Creamy Salmon 06th May 2021 MAKES 2-3 Portions TIME 30 mins A delicious one pan sauce, perfect with your favorite grains - from rice, to pasta, and on toast! My Tip: Add in different veggies or swap the salmon for a different protein - this simple recipe is adaptable to exactly what you love! Ingredients * 1 Tbsp vegetable oil * 1 Large white onion, diced * 100g Tender stem broccoli, chopped roughly into 0.5cm pieces * 2 Salmon fillets, cut into 1cm pieces * 2-3 Tbsp red pesto * 3 Cups Plain yoghurt or crème fraiche * Salt and pepper to season Method 1. Place a frying pan on a medium heat, add the vegetable oil and onion cooking until soft and translucent. 2. Add the broccoli to the same pan, cooking until starting to soften and going a little crisp. 3. Add the salmon and red pesto to the same pan. Keep an eye on this, stirring regularly until the salmon is pink, about 7-10 minutes. 4. Finally, turn the heat low and stir through the yoghurt or crème fraiche. Finish by seasoning to taste. 5. Serve with grains of your choice, and enjoy!

Creamy Garlic Pasta 30th December 2021 MAKES 1 Portion TIME 30 mins A silky sauce which coats the pasta with kale and parsley. My Tip: swap the greens for your favourites! Ingredients * 1 small red onion, diced * 1 large garlic clove, crushed * 75g pasta * 1 egg * 100g parmesan * kale and chopped parsley, as desired * seasoning, to taste Method 1. Massage some kale in oil, and put in the oven until crispy. 2. Put your pasta on to cook. 3. Lightly fry a finely diced red onion and crushed garlic clove in a little oil. 4. Whisk an egg with a handful of grated parmesan. 5. Add the cooked pasta into your onion and garlic pan (don’t worry if some water drops in, and save the rest of the pasta water for now!) Take the pan off the hob. 6. Quickly mix the egg and parmesan mixture through your pasta. Add a couple of spoons if pasta water to loosen the sauce so it is silky and still coats the pasta. 7. Finish by mixing through the kale, some roughly chopped parsley, parmesan, and season. 8. Add some extra cheese and parsley to serve. Enjoy!

Mince Pies 13th December 2020 MAKES 12 Pies TIME 45mins-1 hour This is our favourite family homemade mince pies, being made since 1995, recipe was handed on from a lovely lady, Jane Barter. Tips: These are perfect to freeze and enjoy warmed up later x Ingredients * 225g Plain Flour * 55g Ground Almonds * 140g Room Temperature Butter (plus extra for greasing tray) * 1 Orange (Grated Rind) * 55g Caster Sugar (plus extra for sprinkling) * 1 Egg * 10g Cold Water (Dessert Spoon) * A Jar of Mince Meat (you may not need it all, but can decide how much you would like to add!) Equipment * 12 Hole Baking Tin * x2 Round Cutters (8cm and 6cm) * 2 Teaspoons * Pastry Brush Method 1. Preheat the oven to 190degreesC. 2. Rub with fingers flour, almonds and butter in to a fine crumb. 3. Add caster sugar and orange rind (juice the orange to drink!). 4. Separate your egg into the yolk and white. Keep your white to a side for use later. Add one egg yolk and the water to bind the crumb and bring together into a ball of pastry. 5. Dust your work surface with plain flour. Separate the ball of pastry into 2/3 and 1/3. (The 2/3 is for the base of the mince pies and 1/3 for the tops). 6. Grease your baking tin with some butter. 7. Roll out the 2/3 ball as thin as you can manage. Cut out 12 circles of pastry using the 8cm cutter. Add these to your baking tin. 8. Take your teaspoons, one of which you can use to pick up some mince meat, the other you can use to push the mince meat into each pastry case. You can fill these however much you like, we usually use one teaspoon per pastry case. 9. Once all 12 of the base pastry cases are filled. Take the 1/3 of your pastry. Again roll it out as thin as you can, but this time use the 6cm cutter to cut 12 circles, which will make the lids. 10. Take your pastry brush and the egg white from earlier, and brush the outside rim of the pastry cases in the tin which are filled with mince meat (this will help your lids attach). Then add a lid to each mince pie. 11. Brush the lids with the remaining egg white and dust with a little caster sugar. This will help to make them go golden brown and too give the a meringue crust. 12. They are ready for the oven! Place on a middle shelf in the oven, and bake for 12-15 minutes until golden brown. 13. Take out of the oven, place on a baking tray to cool slight/ 14. Enjoy these warm or cold, on their own or with custard/ cream, and enjoy!

