Cali, we get the same debate about burning off undergrowth here. It is done here every year – mostly in Spring to remove the vegetation that popped up with the winter rains. We often have higher danger when we have an unusually warm spring and they either can’t do all of the planned burn-offs, or they do them and one actually turns into a bush fire. Of course that fuels the debate about burn-offs all over again.
I live in a high bushfire risk zone, although there has been no actual fire the made it to my town in well over 100 years so I feel fairly safe. Fires have made it neighboring towns but not here. I also live on a road that has multiple exit points, so no matter where a fire was coming from, I would be able to drive in a different direction. The only time this wouldn’t help is a fire storm where multiple fire fronts combine. Then there’s no saving anyone, you just have to get out really early.

You’ve just sent a shiver down my spine, Penguin. Mentioning ‘mugged’ reminded me of baboons. I’m scared of all monkeys, terrified of baboons.

Bush fires are also terrifying. They can leap across a freeway or change direction in seconds.

Thankfully, I have no first hand experience of the latter, but plenty of the former.

Thin, I have never met a baboon, but judging from the wildlife films they have impressive teeth and can be aggressive. We all have our different phobias – I will sit happily in the side door of a helicopter with my feet hanging out but cable cars terrify me. There is a modern, very well maintained, cable car in Madeira that goes up to the gardens my botanical artist OH loves. It is a journey we make in silence, when I can be persuaded to go at all.

CalifDreamer. No not that kind. I think I have ridden every cable car in San Francisco and enjoyed the experience. This one is a gondola hanging from a wire. It starts at sea level and goes quite steeply up to Monte, with a drop of a couple of hundred feet onto the rocks if it goes wrong – the sort that various actors playing James Bond have had a fight on the roof of. I think my dislike started nearly 50 years ago – my pregnant OH and I were half way up an Austrian Alp in a chair lift when the guy operating it decided the line was empty, so he stopped it. He went for lunch leaving us swinging about 30 feet apart and 40 feet up for an hour and a half. Strangely, OH is quite happy in cable cars.

Best wishes for your fast day Thin, and other fasters!

My neighbour fixed the cat flap, he found the bit that had popped off, and popped it on again. We did discuss the microchip controlled one, but I’ll just wait for a bit and see.

I tried to buy frozen convenience foods but they are as disgusting as last time I tried them! I want to recover and work on my YamDaisy Cafe idea again!

Best wishes everyone for a good day.

No Thin I’m not fasting today. NFD for me.

Cinque, I’ve had times where I really need someone else to do the cooking. I’ve also found that the big supermarkets don’t have any frozen or ready-made food worth buying (apart from some veg & fruit). However Foodland supermarkets do – this is one of the small independent franchises – in SA we have Foodland and IGA as our independents. They often buy local and stock things that the big supermarkets don’t.
My local Foodland sells some vegetarian foods that I like and also continental (Italian or Greek) frozen foods that are actually made in S.A.
Syndian brand vegetarian foods are a nice flavour – they make felafel, spicy pumpkin bites and brown rice bites. A few of these microwaved and served with some salad is a nice. (Their felafel is the only commercial one I’ve found that isn’t dry.) I prefer thei felafel & pumpkin bites to the rice ones.
The continental foods that are good quality are aranci balls, ricotta ravioli and spinach & feta pasties. Not low cal options, but a small portion with salad would provide some balance. I’ve also noticed that the deli area of Foodland has lots of fresh readymeal options. I haven’t tried them, but I suspect they would all be better than frozen meals.
The other things that I use if I don’t want to cook, is food prepared fresh by a cafe/restaurant that I can take home and freeze for later. For example order a few dishes from an Indian restaurant and compile several containers with a variety of dishes – then you have multiple yummy meals for later. Indian food freezes and reheats very well. I also find some of my local cafes will sell me take away portions of their food that I can refrigerate or freeze. I just go to places that I like to eat at normally and you know you’ll like the meal.
If you can cope with the bags of pre-mixed salad veg these are very easy meals to put together.
I hope some of these suggestions help. I understand lacking the energy an enthusiasm to cope with cooking, but really needing healthy meals.

