Happy new year from the Warrior Dietitian!
 
It's almost school time and the frantic life begins again… This year we would love to hear from you about what meals you struggle with, where do you need some refreshing ideas to make your mealtimes less dull and mundane. In saying that, there is nothing wrong with the mundane if it works in your routine and you are being able provide nutritious meals for your family. There is nothing wrong with nutritious, familiar, repetition.
 
Please let this be your encouragement to get in touch via any of our platforms or via  my email. We want to be able to help!

Method:

• Place all ingredients into a food processor or blender.
  
• Blitz all of the ingredients together until well-combined.
  
• Add a little more chickpea liquid if needed - it is a great emulsifying agent and helps give the hummus its creamy texture.
• Scoop your hummus into a beautiful serving dish and before serving, garnish with a little olive oil, paprika and fresh parsley.
• Keep refrigerated and consume within 3 to 4 days of making it.
• If you want to store for longer you can freeze for up to 3 months. When you're ready to use it let it thaw through and then give it a good stir.

School holidays?
Weekend away?
Routine is no where to be found!
 
Here are some healthy snack ideas to help keep those eating habits in check when routine is not on our side and you still want to ensure your child, and you, have a balance of protein, carb and fat in your everyday meals and snacks. Grazing is nobody’s friend so even though you don’t have a specific routine let's keep the goal for the holiday period: to have as stable glucose as possible!

Here are some ideas and recipes to freshen up your holiday snack artillery.
 
Snack ideas:

• Biltong and dry wors sticks
• Orange slices
• Strawberries and or blueberries
• Nuts
• Egg Muffin Frittata
• Cheese blocks on a stick or give child tooth pick to stab the cheese and can add in some baby tomatoes
• Cut up slices veggies (matchstick carrots, cucumber sticks, peppers) with cream cheese, yoghurt and avocado dip or hummus – all depending on the age of your child and what they like to eat

 
Quick Recipe: Grain-Free Chocolate Brownies (Gluten Free)

Ingredients
1 cup almond butter
½ cup coconut sugar(brown sugar)
2 tbs milk
2 tbs coconut oil (melted)
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
½ cup cocoa
¾ cup almond flower
½ tsp baking powder
½ cup chocolate chips (optional)
Preheat oven to 180 degress celsius

Method
Pour all wet ingredients into large mixing bowl
Whisk together
Add dry ingredients and mix together
Bake for 22-25minutes depending on whether you like gooey or well baked
12 servings

Nutritional content with chocolate chips
324Kcal
19g Carb
24.3g fat
6,8g protein
 
Nutritional content without chocolate chips
277kCal
13.9g Carbs
21.6g Fat
6.1g Protein
* Recipe credit @cocobeanliving

​Quick Recipe: Tortilla Sausage Rolls
 
Ingredients:
2 tortillas
400-500g sausages (beef, pork or chicken)
1 egg
Tsp sesame seeds

Method:
Lay out tortilla
Take sausage meat from casing and lay half out on each tortilla lengthways across
Roll the tortilla up and cut into approx. 3cm slices
Lay out on a greased baking tray
Brush with egg and sprinkle teaspoon of sesame seeds on top
Bake in 200 degree celsius oven for 20-25minutes

Nutritional info per slices (5 slices per tortilla)
99kcal
3.7g carb
6g fat
4.1g protein
 
Quick Recipe: Yoghurt Bark

Ingredients
2 cups plain Greek yoghurt
1 cup strawberries

Method
Line a baking tray with baking paper
Pour 1.5 cups of yoghurt into tray
Add  ½ cup  yoghurt  to the food processor with the strawberries
Pour strawberry mixture into yoghurt in baking tray and use a spoon to make swirling patterns
Cut slices of strawberries on top for decoration
Freeze for 4 hours
Serves 4 people
(Can add honey for additional sweetness but if strawberries are sweet there is no need)

Nutritional content per ¼ tray
118Kcal
10.9g carbs
7.5g fat
6,8g protein

We're all for easy fixes, especially on those busy days! Here's a "no-fuss" and super yum sausage supper that's perfect for a busy week night, or a relaxed Friday evening meal. Recipe credit to @mykidslickthebowl

​Nutritional information per serving (serves 6)
447Kcal/ 38g Carbs/ 17g Protein/ 26g Fat (8g Saturated)

This recipe has many variations and features in our little family's weekly meal plan often for the simple fact that it is just so nice and easy to cook up, it staves off the hungry wolves and... it is simply delicious! Last night we deiced to make the "chicken-a-la-king" version of this dish. After a long days work, spending time in the kitchen is not always appealing but this takes about 30 minutes to cook up including prep time. In terms of what to dose for carbs, it really depends on the rice serving and how big the portion is.

We use the My Fitness Pal app to add in the recipe by entering all of the individual ingredients and then working out how many portions. The app will work out the nutritional information per portion including the carb value for you. It's a handy tool to use. We really recommend it.

Ingredients:

• a tablespoon of coconut oil
• some crushed garlic
• a chopped onion
• a chopped green pepper
• a punnet of mushrooms, sliced
• dried thyme and sage (go to herbs for chicken - remember that)
• 4 chicken fillets, sliced
• chicken stock, make up about a cup
• a tub of cream cheese
• seasoning
• rice (your choice based on low carb preferences), or a rice substitute (like cauliflower rice or quinoa)

Method:

1. We always start off by getting the rice going. Because the dish cooks up in the same time that it takes to cook your rice.
2. In a separate pan, melt the coconut oil and add the garlic, onion and green pepper to cook until onions are translucent.
3. Add the thyme and sage in with the sliced chicken fillets and the mushrooms. Add your salt and pepper seasoning in here too. Cook until the pink of the chicken has turned mostly white and then add in your chicken stock.
4. Let this cook for about 5 to 10 minutes before adding in the tub of cream cheese and allowing it to melt into the sauce. You can turn the heat down and let the sauce cook off a bit to thicken. When it is ready, and your rice or rice substitute is ready you can serve!

Here's a midweek quicky... You can choose how you would like to serve it, we normally pair this with a bit of sweet potato or butternut mash and a small salad. Otherwise, we make a whole bunch of these and keep them as lunch time snacks for our little warrior. There's really nothing to this recipe and you can literally have everything ready in half an hour!

We're rolling into March and we decided there is no better time to launch this new section of our website "Warrior Pantry". For our first recipe we thought we'd share something that is quick and easy, and really just perfect for whipping up as an easy Friday night or weekend dinner.

The yummy low carb crustless bacon & spinach quiche is super quick and easy and nice and low carb for Harrison. Just a note though, and we are trying to work out our doses (or timing rather) with this still, because of the amount of cheese, the fat content is increased and it creates a similar delayed spike as would be expected from pizza or lasagne. The quiche serves 8 and per serving there is a low 5,4g carbs.

Pair your slice of quiche with a fresh garden salad. Super filling and yummy!

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius.
2. In a pan, over medium heat, melt the tablespoon of butter, add the onions and bacon and cook until the onions are translucent.
   
3. Add the spinach and "sweat" them slightly until the leaves are wilted.
4. In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs and double thick cream until mixed.
5. Place the cooked onion, bacon and spinach into a baking dish. Then add the cheese and pour over the egg mixture.
6. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until you can wiggle the dish and the quiche doesn't shake in the center. Remove and let cool for about 5 minutes before serving.

Please give this recipe a bash and give us some feedback - whether its about how delicious it is, or what the effect on your sugar levels is.