Posts tagged with ‘Healthier Treats’

  • Healthy-pregnancy-meal-gluten-free-vegetable-quiche

    Cauliflower Base Courgette Quiche

    Try this gluten free courgette quiche recipe is a delicious way to enjoy essential prenatal nutrients in a meal everyone will enjoy!

    We loved this unusual recipe for quiche – perfect for pregnant women on a gluten-free diet. Flour is replaced with a mixture of blended cauliflower, ground almonds and eggs which adds avoids gluten and adds an additional nutritional aspect to the base.

    healthy pregnancy diet courgette quiche with cauliflower base

    Ingredients

    For the base:
    Small cauliflower
    100g ground almonds
    2tsp mixed herbs (freshly chopped parsley, oregano and thyme works well)
    2tsp dried mustard powder
    2 medium eggs
    A little olive oil to grease the base of your quiche dish

    For the filling:

    1 medium or two small courgettes sliced then quartered
    I onion finely sliced
    Clove of garlic, crushed
    4 medium eggs
    1 tbsp of olive oil
    50 ml of milk (use oat milk if your pregnancy diet is dairy free)
    Salt & pepper to taste

    Method

    1. Heat the oven to 2000C
    2. Roughly chop the cauliflower a in a large bowl and blend it with a hand blender until smooth – or use a food processor.
    3. Empty into a clean tea towel and squeeze out any excess water.
    4. Put the cauliflower back into the bowl and add the ground almonds, mustard powder and herbs. Mix well.
    5. Lightly beat the two eggs and add to mixture, blending thoroughly to form a paste.
    6. Grease the base of an 8” flan dish.
    7. Spoon in the mixture and spread evenly in the dish, using the back of a spoon.
    8. Pop in the oven for 10 minutes until lightly browned.
    9. Whilst the base is cooking, saute the onion and garlic in the olive oil for 2-3 minutes and add the courgettes. Continue cooking for another few minutes until the vegetables soften.
    10. Whisk up the eggs and milk and add salt and pepper to taste.
    11. Spoon the vegetables onto the base and pour over the eggs.
    12. Cook in the oven for 20 minutes or until the egg is firm.

    FittaMamma Tip: Add a generous sprinkling of parmesan (or other hard cheese) over the top of your quiche before cooking. A handful of toasted pine nuts works well too – pine nuts are an excellent source of magnesium, essential for your pregnancy diet.
    This base is equally good with different toppings – try leeks and cheddar, or mushrooms.

    Thanks to FittaMamma Naomi for supplying this delicious recipe to share with other pregnant women

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  • Pregnancy vitamin packed Spinach Omlette

    Spinach Omelette

    Pregnancy vitamin packed Spinach Omlette

    Need inspiration to eat iron needed for your healthy pregnancy diet? This Spinach omelette recipe is simple, so tasty and packed with essential prenatal vitamins!

    Spinach omelette has to be our favourite standby – quick, easy and packed full of useful nutrients for pregnant women. The spinach is full of folates and the eggs pack a good protein punch. Serve it with extra salad to add to your five a day of pregnancy vitamins!

    Ingredients

    2 eggs
    Approx. 30g (a good handful) of baby spinach leaves, torn or roughly chopped
    1 ½ tbsps grated Parmesan cheese
    A knob of butter
    A shake of ground nutmeg to taste
    salt and pepper

    Method

    1. Beat the eggs vigorously in a bowl and stir in the chopped spinach and Parmesan cheese. Season with nutmeg, salt andpepper.
    2. Melt the butter in a small frying pan until it’s bubbling. Be careful not to let the butter burn.
    3. Add the egg mixture and cook for about 3 minutes, until partially set. Push the edges towards the middle with a spatula to let the uncooked mixture flow into the pan to make sure it’s cooked through but still soft in the middle.
    4. Fold the omelette in half and slide onto a plate.
    5. Serve with salad.
    6. Eat immediately!

    FittaMamma Tip:
    Add a handful of cheddar cheese before you fold the omelette and let it melt slightly in the pan before serving.

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  • Healthy pregnancy meal stuffed chicken

    Stuffed chicken breasts

    Healthy pregnancy meal stuffed chicken

    Need a dinner packed with essential prenatal vitamins that’s also SUPER tasty? This is it! Stuffed chicken breast with spinach, perfect for your healthy pregnancy diet!

    Looking for a supper dish that looks impressive, is easy to prepare and ticks lots of boxes for pregnancy nutrition? Chicken breast is an excellent source of protein with minimal fat – stuff it with mozzarella cheese and sun dried tomatoes for this delicious and colourful dish.
    Serve with roasted butternut squash and wilted spinach. Butternut squash is crammed with Vitamin A as well as a whole host of other essential minerals and vitamins including Vitamin B, zinc, calcium and potassium. It’s also a good source of fibre (super important to include in your pregnancy diet to keep everything moving along nicely!). Iron is important for pregnant women and dark green leafy veggies, such as spinach are an excellent source.

