Quinoa Jollof

I’ve always been an advocate for African food. When I decided to make 'healthy eating' part of my lifestyle, it was my mission to still eat the foods I enjoyed but just to find healthier alternatives.

Jollof Rice is one of my favourite dishes. Being Ghanaian, its something I grew up eating every week. For those of you who are unfamiliar with Jollof Rice, it is a combination of white rice, tomato, onions, scotch bonnet, seasoning and some form of animal protein (chicken or beef).

I decided to get creative and replaced white rice with Quinoa. 

For this delicious dish, you will need:

Ingredients:

4 tbsp coconut oil

1 large onions, sliced

2 x 400g cans plum tomatoes

1 red pepper, diced

4 tbsp tomato purée

¼ tsp cayenne pepper or chilli powder

1 scotch bonnett

1 tsp curry powder

1 bay leaf

1 tsp thyme

1 stock cube

2 cups of quinoa

salt and freshly ground black pepper

2 cups of water

1 tbsp grated fresh ginger

Method

-Heat the oil in your pot and add the onions.

-Blend the peppers, tomatoes,  ginger and 1 cup of water to form a smooth mixture.

-Add the smooth mixture to the pot, along with the seasoning.

-Stir and let it simmer for about 20 minutes.

-Once the sauce turns into a thick mixture, add the quinoa, stirring it well on a low heat. Let it cook for about 20 minutes.

-To tell whether it's cooked, you want the sauce to be fully absorbed by the quinoa.

Happy Eating 

G

Just Geens Brown Fried Rice

Ingredients

 1/2 cup prawns
 1 chicken breast (diced)
 2 cups cooked brown rice
 1 small onion
 1/2 cup of green peas
 1 tsp white pepper
 3 tablespoon coconut oil
 1 tsp garlic
 1 tbsp soy sauce (low sodium)

Directions:

-Heat 1 teaspoon of coconut oil in a large wok or skillet over medium-high heat.
-Add seasoned chicken then stir fry until cooked through and remove to a plate. (If using pre-cooked chicken, skip this step.)
-Repeat this method with the prawns.
-Heat remaining teaspoon oil in the wok then add peas and green onions.
-Stir fry until tender, about 2 minutes, then add garlic and cook for 30 more seconds.
-Add cooked chicken, prawns, rice, and soy sauce to wok then toss well to combine.
-Season to taste.

Plantain Lasagna

Plantain Lasagna

Ingredients:

-5 ripe plantains

-4 egg whites

-1 onion, chopped

-3-4 garlic cloves

-1 ½ sweet pepper (green, red, yellow)

-500g lean turkey mince

-1 ½ can of chopped tomatoes 

-4-6 tablespoons coconut oil (maybe more)

-Cottage cheese

-Season to taste  

Method

-Peel your plantains and slice them lengthwise into long strips, about a half inch thick which is usually 4 slices per plantain.  

-Heat 2-3 tablespoons of coconut oil in your non-stick pan to about medium low temperature.  Add the plantain strips and cook for 3-4 minutes per side; they will need to be lightly browned and soft. Drain them on paper towels.

-Lightly fry the peppers, onions, garlic and the turkey mince together until they are soft and then add the tomato sauce and your choice of seasoning.  

-Let it simmer for about 15-20 minutes.

- Place a layer of cooked plantain slices into your casserole dish.

-Spoon the meat sauce over the plantains and add a layer of cottage cheese on top

- Apply another layer of plantains and repeat the process.

-Beat the four egg whites and pour it over the casserole.  

-Let the eggs soak in for a few minutes and then bake in the oven for 30-45 minutes.  

Portion Control

So my mum always tells me I eat too much. My excuse and response is that I’m active so I need to eat a lot in order to keep me going. However, she might actually be right. I’ve been a serious lover of food from when I was a child and on reflection; I can honestly say that I’m quite greedy.

However, that’s all soon to change, because I’ve bought something that will help me adjust my portions.

Meet the Meal Measure …

This brilliant gadget is a plastic portion control guide that fits right over your plate. You can measure your protein, starch, vegetables and fruit for perfect portions. Each hole of the meal measurer has a 1 cup and 1/2-cup mark so you can adjust portions for your individual dietary needs.

