This weekend feels like the start of the long march to Christmas – with all the presents, all the parties, all the food and all the mayhem that entails. For anyone who takes care of anyone (which is most adults, to be honest) it means even more juggling than usual, fitting in the children’s activities…
HOW TO GET YOUR CHILD EATING HEALTHY FOODS – AND RECIPES FOR KALE CRISPS
For those of you who think the off-spring of Ms’s Kale and Cocoa happily munch on spinach and lentils, let me put you right. They (mostly) don’t! Like mothers everywhere, we cajole, bribe, threaten and despair. But after sixteen years of feeding multiple children and reading multiple books and reports on the subject, I’ve made…
OATS, GLORIOUS OATS – AND A RECIPE FOR SUPER-SPEEDY NO-BAKE GRANOLA
I’ve always longed to be the sort of girl who wafts around making her own granola. Yes, I know making granola is neither arduous nor complicated. But it often seems a faff – you have to turn the oven on in advance, then you have to hang around while it’s baking, gently prodding and turning….
HEALTHY HALLOWEEN: PUMPKIN AND POMEGRANATE HUMMUS
It probably hasn’t escaped your notice that today is Halloween. It’s among the more bizarre of our ‘festivals’, you have to admit, and like many others it’s been taken over by the food industry pushing sugar on all and sundry, especially children. But I try not to be too po-faced about it all, as it…
WHY EATING WELL NEEDN’T COST A FORTUNE – SARDINE AND WATERCRESS PÂTÉ
As I stood in line at a supermarket checkout recently, I overheard a young couple in front of me querying the cost of their weekly shop. The checkout lady confirmed her till was working properly and she hadn’t put any items through twice. Then the young woman’s face crumpled. “We were just trying to be…
REPLENISHING YOUR GUT BACTERIA – LEEK, BLACK BEAN AND BACON SOUP
There’s nothing like spending time in hospital to remind you why health matters. But when my second daughter was hospitalised with a burst appendix two weeks ago, it wasn’t degenerative disease on my mind, but gut bacteria. Five days of triple intravenous antibiotics, followed by twelve days of aural antibiotics, had me straining for my…
EAT YOUR GREENS … BUT WHICH ONES?
Spending a fortune on blueberries? Don’t know which vegetables to buy? Take a look at this new study from William Paterson University in New Jersey, which ranked 47 fruit and vegetables in terms of nutrients per bite http://www.cdc.gov/pcd/issues/2014/13_0390.htm#table2_down Researchers analysed each fruit and vegetable for 17 critical nutrients proven to reduce chronic disease.* The findings…
CANCER-BUSTING CARROTS AND A SIMPLE CARROT SALAD WITH SESAME DRESSING
Carrots … cheap, readily available, invariably liked by children. And now, a cancer-busting superfood to boot. Research into carrots has shown them to: lower the risk of heart attacks in women; reduce the risk of coronary heart disease by 32%; reduce the risk of colon, prostate and bladder cancer; restore vision; and help prevent inflammatory…
WHY WE SHOULD ALL BE EATING MORE WATERMELON – WATERMELON SALAD WITH FETA AND PUMPKIN SEEDS
The biggest blockbuster research in recent weeks was Cambridge University’s study into lycopene, a carotenoid (that’s a natural pigment made by plants) and powerful anti-oxidant. The latest in a string of studies and reports showing the benefits of lycopene, this one found that lycopene-rich diets can improve cardio-vascular and heart health. Previous studies have suggested…
PRO-AGEING RED BEANS – SPICED KIDNEY BEAN DIP WITH SMOKED PAPRIKA CRISPS AND CHERRY TOMATOES
This week’s big break-through has been the lycopene study, proving that lycopene really does protect against heart disease and strokes. We’ll be telling you more about lovely lycopene later, but you can catch up at: http://www.theguardian.com/science/2014/jun/09/tomato-extract-lycopene-relieves-damaged-arteries-cambridge-study But my favourite research? The one showing cynics faced a ‘far higher risk of Alzheimer’s’! Indeed, the Scandinavian study…