This topic contains 27,913 replies, has 831 voices, and was last updated by GdayfromSA 6 hours, 35 minutes ago.
Thin! You’re back! I missed you! Glad to hear that you had a good time and that the eating didn’t throw you too far off plan. Love Thai food, so I can imagine what all the food must have been like. Was the weather nice? Did you see lots of new things?
Frang, glad your 2nd FD is going well. They get easier over time. I should do some steam cleaning of carpets here! It’s just such a job to get started. I get tired just thinking about it! 😁
Hi all – It has been a busy morning on our forum.
Welcome back Thin, hope you had a fabulous time. I think you did well with your weight – never easy to manage on an overseas holiday.
Glad you are finally feeling better Cinque, I hope that’s the end of the winter viruses for you.
Good luck with the assignments Minka.
Enjoy that beer with your dad Joffy. It will probably taste all the better for the anticipation built up over the last month.
Penguin, thanks for the Welsh lesson and I’m impressed that you can order anything in Cantonese. The only languages I know a smattering of are German and French – I know about enough to get myself into trouble but probably not enough to get out of it.
Cali, the chai tea that I blended contains: decaffeinated black tea leaves, cinnamon sticks, cloves, cardamon pods, dried root ginger, black peppercorns, dried chilli seeds, organic cocoa nibs. All spices are whole, but I crumble the cinnamon sticks up into shards and I cut the cardamon pods in half to release the seeds into the tea blend. The organic cocoa nibs I use stay whole in the brewing process so they add a barely noticeable chocolate flavour. I only use a little of the spicy chilli and pepper as I don’t want it to dominate. The big difference between my blend and just about everything else on the market is the lack of star anise (which I hate) and the fact that I’ve used decaffeinated tea. I wasn’t able to find anything ready blended that contained decaffeinated black tea leaves – I found some with green tea, but that wasn’t what I wanted.
The stew you described sounds a lot like my mum’s stew – except for the meat – she always used lamb. The best part of the stew was the dumplings. She would make a dumpling dough and put it on the top of the stew as one big disk, then put the lid back on the saucepan to allow it to steam. The cooked dumpling would be cut into wedges and served with the stew and a mound of mashed potato. We had this really often in winter.
Frangipani, I hope your carpets look good for all that effort. I have polished floor boards which are thankfully a bit easier to keep clean than carpets. When I bought this house I ripped the old carpets and lino out and had the original floorboards sanded and polished before I moved in. I haven’t regretted that, my allergies are definitely better without carpet.
It’s another NFD for me. I haven’t eaten yet as I’m still trying to decide what I feel like – I think it might be muesli with fresh fruit and kefir. I have some of the scotch broth in the fridge for dinner. It’s an indoor day for me as the rain is fairly persistent.
Have a good day everyone.
Thank you CalifD and LJ. I missed you guys too although I did get an email from Minka. It is definitely harder to stick to the plan when you don’t have the support of your wonderful cyber friends on this thread. I behaved quite badly wrt food but the weekly fasts must have kept my weight in check. After my walk this morning, I’m already back to 60.3 and I left at exactly 60kg – three cheers for 5:2 and 6:1.
The dental visits were perfect as always and we had a particularly good hotel in Bangkok with fabulous views of the river. We rented a motorbike in Chiang Mai and rode up to the mountains (managed to avoid the latest police corruption scam which is fining farangs $20 per day for failing to have an int’l driving licence when one is not required under int’l law – this was clearly a lucrative side line for them).
The street food was a real delight and I did manage to largely avoid noodles and rice. I would typically have a large Western style breakfast, nothing but water all day and then street food at night. We had several Thai massages which are brutal but good ($8 an hour). Weather was as expected, hot, humid with short downpours in the late afternoon.
I have read some posts – welcome Frangi. Penguin, my step-mother lives in Wales and has just bought and sold a house in Llandudno, I must ask her about the contracts. Joffy, what’s your new weight please? PerthGirl, I thought you’d be back posting by now. How was Europe? I have revived my kefir. I was interested to read how yours worked LJ and Penguin. Pintlin, not long until your trip – have you reached your plane seat size goal? I nearly had the most obese gent I’ve ever seen as my seat companion on the last flight home. One of his arms was completely in ‘my’ seat space and I had to sit on one buttock. It seemed grossly unfair since I was travelling with only 5kgs! As luck would have it, he and his companion shifted to another seat leaving three seats for me and OH! Phew.
BTW, following the foiled Sydney airline terrorist plot, the increased measures employed at Australia’s airports are utterly ridiculous and didn’t instil any confidence in our flying safety. One of the new measures is to play an overhead recording about not leaving baggage unattended – this is repeated at 5 minute intervals and, as we’re asked to arrive three hours in advance of our flights, you can appreciate how irritating this becomes after hearing it 50-60 times at 4am.
*Sorry that’s an exaggeration but you get the point. There’s also a visibly increased security presence – we had our 5kgs luggage thoroughly checked at least 4 times before boarding. On the sign reminding us of banned carry on items, along with hand grenades and other explosives, there’s also a picture of some nail clippers. OH (a retired airline pilot) was incensed to have his hang nail clippers confiscated on the 4th check (they hadn’t picked them up on the first three attempts downstairs which demonstrates the futility of it all) and asked to speak to a supervisor. I thought we might get banned from the flight when he asked if they actually used any common sense. “What do you think I might do – cut the captain’s finger nails really short and tell him to take me to Cuba?”. Sorry but the resources are being ploughed into the wrong end of the business. Grey nomads departing on holiday are not the threat.
Thin – We missed you too. Cinque got really sick while you were away and conversation got a bit thin on the ground for a few days.
