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If like me you’re struggling to get back into some sense of reality after gorging yourself on a weeks worth of calories in a single sitting after Christmas, then you will be glad to hear you can actually have a breakfast that will leave you feeling fulfilled without needing an immediate course of liposuction to suck the gallon of grease straight out of your hips!

Step forward Pure Kitchen in Cardiff Bay on the doorstep of the Wales Millennium Centre offering hearty, guilt free, flavour bombs for breakfast and lunch from 4 egg omelettes with grilled chicken, chorizo or steak breakfasts, full english breakfasts, toasted muffins or pancakes topped with fresh fruit.

Pure Kitchen offer breakfasts, fresh smoothies and juices, salads and freshly cooked lunches with the leanest of meats you could ever have adorning your plate to eat in or packed tightly into a takeaway box to eat at your leisure.

You’ve probably walked past one of Cardiff Bay’s most rated breakfast eateries, which managed to chart on Buzzfeed’s top 16 places to grab breakfast in the Capital recently as it’s parked in between the roads directly outside the Wales Millennium Centre and opposite your route from The Red Dragon Centre to the Bay.

If you fancy sampling some of the best breakfasts on offer in Cardiff then head over to Livingsocial and get a Pure Kitchen discount voucher offering you two breakfasts with a hot drink for just £9 up to the value of £21 or 4 dinners can get a paleo inspired breakfast fit for you Crossfit lovers on your next trip down the bay for just £18 up to the value of £42.

You can get this Pure Kitchen breakfast discount in Cardiff Bay for the next 5 days with the voucher then having to be used by February 26th 2016 between 9-11am.

best-guacamole-recipe-res

I don’t mind avocado but as long as they are paired with some something to cut through the creaminess like a bit of spice or bacon. My favourite thing to do with avocado and is super easy and can be used to transform simple snacks or lunch for work plus it’s got no horrible nasties in it, just fresh, natural ingredients that are great for adults and for a healthy addition to your child’s lunchbox if they like the bit of spice or you can leave out the chilli.

I wouldn’t say I follow a Paleo diet as such but i do try to keep it healthy through the week along with my Crossfit sessions about 3 times a week as I do like to let my hair down on the weekend by pigging out on all the foods I want to eat and have a bit of a tipple whether it’s a vintage cider, spiced rum or a good bottle of Marlborough Sauv Blanc.

This easy peasy guacamole can be a great addition to add a bit of a kick and extra flavour to your Paleo diet with healthy natural fats from the guacamole, vitamin c from the tomatoes and the kick from the chilli to give your metabolism a bit of a boost.

I’m fed up of eating out and ordering guacamole as a side dish or on my nachos and not being able to taste anything compared to my favourite homemade guacamole. I don’t buy avocado very often due to the price as I have to be in the mood for it and more often than not i buy it, leave it in the fridge and forget about it and by the time i go to use it, it’s gone brown and mushy.

I do pick up a couple though in the condemned aisle in Tesco as it’s always worth a browse in there on my way home from Crossfit as I find they are always too hard when you buy them normally and always have to leave them till gone the sell by date to use as you can’t mash them and they quite often have them reduced down to 10p instead of over £1.

Ingredients

  • 1 large avocado
  • 2 cherry tomatoes chopped
  • 2 spring onions
  • 1/4 red pepper
  • 1/2 to 1 chilli depending on your preferred heat
  • 1 lime
  • A few stalks of coriander to taste (optional as I just tend to use up ingredients in the fridge to make the guacamole and never usually have this to hand and refuse to pay over £1 for it just to make guacamole)
  • 1/2 teaspoon of garlic powder (optional)
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

  1. Cut the avocado in half and remove the stone. Take a dessert spoon and scrape around the edges then scoop out the half of avocado in one. Turn it over so the flat side is down and to make it easier to mash i slice it thinly length ways and then again the other directions into small chunks and put into a bowl so that you can mash it with a fork.
  2. Slice the cherry tomatoes thinly and then chop the slices into small pieces.
  3. Chop the root off the spring onions and the majority of the green leaves leaving mainly the white flesh and slice diagonally in thin slices.
  4. Cut the pepper into thin strips and then again into small chunks.
  5. Chop the coriander up finely
  6. Chop the chilli up as small as possible and add all the chopped vegetables to the bowl with the avocado.
  7. Tip the 1/2 teaspoon of garlic powder on top of the other ingredients and a good season with salt and pepper.
  8. Roll the lime on the table or work surface in the palm of your hand to release the juice inside from it’s flesh so that when you cut it in half you can squeeze every last drop out into the bowl of ingredients. Cut the lime in half squeezing half the lime into the guacamole bowl and mix so everything is mixed together.
  9. Cover with cling film and put in the fridge for the flavours to marry together for an hour or two till you need it.
  10. I keep the other half of the lime to squeeze onto the mixture just before serving and mixing it into the avocado.

You can serve this with tortilla chips with salsa, jalapenos, pulled pork, refried beans and a mixture of different cheeses put in a ramekin, melted in the microwave an poured on top to make nacho cheese.

