The FastDay Forum

Monday, low-carb day two-hundred and thirty-two, repair day

Weigh-in at start of day wt. 108.2lbs (analogue scales corrected ~106.25lbs); 1.4lbs loss
... t.measures - ub. 28.5, w. 25.5, t. 30.25, h. 34.25 inches

Report at the end-of-week 33 of low-carb : total low-carb weight loss 29.6lbs, and weight loss for the week 3.8lbs. No shrinkage / expansion (I'm disregarding underbust measurements from now on as I can't get a consistent reading *at all*).

Gulp. Totally unexpected - I know that I was faintly *hoping* to drop to 108.8lbs on Tuesday, but only if I was especially good today. That's the exact reverse of last Monday morning, i.e. I've dropped 1.4lbs rather than gained; I don't like to say 'lost' as it is (obviously) water-weight. Nice anyway. Thank-you V&P vary-fairy - long may your generosity continue (oh, and any chance you could extend it to a few others on the 5:2 forum?). Shows what being a goody-two-shoes over the weekend can do, eh? Or maybe I just need to get a new computer every Sunday, to stop me over-indulging?

Oh howl. Looks as though SQL Server doesn't support holding database data on external drives - might rather cramp my style as now I've installed it, I only have 4GB free...

I'm trying to work my way methodically through my task list, but keep distracting myself! The Mediterranean stew is bugging me... Can't work out whether to season it with lots of lovely rosemary, sage and thyme, or just let the very simple veggies speak for themselves with, perhaps, just a bay leaf. Sigh.

List stuff finally done (but not the job applications... hmmm) and onto "the problem of dinner". Eventually decide that it'll be a FatDog version of ribollata - the purists won't like it, but tough - there's stuff needing used in the fridge and it's getting used. And it did very nicely, thank-you, and was exceedingly filling. Calories well down, but carbs a bit high (that's them pesky carrots and legumes, again). Excellent fare for an non low-carber repair day - one could even squeeze in a slice or two of OLS bread with cream cheese as finishing touch to a feast.

And that came so near to being the first repair that I've done below 500 in an age; but, sadly, a wee portion of salted almonds forced its way down my thrapple - still, not so very bad (except those carbs).

........ Calories 527.24 Carbs 36.12 Fat 29.86 Protein 27.70 Fibre 12.39

ribollita, the FatDog variation (does for 4 as a meal)
onion, red, co-op, fine sliced, 35c/C7.6/F0.2/P1.3/Fi1.4/100g
......... 88g 30.80 6.69 0.18 1.14 1.23
onion, white, co-op, fine sliced, 40c/C7.6/F0.2/P1.3/Fi1.4/100g
......... 103g 41.20 7.83 0.21 1.34 1.44
bay leaf
......... 2 of 0.00
olive oil, 824c/C0.0/F91.6/P0.0/Fi0.0/100ml
......... 25ml 206.00 0.00 22.90 0.00 0.00
chilli, red, fine sliced, 40c/C9.5/F0.2/P2.0/Fi1.5/100g
......... 13g 5.20 1.24 0.03 0.26 0.20
chilli, green, fine sliced, 40c/C9.5/F0.2/P2.0/Fi1.5/100g
......... 5g 2.00 0.48 0.01 0.10 0.08
garlic, fine chop, 149c/C33.06/F0.5/P6.36/Fi2.1/100g
......... 9g 13.41 2.98 0.05 0.57 0.19
sage, dried leaf
......... 5ml 0.00
carrots, organic, co-op, 5mm quarter moons, 40c/C7.9/F0.3/P0.6/Fi2.8/100g
......... 317g 126.80 25.04 0.95 1.90 8.88
celery, waitrose, 5mm slices, 10c/C0.9/F0.2/P0.5/Fi1.1/100g
......... 245g 24.50 2.21 0.49 1.23 2.70
cabbage, savoy, tesco, narrow strips, 32c/C4.1/F0.4/P1.7/Fi2.4/100g
......... 419g 134.08 17.18 1.68 7.12 10.06
tomatoes, chopped, canned, napolina, 22c/C3.5/F0.4/P1.1/Fi0.3/100g
......... 400g 88.00 14.00 1.60 4.40 1.20
thyme, dried
......... 5ml 0.00
rosemary, dried
......... 5ml 0.00
cannellini beans, canned, napolina, 91c/C15.7/F0.4/P5.3/Fi1.8/100g
......... 240g 218.40 37.68 0.96 12.72 4.32
tomato puree, sainsers, 86c/C14.9/F0.4/P4.7/Fi2.0/100g
......... 40g 34.40 5.96 0.16 1.88 0.80
sherry vinegar, 88c/C17/F0/P0.5/Fi0/100g
......... 10ml (macros for balsamic) 8.80 1.70 0.00 0.05 0.00
s&p 0.00
water, 750ml 0.00
total for ribollita 933.59 122.97 29.20 32.71 31.08
514/2276th portion of ribollita 210.84 27.77 6.59 7.39 7.02

Method: 1. heat the oil in a large non-stick pan and sweat the onions on a medium-low heat for about 10 minutes, along with the bay leaves to keep them company; 2. add in the garlic, chilli and sage and do for about 2 minutes; 3. then the celery and carrots and do for another 3 minutes with much stirring; 4. now in with the cabbage and likewise for about 7 minutes, until it's starting to wilt; 5. add the tomatoes along with the rosemary and thyme, stir a bit, add the puree and then the 750ml hot water; 6. gently bubble, covered, for about 30 minutes (until the carrots are done enough for your delectation); 7. finally add the beans and sherry vinegar, mix well, season, allow to heat through again, and serve with slithers of parmesan on top...

