Have a break, have a diet muffin

There are some things I really hate, only a few, but the one that i hate the most is the daily, weekly task of cleaning, it never ends. However I found a way to make it more bearable ( it's that the right word?!) and it is give myself a treat after. So... at least I have something to look forward to. My treat this week ... muffins!!! who said girls on a diet don't have fun???

INGREDIENTS

Makes about 8 nice size muffins, and last up to 3-4 days if you can refrain yourself

• 4 large egg whites , 5 if medium 
• 8 tablespoon of oat bran
• 4 tablespoon of fat free formage frais
• 3 tablespoon of powder sweetener
• 1/2 tablespoon of coffee powder
• 1/2 tablespoon of cinnamon 

HOW TO

Gather your ingredients and preheat your oven at 180C (or 350 F)

I always start by beating the egg whites till stiff, and what do I mean by stiff? I mean that you can put the egg whites over you head and the wont fall out, that stiff we are talking about, so take your mixer and shake it baby.

Then in a deep plate mix all the dry ingredients, be careful they tend to try to leave your plate and make a mess all over the counter.

When mixed add the cheese and remove again until it gets a stronger consistency and it well incorporated 

Then it is time to add it to the stiff egg whites, that is tricky, you should incorporate all mixture but carefully and mixing it slowly with the spatula so the mixture would keep the smoothness, do it slowly it doesn't take that long. 

Now it is time to prepare your tin and muffin cases, I do spray them with cooking spray but that is totally optional. This muffins do not grow much do you can fill it up to 3/4 of the case or even a little bit more.

Let it bake for about 25 min depending on your oven, mine works out about 23 min and I let then cool down a bit inside the oven for about 7 min before I take them out. I find they are delicious with milk as they are a bit dry, but it work great as afternoon and breakfast treat.

Let me know how it goes for you and 

ENJOY :)

5 min. asparagus and prawn's scramble

I've always loved scrambles, probably because they are so easy to make and sooo tasty. On a rainy day like today when I get home I just want to chill and normally eat something that either comes from a man in a bike or it takes no time or effort to make. As the man on the bike should not be an option anymore as mostly he only brings unhealthy things, I have to go for the effortless option, 5 minutes tasty scramble.

INGREDIENTS

Enough for one hungry and tired person.

• asparagus tips
• a cup of prawns 
• 2 medium eggs
• salt and pepper to taste
• low fat cooking spray (optional)

HOW TO

Gather your ingredients

Your prawns might be frozen and if you do not have time to unfreeze them, give it a quick microwave defrost or add it to the pan a bit early, luckily I did remember this morning to leave it to defrost.

Start by cooking the tips I add a bit of cooking spray

When they are a bit toasted add the prawns, they take almost no time to be ready so don't add it too early or they would get burn ( I know from experience)

Prepare the eggs, beat them obviously but in my case this is the time that I add the salt an pepper, it doesn't mean that I might not add a bit more lately but I got the feeling that the saltiness is nicer when I add it to the beaten egg.

last but not  least ad the egg and shake it, baby shake it... move it and remove it so it spreads all over the  other ingredients

Ehhh voila, there you have a quick tasty and healthy dinner in not time add some custard for dessert and you got yourself a marvelous and nurturing rainy day dinner 

Let me know how you got on and in the meantime 

ENJOY :)

Bits and Pieces Omelette

I've been really busy this week, so busy that I almost haven't got the time to go food shopping. So today for lunch I found myself only with some bit of ingredients and decided that I might as well use what my mother call the bits and pieces omelette.

An omelette is always really easy to do and you can almost add anything to it. My mother does pretty round one but I rather move the eggs around, as I am for once not patient (it is faster this way) and normally to hungry to wait.

INGREDIENTS

• Some mushrooms
• Red pepper
• zucchini
• Tuna in brine
• 3 eggs
• Sal and pepper  

HOW TO

Gather your ingredients. 

Star chopping the vegetables, not too big but not too small either remember we cook without oil and if they are to big could burn on the outside and not be cook on the inside which we want to avoid at all cost.

Next step heat up you pan, and add the onion, pepper and zucchini first and give it a couple of minutes for the mushroom as it becomes soft very fast.

While the vegetables are being cooked, beat the eggs I use 3 eggs but i like it very dry if you want it more juicy add more. I add the salt at this point to the eggs, you will see how the change color.

Check that your vegetables are done, how do you know that? Well basically for me it is when the mushroom is done should like something like this.

Now that are done, remove them from the fire and add it to the eggs so you make sure that the egg are evenly around all the vegetable mix and also add the tuna in brine, but without the bine :) I am not a particular fan of tuna in brine I like much better the oil one, but you have to make sacrifices for a healthy living.

Then is back in the pan. I clean it before, but you can go straight to it unless like my mum you want the perfectly stiff omelette in which case I also recommend cleaning and some low fat cooking spray. It will be ready in no time. Some times I also add some fromustard Sauce to it, but that depends on my mood.

