How to make the perfect Reuben sandwich

Since last December, it has been rare to find our freezer without several portions of D's home made corned beef.  And one of our absolute favourite ways to eat corned beef is in a classic American deli sandwich, a Reuben.

We had Reubens at Katz's deli when we were in New York earlier this year, but I think mine is better because, as delicious as Katz's beef was, the quantity served in the sandwich was so large as to overwhelm the other component parts - it just wasn't properly balanced.  For me, the joy of this sandwich is the way in which all the ingredients work together.  I like a variety of textures as well, hence leaving the bread under the cheese layer untoasted.

I think traditionally this would be on rye bread, but I find the really dark German style rye bread a bit too intense, so prefer to opt for a crusty loaf, a sourdough if possible.  If you are so clever as to make your own sourdough (one day I will get around to experimenting with that...) then use that.

Serve this with a big dill pickle on the side.

Ingredients

4 slices of bread (see above)
100g corned beef, thinly sliced
50g Gruyere cheese, grated
4 tbsp sauerkraut

For the Russian mayonaise:
2 tbsp full fat mayonnaise
Tsp Dijon mustard
Tsp tomato puree
Tsp chopped fresh (or freeze dried) dill
Pinch of dried chilli flakes

Makes 2 sandwiches, 16 pro points each

Preheat your grill for bread toasting purposes.

Combine the ingredients for the mayonnaise and set aside.  You could, of course, use a reduced fat mayo if you were looking to shave some points off.

Toast the bread on one side until lightly golden.  In our beast of a grill, this takes about ten seconds.

Flip the bread slices, and on two of them, divide up the grated cheese.  Replace under the grill and cook until the naked bread is lightly toasted and the cheese is molten and bubbling.

Spread the mayonnaise on the naked bread slice, and then layer on the sliced meat and the sauerkraut.  Top with the melted cheese slice (cheese side down).

Serve with a napkin (this is a juicy devil) and a large dill pickle on the side.

MPM: 21st July 2014

A short week for meal planning this week, as we are off to London on Friday for the weekend.  My little niece is being christened on Sunday which is very exciting in itself, and we have a couple of nice bits planned for the Friday and Saturday - including a trip to London's second smallest museum which is dedicated to GIN!!!! My cup, or rather my martini glass, does truly runneth over.

This week, we plan to enjoy:

Tuna steaks with anchovy and rosemary butter (I'm leaving the choice of accompaniments up to D)

A Reuben sandwich, using some of our home made corned beef

Soup (variety tbc)

April Bloomfield's fruity lamb curry with basmati rice - a seriously tasty recipe taken from her "One Girl and Her Pig" book.

More meal planning fun over at Mrs M's.

Scales on Saturday - episode IV: A New Hope

Don't let anyone tell you that weight loss is just about what you do or do not eat.  Weight loss is, in no small part, down to successfully playing mind games with yourself.  It is about strategy.

Since last September, my strategy has been to have one eye looking back on where I've come from rather than on where I was going, which until recently was pretty successful.  But, for the next few months, I'm adopting a forward looking approach.  Not so far as the ultimate goal - that's a way off yet.  But I'm stepping the pressure on myself up a little bit and challenging myself to reach a certain point by Christmas.  Or rather, since it is far too early for the C-word, by the end of this calendar year.

So, scores on the doors this week...

This week: -2.8lbs
Lbs to End of Year goal: 33.8

The observant among you will notice that my initial prediction that I would start this campaign with around 30lbs to lose was a bit off.  Which means the challenge is, well, a bit more challenging.  Still, to achieve this goal in the number of weigh ins I have left (of course I have a spreadsheet) I have to lose, on average, 1.5lbs a week.  That is entirely achievable.

A good start this week.  I'm not going to lie, I would have liked to have hit 3lbs, but I entirely accept that was rather ambitious.  As it is, I'm pleased.  That 2.8 was pretty well deserved - I tracked everything that passed my lips, I cut right back on alcohol and stuck wholeheartedly to our house meal plan, which was no great hardship given that it was delicious.  I actually ended the week with weekly points left in the bank - I'm going to try and work on that this week as I really don't think under eating my allowance for the sake of feeling virtuous is particularly laudable.  I also didn't get as much exercise as I had initially planned due to a couple of long days at the office.  I need to work out how best to tackle that.

But I'm on the way, my strategy is in place, my eye is on the prize and it looks as if I am in full on cliche spouting mode.  Hurrah!

Foodie Abroad: Barcelona - a whirlwind tour of tapas

This was our second visit to Barcelona and, to be honest, while I was tremendously excited to go, I was also slightly nervous that it wouldn't live up to the incredible memories of the first time.  Barcelona was where we went on our first ever holiday together you see, and it is imbued with all the kind of optimism and joy which comes at the beginning of a relationship.  Lot of water under the bridge since then, and could any city be quite as rose tinted as I remembered?

Turns out, it can!  Barcelona is fantastic.  If you haven't been, go.  Now.  If nothing else you NEED to see La Sagrada Familia, the astonishing basilica designed by the architect whose work is synonymous with the city, Antoni Gaudi.

Of course, one of the main draws for us is the amazing food.  In my (admittedly limited) experience it is extremely difficult to eat badly in Barcelona and extremely easy to eat very, very well indeed.  For all that D had done extensive research beforehand, on a couple of occasions we just wandered in off the street for a bite or five of tapas and were never disappointed.  The general standard of the basic produce is extremely good and the cooking style is unfussy, unpretentious and very respectful of the ingredients.

Being a city by the sea, the seafood is, as you would expect, fabulous.  I developed something of a passion for deep fried baby squid and proceeded to order it as often as possible.

One of the tapas highlights of the trip was a place called Tossa which was supposed to be famous for its croquetas - deep fried, breadcrumbed cylinders of flavoured potato or thick bechamel.

At Tossa they take these little babies really seriously - one of them contained foie, for goodness sake!  While they were all lovely - curiously non greasy and just the right side of stodgy - my personal favourite variety was cheese and ham.  For all I claim the moniker foodie, I have pedestrian tastes!

