Clare’s Chicken Wraps

Some day’s you just want something super easy, non fuss, on the table in minutes rather than hours and this is when I reach for things like my Chicken Wraps, they are a favorite with my husband and children alike .

Clare’s Chicken Wraps

Clare’s Chicken Wrap’s

Makes: 4 servings

Preparation Time: 15 minutes

Total Time:  20 minutes

(if making my baked chips add 25 minutes for timing)

Food looks so much better in color , add lots to your meals

Ingredients

• 500g skinless chicken breasts
• 1ltr low salt chicken stock
• 1 yellow pepper , diced
• 4 tomatoes
• 4 spring onions
• 1/3 iceburg lettuces finely sliced
• large wholewheat wraps
• 1 pot of creme fresh / low fat cottage cheese
• Cracked black pepper
• 3tbs of French mustard
• 400g potatoes (if making the chips)
• 5tbs of tomato relish

PREPARATION

1/ Place the chicken and stock into a saucepan and cook on medium for 6-10 minutes, this will depend on the thickness of your chicken but always cut into the thickest part to ensure there is no pink color left , one cooked remove and shred

2/ Dice the pepper, tomatoes, onions and place in a large bowl, add the chicken, black pepper, half the tub of crem fresh , mustard and mix well

3/ warm the wraps in the oven/microwave for a few seconds, remove and fill with the chicken filling

4/ If making the chips, you need to peel and cut into large pieces, place on a baking sheet, add 1tbs of coconut oil and sprinkle with black pepper, cook for 20-25 minutes and serve with dip (mix some creme fresh with tomato relish)

Clare’s Chicken Wraps

Top Tip: These wraps are fabulous with egg and no meat, baked ham works great as does tinned tuna. Mix and match these to create many different options.

Thank you for reading you FABULOUS people

❤ Clare with the hair ❤

Clare’s Hot & Spicy Taco Potato

This is my take on one of the ultimate in comfort food, ‘Taco Fries’  yet its actually not all that bad for you when you swap the traditional greasy chips for 1/2 baked potato 1/2 roasted butter nut squash, use a low fat cheese and home made garlic and chilli sauce.

Clare’s Hot & Spicy Taco Potato

There are a few steps to this but one complete you will be delighted with the results.

Serves 4

Preparation : 20 minutes

Total time: 60 minutes

Ingredients

• 200g Butternut Squash, diced into chucks for raosting
• 200g unpeeled potato’s
• 50g low fat cheddar / mozzarella cheese
• 450g extra lean minced beef
• 1 large red onion finely dices
• 1 yellow pepper finely diced
• 1tbs coconut oil
• 1tbs cracked black pepper
• 1tlb grated garlic
• 1 hot red chilli, seeds in and finely sliced
• 1tbs of grated ginger
• 1tbs of Lemongrass
• 1tbs chopped fresh corriander
• 200ml of low sodium chicken stock

Clare’s Hot & Spicy Taco Potato

Sauces :

• 200g pot of natural no fat yogurt
• 2tbs chopped fresh parsley
• pinch of salt and pepper
• 1tbs grated garlic
• 2tbs red chilli paste
• 1tbs lemon juice

Directions

1/ Place the potato straight into a hot oven, no need to pace on a tray and bake until soft in the middle (this will take 30-45 mins depending on size) Place the squash on a tray, and place in the oven until golden on the edges and soft in the middle.

2/ Place the Onion, Garlic, Chilli , ginger, lemongrass and pepper in a large pan, fry in the 1tbs of oil until softened, add the mice and brown for 4-5 minutes, add the herbs, stock and cook until most the liquid has evaporated.

3/ Mix half the yogurt with the chilli paste and lemon for the pink sauce

4/Mix half the yogurt with the garlic, parsley, salt and pepper for the garlic sauce

5/ remove the centers of the potato and just gently crush, not mash onto your serving place, add the roasted butternut squash, mince and cheese and place under a hot grill for 1-2 minutes just to melt the cheese, add the sauces and enjoy!

TOP TIP: I love this with no beef , instead using mushrooms diced finely , this makes this very low in fat but still packed with taste, Try it and see just how how incredibly taste this is.

