About a month ago some friends and I went to check out the new Darling Quarter on its opening day. It was quite a dreary rainy day but nothing comes between a bunch of girls and new restaurants and cool children's playground equipment. Sadly the playground equipment was wet and was dominated by children much smaller than us so we explored the restaurants.

All the restaurants in Darling Quarter had lovely interior designs and it was so hard to pick which to eat at! We settled for Nok Nok for its crisp white interior (but mostly for its mains priced at <$20).


So clean and pretty!

Nok Nok does dine in and takeaway. The menu is quite extensive with over 70 items! What's also great is they indicate how spicy their food is. And specify if the dish is spicy or just the sauce. They also offer substitutes if you can't handle to heat which I think is mighty sweet of them. There were 7 vegetarian options. We had a really hard time deciding what to eat and decided to order a number of things. A little too much I have to say....


Mixed starter plate $15.90

This had 2 pieces each of: gai haw bai toey (baked chicken wrapped in pandan leaf), fish cake, chicken satay, ka nom jeeb (steamed pork and prawn wonton) and spring rolls.

The pandan wrapped chicken was quite interesting and I never say no to satay sticks but otherwise there wasn't much out of the ordinary. What I love about the entree dishes is there was quite a few to choose from, and there were quite a few healthy dishes. What I find with Thai restaurants is there is often too much fried foods. At Nok Nok there were quite a few grilled, baked and steamed entree options which is refreshing to see.


Tum Mamuang: Green mango salad $12.90

I love mangoes (Yes it's mango season right now) and this salad is no exception. It was divine! Nok Nok had 8 salads to choose from and from the names they all seem like good healthy choices. Salads are great to have when it's hot and you just want something light. As you can see they're of a decent size and won't make you look like a rabbit munching on green leaves.

After the entree and salad one of my friends already declared she was full! But there were still mains to come!


Guay Teow Kua Gai: Bangkok's Chinatown favourite. Stir fried thick rice noodle with chicken,egg, calamari, lettuce and light soy sauce. Served with sriracha chilli sauce. %14.90

This is the dish I chose and I had made a bad decision nutrition wise! This dish was very low on veggies as you can see from the lack of colour. They did offer a generous amount of chicken and calamari and the noodles were of a lovely texture but I found the dish too salty.


This is a dish which I forgot the name of... I remember it was duck in soup... and I see bean sprouts.


I think this was Chicken Pad Si-Ewe: Fried thick rice noodle with chicken, egg, Chinese broccoli in sweet double soy sauce.

If you're looking for fried noodles this would be a much better choice with the addition of Chinese broccoli.

After lunch we were quite stuffed and took a long walk around Darling Harbour before going to Lindt cafe for some dessert hehe.


As a dietitian I'm not big on depriving myself of wonderful food. Often when I eat out I order the food that appeals to me the most which might not necessarily be the healthiest option. Of course home made food is often healthier so by choosing to eat out I am already stepping into a mine of unhealthy options.

A lot of the time a restaurant meal may not be something planned. A birthday dinner, business lunch or family get together might seem to get in the way of good eating habits but it should be part of it! I find people often deprive themselves too much during a diet and when a restaurant meal comes up they over eat. This often leads to feelings of guilt and self blame afterwards which lends itself to emotional eating. As a result the weight does not budge and often a dieter can feel like they've failed at their diet again. They might even vow to try again the next week.

Does this sound familiar? Maybe my example is a bit extreme but it's a common thought process. It sounds like a vicious cycle but it can be broken. It's important to remember portion control at your restaurant meal and not to treat it like a buffet (which is probably a bad choice if you're watching your weight). As well as this remember to resume healthy eating habits after the meal and not feel like your diet is sabotaged.

If you find yourself eating out a lot it might be wise to choose your meals carefully. Thai food for example have many healthy and unhealthy options.

Healthy Thai Food Options

• Choose the salads. Thai salads as well as a lot of their other dishes are full of antioxidant rich herbs and spices
• Avoid dishes with coconut oil and milk. Coconut oil/milk is high in saturated fat. This is the type of fat that raises your cholesterol and causes plaque in your arteries. There is a lot of controversy about the use of coconut oil/milk but the National Heart Foundation and American heart Association still recommends limiting their consumption. This is a large topic that I will not discuss this time. 
• When choosing soups pick clear broths eg. Tom Yum. Thick creamy soups often contain coconut oil/milk 
• Choose foods that are grilled, boiled or steamed
• Avoid curries as they contain high fat coconut milk
• Thai food can often be rich in vegetables. Take advantage of this and order dishes with lots of vegetables 
• Choose stir fries as they often come with lean meats and lots of vegetables. They are also less likely to be in a rich sauce. I found that although my dish had light soy it was still far too salty for my liking. 
• Choose brown rice instead of white or sticky rice for an extra boost of fibre
• Choose entree sized meals or share with a friend. Thai food is best enjoyed shared!

