WILD GARLIC GNOCCHI

Walking through the woodlands, we came across a distinct smell of garlic. You couldn't miss it. Further on we found this carpet of wild garlic which seemed to cover everything.
Having never cooked with wild garlic before, we thought.... why not pick some. We knew it was edible and decided to make WILD GARLIC GNOCCHI with crispy sage. The leaves are long and silky and can be used in a salad, or cooked like spinach. The white flower has a hint of garlic and we ate those too. Great decoration if you are entertaining. Here's our recipe and how it turned out.

HOW TO MAKE SODA BREAD

Losing weight eating ALL foods may sound too good to be true, but it is a reality for us. Quite often we find people believe you can't eat bread and/or potatoes if you want to lose weight. 

We love bread, and it has not stopped us losing weight. There's nothing quite like a freshly baked loaf too, especially one as easy to make as this. 

The most difficult part of this recipe is finding the buttermilk in the supermarket. Other than that, if you have ten minutes to spare - then you must try this recipe:

SMOKY BBQ PORK SPARE RIBS

These PORK SPARE RIBS disappeared in no time over the Bank Holiday weekend. 

To ensure your spare ribs are tender, simmer them for 30-40 minutes before marinating them in this rich BBQ sauce.

Why not try our recipe below. We're sure you will really enjoy the freshness of the sauce which will liven up whatever meat you are eating! They work equally as well cooked in the oven.

Budget roast chicken

Oh the English weather!! One minute we're basking in sunshine and and the next it's ten degrees cooler.
After two days munching on barbequed bits and pieces, we felt the need for some vegetables. So it was roast chicken today. I bought in season spring greens, which are so sweet and delicate.
BUDGET TIP:

BACON & AVOCADO

Wow - when avocados are ripe, there is nothing quite like it. If you're after some lunch time conversation, you may be disappointed. And, if silence is the true measure of 'deliciousness', then this dish scores 10 out of 10.
Bacon and avocado - are perfect together; a salty, creamy fusion balanced with the crunch of the lightly fried ciabatta.
I added a few pea shoots (from the garden) to the spinach. The dressing gave it the 'final touch'. We are experimenting more and more with fresh, home made salad dressings (which really make a dish) and here's the one we used today:

Chicken & mushroom casserole

Here's what we ate last night - chicken and mushroom casserole. Are you dieting and not eating all your favourite food? 
Every meal we post here has been devoured by us - while losing weight. We work out a rough calorie count for our meals and follow this UNIQUE METHOD of weight loss. We've been able to eat heartily and lose 7 stone between us. 
We've been keeping the weight off too because we've empowered ourselves with the knowledge to do so. 
Do you know your calorie allowance - or even what 'calories' mean? If not why not take a look here ( calorie allowance ). The most surprising thing people say to us is they do not believe you can eat like this - while losing weight. If you are stuck in a 'diet' mindset that's not working for you, then take a look at how we changed the way we thought, and won the weight loss battle. 
This is a great easy going recipe - turning everyday chicken into something luxurious. If you want to impress your family without having to hover around the kitchen, then why not try this dish. I would estimate this dish at between 550-600 calories. A comforting, rustic midweek choice which never fails to please. Here's our recipe:

MADEIRA STYLE CAKE

Sometimes I really fancy a nice piece of cake. I know they are full of calories and fat, and making cakes is time consuming. But, there's nothing quite like a piece of home made cake.
So I thought why not - make half a cake? That's my tip for the day. Not only does it save on cost, calories and waste - it's also better for the waistline.
My experiment would suggest you need to

Lamb chops

We cooked these sweet and succulent LAMB CHOPS on Saturday night. The chops were fried for a couple of minutes either side and taken out to rest. If you prefer to eat meat medium or rare without the juices escaping, then rest it for a few minutes.
Our starter was ricotta with asparagus, pea and broad bean tart. You could use courgette too. All those wonderful flavours packed into just 250 calories!
We enjoyed it so much, we couldn't resist having it again. Only this time we cooked the pastry without 'weighting' it down. It was much lighter and we preferred the texture.
If you are stuck for time, you could always use a ready made tart case, although the calories will probably be higher. You have more control over the calories when you are in charge of the ingredients.
Over the weekend we managed a few tasks in the garden. Some heavy digging burned quite a few calories, which we enjoyed spending! If you ever lack the motivation to go for a walk, do a bit in the garden etc, try thinking how much more you could EAT if you did.

