A sort of … omelette

This vegetable and chorizo omelette made a welcome change. We had planned a salad, but the weather turned cold, and we fancied something warm for lunch.
I washed 250g of new potatoes, which were more waxy than old potatoes, and took slightly longer to cook. I sliced them thinly and let them sauté (covered with a lid) in a small amount of oil and butter in the frying pan.
After 10 minutes, I added chopped onion and sliced pepper. The vegetables took a total of around 20 minutes to soften and cook through. Finally I added minced garlic and a few peas for colour, and cooked for a couple more minutes.
In a clean pan, I fried about 25g of sliced Chorizo for a minute or so before adding the cooked vegetables. I then whisked up four eggs (for the two of us), seasoned with salt and pepper and poured over the vegetables and cooked for a couple of minutes until set. A sprinkle of grated cheese was added before popping under the grill to finish. We served with a small side salad.
It was very filling and we would estimate about 450 calories per serving. The photograph shows half of one serving.
Copyright © forget dieting forever, all rights reserved.

FRESH TOMATO SOUP

This fabulously fresh, vibrant TOMATO SOUP recipe was bursting with flavour and very comforting. A satisfyingly wholesome soup you'll surely want to make again. It was deliciously thick and creamy in texture and not acidic at all.
Some supermarkets are selling vine tomatoes at bargain prices - just over £1 per kilo. I've been wanting to try a fresh tomato, so what better time. A great way to use up those forgotten tomatoes too (if you have any).
I wanted to make a 'quick' soup, so I didn't roast the tomatoes first. The resulting flavour was still very tomato-y, but if roasting enhances this (as I would imagine it would) I can't wait to make this soup recipe again using roasted tomatoes. I love the fact I can control the seasoning and use less salt than some tinned varieties.
For this tomato soup, I chose to start with my usual soup ingredients, and was delighted with the results of our first attempt. The herbs did not overpower the soup either.
From around 150 calories per portion* - just add crunchy toast or (as we did) a cheese sandwich for a satisfying lunch.
Here's our delicious recipe:

New potato and asparagus salad

If you love new potatoes - as we do - why not add them to a warm green salad.
These lovely Pembrokeshire new potatoes added a new dimension to one of our favourite green salads. They are very similar to a Jersey Royal.
A few crushed walnuts added extra texture. The Pecorino shavings adding a salty touch, although you could use Parmesan.
This plate contains 150g of boiled potatoes and works out at around 300 calories. That includes the chopped walnuts, Pecorino, lemon dressing (see below) and cooking oil for the vegetables. Here's the recipe for the lemon dressing:

Crab party bites

With a small amount of fresh crab left over, we wondered what we could make and came up with these easy, very tasty party bites. At around 20 calories (if that) per portion, your guests will enjoy the light crunch against the sweet crab. Not only that, but they are very cost effective to make.

You can find dressed crab at the supermarket for around £4 or £5. If using this, you’ll probably end up with between 20-30 crab party bites – a little goes a long way. Even these could be halved again for the perfect one bite. They look very impressive, and the French toast is easy to make too, here's how:

Cheese and biscuits

Goat’s cheese biscuits with chilli relish are very quick to assemble, and a favourite in our kitchen.  Cheese and biscuits are great party snacks, and soft goat’s cheese has a deliciously tangy note. The chilli relish worked well because it was tangy (like the cheese) rather than sweet. All together your guests could easily crunch their way through a plateful of these. They look quite striking on the plate too.

Cheese and biscuits make perfect partners yet would not be allowed on certain diets – eg food combining.  Being free to choose whatever you prefer to eat while losing weight on this weight loss system means you need never feel left out at any party gathering.
Do you know how many calories you are allowed each day?

Here's a link to our very first blog post about our weight loss journey, which we began in January 2011. We started this blog as a way of recording what we ate while losing weight. The blog is a food diary, and contains lots of recipes, tips and ideas about losing weight.

You'll find our WEIGHT LOSS PLAN here. 

Copyright © forget dieting forever (2014), all rights reserved. Please do not copy any of this material without my express permission.

FRESH CRAB

How lucky we were to find some very delicious fresh crab – just landed (…. on our plate) while we were away.  

This fresh crab sandwich is light in calories yet packed with a wonderful sweetness. The brown crabmeat is much more powerful, so we added a touch of lemon juice and mayonnaise.  You could also chop hard-boiled egg into the mixture. We used the brown crab mix to spread on the rolls instead of using butter, before piling the white crab meat on top.  

