I must have ice cream

A favourite at the moment is cooking a diced tomato in a bowl - 2 mins in the microwave, remove, crack an egg directly onto the molten toms which should soft cook it, then add half a diced avocado - yummy!

It staved off hunger pangs for a couple of hours and then I "pigged out" on 3 leftover chicken wings, a spoonful of rice and some cauliflower cheese (2 florets and the sauce).  The pistachio, hazelnut and salted caramel ice cream undid all the good work probably!

Back to the drawing board - 5 years on and more weight has been piled on

Were it that my lunch consisted solely of almonds, but it was an accompaniment to a few cocktail sausages and one helping of wild mushroom soup.  The night before I'd had a horrible dream where my thighs had the appearance of pasty white obesity.  So, for breakfast I had a mug of coffee and some fruit - a kiwi, peach and some small plums.  I'd also nibbled at H's unfinished scrambled eggs, about a tablespoonful of this and a small  cocktail sausage roll.  I briefly considered moving out to live on my own.

so it's thoroughly boring

to chronicle every morsel consumed. suffice to say that the new regime of not eating after 6pm seems to be settling down again after a minor glitch last thursday.

last thursday, i went out with some of the girls from work and had sashimi and too much sake and other alcohol. wow, did i press self destruct? f was mightily peeved off with me as i rolled home near 3am on friday. we nearly had a bust up but i made it up to him the following day and took him out to lunch.

so sunday saw us both loved up again and the diet regime firmly back in place.

today i was determined to cut down on the caffeine and only had 3 shots of espresso and about 2 cups of chai tea latte.

for lunch i had some left over roast chicken and green beans and carrots and dined at 6 on stir fried noodles with mackerel and salad. in between meals i'm drinking some chamomile tea and plenty of water.

another week begins.  i know you feel my pain too.

several days later

stil trying to be good. coffees for brekkie , lunching as the main meal and dining on soup or salad with cheese. cutting down on the carbs but still drinking the same amt of alcohol. so give it another week and see if there be results...

2nd diet day

today semi skimmed milky coffee

veg soup - carrots and rice broth with spring onions and ginger

salad and cheese

snacked on 2 small pieces of dark liquer chocs and one choc finger

half pint of leffe and copious cups of chamomile tea

why aren't i twiggy-shaped by now??

time to restart the diet

today consumed a cup of milky coffee - semiskimmed.

lunched on meatball and veg soup - 10 meatballs, though. not good

will try to miss dinner somehow ...

renewing my vow

little did i guess how difficult it would be.  whilst i was on my epic journey home (ok alright, it was only a mere 20 hours via HK) i thought it would be fairly easy.  as i quietly congratulated myself for turning down plane food and drank plenty of water i also imagined that it should be easy enough in the coming days to graze on lettuce leaves and nibble moderately on the odd treat - blue cheese, pate, foie, etc...

i hadn't counted on how well mix had been looking after all at home with her yummy recipes.  i came home at about 10pm and simply had to have a portion of the above chicken and mash pie laced with a vodka cream sauce and then finish with a slice of that heavenly chocolate iced cake.  oh dear oh dear ....  will power, wherefore art thou gone!

local food

expensively

when your partner promises you a date at heston blumenthal's don't expect that it would be at his signature restaurant the fat duck in bray, berkshire.  this celebrity chef famous for his culinary experimenting and menu of the senses, had been called in to rescue none other than the chain of motorway cafes the little chef.

the revamped menu promises healthier options and better quality food.  their all new olympic breakfast special contains 50% more meat than before and from outdoor reared pork, no less!  but is it still affordable? - well a quick glance at their menu suggests that the prices haven't changed.

what i would look forward to is the dessert - haagen daz ice cream balls to be dipped in hot chocolate sauce - umm sounds amazingly unhealthy!  so next time the kids and i are on the motorway, i might suggest we try the little chef out just for pudding ....

roast duck

tonight i give you not just any old roast duck.  this duck was stuffed with the darling's maman's farcie recipe which i adapted using what was in the cupboard and fridge - bacon, sausagemeat, jamon serrano, black olives (pitted and chopped), onions and garlic, parsley and plenty of black pepper and a generous amount of nutmeg.  the darling usually says ah his mum would've used green olives and bayonne ham, but i tell you it tastes just as good with black olives and serrano ham.

the trick is to cook all that stufing pre stuffing the bird.  i usually also chop up the duck liver and throw that into the stuffing mixture just before it goes in.  cooks usually get first taste of the stuffing to make sure that the right amount of everything has been added.  cooks are usually highly critical and require several mouthfuls to ensure that all is just right!

of course when you have a serious roast dinner as tonight, there has to be roasted potatoes and plenty of red wine to wash it all down with.

so a salad of lettuce with the cheese is quite in order.

new regime

well in this credit crisis and when i was imagining the worst scenario, i quit the gym.  i realise it was perhaps a hasty decision as i found a lodger for the spareroom last night and i needn't hve quit the gym after all.

but you know, i feel freed.  one less burden.  i always felt that i had to go to the gym, to get value out of my subscription. these days i can take as long as i like on my morning walks with the dog and not race home to get ready to go to a spin class, or circuit training or some such.  i do miss the spin class but my favourite mad italian trainer is out of action for the next several months anyway due to an injury and op and his replacement though delightful just hasn't the same edginess.   anyway i might even take out that bike i bought on ebay last summer.  maybe.

so my new regime these days is very long morning walks and continue to eat sensibly.

diamonds from tequila

by 2011 it says in the article.

