Whoops! I've been missing in action for a few days, this is not because I have fallen off the wagon with an almighty thump, but to be honest there has been nothing to write about. I have followed the plan, have had my oat bran daily (with some gentle reminding from Laura) and have been seeing it slowly come off the scales. The loss has slowed significantly now, which to be honest is making it much harder not to have a little cheat. I definitely need to re-focus.
I need to also do a big shop as the cupboards are bare, but with it being my last month of maternity leave so are the banks! I have to say that being skint is not conducive to success on Dukan. As a result I am finding I am eating significantly less as I just don't have the things in I need to eat and I kind of figured that less and being a bit hungry is a better option than a cheese sandwich! PP days are the hardest when skint that's for sure. James has some work coming in the next few days so hopefully I can go to our brand new carbon-neutral Tescos across the road and do a big stock up shop.
Today I had a friend over, with her gorgeous baby boy, so I was on a P&V day (although should technically have been a PP day).
Breakfast: Oatbran porridge
Mid-morning snack: None
Lunch: Chicken salad with home made fat free dressing (Quark, Non-fat natural yoghurt, Dijon Mustard, Mixed Herbs, Vinegar, Crushed garlic)
Mid-afternoon snack: None
Tea: Homemade spag bol, minus the spag! with broccoli, muller light
Drinks: 5 x cups of tea, 1 litre of water, 1 can of diet coke
It's a PP day tomorrow and all I have in the house that I can eat is 2 tins of Mackerel, 4 portions of frozen white fish and some eggs. Guess what I'll be eating tomorrow!
Starting Weight: 19st 12lb
Current Weight: 19st 11lb
Lost to date: 1st 1lb
Hi Liv, glad to see you are keeping at it, it does suddenly hit home though and now is a dangerous time, that you've a long way to go and it is just the beginning of the hard slog. Doubly hard when you can't afford to shop and don't have much at hand to inspire you. Look at how much you've lost though, in such a short time and I bet you 'feel' better, well that will only increase as you go on.
ReplyDeleteSo, how about trying some little Dukan 'quiches', they're cheap, quick and easy and surprisingly filling.
I use a silicon muffin tray to make 6 at a time.
Mix together 1 egg yolk, then about 4 or 5 whites. (Waitrose and Sainsburys sell Two Chicks liquid egg white, it's great and can be frozen so you don't have to use it as quickly). Add some very low fat cottage cheese, chop up some chives, put in some tuna (chunks in springwater) or ham, or chicken breast, then stir all that together and spoon into the muffin tray. Put in the oven for about 30 mins, or until it looks like they're done. You can play around with variations to find stuff you like.
Just an idea. Oh and btw, check yesterdays weight ;-)
Another easy recipe if you have a slow-cooker, or can be done on low heat, just needs a bit more checking.
ReplyDeleteSlow-cooked paprika beef.
Thin strips of lean beef, sold for stir fry, defrosted
2 onions
1 red pepper
1 orange pepper
1tblsp paprika
2 beef oxo cubes
1/2 pt boiling water
Dry fry beef in hot pan for about three minutes, until well browned, stir in paprika and keep stirring for a further one or two minutes until well coated. Dissolve oxo in water, then stir in to beef. Put in to pre-heated slow cooker.
Quickly dry fry chopped onions for a minute, then add thinly sliced, de-seeded peppers. Add a little garlic and a teaspoon of ginger puree. Heat for a further minute, stirring thoroughly to mix flavours, then tip into slow cooker and stir. Add a little more boiling water if a bit dry, then cook for six to eight hours.
Before serving, gently stir through 50g of philadelphia light and some chopped parsley
Nan's Moussaka (recipe is from an Aussie friend but sure you can work out alternatives, shop around to find the leanest mince you can, under 5% fat preferably but also as you fry it off, soak off any oil with kitchen towel). This is one of my favourite standbys, always in the freezer. I do the aubergine in my sandwich toaster.
ReplyDeleteMeat sauce
1kg Heart smart mince (very low fat)
2 -3 cloves garlic
1 med chopped onion
1 stick of celery including leaves - optional
1 large tin crushed tomatoes 800g
2 tblsp tomato paste
1 tsp mixed herbs
Salt to your liking, I use a small tsp.
White Sauce
6 eggs
½ tub (250g) low fat creamed cottage cheese – I use home brand
6 heaped tblsp Jalna or similar no fat plain yogurt
Pepper
2 Firm medium sized Eggplants (aubergines)
Method
Meat Sauce
In a deep pan or a pot cook garlic, onion, celery with a little water to prevent sticking, for about 3mins. Add mince meat and fry off till all brown and separated. Add crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, herbs, salt. Bring to light boil while stirring for a couple of mins. Place lid on and turn down to a very low simmer for approx 1hr. This slow cooking produces a very rich Italian style sauce. EDIT - Just a little addition to the instructions - occassionaly stir your meat sauce while its simmering so it dosnt stick to the base of the pot.
White Sauce
Whisk eggs well, add yogurt, cottage cheese through a sieve for a creamy texture, pepper. Mix well. Cottage cheese gives this sauce body.
Eggplant
While sauce is cooking slice eggplant about 1/2cm thick. I cook it in the George Forman grill for a few minutes each batch, but placing under the oven grill works just as well, just takes longer. It just needs to be lightly grilled. However, don’t be tempted to layer it in the dish raw, it definitely won’t set or taste the same. Set aside for layering.
Layering – In a regular baking pan/dish (myn is 35cm x 28cm)
1) Coat the base of the baking pan with a very light layer of meat sauce.
2) Add a layer of grilled eggplant to cover the top of that.
3) Next layer half of the meat sauce, followed by half of the white sauce - ladle on, to spread it out lightly.
4) Repeat steps 2 & 3. Decorate/Garnish the top with thinly sliced capsicum.
Heat oven to 200. Place baking pan in middle of oven, cook for approx 30 - 40 mins until nice and golden on top. Let cool then cover with foil or cling wrap and refrigerate to set. Slice up the next day into eight portions. Heat individual portions in microwave, serve with side salad.
This moussaka is better the following day, I recommend cooking it a day early to let it set properly. It may seem like a lot of eggs and cream cheese but remember this is being portioned to at least 8 servings on a PV day. It makes a beautiful lunch served with a salad of baby spinach, rocket, tomato, cucumber, capsicum and chopped celery, dressed with a balsamic/lemon/Dijon mustard dressing.
Recipe is easily halved for a smaller tin, but worth doing the whole recipe while your going. Very suitable to freeze in serving size portions.
Ah, Mum's already pointed out the weight...you made yourself heavier ;)
ReplyDeleteI'm so proud of you, I know that sounds soppy, but this is SUCH a lifestyle change and you're doing fab! The weightloss does slow down because you're alternating between PP and P&V days, but you WILL lose and you CAN resist the cheese sandwiches ;)
GO LIV xxx
I'm being really dumb but can't see what I have done re the weight...
ReplyDeleteHehe, starting weight 19st 12lb
ReplyDeletecurrent weight 19st 11lb - should be 18st 11lbs, you've lost a whole stone and 1lb
You should put it in bold, big, bright, you are doing brilliantly! (overdosing on the B words here)