I absolutely love salmon steak and served it weekly until very recently. Friends keep telling me I shouldn’t buy it because of the high mercury levels and because there’s no way to know where it really comes from.

Before 5:2, I would marinate it in tamarind sauce but since ditching all those jars of things that used to occupy the door in the fridge, I would instead sear it on one side, then turn it over, cover & cook for 5-8 mins depending on its thickness. Perfect every time. Sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds and squirt it with lime. Heaven! But should we be buying it or not?

Hi Everyone
Glad the cat flap is fixed Cinque. Is Miso using it?
I loved the cute little squirrels we saw in Hyde Park in August!
I enjoy going on Cable Cars but Im scared stiff when OH drives close to edges of cliffs etc. He’s says he’s ‘miles away’ but I’m ready to open the door and get out!! 🙁
Thin, i love salmon too. We have it only about once a month. But we do eat Basa too and thats not meant to be good for you either.
This morning I weighed the same as yesterday after a NFD. Usually I put on weight. I was also good today. OH took me to see a Hand Surgeon (Luckily I won’t need surgery for a few years!) and then took me all around the world doing errands 🙁 He stopped at his favorite lunch stop to get Vietnamese roasted pork belly and crackling buns. I did not give into temptation but had 2 rice paper rolls instead. Tomorrow is his work Christmas do so no FD for me, ill do friday instead 🙂

Have a Good Night/Day Everyone xx

Where did everyone go? Hello Cinque, it’s frothy Thursday! I had a great FD yesterday with good results this morning. Now for some minimal eating for three days I hope as we have a Christmas Party to attend on Saturday and it’s being held in a private venue at an Italian restaurant. My least favourite of all menus these days (not complaining, I’m looking forward to the event).

LJoyce, salmon, when it’s fresh shouldn’t have a strong or fishy flavor. To me it seems like one of the most meat-like fish. I love it with lemon juice and fresh rosemary. I usually buy the filers, without skin if I can find them that way. But the skin peels off pretty easily once they’re cooked. I usually poach them in a pan on the stove, with a little water and lemon juice.

Stay, I like Basa too, but I haven’t seen it often in the stores lately. I like it because it’s mild tasting and OH, who isn’t particularly fond of fish will eat it.

I’m not too worried about Christmas week. If that’s the only week of the year I don’t get in 2 FD’s because of get togethers, that would be ok. The other 51 weeks are always 2 FD with no exceptions. I like the idea of “FD til dinner” (FDTD?) on days when there are events. I guess it could be done with a meal in the middle of the day instead, but for me, that would be much more difficult. It’s harder to stop once I get started. But I think the FDTD could be a good tool for me once or twice a week, along with my regular FDs. It would be easier than counting calories on NFDs which I really want to avoid.

Don’t start, It’ bad enough trying to translate text messages!

I didn’t quite make it until dinner. I came it at 4:30 after nearly 2 hours of gardening with an appetite. So I had a small kefir blueberry smoothie and a plum. Now I’m just having a cup of tea, which will hopefully see me through to dinner.

Good morning everyone,
I can’t be a good sharer here at the moment as I am still waking up every morning feeling too thin to think about fasting. However I expect that too shall pass!
I had a very social couple of days with sisters visiting and yes I got looked after and a full fridge of much better food!
Then last night my lovely neighbour hosted a bbq for the flats and I stayed there too long I think, but it was great to chat and get to know my neighbours better.

Thin, hooray for your frothy Thursday.

LJoyce I hope you wake up feeling good about yourself. It is a hard time this silly season. A high price to pay for being so socially connected! Hooray for Thin’s Silly Season thread. I hope you keep getting some quiet days inbetween social things.

Hi Stay! Miso is doing her best to ignore the flap, I’ll rig it up to stay open again when I can manage that.
I hope your hand will work fine for years and that you have recovered from that trip around the world!

JJulie, good luck with all your busy things!

Hi Cali and Penguin and everyone else.

