Today I ate:
2 pieces of toast with peanut butter.
1 trim latte.
Butter bean, cherry tomato and olive salad from Wishbone.
Orange and passionfruit yoghurt.
1 gala apple.
Tofu and vegetables in a coconut chilli broth, served with vermicelli noodles.
Half a Coke Zero.
That's actually not a whole lot. I'm searching my brain but I really can't think of anything else. Of course, it there have been '1 Coke', or '1 coffee' if the hairdresser had offered me something. The PA in my team gets biscuits at her hairdresser and sometimes jaffas.
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Masterchef New Zealand
Last night I happened to watch a bit of the first episode of Masterchef New Zealand. For the unfamiliar, it''s a reality show with a competition to find a 'masterchef' among a group of amateur cooks. Yesterday they showed some of the initial weeding out process. There were a few weirdos and lots of awkward tears, but something I found interesting involved one of a contestants, who was vegan. Her name is Eva and she cooked a potato nest on carrot, lemon cumin puree with basil and cashew pesto and a tomato salad. The recipe can be found here.
It impressed the judges enough for them to give her a spot in the top 24. Not bad really, especially given the fact that they were a bit dubious about her dish to begin with.
I'm currently cooking dinner. I like to multi task.
It impressed the judges enough for them to give her a spot in the top 24. Not bad really, especially given the fact that they were a bit dubious about her dish to begin with.
I'm currently cooking dinner. I like to multi task.
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
What I Ate - 3 February 2010
It's funny, having to reveal to the world what I have been eating has become quite a useful check on my generally quite unrestrained eating habits. It has definitely made me think twice before running over to the dairy for a chocolate bar. Then again, this whole month is a restraint on my eating habits so I suppose it shouldn't be too much of a shock to me.
Today I ate:
2 pieces of toast with peanut butter.
Small handful of blueberries.
1 trim latte.
Leftover moussaka from yesterday.
2 apples.
1 strawberry yoghurt.
1 beer.
Tomato and olive wholewheat penne pasta with parmesan and and a rocket salad made with roasted sunflower seeds, avocado, capsicum, cherry tomatoes and balsamic dressing.
Quite a lot of watermelon.
Possibly some more fruit yoghurt and blueberries.
Phil made the pasta and it was delicious. He is really good at making simple pasta. He says that his secret is to cook the onions slowly for a long time, and to add tomato paste. The wholewheat pasta is really good too, it has a lot more fibre than your usual white pasta and is pretty tasty.
Today I ate:
2 pieces of toast with peanut butter.
Small handful of blueberries.
1 trim latte.
Leftover moussaka from yesterday.
2 apples.
1 strawberry yoghurt.
1 beer.
Tomato and olive wholewheat penne pasta with parmesan and and a rocket salad made with roasted sunflower seeds, avocado, capsicum, cherry tomatoes and balsamic dressing.
Quite a lot of watermelon.
Possibly some more fruit yoghurt and blueberries.
Phil made the pasta and it was delicious. He is really good at making simple pasta. He says that his secret is to cook the onions slowly for a long time, and to add tomato paste. The wholewheat pasta is really good too, it has a lot more fibre than your usual white pasta and is pretty tasty.
Manifesto
In the interests of transparency, I would like to set out what I will and won't eat during the month of February.
I'm not going to eat any animal flesh. So no meat or fish. I will eat dairy and animal products that don't involve the death of the animal, such as eggs and honey.
I'm not going to bother with things like rennet and gelatine, even though these are actually animal derivatives. The reason for this is mostly practical, I feel as though the restrictions I have already made make this a big enough challenge for me and to exclude something like animal rennet would make eating out quite difficult for me.
The real aim of this month is to significantly reduce my meat intake, which, by cutting out meat altogether I should be able to manage.
I'm not going to eat any animal flesh. So no meat or fish. I will eat dairy and animal products that don't involve the death of the animal, such as eggs and honey.
I'm not going to bother with things like rennet and gelatine, even though these are actually animal derivatives. The reason for this is mostly practical, I feel as though the restrictions I have already made make this a big enough challenge for me and to exclude something like animal rennet would make eating out quite difficult for me.
The real aim of this month is to significantly reduce my meat intake, which, by cutting out meat altogether I should be able to manage.
What I Ate - 2 February 2010
Today I was humming along through my work day when suddenly, I started thinking about roast mutton, and how delicious it is. Mmm sheep.
Today I ate:
2 pieces of toast with peanut butter.
1 trim latte.
1 dark chocolate Tim Tam (all I have to say about that was that it was on a plate, in the kitchen as I arrived at work. Couldn't help myself unfortunately).
Leftover nachos from yesterday.
1 apple.
1 berry and cherry yoghurt.
1 chocolate chip sante biscuit, homemade.
Lentil moussaka and salad made with rocket, cucumber, fresh sweetcorn, orange capsicum, coriander and a balsamic dressing.
1 Coke Zero.
1 small handfull of blueberries.
1 nectarine.
