Welcome to Day 3
Hello again. We know it's so important to have a good, healthy diet through the menopause to help support your body at this particular time. So I'm going to show you how simple and easy it is to cook really fresh, healthy meals in no time at all.
Breakfast
So let's get started with breakfast. I'm going to show you how to make a really delicious, easy-peasy omelette that's full of protein, healthy fats, and lovely yummy vegetables that's going to help to set you up or the day.
Why is breakfast so important?
So why do you need to set yourself up with a good breakfast every day? Well if you think about it, if you were going on a long, long car journey, the first thing that you would do is make sure there's plenty of petrol in the tank, that there's oil in the engine, and that there's plenty of water for the windscreen wipers. And your body, in the menopause, goes on a long, long journey every single day.
Breakfast is extra important in the menopause!
Your body has to do what you normally expect it to do, but at the same time, underneath, it's really struggling with having to cope with the loss of hormones that it's had for a long, long time. And this takes up a huge amount of energy, and your nutritional needs go sky-high.
And if you leave the house in the morning on an empty tank, you're not actually going to get very far. You are going to get fatigued, you're gonna get that foggy thinking, your blood sugars are gonna be a bit low and you're gonna end up snacking on all the things that you don't normally.
And a piece of toast, and a cup of coffee, and one of those sugary breakfast cereals is really not going to help your body through the morning. So, I find that having an omelette first thing is one of the best things for me. It really, really helps me through the whole morning. So I'm going to show you how to make a lovely easy-peasy omelette.
How to make my easy-peasy omelette
Heat the pan
First thing I do is get the oil heated in the pan. I tend to use coconut oil. I find this is really good. It's a healthy fat. It helps to keep your skin nice and smooth, it helps to keep your joints going, and it also helps with brain function as well.
Add your veggies
So once the oil is nice and hot, I'm then going to put the vegetables in. Today I'm using mushrooms, which are great, they're full of vitamin D and they've got plenty of fibre in them, and green peppers, which has got your vitamin C. The great thing about using vegetables for omelettes is you can put any amount of vegetables in. You can put your favorite vegetables in, you can even use vegetables that you've cooked up the night before, or you can prepare the vegetables in the evening in the fridge to save yourself an extra couple of minutes.
Prepare your eggs
Now when the vegetables are ready, that's the point when I prepare the eggs. I'm using two eggs here. Now normally I like to put a little bit of water in with the eggs. Some people like to put milk, and other people don't actually like to put any at all. So I put a little bit of water, and then I would use a little bit of salt just for added taste. Just give it an extra little stir, and then we're ready to put the egg in.
Add any toppings
This is the point, too, when I like to add my toppings because I do like my toppings warm. Today I'm going to use lovely sweet cherry tomatoes and some crumbled feta cheese. So here are cherry tomatoes. Just spread them evenly over the top of the omelette, and sprinkle on some crumbled feta cheese.
Leave to cook
And you just leave this to cook until the eggs are just set or just the way you actually like them. When the egg's set to your liking, then that's time to plate up. And there you are, one easy-peasy omelette that's going to fuel you up for the whole morning.
Lunch
And for lunch, I'm going to show you how to make a really simple and nutritious pasta and tofu salad. There's lots of wonderful oils in the salad dressing, you've got protein in the tofu, and the lovely pasta is going to keep your energy up all afternoon.
This salad is really quick and easy to do. You can even prepare the whole thing the night before, or you can get the vegetables all ready and then put together in the morning before you go to work.
Make sure to eat your lunch at the right time!
Now it is really important to have lunch at lunchtime and not 3:00 in the afternoon. If you wait too long between meals, your blood sugars can actually get too low, and that can then trigger menopause symptoms such as hot flushes, palpitations, headaches, and dizziness. So having lunch at lunchtime is very, very important.
How to make my pasta and tofu salad
Start with your greens
Now, here we go. I'm starting off with some greens. Greens are great to have in salads. They're rich in calcium and magnesium, and that's really good for your bones and also for your mood. And they also contain some leaves that are bitters, and bitters are fabulous for helping to improve your digestion. And we know that during the menopause, one of the kinda common symptoms is that your digestive system can actually slow down.
Cucumber
Now to put the salad together, I'm going to put in some cucumber. Cucumber is great. It's one of these unsung heroes of the salads. It's got loads of vitamins and minerals in it, and I always recommend having a good-sized chunk of cucumber every single day in your diet.
Red onions
We've got lovely red onions. These are nice and sweet, but I do know some people don't like onions, so you don't have to put these ones in if you don't feel like it.
Tofu
We've got tofu, and tofu is great. It's got protein in it, it's got soya in it. And soya has the phytoestrogens which are great for helping to balance our hormones in the menopause.