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Please excuse the long absence! I've been tirelessly working at placement which is where all my nutrition knowledge has been channeled towards! But don't fret 1 more week left and I will have (unofficially until May next year) graduated! Yes that's right a full fledged qualified dietitian. Hehe.

I was having a sweet tooth (do I always have a sweet tooth?) and really wanted to perfect a quinoa recipe I had tried to make twice before.

I have previously mentioned the great benefits of quinoa in a blog post but if you need a refresher click here!

Just a reminder, quinoa is gluten and wheat free and can be used in sweet and savoury dishes. I had previously used it to make quinoa with roasted cauliflower and pumpkin but the versatility of quinoa set me out to search for a sweet dish. This is what I found:

Recipe adapted from vegan-food


Makes:14
Cost: $0.41 per cupcake

Preparation time: 20 minutes + 10minutes in fridge

Baking Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients

• 3/4 Cup cooked quinoa
• 1/3 Cup vegetable oil (I used olive oil)
• 2/3 Cup white sugar (Or low GI sugar)
• 1 Teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 Teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 Teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 Cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 Cup wholemeal flour
• 1/2 Cup white flour
• 4 Tablespoons water
• 6.5 Tablespoons low fat/skim milk
• 1 Large egg

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180-200 degrees celcius
2. Rinse 1/3 cup of dried quinoa (This will make about 3/4-1cup of cooked quinoa)
3. Place rinsed quinoa in a covered pot with about 2 cups of water. 
4. Bring the quinoa to a boil, and simmer for approximately 20 minutes and add water if necessary. 
5. After 25minutes take the quinoa off the stove, drain if necessary and allow to cool (in fridge is quicker). The quinoa should be fluffy and opaque looking and the liquid should mostly be all absorbed.
6. Line cupcake tin with paper liners.
7. In a large bowl, mix all the ingredients well with a wooden spoon. It should look like this: 

1. Bake at 180 degrees celcius for about twenty minutes, or when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Per cupcake: Energy: 693kJ (165.5Cal) Fat: 5.3g Sat Fat: 1.0g Carbohydrates: 24.4g Protein: 4.1g Sodium: 127.4mg Fibre: 2g  

Here they come out of the oven....



Notice how it looks bumpy on the top? I think the quinoa hardens with the exposure to heat and it offers a grittiness and crunch on the outside but the inside is super soft.



A look on the inside....
The flecks of yellow are the quinoa casing.

 
These are ones I had made previously when I was still perfecting the recipe. I added some ready made frosting as they looked a bit bare. I would have tried making my own frosting but I was in a rush and the shops had closed!

I have made these cupcakes 3 times now and each time I have added more milk and water (notice how wet it looks in the mixing picture?). This made sure they were nice and moist. Timing in the oven is also very crucial as they can dry out easily if left for too long in the oven. The original recipe called for very little liquid and the flour did not have enough liquid to go with it. I added in an egg to make it more cohesive as the original batch crumbled away. I always feel wholemeal cupcakes need a bit more milk or water as they can turn out dry so experiment!

The cupcakes were absolutely delicious the 3rd time round. The first batch fell apart and were dry. The second batch were a lot more moist but still a bit hard. Three's the charm as they were soft and mosit and so deliciously chocolatey! I brought the 2nd batch into work previously and everyone said they loved it and it didn't taste any different to normal cupcakes. I think they may have lied a bit =P. I can't say you can not taste the grittiness from the wholemeal flower or quinoa at all but it's very acceptable (especially if you had my 3rd batch!).  It looked like a normal chocolate cupcake and tasted 90% like a normal cupcake!

Nutritionally Speaking....
These cupcakes fare nutritionally better than many of the commercial cupcakes being low in saturated fat and higher in protein and fibre. They are a great snack on the go and was able to satisfy my sweet tooth and will be more filling than other commercial cupcakes. However notice the nutrition information is only for 1 cupcake and it may be hard to stop at one with these.... also the nutrition information does not have frosting and the addition of frosting will add to calories. If you are having more than 1 of these cupcakes the energy/calories do add up and no amount of good protein and fibre will discount that!

So what should I make next with quinoa?

