Karaage chicken

Our version of karaage chicken tonight, we don't deep fry but instead pan fry in coconut oil as it has many health benefits and leaves a nice aroma in the kitchen.  Very similar to yesterday's meal but probably more palatable for fussy eaters (of which I do not number myself).

The chicken is coated in dry ingredients which are mixed together first: potato starch, ginger, pepper, salt (not a lot), sesame and turmeric (hence the lovely yellow colour).

We like it "just" cooked so the chicken is still nice and juicy, so it's a very quick dish to prepare.  The potato salad, salad leaves and sunblush were all shop bought so just needed served (yes we did wash the salad leaves first) straight from the container.

Sadly no sushi rice.  I love the taste but it just wouldn't go with this.  The potato salad made up for it though, creamy and with chives.  Thought that would be difficult to eat with hashi but both of us managed without any difficulties.

What delights will tomorrow's dinner bring?

Been a while

Something we used to eat quite a lot of and for some reason stopped is liver.  Tonight saw a return of my old favourite, although with a difference.

The liver was cut into bite sized chunks and coated with the same mixture that we use for karaage chicken (potato starch, ginger, pepper and salt) and then pan fried.  Not quite the way to make karaage chicken I know but it's a wee bit healthier and tastes almost the same.  Served with potato salad, sunblush tomatoes, watercress and baby spinach.  Delicious.

The liver was still lovely and pink and melted in the mouth, just the way I like it.

Love the plate too.  Forces you to eat well with your hashi.

Rock Pool soup

Tonight was salmon night, poached of course, accompanied by a bowl of sushi rice with umeboshi on the top.  The big surprise was the bowl of Rock Pool soup!  Well that's what I'm calling it anyway as it looked like a small rock pool.  It's actually a miso soup with wakame (a type of seaweed) and mushroom.  Maybe I should say wakame with mushroom and miso as it was mostly wakame!  No picture this time but next time we have it I'll post one up.

Very tasty indeed and with added health benefits.

Japanese style dinner

Tonight's dinner was really tasty and filling too!

The salmon was steamed and served cold with preserved whole lemons which we sliced and de-seeded.  They are quite sweet and the skin is quite delicate.


The sprouting beans are about four different types but as the packet has been thrown out I'm not sure what they all are.  Bought them in Sainsburys so if you are interested take a look in the fresh fruit and veg section. 


Juliennes of carrot and celery were served with some halved pomodorinos.  They are very sweet too for a tomato.


Was expecting some sushi rice in the covered bowl when I took this photo but got a pleasant surprise when I lifted the lid and found mashed sweet potato with tamari dressing.


Loving this new eating regime!  Mmm mmm (for Chris I, I know he must have missed that over the Christmas period).

St Andrew's Day

Thanks to my work giving us St Andrew's Day as a public holiday I've spent a relaxing time at home with my feet up, eating good food and watching anime.  Currently watching 4 ongoing anime, that is ones that are still being broadcast and are made available to watch once a week and a whole bunch of others that have completed their runs.  My favourite at the moment is Amagami SS, which Bob the Axeman tells me is based on a Playstation game.


Changed my wallpaper to suit, using my favourite of the characters so far, Morishima Haruka.

The evening may end with a final blast at Bakemonogatari, which is excellently directed and has a really good style to it.  Only got a few episodes to go before I have finished it though so may limit myself, it's so good that I want to stretch out my enjoyment as much as possible.

ILUG

Back from three days at the ILUG (Irish Lotus User Group) in Belfast and what a great three days it was. I'm always amazed at the amount I take away from events like these, not only in material I have learned but  in ideas that form in my head on things we should be doing differently.


Paul Mooney and his "green-shirts" did an absolutely outstanding job of organising all of this, giving both their time and their efforts for free. Everything (well most things) ran smoothly and the only sore point I had was my bottom from sitting too much. The team had managed to get a fantastic selection of speakers and software suppliers to participate in the event and I was amazed at how approachable everyone was. The only complaint I had was there wasn't as many coffee breaks as I needed :)


Had to stay in a city centre hotel (Jury's Inn) and taxi it back and forth to the event hotel but that just added to it all. If you ever go to Belfast the traffic is OK every day except Thursday, late night shopping kicks in and everyone seems to go mad. The weather wasn't brilliant but it was November after all. I'd thoroughly recommend Belfast to anyone thinking of going there, a lovely city full of friendly people.


Happy to be back sleeping in my own bed again though, not that the bed in the hotel was uncomfortable, it was just unfamiliar. Back to work on Monday though and looking forward to submitting some change requests for improvements to the system.

Week 15 update

It's been a bit of struggle the last few weeks but mainly down to not going out and walking regularly.  Back on track this last week and the weight loss shows.

Finished the period with a 1.09Kg (2.4lbs) loss so hopefully I'm over the stagnation of the last 3 weeks and will start losing regularly again. Getting out for a walk in the morning is more laborious now with the darker mornings and the bitter cold and rain but I'm determined to walk as much as I can, even managed a few walks at lunchtime in Glasgow. With the surrounding woods in Dalkeith my lunchtime walks there have been good only slightly marred by the carpeting of leaves on the old Innocent Railway footpath around the top of Ironmills Park. May take some photos next time if the weather is good and post them up here.

Week 10 update

Well after a small blip with a 0.5Kg (1.1 lbs) gain last week for no apparent reason I'm back to good gain loss this week with 1.81Kg (4 lbs), again for no apparent reason.  Didn't eat any differently and exercised about the same so I am a bit puzzled.


I'm going to post a graphic every 5 weeks showing my weight loss as a kind of incentive to myself to keep things going. This Primal lifestyle certainly seems to be agreeing with me, well my feet still complain from time to time - but I've always had problems with them. I think the health of my feet has improved, throwing away shoes that were constraining my feet in any way certainly helped and my new work shoes almost feel like I don't have them on.

10.43Kg (23 lbs) total loss

Just back from shopping and a walk down to the Titan crane and back afterwards and found another supply of brambles (blackberries) ready to be picked, so tomorrow morning looks like a foraging morning (unless the weather is particularly bad).

Foraging

Today we went foraging for brambles (blackberries). The banks of the Union Canal at Ratho have some brambles, mostly just out of reach, so only collected enough for a dessert. Just had an apple and bramble "crumble" the other day so these are being frozen for use later in the week as a treat. I say "crumble" because it was made without any wheat products, ground almonds, dried fruit and coconut oil taking the place of all the bad ingredients (that's bad by Primal Blueprint standards).


Probably venture out again on Saturday as the weather looks like it's going to be good over the weekend although thinking of heading somewhere else for our fruit supplies. Where have all the brambles gone? I remember there being tons of them when I was a kid but they seem to be thin on the ground these days.


Also had a wee walk around part of the Almondell and Calderwood Country Park in the vain hope that there would be some brambles there too. Good views but no fruit.

Walking campaign

Started my new walking campaign today. Kept up a reasonably good pace for 58 minutes and feeling quite pleased with myself. Feet feel a bit sore but not as much as they used to. I think all this walking that I have been doing lately is toughening them up and making them healthier too.

Let's see how well I can progress over the coming months.