Soledad&#39;s Journal

Yes, in place of the rice we used to use as the carbohydrate source. (We were both on a diet for 4 or 5 months earlier in the year and gave up rice & potatoes [Mr EA gave up bread, too], and although we're not calorie restricting any more, we're sticking to not eating rice or potatoes.)

We steam the squash in cubes in the microwave, which is really quick, and pour freshly squeezed lemon juice on it when it's hot, then use it as a side dish to the curry. It's very tasty but it only works with curries that aren't too wet (as it doesn't absorb fluid) or too hot (it's not as cooling as rice). We use it in place of potatoes/potato salad, too. We tried it with stir fries but it didn't really work as well there. It's much lower calorie than rice, and it counts as a vegetable portion too. (I'm not very good at eating fruit/veg.)

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I love peanuts, it's mainly the texture I don't like in peanut butter, so it might work ok. I adore coconut milk -- we used to cook with it a lot but we've had to give it up as part of the calories drive. (Which has rather taken over our lives, sadly.)

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Even with two people, baking generates far too much bread to eat sensibly, sadly.

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That sounds very interesting; I mostly roast butternut squash, with quite a lot of oil, which isn't helpful when aiming for low calorie content. The idea that this way of cooking it would also be quicker, is good too. I find myself rarely cooking dinner on a week night, because by the time I get home I want dinner quickly. For this purpose, when I do cook I try to make a large batch so that I can have ready made meals in the freezer. But sometimes it is nice to have a meal that hasn't been through the freezer!

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We've got a huge backlog of gardening to do -- lots of bulbs to put in, which are languishing in our too-warm kitchen, and a big area of weeds that needs clearing and digging over so we can plant it before the frosts set in. It's always enjoyable buying plants, but it's much less enjoyable digging and weed clearing to put them in. My back still aches from last weekend!

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I am trying to not let my plan to loose weight become the big thing in my life; to that end I aim to eat things I like, just in smaller portions, and not having (too much) unhealthy snacks about the house. Actually, the way I usually do dinner during the week, reheating a box with a precooked meal from the freezer helps with that; I can simply make the portions smaller when I freeze them. The trick then is to not 'fill up' on snacks afterwards...

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We used to roast it with olive oil too, but this way is tasty, much less oily and quicker (tho' cubing it does take time and needs a great big knife).

With the curries, we often make a big batch and eat one portion, freeze another and sometimes even refrigerate a third. The curry usually improves for refrigeration overnight though freezing doesn't do a lot for the meat texture -- not a problem for a vegetarian, though!

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Smaller portions really helps and after a while one adjusts to them. I've found it's important to eat enough t meals to feel properly full, otherwise I just overeat on snacks, and end up eating more overall.

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It is a great shame, because baking bread can be such a therapeutic activity, not to mention the lovely smell in the house!

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We have the lovely scent of roasted coffee beans in the kitchen :) Which have the advantage of being calorie free!

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I went to a garden centre last weekend and bought bulbs, too. They are just going to have to wait a bit longer to go in the ground; I know the packet says to plant them straight away, but I can't help thinking that since my kitchen isn't much warmer than the in-door part of the garden centre where they displayed the bulbs, they should be fine sitting there for awhile. I also bought some plants, wanting some hanging baskets for my front porch. Being lazy, I bought ready planted baskets though, so all I had to do was hang them up! :-) What really needs doing in my garden at the moment, is mowing the lawn. Not sure I am going to get around to that this weekend either, which in all likelihood means it won't happen until next weekend. I keep thinking I could do it one week night, but what with the evenings getting shorter, and me usually being to lazy/tired to do much when I get home from work, in reality it is very unlikely.

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I do love the smell of coffee, but I just can't do with the taste! Living on my own, that means I don't really get the smell of coffee either...

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Which one? There are half a dozen so-called "originals", including the versons of Cretien de Troyes and Sir Thomas Mallory, and they all contradict each other, although certain motives are usually the same. :)

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One trick that I find does help is also drinking plenty of water; it fills up your stomach, without adding any calories at all! But yes, I do find it is important to come away from a meal feeling full, because as you otherwise you very easily have more by snacking. I wish there were some really tasty, low calorie snacks, but I find that snacks are usually either or...

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I've given up on the losing weight project as long as I can't retire. During school term, there is just too much stress and too little time to eat healthily; and besides, I need my comfort food to survive with the last shards of my sanity intact.

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I first came to Doctor Who for David Tennant's first season; he captured my heart with the library scene (points to icon) in the second episode!

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I noticed my local Tesco selling precubed sweet potatoes and butternut squash; I might be lazy and go for that option... It also has the advantage of giving me both of those two vegetables which I love, in a quantity that is (semi-)reasonable for a one person household.

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Eccleston had a strong presence; IMO, he was probably the only truly adult Doctor since Jon Pertwee. I just couldn't stand Tennant's hystronics, and what little I saw of Matt Smith, it didn't impress me, either. Sorry.

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Mmmm.... coffee....

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Either or both - I'm not choosy.

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Gobbling up samples!! Tomorrow is the real life party, but I worked all day today and will be working tomorrow till noon, too, so I had to make the cheesy buns, the sausages in puff pasty and the phenomenal apple-cheesecake tonight. There was much testing and sampling, and now I'm both full and dead on my feet.

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I had such good intentions with

telekis_vendiak, my reccing journal, but I always end up years behind my actual reading, such as it is. I do put stuff on my Favourites list at FF.Net, but mostly to find the stories I like again.

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I'll have to work in the first half of the day tomorrow, and shortly thereafter I'll have my early birthday party, with six guests in a flat of the size of a handkerchief. It will be fun. After that, I'll be busy cleaning up - and then I'll be dead. Well, sort of. ;)

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Tasting the product is definitely one of the best things about cooking/baking! Though I do also very much like seeing other people eat it with enjoyment.

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