Erm's Photo Diary

[shrinki]

Hey! None of us know what they are! Anyway, don't beat yourself up x

 

[JackieN]

How are you now Erm? over your sweetie craving. I just googled and they are asian sweeties. Sound yummy enjoy them you've been soooooooooooooooooo good sweetie, one treat won't hurt.

My scales played up recently and I did some research as I do and got the Salter Ultimate Accuracy ones. Been really pleased with them too

Hope you are okay sweetie. Please put some piccies up for me even of the ladoos as I miss seeing your fabby food piccies xxxxxx

 

[dirtydancing]

Im having a bad day. I was starving at 6 so had my tea early, then for some reason just had this sweetness craving. I dont really do sweetness normally. I knew there were some ladoos in the box so I thought Oh Ill just have one, but Im telling myself No cos I know I won't stop at one Didn't bloddy stop myself so now I've pigged out on half a box of ladoos :sigh: And the scales have been whinging the last 2 days that Ive put on some stupid amount that isnt physically possible. Barstewards Im even starting to wonder if theyve had it, after they came up with a couple of miracle weight losses recently. But hey, as long as its going in the down direction overall Which it wont be if I eat laddoes all day :sigh: About 50 syns for 10 ladoos!!! Sheesh :cry:

i love these things especially at diwali time as have a few indian friends. didn't realize the syn value so thanks for that

 

[ermintrude]

Soooo let's just disregard the powers-that-be-not:

Friday 28th - Green

Breakfast: Coffee & Toast 1 HEXA, 1 HEXB, 2 syns
Lunch: Big grated carrot salad thingie 4 syns for dressing
Tea: Veggie cobbler with JackieN's topping <1 HEXA for cheese
Snacks: Nectarines, pear, apple, vodka About 30 syns

Saturday 29th - Extra Easy

Breakfast: Coffee & Toast 1 HEXA, 1 HEXB, 2 syns
Lunch: Leftover cobbler - 2 syns for cheese
Tea: Chicken kebab with spicy celeriac chips & salad 1 syn for olive oil
Snacks: Apple, peaches, wine - about 45 syns

Made a boo boo - was supposed ot be a red day for the chicken - but I forgot this when I wa gobbling the leftover cobbler (mash & cheese) for lunch No worries though, hardly any cheese in it so went EE and counted the cheese as 2 syns.

Think the last couple of weeks of naughtiness is catching up on me by the look of the scales Gonna go a bit superspeedy the next coupla days

Sunday 30th - Red

Breakfast: Coffee & Toast 1 HEXA, 1 HEXB, 2 syns
Lunch: Big salad - 3 syns for dressing
Tea: Feta stuffed chicken with veg 1 HEXA for cheese, 1.5 syns for Parma Ham
Snacks: Apple, peach, pear, box of Quorn slices

Monday 31st - Green

Breakfast 1: Coffee & Toast 1 HEXA
Breakfast 2: Box of blackberries in coconut Muller
Lunch: Big salad 4 syns for dressing
Tea: Roasted veggie soup
Snacks: box of Quorn slices, baby corn, snap peas, 10 ladoos, about 50 syns apparently

Tuesday 01st - Green

Breakfast: Coffee & Toast 1 HEXA, 1 HEXB, 2 syns
Lunch 1: Big salad 4 syns for dressing
Lunch 1: Leftover roast veg & lentil soup
Tea: Another roast veg soup
Snacks: Peach, pear, plum

And for that little number I win a well-deserved 3lb gaaaaiiiiin whythankyouverymuch

 

[Honeyoc]

Hey Erm great to see your diary and pics up and running again. *settles down to read*

 

[Honeyoc]

Oh btw, had some of that pumpkin hummus with roasted plantain for lunch today. You MUST try it :drool:

 

[JackieN]

:wavey: Hey Erm, lovely to see your diary up and running again. mmmmmmmmmmmm and look at all that food real food porn

3lb gain :bighug: but hey you will soon get that off again just leave those ladoos alone

I have two plantains at last. I keep checking their ripeness so i don't forget about them like you did :giggle: I am unsure how yellow and black they need to go. Mine are just going a little yellowy from green.. then they will be the right colour and I will not be able to find how to cook them all I remember is you saying they tasted abit like an oat biccie hence me wanting them :8855: xxxxx

 

[lollypop1985]

hey erm
nice to see you back

 

[ermintrude]

Hello lovelies. Booga! I have some plantain left too!

*Rushes off to check it*

Dammit! It is getting distinctly black... Mmmm roast plantain with yoghurt & honey for dessert?

Sorry there's not much in the way of recipes this week. Been a bit of a crap week so just soup, meat & veg really. Nothing interesting til Sat I dont think, when I will be trying carrot pancakes!

Soooo. Still a bit off plan No piccies as I was at college all day.

Wednesday 02nd - Green

Breakfast: Coffee & Toast 1 HEXA, 1 HEXB, 2 syns
Lunch: Hummus & carrots & mixed veg
Tea: Was supposed to be leftover roastie soup but after the bestest lecture I have EVER had we ended up in the pub where it morphed into 4 pints of Kronenbourg :cry: The soup is still in the fridge, so I s'pose that's lunch sorted for today at least
Snacks: Pineapple. Apple. Plums, pear, peach.

 

[tabu]

Hi,
Can I have the recipe for the ‘veggie cobbler’ please? It looks fantastic!

Thanks

 

[ermintrude]

Hi,
Can I have the recipe for the ‘veggie cobbler’ please? It looks fantastic!

Thanks

The topping is JackieN's recipe, you can put it on top of whatever sort of casserole/stew you like. There's a thread on it here. Basically you mix:
- 1 pack of instant mash (I used Smash 88g pack)
- 3 eggs
- 1 tub of cottage cheese (I used Tesco Value 300g which is Free)
- cheese - however much cheese you want (I used 50g Tesco 30% reduced fat cheddar)
- salt & pepper

Mix it into a dough, adding a little water until its a thick, doughy consistency. Then divide it into rounds and lay over the top of your stew/casserole 20-30min before the end of cooking time.

Next time Id put more cheese in and maybe a few herbs or something too. And scatter a bit more cheese over the top

The filling I did this one but without the oil and double the Tabasco. Just garlic, red onion, leeks and mixed veg in tomatoes and stock, with red lentils to thicken up and tabasco and herbs for flavouring.

 

[ermintrude]

Hi,
Can I have the recipe for the ‘veggie cobbler’ please? It looks fantastic!

Thanks

The topping is JackieN's recipe, you can put it on top of whatever sort of casserole/stew you like. There's a thread on it here. Basically you mix:
- 1 pack of instant mash (I used Smash 88g pack)
- 3 eggs
- 1 tub of cottage cheese (I used Tesco Value 300g which is Free)
- cheese - however much you want (I used 50g Tesco 30% reduced fat cheddar)
- salt & pepper

Mix it into a dough, adding a little water until its a thick, doughy consistency. Then divide it into rounds and lay over the top of your stew/casserole 20-30min before the end of cooking time.

Next time Id put more cheese in and maybe a few herbs or something too. And scatter a bit more cheese over the top

The filling I did this one but without the oil and double the Tabasco. Just garlic, red onion, leeks and mixed veg in tomatoes and stock, with red lentils to thicken up and tabasco and herbs for flavouring.

