No Name Lunch

Posted on January 19, 2012 by Lose Weight and Gain Health

It was a complete joy to wake up this morning at 7:30 am, look out of the window and see this lovely view from the bed.

I had porridge for breakfast made with 30 g oats, 100 ml soya milk, 100 ml water, 1 tsp chia seeds and 1 banana which I served with 1 tbsp coconut nut butter, 1 tsp ground flax seed and a passionfruit.  Quite a bowlful of flavours.  Which worked.

Which I enjoyed sitting in the bay window looking at the boats in the harbour.

I was excited about this morning.  I went to Sandwich to Aunty Marion’s for a coffee and 2 of my cousins, Katie and Hannah were there too.  It was a dull and wet morning so Aunty had lit a fire and very cosy it was too.

I had a coffee and resisted the biscuits:-).  And we chatted and chatted and chatted.  Which will come as no surprise to anyone who know us.

And laughed.

Hannah had to go to work after a while and Aunty Marion, Katie and I went in to Sandwich for a potter about and lunch at No Name restaurant.  Which is above No Name Shop which is on No Name Street!

The shop is wonderful and I could have bought nearly all of it.  It is owned by a French man and stocked with delicious French cheeses, French jams, quiches and oils.  There was also No Name bread,

No Name saucisson,

No Name Olives and you can see the weekly market through the window,

No Name Croque Monsieur.

A yummy cheesy treat, perfectly cooked.  Lots of cheese and good ham but not too rich.  Just.  It was delicious.

And we had heart shaped tomatoes because I asked if I could take photos for my blog and they wanted it to look pretty.  It looked great anyway but that was a cute touch.

I really enjoyed this restaurant. And obviously the company.  I had a wonderful day and was sad to say good-bye to my lovely cousins and Aunty.  But we all had lots to do this  afternoon so had to part ways after lunch.  I was busy at the house but had this great view to keep peaking at.

Dinner was more leftovers.  I am rather fed up with my leftovers, even though they are tasty.  I am looking forward to cooking fresh foods again this weekend and I will make smaller quantities.  I used up the last of the pork from Sunday and some left over brown rice.  I fried tender stem broccoli and a leek with oyster sauce and I warmed the pork up with some plum sauce.

Served with heated up rice it was a tasty supper.

I have been watching Masterchef while I write this and feel rather despondent about my cooking skills!  And presentation.  I enjoy my cooking and eating and find it relaxing rather than stressful.  I certainly found lunch today relaxing and extremely enjoyable at No Name.

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A Taste of Peru

Posted on January 18, 2012 by Lose Weight and Gain Health

This morning I ate something I have never eaten before in my life, of that I am certain.  I have been reading about Lucuma recently which is a powdered from of a fruit found in Peru.  It has been described as tasting like maple syrup and vanilla and is used to slightly sweeten and flavour smoothies, drinks, desserts etc.  I was not enthusiastic about the smell but the taste of the powder was really pleasant.  I thought it tasted like an old fashioned vanilla ice-cream.  So I added it to my smoothie.

In my smoothie today was 30 g oats and 1 tsp chia seeds which I soaked for a couple of hours in 200 ml coconut milk.  I added 1 banana, ½ an avocado and 1 tbsp lucuma.  To be honest I couldn’t really taste the lucuma once it was blended with the other ingredients.  It was a good smoothie and the texture was perfect; very thick but smooth and creamy.  Delicious.

While I waited for the oats and seeds to soak I had a lovely walk with Judy and Amanda in the woods.  We went to some woods I have not walked in for years.  We did a circular walk which took about an hour and had a good amount of hills in it for fitness.  The rain held off and we had a good chat.

Lunch was some more leftovers.  It was a bit if a ready, steady cook lunch.  I had half a can of chickpeas, half a red onion, half a red pepper and half a jar of tomato sauce.  So I finely chopped the red onion and pepper and fried them for about 5 minutes in a saucepan.   I added the chickpeas and tomato sauce, put the lid on and simmered for about 5 minutes.  I served it with some steamed tender stem broccoli which I put some butter on.  It tasted quite good.

Actually it was really good.  Particularly since it only took about 15 minutes from opening the fridge door to sitting down and eating it :-).

In the afternoon I headed to Ramsgate with a bag full of leftovers to use up.  Yes, once again we have the lentil sloppy joes and turlu.  I have enjoyed these but I admit I am pleased I have now finished them both.  I served it tonight with 1 tbsp Greek yogurt.  It would have been more yogurt but I managed to drop the pot on the floor, upside down.  This little bit is all I had left over as I managed to scrape it from the side of the pot.  GRRR.  Things like that are so frustrating.

