No pasta lasagne

There's an argument that this is no longer lasagne as it has no pasta and doesn't have the traditional bechemal sauce but for anyone who can't eat pasta and prefers a healthier option, it tastes fab! It's really easy to make and can be frozen

500g minced beef
1 red onion, peeled and chopped
3 cloves garlic, crushed
1/2 butternut squash, peeled and cubed
4 carrots, peeled and finely sliced
150g mushrooms, chopped
1/2 leek (use the other half as pasta sheets- do not chop)
2 tins tomatoes
4 tbsp tomato puree
Fresh basil
Fresh parsley
Freshly ground black pepper

For the sauce

350g cottage cheese
250g natural yoghurt
2 eggs

1. Peel and slice all the vegetables then fry the onion, garlic and mince until browned. Add the remaining vegetables ensuring you keep back half the leek to use later. Leave to simmer for 30 minutes then season
2. Preheat the oven to 180OC. Slice the leek in half lengthways. Blend the cottage cheese, yoghurt and eggs together then season with black pepper.
3. Once the lasagne is cooked, layer the lasagne mix and leeks. For the final layer, use the cheese and yoghurt mix. Then place in the oven to cook for 35-40 minutes until the topping is golden brown.

Hannah on Radio Sheffield

This week I have had the privilege of being on Radio Sheffield twice in 3 days talking about different aspects of nutrition. On Monday, I was on Paulette Edwards' show as an expert nutritionist. I then got called in to Rony's show on Wednesday morning to give my comments on the new traffic light labelling system.

I love being on radio and have decided I want my own nutrition show. For now though, I'll be on Paulette's show once a month talking about the latest nutrition news and answering your questions. There were some great stories coming in. One that particularly stood out was a man who lost 7 stone by cutting out beer, bread and butter. Whilst I recommended he put butter back in but spread thinly, that's a fantastic achievement!

We focussed a lot on retraining your brain and what that means. I argue that it isn't just the food we eat but our attitude towards it. food should be seen as fuel for our body but also more than that. There is the social enjoyment and the fulfilment of eating good quality food you enjoy. You wouldn't put substandard fuel in the car yet we quite happily fill our bodies up and expect them to work.They won't! We need to view food and our relationship with it as a much more important part of life.

I also went on Rony's show to talk about the new food labelling system coming into force. I'll blog more about that in a separate post but personally, I can't see it working. It comes back to the point I make above, our attitudes need to change. We need to change the amount of convenience food we eat and the reasons why. 

If you would like to listen to my chat with Paulette, you can listen here from 1:07 http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p019b0rp/Paulette_Edwards_Walking_Festival/

To listen to Ron'y show click here and listen from 17:30 http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p019fn36/Rony_Robinson_Hendersons_Relish_art/