Courgette Hummus

Hummus - the cornerstone of Middle Eastern cuisine is usually loaded with chickpeas. On LCHF that's a no no. So here is a delish alternative :)

Cut 250g courgettes into 2 cm rounds.  Toss on olive oil and salt and a little thyme.  Put in an oven proof dish and roast for 30-40 mins until soft.

Cool.

Using a hand blender or food processor blitz the courgettes with 3 tablespoons tahini paste, crushed garlic, 1/2 tsp cumin, 1 tablespoon olive oil and some salt and pepper to taste.

Enjoy with seed crackers :)

Cauliflower pizza

I love pizza.
On lchf you can have cheese.
But you can't have the base.
So I could go and buy a pizza and just eat the topping.

Or I could make this :)

Pizza base:
1 head of cauliflower - grate and steam. Squeeze out all the moisture in a kitchen towel and leave to cool.
250g grated mozarella
1 tsp Italian herbs
1 egg

Mix together well.
Flatten on a silpat sheet on a baking tray (needs to be around 8mm thick). The thinner the better but don't have any gaps.
Pat with a kitchen towel and bake for 15 mins at 180°. Turn up oven and cook for further 10 mins at 220°.

Topping:
1 tsp Tomatoe paste
1 tsp Italian herbs
1 tsp Olive oil
Mix together and smooth on base.
Top with your desired toppings: salami, ham, olives, mushrooms, bacon,  avo, capers, anchovies - pile it high!
Top with mozarella - use as much as you like

Bake in oven at 220° for 8 mins

Top with rocket and devour!

Dr Paw Paw - my love!

Tashas has a staple on their menu - paw paw, yoghurt, almonds and honey.

I decided to mix it up a bit :)

1 paw paw
1 handful of walnuts
Raw honey
Double cream yoghurt
Lavender flowers

Chop, dress, eat

Thank me later

Celeriac fries

A delicious alternative to the usual suspects.

I spiced these with thyme, rosemary and chilli. Would work well with paprika as well.

1 celeriac bulb - peeled and thinly sliced into fries
1 tbsp olive oil
Salt, pepper and preferred spices and herbs

Combine in a bag, coat well with spices and oil.

Lay on baking tray.
Bake at 220°C for 25 mins

Salt and serve. Super moreish

Lamb meatballs with cumin, coriander and chilli

Nice to keep in the fridge for a snack or a light dinner with salad and yoghurt

500g lamb mince
2 tsp cumin
2 tsp coriander
1 red chilli deseeded
1/2 bunch coriander finely chopped
1 egg
Salt and pepper

Mix together and fry slowly in coconut oil.

Serve with tsatsiki and humus (if you're eating chick peas) and a Greek salad.

Beef shin with orange chermoula

Very hearty dish and very reasonably priced.

Stew
2 packs beef shin
1 tbsp olive oil
5 cloves of garlic
2 cm ginger (fresh)
1 onion
2 carrots
2 stalks celery
1 sachet tomatoe paste
2 cups beef stock
Juice of 2 oranges
2 cups white wine
Salt and pepper

Brown the shin on the olive oil. Dice onions, ginger and garlic and sweat. Add diced carrots and sliced celery.

Pour in wine, stock, orange juice and tomatoe paste.

Simmer for 1 hour 20 mins

Chermoula
2 bunches parsley
2 tbsp olive oil
Salt
1/2 orange worth of orange peel
5 cloves of garlic

Blitz in food processor until fine.

Serve on top of the stew.
So hearty - no need for a starch.

Banting breakfast option

Citrus - I used grapefruit, orange and mandarin
Berries
Chopped nuts
Double cream yoghurt
Cinnamon

Simple, easy and delicious

Raspberry lemon cheese cake with nut base

Delicious Sunday dinner treat.

Base:
Blitz together 50g raw cashews, 50g blanched almonds, 2 tablespoons dessicated coconut, 25g butter, 10 dried dates.

Press into base of tin/dish

Filling:
1 packet Philadelphia cream cheese
1 tub cream
1/4 cup lemon juice
30g xylitol
1 punnet raspberries - blitzed and passed through sieve
1 tsp vanilla essence
Zest of a lemon

Whip cream to soft peaks with vanilla and xylitol
Whip Philadelphia cheese and lemon juice together
Combine with cream and whip
Stir in raspberry coulis

Place on top of nut base

Cool in fridge for 6 hours

Decorate with berries

Enjoy!

