Diet spaghetti

diet spaghetti - half of calories, full of good carbs and protein

Today I tried to prepare diet spaghetti :) How I turn that dish into healthier option? I used sphagetti squash instead of regular pasta.
As I mentioned in previous post, I have a little winter squash obsession those days. Checking out spaghetti squash was next on my kitchen wish list.

raw spaghetti squash

How to prepare diet spaghetti?

half squash and take out seeds (use spoon)

Half squash and take out seeds.
Put two halves on baking paper and make some holes with knife.

put squash on baking paper and make little holes with knife

Bake 30-40 minutes in max temperature in the oven until squash is soft.

inside of prepared squash goes very easy out, you need only fork

In a meantime prepare meat. I used extra lean pork meat (less than 5% fat). I basically fry it on a teflon pan with garlic, thyme, salt and pepper. 
Then I added canned tomatoes and lots of tomato puree. I boiled everything together until I got great souse consistency.

half of calories, yummy taste

Serve spaghetti squash with meat in tomato souse or serve half of regular pasta portion and fill the dish with squash.
Enjoy your low carb dish! :)

Eat your veggies

broccoli mousse

Struggling with eating enough veggies? Make yourself a soup! I have already written how good soups are in term of your PH balance here.

broccoli mouse soup with chunk of chicken

I used boulion I made last time. I simply frozen part of it and defrost during the night. I added little more water, then chopped broccoli head, parsnip and carrot and boil everything together.

mix your veggies

After 20 minutes I mixed everything together, add spices (salt, pepper, garlic) and spoon of greek yoghurt and Philadelphia light.

add some greek yoghurt for better consistency

I will eat that soup with chicken chunks, but you can served it with pasty. 

good dish for cold autumn days

Easy, quick, healthy and delicious :)

Turkey meatloaf

turkey meatloaf

Today I needed a quick and super simple lunch before my next interview. This recipe came out low carb, which only makes it even more great!

For 4 portions you will need:

*400g of minced low fat turkey meat (mine had 3%fat)

* 1 egg

* 1 spoon of psyllium husk

* spices (salt, pepper, paprika, garlic, onion)

* chopped paprika

* bread crumbles (optional)

mix all ingredients together and put them into baking pan on a baking paper

cover meat with thin layer of bread crumbles

Bake in the oven for 50 minutes in 220 degrees. After 40 minutes take the meat from the pan and bake it reversed for the last 10 minutes.

enjoy alone or with new potatoes

macros (2 slices): 120kcal, 2,7g fat, 1g carbs, 33g protein

Meal prep master

 



Once you fight for better body and concentrating on your diet, preparation is the key! Everyone will fall off the track when he/she has to spend another 30 minutes for preparing healthy dish. 
With a little planning, you can made a positive and diet-friendly environment around you which will promote your goals :) 

roasted cod, salsa and vegetables with spoon of sesame oil

With leftovers from dinner (spaghetti bolognese for my husband to be) I made myself two lunchboxes for work. 
I used bolognese souse as salsa for my fish (just a simple cod baked in the oven with salt and pepper). Plus some more veggies (broccoli and courniflower), small spoon of sesame oil (for taste and healthy fats) and it's done! :) 





And here is a tip for great, healthy snack - carrots with greek yogurt dip. So simple, so good! Recently it is my favourite snack :)

carrots and greek yoghurt as dip - perfect snack :)

Chicke'n roll

Today's lunch/dinner suggestion is chicken roll with spinach filling. 
It looks fancy, but in fact it is very easy to prepare!

For 3 portions (approximately 150g each) you will need:
* 400g ground chicken meat (mine had 7,8% fat - generally the less fat the better)
* 200g of spinach (I used frozen one)
* 1 egg or egg white
* psyllium husk
* spices (salt, garlic, onion, paprika and so on).

Preparation: 
Pre-heat the oven to 200 degrees. Prepare meat first. Mix it with egg/egg white (if you sparing calories) and spices. Add 1 tbsp of psyllium husk which will make meat more sticky.

Pre-cook spinach. I added only little salt and garlic to a pan with de-frozen spinach.

On a baking pan spread a meat over baking paper. Form rectangle. In the middle of it, put a line of spinach.
Take a one side of baking paper and put it on the opposite one, that two sides of rectangle will split with each other. Roll a little and delicate take the paper from the top of your roulade.

Roast for 30 minutes in 200 degrees. 

Nutrition value for 1 portion (150g):
225 kcal
28,5 g protein
11,9g fat 
2,6 carbohydrates

Enjoy!

Hardangervidda/Flåm/Jotunheimen trip

As I promised, I am coming back with little update about my recent weekend trip.

As 17th of May is Norwegian national day and it is free, as well as 20th of May, we had all 4 days for ourselves! :)

the beginning of Hardangervidda - national tourist road

We started our trip from passing Hardangervidda - mountain plateau, which - on this time of the year - is still covered in snow and ice. 

