Healthy kick start to the New Year

Happy New Year! 

I think we are just about in time with this blog to still be able to say Happy New Year anyway.  Which reminds me, congratulations for almost making it through your first week back after the Christmas break. Just a few hours to go before the weekend.  How can such a short week be so exhausting. 

You may have noticed a lack of content or contact from us last year, there was a lot going on and then out of the blue in the summer, our beloved Nala (pedigree name Princess Nala, which really suited her so much more than I could ever have imagined when I first rescued her), passed away after an incredibly short illness.  To say we were (are) heartbroken is a bit of an understatement and aside from crying a lot, we had zero appetite and, for some time food really lost its pleasure and we were only cooking in a very perfunctory way.  Some months on and the house is still empty without our little terrorist causing trouble, making sure she was involved in everything, in every box or bag that came into the house and generally ensuring that she was the centre of everything.  Her loss is still felt deeply and putting up the Christmas tree has really never been so easy. Or sad.

Here at The Social Foodies HQ it has been a busy start to the year with both of us spending hours and hours performing lots of little admin jobs on the website that were long overdue, most of which probably won’t be noticed at all but needed doing regardless.  One thing you will notice is we have made little sub sections which hopefully will help when you are looking for something.

Japanese noodles

After the excesses of Christmas and our clothes feeling less comfortable than back in November, it was time to pull in the horns, cut down the alcohol, calories and portion sizes and get exercising.  This has meant lots of vegetables and little dairy in most meals as without either you can generally fill up on less calories and it also has meant hitting the 5 a day is a doddle. Living in a temple like state can get boring so lots of flavour really is imperative (as is giving yourself the weekend off of being too strict).  Things like garlic, ginger, chilli and anything with umami will keep your meals interesting.

Stir fries are great whether with noodles or rice because despite being calorie conscious, they are full of flavour, super delicious and can be easily adapted.

They are also quick and easy which make them perfect for midweek (or the first week back after the Christmas break) when lets be honest you just don’t want to spend hours in the kitchen cooking up a storm.  Both our spicy chicken noodles and Japanese inspired mushroom noodles are perfect for your zen moments, as are our Vietnamese noodles (although these are probably better suited to lunch at this time of the year when it is so cold). Other dishes good for zen moments and that have restorative properties are our chicken noodle soup and master stock, the master stock you can have with vegetables, chicken, beef, pork or salmon, it is just so versatile.

Nasi goreng

Dan dan noodles

We spent some time last year developing a recipe for dan dan noodles (a very popular spicy Asian noodle dish) using minced prawns rather than pork and although it might sound odd, it worked really really well and is much healthier as the fat content is so much less which makes it another really good one for January.  You cut up prawns (or blitz in a processor on pulse) and cook for longer than you would think you would cook prawns but honestly it works so so well.  I first read about minced prawns in Mezcla by Ixta Belfrage and although somewhat sceptical initially, it has been a revelation, it works SO well.  I really love the spicy kick of dan dan noodles and if you are vegetarian or vegan, just replace the prawns with a meat free substitute.

Talking of a spicy kick, other full flavoured spicy dishes we have are sticky salmon, chorizo chilli and tomato mussel potjie (a South African one pot) and charred salmon.  The great thing about these recipes is that they can all have the spice ramped up if spice is your thing or, indeed scaled down if you are not into heat.

We also spent some time last year perfecting our katsu curry sauce and baking the chicken or mushrooms rather than frying them.  I have to say, it worked out really well so a great way to eat something you love in a more healthy way.

Chorizo, chilli and tomato mussel potjie

Tiramisu cheesecake

For anybody with a sweet tooth, try this tiramisu cheesecake, made with low fat ingredients to make it January friendly.

Enjoy your well deserved weekends and let’s hope the torrential rain of the last few days stays away.