This week, August 1-7, is National Healthy Bones Week! This national campaign has been running for the last 17years and aims to help raise awareness about the importance of calcium rich foods in the diet! I've talked about calcium briefly in my Fruit and Yoghurt Parfait (great calcium rich recipe!) entrybut lets look at it more in depth now:

Why should calcium matter to adults?
Everyone knows you need to get enough calcium during your growing teenage years and also enough calcium as you get older. Some people might also know that bone loss may speed up after menopause in women. But did you know that:

Your peak bone mass is reached in your 20-30s

This means that your bones are at their strongest and most dense. Although you might not be growing taller any more during this life stage it's important to still maintain a good quality diet that includes 2-3 serves of dairy a day. This ensures you are still putting enough funds into your bone bank. This isn't to say calcium is not important during childhood, it's very important but don't forget you still need it into your 20s and 30s!


Like this graph, if you have invested well in your bone bank over time, when you reach your 70s you will have a higher bone mass and be less likely to have a fracture than your friends who did not follow a healthy diet and exercise.

This graph shows something similar but as a comparison of males vs females. Now all you guys out there don't start thinking you're invincible! Osteoporosis (disease where the bones are weakened) affects 1 in 5 men over 50 and an osteoporotic fracture occurs in 1 in 3 men over 60years old.

Osteoporosis is such a silent disease as it often shows no signs or symptoms until a fracture happens. It's a long term investment and is not reversible once the damage is done. Your bones are living tissue full of 2 types of bone cells. Ones that build bones (osteoblasts) and ones that break bones down (osteoclasts). When you are growing, the number of bone building cells and from your 30s onwards there is often more bone breakdown cells for the rest of your life. This speeds up after menopause and old age in men as oestrogen and testosterone actually support bone formation. But it is possible to slow this process down! In fact just a 10% increase in peak bone mass (when your bones are strongest) will significantly delay osteoporosis and your risk of fractures later in life!

The website is really great this year with lots of fact sheets, sample planners for all ages, recipes and also a cowculator!

Although it isn't the most comprehensive of measures for calcium content it gives you a good start to see if you are not getting enough calcium and some sample sources of calcium.

This year they are also on twitter @HealthyBonesAU  so follow them for the latest on the initiative!

The site has some great information so make sure you check it out this week to get you motivated and started in building up your bones fund!

• I've mentioned prevalence in men but 1 in 2 women over 60 will suffer a osteoporotic fracture in their lifetime
• Fractures can lead to chronic pain, immobility, restricted activities,other limitations and, sometimes, death.
• Every 5-6minutes someone in Australia is admitted to hospital with an osteoporotic fracture
• For elderly who survive a fracture, only 1 in 3 will recover to their previous level of independence
• Smoking can increase your risk of fracture 1.5folds while drinking (>4standard drinks) can double your risk

• Males and females 12-18yo need 1300mg of calcium/day
• Males 19-70yo need 1000mg calcium/day
• Females 19-50yo need 1000mg calcium/day
• Males >70 and females >50 need 1300mg calcium/day
• There is more calcium in low fat dairy products as without the fat present there is more room for calcium! Less calories and more calcium = double win!
• Fortified soy products are a great alternative to dairy 
• Hard tofu is a great source of calcium while silken tofu is not due to the different production methods
• Fish with bones included such as sardines or canned salmon (with bones) are also great sources of calcium
• Calcium content is less in white cheese such as cottage and ricotta compared to yellow cheese due to manufacturing differences
• Some breakfast cereals and breads are fortified with calcium so check the label
• Almonds are also a moderate source of calcium 
• Vegetarian calcium options: spinach, baked beans, tofu, fortified soy and other products, tahini paste, apricot, almonds,  

Lets hope some of us can be as fit as this woman when we're in our 80s! So go forth, get some exercise, sunlight (vitamin D) and calcium in you!

Share your favourite ways to include calcium in your day below!

This weekend I am resting at home because I am sick. I was suppose to be at work but due to my blocked nose and wailing "I'm siiiiiiiick" all around the house I am at home reminiscing about last weekend where I was well and out having brunch and shopping. Last weekend I took my family out to brunch at The Cove at Drummoyne. It was the first day of sunshine after weeks of rainy Sydney weather and there was much excitement among my siblings.

The restaurant is beautifully situated facing Iron Cove with glimpses of waterfront views no matter where you are sitting! Sadly the restaurant did not do bookings on weekends so we had to wait 40minutes as we needed a table of 5. If you are looking to go I can't stress enough that you should book on weekdays and be prepared to wait on weekends if you have a big group. The place was very popular due to it's great location and the customers appeared to be mostly mothers and joggers.