What I really like about the Meal Measure, is the fact that you don't have to use measuring cups or scales to figure out just the right food portions for your meals. All you need is your Meal Measure, which will fit in most standard sized dinner plates. It’s easy to use, easy to clean and a handy alternative to an individual portion plate as you can use it to measure more than one meal at once.

The only thing I would say is that it is a bit over priced. I paid £15 for mine on eBay. Also, the product doesn’t come with any guidelines as to whether you should have half a cup or a full cup, but for me, a full cup is less than what I usually consume anyway, so it’s still been a massive help.
I ordered mine from eBay; however they also sell it on Amazon as well.

Using the Meal Measure has shown me how much I’ve been over eating over the years and although it’s a bit pricey, I think it’s a very good investment.  It definitely gets Just Geen’s stamp of approval.

G

GYMS KITCHEN

Gyms Kitchen – the UK’s first protein based restaurant.

They're definitely not lying; this restaurant is every gym go-ers heaven. Since it opened in 2012, I’ve heard nothing but good things. But word of mouth isn’t always gospel, so I decided to take a trip down there and try it out for myself.

My experience was nothing short of amazing. With fitness quotes on the wall such as “eat clean, train dirty”, pictures of the ‘fitness evolution’ and the weightlifting toilet signs, the restaurant's decor was impressive and it won me over, before I had even tasted the food. You can tell that a lot of thought went into creating the perfect atmosphere.

The menu was overwhelming, with so many options to choose from. Porridge, eggs, protein pancakes, wraps, sea food, smoothies anything healthy you can think of; it was all there. What I really liked about their menu was, not only did it provide you with the amount of calories per dish, it also listed the nutritional value contained in each dish, such as the fat content, the grams of protein and grams of carbs, which is pretty handy for a gym go-er, like myself.

As this trip was after a workout, myself and @bigboatstrainingroom were keen to fuel our muscles with as much protein as possible. For starters, we were served carrots and celery with homemade hummus. If you’re a hummus fan, then you’ll appreciate the authentic taste, in comparison to the store bought ones from places like Tesco and Asda.

For our mains, we decided to share the mixed grill platter. The platter was protein heaven and contained 268g of protein, split between both of us. The feast included Chicken Wings, Lamb Cubes, Chicken Cubes, Butterfly Chicken and, of course Lamb Chops, which we washed down with a Banana and Peanut Butter protein shake. The portions were generous and accompanied by a garnish salad and Gym’s Kitchen sauces. I wasn’t too fond of their chicken, but I would highly recommend the lamb. The lamb did not disappoint, they were perfect, succulent yet crispy and rightly seasoned.

To seal off the occasion, we decided to share their Protein Pancake Tower combo. The tower consisted of three different types of pancakes; Apple Crunch Protein, Banana & Chocolate Protein and Blueberry Protein. They were topped with fresh fruit and served with honey drizzle and peanut butter. The pancakes were a perfect way to end my experience and are a good alternative for those with a sweet tooth.

Overall, my experience at gyms kitchen was 10/10. The restaurant is a prime example that you can eat out and enjoy a healthy meal without having to restrict to a salad. Their nutritional balanced menu doesn’t hold back on taste and I would highly recommend this to anyone.

They currently have two locations:

Restaurant 1- 388-392 High Road, Leyton, E10 6QE

Restaurant 2- 376 – 378 Cranbrook Road, Gants Hill, Essex, IG2 6HW

For any non-east Londoners, I suggest you give either branch a visit. Trust me; it is definitely worth the journey.

G

How to avoid weight gain over Christmas

Christmas is only a few days away ecccckkkkk! Which can only mean one thing…CALORIES!!!

Personally, nothing sucks more than additional inches to your waist line after a Christmas binge. I mean, you didn’t work hard all year round, just to have to start all over again in the New Year, did you? Well I know I didn’t, that’s for sure, so I’ve come up with a few things to try and do over the festive period, to avoid unnecessary weight gain.