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REMEMBER: We all have a calorie allowance - do you know yours?

We began our weight loss journey in January 2011 - and began our blog in June 2011. Here's a link to the first post. (here's the link).

We like to post our main meals to show you what CAN be eaten. You won’t find us posting every last morsel though – but we hope this gives you an idea of how far calories can go! I'm currently going through the photographs and replacing them with more website friendly versions which will allow the blog to load quickly. 

Read about our UNIQUE METHOD of weight loss and find out how you can lose weight eating the food you love.

Copyright © forget dieting forever, all rights reserved.

CHICKEN STIR FRY

This chicken stir fry was very easy to make. We ate this on Friday night. I would estimate this dish at around 400 calories. We love this dish as we half prepare it, so it can be ready to eat almost as soon as we walk through the door later.
You could swap the chicken for beef or pork tenderloin.
Just a little preparation, before we went out, makes this 'fast' food at its best. We've found being prepared makes all the difference. Knowing what you can eat later, takes the guess work out of it and stops you heading for the takeaway! Here's our very easy recipe:

Chicken strip salad

This spicy peri-peri chicken strip salad was quick and easy to make. I bought the chicken already cut into strips, but found there was a sinew running through each piece. You should remove the white sinew as it is very tough.
The chicken was marinated for a couple of hours in peri-peri seasoning to which I added a little oil. They took less than five minutes to cook and a couple of minutes to rest.
I've been waiting to eat the Jersey Royal new potatoes - and this was the perfect moment.
My meal consisted of 150g of potatoes (dressed with a little butter/salt and mint), 180g of chicken strips and a mixed, dressed salad. All the flavours were very satisfying and the meal was around 450-500 calories (if that).
Despite all the bread/potatoes yesterday, lunch was two types of cheese and tomato on toast, which I would estimate around 500 calories. I wasn't going to have bread, but after reading about the latest news, I began to hanker after pizza! There was an article about a new pizza which would supply you with all the necessary nutrients. The seed was planted, hence the cheese on toast. Mind you, when I was thinking about what to eat at lunch time, I still went with my intuition (which was tomatoes and cheese) before turning them into what I had been thinking and reading about.

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REMEMBER: We all have a calorie allowance - do you know yours?

We began our weight loss journey in January 2011 - and began our blog in June 2011. Here's a link to the first post. (here's the link).

We like to post our main meals to show you what CAN be eaten. You won’t find us posting every last morsel though – but we hope this gives you an idea of how far calories can go! I'm currently going through the photographs and replacing them with more website friendly versions which will allow the blog to load quickly. 

Read about our UNIQUE METHOD of weight loss and find out how you can lose weight eating the food you love.

Copyright © forget dieting forever, all rights reserved.

Jacket potato, beans and pork

I love jacket potatoes using 'waxy' potatoes but my other half prefers the fluffy varieties - eg King Edward.
TIP: I was experimenting with the cooking times for the potatoes and cooked them in the oven at 180ºC for half an hour - then I turned the oven off. I found they had cooked nicely in the residual heat, and we ate them about an hour and a half later. Saves on the fuel bills!
We enjoyed this meal, and were able to use up the leftover bbq pork. We heated the pork through until piping hot.
Today I'll be cooking my Jersey Royal new potatoes and having them with a salad and meat. After lots of bread/sandwiches yesterday, I'm hankering after some crunchy vegetables.

REMEMBER: We all have a calorie allowance - do you know yours?

We began our weight loss journey in January 2011 - and began our blog in June 2011. Here's a link to the first post. (here's the link).