Thin, yes I would like that recipe. I do remember it was dressed in rather a lot of olive oil, but I can always use a more modest amount – perhaps my lemon infused olive oil. I’m not a barramundi fan, as I find that when I order it at restaurants it’s unreliable, sometimes it’s nice and sometimes it’s strongly flavoured. (I’ve been told it depends on the time of year as the barramundi go to different water to breed and it affects the flavour.) However I don’t see why I can’t use another type of white fish. I like deep sea perch and monkfish, they are reliably bland.

Cinque, I’m very glad to hear that you not only had some company but were left with good food in the fridge. It sounds like you need a few good meals. Our bodies use additional calories when healing from injury or surgery.
I feel much better today. I followed Cali & Thin’s advice and fasted almost until dinner time on my NFD, then ate what I normally would for a NFD dinner. Today I feel much like I do after a FD and I also feel as if I’ve broken my overeating pattern on NFDs.
Unfortunately it’s not just the social commitments that are causing the problem, it’s my behaviour at home on NFDs. I had developed a pattern of restraint on those days but that all flew out the window when December started and I seemed to operate on the believe that I was entitled to treats every day.

As I mentioned, my NFD yesterday went well. By delaying eating until late afternoon I finally managed to do a controlled NFD where my calorie intake was likely to be under my TDEE. That’s a big improvement on how my NFDs have been going. I think this is another tool I need to add to the list for keeping my eating at a sensible level. I follow an eating window anyway, usually 16:8. If I’m having trouble with overeating then I just need a smaller window until I feel in control again. Yesterday my window ended up being 22:2
Today I’m doing a normal FD. As the weather is mild here today I think I can face soup for dinner, so I’ve pulled my last tub of scotch broth out of the freezer. I have 1/2 punnet of strawberries in the fridge also if I need them.

Have a good day everyone.

Baked barramundi fillets with tomato, ginger and coriander

Serves 4
326 cals (as calculated by LJoyce)

1 onion, finely sliced
1 tsp freshly grated ginger
1 tbs olive oil
6 roma tomatoes, quartered
2 tbs olive oil, extra
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 barramundi fillets (about 150g each)
1/2 cup white wine
1 tbs white wine vinegar
large handful baby rocket
2 tbs sliced pickled ginger
1/2 cup fresh coriander leaves

Preheat oven 180C. Combine onion, ginger, oil and tomatoes in a baking dish and place in oven for 20 minutes.

Heat half the extra oil in a frying pan, season fish to taste and cook over high heat to brown both sides. Remove from pan and set aside. Add wine to pan and simmer until reduced by half. Add vinegar and remaining oil.

Remove tomato mixture from the oven. Add rocket and pickled ginger and combine. Place fish on top and drizzle with wine mixture.

Return to oven 5-10 mins, or until fish is just cooked through. Serve sprinkled with coriander.

Thin, thanks for the recipe. How essential is the pickled ginger? – it’s not an ingredient I’ve ever used so I’m not familiar with the flavour – I normally stick to fresh ginger.

JJ, glad you get to have your husband home for christmas. He does seem to be away a lot for work, that must become difficult at times.

I’ve been to the optometrist and purchased new glasses – that’s a pricey exercise! Unfortunately one of my eyes had deteriorated too much in the last year to stick with my old glasses and I found the old frames less comfortable than I thought when I chose them. I think I’ve made a better choice this time.

I went to a neighbouring town to Coles to shop today and found punnets of raspberries for $4.50. I can never find them for less than $7 elsewhere. I bought 2 punnets and expect that one will become part of my FD food today. Have I mentioned that I adore raspberries?

Hope you are all having a good day. My FD is going well so far, just 2 pots of tea.

Ha ha CalifD, so true! We don’t need to break any records – other than how trim we can stay while continuing to enjoy our friends and family.

LJ, you can definitely omit the pickled ginger. Let me know how you play around with the oil to reduce calories too. Yes, CalifD, any firm white fish would work with this I’m sure. I’ve been using frozen barramundi from Spud Shed because I don’t like the smell of fish in the house and it’s one I’ve found that doesn’t seem to have that.