Breakfast crumpets

Breakfast crumpets

2 eggs
3 - 4 tablespoons almond flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp vanilla essence

Mix together and leave to rest for 5 minutes.
Spoon into a hot pan and cook until bubbles form. Turn over and cook for 30 secs.

Serve with berries and almond butter.

Low carb: Zoodles with Bolognaise and cheese

I definitely was in the mood for a bolognaise and as I've been badly off plan in the last week pasta wasn't an option.

Enter Zoodles! Zucchini noodles. The best invention since sliced bread!

Here's how to make this heart warming dish:

Bolognaise:
1 tbsp olive oil
1 onion
1 carrot
3 cloves garlic
3 tsp Italian herbs
Salt and pepper to taste
500g mince
1 tin of tomatoes
1 tsp tomatoe paste
1 cup red wine
1/2 cup water

Sweat onion, garlic, herbs and carrot in olive oil. Add mince and brown. Season with salt and pepper. Add wine, tomatoe and paste and water and boil rapidly for 45 minutes.

ZOODLES :)
4 Zucchini per person
Juilienne them into thib stripsand blanche them for 3 mins in boiling water.

Strain all water off. Top with bolognaise. Serve with cheese :)

Enjoy!

Chocolate and walnut oopsies

Takes a bit of time but a definite winner for Sunday lunch

Oopsies:
2 egg whites
4 tbsp xylitol
1 tsp white wine vinegar
1 tsp baking powder
2 tbsp cocoa powder
Handful of walnuts

Whisk together until firm. Place on baking sheet and bake at 100° for 1 hour. Dry in oven for 1 hour.

Serve with cream and strawberries :)

Rump steak with bernaise sauce and baby spinach, watercress and rocket green salad

Ah... What a spoil :) rump steak is the perfect Saturday night supper - drenched in bernaise, my am I happy :)

Start with a gastric - 1 tbsp white wine vinegar,  2 peppercorns and 1 bay leaf in a pan - warm through to heat the acid of the vinegar.  Set aside to cool.

In a double boiler, Whisk the yolk of 1 egg until it starts breaking down. Add the cooled gastric.  Continue whisking.  Slowly start adding the ice cold butter - whisking continually.  When it's immulsified add some tarragon to taste and black pepper. Continue whisking.

Set aside on hot water in double boiler. Cook steak to taste. Dress salad with vinegarette and plate up.

Enjoy!

Pumpkin and parsnip soup with sage

Here is a great quick soup for these chilly winter nights

1 onion
6 cloves garlic
1.5kg pumpkin, diced
3 parsnips, diced
3 lt vegetable stock
3 tbsp dried sage
3 bay leaves
1 bouquet garni
Salt and pepper

Cream to serve

Sweat the onion and garlic in a pot until glassy.
Add sage,  bay leaf bouquet garni.
Add pumpkin and parsnip and stew for 5 mins.
Add stick and simmer for 45 minutes.
Blend with a stick blender and serve with double cream swirled in the top

Enjoy

Low carb flu fighter

Im down with flu and I realised just how much sugar is in flu medicine - its insane. Doesnt that sugar feed your germ cells rather than killing them?

Anyway, I made a delish concoction - low carb flu fighter

You will need:

Hot water, cinnamon stick, lemon slices, ground ginger and some xylitol if you want sweetness.

Steep all the ingredients in the boiling water for 10 minutes and drink. All good - all well.

*sniff*

Red cabbage with orange and apple

Lovely accompaniment to pork or duck

1 head red cabbage
1 apple grated
2 tsp orange peel, sliced
2 bay leaves
1 tsp juniper berries
3 cloves
100 ml apple cider vinegar
100 ml water
Salt and pepper

Chop the cabbage and add to pot  with grated apple. Add the spices and liquids. 

Cook on low heat for 45 minutes until soft. Stir occasionally to ensure it doesn't catch.

Enjoy!

Sweet potatoe cottage pie

It's cold in Joburg at the moment and sometimes you just need some comfort food.

Here is a delish cottage pie of goodness.

You need 500g sweet potatoes - peel and boil. Once they are done, mash with 1/2 tsp salt and 2tblsp butter.

