Hi readers,
How are you all today? Are you well? Have you survived Monday and made it out the other side, a stronger yet more wearied soul?
How are you all today? Are you well? Have you survived Monday and made it out the other side, a stronger yet more wearied soul?
I hope you’re not too wearied, readers! I’m feeling a little
rough myself. Was hit by a sudden, quite intense cold over the weekend
(literally – it felt like I’d been hit in the right side of my face!) and I’m
still trying to get back to normal. Resting and drinking much water.
These last few days, I’ve been relishing long, warm showers.
And my book – I’m currently reading Big
Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear by Liz Gilbert, and enjoy her thoughts
on the topic. Also, I keep listening to Want
Your Feeling by Jessie Ware, and Erase/Rewind
by The Cardigans. These songs are on my mind.
And I’m almost half way through low-carb January – hurray!!
Taking stock of how I’m finding things so far, in case you’re interested in
trying out a low-carb diet yourself, I’ve had a go at noting down my main ups and
downs with it so far…
The ups:
·
I’m often full – it’s rare that I’ve been
feeling hungry. I just eat at mealtimes and if I’m flagging / feeling
lightheaded otherwise.
·
I’m saving money on alcohol – it only takes one
glass of wine to give me rosy cheeks at the moment, two and I’m tipsy.
·
I’m excited to try new recipes and meals and
ingredients – it’s introducing fresh ideas in the kitchen and different
flavours to my plate.
The downs:
·
I’m not really up to high intensity exercise –
running and any exercise classes involving jumping up and down have my heart soon
racing.
·
I’m finding it hard to adjust to buying the ‘full
fat’ version of foods, as I never have since I began buying my own foods.
·
It’s not a diet everyone’s on top of – friends and
family range from bemused to bewildered and, so far, only my mum has offered to
try and feed me.
·
I’m burning money on fruit – berries and
avocados aren’t exactly the cheapest fresh produce, but my diet would be sad
without them.
·
My complexion’s taken a hit – I immediately broke
out in spots when I changed my diet and this is only just calming down now. I’ve
had them literally everywhere.
I’ll be interested to see how things have changed by the end
of the month! Will I have more ups or downs in the end??
I can tell you one thing fo sho – I will CERTAINLY be ready
for a cheat day on the 1st Feb with cereal, orange juice, a banana, pizza
and peanut M&Ms. Cannot cannot wait.
In the meanwhile, readers, I can link you to a few
dazzlingly low-carb recipes I tried out over the weekend, as I had friends visiting
me in Sheffield. For this special occasion, and in a bid to wow them with the
wonders of low-carb dieting, I took on some proper recipes.
--
RECIPE TIME
For dinner on Saturday night we enjoyed a Keto goat cheese and mushroom frittata…
Click HERE for the
recipe.
… then, for dessert,
we tucked into Low-carb coconut and chocolate puddings!
Click HERE for the
recipe.
--
And I would
recommend both recipes, readers. I managed to prepare both in advance, so
everything was breezy on the night. I was just setting the table, dressing
salad, and pouring wine, as the frittata reheated.
Then I served my
puddings with a blob of crème fraiche on the top, and a little grated dark
choc. Which worked a treat. I’d initially been a little disappointed when I
poured the pudding mix out into ramekins, as it doesn’t look like that much.
But, really, it’s such a rich dessert you couldn’t eat much more. And that’s
coming from me – a certifiable chocaholic.
I really like how,
on the Diet Doctor website, you can easily adjust the recipe to display either
English or US ingredient measurements, and you can set the quantities for exactly
how many people you’re feeding. This doesn’t always work out – you might get 1 ¼
eggs! – but it often does and it saves cooking more than you’ll need.
The one thing I
would say, when it comes to the frittata, is mine needed longer in the oven
than the recipe specified and then still wasn’t quite set in the middle. This
could be how it’s meant to be. And it could be due to the fact I was using a
deep cake tin rather than a skillet.
What do you think,
readers? Would you give these recipes a try at your next dinner party? Do you
think your guests would enjoy? Would YOU enjoy, most importantly? I hope you
have a dinner party occasion soon, readers. It’s fun to host!
Take care, lovely readers.
And skewer safely,
Hayley
