Sunday 21 February 2010

Kiddy free weekend Saturday 20th Feb

Rye is at his dad's this weekend; bless him he was so excited when I told him his dad was coming down.  He's been asking for a few weeks now about his dad because he's not seen his dad since Christmas, who had hurt his back and was unable to drive.

I confess, to a squidgeon of excitment at the prospect of a weekend kiddy free, well at least from 1:30pm today, which is when my charge is picked up.   I've been wanting to sort my room out for a while; and have a bit of a move around; partially because some dear friends are visiting in April and will be staying in my room.  Having the bed pushed up against the wall is fine for me; but not so convenient for a couple.   Makes changing the bed much easier too :)  The room isn't how I invisage in my mind eye; but that will happen when I buy some more shelving so the piles of books on the floor, under the bed , on the window cill etc can all go on the shelves.  I may even put some of my own art work up.

Mmmm, and I've eaten some delicious food today.  I've become a bit addicted to 30 Minute Meals by Rachel Ray.  Very American of course and the meals are mainly meat based; but she has such a wonderful presence, and I do like the little stories she tells while she's cooking.  Anyhoos, today she made a marmalade sauce for chicken; and inspiration hit.  As I'm trying to keep my lunch mainly raw I decided to have a big salad and make a lime marmalade dressing; and oohhhh it was suprisingly yummy;

1 heaped tsp of lime marmlade, warmed in the microwave.
1tbsp of omega oil
1-2 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil
2 tsp of red wine vinegar (I would have used white if I had any - or lime juice)
Crushed black pepper
Salt

And I just mixed it all together and then poured that over a pile of salad leaves, cucumber, red pepper and sliced in half grapes (needed using up), tossed it to coat all the leaves, then added the sprouted seeds and some parmasan shavings.  OH MY GOSH!  Wonderful.  Tangy, sweet and just wonderful.

Then this evening I fancied curry.  I resolved not to buy takeaways during Lent; and besides I need to spend at least £12 to qualify for delivery - so I thought, "what the heck", and made myself a Red Lentil Dahl.  Oh WOW!

Oil
1 medium onion chopped
1 large carrot quarted and chopped
1 small beetroot chopped
1 tin of chopped tomatoes
1/4 tin of coconut milk
1 tin of water (use the tomatoe tin)
1/2 cup of red lentils
pinch of dried chilli seeds
3 green cardamons pods crushed, seeds removed and the seeds crushed.  (I love cardamon if you’d prefer a less flora taste reduce to 1 or 2 pods)
tsp of ground corriander
tsp of cumin seeds
aprox 1/2 tsp of fresh grated ginger
1/2 tsp of dried garlic powder (not salt)  (could use fresh garlic if preferred)
approx 2 tsp of freshly ground black pepper

I just sauteed the veggies in the oil until soft added the seasonings and spices, cooked for a minute or two; then added the tomatoes, water, and red lentils, covered and after ten minutes added 1/4 can of coconut milk; left to fast simmer for another 15-20 minutes.  I boiled rice with cardamons to serve with, naan would have been nice too; but I decided last thing to make this and couldn't be bothered to faff making Naan.

I've been really slowing down my eating too, and taking the time to really taste and explore the textures and I am amazed how stupendous food is tasting!  I have a few golden rules, lol, well actually, they are Paul McKenna's rules; which compliments beautifully what I've been trying to do myself anyway.  So the rules are:

1.  Eat when hungry
2.  Eat what I want not what I think I should be eating.
3.  Eat Consciously
4.  Stop when you're full.

Whether I loose weight, remains to be seen; although I suspect I will.  I've only been following these golden rules 2 days now; but already I am amazed by the change.  Food tastes absolutely stupendous; the kids look at me bemused when I eat because I'm grunting & moaning in appreciation  seriously, far better than sex!

I only eat when I think I'm hungry, and the idea is not to let myself get too hungry; so when I start to feel hungry that is when I eat.  Although I have a drink of water first because the signal for thirst and hunger are the same.  If, after a drink I'm still hungry; then I eat.  After I'd eaten my salad a few hours later I was feeling peckish and decided to use the rest of the salad up in a sandwich; I spread the bread with homemade humous; added the left over dressed salad.. and blimey, best sandwich I can remember having in a long time.  All this from simply slowing my eating right down and as much as possible, concentrating on what I'm eating and really enjoying every mouthful.  I can't always tell when I'm full; but I have noticed that McKenna is right; when I am getting full each mouth is less enjoyable.  And the crazy thing is, now I'm purely listening to my body I have eaten far, far less that I would normally and I am full much sooner than I would have thought.

The lentil Dahl I made this evening; normally I would have polished it all off myself.  I had a bowl full, ate consciously and with enjoyment and it was enough.  There was temptation to have seconds anyway; 
I suppose knowing I can eat whenever I want, solong I'm hungry, is giving me that degree of control.  Why have a second bowl of the dahl when I'm full, and it won't taste as good. Might as well wait until I'm hungry and it will taste phenomenal again - perhaps have it for lunch tomorrow over a jacket potatoe?

Seriously, whether you want to loose weight or not; give the golden rules a try for a few days or a week.  And yep it can still be done when eating with children and indeed I've come to realise that young 'uns tend to naturally eat this way anyway.

I will weigh myself in 2 weeks time and see how it's going.

2 comments:

nocton4 said...

wise words lovely and ones I'd like to join you on, as this Mama needs to shift her thinking and alot of weight.
Have your dahl bubbling on the stove as I type, hubby was eager to try it .. smells wonderful
thanks so much for your open and honest sharing, I really do appreciate it.
xxx

Joxy34 said...

I really recommend Paul Mckenna's "I can make you thin" hon; some great visualisation exercises; contains a 90 day journal - frankly; its to pack the book out so they can charge more - but what the heck, I've committed for at least 90 days.

Comes with a dvd I've not watched yet and a cd that I listen to once a day. I did nearly send the book back as I thought at first it was a just a advertising ploy for to get you to buy the dvds and cds (contains a code for 50% off the dvds and 30% off the cds)... happily tho the cd that comes with the book is great, I think the rest of the cds are basically the exercises in the book,and maybe others not in the book?

Either way - I feel great, in control and sooooooooooooooooooooo looking forward to the celeriac gratin and yorkshire puds I've got planned for tea tonight (gratin is cooked and smells AMAZING!