Protein Packed Porridge – try our recipe

3rd February 2017

See below for the no nonsense protein packed porridge recipe:

Does porridge fill you up?

I know it should, but I don’t get it, because this week I tried it, I loved it, but porridge fell down on filling me up.

Of course I tried again when I wasn’t full and now I’m happy to share to save you time in trying as I’ve hit the nail on the head. This is a perfeclty simple but protein packed porridge that’s not only tasty, but filling and healthy too. Seriously, this breakfast was warming for these dark wintry mornings, and a comforting start to look forward to on waking.

To try it you will need:

INGREDIENTS –

*Measurements will differ depending how you like your porridge though, so have a play around with ingredients until you get it not too runny, not too thick, but just right!

METHOD –

Pop the oats in a bowl with 100ml hemp milk, the chia seeds and the milled flax seed

Stir it all together and pop in the microwave for 1 minute on a high heat

Meanwhile – or in fact before you heat the oats – melt the teaspoon of coconut oil in a pan

Core and slice the apple quite thinly, leaving the skin on

Add it to the pan once oil has melted |Add the cinnamon in on top of the apple

Add the almonds, seeds and maple syrup

Stir up up and make sure all the ingredients in the pan are coated in the sticky syrup and cinnamon mixture

Leave to simmer and the apple to soften for about 3-5 mins

Add the remaining 50mls hemp milk to the oat mix and reheat for another 1 minute

Stir the porridge, add half the apple mix from the pan on to the top

*You can then add the remaining mixture, or some more maple syrup, nuts or seeds of choice to garnish!

**Eat quickly while piping HOT**

For more protein packed recipes check our Instagram feed and share your creations with hashtag #nononsensenita. We would love to see your porridge creations and hear your ideas for any other protein additions and tasty toppings!

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Protein – bored of chicken and lentils?

2nd February 2017

What is protein? How much protein should I eat? How do I know how much protein is in my food? Which food has the best protein? I’m bored of eating chicken! Ok, well lets give you some alternative tasty protein rich foods to try!

What is protein? Protein is an essential building block in our body that is responsible for helping repair, maintain and build skin, bone, hair, nails and most importantly here, muscle.

Proteins are made up of 20 amino acids. 8 of these are ESSENTIAL in an adult diet – meaning we can’t produce them ourselves so have to get them from our food. (There are 9 essential for children, but that’s too much info for now)… For the purpose of this blog, we are concentrating on adult protein intake and how to get enough when training to support and repair muscle.

In fact a good thing to point out here is:

*EATING MORE PROTEIN WILL NOT GIVE YOU MORE MUSCLE*

*HOWEVER THE LEVEL AND INTENSITY OF YOUR TRAINING WILL DETERMINE HOW MUCH PROTEIN YOUR BODY NEEDS*

Makes sense right?

Food protein sources are categorised in 2 levels:

COMPLETE (ie contain all 8 amino acids) | INCOMPLETE (ie contain less than all 8)

These 2 categories usually fall into 2 food groups:

Animal proteins = complete | Plant proteins = incomplete

This doesn’t mean if you only eat plant proteins you won’t get all the essential amino acids you require, just that you should probably make sure you eat a good variety of them so one source can make up where another is lacking.

Are you still with me?

So how much protein should we have? How do we know how much is in our food? What about when training….? We will get to that, but for now (and the main reason this post was generated), here are my personal favourite high protein foods to add into the mix if you’re finding the chicken and lentil diet is getting a bit bland!

High Protein Foods to try:

1) EGGS

They actually have all 20 amino acids not just the 8 essentials, they are protein boss

2) CHIA SEEDS

Plant based, but have all 8 essential amino acids and honestly I cant recommend them enough, they go in everything and they fill me up – and you know that’s saying something! I use chiabia in smoothies, porridge, with granola and cereals, I make chia puddings, add them to overnight oats, they go in my energy bites, on salad, in with veggie ratatouille and with scrambled eggs – everything!

3) QUINOA

Its also plant based with all essential amino acids though. Bland, yes, boring, yes – it literally needs spicing up but do that and you’re all good.

Other high protein recommendations (aside from meats and fish and in no particular order):

4) HEMP

Milk, milled seeds etc check Good Hemp Food. Love their hemp milk in coffee – so creamy

5) BLACK BEANS

Known to be a bit more easily digestible than some other high protein beans

6) CHICKPEAS

Cos we all love hummus right?

