British Military Fitness Cookbook

It might not be an Amazon best seller, but I'm in a book! A recipe book, to be precise, crafted and made possible by British Military Fitness. They asked a handful of foodie, fitness and healthy lifestyle bloggers to share a recipe for either breakfast, lunch or tea as part of their #FitFoodBMF campaign.

I do circuits outdoors three times a week, and the bootcamp element to British Military Fitness classes has always (weirdly perhaps) appealed to me, so I was honoured to be asked to take part in this..

I chose to make a slow cooked lamb dish; to me it's something I look forward to tucking into after having battled with the elements (and kettlebells) at circuits, and it seemed a good fit given that we're in the middle of winter.

The recipe for this slow cooked paprika lamb with pomegranate quinoa can be found below, and if you want to download the e-book, the link is here!

You can't really make lamb stew look too pretty, so sorry about the picture...!

Slow cooked paprika lamb with pomegranate quinoa

Serves 4

400g lamb shoulder
1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 1/2 can chopped tomatoes
2 celery sticks, chopped
4 carrots, diced
1 sprig fresh rosemary (or 1 tbsp dried)
2 tbsp hot paprika
1 tbsp cumin
3 garlic gloves, chopped
1 onion, diced
Salt and pepper to season

For the quinoa:

100g quinoa
Seeds from one large pomegranate

I served mine with Greek yoghurt and a couple of handfuls of spinach.

I always remove the majority of excess fat from the lamb before putting in the slow cooker. Once I've done this, I throw it all in the slow cooker and let it do its thing for around eight hours. If you don't have a slow cooker, you can do this in a large, deep pan, and keep things cooking on a really low heat - just make sure you keep your eye on it every hour or so.

As well as being one of my fave comfort meals, BMF also asked nutritionist Ben Coomber to look at each recipe from a nutritional perspective to sound them out. Ben reckons the dish is a great recovery option as it's full of proteins and carbs, which is good enough for me! Personally, I like using quinoa rather than rice in this - it's lighter and contains more protein. Plus, the dish as a whole is so easy to make - chuck everything in the slow cooker and voila. Freeze what you don't need and whip it out when you're stuck for making time to cook.

One of the best things about the campaign was discovering a load of new like-minded bloggers, as well as featuring along side my good pal Vicki :)

The variety of recipes everyone created in the book is diverse, and as well as sounding really tasty, none of them look too complicated to make! Each one has a nutritionally sound profile too so ideal if you're looking for a bit of healthy cuisine inspiration.

As a thank you, British Military Fitness have given me a free pass at one of their classes, so if I give it a whirl I'll be sure to let you know how it is..!

Quinoa Flake Porridge - The Verdict

I am a massive fan of porridge and have heard people banging on about quinoa porridge for ages and so naturally I was inquisitive.

I bought some quinoa flakes from my local health food shop, Unicorn Grocery, in a bid to try it out for myself and see what all the fuss is about:

Granted, it doesn't look amazingly appetising. But then, when has porridge ever look sexy?

More importantly than looks, what does it taste like?

I'll be honest, it's got more of an earthy taste, not unpleasant at all but not what I was expecting for the first time - it's definitely a taste I can see myself getting used to. I added chopped dates to my porridge to sweeten it up; date syrup, maple syrup or honey would work well here too.

The consistency was in line with my usual oaty mess, and it cooked in exactly the same way as 'normal' porridge, which I was happy about.

What are the benefits of using quinoa over oats? 

It's a great alternative for people who are gluten intolerant, as it doesn't contain any gluten. Quinoa is a 'pseudo cereal'; a seed to you and me, and is related to the spinach & beetroot family. It is one of few plant protein sources to contain all the essential amino acids.

Although it does have a relatively high protein content (14g per 100g), it's also carb heavy too (around 60g per 100g) - it will fill you up a treat. It also contains iron, magnesium & calcium.

The cost may put you off - I think I paid around £5 for 500g of flakes, whereas the same in oats would set you back about £2.

As a half way house you could always add 15g oats & 15g quinoa flakes if you are unsure.


Recipe below:

30g quinoa flakes
250ml unsweetened almond milk
Cinnamon

Optional
Handful dates, pitted
Frozen blueberries
Frozen raspberries
Dessicated coconut
Half a banana
Tablespoon almond nut butter (I use Meridian)
Tablespoon flaxseeds

Measure your quinoa flakes and almond milk and put in a saucepan, heat gently for 5 - 10 minutes, adding in the cinnamon & stirring frequently, until the porridge has reached your desired consistency. Add the dates (or syrup) in here too if you are using them.

Take off the heat and stir the berries & dessicated coconut through. Pour into a bowl and top with banana, flax & nut butter.

Overall, I really enjoyed it - I'm definitely going to be cooking this for breakfast more.

My next challenge is to incorporate quinoa flakes into an overnight oats recipe...

Pea & Pomegrante Quinoa

This summer inspired quinoa dish is a lunchtime favourite of mine at the moment - it goes with pretty much everything. So far either avocado, feta, smoked salmon or a basa fillet are my favourite pairing. It feels 'light' and tastes nice and fresh so it doesn't leave you feeling lethargic, but is also filling too.

To make 3 - 4 servings you'll need:

100g white quinoa
100g black quinoa
70g frozen peas
1 lemon
The seeds from one pomegranate

(You can use any sort of quinoa here, red would work too, as would white quinoa on its own.. I'm using black and white because not only does it make the dish look more interesting, I like how crunchy black quinoa is.)

Cook your quinoa as you would rice for about 12-15 mins. Squeeze half the juice of your lemon into the water into the pan for flavour. After the 15 minutes is up, add in your peas and continue to cook for a few minutes.

Then chop your pomegranate in half or quarters, pick out all the seeds and add to the pan of cooked quinoa. This is where it gets a tad messy, don't where white here kids - picking out pomegranate seeds is messy as, the juice gets everrrywhere.

Mix it all round and either serve immediately (drizzling the last half of your lemon juice on top) or transfer into tupperware and store it in the fridge.