How to eat for a less stressed life

Tags

a handful of nuts, a poor immune system, adrenal glands deal, almond butter, anxiety, bad stuff, balanced, banana, better balance, blood sugar levels, boost, brain, Broccoli, caffeine hit, Celery sticks with hummus, coffee, complex carbohydrates, cuts, desk, digestive problems, dinner, eggs, energy drinks, feel, fruit teas, goodness, green tea, healthy fats, heart, heart disease, hormones, kick start, lemon, lime, lunch, magnesium, magnesium deficiency, meal, meat, mind and body, nasties, nourishing foods, nutritious diet, nuts, off the scale, overwhelmed, porridge, protein, pumpkin seeds, racing, running low, salmon, satisfying, seeds, serious physical health issues, snacks, soothe, stimulants, stress levels, struggle, sugar free, sugary and starchy foods, sweet potato, tea, warmth, water, you are what you eat

They say you are what you eat, and this is so true when it comes to our stress levels.

Not only is stress linked to serious physical health issues like heart disease, a poor immune system and digestive problems, but it plays a significant factor when it comes to our mental wellbeing.

You might not know this, but eating a balanced, nutritious diet isn’t only good for your body but it’s key for your brain, too.

Food can also affect our hormones, so eating well will help you to keep your cool and you’ll find that the more of the right stuff you eat, the less of the bad stuff you will feel.

We have had a look at some ideas that could help you get a better balance in your life and help the world to look like a better place.

Keep your blood sugar levels steady
This step is so important and can be done if you start to swap sugary and starchy foods for complex carbohydrates, protein and healthy fats as these are more satisfying and keep things balanced. Sweet potato and broccoli (complex carbs) with salmon (healthy fats and protein) make a great meal for lunch or dinner and will not only fill you up but also keep things steady so your stress levels don’t though the roof. Celery sticks with hummus, a handful of nuts, and a banana with some almond butter are all great snacks that will keep stress away, and if you start your day with porridge, you are onto a winner.

Get your B vitamins
You might not know this, but B vitamins are brilliant because they help your adrenal glands deal with stress. Luckily for us, they are everywhere and in everything from wholegrains, eggs and meat to nuts and seeds. If you can try to eat more of these wholesome, nourishing foods, your stress levels will thank you.

Make time for magnesium
Magnesium is great for helping your body to deal with stress, it is thought that a magnesium deficiency can be linked to anxiety. If you want to boost your magnesium intake, it’s pretty easy – just pile your plate with broccoli, eggs, spinach and pumpkin seeds and if you are worried you aren’t getting enough, take a supplement and let the goodness calm you down.

Cut back on stimulants
We do take them on board so easily, that we forget just how much stimulants can make our stress levels worse. If you love tea and coffee because it powers you up, that’s ok, but try to have just one or two cups a day, rather than ten.

Those energy drinks, even the sugar free ones, are full of nasties that can make you feel as if your heart is racing and your stress levels are off the scale, so cut them out.
If you find yourself needing a caffeine hit, get it the natural way and go for green tea instead – it contains a compound called l-theanine which helps you feel calmer, and the warmth will soothe you but your stress levels won’t go through the roof.

Keep hydrated
One of the best things you can do for your mind and body, is to drink plenty of water. We know we say this a lot, but that’s because it’s true. Starting the day with a cup of warm water and lemon can really help to kick start your system and clear away the toxins from the night before. Carry a bottle of water with you on the go (a reusable one of course) and fill it up when you are running low, adding lemon, lime and ice for taste. As well as a glass on your desk or at your workstation, also try out herbal and fruit teas as an alternative to the skinny, double shot, extra hot flat white that will set your nerves on edge and add to your stress levels.

Managing your diet is key to helping with stress, but if you’re feeling overwhelmed and things are getting out of hand, it’s really important to speak to someone or seek professional support, you don’t have to struggle alone.

Team Pure Beauty

Soup To Nourish Your Body

Tags

5 a day, Asian Broth, blender, blitz, body, boiling water, bowl, carrots, celery, crème fraîche, crush, delicious soup, dried red lentils, eating, enjoy, fat free, flask, fresh, fresh thyme leaves, fry, goodness, ground coriander, gym session, heat, humus, leeks, lime, lump free, made from scratch, Nourishing food, olive oil, oven, pan, peel, pitta, quick and easy recipe, red chilli, red pepper., Roast Sweet Potato Soup, satisfying, silky smooth soup, small chunks, smooth, spring onions, steaming, stir, supermarket, sweet potato, tablespoons, tinned, tomato purée, vegetable bouillon powder, vegetable stock, vegetables, warming soup, wholesome, winner, winter, Winter Vegetable Soup with Lentils

If you are looking for wholesome, nourishing food that will feed your body this winter, soups are a real winner.

Yes, you can buy tinned and fresh ones at the supermarket, but there is something really satisfying about serving up a steaming bowl of goodness you have made from scratch.

Asian Broth
If you are looking for a light lunch option, you can’t go wrong with this quick and easy recipe that serves four.

You will need:
3 cloves of garlic
One piece of ginger (around 5cm)
200 g of pak choi, choy sum and Chinese cabbage
2 spring onions
1 red chilli
2 star anise
800 ml of clear vegetable stock
1 lime
Soy sauce

To make:
Peel and crush the garlic, then peel and grate the ginger. Trim the greens and finely slice the spring onions and chilli then add to a saucepan together with the garlic, ginger and star anise.
Put the pan over a low heat, add the stock, then bring to the boil. Gently simmer for around half an hour, then finally add the vegetables and cook gently until they are slightly wilted but still give a little bit of crunch.
Serve with soy sauce and a little lime juice and enjoy the fragrant flavours.

