What is a healthy vegetarian diet?

It seems many people have a misconception that vegetarians lack several vitamins and minerals in their diets. Although it is easy to leave out some essentials, it is just as simple to maintain a perfectly balanced diet as long as you know what you’re doing. Below are some tips that can help to make your vegetarian diet the healthiest it can be.


# Learn how to cook it yourself- Prepared foods are always so easy and convenient, but they also include ingredients that wouldn’t be necessary if you made them yourself.

# Don’t turn down the beans and lentils-These hearty meal-time necessities are loaded with protein, iron, fiber and other nutrients that vegetarians and meat-eaters need to stay healthy. Women especially need to double-up their servings to ensure they get enough of these essentials. Vegetarian chili makes for a great and tasty bean-filled meal.

# Fill up on fortified soymilks-B12 is an essential nutrient that many people get from eating meat. Not so easy for a vegetarian, is it? Many soymilks are fortified with B12 (check the labels), but you can get it in pill-form as well.

# Soak up the sun-That’s right, catching rays (with some protection, of course!) is essential to maintaining a healthy vegetarian diet. Vitamin D comes from sunlight, and is a crucial part of any diet, vegetarian or otherwise. Other sources of Vitamin D include milk, fortified soymilk and vitamin D pills.

# Go nuts- Almonds, flax seeds, walnuts and cloves contain Omega-3 fatty acids, which help to regulate cholesterol. Plus they taste great! Beans also contain a good amount of this nutritional essential.

# Never say no to water- This has been a long-time rule for everyone that still holds true. Drinking plenty of water helps keep your body working at its best!

# Keep your bones healthy and strong-Make sure to always get enough calcium. Of course it can come from dairy products, but not everyone has to go that route. Calcium can also be found in tofu, soy, molasses and fortified orange juice. Pill form is available as well.

# Load up on leafy greens-Greens are such a great source of so many crucial vitamins, such as C, K, A, iron and calcium, plus they are a great source of fiber. Broccoli, spinach and lettuce are some great examples that will give you a serious vitamin boost.

At Hawksby & Dickens – The Business Caterer, we understand the importance of a balanced diet. Meeting catering in the past has been limited in variety and nutritional value. We have worked hard to change this and are proud to unveil our Healthy options range of sandwiches. We have blended a selection of products to meet strict nutritional criteria yet maintain the same high standards in quality. Complement the sandwiches with a fresh fruit platter and crudités, and you have a tasty meal that is bursting with ‘goodness’.

For more information, why not call us today on 0844 561 6846 or visit us at www.hawksby.co.uk

Healthy eating: A recipe for success

Eating well needn't be a chore. Follow these top tips and your taste buds will be as happy as your doctor.

Which of the following is the best source of vitamin C?
a. Brussels sprouts
b. Sweet peppers
c. Oranges

Think you know? Well, you might be surprised to learn that it's the much-maligned brussels sprout and not the commonly heralded orange that provides the highest level of this vital vitamin.

Eating the right foods and avoiding certain things will put a spring in your step and help ward off illness. Unfortunately getting the right information can be a challenge, with dozens of common misconceptions flying around the internet, the gym and the pub, expounded by self-appointed "experts".

If you want to get your facts straight, it pays to turn to those really in the know. Why not start by taking The Co-operative's 'How healthy are you?' quiz. That will reveal how much you really know about leading a healthy lifestyle. You may be surprised by some of the answers.

One thing that won't surprise you is the government's suggestion that we should all eat five portions of fruit and vegetables each day. Although the benefits of produce such as leafy greens and bright citrus fruits have been known for decades, many of us still don't eat as many of them as we should, mostly touting the universally accepted truth that healthy food is dull.

But we say that's rubbish. It is possible to eat well without sacrificing taste or fun.

At Hawksby & Dickens – The Business Caterer, we understand the importance of a balanced diet. Meeting catering in the past has been limited in variety and nutritional value. We have worked hard to change this and are proud to unveil our Healthy options range of sandwiches. We have blended a selection of products to meet strict nutritional criteria yet maintain the same high standards in quality. Complement the sandwiches with a fresh fruit platter and crudités, and you have a tasty meal that is bursting with ‘goodness’.

or more information on our Manchester catering, why not call us today on 0844 561 6846 or visit us at www.hawksby.co.uk

Bangers and mash most popular comfort food

Bangers and mash is the most popular comfort food during the credit crunch, according to a survey which claims most Britons are putting on weight because of the recession.

The traditional British dish got 16 per cent of the vote, beating fish and chips into second with 15 per cent and beans on toast into third with 10 per cent.

The survey was commissioned by TV channel Good Food, which quizzed more than 3,000 British adults about their current eating habits compared with last year.

It showed British people eating more during the financial downturn with 77 per cent of consumers saying they have upped their food intake since the recession started.

More than half of those surveyed revealed that they had put on weight in the last six months as they ate comfort food to get through the recession.

