GETTING “EGG”CITED!

Karina’s Healthy Cooking Tips!

Healthy cooking begins with a healthy shopping list. I know this sounds obvious, however, it is the crucial first step to healthy cooking. An even better first step, before you shop for your ingredients, is to try to grow what you can, so that you can help the environment at the same time 🙂

Here are some tips for a healthy shopping list:

• Choose low-fat and low-sugar foods, where possible
• Choose skinless chicken breasts
• Choose lean cuts of meat
• Don’t buy discoloured meat, as it may be old
• Buy the freshest fruit and vegetables. The fresher, the more nutrients are packed into it
• Limit fast foods, which are usually high in fat
• Try not to buy any sugary drinks
• Try to eat whole grains or wholemeal, wherever possible
• Eggs are an inexpensive source of protein

This is something to get “egg”cited about!

Enjoy!

Karina x

Copyright © 2015 by Karina Teuma

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Don’t Be ‘Chicken!’

Karina’s Father’s Day Chicken Pizza’s!

These pizza’s are the ultimate time-saver, are super-easy and reduces food waste!

Today was Father’s day in Australia. My family stuck with tradition and had a nice Father’s Day Lunch: BBQ style! We had BBQ chicken breast, BBQ chicken kebabs, low-fat chicken sausages, low-fat beef sausages and a massive greek salad.

Ingredients:

• Whole wheat pita bread, as many or as little as you like
• Leftover BBQ Chicken (either lean chicken kebabs or lean chicken breast)
• Leftover greek salad (use spanish onion, olives, cherry tomatoes, feta cheese and capsicum – don’t use cucumber)
• Pizza topper herbs, to sprinkle per pizza
• Cracked black pepper, to sprinkle per pizza
• Grated low-fat pizza cheeses, half a handful per pizza
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste, per pizza

N.B. you can use other types of leftover meat, to create your own unique pizzas….this is the fun part!

Method:

Pre-heat your pizza stone and your oven at 180°C. If you don’t have a pizza stone, pre-heat your oven tray. While these are preheating, prep your leftover BBQ meat and salad ingredients, by chopping the BBQ meat and straining the salad dressing from your greek salad.

Once your oven is pre-heated, using oven mittens, place your pizza stones (or oven trays) onto a heat-safe surface. Pace as many of your pita breads onto these pizza stones as you prefer, then spoon tomato paste onto each one of these, as a pizza sauce base. Once this is completed, pile your leftover BBQ chicken onto your pizzas, then pile your leftover greek salad on top of this. Sprinkle with cracked black pepper and pizza topper herbs. Once this is done, complete your pizza with a sprinkle of your low-fat pizza cheeses, then place all your pizzas into the oven at 180°C for 15 minutes. Once 15 minutes are over, or once your cheese has melted and the base is crispy, turn the oven to ‘off.’

Compiling the Beauty:

Arrange on a plate and enjoy, served with your favourite healthy drink.

Serves as much as you make!

Enjoy!

Karina x

Copyright © 2015 by Karina Teuma

Feeling ‘Blue’!

Karina’s Super Healthy Blueberry, Strawberry, Mint and Yoghurt Smoothie!

My recipe really couldn’t get any easier. Try this with your kids, they’ll love it, plus, they’ll get heaps of happy-feeling-good-for-you nutrients into them! Give it a go…you really can’t go wrong 🙂 Just make sure you don’t put your kids anywhere near the blenders. Your kids can pour all the ingredients in though, while the blender is switched off 🙂

Ingredients:

• 1 cup frozen blueberries
• 1 stalk of fresh mint, stem removed
• 1 cup fat free, no added sugar, natural yoghurt
• 5 medium-sized fresh strawberries
• 1/2 a cup skim milk
• 4 blueberries and two small sprigs of mint, to decorate

Method:

Pour all your ingredients into a large milk-shake container, then whizz the lot up using a stick blender until nice and smooth.

or

Pour all your ingredients into a blender, then whizz the lot up until nice and smooth.