I have an evening to myself ahead of me where I can watch what I like on tv or read or select something from iPlayer.  I wouldn’t want to be alone very often, but as an occasional event I love it.

This is my view from the sitting room.

I hope you have a good evening too.

 

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Crispy

Posted on January 17, 2012 by Lose Weight and Gain Health

Today is crispy.  The ground was covered in a thick frost which made everything crispy.  The temperature in the car when I took James to the station at 7 am was -5° C !!!  Freezing!!!

I had a smoothie as I had some pumpkin and blueberries that needed using up.  In my smoothie went about ¼ of a can of pumpkin puree, 1 banana, ½ a cupful of blue berries, 200 ml coconut milk, 30 g of oats and 1 tsp chia seeds.  I put the oats, chia seeds and milk in the blender and left it to soak for about 2 hours, to soften the oats and allow the seeds to swell.

When it was blended it was not the most appetising colour but it tasted lovely and was a wonderful smooth and thick texture.  The pumpkin makes it smooth and soaking the chia seeds makes them swell up and adds to the lovely texture.  It was so thick I had to eat it with a spoon and I really enjoyed it.  5 WW points.

The dogs and I really enjoyed the walk over the road.  It was…..crisp!  Which made it so beautiful.

One of the biggest egg producers in the country has a free range chicken farm next to the woods.  No chickens out today.  Walking beside it reminds me of a prison or camp.  Quite creepy.

The dogs were not impressed about the ice instead of water to drink!

After a good walk I played tennis so I definitely did enough exercise today.  Bit of a boring lunch – 100 g brown basmati rice, 150 g roast pork, 2 handfuls of kale and 1 tbsp coconut oil.  16 WW points.

Tasted good but I did eat this yesterday hence I said it was boring.  I like to eat a varied diet.

On Sunday I ordered some groceries from 2 different companies.  I ordered some from the Natural Grocery Store which I have used many times and which is efficient, competitively priced and reliable.  I also tried another company I had read about recently called The Fresh Network which is like an on-line magazine and store.  Both companies delivered everything I had ordered today, both orders were complete and everything arrived in good condition.

I had been waiting for the psyllium husk to arrive so I could make some Knekkebrod.   I found the recipe on Anne’s site,  Alternative Eating.  Anne blogs from Norway and the Knekkebrod (Scandinavian Crisp Bread) sounded delicious.  I like crisp breads but so many commercially produced crisp breads are baked at a very high temperature.  It can be carcinogenic to eat carbohydrates which haven been exposed to a high temperature so I rarely buy them.  These are wonderful and with a very high proportion of seeds to wheat, they are low carbohydrate.  They are more like a Dr.Karg crisp bread than a Ryvita which I think is good as I really like Dr.Karg’s crisp breads.

Knekkebrod ( a Scandinavian Crisp Bread)

Ingredients (makes about 30 squares)

3/4 cup wholewheat or spelt flour
1 and 1/4 cups sunflower seeds
1/2 cup flax/linseeds
1/2 cup sesame seeds
2 tbsp psyllium husk
2 cups and 2 tbsp water
1 tsp cinnamon

Method

Preheat oven to 175 °C.
Grind all the seeds to quite a fine powder ( I did leave some seeds roughly chopped or even whole as I like the texture).  I used a coffee grinder.

Put all the ingredients on to a food processor.  I used the bread hook and a slow setting and blended until all the ingredients were mixed.  It was very quick.
Cover 2 baking trays with lightly oiled greaseproof paper.
Spread the dough over the paper, as evenly as possible.  I used a spatula and then a knife.

The mixture just filled both sheets.

Bake in the oven for 10 minutes.
Take the sheets out of the oven and cut in to squares with a pizza cutter.
Put them back in the oven for 40 – 50 minutes.  After this time they were still a little soft so I left them in the oven but with the oven off and that residual heat cooked them perfectly.
Separate in to individual pieces, allow to cool and store in an airtight container.  Apparently they last for a long time.

It was tricky to work out the points but I think each one (assuming you cut them in to 30 pieces) is 2 WW points.

I went to Cranbrook to buy some Brunost (Scandinavian brown cheese) as I had seen some recently in Perfect Partners.  Unfortunately they have sold out and will not get any more for about 3 weeks.  So I couldn’t have a completely Scandinavian supper.

The Knekkebrod were very easy to make and taste lovely.  Harvey and I both really enjoyed them.  He had his with vegan soft cheese and I had mine with butter, or Brie, or Gouda.  I had 50 g brie and 30 g Gouda.  Plus about 2 tsp butter.  I confess I am not quite sure how many Knekkebrod I ate as I ate the broken pieces and 3 for supper with the cheese.  Maybe a couple more while they were cooling.  They were so yummy.  And so ……… crispy!

