Healthy Living James from Poole

The 29-year-old health coach based in Ashley Cross, Poole, specialises in creating simple, healthy, gluten, wheat, dairy, egg and refined sugar free recipes - which also taste absolutely delicious.

But only eight years ago, James became so unwell that he was bedbound, and so weak he could hardly speak.

Life had been going well for James until December 2010. He had just completed his sports science degree at Bournemouth University and he was an accomplished golfer who played for the uni and also the Dorset County first team.

One morning he woke up feeling sick and dizzy. At first he thought it was just a touch of food poisoning, but he became so ill that he was later rushed into hospital for suspected brain tumour.

“I had several brain scans but I was so weak at that point having lost nearly three stone in weight that I couldn’t eat, drink or even stand up,” says James.

“After multiple attempts to get help from the doctors they finally, after nearly six months, diagnosed me with M.E. (Myalgic Encephalomyelitis) also known as CFS (Chronic Fatigue Syndrome). I was told there was no cure and all I could do was rest and wait.”

As part of his long road to recovery, James started to see a nutritionist.

“The nutritionist I was seeing at that time had also suffered from M.E many years earlier and therefore could relate to my story.

“She told me to immediately cut gluten and dairy from my diet. I’d always had a pretty balanced diet and never feasted on typical takeaway food but we hadn’t considered looking more carefully at what I was really eating.

“That was the first step into changing my diet and nutrition along with taking supplements, some of which came from America specifically designed for M.E sufferers.

“At first this was a major change from eating a normal balanced diet to really having to think about exactly what to eat and what that food actually contained. My mum also had to change the way she prepared food but after just a short while this became less of a challenge and actually became the norm.

“Now, I am at a stage where I can look back and see what a huge impact food has had in my recovery, the more I clean up my diet the better my energy levels become.

“I keep discovering more and more ways to eat healthily but without making it super complicated.”

James adds: “I’m not unique and there are many people that have suffered or are suffering from similar health problems.

“Healthy living is one of the ways I have found that works and I hope that sharing my experiences through my blog may offer a way forward.

“My aim is to inspire and motivate people to make better food choices and to improve their overall lifestyle.

“Many believe that cooking healthy recipes is expensive and time consuming and I want to change that. With a few tweaks to what you store and use in your kitchen, you too can live a healthier more balanced life.”

But you don’t have to have food intolerances to benefit from his recipes.

“I enjoy experimenting with different foods and flavours - most of my recipes are quite seasonal but I always test a recipe at least three to five times. I want people to know that they can trust me.”

(I’ve tried both his Peanut Butter Granola and his Spinach and Chickpea Curry (I added chicken to mine) and they are now firm favourites. Try his recipes here and see for yourself).

PEANUT BUTTER GRANOLA

Extremely simple and delicious gluten free, vegan and refined sugar free granola that you can easily make at home with a few quick steps.

This granola is one for the nut butter fans out there… It’s crunchy, so easy to make and can be used in lots of different ways.

And of course if you don’t like or have an allergy to peanut butter this recipe works with any nut butter you choose!

It only uses these 7 ingredients that you will most likely already have in your kitchen at home.

Ingredients

2 cups gluten free oats 200g

1 cup almonds 150g

1 cup pecans 150g

1 cup ground almonds 100g

4 tbsp coconut oil melted

6 tbsp maple syrup

4 tbsp peanut butter

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Method

Pre-heat your oven to 160C

In a large mixing bowl add all the ingredients and mix well

Line a baking tray with baking paper and add the granola, making sure to evenly spread it across the tray so that it cooks evenly

Place in the oven at 160C for 25 minutes (or until lightly golden brown)

Remove from the oven and either eat warm or allow to cool

Tips

This will last in a sealed container for a while so make a big batch

10 MIN CHICKPEA & SPINACH CURRY

A really simple and tasty curry that can be made in one pot in just 10 minutes!

This is the perfect dish for when you don’t have much time and fancy something comforting. You will definitely be surprised how much flavour this packs in from cooking for such little time.

The best part about this 10 minute curry apart from the fact it is so quick to make is that this is so inexpensive too, only costing roughly £1 per portion.

The more you make this curry the quicker you will become. I think it can be made in under 10 minutes quite easily once you have made it a couple times.

Just make sure you make extras as this can be kept in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 2 days or it can be frozen so you have a healthy meal another time.

2 tbsp olive oil or coconut oil

3 garlic cloves crushed

1 red onion roughly diced

1 tsp paprika

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

1/2 tsp ground coriander

Pinch of chilli flakes

2 tbsp tomato puree

2 cans chickpeas 400g x2

200 ml veg stock

1 can coconut milk

1/2 cup ground almonds 60g

200 g spinach

Method

Heat a large pot on a medium heat with olive oil/coconut oil and crushed garlic

Meanwhile roughly dice the red onion and add to the pot to cook down for a minute

Add all the spices and tomato puree and stir

Now add the chickpeas, coconut milk, veg stock and cook on a medium/high heat for 5 minutes making sure to stir

Add the ground almonds and stir. Allow to cook down for a further 2-3 minutes

Finally take off the heat and stir through the spinach until wilted

Tips

Serve with a side of brown rice or quinoa.

MINI VEGAN BOUNTY BARS

Bounty Bars were always one of my favourite ever chocolate bars when growing up, although it has been roughly 8 years now since I have had one. I am sure it was as favourite for many of you also!

It is one of my dads favourite chocolate bars and as it is his birthday in just 3 days I fancied trying to make my own for him.

These mini bounty bars are gluten free, vegan and refined sugar free with only 5 easily sourced ingredients compared to the 12 in the original bar.

They are so simple yet great fun to make so if you have kids then get them to make them, they will absolutely love it!

They will easily last in the fridge for a few days if you haven’t eaten them all by then.

Ingredients:

Portion: 8 bars

1/2 cup desiccated coconut (50g)

1/2 cup coconut flour (50g)

3 tbsp maple syrup

2 tbsp coconut oil, melted

Ingredients for the chocolate:

4 tbsp cacao powder (25g)

3 tbsp coconut oil, melted

2 tbsp maple syrup

Method:

Add the desiccated coconut and coconut flour into a large mixing bowl and hand whisk, making sure there are no lumps

Now add the maple syrup and melted coconut oil and mix well

In your hands, form bar shapes with the mix (this doesn’t need to be perfect, I prefer mine more rustic with random shapes)

Now place onto a plate and put them into the fridge for 10-15 mins to harden

When there is 5 minutes left on the timer, add the melted coconut oil and maple syrup over a bain-marie and stir

Now add the cacao powder and mix in well making sure there are no lumps

Remove the coconut bars from the fridge and simply dunk into the chocolate mixture, making sure to cover evenly

Place the bars onto a cooling rack or baking paper and place back into the fridge for 1 hour to harden (you can add to the freezer if you want to speed up the process)

Just before serving I like to drizzle the leftover chocolate mixture over the top along with some desiccated coconut.

• For more recipe ideas, visit healthylivingjames.co.uk or follow him on Instagram