    Ingredients

    1 chicken breast
    ½ mozzarella cheese
    3-4 sun dried tomatoes (use the ones preserved in oil)
    Mixed dried herbs
    ½ butternut squash
    A generous handful of baby spinach leaves (go large, they’re so good for you!)
    Salt, pepper and paprika to taste
    A spoonful of olive oil

    Method

    1. Heat the oven to 1800C or 3500F
    2. Cut a slit in the chicken breast along one edge to form a generous pocket. Fill the pocket with the sliced mozzarella cheese and the roughly chopped tomatoes. Close up the edge and secure with 2 or 3 cocktail sticks.
    3. Place in a suitable roasting dish, drizzle over a little of the oil from the tomatoes.Add salt and pepper to taste a sprinkling on mixed dried herbs. Cover with tin foil and cook for approx 35 -45 minutes (depending on the size of the breasts) until the chicken is cooked and the juices run clear.
    4. Meanwhile peel the butternut squash and cut into thick slices. Remove the seeds. Place on a lightly oiled baking tray and flip the slices so they are very lightly oiled on both sides. Dust with paprika and a sprinkling of salt and pepper to taste. Roast in the oven until soft and gently browned.
    5. When the chicken and butternut slices are ready to serve put to one side and keep warm.
    6. Wash and shake the spinach. Wilt the leaves by briefly heating them in a pan until they soften.
    7. Cut the chicken breasts into thick slices and serve on top of the wilted spinach leaves, accompanied by slices of roasted butternut squash.

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  • healthy pregnancy recipe Nut loaf

    Nut Loaf

    healthy pregnancy recipe Nut loaf

    Looking for vegetarian dinner in your prenatal diet? This nut loaf recipe is packed with prenatal nutrients and a delicious addition to your healthy pregnancy!

    This looks impressive but is surprisingly easy and meat free. Unsurprisingly it includes lots of nuts – which are a valuable source of protein and essential fats, especially if you are following a vegetarian pregnancy diet. Why are nuts good for pregnant women? Almonds are packed with calcium and Vitamin E; brazils are a good source of selenium to boost your immunity; cashews contribute a good level of protein and minerals including iron and zinc; walnuts are rich in omega-3.

    Ingredients

    I onion finely chopped
    150 gms of mushrooms
    1-2 cloves of garlic, crushed
    Splash of olive oil
    225gms of mixed nuts (you can buy bags of broken mixed nuts in health food stores that are ideal for this recipe!)
    100gms of wholemeal bread
    300ml of vegetable stock
    Handful of flat leaf parsley chopped
    1tsp dried mixed herbs to taste (use your favourite – thyme and oregano work well)
    500gms block of ready to use puff pastry (you’ll probably have a bit left over!)

    Method

    1. Soften the onions, garlic and mushrooms in the olive oil over a medium heat.
    2. Blitz the nuts and the bread in a food processor until quite fine and mix well with the onion and mushrooms.
    3. Heat the stock to boiling point and add to the mixture, along with the chopped herbs.
    4. Mix well and allow to cool whilst you roll out the pastry. The mixture should be quite soft.
    5. Roll out the pastry and use to line loaf tin, reserving sufficient pastry to use as a lid.
    6. Pack the nut mixture into the tin and top with the lid, sealing the edges with milk .
    7. Cook in the oven, pre-heated to 1800, until the pastry is golden brown and the mixture cooked through – about 45 minutes.

    Serves 4-6 as a main meal, accompanied with vegetables or salad.

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  • Healthy pregnancy meal spinach souffle recipe

    Spinach Souffle

    Healthy pregnancy meal spinach souffle recipe

    Looking for a tasty meal full of prenatal vitamins? This yummy spinach soufflé recipe is packed with folates and vitamins vital for a healthy pregnancy!

    Don’t be put off making a souffle – whilst they have a reputation for being a bit tricky this recipe is really not that difficult. And of course we wouldn’t include it if it didn’t tick lots of boxes for your healthy pregnancy diet!
    Green leafy vegetables such as spinach contain high levels of folate, calcium and iron as well as vitamins C and E – all essential nutrients for pregnant women. Eggs are a good source of protein for pregnancy too.

