Clean & Lean - Roasted Butternut & Broccoli

Well we've made it to day 5 of the Clean & Lean diet. How are we feeling? Not quite full of energy as hoped but I think we've both lost a bit of weight our sugar cravings are now subsiding. We did, however, treat ourselves to a bit of dark chocolate today which tasted phenomenal.

Tonight's dinner was surprisingly easy and tasty. We did modify the recipe from James Duigan's Clean & Lean Cook Book as it called for 1.25 cups of feta cheese! OK, we get some fat is good for us but just couldn't justify that much of it. We also cut back on the seeds too as we'd snacked on them throughout the day. We have to confess that since our butternut squash was quite small we gobbled down the whole meal which was supposedly for four....

Ingredients

1 butternut squash, cut into wedges

2 tablespoons of olive oil

1 teaspoon of cumin seeds

1 teaspoon of chili flakes

1 large handful of broccoli

1 handful of seeds

Feta, salt and pepper to taste

Method

1. Toss the butternut wedges in the oil, cumin seeds and chili flakes. Place in an oven pre-heated to 200c for 35-45 minutes.
2. Boil the broccoli until al dente, about five minutes, and then add to the roasting dish with the butternut. 
3. Add the seeds, feta and season. Serve immediately. 

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Clean & Lean - Chicken, Asparagus and Cashew Nut Stir-fry

On Saturday we scared ourselves by watching The Bitter Truth about Sugar on YouTube. On Sunday, after a bit of consideration, we decided it was time to clean up our diets a bit. We don't want to lose weight but we certainly want to feel better mentally and top up our energy levels.

After a quick bit of searching on amazon we came across the Clean & Lean Diet Book, written by James Duigan, which had fantastic reviews. Instead of supporting amazon we nipped down to Greenwich Waterstones and picked up a copy there.

For the past three days we've managed to abstain from the temptations of the birthday treats at work, alcohol and any other drink apart from water. We're not feeling too different yet, but we're certainly not feeling any worse so we'll keep on persevering!

Chicken, Asparagus and Cashew Nut Stir-fry from the Clean & Lean Diet book by James Duigan

Serves 2

1 skinless chicken breast, cut into 1cm strips

1.5 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 clove of garlic, crushed

25g cashew nuts

1 thin red chilie, thinly sliced

3 spring onions, sliced

125g asparagus, cut into small chunks

125g mangetout, cut length-ways

40ml chicken stock

1 tablespoon chia seeds (Hollands & Barratt sell these)

1. Heat half the oil in a wok over a high heat. Add the chicken, cashew nuts and garlic and stir for 3-4 minutes until the chicken is nearly cooked and the cashews are lightly toasted. Tip into a bowl.
2. Add the other half of the oil and throw in you chillie, spring onions, asparagus and mangetout. Stir for 2 minutes. Add the stock and cook for another 2 minutes. The stock will mostly evaporate.
3. Add the chicken and cashew mix back into the wok for a final couple of minutes to warm back through. Stir in your chia seeds and add a squeeze of lime if you fancy. 

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