White crab meat has approximately 72 calories per 100g, and we estimate our large crab roll totalled around 350 calories.
Do you know how many calories you are allowed each day?

Here's a link to our very first blog post about our weight loss journey, which we began in January 2011. We started this blog as a way of recording what we ate while losing weight. The blog is a food diary, and contains lots of recipes, tips and ideas about losing weight.

You'll find our WEIGHT LOSS PLAN here. 

Copyright © forget dieting forever (2014), all rights reserved. Please do not copy any of this material without my express permission.

BASIL, LEMON & LEMON SOLE

Lemon sole is a wonderfully light fish, and this recipe made good use of the basil sitting on the windowsill.
I cooked a plateful of smaller fillets - deliciously soft and sweet.
After marinating the fish in oil, lemon juice and chopped basil for 10 minutes, I pan fried in butter and oil. The small fillets took just minutes to cook.
Had the fillets been bigger, I could have spread them with a basil (or similar) pesto, rolled them up and baked in the oven. Another favourite recipe of ours is this lemon sole with capers.
Despite using olive oil to marinate and cook the fish, the meal was still surprisingly low in calories - this 150g of lemon sole is around 125 calories. We served ours with pine nuts - around 190 calories per 28g (each kernel works out at just over 1 calorie each). With the small amount of butter and oil, this plateful is somewhere around 250 calories.
With plenty of room to spare, I served the fish with lots of flavoursome Jersey Royal potatoes. I look out for these seasonal beauties, along with Pembrokeshire and Cornish potatoes. Serve with peas, or a salad. Keep it simple and enjoy the star of the dish - the delicate lemon sole.

***

REMEMBER:  - Do you know how many calories you are allowed each day?

Here's a link to our very first blog post about our weight loss journey, which we began in January 2011. We started this blog as a way of recording what we ate while losing weight. The blog is a food diary, and contains lots of recipes, tips and ideas about losing weight.

You'll find our WEIGHT LOSS PLAN here. 

Copyright © forget dieting forever (2014), all rights reserved. Please do not copy any of this material without my express permission.

BEEF STEW & PEARL BARLEY

SLOW COOKED beef stew and pearl barley is another of our favourite dishes. We revisited it today, making a large batch - enough for 8 to 12 portions.
There's something comforting about pearl barley in a stew, provided it's not overcooked - see our tip below. Pearl barley swells up a lot, and can take over the dish if you're not careful.
Use about one tablespoon of (uncooked) pearl barley per portion. This will add around 45 calories to the dish.
Each dumpling is around 90 calories. The portion of beef stew in the photograph contains around 75g of beef and two (very fluffy) dumplings which worked out at around 500 calories.
For this recipe I used a SLOW COOKER, but you can always cook this in an ovenproof dish on a low heat - 140ºC for two to three hours. Cover tightly with foil first, then the lid. You'll need to check that it hasn't dried out.
Here's how we make our stew:

Slow cooked beef

We love the budget cuts of meat - they have a lot of flavour. This BBQ BRISKET OF BEEF is no exception - and is one of our favourite cuts of meat. Cooking the beef slowly results in a very tender and juicy piece of meat. Most of the fat is drawn out of the meat too.
Over the weekend, we decided to try a different method of cooking the beef. We weren't disappointed with the results either. Usually we cook slowly in the oven for 3 to 4 hours on a low heat.

A TIP FOR GREAT BEEF BURGERS

Home made BEEF BURGERS can be so juicy and tender, and you get to control the ingredients that go in.
We decided to make these BEEF SLIDERS after picking up a good tip, which resulted in a pretty amazing burger.
You don't need egg to bind the meat either.
So what's the secret? For these burgers, we started out with good quality minced beef. You can add your favourite spices to the basic mix below. The calories in each burger will change depending on the fat content of the beef.  At around 150 calories per slider, these make a great party snack. They were very filling too.
Here's how we made them:

ASPARAGUS & COURGETTE SALAD

We're making the most of the English asparagus season, with this warm ASPARAGUS & COURGETTE SALAD.
The zesty dressing and Pecorino turned the salad into a lunch time treat. We made enough dressing for several salads/meals.
We served ours with a little watercress although pea shoots would work really well.
This warm salad is versatile - served as a starter, side, or main with pasta.
HERBS can be costly, so here's my tip for keeping your mint going. Buy a small mint plant from the supermarket and repot into a bigger container to fit balcony or garden. Do this when the weather is warmer. The mint should spread nicely and keep going for months to come. Our mint survived quite nicely outside, disappearing over winter and returning in full glory.
Here's the recipe for the lemon dressing: