Love Nutrilov

A bunch of Nutrilov been sitting on my desk for quiet sometime, it was sent to me for tasting. These are some neatly wrapped and packaged granola bars. Hummm packaged food I am not fond of them, so well they kept sitting there.

However one busy morning, I just grabbed a pack of it in a rush while running to teach a very early morning class at University, yes no time for breakfast, and it is three hours stint, I know I cant go without food, so lets give this baby a try. Checked its label on the way; good! no artificial ingredients or preservative,  wow for 137 calories a bar it is not bad, looks like I am gonna eat it.

Munched on it during the class break and it tasted totally awesome a beautiful blend of nutty, earthy and mildly sweet flavour. The toasted oats, chocolate bits, flaked coconut totally yum, gilt free, healthy and filled me up until 3:00pm, when I got to eat my lunch well that is definitly good mileage.

I decided to do a bit of talking with the enterpreneurs who came up with this idea and of course I wanted to buy more, so were my cousins and friends since I had been bragging about it.

Madiha and her husband with therr passion for healthy food, had hard time like many of us health and fitness freaks finding nutrient rich delicious food easily. They realized that there is a huge market gap for nutrient packed healthy organic food in Pakistan. Most of us either create and cook our own healthy meals and snacks or just eat the available junk. Yes making great granola bar is a speciality with Madiha and with this perfect recipe she tarted baking them to sell, her husband very fondly named it ‘Nutrilov’ and did fabulous branding. This is mainly an online brand https://www.facebook.com/nutrilovpk.

I asked Madiha ‘why Nutrilove when the imported granola bars are on supermarket shelves”? I could not agree with her response, ‘most of these imported brands are laden with sugar and additives’.

 Nutrilov is a wonderful blend of rolled oats, real fruits, nuts, honey and brown sugar. Freshly baked and have good keeping quality, the pack says it is good for 20 days in refrigerator, well mine been sitting on office desk for a month and taste perfectly fresh. I tuck a pack of it in my purse all the time now, specially if I am somewhere where I don’t know when I get my next meal, like traveling, photo expeditions or on fields. Keeps me filled, gives me energy and is nutritious. Love on the go it is.

The brand got an overwhelming response and is a straight hit with whoever tried them. Each bar is priced at Rs. 100, and can be ordered online via Facebook page, also are delivered all over Pakistan. Nutrilov is also stocked at IBA campuses in Karachi, T2F, and are a regular vendor at the Karachi Farmer’s Market.

 Nutrilov is my new love!

Eggs the Nutritional Powerhouse

Poached eggs on sauted kale with roasted garlic seasoned with basil and chopped scallions

70 Calories in one egg  and packed with all 9 amino acids makes egg among the few complete protein foods

Getting more then 6 gm of protein containing all 9 essential amino acids and only 70 Calories from one poached eggs makes it an excellent complete protein food . Traditionally eggs have been notorious as high cholesterol food, causing blocked arteries. Most people prefer only consuming egg whites for protein as a step to healthy eating and ignoring all the goodness of its sunny yolk. 

Poached eggs on a multigrain wholewheat toast

The latest researches have completely debunked these ideas presenting whole eggs as power house for building and repairing every part of the human body. Besides protein one egg contains 4.7 grams of mostly unsaturated fat and significant amounts of vitamin D, antioxidant compounds and choline, a nutrient essential to healthy brain function. Amino Acids from proteins are what we need to make good muscles and fighting disease. Amino Acids provides all the nourishment that our tissues, cells, enzymes and brain requires. An egg a day is a very safe consumption and provide a good portion of the nutrients.

During my classes at the Natural Gourmet Institute of Health and Culinary Arts, I got to learn a lot of nutritional facts as well as serving eggs in the most healthiest way maximizing its benefits.

 Poached eggs served creatively as a breakfast or light meal option are great choice as against their counterparts; scrambled, butter fried, or omelete filled with cheese. 

How to Poach a Perfect Egg:

-fill a medium sized pan with water, pinch of salt, add a teaspoon of cider or red cooking vinegar and bring it to boil.

-break the egg in a small bowl

- lower the flame of the stove so the water is in a simmering state and still this water to make a swirl

- carefully and light slide the egg right in the middle of this swirl

- the water’s current will help the whites of the egg wrap around the yolks and the cooked egg will take the shape of an egg that is oval

-leave it to cook for 2-3 minutes and then using a slotted spoon take it out of the water and turn over on your toast, or vegetable.

Poached eggs served on a bed of fresh crunchy salad greens dressed with Mint and Pistachio Pesto

  Serving ideas:

Green and Sunny: Poached eggs over a bed of greens. Eating a good serving of garden fresh greens provides the boost of nutrients as disease fighting phytochemicals besides giving that feeling of satiety. 

The following are two of my all time favourite breakfast choices;

-Wash and dry or run through a salad spinner one cup tightly packed mixed greens it can be a mix of arugula, baby spinach, ice berg and lettuce or any one or two of these in-short whatever green and leafy vegetable you like and is available.

-       use the dressing of your choice, my favourite is homemade pesto, or an olive oil meso dressing,  or any commercially prepared low calorie dressing.