1. Have a weight maintenance goal

Let’s be honest, trying to lose weight over Christmas is just torture, so why not set your goals over the next 2 weeks to maintain your current weight. That way, you won’t be bothered if you don’t lose any weight and if you do, that will be a bonus.

2. The 80/20 rule

Aim to eat clean 80% of the time. The extra 20% will allow you enough room to enjoy yourself, without there being any harsh consequences.

3. Exercise more

Why not counteract the extra calories with more exercise.

4. Plan your eating habits for the week ahead

This is basically like planning your cheat day or cheat meal. For example, if you know that you are going to have to go out one evening and it’s likely that you are going to misbehave with your eating, plan ahead so you make the right food choices for breakfast and lunch or days leading up to that day

5. Set a date to get back on track

Aim to get back on track with your usual diet and exercise habits by January otherwise, you may find yourself leading up to spring still holding onto the extra Christmas weight.

6. One handful rule

When it comes to snacks, only have one handful.

7. Drink Smart

I think this is the most important one of them all. Christmas time comes with lots of alcohol and we often find that we drink more than we usually would. What people don’t really realise is the amount of calories they are drinking per glass. Alcohol tends to increase your appetite and interrupts your blood sugar levels, which is why people tend to crave sweet things when recovering from a hangover. Personally, I would rather eat my calories than drink them, but if you are going to drink:

- Eat a nutritious meal or snack with some protein before you have a drink as the protein should help stabilize any swings in your blood sugar level and should prevent you from craving sweet things.

-If you’re a wine drinker, opt for red wine over white. Red wine is better because it has higher amounts of the powerful antioxidants resveratrol, which is found in red grape skins.

- Choose sugar free or low calorie mixers for cocktails or stick to spirits.

-Drink water or low calorie soft drinks between alcoholic drinks. This will help reduce your calorie intake and will help reduce the amount of units you’re drinking.

So why not try these over the next two weeks and resume your normal routine in the New Year.

G

Mac & Cheese the Just Geen way

 

 

 Mac & Cheese the Just Geen way

Ingredients:

-Wheat pasta
-1/2 cup of low fat cheddar cheese
-Tablespoon of Cottage cheese
-Tablespoon of Low fat yoghurt
-1 Garlic clove
-1 egg
-1/4 cup of almond milk
-2 tablespoons of wheat flour

Instructions:

-Boil the pasta and cook it according to the package directions.

-Meanwhile, mix the wheat flour, cottage cheese, egg, garlic and almond milk in a small saucepan over a medium heat.

-Whisk in half of the cheddar cheese until its melted. Remove your source from the heat and then whisk in the yogurt.

In a medium bowl, mix the pasta with the cheese sauce and season to your taste( I use garlic, black pepper, white pepper, nutmeg and oregano).

-Pour the mixture into your dish and sprinkle the remaining cheddar cheese over the top.

-Bake for about 10-15 minutes.

 

 The Just Geen way tastes just as good as normal mac & cheese, but its lower in calories, lower in saturated fat and higher in fibre as whole wheat pasta keeps you satisfied for longer and low fat Greek yogurt gives you the rich, creamy texture of butter and cream, minus the fat.

So there you have it, Mac & Cheese the Just Geen way :-)

 Bon Appétit

G

Transformation Tuesday

So today's ‘Transformation Tuesday’ is dedicated to my mummy. She is my inspiration and living proof that getting into shape has no expiration date. She is 54 and has had four kids. After seeing my progress, she decided to join me on my journey and after a year, she has made this amazing transformation.

Most of her weight loss has been from nutrition rather than exercise as she ditched the oily African foods. Thanks to the help of @bigboatstrainingroom‘s nutrition plan, and my guidance, she has dropped from a size 20 to a size 16 on top, and a size 24 to a size 20 on the bottom.

Although my mum is lucky because she has me at her disposal to meal prep for her, and keep her on the straight and narrow, when it comes to her meals, she has worked really hard and has stayed committed to achieving her goals.

Her exercise routine is quite basic because she suffers from joint problems. She goes for brisk walks most mornings, in our local park, and does Shaun T’s ‘Hip Hop Abs’ and the ‘Brazillian Butt Lift’ DVD, three times a week. Although her exercise routine is not intense and does not consist of your typical cardio, she has managed to loose quite a considerable amount of weight, which to me, emphasises the importance of nutrition.

