The FastDay Forum

Mince pies tend to be a particular weakness of mine. Well anything with a very high dried fruit content. So mince pies, Xmas pud and Xmas cake. I already have the Pudding, Cake and a jar of mincemeat in the cupboard. I'm doomed I tell ya, doomed!

Here's a recipe for a healthy cake that will make us all feel less left out ( hopefully!)
Ingredients:
400g dried mixed fruit
1 mug hot black tea
1 mug soft brown sugar
2 mugs self raising flour
1 beaten egg

Soak the dried fruit in the tea overnight.
The next day, mix the remaining ingredients into the fruit/tea mixture.
Place in a 800g loaf tin.
Bake. 160 degreeC, 325 degreeF or Gas Mark 3 for 1 3/4 - 2 hours.

(The recipe doesn't suggest any icing, but I'm sure a dusting of snowy icing sugar could give a festive feel)

Hope you enjoy this healthy cake.

I am just looking at some of my cook books and have found this recipe for Fat Free mincemeat
(I haven't tried it yet)

800g mixed fruit
500g cooking apples, peeled and grated
2 teaspoons mixed spice
500ml sweet cider
2 tablespoons brandy, whisky or rum

Put dried fruit in a large saucepan.
Add the grated apple, spice and cider.
Simmer for 20 minutes - it should look pulpy and the liquid should have evaporated.
Stir in your choice of spirit.
Pack into sterilised jars and store in the fridge. (It keeps for 4 months)
Once opened use within a week.

I will be fasting on Mondays and Fridays over xmas, xmas falls just right for me this year being mid week. The rest of the time I'll try my best but who knows, as long as I do my 2 fast a week, I'm not going to feel bad about it.
Dee:)

Is it strange to suggest to drink just plain water?
It's the source of all life on earth and thus an appropriate symbol in these days that you either celebrate the birth of a child or the change of seasons and the returning of the light (at least for those on the northern hemisphere )

Here are 2 summer Christmas desserts. ( 1 lower calorie and 1 higher calorie )
- on your big platter lay halved pitted juicy nectarines with lots of blueberries in the center of each fruit. Drizzle with maple syrup. It looks really beautiful.Serve 2 to each person with a dollop of good cream on each fruit.
-my version of Christmas ice cream pudding.
Soften 2 litres of the best quality vanilla icecream. Microwave cook a mini Christmas pudding to cook then cut into small pieces. marinate some raisins in brandy for a few days. Roast some slivered almond in oven till a nice colour. Bash up some peanut brittle. Mix all ingredients through softened icecream except pudding. Do this last as the crumbs can make the icecream look messy. Layer A third of mix into a large pudding tin then sprinkle some pudding pieces then repeat till you have icecream layer on top. You dont have to use all of the christmas pudding. Freeze. Just before serving tip onto a nice plate. Serve as is or drizzle with white or chocolate ice magic an top with a holly leaf. Make sure everybody sees it so they can say Wow before you cut it because it will be messy when serving- treat it like icecream and expects scoops rather than slices. Really yummy but not low cal sorry @Julieathome.
Xx julianna

Here's a recipe for a healthy cake that will make us all feel less left out ( hopefully!)
Ingredients:
400g dried mixed fruit
1 mug hot black tea
1 mug soft brown sugar
2 mugs self raising flour
1 beaten egg

Soak the dried fruit in the tea overnight.
The next day, mix the remaining ingredients into the fruit/tea mixture.
Place in a 800g loaf tin.
Bake. 160 degreeC, 325 degreeF or Gas Mark 3 for 1 3/4 - 2 hours.

(The recipe doesn't suggest any icing, but I'm sure a dusting of snowy icing sugar could give a festive feel)

Hope you enjoy this healthy cake.

This was my go to treat decades ago, when trying to lose weight and stay sane at the same time. It came out of a Rosemary Conley Metabolic booster diet book.
I still have it, they pages are yellow with cooking spills. I love some of the recipes.

