Stepping on to the scales today was a real pleasure because it showed me a 4 pound loss.  Add that to the 10 pound loss I had got to last week and that makes 14 pounds lost since New Years Eve which makes me very happy.  One stone down and continuing to move in the right direction.

Many years ago when we lived in South London, we used to receive a weekly fruit and veg box from Abel & Cole.  I recently saw them advertise locally and today was my first delivery.

They have improved since those days, mainly because of their excellent online ordering system.  You can see what is in each box and ask to remove or add extra items so it is very flexible.  You can set up regular deliveries and ad hoc ones.  You can specify everything I could think of and the site was very easy to navigate and use.  In addition to the boxes, they have lots of other things to order too.  I was excited about opening up those boxes!  Everything is organic and as much as possible is local.

This the ‘Large Fruit & Veg Box’ which contained: apples, aubergine, bananas, bunch of beetroot, green cabbage, carrots, white mushrooms, white onions, blood oranges, potatoes and a swede.

This is a ‘Medium Fruit Box’ which contained tangerines, bananas, blueberries, dates and oranges. This is the ‘Medium Gourmet Box’ which had Avocado, golden beetroot, Romanesco cauliflower, green Batavia lettuce, shitake mushrooms, red onions, butternut squash, swede and tomatoes. In addition to what I was expecting, I received recipe cards and an introductory gift of olive oil, a tea towel and some vouchers.  They are doing lots of introductory offers so have a look for them.

As well as delivering  what I ordered and when they said they would, I was thrilled with the packaging they used.  What do you notice about these boxes of fruits and veggies?  There is very little packaging.  I get so frustrated with the amount of packaging my usual food delivery service use.  Everything is covered in or wrapped/bagged in plastic.  I HATE having my food wrapped in plastic so this was much better.  Just cardboard boxes.

This is an unusual looking vegetable! I had so much plant food and I was so thrilled about my weight loss I decided to celebrate with a juice for breakfast.  I juiced the leaves and stalks from the bunch of beetroot, some ginger, a large carrot, 2 pears and an apple. It was an amazing colour. It tasted good too but surprisingly I found it too sweet – my taste buds are changing. For lunch I stir fried some onions, Lancashire kale (which has pretty pink bits) and broccoli and then heated up some Bombay potato and spinach daal. I served it with sprouts on top. Absolutely delicious and so healthy. 2 apples got me through the afternoon. For dinner I made a stir-fried sesame cauliflower dish from Hugh F-W’s ‘Veg Everyday!’  because I had a cauliflower that needed using up. Mine looks quite similar to the picture and it tasted ok too. Stir-Fried Sesame Cauliflower

Ingredients (serves 2-4 as a side or 1 as a main dish)

• 1 medium cauliflower
  2 tbsp sesame seeds ( I only had black ones)
  2 tbsp oil
  1 onion, chopped
  2 garlic cloves, sliced
  1 chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
  2 tsp freshly grated ginger
  1 tsp toasted sesame oil
  1 tbsp soy sauce
  fresh coriander

Method

1. break the cauliflower in to small florets and place in a  bowl of cold water for 10 minutes
2. In a frying pan, dry fry the sesame seeds for 1 – 2 minutes until fragrant.  Tip on to a small plate and set aside.
3. Heat the oil in the frying pan over a medium heat and add the onion.  Fry until pale golden and then add the garlic, chilli and ginger and fry for another minute or so.
4. Drain the cauliflower, raise the heat under the pan, tip in the cauliflower and 100ml water.  Cook, stirring for 5 – 10 minutes until the florets are browning around the edges.  Add a splash more water if they begin to stick.
5. Stir in the sesame seeds, sesame oil and soy sauce.  Stir to coat the cauliflower with the oil and sesame seeds mixture.
6. Serve with coriander.

So another day well eaten.  One whole stone lost.  I is happy with that!