When they say weight loss is 70% your diet and 30% exercise, they are not lying. If she has managed to lose this much weight and keep it off without much exercise, imagine how much weight she could lose if she was to increase her exercise?

In my mums case, the focus has been on her nutrition and adopting a healthy lifestyle for long term results - which has clearly worked. She still treats herself to the occasional African meal but has adapted the way she cooks these meals. For example, she boils; grills and steams rather than frys her food, and these small changes have given her big results.

My mum is my inspiration and has showed me that it doesn't matter how old you are, if you put your mind to it, you can reach your goals.

So ask yourself this, if at my mum’s age she can do it, then what are you waiting for?

G

The Number Game

Ever stepped on a scale and freaked out because the number has increased by half a pound? Or do you weigh yourself everyday or multiple times a week to ‘keep an eye’ on weight gain? Well this post is definitely for you …

This happened to me this week. I’ve gained three pounds within the last four weeks.  But Im not upset about it *shrugs*, I’m actually quite happy. Why? Because I don’t let the scales define me and neither should you.

I think sometimes as females, we place too much emphasis on how much we weigh, to determine how healthy we are. We get so caught up on what the scales tell us but to be fair, the scales don’t really tell you anything other than your relationship with gravity.

If you starved yourself for 24 hours or went from a full head of braids to natural hair, you would definitively weigh less, but this doesn’t mean you’ve ACTUALLY made any progress. You could step on a scale and see a weight loss of several pounds, but this may not even be from fat and could be from water.

I used to chase an ideal weight I thought I would be happy with once I reached it. But to be honest, I was just chasing a magical number. Once I reached my ideal weight I still wasn’t happy and I just found other things that I wanted to fix or improve-so it just became a never ending cycle.

However, my mindset has completely changed. I’ve stopped focusing on how much the scale tells me I weigh and I’ve started to measure my progress in other ways. For example, I’m currently tracking my progress by monitoring my body fat percentage. 

Body fat percentage is the amount of stored fatty tissue compared to the amount of lean tissue in/on/and around your body. This number can be high or low; regardless of whether your skinny, fat, or in between. Remember, not all 5’5 women who weigh 10 look the same or have the same body type.

As you can see, she weighs the same in both pictures, but due to her dropping body fat and increasing muscle mass, she appears slimmer and more toned in the picture on the right.

I’m currently going through a shredding phase and the aim is to MAINTAIN and BUILD as much muscle as possible and focus on fat loss. I’m one month into my phase and within these four weeks I've managed to drop my body fat by 1% but I've gained three pounds. The extra three pounds doesn't bother me at all because it just means I've managed to lose body fat and build muscle-which means I’m on the right track to reaching my goals J.  As my aim is to get leaner, tracking my body fat percentage is the most accurate way for me to do this, but this may not necessarily be the case for everyone.

There are many other ways to track your progress such as progress pictures, how you fit in your clothes, how you’re feeling or even taking measurements. These methods will give you more of an accurate picture and won’t fluctuate as much as your body weight will on a scale.

So let’s stop obsessing over the scales and how much we weigh and focus on the bigger picture. If you feel good and are happy with how you look then playing the number game is pointless as numbers should not define you.

G

#MonthsOfShredding

 

So we had #MonthOfMadness and now we have #MonthsOfShredding. I say months because I don’t know realistically how long it will take, but I’m aiming for the end of the year to see some sort of difference.

As usual, me and my squad @bigboatstrainingroom and @jan885 are trying to see how much body fat we can lose in the next couple months  .

Fitness wise, I know I’ve got that area covered. I won’t be making many changes to my regime. I currently do constant steady runs and interval training. The constant steady run helps me stay in my fat burning zone, and the interval training shocks my body and prevents my cardio from being boring. For those that don’t know what interval training is, it is the best and fastest way to lose weight. It’s more about intensity rather than duration. With interval training you alternate periods of high-intensity exercises with low-intensity recovery periods and this increases fitness and burns more calories over a short period of time. I’ll still be doing my constant steady runs alongside my interval training to help me stay in my fat burning zone.