For the pie filling you need 500g mince, 1 onion, 3 cloves of garlic, 1 tsp olive oil and 1 tbsp tomatoe paste. Fry off the onion and garlic in the oil,  brown the mince and then add the tomatoe paste.  I add a splash of brown sauce just to round the flavours. 

Place the mince in a ramekin and top with the mashed potatoe.

Bake at 180° for 25 minutes. Serve with warm veggies or salad.

Makes 2 (serves 4)

Week 26 Results

Week 26 results

Ive been banting for 6 months and I cannot actually believe how quickly time has gone. Its insane. At the same time though it has not been the easiest journey. I cant underplay the emotional rollercoaster that losing weight is for me. At some points its so emotionally draining dealing with the loss of me that you just want to pack it in and eat a carton of chocolate and go back into the comfortable world of food. I will start writing some more about this soon, because its a huge thing for me.

But I refuse to be beaten this time. I refuse to allow this to rule over me. I am losing weight for noone but me. I want to be healthier, I want to shop in cool shops, I want to feel confident walking down the street. Thats why I started on this journey. And 6 months on I am feeling quite good.

Some results:

I am 29.9 pounds lighter (I measure in pounds, it makes it seem like more :)). Thats an average weekly loss of 1.15 pounds. Thats roughly 523g a week. Which is a big block of butter. 26 of them actually. And thats cool. It hasnt all been downhill. This is my chart (I love excel) of progress:

What this equates to is 8.5% loss on my starting weight and 22.67% of my total goal I want to lose - so I am almost on track with my 2 year plan to get to my goal weight, tracking a little behind but I reckon if I up my exercise we can maybe accelerate that a little more. Im also 31.5cm down in the last 3 weeks (I am doing the Sleek Geek 8 week Winter Challenge - so that I dont lose focus in winter) - I didnt measure myself at the beginning, silly twit - so I will just work on my 8 June measurements going forward.

I said to myself that I would spend my first 6 months focusing on eating and then introduce more exercise from month 7. Thats where we are now. I need to get back in the pool. I need to get into the gym (for real, not for my smoothie fix which, now that I dont do sugar, doesnt even taste nice anymore) and I need to tone and loose more with increased exercise. That I will start this weekend.

So I still have a looooooooooong way to go - but Im a quarter of the way there. If this was a trip down to Cape Town, Im in Bloemfontein, and that is fine by me.

Onward and upward my lovelies - hope to do a spectacular check in again in December.

Roasted pork rashers and roasted veggies with garlic

Roasted pork rashers and veggies with garlic

I really needed a heavy veggie meal this evening. Sometimes on LCHF you actually get a craving for veggies. So this evening I made a delicious roast dinner - in 45 minutes.

Start by cutting up your desired veggies. I used aubergines, savoy cabbage, brussel sprouts, carrots, parsnips, sweet potatoe and snap peas.

Place them in a bag, drizzle with olive oil, salt and dried rosemary. Take 1 head of garlic and break it into the bag. Mix all together and pour out onto a baking sheet or roasting dish.

Bake in the oven at 180 degrees for 45 minutes.

When the veggies are about 2/3 of the way, take another tray, place a grill rack on it and lay out your pork rashers. Sprinkle with some spices - I used my favourite Shisinyama spice from Robertsons and thats it! Roast on the tray for 15 minutes.

Then remove the veggies from the oven, turn on the grill and grill the pork rashers for 5 - 10 minutes under the grill to crisp.

Enjoy!

Flap jacks

Need a quick and easy treat that won't break the bank and is banting and lchf friendly?  Try these super quick flap jacks - makes around 6 flapjacks

1 egg
3 tablespoons almond flour or coconut flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp xylitol if you're making them sweet

Mix and leave to rest for 5 mins. Fry in either a dry pan or in butter until golden.

Serve with double cream and warmed berries if serving them sweet or with smoked salmon and avo if savoury.

Enjoy :)

Fennel bulb salad with caraway seeds and apple cider vinegar

Light salad to go wonderfully with grilled meat or fish. Low carb and definitely delicious

1 fennel bulb
1 tsp caraway seeds
2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
Salt and pepper

Chop up fennel.  Grind caraway seeds in pestle and mortar.  Add apple cider vinegar and salt and pepper to taste.

Allow to marinate for 6 hours at least to intensify flavours