=====================

Tuesday, low-carb day two-hundred and thirty-three, feed day

Weigh-in at start of day wt. 108.4lbs (analogue scales corrected ~106.5lbs); 0.2lbs gain
... t.measures - ub. 28.5, w. 25.5, t. 30.25, h. 34.25 inches

Eh? Monday was a repair day, y'know? Hmmph. I suppose the fairies *were* excessively generous yesterday morning after all. Sigh. Well, I'll just need to avoid another "mad Tuesday" and I'll be (more than) happy if this holds.

My lovely wee Transfomer has fully discharged its battery overnight! Discover, to my great sorrow, that mine is one of those with a chipset that doesn't work properly with sleep mode. Darn. The solution in the USofA is to phone the support services and send the wee beastie back for fixing. Will need to see what one does here - hopefully it's nice and simple and quick! No time to dig before work.

Cheered, however, by the arrival of my "Oxford Handbook of Nutrition and Dietetics". Thought that I ought to improve my basic understanding of this stuff and have been swithering over which reference to get - have a couple on order at the library but they're late back, so I've not seen them yet. Had the Oxford Handbook of Clinical Medicine, for my clin.med. courses, and it was excellent. Can't vouch for this one's accuracy or owt but, having given it a very swift perusal, it seems to cover all of the bases I'd be looking for, and has sufficient detail even though it's concise and compact. There's some serious homework for me - FatDog will need to set up a timetable - jolly exciting. Remind me to report back.

Hailed-upon on the way to work and snowed-upon on the way back. Hospice shop on the way to was having a cookbook sale - I utterly amazed myself by resisting the lovely lush food-porn hardback TV celebrity tomes (e.g. James Martin) that were going for a paltry £1.50 each (!!!) and *only* getting Jacqueline Whitehart's "The 5:2 Diet Recipe Book" (a swift look and I'm unimpressed, glad I only paid a quid, but I'll give it a proper doing later).

Betweentimes I was pretty busy in the shop, and managed to contain myself to just two books (one popular science, t'other Sara Gilbert's "Tomorrow I'll be Slim: Psychology of Dieting" looks very promising). Oops. And a lovely dress from next-door, after work. Double oops (but 'twas "only" a fiver with staff discount). One might think that I'd a paid job - I'm going to be hungry soon, if I don't get my finger out and continue having retail therapy accidents!

Did resist Elisabeth Luard's funny little volume Vegetable Soups - there were less than twenty recipes in it and just two of any distinct interest / use (meaty bits ahoy!), so I wrote them out and saved some shelf space (plus the cost of a book!). One recipe, which I plan to do tomorrow night, was for the oddest Mulligatawny recipe that I've ever seen. Turnips?! Stay tuned. But that's brilliant as, not only do I have a triple-turnip glut, but also I found a fourth on our doorstop - from our freegan friend - when I arrived home.

Dinner is simplicity itself: last night's stew, veggie sausages and OLS bread with cream cheese, and - if there's carb / calorie space - melon with cream for pudding (might sprinkle some pixie dust ground ginger over it). Mmmmm. Though I'm really, really doubting my macronutrient work-up for the stew as it is *hugely* filling; along with the sausages, bread and cheese I'm well stuffed - indeed, I've yet to finish and I'm veritably sandbagged. I feel as though I've reverted to a rolly-polly FatDog with a leg at each corner! Ooof!

Well, I stand corrected - Madhur Jaffrey uses turnip in her vegetarian Mulligatawny (World Vegetarian, p.518). Think I'll go with Luard's veggies and Jaffrey's seasonings (Luard just called for curry powder); sadly, can't add Jaffrey's coconut milk as it would go way over the calorie limit if I'm adding the nice garnishes (fine sliced green chilli, desiccated coconut, slithered almonds, full fat yoghurt, plus fresh coriander leaf if I remember to go out and buy some) and serving with pappadums. I've actually worked-up the draft recipe for tomorrow's Mulligatawny - nae bother with the calories but those carbs are a bit of a problem (root veggies really are a no-no on a repair day). We shall see.

Bed time, methinks. That's *nearly* and acceptable set of accounts:

........ Calories 1694.39 Carbs 62.34 Fat 99.18 Protein 56.65 Fibre

Wow fatdog. Is this a new low???? Good on you

Aye, thanks @rawkaren, I don't think that I've seen a number like 108.2 on the scale since I was a teenager!

108lbs is where I'd like to average, methinks, with 110lb at the top of the range and 106lbs at the bottom (for +/- 2lbs variability). This way there's far less risk of me slipping back into the eight-stone-zone - which is what happened a week or so back.

I guess it means that my tracker target should be reduced, but I'll maybe stick with it at 110lbs, because anything below that is more than acceptable! And it's oh so much nicer being below that red line (and the tracker still congratulates me when I go to enter my weight each morning, ahhhh)

Such a treat to read @FatDog will have to try some of those stews and looking forward to the outcome of the turnips

Fat dog, you are just such an amazing inspiration on this forum, I am not a foodie, like you, or a cook, like you, but you really make my day with your posts, especially when you have dropped down a little on your weight loss, well done, and PLEASE keep posting even though you are ALMOST where you want to be. Hoping to see this streamlined fat dog next month or April at the latest,

Ballerina x

Aye; did that back on 29th September, with butternut squash substituted for turnip. Served it with Gayler's green beans and red onion sambal (p96). Went down very well with all and all.

Don't think I've actually tried it properly, with turnip that is. And tomorrow is a fine opportunity for doing so (if I'm not too puggled after work), as I have turnip and cabbage sitting in the fridge, crying out to be used. Not sure what to serve with it this time though. Hmmm.

Ed. correction - it wasn't butternut squash, it was sweet potato that I used...

