Curry night

Friday and Saturday nights seem to be when we have the least will power and absolutely have to have a takeout, were usually tired from work and just want to sit down and have something a little naughty and flavorsome.

I now have an airfryer, my favorite christmas present last year.

So I thought id try an indian takeout style meal. I marinaded chicken thighs in a paste made from crushed garlic, garam masala, curry powder, ground ginger, ground coriander, ground cumin and ground turmeric mixed with a tablespoon of tomato puree, lemon juice and greek yogurt.

This went into the airfryer at 180 degrees for 12-14 mins to start in off and brown it a little, I then put these in the oven to finish off whilst i used the airfry for some aubergine cubes.

I put the aubergine ad some fried onions and mushrooms in my saffron rice, and I served the lot with some yellow lentils which I cooked with onions, some of my curry paste as above and some creamed coconut.

It was delish! just a little more effort than a takeout, the trick is commiting the night before, i.e marinading and doing some of the hard work ahead of time.

Thanks for reading,

Cookie x

Teryaki Chicken and noodles

A quick and simple dinner. I just marinaded my chicken in teriyaki sauce and honey and stirfried some peppers, mushrooms, cabbage, carrot and spring onion with noodles and a sachet of amoy hoisin stir fry sauce.

17 minutes in the airfryer at 180 and the chicken was lightly charred in the sticky areas and succulent in the middle. All in all a good mid week dinner, not too much fuss or too many dishes and relatively healthy.

Day 24 - PP

Yesterdays weight: 73.4kg

Todays weight: 73.6kg

Breakfast: not a weekend thing

Lunch: 2 boiled eggs with salad cream  light

Dinner: 2 chicken breasts with paprika and cayenne pepper barbequey seasoning with a small amount of

passatta and low fat sour cream and a baby bel grated over it.

Summary: well those laughing cow extra lights are no laughing matter, had a go,could not go through with it though, they are such an odd texture and taste powdery, maybe ill try them in something next time. Had my mum take a few photos of me today, starting to look a little better, well in comparison to the photos I made her take of me before going on holiday

In other news I had a call back from a local cafe owner who is willing to sell my wheat free cakes, so I am starting another blog, the gluten free bakery to go alongside this one.

March 2011            

August 2011

I have also noticed my face looks slimmer too, carb face gone

yesterdays weight: 74.6kg lbs

Todays Weight: 74.5kg lbs 100g of weight loss this week, finally..its pretty shocking really so I need to assess where i’m going wrong!

Breakfast: bowl of oatbran porridge with tsp of cocoa pwder and 1% fat milk, we ordered in from work, 2 fried eggs and two sausages so I wont be suprised if the scales are reading high the next few days

Lunch: I have made some chicken nuggets to bring to work with ketchup and unlike yesterdays omelette quiche my dad did not decide they look nice, I’ll have them. but they are scrummy, I did have to hide them in the fridge

Dinner: I have my katsu curry left, although today is no veg day, I cant have the apsaragus and I shall have to strain the veg from the sauce, not to worry really, all under control. I did not have the asparagus.. but i cba removing the carrot from the sauce

Snacks: I got offered a choccy biccy but I said no..thank you

Summary: I need to do some shopping, I am allowed veggies tomorrow and I would really like to make a cottage pie topped with celeriac mash, hopefully the family will eat this without fuss.

Shopping list
celeriac - makes great coleslaw also, low fat feta if such a thing exists, oat bran, babybel light - were allowed these right??, smoked salmon, 1 whole trout.

Chicken Katsu Curry sans rice

Ingredients - serves 2

spray of oil
2 chicken escalopes or breasts
1 egg
3 tablespoons of oat bran
2 tsp curry powder
1 tsp chilli powder
0.5 ground corriander
1 garam masala
few sprigs of rosemary chopped

sauce
whole bulb of roasted garlic (it is sweet and you wont require any sugar in cooking), alternatively just use 3 cloves of chopped fresh garlic
carrots chopped into fine squares
half a white onion chopped finely
It would have been nice with a chopped stick of celery
3 cups of chicken stock
few twists black pepper
1 tsp of corn flour
1 spray oil
1 tsp turmeric
2 tsp curry powder
0.5 tsp chili powder

serve with some veg on a PV day, goes great with asparagus, spring onions, spinach, pickles whatever you fancy!