I love your OHs reaction – although I suspect that those checking luggage weren’t giggling the way I am right now. It’s years since I’ve flown, but I remember having my tiny thread scissors confiscated (I had planned to do some embroidery while away).
I suspect one week back on 5:2 and your weight will be back to 60. Did you find it difficult to eat breakfast rather than lunch? I’m not sure that I could manage that, I would worry that eating early would trigger the need to keep eating.
I’m just tucking into lunch as I write – a mixture of muesli and plain oats with almond milk and kefir and a banana. You know it wasn’t until I looked at your sample NFD that it occurred to me that muesli could be a regular lunch option – so thankyou for that. Some days it’s exactly what I’m in the mood for and it is surprisingly sustaining.
I did experiment with making kefir by using the purchased kefir as a base for the ferment. It has continued to work well but I am still buying a 1 litre bottle of kefir every 3-4 weeks. From that I can make another 1 1/2 – 2 litres. I’m pretty happy with this method as it means the cost is modest but I’m a lot more in control of the volume that I produce. As I’m the only one drinking it, that’s important. I wouldn’t want to have to deal with the volume of kefir that Penguin’s grains are producing – I only need 100-125ml per day.
Well, now that I’ve finished my muesli bowl, time for another cups of tea I think.
Have a good day.
Poor Cinque, hope you are well on the road to feeling normal now. Did you and Merry meet up?
Yes, it was difficult to eat at the first breakfast buffet especially as OH couldn’t wait to get down there at the earliest possible time. I just sat with a couple of coffees for some time while contemplating what to have. In the end, I settled on a base of lots of tropical fruit with yoghurt, one poached egg and then added assorted treats on different days, avoiding the Thai offerings not because I don’t like them but it’s just harder to work out the intake from those dishes. I felt as if I was over-eating but it probably wasn’t nearly as much damage as I’d have done prior to 5:2. That was also the reason I decided against the b’fast – b’fast fast; I realised the hunger dragon would be well and truly awake and it would be pointless to try.
It was OH’s holiday too and he does love the breakfast buffet concept. Platefuls! The compromise was the week spent at the rented condo where we made our own breakfast fare – a delicious combination of local fruits, some imported German muesli and plain yoghurt. Often OH would then have some noodles somewhere during the day and I’d get a Thai ice tea or coffee without sugar (still way too much sugar in a day but it’s all a compromise, isn’t it?).
I’m very happy to be back to my ‘normal’ routine of fasting twice a week and eating ‘breakfast’ at lunch time. This WOL is very forgiving and I’m coming to realise after three years that I am now a slim person who over-indulged a bit on holiday. The body can absorb these occasional digressions and accepts the new weight as ‘normal’. What a joy to discover this. The other aspect of this WOL is that the support received from like-minded people cannot be under-estimated. For me, it’s vital to have people who ‘get it’ in my life and I thank you all so much for this. I read what the person said to Cinque in response to her offer to give a talk about it – shocker!
Hi all,
FD today the 2nd day of B2B FD’s (Ha looks like a teenagers text message).
I know posting two days in a row but everythings OK I have a day off today so with that I went to my son’s school as my daughter was performing for them in her high school rock band. The daughter is the lead singer and she belted out “I Love Rock and Roll” by Joan Jett and “Sweet Child O’ Mine” by Guns N’ Roses. She was awesome. I then went to the shops to get some new dress shorts as I am off to the races in Cairns next week. Got to love shopping after a period of doing 5:2. I fit into some XL Tshirts instead of 3XL (a couple of tee’s I would have needed a 2XL but I threw them back) and size 36 shorts down from size 40, man if that don’t give you a boost. I reckon I felt an inch taller after my purchases and no worries about people sitting having lunch around you when you have found out you have dropped clothes sizes.
Just wanted to post these awesome things to remind people of the goals that lay ahead with following 5:2.
I’m off to drink some water and loving it.
Joffy, congrats on the further weight loss and on being able to buy smaller size clothing. I bet you had a better selection too. It’s nice to buy things in smaller sizes and to know that in a couple months you’ll be doing it again!
LJoyce, those whole spices sound like a good combination. I like star anise in some dishes and drinks, but I wouldn’t like it combined with the other spices you mentioned. I like it mostly on its own and only in a few things. I added a single star to a ottle of Kombucha that I feremented, as a second ferment, without the Scoby, and it turned out really well. I haven’t been drinking Kombucha lately because it’s so hard to know the sugar content and I also don’t want to set of a sugar high and be hungry and eating all day.
I harvested some Kombucha that had been in the pantry for a couple months. I was surprised that the Scobys looked alive and well even though the Kombucha had turned to total vinegar. I made another tea batch to keep the Scoby alive, at least until I decide if Inwant to keep making it.
Thin, I’m surprised the didn’t kick your DH off the flight for that nail clipper remark too. But you have to admit that it was pretty funny! 😁 For all the times when they made me discard shampoo or lotions that were over the allowed size, I was traveling with one of those two pronged wine openers in my carry-on that I didn’t even remember was there. It was down in the bottom of an outer pocket of the case that didn’t get used much. Go figure.
Cinque, a couple weeks back we were wondering if your cold symptoms were really an allergy. Last night, a couple hours before bedtime, I must have sneezed 20 times and my nose was running like crazy. I thought I must be getting a cold and took a couple of Benedryl before turning in. (Antihistamines usually work well for a runny nose when I have a cold.) When I woke up, it was all gone and no runny nose at all. I can’t figure out what triggered it last night. Crazy!
Joffy, well done on the new clothes – I think getting into smaller sizes is one the very best morale boosts. It’s great that you got to attend the concert at your son’s school – so difficult these days for parents to get time away from work for this. I bet they were both really chuffed that you were there. Sounds like your daughter had a good time – a career prospect do you think?