It really is that easy!

Compiling the Beauty:

Pour your delightfully healthy concoction into two tall glasses.

Decorate each glass with one small sprig of mint and two blueberries.

So, next time you’re feeling ‘blue,’ make sure you drink my Feeling ‘Blue’ Super Smoothie, to help you feel a little better!

Makes two tall glasses.

Relax and enjoy!

Karina x

Copyright © 2015 by Karina Teuma

Holy Cannelloni!

Mum’s Low-Fat and High-Taste Cannelloni!

Ingredients:

• 1 1/4 packet of cannelloni (250g per packet)
• 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil to line your baking tray

Filling Ingredients:

• 1 kg low-fat ricotta cheese, crumbled with clean hands
• 1 large handful of fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped finely, stalks removed
• 5 large free-range or cage-free eggs
• 1 small pinch of salt
• 1 large pinch of pepper

Sauce Ingredients:

• 800 g tomato Puree
• 4 tablespoons tomato paste
• 2/3 cup of water
• 2 tablespoons of italian mixed dried herbs
• 1 large pinch of black pepper

Topping Ingredients:

• 3 rashers of bacon, fat removed, cubed small
• 1 handful of finely grated Romano Cheese, to cover

Method:

Preheat your oven to 200°C. While your oven is pre-heating, you can lightly oil your baking tray. Try to grab a large family-sized ‘lasagne’ shaped baking tray for Mum’s recipe.

Using a large mixing bowl, combine all the filling ingredients, then mix until well combined. Once all your filling ingredients are well combined, use a small spoon (or piping bag) to fill your cannelloni tubes with this mixture, then set aside briefly.

Using a medium-sized pot, turn the stove to ‘medium heat.’ Combine all your sauce ingredients into this pot, stirring occasionally for 3 minutes, until the sauce has heated through. Once your sauce has heated through, turn your stove to ‘off.’

Using the lightly oiled baking tray, pour 1/3 of your tomato sauce mixture onto the bottom of your baking tray. Gently place all your cannelloni tubes over your sauce mixture, then top with the rest (2/3) of your sauce. Sprinkle over your topping ingredients, then cover with aluminium foil.

Place your covered cannelloni inside the oven, then cook for 45 minutes, at 200°C. Once your cannelloni has cooked for 45 minutes, remove the aluminium foil, then return this back into your oven to cook for a further 15 minutes, or until the Romano Cheese has melted and the bacon is slightly crispy. Once cooked, turn your oven to ‘off’.

Compiling the Beauty:

Serve on a plate, then pour yourself a nice glass of wine.

Serves 8!

Enjoy!

Karina x

Copyright © 2015 by Karina Teuma

You Wanna ‘Piece’ Of Me?

Karina’s Easy and Healthy Grapefruit and Coconut Cake!

Do you wanna ‘piece’ of me? Well, for the sake of my recipe, I hope you say

Feeling ‘Souper’ Excited!

Karina’s Super Healthy Chicken and Vegetable Soup with Buckwheat Noodles!

Ingredients:

– 300 g chicken thai fillet, fat removed, cubed small

– 3 cm x 3 cm cubed piece of fresh ginger, peeled and finely grated

– 3 cloves of garlic, finely grated

– 1 pinch of black pepper

– 3 tablespoons of soy sauce

– 1/2 tablespoon of sesame oil

– 100 g buckwheat noodles per person, cooked to packet directions

– 1 teaspoon hoisin sauce

– 1.5 litres of water

– 3 teaspoons of vegetables stock powder

– 3 shallots, roughly chopped

– 40 g kale, roughly chopped (including stems)

– 100 g red spinach (or green spinach), roughly chopped (including stems)

– 400 g sweet potato, peeled and cubed

– 1/2 teaspoon samba sakso (or red chilli paste)

– 1 x 400 g corn kernels

Method:

Using a medium sized pot, bring 1.5 litres of water to the boil, adding the stock powder to form a vegetable stock. Once water has been brought to the boil, add your garlic, chilli, ginger, sweet potato, hoisin sauce, sesame oil, soy sauce and black pepper. Boil for 8 minutes, or until sweet potato is cooked.

