Sugar-Free Coconut Milk Pancakes

My last-ditch attempt to lose weight before my wedding involves cutting out as much sugar as possible. A friend who has done this, and seen great results, recommended a book called I Quit Sugar by Sarah Wilson.  Sarah cut sugar out of her diet and says she has seen improvements in her weight, energy, skin and so on, and has published a book that is part explanation, part cookbook.

I liked the sound of these 'coconut fluff' coconut milk pancakes so I made them one day recently for lunch, and served them with stewed apple.

You need:
2 eggs, whisked
400ml can coconut milk
2 tbsp coconut oil, melted, plus extra for frying
30g coconut flour
100g buckwheat flour
3 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
50g shredded coconut

The coconut flour was expensive (£5 for a bag in Sainsbury's) but I plan to find lots of other recipes I can use it in.

These are easy to make: beat the eggs with the coconut milk and the oil, then fold in the other ingredients. I found the mixture thickened quickly, as the coconut soaked up the liquid, so added some milk. I'd recommend not leaving the mixture to stand and making the pancakes immediately.

Heat a little coconut oil in a frying pan and spoon or pour in enough of the mixture to fill the pan with a thin layer of pancake mixture. Cook until you can see the consistency has changed and the pancake has firmed enough to turn - you can either use a fish slice utensil or toss the pancake in the pan! Put to one side and cover with foil to keep warm and repeat.

I served these with stewed apple but all sorts of toppings would work. They tasted really good.

Review: Keep Me Strong Cereal

Last year I reviewed a new cereal called Keep Me Going; the makers, Freedom Cereals, have now sent me their second product, Keep Me Strong.

This is a far cry from the sugary cereals I used to like as a child and I think is more likely to be eaten by a health-conscious adult. This product is a high-protein, low fat multi-grain cereal which is also low in salt and has 'reduced' sugar (overall it's 10% sugar - many cereals contain three times that, they say).

The cereal uses whole grain brown rice rather than wheat gluten which is commonly used in other cereals, but which Freedom Cereals say is one of the hardest types of protein to absorb, with a low digestibility. Whole grain brown rice is much better absorbed by the body as a protein source though it is more expensive. Freedom is quite upfront about this and say they have experimented with a dozen protein sources and found this one was much better and tasted good. It does mean the Keep Me Strong cereal is £2.65 a box (at Ocado); they say a box contains 11 servings so that is only 24p a serving.

I found this cereal tasted quite nice and I thought it was better than the Keep Me Going product that I previously tried. I also liked the bright colours of the packaging while not resorting to cartoon characters to tempt kids. Most of all though I like the health benefits, as my personal trainer has been drumming into me for years that the most important thing to eat at breakfast is protein!

Thanks to Freedom Cereals for the product to review. All opinions are my own.

Flourish Wellness Mince Pies Review

January is a time when a lot of people make resolutions to lose weight, or eat better, or just be more healthy in general.

It's not just about dieting though - it's about living a more healthy lifestyle. Dr. Caroline Puschendorf of Flourish Wellness (www.flourishwellness.co.uk) also practises mindfulness - appreciating being in the 'now' - and has found this to have a positive effect on wellbeing.

I came across Flourish Wellness as Dr Puschendorf lives in the same village as a good friend of mine, and she shared a box of mince pies with me that Dr P had made. They were gluten free, egg free, dairy free and soy free using a recipe she has developed herself; she sold them to friends and at farmers' markets and now intends to make other gluten free and dairy free bakes and chocolates; you can get in touch via her site if you are interested.

I asked my fiancé for his opinion on the mince pies as he is more of a connoisseur than me! He said they were quite nice - and was surprised to hear they were dairy free - but said they were too small so the ratio of pastry to filling wasn't quite right. So there you go Dr P - bigger is better!

She pointed out to me though that this is the traditional size and shape - deep fill mince pies are a more modern invention - and added: "I took a lot of orders from people who didn't have any dietary requirements at all, but just thought they were delicious."

Caroline is qualified in nutrition, psychology and behaviour and has been through some challenging times in the last few years, leaving her very well placed to give advice on well being and how to devise a strategy to achieve your goal, supporting clients via email, Facebook or Skype between sessions. Which sounds like just the sort of thing you need if you are no good at sticking to resolutions!

10,000 Steps A Day? Ozeri Pedometer Review

I'm trying hard to stick to my diet and do more exercise in January - and for the foreseeable future - and I'm sure I'm not the only one. Exercise is an important part of my week - not that I enjoy it at all, but I go to the gym at lunchtime as often as I can, and see a personal trainer twice a week, and walk just over a mile to the train station most mornings rather than drive.