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Minus 3

Posted on January 16, 2012 by Lose Weight and Gain Health

I could be talking about the temperature outside as it is nearly minus 3 ° .  It was minus 1.5 ° just now.  But I am not.  I am bragging about the 3 pounds I lost this week :-).  I was expecting that kind of a loss as I have been really good this week, eaten healthily, exercised regularly and ended the week within points.  That nearly didn’t happen though.

Last Monday when I was at the cinema, lustfully gazing at Daniel Craig, completely absorbed in the film, I chomped my way through a large bag of Revels.  I had already posted my blog for the day so I didn’t declare it.  I did dutifully add it to my on-line points tracker.  That one bag of chocolates was 23 points !!!!  I was really horrified because that wiped out nearly half of my weekly extras on the first day.  The way Weight Watchers works is you get a set amount of daily points, which vary according to your age, weight and height etc.  I get 33 points a day.  You also get 49 extra points each week.  I use some extra points every day but mainly save them for the weekend so I can enjoy some booze and a meal out with a pudding.  So to have started the week with half of my extra points used up panicked me.  I even contemplated not bothering to diet all week because how would I manage with half my points missing?

I did diet all week though and remembered you can earn extra points by exercising, which is what I did.  Every day I went on a walk of at least an hour so I earned extra points. Hence I managed to end the week within points.  But I really was at a crazy point last Tuesday morning when the fear of failure (i.e. not managing to stick to my point allowance all week) was so great, I almost didn’t want to try.  But I did, so I am glad I persevered and feel very proud of my 3 point weight loss.

For breakfast today I tried another one of Natural Noshing’s scramble recipes.  This time I was inspired by her Cajun egg and bean scramble.  As usual though I didn’t have exactly the right ingredients so I made my own version.

Spicy Vegetable Scramble

Ingredients (serves 1)

  • 2 tbsp sesame oil
  • 1 large shallot
  • ½ a red pepper
  • ½ a red chilli
  • 3 portabellini mushrooms
  • large handful of kale
  • 1 tbsp chick peas
  • 2 eggs
  • Fajita seasoning

Method

  • Finely chop the shallot, pepper, chilli and mushrooms.

  • Heat 1 tbsp oil in a large frying pan.
  • When the oil is warm, add the shallot, pepper and chilli and fry gently for 5 minutes.
  • Add the mushrooms and kale and fry for another 5 minutes.
  • Add the chick peas.
  • Move the vegetables to one side of the pan and add the other 1 tbsp oil to the other half of the pan.
  • Add the eggs and cook until scrambled.
  • While the eggs cook, add the Fajita seasoning.
  • Stir to mix all ingredients together and serve.

12 WW points.

To be honest I overdid the chilli so eating this started off as a bit of a challenge.  But when I got used to the heat, I really enjoyed it.  It was a good selection of vegetables which provided interesting flavours, tastes and textures.

It kept me full until I got round to lunch, which was very late.

Mid morning Suzanne collected me and we went to Casa Mirella’s for a coffee.  La Bella Mirella made a stunning cup of coffee.

I only popped in but the lovely coffee, roaring fire and lovely company meant time flew and before we knew it, it was 3 hours later!

When I was at home I started setting up a new blog for the Ramsgate house and was so engrossed in my task, it was nearly 5pm before I had lunch.  Lunch was a quick and easy stir fry of 100g brown basmati rice, 80 g leftover pork from last night and kale.  I used 1 tbsp sesame oil for frying.  Lunch was 12 WW points.

Supper was also mainly left overs.  Talk about convenience food!

I had a portion of the lentil sloppy Joes (4 WW points) and a portion of Turlu Turlu (5 WW points) which I served with some raw spinach, a tomato, half an avocado (4 points) and 1 tbsp vinaigrette (2 points).

Like many of the vegetarian dishes I cook, they taste so much better the next day!  This was a really yummy dinner.  The lentils and Turlu were good together and the salad was a fresh and welcome addition.

One more pound and I have lost three and a half stone.  So my target for next week is one more.  Just one.  It must be doable 🙂

Posted in Diet Struggles, Lose Weight | Tagged , , | 14 Comments

Lazy Sunday

Posted on January 15, 2012 by Lose Weight and Gain Health

No setting of the alarm clock.  Snoozey lie in.  Leisurely bath.  Pot of tea.  Relaxed read through my favourite blogs and a catch up of email.  Reheat leftover oats baked with berries and bananas for breakfast (7 WW points).  Lovely easy start to the day.