Did you know, that an adult human body is ~60% water! Keeping hydrated is important to maintain good health, this includes the prevention of constipation, cramp, and dry skin and for our kidney’s health. Water also has many functions, including transporting nutrients in our blood and removing waste products from our bodies. The first signs of dehydration may be a dry mouth and feeling thirsty — it is important to listen to our body’s signals! The thing is, when you drink, this triggers your body to stop feeling thirsty until it recalibrates. Therefore, you may find you’re thirsty, you drink which satisfies your need, but then quite soon later you feel thirsty again — it is important to listen to this! The colour of our wee is really the best indicator of our hydration levels; if you are drinking enough, it should be a straw or pale-yellow colour. If it is dark and concentrated, this suggests you are dehydrated. Other effects of dehydration include dizziness, poor concentration, and tiredness. In hot weather, we are more likely to sweat and loss water more quickly and so very important that we replace it. How can we keep hydrated? 1. DRINK ENOUGH FLUID. It is recommended for men to aim for 2000ml and women 1600ml of fluid throughout the day to avoid dehydration. *Please note*, this is a recommendation for average adults, and the amount each of us needs is also affected by our activity level, body size, pregnancy and lactation, and other external factors e.g., temperature, and humidity. 2. DRINK REGULARY THROUGHOUT THE DAY. Keep a water bottle on us. You could consider choosing a bottle with levels on it, so you know how much you have drunk during the day. Keep it on your desk/ in eye line to encourage you to drink sips throughout the day. 3. MAKE WATER TASTIER. Choose fizzy water, and infuse it with fruit and herbs such as berries and mint are cheap, simple, and effective ways of making water tastier! 4. REDUCE SALTY FOODS. Salt can cause us to become more dehydrated. This is because salt contains sodium, and to maintain our body’s sodium levels, it will bond excess salt with water and excrete it with urine. This means more salt, more wee, and more likely to become dehydrated. 5. FLUIDS THAT COUNT. Try to focus on water, but remember tea, coffee, and fruit juices all also contribute to our fluid intake. Interestingly, while tea and coffee contain caffeine which is known to have a diuretic effect (increases the amount of wee produced), research has shown this effect to only be very small. 6. LIMIT ALCOHOL. Alcohol may make the body pass more wee than usual and therefore increase the likelihood of getting dehydrated. It is a good idea to also drink water or low-sugar soft drinks if drinking alcohol. 7. KEEP COOL. Have a fan on you, stay in the shade, and wear a sunhat where possible. 8. LOOK OUT FOR THOSE AROUND US. If they are looking red in the face, sweaty, or dizzy that person may be getting too hot. And pay particular attention to those at increased risk of dehydration such as children and the elderly.

