It’s more than wishful thinking; chocolate can be good for you!
Dark chocolate and cocoa is packed with anti-oxidants which protect our cells from damaging free radicals, help fight off disease and basically keep us healthy. Cocoa and dark chocolate also contains high levels of important minerals such as copper, iron, potassium and magnesium. Anyone stepping up their activity for summer races will find that they feel better if they keep up their mineral levels which can become depleted though sweat and heavy exercise…what better excuse can you have to eat more good quality chocolate.
I have been putting together a collection of breakfast recipes for my new book for child and teen athletes – Go Faster Food for Kids – and I’m searching for ways to break away from the processed cereal culture. This is a hard task when we’re bombarded by advertising and such tantalisingly attractive packaging on the shelves. I have a big problem with the majority of processed cereals; marketed as healthy but essentially stripped of natural goodness which is then artificially restored, with ‘added’ nutrients. It’s really difficult to sell your child (even my children who can really appreciate good, wholesome food) a wholegrain and natural alternative like porridge when there is a pack of shredded or puffed, sugary wheat-based cardboard in the cupboard!
Hence my idea of chocolate granola! If you ask me, this chocolate granola gives you the best of both worlds; sweet, crunchy and very delicious, packed with a good balance of low GI, sustaining and natural carbohydrate, fibre, omega-3 fatty acids, protein and essential minerals…and it even makes the milk go brown and chocolatey like it does with Cocopops.
Here’s a quick version of how to make it, the full version will be in the book:
- Heat the oven to 180 C.
- In
Oat and Raisin Muffins
The boys fell on these when they came back from touch rugby tonight!
Victoria (makes a lovely sponge!)
Every now and then I get a craving to keep hens in the back garden but I’ve always chickened out (excuse the pun, I will now try to refrain from any further egg puns although so eggstremely tempting). Lucky for me, my lovely friend Jane Evans of Birdcombe Court Farm keeps me supplied with delicious freshly-laid beauties.
So as athletes, why should we eat eggs? Well,
On 3rd September Kasabian Bassist, Chris Edwards and his brother Jay start their gruelling MONSTER Lejog cycle challenge from Lands End to John O’Groats in aid of the Teenage Cancer Trust. Lucky me, they’re stopping over at my place in Bristol for a Go Faster Food Supper! So on 6th September, after a little photo shoot with the local
I can’t believe a whole week has passed since I completed the Virgin London Marathon – in 3 hours 39 minutes – not my PB by any means, but I was relatively pleased with it anyway, as I’d missed 4 weeks of my 12 week training progra
mme for various reasons. More importantly it was a fantastic experience: the weather was perfect, the support from the crowds phenomenal and my family came to cheer me on. I also managed to put lots of names to faces and met some lovely Facebook friends and supporters of Go Faster Food.
BEST (Bristol English Channel Swim Team)
I’ve been given the great privilege of helping out on the foodie front for BEST (Bristol English Channel Swim Team), a totally inspirational group of 11-12 year olds who are training to be the youngest ever relay team to cross the English Channel.
Anyone feeling disillusioned with the youth of today should take a look at the BEST website. These kids are phenomenal! 11 year-old Lewis decided that he would like more than anything to swim the English Channel and the idea blossomed from here – his parents took him seriously and established a superb professional team to take this initial idea to a whole new level. This team includes
Apple Power Pancakes with Spiced Apple Syrup
I’ve been overdoing it a bit on the running front, what with the Bristol 1/2 followed immediately by the Monster Duathlon, so Mark has enforced a week’s rest on me – probably a good idea as I now feel full of beans and raring to go for my run later today.
American Blueberry Pancakes
I’ve been busy this afternoon making little lemon tarts and and a rather tempting-to-the-eye apricot tarte tatin…delicious. Well, they probably are, but they’re for a friend so I mustn’t touch unfortunately!
We’ve had a really fun weekend of activity. I went along to the Bristol Half Marathon Training weekend, held by Run Bristol and the team at Full Potential,
Just staggered in from running the Stockholm Marathon to find this lovely book review waiting for me from the resident runner at Fitness Footwear. Thanks a lot Adam, I’m glad you liked the book!
May 29th, 2009
It’s more than wishful thinking; chocolate can be good for you!
Here’s a quick version of how to make it, the full version will be in the book:
