Recipe of the Week!

We have another delicious recipe to share with you from Tootoomoo who I'm sure all of you have tried by now. Their ingredients are organic, gluten, and MSG free... so you can pop down there while still keeping to your summer diet plans! If you haven't tried Tootoomoo yet hopefully this dish will persuade you to go soon!
Remember that Tootoomoo is also offering All About You clients a 20% discount on their take away menu and are also sponsoring our Client of The Month award here at the studio by giving our lucky winner a free meal for two to celebrate their achievements with us!

Chinese Braised Chicken 

All of us need comfort food once in a while. In China, the ultimate comfort food is the braised meat dish. Traditionally, pork belly or trotter is the preferred choice of meat as they are super tender and wholesome. However, as the trend shifts to a more health conscious diet and lifestyle, I have decided to use chicken thigh in this recipe. Chicken thigh is the most tender part of the bird and also has a higher fat content that flavours the dish.

Ingredients

• 4-6 pieces of chicken thigh
• 4 eggs
• 3 slices of ginger
• 4-5 birds eye chilli
• 4-5 cloves star anise
• 3 tablespoons dark soy
• 3 tablespoons low sodium soy
• 3 tablespoons Shao Xing wine
• 3-4 teaspoons honey or brown sugar
• 2 cans of lager

Instructions

  

• Heat a deep pan or pot on high and coat with light layer of oil
•    Put the chicken skin down first then turn once seared
• Pour in enough lager to cover the chicken and bring to boil
• In goes the ginger, chillies, soy, wine, star anise and sugar (if you prefer the dish to be spicy, crush the chillies beforehand)
•   Remain on high heat till the alcohol evaporates and the aroma starts to develop. Switch to low heat and simmer for an hour
•    Meanwhile, put the eggs in pan with cold water. Once the water starts boiling, starts a 7 minutes countdown to get the perfect hard boiled eggs
• Shell the eggs and cut into halves and add into the now super tender braised chicken pot and simmer for a further 30 min
• Served over boiled rice

Notes

•  Do not worry about overcooking this dish. Like most slow cooked dishes, it develops over time
•   It could be made vegetarian by using tofu, aubergine and daikon (radish) instead
•  Dark soy is used mainly for browning the dish, you could go with a lot less if desire
•  Honey/ sugar could always be added in the end to taste
•  In case of not being able to source star anise, cloves or fennel could also do the trick
• Lager gives a subtle caramelised flavour but feel free to go with good old H2O!

An Afternoon with Jamie

Thursday 16th May 2014 may not be the most significant day in most peoples diaries but there's one amazingly passionate and driven Essex Boy who's turned it into a life changing day for millions of kids around the world.

Today is Food Revolution Day. An event created by Jamie Oliver as a day of action to draw attention to the need for the children of this world to understand what real food is and how to enjoy it in a fun and educational way.

I'm a big fan of Jamie, as a chef, an entrepreneur, an action taker, a revolutionary and as a great family man, this guys got it all going on. He admits himself that he's "Marmite" but whether you love him or hate him anyone fortunate enough to spend time in his company can not ignore the fact that he is a man on a mission to literally save the lives of the younger generation of this planet.

His message was first brought to prominence in 2005 with his TV series School Dinners which highlighted not only the poor nutritional quality of the "food" on offer - who could ever forget the dissection of the "Turkey Twizlers?!"

But also the resistance from parents who not only complained about his ideas but also passed bags of chips through the school fences to their kids.

The sceptical ones out there would say that he's found a niche and he's milking it for his own gain and yes his restaurant business has gone from strength to strength in the last 10 years but he's got a great product and obviously has great business mentality. The biggest thing for me that comes across in everything I see him do is that he genuinely cares.

For me it's amazing to see someone trying to make a hugely positive impact on the world.

I've always been hugely impressed with anything Jamie has done, I've read his books, cooked my girlfriend some of his dishes, dined in his restaurants and just over a year ago I signed up to be one of his Food Revolution Ambassadors. 

That got me a ticket to his live cookery class today at City Hall in London. 

30 kids were fortunate enough to be part of his live lesson and had great fun creating Rainbow Wraps as the whole thing was beamed round the world via his internet broadcast. 

I watched, I listened, I cheered along when the floor manager told me to but as I sat there I realised that this day is hugely important for the wellbeing of our young people.

Jamie spoke of the fact that poor nutrition is now the third biggest cause of death in the world. More people die of obesity related disorders than of hunger! We are literally eating ourselves into an early grave!

We have a tough battle to fight in turning kids away from fizzy drinks and sugar and in educating adults on the fact that the reason certain foods are so cheap is because they are not actually real foods but food like substances that provide no nutritional value to the body and only contribute to weight gain and disease.

It's a long road ahead but Jamie is going full throttle. A million kids in 160+ countries worldwide had the pleasure of joining his cookery class today and every one of them will go home with a positive experience from it. The kids will tell their parents all about it - but will they listen? will they take action? and will they make one or two small changes that will have a HUGE impact on the lives of their children?

I feel privileged to be part of something so inspiring, thank you and good luck Mr Oliver.

Tri4Stanley Studio Triathlon

On Monday 12th May through to Saturday 17th May we will be holding a triathlon within our studio at All About You. This will be to raise money for an absolutely fantastic cause - so we are hoping as many of you as possible can take part!
The studio triathlon will have all the aspects of a real triathlon - but don't worry it wont be as far or nearly as hard! We will be doing two different levels for each part:

• Rowing (instead of swimming) - either 1000 meters  or 500 meters
• Running - either 1500 meters or 750 meters 
• Cycling - either 5000 meters or 2500 meters 

It doesn't matter what you do or how many parts of the triathlon you do, but we urge you to take part as the money you donate will be going to such a good cause! 

We will also be doing a class 'triathlon' on Monday 12th and Thursday 15th which will include 1 lap around Waterlow Park followed by a spin class, so come along and get involved! Please check with us for the times of these classes during the week. 

We hope you will contribute donations for entering the triathlons as I'm sure all of us at the studio will be too!

So where will your money be going? 

Tri4Stanley is a charity raising money for Zoe’s Place baby Hospice who focus upon providing specialist palliative and respite care for babies and small children from birth through to 5 years old.  They provide bespoke one to one care for babies who suffer with life limiting or life threatening conditions. This care is provided by registered nurses, play leaders, physiotherapists and other care specialists 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Zoe’s Place care for up to 6 babies at any one time and currently support on average around 50 families per year. 

However, currently, it costs the charity in excess of £3,500 per day just to maintain their current level of care, which is continues to steadily increase. So this is where we and Tri4Stanley come in!

Stanley's Story

From birth Stanley needed care for support with his breathing and feeding, and at only 2 weeks of age was already on a life support machine. Nobody knew what was wrong with Stanley other than he was unable to breathe for himself or maintain his own temperature.

Whilst in an induced coma Stanley had numerous tests and investigations to try and find out what was wrong. After three days he started having seizures and it became evident that his illness had started to affect his brain.

Stanley was diagnosed with Viral Meningo Encephalitis, which is an inflammation of the tissue surrounding the brain and the brain itself.  It was at this point we were told that he was "unlikely to survive" and that if he did his life would be "severely compromised".

 Specialists identified that Stanley had caught a relatively common virus in the first few weeks of his life, a virus which most of us will have had a some point, but no one knows why it spread to his brain and affected Stanley in such a devastating way. 

As Stanley hadn’t had human contact for 4 weeks, he had actually become fearful of human touch, which broke his parents’ hearts.

As a result of his infection Stanley has an acquired brain injury (ABI), which has resulted in complex care and medical needs, including global developmental delay, and chronic inflammatory lung disease. 

Tri4Stanley Charity Challenge 2014 - 2.5 marathons in 1 day!

On Sunday 18th May Tri4Stanley will be embarking on a big challenge to raise money for Zoe's Place Baby Hospice. 
They will be starting their challenge by setting off in the early hours from Wales on a 26 mile marathon kayak along the River Dee to the Groves in Chester. They will then stumble their way to Chester Race Course where they will compete in the Chester Half Marathon. Following this they will be cycling a further 26 mile marathon up onto the Wirral, onto a ferry across the Mersey where they will continue to cycle through Liverpool to Zoe’s Place. So that's around 65 miles kayaking, running, walking and cycling in one day!

Tri4Stanley is aiming to raise more than £10,000 for Zoe’s Place Baby Hospice, which might sound a lot, but its less than three days funding! 

So we encourage you all to take part in our studio triathlon and donate whatever you can to help Tri4Stanley raise money for Zoe's Place Baby Hospice! The distances we have asked are nothing compared to what they will be enduring and it will really make a difference! 

You can also see more information and donate money to Tri4Stanley on their website - http://www.tri4stanley.co.uk/ or on the Zoe's Place website - http://www.zoes-place.org.uk/

Farmer's Market

Well despite the overcast and slightly miserable weather, we are glad to say the Farmer's Market was a success! We hope all of you that joined us there enjoyed it and the tucked into some of the delicious food from the stalls, as well as grabbing some goodies to take home and enjoy afterwards! 

It was lovely seeing a lot of familiar faces, as well as family members who you brought along to help support the cause. After what seemed like a very long week, back to work after the holidays, it was a nice way to relax, enjoy some music and good, fresh food. Hopefully it inspired you to pick up some veg and meat to cook yourself a healthy meal for dinner!

We certainly enjoyed seeing you outside the gym environment and not telling you to do those dreaded squats. Here are some pictures before we got started to show you some of the stalls if you were unable to come, and also for those who were there to enjoy!

We'd also like to give a very big thank you to all the companies who got involved and provided us with stalls filled with a fantastic variety of foods, as well as the great music from Ian Anderson which kept us entertained throughout the afternoon. 

Keep checking the blog and our Facebook page as we will be posting regularly about upcoming events and also about 'The Club' which will be finished very soon! We look forward to seeing you all in the studio this week! 

All About You Food Revolution Farmer’s Market

On Sunday 27^th April, All About You, will be hosting a farmer’s market in association with Jamie Oliver’s food revolution to promote healthy eating across the country. Although it will appeal primarily to those who live locally, we believe that re-educating even a small number of people about nutrition and food can make a big difference.

But why are we doing this? 

Well since 1980, the number of overweight and obese adults has quadrupled to around one billion people in the developing world, and 64% of adults in the UK are now classed as being overweight. This rise in obesity has also trickled down to the children of our nation – resulting in 25% of boys and 33% of girls ages 2-19 being overweight or obese.

So why is our nation getting so fat? Well unfortunately, this is no mystery. Quite simply, many children do little exercise and eat a diet that’s packed with junk food. Numerous studies confirm what celebrity Chef Jamie Oliver discovered when he started looking more closely at school dinners – that children consume too much sugar, salt and saturates and eat only two portions of fruit and veg each day. There are too many opportunities and such easy access to quick, on the go, high energy junk foods which are usually cheaper than a healthier alternative. Our kids are following in the rather large footsteps of our increasingly obese adults, and today’s children will be the first generation to live shorter lives than their parents.

So how do we stop this? 

Unsurprisingly, most health experts agree one of the most important factors in the fight against childhood obesity is to encourage healthy eating habits from an early age. At All About You we have joined the Jamie Oliver food revolution programme, and as a part of our mission we are promoting healthy eating through our farmer’s market. We want to bring Jamie’s food revolution to the UK and change the way our nation eats and thinks about food. We can fight obesity with better food, and to get people cooking healthy meals again both at home and in schools. By eating home cooked meals, people will know what is going into their meals which will decrease the amount of fat and sugars they consume from fast food and takeaways.

Our famer’s market will include stalls run by local businesses as well as the more famously known Bedford Clanger’s Pasties shown on Jamie and Jimmy’s Friday Night Feast. We will also be offering food demonstrations from the amazing Tootoomoo, who we work closely with to provide a healthy takeaway alternative.

We want to show people that eating healthily can be just as tasty and satisfying as junk food which carry a less certain nutritional value, as well as the health benefits a healthy diet will offer. At All About You we want to promote the benefits of an active lifestyle and good nutrition combined to put a stop to the growing waistbands of our nation, and to start making a difference to people’s lives one step at a time.

We hope to see you there!

Food Revolution Farmer’s Market

Sunday 27^th April 2014 12pm until 4pm

Contact All About You to find out more. www.aayou.co.uk

Healthy Easter Alternatives

Easter is a great excuse to 'take a break' from those new years resolution diets and indulge yourself in those yummy chocolate goodies! But why not have the best of both worlds and enjoy those Easter treats without the sluggish feeling come Tuesday morning when you're back in the gym! These healthier alternatives to those shop bought chocs and puds will satisfy your sweet tooth as well as helping you avoid the dreaded guilt after your bank holiday feast. 

Raw Cadbury Creme Eggs

Makes 3-4 Eggs

Gluten, egg, soy, refined sugar, and dairy free/Raw

Ingredients:

• 1/2 c. cashews {or macadamia nuts would work better for color!}
• 1/2 c. oats
• 2 dates, chopped
• 2 Tbs pure maple syrup or agave
• 1 Tb coconut oil, solid
• Raw chocolate {recipes below}
• 1/2 tsp turmeric {for yellow coloring}
• Chocolate egg mold {optional} OR toothpicks {for dipping}

Instructions:

1. Place cashews and oats in a blender and grind until smooth. Add coconut oil, syrup, and dates. Blend until smooth and a thick paste forms. If it is too sticky, always add a 1 tsp of oat “flour” until you are able to handle with your hands.
2. Seperate into 2 sections {you will want it to be a 3:1 split}. The smaller section will have the turmeric added to it for the “yolk.” Mix until completely colored.
3. Roll yolks into a ball and flatten out the whites.

4.   Place the yolk on top of the white and roll the white around the yolk. Shape into an egg shape {if you are using an egg mold, make sure that it is small enough to fit into the mold. Or if you are dipping them, shape them any size}:

For Raw Chocolate:

• 1/3 c. coconut oil, melted
• 1/2 c. raw cacao powder
• 2 Tbs maple syrup or agave

Instructions:

1. Blend in a blender until smooth.

Coat your mold with chocolate if using. Place egg into the mold, close with other side and freeze for 10 minutes. *Or* place a toothpick into the bottom and dip into bowl of chocolate.  Allow to set on wax paper.  Freeze 10 minutes.

Vanilla-Lemon Berry Parfaits

Makes 4 servings (serving size: 6 tablespoons yogurt with 1/2 cup fruit)

Ingredients:

• 1 cup plain low-fat yogurt
• 2 (3.5-ounce) containers fat-free vanilla pudding
• 2 tablespoons bottled lemon curd (such as Dickinson's)
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons honey
• Zest of 1 lemon
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 3 cups mixed berries (such as blueberries, strawberries, and raspberries)
• Fresh mint leaves (optional)

Instructions:

1. In a small mixing bowl, whisk together the yogurt, pudding, lemon curd, and vanilla extract; set aside.

2. In a medium mixing bowl, stir the honey, lemon zest, and lemon juice until combined. Add the mixed berries, and gently stir with a rubber spatula to coat them with the honey mixture.

3. Assemble the parfaits in four 8-ounce glasses. Using measuring spoons, scoop 3 tablespoons of the yogurt mixture into each glass. Top with 1/4 cup of the berries, then another 3 tablespoons yogurt, and another 1/4 cup berries. Garnish each yogurt parfait with fresh mint, if desired. Serve immediately, or cover and refrigerate for up to 2 hours.

Nutritional Information (per serving):

Calories: 176
Fat: 2g
Saturated fat: 1g Simply Strawberry Sorbet: Makes 1 quart

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup sugar
• 6 tablespoons water, preferably spring water
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3 pints (about 1 1/2 pounds or 6 cups) fresh-picked strawberries, preferably organic, rinsed, patted dry, and hulled
• 3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1 large egg white, preferably farm-fresh (optional)

Instructions:

Make the simple syrup: In a saucepan over medium heat, combine the sugar, water, and salt. Cook, stirring, until the sugar and salt have dissolved, about 3 minutes. Let cool for 15 minutes.

In a blender, purée the strawberries with the syrup and lemon juice until very smooth (you may need to divide this into several batches if your blender is not extra-large). If desired, strain through a fine-mesh sieve for a smoother texture. Cover and refrigerate until chilled, at least 4 hours or overnight.

Churn in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's directions. Add the egg white, if using, during the last 2 to 3 minutes of churning.

Variation: Strawberry-passion fruit sorbet:
Cut 7 passion fruits in half and scoop the pulp and seeds into a blender. Blend for 20 seconds, then pass through a fine-mesh strainer into a small bowl, pushing on the solids with back of a wooden spoon. Measure out 6 tablespoons of this purée and combine with the strawberries, syrup, and lemon juice in a blender as directed above.

5 Minute Carrot Cake For One

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup spelt flour
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/8 tsp baking soda
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 1/2 egg of choice 
• 1.5 tablespoons xylitol or brown sugar (coconut or white sugar will also work)
• 1 packet stevia (or 1 more tablespoon sugar or xylitol)
• 1/3 cup cooked carrots
• 1 tablespoon milk of choice
• 1 tablespoon oil or more milk of choice
• 1/4 tsp pure vanilla extract

Instructions:

1. In a small bowl, mix dry ingredients (not carrots). If you have a blender, mix all wet ingredients and blend. Then mix dry into wet and stir. Pour into greased ramekins, a little dish, or a mug. 

2. If using the microwave, cook for 1 minute 20 seconds (or more or less, depending on the strength of your microwave). Let cool before trying to pop out. 

70 calories per serving.

Keep checking our blog over Easter to find out about what's going on at All About You in the next few months! Relax... unwind... and enjoy your bank holiday weekend! We hope to see you all fresh and raring to go next week down in the studio! 

The Highgate Mile

Over 250 fun runners joined us in Waterlow Park on Sunday 23rd March to help us Raise Money for Sports Relief, along with thousands of others across the UK. 

Old and Young, families and even a few dogs joined us to run the circuit of one of the most beautiful parks in London. 

Runners were able to choose from the 6 mile, 3 mile, and one mile options. The day was a great success and the weather was very kind to us even if the hills of Highgate weren't! 

To absolutely everyone who took part, we can’t thank you enough. Because of your amazing generosity the current Sport Relief total stands at £53,370,743 - But you can still donate and even the smallest amount of money will help change lives for those less fortunate across the globe! 

Sports Relief is a charity from Comic Relief in association with BBC Sport which brings together sport and entertainment to raise money for vulnerable people in both the UK and in the world's poorest countries. 

In the UK, money raised helps give shelter to homeless young people and protection to those living on those living with domestic abuse, and provides life saving vaccines, clean water and education for those across the world. The heart of the campaign is the 'Sport Relief Mile' which involves members of the public doing their bit for charity. 

To see more of our pictures from the event check out our Fan page on Facebook