It is Eating Disorder Awareness Week which is all about raising our awareness of eating disorders and supporting an increase in education and training. This post is in collaboration with @tcnutrition, a specialist eating disorder Dietitian. Eating disorders are devastating mental illnesses that affect 1 in 50 people in the UK. We heavily rely on our GPs to spot early warning signs to ensure that people get the help they need but unfortunately, the average GP receives less than 2 hours of education on eating disorders. We are also aware that this week can be overwhelming for many. So, we hope that the following advice supports you in looking after yourself and your relationship with your food, body, and movement this, and every other week of the year: Social media detox. There are many positives that come from social media, however, it can be a dangerous place for comparison, reducing self-esteem and increasing body image concerns. Make sure to curate your feed and unfollow any accounts that do not serve you in your recovery (even if it is a friend or family member). We suggest you consider unfollowing accounts of people who are struggling in their own recovery if this doesn’t help to motivate or inspire you, any page that promotes “what I eat in a day” videos or pages that use air-brushing or editing to change appearance. It might also be worth taking a break from social media altogether. Take time to reflect and challenge eating disorder behaviours. That may be writing a dialogue, journaling, writing down something you are thankful for, saying affirmations, taking quiet time or talking with people you love. Be kind to yourself. Recovery is hard. It is important to expand your life outside of the eating disorder. Do things that make you smile — that could be catching up with loved ones, or pursuing a new or old hobby such as dancing, painting, or knitting. If you are struggling this week, please know you are not alone, and that recovery is possible. For support with an active eating disorder, please seek advice from a specialist eating disorder Dietitian like @tcnutrition and other specialists like @embodyhealthlondon, @mindfulnutritionpractice, @sarahelder, @theeddietitian, @priyatew, @lisawaldronnutrition. Some charities providing eating disorder support include @beatedsupport and @talkedcharity @seedsupportuk.

As February is National Heart Month, I thought I would share a little about our heart health and food — keep on reading for some quick and simple swaps we can make to support our heart health this month and for the future. What is cardiovascular disease? Currently, in the UK approximately 7.6 million people are living with Cardiovascular Diseases (CVD), and globally it is the most common cause of mortality. CVD is the term given to a group of conditions that affect our heart and/ or blood vessels. Risk factors. We can’t modify all risk factors such as ageing and genetics. However, small lifestyle changes can reduce other risk factors such as high blood pressure and high cholesterol levels, and these changes can make a large difference in our long-term risk of CVD. Helping reduce our risk. Increase our fibre intake. Fibre can help to reduce our LDL (“bad”) cholesterol levels. It is recommended for adults to aim for 30g of fibre per day however latest figures suggest that the average daily intake of fibre for UK adults is 18g. We can increase our fibre intake by swapping white grains for wholemeal alternatives; try to include more legumes such as tinned lentils and chickpeas and aim to have five a day. Include foods rich in polyphenols. Polyphenols are an antioxidant that are found in several plant-based foods such as fruits, vegetables, tea, and spices, and evidence shows they may help protect against CVD. Consumption of polyphenols is in line with the governments recommendations to eat 5 portions of fruit and vegetables a day, remember this includes fresh, frozen and tinned! Swap in unsaturated fats as an alternative to saturated fats. Unsatuated fats, in particular, Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids (PUFA) (found in olive oil, rapeseed oil, nuts and seeds, and oily fish) has been shown to reduce CVD risk. Whereas diets high in saturated fats (such as butter and animal fats) are associated with increased CVD risk. Consider swapping in an unsaturated fat such as extra virgin olive oil instead of a saturated fat like butter. A high salt intake is associated with increased blood pressure, which is a risk factor for CVD. It is recommended for adults to aim for no more than 6g of salt per day, however, research suggests the average daily intake of salt in adults in England is 8.4g/ day. The majority of salt in our diets is often found in pre-made products, so it is something to be aware of. Regular movement has been shown to reduce our risk of CVDs by up to 35%, so try including movement we enjoy into our routines, whether that is dancing, a long walk, running, strength training, yoga, or anything else you enjoy! A final note These are all tips to help reduce our risk of CVD, not to treat or prevent it. It is important to include balanced in our life, and while it is important to reduce our saturated fat and salt intake for our heart health, these can still have a place as part of a balanced, and sustainable diet. For further information, these resources may help: * National Health Service. Cardiovascular Disease. * British Heart Foundation. Information and Support.