Eat, fast and live longer - the 5:2 lifestyle

[Cuilidh]

You are going well girls, keep it up.  Marina, hats off to your DH - I find men fall off the wagon a lot easier than women so he must be determined to lose some weight.  Where is he hiding it, he looked fine to me as did you 

Thanks, Judy.  He is much better (and far stronger) about this than I am.  He even exercises at home, my only exercise is walking to the supermarket ... such a shame the Messina gelato shop is along the way (actually, I refuse to leave the shop on fast days because I have absolutely no will power)!!!  We both need and want to lose a bit of weight and we are finding this suits us well.

[cookie1]

Congratulations everyone. I am being inspired by the fitbit at the moment.

[judydawn]

Cross the road Marina, keep your eyes away from the Messina shop but give yourself a treat occasionally 

[cookie1]

I have to ask for my next visit to Melbourne. Where is the Messina shop please? Good topic for the diet section. 

[judydawn]

There's one just up the road from Marina in Collingwood Cookie - you could kill 2 birds with 1 stone.

[cookie1]

Sounds perfect.

[Cuilidh]

Cookie, it would be a delight to share a Messina gelati with you any time.

[droverjess]

It sounds very exciting ladies!
I did have a slice of apple pie today. Pastry on top only!

[cookie1]

Sounds lovely Marina. Will do it one day. I'll ask DD if she has a y Melbourne conferences coming up. 

DJ that is 50% better than a top and bottom pastry one.  I'm sure you enjoyed it. You would certainly have worked it off.

[Cuilidh]

I just had to share this recipe with you.  I got it from this site and t is our current favourite!

Moroccan-Style Potato Bake

750g potatoes cut in quarters,
1 litre/ 1½ pints hot vegetable stock
1 tbsp olive oil
1 red onion, halved and thinly sliced
2 garlic cloves, peeled and finely sliced
Zest of one lemon and tsp lemon juice
250g drained roasted peppers, sliced (I use the ones in oil from the deli and rinse the oil off)
1 tsp hot smoked paprika
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground ginger
2 tbsp tomato puree
1 tbsp white wine vinegar


Put the potatoes and vegetable stock in a large saucepan. Bring to the boil and cook, covered, for 12 minutes until tender but firm.

Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 230°C, Gas Mark 8 and heat the olive oil in a large, deep-sided, ovenproof pan over a medium-low heat. Add the onion and fry gently for 3–4 minutes, then add the garlic and cook for a further 3–4 minutes until softened and lightly coloured.

Stir into the onion mix the lemon, roasted peppers, the spices, tomato purée, vinegar and a little salt and pepper. Cook gently for 2 minutes.

Drain the cooked potatoes, reserving 400 ml of the liquid, then add the potatoes and reserved stock to the pan. Bring up to the boil, then put the pan in oven and bake for 14–16 minutes until golden (I cooked it for about 25 minutes).

Remove from the oven and serve immediately.

233 calories per serving.  Yield, 4 serves

[judydawn]

Some nice recipes over there Marina, thanks for sharing.  4 more print outs to add to my collection 

[judydawn]

I just made the Simple Tomato Sauce & pasta in the TMX for a light lunch from the above site Marina mentioned - I love fresh homemade sauces.

Terrible photo, must put my glasses on before I take them then I might notice the plate is messy 

[Cuilidh]

mmmm looks good.  I will be trying another of her recipes this weekend.  Unfortunately, I cannot eat just a small bowl of pasta - it's got to be HUGE - so this recipe would have to be on a non-fast day for me, Judy.

[cookie1]

I had a peek at the site too. It does have some lovely looking things there.

[ElleG]

Back on the 5:2 these last few weeks. Tried this chickpea yellow curry in my new 1.5 l crockpot, and it was delicious. Recipe is adapted from  www.tasty-yummies.com. Made half the original recipe for 4 serves. It was not a big serve, but I am not hungry after it. I didn't serve it with anything. The calorie workings are my own. I will add different veggies as well next time as it was so tasty and it will bulk up the amount.

Pumpkin & Chickpea Coconut Curry (Crock Pot Recipe) 180 cals per serve for 4 serves

240g diced jap pumpkin. 55cals
1/2 cup dried organic chick peas. 216 cals
11/2 small onion, chopped 15 cals
1 clove garlic, minced
200mls organic coconut milk 280cal
3/4  cup freshly shelled peas 88 cals
100g cherry tomatoes, 18cals
11/2 cups  vegetable broth or water
11/2 tablespoons yellow curry powder -approx 50 cals
11/2 teaspoon kosher salt
handful of fresh cilantro, roughly chopped

Rinse and sort through the dry chickpeas. Cut the skin off the squash, remove seeds and cut into 1 inch square cubes. Add all of the ingredients to your slow cooker besides the peas. Cook on high for 6 hours - I cooked it for 3 hours on high then 1 and a half hours on low. It was just cooked. Next time, might cook for an hour or two on high then reduce it to low until cooked. About 20-30 minutes before serving add in the fresh or frozen peas and give it a stir. I needed to add more water at 3 hrs as it was boiling and drying out.

Serve over brown basmati or jasmine rice topped with fresh cilantro, mint or basil and maybe even some shredded coconut. Add in the calories if you do so.

First time I have been really happy with a meal out of a crockpot or slow cooker