Spiralised Cucumber & Tuna Salad

Hello…This is Manon’s mum here…the furry Manon-ster is outside on her trampoline gnawing on some bones and so she asked me if I could take my turn writing in her blog today…so here goes!!!

Well…if you are anything like me, there will be those days when you are quite happy to satiate the lunch time hunger pangs with pretty much anything that is handy in the kitchen…some fruit, some left-over dinner or more than likely, if you are me…a berry, yoghurt and honey protein shake (mmmmmm!!) On other days however…(like today for instance) pretty much from the moment you wake up…you have a vision imprinted in your brain…this morning, mine was of an amazingly colorful spiralised cucumber salad with lots of yumminess and texture thrown in!

I had a relatively busy morning, but that vision kept pushing it’s way to the forefront of my thoughts!!! So in this post today I will devulge such recipe and what some or even perhaps many of you may find an interesting fact is that the “Almighty Veggie Spiraliser” has another use other than to make vegetable spaghetti…namely flat, spiralised cucumber ribbon!!! However hard it may be to believe, in my honest opinion, when a cucumber is spiralised it metamorphosizes…A LOT!! I would go as far as saying, that you cannot even compare how a spiralised cucumber tastes as opposed to a chopped or sliced one!

So, for today’s lunch I wanted: spiralised cucumber of course, a mixture of veggies with lots of colour, I wanted texture and yes…creaminess…and I wanted some form of delicious protein…Oh! And last but not least…not too many calories please!! This…is how I achieved it!

SPIRALISED CUCUMBER AND TUNA SALAD

1 cucumber spiralised with the flat blade

1 tomato

1/3 red capsicum

6 mushrooms

4 tinned baby beetroot balls chopped

half a small avocado

1 tin of John West Tempters Tuna Mango Chilli 95g

15g dollop of aioli mayonnaise

Balsamic vinegar

salt & pepper

Salads are fairly easy to prepare…it’s pretty much wash, slice or chop and throw in a bowl!!! Remember that the cucumber needs to be spiralised into a wide ribbon! As for the tuna…you can use any type/flavour but I just happened to have the Mango Chilli one in the pantry! Of course don’t be forgetting the aioli, balsamic and seasoning for that extra punch!!! Oh! And à mon avis it is not necessary to add any extra oil as you are getting enough from the avocado and aioli as it is!

I, so enjoyed devouring this salad lunch today…and I do hope you enjoyed reading my post! Perhaps you’ll give my recipe a try sometime soon!

And of course for those of you who as yet do not own your own vegetable spiraliser…you seriously don’t know what you are missing out on!!! Click on this link and buy yourself the same spiraliser that I use and have been extremely happy with for many, many, many months!! Paderno World Cuisine A4982799 Tri-Blade Plastic Spiral Vegetable Slicer

See you soon…

Manon’s Mum xx

Oh!…My “Vibrant” Heart…

Vibrant

What Mum Cooked for Dinner…

Well, this evening mum prepared the simplest of meals…but I must say that for a split second, it made me wish that I was a vegetarian Spoo!!! Hee hee…only kidding guys!!!

“Zoodles with Yoghurt and Not Much Else”  (I kinda like that name!!)

2 large zucchinis (unpeeled)

1 teaspoon of whole butter

1 tbsp of plain greek yoghurt

1 tbsp shredded parmesan cheese

Portuguese chicken seasoning mix

salt and pepper to taste

*serves one

 

Spiralise the zucchinis (make sure they still have the skin on!) Place in a large fry pan…with the butter but there is really no need to use any oil or stock as the zucchini noodles (zoodles) release plenty of water whilst cooking. (I just like the extra richness the butter gives and since this is so low cal already…it hardly matters in my book!) Add Portuguese chicken seasoning and salt and pepper to your taste. When the zoodles are “al dente” add the yoghurt and mix around…arrange on serving plate and sprinkle with parmesan and a final dusting of Portuguese seasoning (mainly for aesthetics)!

Yummity yum yum! And only about 220 calories give or take a few!!

If you still don’t have your vegetable spiraliser…and would like to buy the one that mum has…click on this link:
Paderno World Cuisine A4982799 Tri-Blade Plastic Spiral Vegetable Slicer

💝Manon xx

Just a bit of Vibrant-ness…

 <a href=”https://dailypost.wordpress.com/photo-challenges/vibrant/”>Vibrant</a&gt;

Dinner in a Minute…

My mamma just loves to cook and always has, but sometimes…things just don’t quite pan out! Today she has had a busy day with work and chores and when daddy arrived home late from work  and promptly intimated that he was going to have a “health shake” for dinner…it was easy for her to decide on her meal of choice for herself!

She opted for a low cal, lacto-vego concoction that would take but maybe 15 minutes to throw together…whilst at the same time instantly and surely tantalise her taste buds!

Mum said she will give amounts for the ingredients as she did work out the caloric content and would like it to be as accurate as possible!!

KUMERA, MUSHIES & PARMESAN THINGY!! (She just made that name up now…)

Kumera (orange sweet potato) peeled 350g raw

6 med mushrooms sliced

Natural Greek yoghurt 45g

Grated Parmesan cheese 25g

Salt and pepper to taste
Spiralise the Kumera using your now invaluable vegetable spiraliser. Place the Kumera  noodles and sliced mushrooms into a large fry pan and sauté on medium heat. You may use a small amount of spray oil to avoid sticking or you can use a small amount of chicken stock (even better!). Keep moving around to avoid sticking to the bottom of the pan. When the noodles are ‘al dente’, add the Parmesan cheese and combine well. Arrange on the dinner plate and top with a dollop of Greek yoghurt…season to taste.