JJulie, thanks, I will ask to speak to WW’s manager and enquire about their salmon’s origin. I don’t find it tastes ‘fishy’ but I cook salmon in the electric wok outside because it is a bit fishy smelling to my thinking. Yes, I’ve seen those fish farms in Vietnam under people’s houses on the river and definitely don’t fancy eating any of that. I also don’t trust labelling. “Packaged in Australia”, “Made from ingredients grown in Australia” and “Australian owned” doesn’t really tell the whole story.

Did any of you in Oz see that documentary about the origin of fish a year or so ago? I can’t recall the fella’s name but I think he’s Matthew somebody, lives in Tasmania and he presents the Gourmet Farmer programme.

Gosh, after reading those articles, it’s hard to know who or what to believe, isn’t it? After a few days spent on the Maekong, I was more concerned about human waste. We need a thread started containing a list of foods that we CAN safely eat.

That doco I mentioned was called, “What’s The Catch?”. Matthew Evans. SBS. I don’t know if you can access it CalifD. https://www.sbs.com.au/programs/whats-the-catch

😆 You definitely have a point there.

Hi,
Thin, thanks for the recipe. We often get barramundi from our customers or the fish markets.

I agree with some of the marketing on the labels and you really do have to be careful. I checked the labels again today and they are very explicit with what is Australian and what is imported especially in the seafood section.
Tilapia is a fish common from our trips to the Phillipines. It is pest in our waters in Australia because it eats everything. We just recently as last weekend had a Tilapia fishing competition to get rid of the fish in our riverways. The Filippinos love this fish to eat but it is illegal in Qld (not sure about other states)

Gardening – I have now cleaned out the tomatoes as they had browned off and not producing anymore. The snake beans are still producing. The pumpkin is looking creat, only I only got one big pumpkin out of all of the growth. Local gardening place has suggested more fertilizer so trying this at the moment. I have heaps of male flowers and no female flowers. We will see.

I still have Mizuna, Okinawa spinach, capsicums and strawberries going good even though the temperature is so hot. It is not a good time for strawberries but if I can keep the plant alive during this time it will produce well come winter.

Hope all is well with everyone and will catch up again when I can.

Yes Oh is away a lot, but that is part of our business. Years ago I did not handle it well when the kids were young, but now it is part of my life and I compensate by having homestay students to help keep me busy.

CalifD, Yes I am excited about the trip to Borneo. OH has been there for the last week and is now on his way home via Singapore. I have already booked the flights for us to return in January, but not the accommodation as yet. We will also have 2 nights stay in Singapore on the way home.

Hi Everyone
Penquin, Im in the South east of Australia and we think we are lucky if we have tomatoes growing before Christmas. I dont think we will have any by then this year.
LJoyce, you must have a lovely garden with all the work you do in it!
JJ, sounds like another fantastic holiday coming up.

Last night we had OHs Work Christmas Party. It was at a Pizza Restaurant and I cannot get over all. the. food!! It started with meats and cheeses, then lasagna and carbanara, then roast lamb, roast pork, salad and bread, THEN pizza. “chose 5 different pizzas per table”- there were 10 people on a table. Only 1 size pizza and we were expected to eat half a pizza??!! Some people even ate dessert. I wont even mention the wine and beer- Ill just say lots of Ubers and taxis were used.
I did eat more than usual and will do a FD tomorrow as Ill lose weight today even on a NFD because of the extra put on last night 🙁

Have a good night/day everyone xx

Good morning everyone.
Ha, yes, serving sizes on packets are such a load of unscientific rubbish! You inspired me to check my packet of pita bread and it says one pita is 100g and that is a serving size. Half a one seems plenty to me.
I’m beginning to feel like I really am healing, so that is a relief.

Penguin in Melbourne we are similar to SA and have a Mediterranean climate and grow our tomatoes over our hot dry summer. Up in the tropics where JJulie lives the warm dry winters are best for tomatoes.

Congrats on getting all that gardening done LJoyce!

I spent yesterday with my daughter and littlest granddaughter, such a pleasure.

Sending best wishes to those of you fasting today, and those of you being mindful and sensible and not fasting, and all the other combinations! Enjoy every bite, even if you are only having one!

