn't that important, too?

Beef and black bean stir-fry

Beef and black bean is a traditional Chinese dish, but you'd be hard pressed to find its star ingredient in your local supermarket. Sure you'll be able to find prepackaged 'black bean sauce' but I really wanted to make my own using the real thing. I managed to find fermented black beans (also called dried or salted black beans) in my local Asian grocer without much trouble at all. And the result was a lovely, easy, flavoursome dish with all the benefits of gut benefits of fermented beans, iron from beef, fibre from brown rice and a whole host of antioxidants, vitamins and minerals from a load of colourful veggies!

Beef and black bean stir-fry

500g beef eye fillet (or another lean cut), sliced

50g Chinese black beans, rinsed (found in an Asian grocer)

2 long red chillies, thinly sliced (remove seeds for a milder heat)

1.5 tsp minced garlic

2 tsp minced ginger

1 C reduced salt chicken stock

½ brown onion, thinly sliced

1 ¼ C long grain brown or white rice

2 dinner plates full of vegetables (~8 cups) e.g. broccoli, bok choy, carrots, beans, mushrooms, zucchini, cabbage etc

1. Cook rice in boiling water, drain.

2. Meanwhile, cook beef, chilli, ginger, garlic and black beans in a large frypan over medium-high heat until beef is well browned. Remove from frypan and keep warm.

3. Add onion to the pan and sauté over a medium heat until translucent. Add vegetables and cook until just tender. 

4. Lower to a simmer, add stock and return beef mix to pan, stirring until well coated and beef is heated through.

      4. Divide rice and stir-fry among dishes.

Serves 5-6