We like to post our main meals to show you what CAN be eaten. You won’t find us posting every last morsel though – but we hope this gives you an idea of how far calories can go! I'm currently going through the photographs and replacing them with more website friendly versions which will allow the blog to load quickly. 

Read about our UNIQUE METHOD of weight loss and find out how you can lose weight eating the food you love.

Copyright © forget dieting forever, all rights reserved.

Goat's cheese, avocado and bacon

This was a really satisfying lunch - goat's cheese with avocado and bacon bits. The lemon dressing recipe is here.
Using 50g each of goat's cheese and avocado, 2 rashers of streaky bacon (crumbled) plus the lemon dressing, our salad works out around 450 calories. All that flavour for so few calories is amazing. We served ours with some rye bread on the side.
The type of GOAT"S CHEESE we used has a rind and one of the large discount supermarkets has a very tasty one!
Buying a ripe AVOCADO can be hit and miss for me, so now I buy them a few days ahead. Today we enjoyed a perfectly ripe Fuerte avocado (pale green) - after it had been sitting on my kitchen windowsill for a while. Sometimes we will buy a Hass (nobbly) avocado, and found the darker the skin the more ripe it is.
Cook the rashers through until all the fat has drained out. You may find one rasher is enough as it is quite salty.
REMEMBER: We all have a calorie allowance - do you know yours?

We began our weight loss journey in January 2011 - and began our blog in June 2011. Here's a link to the first post. (here's the link).

We like to post our main meals to show you what CAN be eaten. You won’t find us posting every last morsel though – but we hope this gives you an idea of how far calories can go! I'm currently going through the photographs and replacing them with more website friendly versions which will allow the blog to load quickly. 

Read about our UNIQUE METHOD of weight loss and find out how you can lose weight eating the food you love.

Copyright © forget dieting forever, all rights reserved.

PASTA WITH SPICY CHORIZO SAUCE

Yesterday we had one of our favourite salads: tinned tuna, egg and cheese. It's a great combination, and we served it with our usual new potatoes (with a little butter). If we're having a salad at lunch time, we usually like to eat around 400-500 calories, fill up and be satisfied. Today's salad is avocado, goat's cheese and bacon. We quite often eat this combination too.
Our evening meal was this tasty home made CHORIZO PASTA, which after an hour in the garden, disappeared with relish. You could use dried pasta but you MUST try this spicy chorizo sauce. It's so versatile and can be used in many dishes. Here's a link to our RECIPE.
Following our weekend celebrating over the Bank Holiday, we are now back to the weight we were before we went away. With a little careful planning, and watching what we eat (or should I say - snack on) means we are never too far away from our 'goal' weight. We still get to choose whatever we want to eat, whenever we want to eat it. One thing we ensure is we eat enough and don't go hungry.
I find I am quite tuned into what my body wants to eat now. Take yesterday's lunch. I really fancied the tuna, but didn't fancy eating it in a sandwich. I was looking for the crunch for some reason. On other days I might really want bread - so I will go ahead and eat a sandwich. I have no idea why this happens, but when I do listen to my body, I generally find the food I eat is much more satisfying and I'm less likely to snack. Isn't it better to eat what you love and enjoy your food? It certainly made our weight loss much more enjoyable. We feel much better when we balance out our meals.

****

REMEMBER: We all have a calorie allowance - do you know yours?

We began our weight loss journey in January 2011 - and began our blog in June 2011. Here's a link to the first post. (here's the link).

We like to post our main meals to show you what CAN be eaten. You won’t find us posting every last morsel though – but we hope this gives you an idea of how far calories can go! I'm currently going through the photographs and replacing them with more website friendly versions which will allow the blog to load quickly. 

Read about our UNIQUE METHOD of weight loss and find out how you can lose weight eating the food you love.

Copyright © forget dieting forever, all rights reserved.

