Citrus Fruit Salad

I filled in a questionnaire recently on the health of my diet; I realised that although I try to eat a healthy, varied diet, like any of us, I occasionally get stuck in a rut.  It occurred to me that despite loving citrus fruits, I rarely ate them.

Prompted by a trip to the supermarket with my son, I decided to make this simple fruit salad.  We decided to buy a fruit or vegetable we didn't normally buy, he chose a pomelo.  I'd never tried pomelo before and we tried it and it was delicious.  It has a very thick skin which needs cutting off but the flesh takes like firm, less bitter, sweeter grapefruit.

Red and pink grapefruits are also naturally more sweet than the yellow variety meaning this needs no sweetening.  A super healthy dessert or light breakfast.

Baked Sea Bream with Olives and French Beans

I love sea bream, it is a gloriously delicious fish, like Sea Bass but with thicker fillets and more flavour.  Yummy.

When I first started working, I used to go to my local fish stall in the market and chose a delicious sea bream.  If I'm honest, most of the time, I cooked it simply and served with lemon juice with coarse sea salt but trust me on this sauce; it is stunning.

Rainbow Fruit Salad

So simple it doesn't really need a recipe but there is something lovely about so much colour as we approach the end of winter.

Salmon with Mussel Sauce

This looks like such an expensive dish but in reality salmon and mussels are pretty cheap and it's so simple and tasty.

Slow cooked lamb shanks

Lamb shanks might not sound like the most romantic of meals but providing your other half is a meat eater there is something that feels pretty special about it.

I mean look at that?  Meltingly tender meat with lovely fresh vegetables.  That's romance on a plate that is!

Alternatively if you are on your own, this is a great special meal or Sunday Lunch option.  I cooked two shanks together and took the meat off the second one, serving with leftover gravy and vegetables heated in a microwave at work (in front of jealous stares.)

Pancakes

Pancake day is approaching; it always surprises me that there is a market for pre made pancakes or "pancake mix".  Pancakes are one of the quickest and easiest things to cook and are still worth making, even only for yourself!  Great for a pudding or a lovely breakfast.

Top tip; use a really non stick frying pan, then it's a piece of (pan)cake!

30 little things to keep you smiling

Although my blog is called "Eat Like You Love Yourself", I've always had an interest which I've tried to share in physical fitness.  I was talking to a recruiter recently who said how many recruiters now focus on mental resilience when recruiting.  I think this is a sad indication of our times that work takes so much out of us.  Personally I would always (and do) a job I love over a job which just pays.  If you love your work, you don't have to recover from it so much but even then there are stresses and strains in the workplace and at home.

I remember one person, who shall remain nameless who would come in every morning and swipe her card as "in".  The swipe machine was near where I sat and every day she would come in, swipe her card and sigh with as her shoulders drooped.  I always tried to make her smile as it upset me so much that this was her life.  how horrible, you could almost see the "I hate this" thought bubble.  I hope she's now in a place where she's enjoying what she does more.  Life is too short to hate what you do.

So much advice on being good to yourself is about what you shouldn't do.  Negatives don't work for me so I thought I'd put together a list that I (and others) can refer to on nice things you can do to help your body and mind.