You can use the avocado to top burgers, have as a side to steak or in a wrap with sliced steak, spread on a pitta to accompany spiced chicken fillets or as a dip for fresh homemade vegetable crisps.

If you have got your ass in shape after piling on the pounds after Christmas or you have been good to your body for a bit longer with your fitness and nutrition and are looking for the cheapest chicken breasts to compliment your new regime for a high quality low fat protein hit then look no further than Muscle Food.

You can get the cheapest chicken breasts online for just £25 for 5kg smashing any deal in your local supermarket meaning you pay just £5 per kilo instead of the normal £10 per kilo you usually have to fork out in the likes of Tesco so it’s around half the price.

cheapest-chicken-breast-online at Muscle Food

Muscle food are an online butcher for all your protein and fitness needs sending your meat feast out in special insulated packages that stay fresh for up to 3 days in transport. They don’t just do meat you can do most of your weekly shop on the Muscle Food website with dairy, nuts and oils, supplements and high protein snacks.

Chicken is the ultimate paleo ingredient and a great source of protein for building muscle and feeding them after a tough WOD in Crossfit. Just bake them in the oven for 25 minutes on 200C for a low fat protein hit or top it with your favourite rub or seasoning to it if like me you just can’t stand your chicken bland.

For the cheapest chicken breasts online and to see some of the other offers they have on lean meats from beef, poultry and exotic meats on the menu then head over to the Muscle Food website.

For those on a strict Paleo diet they also have a good selection of grass fed beef on the website too

 

If you weren’t around to witness the now legendary liquid nightclub in Cardiff then you really did miss out. Liquid hosted all of the big names in dance music from Carl Cox, Eric Morillo and whatever other house legend Lamerica Promotions had spinning the decks on a bank holiday through the early 00’s.

Since the closure of Liquid nightclub, which had one of the biggest capacity in South Wales we haven’t had a decent main room DJ to play in Cardiff as we haven’t had a club big enough to host them and they certainly wouldn’t lower themselves to play at the likes of Oceana.

Liquid has been closes for about 3 years now and has just been left to rot away in the fringe of St Mary’s street and Mill Lane but in 2013 there were rumours that liquid was re-opening. News arrived at the end of 2013 that liquid was going to be refurbished with a restaurant and bar taking over the street level floor and nightclub was going to open in the relics of the former liquid nightclub.

Liquid has been renamed Maddison DC and the bar and restaurant have been open for around 2 months now with the nightclub yet to open its doors due to finishing touches being made. I’ve yet to try out the Maddison bar and restaurant but browsing on Livingsocial this week I noticed the daily deal they had with a discount on a 2 course meal for 2 with a glass of Prosecco for just £29 for £58 value at the Maddison restaurant.

With Sirloin steak at £20 from locally sourced farms this is definitely worth sampling as the restaurant is newly open, with a lot of money being pumped into the refurbish they will be keen to make a name for themselves with the quality of the food.

If your sticking to a Paleo diet then there’s steak with mushroom and tomato on the side, duck breast as long as you skip the hoi sin sauce and chicken in lemon and thyme. All the mains come with chips or new potatos but you could order a side of seasonal veg to fill you up instead. For starters you could go for the asparagus and poached egg or the Scottish Smoked Salmon and scrambled eggs.

Not only can you get a discount for Maddison restaurant in Cardiff for 2 diners but you can also get a discount restaurant deal for 4 people for just £57 for a £116 value and 6 diners for £85 with a value of £174 for starter, main and Prosecco each saving 51%.

Get the Madisson restaurant discount in Cardiff  for 2 to 6 diners at Livingsocial with 9 days left to purchase at time of writing.

Grass fed beef and Paleo Friendly butcher in South Wales

If your and avid Crossfitter, Paleo follower or just want the best and nutritious food for your body you probably want to know where the best quality meat you can give your body to repair from heavy workouts at your Crossfit Box or regular gym.

To get the most out of your meat and protein it is recommended you source your red meat from grass fed animals instead of grain and whatever other crap and nasties they throw in to bulk the cows up these days.

If your looking for a butcher who stocks grass fed beef in South Wales then look no further than Paleo Nutrition Wales who source all their meet from local suppliers and everything they sell on their website is Paleo so you don’t have to check the ingredients on anything you find on the site. You will only find natural herbs and spices in any of their snacks such as jerky and seasonings to coat your grass fed hunks of meat.

paleo-nutrition-wales-HUNTER-GATHERER grass fed meat packThe poultry is free range too and they even do meat packs so you can get your protein and nutrients from a selection of the best quality meat you can buy for repairing those muscles and building a temple of a body you have always wanted! The meat packs come in the type of names you would expect from Paleo diet such as the Carnivore, Caveman and the Hunter Gatherer.

All the grass fed, exotic cuts of meat including kangaroo and free range poultry are shipped in 3 step temperature controlled environment meaning it never exceeds 5C and can stay fresh for up to 72 hours in the delivery pack.

See what the Paleo Nutrition Wales website has to offer or get to taste your first ever sample of grass fed meat delivered straight to your door.