7) SUNFLOWER SEEDS

8) PUMPKIN SEEDS

9) ALMONDS

And other NUTS and NUT BUTTERS including of course PEANUT BUTTER!

10) SEAFOOD

(Tuna), lobster (I wish I could afford it!), scallops, muscles ….

11) Be careful with too many soy products but EDAMAME BEANS fresh from the pods, in a stir fry on a salad are high protein, filling and refreshing (especially with mint too)

More high protein veggies:

12) PEAS

Yes the simple green pea is quite a high protein source

13) BROCCOLI

14) ASPARAGUS

15) KALE

16) SPROUTS

Don’t forget the dairy:

17) CHEESE (YESSSSS!!!!)

Keeping it low fat COTTAGE CHEESE is great and versatile

18) YOGHURT

Be careful to find a high protein natural yoghurt and not one full of added sugars though!

And don’t forget the wild card….. 19) BUGS are really high in protein! In facts INSECTS for their size are perhaps the most nutritionally dense source of protein out there. Although for now, I know I’d rather stick to the peanut butter….

How do you calculate how much protein you actually need? There will be a lovely graphic in the Newsletter with calculations for you – just pop your email address in HERE and I will make sure you get that.

How do I know how much is in my food? Well the easiest way is to literally Google – that is if you are using fresh ingredients.

**REMEMBER to look at the amounts you are eating the foods in though. Google tends to give you 100g worth across the board, but if you’re eating 100g of chicken that’s gonna be a very different portion size than a 100g sunflower seeds for example**

I’ve got you all a chart of everyday foods and their protein content which will also be on the newsletter HERE but you can ask Google for anything else.

What about just looking at the label? Yes you can of course read your food label for its protein content, BUT it’s not as simple as you would think. Unfortunately. Don’t panic, we’ve popped a little guide in the newsletter for you too. You can sign up HERE.

AND FINALLY: Want some protein packed recipes? Check our Instagram for ALL our recipes, the best ones will be on Facebook and in the Newsletter highlights too.

For more info / services / questions you can contact me anytime on info@nitakothari.com

All The Greens: Simple green smoothie recipe

14th January 2017

This weeks simple green smoothie recipe is below. Starting as we mean to go on using ALL THE GREENS! (All the green stuff we had anyway). There can always be more greens….

INGREDIENTS:

Spinach (fresh and raw, a good handful)

Avocado (1/2 a frozen one)

Cucumber (1/3rd)

Kiwi (1 whole fruit inc skin)

Apple (1/2 a fresh green with skin, no pips)

Ginger (about an inch, fresh raw ginger root – skin off)

Water (COLD 240ml or more to acquired thickness)

METHOD:

Chop all the solid ingredients to chunks (you might want to leave the frozen avocado out a bit so easier to chop and blend), then add to blender | Add a good handful of raw baby spinach leaves to the chopped ingredients | Pour over the water to almost cover | BLEND (in the nutribullet we blend between 15-21 seconds)

Things to remember:

Try and use more vegetables than fruits in your green smoothie. You don’t want too much sugar – even if its fruit sugar – at this time of the day otherwise you’re setting yourself up for a crash, a sugar slump, later on. Saying that – if you are starting out with the smoothie blending and/or you naturally have a ‘sweet tooth’ start mixing fruits and veg and gradually replace the fruit to get to a higher ratio of veg to fruit as your tastes develop.
Try adding a splash of apple juice to the blend if you don’t like the texture of the blended apple it can be something you will get used to, but it can be bitty and separate easily, therefore the juice instead will sweeten the green smoothie a lot and give a better drinking texture
You can always use more/different greens – you can blend up any green veggies in theory – how about trying another few of our favorites from the list below for your next simple green smoothie:

Nutrition Info:

In the green packed blend today you will find a huge vitamin C, antioxidant boost! This comes from the KIWI fruit, which will also provide a healthy amount of both soluble fibre (the green part) and insoluble fibre (the skin and seeds)
You will also be lapping up a good hit of vitamin A from the SPINACH (remember this is great for your skin, hair and nails)
Vitamin A is a fat soluble vitamin – so blending this with the AVOCADO, will help the uptake of vit A in your body, while the good fats (ie about 10g of monounsaturated fat in half an avo) will also help in lowering bad cholesterol.
The avocado will also provide more fibre and holds vitamin B6 again good for skin, hair and nails, while it can also provide positive effects on PMT and hormone control.
GINGER of known more as a flavouring, and really will spice up your smoothie, but its also known for its anti sickness properties. Its great for relieving nausea so if you’re suffering morning sickness, have a long journey ahead or are just feeling a bit queasy anytime ginger can help!