Cali – I think you are right your climate does sound similar to Melbourne and the Adelaide Hills, although we have had summers where the daytime temperature gets over 40C. The worst heat wave here lasted 3 weeks with every day 35-45C. That was the year I put in an air-conditioner. I hadn’t thought I needed one before then, as the night time temperature is usually so mild up here in summer and I can cope with a hot day as long as it’s cool enough to sleep at night.

LJ, we’ve had weeks of 35 – 45 temps in the summer too. But I would say the daytime temps are usually in the 32 to 37 range.

That mountain bread looks good. I often use large flour tortillas for wrapswith hommus but I think they’re a little thicker and more doughy. Those look thinner and a little drier. The calories are lower too, according to their website. I wish I could find something like that here.

I sometimes spread hommus on a flat flour tortilla, add a few finely chopped veggies and then roll it tightly and slice the roll into pieces. I usually use fresh basil or sundried tomato hommus for this.

I agree about hommus having a lot of flavor. I usually go heavy on the garlic and lemon juice. I sometimes add cayenne blend spices, jalapeños or hot sauce to it. It’s so versatile.

Cali, The only brand of wraps that I ever buy is “Mountain Bread” as it has far fewer calories than the others. Most brands make their wraps round, like pita bread, but the Mountain Bread brand is a large rectangle (about 12 x 9 inches), so it’s easier to roll up and cut into rolled sandwiches. http://www.mountainbread.com.au/ It comes with lots of grain variations but all of them are around 70 calories (293kj) per piece – I don’t care about which grain, I just buy whichever one has the most fibre. It’s much thinner than the round wraps, which is probably also why the calorie count in low. I find I can fit more salad filling in one of these than I can in a normal sandwich, so one filled wrap is quite filling and I end up eating more veg and about 1/3 of the bread in a normal sandwich. They can also be cut into pieces and dried out in the oven to serve with dips.
If I want a round pita bread or chapati I always make my own using a wholemeal flour mixed with either yogurt or kefir. The dough keeps in the fridge for days and I can cook just one piece in a dry cast iron griddle as needed. I mostly do this when I make curries, or sometimes when I make felafel.
I enjoyed reading the Miso Paste comments – sounds like they’re having a competition to see who can keep their tub the longest without getting food poisoning. I have to say that nothing stays in my fridge longer than a year, even preserves that I know should keep longer than that. It’s just been part of the annual clear out and scrub. I read one comment where someone was truing to turn miso into butterscotch – I don’t even want to imagine how bad that would taste.
I agree about hommus being versatile, I’m also pretty heavy handed with the garlic and lemon. I also use lots of dried cumin and I also usually add fresh coriander leaves (cilantro), which means my hommus ends up green rather than the usual fawn.

For some unknown reason I awake at 6am. As it’s going to be a hot day here I decided that was a hint to get up and do some watering. The only problem with an early start is that I usually want to start eating earlier than usual. I ate a bit too much yesterday on my NFD, so I’m trying to do better today. The family decided it was too hot to go to the cherry farm this morning, so I’ll go out later in the week to get the Christmas cherries. The positive side of this change, is that I don’t have to make decisions about eating morning tea because I’ll be home rather than in a cafe. One less food challenge to deal with is always welcome.
I’m just finishing my second pot of tea for the morning and trying not to think about how nice a bowl of muesli with kefir would be. I’d like to not eat until lunch time.

Over lunch, I was watching a program about stress that I recorded a couple of weeks ago. One of the things suggested was to take away the power of our inner critic (that self talk that undermines us) by giving it a name, eg “Pricilla Perfect” or “The Nag”. This struck a cord with me as a useful method of getting the upper hand in this ongoing battle.
I found this article on the topic as well:
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/06/negative-self-talk-think-positive_n_3009832.html
I have a determined, sneaky, persistent and sometimes cruel inner voice who won’t let go of old thinking patterns. I’ve decided to take a literal interpretation and give my negative inner voice an actual name. I decided an old fashioned name to indicate someone stuck in the past was the right way to go. Meet Gladys, the gabby critic in my head who talks too much! I tried to pick a name that I knew I’d struggle to take seriously – I apologise to anyone actually named Gladys.