I have to say I can’t think about “I love rock and roll” without remembering Joan Kerner in a leather jacket trying to belt out the same tune – it was hilarious. (I think it was on one of the shows Paul McDermot had on the ABC 15-20 years ago) – I’m showing my age here.
Cali – not sure what’s setting off your allergies as you head into autumn. Mine are kicking up a notch here as the spring pollens start to dispense into the air. A couple of weeks ago the pine trees released their fine green pollen powder. Not only does it affect my sinuses it makes a hell of a mess of my car. The powder compacts into all the grooves and crevices everywhere there is rubber. It takes so much scrubbing to get it all off – it’s times like this I wish I had a garage.
Wow, nice to see we are all very chatty today. I got a bit of a shock when I got home as I could bearly keep up with the the thread and it took me a while to get through all of it! Had a black coffee and have chopped and prepped the chicken and stir fry. I’m getting the kids dinner out of the way first the I can concentrate on mine! Been very easy today and haven’t really felt like I was starving at all. I had rolled oats for lunch but may have made a little more than I should and bumped the calories up a little! Well we’ll see what the scales say in the morning and as I’m doing 3:4 this week or at least I plan to!
CalifD, this is the disadvantage of travelling with only carry on luggage isn’t it? OH always carries a pocket knife and hates being without that, sometimes goes and buys a new one at the destination and mails it home at the end of the trip. Strange thing is – he’s allowed a cigarette lighter on board. He and his pilot buddies have never figured that one out and all of them can think of ways to start a fire on board. What about a very sharp pencil or the blade in a pencil sharpener or razor? Your wine opener story reminded me of one of OH’s friends who had his corkscrew confiscated when boarding a plane in the US – and he was the Captain!
I bet the meat mincer bombers were just terrified of all this nonsense. All these measures to make us feel as if something is being done to make us safer really, really annoy us. Like removing our shoes. Really? During meal service on a flight in Spain, OH was given a plastic fork and a metal knife – while I had a plastic knife and a metal fork! For goodness sake! I watched a man in Kuala Lumpur try to board with a very large pair of industrial scissors concealed inside the packaging of children’s new shoes. He was clearly trying to conceal them but they just confiscated them and let him proceed – why should he have been allowed to board when he was blatantly breaking the law?
Sorry, Frangi, nothing to do with 5:2 really is it? I do like a good rant though!
Wow so many posts in such a short space of time. Welcome back Thin.
Haha LJoyce I remember Joan Kerners version of I Love RocknRoll. Fairly confident it was from The Late Show with Rob Sitch, Mick Malloy etc as they always had a non singing celebrity do a number at the end of each show.
Unexpected FD today as I was so busy at work I didnt eat my first bite until 2.30pm. Woke up in the middle of the night with aching arms and legs from yoga but all good by the time I got up.
Good evening,
Welcome back Thin! I fasted with you today!
Thinking of you on your second fast day Frangipani!
And you too fasting LJoyce! And Joffy!
I bet there is someone else too!
So glad Thin and Minka didn’t pop up until after I got through my morning post as it would have just been too much! Now I can say a big hello to both of you!
I’ve just had my miso soup, a bit early as I was hungry and irritable and couldn’t concentrate on anything.
But I think I can compose a sentence or two now!
So good to hear about your trip Thin, and haha at the nailclippers! And sorry, I laughed at the 5 minutely luggage warnings too. So glad you are still sane! loved the rant.
I missed meeting Merry, and hopefully that meant she didn’t get the dreadful cold (that I really think was the flu).
Merry I must write to you, but I am so slow catching up on everything!
I am better every day, but still cough, and get exhausted even quicker than usual.
Minka well done at managing everything. I hope they are appreciating you and looking after you at your work. Your pace of doing assignments is getting good results, so all power to you!
So glad you could pop in with an update!
Haha Cali re the canned cornbeef hash! While most of the Comfort Food Poll answers were good nourishing soups, stews and bakes there was ‘chocolate’ and ‘a milkshake’ but you are the first with your answer. I can imagine it would be wonderful out camping! Especially with a mug of hot coffee!
I bought the ingredients to make scotch broth, I might do it tonight (it’s an everything-in-the-pressure-cooker and go recipe). It will sit and get yummier for tomorrow I think. I’ll see if I have the energy.
Oh yum LJoyce, stew and dumplings!
Joffy, what a fab daughter you have, and how about those nice new clothes! Just such lovely news! I hope it has made this hungry day continue with that swing!
So glad your allergic reaction was so quickly gone Cali, I have had the same happen to me, but no idea what happens!
Ok off to talk myself into cooking and more cleaning (my carpets need steam cleaning too but I am not even going to think about that!)
Cheers all!
Thin, they probably confiscated the captain’s corkscrew because they didn’t want him flying under the influence.
Frangi, you are right about the extra conversation – it’s all Thin’s doing, we’re always more chatty with her contributions on board – I think it’s her sense of homour.
GDSA – you are absolutely right – just looked it up on youtube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k3a0nrovVf4
(Cali & Penguin – Joan Kerner used to be the state premier of Victoria (head of Victorian State parliament) – she was Victoria’s first and only female premier (now deceased). Not sure what the equivalents are for you in the UK and US – I don’t know enough about your political structures.)
Cinque – yes, just talking about stew and dumplings reminds me that it’s been far too long since I made it.
