Tag: post workout protein

Charlie’s Crackin’ Curry

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I love going out for a curry just as much as the next person, but when you’re trying to watch your portions and eat healthily, cooking them at home can be just as quick and easy to do – and saves on the pennies too!

It’s so quick and simple in fact, that I thought I’d share with you all my go-to homemade curry that you can chuck in the pan and job’s a good’un. It’s got great natural protein and can be tailored to your own individual preference by adding potato chunks, butternut squash and any vegetables you like.

Ingredients:

  • 1 onion, finely choppedFile_000 (53)
  • 1 large tin chickpeas
  • 2 packets king prawns/1 packet shrimp
  • red lentils, as many as you like
  • desiccated coconut (as much as you like)
  • 1 tin coconut milk*
  • 2-3tsp mild or medium curry powder
  • coriander (can be fresh or dried)
  • 2-3 cloves of garlic (to taste)
  • grated or ground ginger, to taste
  • 2 sliced peppers
  • olive oil
  • chilli flakes (optional)

Method:

  1. Chop/prepare all the ingredients. Then fry the onions & peppers in a pan with some olive oil until the onions start to brown
  2. Add the garlic and the curry powder, mix with the oil (adding a bit more if necessary) to form a sort of paste, let it all fry for another few mins
  3. Add the coconut milk*, chickpeas, lentils and any additional spices and stir in, reducing the heat and simmering – should be a light to medium brown colour
  4. Keep stirring and add in the coconut, coriander (a chopped handful if fresh, a large sprinkle if dried) and any salt and pepper and keep seasoning to taste
  5. In the last few minutes, add in the prawns (and the chilli flakes if you fancy) and mix altogether
  6. Serve with basmati or brown rice and enjoy!

*coconut milk can also be substituted with normal milk and some curry paste, just omit the curry powder if doing so [some may prefer this to avoid the xantham gum found in tinned coconut milk]

This is one of my favourite go-to recipes when cooking for friends as it’s so easily adaptable, however it’s also perfect if you fancy a treat meal without having to compromise your diet or break the bank! If you give this a try or make some variations for yourself I’d love for you to let me know by tagging the @charlieschapter instagram in your post or dropping me a message! Hope you enjoy 🙂

Diolch i chi a hwyl am nawr,

Charles xx

Protein banana-oat muffins

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I don’t know about you, but I tend to get a bit bored with the same flavour protein powder after a while and whilst I love all this ‘clean eating’ business, I still struggle to resist sweet treats like cakes when temptation strikes!  So I decided to try my hand at putting my protein into baking to mix things up a bit.  There are loads of different whey protein recipes online to choose from but after reading a few I decided to do my own version and kinda make it up as I went along… turned out pretty well!  So here goes: my protein banana oat muffins recipe – hope you enjoy!

Ingredients:

2 bananas (the riper the better)file_000-11
4 tbsp Greek yoghurt
~180g egg whites (~4 eggs)
2 scoops protein powder (mine is My Protein’s chocolate brownie flavour)
~60g sugar substitute (I used honey, but you can use coconut sugar/alternative)
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp bicarb of soda
~180g oats
~20g chia seeds (optional)
3 scoops/~150g wholemeal self-raising flour

Method:

  • Put the oven on at 180ºC and spray Fry light once or twice into each muffin hole of your muffin tray, at a distance so as to cover the whole area and avoid sticking – in my opinion, this is much easier than using cupcake cases but just a personal preference
  • Chop/break up the bananas into chunks, then mash in a bowl with a fork until smooth
  • Pour the flour, protein powder, oats, sugar substitute, baking powder and bicarb of soda into a large mixing bowl, mix together and form a well in the middle
  • Add the banana, egg whites and Greek yoghurt into the well and mix until combined (this can be a bit of a workout in itself…)
  • Scoop the mixture into the muffin holes, they will be quite full but enough for 12 large muffins or 16 or so smaller ones
  • Bake at 180ºC for 17-20 mins, then cool for 5 mins in the tray and transfer to a cooling rack

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And that’s that folks!  Hopefully your muffins should come out looking like mine did as pictured above and smelling wonderful.  Plus, they’ll last a good few days in air-tight tupperware/the fridge so you can spread them out over the week rather than pig out all at once (which, with protein, I wouldn’t recommend).  These really are perfect as a quick breakfast on the go, post-workout snack, or coupled with ice cream or natural yoghurt as a fitness-friendly dessert!  ‘Let them eat cake’, as they say.

Diolch i chi a hwyl am nawr,

Charles xx