I had to pop to the shops and while there I treated myself to some Tea Pigs Chai.  They are more expensive than other teas but really good.  The tea bags are really pretty; made of a very sheer material so you can see through.   They use the whole leaf rather than tiny fragments so you get a stronger brew.  The blend of spices was perfect and I had it with milk and a little sugar.

James and I spent 2 months travelling round India on a budget and we did a lot of train travel.  On every single journey you heard the chai-wallah calling out “chai” very regularly.  I could have been back there the spicing in the tea was so good.  But I was at home drinking out of a clean tea cup instead.  I enjoyed it so much I immediately made another.

On a lazy Sunday we have a very late lunch.  I needed a little snack to keep me going and I had 80g of Gouda and a deliciously sweet and juicy red pear (8 WW points).

I wasn’t completely lazy all day.  Harvey and I took the dogs over the road in to the woods and we had a lovely walk in the winter sunshine.  We did spend ages laughing at the dogs who were very confused by the frozen pond and kept trying to get the sticks and stones we were sliding across the ice.  But the ice was so thin it broke every time they stepped on it which they did not like or understand.  It was very funny and I wished I had my camera, which I nearly always carry with me but not today.

To accompany the roast pork (which James cooked, with fennel seeds) I turned to MORO The Cookbook and was inspired by a Turkish vegetable dish called ‘Turlu Turlu’.  Turlu means many kinds of or diverse and this dish certainly has a good variety of vegetables in it.  One of which is turnip which I do not think I have ever cooked before and can not remember eating.

Turlu Turlu

Ingredients (serves 4)

  • 3 courgettes, cut in to 2 cm discs
  • 1 aubergine, cut in half lengthwise, and then each half cut in to 4 lengthways
  • 1 medium onion, roughly chopped
  • 3 garlic cloves, peeled and sliced thickly
  • 2 green peppers, cored, deseeded and cut in to chunks
  • 3 medium carrots, scrubbed, halved lengthways and each half cut in to 3 lengthways
  • 2 turnips, peeled and cut in to 2 cm chunks
  • 2 medium potatoes, scrubbed and cut in to 2 cm chunks
  • 3 tbsp olive oil
  • ½ tsp ground allspice
  • 2 tsp coriander seeds
  • 3 tbsp cooked chickpeas
  • 150 ml tomato passata
  • 1 small bunch each of flat leaf parsley and coriander, roughly chopped
  • salt and pepper

Method

  • Lay courgettes and aubergine on a large tray and sprinkle with 1 tsp salt.
  • Leave for 20 minutes and then rinse under cold water.

  • Preheat oven to 220 °C.
  • Place aubergine, onion, garlic, green peppers, carrots, turnips and potatoes in a large bowl.
  • Add oil, allspice and coriander seeds and mix well so all vegetables are covered in oil and spices.

  • Tip in to a very large roasting tray so the vegetables are in a single layer.  If they are piled on top of each other they will steam but you want them to roast and caramelise slightly.
  • Bake in the oven for 45 minutes, turning every 15 minutes.
  • After 45 minutes, add the courgettes and roast for a further 15 minutes.
  • During the final 15 minutes roasting time, heat the passata in a saucepan with the chick peas.
  • When the vegetables are roasted, mix with the passata and chick peas, parsley and coriander and season to taste.

We served this with roast pork.

The 150 g of pork was 8 points and I had about a quarter of the Turlu which was 9 points. Gravy and redcurrant jelly was 3 points.The Turlu was good but not an ideal accompaniment to roast pork.  The flavours did not really complement each other and we decided we would have prerred more traditional roast potatoes and steamed vegetables.   I have decided I do not really like allspice either.  At least not the one I am using as the cloves are too strong.  I also do not like these spices in a savoury dish.  To me, cinnamon is a sweet flavouring.  I liked the Turlu and would make it again but not with the allspice.

I am going to use 9 WW points on half a bottle of delicious Bordeaux.  My preferred everyday red wine is an Australian Cab. Sauv. but it is impossible to find one at a reasonable price these days.  All the cheaper bottles are blended with Shiraz which I am not so keen on.  Apparently the Australian wine industry is struggling due to unfavourable exchange rates, hence the proliferation of blended wines.  So I reluctantly turned away from the New World wines to our neighbours in Europe and James and I are both enjoying this bottle of Bordeaux vey much.

I still have 16 points left.  They are “activity” points i.e. extra points I have earned through exercise.  What I don’t use up today gets lost forever because on Mondays my slate is wiped clean and tracking starts again for another week.