Wow! Sounds like everyone’s going really well this week. Thinatlast, I really think you are thin at last. I see you’re hovering around 60, so even if you’re extremely short like me (I’m 153cm), you’re doing amazingly. I’m just hoping to hit the 60s again sometime soon, currently I’m 72.1 so it shouldn’t be far away. I’m still ever so slightly obese, according to bmi, but I certainly don’t feel it anymore, thanks to recent lifestyle choices, and a New Year’s resolution.
I’m curious about b2b. What are the motivations for this? Seems extreme, did anyone find this really really hard? I did try a week of 4:3 a while back, I’m not sure that I liked it, and it didn’t have any noticeable benefits. Did anyone notice any additional benefits to doing b2b?
Also I wish the food fairy was here with me tonight as I do my third night out of five of 4pm-midnight shift. I’m fasting tomorrow I think, tonight I had some leftover bought sushi to finish, teriyaki and karaage chicken (smothered in mayo) when usually I’d have seafood, so probably loaded with calories. I do make poor choices on night shift, but it’s all good as I usually end up skipping a meal anyway, and normally lose 1-2kg from all that walking. Anyway I want the food fairy to bring me lasagne and a green salad. Maybe some soup but that would be my second choice only if she’d run out of lasagne. Smoked fish chowder, the one my family have been making for three generations, my version though. My grandmother and my mother’s versions were very nice, but mine has what I like. When I cook I often like to play around with the old family recipes. Never the same twice.
Jody
Jody – I really don’t envy you night shifts – I’m assuming your shifts change week to week. I did once do a job that was an afternoon shift (3:30pm-1am), but it didn’t change, it was always afternoons, 5 days per week. Not being a morning person, I liked it, but it would have been completely different if I’d had to continually change around between day, afternoon and evening.
A few people have mentioned that they do B2B FDs, but not many – most people seem to prefer a gap between them. I’m definitely with the latter, I tried B2B once and haven’t done it since.
The zen report for tonight:
I spent some time this afternoon looking up Moroccan and Turkish recipes. It inspired me to change up tonight’s bowl of scotch broth. I added a teaspoon of a Moroccan spice blend to the big bowl of soup before heating it.
The aroma had changed completely – although I could still smell the lamb, the dominant scents were now cumin and herbs. It reminded me of the smell of felafel (which I love). The flavour was quite different to the original soup. The both tasted of cumin and chilli, but once I’d swallowed the broth the lamb and veg tasted of themselves – probably because they weren’t originally cooked with the spices, so didn’t absorb that flavour. My mouth became warmer and warmer as the effect of the chilli accumulated. The effect of this was to reduce the flavours I was picking up from the lamb and vegetables. It was delicious though.
Definitely gives me ideas for future soups – perhaps including chick peas. (Not very zen I know, focusing on the future instead of now.)
Jody, I’ve only done B2B FD a couple times, mainly because I had other things going on during the week, like traveling or guests, and it was the only way to fit 2 FD in. The last time I did it was to make that 3 week plateau go away. It worked well for that. It was difficult, but not as difficult as I thought it would be. No matter how hungry I am on a FD, I never seem to be hungry the morning after. So I really only have to deal with it from noon on, the 2nd day. And by then 500 calories seems like more.
But psychologically, the idea of it is unappealing to me. So it’s only in my bag of 5:2 tools for emergencies!
Cinque, those tent camping days were years ago and even then the only reason I put up with sleeping in a tent (and having to wander through the darkness at night when I had to pee) was because we were with a group of friends. These days my idea of “camping” is a hotel without room service! 😁
JodyW I’ve done b2b fasting many times and am comfortable with it. To be honest its happened more by chance rather than planned due to having a busy day and not eating my first meal until late – as I did yesterday. My avg daily calorie intake is low anyway so it doesnt take much change for me to have a FD.
Ive also done extended fasts several times and intend to do one every 1 to 2 months. 36 hours total fasting on average with only tea, coffee,water and miso in hot water.
Ive also noticed a pattern of late of not eating breakfast during the week so therefore having a 18 hour fast from 6pm until midday ish tbe following day.
CalifDreamer, I really like the goat’s milk. It is smooth, creamy and doesn’t taste quite as strong as the cow’s. Having harvested it I re-used the grains in cow’s milk without trying to clean the residual goats from them. I have just harvested that – got lots and the grains are looking healthy. Kefir production is booming and to keep on top of it we are drinking more. Today’s lunch really reflected the change in my habits – pickled herring, sauerkraut, pickled veg and a selection of salad stuffs from the garden. Feeling really healthy.
thinatlast, once upon a time I was in the aircraft security business. You try to write procedures that cover the known threat and are clearly understood by the people who work for you. Because in every working population there is a percentage of idiots and getting this right is important, you can allow your people no discretion. One day I got a call to say that the passengers were insisting on taking large knives onto the aircraft. The passengers in question were soldiers going off to fight in our latest war and they all had bayonets. Their hand grenades were in their hold baggage
Standards vary. On one civil flight I was on, the panel above our head was loose. My companion, in civilian clothes, took out a screwdriver and tightened it. When challenged by the cabin staff he said, “Its OK, I’m an RAF engineer.” They accepted that and let him continue.
Good morning.
Thanks for that Joan Kirner clip! She was a good sport!
I made the Scotch broth last night and, since I do wake up hungry the morning after a Fast Day if it was a hard one, I have heated up a bowl of it and added lots of parsley, and am finding it makes an excellent breakfast!
Jody I am one of the ones that look at B2B’s with fear and dread, but maybe I will need to try one sometime and find my fears are misplaced (I was terrified of my first Fast Day and it turned out all right!).
Penguin, you have such good stories!
LJoyce, fascinating Zen report. I have a few Moroccan recipes I love because of the spices and chickpeas! (etc).
It is the first day for ages that I don’t have to go out. Yay! But what a big list I have of things to do!
