The Food Confessional

Posted by Sylvia

I slept badly all night and felt terrible when the alarm went off in the morning and decided to spend the morning in bed. We went to our favourite indian restaurant Sunday night to find out that it had changed hands. I’m pretty sure the meat samosa (luke warm, wrapped in pastry) was not in prime condition. I felt OK by lunchtime though.

When I served the chicken stir-fry, the portions were tiny. I realised I had cooked as if for two and then served for three! I thought I’d get us a snack in the afternoon to make up for it.

But when I went into the kitchen in the afternoon, I first got out the minced lamb to mix it with mint and garlic to make kebabs for tonight and I realised the meat was off. It turned my stomach (ugh) but also killed my appetite (hurray) and I forgot all about the snack that was planned for the afternoon.

We had some roast chicken left from Saturday lunch so I threw away the skin and shredded the meat to make a salad as per this recipe replacing the mayo and buttermilk with yogurt, as per the comments.

I know that I said I thought I should start out strict but maybe not quite THIS strict. We ended up having an apple each as a late night snack once I’d counted up the calories. If I didn’t know that the figure was low, would I have still fancied it? I certainly felt bizarrely full going to bed, clearly I’m no longer used to snacks late at night, which can only be a good thing!

Posted by Sylvia

I made Ground Pork and Vegetables with Beijing Sauce Over Rice using a big bag of frozen vegetables. It was rather boring to be honest but it was surprisingly filling considering how low in calories the dish was.

Having said that, we both felt hungry during the afternoon so we shared an apple so I guess it was a temporary full feeling.

I expected dinner to be somewhat heavy but the steaks turned out to be quite a bit larger than I expected. I couldn’t really see any sensible way of cutting it down although later it occurred to me that I could have cut them into chunks and used two of them to make kebabs for three.

Despite the big dinner, I felt very sorry for myself in the evening and really fancied a dessert or a nice drink. In the end, I “indulged” myself with the hot chocolates. I feel a bit guilty now but I still think it must be better than any of the other options and it removes the risk of “well, I already broke the diet with this glass of wine so I might as well eat 7 gallons of chocolate mousse”

Posted by Sylvia

3 coffees with milk (I was finding it very hard to get going): 90 calories

Lunch: Cheese and Chard Omelettes

Dinner: Chicken Pho Soup

I made it based on this recipe. I simplified it slightly but I did follow the two primary instructions. I cut the breasts off of the raw chicken before beating it up to crack then bones and then I boiled the chicken hard for five minutes and then threw away the water. I poured a kettle of boiling water over the chicken to rinse it before making the broth and I didn’t need to scum it at all. I think I might do that as standard as it saves a lot of time standing in the kitchen and the resulting soup was lovely (full flavoured). Read the rest of this entry »

Posted by Sylvia

I felt hungry all day and then shortly before dinner I decided that I couldn’t face the teriyaki chicken that I’d planned on making. I didn’t really want chicken at all, I was sick of it and couldn’t face another chicken meal.

I had the green curry sauce for “emergencies” so I made a vegetable curry with chicken in (instead of skewered chicken with rice as planned) which managed to sneak past my mad chicken aversion. Still, very odd. And a bit worrying since I’m planning chicken for dinner tonight too (Vietnamese Chicken Soup).

Posted by Sylvia

This week is a challenge as I’m cooking for the two of us (staying under 1,200 calories a day) as well as Connor. Connor certainly could stand to eat less fat and sugar but on the other hand he’s growing, so he clearly needs a decent amount of calories. Also, I’m worried that he might fill up between meals with sweet drinks or crisps and end up in an even worse state than normal.

He’s having the breakfast of his choice in the mornings (usually Spanish rice pudding, scrambled egg with cheese or a tortilla wrap with cheese ) and we’ve agreed that he should make himself a snack of salad or fruit in the afternoons. We’ll see how it goes.

Monday’s lunch:

3 servings at 375 calories each

I realised today that there’s a bit more margin for error when making a meal and splitting it into three. I was weighing stir-fry into bowls and worrying about it getting cold and in the end went for inexact measurements.

3 servings @ 354 calories per serving.

I felt hungry after dinner but then I was fine after I had my drinks.