Note: while your sweet potato is cooking, you can cook your buckwheat noodles as per packet directions. Aim for 100 g of buckwheat noodles per person. After buckwheat noodles have cooked, strain well, then place at bottom of serving bowls.

After your sweet potato has cooked, turn the heat down to a simmer, then add your corn, red spinach, kale, shallots and chicken to the pot. Put the lid on, then cook for 5 minutes.

Compiling the Beauty:

After 5 minutes are over, or when the chicken has cooked, turn the heat to off, then pour the hot and nourishing soup over your buckwheat noodles.

Savour your nourishing bowl of beautiful, healthy soup!

Serves 4

Enjoy!

Karina x

Copyright © 2015 by Karina Teuma

Not Letting Food Go To ‘Waist!’

Nathalie’s Healthy Cooking Tip!

My Mum, Nathalie, has taught me heaps about healthy cooking, which is why this post is dedicated to her. Every time my Mum cooks, it is healthy and full of flavour. With the right amount of ingredients, you really don’t need all this fat in cooking. My Mum has many great ideas, with regards to healthy cooking, however, I will just touch on a few of the main ones.

Make a habit of removing all the skin of chicken, prior to cooking it, in order to eat more healthy. Skin is full of fat, which may make your food go to your ‘waist’ i.e. don’t let food go to ‘waist.’ (Nathalie’s Cooking Tip)

Whilst cooking or frying food in a pan, it is advisable to only put the smallest amount of oil required to cook your food. Olive oil is one of the best oils to use, if you would be using oil. Better still, steam or boil your vegetables, rather than frying them, unless you’re attentively watching the fat content in your fry pan. (Nathalie’s Cooking Tip)

Whilst baking, use fruits in order to naturally sweeten your bakes. This way, your bakes will still taste great and will also taste sweet from the natural sugars coming out of the fruit. (Nathalie’s Cooking Tip)

Try to use as little butter as possible in your baking and cooking. Try to replace butter with olive oil or another healthy cooking oil. Your bakes and cooking will still taste great, with nowhere near as much saturated fat contained in your cooking. If the recipe really needs butter, try replacing at least 3/4 of the butter for olive oil, then put the rest butter. Alternatively, you can experiment by using olive oil spread, which still has less saturated fat than butter. (Karina’s Cooking Tip)

Whenever you make a pasta dish, try to avoid cooking white sauces, as these are usually high in saturated fat. If you really would like to use a white sauce, then make your own and use low-fat cheese, low-fat milk and olive oil spread instead of butter. (Karina’s Cooking Tip)

There are many more tips I can think of, however, I will leave you with all this for now.

Enjoy!

Karina x

Copyright © 2015 by Karina Teuma

Light and Ch-Easy!

Karina’s Low Gi and Low Fat Spaghetti Carbonara!

Ingredients:

– 200 g gluten-free pasta (Spaghetti)

– 30 g low-fat tasty cheese, grated

– 1 – 1.5 cups of light milk (depending upon how much sauce you like)

– 6 rashers of bacon, all the fat removed, sliced thickly

– 200 g chicken breast, fat and skin removed, cubed small

– 1 large pinch of white pepper

– 20 g olive oil spread

– 20 g wholemeal flour

– Fresh rocket to serve

– 1 tablespoon olive oil

Method:

Cook your pasta as per the packet directions, strain, then set aside with the lid on.