Step 1. add 2 tsp of the oatbran to the egg and whisk, add 1 tsp of curry powder and the rest of the herbs and spices and whisk.

step 2. dip the chicken in the egg mix, then spoon on the remaining oatbran with the other tsp of curry powder mixed in and black pepper.

step 3. spray a pan and fry the coated chicken

step 4. whilst you chicken is frying spray a small non stick skillet and fry up some onions until starting to soften, then add the cubed carrot and celery if you desire.

step 4. add the spices and the corn flour, mix until incorporated with the veg,

step 5. add the chicken stock and leave to simmer until thickens, you can strain this but i decided to leave the carrot in, less hassle really.

Day 11 - Day 1 of 'Cruise' PV

yesterdays weight: 74.9kg lbs

Todays Weight: 74.7kg lbs

 Breakfast: 2 egg omelette with 2 slices garlic sausage in and a laughing cow light

Lunch: peach activia yogurt, a pack sliced chicken, 1 100g pack of mini hotdogs..very naughty much more fat than chicken.

Dinner: Dukan oatbran chicken schnitzel, even more delicious today and accompanied by some spinach, asparagus and a salad of tomato and spring onion - easily the best meal I have had in 11 days!

Snacks: 1 chocolate drop, someone kindly offered me one and before I knew it it was in my mouth..Oops and a less than 5% fat chocolate mousse

Summary: Bit of a naughty day really. I wont be upset if I have gained a pound tomorrow, any more however and I shall be outraged, Ha ha! I am dreaming of all of my favorite foods and thinking up recipes, Katsu curry.. I need a dukan version of this and with the schnitzel recipe and the cauliflower rice I may be onto a winner! Spaghetti bolognaise, I am thinking of purchasing a spiraliser so I can make courgette, carrot and squash pasta which sounds promising too. looking to the future and hopefully a further couple of pounds loss!

            Here is a picture of the chicken schnitzel from tonight and last night

Day 8 dukan PP

yesterdays weight: 75.2kg lbs
Todays Weight: 74.9kg on waking and 74.6kg after BM 164.78lbs  164.12lbs

 Breakfast: ice lolly made with low cal cordial. spray of oil fried 1 slice bacon and 2 sausages and an egg

Lunch: big breakfast was had!

Dinner: 2 venison and onion burgers from m&s, very nice with a heaped tbsp of low fat cottage cheese, 1 tbsp ketchup and 1 laughing cow light

Snacks: oatbran porridge with stewed rhubarb

Summary:

yesterdays weight: 75.4kg lbs
Todays Weight: 75.2kg 165.4lbs

 Breakfast: oatbran porridge with a little agave syrup, breakfast order at work, scrambled egg and 2 slices of bacon with fat off

Lunch:3 chicken kebabs dipped in a little heinz low sugar and salt ketchup, they literally stunk the office out.. wont be taking them to work again!

Dinner:really bored of beef so I had a little of the mince from yesterday and 2 low fat gluten free sausages fried in a spray of oil.

Snacks: low fat chocolate mousse, less than 5% fat

Summary: I am feeling quite satisfied today (maybe because I am full of food from day 5 onwards), not a huge amount of weight loss but again its in the direction. I have not been to the toilet since day 5 and even then it wasnt anything to write home about..sorry for posting that here but it has to be said, high protein and low fibre = constipation! I am going to have to get some herbal remedy on the go to help me go if this persists!

Day 6 of 'Attack Phase' Dukan

yesterdays weight: 75.6kg lbs
Todays Weight: 75.4kg lbs

 Breakfast: oat bran porridge with a little agave syrup and 1% fat milk

Lunch: 2 mini quiches made with serano ham and filled with bacon a whisked egg and etra light cream cheese, yogurt and I have had a packet of sliced chicken

Dinner: beef mince cooked with onion and bacon and tomato puree and a stock cube to make a bolognaise sauce, lots of seasoning

Snacks: raspberry flavour yogurt, gerkin x 1,

Summary: so todays been okay, not a huge loss but a loss not the less. I havent done too much excerise just walking to start with and when i fully introdue veg then I will get back to the gym, hopefully  I will have a tad more energy. my mum is encouraging me to do the full 10 days attack phase but i feel that a week is probably sufficient, not sure, i guess ill see if it stays this easy and I may consider it.