Cheers all!
Good morning – don’t be shocked, I’m getting a relatively early start today.
It’s a day at home for me to Cinque – also time for chores. I woke at 4:15 and couldn’t get back to sleep, so I got up and put more wood on the fire to keep it going and put on a load of washing. Then I went back to bed for while and watched the morning news. I just put the second load of washing on, so I’m a bit further ahead than I thought I’d be already today.
I really couldn’t face scotch broth for breakfast but I’m glad you enjoyed it. After the discussion about dumplings I’m thinking about making some to add to my last bowl of scotch broth for dinner tonight.
Penguin, I found B2B difficult enough, but 2 days with no food at all – that is so not happening. I know exactly how badly I’d binge afterward if I tried that.
Glad the goat kefir is working out. Have you tried turning any of that kefir into cheese yet? I almost got some accidentally by fermenting some kefir that progressed faster than I expected – it was definitely yoghurt not a runny drink.
Like GDSA I usually skip breakfast every day, and I have a curfew of not eating after dinner that I never break so I get a fast every night from about 7 or 8pm until lunchtime the next day – although I do usually have a cup of chai tea in the late evening.
Hope you had a good night shift Jody, enjoy your FD.
I’ve just finished my morning pot of tea and have a bowl of plain oats + muesli soaking in kefir and almond milk for later.
I’m with Cali on the camping. It was fun as a teenager but these days I consider I’m roughing it in anything with 3 stars.
Have a good day everyone.
Hi everyone,
I agree with Cinque, Penguin you do have such good stories! Enjoy your day at home Cinque & LJoyce although if your working at home it’s not so enjoyable. I also agree with CaliD and LJoyce I’ve never been into camping in a tent ( I did it under sufferance as a teenager) I like my shower each day it starts my day off, we have a caravan ( have only had it a couple years) and even though my husband whinges about towing it he doesn’t complain when he needs to use the bathroom and we can just pull over and use the caravan! Jody I don’t envy you the night shift I did night shift for several years and now I’m a late to bed and non morning person I’d rather sleep in unfortunately the boss would frown if I came to work at lunch time! I am like LJoyce with the B2B FD’s I would just eat all day the next day and that would counteract the B2B’s.I am not a yoghurt eater but was wondering about the kefir, does it tast like yoghurt? I have been thinking of trying some but if it’s sour like yoghurt then it’s probably not something I will use.Unfortunately I have a very sweet tooth! Well done Frangipani71 on another loss and for your second FD! Glad you enjoyed your holiday Thin and you are still at your weight which is fantastic!
Enjoy your day everyone!
LJoyce thanks for the Kerner post – love it. Do you remember Andrew Dentons show where they had someone do a different version of Stairway to Heaven each week. Dare I say this but Rolf Harris’ version with the wobbleboard was my fav. And happy early morning to you LJoyce its amazing how much can be achieved in the early hours.
Just bought myself a pre loved cross trainer and a set of new variable size hand weights off the local FB buy swap and sell for $80 – Happy Birthday to me !! I purchased a yoga mat and a fitness stepper last weekend on our trip out of town which MissD wrapped and gave me for my birthday. The only item I would like now is a reclining/inclining weight bench. Fitness gear is too expensive to buy brand new so happy to wait for pre loved. Kicking myself that about 5 years ago i gave away a full home weight gym that I bought in my younger days as I thought I’d never use it again. MissD wants a boxing bag…???
Oh Redmoonstar66 I dream of owning a caravan. I go in every competition I find to win one. How wonderful to have ready to go accommodation just waiting to hitch up and go. Dream dream dream….
Hi Redmoon – I wouldn’t say I was “working” just pottering around doing some household tasks. I am fairly relaxed about this stuff, there are rarely things that can’t wait for another day if I’m not in the mood to do it, or too tired. However I never have the energy to do a big clean up in one go so I try to pace myself with a couple of things per day.
Kefir is mildly sour (although this varies a bit between brands). I used to only eat sweetened yoghurt when I was younger, but I gradually learned to like natural yoghurt. I have bought 2 different brands of kefir and made some of my own and none of it was as sour as natural yoghurt. But neither is it sweet. If you would like to start using it and are worried about the sour flavour, I would suggest putting it in a smoothie. My standard combination is blueberries, 1/2 banana, kefir, some ice and enough almond milk to get the right consistency. This will be mildly sweet.
The brands that I have bought so far are “Milk Thief” (made from organic cows milk) and “Blue Bay” (comes in cows, goat or coconut milks). The Blue Bay brand is much thicker and if I use some of it to make my own kefir by adding extra milk, it is very active and ferments quickly. I can get both of these from local shops and I’ve noticed that Foodland Supermarkets all stock at least 2 brands of kefir. (Otherwise it’s in health food stores.) The only brand commonly available that I would not by is “Babushka” because it’s made from powdered milk and has too many additives for my liking.
GDSA – you are going to need a gym room at this rate. Not sure about that boxing bag – I’d end up hurting my hands or worse.
In between loads of washing this morning, I decided to make bread. It was one of those “make it up as I go along” recipies. My dough has spelt, rye and soy flours and I also added some chia seeds, teff seeds and wheatgerm. To get the flavour of sourdough I replaced half the water with kefir. It’s doing a slow rise at the moment, which is likely to take a while. I’m hoping that the kefir will continue to ferment during this process. It’s always a bit hit or miss when I make bread, sometimes my creations work well and other times they either need to be binned or turned into breadcrumbs.
Cinque – help please
I’ve decided to bake my loaf of bread in a dutch oven (never done that before). Can you tell me what temperature you pre-heat the oven to and how long you bake with the lid on and then off. I’ve tried looking up instructions on the internet but I’ve found a whole variation of methods. I know you mentioned baking your bread this way so any advice would be appreciated.