BBQ PORK SHOULDER

This slow cooked pork shoulder was very easy to make and leaves you twiddling your thumbs rather than running around the kitchen coordinating the usual Sunday roast. So why not relax, slow cook the fat out of the meat and enjoy this succulent, tasty pork dish.
Quite often we will use belly of pork which is also very tasty, but today we opted for pork shoulder. We rubbed the (dried) pork skin with the following spices: one teaspoon each of smoked paprika, ordinary paprika, cumin, thyme, salt and black pepper.
Let it marinate for a couple of hours (or overnight) then place in the oven covered in foil at 140ºC. Remove the foil for the last hour and turn up the heat to 180ºC. To get the crackling nice and crunchy, remove the skin from the pork and return to the oven until crisp.
We cooked our 1.5kg of pork for 4 hours in total.

****

REMEMBER: We all have a calorie allowance - do you know yours?

We began our weight loss journey in January 2011 - and began our blog in June 2011. Here's a link to the first post. (here's the link).

We like to post our main meals to show you what CAN be eaten. You won’t find us posting every last morsel though – but we hope this gives you an idea of how far calories can go! I'm currently going through the photographs and replacing them with more website friendly versions which will allow the blog to load quickly. 

Read about our UNIQUE METHOD of weight loss and find out how you can lose weight eating the food you love.

Copyright © forget dieting forever, all rights reserved.

Asparagus, broad bean and pea tart

Our starter for Saturday night was inspired by a dish from Chez Bruce in London. It was so refreshing and bursting with all the flavours of spring, that we decided to make something similar.
With no recipe to follow, we came up with our version. The addition of chopped fresh mint to our lemon dressing set this dish alive and our pulses racing.
We estimate the dish at below 250 calories and this starter quickly became a favourite of ours. We know we will be eating it again... very soon. It will also make an excellent light lunch - just double up on the quantity. 

We were going to make do with Parmesan shavings, but thought we would buy the Pecorino. This was a good move, as the Pecorino has something about it that works so well with all the ingredients. We stopped at the deli counter and asked for a small piece, and they were very obliging. Here's our recipe:

Delicious May weekend menu plan

Last night we ate this wonderful 'cheats' chicken dhansak curry. The last time we had a takeaway curry, we bought an extra portion of curry sauce and put it in the freezer. All we had to do was add the chicken.
I left the chicken pieces marinating in tikka curry powder, and fried them in a little oil before adding to the curry sauce. We think this is a great BUDGET idea. Not only that, we ended up with more meat to sauce, which brings the calorie content down. You could add meat, fish or vegetables.
SATURDAY - we'll probably have a bacon sandwich for lunch, but this evening we've got a couple of NEW recipes to try out. A recent visit to Chez Bruce in London has inspired us to try something different. We have two courses in mind - the first is a tart with seasonal vegetables and cheese. The main course depends on the butcher but we fancy lamb. Look out for the results later!
SUNDAY - we're going to do something with some pork shoulder.
If the weather stays dry, we'll go for a good walk. We haven't managed to get out for a while because of the rain. That's the only down side of walking. You don't have to go for long walks to achieve a good weight loss. It's all a matter of calories in/calories out for us, and the formula has worked with the method we use.

So forget dieting - and eat the food you love. We all have a calorie allowance - do you know yours?

We began our weight loss journey in January 2011 - and began our blog in June 2011. Here's a link to the first post. (here's the link).

We like to post our main meals to show you what CAN be eaten. You won’t find us posting every last morsel though – but we hope this gives you an idea of how far calories can go! I'm currently going through the photographs and replacing them with more website friendly versions which will allow the blog to load quickly. 

Read about our UNIQUE METHOD of weight loss and find out how you can lose weight eating the food you love.

Copyright © forget dieting forever, all rights reserved.

CHICKEN TIKKA DHANSAK

What do you do when you don't fancy cooking? Or maybe don't have time? We came up with this sneaky BUDGET CURRY idea, and we're using it to make a fabulous CHICKEN TIKKA DHANSAK tonight.
If you do have time to cook, then why not try our LOW CALORIE beef curry? We love cooking this LAZY BEEF CURRY recipe because it's easy, spicy and most of all, won't break the bank. The secret is the budget cut of meat - BRISKET of beef. But ... if you don't have time - here's an idea:

Smoked salmon

Here's our quick lunch - smoked salmon with scrambled (duck) eggs. The richness of the eggs complimented the salmon perfectly. We estimate this dish at around 450 calories - including the toast.
Losing weight doesn't stop when you reach your 'goal'.
Because we have lost weight slowly, we found we learned a lot about the foods we like to eat. We know how many calories they contain and we can now roughly calculate a plate of food just by looking at it. This is helping us keep the weight off.

How to cook rhubarb

I love fresh, new season RHUBARB, as it's slightly sweeter. I'm a bit fed up with the lack lustre and tasteless fruit on offer at the moment so when I saw this,
I thought it would make a tasty COMPOTE to top my Greek yoghurt in the morning. You could also eat this with custard or cream? This should make four good servings at around 50 calories each and it's very simple and quick to make.
Why not try another of our rhubarb recipes - here's a link to our dinner party RHUBARB & CUSTARD  that great British classic with a twist. If you love experimenting in the kitchen and have a little more time, then this recipe is one to try. Refreshingly different.

PRAWN COCKTAIL

Prawn cocktail is very low in calories - as long as you measure out the sauce! You can buy a ready made cocktail sauce or make your own using half tomato sauce and half mayonnaise.
Instead of putting this in a cocktail glass, I plated it up. It looks bigger, and I included boiled egg.
As this salad is under 300 calories, I added some bread and butter. I prefer to eat a good lunch between 400 and 500 calories because I know if I don't, I'll be heading for a snack mid afternoon. We prefer to cut back just a little when we've over indulged and the weight has always disappeared after a few days.
After a long weekend away, enjoying ourselves and relaxing, we need to be pretty vigilant about what we are eating for just a few days. But, that doesn't mean we can't eat great food. Good nutrition will reward you in the end. Food cravings (so we have found) are our body's way of telling us to eat a particular food - perhaps a missing nutrient or two!
REMEMBER: We all have a calorie allowance - do you know yours?

We began our weight loss journey in January 2011 - and began our blog in June 2011. Here's a link to the first post. (here's the link).

We like to post our main meals to show you what CAN be eaten. You won’t find us posting every last morsel though – but we hope this gives you an idea of how far calories can go! I'm currently going through the photographs and replacing them with more website friendly versions which will allow the blog to load quickly. 

Read about our UNIQUE METHOD of weight loss and find out how you can lose weight eating the food you love.

Copyright © forget dieting forever, all rights reserved.

WALKING FOR WEIGHT LOSS

It's GET WALKING WEEK, so why not incorporate walking into your daily routine and reap the weight loss rewards?
After two years of slow and steady weight loss, we know this form of exercise has helped.
Apart from the health benefits a lot of people forget that walking translates into CALORIES. Just half an hour of walking could mean you burn 100 calories or more per day. This could equate to 10 lbs in weight loss per year.
Why not take a look at what we said about CALORIES.
WALKING is not just a social activity either, because quite often I'm on my own. Shopping is a good example.
I've got a small pedometer and can track just how far I walk and on a shopping trip I can clock up 1.5 miles easily by parking a little further away and wandering down a street or two before going into the shops. I also get to

BREAD - BEEF ROLL

This beef roll was under 300 calories. Some people think you have to give up bread in order to lose weight, but we've always eaten it throughout our weight loss.
The butcher had some rare cooked roast beef so we ended up with this lunch today.
In the UK it's very popular to have crisps with sandwiches. Is this just habit, or a texture thing? Let's be honest, most 'meal deals' offer crisps as part of the package, encouraging you to have crisps, so it only helps reinforce the habit if you are a bit of a crisp fanatic.
Quite often our rolls/sandwiches are soft and fluffy too, rather than crispy like a French stick. My roll today was quite crispy, and together with the crunchy salad, I didn't miss the crisps.
Although we eat whatever we like, I have been trying not to buy crisps (which I actually prefer to chocolate). The trouble with crisps is they generally come in multi-packs which just sit around waiting to be opened. Or perhaps I buy them knowing they will sit around and be opened... by me?
Anyway, with a crunchy dilemma at hand, we ended up with the beef roll and these crunchy vegetables/salad on the side. The salad was grated carrot, red onion and iceberg lettuce. There was a little grated cheese providing a salty element and a spoonful of coleslaw. The whole meal was around 425 calories too.
REMEMBER: We all have a calorie allowance - do you know yours?