Avocados
We've also got avocados. These are lovely and creamy, they add a lovely texture, they're full of good fats, and these fats are going to help to keep your skin looking really good.
Whole-grain pasta
And we've also got our whole-grain pasta. Now whole-grain pasta is very important because it helps to slow down the absorption, and it helps you to feel fuller for longer.
The dressing
What I'm now going to do is I'm going to make the dressing. So I've got here is some minced ginger, and a little bit of whole-grain mustard, and some lovely red wine vinegar which gives it a lovely tangy taste, and also some extra virgin olive oil. And I'm going to put a nice pinch of salt in as well. Now just stir that up really well. Make sure you mix this really well.
It's important, especially if you're making a salad that's not going to be eaten straight away, that you coat everything in an oil and vinegar dressing. This helps to stop any of the ingredients, such as the avocado, from discoloring, but it also helps to preserve the vitamin and mineral content of all the vegetables as well.
Serve with pumpkin seeds
When everything's well mixed, that's the time to serve up. And for added texture, I recently slow-roasted some pumpkin seeds just to sprinkle over the top. Pumpkin seeds are great because they're full of magnesium, and magnesium is going to help with mood, your sleep, and your relaxation. And here we have it, a really quick and easy lunchtime salad.
Dinner
Now, we've done breakfast, we've done lunch, and we're now going over to our main meal, which is oven-baked mackerel with vegetable stir-fry and brown rice. And this is going to give you all those wonderful fish oils that are going to help with brain function, help to keep your joints supple, and help to keep your skin lovely.
Don't overdo it!
The really important thing here is not to eat too much for your evening meal and not to eat too late at night. Now the problem for most of us is we're really busy. If we're at work, very often we've got shopping afterwards, or we're going down the gym, or we've got other tasks that we need to do before we actually get home. And then when we do get home, we're absolutely starving.
And especially if you've had lunch around about 12 or 1:00, your appetite is going to be really raving, and what happens is we end up eating a really heavy meal, we eat it late at night, and that will affect our digestive system. It will put a lot of pressure on it, and our digestive system will still be raved up when we go to bed. And that can affect how we fall asleep, and it can actually affect our quality of sleep. So the secret here is to have a reasonably light meal in the evening and to have it as early as possible.
How to make oven-baked mackerel with vegetable stir-fry and brown rice
So now I'm just going to make the dressing for the fish so we can pop it in the oven, and it will be cooking while I start the stir-fry.
The dressing
For the dressing, I've got a little bit of grated ginger, some crushed garlic, and some Kelpamare, which is very much like soy sauce. So I'm just going to add all that together, just give it a nice little stir, mix everything up. And then I'm going to coat the fish.
The great thing about oily fish is it gives you loads of good quality protein, and your omega-3 oil, which is great for brain function, for your joints, and for your skin. And if you're not too keen on mackerel, then you can use other fresh oily fish such as salmon, sardines, or tuna. Fish is now ready to put in the oven which I've already preheated at 180 degrees. And I'm going to bake the mackerel for roughly 15 to 20 minutes until it's ready. And in the meantime, I'm going to get the vegetable stir-fry ready.
The stir fry
Now, I'm going to be using coconut oil. This is a really good oil to use, especially if you're using high temperatures with stir-fries. And just waiting until that melts.
I'm going to use a combination of vegetables, spring onions, carrots, and broccoli. This is going to give you a lovely range of vitamins and minerals with added fibre. But you can use your own vegetables if you happen to have a favorite. So now going to cook these.
Now going to season the vegetables. So I'm going to put a little bit of turmeric in. This is great. It's a natural anti-inflammatory if you've got sore joints. And I'm also going to add in a little bit of Kelpamare. Just give that a good stir through. And now I'm going to add the rice.
Give yourself a nice portion of rice because this is great at night. It helps to calm your system down. We've got some extra cashew nuts, and this is giving you that little bit of extra protein. So stir-fry's now ready, and I'm going to plate up and then get the fish out of the oven.
Now, I've put two pieces of fish in, so if you're feeling really hungry, you can actually eat both. And I'm going to finish off with decorating with some pomegranate seeds. These are great, they're a beautiful color, they're fresh, they're crunchy, and they're full of antioxidants. And they really give the dish that lovely little bit of extra color.
That's it!
So there you have it. Now I've given you a breakfast, a lunch, and a dinner. And how simple and easy were these? And they were also very quick. And it just shows you that using fresh foods, which are easily come by in your local supermarkets, they can really add a huge amount of nutrition for your daily diet. So why not try this for yourself? And I'll see you tomorrow where I'll be talking about how to get a better night sleep in the menopause.
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