    Ingredients

    450gms of spinach, cooked and drained
    60 gms butter
    3tbsps of flour
    300ml of milk
    120 gms of cream cheese (Philadelphia or similar)
    4 eggs, separated
    Salt and pepper to taste

    Method

    1. Squeeze any excess moisture out of the spinach and chop finely.
    2. Melt the butter over a moderate heat, blend in the flour and allow to heat briefly before stirring in the milk. Stir over the heat until you have a thick, smooth sauce.
    3. Beat in the cream cheese, followed by the chopped spinach and allow the sauce to cool slightly before you add the beaten egg yolks.
    4. You can pause the recipe at this stage if you want to prepare ahead!
    5. When you’re ready to cook, butter your soufflé dish – or individual ramekin dishes (the recipe should make four generous individual soufflés) and heat your oven to 1800C.
    6. Whip up the egg whites until stiff then fold into your spinach mixture.
    7. Bake for 25 minutes until well-risen but still soft in the centre.
    8. Serve with a tomato and red pepper sauce and a baked sweet potato for a more substantial dinner. Spinach soufflé is not just a healthy pregnancy meal – it’s a healthy any-time meal to share with family and friends!

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  • healthy pregnancy meal Pumpkin-Risotto-with-Spinach

    Pumpkin Risotto

    healthy pregnancy meal Pumpkin-Risotto-with-Spinach

    Need a recipe full of vitamins and vegetables? Try this pumpkin risotto recipe, delicious and ideal part of your healthy pregnancy diet

    Pumpkins aren’t just good for Halloween lanterns, they’re a great food to eat when pregnant, crammed with lots of lovely beta-carotene which your body converts naturally into Vitamin A, essential for healthy pregnancy nutrition.
    This delicious risotto is easy to rustle up and makes a lovely light supper. Serve with a dark leafy salad for extra folate –spinach and watercress work well to give you an extra boost of vitamins as part of your healthy pregnancy diet. We love it!

    Ingredients

    1 onion finely diced
    4 spring onions, chopped
    2 large cloves of garlic, crushed
    I small pumpkin – to provide around 400g of pumpkin flesh, peeled, seeded and cut into large cubes
    25g butter
    1 litre good quality chicken stock (hot)
    Splash of olive oil
    Generous 50g of grated parmesan
    Large handful of flat leaf parsley, roughly chopped
    200g risotto rice

    Method

    1. Put the cubes of pumpkin on a roasting tray, drizzle with olive oil and roast for 30 minutes at 1800C until soft.
    2. Whilst the pumpkin is roasting, gently sauté the chopped onion, garlic and spring onion in the butter until soft. Add the rice, stir well and continue to cook until the rice starts to go transparent.
    3. Add half the stock and cook until the stock has been absorbed. Continue to add more stock – around half a cup at a time, stirring and cooking until all the stock has been absorbed and the rice is soft and creamy.
    4. Add the pumpkin, parsley and cheese and stir in. It’s good to leave some chunks of pumpkin intact whilst allowing some of it to break up as you stir it into the mixture.

    Garnish with more parmesan and a few extra leaves of parsley. Serve with salad.

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  • Healthy pregnancy meal lime salmon with pine nuts

    Salmon with pine nuts and lime

    Healthy pregnancy meal lime salmon with pine nuts

    Want to include fish in your healthy pregnancy diet? This tasty salmon recipe is full of prenatal vitamins and nutrients including iron and Omega 3!

    This is an easy dish to prepare and perfect for your healthy pregnancy diet! Salmon is rich in omega 3 fatty acids, and pine nuts are high in fibre and a good source of magnesium and iron which all provide important nutrition for pregnancy. Serves two

    Ingredients

    2 salmon fillets weighing around 130g each
    Juice and grated rind of one lime
    Chopped parsley
    2 tbsp pine nuts
    Finely chopped or ready-prepared lemongrass (optional)

    Method

    1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C, or gas mark 4. Lightly spray two pieces of foil with oil.
    2. Place one piece of salmon in the centre of one foil. Squeeze over half the lime juice, and sprinkle over some of the grated zest, and lemongrass if you’re using it. Sprinkle over the parsley and season with black pepper. Repeat the process with the other piece of salmon and scrunch up the top of the foil to make a parcel. Place in the oven and cook for 15 minutes.
    3. Remove from the oven and open the foil parcel. Sprinkle over the pine nuts and return to the oven to brown the pine nuts and finish cooking the fish, this should take about five more minutes.
    4. Serve with new potatoes and steamed broccoli or green beans, pouring over any cooking liquid from the parcel over the salmon

    For a variation, add some grated ginger root to the salmon parcel and serve with basmati rice cooked in coconut milk.

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  • healthy pregnancy meal Courgette-bake recipe

    Courgette Bake

    healthy pregnancy meal Courgette-bake recipe

    Need a recipe full of vitamins and vegetables for your healthy diet? This courgette bake recipe is delicious and an ideal addition to your pregnancy diet!

    Courgettes are rich in calcium, folic acid, iron and the vitamin A and vitamin C whilst pine nuts are a good source of vitamin K which is essential to bone health and vital for proper blood clotting. And this courgette bake recipe is delicious making it a great addition to your pregnancy diet plan!

