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Recycling More

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I’ve always tried to do a bit of recycling, but in recent months I’ve started taking it a lot more seriously.

Eating more fresh fruit and vegetables means there’s less packaging coming into the house, which isn’t a bad thing.

It’s also become marginally easier to buy products that have less packaging.

For example, while I wasn’t in the market for chocolate eggs this Easter, I did notice that some of the more popular brands, like Cadbury, have reduced the amount of non-recyclable packaging they’re using. They claim to have reduced the packaging on their eggs by 40%, which converts to over 2000 fewer lorry loads!

Here’s an image to illustrate the change:

Cadbury Easter egg packaging changesWhat am I recycling?

Pretty much all the paper and cardboard, tin cans, egg trays, milk cartons, any plastic packaging for food that isn’t covered in blood etc.,

I hadn’t been recycling a lot of the cans previously, but once I started doing it I noticed a couple of things.

First of all I hadn’t realised how many cans I was using. Between cans of soup, tomatoes and tuna the sheer volume of tin cans that had been going into the rubbish bin was significant. This also means that there’s more space in my normal bin for things that I can’t recycle (yet).

Another thing that I hadn’t been recycling was milk cartons. Oddly enough we’ve been recycling them in the office for a long time, but I hadn’t been making the effort at home.

There is a small bit of extra work to do if you start recycling cans and empty cartons. You have to rinse them! But it’s not much work and I think it’s worth the effort.

The only thing that’s annoying about recycling where I live at the moment is that there is no collection for glass, so you have to find a bottle bank every few weeks.

Will this help me lose weight? No. I just think it’s a positive move to improve my overall lifestyle.

 

 

Relatively Healthy Lunch In The Office

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Healthy lunch in the office Since I started this diet regime back in January I have changed my eating and shopping habits quite dramatically.

Previously my lunch on work days (Monday to Friday) was a roll or possibly a salad plate from the corner shop. They do absolutely fantastic salads, but the really tasty parts are really heavy ie. coleslaw and potato salad.

Under my new regime I have the same lunch pretty much every day. That does sound a bit boring, but I’ll sacrifice a little boredom in order to maintain consistency.

My lunch these days consists of:

  • Fruit. Usually a couple of apples and one or two bananas. Sometimes this might be tangerines .. it depends what I have
  • Yoghurt. I usually opt for some kind of low fat one. Recently I’ve been getting the Glenisk range of “Greek Style” yoghurts. They come in a good variety of flavours.
  • Soup. When I can I get one of the really tasty soups from “Just Food” I try to use them. However that’s not always possible, so any can of soup that can be cooked in the microwave works
  • Wholemeal bread – usually two slices. No butter or other additions. It goes well with the soup.

Apart from the obvious nutritional benefits (which will vary depending on which soup I choose) the whole thing is pretty light in terms of calories. According to my calculations it’s about 500 calories in total.

What kind of things do you have for lunch?

Irish Chutney

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Irish chutney

Irish chutney

Shopping for food can be incredibly boring, especially if you’re always buying the same things over and over again. I love trying out new things, which is why I was delighted with the “fish in a bag” idea (it tasted wonderful in case you’re wondering). So this weekend I also picked up a couple of jars of chutney made by small Irish producers who I hadn’t tried before.

I grew up eating my mother’s homemade chutney which she used to make from the windfalls. She had this fantastic recipe for “no cook” chutney which she used to make by soaking the ingredients in buckets and basins around the house before bottling. It was delicious!

I’ve developed a taste for slightly spicier food since then and like to have something around to add a little “bite” to cheese or chicken.

SuperValu in Midleton have a pretty good range of Irish produce from smaller producers and exploring their shelves can lead to some fantastic discoveries like the “Spicy Apple Chutney” from Poynton U. who are based in County Cork. It tastes homemade, though it’s a little bit on the pricey side. Having said that, if I’m going to misbehave a little I like to do it in style, so paying a small bit more for something which tastes genuine is worth the investment 🙂

The other brand I picked up was Rocker Foods’ “Sweet Chilli” chutney. It’s got a nice kick to it, without it being too strong. I like spicy, but I also like being able to actually taste my food.

 

Idiot Proof Fresh Fish

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I love eating fresh fish, but I really don’t like the smell of fish that seems to get just about everywhere. I also find it quite awkward to buy fresh fish except at the weekend.