We began our weight loss journey in January 2011 - and began our blog in June 2011. Here's a link to the first post. (here's the link).

We like to post our main meals to show you what CAN be eaten. You won’t find us posting every last morsel though – but we hope this gives you an idea of how far calories can go! I'm currently going through the photographs and replacing them with more website friendly versions which will allow the blog to load quickly. 

Read about our UNIQUE METHOD of weight loss and find out how you can lose weight eating the food you love.

Copyright © forget dieting forever, all rights reserved.

Haddock with spicy sauce

Haddock with spicy sauce has to be fast food at it's freshest.
I found this HADDOCK on offer at our local supermarket. At half price this was incredibly  cheap and as it looked so fresh, I just couldn't resist buying it.
Over the weekend, when we ate this spicy monkfish, we enjoyed the sauce so much that we said we MUST make it again. Now we had the perfect opportunity.
So here's our haddock in the spicy sauce.
After a leisurely stroll to the pub - what else do you do when the weather is so glorious - we returned to this simply cooked meal.
We opened a can of cannellini beans and ate these instead of potatoes. A few chunks of crusty bread completed the meal. We made the spicy sauce before going out, so upon return the meal was ready within 15 minutes.
Fish is around 1 calorie per gram - so our 150g portion of haddock was extremely low in calories. The only part of the dish that was quite high in calories was the bread, which was necessary for mopping up all those wonderful tomato juices... Here's our recipe:

Pasta with courgettes (zucchini) - budget recipe

There is nothing quite like the taste of courgettes (zucchini) and when they are in season they are cheap. After searching the internet I found pasta, courgette and chopped mint a popular combination. I was intrigued enough to try this out. With the mint sat on the windowsill and courgettes in the fridge, what was I waiting for.
I've used dried pasta today as I'm busy and I've chosen to use penne.
The mint and lemon zest gave this spring dish a fragrant lift - very fresh and zingy. I could have used a bit more mint too, which surprised me.
This pasta dish is estimated at around 400-450 calories depending on the ingredients used, for example if you omit the bacon it will be lower in calories. You may also prefer less pasta - we used 75g of dried pasta, which was quite a large serving. Serve with a chunk of crusty bread.
A great BUDGET recipe. In fact courgettes are extremely easy to grow - we grew them last year. We were forever picking them off the plant and they lasted for months. Here's our recipe:

TORTILLA CHIPS

So what do you do with those leftover wraps? I hate wasting food as it's so expensive. You buy a pack containing much more than you need and wonder what to do with the rest. Well here's an idea - why not make your own TORTILLA CHIPS.
Great for munching on - just watch the calories. Great for sharing. You can use them to dip into your favourite dishes. We tried these out and found they disappeared quite nicely on their own without adding any seasoning.
Experiment with different seasonings/flavourings - perhaps spread some tabasco or harissa?
I think this is a nice lower fat alternative to crisps.
TO COOK - simply cut into wedges and DRY FRY for a couple of minutes either side until crisp.

REMEMBER: We all have a calorie allowance - do you know yours?

We began our weight loss journey in January 2011 - and began our blog in June 2011. Here's a link to the first post. (here's the link).

We like to post our main meals to show you what CAN be eaten. You won’t find us posting every last morsel though – but we hope this gives you an idea of how far calories can go! I'm currently going through the photographs and replacing them with more website friendly versions which will allow the blog to load quickly. 

Read about our UNIQUE METHOD of weight loss and find out how you can lose weight eating the food you love.

Copyright © forget dieting forever, all rights reserved.