Happy Green Sprout

23/02/2024

My halloumi fritter recipe is finally live on my website. I highly recommend this recipe as a way to get more veggies and protein into both children and fussy eaters alike. They have 12 ingredients - great for getting a variety of nutrients and I recommend serving them with the tomatoes and avocado as pictured, or add them to your full English breakfast if you’re going all out. You can definitely add more veggies if you like, perhaps sweetcorn or some spring cabbage or kale.
Find the recipe here: https://www.happygreensprout.com/recipes/halloumi-and-vegetable-fritters/

30/05/2023

When we go out for Japanese food we always have to have edamame as a starter. An easy way to add veggies to a meal for the nutritionist in me, and very popular with all choosy eaters in our house! They also make an amazing snack at home. They can be a bit harder to source, but Woolies and Coles do both stock them in their freezer sections of selected stores and all you have to do is pop them into boiling water for 2 to 3 minutes, drain and then season with your favourite seasonings - just salt to make it simple or you can add fresh or dried chili, or some extra pepper or garlic if you want to get fancy.

Edamame are soy beans in their natural form and have been linked to many health benefits. They are rich in protein and have many vitamins and minerals. And recently I’ve realised an additional benefit as those perimenopausal symptoms start to hit home…they are also rich in phytoestrogens known as isoflavones. Soy isoflavones can produce estrogen-like activity in the body by mimicking the effects of natural estrogen. Phytoestrogens are plant compounds that have a similar structure to estrogen and can interact with estrogen receptors in the body.

During perimenopause estrogen levels in the body can fluctuate wildly and so by consuming foods that are rich in isoflavones we can help to relieve some of the symptoms, namely hot flushes, night sweats and mood swings.

Other foods that contain isoflavones include soybeans, tofu, tempeh, flaxseeds, sesame seeds, lentils, chickpeas, and certain fruits and vegetables like berries, broccoli, and kale. Incorporating these foods into the diet may help alleviate symptoms such as hot flashes, night sweats, and mood swings by providing a mild estrogen-like effect.

It's important to note that the effects of phytoestrogens can vary from person to person, and individual responses may differ. But I would say adding in some edamame beans as an afternoon snack or to get everyone eating more veggies, is a beneficial addition to everyone's diet.

30/05/2023

As part of my nutrition practice I've been researching a lot recently about menopause symptoms. For me, and most of my friends and colleagues of a similar age, it’s become clear there are so many women who need help during this period of their life, but they often feel there’s no help and have so little time or energy to discover what they can do to help themselves. Unlike pregnancy, there’s no guide called “What to expect when you’re menopausing”, and no organised mother’s groups equivalent.

This is a new specialisation for my practice, focusing on helping people transitioning into menopause, and helping them to feel themselves again. Everything from hot flushes and weight gain to depression, anxiety and joint pain, and many more symptoms can affect you during the menopausal transition.

To make sure I have everything covered I’ve written a questionnaire for perimenopausal and menopausal women, to find out what you’re experiencing, and the kind of information that might help you, during this transition.

The questionnaire shouldn’t take more than 5 minutes, and I’d appreciate it if you could fill it out if it’s relevant to you. You can find the link in my bio or checkout the link in my comments section.

Thanks!

22/05/2023

We’ve had this mandarin tree for about 8 or 9 years, but it’s really just coming into it’s own with bearing fruit! I just picked one and ate it for breakfast. So satisfying when you are able to grown your own food and know exactly what has gone into growing it.

02/05/2023

This is a great article on the science of chrono-exercise, the science of when we exercise and utilising our circadian rhythms, rather than the type of exercise that we are doing. Here are some of the big take homes:
- People who exercised between 8am and 11am are less likely to suffer from heart disease or stroke
- Women who exercised in the morning were more likely to shed abdominal fat and lower their blood pressure
- Men who exercised later in the day markedly reduced blood pressure, cholesterol and body fat.
- For men and women the optimal time for building and maintaining muscle appears to be later in the day
- If you don’t have much time, micro-dosing sessions of weight training (10-15 minute sessions, a few times a week) have been shown to be highly effective in building muscle.
Of course it’s better to move at any time, rather than not at all, but it’s always useful to optimise our workouts when we can, and looking at the time optimisation is one way to get more done, with less time.
Have you optimised your exercise routines, and if so, how?
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2023/apr/28/the-secret-to-getting-more-out-of-exercise-its-not-what-you-do-its-when-you-do-it?