Another tapas based revelation, which completely passed us by on our last visit, was the "montadito" which appears to roughly translate as "things on toast".

Shot complete with D's elbows!

The nearest approximation is an Italian bruschetta, but whereas bruschetta I tend to think of as a dainty mouthful, these babies were pretty substantial.  From left to right above - goats cheese with quince, salt cod, duck, steak with a padron pepper and foie gras with sweet balsamic drizzle.  Oh my word, these were lovely.  Steak on toast - what on earth is there not to like?  And, back to point about the basic quality of food in Barcelona, even this one component part of one dish on the tapas menu was perfectly sourced and cooked - exemplary, blushing steak.

One of the unexpected tapa highlights occurred on the very first day, in a little venue in the corner of the main city market, La Boqueria.  Bear with me on this one - crispy coca bread, chocolate cream, olive oil and salt.

My one gripe about Spanish food after our last trip was the fact that I couldn't get on board with the puddings - and puddings, my friends, I take very seriously indeed.  No longer.  This particular combination, which we learnt later was actually a popular after school snack for Catalan children, is one of the nicest new taste sensations I've experienced in a while.  The chocolate itself was unapologetically bitter, so combined with the crisp toast and salt the initial impression is almost savoury, but then the fruity note of the olive oil swoops in and elevates it to something else. What can I say - smitten.

We were lucky enough to have a couple of seriously high end meals while we were there (of which more to follow) but I stand by my original statement - even at the cheaper end of the market (and let us take it as read that I am disregarding the ubiquitous fast food outlets when I say that) the general quality is absolutely outstanding and the style of food...well, I've sobbed a little over my keyboard while writing this, that I can't just pop down the road and indulge in a couple of perfectly formed plates of tapas perfection.

Incidentally, both husband and mother have told me to cut back on the cat pictures.  But I'm so proud of the little one who appeared to cope admirably with five nights in the cattery.  Her Mummy coped less well, and there may have been tears when we first dropped her off.  Hopefully the whole process will be slightly less traumatic for all concerned next time round.

MPM: 14th July 2014

Bit of a blogging hiatus since coming back from holiday – I’ve just been trying to get back into the swing of things work wise and diet wise but I have lots of lovely pictures to share from Barcelona, so I’ll try and get that sorted this week.

I’ve been back on track since weighing in on Friday. The figure was higher than I would have liked, but I’m not going to brood about it, I’ve recommitted and I’ve had a good weekend, eating well (some might say positively indulgently considering pizza, bacon sandwiches, home made curry and a roast dinner all featured) but coming in within my points allowance. I intend for this week to continue in the same vein.

We had a dee-licious chicken dinner last night – honestly, I think I’ve got roasts cracked! Roast chicken, roast potatoes, herby carrot mash, creamy minted broad beans, Yorkshire pudding and gravy. I think the key is to not to attempt too many different component parts. Anyway, what that means is that there is lots of lovely leftover chicken to use up, so two of our meals this week take advantage of that.

Elsewhere, D is running a 10k on Sunday and has requested spaghetti carbonara on Saturday night for the purposes of carb loading – no arguments from me! His post race meal will need to be protein rich and robust, and we have a brisket currently brining in the garage ready for that.

So the week looks like…

Caesar salad, with herby roasted chicken and caramellised onions

Soup (smoked haddock, sweet potato and spinach)

Chicken and leek pasta bake

Sticky pork belly with noodles, red pepper and pak choi stir fry

Spaghetti Carbonara

Corned beef with parsley sauce

And, as ever, there is more meal planning fun over at Mrs M’s.

Lunch bunch revisited

Like a particularly stupid version of Pavlov’s dog, I never seem to learn. Despite the fact that I wrote a post over three years ago about the fact that buying lunch “to go” was generally an overpriced disappointment to be avoided, I have fallen back into bad habits. Well, I say this as if it a new thing – the truth is that for much of the Annus Separatus I got pretty lax about putting together my own lunches, and the practice of nipping to the shops, rather than spending five minutes putting my own lunchbox together, has rumbled on.


At least I am consistent, and the chief recommendation in that 2011 entry still stands – if you’re going to buy lunch on the go, then I maintain that M&S is far and away your best option. I’ve recently developed a slightly worrying obsession with their turkey, pastrami and Emmental flatbread which, at £4 a pop, is not a cheap habit. It is very tasty though (if you are into deli style flavours) and amazing “value” at just 7 pro points (and less than 300 calories).

Elsewhere, the pickings are slim, especially for the perennial dieter. I find that both Pret and Boots are consistently disappointing, and it is trickier to count accurately if you go to an independent outlet. So we come back round to the fact that the best way to ensure that you are getting a good, filling, low point, tasty lunch is to make your own.

As of the beginning of September, I am moving offices – so I’ll be bidding a fond farewell to my current Leeds city centre location and a cheery halloo to an office park in the middle of a slightly-out-of-centre wasteland. This will severely curtail the options at lunchtime – it’s the park canteen or nothing really – and will hopefully be the additional spur I need to break the takeaway habit. Which can only be good news for my poor, beleagured wallet: I saw an article online the other day that suggested that most office workers spend around £2,500 a year on buying food to go (this figure included takeaway coffees and extra bits and pieces of food shopping acquired on the way home but still).

So I need to get my thinking cap on and come up with some delicious, easy lunches – I mean, sandwiches are great, but a bit of variety might be nice. As if by magic, this extremely pertinent article popped into my blog feed recently so I’ll be interested to see what suggestions the author comes up with – and I also will be having a trawl through this lovely blog as Nicola always seems to have the most interesting and varied meal plans for both lunch and dinner.

Let’s see if another three years will be sufficient to break the M&S habit altogether…?

Setting my agenda

Greetings, friends! I’m in Barcelona this week, where hopefully the sun will be shining and the tapas will be tapas-ing. Can’t wait to share my adventures with you when I get back! But, in the meantime – last week it struck me. In (less than) six months time, it will be Christmas. Scary, no? So, at the 2014 halfway point, I’ve been putting some real thought in to what I can do to ensure that my weight loss continues apace in the latter end of the year. I would love to have hit the six stone mark by the end of December, which is about thirty pounds away. That is an imminently achievable target as long as I work through this current funk (and hopefully the holiday will give me the boost I need to regain focus on my return).