Winter Vegetable Soup with Red Lentils
This is a great warming soup to enjoy with family and friends after a country walk but also makes a hearty dinner when served with pitta bread and humus.

You will need:

85g of dried red lentils
2 medium carrots, diced
2 leeks, thinly sliced
1 red pepper, deseeded and diced
2 tablespoons of tomato purée
1 tablespoon of fresh thyme leaves
3 cloves of garlic peeled and crushed
1 tablespoon of vegetable bouillon powder
1 teaspoon of ground coriander
Boiling water
Salt and pepper to taste

To make:
Add the lentils and vegetables to a pan together with the tomato purée, thyme, garlic, bouillon powder and coriander, then pour in one litre of boiling water and stir well. Cover the pan and simmer for 30 minutes or until the lentils are tender.
You can either eat this as a chunky soup, or blitz in a blender and enjoy a smoother meal.

Roast Sweet Potato Soup

This delicious soup is a packed with 2 of your 5 a day and is perfect for taking to work in a flask or eating after a gym session.

You will need:
500g of sweet potato, peeled and cut into small chunks
300g of carrots, peeled and diced
Olive oil
2 small red onions, peeled and finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, peeled and grated
1 tablespoon of vegetable bouillon powder
100ml of fat-free crème fraîche, plus extra to serve
Salt and pepper
Boiling water

To make:
Heat oven to 220C/200C fan/ gas 7 then drizzle the carrots and sweet potatoes with olive oil plus salt and pepper and cook for around half an hour.
Heat two large tablespoons of olive oil in a saucepan and fry the onion until it is soft and translucent. Add the garlic and cook for several minutes then pour in the boiling water and vegetable bouillon powder and mix well and simmer for around ten minutes.
Take the roasted vegetables out of the oven and once cool, add to the pan mix and blend together until smooth and lump free.
Add the crème fraîche, reheat and enjoy.

Bake a cake and be happy

Tags

baking, beauties, butter, cakes, caster sugar, chocolate, cloth, cocoa powder, cool, creations, crisp, cup cake, decorate, drizzle, dusted, eggs, even, fab, firm, free range eggs, golden brown, granulated sugar, grated orange, greased, icing, juice, kid, lemon curd, lemon drizzle, marzipan, minutes, mix, mixed, muffins, pale, paper cases, paste, pennies, pink, recipe, risen, roll out, sandwich, satisfying, self-raising flour, share, sift, slices of lemon, smooth, Special, sticky, Sunday afternoon, supermarket, topping, traditional, unsalted butter, wire rack, yellow Battenberg, zest

There is something relaxing about switching off, putting on your apron and baking a cake.

Yes, we know you can buy them for pennies in the shops, but making a batch of muffins or baking the perfect sponge is one of the most satisfying ways of spending Sunday afternoon and eating your creations is pretty special too.

We are big bakers here at Pure Beauty and today we are sharing a couple of our favourite tea time treats with you.

We have taken the traditional pink and yellow Battenberg and put a twist on it. This chocolate and orange version looks complicated but it is simply two flavoured sponge cakes cut into strips and wrapped in glorious marzipan.

Ingredients:
225g self-raising flour
1 tsp baking powder
225g caster sugar
225g butter, softened
4 large free range eggs, beaten
2 tsp finely grated orange peel
1 tbsp orange juice
1 tbsp cocoa powder mixed into a paste with 1 tbsp hot water
4 tbsp apricot jam, warmed
450g good quality marzipan

To start, pre-heat your oven to 180C/160C fan/Gas 4.

Sift the flour and baking powder into a large bowl then add the sugar, butter and eggs and beat until the mixture is pale, smooth and creamy. Divide the mixture into two bowls then fold the orange rind and juice into one and the blended cocoa powder into the other.

Spoon the mixture into two separate square cake tins and level the surface, make sure they are greased and we go for an 18cm tin.

Bake for 25-30 minutes until the cakes are risen and firm to the touch.

Cool for 5 minutes then place on a wire rack and leave to totally cool.

Trim the edges from each cake then cut each cake into four even-sized strips. Use a little of the jam to sandwich two of the chocolate strips of cake with two of the orange strips and this will create one chequered effect cake – it looks pretty fab!

Roll out half the marzipan on an icing sugar dusted surface and create an 18 x 30cm rectangle. Brush the top of the cake with jam and press this gently onto the marzipan. Brush the other sides of the cake with jam and wrap marzipan around all of the cake and crimp along the top edges of the cake with your fingertips – have a clean cloth ready for sticky fingers.

Repeat to make a second cake and serve with tea.

If you are more of a cup cake kind of kid, then how about these lemon drizzle beauties? For a dozen you will need:

175g unsalted butter, softened and at room temperature
175g golden caster sugar
175g self-raising flour
1 teaspoon of baking powder
3 large free range eggs
2 tablespoons of lemon curd
If you want to add the topping, you will need:
100g granulated sugar
The juice and grated zest of one, organic lemon – they taste the most zingy – and slices of lemon to decorate

To make you will need to preheat your oven to 180C / Fan 160C / Gas Mark 4 and line a 12 hole muffin tray with paper cases.

Put the butter, sugar, flour, baking powder and eggs in a bowl and whisk until pale and creamy then gently fold in the lemon curd.

Put the mixture into the muffin cases and bake for 15-20 minutes until the cakes have risen and are golden brown.

Whilst the cakes are baking, mix the granulated sugar and lemon juice and zest together and drizzle a little on each cake a couple of minutes after they have come out of the oven, put a slice of lemon on each one, then leave to cool so the topping goes crisp and enjoy at any time of the day.

Got a recipe you love? Send it our way and we might share with everyone else.

Team Pure Beauty