Make your low-fat carbonara sauce. On medium heat, melt your olive oil spread in a medium sized pan, then add your wholemeal flour. Stir together constantly with a wooden spoon, until a ball forms. Once this little ball forms (after 1 minute of constant stirring), then you will need to grab your whisk. Add your milk to the mixture, one little pour at a time, then whisk constantly until all the milk has been incorporated and the sauce has thickened. At this stage, it is entirely up to you whether you like a lot of sauce with your carbonara, or a light coating. If you prefer a light coating on your spaghetti carbonara, then only use one cup of light milk. If you prefer more sauce, then you will need to add one and a half cups of light milk. Once your sauce has thickened, then you will need to add all your low-fat cheese, using the whisk to incorporate all the low-fat cheese into the sauce, then add a large pinch of white pepper. Whisk well until the pepper has been incorporated. Turn the heat to ‘off’.

Using a separate frying pan, turn the heat to a medium heat, then add your 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Once your olive oil has warmed through, add your bacon and chicken pieces to the pan, then fry on both sides, until slightly caramelised and fully cooked. Turn the heat to ‘off’.

Compiling the Beauty:

Add your cooked chicken and bacon pieces to your low-fat carbonara sauce, then stir well to combine. Stir your cooked pasta in with your low-fat carbonara sauce, chicken and bacon, then serve on a plate. Top with fresh rocket!

Serves Two!

Enjoy!

Karina x

Copyright © 2015 by Karina Teuma

Pass the Pasta!

Cooks, delicious, EASY, fresh, FRIENDS, gardening, Healthy, Low Fat, Low GI, Pasta, zerotohero

via Pass the Pasta!

Pass the Pasta!

Karina and Anita’s Pasta!

My friend Anita assisted in prepping the ingredients today, for this wonderful pasta dish, made on the spot, with fun! Anita is camera shy, hence why she isn’t in this picture 🙂 It was a fun day cooking! The best part about cooking this, was that the oregano, chilli, parsley and rocket, was cut straight from the garden! Soo fresh!

Ingredients:

– 400g Gluten Free spiral pasta

– 1 tablespoon of olive oil

– 1 medium sized chilli, chopped finely (moderate heat rated chilli)

– 1 brown onion, diced finely

– 4 cloves of garlic, minced finely

– 1 x 400g can of peeled and diced tomatoes (preferably made in Italy)

– 1 tablespoon of tomato paste

– 3 tablespoons of dried mixed italian herbs

– 1/4 cup of fresh oregano, taken off stalk and left whole

– 1 tablespoon of fresh continental parsley, sliced thinly

– 1/2 cup of fresh rocket, left whole

– 1/2 cup of kalamata olives, sliced thinly

– 1/4 cup of sun-dried tomatoes in oil, diced finely

– 3 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar

– Cracked black pepper

– Shaved parmesan cheese to serve

N.B. you can use regular pasta, instead of Gluten Free pasta, if you prefer

Method:

Bring a large saucepan of lightly salted water to the boil. Meanwhile, heat your oil over low heat in your medium-sized saucepan, then simmer your onion until translucent. Add your garlic and chilli, then cook for one minute or until aromatic. Add your balsamic vinegar, then sauté until content has reduced slightly (about 30 seconds). Once slightly reduced, add your diced tomatoes, tomato paste, kalamata olives, sun-dried tomatoes, dried mixed italian herbs and cracked black pepper. Turn the heat to a simmer, then give your sauce a stir. Leave your sauce to simmer, until your pasta is cooked.

Once your saucepan of lightly salted water is boiling, cook your Gluten Free spiral pasta in this saucepan, until cooked as per the packet directions on your particular pasta. Drain, then place back into the large saucepan. Place the lid back onto the saucepan to keep the pasta warm.

Now that your pasta has cooked, all you need to do is finish your sauce. Turn your sauce to ‘off,’ then give your sauce a good stir. Add your sauce to your cooked pasta, then give a few tosses to combine. Sprinkle your fresh continental parsley, along with your fresh oregano, on top of your completed pasta.

Grab a large serving plate. In an indulgent manner, pile your pasta goodness onto your plate. Gracefully shave your parmesan over your pasta, then let your fresh rocket feather its way down to your plate.

Take one bite, then allow your taste buds to be happy.

Serves 4

Enjoy!

Karina x

Copyright © 2015 by Karina Teuma