Thank you for reading you FABULOUS people

❤ Clare with the Hair ❤

Clare’s Poached Salmon with Zesty Greens

Day 2 is a very clean food affair with my Poached Salmon and Green main meal of the day:

Clare’s Poached Salmon with Zesty Greens

Makes: 4 servings

Preparation Time: 15 minutes

Total Time:  30 minutes

Ingredients

• 400g of Salmon Fillets
• 1ltr Vegetable Stock
• 1 lime zest and juiced
• 200g Broccoli
• 200g Green beans
• 200g Asparagus
• 150g Low fat natural yogurt
• Small bunch of mint leaves
• 3tbs Soya Sauce
• 2cm piece of ginger grated
• Pinch of fresh black pepper

PREPARATION

1: Separate the Broccoli in florets, Remove the very end’s of the Greens beans and the Asparagus, (save the ends for the poaching stock)place in a large pan of boiling water, boil for 3-4 minutes only and remove and plunge into cold water.

2: Pour the stock and vegetable ends into a large pan, bring to the boil and add the Salmon, cover and turn to med heat and cook for 5-6 minutes

3:Chop the mint, zest and juice the lime, place in a bowl with the yogurt and a pinch of black pepper.

4: Place the Soya sauce, ginger and vegetables into a frying pan and stir fry for 1-2 minutes, Serve straight away, place the salmon on top and drizzle with the zesty sauce

Enjoy x

Top Tip: This is great with Chicken, Quorn and Tofu , this is also suitable to eat cold the following day for lunch.

Thank you for reading you FABULOUS people

❤ Clare with the Hair ❤

Clare’s Warm and Zesty Thai Beef Salad

So today is day one of my 28 day, kick start 2015 Eat Clean plan and I want to start with something extra scummy, yet seriously low in fat and packed with goodness you might think we have yet to begin eating clean 🙂 If you think Eating Clean means eating bland, boring foods, well think again, I have 28 day’s of tasty, exciting meals that will have you thinking differently , Trust me!

x x Clare’s Warm and Zesty Thai Beef Salad x x

Today I bring you ‘Clare’s Warm and Zesty Thai Beef Salad’ and this is a hit with my husband, children and friends alike and it is one you will go back to time and time again. This works really well with Chicken, Tofu and Mushrooms also.

Fish Sauce, Honey, Coriander, Ginger, Lemon, Chilli and Garlic

Makes: 4 servings

Preparation Time: 40 minutes

Total Time:  55 minutes

Orange , Purple and White Carrots

Ingredients

• A bunch of Fresh Coriander
• 3-4cm Piece Ginger, finely grated
• 2 cloves of Garlic, grated
• 4 red chillies, thinly sliced, remove the seeds if you don’t want it too hot
• 2 lemons, use the zest and juice
• 2 tablespoons fish sauce
• 2 tablespoons of honey
• 6-8 mixed colored carrots
• 550g Sirloin steak
• 1 red onion halved and finely sliced
• 1 Cucumber halved, de seeded and  thinly sliced
• 1 cup of mint leaves
• Chopped roasted peanuts (optional)
• 200g Thai rice noodles

• 

  Trim your beef before slicing into 1cm strips

PREPARATION

1: Remove the leaves from the coriander and place in a bowel, place the stalks in a food processor with the garlic, chilli, ginger, lemon juice, lemon zest, fish sauce and honey, turn the processor on until all ingredients are mixed well and finely chopped.

2: Trim and slice your beef into 1cm pieces, add to a bowel and top with half the Thai mixture in the processor, leave the other half to one side as this is used to dress the noodles, salad later.

Marinade your beef for 30 minutes

3: Heat 1 tsp of coconut oil in a large frying pan, place 1/2 – 1/3 of the beef into this and cook on hot for 2-3 minutes, remove and cook the next 1/2 or 1/3 until all has been cooked.

4: Place the Thai noodles in hot salted water and cook for 8-10 minutes , drain and rinse in cold water, they will stick together if you do not do this. Steam the carrots above the noodles. They need no more cooking than the 8-10 minutes. Place the beef, noodles and carrots back into the large pan and heat gently.

The original ‘Super Noodle’

5: Place the Cucumber, coriander, onion, mint and nuts in a large bowel, add the warm meat, noodles, carrots and pour over the remaining Thai dressing and mix well, server straight away.

Top Tip; If you are making an extra portion for your lunch the following day, do not warm the meat and noodles back up until you plan to serve, it is also delicious cold, so if no heating options then no problem, this is just as yummy.

x Clare’s Warm and Zesty Thai Beef Salad

Thank you for reading you FABULOUS people

❤ Clare with the Hair ❤

Clare’s Amazingly Simple Beef and Broccoli

Yesterday we began the Super Foods Series and we began with our Greens, You all loved this post and I thank you for your emails and questions on this but what came from this was a lot of questions about Easy meals and idea’s to use more of these Super Foods. With this in mind I will add a recipe for each of the Super Foods, this will take time as my family can only eat so much :-), and here is today’s easy yet tasty, Clare’s Amazingly Simple Beef and Broccoli !

