I turn these…

into this…

I have no idea why it’s called apple butter and not apple jam…but if you wanna be technical about it, you can safely call it ultra-cooked apples with spices. It’s great as a bread spread, it’s great as an ingredient in cupcakes and cakes, it’s great even to marinate some ribs for grilling.

So, far, I’ve used it as bread spread and it’s damn good. And healthy too!

I made my apple butter without added sugar since I used Fuji apples that are naturally sweet. So, here’s how you make:

Easy Healthy Homemade Apple Butter Recipe

Ingredients

10 – 15 apples, peeled, cored & chopped finely

1 tsp all spice powder

1 tsp cinnamon powder

1/2 tsp nutmeg powder (optional)

1 – 2 cups brown sugar (optional, I didn’t add any sugar to my apple butter)

Instructions

1. Place all the chopped apples into the crock pot / slow cooker.

2. Set the slow cooker on high for 3 hours.

3. Add the spices and sugar. Stir to combine well.

4. Then set the slow cooker to low and let it do its magic for around 10 hours.

5. Stir the softened apples and leave the lid off.

6. Let the butter cook for several more hours until it is done.

7. Do the saucer test to determine if it is done. The saucer test is simple. Just take a dollop and place it on a saucer. If it starts to become watery, then it’s not done. The apple butter, when done, should be able to stand on a saucer without becoming watery (like the picture above).

8. You can immediately bottle the apple butter (or eat it direct hot from the slow cooker…). It can be stored in the fridge for quite a long time and if you sterilize your bottles and subject your bottled jams to a sterilization method (through hot water bath in a pressure cooker), then it can last unopened for months!

Enjoy and find ways to enjoy your healthy homemade sugar-free apple butter!

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This roast chicken is delicious and juicy, your guests will be raving over it. It even looks like it’s professionally done and all you need are just a few basic ingredients and an oven.  Here is the recipe:

Simple, Easy Roast Chicken Recipe

Ingredients

1 whole chicken

8 tbsp oyster sauce

6 tbsp light soy sauce

8 tbsp honey

1 clove garlic, diced

2 onions, quartered

Fresh rosemary, around a bunch

Instructions

1. Season the whole chicken with the sauces and honey.

2. Stuff the rosemary, onion and garlic into the cavity. Leave some of the garlic and rub it all over the chicken.

3. Let the chicken season for more than an hour or if possible, overnight.

4. Make a few small slits along the sides of the chicken.

5. Pre-heat the oven to 180°C.

6. Pop the chicken into the oven and roast it for about 30 minutes. There will probably be some leftover sauces in the dish where you seasoned the chicken. Keep it as it can be used to baste the chicken.

7. Baste the chicken with the leftover sauces. If it’s not enough, use a mixture of honey and olive oil.

8. Bake the chicken for another 30 minutes.

9. The chicken is done when juices runs clear and the flesh separates easily. Otherwise, use a meat tester. If it appeared uncooked, baste it again and you can continue roasting for another 15 minutes until it is a golden brown. Test it again.

10. Chicken is best served hot from the oven.

You can serve the chicken with some mashed potatoes, fresh green salad and coleslaw. This makes a wholesome, healthy meal suitable for everyone from small children to adults. Enjoy!

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Read on to find out more:


 

1. Energy drinks

All those caffeinated, carbonated drinks labeled as so-called energy boosters or sports drinks are NOT healthy. And yes, it will definitely sabotage your diet BIG TIME. Why? These are called ENERGY booster for a reason: because it is full of sugar! Sugar is NOT good. We all know how bad sugar is. It causes diabetes, it makes you fat and it gives you cavities. Want a drink after your workout? Try good old fashioned plain water or if you must, make your own green tea.

2. Commercial smoothies

These babies may taste heavenly but let me tell you, it is so loaded with sugar, calories and whatnots, you probably have to workout like mad to burn it all off. And I am referring to those smoothies that was advertised as ‘low fat’, high in vitamins, etc. More often than not, the low fat part was replaced with tons and tons of sugar. Some smoothies were even made with ice cream so you can add in fat to the equation. Want a smoothie? Make your own healthy version at home using fresh fruits, low fat milk  and no sugar!

