Tag: garlic

Moroccan style Lamb Shanks with Pumpkin

Today I’m sharing a slow cooker recipe using lamb shanks.
After my last post on slow cooking, I have had a request for an easy, healthy recipe.
So I thought I would share this one for Moroccan style Lamb Shanks with Mashed Pumpkin.

I found this recipe in a Coles magazine and it is really tasty. I made very few changes to it.

Usually I adapt it to feed 2 and that is how I will share it today.

Moroccan Style Lamb Shanks with Mashed Pumpkin

Serves 2 – Cooking time is 8 hours

Ingredients

2 Lamb Shanks
1 400g tin diced tomatoes
½ red onion – sliced
2 garlic cloves – crushed
1 red chilli – sliced or whole (we left the chilli whole and removed it on serving)
2 bay leaves
1 tbs cumin seeds (or ground)
1 tbs coriander seeds (or ground)
juice & zest of 1 lemon

approx. 400g pumpkin – peeled and diced
1 tbs butter
Mint & parsley leaves – chopped to serve

Method

* If you have a large enough pan, you may choose to brown the shanks first, which we didn’t.

Brown the onion in a fry pan, and then add it to the slow cooker.
Place the cumin & coriander seeds in a mortar & pestle and break down into a powder.
Add to the slow cooker, along with the garlic, chilli, lemon, bay leaves and tomatoes.

Stir to combine, and then add the lamb shanks, ensuring to spoon some of the tomato mixture over them.
Cover and cook on low or auto (depending on your cooker) till the meat is starting to fall off the bone.
If the tomato sauce is too thin, leave the lid off your cooker and turn it up to high for approx. 30 minutes till it thickens.

Bake or steam the pumpkin till soft.
Mash well, mixing in butter and season with salt & pepper to taste.

Place the pumpkin mash into bowls and top with lamb mixture.
Sprinkle a mix of chopped parsley and mint to serve.

I hope you enjoy eating this tasty, healthy meal perfect for a cold evening.

Till the next post,

Live clean n Prosper

Herbs, Spices and Weight loss

Todays post is about herbs, spices and weight loss, a topic suggested by one of my readers. There are several herbs and spices that are used in commercial weight loss formulas. The most popular or well known are green tea and cayenne pepper. However, there are many other herbs and spices that have been used for thousands of years.

History

The Ancient Chinese used remedies for weight loss. Traditionally, this was in the form of raw herbs that were boiled and then consumed. This method is still followed in most hospitals in China today. Ayurvedic medicine uses certain herbs alone or in synergistic combinations to increase the possibility of treating obesity. Ayurveda is one of the world’s oldest holistic healing systems. It was developed more than 3,000 years ago in India. Modern scientists have put some of these ancient herbs and spices to the test. In a study completed by the South China Agricultural University, the anti-obesity effect of eight common spices were reviewed and evaluated. They found a variety of naturally occurring bioactive ingredients in these spices have weight-loss effects. The spices put to the test were cinnamon, rosemary, ginger, pepper, saffron, garlic, onion and turmeric.

Cinnamon

This classic aromatic spice is rich in antioxidants and offers several health benefits. In regards to weight control, cinnamon is effective in stabilizing blood sugar, which may help reduce appetite and hunger. It also has an affect on the levels of certain digestive enzymes to slow the breakdown of carbohydrates.

Rosemary

A fragrant evergreen plant, which has been used for hundreds of years for its medicinal benefits. Rosemary is naturally rich in carnosic acid, a substance that inhibits the formation of fat cells. Scientific studies have concluded that rosemary extracts can be used as a preventive treatment against metabolic disorders.

Ginger

The results of several studies indicate that supplementing the diet with ginger significantly decreases body weight. It does this by increasing thermogenesis and increasing the breakdown of fats. It also suppresses the formation of fat, inhibits fat absorption, and controls appetite.