Wednesday, low-carb day two-hundred and thirty-four, repair day

Weigh-in at start of day wt. 108.4lbs (analogue scales corrected ~106.5lbs); 0lbs loss
... t.measures - ub. 28.5, w. 25.5, t. 30.25, h. 34.25 inches

That'll do. No loss but no gain, fair enough - thanks V&P vary-fairy.

Primary objective today is to get those job applications in. Which is why I've been procrastinating; not even constructive procrastination - like reading some sensible academic papers, or new textbooks - no, just faffing (except one useful effort looking up home ECG machines for the OH, who's probably going to refuse the pacemaker until he's monitored himself a bit more - if I say anything he'll simply do the opposite, so schtum).

I really detest having to "sing my own praises" - I'm not a shrinking wallflower, but nor do I think I'm a boaster (well, except to say that I was a bloomin' good database administrator, but then that's because I was:)). And I loathe the "Why do you want *this* job?" question too. Well - I reckon I'd suit it and it'd suit me; we're a perfect match. That do? Sadly, no. And I understand why, by the reflex response is always foremost, and I just go beetroot if I try to prevaricate.

Dinner was *hot*. But I'd only recommend this if you have a kitchen slave though, as chopping turnip into dice is seriously hard work. Well "volunteered" OH And a reminder to self: make low-carb chapatis next time and resist the pappadums (only had one, but it was 7g of carb - when will I learn)

........ Calories 606.14 Carbs 59.60 Fat 28.29 Protein 28.43 Fibre 20.04

Mulligatawny, the mad FatDog variation
peppercorn seed, whole
......... 5ml 0.00
coriander seed, whole
......... 30ml 0.00
cumin seed, whole
......... 5ml 0.00
fennel seed, whole
......... 2.5ml 0.00
cardamom seed
......... from 12 pods 0.00
black mustard seed, whole
......... 5ml 0.00
onion, white, co-op, fine sliced, 40c/C7.6/F0.2/P1.3/Fi1.4/100g
......... 108g 43.20 8.21 0.22 1.40 1.51
butter, 720c/C0.6/F80.0/P0.5/Fi0/100g
......... 20g 144.00 0.12 16.00 0.10 0.00
garlic, fine chop, 149c/C33.06/F0.5/P6.36/Fi2.1/100g
......... 9g 13.41 2.98 0.05 0.57 0.19
ginger, fine sliced across grain, 90c/C17.8/F0.8/P1.8/Fi2.0/100g
......... 20g 18.00 3.56 0.16 0.36 0.40
turmeric, dried ground
......... 2.5ml 0.00
cayenne, dried ground
......... 2.5ml 0.00
turnip, peeled, 2cm diced, 24c/C5.0/F0.3/P0.7/Fi1.9/100g
......... 485g 116.40 24.25 1.46 3.40 9.22
parsnips, co-op, 2cm dice, 65c/C12.5/F1.1/P1.8/Fi4.6/100g
......... 222g 144.30 27.75 2.44 4.00 10.21
carrots, organic, co-op, 2cm dice, 40c/C7.9/F0.3/P0.6/Fi2.8/100g
......... 297g 118.80 23.46 0.89 1.78 8.32
lentils, red, 332c/C44.9/F1.0/P28.4/Fi14.2/100g
......... 80g 265.60 35.92 0.80 22.72 11.36
water, boiling
......... 1200ml 0.00
total for Mulligatawny 863.71 126.25 22.01 34.32 41.20
FatDog's 1/3rd portion of Mulligatawny 287.90 42.08 7.34 11.44 13.73

Method: 1. dry fry the seeds in a non-stick pan until the mustard seeds start popping like mad, then grind them all and set aside; 2. heat the butter in the same non-stick pan, add the onion and gently sweat it for a minute or two, followed by the garlic and ginger for another couple of minutes; 3. now add in the spices, stir well until the fragrance is wonderful; 4. bung in the diced veggies, the water and the lentils; 5. bring to the bubble and then gently simmer, lidded, for about 30 minutes until the root veggies are done to your liking; 6. use a stick blender to partially blitz the soup, leaving a few lumpy bits for those with teeth; 7. served garnished as below, with pappadums...

Mulligatawny garnish
youghurt (yeo valley), 82c/C6.5/F4.2/P4.6/Fi0/100g
......... 27g 22.14 1.76 1.13 1.24 0.00
coconut, desiccated 635c/C6.4/F62.0/P5.6/Fi13.7/100g
......... 5g 31.75 0.32 3.10 0.28 0.69
chilli, green, fine sliced, 40c/C9.5/F0.2/P2.0/Fi1.5/100g
......... 3g 1.20 0.29 0.01 0.06 0.05
almonds, flaked, toasted, 645c/C6.5/F55.8/P25.4/Fi7.4/100g
......... 5g 32.25 0.33 2.79 1.27 0.37
total for Mulligatawny garnish 87.34 2.69 7.03 2.85 1.10

Well, that was good. Very hot and spicy: OH and bestest neighbour both found it almost too much - extra yoghurt saved the day - but exceedingly tasty too. OH thought it excellent and BN thought it fantastic, but just a wee bit too hot for him although he said on leaving "did enjoy though and would eat again quite happily". Grand. Exceptionally good usage of a turnip, for those with turnip gluts. Conclusions were that it could stay as hot as it was as long as it were balanced with a wee bit of salad, raita and naan bread too. Haven't tried doing low-carb naan bread yet - now there's a challenge.

And as we've still two turnips remaining (the one from our freegan friend proved to be spongier than a victoria sponge, so off to heaven it went) and a savoy cabbage, I'm going to do Gayler's torte (after a timely reminder from @izzy) with butter beans, to make the BN happy (he's rather partial to butter beans).