So, what has gone well this year?

 I’m very good at not giving myself credit for my own achievements. I’m a Yesbut. I’ve lost nearly four stone…yesbut it has really slowed down lately, yesbut there is still more to lose, yesbut I shouldn’t have gained it in the first place. Yawn. I’ve done well, I should be pleased. My weekly average, since starting this latest campaign last September, is 1.4lbs. OK, 2 or even 3 would be lovely, but 1.4 is still a respectable figure.

 We’re in a really good routine of planning and cooking evening meals. D has got involved which is great, we eat a good variety of foods, we cook from scratch most nights and seldom fall into the takeaway or “popping out” trap.

 I haven’t gone backwards. I really haven’t felt 100% these last couple of months which, in the past, I would have used as an excuse to self indulge, but I’ve put in enough good days to counteract the bad. I’ve got maintenance down to a fine art!

 Swimming! I’ve joined a gym and have managed to get myself to the pool at least a couple of times a week.

And what’s not gone so well?

 My enthusiasm has waned and, with its passing, the rate of weight loss has slowed to a crawl.

 I don’t plan my breakfasts and lunches with anywhere near the same care as my evening meals, with the result that I rely too heavily on shop bought, high point, expensive sandwiches and snacks and often find myself getting very hungry. Hunger leads to poor decisions.

 Weekend drinking has increased again – and the occurrences of midweek pick me ups as well. Alcohol is high in points which means I have to compensate by cutting back on the amount of weeklies available for extra food. This makes me hungry. Hunger leads to….(you know the drill).

So what can I do to address this?

 I’ve tried to avoid setting time based goals because not reaching them can lead to disappointment and disappointment can lead me to end up face down in a bowl of Doritos. But, as long as I realise that the sky won’t fall in if I don’t reach my entirely arbitrary goal, they can be helpful. I’m hereby aiming for the six stone mark by my last weigh in before Christmas which, as I write this, is 30 pounds away (although it might be slightly more after a week of tapas). I have 24 weigh ins to do it in, between the 11th July and the 19th December. BRING. IT. ON.

 I need to start being more organised about ALL my meals. Meal planning, henceforth, needs to include lunch planning as well.

 Alcohol is not my friend. Special occasions aside, I probably need to just avoid it altogether. Note to self: a Friday is not a special occasion.

 I need to up the exercise, which will give me an activity point safety net. My daily points allowance has gone down from 39 to 31 since I started, which is a big difference and could be one of the reasons why I am struggling. I’m enjoying the swimming, but I need to throw a bit of running in there as well – I want to be a runner. Runners are cool. Like bow ties.

Right – there we have it in black and white. The countdown to Christmas starts on the 11th July, my first post holiday weigh in. I know I can do this, I want to do it, I’m even (as I type) feeling a glimmering of enthusiasm. Hurrah! Onwards and downwards!

Cooking with fat

Minx gets tired trying to keep track of what she is supposed to be eating...

So the debate rages on about what the real enemy is when it comes to our eating - it seems that after years out in the cold someone has decided that fat isn't actually all that bad for you but having sugar in your tea is akin to...something dreadful.  I don't pay an awful lot of attention, to be honest; I have no intention of ditching any of the food groups, mainly because I am greedy and they taste nice and life is genuinely too short to spend it worrying all the time.

This much I do know, if you're counting points, or calories, or whatever, and you want to get your intake down a bit, shaving some of the fat out of a recipe often helps.  In most cases you can, at least, halve the amount of oil called for in a recipe with no particularly detrimental effects to the flavour but a decent calorie saving.  Gram for gram, fat has about double the amount of calories in it as does protein or carbohydrate.

And, when we're talking about pure energy content, all fat IS created equal.  Earlier this week, I watched Jamie Oliver pour several "lugs" (what is a lug, Jamie?  A good few tablespoons I reckon) of olive oil over a plate of mackerel and quinoa...and then refuse to add a knob of butter to his mashed potato.  Yes, there has been much written about the health benefits of olive oil, but that does not change the fact that pouring it willy nilly over your food is going to increase the amount of calories you consume by rather a lot.  Also, butter tastes good.  I love butter and cook with it often, and there is no reason you can't as long as you are sensible with regards quantities.  The idea that butter is "bad" while oil is "good" is a total nonsense.

The key for the home cook is to invest in some decent equipment.  A couple of good non stick pans will change your life (if your life, like mine, is quite small and quiet, and kitchenware excites you).  We bought ours a few years ago from M&S - a little pricey but worth their weight in...well, gold.  The point is, often a recipe calls for a lot of oil at the beginning just to stop food sticking to the pan.  It seems a bit of a waste to add something that is not going to contribute particularly to my enjoyment of a dish but just save a bit of time washing up.

Another tip is to buy yourself a silicon brush - this is something I picked up from watching Andrew Pern work during a Star Inn cookery course last year.  A brush will ensure that whatever fat you have added to the pan - even if it is just a scant teaspoon - can be quickly and evenly dispersed across the whole surface.  I use mine a lot for this very purpose.

When cooking foods with a high fat content of their own - streaky bacon and chorizo are two examples which immediately spring to mind - you can often get away with not adding any additional fat for cooking purposes.  Keep the heat low to start with, which will allow the fat in the item itself to render out.  I never cook bacon in oil - which makes me sound a bit puritanical -  but I just don't see the need.  The bacon will cook quite happily in its own fat as long as you start it off slowly.  And if I'm cooking something alongside said bacon - for example, an onion, I will cook the onion in the bacon fat as well.  Just make sure you do your meat first and that should provide you with sufficient lubrication.  And I'm sorry for using the word lubrication in a piece about cooking.  Those of you with a prurient mindset are allowed to leave the room for a giggle.

I suppose the point I am trying to make is, when you're following a diet plan, every little calorie or point or syn is precious.  But, equally, fat can be an important - even crucial - component of a dish and we shouldn't be afraid of it.  We just have to work out where it will actually contribute an element of pleasure to the food that we are eating - that's the bottom line, isn't it?  Enjoying what we are eating?

