Disqus for Where Are My Knees

#RealJuice - 7 Day Juice plan with Philips and Madeline Shaw

Monday 27 October 2014

It's a big trend with A-listers to use juice cleanses to try and shed some weight and get glowing skin  but Madeleine Shaw (nutritionist who has worked with Millie Mackintosh and Louis Smith) says that having a juice a day alongside your regular diet can have lots of health benefits. There's no need to replace every meal with juice, you can have one a day and still see some big changes. - 'Juicing for me is a way of life. It's amazing how all of the goodness contained within a freshly made juice can fuel a workout, beat that afternoon slump or to help you sleep,' she said. 
Freshly made fruit and vegetable juice is packed with nutrients and a easy way to get your 5 a day but be warned 'If you are always on the go then it may seem like an easy option to grab a bottled juice. However, shop bought juices actually lose many of their nutrients over the course of their long shelf life due to the pasteurisation process. Plus they tend to be fruit-based making their sugar content 
higher,' As explained in my previous post I've been taking part in the #RealJuice Philips plan which encourages people to drink a juice a day. I was really looking forward to upping my fresh fruit and veg intake and juicing for the first time.



I've been following a 7 day plan created for me by Madeline Shaw and here are the flavour combinations from the first five days:

Madeline Shaw's 7 juice plan - Days 1-5



Monday: Glowing greens juice - 3 stalks of celery, 2 handfuls of spinach, 1 pear, 1/2 cucumber, 1 peeled lemon (or less according to taste), 1 handful of parsley

Tuesday: Pre-Workout juice - 3 carrots, 1 beetroot, 2 handfuls of parsley, 2cm of ginger

Wednesday: 4pm Pick me up juice - a handful of spinach, 5 romaine lettuce leaves, 1/4 a cucumber, 4 stalks of celery, 1 lemon, 1 apple, 2cm of ginger and 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

Thursday: Stir & purr sleep tonic juice - 1 green apple, 7 strawberries, 15 de-stoned cherries, 1/2 a cucumber

Friday: Watermelon cooler juice - 1/4 of a watermelon, 1 peeled lime (or less according to taste), 1 handful of fresh mint 




I was really worried about drinking the glowing green juice, I've never had a juice containing vegetables before and I HATE celery but the lemon and cucumber meant it was really refreshing and I actually enjoyed it. The green juice helps you get glowing skin as cucumber contains silica which maintains skin elasticity and pears contains vitamin C which helps fight free radical damage to your skin. I have to say that after a week of juicing my acne had improved slightly and I felt like my skin was less dull.


The Watermelon Cooler was definitely my favourite juice of the week, it was so refreshing and just what I needed after a long week in work. The smell of fresh mint filled the house and this is going to be something I make a lot in the summer.











I'm not sure that I would carry on juicing 7 days a week because some days I'm out 8am- 8pm with the commute, work and yoga but I'm going to make sure I don't waste any fruit and juice it and make a few of the glowing green juices a week because I noticed a big difference in my complexion after drinking those.  If you have any juice flavour combinations you think I should try please leave them below.

Philips and Madeleine are going to be hosting a Google+ Hangout Monday 27th October at 1pm. (TODAY) Madeleine will be talking about the Philips Campaign for Real Juice, giving her top tips on juicing and offering advice on how to incorporate juicing into your everyday life, rather than using it as a quick fix detox. She will also be able to answer any questions you have on juicing or nutrition in general, provide any advice you might be after so make sure you get involved. 

Paprika Chicken & Bacon Warmer

Friday 24 October 2014


I was challenged recently by Knorr to incorporate their fabulous Knorr Stock Pots into a recipe - the challenge was that it had to be gluten-free, much like their Stock Pots. They sent me a big box of lovely fresh ingredients, and left it up to me to decide what I wanted to make.

I decided to adapt this recipe to be gluten free and Weight Watchers friendly, and it worked a treat. This is a super tasty, super hearty, super warming Autumn dish... and it's low fat. Winner!

Paprika Chicken & Bacon Warmer
(adapted from here)

Serves: 4-6


400g chicken breasts (I used a pack of Sainsbury's mini fillets) - 10PP

200g bacon medallions - 6PP
800g baby potatoes, sliced - 15PP
1 tbsp cornflour - 2PP
Knorr chicken stock pot - 1PP
250ml white wine - 6PP
2 tbsp sweet chilli sauce - 2PP
Salt & Pepper
Smoked Paprika
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
1 onion, chopped
6 mushrooms, chopped
1 pepper, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
300ml boiling water, for stock
2-3 stalks of fresh thyme
Frylight

42PP / 11PP - 4 servings, 7PP - 6 servings



1. Boil a pan of water and par-boil your potatoes for 10 minutes. Drain and set aside.
1. Chop up your chicken and bacon (I always use scissors)
2. In a plastic sandwich bag, add 2 teaspons of smoked paprika, 1 teaspoon of salt and 1 of pepper. Mix together (I just shook the bag) and throw the chicken into the bag
3. Massage the bag from the outside until the chicken is well coated. To be honest, I think you could also just throw the chicken, paprika, salt and pepper into a bowl and stir it together too.
4. In a nonstick frying pan or wok, add the chicken and bacon, and cook until cooked through. You will probably need to add some Frylight and maybe a few splashes of water, to stop it sticking.
5. Remove the meat from the pan and leave in a bowl for a bit, then add the garlic and the onion into the pan. Stir for about 2 minutes, then add the mushrooms and cook for another 2 minutes. Again, you may need to add another splash of water to stop it sticking.
6. Add the carrots and peppers, sprinkle with salt and pepper and cook for about 5 minutes, stirring regularly.
7. Combine the cornflour with a splash of water to make a paste, then slowly stir into 175ml of the wine (I used a jug for this).