3. Breakfast cereals

Seriously. Some cereal brands, which I won’t mention here, had repeatedly advertised their so-called ‘Drop a pants size in 2 weeks’ challenge just by eating their cereal. Yeah, sure. If you read the fine print, the challenge was to eat a portion of the cereal with low fat milk once in the morning and again for dinner. On top of that, you must also follow that with exercise to lose weight. If you check the ingredients content, the cereal contains high amounts of sugar. I don’t have to tell you why sugar is bad, right?

4. Pasta salad

People often think anything with the word ‘salad’ must definitely be healthy. Wrong. If the salad contains high fat dressing, high sugars and high carbs (the pasta is definitely high carbs!) then you should steer far far away from it. Go for fresh green vegetable salad with a low fat dressing on the side instead.

5.English muffins or plain white bread

Plenty of bread brands (wow, that’s a tongue twister! Say bread brand five times really fast…) like to market their bread as healthy, wholesome, etc. But don’t forget, white bread is nothing but simple carbs. If you must have bread, please go for wholemeal bread, at least it contains fibre and has more complex carbs rather than simple carbs.You can also go for sprouted wholegrain English muffins instead of plain white muffins.

So, there, another five ‘healthy’ foods that are not at all healthy and should be avoided if you are cutting calories and watching your diet. Next, I will post up the foods that you should take for a healthier lifestyle. Till then, stay healthy!

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Of course, if you are a food blogger or food photographer and wants to be a guest contributor in my site, do feel free to drop me a line via the contact form. I do accept guest posts once in a while to give my blog some variety. And yes, you can absolutely include links back (maximum two links per post only please) to your sites. And yes, I only accept high quality posts accompanied by good pictures.

Okay, let’s get to the topic of this post.

Diet foods that make you FAT

Yep, it’s true. There are so-called ‘diet food’ out there that makes you pile on the pounds instead of losing it! Don’t believe me? Read on!

Granola Bars

These are often marketed as healthy, wholesome, what-not but STOP. Before you bite into one of these (either homemade or store-bought ones), have you considered what it will do to your body? If you are consuming store-bought ones, just check the labels! You will find that it is filled with high fructose corn syrup, glucose, sugar and barley malt. These are all carbohydrate ingredients that make you fat. I mean, it’s like downing several spoonfuls of sugar and washing it down with more sugary drink. You might as well be eating candy bars!

But not all health snack bars are bad. You need to learn to read the labels when buying snack bars. What you need to look out for are protein bars instead of granola snack bars. And do check the ingredients and make sure it is not full of fattening things like fructose, glucose and sugar or worse, trans fat.

As for homemade ones, you will need to be careful what you use for the ingredients. Reduce the sugar (or not at all), avoid using too much oil but if you must, do use monounsaturated oils like olive oil and use more natural ingredients like raw nuts, rolled oats and natural dried fruits and raisins.

Next…

Low Fat Fruit Yogurt

I know, I know, you’ve been fed all those advertisements about how healthy, how tasty, how good, how wholesome XX brand of low-fat fruit yogurt is but WAIT! Have you checked the label? Yes, it may be low-fat, even ZERO fat but it’s NOT SUGAR FREE. And in case you are wondering why this obsession with sugar, SUGAR IS FATTENING. Yep. If you load up on sugary stuffs, high fructose, high glucose foods, be sure that you will pack on the pounds faster than you can say high fructose corn syrup!

Instead of fruit yogurt, go for low fat, low sugar or better still, ZERO sugar plain yogurt and add your own fruits. This will be much healthier compared to any commercial fruit yogurt which is pack full of sugar & artificial flavors.

Low Fat Salad Dressing

Having fresh green salads is good. In fact, it’s best to eat as much salad as you can everyday. But if you add low fat salad dressing to it, you have probably spoilt something healthy and turned it unhealthy! Why? Simple, low fat salad dressing may be low fat but it is again, HIGH in SUGAR. Yep, they are replacing the fat with sugar. And you already know why we must avoid sugar-laden food!

