Tag Archives: Breakfast

Food Hospital

Television is positively saturated with food programs nowadays, it seems that we can’t get enough of watching people chop, stir, braise and bake their favoured dishes.

One quite different program has just begun though – Food Hospital.

This program attempts to alleviate medical problems, simply by making dietary changes. This is a subject quite close to my heart – after months of daily headaches, I discovered that I had an intolerance to onion and had to eradicate it from my diet. This small step made a huge difference to my daily health and, despite my GPs reservations, proves to me that diet has a radical impact on the way we feel.

There is a fun quiz on the Food Hospital website to see how much you really know about nutrition http://foodhospital.channel4.com/the-truth-about

Of course, what we eat impacts on our future health as well as how we feel now. Indeed, in the news only this week it is reported that scientists have discovered that eating a diet high in fibre, such as oats and brown rice, can significantly improve your chances of avoiding bowel cancer.

It is also reported that diet-related illnesses cost the NHS £9 billion every year. My wonderful Grandad never smoked or drank, ate loads of fruit and vegetables, cooked all his meals from scratch and hardly ever indulged in junk food. He lived a full and happy life well into his nineties.

So, I am not going to follow any faddy diets (as the Food Hospital website shows, these are often detrimental to our health), but eat as well as I can as often as I can (though the odd chocolate or glass of wine may pass my lips!) and hopefully I will be as healthy as he was.

Start the day a super-healthy way with this delicious Homemade Muesli breakfast.

Dairy Diary Homemade MuesliHomemade Muesli
A Dairy Diary recipe.

 

 

 

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Father’s Day

Father's Day recipes
 

The way to a man’s heart is through his stomach.

So to show him how much you care how about a day of favourite dishes?

Try these classic recipes – they are sure to be appreciated, and won’t break the bank either!

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Eggs FlorentineEggs Florentine
A deliciously healthy variation on simple bacon and eggs.

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Shepherd's PieShepherd’s Pie
A treasured recipe from the Dairy Book of Home Cookery. Wonderful comfort food.

CLICK HERE FOR RECIPE

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Blueberry CrumbleBlueberry Crumble
Blueberries given a sharp lemony edge beneath a comforting topping.

Serrve with cream or custard. If you really love him make sure it’s the real thing…

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Real Custard

Nothing comes close to real custard!

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Have a great day.
The Dairy Diary Team

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National Walk to Work Week

National Walk to Work Week is upon us, making us all feel guilty if we don’t get off the bus a stop earlier than usual!

National Walk to Work WeekActually, since I work from home now, all my walking to work entails is nipping up the stairs to what was once a loft.

But I used to walk from the station to the office, rather than get the tube or bus, and I have to say it was much better than crushing in with the crowds. Drawback was arriving all hot and sweaty and having to lurk discreetly in reception, or the loo, to cool down a bit! (I didn’t work anywhere grand with showers!)

A decent breakfast is needed

But if walking all or some of the way to work (and back home again) is on the agenda, maybe a decent breakfast first is a good idea.

Remember the old slogan – ‘go to work on an egg’? Creamy and scrambled with some flaked smoked salmon is a bit of a motivator, but, failing that, soft boiled with marmite soldiers take some beating.

I always like poached fruit with natural yoghurt – prunes, apricots, plums, rhubarb, apple. They can be prepared in advance, or you could make a fruit smoothie the night before with whatever fruit you have, yoghurt and runny honey whizzed in the blender.

If all else fails, do what I did – buy a muffin to savour (or devour!) on arrival. I reckon all that walking deserves a treat.

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How about baking your own breakfast Danish Pastries?

They really are easy peasy and in only 30 minutes you could be enjoying warm freshly baked pastries.  Mmmm… Try this quick and easy Danish Pastries recipe from the Dairy Diary Recipe Collection.

CLICK HERE FOR RECIPE

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The importance of breakfast

Did you know it’s Farmhouse Breakfast Week?

The aim of the campaign is to raise awareness of the benefits of eating a healthy breakfast and demonstrate the variety on offer.

With one in four people regularly skipping breakfast, the challenge for the nation is to re-think the morning routine. For further information see http://www.shakeupyourwakeup.com/

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day.Breakfast is so important

When you wake up your energy reserves are low. What you choose to eat at breakfast affects your mood, physical and mental performance, weight and your general and long-term health.

If you miss breakfast you are likely to get hungry mid-morning and grab a snack that is high in calories and fat but low in nutrients and fibre.

Studies show that children who regularly eat a cereal based breakfast are healthier and less likely to be overweight. In fact teenagers who ate breakfast cereals more than five times a week weighed less, had a smaller waist size and lower blood sugar levels than those who rarely ate cereal.

But it is not just children that perform less well if they miss breakfast, other studies show that adults who ate breakfast tended to work faster, made fewer mistakes in logic tests and had better memory recall compared with breakfast skippers.

Research among adults shows that people who eat breakfast are more likely to be within the ideal weight range than people who skip breakfast.

So I won’t be skipping breakfast again! I do enjoy muesli and fruit, but at the weekend I often fancy something a little different. Eggs Florentine is a favourite – hearty, healthy and very quick to prepare.

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Eggs Florentine

A deliciously healthy variation on simple bacon and eggs.

Eggs Florentine from Hearty & Healthy Dairy CookbookWhite wine vinegar 2 tsp
Eggs 4
Baby spinach leaves 225g pack
Leek 1 large
Smoked bacon 4 rashers
Low fat natural fromage frais 4 tbsp
Ground nutmeg ¼ tsp

1 Half fill a deep frying pan with water and add the vinegar. Bring to the boil then reduce to a gentle simmer. Carefully break the eggs into the pan and cook for 5–6 minutes (or until cooked to your liking), occasionally spooning the water over the yolks to cook them evenly. Remove from the heat and keep warm in the water until ready to serve.

2 Meanwhile, rinse the spinach and pack into a saucepan without drying. Trim the leek and split lengthwise. Rinse under cold running water to flush out any trapped earth, and then shake well to remove excess water. Shred finely and mix into the spinach. Cover and place over a medium heat for 4–5 minutes until wilted.

3 Preheat the grill to hot and grill the bacon rashers until cooked, turning once.

4 Meanwhile, drain the spinach and leek by pressing against the side of a colander or sieve to remove as much liquid as possible, and return to the saucepan. Stir in the fromage frais and nutmeg and add seasoning to taste.

5 To serve, divide the spinach between two warm serving plates. Drain the eggs using a slotted spoon and place two on top of each pile. Dust with extra nutmeg and black pepper, if liked, and serve immediately with slices of hot toast and grilled smoked bacon.

Cook’s tip
Spinach might look bulky when its fresh, but it wilts and reduces in size very quickly when cooked. Its flavour is intense, which is why some fromage frais stirred into the cooked spinach works so well.

Recipe taken from Hearty & Healthy Dairy Cookbook

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Cinnamon Toast

A comforting treat; perfect for an autumnal evening in front of the fire.

Cinnamon Toast from the Dairy Diary 2011Serves 3
Time 5 mins
Calories 374 per portion
Fat 15g of which
9g is saturated
Suitable for vegetarians

Light soft brown sugar 4 tbsp
Cinnamon 1 tsp
Butter 50g (2oz), softened
White bread 6 slices

1 Mix sugar with cinnamon and softened butter. Toast bread slices on both sides.

2 Spread one side of toast with butter mixture, cut in half and serve hot.

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