Please leave a comment below if you did the omelette or if you want any other recipe I am always happy to oblige, in the mean time

ENJOY :)

Green Lovers Soup

Although Mach is supposed to bring warmth to this lands, here in Ireland still quite cold, at least for my taste and there is nothing better than a soup to warm you up and also to give you the extra vitamins your body needs to look as beautiful as you do. Let me present you the Green Lovers Soup:

The good thing about this soup is that you can eat it warm it you are freezing like me or cold if you are in a warmer weather ( I envy you for that)

INGREDIENTS

• Broccoli floret 
• half zucchini
• some mushrooms ( I add about 6)
• three leaves of celery
• sal and pepper to taste
• optional some fat free formage frais

  INSTRUCTIONS

As you know we are following the Dukan diet  so we only will used allow vegetables. First gather your vegetables

I start by cutting the Brocolli . I cut only the small florets and dimiss the rest, you can cook it if you want to but it would take a bit more to get tender so bear it in mind if you decide to add them.

Then cut the zucchini in half and proceed to cut it into small pieces, they do not need to be really small because we are going to smash it later but still it helps to go faster.

Next step, do the same with the celery. The celery help to give your soup a refreshing taste. To be honest I am not a fan of celery myself but I love the touch that gives soups. I use just three leave because otherwise it overcomes the taste of the broccoli. 

Then it is the turn of the mushrooms. I use quite a bit because it gives a nice consistency to the soup and you don't want it to be super watery.

Next step put some water to boil on the kettle and add all you ingredients together in a pot. Add enough water to cover the vegetable but not more we want it to be thick not watery and turn the heat to the maximum. This is the time to add some salt if you want, I normally add it at the end but that goes on taste.

Let it boil for over 20 minutes, we want most of the water to evaporate and the vegetables to be as tender as possible, then it is time for the blender. I have a hand one but you can use whatever you have.

You have to blend it until it is consistent and smooth. If your blender is awful as mine it can take some time if it is a good you will have it in minutes.

Finally it is the time of pepper and fat free formage frais, you can skip this step but a love the contract in textures, I do not want to think that I am on a diet, I want to think that I am eating great tasty food and those little details help me

And that is it, fool proof soup. Get a plate and prepare to have a fantastic tasting experience.

Let me know if you liked it and don't forget to subscribe to be notified about new recipes and news 

ENJOY ;)

Cheesie chili con carne recipe

Being on a diet doesn't mean you can not eat great meals. As you know I am following the Dukan diet and I love to eat allowed but tasty meals, among my favorite one is this delicious Cheesy chili con carne:

The recipe is so tasty and so simple, it severs one hungry one or two not so hungry people.

INGREDIENTS

• 250gr of lean beef mince
• two shallots
• two big mushrooms 
• two canned plum tomatos 
• garlic powder
• sal
• chili powder 
• fat free formage cheese
• optional cooking spray 

INSTRUCTIONS

Get you meat, make sure it is lean, less than 10% fat otherwise it would be too greasy

Chop your shallots in small pieces, not too small or it would disappear an you wanna taste them

   

Then the same thing with the mushrooms, remember not too small, I use two for the flavor but feel free to add more if you fancy 

I normally I add some cooking spray, just two touches which the package claims is 2 cal., however you can skip this step if you wanna keep the rules strictly

Add the shallots first let them get toasted: just a BIT or they will get burn, remember we are not using oil, and even with the cooking spray they will be burn in no time. Then Add the meat. The meat goes plain into the pan do not add anything to it will have time to add stuff later. Cook the two things together  until the meat gets pinkie.

Then add the mushrooms and keep cooking it till they are almost done. how do you how they are almost done? the white mushrooms change to beige color (which for guys it is light brown). It is at this point that you should add a bit of salt, the garlic powder  and chili to taste. I normally add a lot of garlic powder, beware if you wanna kis someone and little chili, but that is just me.

The final step is to add the plum tomatos, I normally add two. You can use natural or canned ones I used the canned ones for confort but make sure if you do that they do not have anything added to them. 

Smash the tomatos with the spatula, give a five minutes a medium heat and you are good to go. (Some times needs a bit of water if it is too dry.)

Finally, As I am not gonna eat any rice with it and on itself the chili con carne seem very ... how can I say this?... Alone. I set the plate with some fat free formage frais on the botton and the chili con carne on top of it. The contrast is absolutely fabulous and becomes a light gourmet dish.

Let me know if you liked it and please don't forget to subscribe to be notify of our news and recipes 

ENJOY ;)

Welcome to the challenge

Hello YOU!!!

I am Anaveltia and my entire life I have been dealing with my weight. I know everything that it is to know about loosing weight... even though I struggle to loose it; why? I love food and also I eat when ever I am stress which tends to be often.

My life used to gravitate around a scale; until one day I throw it away out of frustration. Now I am healthier and I work towards my desire body one step at the time and one delicious recipe after another. I am following the principles of the Dukan diet and I try to do my best. Sometimes my will is strong, sometimes I just can't make it, but I keep trying and so should you.

I am here to demonstrate that dieting following the rules can be a tasty pleasure, and to share with you what I learn along way. By the way, I dont know how much I weight but I can tell you this. I was in a sized 18 and now I can used the size 12, so I might be doing something right ;)

I hope you stay with me on this journey.

 ENJOY ;)