HEALTHY RECIPE: Banana Milkshake

Every now and again I get cravings for certain foods, I've read that this is because my body needs the nutrients that that food has but who knows? Recently I had been really wanting a fresh banana milkshake, which is unusual as I'd always go for a chocolate milkshake. I remembered making a really easy milkshake when we were children, using up the slightly 'over ripe' bananas we hadn't eaten. This is the easiest and most simple recipe ever but I thought I'd share it with you just in case you don't know how to make a healthy banana milkshake really quickly!


You'll only need 3 ingredients:

If you ever have bananas that are starting to go too brown to eat then it's a good idea to peel and slice them, pop them into a freezer bag and put them into the freezer. You're not wasting any food and you'll always have a supply of banana milkshake waiting to be made. Perfect.


Some other optional ingredients you could add to this milkshake are: honey, chocolate milkshake powder (e.g. Nesquick), maple syrup, Nutella etc.

What to do:


1) Put 200ml Skimmed Milk (you could use any kind of milk), one frozen banana and around 14 ice cubes into a jug/blender. I used a hand blender because our blender is so weak and wouldn't blitz the ice up.

2) Blend until you get the desired consistency - I wanted mine to be quite thick so I made sure the proportion of ice to milk was higher. It's completely up to you though.

3) Pour into a glass and enjoy. It's really that simple.

Have you got any healthy smoothie/milkshake recipes?

I'd love to see them :)

HEALTHY RECIPE: Spicy Tuna Burgers

I whipped these up for Tom on one of my days off, they're so easy and flavoursome - or so I'm told! As a vegetarian I clearly don't eat these, in fact I try and make them without touching the tuna at all (which can be done!). I saw a recipe for a tuna burger that used fresh tuna steak, which I didn't have so I adapted it, added mashed potato and came up with these Spicy Tuna Burgers.

What you need:

1 can of Tuna

2 small Potatoes or 1 large Potato, cubed

15g Butter

3 tbsp Skimmed Milk

1/2 Red onion, finely chopped

1 Garlic Clove, crushed

1 tbsp Vegetable Oil

2 tbsp Breadcrumbs

1 tbsp Sesame Seeds

1 tsp Dried Chilli Flakes

Black Pepper

What to do:

1) Boil the potato for 20 minutes or until completely soft. Mash with the butter and milk, until smooth but still relatively firm. It needs to be able to hold the burgers together.

2) Fry the onions, black pepper and chilli flakes on a medium heat for around 10 minutes or until they're completely cooked. Add in the sesame seeds after around 8 minutes cooking.

3) In a bowl, mix the drained tuna, mashed potato, onion mix and breadcrumbs. Heat oil in a frying pan. At this point you can mould the burgers into disc shapes with your hands (yuk!) but I just used a spoon and the side of the bowl! Fry the burgers for around 5 minutes on each side. The outside should be crispy and the middle soft and fluffy.

4) You can serve these in a roll with tomato ketchup or with a salad for a healthier option. Or even with chips, as a healthier alternative to fish and chips.  

Feel free to leave me a comment :)

HEALTHY RECIPE: Quorn and Mushroom Stroganoff

I've got another healthy recipe for you today! As a vegetarian it can be hard to get enough protein in my diet but thanks to Quorn and their fantastic range of products it's made a lot easier. A while ago I saw a mushroom stroganoff recipe on the Quorn website and was very tempted by it, so when I got home I attempted to make it. However, thanks to our internet not really working for a couple of days I couldn't load the recipe. Hence this recipe being created! Although it's very creamy, it actually doesn't have any cream in and the base of the sauce is in fact water. Even if your not a vegetarian Quorn is a great, low calorie alternative to meat, so enjoy!

What you'll need:

200g Mushrooms, chopped

200g Quorn Chicken Pieces, I used frozen

1 pot of Fat-Reduced Crème Fraiche

3 Red Onions, sliced

2 tbsp Cornflour

1 Vegetable Stock Cube

300-400ml Boiling Water

2 tsp Dried Chilli Flakes

3 tsp Dried Thyme

Black Pepper

FryLight

What to do:

1) Over a medium heat, fry the onions and Quorn chicken pieces with FryLight. Keep a lid on the saucepan, as this reduces how much oil/FryLight you need to use. After 10 minutes add the chilli, thyme and black pepper.

2) Once the onions and Quorn chicken pieces are almost cooked, add the mushrooms and remove the saucepan lid. Cook for a further 5-8 minutes. Stir in the cornflour and cook for 1 minute.

3) Crumble the stock cube in and gradually add the boiling water. Simmer for 10-15 minutes. Stir in the crème fraiche, simmer for a further 3 minutes and serve. You can serve this with crusty bread, rice, mashed potato, couscous or by itself! 

Have you got any delicious recipes for Quorn products?

Feel free to leave me a comment :)