Quick Healthy Recipes For You

Archive for the ‘Biscuits & Afters’ Category

Home made Hummus with toasted pita bread sprinkled with herbs and cheese and pineapple or cheese and gherkin bites on toothpicks

Today I had two invitations and was invited to take a plate - bring something festive they said ! I had done the obvious, club sandwiches, asparagus rolls, sausage rolls to death and I wanted a new twist and it had to be quick, easy, preferably healthy and look fantastic and delicious.

Go here to find 100 healthy raw snacks and treats

Since one of the occasions was an exercise class I didn’t want to take a plate of something we would all spend the next ten sessions working off and the other was a creative fiber group so it need to at least look artistic.

After a rethink here are some quick ideas for a festive occasion finger food that won’t involve slaving over a hot stove, can be prepared fast and will look great too – just remember its how you present it that makes or breaks it and you can get away with almost anything if it looks amazing.

Tooth pick pix:

Freshly sliced Brie cheese and slices of pear

Cocktail onions and cheese

Chunks of Pineapple and cheddar cheese

Polish garlic sausage and cheese

Apricots spread with cream cheese decorated with an almond

Ham and cheese roll ups secured with a tooth pick

Ham (or bacon if you want to cook !) roll up with a prune inside

Asparagus rolled in ham or any sliced meat

Chunky slices of chicken with sliced mango (or other fruit of your choice)

Creative Platters can go down a treat

Try a selection of various sliced meat, fruit, artichokes, curried eggs

Cheese straws with a dip – tomato dip goes extra well with this or an onion and cheese dip

Corn chips and a dip – a very quick dip is yogurt, sweet chilli sauce and a dash of pepper, or yogurt with chopped gherkins, or avocado with a dash of sweet chilli sauce, or avocado, lemon juice, salt and pepper – try some curry in it to give a kick, even non avocado lovers like this one.

Dates, sliced oranges, tropical fruits and some cheese slices

Lettuce “rolls” with a selection of what you have on hand, examples, cottage cheese, brie, sliced meat, artichokes

Go here to find 100 healthy raw snacks and treats

Crostini – you can go mad with a choice of spreads the most basic is olive oil and garlic, to any number of additions, we love smashed up tomato on top of the olive oil and garlic with fresh chopped basil.

Mini pizzas either make these very small individual ones or one large oblong one and cut into bite sized pieces.

Pita bread toasted or grilled with grated parmesan cheese or alternatively slice the pita bread into triangles and spray with olive oil and sprinkle with herbs before grilling.

Make your servings bite size and leave a supply of toothpicks to self serve and have some festive paper cocktail serviettes on hand. I like to serve my platters with fresh flowers or herbs and if you arrange them creatively then almost any combination will look mouthwatering.

For more cool ideas go to the Healthy Urban Kitchen

Simple and easy to make Anzac Biscuits

Worried about additives and extras in store bought biscuits ?

Careful diet and watching your health doesn’t mean you have to forgo any treats and today I had the urge to make something to nibble with our cuppa and for afters and discovered this really, really easy Biscuit recipe on the back of our Rolled Oats packet and thought it was too good to keep to myself. Read more and get the free recipe Read the rest of this entry »

Do you whip down to the takeaway and buy some heavy, greasy and indigestible food that you later wish you’d not eaten ?

Here is a delicious easy to prepare meal that can be made quickly and is adaptable enough to switch ingredients depending on what is in the cupboard at the time.

This Butter Chicken dish that will melt in your mouth and is so delicious it will have even takeaway fans begging for more so make plenty.

• Butter Chicken Recipe
• 4 teaspoons butter ( or use low fat spread if you prefer)
• 480 grams chicken cut into small pieces
• 1 large onion, chopped finely
• 1 clove crushed garlic
• 2 teaspoons grated root ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon each of chili powder, tumeric, cinnamon, garam masala
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1 cup mushrooms sliced (or switch to something else like slice peppers)
• 1/2 cup water
• salt and ground black pepper

Method

1. Melt butter and saute the chicken, onion and garlic until the chicken is cooked.
2. Add ginger, chili, tumeric, cinnamon and garam masala
3. Cook gently for 5 minutes
4. Add tomato paste, mushrooms, water, salt and pepper and simmer another 5 minutes until sauce has thickened.

Variations: add beans, or spring onions, switch the mushrooms for something else like asparagus, peas. Stir through some yogurt just before serving or sprinkle some herbs or parsley over – your choice.

This is a recipe we make often and it tastes deliciously different every time we make it according to what is in the pantry at the time and as you see from the photo, we have used peas not mushrooms this time.

The aroma of this dish cooking is enough to tempt the most die hard takeaway addict !

For more recipes and lifestyle ideas for vibrant health and fat loss click here

Vegetarian recipes and treats for afters click here