I wondered how much good that walk in particular was doing me and whether I am doing the recommended 10,000 steps a day and if I wasn't, whether making sure I got to 10,000 would help my weight loss. So I was pleased when I was offered this Ozeri 4x3 Razor Digital Pedometer for review.

The only pedometer I've used before was a very cheap one that counted steps every time I so much as breathed, or at least that's what it felt like. So I was impressed by how many functions and how accurate this one was.

It comes with a detailed instruction leaflet explaining things like how to set your stride length so the pedometer measures the distance you have covered in km as well as steps. You also set the date and time which is a great function- as well as telling you the time when you glance at it, the pedometer keeps track of how many steps you take each day. When you pick it up for the first time in the morning it has reset to zero.

The pedometer claims to be the world's thinnest and lightest and I barely noticed I had it on. It comes with a belt clip and according to the website also a lanyard though I didn't see a lanyard in the packet and now I read there was meant to be one I wondered if I missed it but I have now thrown the packet away! A lanyard would have been useful as I mostly wear dresses to work and had nothing to clip it onto other than my sleeve, where it looked quite obvious. My office pass is on a lanyard so I found myself wearing that around my neck and clipping the pedometer to it.

If you are on a bus or train or driving, you can hold down the 'mode' button to effectively pause the pedometer and stop it from counting steps when you are standing on a packed train trying not to fall over every time the carriage rocks (or is that just my commute?). That's a really good idea, but I found it hard to remember to press the mode button every time I got on a bus or train (I take at least two of each every day). You've also got to make sure you wear the pedometer somewhere that is accessible, e.g transfer it from your waistband to the lapel of your coat.

I also discovered that the screen isn't backlit so when I got into the car on a few occasions and it was dark I couldn't see whether I had held the mode button long enough (a little padlock appears after you hold it down for a few seconds).

I think this pedometer is streets ahead of a lot of others on the market, but technology has moved on so fast. I keep reading about the 'Fitbit' and similar devices which you wear on your wrist - which I would find a lot easier than trying to find somewhere to clip a pedometer - and which can monitor your heart beat, your sleep pattern and connect in with your phone to let you know when you have an email. Admittedly they cost a lot more but I do wonder if the days of the traditional pedometer - no matter how lightweight it is - are over. If you're in the market for a pedometer though (after all, a lot of people don't want complicated technology) then I would recommend this.

This was from the weekend where I forgot to put it on for half the day!
Other days I walked over 10,000 steps, honest!

So how did I do? I was pleasantly surprised to find that I was walking just over 10,000 steps a day on weekdays - on weekends it was rather less, but it didn't help that on Saturday I forgot to put my pedometer on until lunchtime! Again I don't think I'd have had that problem with a wristwatch style device as I always wear a watch. Now my challenge is to increase how many steps I take a day and see if it has any impact on losing weight!

Disclaimer: I was sent the Ozeri razor pedometer to review. All opinions are my own.

Monitoring Blood Pressure and Eating Right

Recently I was told by my doctor that my blood pressure is a bit high. Now, if she had said I had high cholesterol I would know what to do - cut out fried foods for instance. But my cholesterol is fine (really good, in fact) - it's my blood pressure I have to worry about.

The past six months have been pretty stressful as my boyfriend and I have just bought a house, but spent several months being messed around (in our opinion at least) by the owners, the estate agents and the solicitors. Now we are in our dream home, but having to redecorate it from top to bottom, which we decided to do all in one go before we even unpacked! So it's no wonder perhaps that my blood pressure has risen - on the other hand, high blood pressure - or hypertension - is caused by several things, and stress is not necessarily one of them. The main causes are:

• an unhealthy diet (in particular not enough fruit or veg)
• eating too much salt
• not doing enough exercise
• drinking too much alcohol
• being overweight

I am a fussy eater but do eat a reasonable amount of fruit and veg and my diet is by and large quite healthy - I'm more likely to choose a chicken breast or piece of fish with veg than I am burger and chips. I go to the gym at least three times a week and have a personal trainer, and walk to the train station on top, and I only have a glass of wine every few weeks if that. On the other hand I am overweight - quite annoying given everything I've just described above! I have a sweet tooth and as you can tell, do like to bake - though just because I make and blog about cakes and puddings doesn't mean I eat all of them! Even so, my diet could be better and I do need to do something about my blood pressure.