Personally, I like tuna...

MPM: 23rd June 2014

I know it is a cliche but, honestly, where does the time go?  We're coming up to the end of June people!  That's madness!  From now on we're in the downwards slide towards CHRISTMAS.

So this week is a bit like the end of term for me seeing as we are off on holiday a week today which is very exciting.  Some bits from the freezer make an appearance, but a new recipe as well.  Friday onwards is being left unplanned since we are out and about being social butterflies.

Salmon with bois boudran sauce and crushed potatoes: taken from "Heston Blumenthal at Home" this recipe looks rather delicious.

Lamb biryani: using leftovers from the Sunday roast.  The third time we have cooked this particular dish, which in our household is the highest of high recommendations.

Smoked haddock, sweet potato and spinach soup (thank you Mr Waitrose).

Chicken with broad beans and mint, probably served with some new potatoes tossed in a little butter.

More meal planning fun over at Mrs M's.

Scales and tribulations

Previously on WWF: -50.4lbs
This week: -2.4lbs
Total loss: 52.8lbs

Last week, I didn't post a weigh in result and for that I am sorry.  It is the first time, since last September, that there has been no post and no good reason for not doing a post.  It was just sheer bloody mindedness on my part.

As you'll see, this week, by dint of putting one foot in front of the other (in diet terms) I have scored a good loss.  Which is great.  Two steps forward and one step back is still going forward after all.

The truth is, I've lost nearly four stone (good) but two and a half stone of that total loss took place between September and the end of last year.  This year there has been a LOT of faffing around.  I am proud of the fact that I have never given up, that I have kept on keeping on, but equally, I am annoyed that I've allowed myself to navel gaze and procrastinate and not just get my nose to the dieting grindstone and make some real progress.

We go to Barcelona the week after next, and, once we're back, Operation Get Your Finger Out commences in earnest.

MPM: 16th June 2014

Mrs M has moved to her very own domain - fancy!  To see more meal planning posts from across t'internet then go ahead and click on her lovely new badge.

Anyway, back to meal planning chez nous.  Last week was very much a game of two halves - the first half involved a lot of a certain someone feeling very sorry for themselves and not being very interested in cooking at all.  We got back on track during the second half of the week and enjoyed some fabulous dishes, including this lovely lemon sole with brown shrimp butter recipe on Friday night which I hadn't had for ages.  It wasn't in the original meal plan but the nice Waitrose man brought us along two packs of lemon sole in the shopping (a sub for one pack of plaice fillets - I am not entirely sure of the logic but, equally, not prepared to argue) and so we forced ourselves to do a bit of bumping around.

This week has ended up looking a bit rice-y.  Which is fine; as we've recently discovered, if you're trying to cut back, rice is probably the best "value" staple carb - you seem to get a lot more for your money (and for money read points or calories).  But the chilli on Friday may yet be served in wraps, burrito style, to vary things a little bit.

So this week we'll be eating:

Kedgeree

Leftover roast pork with mustard mash and creamy mushrooms and kale

Soup!

Chicken and chorizo jambalaya: we actually made this last week and because we had all the ingredients to hand decided to do the full recipe and set two portions aside for this week.  It's a nice recipe - we worked it out at 12 pro points for a good, hearty portion.  An excellent way to use leftover roast chicken.

Chilli con carne

Wiener schnitzel with spaetzle: D is in charge of this one and I can't wait!

Slow roast shoulder of lamb on boulangere potatoes: perfect Sunday dinner fare.

Recipe corner: A summery stew of chicken, broad beans, lemon and mint

This was just a very easy dish that basically sits on the stove and take care of itself while the cook potters.  It is pretty close to a Lucas Hollweg recipe that I copied out of the Sunday Times magazine aeons ago, although that was flavoured with mustard (also delicious).  I was in the mood for something zingy so subbed out the mustard for flavours of lemon and mint which I thought would be gorgeous with broad beans (it was).

The only problem is I haven't yet decided what would prove the best accompaniment for this kind of thing - new potatoes, perhaps, steamed and tossed in a knob of butter, or a lemony basmati rice or even mash (mash on the side is never wrong).  I actually ended up serving it over pasta which was not quite right.  Fortunately, there are two more portions in the freezer for me to have another go.

Ingredients

400g chicken thigh fillets, skinless and boneless, cut into chunks
3 tsp light oil
Onion, chopped
2-3 garlic cloves, crushed
50ml Vermouth (or dry white wine if you happen to have some kicking around)
2 large bay leaves
500ml chicken stock (I tend to use Knorr stock pots)
100g frozen broad beans
4tbsp half fat creme fraiche
Zest and juice of half a large lemon
1-2 tbsps chopped fresh mint

Serves 4, 8pps per portion

Heat 2 tsps of oil in a large saucepan.  Season the meat and then add to the pan to brown - in batches if necessary.  Remove to a plate.

Heat the final tsp of oil.  Add the onion and cook for 3-4 minutes until it starts to soften and then throw in the garlic and cook for a further 5 minutes or so until all the vegetables are softened.

Pour in the Vermouth or white wine and briskly scrub at all the golden sticky bits of chicken and onion stuck to the bottom of the saucepan to ensure that the liquid deglazes them all.  Reduce the wine to almost nothing, then return the chicken to the pan and combine everything well.

Now you can add three quarters of chicken stock.  Bring up to a brisk simmer then cover and cook for around 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, combine the creme fraiche with the lemon and mint and weigh out the broad beans.

After half an hour has passed, remove the lid and add the broad beans.  They will bring the temperature of the liquid right down and temporarily stop the cooking so you may need to turn the heat up to get it back to bubbling.  If it looks a little dry, add more stock - you want a decent amount of sauce.  The broad beans should cook in about 5 minutes in the hot stock.  The best way to check that both chicken and vegetables are cooked through are to have a quick try.

Turn the heat down and stir through the flavoured creme fraiche.  As long as the stew isn't too hot and the creamy mix is at room temperature you shouldn't have any issues with splitting.  Check the seasoning and add salt and pepper as necessary.

MPM: 9th June 2014

My husband, in a fit of what I can only assume was serious work avoidance syndrome, has planned our meals out for the entire month of June!  Since I have an exam on the 25th, it suits me to have the job taken care of.  As well as Soup Wednesday, he is instituting Fish Monday which sounds like an excellent idea to me.  I do notice however, that there are few veggie days on there!  D is nothing if not a carnivore.

So this week:

Fish Monday - Smorrebrod (a Scandi style open sandwich) with plaice, prawns and basil

Chicken and chorizo jambalaya, using leftovers from the Sunday roast

Soup Wednesday

Chilli con carne

Game, red wine and cranberry pot pie with mash - not the most seasonal of dishes, but we have the filling and some puff pastry in the freezer so it will be a quick and easy assembly job on Friday night.

Roast pork with the trimmings

More meal planning fun over at Mrs M's.

Of scales and sunshine (or lack thereof)

Previously on WWF: --54.3lbs
This week: +2.9lbs
Total loss: 51.4lbs

Just as last week's loss wasn't really earned, so this week's gain wasn't really justified.  I think the gods of the scales are just having sport with me.  Which would be fine, but my resolve is low at the moment and I am really, really struggling.

Don't get me wrong, I have no intention of quitting, I just have to grit my teeth and accept that the upping and downing might continue for the next few weeks while I concentrate on having more good days than bad.

I'll get there - it just irks me that sometimes it feels like the easiest thing in the world and sometimes it is a constant battle and I don't always understand why.

Speaking of that though, I have recently been offered a possible solution for the fatigue and general meh-ness I've been experiencing the last few weeks; a blood test showed up that I am severely deficient in Vitamin D.  This is apparently very common in this country and is easily fixed but it can make you feel tired and low and full of vague aches and pains.  I have a six month super strength prescription and to get my levels back up to normal, after which time it will just be a case of making sure I remember to take a standard multi vitamin.  I only mention it because, reading up on it after the doctor's appointment, I came across an NHS article that mentioned vitamin D deficiency can be linked to excess weight.  Often, I think, overweight people are quite prone to doctor avoidance, which might be another reason that it doesn't get picked up that often.  But it could be worthwhile, if any of those symptoms sounds familiar, going and requesting a test. Other sources of vitamin D include sunshine (ha!) and oily fish, so next week I will mostly be trying to get outside more (if the lowering clouds ever lift) and having pilchards on toast for lunch (yum!)

Product review: Bannisters' Farm Littl'uns

I don’t write a blog to get free stuff, which is a good job as I don’t tend to get any. So imagine my surprise and delight when someone contacted me out of the blue and offered me a product to try! Oh, the excitement – I probably squealed a little bit. I am not cool, my friends.
It is very hard to be honest when you’re feeling pathetically grateful that a) someone has noticed your little blog and b) they think that your opinion might be worthwhile enough to send you their product. But a good journalist has to try and maintain a veneer of impartiality. So, in the spirit of full disclosure, I am going to admit that I got open sneers from the husband when I told him that we were getting microwaveable potatoes. We have both long been somewhat cynical of these, being of the firm opinion that if you’re going to have a jacket potato you should just, y’know, buy a potato and bake it. It is neither difficult nor time consuming, assuming you remember to put said potato in the oven a good hour or so before you intend to eat.

Where I do think these really come into their own though, is the office based lunch. Although the packet states to microwave from frozen, I found that if I took them out of the freezer in the morning and wrapped them in a bit of foil, they still stood up well come noon. Much as I am a devotee of sandwiches, sometimes a hot option is welcome – especially when the weather is as profoundly miserable as we have been experiencing recently. The Littl’uns, at 2 pro points or 85 calories each, are a really diet friendly option for anyone following WW or a similar calorie controlled plan. The low points count is obviously due to the size rather than any jiggery pokery on the part of the manufacturers, but I always find jacket potatoes pretty filling anyway, and although I ate two at a time you could probably get away with one plus salad and topping if you were more birdlike of appetite. Two potatoes, a can of tuna with some light mayo and a good helping of salad worked out at 8 pro points – that is lower than most packet sandwiches and proved both filling and tasty. Boxes being ticked all over the place.

Personally, I don’t think a potato cooked in the microwave can ever measure up 100% to one slow cooked from scratch – the skin will never get quite as satisfying crispy. But these were really not a bad attempt and I would happily repurchase for the sake of lunchboxes. A spoonful of baked beans or a sprinkle of cheese (or both) would also prove quick and easy desk based repasts.

In addition, there are some full sized filled potatoes in the range, two of which I was sent to try. These I also liked as a handy lunch option – although they were heftier in the points department (13pp for the one I tried the other week). They are cheesy though, and nothing with cheese can ever be bad.

In summary – I am not cool. Bannisters’ Farm are cool for sending me stuff to review (thank you and sorry this has taken a while to see the light of day!) Littl’uns potatoes are a) cute, b) low in points and c) make good, quick and tasty lunches for the office based drone. They cost £2.20 for a pack of six and are available at Morrisons, Tesco, Waitrose (hurrah!) and Ocado. Oh, and they’re gluten free too so excellent for any of you looking for something that isn’t bread.

And back to regularly scheduled programming...

Previously on WWF: -51.3lbs
This week: -3lbs
Total loss: 54.3lbs

I am entirely unsure where that loss came from this week but I will quite happily take it.  That's three good results in a row, which considering my mood at the moment is pretty damn amazing.

I'm having one of my periodic meh phases which makes everything feel like a bit too much of an effort.  It's hard to put my finger on why - things in my personal life are pretty good, I own the most beautiful cat in the world (she has taken to waking me up in the early hours of the morning to stroke my face - it is utterly adorable), work is fine, weight loss is fine...so why the grumps?  I'll have to have a ponder - I only have one series of "Parks and Recreation" left to watch which, once finished, should free up quite a lot of time in my schedule for navel gazing.

Weightwatchers on the NHS?

