Well hello, 2016. As far as ‘resolutions’ go, I try not to make them. The threat of failure, coupled with the incessant nagging at the back of my mind that I must do whatever it is EVERY day, otherwise there’s no point making them, leaves me feeling downtrodden by the 5th January. Instead, I noted down aims to keep in mind as I set off into the new year, and made a resolution to not beat myself up if I forget about them for a day or two.
This year, I decided to focus on eating mindfully (i.e. not standing in the kitchen shoving whatever came to hand in my mouth without a second thought), doing one deliberate thing every day to reduce stress (yoga, meditation, turning off all screens by 10pm) and to move more (which, given my desk-bound job, won’t take much). The mindful eating has so far (10 days in) been the most influential, as I have noticed how much of the eating I do is a result of stress or tiredness. Just noticing this pattern and being aware of it has helped massively, and reminding myself that food isn’t always the answer. Usually, a cup of tea and a lie down is.
I noticed that I was getting blood sugar drops around 3pm each day at work, when it would feel like the world was going to end and the only thing that would get me out of this state was something insanely sugary. I spoke to a nutritionist friend, Ellen, about this, who said that the solution was not to let it reach this stage, by keeping my blood sugar level. To do this, she recommended eating every 2 hours or so (hallelujah!). But it was crucial that the snacks I was having didn’t contain sugar, so wouldn’t cause a spike in blood sugar followed by a crash. So, I made these flapjacks sugar free, using stewed prunes as a base (Ellen’s idea) and a bit of honey to help stick everything together.
For more information about Ellen and naturopathic nutrition, click here.
Makes enough to fill a 20x30cm tin
120g prunes, pitted
2 apples, peeled, cored and cubed
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tbsp honey
100g oats
100g millet flakes
100g whole almonds
50g butter
50g seeds (I used a mixture of pumpkin and sesame)
Preheat the oven to 180C.
Stew the apples and prunes with 100ml water and vanilla extract. Puree with a hand blender until blended, with a few chunks left. Add in the honey and butter, and stir until melted. Stir in the oats, millet flakes, almonds and seeds. Grease the tin with a bit of butter, and spread out the flapjack mix into the tin, pressing it down. Bake for 15 minutes, until starting to turn golden-brown at the edges. Leave to cool in the tin, then cut into squares.
Makes enough to fill a 20x30cm tin
120g prunes, pitted
2 apples, peeled, cored and cubed
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tbsp honey
100g oats
100g millet flakes
100g whole almonds
50g butter
50g seeds (I used a mixture of pumpkin and sesame)
Preheat the oven to 180C.
Stew the apples and prunes with 100ml water and vanilla extract. Puree with a hand blender until blended, with a few chunks left. Add in the honey and butter, and stir until melted. Stir in the oats, millet flakes, almonds and seeds. Grease the tin with a bit of butter, and spread out the flapjack mix into the tin, pressing it down. Bake for 15 minutes, until starting to turn golden-brown at the edges. Leave to cool in the tin, then cut into squares.A