Hardangervidda in the mid of may ;)

 Hardangervidda is an extraordinary place, which will be ever more special for me now <3

Stalheim hotel and mountains around it. Photo from visitnorway.com

Stalheim hotel was another destination on our trip. The view from hotels terrace is amazing, as well as the route down (Stelheimskleiva) - the steepest route in Europe!

view from Stalheim's hotel

grill on our way to next trip destination

 

marinated chicken was on the menu ;)

grilled chicken sandwich

Next 2 days we spend in wonderful small city Flåm, which is a Norway in a nutshell for me. 

 

Flåm in the evening

It has fiord, beautiful and high mountains around, little wooden houses and many mountain pathways for hiking, cycling and skiing. 

Up in the mountains with the view on Nærfiord

 We managed to take a proper mountain trip which took us few hours and was approximately 10km long. And found local brewery very welcoming the same evening :) 
We felt so good in Flåm and the weather was so amazing that we had to force ourselves to leave this hospitable place... :)

beautiful view from Stegastein

 Aurland's viewpoint (Stegastein) was the next on our tour. The weather was perfect for climbing up in the hills (with car this time) and admire Nærfiord from above.

grilled salmon - yummy!

grilled salmon menu :)

mighty Jotunheimen Mountains

Last, but not least, we crossed Jotunheimen - the highest mountain range in Norway. This was spectacular! But, I have to admit, very scary at the same time! We were there almost alone and the scope of mountains was even overwhelming! On passing mountain shelters, we met professional Alpinists who were discovering Jotunheimen Mountains by foot (and skies).

waterfall in Jotunheimen mountains

Despite it were only 4 days, I totally relaxed, charged my batteries and had a wonderful, and very emotional :), time. It was all about relax, chill, love, celebration and splurging! Like a proper vacations should be :)

first ice creams this year ;)

"Nordic's kitchen" ;)

Golden fish

golden fish - cod in sesame crumble

My today's dinners tip is cod crumbled in sesame flour and sesame seeds.

I dipped salted fish first in egg, then with mixture of sesame flour and sesame seeds. Then fried it from both sides for few minutes. For frying I used cocoa oil, but you can also use flax oil or any other oil which will be suitable for using in high temperatures.
After few minutes I put fish in to the oven for next 20 minutes (to reduce time of frying).

I am not a fan of frying things (mostly because of the smell!), but I have to admit that the result was yummy and crispy. Sesame seeds gave the fish unusual taste.

Tenderloin in porcini mushrooms

tenderloin in mushroom souse with quinoa

It was a long time since I've posted some food recipe!
Travelling, visiting family and friends was more about consuming that preparing food ;) 
But since I am back in Oslo, there will be more cooking too.

I brought with me delicious polish pork tenderloin. Together with dried mushrooms it gave me the perfect combination for not-so-casual-dinner. 

I choose porcini mushrooms (pol. borowiki, nor. steinsopp) which are very aromatic and tasteful. Of course, you can use champignons, but then your dish will be more casual ;)

For 2 portions you will need:

* 200-300 g of mushrooms 
* 200 g of tenderloin
* spices of choice, I used: garlic, paprika, salt, oregano, cumin, pepper
* few drops of oil (I used flax oil which can be used in high temperatures, make sure you don't use olive oil which is unsafe for using for frying)
* onion (it will suit this dish perfectly, but I can't eat it - if you don't have contradictions like me, go ahead and use it)
* sour cream or package souse for better consistency

 
If you're using dried mushrooms, dry them first in a hot water (for at least 30 minutes before use). Don't spill the water you used to do that, it will be the perfect vase for your souse afterwards. 

tenderloin marinated in oil, paprika, salt, garlic, onion and cumin

At the same time marinate meat. Use spices of choice and few drops of oil. Leave meat in spices in a cold place for at least 30 minutes. The longer the better. Your meat thus will be crumbly.

Pre-fry meat on a frying pan or teflon pot. After few minutes add mushrooms with water. Let it cook for approximately 20-30 minutes on a medium level.

After half an hour, you can add sour or prepared souse from package. I know, this souses are full of artificial ingredients, but... I didn't have sour at home to prepare 'real' souse ;) Using that from package, will gave me thick consistency as well as sour and roux/browning would do.

Mix souse with your meat and cook it for next 20 minutes.

porcini mushrooms gives souse thickness and great taste

Serve tenderloin with rice or quinoa (if you don't know what it is, chesk this post) . Don't forget about veggies! :)

Sunday's pizza time!

home made pizza with paprika, minced meat and fresh spinach and rucola with mozarella cheese on top

Oh yes, I did that!

Normal pizza, on a normal wheat dough, with normal cheese and ingredients. It's all about moderation and healthy mind.

If you want to check my previous, healthier pizza versions click here and here.