Festive Rocky Road

Festive Rocky Road
Festive Rocky Road
Servings:10
Preparation Time:5
Cooking Time:5
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Ingredients

  • 500 g Good-quality milk cooking chocolate Broken into pieces
  • 250 g Milk coffee biscuits Roughly chopped
  • 100 g Marshmallows Chopped
  • 100 g Red glace cherries halved

Method

  1. Grease a 3cm-deep, 16.5cm x 26cm (base) slab pan.
  2. Line base and sides with baking paper, allowing a 2cm overhang at both long ends
  3. Place chocolate in a large, heatproof, microwave-safe bowl.
  4. Microwave, uncovered, on MEDIUM (50%) for 2 to 3 minutes, stirring every minute with a metal spoon, or until melted and smooth.
  5. Add biscuits, marshmallows and cherries. Stir until well combined
  6. Press slice mixture into prepared pan
  7. Refrigerate for 3 hours or until firm. Cut into large pieces. Serve

How To Recover After A Workout

In the previous blog we spoke about some effective ways of appropriately fueling up for a workout and/or what to eat prior to training. It should seem fairly obvious that it goes without saying how you recover from a training session is also extremely important. Recovery can be a fairly broad topic so for the purpose of this blog we will focus on the following subjects:

  • Nutrition
  • Stress
  • Sleep

There are many ways nutrition comes into the “post workout” period whether it be a balanced meal, protein shake or carbohydrate drink etc. Protein shakes can be used though not always necessary unless you are in a hurry and might not get to eat a proper meal for a few hours and/or your pre workout meal was insufficient or non existent! The type of exercise also matters for example, if you’re training for an endurance event or do high endurance type workouts then a more carbohydrate rich meal or even carbohydrate drink might be better to focus on. If you focus more on strength training then perhaps a more protein rich meal is better with some quality carbohydrates added if you so wish.

Please remember recovery is not just post workout as much as it is how you eat throughout the whole day! Drinking a high quality protein/recovery shake is not so important if you are not eating properly or eating good food consistently the rest of the day so make this your main focus regarding recovery. On a final note do aim to get a good meal in fairly soon (around 1-2 hours max) post training and exercise common sense on the meal size relative to how hard you trained. This is especially important for those looking to drop body fat and improve body composition!

Keeping stress levels to a minimum is another key aspect to proper recovery because training itself is just another stress on your system. Understandably we cannot keep stress out of our lives entirely but can manage stress with good nutrition, good sleep, reducing caffeine and other techniques such as meditation and breathing exercises (which are out of the scope of this blog). Planning your training around stressful days at work is also a good idea so if you know you have a tough day ahead then plan training accordingly. An important note on coffee and caffeine consumption is to try and avoid caffeine immediately post workout and for at least a couple of hours after. Caffeine increases the stress hormone cortisol which is better to keep to a minimum after training and sufficient recovery in general.

We are all aware proper sleep is good for us but it’s always worth another mention just to reinforce it. Getting to bed at a reasonable time at night and striving for those 7-8 hours pays dividends for recovery not just from training but from life in general. Remember train hard but recover harder!

 


Tasty Monster Apples

Tasty Monster Apples
Tasty Monster Apples
Servings:8
Preparation Time:10
Cooking Time:
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Ingredients

  • 2 Green Apples each quarered
  • Any nut butter
  • 32 Sunflower Seeds
  • 2-3 Strawberries Sliced
  • Mini Marshmallows Cut In half
  • Mini chocolate chips

Method

  1. Cut the middle from each quarter of the apple to create the mouth.
  2. Coat the inside of the mouth with a filling of your preferred nut butter.
  3. Add sunflower seeds to the top of the mouth to act as teeth
  4. Place 1 slice of strawberry inside the mouth to resemble the tongue.
  5. Stick two marshmallows to the apple using left over nut butter and place 2 chocolate chips on each.

Fajita Stuffed Peppers

Fajita Stuffed Peppers
Fajita Stuffed Peppers
Stuffed peppers make a delicious healthy meal, we have a lovely stuffed peppers recipes for the vegetarians among us.
Servings:5
Preparation Time:5
Cooking Time:20
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Ingredients

  • Brown rice
  • 6 mixed peppers
  • 1 onion
  • Fajita Seasoning

Method

  1. Cut the Peppers in half and remove the seeds from the inside.
  2. Boil the rice until soft, strain and leave to cool.
  3. Chop up some peppers and onions into small pieces and mix in the rice and the fajita seasoning.
  4. Spoon in the rice mixture to the peppers.
  5. Bake in the oven at 180 for 10 mins
  6. For an extra topping grate some cheese onto the top of the pepper before putting into the oven.

Garlic and Oregano Chicken

Garlic and Oregano Chicken
Garlic and Oregano Chicken
This is a really quick and tasty way to make chicken
Servings:4
Preparation Time:10
Cooking Time:12
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Ingredients

  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 4 chicken breasts sliced
  • 2 cloves garlic crushed
  • 2 tsp Oregano
  • 2 tbsp water

Method

  1. Mix the oregano, garlic, olive oil and water together with a pinch of salt.
  2. Add the chicken slices. If you can do this the night before then cover the chicken and leave it in the fridge overnight. You can cook this straight away but even half an hour in the mixture makes a difference.
  3. Heat a non-stick frying pan over a medium to high heat.
  4. Add the chicken slices and cook on each side until golden brown and cooked through, about 10-12 minutes.
  5. Serve with a mixed salad or with frozen peas and corn and baby potatoes.

Banana Ice Cream

Banana Ice Cream
Banana Ice Cream
Making homemade ice cream is easier than you think! Give everybody something to salivate over with this delicious treat.
Servings:4
Preparation Time:10
Cooking Time:
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Ingredients

  • 6 Bananas
  • 1 Dark Cooking Chocolate
  • 1 litre Fresh Milk

Method

  1. Make sure the bananas are over ripe for this one.
  2. Mash 6 bananas with milk until you get a soft consistency.
  3. Break up the dark chocolate into mini pieces and mix in.
  4. Place in a bowl and put into the freezer overnight.
  5. When serving, leave to thaw for about 20 mins before.
  6. Garnish with shaven chocolate and preferred fruit

Curry in a Hurry

Curry in a Hurry
Curry in a Hurry
Servings:4
Preparation Time:5
Cooking Time:30
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Ingredients

  • 400 g chopped tomatoes
  • 4 Boned Chicken Breasts
  • 1 onion
  • 1 tbsp plain flour
  • 1 tbsp tomato puree
  • 2 pints chicken stock
  • 2 tbsp Curry powder
  • 2 cloves garlic

Method

  1. Gently cook diced chicken, onion and garlic with a tablespoon of oil in a saucepan for 5 minutes or until chicken is browned and onions are soft.
  2. Stir in curry powder, flour and tomato puree and cook on a low heat until paste like for 5 minutes.
  3. Slowly whisk in the warm chicken stock, chopped tomatoes and then add the jar of mango chutney. Serve with rice and season to taste. Cook for 15-20 minutes

Tomato and Thyme Soup

Tomato and Thyme Soup
Tomato and Thyme Soup
This hearty soup will warm up your lunch break.
Servings:2
Preparation Time:10
Cooking Time:30
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Ingredients

  • 0.5 tsp Black Pepper
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 500 g cherry tomatoes
  • 4 clove garlic
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 5 Thyme Sprigs
  • 250 ml Vegetable Stock

Method

  1. Pre-heat your oven to 200C/180C fan/Gas Mark 6. Put your cherry tomatoes into a roasting dish.
  2. Peel the garlic cloves and chop them in half before adding to the tomatoes.
  3. Add the thyme sprigs whole and drizzle the olive oil over the tomatoes, thyme and garlic. Add the salt and pepper and mix well. Roast for 20 to 25 minutes, until the cherry tomatoes are well roasted.
  4. Transfer the roasted tomatoes to a saucepan and add 250ml of vegetable stock.
  5. Bring to a simmer over a medium heat. Use a hand blender to whizz the soup until smooth.
  6. Add more hot water if you want a smoother texture. Taste it to check if it needs more salt or pepper.
  7. Serve with a fresh thyme sprig on top.

Potato Cakes with Smoked Salmon

Potato Cakes with Smoked Salmon
Potato Cakes with Smoked Salmon
These crispy cakes are perfect partners for smoked salmon.
Servings:2
Preparation Time:5
Cooking Time:10
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Ingredients

  • 4 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 Centra Onion grated
  • 1 clove garlic grated
  • 0.5 tsp Pepper
  • 4 Potatoes
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 200g Smoked Salmon
  • Cream Cheese to serve

Method

  1. Start by peeling the potatoes. Roughly grate the potatoes into a colander and squeeze out the excess water from the potatoes.
  2. Transfer them to a mixing bowl and grate in the onion and garlic.
  3. Mix in the salt, pepper and 2 tablespoons of olive oil.
  4. Heat the other two tablespoons of olive oil in a large frying pan over a medium heat.
  5. Use your hands to shape the grated potato into cakes and carefully add them to the frying pan.
  6. The mix will make four potato cakes. Cook for 8 to 10 minutes on both sides, until golden brown. Once cooked, set aside.
  7. Divide the potato cakes between two plates and top with equal amounts of cream cheese and smoked salmon.
  8. serve with an extra sprinkling of salt and pepper if you like.

Easy Onion Rings

Easy Onion Rings
Easy Onion Rings
A seriously tasty side!
Servings:4
Preparation Time:
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Ingredients

  • 150 g self raising flour
  • Sunflower oil
  • 1 onion cut into 1cm slices
  • 180 ml Sparkling water

Method

  1. Slice onion into rings about 1cm wide.
  2. Remove the skin and separate the rings.
  3. Heat the oil to 180oC in a heavy-based pan - it should be no more than 1/3 full.
  4. Put the flour and sparkling water in a bowl and season generously.
  5. Whisk together to form a batter.
  6. Coat a small batch of onion rings in batter. Carefully lower into the hot oil and deep-fry until crisp and golden, about 2 - 3 minutes.
  7. Remove with a spoon and place on piece of kitchen towel to drain.
  8. Repeat with the remaining onion and batter.