#LCHF Laziest cook on earth

This is something new for me. Writing this from within the WordPress app on my tablet.
Let’s see how it goes….

I’ve had a hash tag on this blog for years; #laziestcookonearth
I take somewhat after my Mom who was definitely not the most enthusiastic cook I’ve ever been fed by! 😆
She did what she had to do in the kitchen and was perfectly happy with a cup of tea and a ‘Jamette’ biscuit.
I think they were made by Bakers or maybe Pyotts; either way they’re no longer made.
My Dad was always disgusted that she disliked fruit. He was horrified that she would only eat a banana if doused with cream!
These days,  I would tell her to ditch the banana and swig the cream!

While I  am perfectly capable and can rise to an occasion in the kitchen, I  frequently find something, IMO, better I would rather be doing!
I  admire immensely those Banters/low carbers who are prepared to spend hours in the kitchen cooking up a storm.
Fortunately, WJJ & I are very relaxed about eating and we’ll mainly dish up meals that are nutritious yet often simple to the extreme.

Herewith an example brekkie or lunch. Portable too.
Sardines on toast. Nothing gourmet there but a good light meal if Banting. Surprisingly filling. Next time I  will have only one toast, not two.

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#2015HereIAm … Keep meals very simple #LCHF #Banting

I thought I would quickly post what I’ve just had for lunch. Simple, simple, simple.

It’s a hot and quite windy day here in Cape Town and I am ‘back at work’.

2 slices Life Bake Toast, each topped with 8g butter and a very thin shaved round of SPAR Chargrilled Ham on each.

The two stacks then piled up with lettuce, a slice of tomato, 2 slices of cucumber, slivers of orange sweet pepper and a very generous slathering of home-made mayo on each little stack.

Yummy and less than 5 minutes to put together.

And this is how my FatSecret food diary looks like for today so far. Pretty good.I’m sorry the pic does not seem to be too clear. 44% of calories consumed; 68/27/5 ratio FPC.

If I make sure that I record in my electronic food diary, I can see where I am heading each day. That appeals to the number cruncher that lives inside me!

#2015HereIAm … #LCHF Lazy cook’s lunch

WJJ and I took the easy way out for lunch today. Huge tuna salads in porridge bowls. Gotta use those bowls for something, right? Haha

I’m avoiding shop bought mayonnaise as far as I possibly can and fortunately WJJ has approved my latest effort. Easy peasy lemon squeezy homemade mayo which will become a staple in my house from now on… I will post the recipe. Also as easy as falling off a log. #laziestcookonearth

Before Banting, we would have scoffed white hamburger rolls stuffed with this tuna mix. We didn’t even miss them.

425g can PnP Chunk Tuna in Brine; finely chopped green pepper, red onion, tomato, cucumber. Lashings of home made mayo, salt & pepper. I really battled to finish mine and took several hours to do so. A planned electricity blackout is due in our area this evening so we’re sorted for the rest of the day!

Banting needs no fancy recipes nor special foods. Just good clean simple food; the best quality that your budget allows.

#2015HereIAm … It’s not easy #LCHF

There is a new Banting book out by a South African based in Johannesburg, Marion Makepeace. It’s called Everyday Banting. It’s a recipe book – yet so much more than that.

I’m going to list the Chapter headings to give you an idea:

Banting Basics; Equipment & shopping lists; Being Prepared; Ideas for entertaining & quick meals; Breads, pancakes, pizza bases & savoury biscuits.; Chicken & Fish; Meat & Mince; Snacks, light meals & lunchbox food; Salads, soups & vegetables; Savoury sauces & dressings; Desserts & sweet treats. Comprehensive to say the least.

What I like about the book is that it’s local, ‘everyday’ and the author deals with her own challenges and those of her partner with common-sense and fine cooking knowledge. In nine months, she has lost in excess of 26kg and gone down 4 dress sizes.

Oh! To have that same success in 2015. I’m certainly going to try emulating her success. BTW, I don’t know Marion Makepeace and she will no doubt be astonished at this glowing tribute.

In the past, on this blog, I have called myself “Laziest Cook on Earth”. I like food that is simple, fresh and above all quick to prepare. I am one of those people who, when I see a recipe with more than 6 ingredients, I turn the page! This is one of the reasons why I recommend this book.

www.everydaybanting.com

2015#HereICome … what a great LCHF website this is!

No! Not this mish-mash blog of mine! I meant:

http://www.ditchthecarbs.com

A veritable cornucopia of information, recipes and plain common-sense. I also like the fact that the owner is based in New Zealand so all measurements are given in metric as we understand them in RSA as well.

From time to time, I deem it necessary to share the good stuff I find on my cyber travels!

When you have a mo’, do check it out.

Berry Jam and Jelly

Step 2 in Cor’s Banting Christmas Trifle preparation!

Banting Core

There are several Jam recipes out there. Just Google and you may find a bunch.