For example of interval training if you’re running outside or on a treadmill is:

• 30 seconds sprint/30 seconds recover

• 1 minute sprint/1 minute recover

• 2 minutes fast jog sprint/2 minutes recover

To make it harder you could make your recovery time lower:

• 30 seconds sprint/20 seconds recover

• 1 minute sprint/30 seconds recover

• 2 minutes fast jog sprint/1 minute recover

This can be done with any type of cardio –even with swimming. There is no hard and fast rule about how long your workout and recovery time should be. However, I always make my recover time less because it makes it that much harder. There are loads of other ways to do interval training and this is just one of them, but either way I hope you get the jist.

My main focus these next couple of months is nutrition! There is a lot of room for improvement when it comes to my eating. I'm aiming to reduce my daily calorie intake and before you get the wrong idea, this does not mean that I will be starving myself and eating less food. It just means that I'm going to be eating the same amount but I’ll be opting for lower calorie foods.

How am I going to do this? Well I'm going to increase my fruit and veg intake, but i'm going to be focusing on increasing my veg more than my fruit. This is because fruits tend to be higher in sugar and too much sugar can turn into fat-which is the opposite of what i'm trying to achieve. 

By opting for lower calorie foods I will be eating the same amount and saving myself some calories- and this is without even changing the quantity of food I've eaten.

Here's a list of some low calorie foods I will be looking to eat more of :

• Asparagus

• Broccoli

• Carrots

• Celery

• Spinach

• Kale

• Mushrooms

• Grapefruit

• Kiwi

• Cabbage

• Olives

• Apple

• Blueberries

• Goji berries

I haven’t set a target of how much body fat I want to lose but i’ll keep you posted every month.

See you in four weeks

G 

#MonthOfMadness

So my birthday present to myself was a trip to New York.

The annoying thing about holidays for me is that I always feel guilty for enjoying my holiday and not working out. So obviously I had to make use of my surroundings and workout whenever and wherever I could lol.

I'm gonna be honest, my diet was a shambles, I threw clean eating out the window and became the old Gina - the 11 stone 11 year old indulging in any and everything I wanted. The worst thing was it felt so good to do it and I didn't care about the repercussions!  You're probably thinking WTF but this was all planned.

Before I left, I had started to lose motivation and the drive to keep going hard-why? Because I didn't have a visual goal. I didn't have a beach holiday coming up or anything short term to work towards so going hard was getting boring, I wanted something to look forward to and I wanted a new challenge. Also, because it was my birthday month I was surrounded by alcohol, restaurants and endless cake.

So I said to myself, you know what, go on holiday, 'YOLO' and get it out of your system. I'm the kind of person where I need to feel before I hear so I knew I needed to see myself put on the weight to get that motivation to go hard again. It may sound silly but that's just how I work, I'm not scared of putting on weight because I know my body and I know how to put weight on just as much as I know how to lose it.

But I've come back, put on weight and have fallen in love with the gym all over again.

Funnily enough some of my other fitness friends are going through the same transition, so we've joined together to start a #MonthOfMadness. We all have individual goals, some are trying to bulk, shred, tone up.... you name it and for the next month we will be going hard like when we first began. If your on Instagram lookout for the #MonthOfMadness hashtag to see all the crazy stuff we will be up to.

I'm excited about the next 28 days and can't wait to share my results. If your up for the challenge, join in and hashtag #MonthOfMadness in your instagram pictures and lets go hard together.

G

Peanut Butter Punch

So I'm going through a nutty phase and for breakfast I made a delicious Peanut Butter Punch *licks lips*

Although peanut butter is high in fat, it contains good fats  which can help lower cholesterol and it is also a good source of vitamin D. It just has to be eaten in moderation.

To make this sexy drink, all you need is:

-a cup of milk of your choice (I used almond milk)

-1.5 tablespoons of peanut butter

-half a cup of crushed ice

-teaspoon of honey

To make it more filling, you can add a banana, half a cup of granola or oats.

When blending the ingredients together, add the peanut butter last so it doesn't settle at the bottom of the blender.

Try it and let me know what you think.

G