I have a lovely selection of fruit which is partially prepared and I have planned to eat some with Greek yogurt and honey a bit later. That is, if I can be bothered to get up off the sofa to get it.  Where’s Carson when you need him?

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The Joes Were Sloppy

Posted on January 14, 2012 by Lose Weight and Gain Health

You get 2 recipes today 🙂 . I have eaten out a bit in the past few days which is lovely but I do miss cooking so I was eager to get going in the kitchen.  Plus today is Saturday so I had time to cook something more time-consuming than usual.

Thanks to Gina at Skinny Taste for her recipe for Oatmeal with Blueberries and Bananas. It was such a cold and frosty morning, Harvey and I wanted something hot for breakfast and this was perfect.  It was easy to make but due to the cooking time, start this one hour before you want to eat.  I think it would work if you left the nuts out, so if you have an intolerance/allergy to nuts, you could adapt and still enjoy this recipe.

Oats Baked With Berries And Bananas

Ingredients (serves 6)

  • 2 ripe bananas,  sliced into ½” pieces
  • 1 ½ cup berries ( I used 1 cup fresh blueberries, ½ cup frozen raspberries)
  • ¼ cup honey (or agave or maple syrup)
  • 1 cup oats
  • ¼ cup chopped pecans
  • ½ tsp baking powder
  • 3/4 tsp cinnamon
  • pinch of salt
  • 1 cup soya milk (or any milk you choose)
  • 1 egg
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract

Method

Preheat the oven to 190 ° C.
Lightly oil a baking dish that is approximately 8″ x 8″ (I put some oil on a piece of kitchen paper and wipe round the dish as I dislike oil sprayers but you could use one if you have it).
Place the banana in a layer in the oiled dish.
Add half the berries, ¼ tsp cinnamon and 1 tbsp of honey.
Cover with foil and bake in the oven for 15 minutes.
In a bowl, combine the oats, half the nuts, baking powder, remaining cinnamon and salt.

In another bowl combine the wet ingredients and whisk to mix well: the remaining honey, milk, egg and vanilla extract.

Remove the bananas from the oven and take off the foil.
Add the oat mixture to the dish and spread over the bananas and berries.
Pour the milk mixture over the oats, making sure the oat and milk mixtures are evenly distributed.
Put the remaining berries and nuts on the top.

Bake in the oven for 30 minutes or until the top is golden and the oatmeal is firm.

Cut in to 6 portions and serve warm.  Each portion only has 4 WW points :-).

I was worried the berries on the top may have burned or gone dry but they didn’t at all.   By the time it was ready it was quite late and I was very hungry.  I had 2 portions and I had the second with some Alpro Vanilla Yogurt.  For some reason, 2 tbsp of this yogurt has 0 points :-).  Rather bizarrely, 2 portions of the oatmeal dish are only 7 WW points, whereas 1 portion is 4 points.  So I enjoyed 2 portions and some yogurt for just 7 WW points.  It was tasty and just the thing for a cold winters morning.  Plus it was a recipe on the list of recipes I wanted to try so I can tick that one off now.

For lunch I made another recipe from my list.  This time I made the Lentil Sloppy Joes from The Edible Perspective.  I had to adapt the recipe quite a lot, not because I thought Ashley’s recipe needed so much adapting but because I had to use ingredients I had at home.  For example, I didn’t have enough green lentils so I used a mix of green and Le Puy lentils.

Lentil Sloppy Joes

Ingredients (serves 8)

  • 250 g dried green lentils
  • 100 g dried Le Puy lentils
  • 600 ml vegetable stock
  • 2 cans chopped tomatoes
  • 4 tbsp tomato puree
  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 2 red peppers, chopped
  • 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
  • 2 tbsp pure cane sugar
  • 4 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1 tbsp oregano
  • 1 tsp hot smoked paprika
  • 1 tbsp chopped flat leaf parsley
  • ½ tsp salt
  • black pepper

Method

  • Put all the ingredients in to a large casserole dish.
  • Preheat the oven to 180 ° C.
  • Bring to the boil and stir so all the ingredients are well mixed.
  • Put the lid on the dish and put in the oven for 1 hour.

I served this with ½ a baked potato and a large fresh tomato.  The potato cooked in the oven alongside the lentil sloppy joe.  The lentils went very well with a large and juicy tomato.

Traditionally a sloppy joe is made with minced beef and is served in a burger bun.  I intensely dislike the idea of something sloppy in a white bun!  But on a jacket potato it works really well.  And I think this lentil version is just as tasty as a beef version.  It was slightly too sweet for me and I would use a little less sugar next time.  It must be the easiest recipe to make though – put all ingredients in a pan and heat :-).

