There is nothing quite as important as your physical health, at times like these it can be particularly hard to keep up your motivation to cook a healthy meal or to find the right exercises for you at home. The benefits of exercise are never ending, keeping fit will impact not only your physical health but also your mental health, helping you to manage stress better as well as making you more productive. Healthy cooking is partnered to this, with healthier meal plans showing to promote better all round health, as well as to help with weight loss and muscle gain.

On this page we will run you through some top exercise routines you can complete at home, as well as some great cooking sites and youtube channels to help you get creative in the kitchen.

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Fitness challenge: may

make the most of your daily walk

Everyone is allowed one walk a day during self-isolation, as part of their daily exercise. The benefits of just a simple walk are massive but you can improve this further by trying a new route or walking in an area filled with more nature. 

Female home exercise

​Helpful links:

NHS 10 minute live well exercise routines GO

Female fitness channel - Blogilates  GO

Female yoga instructor - Yoga with Adriene GO

male home exercise

​Helpful links:

NHS 10 minute live well exercise routines GO

Male fitness channel - Calisthenic movement GO

​Male yoga instructor - Yoga Dose GO

cooking

Cooking healthy meals is one of the best ways to feel good, you can find loads of great recipes on Cooking on a Bootstrap 

Meal of the month

starter

Grilled Aubergine snack

Snack
1 aubergine
2 tbsp cold pressed rapeseed oil
½ lemon
, juiced
For the hummus & pomegranate topping
1 tbsp hummus
1 tbsp pomegranate seeds
For the tomato & basil topping
5 cherry tomatoes, halved
10 small basil leaves

Method
Cut the aubergine in half lengthways, then cut each half lengthways in two. Slice each quarter into 1 cm slices. Brush the oil over the aubergine pieces and season with a little salt and pepper.

Heat a griddle or frying pan. Working in batches, griddle the aubergine pieces for 3 mins on each side until cooked through and nicely charred. Transfer to a tray and squeeze over the lemon juice.

To serve, top half the aubergine stacks with a dab of hummus, then sprinkle over the pomegranate seeds. Place the cherry tomato halves on the remaining aubergine stacks and top with the basil leaves.


​Official recipe Click Here

main

Chicken tikka skewers
​

Skewers
150g pot low-fat natural yogurt
2 tbsp hot curry paste
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cubed
250g pack cherry tomatoes
4 wholemeal chapatis, warmed, to serve
For the cucumber salad
½ cucumber, halved lengthways, deseeded and sliced
1 red onion, thinly sliced
handful chopped coriander leaves
juice 1 lemon
50g pack lamb's lettuce
 or pea shoots


Method
Put 8 wooden skewers in a bowl of water to soak. Mix the yogurt and curry paste together in a bowl, then add the chicken (if you have time, marinate for an hr or so). In a large bowl, toss together the cucumber, red onion, coriander and lemon juice. Chill until ready to serve.

Shake off any excess marinade, then thread the chicken pieces and cherry tomatoes onto the pre-soaked skewers. Cook under a medium grill for 15-20 mins, turning from time to time, until cooked through and nicely browned.

Stir the lettuce or pea shoots into the salad, then divide between 4 plates. Top each serving with 2 chicken tikka skewers and serve with the warm chapatis.


​Official recipe Click Here

dessert

​Chocolate brownie
​

Brownie
185g unsalted butter
185g best dark chocolate
85g plain flour
40g cocoa powder
50g white chocolate
50g milk chocolate
3 large eggs
275g golden caster sugar

Method
Cut 185g unsalted butter into small cubes and tip into a medium bowl. Break 185g dark chocolate into small pieces and drop into the bowl.

Fill a small saucepan about a quarter full with hot water, then sit the bowl on top so it rests on the rim of the pan, not touching the water. Put over a low heat until the butter and chocolate have melted, stirring occasionally to mix them.

Remove the bowl from the pan. Alternatively, cover the bowl loosely with cling film and put in the microwave for 2 minutes on High. Leave the melted mixture to cool to room temperature.

While you wait for the chocolate to cool, position a shelf in the middle of your oven and turn the oven on to 180C/ 160C fan/ gas 4.

Using a shallow 20cm square tin, cut out a square of non-stick baking parchment to line the base. Tip 85g plain flour and 40g cocoa powder into a sieve held over a medium bowl. Tap and shake the sieve so they run through together and you get rid of any lumps.

Chop 50g white chocolate and 50g milk chocolate into chunks on a board.

Break 3 large eggs into a large bowl and tip in 275g golden caster sugar. With an electric mixer on maximum speed, whisk the eggs and sugar. They will look thick and creamy, like a milk shake. This can take 3-8 minutes, depending on how powerful your mixer is. You’ll know it’s ready when the mixture becomes really pale and about double its original volume. Another check is to turn off the mixer, lift out the beaters and wiggle them from side to side. If the mixture that runs off the beaters leaves a trail on the surface of the mixture in the bowl for a second or two, you’re there.

Pour the cooled chocolate mixture over the eggy mousse, then gently fold together with a rubber spatula. Plunge the spatula in at one side, take it underneath and bring it up the opposite side and in again at the middle. Continue going under and over in a figure of eight, moving the bowl round after each folding so you can get at it from all sides, until the two mixtures are one and the colour is a mottled dark brown. The idea is to marry them without knocking out the air, so be as gentle and slow as you like.

Hold the sieve over the bowl of eggy chocolate mixture and resift the cocoa and flour mixture, shaking the sieve from side to side, to cover the top evenly.

Gently fold in this powder using the same figure of eight action as before. The mixture will look dry and dusty at first, and a bit unpromising, but if you keep going very gently and patiently, it will end up looking gungy and fudgy. Stop just before you feel you should, as you don’t want to overdo this mixing.

Finally, stir in the white and milk chocolate chunks until they’re dotted throughout.

Pour the mixture into the prepared tin, scraping every bit out of the bowl with the spatula. Gently ease the mixture into the corners of the tin and paddle the spatula from side to side across the top to level it.

Put in the oven and set your timer for 25 mins. When the buzzer goes, open the oven, pull the shelf out a bit and gently shake the tin. If the brownie wobbles in the middle, it’s not quite done, so slide it back in and bake for another 5 minutes until the top has a shiny, papery crust and the sides are just beginning to come away from the tin. Take out of the oven.

Leave the whole thing in the tin until completely cold, then, if you’re using the brownie tin, lift up the protruding rim slightly and slide the uncut brownie out on its base. If you’re using a normal tin, lift out the brownie with the foil. Cut into quarters, then cut each quarter into four squares and finally into triangles.

They’ll keep in an airtight container for a good two weeks and in the freezer for up to a month.



Official recipe Click Here