The alternative to this is to go for no-sugar added dressings or the ones that contain monounsaturated oils like olive oil or canola oil. Again, read the label. Make sure it is trans fat free and sugar free! There are balsamic vinegar dressings that contains 0g fat and 0g carbs so it’s safe to eat with your salad! Otherwise, why not just make your own salsa sauce and use it as dressing?

Next…

Honey Dried Fruits

Dried fruits may be high in anti-oxidants but you may want to give those covered in sugar or so-called ‘honey’ a miss. So, avoid dried fruits if the label states that it’s covered in sugar. It just spoils the goodness of the fruits!

Alternatively, go for natural dried fruits that are free from sugar, preservatives and artificial flavorings. You can go for natural raisins or any natural dried fruit slices.

Finally…(there are more but this post is now way too long already…)

Canned Fruits

Seriously, if you like fruits do please do yourself a favor and go for FRESH fruits. Canned fruits are mostly soaked in SWEET syrup and you know what syrup is? Yes, it’s SUGAR.

Alternative, go for FRESH CUT FRUITS!

In conclusion, if you are on a weight loss quest and eating low-fat food, just remember to read the labels. Not ALL low-fat food is good for you. The best thing to do is to avoid processed foods and go for fresh, natural foods like fresh green vegetables, fresh fruits and as for items like dairy, remember to avoid those that contains too much sugar and added flavorings.

And so ends this post…sorry, it’s a bit bare of pictures…I don’t want to be posting pictures of this product or that product.

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Anyway, we went to the paediatrician who gave him a shot and though he’s still running a fever, at least he’s not throwing up anymore. So, I stayed home with him and cooked a rather simple meal for him. He loves noodles and hated porridge so instead of cooking porridge, I cooked clear chicken soup with noodles for him.

This is a really easy and simple recipe. It takes all of 10 minutes to prepare and I let the slow cooker do all the cooking!

So, for those days when you are too busy to cook complicated meals and yet, you want something delicious and healthy, this may be it. It’s great for those suffering the sniffles or just feeling under the weather.

Easy Crockpot Recipe: Chicken Soup with noodles

Ingredients

3 cups water
1/2 cup sliced chicken breast meat
2 large carrot, sliced
2 tbsp dried wolf berries (optional)
Salt and pepper to season
2 cups noodles

Instruction

1. Season the chicken with salt and pepper.
2. Pour the water into the slow cooker or crockpot and turn it on high.
3. Add the carrots and wolf berries.
4. Add the chicken slices, turn the cooker to low.
5. In a separate pot, boil some water and scald the noodles for two to three minute. Drain and set aside.
6. Let the crockpot do it’s work and cook the soup. If you want it fast, let it cook on high and it should be ready in an hour plus or so. If you let it cook on low, it should take between 3 – 4 hours to be ready. Remember to add salt and pepper according to your taste.
7. Once the soup is ready, you just remove the scum, ladle the noodles into individual bowls and pour the hot soup on top. Add fresh, raw vegetables if you like, if not, it’s good as it is.

It’s healthy, wholesome, simple and easy to make.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

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A one-dish meal is just that, a meal that encompasses everything so you don’t have to slave over the stove preparing several side dishes. A one-dish meal means convenience, easy, fast and when done my way, it is also healthy, wholesome and delicious, if I may say so myself. So, what is usually included in these all-in-one meals? For it to be a complete meal, it will have to have carbs, vegetables and protein.

For example, today I prepared healthy chicken porridge for my baby and preschooler.

It is healthy as I used brown rice to cook the porridge and for vegetables, I added carrots and for protein, minced chicken. I also added wolfberries for added vitamins and dried scallops for extra taste.

Cooking porridge is rather easy and fast too if you have a slow cooker or crock pot. Here’s how you prepare the porridge for a wholesome, healthy and delicious lunch or dinner:

Easy Chicken and Scallops Porridge Recipe

Ingredients

200g chicken, minced and seasoned with salt and pepper ( or light soy sauce if you prefer)

1 large carrot, sliced thinly or cubed

2 tbsp wolfberries

10 – 15 pcs of dried scallops (small), soaked to soften

2 tbsp diced garlic

2 small slices of fresh Ginger, skinned

1 1/2 cup rice, rinsed

3 cups water

1 cup fresh chicken broth or if unavailable, 1 tbsp dry chicken stock dissolved in 1 cup water

Sea salt to taste ( I didn’t add any since the porridge was good as it is)

Instructions

1. Place the rice in the crock pot, then add in the rest of the ingredients.
2. Set the crock pot to high and let the porridge cook for at least two hours.
3. Check on it often and stir it to ensure the ingredients are well combined.
4. Best served hot!