This weekend I came across a pretty slick solution to my conundrum.

It’s an oven (or microwave) ready bag of fish from SuperValu.

ready to cook fish in a bag from SuperValuI picked up some very tasty looking trout fillets for only €4!

ready to cook trout fillets in a bag from SuperValueI love this idea and will be having the trout for dinner this evening.

The idea is simple, yet brilliant. You simply place the bag, with the fish still in it, directly into your oven or microwave and cook it for the recommended time. For my trout fillets that’s going to be about 3 or 4 minutes in the microwave. I’ll probably serve them with some new potatoes and maybe  some steamed vegetables.

And I won’t have a house stinking of fish for days afterwards!

 

 

Chicken With Tomato And Olives

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chicken with olives and tomatoChicken is not only tasty, it’s also one of those things that you often find on special offer in a lot of supermarkets.

When I was a student in Limerick I used to pick buy it regularly and cook it in a number of different sauces.

This recipe is inspired by one of those supplied by Tesco Diets (now defunct). They call it a Provençal chicken, though I’m not sure if that’s really accurate.

The quantities in this recipe are for two, as I was cooking for someone else (obviously!)

If anyone knows of a supermarket or butcher that sells chicken thighs already skinned I’d love to know about them! I’ve tried skinning chicken thighs in the past and it’s a lot of pain for very little gain. So I’ve been cooking chicken thighs with the skin on ..

In terms of calories etc., this isn’t the healthiest option I’m afraid, though it’s not horrendous (probably around 700 – 800 calories?)

chicken with olives and tomato
Print

Chicken With Tomato And Olives

A tasty chicken dish with tomatoes and olives. Best served with new potatoes
Course Main Course
Cuisine French
Keyword chicken, olives
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 30 minutes
Servings 2
Calories 750 kcal

Ingredients

  • 3 cloves of garlic not skinned
  • 1 tbsp Herbes de provence
  • 6 chicken thighs
  • 1 pepper OR 1 mug of frozen pepper slices
  • 4 tomatoes OR 1 tin of tomatoes chopped or whole
  • 200 g mushrooms sliced and diced
  • 5-6 olives chopped
  • Olive oil
  • 1 Onion

Instructions

  1. Heat some olive oil in a pan

  2. Add the chopped onion and cook until soft

  3. Add the chicken and cook until browned
  4. Add the tomatoes, mushrooms, garlic, herbs and olives. Do not skin or chop the garlic - it needs to be cooked whole "as is"
  5. Cook on a medium heat for 20 - 30 minutes
  6. Serve with new potatoes

Marketing Food With Humour

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Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands in Vries Fran...

Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands in Vries Français (Photo: Wikipedia)

I’m not allowed to eat certain things these days. Well I could eat them, but the number of calories per serving would put me over my daily limit pretty quickly!

Dominos pizzas in the Netherlands have come up with a pretty cool way to both market themselves and keep their delivery riders safe. And for those that don’t know the word “lekker” in Dutch means “tasty” or “nice”:

[youtube]http://youtu.be/n17B_uFF4cA[/youtube]

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Exercising With Zombies?

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Over the past few weeks my weight loss has more or less flatlined. My weight goes up and down, but I’m not seeing that nice constant drop in weight that I was seeing originally.

In terms of my calorie intake it’s been pretty steady, apart from a couple of days when I’ve been naughty and succumbed to tasty treats etc.,

So what I probably need to do (doh!) is get some physical exercise.

Walking would be the obvious choice, but I hate walking in circles unless I have somewhere to go. If I was going somewhere for a purpose I wouldn’t have any issues, but walking a route just doesn’t do it for me.

Zombies might be the solution!

Ok, that sounds a bit odd, but I’m talking about an iPhone game and not the zombie apocalypse.

Zombies, Run! is an ultra-immersive running game for the iPhone, iPod Touch, and Android. We deliver the story straight to your headphones through orders and voice recordings

 

Here’s their intro video which explains what it’s all about:

[youtube]http://youtu.be/GyFqZtKvya0[/youtube]

I haven’t tried it out yet, but I will! The idea of being chased by zombies is sort of appealing, but more importantly to me it would give me some kind of purpose when exercising / walking.

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