OK, well there you have it – the no nonsense nutrition, all the greens smoothie! Have a go and let me know what you put in yours… For more recipes grab our newsletter HERE and please share your lovely green smoothie pics and recipes with us via social – you can find us on: FACEBOOK | INSTAGRAM | TWITTER

@nononsensenita | #nononsensenita

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The annual GET FIT IN FEB is starting soon! This year we are extending the community via Facebook and will include healthy eating ideas, recipes, tips and tricks alongside the exercise and activity boosts!

Please register your interest via Facebook message or by signing up to the newsletter HERE and we will send you further details of this upcoming FREE PRIVATE FACEBOOK GROUP.

3 Basic Ways to Form Healthy Eating Habits

10th January 2017

This Tasty Tuesday its simple. Here are 3 basic healthy eating habits to try.

Are you getting slightly confused/a little overwhelmed this time of year with lists and advice on things we should do, not do, eat and not eat? 21 day detoxing, 30 day ab challenges, 14 day matcha tea drinking…..the list goes on….?!

Yep, me too. So how about remembering what we already know and actually just doing it? Taking action on our intentions to be the best we can.

A lot of us (me included) are embarking on a healthier lifestyle this January and eating well is a big part of it. That’s great, just don’t be too hard on yourself if by now – yes 10 days in – you think you have already broken all the rules/resolutions you set and you’ve totally blown it. Don’t despair if you’re bored, hungry and cant be bothered. Its ok. Its what we do, we are human.

How about trying the no nonsense way instead?

3 basic ways to form healthy eating habits we should all be able to stick to: Apart from saying NO to seconds and YES to salads, try these for a no nonsense way to bring on healthy eating habits this year:

Drink more water.

It will fill you up, aid digestion, and of course keep you hydrated. You’ve heard it before, I will say it again – the brain can easily confuse thirst and hunger signals, so a lot of the time you think you’re hungry you are actually just thirsty. Try a drink first, but remember to eat at regular intervals too.
Do not deprive yourself

Don’t stock pile for a binge. Remember healthy is about BALANCE. Storing up the junk food or only eating it at weekends is prolonging the pain as far as I’m concerned. Enjoy a little of what you fancy, do not label any foods good or bad and think about MODERATION as key. A healthy attitude to all food leads to better healthy eating habits.
Write down what you eat/drink.

Be honest and write down EVERYTHING you consume. Believe me, if you start this now at the end of the day/week when you look back over your food diary, you will either be proud or disgusted!

There you go – 3 basic, simple, no nonsense tips and tricks. Tried and tested and results seen every time. You see – they say there are no quick fixes, but there are 3. All you have to do it take action and follow them to create healthy eating habits this new year.

To find out more about how no nonsense nutrition can help you prepare and stick to your healthy eating goals, please email : info@nitakothari.com

Want to join us for further help, motivation, support and accountability?

Please register your interest via email here: info@nitakothari.com via Facebook message or by signing up to the newsletter HERE and we will send you further details of this FREE PRIVATE group

How Do You Milk A Cockroach?

28th July 2016

Cockroach milk.

You know they say cockroaches and Cher are the only 2 things that could survive nuclear disaster? Well today we discovered a possible reason why this is a good thing (the survival of the cockroaches, not Cher so much – although I love Cher)! And yep, that’s cockroach milk.

So “How do you milk a cockroach” could be a question we will soon be asking a lot more than you thought due to a recent study, that has found cockroach milk to be so nutrient dense it could be our best bet of a future protein source!

We seem to have a great fascination these days with dairy free milk alternatives and I LOVE most of them. You know I bang on about hemp milk, oat milk, almond milk etc and I have been using them (although I am not lactose intolerant, I am not vegan and I still eat lots of other dairy produce regularly) as I really enjoy the flavours, textures and the addition they make to my coffee and smoothies and ice cream making attempts!