Claire’s Amazingly Simple Beef and Broccoil

Makes: 4 servings

Preparation Time: 30 minutes

Total Time:  50 minutes

Ingredients

> 2 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce

> 1 teaspoon sliced chilli

> 1 teaspoon cornstarch

> 1 tablespoon minced garlic

> 1 teaspoon grated ginger

> 300-380g lean beef cut into strips

> 1 cup of fresh beef stock

> I cup of Brown Rice

> 1 pack 250g fresh mushrooms, sliced

> 3-4 sliced spring onion / salad onions /green onion

>1 large head broccoli, separated into florets

Beef and Broccoil

PREPARATION

1. In a  dish or bowl, stir together the soy sauce, chilli, cornstarch, garlic and ginger. Place steak strips in the mixture to marinate for 15 minutes.
2. While the beef is marinating, bring to a boil a large saucepan of water and add the cup of brown rice. Cook for about 12-15 minutes (follow the packet on this as they can vary greatly), Once cooked drain and leave to one side..
3. Heat a large frying pan / skillet over medium-high heat. Remove beef from marinade with a slotted spoon, and place in the hot skillet, do not discard the marinade. Cook beef, stirring constantly for 1 to 2 minutes (this will largely depend on if you like your beef a little pink and the size of your strips, mine are 1/8 of a inch thick), or until mostly browned. add the sliced mushrooms and cook for a further 2-3 minutes, remove the beef and mushrooms and set to one side, Put the stock, spring onions and broccoli into the frying pan you removed the beef and mushrooms from adding a little of the marinade mixture to thicken a little, reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer for about 3 minutes. Remove lid and your broccoli will bright green and tender but still crisp. Add the beef mushrooms and rice back to the pan, toss, and serve.

Tip: This works with pasta, over sized baked potato wedges or with a nice green salad on the side.

Thank you for reading you FABULOUS people

❤ Claire with the Hair McCarthy ❤

Clare’s Scrumptious Grilled Steak & Sweet Potatoes

Dinner does not get much simpler than this!! Claire’s Scrumptious Grilled Steak & Sweet Potato: Here we grill some spice-rubbed striploin steaks and serve them along side some sweet potatoes with onions baked in a foil packet . Serve with steamed greens, green beans, spinach or whatever leafy green you like. 🙂 I made a little crème fresh with sun-dried tomato sauce to go along side, but if you are being super healthy, then leave the sauce out.

Makes: 4 servings

Preparation Time: 20-30 minutes

Total Time:  1hr

Ingredients 

• 1 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon salt, I leave this out.
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 2 x 8 ounces striploin steak, trimmed and cut into 2 portions
• 2-3 medium sweet potato, peeled and very thinly sliced
• 1 large red onion, halved and very thinly sliced
• 1 teaspoons coconut oil
• 1 teaspoon freshly grated orange zest

PREPARATION

1. Preheat grill to high.
2. Combine allspice, cumin, ginger, cinnamon, coriander, cayenne and salt (if using) in a bowl. Sprinkle steaks with the spice mixture and leave to rest while you get the sweet potato ready, mix the sliced sweet potato and red onion along with oil and zest in a bowl and coat all the pieces with the oil and zest.
3. Place two sheets of foil on top of each other (the double layers will help protect the ingredients from burning). . Spread the sweet potato mixture in the center of the foil in a thin layer. Bring the short ends of foil together, fold over and pinch to seal. Pinch the seams together along the sides to seal the packet.
4. Place the packet on the hottest part of the oven and cook for 20-25 minutes, if the slices are thicker this will take longer. Cook the steaks on your hot grill, turning only once, cooking for 3 to 4 minutes per side for medium-rare and longer if required Transfer to plates and let rest while the potato packets finish cooking. Open the packets (being really careful of steam) and serve alongside the steaks and greens.

Tip: For the Creme fresh sauce, all you need is half a tub of creme fresh, whizz up 5-6 sundried tomatoes, add some lemon zest, fresh black pepper and  combine for a super simple, tasty sauce to have along side many foods, works great with chicken and really good as a dip for chips.

Thank you for reading you FABULOUS people

❤ Clare with the Hair ❤

Oven-baked Fish & Chips (with half the calories of your traditional Fish & Chips)

A classic combination given a  healthy makeover by oven cooking the ingredients instead of frying. All the flavour with a lot less fat!