-       Turn the poached egg on this bed of seasoned salad and top with some freshly chopped herb like basil, scallions or coriander and freshly ground black peppers

2- Garlic Sauted Spinach/Kale

-       Sauté a small onion and 2 cloves garlic in olive oil

-       Add 2 cups of spinach or kale cover the pan and cooled until wilted , avoid over cooking

-       Add a pinch of salt

-       Take out in a plate before poaching eggs.

-       Directly put two poached eggs on top of a bed of sauted greens, and sprinkle freshly ground black pepper or cyenne pepper and serve.

 

Adding roasted tomatoes to your fresh greens and eggs adds that taste and variety

Spinach and Cottage Cheese Omelette;

 Spinach and cottage cheese filled omelette makes a great Sunday brunch.
 

Add salt and chillies while whipping the eggs. The rest of the vegetable Spinach+green onions add on top of the egg batter in the pan, the cheese chunks will go the last

 

Break 3-4 eggs, using only 1 yolk, and add salt and minced fresh red chillies and beat it. 

-Separately chop green onions, fresh oregano, and spinach and a few 1" chunks of homemade cottage cheese. 

Pour the egg mixture in a pan with just 1 tsp of butter/Olive oil to greese the pan

- Now sprinkle the greens and let it cook slowly, when it is set, turn it in a half moon. Let cook for another 1-2 minute and slide slowly on the plate. Serve with toasted wholewheat toasts.

Parfait- A Perfect Breakfast

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Mango Parafait

Parfait- A perfect healthy and balanced breakfast option every morning

People on the go, and busy in the mornings always tend to compromise on their breakfast and skip it. Some think missing the breakfast aids in weight loss, these are completely fad and bad health habits. In order to get our metabolism going, we must eat something within half-hour of waking up. It is the healthiest of practice to eat a full balanced and healthy breakfast every morning before kicking off your workday. 

Now the questions is what makes a breakfast; A breakfast that contains a good and healthy selection of complex carbohydrate, protein and some fruit or vegetable is all we need to make it nutritious and balanced.

Strawberry Parfait

When I am selecting food for breakfast every morning, the complex carbohydrate have to be something high fibre, one portion of good low fat or fat free protein, and some fresh fruits/vegetable packed with minerals, vitamins specifically phytochemicals and antioxidents. 

Of course being a working women, my mornings are busy checking all the emails compiled during the night from all over the world, organizing the meetings and the days schedule. Racing the clock to reach office by 9:15, yet ensuring everyone leave home with stomach full of balanced and healthy breakfast for the day. 

Fruit and yogurt parfait is an answer.
It is quick and easy, 

 nutritious, and  all in one bowl meal and keeps all of us going until lunch time without need for a snack or thinking about food. It has become  an all time favourite at my home, their presentation attracts the most picky eaters specially children and adolescent and people in hurry to be out the doors, they can grab and go a cup/bowl of freshly prepared parfait.

Parfait is a French word meaning “Perfect”, and traditionally used by most part of the world for a frozen desert made with cream, icecream, preserved fruits. I have eaten many variations of Parfait around the world, and my favourite are the United States and Canada, parfait that are made with yogurt layered with nuts or fresh fruits and when served at breakfast also includes some wholesome cereal.

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Pakistan is blessed with the bounty of nature in the form of a wide variety of colourful, sweet, juicy fruits. There are a good selection of mostly organically produced fruits available year round, and they dont event travel overly long distances to reach you. Including seasonal produce is an important  aspect of eating healthy. So, ideally choose fruits that are in season in your region, are fresh and ripe and not processed, frozen, preserved or imported.  

Peach Parafait

These breakfast parfait can be simply made with any most seasonal fruits zero/low fat yogurt, whole wheat cereal and some added fibre if you want

-       Fresh Seasonal Fruits: ½ Cup Season Fresh Fruits like strawberries or blue berry, rashberry, mulberry, banana, mangoes, peaches. I personally prefer using the fruits in season. However, I don’t use melons, or any citrus fruits the texture and taste wont compliment yougurt, beside citrus makes the parafait watery and very tangy.

-       Yogurt; use low or zero fat yogurt, I use locally available Adams or Nestle Acti Plus which works very well providing the protein and the very much required Probiotics. Avoid fruit flavoured yogut or the ones with jams or preserves in it, they only add that unwanted sugar in your meals and the empty calories. 

-       Complex Carbohydrate; you can select a couple of table-spoons of any whole grain cereal e.g museli, granola, wholewheat flakes, wheabix, cooked and cooled oats (I use steel cut oats), bulgar wheat (dalia).

-         Fibre:  add a teaspoon of any fibre that can be flax seed meal (I use that), physilum husk- Isphagol, or Wheat Bran. 

-       Nuts: I often toss a few slivers of almonds, or dried rasins, blue berries, raisins, cranberries as well.
 

Cherry Parfait

Layer these in a wide glass or bowl with the top layer always fruits. Children generally like the colorful fresh presentation, appreciate easy one bowl meal to eat before they climb the school buses and you run out of doors for office.  

Lychee Parfait topped with dried cranberries and blueberries