While I’m not yet convinced cockroach milk will be my dairy free alternative of choice, there are some very interesting facts in this recent study:

Here is the research paper: http://journals.iucr.org/m/issues/2016/04/00/jt5013/

And the no nonsense explanation and conclusion is in this weeks blog – READ MORE HERE

Let us know what you think? Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Google+

Are you at Risk of Vitamin D Deficiency?

22nd July 2016

Vitamin D – The Sunshine Vitamin! Did you see our blog about it yesterday? Did you see the news and new advice from Public Health England? Have you seen/enjoyed/heated up in the sun in the UK over the last couple of days?

Well – this one is all for you then. Yesterday PHE gave us some new advice on supplementing our intake of vitamin D. D is a strange one as we get it not from the food and drinks we consume, but from sunlight we soak up on our skin. As we know (although hard to believe this week) we simply don’t get enough sun in the UK – and therefore we simply don’t get enough vit D.

Full PHE press release is here: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/phe-publishes-new-advice-on-vitamin-d

The advice from Public Health England was to take a vitamin D supplement during the winter months (Oct-Mar) to boost our intake, and that was especially recommended to at risk groups such as children and the elderly.

Yesterday a new recommendation was given, that ALL of us could benefit from supplementing and we could benefit by taking it year round.

But what does vitamin D do?

How/where do we get vitamin D?

Why do we need it?

And why a supplement and not eating the right foods to increase our intake?

Find out in this weeks blog, which includes the full press release from Public Heath England and the full study from SACN that this new advice is based on. Click here for Vitamin D blog

And please share your views on the new advice in the comments below or via Facebook and Twitter

Complete the Cook – week 2

30th June 2016

In this weeks Complete the Cook we have 3 product recommendations for you that will help you complete the 2 recipes below:

FLATBREAD TOPPER

Ingredients:

Garlic and parsley flatbread (1/3rd)
Fresh raw baby spinach leaves (a generous handful)
Green olives in oil, cooked red peppers and chilli (another generous handful)
Feta cheese chunks (we cut 1 slice from the block and divided that into 6 pieces)
Quinoa Salad Topper (big tablespoon full)
Honey (just a nice drizzle over the top)

Method:

Put the stuff on top of the bread, in the order as listed above. Enjoy!

FRUIT & NUT SMOOTHIE

Ingredients:

Unsweetened almond milk (enough to cover the fruit in blender)
Perfectly Imperfect Strawberries AS PER LAST WEEKS BLOG (large handful)
Frozen cherries (large handful)
Acai powder (heaped teaspoon full)
Chia Seeds (tablespoon)
Cucumber (1/3rd)

Method:

Add the fruit and chia seeds to the blender / Cover with the milk / Pop in the powder / Blend til creamy (find the consistency you prefer adding less milk, more chia for thicker and vice versa for more diluted) / Drink and enjoy with your breakfast or as a super boost snack!

You can find out about the products we used to Complete the Cook : HERE

And for more complete the cook recommendations and recipe rounds ups, tips sheets, nutrition, health and wellbeing info and lots more, directly to you – Be one of the first to receive our free newsletter: HERE

Remember we offer fully comprehensive weight management programmes and health coaching, so for more about what we do and how we can help you create your own healthy recipe and healthy eating plans, give me a shout on info@nitakothari.com if you’d like to find out more. We’d love to work with you to create healthy recipes using the foods YOU like so YOU enjoy them!

For a free, no obligation, consultation just get in touch: info@nitakothari.com

To follow us and share pics of your own smoothie creations or healthy recipes we should try, please comment below, or get involved via social media: We’re here:

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Portion Size?

26th June 2016

Bonus Q & A. This week you asked mostly about Portion Size. And ladies and gents – SIZE MATTERS. How many? How much? What weight? How many grams is that? How big a handful? Is that enough? Am I putting in too much? …..etc…..

You asked in relation to our recipes/ideas/creations. When sharing my ideas I need point out its usually instant so I can give you a list of ingredients, BUT I know, I don’t usually tell you how much to use, so I wanted to address this question of portion size firstly in relation to our “recipes” and secondly in general.

PORTION SIZE in our creations:

The simple, honest, no nonsense answer as to why we don’t usually include a weight or measurement is because

A) We don’t usually weigh or measure our ingredients. *

B) Because the recipes or ideas we share are usually a one off/first time/instant/this is what I just made and its great – kind of thing. So making it again could mean we use a different portion size of each ingredient or other ingredients!