Makes: 4 servings

Preparation Time: 15 minutes

Cooking Time: 40 minutes

INGREDIENTS

• 880g of floury potato, scrubbed and cut into chips, (leave the skins on) for a healthier option use Sweet Potato
• 2 tbsp olive oil, for me it is Coconut Oil but you can use one of the lite oil sprays
• 50g fresh breadcrumbs, I use wholemeal but feel free to use breadcrumbs of your choice
• zest the peel of 1 lemon
• 2 – 3 tbsp chopped parsley
• 4 x 140g/5oz thick  white fish fillets (up or down the numbers depending on your requirements) this is based on 1 per person,
• 200g cherry tomato, I like to sprinkle a little black pepper onto these

I also like to add a green veg on the side of this but you can opt for your favourite and steam this.

PREPARATION

1. Heat oven to 220C/200C fan/gas 7. Pat chips dry on kitchen paper, then lay in a single layer on a large baking tray. Drizzle with half the olive oil , coconut oil or spray and season with salt. Cook for 40 mins, turning after 20 mins, so they cook evenly.
2. Mix the breadcrumbs with the lemon zest and parsley, then season well. Top the cod evenly with the breadcrumb mixture, then drizzle, with the remaining oil again using your option. Put in a roasting tin with the cherry tomatoes, then bake in the oven for the final 10 mins of the chips’ cooking time.

As far as easy goes this is way up there. it tastes delicious and needs very little attention while in the oven, this is one of my families favourites

NUTRITION

Per serving: 366 calories

• Tip , Healthy benefits

  We have halved the fat and calories of this traditional favourite by cooking it in the oven instead of frying, and even better again with coconut oil of your lite oil sprays. Although potatoes don’t count towards your 5-a-day, they’re a useful source of vitamin C as well as B6, potassium and manganese and if you opt for a sweet potato you have seriously increased the health benefits, Remember to add a nice green vegetable with this to make it a truly great family meal.

Let me know how you get on with this and as always if there is something you would like me to make, then let me know in the comments section below or via the contact me page.

Thank you for reading you FABULOUS people

❤ Claire with the hair McCarthy ❤

Turkey & Lettuce Wraps (Tasty yet very low fat)

Based on a popular Chinese dish, these fun wraps also make appealing appetizers or canapé when entertaining. There are flavoured with five-spice and are ridiculously simple to make. you can add diced tomatoes, mango, cucumber or red onions to mix this recipe up.

This recipe is based on 4 servings so double up or half down to suit your individual needs.

Makes: 4 servings

Preparation Time: 30 minutes (max)

Total Time: 30 minutes

INGREDIENTS

• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 cup brown rice
• 2 teaspoons sesame oil
• 450g 93%or better,lean ground turkey
• 1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
• 1 large red  pepper, finely diced
• 1 8-ounce can water chestnuts, rinsed and chopped(this is a standard size can)
• 1/2 cup reduced-salt chicken broth (shop bought or even better to make your own)
• 2 tablespoons hoisin sauce
• 1 teaspoon five-spice powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt (if you must, I tend to leave this out)
• 2 heads  lettuce, leaves separated, I use two as it is only the outer leaves that can be used here.
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh herbs, such as parsley, basil, mint or chives, (I use parsley, chives and mint)
• 1 large carrot, shredded

PREPARATION

1. Bring water to a boil in a small saucepan. Add rice; reduce heat to low, cover and cook following the instructions on the packet. Once cooked remove from the heat.
2. Meanwhile, heat oil in a large nonstick pan over medium-high heat( I use coconut oil here). Add turkey and ginger; cook, separating the mince with a wooden spoon, until the turkey is cooked through, about 4-6 minutes. Stir in the cooked rice,  pepper, water chestnuts, broth, hoisin sauce, five-spice powder and salt; cook until heated through, about 1 minute.
3. To serve, divide lettuce leaves among plates, spoon some of the turkey mixture into each leaf, top with herbs and carrot and roll into wraps.

TIPS & NOTES

• Make Ahead Tip: Prepare the filling (through Step 2), cover and refrigerate for up to 1 day. Serve cold or reheat.

• Notes: Hoisin sauce is a spicy, sweet sauce made from soybeans, chiles, garlic and spices. It will keep in the refrigerator for at least a year.
• Often a blend of cinnamon, cloves, fennel seed, star anise and Szechuan peppercorns, five-spice powder was originally considered a cure-all miracle blend encompassing the five elements (sour, bitter, sweet, pungent, salty). Look for it in the supermarket spice section.

Per serving: 276 calories; 11 g fat (based on 6 leaves per person and the above quantities being divided into four portions)

Let me know how you get on making these and if you have any food’s you would like me to create a recipe for then get in touch and I will do my best for you x

Thank you for reading you FABULOUS people

❤ Claire with the hair McCarthy ❤