8. Add the Knorr Stock Pot to a jug of 300ml of boiling water, and stir until it's dissolved.
9. Add the flour and wine mixture to the pan, and then immediately add the stock. If you wait, it'll stick and your vegetables will burn. I speak from experience...
10. Pop the potatoes and the meat back into the pan with all the vegetables, stir to combine and increase the heat to medium-high until it starts to bubble. Add another sprinkling of paprika, your sweet chilli, a further 175ml of wine and some more salt and pepper.
11. Leave to simmer and cook down for about half an hour. If you can, cover the pan, but we didn't have a lid and it was fine - I just checked it regularly and gave it a stir to make sure it wasn't sticking.
12. Just before stirring, strip the stalks of thyme into the mixture and stir them in. Have a taste, add any extra seasoning you wish and then plate that bad boy up.



This is my last post here on Where Are My Knees sadly, but you can catch me at my personal blog, Essbeevee, which is full of lots of yummy recipes and chatter.

#RealJuice - Viva Collection Juicer

Sunday 19 October 2014

I've been taking part in the Philips campaign which promotes #RealJuice for the past week. They want to encourage people to add one juice a day to their diet which is much easier to stick to than one of those juice cleanses. I've had a little help with this challenge in the form of a Philips Viva Collection Juicer to play with and a 7 day juice plan to follow written by celebrity nutritionist Madeleine Shaw. Madeline has created recipes such as pre-workout, energy boosting and a hang over cure so there's a juice to help my body cope with any situation. 

I don't think I would have the time or be able to afford a juice detox, you need to drink the juice fresh so it doesn't lose any nutrients (I'm not going to take my juicer to work) and buying a large variety of fresh fruit and veg can be rather expensive. A one a day approach is perfect for someone like me who is new to juicing at home and who hasn't tried vegetable juices before. 

I've used my mini juicer for over a week now and I'm very pleased with it. I've been using a mini Viva design by Philips which is super compact and takes up hardly any room in my kitchen. 




The Philips juicer has QuickClean technology which means it takes less than a minute to clean, great for someone who is allergic to cleaning like me. With other juicers a lot of pulp fibres usually get stuck in the sieve, which makes it very difficult to clean. Thanks to the innovative QuickClean technology, all surfaces of the sieve of this model are smooth, which helps you wipe away the fibres with are a regular kitchen sponge. The round design and smooth surfaces without nooks and crannies also makes it easier to clean AND all removable parts can be safely cleaned in the dishwasher.
The juicer was very easy to use and the chute that you put your vegetables and fruit in is pretty big so I barely had to prep anything before juicing. The video below is a very useful to look at before you start juicing. Top tip, do not juice bananas and peel lemons and limes thoroughly before juicing because the white peel gets stuck in the juicer (I found this out the hard way and spent 20 mins fishing it out)


I couldn't wait to use my juicer but my fruit and veg delivery hadn't arrived yet so my first juice was made using whatever I had in the house. I opted for orange, carrot, lime and grape which was very tasty and just what I needed after a long day in work.


Keep an eye out for my post next week about the 7 day juice plan I followed, lots of lovely juice recipes and my thoughts on juicing. If you want to take a look at the juices I've been making check out the #RealJuice tag on instagram & twitter.

Are you a fan of juicing? Can you recommend any good flavour combinations?

My All Bran 5 Day Challenge Experience

Monday 13 October 2014

You may eat a very healthy diet but it doesn't necessarily mean you are getting enough fibre. A lot of diets promote a high protein intake and reducing portions so fibre can be really lacking from your diet which can lead to all sorts of issues. Many people suffer from symptoms of digestive discomfort such as bloating and feelings of sluggishness from time to time. In fact, research estimates around 40% of the population suffer from bloating regularly.Symptoms can often becomes worse when we are irregular and have a slow digestive transit time, which is where eating enough fibre, especially wheat bran fibre may help.

The recommended GDA of fiber is 25g per day and most adults consume only 12g per day which is pretty shocking. You can get half of that 25g allowance in just one bowl of All Bran and if you eat plenty of fresh vegetables you will soon hit the daily target. I eat crumpets for breakfast most days but opt for weetabix or cheerios if I'm in a rush so I was keen to try something new and I had five different flavours of All Bran to try so I knew I wouldn't be bored by the challenge I was going to undertake. 



My 5 Day Challenge experience

I took part in the 5 Day Challenge and I was shocked at the difference it made after only a couple of days.  I had Kellogg's All-Bran every morning for breakfast, topped with skimmed milk and fruit. I noticed that the increase of fibre in my diet made me feel great and far less bloated. If your normal diet lacks fibre, you will notice a massive difference in just a couple of days.


I had lots of flavours to try out and really enjoyed eating something different everyday. It can be so dull having the same old breakfast and this challenge definitely helped me to eat more fruit and mix things up. 


I had to make sure to drink 2L+ of water because for fibre to work effectively, it needs to absorb water. That’s because fluids help to form the soft, bulky mass that is passed through the body and turned into waste. Not enough water can lead to constipation and an uncomfortable, bloated feeling so make sure you drink enough. Water, tea, coffee, fruit juice, squash, soft drinks, vegetables juices and even soups count towards fluid intake.


Will I continue eating All-Bran?

As a healthy eater and someone following a diet plan, I usually include enough fibre in my diet, but I will definitely repurchase All Bran Original and Bran Flakes. As much as I loved the ones with added dried fruit they came in at around 9 ProPoints a bowl so adding fresh fruit rather than eating ones with dried fruit fits in better with my Weight Watchers plan.

If you want to take part in the 5 Day Challenge like me take a look at the All-Bran challenge page.