Penguin, happy to hear you like the goats milk kefir. It can get a little more sour if you let it go longer, just like the cow’s. Actually it seems to taste more similar to the cow’s when I leave the grains in the frig a few extra days because I’m overwhelmed with kefir! We can’t drink it fast enough. So maybe I’ll just make the goat kefir only when I can harvest it the next day, given the higher price. It doesn’t seem to bother the grains switching back and forth from goat to cow.
Good afternoon all, well my morning plans changed and I ended up meeting a friend for coffee and thankfully a small slice of Toblerone cheesecake at San Churros! I’m pleased to say though with that and my oats for breakfast I still have almost 1000 cals left for the day! I finally stocked up on some soup veg and will be making a huge pot later to put in the freezer for my FD. I must say LJoyce I have never made bread myself and wouldn’t dare as I would eat the whole thing as soon as it came out of the oven!!! I have fond memories of my mother making bread when I was small and leaving it to prove in front of the open fire! I’m doubtful I will ever give the kefir a go as I also have a very sweet tooth just like you Redmoon so I’ll stick to yoghurt on my NFD!!! I’ve got so much excersise equipment that I have purchased over the years that I could open my own gym and of course most of it is just gathering dust!!! I bought my son a boxing bag last Xmas but that also found its way into the shed when he lost interest. I did a boxing fit class but after only 1 30 min I couldn’t walk for a week so never went back😂
Hi LJoyce,
you need to get the Dutch oven really hot. My instructions say to put it in the oven on the hottest temperature and give it half an hour to heat up. No need to oil it, it is so hot the bread doesn’t stick.
https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/11376-no-knead-bread?mcubz=1
Thanks Cinque, I’ve just put it in the oven. I had preheated both the cooking pot and the oven to 225C. The only thing I’m worried about is losing the rise when I transferred the risen shaped dough into the dutch oven.
I used a non-stick skillet that I had spayed with olive oil to allow the shaped dough to rise. It had nearly doubled in size but wouldn’t slide easily into the dutch oven and seemed to lose collapse in on itself. I’m hoping it will bounce back during cooking. Otherwise it will be a very dense loaf. I’ll know in half an hour when I take the lid off.
Given the prospect of fresh bread I won’t be putting dumplings in my soup. I think a couple of slices of spelt-rye-soy-chia-teff-kefir bread will be just as good with the soup.
Cinque, what a great bread recipe and video! Thank you for posting the link. Have you made it? Can it really be that easy? It says the room should be around 70 degrees. I wonder if sound 80 would hurt it? (Summer temp in my kitchen.) It sure does look good. I’m not sure I have a proper pot though. I was thinking of getting a Dutch oven or covered cast iron pot and maybe this would be a good reason. Although I really don’t know where I would store it. My cupboards are full. But maybe…
Yes the transfer is the tricky part. I do the second rise on crumpled baking paper dusted with flour and bran and it generally comes off okay when I tip it in, although never right in the middle of the hot pan!
Fingers crossed the steamy closed space makes it rise beautifully!
Sorry Frangipani and those that find it torturous to read about home made bread!
Cali just saw your note. Yes I have been making it this way for years! It is fab. I have a heavy metal tagine that I cook it in, and occasionally I use it for tagines too!
I use mostly plain wheat flour and about half a cup of other grains, veggies like steamed pumpkin, and seeds etc. Today it is oats and wheat bran.
Cinque, I have the slow combustion going, so even though I only used 3/4tsp yeast, it rose really well as I had it parked right in front of the fire. With the fire it’s almost faster than summer time.
Cali, the only “white” flour in this loaf is 1/3 cup gluten flour, which helps the heavier low gluten grains & flours to make better bread (otherwise it’s heavy and crumbly). In this loaf I used 1 1/2 cups rye flour, 1/2 cup soy flour, 1/2 cup wholemeal spelt flour and then 1-2 tablespoons each of wheatgerm, and teff and chia seeds. I started with a cup of liquid, but ended up needing a whole lot more than that to get the right consistency – I find it difficult to know how much liquid the coarser absorbent flours and grains will need and usually have to play it by ear. I also sprinkled the outside with coarse semolina and more chia seeds. I use very little white flour when making bread. The reason I make my own is to get a really high fibre loaf that it’s difficult to find commercially.
I’ve just taken the lid off of the cast iron dutch oven and turned the temperature down. I’ll check it after 20 minutes and see how much longer it needs from there. It still looks pretty flat to me – not a lot of bounce back.
Weighing in quickly on the Miso soup topic, as I need to get back to work. I’m just having a quick cup of miso soup to keep me going on night shift. I just bought a packet of my favourite brand – marukome. It has a big red 12 on the front. 2 sachets per soup, you have the miso paste sachet and a garnish sachet (choice of three flavours). 12 soups per packet. It is the best tasting one I’ve had. I think it’s only 25 KJ per serve although this could be wrong, sold in NZ it has to have this on and it’s kind of unclear printed on a label stuck over the top. It says 138 KJ per 100g and serving size 17.75g I don’t think you’d eat 100g of the unmade soup like it seems to be implying. Well yeah okay I guess by law they need the per 100g so you can work out % but it does seem a bit weird in this case. It also has 24.5 KJ randomly there unqualified in the left column so I’m assuming it’s per serving. You could just buy the paste which I do as well, but then you need to add other ingredients, it’s nice with chicken, and I always add seaweed. The individual sachets are just a really quick easy way to get miso soup in a rush, or on fast day night shift. Suppose I could’ve done b2b Saturday and Sunday but that just seems too grim a way to spend my weekend.
