Beans Beans are good for your heart!!!

What a totally pants day weather wise, after the beautiful day we had yesterday, today was just miserable, pouring with rain, cold and grey, not a great start to Autumn.

But I didn't let it dampen my spirits.  I was up and out of bed nice and early for a Sunday, if I lay in bed too long I get a headache, unlike my husband who could lay there all day if I let him!

Whilst he slept, I did some yoga, some kettlebells and some bosu ball workouts.  Then I simply plugged myself into my Ipod, turned my music up loud and danced around the house downstairs like a complete crazy loon for a good 45 minutes, without any inhibitions.

You know what I noticed more than anything? I have sooooo much more energy now, and stamina. I danced and danced and danced, pausing briefly every now and then for a quick drink.  I incorporated squats, lunges, weights and stretches into my dances, working all of my body.  I used to be out of breath within minutes and would then slump on the sofa, today the more I danced, the more energy I found, and it felt so good. I felt amazing, totally alive.

We went shopping later in the day whilst it was pouring down, and I had to run from the car to the shops.  We had to park quite a way away so I literally had to run the length of the car park, and I did it no problem!  Doesn't mean I am going to take up running, it is an exercise that doesn't really appeal to me, never liked running, even as a skinny sporty girl when I was younger, but to be able to run even that relatively short distance and not get out of breath and be a sweaty mess felt like a huge accomplishment to me.  Maybe I will try taking it up, one day!

I also noticed my legs as I was walking around.  They feel powerful, they feel strong, I can feel the muscles working in them with every step I take, and I totally, totally love that feeling.

Every little reward I get back from my body is worth it's weight in gold and so much more than rewarding myself with so-called 'treats' for my achievements.

~BREAKFAST~

 

Last week, Dannii at Hungry HealthyHappy shared a recipe for homemade baked beans.  Matt absolutely loves baked beans, one of his favourite foods, so I was determined to make this this weekend.

I also, late last night, you know, when you have your best ideas (!), decided to make my own homemade bread!!  Never done it before, only with a breadmaker, the thought of it had always scared me as I stupidly thought it was very complex.


How wrong! One of the easiest things I have ever made, and very rewarding!


So, for the bread.  I used a wholemeal seeded and grain bread flour.  Add 500g of flour to a large bowl with 1 tsp of salt.  Next add 2 tsps of easy bake yeast and 1 tsp of sugar and stir in.  Add 15ml rapeseed oil (you can use soft butter or vegetable oil) and rub into the flour mix.

Make up about 300ml warm water (1 part boiling, 2 parts cold) and add enough to the mix to form a soft dough, using your fingers to 'stir' it in.

Place the dough on a lightly floured surfaced and knead for about 10 minutes until it becomes smooth and elastic.

Shape the dough on a baking tray, cover and leave to rise in a warm place until doubled in size for about 35-40 minutes.  Place in a pre-heated oven at 230oc gas mark 8) for 15  minutes, then reduce temperature to 200oc (gas mark 6) and cook for a further 15-20 minutes, until bread is risen and golden brown and sounds hollow when you tap it underneath.  Cool on a wire rack.

I topped my bread with sesame, pumpkin and sunflower seeds..

For the beans I kind of followed Dannii's recipe but with a few tweaks.  Mainly because a) it was late and I was tired and lazy and b) I wanted to use the tins of beans I had in the cupboard.  As advised by Dannii it is best to use dried beans as tinned beans are full of sodium, and absorb it even if you rinse them.  But anyway, I had a tin of cannellini beans and a tin of haricot beans sitting in the cupboard so this time I used them.  I also couldn't be bothered to hunt out the brown sugar in my cupboard so added agave nectar in its place, and a good dose of white pepper as I adore white pepper and love the hit it gives this sort of food.

I also added a good glug of balsamic vinegar.  I love vinegar on my beans and I love balsamic with anything 'tomatoey', it really enriches the flavour.

So I bunged it all in the slow cooker, put it on low and left it cooking through the night.  The smells in this house were amazing, I kept waking up and taking deep sniffs, could not wait to get up and have some!

Today's Sunday morning breakfast was a total hit, with both of us.  I served the bean on my toasted home made bread and topped with a dry fried egg.  Totally stonking!!

I also had one of my berry smoothies with it, a very delicious, filling start to the day.

 

Beans and legumes are chock full of protein and dietary fibre. They are also loaded with complex carbohydrates, the nutrients that are responsible for providing energy to the muscles and brain.
 

Because they have a low glycemic index (GI), they have the unique ability to provide energy over a sustained period of time by being slowly released into your blood stream. Also, beans are a great source of dietary fibre, which promotes a healthy digestive tract, helps lower blood cholesterol levels, and can reduce the risk of some types of cancer.

But the rhyme is true ... the more you eat them... the more you, well, lets just say the odours in this house today have definitely not been amazing!!!!!!!!

 

~LUNCH~

 

Breakfast kind of saw us through until late afternoon, when I decided to fix us some sandwiches.  I had bought some smoked chicken at the farm shop yesterday and decided to knock up a version of a sandwich I had in a pub a few weeks back.  So in the fridge I also had some avocado's, some fresh mango and some spinach.  Using my homemade bread I spread half an avocado over both slices, topped with slices of the chicken and slices of mango and finished with the spinach.

 

A total total taste explosion, amazing, no need for any other spreads or sauces, it was just amazing.

The sweetness of the mango against the smokey chicken and the creamy avocado was perfection!
 

I was going to make a baked bean lasagne for dinner tonight with the left over homemade baked beans, based on a recipe adapted from Slimming World which I used to follow and one of the recipes from it I truly loved, but neither of us are particularly hungry this evening so will do something with them tomorrow night instead.  Dannii advises that you can freeze them, but my freezer is chock full at the moment so they have got to be eaten, and I want to eat them, they were delicious!  I may mix some cooked chorizo or lean bacon into them and serve with wholewheat pasta, we shall see what I feel like tomorrow!

Going to enjoy the rest of my evening now with my lovely husband before back to work tomorrow! I have even managed to clear a large portion of my ironing pile today .. most unheard of!!

Thanks again for reading
Jo
xx