Wagons Roll!

I'm doing okay on my healthy eating (less than a week in so far, so quite frankly, it's not that much of a surprise!) and I'm pleased with myself...Though I did slip up yesterday. I was in Carrefour doing my weekly shop, and I noticed that they were selling Galettes des Rois

These are deliciously buttery flaky pastry around frangipane, served traditionally this time of year, to celebrate the visit of the Magi to Christ. Inside the Galette there is a féve - a bean (though now it is a little plastic figure from whichever film is most popular. This year it's The Hobbit) - and whoever gets the piece with the bean either chokes and dies a horrible death, or is the "King" of the day/evening/whatever. Usually the Galettes are sold with a crown, as you can see in the photo, which the lucky winner can wear.

So, there I was in Carrefour, and I wandered over to the stand, hoping that they were selling mini-galettes, just enough for 2 people, and found that there was a plate full of pieces of still warm, just-out-of-the-oven Galette, obviously hoping to tempt shoppers.
"One morsel won't hurt," I thought, popping one in my mouth. It was delicious!
A furtive glance over my shoulder, and...
"No-one's looking...one more!" In it went. I went to look at the fish counter, and on my way back to the cat food I had to pass the Galette stand...Yes, you've guessed it. In the immortal words of Oscar Wilde "I can resist everything except temptation"! After that, I made sure that I diverted myself away from the Galette stand! And no, they didn't have mini-Galettes: they were all for 6 or 8 portions.

Generally, I've succeeded in decreasing the size of my lunch, increasing the amount of fruit and veg that I eat, and eschewing alcohol completely. (6 days and counting...!) One sweet treat (lowish calorie muffin) and one chocolate (eating the leftovers from Christmas!) a day. It's not strict calorie counting, but I'm being more careful than I was, which is the aim.

Mr FD has just come upstairs, and on his way up he said in lugubrious tones
"I've got bad news for you..."
I had a moment of panic, but guessed he wasn't being serious. Just before he started to speak again, I guessed
"You've put the bike on the rollers!" Yes, he's set up my bike so it can be used as an exercise bike. Dammit. Now I've got no excuse to avoid exercise.

There's an idea - blogging and exercising at the same time!!

So next week's menus look like this:

MONDAY

(fasting)

Porridge for brekkie, fruit (and maybe a green salad, no dressing) for lunch, and a "Tangle pie" for dinner, made with left over turkey and vegetables. A "Tangle pie" is the Hairy Dieters name for a pie made with a topping of a few sheets of crumpled filo pastry. We'll have this with lots of veggies.

TUESDAY

Porridge - soup & 1 slice bread + slice of chicken for lunch - Dinner: Red Lentil Thai Curry and rice, except mine will be Malaysian, as that's the type of curry paste that I have. (Almost finished. Must remember to get more next time I'm in the UK!)

WEDNESDAY

Porridge (or maybe an egg.) - usual lunch - Hairy Dieters Salmon with chilli ginger sauce.
However, I'm not using salmon, as I've read terrible statistics regarding the amount of anti biotics, and other nasties that are fed to the farmed salmon in Norway, and that is the only salmon I could find (though I didn't look in the Bio section...shall remember to do that next time!) So I bought trout. Raised in France, where apparently it's regulated more tightly (or so they say...)

THURSDAY

(fasting)

Veggie soup (made with 80g frozen veg, and half a stock cube, + a squirt of harissa) + a crispbread with Marmite for lunch

Smoked salmon & spinach quiche, using the left over filo. I might make these as mini quiche, in my muffin tray, which will give better portion control. The smoked salmon in Scottish. Smallish baked potato and salad.

FRIDAY

Quiche for lunch. Harissa stuffed peppers for dinner. With more salad. Except, thinking about it, I didn't buy any salad leaves when shopping. I'll have to remember to get some on Wednesday/Thursday.

SATURDAY

Usual lunch. Dinner is Middle Eastern Moussagna - a hybrid mix of lasagna, moussaka and risotto! It uses the same filling as the stuffed peppers, so it should be quite quick and easy to make. Served with more salad. (which due to the fact I bought a 2 kg bag of carrots - only 0,99€! - will no doubt include grated carrot)

SUNDAY

Usual gubbins for lunch. Hairy Dieters Peppered Steak with mushrooms for dinner. We'll probably have this with Slimming World chips (chipped potatoes, tossed in a tsp or so of oil & oven baked) 

I'm hoping to have yet more new recipes to try soon, as I've ordered the new Hairy Dieters book from Amazon. It's due to arrive on Tuesday. I do like their recipes as, for the main part, they are down-to-earth, hearty meals.

 The reviews that I've read have been very positive about this so I'll be happy to get it and peruse it! Maybe I'll try a Hairy Dieter's Challenge, like my River Cottage "Veg Every Day"  challenge last year, to try all the recipes in the book. I didn't manage it with River Cottage - and I don't use the ones I've tried that often now - but it will be good to get different tastes & meals, rather than just the old favourites. There are some recipes I've not tried just because they "look too complicated" or "I'm nt sure I fancy it", but like I did with River Cottage, I may well be pleasantly surprised!

Thank you for your comments.It's always lovely to read what you say.

 

TRISH: I'm glad you liked the salmon. I decided it wasn't a "keeper", but it's good if someone likes the recipes I link to! (and the pictures of David Tennant!! What's your view on Peter Capaldi as the next Doctor? I'm reserving judgement, but am hopeful.)

Well done on your weight loss. I'm hoping for greater losses this year than last, as I watch what I eat for the rest of the week!

KEZZIE: Thanks for the spinach and radish tip. I'm only just coming to like radishes, but bought some at Carrefour (only 0,99€ a bag!) so we'll try them in our salads this week.

POMPOM: I made some of the muffins from my recipe. They were good - tasty but they felt healthy!!! The amount of mixture made more than 12 muffins - BUT I did use smaller-than-muffin-size cake cases, so I got 18 buns at a lower calorie count for each (esp as I used less honey too)