Current science suggests that chrono-activity or adjusting our regimes to suit our body clocks, plus short, sharp workouts, are the key to a beneficial exercise routine

06/04/2023

Are you entertaining this Easter? Here’s my latest recipe just in time for you to try it out on your friends and family. It’s perfect for Easter entertaining, quick, tasty and nutritious. Throw all the ingredients in the food processor, whizz it up and you’re done. There are so many options for toppings too, if you’re feeling creative.

Chickpeas can also help reduce perimenopausal symptoms, because they are a good source of phytoestrogen, a plant compound that are capable of binding to oestrogen receptors and can replace some of the effects of oestrogen that is no longer being made.

Click on the link to see the recipe or drop a comment below and I’ll make sure you get the full instruction.

I love making hummus. It’s so easy to whip it up in the food processor and far more nutritious if you make it from scratch. By putting together real food ingredients and taking away the preservatives you’d get in a store bought hummus, it’s a bit of a no brainer and it only takes 10 minutes to...

01/03/2023

Yum! Healthy lunch choices can be made at the pub. Love it when I can get a poke bowl at the pub and eat 5 different veggies with some raw fish. I even had a bit of pizza to balance it all out 😉

25/02/2023

I realised today that I wrote this Healthy Snacks book back in 2021 during lockdown, and although I’ve shared it with some clients, I’ve never shared it with everyone on social media.

As a family, we’ve been using a lot of the recommendations in the book over the last 2 years and our snacking habits have changed significantly to more healthy options. Once I’d done all the research and had all these options layed out, shopping for snacks and choosing better options has been much easier. Hopefully it can help you too!

There are also some very delicious recipes that are nutrient dense and also filling for littlies, teenagers and adults alike. If you’re interested, you can download it here or if you’d prefer me to send you the pdf then DM me and I’ll send it to you directly.

In this eBook I’ve laid it all out for you - some inspiration for a variety of healthy snacks that you can grab on the go, straight from the fridge or pantry, as well as covering some delicious ways to pair foods that taste amazing.

25/08/2021

If you haven't heard, cancer diagnoses were down 40% in 2020 and that isn't because people aren't developing cancer. Late stage diagnosis is heartbreaking for many. I went to get checked out earlier this year due to having some unusual symptoms that just weren't going away over a few months. I was lucky to be given the all clear after my various different tests and procedures, but I also know friends that weren't so fortunate. If in doubt, please get checked out.

25/07/2021

These kale chips were a great discovery. Super easy to make, with very little prep, you can have some yummy nutritious hot snacks for the kids (big or little) to snack on in less than 15 minutes. I’ve converted non-kale lovers with this recipe and highly recommend giving them a go. They are great to make when you’re going to have the oven on anyway, for example when you are roasting some veg or cooking a casserole.

I also make them when I have a lot of hungry snackers in the house and I want them to eat something a bit more nutritious than normal - or just when I have a whole heap of kale left over from a recipe - I promise you there will not be any left after you make these babies! I usually end up making about 3 to 4 trays of them as everyone is happy to keep chomping on them in a never ending fashion...a fantastic snackfest.

These delicious snacks are just one of a few recipes that feature in my new snacking eBook, where you can great some great ideas about what to snack on when the hunger hits. You can download it by clicking on this link: https://www.happygreensprout.com/delicious-healthy-snacks-ebook/

18/06/2021

Ronaldo is my hero! Cutting out soft drinks and drinking more water is probably the single best thing that you can do to improve your health.

Cristiano Ronaldo’s removal of two Coca-Cola bottles during a press conference at the Euros has coincided with a $4bn fall in the share price of the drinks giant

13/06/2021