My plan for this Christmas is to just keep doing my 3 days of fasts and not worry too much if the other days get a little higher than normal. Last year I tried to do a couple of weeks with 2 fasts and then no fasts from Christmas Eve to New Years. This year I will plan for 3 a week during the early part of December and then if one of them gets sabotaged I'm still okay. Also, I want to try to fit at least one if not two fast days between Christmas and New Years.

I will continue fasting 2 days a week and the rest of the time I intend to eat as many mince pies as I can get hold of.

Sounds like a plan

I will continue fasting 2 days a week and the rest of the time I intend to eat as many mince pies as I can get hold of.

This made me laugh!!

Low fat mincemeat - why??? It's Christmas, don't buy it, don't make it can't eat it, that going to be my moto ( except mince pies, these I will make and eat!) I lurrvvveee mince pies.

If you are faced with the dreaded Crimbo buffet that someone dear has lovingly made and really wants everything gone because they can't face prawn vol au vents for tea for the next week, take a small plate fill it with olives and salad ( there's always a sad salad in the corner) and a bit of ham and chow down, as for the pudding table, choose what you want have a small ( small I said) portion then walk away from the table. If you have to take a plate, take whatever, you don't have to eat it. Food always tastes better when someone else has made it.
If there are homemade mince pies, well sometimes in life you have to accept that sh£t happens!!

My thoughts:

If going out, volunteer to drive - forces you to minimise the alcohol. Then, only drink water to avoid the cals in soft drinks.

At a buffet? Avoid all bread products, nuts and crisps... These are 'wasted' calories, and for me are far too moreish!

Mince pies? Try making your own, and roll the pastry really thin, then do a criss-cross top rather than a full 'lid'. I agree though, only the best mincemeat (I like Robertsons, from the UK, and go out of my way to find it down here on the underside)

Main course? Try to minimise the potatoes on your plate... Roasted pumpkin or swede is yummy, and less cals.

Dessert? Give the cream and ice-cream a miss (or have tiny amount). In my opinion they don't add much to a quality dessert (often masks some of the favour), and wasted cals. I realised this last night when I treated myseld to bannoffe pie at a reastaurant. After eating half my slice I concluded that all I wanted was the banana and caramel sauce, so picked them out and left half the cream and biscuit base.

Snacks/ Chocs etc? These will be my downfall. I work in hospital, in the emergency dept. around Christmas there is pretty much always something handy to snack on... Cupcakes, chocolates, nuts, sweets/lollies that people bring in the feed/thank the staff. It's so easy to gorge whilst working without thinking! And so, so hard to resist when everyone around is tucking in! I think my action plan this year will be to try the 'only home-made' policy... And I'm going to keep sugar-free gum handy (removes the taste to prevent the ongoing moreishness, and might prevent snacks getting into my mouth without me realising!)

Oh, and the recipe provided for a low-fat christmas cake? Sounds exactly like Barm Cake to me. I make one using the Be-Ro recipe (very similar). I found you need so much less sugar than they suggest... I use half the stated amount... But would actually consider adding no sugar, as all the dried fruit has plenty of natural sugars in already. I also have mixed it up using dried pineaple, apricots and currants, and spiced Rooibos in place of tea. Was delicious! For christmas you could use cranberries, sultanas, currants and mixed peel, and soak overnight in a chai tea with extra cinnamon and nutmeg... Would be amazing! I'd also avoid icing (would actually spoil it imho), but dust with icing sugar as snow

Jen

I too avoid icing, I actually don't like it. Its too sweet and bland for my tatses. But, hubby loves royal icing, so we manage to eat a Christmas cake between us. I have the cake, he has the icing and we fight over the marzipan. Both lads don't like rich fruit cakes of any sort, more for meeeee! One of these years I'm going to buy myself a Dundee cake instead and just buy hubby a slab of icing and let it dry and go rock hard for him.