Beef and Broccoli

Guess what world?! Georgie's got a new camera lens! After our last flat ruined two lenses with it's evil damp mould, I'd been sans lens and unable to use my 450D for nearly an entire year. But then this beautiful Canon 50mm came into my life and I'm once again a happy snappy bear! 

Here's my recipe for simple, quick and healthy Beef and Broccoli!

Clean Eating Beef and Broccoli

Serves One

Ingredients

1 Rump Steak (around 150g), sliced into strips

1 Brocolli head - roughly chopped into florets

1 diced Red Pepper

1/2 diced Onion

1 thinly sliced clove of Garlic

1 inch of roughly chopped Ginger

1 tsp Honey

2 tbsp Dark Soy Sauce

1 tsp Coconut Oil (or olive/rapeseed oil)

Salt and Pepper to season

Method

Heat the oil in a large shallow pan.

Add the onions, broccoli and pepper, and saute until softened. 

Add the garlic and ginger, and continue to cook until golden brown.

Mix your honey and soy sauce together and add to the pan along with your beef strips.

Fry on a high heat for two minutes until the beef has browned and your soy/honey mix has coated everything. 

Add salt and pepper to taste and a sprinkle of fresh chilli if you're feeling adventurous (just don't touch your boyfriends face afterwards - oops).

I did it for the Nookie.

When I'm not in one of the restaurants I support, I will generally either pick up lunch from Pod or Itsu as they have the most diverse and interesting options for healthy eating. I'm also a terrible snack fiend - especially when I'm bored. So finding new and delicious snacks that will still keep my body healthy is extremely important. 

Pod supply one of my favourite snacks that I'd love to share with you - Nookie Bars!

My two favourite flavours are Peanut Butter and Milk Chocolate Chip, and Almond Butter, Spirulina and Dark Chocolate Chips. The peanut butter option is a little more naughty and tastes like a Snickers. Whereas the my other favourite allows me to get all the nutritional benefits of Spirulina in the most delicious way possible.

Where can you get some Nookie? 

Check out their 'Where to Buy' guide - http://www.nookiebar.com/index.php/8-top/4-where-to-buy

I Love Doughnuts But...

I have been a little absent from my blog of late, but I haven't been any less obsessed with food. I have begun to make one change however, and that is a promise to myself and my body that I will try my very best to eat cleanly and heathily wherever possible - as well as cutting my meat intake by half.

So I still love doughnuts, but I've just been eating a little less of them and have been getting interested in healthy alternatives to my favourite sugary snacks. The clean eating promise comes from my want and need to nuture my body as there is nothing more important than looking after ourselves. There is a definite awareness that comes with clean eating, and in taking up this challenge, it has really highlighted for me how little I think about what I'm putting into my body - things that would before seem like a normal snack or a drink are things that I no longer want to consume.

This new lifestyle started after I watched the BBC2 Horizon documentary series - 'Should I Eat Meat?', and I was shocked by the effect that meat production is having on the planet. One third of the world's land is used for arable farming, just so we can feed the animals that we eat. Our current meat intake in the UK averages at 220g of meat per day and in order for meat production to be sustainable in our current environment, we need to half that intake. This is a change I thought I could easily make - it would save me money and improve my health. It's been a month or so now and I have definitely decreased my meat intake - some days I don't eat meat or dairy at all. It's made me realise that I don't really miss them.

However being a big foodie and with food being a part of my career as well as my personal passion, I wanted to give myself the freedom to eat animal products if and when I wanted to, as long as I was adhering to my reduction rule. As I cut down on my intake, I started to cook more vegan meals - ones that were piled high with the most delicious vegetables, eating dried fruit for snacks, drinking cold pressed juices and getting really obsessed with avocados. My eating was becoming cleaner, so why not make that a permanent change in my life?

I have also been spending a lot of time on Instagram (you can find my account here: http://instagram.com/skye2612 ), where I post a lot of pictures without writing blog posts to go alongside them. In exploring this, I have found a lot of other accounts that are passionate about clean eating and alternatives to what we are so used to eating. 

Although I still love eating out and am thoroughly obsessed with Crosstown Doughnuts, you will notice a change in some of the things I am cooking and writing about. I hope to share my finds with you - particularly if I find any new good and healthy snacks, as well as my usual food porn.

A Winter Salad

Let's face it, we've all over indulged during the Christmas period. The warm fuzzy feeling has worn off and we're all left feeling a little regretful and wobbly. Or is it just me? But winter doesn't have to mean stews and roast dinners, there are some beautiful vegetables in season and it's time we remembered them.

Winter Beetroot Salad with a Wholegrain Mustard Dressing and Fresh Spinach

Serves 2

3 Different Beetroot varieties (try to get hold of a Golden Beetroot for its delicate sweetness)

1 Small Packet of Fresh Baby Spinach

1 Small Red Onion

1 tbsp Whole Grain Mustard

1 Garlic Clove, thinly sliced

2 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1 tsp Cider Vinegar

Method

Roast your beetroots and red onion in the oven for 1 hour at 160C.

Let them cool slightly before thinly slicing your beetroots and red onion. 

Mix together in a bowl with the baby spinach.

In a jug or small container, mix your mustard, garlic, cider vinegar. 

Slowly add the olive oil, whilst whisking the mixture.

Pour over your salad and use tongs (or your well washed hands!) to ensure the dressing covers every little leaf.