    Ingredients

    1 medium courgette (about 200gms), grated and squeezed to get rid of any excess liquid
    1 Free range egg, beaten
    1 rounded dessertspoon plain yoghurt (or creme fraiche)
    1oz/25gms pine nuts
    Chopped fresh herbs eg parsley, chives, mint, to taste
    Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

    Method

    1. Beat yoghurt (or creme fraiche) into egg, add seasoning and herbs, stir in the grated courgette.
    2. Put in a small ovenproof container, which has been lightly oiled, and sprinkle with the pine nuts.
    3. Bake for about 25 mins at about 160C and serve with mixed green salad leaves and sliced tomatoes or salad of your choice

    As an alternative use chopped and wilted spinach instead of courgette – and it tastes good with freshly grated hard cheese instead of the pine nuts (although you’ll miss out on the Vitamin K!)

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  • Healthy pregnancy recipe Salade Nicoise

    Salad Nicoise

    Healthy pregnancy recipe Salade Nicoise

    Wondering what to eat when pregnant? Trying to enjoy your pregnancy vitamins? Try a Nicoise salad; it’s delicious and packed with prenatal nutrients!

    This is probably my all time favourite ‘meal in a salad’! And as a healthy recipe for pregnant women it’s a real winner, full of essential nutrients for maternal and child health! Tuna is full of protein and rich in omega-3 fatty acids to help your baby’s healthy brain development and even those little anchovies are good for your pregnancy nutrition too with bone-strengthening calcium and iron. The hard boiled eggs are packed with protein and a good source of Vitamins D, vitamin A and vitamins B2 as well. And of course the salad is bursting with lovely leaves and veggies too!

    Ingredients

    2 tins of tuna fish – drained
    1 can of anchovy fillets – drained (soak the fillets in milk if you prefer them less salty)
    4 hard boiled eggs halved
    Handful of pitted black olives
    I large lettuce
    8-10 new potatoes cooked and cut into chunks
    100 gms of green beans, cooked and drained
    4 tomatoes chopped
    6 cms of cucumber sliced
    1 small red onion finely sliced or a handful of radishes finely sliced

    For the dressing:

    6 tbsps olive oil (preferably extra virgin for a fuller flavour)
    2 tbsps white wine vinegar
    2 garlic cloves crushed
    Juice of half a lemon
    1 tsp honey
    1 tsp wholegrain mustard
    Salt and pepper

    Method

    1. Make the dressing by putting all the ingredients together into a screw top jar or bottle and shaking vigorously to mix.
    2. Lay the lettuce leaves on a plate and top with the potatoes, tomatoes and cucumber.
    3. Pile the tuna on top with the eggs
    4. Arrange the French beans, onions or radishes, anchovies and olives on top.
    5. Drizzle over the dressing
    6. Serve with crusty French bread

    FittaMamma Tip: Avoid eating too much tuna when you’re pregnant as it can contain environmental pollutants, especially mercury – experts suggest no more than four medium sized tins (drained weight 140g) or two tuna steaks per week. Whilst the mercury won’t harm you it could interfere with your baby’s development. Hard boiled eggs are a good food for pregnancy but raw eggs carry a risk of salmonella and are on the list of ‘foods to avoid when pregnant’.

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  • healthy pregnancy meal ideas Avocado-and-mozzarella-salad

    Tomato and Avocado Salad

    healthy pregnancy meal ideas Avocado-and-mozzarella-salad

    Want an easy healthy recipe for your pregnancy diet? Try this Mozzarella and tomato salad packed with prenatal vitamins and nutrients and so yummy!

    Ooooh this is one of our favourite salads! It’s easy, delicious and packed with healthy nutrients for pregnant women. Tomatoes are rich in lycopene which is great for boosting your immune system and can reduce the risk of preeclampsia too; avocados are a top choice when it comes to the best foods to eat when pregnant loaded with folic acid, vitamins and monounsaturated fats (the good fats!). Mozzarella cheese is useful source of calcium too …another essential for your pregnancy diet!

    Ingredients

    1 ripe avocado sliced
    2-3 tomatoes (depending on size ) sliced
    I mozzarella cheese (make sure it’s made from pasteurised milk) sliced
    Pitted black olives

    For the dressing

    3 tbsps olive oli
    1 tbsp white wine vinegar
    1 tsp honey
    1 tsp wholegrain mustard
    1 clove of garlic, crushed
    Generous squeeze of lemon juice
    Salt and pepper

    Method

    1. Arrange the salad ingredients on a serving dish (that’s easy!)
    2. Mix all the salad dressing ingredients together in a screw top jar and shake until mixed. Pour as much as you need over the salad. You probably won’t need this amount of dressing so save some for next time.
    3. Add a few fresh basil leaves to make this salad even more delicious.

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