I really enjoyed this dish and the 3 of us ate about half the quantity.  The entire quantity has 32 WW points so each portion is only 4 WW points.  I estimate I had two portions for lunch, plus half a potato with 2 tsp butter in it which makes 14 WW points.

We walked for just over an hour in the forest.  Well, James and I walked and Harvey cycled.

It was cold and crisp but bright out.

Why do dogs

and boys like muddy water so much?

Despite the sun shining all day, the ice on top of the bowl of water did not melt.  Nice ice baby!

Supper was another 2 portions of the lentil sloppy joe which reheated perfectly.  I was very hungry by the evening and I wanted something substantial so I added a circle of goats cheese.  The Chèvre blanc type.  I had all 100 g of goats cheese to myself.  It seemed decadently piggy but I had quite a few points left so why not use them?  Plus I earned more activity points today.

2 portions of lentil sloppy joe and 100 g goats cheese came to 16 WW points.

It was sublimely delicious.  The chalky saltiness of the goat cheese worked perfectly with the sweet spicy tomato sauce.  The sloppy joe were reheated so it was piping hot and the cheese went soft and parts melted in to the lentils. Yummy.  Yummy.  Yummy. A meal definitely to be repeated.

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Making The Most Of Every Minute

Posted on January 13, 2012 by Lose Weight and Gain Health

Today was all about making the most of every minute I had left with Lara as she had to return to Durham this afternoon.  Hopefully I will go and see her in February but she can’t come home again until March as she has lectures all week and a job at the weekends.  So I am having to say good-bye for at least 4 – 5 weeks, maybe longer.

True to her word, she was up with the rest of us at 7am so she could say good-bye to her Daddy and brother.  I had Grape Nuts again today, but a whole bowlful this time.  So 50 g Grape Nuts, 100ml coconut milk, 2 heaped tbsp vanilla soya yogurt and 1 tbsp coconut almond butter.  The drop in temperature has set the nut butter.  I assume the coconut oil has gone hard.  It still tastes lovely but I prefer the drippy consistency.  This was 11 WW points.

It was very cold out but sunny.  The air was so clean and fresh it was a pleasure to be walking in it.  We took the dogs to the woods and walked for about an hour, along a route involving as many hills as possible.  That was hard work but satisfying.

As an early birthday treat and because it was the one place Lara had said she wanted to go to when she first came home in December but which we hadn’t got to, we went to Tunbridge Wells for lunch at Wagamama.  For those of you who have not been before, Wagamama was inspired by Japanese noodle bars. The setting is minimalist and contemporary, service is friendly but brisk and efficient.  Not somewhere to go for a leisurely 3 hour lunch but if you want tasty and healthy(ish) food, served quickly with no fuss or drama, then this is a great place to go.

I had a freshly squeezed fruit juice to start with (apple, orange and passionfruit).

There was a new side dish on the menu of Pork Ribs, glazed in a BBQ sauce.  YUM!  These were delicious.  5 little ribs, tender and sweet.  Just wonderful.  I estimate 8 WW points.

One Wagamama custom is to bring the food when it is cooked, regardless of whether it is a main meal or a side dish.  I had only just begun to nibble at the pork when my main came.  So I ate them both at the same time.

I had Itame which is “rice noodles in a spicy green coconut and lemongrass soup topped with stir-fried chicken or fried tofu, beansprouts, chillies, red and spring onions, bok choi, peppers and mushrooms. garnished with coriander and lime”.  I chose chicken.

I am actually not a huge fan of noodles.  I don’t dislike them but they are my least favourite starchy carb.  But I really enjoy the bowls of noodles because I like the vegetables, chicken and the broth.  Aaah, the broth.  Sweet and creamy from the coconut and spicy from the abundant red chillis.  Freshly squeezed lime juice adds to the freshness of the dish.

It was lovely.  For the first time, I thought how large the portions were.  I have always eaten it all before but I left quite a lot of the noodles.  Not because I didn’t like them but because I had eaten enough.  Really hard to calculate the points but I found something on the Weight Watchers site that sounded similar and was 14 WW points.

Lara had duck gyoza (five deep-fried duck dumplings served with a spicy cherry hoi sin sauce ) and Chicken Katsu Curry (chicken breast deep-fried in panko breadcrumbs or grilled, served with a curry sauce and sticky white rice. Garnished with dressed mixed leaves and red pickles ).  She was unable to finish her curry as the portions are so large but really enjoyed everything too.