I write a blog which is, very loosely, about trying to lose weight with Weight Watchers.  So a story in the news about GPs being advised to send obese patients to a local slimming club is, of course, going to attract my attention.  But having dipped my toe into the hornets nest (talk about your mixed metaphors...) of British journalism, I almost wish I’d stuck to my usual lunchtime routine of celebrity gossip and blogs about lipstick.

My oh my but people love to fatty bash, don’t they?  Some of the vitriol spewed out in the comments section of these articles is quite, quite remarkable.  “Just put the cake down, fatty” is, I think, almost a direct quote from someone on the Guardian website.  Wow.  If only someone had told me that years ago I would have been saved a lot of time and trouble.

It saddens me.  It saddens me to think that people whom I have never met are making judgements – that I am lazy and stupid and that I might not even deserve access to the free healthcare that is my right as a UK citizen and taxpayer.  It saddens me that instead of having an open dialogue about what can be done to help people solve the problem of their obesity, a swathe of the population just want to have a go.  It saddens me that it doesn’t even surprise me all that much.  Fat people are easy targets.  We are programmed to be repulsed by flesh – nearly every article in the UK press on this topic was accompanied by a stock picture of rolls of fat hanging over the top of a pair of elasticised trousers, as if that added any weight (pardon the pun) to the debate.

I have said it before but it bears repeating; the reasons that people are overweight are varied and complex and include, although are not limited to, lack of education, chronic poverty and debilitating mental health issues.  The majority of people who are overweight do not actively choose to be so.  They do not sit at home, mainlining cream cakes, smugly congratulating themselves on their lifestyle choices.  Many of us with weight issues will battle our entire lives, and may ultimately be unsuccessful.  Some of us may, at some point, just stop fighting because it is exhausting – it is exhausting to be constantly monitoring what you put in your mouth, to bargain with yourself for every indulgence.  Food issues, unlike other substance abuse issues (and yes, I think that I am using the phrase advisedly) can not be overcome by complete abstinence. 

Personally, I am unsure that referring patients to slimming clubs is the best answer – certainly it is not the only one – but if it helps even a small percentage of the obese population to learn about how to lose weight, then what harm?  Yes, I hear those of you in the corner screaming in outrage that your tax pounds are going on aiding the tubtubs (another lovely phrase picked up from The Guardian's comments section), but where do we draw the line?  Do we refuse treatment to those addicted to drugs and alcohol?  To the smokers?  What about the people who injure themselves running marathons, or break a leg skiing?  The plethora of injured people who flood into our A&E departments every Saturday night after a few too many?  Are we basically saying that unless your illness or injury is entirely genetic then sod the hell off?  No, we are not.  We help our own.  We help them even when we know that for many, it might be hopeless.  We continue to talk about alternative solutions.  We don’t give up on an entire sector of society because they have made the wrong choices, even if they make them again and again and again.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I am going to go and jump into a pool of full sugar Coca Cola.  I have a BMI of over 25 so that must be how I spend my evenings, right?

MPM: 26th May 2014

Greetings, and a very happy Bank Holiday to you all!  It is nearly noon and I am still in my pyjamas while the cat and I indulge in some quality duvet time.  

Meal planning this week - well, last night's tea has got bumped to tonight after a post cinema beer went on for rather longer than planned.  Then D is out for beer and burgers on Friday which means S will probably have some entirely random combination of M&S foodstuffs - the last time I was allowed free reign in the Food Hall I had cheesy chips and prawn dim sum for tea.  Meal wise, then, the rest of the week looks like this:

Corned beef with parsley sauce, braised cabbage, roast potatoes, carrot and spring onion mash

Broad bean salad, crispy bacon and griddled courgettes, lemon couscous

Soup!

Chicken Achar - the other half of the batch I made the other week.  A really lovely, tasty curry recipe that I heartily recommend; we say up the lemon juice slightly to increase the sourness but otherwise, definitely a keeper.

Saltimbocca followed by limoncello tiramisu - D is cooking Italian on Saturday night which means I will probably be bidding a fond farewell to most of my weekly points budget...

And a Sunday roast - beef, we think, with all the appropriate trimmings.

More meal planning fun over at Mrs M's.

(New) scales on Saturday

Previously on WWF: -48.3lbs
This week: -3lbs
Total loss: 51.3lbs

There was a nasty moment earlier this week when my faithful old scales finally gave up the ghost.  Too weak to even finish their final error message, they flashed up a feeble "err" before dying completely.  Farewell, old friends.

Of course, my immediate concern was that switching to a new pair of scales could cause a rupture in the space time continuum - or, at the very least, a blip in my weight loss.  New scales can be very sneaky.  So, I don't really know whether this week's loss is all "real" or whether it is down to the newbies sucking up a little bit and weighing me a tad lighter than the old faithfuls.  Whatever - I'm taking it.  I LOVE my new scales.  I also really like the fact they weigh to 0.1 of a pound.  Little things, people.

I must admit, I was hoping for a good result.  I had done all the right things WW wise - not only tracking every last swig of gin consumed at the tasting last Saturday (it was painful to look at that day's tracker), but also getting to the pool for four (count 'em) swims, netting me 20 activity points (of which I consumed 2).  I'm trying to edge my way back into exercise and swimming, for me, is by far the least painful way to do that.  I want to start a running programme as well, but for the next couple of weeks, I think I'm going to stick to ploughing up and down the pool while I build up the nerve to hit the treadmill.

Onwards and downwards - the halfway point is approaching and I can SMELL it.  

Classic recipe corner: Perfect spaghetti carbonara

Every home cook should familiarise themselves with a carbonara recipe.  If you're anything like me, the ingredients are pretty much cupboard and fridge staples and it so quick and easy to do not to mention utterly delicious.

I'm (quite clearly) no Italian mama, and my understanding of Italian food is that recipes tend to vary from region to region in much the same way as they do in this country, so there is possibly no such thing as a completely authentic version - however, this one was taken from The Silver Spoon which I think is about as close to an Italian food bible as one is going to get.  You will note the complete lack of any bells and whistles - no mushrooms or onions and most definitely no cream.  To add cream to a carbonara is, in my humble opinion, just plain wrong - it makes it an entirely different thing.  I love the naked simplicity of this recipe - the rich saltiness of the bacon and cheese and the silky golden coating on the pasta with the faintest hum of garlic.  Utter bliss.