=====================

Thursday, low-carb day two-hundred and thirty-five, feed day

Weigh-in at start of day wt. 107.8lbs (analogue scales corrected ~106.0lbs); 0.6lbs loss
... t.measures - ub. 28.5, w. 25.5, t. 30.25, h. 34.25 inches

FatDog can do little but wag her way round the living room, propelled by her back end weaving madly from side to side, with a daft grin on her face. That's a definite move in the right direction to get my *average* onto 108lbs, with a max at 110lbs (my original-revised target).

Woof! Woof!! Woof!!!

And dinner is pretty much sorted too, and the draft recipe all worked-up (as I've done similar before), so whoo hoo hoo!

[politics-aside]I do believe that the "Better Together" campaign might just have shot itself in the foot with the "no, you can't have the pound". We shall see.[/politics-aside]

Hi ho, hi ho, it's off to work I go... (fingers crossed that I get there, it's blowing just a wee bit gusty out there).

Another two books to sneak into the house (just one recipe one) Lindsey Bareham's "A celebration of soup" - it was the banana curry soup that nailed it! But slightly compensated for my extravagance by exceedingly good bargains from the co-op: the bill should have been nearly £13 - I paid just £2.50. Though I'm not sure what the recipe for shiitake mushrooms, baby corn and green beans will be; methinks a mushroom stroganoff with the veggies at the side would be in order - but that'll be Saturday's fun.

So much for tonight's dinner being a doddle. It should have been. But everything seemed to take an eternity to slice (I suppose lots of cabbage followed by near 600g of turnip does take a bit to slice - OH kindly quartered the turnip but FD did the slithering). And then the recipe lied. Mucho. The turnip was, quite simply, not cooked in the 35 mins - I should have gone with my instinct which said that turnip wouldn't do *that* fast. Anyway, bunged it back in the oven for another ten, and realised that it wasn't going to do the trick any time soon. Thank goodness for ping machines: eight minutes on full blast in there followed by a couple of minutes under a hot grill (to re-crisp the now soggified top) and we were, eventually, done. Finally ate at ten fifteen - OH was *not* happy (and in his irkedness later claimed it was eleven thirty when we dined, which might have been difficult as it was only eleven twenty on the clock when he maid the claim).

Happily it was enjoyed by all (OH, BN and I) - so that was to the good. Thought it delicious myself and, turnip problems notwithstanding, I'll do that again when I've another lost cabbage and turnip in the fridge. The cheat's pear pudding was FatDog heaven.

Talk about self sabotage. I should have stopped after the pudding (those evil nuts again) - maybe a wee cocoa, but nowt more. *If* I'd had my food log right up to the moment, I'd maybe have held off the nuts. Darn. Never mind. It won't be so pretty on the tracker, but I'll still be in the right zone.

........ Calories 1782.50 Carbs 64.74 Fat 104.33 Protein 45.31 Fibre 22.81

butter bean, cabbage and turnip torte; adapted from PG's turnip recipe, Passion p74
cabbage, savoy, narrow strips, 32c/C4.1/F0.4/P1.7/Fi2.4/100g
......... 320g 102.40 13.12 1.28 5.44 7.68
turnip, peeled, 5mm sliced, 24c/C5.0/F0.3/P0.7/Fi1.9/100g
......... 571g 137.04 28.55 1.71 4.00 10.85
butter beans, waitrose, 85c/C12.3/F0.5/P7.7/Fi6.4/100g
......... 235g 199.75 28.91 1.18 18.10 15.04
extra mature cheddar, co-op, grated, 415c/C1.4/F34.5/P24.4/Fi0/100g
......... 150g 622.50 2.10 51.75 36.60 0.00
crème fraîche, 204c/C5.5/F18.4/P4.0/Fi0/100g
......... 100g 204.00 5.50 18.40 4.00 0.00
onion, fine sliced, 43c/C9.3/F0.0/P0.71/Fi2.1/100g
......... 141g 60.63 13.11 0.00 1.00 2.96
olive oil, 824c/C0.0/F91.6/P0.0/Fi0.0/100ml
......... 15ml 123.60 0.00 13.74 0.00 0.00 (half the PG quantity)
cumin seed, whole
......... 10ml 0.00 (rather more than PG suggests)
butter, 720c/C0.6/F80.0/P0.5/Fi0/100g
......... 25g 180.00 0.15 20.00 0.13 0.00 (half the PG quantity)
wholegrain mustard, Maille, 180c/C9.0/F10.0/P7.0/Fi3.5/100g
......... 25g 45.00 2.25 2.50 1.75 0.88
s&p 0.00
total for butter bean, cabbage and turnip torte 1674.92 93.69 110.56 71.01 37.41
FatDog's 343/1194 portion of butter bean, cabbage and turnip torte 481.15 26.91 31.76 20.40 10.75

Methods: 1. wash the cabbage in salted water, crudely drain, ping cabbage (unlidded) for three minutes then rinse thoroughly in cold water and fully drain, set aside; 2. heat the oil in a non-stick pan and gently sweat the onions, with the cumin, until they're softened then remove from heat; 3. stir in the mustard once they've cooled a little, set aside; 4. melt the butter in a large oven & grill proof dish; 5. add the sliced turnip, season generously and mix well to coat the veg.; 6. remove 2/3rds of the turnip to another plate, level the remaining turnip at the bottom of the pot; 7. layer in 1/3rd of the cheese, 1/2 the cabbage, and 1/2 the onion; 8. then layer in another 1/3rd of turnip, another 1/3rd of the cheese, the remains of the cabbage, and the remains of the onion; 9. finally layer the last of the turnip, spread over the crème fraîche and sprinkle over the last of the cheese and a good grinding of black pepper; 10. bake, covered for the first 25 minutes, in a pre-heated oven at 200C for 40 minutes. According to Gayler it should be done at this point. It wasn't, by a long shot. It was necessary to ping it for 8 minutes and then grill for another couple of minutes (to re-crisp the now soggified top)... So, next time I'd ping the turnip, covered, for at least five minutes at step 4, until par-cooked.