I hate saying good-bye and wonder if it will ever get easier.  In the evening I felt very out of sorts and could easily have persuaded myself I deserved that bar of Lindt Cointreau chocolate I know the local garage sells.  But I managed to persuade myself that I have to stop eating sweet things as a way of cheering myself up.  And even though I went to said garage, I did not buy anything with sugar in.  Instead I bought a box of eggs.  Truly.  I only wanted something small for supper but something that seemed like a treat.

When I was a child, my Dad would sometimes cook baked eggs for tea on a Sunday evening.  I decided that was what I fancied tonight.

Baked Eggs

Ingredients (makes 2)

1 tsp butter
2 eggs
40 g Cheddar cheese, grated
Salt and pepper

Method

Preheat oven to 180 ° C.
Butter the inside of 2 ramekin dishes.

Place ¼ of the cheese in the bottom of each ramekin.
Crack the egg on top of the cheese.

Season the egg with salt and pepper.
Cover each egg with the remaining half of cheese.
Bake in the oven for 15 minutes.

They came out of the oven risen slightly, looking a bit like mini soufflés.  Ideally the white will be set and the yolks runny.  The cheese melts round the eggs and bakes to create a lovely chewy outer shell to hopefully a perfectly cooked egg.  Mine was overcooked unfortunately but still delicious and I happily ate them both.  10 WW points.

I now know that my daughter navigated her way back to her hall in Durham safely, and within 15 minutes of arriving she was heading for a bus to go clubbing in Newcastle.  She is making the most of every minute, and so will I.  You should too 🙂

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Au Revoir Meals

Posted on January 12, 2012 by Lose Weight and Gain Health

Today Lara and I went to see Dad and Jilly so Lara can say farewell for a couple of months as she is going back to Durham tomorrow 😦 .

Knowing we were going out for lunch I had a really light breakfast of half a portion of Grape Nuts (25 g), 100 ml soya milk, 2 heaped tbsp vanilla soya yogurt and 1 tbsp coconut nut butter. 6 WW points.

At lunch time we were taken to Prezzo which is a chain of Italian restaurants.  I had crab cakes which came with a garlic mayonnaise which I left.  They didn’t taste very crabby but were pleasant enough.

Followed by a salad called ‘Arrosto’, which is described as “Goat’s cheese and plum tomatoes baked on focaccia bread with roasted peppers, caramelised balsamic onions, chargrilled artichoke hearts, cucumber, cherry tomatoes, marinated olives, mixed leaves and balsamic glaze.”

I didn’t eat the bread to save some points.  The goats cheese and salad was good.  I would have liked more cheese but as a woman on a diet it was a healthy option to just have a small amount.

I managed to resist dessert and just had a coffee.  It is hard to know the points because this restaurant is not on the WW web site but I have estimated 14 WW points.

The restaurant had some lovely jars of squash and peppers in oil.

Another of just peppers.

They were quite beautiful.

For supper Lara chose curry and we decided to get a takeaway.  I was determined to stay within my points today though so I chose to eat some of the quinoa and black bean salad I had left over from yesterday.  It was fine a day old and only 9 WW points.

I did nearly waiver when I collected the Indian.

But managed to resist.

So I ended the day within my point allowance 🙂

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Down Mexico Way

Posted on January 11, 2012 by Lose Weight and Gain Health

Most of my food today had a Mexico flavour to it.  I didn’t plan that way but it is how it worked out.

I managed to get back on track with the cayenne pepper in hot water with fresh lemon juice first thing.  I hate it but if it’s going to help my metabolism I will consume it.  While I thought about breakfast I enjoyed the beautiful sunrise.

Red sky in the morning, shepherds warning.  According to the rhyme.  But it turned in to a beautiful day.

I felt fruity for breakfast and had a cup full of frozen berries.

With 1 cup (about 200 ml) full of this delicious coconut milk.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One banana and a tablespoon of the coconut nut butter I made yesterday.  All blended together in a smoothie.  It was lovely.  4 WW points.

I took the  dogs for a good walk in the forest with Lucy and it was just amazing outside. Sunny and crisp with a very bright blue sky.   We spotted a huge fire in the distance and I am very curious about what it was and hoping no one was injured.

For lunch I made a new salad.  Angela at Oh She Glows posted various posts about the best recipes of 2011 for certain categories and she did one about the top 5 salads.  I really wanted to try something new and chose the Quinoa and Black Bean Vegetable Salad.