Eating habits are also changing with 38 per cent saying they prefer to socialise with friends at home instead of being in a pub (22 per cent) or going to a restaurant (19 per cent).

Richard Kingsbury, head of the Good Food channel, said: "It's heartening to know that even if people can't afford to go out they are still having fun with good food and the friends they've invited round.

"Food programmes have played a part in giving people the confidence and creativity to have a go at cooking for friends whether it be bangers and mash or Thai green curry."

The average spend on groceries has increased by £35 compared with last year, with 39 per cent saying they are now more budget-conscious.

Luxury foods such as steak did badly, with 52 per cent deciding not to buy it in the current economic climate.

Chocolate cake, however, did well in the study, featuring in the top five comfort foods with eight per cent of the vote.

Celebrity chef Brian Turner said: "At a time when we are getting less for more when we buy food, comfort deserts such as chocolate cake, fruit crumble and custard and treacle sponge with custard are helping to put a smile back on our faces.

"It's feel-good food for Britain at its best."

Most popular comfort food

Bangers and mash (16%)

Fish and chips (15%)

Baked beans on toast (10%)

Chocolate cake (8%)


At Hawksby & Dickens – The Business Caterer, we understand the importance of a balanced diet. Meeting catering in the past has been limited in variety and nutritional value. We have worked hard to change this and are proud to unveil our Healthy options range of sandwiches. We have blended a selection of products to meet strict nutritional criteria yet maintain the same high standards in quality. Complement the sandwiches with a fresh fruit platter and crudités, and you have a tasty meal that is bursting with ‘goodness’.

or more information on our Manchester catering, why not call us today on 0844 561 6846 or visit us at www.hawksby.co.uk

Good food helps pupils' results

By eating healthy food children can help themselves achieve better examination results, new research has revealed.

The New School Trust has investigated the role diet plays in kids' education and revealed many are turning to the wrong types of foods when studying.

Diet "has a direct impact on a child's ability to study", says the trust. It also noted pupils are turning to fast food and sugary treats to help them study longer.

Prue Leith, celebrity chef and School Food Trust chair, advises that choosing a healthy diet and "sticking with it, especially come exam time, could be the difference between success and failure".

The trust revealed that despite understanding the benefits of brain foods such as oily fish, pupils prefer to stay focused by sipping energy drinks. They also like to feast on chocolate (42 per cent) and biscuits (31 per cent).

Teachers and teaching assistants can help pupils with their diet, although it is the responsibility of parents to decide what is eaten outside of school hours.

The Department of Health recommends children try to eat at least five portions of fruit and vegetables each day.

At Hawksby & Dickens – The Business Caterer, we understand the importance of a balanced diet. Meeting catering in the past has been limited in variety and nutritional value. We have worked hard to change this and are proud to unveil our Healthy options range of sandwiches. We have blended a selection of products to meet strict nutritional criteria yet maintain the same high standards in quality. Complement the sandwiches with a fresh fruit platter and crudités, and you have a tasty meal that is bursting with ‘goodness’.

or more information on our Manchester catering, why not call us today on 0844 561 6846 or visit us at www.hawksby.co.uk

Bangers and mash most popular comfort food

Bangers and mash is the most popular comfort food during the credit crunch, according to a survey which claims most Britons are putting on weight because of the recession.

The traditional British dish got 16 per cent of the vote, beating fish and chips into second with 15 per cent and beans on toast into third with 10 per cent.

The survey was commissioned by TV channel Good Food, which quizzed more than 3,000 British adults about their current eating habits compared with last year.

It showed British people eating more during the financial downturn with 77 per cent of consumers saying they have upped their food intake since the recession started.

More than half of those surveyed revealed that they had put on weight in the last six months as they ate comfort food to get through the recession.

Eating habits are also changing with 38 per cent saying they prefer to socialise with friends at home instead of being in a pub (22 per cent) or going to a restaurant (19 per cent).

Richard Kingsbury, head of the Good Food channel, said: "It's heartening to know that even if people can't afford to go out they are still having fun with good food and the friends they've invited round.

"Food programmes have played a part in giving people the confidence and creativity to have a go at cooking for friends whether it be bangers and mash or Thai green curry."

The average spend on groceries has increased by £35 compared with last year, with 39 per cent saying they are now more budget-conscious.

Luxury foods such as steak did badly, with 52 per cent deciding not to buy it in the current economic climate.

Chocolate cake, however, did well in the study, featuring in the top five comfort foods with eight per cent of the vote.

Celebrity chef Brian Turner said: "At a time when we are getting less for more when we buy food, comfort deserts such as chocolate cake, fruit crumble and custard and treacle sponge with custard are helping to put a smile back on our faces.

"It's feel-good food for Britain at its best."