Pepper – Cayenne and Black

Cayenne contains capsaicin, which has multiple benefits for metabolic health, especially for weight loss in obese individuals. Capsaicin plays a critical role in the regulation of metabolic health for the whole body, including body weight and glucose metabolism. Cayenne also raises body temp, increasing thermogenesis and helping to boost metabolism. Adding red peppers to your diet can suppress energy intake and reduce appetite. Cousin to cayenne pepper, black pepper is rich in piperine, which gives black pepper its unique flavour. Piperine creates anti-obesity activity without any change in appetite. The spice has also been shown to block the formation of new fat cells.

Saffron

Saffron is the stigma (the female organ) of an autumn flowering crocus (Crocus sativus). It has been used in both in Iranian medicine and modern medicine to reduce appetite. In a study using rats on a high fat diet, saffron extract significantly decreased food consumption. It also significantly reduced the rate of body weight gain.

Garlic

Garlic is traditionally used to treat infection, colds, diabetes and heart disease. Clinically, it has been evaluated for lowering blood pressure, cholesterol, and glucose concentration. Recently is has been linked with weight loss in a study that fed garlic to mice. After 7 weeks the mice had reduced body weights and fat stores. The garlic had also reduced the effects of an unhealthy diet on their blood and protected the liver from damage.

Onion

Onion stimulates bile acid production by the liver. Bile and bile acids play a major role in fat digestion and absorption. A study by the Korea Institute of Oriental Medicine concluded that Welsh onion extracts have potential for weight control in obesity.

Turmeric

This spice is already known for fighting inflammation but it may also help the body burn fat. Turmeric contains a highly beneficial compound called ‘curcumin’. This increases body heat, which, in turn, can boost metabolism. Over 20 scientific studies have been conducted to assess the influence of curcumin intake on weight among patients with metabolic syndrome and related disorders. The results showed that Curcumin intake significantly reduced body mass index. 

(Sources – https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov, https://www.sciencedirect.com, https://www.hindawi.com, https://www.researchgate.net )
I hope that this information has given you some ideas on how you can spice up your diet for weight loss.

Till the next post,

Live clean n prosper.

A Great Coconut Curry recipe

Today I thought I would share a great curry recipe.

Since my last post, Scott and I have been eating primarily a plant-based diet.

This is intended to help our bodies eliminate any toxins and improve our digestive system. I am also hoping to shed a couple of ‘cruise kilos’. So far I am on track. We are both feeling better and interestingly our sleep has improved.

Recipes for Inspiration

There are many great recipes that I regularly use for meal inspiration and this is 1 of our favourites.

The original recipe is in a small booklet that I got from The Source Bulk Foods last year. I have made a couple of small additions.

This quick, easy and delicious meal has many health benefits.

  • Garlic contains antioxidants that protect against cell damage and ageing.
  • Onions have antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects.
  • Broccoli is high in many vitamins and minerals.
  • Cauliflower provides a significant amount of antioxidants
  • Capsicum is very high in vitamin C
  • Studies show that tomatoes and tomato products may reduce the risk of heart disease and several cancers.
  • Turmeric contains curcumin, a substance with powerful anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties.

You can add or change out the vegetables to suit your tastes, or what you have in the fridge. Though it is a vegetarian curry, it can easily be changed to a meat curry by simply adding your choice of diced meat.

Coconut Curry

serves 4

Ingredients

½ onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, crushed

½ broccoli cut into small flowerets

½ cauliflower cur into small flowerets

4 small potatoes diced

½ capsicum roughly chopped

2 tbsp tamari sauce

2 heaped tbsp. curry powder

2 tsp turmeric powder

1 tin diced tomatoes

400ml coconut cream

bunch of fresh coriander roughly chopped

* Cooked rice, noodles or quinoa to serve

Method
  • In a large saucepan, cook the onion and garlic till the onion is translucent
  • add the spices and stir for a minute
  • add all the rest of the ingredients (except coriander and rice/noodles)
  • bring to the boil, then reduce and simmer until the vegetables are cooked
  • add ½ the coriander and stir through
  • serve on rice or noodles
  • sprinkle rest of coriander on top

When I first made this, I thought that the sauce would split. This is not the case.

It becomes a really creamy sauce.

 

Till the next post,

 

Live clean n prosper