The only change that we make is to sub different types of bacon for the pancetta depending on what we have to hand.  Four rashers of back bacon will give you the same points count for more meat because of the lower fat content and is worth it if you want a good hit of bacon.  Because of the butter I don't really think the end result is compromised.

Admit it - it wouldn't be the WWFoodie without god awful food photography!

Ingredients

10g butter
50g pancetta
1 fat clove of garlic
175g spaghetti
1 medium egg
40g Parmesan cheese

Serves 2, 16 pro points per portion

One of the key things to remember with carbonara is to heat the plates up in advance.  Because you have to combine the pasta and sauce off the heat, it is already starting to cool down by the time you serve it.  Unless you want cold pasta, your plates need to be hot.  So put them in the oven at a low temperature now.

Put a large pan of salted water on to boil while you get everything else prepped.

Finely grate the Parmesan cheese.  Whisk the egg and add two thirds of the cheese to it along with a hearty grinding of black pepper.  Peel the garlic clove and then, using the flat of a knife blade, lightly bruise it.  Chop the bacon if you haven't take the lazy route and bought it pre cubed.

Once the water is up to the boil, tip in the spaghetti.  Heat the butter in a frying pan large enough to hold all the pasta once it is cooked.

As the butter melts, add the pancetta and the garlic clove and cook until the bacon is crispy.  It should take about the same amount of time as the pasta takes to cook - that is 8-10 minutes depending on brand.

When the pasta is cooked, reserve a mug full of the cooking water and then drain.  Fish the garlic clove out of the frying pan and throw the pasta straight in.  Over the heat stir well so that the pasta is completely coated in a light layer of butter and bacon fat.

Now - and this is important - you have to remove the pan completely from the heat.  Pour in the egg and cheese mixture and a splash of the cooking water and combine well.  I find tongs the best tool for this to ensure that you are lifting the pasta and it all gets well coated.  Add more cooking water as required - you want the spaghetti to have a very light, silky coating.

Serve in the warmed plates topped with a scrunch more black pepper and the remaining Parmesan cheese.  Sigh in contentment.

Mental health awareness week - my two penn'orth

Last week was Mental Health Awareness week, which completely passed me by. It was also British Sandwich week, which, to be honest, I am far more likely to have noticed since I love sandwiches (and don’t tend to keep on top of mental health issues). But I didn’t want it to go completely unremarked upon, especially since the theme this year was anxiety which is an issue with which, sadly, I have had some considerable dealings.


The first time I had a full on anxiety attack I thought that I was going to die. Does that sound melodramatic? It feels melodramatic writing it down like that. But, nevertheless. I became intensely aware of every single function in my body – my heart, pounding, my stomach, churning, I had to concentrate on the act of breathing because if I didn’t I thought I might just stop. I was on a train to York, a journey that I had made a hundred times, and on this occasion the ambient light and noise was almost unbearable. Every sense was heightened to an uncomfortable degree, every limb tingled and trembled. I remember sitting, rigid, eyes closed, and just counting to ten over and over and over again. I had the sense that at any moment I might lose the capacity to understand language but as long as I could count, could remember the sequence of numbers, I still retained basic comprehension and it was all I could think of to do, so I counted and I counted.

When I got home I couldn’t do anything except lie prone, counting and crying. D came and sat with me, but I couldn’t bear for him to talk because the thought that at any minute I wouldn’t be able to understand him was overwhelmingly frightening. I tried to sleep but was too edgy and the dark held too many unnamed terrors. The next day, a Saturday, I phoned NHS Direct and wept down the phone at the poor lady who told me to go to A&E where a nice doctor gave me some betablockers to try and ease the physical symptoms. To be honest, she could have given me Smarties – at that point I just needed the comfort of seeing a medical professional and receiving the tacit reassurance that I wasn’t about to keel over with an advanced case of Death.

The trouble with anxiety attacks is that once you’ve had one you live with the constant fear that it will happen again, although nothing since has ever compared to that first experience. As I have got more used to them I have found that I can recognise the symptoms fairly early and, for the most part, actually talk myself down before sheer blind panic takes hold. When it comes to anxiety issues, knowledge really is power.

Even now, having experienced it first hand, I am slightly doubtful about the ease with which the terms “depression” and “anxiety disorder” get used. Like my mother before me, I am a natural born worrier with a tendency to fret about little things – this is not an anxiety disorder. Having a stressful time at work and coming home and bursting into tears over a stiff g&t is not depression. Sometimes we need to recognise our normal emotional reactions for what they are – no more and no less.

That said, if anxiety is taking over, if the thought of getting out of bed is just too much to cope with (bed being a designated safe place) then help needs to be sought. The right doctor is a very important part of the solution, so I would always encourage people to make sure that they are comfortable with their GP – and if they are not, request another doctor. You need to be prepared to be honest and raw with them so a rapport is crucial. Equally, medications – the effects and side effects can vary massively from person to person so don’t be afraid to ask to try different ones after an appropriate bedding in period – I went through four or five before settling. Talking therapies can be a great help and are available, as far as I know, in most health authorities, although the waiting list can be significant. A lot of doctors will recommend CBT for anxiety issues, and it can be helpful, but again, a lot of it will be to do with your relationship with the practitioner – the first time I tried CBT it did nothing for me at all. As an alternative, Helen Kennerley’s book “Overcoming Anxiety” was recommended to me by several people, so might be worth checking out while you wait for a referral, or decide whether CBT is the right kind of treatment for you.

Finally, I thought I would mention in passing (it being pertinent to the blog) the now pretty well established link between obesity and mental health issues. The direction of causality does not seem to be confirmed – i.e. no one is sure whether being depressed make you fat or being fat makes you depressed or if the truth lies somewhere in the middle. In my experience it is very, very natural to want to self medicate with food and drink when you’re going through something like this; when Outside is just too big and scary then wine and Kettle Chips on the sofa are comforting and safe. But they’re false friends - I know from bitter experience that if I eat well and get regular exercise then I am less vulnerable to those anxiety demons. And I think there is some comfort to be found in the ritualistic side of planning meals and concentrating on nourishing your body in order to soothe the mind.