Most popular comfort food

Bangers and mash (16%)

Fish and chips (15%)

Baked beans on toast (10%)

Chocolate cake (8%)

At Hawksby & Dickens – The Business Caterer, we understand the importance of a balanced diet. Meeting catering in the past has been limited in variety and nutritional value. We have worked hard to change this and are proud to unveil our Healthy options range of sandwiches. We have blended a selection of products to meet strict nutritional criteria yet maintain the same high standards in quality. Complement the sandwiches with a fresh fruit platter and crudités, and you have a tasty meal that is bursting with ‘goodness’.

or more information on our Manchester catering, why not call us today on 0844 561 6846 or visit us at www.hawksby.co.uk

Source

Make your own healthy sandwiches - Spreads

The spreads: While many people can forego the usual mayo on a sandwich, most have a hard time giving it up. So you can opt for the light mayonnaise and go easy on portions. Of course, mustard is another standard option - and there are so many varieties of mustard to try. You can also try mixing light cream cheese with some dried or fresh herbs and use that as a sandwich spread. Light salad dressings are another option for some sandwich variety. Try ranch, thousand island and honey mustard, or any of your favorites. Some other unique sandwich spreads are salsa, horseradish, or vinegars.

At Hawksby & Dickens – The Business Caterer, we understand the importance of a balanced diet. Meeting catering in the past has been limited in variety and nutritional value. We have worked hard to change this and are proud to unveil our Healthy options range of sandwiches. We have blended a selection of products to meet strict nutritional criteria yet maintain the same high standards in quality. Complement the sandwiches with a fresh fruit platter and crudités, and you have a tasty meal that is bursting with ‘goodness’.

For more information, why not call us today on 0844 561 6846 or visit us at www.hawksby.co.uk

Make your own healthy sandwiches - Fillings

Most of the usual sandwich fillings can be made in a healthy way, and the options are virtually endless. Here are just a few: turkey, ham, roast beef, tuna, canned chicken, cooked chicken, canned crab, salmon, veggies. Some you may wish to mix with some light mayo and seasonings (canned tuna, chicken, crab, salmon); the rest of you will just want to use in smaller portions (ham, roast beef).

In terms of cheese, there are two rules to keep your sandwich healthy. 1) Forego cheese if your sandwich will still be delicious without it. 2) If your sandwich really needs cheese, use a light or fat-free variety.

At Hawksby & Dickens – The Business Caterer, we understand the importance of a healthy diet. Meeting catering in the past has been limited in variety and nutritional value. We have worked hard to change this and are proud to unveil our Healthy options range of sandwiches. We have blended a selection of products to meet strict nutritional criteria yet maintain the same high standards in quality. Complement the sandwiches with a fresh fruit platter and crudités, and you have a tasty meal that is bursting with ‘goodness’.

For more information, why not call us today on 0844 561 6846 or visit us at www.hawksby.co.uk

Make your own healthy sandwiches

For a healthy sandwich, look for breads that have lots of fibre and are lower in calories. If you use bread, try some of the delicious varieties of light bread that still have lots of fibre, but are much lower in calories than regular bread. If you're sticking with regular bread, whole wheat varieties are the best choices. Remember also that sandwiches don't, and shouldn't, always come on basic slices of bread. Don't hesitate to build a sandwich on wraps, pittas, or flatbreads. Just use the same rules as for bread - look for high fibre content, lower calories, and especially for wraps - lower fat.

At Hawksby & Dickens – The Business Caterer, we understand the importance of a balanced diet. Meeting catering in the past has been limited in variety and nutritional value. We have worked hard to change this and are proud to unveil our Healthy options range of sandwiches. We have blended a selection of products to meet strict nutritional criteria yet maintain the same high standards in quality. Complement the sandwiches with a fresh fruit platter and crudités, and you have a tasty meal that is bursting with ‘goodness’.

For more information, why not call us today on 0844 561 6846 or visit us at www.hawksby.co.uk

Eat yourself slim: Awesome fat burning foods

Fat-burning superfoods

Include these in your daily diet and sizzle off your paunch…

Fat-free yoghurt
Eat three servings of fat-free yoghurt each day to rev up your body’s fat-burning engine. Researchers at the University of Tennessee found that blokes who did this lost 22% more weight and 61% more body fat than people who didn’t eat yoghurt. The yoghurt eaters also lost 81% more fat from their belly than those who shunned this fat-munching superfood. It’s thought that its high calcium and protein content was responsible for the dramatic weight loss.

Whey protein
Protein shakes aren’t just for muscle heads. Grab a low carb tub of whey protein to boost your fat-burning potential. Have two shakes a day. Research by the University of Toronto found that when men were presented with an all-you-can-eat buffet, those who drank a whey protein shake 2 hours earlier ate 200 fewer calories than those who did not. Whey is also reported to increase muscle mass by 8% and burn up to 3% more body fat.

Cottage cheese
Eat at least 200g of cottage cheese a day. Research by the United States Agriculture Department found that this amount of cottage cheese has as much protein as a small steak (about 32 grams) and it also contains casein. These two nutrients make it a very slow digesting food that will make you feel full and less likely to overeat later. It’s also rich in calcium (found in yoghurt) which is reported to be an additional catalyst for weight loss.

Salmon
We all know they boost the brain, but omega-3s also help shift the flab. A study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that a diet rich in omega-3 dramatically helped with weight loss. Fish also alters the level of leptin in your body, which is a hormone that positively influences your metabolism by determining whether you burn or store calories as fat. Eat salmon or trout three to four times a week.

Breakfast cereals
Not the sugar-laden Coco Pops but any cereal rich in fibre such as Weetabix, Shreddies, oats or muesli. A study by the National Weight Control Registry followed people who had lost more than 30lbs and kept it off for more than a year. They found that 78% of them ate breakfast. These are all very rich in fibre which is why it will also work to keep your hunger at bay.

At Hawksby & Dickens – The Business Caterer, we understand the importance of a balanced diet. Meeting catering in the past has been limited in variety and nutritional value. We have worked hard to change this and are proud to unveil our Healthy options range of sandwiches. We have blended a selection of products to meet strict nutritional criteria yet maintain the same high standards in quality. Complement the sandwiches with a fresh fruit platter and crudités, and you have a tasty meal that is bursting with ‘goodness’.

For more information on manchester catering, why not call us today on 0844 561 6846 or visit us at www.hawksby.co.uk

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Our website relaunch

We will soon be launching our new website which better reflects who we are and what we do. The design will be more colourful and dynamic which better represents us as a business.

Thank you to all who have responded to our feedback request and we hope you like the new design. If you do have any feedback, please let us know through the contact us section at www.hawksby.co.uk.

If you have any other feedback, please let us know. We work to the benefit of our customers so if we can make your life easier, we will.

Fries and a workout? Living healthy can be quite illogical

A burger lunch and then a lettuce dinner. A cigarette after a long run. Pizza and beer to battle the blues. Sounds normal? It is, with a survey showing most people's attitude to healthy living is quite illogical.

More than half the 10,300 people polled in the global "Healthy Living" survey, conducted by market research firm Synovate, revealed they eat anything they want, when they want, with a third saying they loved fast food too much to give it up.

A third also said they tended to eat more unhealthy junk food when feeling down.

But one in four people surveyed in 12 countries also said they did something to compensate for unhealthy habits such as exercising, or cutting back on food, cigarettes or alcohol, with that number rising to one in seven of all Chinese polled.

"These attitudes may not make complete sense, but when it comes to food, health and weight management, people are inherently contradictory," said Steve Garton, executive director of media for Synovate.

"We did the same survey in late 2007 and it seems people are no less confused about food now than they were then. It all comes back to whether we think of food as pleasure or food as fuel... and it seems that most people vacillate between the two."

While nearly half of all Americans and Britons say they can't give up fast food, the study reveals Bulgaria as the world's most junk-food addicted nation, where nearly 70 percent of respondents head to a fast food joint on a regular basis.

Least susceptible to the taste of fast food were the Swedes and the Malaysians, with only one in five people in both countries agreeing that they need to eat it.

As for those most likely to eat to lift their mood, the survey showed British and American women tend to emotionally eat their way through life, with nearly half of those surveyed saying they eat when they're feeling down.

"The knee-jerk reaction to bad news, or even boredom, is often a cup of tea and something sweet to wash it down," said Jill Telford, chief executive officer of Synovate in Britain.

"Similarly, a bad day can be made a whole lot better with a hefty glass or two of Chardonnay in the evening," she added.

To tackle weight gain, most people surveyed said they increased their physical activity, and reduced their food intake.

Countries most likely to cut back on what they eat include the United Arab Emirates, Brazil, the United States, Spain, Britain and Canada.

Spaniards and Brazilians were also the most prone to do everything and anything to lose weight, the survey showed, linking this obsession with looking good to the beach culture in both countries.

"Nearly half of all respondents lay the fault with food choices rather than sedentary lifestyles, again bringing us back to the complicated role food plays in our lives," Garton added.

At Hawksby & Dickens – The Business Caterer, we understand the importance of a balanced diet. Meeting catering in the past has been limited in variety and nutritional value. We have worked hard to change this and are proud to unveil our Healthy options range of sandwiches. We have blended a selection of products to meet strict nutritional criteria yet maintain the same high standards in quality. Complement the sandwiches with a fresh fruit platter and crudités, and you have a tasty meal that is bursting with ‘goodness’.

For more information, why not call us today on 0844 561 6846 or visit us at www.hawksby.co.uk

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Store launches tomatoes that won't make sandwiches go soggy

It's the big drawback of sandwiches made with tomato - they go soggy. But now a tomato is about to go on sale that will help your bread stay firm.

Tesco claims to have found the world's first non-leaking tomatoes and expects to have them on its shelves by the end of this week.

Emma Pettitt, the supermarket's tomato buyer, said: 'The arrival of the non-leaking tomato may well be heralded by sarnie fans as the best thing to hit the sandwich world since sliced bread.

'Tomatoes are popular, but unfortunately their juiciness sometimes means that by lunchtime a salad sarnie resembles a piece of wet cardboard. From now on that will be a thing of the past.' She pointed out another advantage to the tomato, which will cost 99p for a punnet of four.

