This is my take on spicy rice. If you've ever had it at nandos, it is possibly the best thing since sliced bread. It is the ultimate comfort food but without any guilt. Everyone should try this, you won't regret it.

Ingredients (per person):

2 oz of brown rice

½ a pepper

½ an onion

Chilli powder

1 crushed clove of garlic

1 egg

1 chicken breast

Olive oil

Soy Sauce

Butter

Method:

Start by weighing out your rice, you don't want more than this otherwise you will lose all the other ingredients and basically just eat rice. Cook the rice according to the packet instructions. Also cook the chicken breast with a bit of seasoning in the oven for 25 minutes on 180C.

Melt the butter in a pan. Then turn down the heat and crack the egg in the pan, then scramble it. Cook it for about 4 minutes or until it is to your liking.

 Chop up the onion and pepper and crush a garlic clove in with the onion.

Put some olive oil in a pan and add the onion and garlic. Let it cook on a medium heat for about 5  minutes so the onion softens. Make sure you keep stirring so that it doesn't catch.

Add the pepper and cook for a further 2 minutes, then add in the rice and soy sauce (as much to your taste) and chilli powder (again to your taste, depending on how much spice you want). Mix it all together and cook for about 3 minutes, make sure you keep stirring so you don't burn the rice.

Shred the cooked chicken so it is in smaller pieces. 

Add the egg and chicken and mix in with the rice mixture and cook for a bit 3 minutes to heat it all through.

And here's the delicious final dish! I could eat it all over again, it was that good. I could give nandos a run for their money :) 

Next time I would probably add carrots but we didn't have any in the house at the time. And maybe a bit more chilli powder!

Metabolism Boosters

It's taken me a whole to come up with this list. A lot of the time there are all kinds of weird and random foods that come up when searching for foods that boost your metabolism but finally I came up with this list of everyday foods that will be readily available to you. 

I'm going to try to get one of these into every meal to get my metabolism going. 

1. Hot peppers (jalapeños, cayenne, chilli etc.)

I personally would add some form of chilli to my meal if it worked. It's the one ingredient I swear by and I always have it in the cupboard. Not only does it boost your metabolism but it reduces any cravings you may have (probably because it just sets your mouth on fire and you can't taste anything). It boosts your metabolism  y up to 25% and when it peaks! that spike can last for up to 3 hours. Sounds pretty great huh?

2. Whole grains: oatmeal and brown rice

Honestly, I'm really surprised by this. Carbs get such a bad image now and if you're on a diet it's basically a no-go. So here I am to deliver the good news to you! These whole grains are a metabolism booster! They stabilise your insulin levels and are also slow release carbs, keeping you going for a bit longer.

3. Broccoli

I personally really like broccoli! We always have it at home because it's one of the only vegetables my brother will eat. It's really high in calcium and packed full of vitamins C, K and A. It would be better off steamed though so that it retains it's nutrients which can often be lost in water then you aren't getting as much goodness from them.

4. Soups

Another surprising one but they are included in so many diet plans so there must be a reason for that! They reduce the intake of excess foods, so you won't need to grab a snack so quickly after eating this.

5. Green Tea

I won't say anymore (and also because you're probably bored of me going on about it)! There's a whole blog post on it here.

6. Apples and Pears

Make sure you eat the skin though! They contain a lot of vitamin C but be careful as they also contain a fair amount of sugar.

7. Spices

From all the research I've done, what I can gather is that basically any will do but please do correct me if I'm wrong! So get seasoning your food like crazy with anything you can find at the back of your cupboards.

8. Citrus Fruits

This is similar to apples and pears, very high in vitamin C. Try adding lemon to water and letting it infuse for a bit, it tastes great and makes water more interesting.

I just had to add this in because it looks so pretty, someone give me this for my birthday cake next year please?

9. Foods high in Calcium

At first I found this quite strange, but once I did a bit of research about it, it actually makes a lot of sense! It helps because it is involved in so many metabolic processes which binds to fat cells and doesn't allow them to be absorbed by the body! I'll be downing pints of milk at this rate!

10. Foods high in omega 3's

Now you do hear quite a lot about how you need your omega's. It reduces production of a hormone called leptin, a natural chemical that lowers your metabolism. Get rid of that leptin!

I made this salmon before, the recipe for it is here, and it is so yummy!

11. Water

Okay, okay, I know this isn't really a food but it's just too important not to include. Water is a natural appetite suppressant and detoxifier. I've been making a real effort to drink water when I feel a bit hungry to distinguish the feeling between thirst and hunger.

Anyone who knows my family will know that my brother is super skinny! Yes, he does an unbelievable amount of exercise but he does eat his fair share of bad food... However, he does eat a lot from this list so it does make you wonder if it could make a huge difference. What do you think?