Healthy Dinner Ideas =)

Hiya to whoever is reading this,

This is part 3 of my healthy eating series, and i’ll link the other posts at the end. I hope these help you stay healthy, but as always, please eat a balanced diet and don’t feel stressed or upset if you do accidentally slip on the diet and spend the evening binge eating sweets and junk food, as it is good to treat yourself once in a while, but just make sure it doesn’t become a regular thing =)

(I’m really sorry, but the pictures are not mine. My hungry family ate the food before i could get any pictures of it!) =0

1) Chicken and Vegetable Parcels

These chicken parcels taste awesome and full of flavour! Feel free to experiment with different flavours though, and comment a picture if you try it out! This meal will serve 4 adults with one chicken breast each. Each portion contains around 158 calories, but is still nicely filling.

– Cut out a large piece of greaseproof paper for each chicken breast (in this case 4)

– Put each chicken breast onto the sheets and remember to wash your hands after handling chicken so you don’t pass on bacteria such as salmonella!

– Split one chopped carrot, 4 spring onions and 1 courgette between each of the parcels, sprinkle each piece of chicken with Chinese 5 spice powder, ground ginger, reduced salt soy sauce and ground black pepper.

– I suggest keeping the ingredients as compact as possible in the parcels so when you fold them up in this step, it’s much easier. Remember to leave no holes so the chicken doesn’t make a bid for freedom whilst cooking (i’ve seen Chicken Run multiple times and i’m not risking it!) XD

– Steam the parcels for 35-40 mins in a covered steamer

– DO NOT EAT THE CHICKEN IF IT IS STILL PINK! COOK IT FOR A BIT LONGER AS FOOD POISONING ISN’T FUN!

– Serve the parcels with noodles, pasta, rice, quinoa, etc. I served mine with sweet potato chips/wedges and it tasted so good!

2) Tuna & Sweetcorn Pasta Sauce

This recipe is awesome and any extra sauce can always be saved in the fridge and used at a later date! This recipe will serve 4 adults so adapt the recipe, but as i said before, if you make this recipe in full, it can be used for other lunches or dinner later in the week!

– Cook 300 grams of wholemeal pasta using the instructions on the packet and once cooked, drain away the water using a colander. Leave in the colander until it is needed later in the recipe. The pasta can be cooking whilst you are making the rest of the meal!

– Add some olive oil (or other healthy cooking oil/spray) to a large, non-stick frying pan.

– Once the oil is hot enough, add 1 average-sized red onion and 1 finely chopped garlic clove to the pan and cook for about 4-5 mins or until the onion and garlic is soft.

– To the pan, add 400 grams of chopped tomatoes (they usually come canned in most  supermarkets), 2 desert spoons of tomato puree, 150 grams of drained sweetcorn and 1 desert spoon of mixed dried herbs. Cook the mix for another 5 mins.

– The add 2 cans of flaked, drained tuna to the pan and stir for another 5 mins on a gentle heat.

– If it needs it, add a bit more olive oil, or a dash of water.

– Add the drained pasta to the sauce and heat gently until it is as hot as you’d like it.

– Serve to the hungry crowd (or yourself) and respond to the compliments with a modest “I know!”

3) Ham & Leeks Baked in Cheese Sauce

This recipe again serves 4 adults but is awesome to reheat as a meal throughout the week. Don’t freak out at the prospect of making a rue for the cheese sauce, it is easy as long as you keep stirring it CONSTANTLY! If you are making this for a group, use 2 leeks for every adult and 1 leek for kids or teenagers.

– Preheat the over to 200 degrees centigrade/gas mark 6

– Wash the leeks really well as they are always full of soil! Eww, gross, i know. Even peeling the leaves down a bit is worth it as even though eating a tiny amount of soil won’t harm you, personal yo’d rather not eat any in the first place XD

– Also cut the bottom of the leek off as well as a fair amount at the top of the leaves.

– Put the leeks in a saucepan and simmer them in water for around 10-12mins. Using a colander, drain the water away and let the leeks cool a bit (only for a couple of minutes though)

– Use 180 grams of wafer thin sliced ham, (the usual supermarket ones) and cut each circle in half. The wrap each half around the leek, try to cover as much of each leeks as possible but it doesn’t matter if it’s not all covered.

– Put the leeks into a baking dish. For obvious reasons it will need to be quite big, but also quite shallow too.

– Add 20 grams of unsalted butter (or low fat spread) into a non-stick saucepan and melt it on a high heat.

– Then add 300ml of semi-skimmed milk and 35 grams of plain flour (or cornflour) to the saucepan. This is where you STIR LIKE CRAZY OR LIKE YOUR LIFE DEPENDS ON IT! otherwise you’ll get lumpy sauce and it doesn’t look quite as nice.

– Stir constantly until it’s all mixed together and it’s thick and smooth, then add 75 grams of grated cheddar cheese and 1 teaspoon of mustard and keep stirring until it’s all mixed in. I also recommend seasoning it with ground pepper at this point but that’s completely up to you.

– Pour the cheese sauce over the dish with the leeks in and sprinkle 5 more grams of grated  cheese over the top. Make sure the cheese covers all of the leeks so no-one ends up with uncheesed leeks =0

– After 15-20mins in the oven, the leeks should be properly heated through and the cheese browning slightly.

– Enjoy with any side dish of your choice, pitta is quite nice with this too! =)

Hope you guys like these recipes and if you try any of them, please comment a picture of your yummy masterpiece! If you want to see the healthy breakfast ideas or healthy lunch ideas posts i did, then the links will take you right there!

Feel free to like comment and subscribe! And stay tuned for the rest of the series!

Luv

GeorgieGrl

xxx