when the mood strikes me, usually when i'm holidaying on a sun soaked meditarrenean island i might have myself a few margaritas.  this cocktail, a mix of triple sec, lime juice and tequila must be served in a glass rimmed with salt.  tequila itself has a sordid notoriety, largely i suspect because it features in those westerns as the drink of macho men, men who live by the gun and in the harsh desert.  men who drink it straight up i might add, not in poncy cocktail glasses and other distracting flavours.

and now this bit of newsy discovery will continue to add to its reputation i'm sure. viva la tequila!

the credit crunch dinner

this is the practical woman's meal.  it is a beef stew using one of the cheapest cuts of beef available at the butcher's at waitrose - ox cheek at £3.99 a kilo. it provides ample portions for 5 at just under £5.  

i love to make this because after the initial preparation - browning the meat, chopping the onions and garlic and halving the carrots and celery and throwing in whatever spices takes your fancy, you can leave it in the oven or slow cooker for hours.

tonight's stew included a generous few glugs of red wine, cinnamon, ground coriander and pepper and plenty of water to cover everything.  and then into the oven at 150C  for about 4-5 hours.  just before serving i prepared some couscous, chopped parsley and fresh coriander and served it with harissa paste on the side.
and to finish the meal we had some stilton on crackers.  if you look closely the bubbly is actually la rosca cava - at under £4.50 a bottle this is easily one of the best and cheapest alternative to the real thing.

clear south east asian chicken soup

i love making this soup.  i save up the carcasses from 3 roast chickens at least - they freeze well while you're waiting fo each one and boil and then simmer these with about 6 litres of water, 6 sticks of lemon grass smashed with a stone or side of a knife, preferably a cleaver, if you have one, onion, garlic and ginger.  if you're in a hurry and cannot wait for 3 weekends you could buy 12 chicken wings and use those instead.  i simmer mine nearly all day. 

after that it's dead easy - strain the stock and then add julienned carrots, shredded cabbage, pakchoi, spinach or other mild tasting vegetables but especially you must add fresh coriander and spring onions and a few glugs of fish sauce at the end.

to make a meal out of this, you can add rice vermicelli and any thinly sliced meat - pork, chicken or beef or even prawns, squid, sliced mushrooms or tofu. serve in a bowl with a quarter piece of lime and some sliced chillies in light soya sauce on the side.

banana & pecan bread

mix and the boys wanted to eat cake batter so they persuaded me to bake some banana and pecan bread.

i used prue leith's banana bread recipe from her cookery bible, varying it by doubling the amount of bananas, and adding 150g of pecans instead of 100g walnuts.  it's dead easy - put the oven on at 180C, butter a loaf dish.  i used the silicone type which just needs buttering.  if you're planning to use a loaf tin i'd advise you line it with baking paper.  and then as you're melting 85g of butter in the microwave at high for about a minute, measure out 100g brown sugar.  mash 4 bananas with a fork beat in 2 eggs, the sugar and butter.  measure out 200g plain flour, mix in 3 teaspoons baking powder and a quarter teaspoon of bicarb of soda.  tip this into the wet mix and stir until well mixed and then add the pecans.  scrape into the buttered loaf mould or lined loaf tin and hand over the mixing bowl and spatula and wooden spoons to the children.  loulou always shakes his head askance and tells us we are going to get sore tummies, but we never do.  or if the children do, they've never told me.

if you love chocolate and banana i don't see why you couldn't improve the recipe to include 100g of chocolate chips.  some of my children love chocolate and some don't so the ones who do slather chocolate spread on their slice of banana bread.

it takes round about 35-45 minutes in the middle shelf of a fan assisted oven.  the recipe says an hour but i find that mine is ready in less.  when a knife comes out clean from the middle and the top is a nice brown colour, take it out and cover tightly with foil.  i find that this keeps the loaf moist.  when it's completely cooled down, tip out of the mould ready to slice.  

sushi

i promised dumdad a few pictures of sushi following his sashimi post today and et voila, here they are

our favourites are roasted eel with chives and salmon maki rolls.  

i have no will power

it didn't last long did it?

who am i kidding? it wasn't really going to work right from the beginning. the clue was when trixie suggested i cut from semi skimmed to skimmed and i didn't reply. the truth was i only drink full cream. i can't bear the taste of half fat never mind fatless.

anyway, perhaps i should find another use for this blog.  any ideas my faithful readers?

more lapses

last night i had a piece of toast at 9 pm.  bad, bad, bad mei!

so this morning i only had one milky coffee.  and for lunch a sandwich.  

at teatime, i had a few almonds and pistachios with a small bowl of yoghurt.

and treated myself to some mash, grilled chicken breast and savoy cabbage for dinner.

unfortunately i still feel peckish.  damn, i think i should just go and brush my teeth right now.

it had to happen

ok i lapsed yesterday - in more ways than one.  i'm sorry i didn't check in posts about the things i've been scoffing - suffice to say i was feeling quite full after dinner.

i blame waitrose for offerring these gorgeous ducks on special offer.  so of course it was roast duck with the darling's maman's stuffing recipe (sausagemeat, bacon, jamon serrano, onion, garlic, parsley, olives and chopped almonds - all pre fried before stuffing the duck itself).  

but i was good, i ignored the roast potatoes and only had a small roasted parsnip and carrot.  and whilst everyone else had seconds, i didn't.  not even the green beans.

so guess what's for lunch today - deboned duck and leftover stuffing stirfried with noodles and green beans.  anyone fancy some?

aiee

good at brekkie - 2 milky coffees and a piece of toast

lunch - that's something else.  went out to dim t with girlfriends and had the laksa noodles and minty lemonade.

dinner - small portion of coq au vin and a sliver of tarte tatin.

oh well i did do 2 45 minute sessions of spin this morning and walked the dog on an extended walk this evening.  

the good news is that i can fit into my size 10 cords first thing in the morning now!  working on fitting into them last thing in the evening ...