cheat's pear pudding, a (greedy) FatDog concoction
pear, organic, chop to bite-size chunks, co-op, 45c/C9.1/F0.1/P0.3/Fi3.1/100g
......... 131g 58.95 11.92 0.13 0.39 4.06
merlot (any red wine would do), 83c/C2.6/F0.0/P0.07/Fi0.0/100ml
......... 25ml 20.75 0.65 0.00 0.02 0.00
choc 85% ghana, broken into wee bits, 590c/C17.1/F50.8/P8.9/Fi13.8/100g
......... 8g 47.20 1.37 4.06 0.71 1.10
double cream, co-op, 465c/C1.6/F50.5/P1.5/Fi0/100ml
......... 25ml 116.25 0.40 12.63 0.38 0.00
nutmeg, dried ground; a good sprinkling to taste 0.00
total for cheat's pear pudding 243.15 14.34 16.82 1.50 5.17

Method: 1. place all ingredients bar the double cream in a microwavable pudding bowl; 2. cover and ping for 2 to 3 minutes, until the pears are soft and the chocolate is melted; 3. pour over the cream, mix thoroughly and enjoy...

Your pear recipe sounds lovely @izzy - it's the sort of thing I was envisioning as I carried off my 50p bargain *organic* pears from the co-op

But, what with the torte torturing me, I ran out of time to bake pears, so the ping machine stepped in. It weren't a bad compromise, though I say it myself. Indeed I could quite happily do the remaining two pears like that, right now - shame it's a repair day though (no pun intended)

Friday, low-carb day two-hundred and thirty-six, repair day

Weigh-in at start of day wt. 108.4lbs (analogue scales corrected ~106.5lbs); 0.6lbs gain
... t.measures - ub. 28.5, w. 25.5, t. 30.25, h. 34.25 inches

Drat.

Right. Must. Apply. Self. To. Job. Applications. In. Earnest.

Came up with today's outline dinner plan on Wednesday, so no procrastinating there: warm green and broad bean salad with chantenay (baby) carrots and hazelnuts, with an orange and anise dressing. I'll use fennel instead of anise, if I can't get hold of any anise (which is *not* the same as star anise), or maybe I'll use star anise anyway. Need to work-up the recipe, but think it will be repair-day suitable.

Procrastinate all the same. Doing what, I know not. Moderate dose of the glums is setting in (which is making me want to eat, even though I'm not *really* hungry). Grrrr. I've already had two cups of coffee and I'll start to get jittery if I have another so soon.

Need to ask my lovely boss at the bookshop if he would mind doing a reference, but I don't want to wander up there as I *know* that I'll have charity store accidents on the way there (and in the bookshop too), if not on the way back! Ung. Finally 'phone, though it doesn't seem quite right to ask him to be my referee over the 'phone, and he's grand about it. Phew. Now to work out who to ask as my personal referee. Double ung.

Well, that's the application to the meditation centre away. Fingers crossed. Big time.

Try to fill out the form for one of the carer (personal assistant) jobs, and the word processor is doing all sorts of weird autofill rubbish (I'm using OpenOffice on my Linux machine and it is flaky to say the least). Grrrrr. Think I'll just get my stuff transferred off here and onto the micro-SD card so that I can start using the wee Transformer, which has MS Office on it. Ahhh, procrastination, don't you love it.

Dinner prep. intervenes. That was very tasty *but* jolly hard going on the masticating front - rule number one: do not do a dish that has "lightly cooked veggies" using bargain veggies, especially ones that are a further several days beyond their sell by date. The carrots were okay, but the green beans were horrors - took an age to cook and even then somehow managed to be chewy and crunchy at the same time. Loved the flavours. Wasn't sure if it was too minimalist but actually I rather liked it for that (at one point I was thinking of adding fresh ginger and even chilli in there), and with *very* fresh veggies it would have been stonking. Actually, make this rule number two: use bargain veggies in stews and soups *only*.

I'm going to post very early in the hopes that I can avert a nut-attack. It's ended up being a half-repair day: four lots of soya milk in hot drinks, an anti-depressant babybel cheese, a Valentines glass of elderflower wine and double chocolate rations...

........ Calories 742.34 Carbs 36.27 Fat 44.51 Protein 33.53 Fibre 18.22

broad & green bean salad with orange & hazelnut dressing, another FatDog bargains concoction
chantenay carrots & fine beans, co-op, 35c/C4.6/F0.5/P1.2/Fi2.9/100g
......... 336g 117.60 15.46 1.68 4.03 9.74
broad beans, waitrose, 63c/C8.7/F0.5/P6.0/Fi4.9/100g
......... 195g 122.85 16.97 0.98 11.70 9.56
orange, innards, 49c/C10.34/F0.15/P0.91/Fi2.2/100g
......... 112g 54.88 11.58 0.17 1.02 2.46
crème fraîche, 204c/C5.5/F18.4/P4.0/Fi0/100g
......... 100g 204.00 5.50 18.40 4.00 0.00
orange zest, fine grated, 97c/C14.4/F0.2/P1.5/Fi10.6/100g
......... 15g 14.55 2.16 0.03 0.23 1.59
fennel seed, whole
......... 5ml 0.00
hazelnuts, medium fine chopped, 695c/C7.0/F60.8/P15.0/Fi9.7/100g
......... 40g 278.00 2.80 24.32 6.00 3.88
butter, 720c/C0.6/F80.0/P0.5/Fi0/100g
......... 9g 64.80 0.05 7.20 0.05 0.00
total for broad & green bean salad with orange & hazelnut dressing 856.68 54.52 52.77 27.02 27.23
FatDog's ½ portion broad & green bean salad with orange & hazelnut dressing 428.34 27.26 26.39 13.51 13.62