'Tomatoes can be tricky to chop and a squirt of juice can easily end up on the kitchen wall or over your shirt. The non-leaking variety will stop that problem but without the tomato losing any of its taste.'

The tomatoes were grown in Holland under a seed-breeding programme that began in 1986.

After trials using more than 100 varieties the breakthrough came last year when, through natural breeding methods, the growers developed one that held its shape when sliced, baked or diced.

Tests also showed that when making a sandwich from a standard tomato, 8 per cent of its weight is lost after slicing it and a further 12 per cent of the moisture seeps into the bread only an hour later.

The performance of the non-leaking variety is significantly better. Less than one per cent of moisture is lost when the tomato is sliced and only 3 per cent seeps into the bread - but 12 hours after the sandwich is made.


Hawksby & Dickens - The Business Caterer specialise in providing healthy catering. For more information, please visit us at www.hawksby.co.uk

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Why Eat Breakfast

Nutritionists go on about it being the most important meal of the day – but what do they know? Er, quite a lot actually

1 You’ll burn more calories.
People who regularly skip breakfast burn an average of 150 fewer calories a day than regular breakfast eaters, according to scientists at the Mayo Clinic for Medical Education and Research. So you can either shovel snow for 15 minutes, do water aerobics for 30 minutes, or take the easy option and grab some breakfast.

2 You’ll catch fewer colds.
Researchers at Cardiff University showed that people who regularly ate breakfast were less likely to suffer colds, flu and other respiratory tract illnesses than daily breakfast dodgers were. Presumably this is because breakfast boosts your immune system, not because it coats you in a Ready Brek-style germ-proof shield.

3 You’ll be less depressed.
Regular breakfast eaters are less likely to be emotionally distressed, depressed and to die by suicide, according to a study by the University of Bristol. Lack of serotonin will cause you to feel tired, unable to concentrate and irritable. If you’ve ever wondered why your workmates are always keen to make you breakfast, this could be it.

4 Your breath will be better.
Breakfast dodgers are more likely to scare colleagues and loved ones with their halitosis until lunchtime, compared to breakfast eaters, who should lose it after that first meal. Unless you eat garlic bread or raw onions for breakfast, that is.

5 You’ll live longer.
Forget marketing-spun anti-ageing products, fad low-calorie diets and mythical fountains of youth, the truth is unnervingly simple – people who reach the age of 100 consume breakfast more regularly than those who don’t make a century, according to research by the Stress Institute.

6 Your cholesterol will be lower.
Frequent breakfast avoidance could lead to higher cholesterol, say researchers in Nottingham. This obviously depends on your choice of morning grub – oats are a good bet because they’re rich in soluble fibre, but a fry-up oozing saturated fat is not.

7 You won’t crave junk food.
Breakfast eaters are less likely to suffer a mid-morning energy slump and reach for a high-calorie, low-nutrient snack than those who shun breakfast. The obvious exception being if you’ve had a burger for breakfast because (a) it’s unlikely to sustain you for long and (b) you’ve clearly already craved junk food.

8 You’ll reduce your risk of diabetes.
Breakfasters are half as likely to have a blood-sugar problem, which increases your risk of suffering from diabetes, according to a study by the Harvard Medical School. Probably best not to start your day with a sugary cereal or chocolate bar, though.

9 You’ll get more nutrients.
Breakfast gives you vitamins, minerals and fibre, which can be difficult to get in sufficient quantities if you only have two meals a day. Need more convincing? Binge drinkers are more likely to be vitamin-deficient, and more than four pints in a session counts as a binge. Thought that would do the trick.

10 You’ll be smarter.
Breakfast eaters think and perform better at work than breakfast skippers. A study in the Journal Of Psychiatric Research linked having breakfast to academic performance and several studies have shown it improves memory. If only they’d told us that ten years ago… or maybe they did and we just forgot.

Hawksby & Dickens - The Business Caterer specialise in providing healthy catering. For more information, please visit us at www.hawksby.co.uk

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Traditional sandwiches make comeback as wraps fall from favour

Traditional sandwiches, from prawn mayo to ham and mustard, are making a comeback as consumers shun the once trendy wrap as a lunchtime option.

Marks & Spencer, the country's largest sandwich maker, has said that for the first time in more than a decade, the tortilla wrap – made from flour and water – has failed to make it into its top ten most popular sandwiches.

Five years ago three of the ten best selling sandwiches were wraps, a very popular option with young office workers.

Along with its fall from grace has gone a variety of exotic flavoured fillings such as Peking duck, Mexican chicken and Italian salami.

Instead, the top ten list is dominated by traditional, English favourites such as salmon and cucumber, egg and cress and bacon, lettuce and tomato, as consumers hunt down simple, cheap lunchtime options.

Topping the table, as it has done since it was first introduced in 1981, is the prawn mayo. So popular is this sandwich, M&S sells 6.5 million of them a year.

Katy Patino, product developer at the retailer, said: "A craving for nostalgia and the simple things in life is causing a return to the school lunch box classics. It seems no matter what their age, at the moment consumers just can't resist the old-fashioned favourites such as Egg & Watercress and Ham & Mustard."

Wraps, originally a Mexican speciality, first appeared in British sandwich shops from the late 1990s and became very popular from 2003, the year when the Atkins diet took off and many consumers looked to ditch carbohydrate-heavy lunches.

Wraps allowed people to eat more filling, but less carbohydrates. In 2004 the chicken caesar salad wrap managed to knock off the egg and cress sandwich as the number one sandwich at Tesco.

The recession, however, has encouraged a return to traditional flavours because they tend to cost less to make.

Jim Winship, director of the British Sandwich Association, said: "A lot of the retailers have in the last year moved to simpler sandwiches because of the recession. These traditional flavours, such as ham and mustard and egg and cress are just so much cheaper."

About 2.7 million sandwiches are bought from shops every year, according to the trade body, with the market now worth £5.4 billion in annual sales.

Source

Hawksby & Dickens - The Business Caterer specialise in providing healthy catering. For more information, please visit us at www.hawksby.co.uk

10 Golden Rules of Healthy Eating

Good nutrition isn’t brain surgery. Just follow these simple rules to feel good and lose fat all the time

1 Ditch the junk
Have you noticed all the adverts on TV for fresh broccoli? No? That’s because there aren’t any. Bloated corporations have no interest in selling you fresh food, only heavily branded, pre-packaged slop created using the cheapest ingredients and made to taste palatable by stuffing them with fat, salt and sugar. Most junk food is heavy in calories and light on nutrition.

By junk, we’re talking burgers, crisps, ready meals, anything in ‘a delicious crispy coating’, anything formed into unnatural shapes (stand up chicken nuggets), anything containing hydrogenated vegetable oils, and anything wrapped in pastry where you can’t identify the grisly substance inside. Buy fresh and learn to cook.

2 Balance calories in with calories out
It’s simple really. To stay the same weight you need to burn off the same number of calories through activity as you take in through food. If you eat more than you burn, that excess energy is stored as fat for use later on. Before you know it, you’re wearing vertical stripes in a vain attempt to look slimmer.

Here’s what you need to do: take your bodyweight in kilos and multiply by 29 to get your resting metabolic rate (RMR) – that’s the approximate number of calories you burn a day simply by going about your regular business of sleeping, eating, working, watching TV, etc. Now add the number of calories you burn through formal exercise. For example, the average man might burn 250 calories through 30 minutes of cardio training, or 200 calories for 30 minutes of intensive weight training. The total is the number of calories you burn a day, and also the maximum number of calories you can eat per day if you don’t want to put on weight.

3 Make fat only 25% of your diet
As we’ve just seen, it’s calories that count when it comes to controlling your body fat. However, dietary fat contains nine calories per gram compared with carbohydrates and protein, which both contain just four calories per gram. Basically, fatty foods are more than twice as calorific as other foods for the same sized meals, so it makes sense to limit your fat intake.

What’s more, the wrong kinds of fat can clog up arteries, making heart attacks more likely in later life. Try to steer clear of trans fats (it’s those hydrogenated vegetable oils again) and keep saturated fats, found mainly in red meats and dairy foods, to a minimum. Instead, go for ‘healthy’ fats, such as the kind found in fish, nuts and olive oil. These kinds are actually good for your heart if taken regularly in small doses.

4 Drink lots of water
There are hundreds of good reasons for drinking water – you’d be dead without it being number one on the list – but it is also vital for maintaining a healthy weight. If you don’t drink enough water your kidneys don’t function properly, and they pass some of their waste-filtration responsibilities on to the liver, which is then required to give up some of its fat-metabolising duties. The result is that you hang on to more stored fat than you would if you glugged down water on a regular basis. Drink water, lose fat –it really is that simple.

5 Eat five or six small meals a day
Most of us have been brought up on the concept of three square meals a day: breakfast, lunch and dinner. However, this throws your metabolism into disarray because you stuff yourself with food, creating an energy overload, followed by starving yourself until the next meal. Your insulin levels bounce up and down as your body tries to stabilise your blood sugar, and the result is that you store more fat than you actually need to.

A better method is to eat small meals throughout the day. That way you get a constant drip-feed of energy, your blood sugar levels remain stable, and you never get hungry, so avoiding that mid-afternoon raid on the biscuit tin.

6 Downsize your meals as the day goes on
Does this diet sound familiar? Coffee for breakfast, sandwich for lunch, huge plate of meat and potatoes plus cake and ice cream for dinner. It’s the Great British way of eating, and it could explain why we’re fast becoming a nation of bloaters.

In the morning you need energy to get you through the day, so then is the time to stock up on carb-heavy meals – cereals, toast, fruit. As the day goes on try to eat less with each meal so that your last meal is a small one, mainly protein-based. There’s no point having a large bowl of pasta before bed, because all that energy won’t get used up and will find a resting place in your sagging belly.

7 Eat 30g of fibre every day
Amazing stuff, fibre, and not just because it makes your bowels as regular as a Swiss watch. Fibre helps to lower insulin levels in your body, which decreases fat absorption. It also absorbs water and swells up in your stomach, making you feel fuller and less tempted by the sticky toffee pudding for afters. Good sources of fibre are oat-based cereals, beans and pulses.

8 Veg out
Vegetables are the one food you can eat as much of as you like all the time (within reason – eating a dozen cucumbers a day may have a strange effect on your digestive tract). They provide stacks of vitamins with minimum calories. Vegetables make great snack foods eaten raw – carrots, celery, etc – and can provide the mainstay of bigger meals when steamed, grilled or fried. To get the most out of veg, cook them quickly and eat them crunchy before they lose their nutrients. Five portions a day is a minimum – nine would be better.

9 Take supplements sparingly
If your diet is good enough, you shouldn’t need to pop pills to stay healthy, and you certainly shouldn’t use multivitamin tablets to make up for a poor diet. Your body needs a huge array of nutrients, which you can only get from having a varied diet.

That said, if you work out often, you might want to take extra vitamin C and E to replace lost stores during training. Vegetarians can miss out on vitamin B12 unless they use supplements.

10 Enjoy treats in moderation
If you like ice cream, have a bowl now and then. Just don’t demolish a two-litre tub of double-choc-chip every night. If you always deny yourself the stuff you like, you’re unlikely to be able to keep up a healthy eating plan, and you’re more likely to fall off the wagon and have a lard blowout.
The trick is to have occasional treats to keep you happy, while eating healthily the rest of the time. That way you’ll find it easier to make good nutrition part of your life, rather than something you do grudgingly for a short period.

Source

The nations favourite sandwich......

Elvis liked his sarnies stuffed with peanut butter, bananas and bacon, while Paddington Bear was stuck on marmalade. But the best-loved buttie of the great British public is something far less exotic.

A survey has found that the nations favourite filling is a bog standard cheese and pickle.

The world may have moved on since the upper crust 4th Earl of Sandwich created the first sarnie, beef and watercress on bread, back in 1762.

But despite all the pretentious paninis and wonderful wraps now on shop shelves, we still prefer a no-frills chunk of cheddar and a dollop of Branstons wedged between doorsteps.

The poll, by supermarket Aldi, also found that boring BLT came in second while good old tuna mayo was third. All very nice, but not exactly designed to tickle the tastebuds.

More café and sandwich chains make FSA healthy food pledge

Four more café chains have agreed to work with the Food Standards Agency (FSA) to promote healthier eating through their shops. Camden Food Co, John Lewis Partnership Cafés, Sainsbury’s Cafés and Upper Crust have followed big chains such as Greggs and Starbucks in announcing various healthy eating commitments in conjunction with the FSA.

Initiatives focus on reducing salt and saturated fat, providing more nutritional information and promoting healthier options on menus.

Upper Crust, which is owned by travel food retail operator SSP and has over 60 shops in railway stations and airports, plans to develop a programme of recipe amendments on items that do not meet the FSA salt targets or which earn ‘red’ traffic lights by 2010. The company will also investigate calorie-content labelling and better nutritional labelling.

Sainsbury’s, which operates 242 cafés, plans to cut saturated fat by 18%, by changing the cooking oil it uses in its cafés, and will trial milk with a 1% fat content rather than semi-skimmed.

As Manchesters leading healthy business caterer, we are pleased at these wider developments in this industry. For more information about our healthy business catering, please visit us at www.hawksby.co.uk or callus on 0844 561 6846.

Why Business Deals Can Rest On Biscuits

The type of biscuit served in the boardroom could make or break a business deal, according to the world's first "business biscuit study".

Some 80% of business professionals believe the outcome of a meeting can be positively influenced by the choice and quality of biscuit on offer.

The research was commissioned by hotel chain, Holiday Inn, which surveyed 1,000 business professionals across the UK about their boardroom biscuit tastes.

Snackers voted the chocolate digestive their favourite boardroom biscuit, followed by shortbreads, with HobNobs claiming the third spot. Jammie Dodgers and Bourbons rounded out the top five.

The survey discovered that lawyers were most impressed by a good boardroom biscuit, closely followed by those in the media and marketing industry.

Things are not so clear-cut on the etiquette of dunking, with 52% of business professionals frowning on the practice. On the question of how many biscuits to take from the communal platter most agree that two is the magic number.

How does this relate to Hawksby & Dickens? The same principle applies to meeting catering. A poor lunch that lacks variation and appeal could break a business deal. We are specialists in delivering appetising and varied menu’s that impress.

Furthermore, you can enjoy catering in Manchester at a price you would not expect. With transparent pricing, you can order exactly what you need saving you money.

Call us today on 0844 561 6846 to see how we can help you.

Source Sky News website - June 02, 2008

Eat a healthy, balanced diet and stay active

The key to a healthy balanced diet is not to ban or omit any foods or food groups but to balance what you eat by consuming a variety of foods from each food group in the right proportions for good health.