Make sure that you mush around the yoghurt well, before eating to create a delicious creamy consistency!!

This meal serves one person and contains approximately 407 calories!!

Now, if you do not yet have your own vegetable spiraliser and would like to buy the same one that mum swears by click this link:Paderno World Cuisine A4982799 Tri-Blade Plastic Spiral Vegetable Slicer

Bon Appetite!

💝Manon xxx

In All Her Vibrant Beauty …

Vibrant

Mum Cooked Dinner…

Mum made a super yummy and healthy dinner for herself and dad tonight…Spiralised zucchini, sautéed capsicum, mushrooms, Mexican tomato salsa, pesto, shredded melting cheese topped with an extra lean beef patty sprinkled with Parmesan cheese! Mum said it was divine and although she didn’t work out all nutritional values she feels pretty confident that it was not very high at all…she would guesstimate that it was under 600 calories per serve!

You too can make delicious healthy meals by spiralising a myriad of veggies just like my mum! If you don’t have your own spiraliser yet…click on the link below…this is the same one that mum uses!!!

Paderno World Cuisine A4982799 Tri-Blade Plastic Spiral Vegetable Slicer

Stay tuned for more spiraliser recipes and ideas in my future posts!! Xx

Something Vibrant in my Hair…

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My Legs Feel Vibrant…

Vibrant

A Common Question…

Well…yesterday morning whilst mum and I were out on our jog pounding the pavement with all our 6 feet, we were chatting and were both giggling with excitement at the thought of our new little adventure of “blogging”. Neither of us has ever done anything like this before and the prospect of new and exciting things in the future is rather appealing!

We were having a bit of a brainstorming session in the process…trying to think of interesting topics that I could write about, when yet another passerby smiles and stops to give me a pat. She asked mum the same two questions that we repeatedly get asked and they are…Does mum do all my grooming?  And…How much time does it take to groom me?

After the nice lady went on her way mum and I looked at eachother…and since we have a special kind of telepathy happening between us…we both knew that we were thinking the same thing!! That could be the subject of our next post!

So today, I am going to tell you how mum makes sure that I always look in tip top Manon Style! Mum has always had an eye for fashion and she tells me she gets so much joy and pleasure pampering and grooming me to within an inch of my life!! OK! Maybe they aren’t wholly her words…hee hee!!!

So…every morning mum starts my grooming routine by requesting that I jump up onto my grooming table…depending on my mood that day, I may or may not oblige…a treat of some sort doesn’t go astray! She will start by removing all my bands, ribbons and collar. Then she brushes out all my wool to make sure that I don’t have any hidden little dreadlocks in the making!  I don’t mind that much…I try to be a good girl and just stand or sit there for her…the whole brushing process really only takes about 5 minutes if I’m behaving myself!!

After the brushing, she goes over my whole body again with a comb. She says that the comb makes sure that any knots that may be brewing closer to my skin are dealt with swiftly. Luckily for me the wool on my body is clipped very short so she really only has to deal with my head, face, legs and tail! Once I’m all brushed out and fluffy, mum starts banding my head and ears. She uses little loom bands in all different pretty colours, sometimes she bands my hair into antennas or a unicorn and other times just into a top knot that she adds a big bow to…either way I always end up looking amazing and always get lots of lovely compliments from people on the street!

Over the span of my life to date, which is just over 2 years mum has accumilated a rather impressive collection of fancy collars and bows for me to wear. For some reason she feels compelled to change my collars and ribbons every day…I don’t mind as it makes me feel pretty!!! I, or should I say “we” have a huge collection of satin “protective collars” which are all custom hand made…they are made of the most beautiful patterened fabrics and I think they have become somewhat synonymous with me! Everyone always comments on them! The two online stores that mum always buys them from are “The Quilted Hound” and “Poodleit” if you like the look of them you should check out their websites!

So, in a nutshell or there-abouts…that is pretty much the totality of my “daily” grooming requirements needed to keep me in tip top shape. Because mum has perfected the procedure it really only takes her about 15 minutes or 20 minutes maximum if she thinks that I need a little tidy up with the grooming clippers here or there. Sometimes, she may paint my toe nails with pretty doggy-friendly nail polish and other times she will give me a bit of a spray with a sweet smelling doggy cologne! Obviously there are other grooming requirements like my fortnightly shower…mum and I shower together as she says it’s easier to do since we don’t own a doggy hydrobath. This usually takes place on a weekend as she then has to blow dry my locks! Of course every 6 weeks I am booked in with my local professional dog groomer who will bathe me and do a full style clip to make sure that my body shape remains how mummy likes it, they also clean inside my ears (eeek!) and clip my toe nails and make sure that my anal glands are empty! (I’m sorry that is not a very lady like subject to mention! Oops!)

And…there you have it! My whole grooming calendar in one post! I don’t really think I’m that high maintenance as long as mum keeps my coat in check! I hope you enjoyed the read…and have a lovely day!

 

💝Manon xxx