The easiest is just to liquidize and reduce some fresh or frozen berries, with a touch of xilitol for sweetness. I also add a drop of lemon juice. 2 cups for liquidised berries should yield about 1 cup for ‘jam’.

To make the jelly, you need some of the ‘jam’ made above. This particular recipe I got from the book you can get from http://www.everydaybanting.co.za – chock full of lovely recipes.

Make 500ml of liquid with the recipe specified by your brand of gelatine powder (for me it was 1/2 cup hot water,  3 tsp gelatine powder and add 1 1/2 cup water once the gelatine is dissolved).

Mix that with 4Tbsp berry jam,  1 Tbsp lemon juice, and let it set in fridge for a few hours!

If you want to stiffen the JAM…

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Almond and Macadamia Cupcakes

One of the Banting blogs I follow is that of Cor Winckler. He’s a successful Banter, cyclist and foodie. His teenaged daughter seems to be following in his footsteps re the foodie part too!

Banting Core

1 cup Almond Flour (or any seed/nut meal)
1/2 cup Macadamia Nut Butter
3 eggs
1tsp baking powder
3-6 Tbsp Xylitol (to taste)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 Tbsp Phsyllium husk fiber
1/2 tsp Salt
1/4 cup butter milk or creme fraiche or cream cheese
1 and 1/2 tsp lemon juice
2Tbsp butter

Optional:
1/3 cup cacao (80ml) if you want to make chocolate cupcakes – in this case usually a bit more xylitol (towards the 6 Tbsp mark).

Method:
Pre-heat oven to 180C
Mix all the dry ingredients – make sure there are no lumps. Sift if you have to.
Mix in the wet stuff – eggs, butter, vanilla, buttermilk. Keep the lemon juice right till the end.

Spread evenly between 12 cupcake holders.

Bake for 20-30 minutes till a knife or toothpick comes out clean. Take out and let cool.

PS- this is the first ingredient for the…

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When did it become OK? Just when?

So, I ask again, when did it become OK? Just exactly when?

Just what am I on about now?

Yesterday, we spent several hours at CT International airport. On the Saturday before Christmas it’s not a good place to be. The place was heaving with people who were heaving themselves along….. as in lumbering along with their obese bodies no doubt protesting quite strongly.

Of course, there were many folk of healthy weight among the masses but, it seemed to me, that every second person I saw was obese to morbidly obese. Lumbering along with that peculiar rocking gate of protesting bones and muscles slack with lack of exercise….. Or traipsing along with muffin tops offending my eyes. (Maybe I’m just prudish and old fashioned with that one!)

I will refrain from including myself in any pics at this time, but my family companions looked pretty good!

Sitting in the Spur, watching the planes come and go (I love doing that), I also observed people come and go from the various tables in the restaurant. One family in particular came directly into my line of vision and I covertly observed them for quite a while. Grandparents, morbidly obese, trying to squeeze into the benches at their big table. The granny, I wondered about her. What did she look like when she married the old man? Slim? trim? Or already plump on her wedding day?  The oupa; I imagined him just eating whatever was put on the table in front of him at home. The children, ‘30/40-somethings’, severely overweight. The son; maybe it was rugby muscle now overtaken by fat. The DIL; very plump indeed. Maybe she was trying to control her weight? Who knows? Lastly, the grandchildren. Not yet in High School. Seriously podgy and pasty looking from lack of sun & exercise. Perhaps that was the saddest part of the picture in front of me. The grandchildren.

Why do I keep thinking about the grandmother? Should she have informed herself and controlled the diet & habits of herself and her spouse? Which, in turn, could have inculcated better eating habits in her son? Maybe she is in fact informed but just could not get control? You know, somehow, I don’t think so. I think she just gave up on the calories, the ‘low fat everything’ that was supposed to help her slim down, the never-ending diets, the never-ending failures.

The food choices that family of six South Africans made yesterday were ill-advised to say the very least. And I, for one, will never give up on myself and my quest for permanent, sustainable healthy weight. I will never give up on my Odyssey.

Listen up 2015! Here.I.Come!

I’m enjoying a short period of less hectic days and this will continue for a couple of weeks. Bliss! Trying to get office stuff done quite promptly in the morning and then indulging myself for the rest of the day.

As for many of us, 2014 was a mixed bag – the proverbial good, bad and the ugly. I wrestled the entire year with my weight and worrying health markers.

A battle plan is in progress for 2015 and I will be sharing all here on this neglected blog. Not easy to bare one’s soul for the whole world to see but I will be doing this anyway.

I would so love to have you join me as the odyssey continues……

This pic sorta says it all!  🙂

Sweet Perfection? If you must!

I found this today. Looking forward to trying these sachets; do hope we get used to the taste!  Hubby and I have been on sucralose for a long time. Ingredients are Erythritol  and Stevia extract.
@ProfTimNoakes  @SalCreed