The five food groups on the eatwell plate are:

1. Fruit and vegetables
These should make up about a third of your daily diet and can be eaten as part of every meal, as well as being the first choice for a snack.

You should eat at least five portions of fruit and vegetables each day. Research suggests this can help to protect against cancer, obesity and various chronic diseases such as heart disease. This is because of the unique package of nutrients and plant compounds they contain.

2. Bread, rice, potatoes and pasta
This food group should also make up about a third of your diet and contains the starchy carbohydrates that are the body's main source of energy.

When selecting products from this food group, choose unrefined carbohydrates over those that have been refined, as they will contain the whole of the grain. Wholegrain foods are rich in fibre and other nutrients that have many health benefits, and people who consume wholegrain seem to have a reduced risk of certain cancers, diabetes and coronary heart disease.

3. Milk and dairy foods
These should be eaten in moderation because of their high saturated fat content, but they're an important source of calcium, which is essential for healthy bones and teeth. Choose low-fat or reduced-fat versions.

4. Meat, fish, eggs and beans
This food group includes both animal and plant sources of protein, which is a major functional and structural component of all cells. Protein provides the body with between 10 and 15 per cent of its dietary energy, and is needed for growth and repair.

5. Foods and drinks high in fat and/or sugar
This group makes up the smallest section on the eatwell plate and includes foods that should only be eaten sparingly because, although they're an important energy source, they contain very few nutrients and are often known as 'empty calories'.

Foods from this group are high in unhealthy components such as saturated fat, trans fatty acids, sugar and salt - all of which are associated with an increased risk of developing certain diseases.

They should only be eaten as occasional treats, or to increase the palatability of other important foods (such as olive oil on salads, a scraping of spread on bread, or a sprinkling of sugar on some tart fruits).


At Hawksby & Dickens – The Business Caterer, we understand the importance of a balanced diet. Meeting catering in the past has been limited in variety and nutritional value. We have worked hard to change this and are proud to unveil our Healthy options range of sandwiches. We have blended a selection of products to meet strict nutritional criteria yet maintain the same high standards in quality. Complement the sandwiches with a fresh fruit platter and crudités, and you have a tasty meal that is bursting with ‘goodness’.

For more information, why not call us today on 0844 561 6846 or visit us at www.hawksby.co.uk

How to eat your way to office glory

The daily ritual of a pub lunch may be scoring you points with the landlord, but according to nutrition expert Dr Nicholas Perricone, eating the wrong foods can make the difference between a hard working, efficient employee and an angry, sulking pay-rise pariah. Here are the foods he suggests to target your workplace woes.

1. Keep calm for the big presentation
“Carbohydrates stimulate the production of the neurotransmitter serotonin, increasing feelings of calmness and relaxation” says Perricone. So hit the complex carbs, such as beans and lentils, to give you a slow release of serotonin that will help you feel relaxed for longer.

2. Put your brain in ‘meeting mode’
“Protien rich foods boost alertness and concentration by stimulating the production of the neurotransmitters dopamine and norepinephrine”. Add a portion of chicken breast or beef at lunch to keep your mind firing till evening.

3. Beat office rage
Colleagues got you in a frazzle? Time to hit the fish. “Results of clinical studies have found a close connection between a low intake of omega-3 fats and angry, aggressive behaviour.” The omega-3 fats EPA and DHA, found in seafood, can transform you from office brute to politeness personified in no time.

4. Banish the mid-afternoon lull
Avoid the post-lunch slump by upping your intake of magnesium, which stabilises your mood and decreases the release of the stress hormone cortisol. “Good dietary sources include peanuts and green leafy vegetables such as spinach, dandelion greens, peas, parsley and garlic,” says Perricone.

Hawksby & Dickens - The Business Caterer specialise in providing balanced catering. For more information, please visit us at www.hawksby.co.uk


– Shortlist magazine issue 73/26 March 2009

Brands compromised by poor catering

Consistency of brand is one of the key issues facing businesses. Brands communicate messages to all stakeholders. They set the environment in which you operate, communicating to all certain values and levels of professionalism.

Businesses spend thousands, even millions ensuring that the way they present themselves is consistent with their brand values. However, a lack of control or indeed interest by third parties will compromise your brand.

Picture the scenario where a key meeting is taking place to agree a deal. The clients are impressed with your offices, your commitment, passion and professionalism. Then the meeting catering arrives, white soggy sandwiches on a tin platter wrapped in cling film. Is this likely to impress a client to finalise a deal? I suspect not.

At Hawksby & Dickens, we understand the importance of your brand. That is why we work hard to present meeting catering that will impress. For many of our customers in Manchester, we are part of their process, working alongside them to ensure the maximum impact. In fact, many of our clients actually ask us to brand the delivery with their logo’s reflecting their satisfaction with the product and service.

For more information, why not call us today on 0844 561 6846 or visit us at www.hawksby.co.uk