dairy-free

Recipe: Sweet Paprika Chicken Tray-Bake

2nd February 2019 · Leave a Comment

Easy Mid-Week Meal – Gluten-free | Dairy-free | Nut-free | Tomato-free

This easy chicken tray-bake is a fabulous midweek meal to throw together quickly, pop in the oven and have a family-friendly meal ready to go less than half an hour later! Full of sweet flavour, it’s a crowd pleaser. A great source of fibre, carbs, protein and healthy fats, plus you can switch up the veg options for whatever is in season. AND 2-3 serves of your daily veg!

As we begin to settle into some kind of ‘routine’ (well, some days we do) in the UK, one of my biggest challenges is getting a meal ready whilst my two girls desperately want me to play tea parties/Elsa and Anna/hide and seek. In our last house, we had an open-plan kitchen-diner with a door straight into the lounge. This made it easy for the girls to play in and out of the kitchen and be near me whilst I prepped dinner. Don’t get me wrong, it was still a challenege, but I could find something to distract them long enough to get dinner ready.

In our current (short-term!) home, the kitchen is much smaller, and the lounge is along the hallway, so the girls evidently don’t feel close enough to me when I’m cooking and they’re playing! And there’s not enough room in the kitchen for them to play, without me tripping over them (trust me, they try…the kitchen usually ends up as some kind of temporary storage room for the toy pram, giant bunny, and what ever big toy they can find!).

I’ll get to the point. Sometimes (or often) we need a meal that is either
super fast to cook up, easy to throw together and chuck in the oven to do its thing, or both! This meal is the latter really. Especially if you cut the chicken breast horizontally to create two thinner pieces. Give it a go and see what you think!

Sweet Paprika Chicken Tray-Bake

Preparation: 10 minutes | Cooking Time: 35 minutes | Serves: 4

What you need:

300g butternut squash/pumpkin, cut into thin wedges or slices, skin on
3-4 chicken breasts (depending on size), sliced horizontally
1 onion (brown or red), cut into wedges
3-4 cups of green vegetables – I used brussel sprouts and asparagus
1/2 lemon, cut in half
1 tsp smoked paprika
2 tbsp honey/fruit syrup/maple syrup/other syrup alternative
A few sprigs of thyme (or 1 tsp of dried thyme)
Olive oil
Sea salt and pepper

Mustard Mayo

4 heaped tbsp mayonnaise
2 tsp Dijon mustard (more if you like more of a kick)
2 tsp honey/syrup (as above)
1/4 lemon, squeezed

What you do:

Pre-heat the oven to 180^oC fan/200^oC/gas 6
Place the squash or pumpkin slices into a large roasting tin, drizzle with a little oil and rub in so they are coated, and place in the hot oven for 10 minutes whilst you prep everything else.
Prep the other ingredients whilst the squash is cooking – slicing the chicken, lemon and other vegetables.
After 10 minutes, remove the roasting tin from the oven and add the chicken, onion, and green vegetables. Squeeze the two lemon slices over the chicken and add the slices into the tray.
Drizzle some olive oil over the chicken and vegetables. Drizzle the honey/syrup and sprinkle the paprika over the chicken. Add the thyme and a good pinch of salt and pepper.
Return the roasting tin to the oven for 20-25 minutes, depending on the thickness of the chicken, until cooked through.
When ready, remove the roasting tin and let the chicken rest for 5 minutes before serving. During this time, combine the mustard mayo ingredients together in a bowl and serve with the chicken and veggies!

Enjoy!

Lucy x

Recipe: Easy No-Nut Oaty Bars

25th January 2019 · Leave a Comment

Dairy-free | Nut-free | Vegan | Gluten-free option | Refined sugar free

These super-food chewy oaty bars are a fabulous source of protein, fibre, healthy omega-3 fats and a whole range of vitamins and minerals. Containing only natural fruit-based sugars, and several ingredients that help balance blood sugar levels, you can be sure they won’t give your kids (or you) a sugar spike. Instead you’ll get a slow-release of energy to see you through the afternoon! Perfect for the school lunchbox!!

Since arriving in the UK 6 months ago, life has been a bit topsy turvy, and home baking healthy snacks for the girls has kinda gone out the window. There’s something about having your own kitchen, pantry, ingredients, space, time…. So, any baking or making mojo went out the window, and in its place came convenience foods – the healthiest ones I could find in the store, admittedly, but still not my day-to-day ideal.

As a result, my four-year-old has become rather fixated with oaty bars. I have been meaning to make some myself so that I can feel confident they are getting a dose of nutrient-dense goodness, especially since we finally moved into our own place at the end of November. But what with pregnancy fatigue (it’s kicking my butt!) and the whirlwind that was December, it’s taken me until mid (ok late-ish) January to finally put these together.

Now, they should be pretty quick to make – I took a bit of a guess at 15 minutes prep time – but if you enlist the help of your four-year-old and almost-two-year-old, it will take you over an hour!! Can’t say I didn’t warn you… No, really, it makes for a fun Sunday activity 😉

Benefits

Oats are full of protein and fibre, providing a filling snack as well as slow-release energy. They can also help lower cholesterol, and improve blood sugar control.

Chia seeds are a fantastic source of protein and fibre, as well as omega-3 fatty acids and antioxidants. They also contain calcium, magnesium and a host of other vitamins and minerals. A teeny tiny food powerhouse!

Seeds are rich in B complex vitamins, essential for a healthy nervous system, as well as tonnes of other vitamins and minerals. They’re also a fabulous source of fibre, protein and healthy fats. They can help reduce blood sugar levels, cholesterol and blood pressure.

Cinnamon is another great ingredient to lower blood sugar levels, as well as a gorgeous flavour. It is loaded with antioxidants and anti-inflammatory properties (which reduces the inflammatory response in the body).

Tahini, or ground sesame seeds, are a fabulous nut replacement in recipes, great in both savoury and sweet dishes. Sesame seeds are a great source of calcium, and in comparison to the calcium found in milk and other dairy products, it is much more bioavailable to the body. Tahini is also full of healthy fats and amino acids (the building blocks of protein), vitamins and minerals including B vitamins, copper and iron. And yet another ingredient that regulates blood pressure and cholesterol.