For more information – or rather, for information, since I don’t flatter myself that my own ramblings count for very much at all in this particular field, the mental health foundation website can be found here.  No one should ever have to suffer this alone when there are resources and people out there to help. 

MPM: 19th May 2014

Is this it?  Are we finally into summer?  It's so hard to tell in this country and one hates to get too excited lest it all go horribly wrong.  Let's just say as I sit here writing this the sun is pouring through the windows and I can see more than a patch of blue in the sky.  But not all of the meal plan for the week does is particularly summery - I think there is some bet hedging going on chez WWF!

After blowing most of my weekly points at a gin tasting on Saturday (totally worth it) I don't have a lot of wriggle room this week so will need to be careful.  I think most of the evening meals are pretty modest as a result.

Baked eggs with asparagus, anchovies and Parmesan - we continue to enjoy the British asparagus season and the combination of the lovely, ironey shoots with a creamy, salty egg should be lovely.

Rotisserie chicken with salad, homemade coleslaw and crusty bread - I love a good Waitrose rotisserie chicken for a quick and delicious supper, and I HAVEN'T solely put this on the menu to see if the cat likes roast chicken....

Leftover chicken biryani based on this recipe (although clearly subbing lamb for chicken...)

Sea bass with parsnip puree and caramelised garlic - a D masterpiece to start the weekend.

Corned beef and mustard sandwiches on rye with dill pickles and, with the other half of the piece of meat we remove from the freezer...

Corned beef, mashed potato, braised cabbage and parsley sauce (this sounds like good Sunday lunch fodder to me).

More meal planning fun over at Mrs M's.

Of scales, Italian food...and capricious cats

Firstly, weigh in results...

Previously on WWF: -46lbs
This week: -2.25lbs
Total loss: 48.25lbs

Yay!  Just over half of my gain kicked into touch.  Another really good week and I could be into Fresh Fat (TM...Love Cat, I think).

It feels like ages since I had a proper catch up with you all, so this will be a bitty post while I try and remember all that I wanted to say.

Firstly, Minx continues to prosper and has taken over her rightful place as Queen of the Household.  She is definitely a Mummy's girl but D continues a determined, treat ridden campaign to turn her.  What's that, you'd like a picture?  Happy to oblige!

Isn't she beautiful?  On a more serious note, taking in a rescue cat hadn't really featured on my radar at all before I started to research but it is a real pleasure to see her gradually come out of her shell and grow in confidence.  She still has plenty of skittish moments - and trying to get her into a box in order to take her to the vet for a check up this week was NOT fun.  But she is a very affectionate creature underneath the nervousness and it is lovely to watch that emerge.  

On a food front, what have we been up to recently?  Well, we went for a lovely dinner at Sara Danesin Medeo's supper club in York the other week.  For those of you who aren't Masterchef groupies, Sara was a finalist back in 2011 and now works full time as a chef, running a regular supper club from her house on a (I think) weekly basis.  The food was delicious and reasonably priced, and Sara herself was absolutely lovely.  Despite the fact that she must have heard the same questions every single bloody week, she was more than happy to chat about her time on Masterchef, which we found fascinating.  She runs cookery lessons out of her beautiful kitchen and D and I are quite tempted to go and learn about pasta making with her at some point.  We had such a lovely evening that we promptly re-booked the next day - we're taking my parents along at the beginning of December.  Highly recommended if you want somewhere special to eat in York (although she is currently booked up until November so you do need to get in there well in advance).

No more meals out planned for a while which is, of course, good news for the diet.  I have an exam coming up in six weeks so I really need to put my head down a bit - but once that is over and done with we're flying out to Barcelona for five days, so plenty to look forward to as I grind my teeth over Capital Gains computations.  I'm trying to avoid doing diet maths - whether I'm two pounds or ten pounds or a stone lighter by the time we go then that will be something to celebrate.  

So come on guys, fill me in - what's new with you?

MPM: 12th May 2014

Ah, Monday. You come around so ridiculously fast and are so unwelcome when you arrive. And yet, I woke this morning to beautiful sunshine streaming in through the gap in the curtains (one of the few advantages to a six o clock start; it has subsequently begun to cloud over) and a purring cat kneading my shoulder and it wasn’t such a bad old start to the week.

A break from pasta then, after last week’s carb loading exploits – which, may I say, I thoroughly enjoyed. I could never go Dukan. D ran the half marathon with a really impressive time yesterday, so it obviously paid off and we both agreed that all the dishes, most of the them old favourites that sometimes get forsaken in favour of the new and the different, were welcome additions to the menu. Both classic lasagne and mushroom risotto need to feature more regularly in the rotation being not only delicious but also delivering decent portion sizes for surprisingly few points thanks to a good volume of lovely zero point veggies.

And so, on to this week. D has requested our monthly fish and chip Friday, I’m out at my book club tomorrow and we’ll soup it up as usual on Wednesday so only four other meals to plan. At the moment, it’s looking a bit like this:

Asparagus and goats' cheese tart – with leftovers to take cold for lunch

Mustard pork chop with gnocchi and a side of asparagus (we’re eating as much as we can while the season lasts)

Chicken Achar and mushroom pilau

Veal and Parmesan burgers (Waitrose rather than home made) probably in buns with homemade spiced potato wedges and perhaps even some homemade coleslaw using some of the blanched cabbage currently taking up freezer space.

More meal planning fun over at Mrs M’s.

Scales on Saturday on Sunday

Previously on WWF: -50lbs
Last 3 weeks: +4lbs
Total loss: 46lbs

Ah well, three weeks worth of halo slippage and what can one expect?  Actually, I don't think a 4lb gain is too awful considering there were plenty of indulgent meals and sneaky g&ts and one Hotel Chocolat chocolate crispy nest (yum!)

Getting back to pointing after a hiatus is always difficult, but three days in and I'm gradually getting back into the swing.  I'm still in that slightly resentful stage whereby it seems like a chore rather than routine but that, too, will pass.