Jody – the thing I find trips me up with soup or stock label is that you buy a powder or paste but in Oz the kjs are usually for the soup once made up with the recommended amount of water. Not sure if they do it this way in NZ.
The bread is out of the oven and I’ve just cut 2 steaming slices to go with my soup. I prefer to wait for bread to cool properly, but I’m hungry and I don’t want to start snacking. The bread loaf is a bit of a funny shape and quite flat. Although it is a dense bread it’s not doughy or heavy, the crumb texture looks quite good. The bottom is very brown (probably from the cast iron). I think I may have to use your paper method for rising next time Cinque, I definitely lost some lift in the transfer.
I’m doing my zen exercise on the bread tonight, to stop myself from eating it quickly and heading back for more.
It’s still steamy and smells strongly of grains. It doesn’t smell sour at all, despite the kefir in it. The texture is really different to commercial bread – much denser and moister. The colour is also quite dark – about the shade of dark brown I expect from a spelt-rye combination. The flavour is grainy, with a hint of nutty bitterness from the wheatgerm (wheatgerm flavour always reminds me of walnuts). I can also feel the fibrous bran textures on my tongue. The bottom crust is quite different, because it’s very crusty it almost tastes like it’s toasted. Really nice by itself and with the soup. It’s actually really filling, probably because of its dense texture and I’m eating it slowly.
Tomorrow is a FD for me so the rest of the loaf will get sliced and frozen tonight.
LJoyce, the label on the soup packet is not a typical NZ food label, it’s imported from Japan. Most of it is in Japanese it’s just this one little white label stuck over the Japanese presumably by the importer and it has only the briefest of information obviously to comply with NZ food sales laws, it must have nutritional information on it.
Having the best Thai yellow chicken curry I think I’ve ever made tonight, I made it with a packet of curry paste, I usually like the tubs but they’re hard to find where I live. I made additions as on the packet this time, different order though because I wanted to brown the chicken first, they put the paste in first. Even put in the suggested fish sauce. Maybe I went slightly over the 500 calories, it’s a bit hard to work out with a slosh of this and a slosh of that. But then I’m aiming for 500-800 calories we day anyway, seems to work better for me if I’m not too strict with myself. Let’s hope I can get something as good next time. Some form of chicken curry has become pretty standard fare on fast days, chicken is good because it remains relatively low calorie, although I do use thigh cutlets on the bone rather than breast because it has better flavour. Shame we can’t get turkey except at Christmas here, because that’s even leaner and much fuller flavour.
Jody
Thanks so much for the lovely welcome back messages. Do you believe in sod’s law? Just one week after visiting the Bangkok dental clinic, I have chipped off either part of my tooth or a filling, not sure which. I can’t believe what bad luck that is and have already started checking fares back to Thailand in case a crown is prescribed. I’ll get the damage estimate tomorrow.
Yes, I realise I significantly contribute to the verbiage on this thread and will endeavour to cut it down a bit. I always feel it’s rude not to acknowledge everything/everyone but I need to let that go and just jump in now and then. I do skim past all the bread/dough chat as, like Frangi, I can’t resist the aromas of freshly baked bread or toast and it’s no longer a part of my normal diet these days. Fortunately, OFMs seem to have forgotten that we have a bread maker.
I equate my Dutch Oven with camping. When we travelled around Oz (12 months in all), I did all the cooking in ours. Absolutely loved it and could make all sorts of fabulous one pot dishes. I remember producing an impressive pineapple upside down cake in it when we’d hooked up with 13 other VW Kombi owners in Broome and were sharing meals. I still have it 25 years on and we used it on our most recent camping trip a few months ago. The only bread I’ve ever made in it is damper.
JodyW, I’m 5’6″ in the old money so I’m feeling comfortable in the 60-61 kgs range. Just bought a new pair of size 10 black jeans and thought of you Joffy. I still take a pair of 12s into the dressing room just in case but, after two years at this weight, I’m coming to accept that I really am size 10. I gather from your last few posts that you’ve abandoned the diet that you mentioned before I left and have been doing a 500-800 cal per day regime. How’s that going for you?
How about you RedmoonMonica, how is 5:2 working out for you? I’m with you on the B2B fasting. I’ve always found fast days very easy to stick to, rarely feel hungry but don’t mind if I do. Yet B2B seems a step too far. Just to clarify though, someone wrote that their B2B fast lasted 36 hours – isn’t that the length of a ‘naked 5:2’ fast day?
Happy Belated Birthday GDSA. You will be so toned up by Christmas with all that ex. equipment.
Cinque, were you successful with the AAL to gain use of their industrial kitchen? And which are your FDs for the time being? Is anyone else doing Sundays?
LJ, I’m glad you enjoy muesli for lunch. I usually have mine late morning and don’t eat again until dinner time. I like breakfast ‘things’ but not at breakfast ‘time’. I do love my coffee first thing though.
Hi Penguin, Minka, Intesha, Merry, CalifD and whoever else I missed. Oh dear, not so short after all.
Thin – hope you can get a dental appointment quickly.
I have a LeCruset dutch oven that I bought about 30 years ago. I use it for stews and slow braises. I’m not someone who can be trusted to watch things on the stove for hours and stir to stop them sticking. The answer for me has always been to start them on the stove and then let them do most of their cooking in the oven. The dutch oven is perfect for that because it works well on a stove top and in the oven.
I’ve been cutting back on bread while you were away – mainly because I’m having the oats at lunch time more often, so I don’t need the bread – I’m averaging 4-6 slices a week these days.
As another one of the frequent long posters I certainly don’t object to yours.
