HEALTHY COURGETTI MEATBALLS & CHOCOLATE AVOCADO MOUSSE

I am not the healthiest person on the internet. Yes, I'm gluten free - because I have coeliac disease, not because the wellbeing world has brainwashed everyone into thinking it's the best thing for you - and yes, I do actually quite enjoy a lot of veg and healthy food. But, I also frickin adore curry, pizza, cake, pasta, kebabs and basically anything that does the best job at cloggin your arteries and turning your body into a potato.

Like seriously, gimme a Chicken pasanda, bottle glass of wine, 5 episodes of Grey's Anatomy and I am yours. Whether you look like Shrek or not.

However, as I'm getting older - insert all of the hysterical cry face emojis here - and my awareness of health grows stronger, it really is about time that I start caring for my body. But as a massive foody/greedy pig, it's absolutely essential that healthy still means ridiculously tasty (oh, and big portions too, all about those big portions). So something that I've been doing for a long time now is substituting things like spaghetti and rice for vegetable versions. Courgetti, cauliflower rice, homeade houmous and Pesto.. seen it on Pinterest? I've probably recreated it. And my absolute BAE'S heros for recreating these recipes with ease - and not chopping my fingers off in the process - are the Morphy Richards black electric Spiralizer and the Nutri ninja blender from Debenhams.

And like, if I could marry an appliance then this bad boy would have a ring on it right now.

As we're talking about marrying a spiralizer now it's probably time to move on to the recipes...

Courgetti and Meatballs

Ingredients - 

• 2 large Courgettes
• A pack of meatballs (sorry gal pals, I was too lazy - inept - to make my own so purchased some gluten free meatballs from Tesco but I have made some amazing ones by the body coach before if you have more time)
• Chopped tomatoes
• Tomato paste
• 1 clove of garlic
• Handful of fresh parsley
• Shavings of Parmesan 
• Salt and pepper to season

The Method

Spaghetti and meatballs is a classic. I've devoured those little balls of goodness for years now - lols, no you are the child for thinking that's an innuendo - and when I started adopting my "screw my life, gotta start being healthy now" attitude I realised that this dish would be so easy to make healthy with just a few little replacements here and there.

Starting with the courgetti. This is such an easy replacement for spaghetti and whilst it definitely isn't quite as perfect as the carby goodness that is pasta, it does add such a gorgeous crunchy texture and freshness. Using the Morphy Richards black electric spiralizer express from Debenhams, I literally popped a courgette in, twisted the top of the spiralizer and 2 seconds later, gal pal's got herself some courgetti. That's what I absolutely adore about this spiralizer, it genuinely took a minute to figure out how everything goes together and it takes seconds to actually work. Quick, easy, convenient and just works perfectly. I fry this at the very end for only a minute or so to stop it going soggy and keep the crunch.

The meatballs are some that I *ahem* bought from Tesco but you know what, there's no judgement over here- i.e please don't judge me gal pals I'm rushed for time #queenofpoorexcuses - and I actually adore these gluten free meatballs. I gently fry those off until they're well done.

Next up is the meatball/tomato sauce - something that I do make time for because I can make bulk, freeze and use it all week, woop! - and this is the part that makes me feel all "move over nigella"/sassy AF because it just tastes so good (and is also really satisfying to say you've made a sauce from scratch.) I blended up some cooked chopped tomatoes, tomato paste, garlic, some olive oil, parmesan, parsley and black pepper just for a short amount of time so that it still remains quite thick and rustic and then combined the meatballs and sauce to let sizzle.

Lol, sizzle is definitely not the technical term I'm looking for but considering that I have a degree in microwaving, this isn't really a surprise is it?

Once "sizzled" - I think I actually mean reduce. Do I actually mean reduce? - I popped the whole mixture on top of the courgetti and voila, Healthy meatballs done.

And now it's time for dessert...

Health(ier) but indulgent Dark chocolate mousse

Ingredients - 

• 2 bananas (I would actually only use 1 and 1/2 for this and gobble the rest)
• 1 avocado
• 75g of dark chocolate sauce or chocolate to melt
• Juice of half an orange
• 2 tablespoons of cocoa powder

The Method

Chop two bananas, bung into the Nutri ninja...

Chop one avocado, bung into the nutri ninja...

FYI Bung is a really technical term that all the chefs use 

:/

Then pour in your chocolate sauce or melt your chocolate to add to the mix, followed by the juice of half of an orange...

Add your cocoa powder and blend that shiz up...

What I friggin adore about the Nutri ninja is that it has more settings than the original nutri bullet - which I also love - making it more versatile and fab for a wider variety of recipes. It's also a lot stronger too meaning that if you're an impatient cook/smoothie maker etc. you will love this because it blends everything in no time!

Once you've blended the mixture into a completely smooth consistency - you don't want any lumps and bumps for this one - whack the ingredients into a ramekin of choice. I was going to say "neatly" put it in but let's be honest, a blind dog could've done a better job presentation wise than me [insert cry laughter/"can't look" emoji here].

Chill for as long as desired but I would say a good hour at least before serving however you like. Raspberries, nuts, whatever tickles your pickle, pop it on top and Instagram until your heart's content!

So that brings this little recipe/"OMG I'm being healthy and it's actually delicious"/"Check out my new tools that make me look like a pro chef" post to an end. I really hope you liked it and found it useful. I am  major foodie so although I want to be healthier, taste definitely can't be compromised and that's exactly what these recipes are about.

I would love to know if you tried these out, or if you've tried the Morphy Richards spiralizer/Nutri Ninja? Also, leave me some delicious recipes/links to some below if you have them, I'm pretty much the Chef next door now ;)

As always, thanks so much for reading!

xx

*This post was kindly sponsored by Debenhams but all love of outrageously tasty food and easy gadgets, my own.

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