Ryan’s healthy recipes to try this week

This content originally appeared on Ryan’s blog ‘Endorhpin Stew’. You can read more great content at endorphinstew.com.

Fresh into my third week of meal prep, I already feel like I’m getting a hold on my old mindless spending habits, while also opening my mind to more recipe ideas that are both affordable and handy to have on the go.

Most importantly, though, I feel the recipes I’ve been experimenting with have been coming out even more delicious than the meals I was used to buying out and about before…hopefully it’s not just me who thinks so, however!

If anything on the list strikes you as something you’d like to try, go for it! And don’t forget to tell me how it goes by tagging your Instagram/Twitter posts with #endorphinstew. 

• Total cost this week: €47
• Average cost per serving: €2.47
• Unless stated otherwise, all products were purchased from Tesco Ireland.

Smoothie: chia seed yogurt and berries (4 servings)

Ingredients

• Large tub of natural yogurt (I used the gorgeous Glenisk range)
• Chia seeds, 1/2 a cup
• Tesco’s standard bag of frozen blueberries x1
• Tesco’s standard bag of frozen mixed berries x1
• Medium sized banana, x3
• A handful of any fresh fruit
• Almond milk, 1 cup

Instructions 

1. On the evening before you make the smoothies, mix the natural yogurt and chia seeds in well together. Pour the mixture into the base of four regular sized cups or jars. This allows the chia seeds to absorb the yogurt and expand overnight.
2. The next day, add into a high powered blended, the bag of frozen blueberries, half a cup of almond milk and one banana. Blend until you form a thickish mixture and divide it between two of the cups already containing yogurt. Garnish the top with some of your fresh fruit.
3. Repeat the process for the last two yogurt cups, this time using your bag of mixed berries, banana and almond milk.

Green purée and meatballs (3 servings)

Ingredients 

• A full standard bag of Tesco’s whole-wheat fusilli  pasta

For the meatballs:

• 488g fresh beef mince
• Eggs, x2
• Tblspoon of Dijon mustard
• Standard slice of wholegrain bread blended, x3
• Teaspoon of tabasco sauce
• 2 tblspoons of freshly chopped parsley

For the green purée:

• Freshly frozen peas, 1 cup
• Freshly frozen spinach, 1 cup
• Garlic clove, x1
• 2 tblspoons of freshly chopped parsley
• 2 tblspoons of freshly chopped basil
• Teaspoon of tabasco sauce
• Almond milk, 5 tblspoons

Instructions

1. Into a large saucepan, add your pasta, barely cover it with boiling water from your kettle and place over a medium heat. Stir frequently and drain when all pasta is soft and tender. Leave aside for now.
2. Add all of the meatball ingredients to a mixing bowl. Using a spoon or thoroughly washed hands, mix everything together very well and then roll the mixture into equal-sized balls. Leave them all on a side plate for now.
3. Drizzle a little rapeseed oil onto a large sized pan. When the oil is hot, place your meatballs onto it, cover with a lid and bring down to a low heat.
4. Turn your meatballs every three minutes and keep an eye on them until they’re all fully cooked throughout. Place aside.
5. To make your purée, boil your frozen peas and spinach together in a saucepan of hot water until they’re tender or microwave for approx. five minutes on a high power.
6. Place all ingredients for the green purée into a hand blender and blend well. Heat on a frying pan if you’re having it immediately, or else pour it onto your meatballs and pasta in a storage container, place it into the fridge or freezer and microwave before you consume.

Strawberry and Golgi berry protein bars (3 servings)

Ingredients

• Sesame seeds, 2 tblspoons
• Golgi berries, 2 tbl spoons
• My Protein strawberry whey powder, 3 scoops
• Honey, 2 tblspoons
• Vanilla essence, 1 teaspoon
• Almond milk, 6 tblspoons
• Peanut butter, 2 tblspoons

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven at 180 degrees Celsius.
2. Add all of the above ingredients into a mixing bowl. Making sure to thoroughly wash hands, mix it all right in together. It will be a dry mixture, but if beating it together becomes too hard, add more almond milk.
3. When the mixture is well bound, break it up into 3 blobs and shape into bars.
4. Place the three bars onto a baking tray lined with baking paper and bake for 8 mins, or until the outer surface of the bars is golden brown.

Aubergine lasagne (4 servings)

Ingredients 

For the lasagne:

• Aubergine, x4
• Pound of beef mince
• Salt
• 1 tub of organic tomato passata
• Red onion, x1
• Garlic clove, x2
• Mushrooms, 1 cup
• Bay leaves, x3
• Freshly chopped parsley, 3 tblspoons

For the cheese sauce:

• 2 tblspoons of goats cheese
• 3 tblspoons of almond milk
• 1 tblspoon of ground nutmeg

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven at 180 degrees Celsius.
2. Slice the aubergines into even, as close to paper-like portions as possible. Salt each slice on each side and place all, as loosely as possible onto a large sieve and leave the salt to extract the moisture for approx. 1 hour.
3. After this time, dab both sides of each slice with some kitchen paper to dry.
4. While you’re left waiting, chop up all your veggies and sautée them in some rapeseed oil until they’re all tender. Place aside when ready.
5. Cook off your mince, add in the veggies along with the bay leaves (remember to take them out) and your tomato passata. Leave on a low heat and allow to cook through.
6. Wipe the inside of 2 medium sized lasagne bowls with some rapeseed oil, and then layer the bottom with some aubergine.
7. Place your mince and sauce over the aubergine, line with aubergine, add more sauce and line the outer layer of aubergine with a small amount of sauce.
8. Bake for about ten mins.
9. During the ten mins, make your cheese sauce by adding the above ingredients to a small frying pan, mix until melted, add to the top layer of the lasagne after its ten mins of baking and then place back into the oven for another five mins approx.

Berry and seed mix (2 servings)

Ingredients 

These seed mixes have become an addiction of mine and they’re perfectly appetising the way they were. I said I’d mix it up a little this week, nonetheless. ?

• A handful of fresh berries (you choose)
• 4 tbl spoons of sesame seeds
• 1 tbl spoon of bee pollen (got this from Evergreen health foods Galway as seen in my first meal prep post)
• 1/2 a tbl spoon of chia seeds

Salmon with fresh red pepper sauce (3 servings)

Ingredients 

• Salmon fillets, x3
• Frozen green beans, x2 cups
• A full standard bag of Tesco’s whole-wheat fusilli pasta

For the red pepper sauce:

• Chopped red pepper, x2
• Freshly chopped parsley, 3 tbl spoons
• Ground cumin, 1 tbl spoon
• Sesame seeds, 2 tbl spoons
• Baby tomatos, x4
• Extra virgin olive oil, 5 tbl spoons

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius.
2. Sautée your chopped red peppers with the baby tomatoes until they become tender, place them into a hand blender with the rest of your ingredients and blitz. That’s as easy as making your delicious sauce goes.
3. Either boil your green beans in a saucepan of hot water or place directly into a microwave from the freezer for approx. five mins on high power.
4. Loosely wrap your salmon fillets into some tinfoil and bake for approx. 30 mins.
5. Into a large saucepan, add your pasta, barely cover with boiling water from your kettle and place over a medium heat. Stir frequently and drain when all pasta is soft and tender. Leave aside for now.
6. All you need to do is place the lot into a lunch box, seal it and enjoy it later on in the week if not straight away. 

As always, thanks very much for checking out this post today ? 

Until the next post,

Happy healthy eating,

Ryan. ?