Method: 1. partially crush the hazelnuts and toast them under the grill, set aside; 2. add the orange zest, about half the orange flesh, mashed, and fennel seed to the crème fraîche, season to taste and set aside; 3. trim and third the beans; halve the carrots lengthwise; 4. rinse the beans and carrots in salty water, drain crudely, ping (lidded) for 4 minutes and then completely drain; 5. add the broad beans and the remains of the orange flesh, and ping for a further 2 minutes (my green beans needed longer than this, YMMV too); 6. dob the butter over the top, season well and mix thoroughly; 7. allow it to cool a little (it is *meant* to be a warm salad, not a hot one - serving it out on cold plates can speed the cooling process:)) and serve with a couple of dollops of the crème fraîche dressing and half the hazelnuts each, sprinkled over the top.

All fingers crossed for the meditation centre job @FatDog would be perfect.

The crème fraîche with orange and fennel seeds with toasted hazelnuts sounds sumptuous...

Is Sunday Saturday or is Sunday Sunday this week?

Wishing a Happy Valentines Day for yourself and OH

Xx

Why do I do it ready your posts when I am trying not to think of food. @FatDog all the best with the job applications.

One question you mention OLS bread recipe No 4 but I could only find No2 so am wondering is there much difference between 2&4 version

Pear dishes sound yummy @izzy hi to you

All fingers crossed for the meditation centre job @FatDog would be perfect.

The crème fraîche with orange and fennel seeds with toasted hazelnuts sounds sumptuous...

Is Sunday Saturday or is Sunday Sunday this week?

Wishing a Happy Valentines Day for yourself and OH

Xx

Thank you @caitlin - the crème fraîche etc. was good enough to eat on its own. And Saturday is Sunday (i.e. Sunday is on Saturday)? Bestest neighbour and our artist friend should be joining us too... But it's not going to be stroganoff after all...

Sorry @Gillymary, OLS bread no. 2 is the one you're after, except for the baking powder at 8ml - I don't think I've posted the later ones, but the only changes were the quantities that I made (e.g. 60g soya etc) - no. 4 lets me plug the numbers in and works things out for me, so that's the one I refer to.

It does sound good Caitlin! I have to agree about the green beans though. I've given up with them, unless they're fresh from someone's garden. It's like eating squeaky rubber

I have looked everywhere for anise. I want it for my rye sourdough bread. I can buy it online, but with P&P it was about £7 for 45g. So I just chuck in extra fennel seed! Not sure my bread is good enough to justify such expense

Bestest wishes for the meditation centre job FatDog. I'm sure you'll charm the pants off them

Meant to say @izzy, our local Asian grocer usually stocks anise for just pennies but have run out, Mr Akram is replenishing it next week so I'll send supplies once it's in! Postage is free - I bought a new-to-me wallet a wee while back and discovered, once I'd arrived home with it, that there was a whole booklet of parcel stamps in it, which are probably needing used before they're "invalidated".

And your "squeaky rubber" description for old green beans is spot on!

Oh beezer that the Mulligatawny worked for you @izzy - I'm really pleased at that - I confess I thought it rather good myself and sincerely hoped that it'd work well for others

I'm still glowing this evening after the bestest neighbour's comment on tonight's dinner: "that's the best thing you've cooked so far". Shan't pre-empt my log, but his prior comment lead to : whoosh, gentle glow, and happy FatDog. Think I nailed that one (it's just a shame about the stack of dirty dishes I've now to do) FatDog xxx

Saturday, low-carb day two-hundred and thirty-seven, weekend feed day

Weigh-in at start of day wt. 107.2lbs (analogue scales corrected ~105.5lbs); 1.2lbs loss
... t.measures - ub. 28.5, w. 25.5, t. 30.25, h. 34.25 inches

Report for the end of week 42 on 4.5 : 2.5 - 2.2lb loss this week (total loss 38.8lbs); no shrinkage or expansion.

OOOOH WOOF!

Okay, it's really only a one pound loss for the week, I suspect (the rest being water loss and an empty stomach), but it looks everso pretty on the tracker. And the "real" pound loss is generous anyway as my calorie deficit for this week was only 3040 odd...

Further reasons for joy this morning: I'm typing this on my lovely wee valentines Transformer - I've shifted all my files over to the SD card, my monster spreadsheet is now in Excel format and is utterly whizzy by comparison to the old OpenOffice and wheeeeeee! Happy is the FatDog. Though getting used to the shift / ctrl / fn key positions is going to take a wee while (and, possibly, some cursing), I fear.

Managed the trip to the co-op - for lazy lemongrass, raw peanuts, coriander and a carrot (sadly too complex a list to commission the OH) - without misadventure. With just the one accident in the charity store ("new" purse, the one I acquired a few weeks back is *hopeless*) and a pizza disaster in the co-op (half-price goats cheese and beetroot - it cried out "I'm tomorrow's dinner" until I simply couldn't resist it any longer) it wasn't too disastrous.

Now for a swift bit of tidying and I can get on with tonight's dinner (this, at half fourish, so I'm not in my usual discombobulated state when guests arrive). Except that I can't resist a wee bit more tweaking of Valentine (methinks that will have to be the name for the Transformer) - I confess that I'm still working in "desktop" mode as I haven't *quite* got the hang of the tablet mode...

