The FastDay Forum

Ever Friday in my house is chinese friday. I will not fast on a friday for this reason. should i just have smaller portions or should i try get a healthier meal. I always have Chicken curry fried rice a few chips and some prawn crackers. I Split mine with my son so i have just under 1/2 of the portion normally. Is there any meal you just cant give up?

[Tracieknits]

There are loads of meals I can't give up!! But I do try to make them healthier without ruining them.

Any chance you could swap plain steamed rice for the fried rice? Or just reduce your portion of the fried rice, chips and prawn crackers? Can you add a veggie to that?

I try to make 1/2 of my plate veggies now - I don't fret about butter or sauce so much, although I try not to make it drowning in fat. And I try to have no more than 1/4 of my plate be carbs. I try to make slightly better choices.

Now, when I go out for Indian buffet (not giving that up!!), I limit myself to one piece of naan, and max two pieces of pakora. I either skip the rice or just have about 1/4 of what I used to have, depending on whether or not I'm getting any potatoes. Then I load up with a reasonable portion of chicken tikka masala, and lots of different veggie dishes.

I was toying with the idea of swapping the fried rice with boiled rice but as i share it with my son i will need to see if he is up for that. The veggies is a problem ( never found a veg that i like yet) The only way i get any veg is make homemade soup and liquidize the carrots. Salad has been my savior cos i can eat that and that's what i tend to eat when fasting. When i was little my mum & school used to force me to eat veg and i was often sick and now as i get older i have tried to go back to veg and start eating it but still makes me ill and i hate to say but my kids are the same wont eat veg but I wont force them.

Oh and i do love a chicken tikka masala also with poppadoms lol

You could probably get white rice and a side of the fried rice for your son!

But, also part of the fun of this diet is getting to splurge, so if this is your one splurge of the week, what the heck!

[carorees]

I try to make 1/2 of my plate veggies now - I don't fret about butter or sauce so much, although I try not to make it drowning in fat. And I try to have no more than 1/4 of my plate be carbs.

I think this should be the new "healthy plate" to replace the rubbish one promoted by health care providers and governments everywhere at the moment!

[Tracieknits]

I was toying with the idea of swapping the fried rice with boiled rice but as i share it with my son i will need to see if he is up for that. The veggies is a problem ( never found a veg that i like yet) The only way i get any veg is make homemade soup and liquidize the carrots. Salad has been my savior cos i can eat that and that's what i tend to eat when fasting. When i was little my mum & school used to force me to eat veg and i was often sick and now as i get older i have tried to go back to veg and start eating it but still makes me ill and i hate to say but my kids are the same wont eat veg but I wont force them.

How about you try new ones? Take your son to an Indian or Chinese buffet, if you have one nearby. Promise yourself you will try at least one new veggie each Friday night. You might really really surprise yourself!!! At first, let them be deep fried, covered in batter or butter or sauce. Anything to get yourself trying them.

Veggies are really the key to a healthy diet without going hungry. It's simply not possible to be full and not eat too many calories unless you're bulking up your diet with veggies. (Miracle noodles? Guess what - they're veggies!)

Some veggies take a lot of getting used to. Some ways of preparing veggies can and should possibly be seen as torture. I do get that!!! My grandmother used to make the most horrible veggies when I was a child and they traumatised me.

But now I love them.

Start with something sweet and easy, like onions. Start slipping finely chopped onions into things. Put them on pizza. add them to *anything*. Pretty soon you'll start liking them, I promise. Then add something else that's easy, like bell pepper.

Try maize (corn, like on the cob, us style). Fry a couple of rashers of bacon, that you've chopped up, and take it out of the pan once cooked. Add one finely chopped onion and about 400g frozen corn kernels to the hot bacon grease. Add black pepper and maybe a bit of cumin. Once that's nice and fried and getting lovely brown spots, crumble the bacon back in and serve -- you will want to eat the whole pot! It's really good as a side dish with pork chops or mexican food. Once you like it, you can add more veggies, like a bell pepper.

I promise, veggies don't have to be torture!

[janeg]

@Tracieknits- i nominate you as our vegetable ambassador! Your recipes sound sooo good.

How about the Hairy Dieters' sweet and sour chicken? (I just want someone to cook it so they can let me know what its like!!)

Do you have to have Chinese EVERY Friday. Could you not alternate?

Bean

[Tracieknits]

@Tracieknits- i nominate you as our vegetable ambassador! Your recipes sound sooo good.

Thanks sweetie! Just trying to get healthier.

Thanks again for the reply's, Onions and peppers i can do as i have them with salad with pickles and beetroot but that's about it. Would love to be able to eat other veg like broccoli and spinach. maybe one day huh

I'm not a big vegetable eater either. But, I think you have to work up to it. I will get broccoli with cheese sauce and that helps. Green beans are pretty painless too, especially if you put a little butter on them. I did also see a recipe for Parmesan green beans that sounds good. You definitely need to explore a bit to find good recipes.

Green beans lightly fried in butter with garlic and chilli's. This recipe turned me into a green (snap) bean lover. Though I can't stand sprouts or raw mushrooms and the smell and taste of celery or broad beans is enough to turn my stomach.

I have the same problem as in I don't eat anything green (except lettuce) I do add onion to some things but find it very overpowering and tend to swap it in cooking for Spring onions. I have recently discovered butternut squash and want to try some more squash. I have always eaten carrots and some sweetcorn. I hate the smell of cucumber but that is down to my youngest being sick on me a few times ( when he was younger with partly digested cucumber, sorry TMI) I tend to have carrot and sweetcorn and lettuce in a salad. So I need to start exploring veggies. Tomatoes can upset my tummy (acid) so I have to be careful there too.

I think Chinese food Friday nights should continue as they are something you both enjoy. You are fasting when it suits you which is ideal.