Jody – I wouldn’t be too worried about not knowing exactly what calories are in every ingredient. I think being aware of which things you can be generous with and which to eat with care will serve you better in the long run. I don’t actually count calories anymore, not even on FDs. When I did count calories every day I was always pushing the 500 limit on FDs. When I stopped counting I assumed that would stay the same. However Cali stated a forum thread recently for examples of what we eat on a FD. So I had to go back to calorie count what I’d eaten. I tallied 5 or 6 FDs and most were actually in the 300s or low 400s. It seems that when I’m left to my own devices I’m more conservative and careful with choices, but when I have a calorie limit I see it as a target that has to be reached.
Thinatlast, I was trying out The Zone Diet because my acupuncturist was emotionally blackmailing me into it basically, threatening to stop my treatment if I didn’t do exactly what he suggested. Thank goodness he’s pulled his head in now, probably scared of the answers I would give if he asked how the diet was going. He actually called it a diet too, doesn’t he know diets don’t work for many people? Zone Diet was an absolute disaster for me, I was starving all the time, and I kept cheating eating the wrong carbohydrates (according to the accupuncturist) which the documentation said I could as long as they were balanced. I really don’t see it was any of his business what I eat, yes I need to lose weight but I’m doing that on 5:2.
Gosh no, I wouldn’t survive on 500-800 calories every day. Today (which is now yesterday as it’s 1am) was fast day. I remember someone saying on here a while ago that a new study had shown that upping the calories slightly to 800 for women was pretty much as effective as the 500. So I’m now going a bit easier on myself on fast days, I aim for 500 most fast days but I give myself 200-300 calories leeway in case that day it’s just too hard.
5’6″ I’m about 6″ shorter than you, my goal weight is around 53-55kg a nice middling BMI around 22-23 for me. I’m about 2/5 of the way there (10kg down). I was 53kg last time I lost 10kg (on GI Diet) in 2003, and that was a really nice weight for me, also size 10.
Hope the teeth are okay. I had to have a premolar out a few months ago, I snapped it in half on vegan salad of all things (I’m not even vegan but it looked nice in the supermarket). It had some hard roasted chickpeas in it, later I ate raspberries and one of the seeds got stuck in the tooth and it just didn’t feel right. I’m still trying to adapt to having no tooth there, I could get an implant but it’s all so much money, maybe I should go to Bangkok next holiday.
Oh well I suppose I should try and get some sleep, very busy at work so my mind still won’t switch off.
Also I’m happy to read about anything. I love to read about bread too, been a while since I made any. I’ve got this Lekue silicone “breadmaker” that’s a bowl, you mix the dough and rise in here, then form your loaf, clip the sides together and bake in the oven in the same bowl you mixed it in. Works really well, I find the electronic breadmaker makes rather a big loaf for one person, but the silicone one is just a nice size for me.
Jody
Good morning everyone,
Sun shining, Lovely breakfast (vegemite on yummy toasted no knead bread).
Hope you got some sleep Jody!
I’m generally a pretty typical cereal eater for breakfast, but when teaching English to new migrants I found how common soup for breakfast is in Asian countries and I do love that savoury brothy food any time of day!
My day at home yesterday was good, and planning another today! Probably need a few more but I have a meeting here tomorrow so I had better ramp it up!
Thin, you got lots of compliments for your lovely posts getting us all talking, and responded by thinking you should pull your head in. Wrong! So glad your better nature won out!
But how awful to break that tooth! And so annoying!
YamDaisy update, with me being so sick things have been going slowly, especially since we are trying to get a business plan and presentation together. In the meantime a project on the other side of town is taking off providing a cafe and chilled meals to take home, so we are going to be in conversation with them about ways we can work together. They are further along with incorporation and charity status and funding and having something going, but we might be further along with planning and research and structure. The meeting tomorrow is about what we do next.
And with that meeting tomorrow, I’ll fast on Sunday.
Best wishes everyone, I hope today is a good one!
Good morning all. Love the bread making posts I can smell the aromas from here! I havent made bread for a few months now but have had thoughts of homemade sourdough so that is on the radar for the near future.
Thinatlast it was me that posted about B2B FDs and also 36 hour fasts but perhaps I didnt explain myself very clearly. My B2B FDs are different to my 36 hr fasts. On FDs I stick to under 500 cal but my 36 hr fasts are a total fast – no food just herbal tea, black coffee, water and miso paste in hot water.
Weather is looking good for the weekend so gardening and a bbq on the front verandah is on the agenda.
JodyW, yes the Zone Diet, I couldn’t remember its name. I’m relieved that you’re not restricted to 800 cals per day, I was thinking you were trying a version of the BSD but must have misread that – that’s what you get for skim reading.
GDSA – oh I see, even more impressive then about your 36 fasts. You are really working hard to transform yourself! I could really do with a lot of toning but I’m still patting myself on the back for the weight loss and maintenance. While away, we generally walked a lot more than usual but, on the days that we couldn’t walk as much, I used the hotel treadmills for an hour and was reminded how boring I used to find gyms. I’m definitely not a weights person either which is exactly what I need to tone up. Have fun gardening, it was gloriously warm here yesterday so I spent a few hours gardening. 23C today!
Cinque, great – looking forward to our Sunday fast and good luck for the meeting tomorrow. OK, I’ll carry on rambling then. 😆
LJ, you’ve come far, what with not counting cals or weighing yourself. Well done for your progress in how you relate to food. I remain an obsessive weigher. Note to Merry – three of the five places we stayed did have scales so I suppose I could have managed without taking my travel scales this time. On the other hand, they did give me consistency which the others wouldn’t have. 59.8kgs this morning so I’m feeling very happy (well, as happy as one can be with a dental appointment looming).
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23 Aug 17