Wee bit tidying done (now just gone six!) and I'm miserable - discover my *favourite* scarf (was the VBF's but I liked it so much that she gave it to me) has been chewed by the dreaded moth. Sniffle. I HATE CLOTHES MOTHS! As a rule, I don't kill things - that includes insects, even flies and wasps - but I make an exception for clothes moths (actually, I make an exception for mosquitoes and cockroaches too - oops, that's my karma blown). Anyway, it's past the yardarm and I'm frazzled, so here's to a good lump of cheese, some nuts and a nice glass of red - I'll admire my handiwork for a minute or so, and then get on with that cooking!

... And the VBF arrives. Bless her. We would not have eaten until midnight if she hadn't got stuck into the veggies with a sharp knife. It seemed to take me an eternity to do the red curry sauce. Ah, did I mention that the menu changed to Thai from stroganoff? I googled babycorn, shiitake and green beans yesterday evening, and there really wasn't any question about where to go with the menu. Recipes / inspiration came entirely from Mingkwan's "Buddha's Table" (*the* Thai veggie recipe book, currently cheap on Amazon but often a silly price - a bit like CBB's book), adulterations entirely my own responsibility...

Our artist friend 'phones - won't make it as she's down with a "bug", and being the good creature she is, doesn't want to spread it amongst friends. xxx get-well-thoughts.

What was it that I said about blowing one's own horn the other day? Let me eat my own words and repeat the BN's: FatDog says "Is it edible?", BN replies "Oh yeah! Approaching perfection". WOW! Admittedly he then qualified it by saying that he'd have used a different type of chilli (i.e. proper Thai ones, whose heat hits in the "middle range", rather than the FD's choice of whatever-was-at-the-bottom-of-the-fridge). I'd agree. Then he made that all better by saying that he reckoned it was "the best thing you've cooked so far". Oh happy, happy FatDog. The VBF seemed to like it too, even said she'd write an "honest review"... OI!! @caitlin, get to it lassie! Think OH enjoyed it as well; grateful mostly, I suspect, that it wasn't as hot as the other evening's offering and that it arrived before midnight (erhum, just after ten).

Yeah, nice one

........ Calories 1791.59 Carbs 59.97 Fat 102.62 Protein 34.20 Fibre 18.42

For newcomers to the FatDog thread, the numbers on the same line as the ingredient are the macronutrient breakdowns per 100ml (or grams, or whatever the measure at the end of the line is); the numbers on the line starting ........ are quantity of the ingredient to be used, followed by the calories, carb g, fat g, protein g, and fibre g, as for the line above, but in the quantity used. So, if you're not interested in the nutrient information, the only number that you need is the one immediately following the ...s which tells you how much to use

Thai red curry paste; adapted from Mingkwan's Buddha's Table (p.50)
chilli flakes (soaked in a minimal quantity of water to cover)
......... 10ml 0.00
coriander seed, whole
......... 15ml 0.00
cumin seed, whole
......... 10ml 0.00
onion, white, co-op, rough chopped, 40c/C7.6/F0.2/P1.3/Fi1.4/100g
......... 32g 12.80 2.43 0.06 0.42 0.45
coriander stalk, fresh, rough chopped, 23c/C0.87/F0.52/P2.13/Fi2.8/100g
......... 10g 2.30 0.09 0.05 0.21 0.28
lemongrass, very lazy, 107c/C13.9/F4.2/P0.5/Fi6.0/100g
......... 40g 42.80 5.56 1.68 0.20 2.40
chilli, red, rough chopped, 40c/C9.5/F0.2/P2.0/Fi1.5/100g
......... 23g 9.20 2.19 0.05 0.46 0.35
garlic, rough chopped, 149c/C33.06/F0.5/P6.36/Fi2.1/100g
......... 23g 34.27 7.60 0.12 1.45 0.48
ginger, rough chopped - fine across grain, 90c/C17.8/F0.8/P1.8/Fi2.0/100g
......... 37g 33.30 6.59 0.30 0.67 0.74
kaffir lime leaves, dried
......... 6 of, large 0.00
salt
......... a good few pinches 0.00
total for Thai red curry paste 134.67 24.45 2.25 3.40 4.70
½ portion Thai red curry paste 67.34 12.23 1.13 1.70 2.35

The white onion should really have been a shallot, ginger should be galangal, and the recipe calls for 5ml salt (eek!), not a few good pinches!

Method: 1. toast the seeds by dry-frying in a non-stick frying pan for a few, about 4, minutes; 2. bung everything into a food processor and blitz until it's a smooth paste (as smooth as possible - our wee whizz left it anything but smooth and it was still fine)

Thai mixed vegetable red curry; adapted from Mingkwan's Buddha's Table (p.143)
fine green beans, 1/4'd, coop, 30c/C3.2/F0.5/P1.9/Fi2.9/100g
......... 286g 85.80 9.15 1.43 5.43 8.29
baby corn, co-op, 2cm chopped, 25c/C2.0/F0.4/P2.9/Fi2.0/100g
......... 365g 91.25 7.30 1.46 10.59 7.30
shiitake mushrooms, medium sliced, co-op, 15c/C0.8/F0.5/P2.2/Fi2.5/100g
......... 356g 53.40 2.85 1.78 7.83 8.90
bell pepper, green, fine sliced, 20c/C2.6/F0.3/P0.8/Fi1.6/100g
......... 164g 32.80 4.26 0.49 1.31 2.62
bell pepper, yellow, fine sliced, 31c/C5.3/F0.2/P1.2/Fi1.7/100g
......... 98g 30.38 5.19 0.20 1.18 1.67
onion, red, co-op, fine sliced, 35c/C7.6/F0.2/P1.3/Fi1.4/100g
......... 72g 25.20 5.47 0.14 0.94 1.01
carrot, matchsticks, 41c/C9.58/F0.25/P0.93/Fi2.8/100g
......... 105g 43.05 10.06 0.26 0.98 2.94
toasted sesame oil, 827c/C0/F91.9/P0/Fi0/100ml
......... 20ml 165.40 0.00 18.38 0.00 0.00
soy sauce, low salt, amoy, 52c/C9.2/F0/P3.9/Fi0/100ml
......... 45ml 23.40 4.14 0.00 1.76 0.00
coconut milk, 197c/C2.81/F21.33/P2.02/Fi0/100ml
......... 400ml 788.00 11.24 85.32 8.08 0.00
½ portion Thai red curry paste 67.34 12.23 1.13 1.70 2.35
total for Thai mixed vegetable red curry 1406.02 71.90 110.59 39.79 35.08
FatDog's 384/1770 portion of Thai mixed vegetable red curry 305.03 15.60 23.99 8.63 7.61