That’s it. Easy, simple, healthy and baby loves it! Here are other one-dish meals I sometimes make on Sundays….

1. Claypot chicken rice using rice cooker

2.Burdock root rice

3. Fried vegetarian soya noodles

4.Healthy Quinoa Salsa

5. Another porridge recipe

6.Fried rice

There are many more such recipes so look around my site to find one that you want to try!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

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It is rather easy and though many would have the concern of spoiling the fish or overcooking it, I felt that if we cook it in just the right length of time, it turns out quite okay. Absolutely delicious if I may say so.

Here’s the:

Healthy, easy stir-fried cod fish recipe:

Ingredients

150g cod fish fillet, sliced into chunks
Half pod of garlic, peeled and diced
2 – 3 slices of fresh ginger
A handful of Thai basil
2 – 3 tbs light soya sauce
1 tsp dark soya sauce
Cooking oil / cooking spray

Instructions

1. Season the cod fish with the light soya sauce for at least an hour.
2. Heat up a non-stick frying pan / wok and grease it either with cooking oil or cooking spray
3. Sauté the garlic and ginger till fragrant.
4. Add in the chunks of cod fish and stir fry for about 5 to 8 minutes.
5. Add in the dark soya sauce and the basil.
6. Stir to make sure the fish is well costed in the sauce, add a tablespoon of water if you must.
7. Once the fish appears an opaque white, you can immediately remove from heat.
8. It is best served hot.

Note: Do remember to keep the fire at medium to medium low so that you don’t burn the fish.

Enjoy!

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So, here’s an Asian style Quinoa recipe that is healthy, low in fat and darn delicious too.

For this recipe, I use chicken breast meat which is lean, low fat and high in protein. Here are the basic ingredients you may need, brown mushrooms, carrots, chicken and quinoa.

You will need to season the chicken for a few hours first. Then you heat up the pan or wok, stir fry some garlic, then add the carrots, mushrooms and quinoa.

Stir fry till its fragrant and you can add the chicken pieces.You will need to add some water too since the quinoa needs water to really cook, much like cooking rice.

So, here’s the recipe proper:

Stir-Fried Quinoa Mushroom Chicken Recipe

Ingredients

1 pc (about 350g) chicken breast meat, sliced

1 tbs light soya sauce or 1 tsp sea salt

2 carrots, cut into chunks

1/2 cup Quinoa (I used black Quinoa)

15 – 20 pcs brown mushrooms, sliced

3 pods garlic, diced

1 cup water

Instructions

1. Season the chicken with the soya sauce/ salt for at least 30 minutes.

2.Heat up the frying pan or wok with about 1 tbsp of cooking oil. Then lower the heat to medium low.

3. Sautee the garlic till fragrant then add the carrots, mushrooms and quinoa.

4. Stir-fry for a minute or so, add the chicken and stir for another minute or so.

5. Add the water and cover the pan. Let the mixture simmer over low heat for about 5 minutes. Remember to stir it occasionally.

6. Bring it to a boil and add more water if it is drying up but not too much. Add salt to season and you are done!

You can eat this dish served with some fresh salad or you can eat is as a side dish to your rice or potatoes.

Cooking Quinoa is very easy, all you need is some water for it to fully cook and you can add it to quite a lot of different dishes. I have more of these recipes and I will be sharing it pretty soon.

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Now, lets get on to this recipe. I have this packet of black quinoa and thought I’d come up with some recipes to cook it. Like I said, quinoa is very versatile, so I used it to cook a broth-based soup that’s healthy, wholesome and darn good too! So, if you are vegetarian and would like some chicken soup without the chicken, quinoa soup is the way to go!