Day Five of ‘Attack phase’

yesterdays weight: 76.3kg 167.9lbs
Todays Weight: 75.6kg 166.3lbs

Breakfast: 2 boiled eggs with ham and a cup of tea with 1% fat milk

Lunch:grilled chicken mixed with low fat yogurt and spices and a low fat vanilla yogurt

Dinner:2 pieces undyed smoked haddock seasoned with lemon and parsely

Snacks:

Summary: I am getting into the swing of things now, finally lost a little more getting me to my mini target almost..fingers crossed for tomorrow! I am finding that this diet works better if you enjoy cooking, which I do! I have made some little quiches using serrano ham in a muffin tin, mixing egg with bacon and low fat cream cheese and voila! - inspiration taken from flicking through plently of cooking magazines, I just cant stop buying them, only now I can probably eat about 10% of whats published in there - the rest needs adapting and theres a lot of explorative fun to be had there!

Day Four of ‘Attack phase’

yesterdays weight: 76.3kg 167.86lbs
Todays Weight: 76.3kg 167.86lbs no LOSS no GAIN

I am slightly disappointed that I havent lost any weight today, especially if i think about how many calories i am actually consuming. I will wait till my lady time is over and not get discouraged until then! I am thinkning of just eating protein until sunday to see how that fares.

 Breakfast: 2boiled eggs wrapped in ham

Lunch: Chicken legs in cajun seasoning, I have removed the skin after cooking. peach yogurt

Dinner: 2 very rare and very chewy beef steaks, oh my god! This is must how the models eat, chew chew spit..

Snacks: 1.5 tbsps of oatbran with 1% fat milk and a little agave syrup to sweeten, and a couple of no sugar coffees

Summary: So overall I am not impressed with the weight loss on a whole. I am hoping for a miracle tomorrow or atleast a loss of some description. I want to get to 75kg and fast, I havent seen that figure since march and I dont think its too unrealistic a goal..seriously?
I have had a read over the book (I ordered the downloadable version last night) and there is a lot of emphasis on water consumption so today I am making a consious effort to drink more water atleast 2L

Getting into the Dukan mindset

Weight on 6th August 2011 = 77kg 169.40 lbs (sort of day 1)


I have decided, something definately needs to change. Looking back at photos I feel rather distgusted that I have let myself get to this point.


I have decided to give the Dukan diet a go, it sounds crazy really but lets see if it gives the results as promised.


 So.. the initial phase of this diet is the attack phase, I have checked the website which recommends that someone of my weight does the attack phase for 4-5 days, I best go for 5.
No vegetables, I will miss them but alteast they can be introduced after the attack phase. No Carbs, I have given up wheat recently which has limited my carb intake so hopefully I should not find this part too taxing.
5 days with only lean proteins and less than 5% fat dairy. Bring it on!
Well, today is not my 1st official day, I need to eat what I have in the fridge but I am making a consious effort to implement some of the needed changes. I need to go shopping for the ingredients for the next weeks attack phase.


 SHOPPING LIST


Lean beef mince, bacon, chicken, smoked salmon, tuna steak - I can deal with that, I do feel the 72 allowed foods is rather restrictive but for 5 days and the weight loss promise I shall see if it is worth it!
Food diary
Breakfast/lunch : 2 egg omelette with cured meat and a coffee without sugar. 1 chicken leg
Dinner: 2 small tuna steaks with a soy and chili glaze, yellow capsicum pepper (I shouldn’t have really but just using up whats left - I officially start on monday)
snacks: 1 small piece wheatfree orange cake made with almonds and eggs and a spoonful of cream fraiche & a low fat yogurt (naughty again, I will have no slip ups tomorrow - fingers crossed!)


I have been using an online diet blog Buddyslim.com which is a huge help and provides tools and support necessary for weight loss!

SUMMARY


Okay so granted I haven’t been that well behaved today, I am learning adapting in preparation to taking this diet plan seriously. I have been shopping and looking into what I’ve bought its a lot of my favorite things. I will miss having vegetables to accompany them though, The attack phase is to be done between 2 and 10 days, I am thinking 5 days and maybe a few more if I can stand it, no promises yet. I need to make small goals as unrealistic goals always tend to fail! In the next fortnight I would like to lose 4kg, I will be laughing.. and hopefully not at myself in the mirror. I want to fit in my jeans, surely every woman carrying a little extra weight has some item of clothing that they currently have no chance of fitting into? Perhaps not..
Anyhow I have bought, baconm smoked salmon, prawns, steak, mince (mmm meatballs) and tuna steaks - All in all i’d say this is an expensive diet but if it works, then its worth it, and they are all things I thoroughly enjoy eating.
I am already excited for tomorrows brunch, I am planning a smoked salmon and extra light cream cheese omelette with chives I only wish I didn’t love food so much!