Method: 1. heat the oil in a non-stick wok; 2. add the curry paste and cook for about 3 to 4 minutes until fragrant; 3. add the onion, do a minute or two, then likewise with the carrot; 4. add the mu1shrooms and do until they're beginning to soften, then bung in the rest of the veggies and give it all a good stir-about for 7 minutes or so; 5. add the soy sauce and the coconut milk, bring to a simmer, cover and cook until the veggies are done to your taste; 6. serve with satay swede!

Shorten the cooking time by pinging the green beans for a minute or three first...

Thai satay roasted swede; a mad FatDog concoction
swede, peeled, very fine sliced (like crisps), 24c/C5.0/F0.3/P0.7/Fi1.9/100g
......... 528g 126.72 26.40 1.58 3.70 10.03
½ portion Thai red curry paste 67.34 12.23 1.13 1.70 2.35
peanuts, kp original, 619c/C8.8/F50.8/P27.4/Fi8.5/100g
......... 65g 402.35 5.72 33.02 17.81 5.53
toasted sesame oil, 827c/C0/F91.9/P0/Fi0/100ml
......... 6ml 49.62 0.00 5.51 0.00 0.00
total for Thai satay roasted swede 646.03 44.35 41.24 23.21 17.91
1/4 portion Thai satay roasted swede 161.51 11.09 10.31 5.80 4.48

Method: 1. blitz the curry paste and peanuts together - methinks getting it smoother and slightly more runny than I did, by the addition of oil / soy sauce / other liquid and greater whizzing time, *might* just make it more marinade / swede-coating friendly *** 2. coat your swede in the resulting paste (messy, very messy) - allow to "marinade" for a wee while, if possible; 3. distribute the slices across as many baking trays as it takes, so that the slices don't overlap - oiling the trays is optional but a good idea; 4. cook in a pre-heated oven at 200C for 20 or so minutes until the edges, at least, are crispy - you could turn them over if your paste is sticking well to the swede (mine wasn't, so I didn't for most of them); 5. serve with your really wonderful Thai mixed vegetable red curry, in lieu of rice...

*** if one pinged the swede for three or so minutes too, that would make it warm / hot and, possibly, more inclined to ad/absorb the marinade too?

=====================

Sunday, low-carb day two-hundred and thirty-eight, weekend feed day

Weigh-in at start of day wt. 107.0lbs (analogue scales corrected ~105.5lbs); 0.2lbs loss
... t.measures - ub. 28.5, w. 25.5, t. 30.25, h. 34.25 inches

Didn't anticipate that, though I'm not going to complain, oh no...

Hmm. Wee Valentine did an "update" last night as she shut down - not so sure that the trackpad is working the same this morning. Humbug. This little one is taking just a wee bit more of getting used to than I expected; maybe it's my age but, for the very first time in my life, I'm nervous of "doing the wrong thing" on a computer!

Oooh - linguistic alert: I've just realized that I've been using the term "turnip" when I should have been using "swede" (known in the USofA as "rutabaga") - blame the Scots language, swedes are called turnips (hence neeps with haggis). I'll try to be a reformed character and use swede, when referring to the large lumpy turnip things that the supermarkets have too many of in winter, from now on... Either way, I believe that Jane Grigson / Elizabeth David are misguided in their disgust with this puir wee vegetable - it has many uses, not least as a doorstop, but best of all in my cooking.

*Why* is working up my recipes at the weekend such a pain? Indeed, keeping my food log is, perhaps, the bigger pain. It's that accountability avoidance stuff at work again.

So, some lovely music to engender serenity (I've been looking at meditation stuff, and the more I read the more inadequate / incapable I feel - pretty certain that's *not* the idea!) - and discover Johann Jakob Froberger. To my sincere embarrassment, it transpires that this gentleman of baroque was hugely influential on his contemporaries and those who followed him and yet I'd not knowingly heard / heard of his music before! If you're into harpsichord then this might well be for you... I *really* should start to listen to more again (Rameau, Forqueray, Byrd et al.: beware the recording though - some are truly lumpen, uninspiring and positively off-putting), as it takes me to a much better place - and generally lets me get on with serious problem solving. Maybe that's how I've become *so* lost - nae music for ages (OH generally tolerates none, other than Bob Dylan that is). A hot, but seemingly little known tip for UK music lovers: register at your major library (e.g. National Library of Scotland) and you'll be given access (username / password) to Naxos Music Library online: this has a *huge* collection of some pretty respectable recordings, mostly classical but a fair bit of World / Jazz / Folk too... If you're a university student, including OU, you too should be able to get access - speak to your librarian.

Accounts aren't so very bad, but clearly reflect pizza in the carbs!

........ Calories 1696.25 Carbs 81.08 Fat 93.62 Protein 48.52 Fibre 14.01

I want to go to bed / sleep with this music in my ears, damnit, I think I'd be a much nicer person for it. That might even be doable with existing kit - shall dig and experiment tomorrow as a matter of urgency - methinks my sanity might be at stake.