Instead of using chicken or any kinds of meat, the quinoa broth-based soup can be cooked with carrots and mixed beans.

I used the organic 7-color beans to cook with the quinoa.

It is pretty easy to cook this broth based soup. You can even use a slow cooker/ crock pot to cook it.

Here’s the recipe:

Mixed Beans Quinoa Soup Recipe

Ingredients

1/2 cup quinoa

1/2 cup mixed beans

1 tbs dried wolfberries

4 dried dates

2 large carrots, cut into chunks

2 – 3 pods garlic, peeled and halved

2 – 3 cups water

salt to taste

Instructions

1. Heat up the water in a pot.

2. Dump everything into the boiling water.

3. Cover and simmer over low fire for up to an hour or until the quinoa is cooked and the beans softened.

4. Add salt to your own taste.

For slow cooker / crock pot, you only need to pour in the water and dump all the ingredients in. Then set it at low and leave it to cook overnight. Tomorrow morning, you will have a wholesome, healthy, vegetarian Quinoa soup!

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The great thing about cooking this salsa style dish is that it is very versatile and can be eaten as it is or with rice, salad, bread, even spaghetti! It is pretty simple to make too. First, you will need…

carrots, tomatoes, celery, onions, potatoes, bell pepper (capsicum), ketchup, balsamic vinegar, ready-made pasta sauce and

quinoa. I used red quinoa because it’s what I have. You can use pearl quinoa (the white quinoa) or black quinoa, whichever one you like. The cooking method for all types of quinoa is the same. After chopping up all the vegetables into chunks…

You will need to heat up a pot with some olive oil. First, you sautè the onions for a short while and then you add the carrots, tomatoes, capsicum, tomatoes.

After you stir it around for a minute or so, you add the potatoes, celery, sauces and water. Also add a sprinkle of dried mixed herbs for extra flavours. The quinoa is the last one to go in, after adding all the other stuffs. Then, you just leave it to simmer over low fire for close to two hours. If you don’t have the time, just dump all ingredients into the crock pot or slow cooker and leave it to simmer on low overnight. It will be ready the next day! And that’s it. Easy and so darn good, you may want to make it again and again!

So, here’s the recipe:

Wholesome Healthy Quinoa Salsa Stew

Ingredients

3 large carrots, cut into chunks

4 large tomatoes, diced

3 large onions, chopped

2 large potatoes, cut into chunks

3 stalks of celery, diced

1 – 2 capsicum (bell peppers), cut into chunks

1/2 cup red quinoa

5 tbsp pasta sauce

4 tbsp ketchup

1 tsp dried mixed herbs

1 – 2 cups of water (depending on how thick / watery you want it to be)

palm-sized chicken breast, skin removed and sliced thinly or minced. (if you want to add chicken or you can leave it out if you want a vegetarian one)

Instructions

1. Heat up a large pot with some olive oil.

2. Sautè the onions and then add the carrots, capsicum and tomatoes. Stir for a minute or so.

3. Add in the rest of the vegetables (potatoes and celery) and then stir in the sauces.

4. Add water and pour in the uncooked quinoa. Stir to mix the ingredients around.

5. Turn the heat up to medium and let it boil. Add the herbs, then add the minced chicken (or sliced chicken, whichever you like).

6. Turn down the heat to low and leave it to simmer for up to 2 hours. Remember to check on it and stir often to make sure it doesn’t burn.

7. If you are using the crock pot / slow cooker, then you can skip the sauteeing part. Instead, just dump everything in, add the sauces and water and leave it to cook on slow.

Special note: Water is important so you must not leave it out and it is important to add more as quinoa absorbs a lot of water and it needs a lot of water to cook. Here’s how to cook quinoa.

This quinoa recipe is great to go with any food. If you are cutting down on calories, you can eat this as it is with salad as I also like to call this recipe an all-in-one meal which contains vegetables, protein (quinoa is very high in protein) and healthy carbs (potatoes).

If you simply must have rice…

or if you prefer bread…

It is pack full of nutrients from all the vegetables and quinoa so it is not only low in fat (especially if you cook it without the chicken), it is very wholesome and best of all, so good you won’t even feel as if you are eating diet food!

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