Quinoa and Black Bean Salad

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

  • 1 cup uncooked quinoa (170 g)
  •  1 heaped tsp bouillon powder (optional)
  • 1 x 400g can black beans, drained and rinsed
  • 1 red pepper, chopped
  • ¼ cup fresh coriander, finely chopped
  • 2 spring onions, chopped
  • 1 small can of sweetcorn, drained
    1 small avocado, chopped
  • Juice of 1 lime

Method

  • Make up the quinoa in a saucepan according to the packet instruction.  Mine said to use 3 x as much water as quinoa, bring to the boil and simmer until water is absorbed which takes about 20 minutes.  Add bouillon powder for additional flavour when you add the uncooked quinoa to the water .  When cooked, allow to cool slightly.

  • Drain black beans and place in large bowl.
  • Add chopped red pepper, coriander, spring onions, sweetcorn, avocado and lime juice.
  • Add quinoa and mix gently.

Oh She Glows uses a dressing but I wanted to keep the points/calories low so just used the lime juice.  It was so tasty it didn’t seem to need any other flavours . The black beans, red pepper, avocado and lime juice reminded me of Mexican food.  It was fresh and full of flavour.   I thoroughly enjoyed this salad.

The WW points for the total salad were 38 and I ate about half so 19 WW points.  It seems a lot of points for something so healthy!

Supper was chicken fajitas.  I had mine without the wrap.

I ate a whole chicken breast, Fajita seasoning, 1 tbsp oil used for frying the chicken, red onion and peppers and I served it with cherry tomatoes and 1 heaped tbsp Greek yogurt.

I like the spices in a Fajita and it is a very quick and easy meal to cook.  11 WW points.

Daily points total is 36 so I have used some of my weekly extra.  I earned 4 activity points by walking for an hour.

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She Is Nutty

Posted on January 10, 2012 by Lose Weight and Gain Health

I definitely go through phases with my eating.  I haven’t been eating many nuts lately but that changed today.

I had banana and chia seed porridge for breakfast (1/3 cup of oats, 1/2 cup of almond milk, banana, 1 tbsp chia seeds) served with 1/2 tbsp hazelnut butter.

I really like hazelnut butter and it goes so well with the sweet bites of banana you come across in the bowl.

I played tennis in the morning and the sun shone 🙂

I came home all energised and enthusiastic about cooking something new.  Ashley at The Edible Perspective has many recipes for delicious sounding nut butters.  I chose to make a nut butter based on her Coconut Almond Butter recipe.  Reading her recipe, I noticed that she made 2 different nut butters on one day and decided to try them both.

Basic Nut Butter

Ingredients

3 cups of nuts (I used 2 cups of almonds and 1 cup of pecans)

Method

Preheat oven to 170 ° C.
Place nuts on a baking sheet.  There is no need to add oil or maple syrup.
Place in oven for 15 minutes, turning/stirring twice.

Allow to cool for 5 minutes.
Place in food processor and blitz until drippy.  This batch took 9 minutes and this is how it goes from nuts to a drippy butter:

1. The nuts quickly have the consistency of breadcrumbs (this first part is really noisy!).

 2. They then begin to clump together.

3. Then turn in to a thick paste.  You sometimes have to stop the processor and scrape the nuts down from the sides and the bottom of the bowl.

4. You then have to trust your processor as it takes a few more minutes until the nut butter becomes drippy, which is always my desired consistency.  Once it is drippy, you can add flavourings and other ingredients.

I poured half the nut butter in to another bowl and set it aside.  The half remaining in the processor was used to make:

Coconut Nut Butter

Ingredients

  • 1 and ½ cups of nut butter
  • 2 cups desiccated coconut
  • 1 and ½ tsp vanilla extract
  • 2 tsp ground cinnamon
  • ¼ tsp salt

Method

  • Blend nut butter with coconut in a food processor and blitz until desired consistency.  Adding the coconut to the drippy nut butter makes it thicker initially and you have to keep processing to make the consistency drippy again.
  • Add remaining ingredients and blend.

The result was coconutty, nutty and drippy.   Perfect.  This little pot won’t last long.

The second half of the nut butter was used to make a savoury butter with smoked paprika, garlic and salt.  I actually do not like it that much so will not share the recipe.

For lunch we had a baked sweet potato, pea shoots, cherry tomatoes and tuna.  I had mine with 1 tbsp of the savoury nut butter.

The tuna was mixed with 1 tbsp mayonnaise which had 1 tsp curry powder in it.  Yes, curried tuna.  Delicious.

Supper was quick and easy.  The kids wanted spaghetti bolognese.  I had sneaked a few teaspoonfuls too many of the coconut nut butter so was not very hungry so I did not have the pasta.  I had some bolognese with pea shoots.

Quite tasty, but I’d rather have some more nut butter.

 

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