After finally getting a seat we were eager to start ordering. Food came out in a reasonable time.


I had the speciality home made baked beans with spinach and bacon on house loaf and topped with a poached egg $18.50

This was very yummy and my brother was taking a large portion of my baked beans away because it was so delicious! Baked beans are a great source of fibre and protein which both help to keep you feeling full for longer. They are also low GI, fat free, has been shown to lower your cholesterol and are a great source of vegetable/legumes. This means that incorporating baked beans in your breakfast will give you slow releasing sustained energy, contribute to a serve of vegetables and thus keep you going until lunchtime! Is there any other reason not to eat beans?? (Okay it may cause flatulence.....)

I'm not a big fan of bacon, not only because of the fat and salt content but I just don't like the taste so I shared most of my bacon with the family. The bacon in this meal wasn't the leanest I've seen but the fat could easily have been trimmed off.

The spinach is another great vegetable serving! And the poached organic and free range egg was perfection. Eggs are a great source of nutrients. Just imagine it's suppose to nourish a growing chicken! The heart foundation recommends it's healthy to consume up to 6 eggs a week.


This is the dish my dad originally ordered. It was another house specialty of smoked Tasmanian salmon with rocket, avocado and fetta cheese on house loaf $18.50. My dad doesn't like fetta cheese so gave this to my mum.

Funny story while eating:
Mum: This salmon isn't very salty compared to some other salmon I've had
Dad: It's Tasmanian salmon
Mum: Is the water in Tasmania less salty?  

Salmon is a great source of good omega 3 fatty acids!


My dad swapped the salmon dish for this: Panini with fried egg, bacon, onion jam, rocket and aioli $12.50. My dad called this the rich man's bacon egg roll.


My sister decided to go for a sweet dish: Crumpets with ricotta, strawberries and honey $13.50.

Ricotta is a really great low fat cheese that is soft and easy to spread. Use it instead of cream. However the calcium content of ricotta is not as great as for hard yellow cheeses like cheddar.


My brother wasn't adventurous enough to try ricotta cheese so he had the scones with cove berry jam and cream $5.50

We also had a few coffees that I didn't get to take a snap of it. I am not a great coffee drinker (It gets me jittery) so I can't really comment on how great the coffee is but my parents are both baristas and drink coffee daily. They said the coffee was really good and creamy and they used a good quality chocolate powder.

I had previously been to the cove once to have breakfast and had: 


Chorizo, mushroom, fresh tomato, rocket and sweet paprika omelette $17.50
The omelette was great and filling but I felt the eggs were a bit dry. See that yellow slice between the bread? It's butter. Lots of it. Don't judge me but I've never had butter on toast until a couple of days before this outing! With the new discovery I got a little too happy with the knife and slathered too much butter on... It wasn't pretty....


Also had a slice of banana bread with banana, ricotta and honey $5.50 that day. It was just ordinary to me.

The bill for our family brunch was over $70 so I wouldn't say it's the most affordable brunch but the food was delicious, the service was courteous (despite the long wait) and the view was fantastic.

Health factor?

• The breakfast menu included a number of healthy choices and many meals had at least some vegetable addition. 
• There is wholemeal bread options and also gluten free breads for those with coeliac disease. 
• They have some nice berry smoothies as well  
• Ask them to trim the bacon or pick dishes with no bacon 
• Avoid spreading too much butter on the bread (Like me!)
• Choose dishes without the béarnaise sauce 
• Choose dishes with the vegetables such as rocket, spinach, asparagus, mushrooms, tomatoes and avocado

Look at this view! I would happily go and have breakfast or try their lunch and dinner options again but with my student budget it might have to be reserved for special occasions only!

What have you been up to this weekend?

Today is my dear sister's 12th Birthday and on the weekend I made this strawberry and cream cake at her request!

I said she could request any cake she liked as long as we had the equipment to make it and she picked a strawberry and cream cake!

Recipe from: Seasalt with Food





As it was a special occasion I didn't do any healthy variations to it as it wasn't something we would be eating all the time. See dietitians can have cream and cake too! My siblings both loved the cake but they said my chia seed cupcakes were better (recipe coming soon).

(However I couldn't resist using low GI sugar and spreading less cream on it!)

After finishing a slice of cake my 9yo brother proclaimed "I don't like junk food. Everytime I eat something super fatty or oily or sweet my tummy doesn't like it!"

It wasn't too long before he rejected the rest of his cake slice and went to the bathroom!

Oops I really didn't want to end on a bathroom note so here's another pretty cake picture!