Salt is probably one of the key culprits in my case. Salt makes your body retain water which raises your blood pressure. The problem is, salt makes food taste nice!

There is a lot of hidden salt in processed foods like ready meals, and also things like biscuits and cereals. Again, I don't really eat ready meals or biscuits other than ones I bake myself so still no clue there. I do add salt to the water when I am cooking vegetables and if I don't, then I just want to add salt at the table. However, I am going to try an alternate - not using salt when I cook vegetables but adding a dash of lemon juice, or fresh or dried herbs, or a sprinkling of chilli flakes and so on when I serve the food. I will also make sure I look carefully at labels when I do eat ready made foods.

5 a day: I do need to eat more fruit in particular as I very rarely get my five-a-day (though I'm often not far off). If you have a sandwich for lunch and then don't have vegetables with dinner - e.g. if I'm having a pizza, as I don't really like salad - then it is hard to get anywhere near my 5-a-day. Other days, I might have fruit and museli for breakfast, fruit as a snack, and three types of veg with dinner. Definitely room for improvement, anyway.

Alcohol: I think I'm ok on that front

Exercise: again I'm doing about as much as I possibly can, at the gym three or four times a week, and of that, a personal trainer twice a week, plus walking half an hour to the station in the morning even though it means I have to leave a lot earlier. I'm not keen on walking home from the station though because it's up hill, but I might have to start making myself!

Losing weight: one of the reasons I plan my meals every week is to make sure I pick healthy options at least most of the time, rather than just come home and see what's in the freezer. I also go to Slimming World in an effort to lose weight, which has been going quite well lately because of all the redecorating we've had to do! Hopefully as my weight comes down, my blood pressure will too.

Monitoring your blood pressure is really important if you are concerned and it's vital to speak to your doctor rather than to try to self-diagnose. At the same time, my doctor admits that her surgery isn't the best place for me to take a blood pressure reading - I am a bit anxious and have also had a brisk 20 minute walk to get there (you are not supposed to take a blood pressure reading straight after exercise).

You can buy blood pressure monitors relatively cheaply to use at home and I had been thinking of getting one so was very pleased when I was contacted by Ozeri and asked if I would like to review one.

I was sent the Ozeri CardioTech Premium Series BP3T Upper Arm Blood Pressure Monitor with Intelligent Hypertension Detection. It normally retails at £119.99 but at the moment is available on Amazon for just £49.99.

I was a bit nervous about using the monitor and figuring out what to do but it's so easy. It comes with the four batteries you need, plus an instruction manual and smart carry-case. It took a matter of moments to set up, just adjusting the date and so on - the blood pressure monitor will store up to 60 readings by date, to allow you to see how your blood pressure has changed over time, and what's more it will do this for two people. You just select which person you want to test by the press of a button.

I don't like the way blood pressure cuffs inflate and do find my arm is squeezed almost to the point of being in pain; the Ozeri CardioTech Premium Series monitor is a lot more comfortable as it has some way of varying the speed at which the cuff inflates to reduce measurement time and increase comfort.

It also has an automatic irregular heartbeat (arrhythmia) detection and hypertension indicator, though luckily those didn't come on when I used it! The digital display is really easy to read and the whole thing is so much simpler to use than I was expecting.

As two people can store their readings I suggested to my boyfriend that he use it as well. He actually takes medication for high blood pressure due to previous health issues he has had. He has lost a lot of weight over the last year or so, as he's been doing a lot more exercise, and I like to think that my cooking has helped as that was around the time he moved in with me! For that reason, I've been nagging him to go back to the doctor to check his prescription is still appropriate but he's being a typical man and never getting around to it. He was quite keen to try out my new blood pressure monitor and was astounded by the readings as they were much lower than he was expecting. He's now making an appointment with his doctor to see if his medication can be reduced, which is great!

So for all sorts of reasons I think having a blood pressure monitor at home is a great idea if you are concerned about your blood pressure, though it is definitely not an excuse to avoid going to your doctor. If you do need to monitor your blood pressure though, I think it makes a lot more sense to be able to do it more frequently and in the comfort of your own home rather than once or twice a year at the doctor. I highly recommend the Ozeri CardioTech Premium Series monitor as it's so easy to use and also looks quite nice unlike the big contraptions they use at the doctor's!

 Thanks to Ozeri for providing me with the product for review. All opinions are my own and I was not required to write a positive review - if I say I like a product, then I genuinely do.