C) Also, we don’t TELL you how much because we try to EMPOWER you to make your own decisions and creative choices when it comes to food. You might not like one of the ingredients we use, so you can try the recipe and leave that out/substitute it. You may love something in there, so want to include more. And that’s fine.

(* Can I just add we haven’t really attempted baking yet in any pro manner – baking will and does require more precise measurements and when we cross that bridge things may become more precise – for now a cup means use the same cup for all cupfuls in this recipe, a handful means your own hand size, table spoon is the one in the drawer next to the knife and fork, tea spoon is the one your stir the milk in with)

more “Portion Size?” …

Complete the Cook – week 1

23rd June 2016

Welcome to the first in a series of Complete the Cook posts, where we share our favourite product recommendations that work in what we are eating / cooking / blending and creating now! This is without money changing hands, no endorsements etc just what we use, find helpful, cheap, easy – what makes sense, comes in on budget, tastes good and of course is pretty healthy too! This should help you create your shopping lists if you want to try any of these no nonsense meal ideas too!

Full Complete the Cook blog CLICK HERE but here are the bones of it for you:

3 recipes this week:

Breakfast – with the “Straight Up” yoghurt pots from The Collective Dairy

Strawberry Salad – with the “Perfectly Imperfect” range from Tesco

Green Smoothie – with chopped mango chunks from Tesco

If you like Complete the Cook and you want more, or you simply want to get ahead of the game and receive more recipes, ideas, tips and cheat sheets etc just sign up to be one of the first to receive our new email newsletter starting this summer!

Remember we also offer personal, made to measure plans (online or 1 to 1) to get your health/energy/weight/fitness back on track, put a spring in your step, help you shop smart, budget, and eat well. We also offer fully comprehensive weight management programmes and health coaching, so drop me a line info@nitakothari.com if you’d like to find out more. We’d love to work with you to create healthy recipes using the foods YOU like so YOU enjoy them!

For a free, no obligation, consultation just get in touch: info@nitakothari.com and mention this post before the end of July!

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Seasonal Eats and Fresh Ideas for June

9th June 2016

Its time for an update on seasonal eats and fresh ideas for June!

Welcome to the summertime! In the UK, we have hit it – its pouring with rain, thunder and lightening and soooo hot you cant sleep or breath. Hay fever is here so we are all coughing and sneezing, eyes streaming and faces puffy! Yay – hello summer.

Although – saying that, the mornings are definitely brighter earlier and as long as its not shockingly bad weather wise, its light enough in the evenings to hit the pub garden after work for a quick pimms/gin/cider…..or get down to the beach for a few beers….Anyone?

So summer season is here and as well as the light and the beer gardens and the hay fever, I have been indulging a few of my favourite seasonal eats in the way of fruits and veggies that are great, fresh and local this time of year.

Check out this weeks BLOG for more info on seasonal eats, summer recipes and fresh ideas June, where we talk about whats good now, the easiest stuff to grown yourself and remember the importance of hydration in the summer months.

You can also join us HERE for our pick of summer cocktails, seasonal summer suppers (more seasonal eats!) and to keep our collective eye on this little beauty – our first grown your own attempt….

For more on hydration see our work with Nutrition and Hydration week /For top tips on growing strawberries this summer AND/OR grow your own tomatoes /More from us: just sign up or email

Category: blog

Protein Packed Porridge – try our recipe

Does porridge fill you up?

INGREDIENTS –

METHOD –

Protein – bored of chicken and lentils?

What is protein? Protein is an essential building block in our body that is responsible for helping repair, maintain and build skin, bone, hair, nails and most importantly here, muscle.

High Protein Foods to try:

All The Greens: Simple green smoothie recipe

INGREDIENTS:

METHOD:

Things to remember:

Nutrition Info:

3 Basic Ways to Form Healthy Eating Habits

How about trying the no nonsense way instead?

Drink more water.

Do not deprive yourself

Write down what you eat/drink.

How Do You Milk A Cockroach?

Are you at Risk of Vitamin D Deficiency?

Complete the Cook – week 2

You can find out about the products we used to Complete the Cook : HERE

Portion Size?

PORTION SIZE in our creations:

Seasonal Eats and Fresh Ideas for June