The lentil moussaka was bloody good. The first time I had moussaka was when my old flatmate Dana made it. It is a Greek dish usually made with lamb mince, fried eggplant, and cheese. The meat is spiced with cinnamon which makes it really special. It's funny, you wouldn't think cinnamon would naturally pair with meat, it seems to be a better match with fruits like apples. Overall though, it was lovely. I have a few suggestions to make to the recipe (link provided above) however, these being to add a tin of tomatoes in with the lentil mix as well as some red wine. One thing also to mention is that it is a reasonably complicated dish for a weeknight. The lentils need to be cooked for half an hour and once the dish is assembled it is baked for another 40 minutes.
Today I ate:
2 pieces of toast with peanut butter.
1 trim latte.
1 dark chocolate Tim Tam (all I have to say about that was that it was on a plate, in the kitchen as I arrived at work. Couldn't help myself unfortunately).
Leftover nachos from yesterday.
1 apple.
1 berry and cherry yoghurt.
1 chocolate chip sante biscuit, homemade.
Lentil moussaka and salad made with rocket, cucumber, fresh sweetcorn, orange capsicum, coriander and a balsamic dressing.
1 Coke Zero.
1 small handfull of blueberries.
1 nectarine.
The lentil moussaka was bloody good. The first time I had moussaka was when my old flatmate Dana made it. It is a Greek dish usually made with lamb mince, fried eggplant, and cheese. The meat is spiced with cinnamon which makes it really special. It's funny, you wouldn't think cinnamon would naturally pair with meat, it seems to be a better match with fruits like apples. Overall though, it was lovely. I have a few suggestions to make to the recipe (link provided above) however, these being to add a tin of tomatoes in with the lentil mix as well as some red wine. One thing also to mention is that it is a reasonably complicated dish for a weeknight. The lentils need to be cooked for half an hour and once the dish is assembled it is baked for another 40 minutes.
What I Ate - 1 February 2010
One blog that I follow and quite like has a series of ongoing posts called 'What I Wore'. So, in the spirit of this, I have decided to start a series called 'What I Ate'.
On Monday 1 February 2010 I ate:
2 pieces of toast, one with peanut butter, one with Marmite.
1 trim latte.
1.5 chocolate cherry cupcakes, homemade and brought into work by one of my colleagues.
1 nectarine.
1 slice of vegetarian flan, made by me with courgette, beetroot, carrot, onion, sunflower seeds and cheddar cheese.
1 gala apple.
1 homemade chocolate chip sante biscuit (recipe is in the Edmonds).
Nachos made with black bean chilli, guacamole, tomato salsa, plain yoghurt.
The nachos were especially good, so good in fact that I wonder if I will ever make them with mince again.
On Monday 1 February 2010 I ate:
2 pieces of toast, one with peanut butter, one with Marmite.
1 trim latte.
1.5 chocolate cherry cupcakes, homemade and brought into work by one of my colleagues.
1 nectarine.
1 slice of vegetarian flan, made by me with courgette, beetroot, carrot, onion, sunflower seeds and cheddar cheese.
1 gala apple.
1 homemade chocolate chip sante biscuit (recipe is in the Edmonds).
Nachos made with black bean chilli, guacamole, tomato salsa, plain yoghurt.
The nachos were especially good, so good in fact that I wonder if I will ever make them with mince again.
Monday, February 1, 2010
The Last Supper
Two days before beginning our month without meat, we decided that we would try our hand at cooking KFC chicken.
In case you weren't aware, the recipe was leaked some time ago. We used this recipe from the Guardian. Saturday was the most lovely hot hot day, the kind of day that you need to remember for when it is winter and you are sitting in your flatting wondering if it will ever be warm again. We rounded up some friends and went over to Phil's parent's house, where they unbelievably have an in-built deep fryer in their kitchen. We are always quick to point out that 'it was there when they moved in,' in the hope that it makes us sound less gluttonous. Because, if your Saturday night involves deep frying 4kgs of chicken, you kind of are a piggy.
The recipe involves poaching the meat in buttermilk first, then coating it in a batter made with the 11 herbs and spices (one of which is MSG), then coating it in more buttermilk and double dipping. Finally, you fry it.
Below is the finished product. Excellent photo courtesy of my friend Jarrod.
In case you weren't aware, the recipe was leaked some time ago. We used this recipe from the Guardian. Saturday was the most lovely hot hot day, the kind of day that you need to remember for when it is winter and you are sitting in your flatting wondering if it will ever be warm again. We rounded up some friends and went over to Phil's parent's house, where they unbelievably have an in-built deep fryer in their kitchen. We are always quick to point out that 'it was there when they moved in,' in the hope that it makes us sound less gluttonous. Because, if your Saturday night involves deep frying 4kgs of chicken, you kind of are a piggy.
The recipe involves poaching the meat in buttermilk first, then coating it in a batter made with the 11 herbs and spices (one of which is MSG), then coating it in more buttermilk and double dipping. Finally, you fry it.
Below is the finished product. Excellent photo courtesy of my friend Jarrod.
It was pretty special. I was amazed at how filling it was. I could barely manage two pieces and I was ravenous to begin with. Perhaps it was the MSG? Which, by the way, they sell by the half kilo at Moore Wilson's. I should know.
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