 

[blackwidow]

that cobbler sounds lovely Erm, thanks for sharing the filling recipe x

 

[Sharry]

Lovely to see you back my Piri-Piri Queen :bighug:.... now where's my kronie? :cry:

 

[JackieN]

Erm - what colour do my plantain need to be to bake them for sweetness? Am I right I slice them into chunks, did you then sprinkle with sugar??? or am I imagining it? I am very unsure as all recipes I find say fry them. I remember you baking them with something. I am very excited for when they are ripe enough

 

[chillihot]

Ohh this sounds lush, proper winter warmer comfort food Yum!
Your amazing curry is one of my new favourite recipes, as is your spicy jalepeno hummus. This is def one I'm going to add to my 'to try' list for next week.
Thank you for all your gorgeous food pics, and inspiration

 

[sarah_lou1981]

I finally found a plantain tonight, after a week of searching, and would also like to know the best way to cook them as a dessert if you dont mind? x

 

[vickidyers]

so glad I stumbled across this thread!! Food looks great. I'm embarassed at my photo food diary now - but I aim to improve!!!

Will be reading the full diary to have a go at some of these lovely looking dinners - ta x

 

[BeckyT]

Beware: I like it hot and am a cooking freak so have an infinite variety of spices to hand This recipe is an adaptation of one of Mamta Gupta's : Mamta's Kitchen

Serves 2 generously:

2 chicken breasts, cut into bite size pieces
2 tsp extra virgin olive oil - 4 SYNS or use as part of your HEX (you can try to do this in Fry Light but I find the syns worth it to cook the spices properly without burning)
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1/2 tsp fennel seeds
1/2 tsp nigella seeds
1/2 tsp black mustard seeds
1/2 tsp fenugreek seeds
1/4 tsp asafoetida powder (hing)
4 dried red chillies, broken in half
5-6 garlic cloves, peeled
1/2 inch root ginger, peeled and roughly chopped
2 medium onions, peeled
1 tsp turmeric powder
1/2 tsp crushed chillies (adjust quantity to taste or replace with chilli powder if you like)
3 tsp coriander powder
1 tin chopped tomatoes
2 tbsp tomato puree - 1 SYN
1 stock cube (I use Kallo Just Bouillon chicken stock cubes)
3 tbsp dry fenugreek leaves (methi leaves)
1 tbsp Patak's mixed pickle - 2 SYNS (or to taste of your own favourite) (you can substitute the juice of half a lemon if you don't want it too spicy and want to save syns)
1 1/2 tsp rock salt (less if you use regular cooking salt)
1 tsp Garam Masala
1/2 cup fresh coriander, chopped

Total = 7 syns or 3.5 syns per serving - and that's only because of the olive oil and pickle, which you can omit / substitute if you want, leaving just the tomato puree to syn.

- Put onion, ginger and garlic in a food processor and whizz to a paste (You can skip this and finely chop/crush everything if you like)
- Heat the oil and add cumin, fennel, nigella, mustard, fenugreek seeds and asafoetida powder
- As soon as the seeds crackle, add the dried chillies
- Stir for 10 seconds and add onion, ginger and garlic mix. Cook, stirring, for about 5-7 min
- Add turmeric, chilli powder and coriander powder, stir fry for 10 seconds, then add tomatoes, tomato puree, stock cube and fenugreek leaves
- Stir to mix, add chicken and cook on high heat, stirring all the time, until meat is no longer pink
- Cover and cook on low heat until done (20-30 min - longer if you sustitute chicken with lamb or beef)
- When cooked add garam masala, salt, chopped coriander and stir
- Serve with basmati rice or whatever your preference

Hi Erm, I'm just looking at this recipe as I'm thinking of making a curry tomorrow.

What are nigella seeds? I don't think I've ever come across these?

 

[ermintrude]

Erm - what colour do my plantain need to be to bake them for sweetness? Am I right I slice them into chunks, did you then sprinkle with sugar??? or am I imagining it? I am very unsure as all recipes I find say fry them. I remember you baking them with something. I am very excited for when they are ripe enough

The plain 'oaty-biscuit' ones I got from Honey's diary, they're called tostones. You need green ones. Peel and cut into 3/4inch slices and roast in foil until they start to go soft, then take them out, squash them flat (with the bottom of a pan or something) and pop back in the oven (uncovered) to crisp up a bit. They could be done either sweet or savoury really. I did them plain the first time as I was going to use them to eat my curry with, but they've got a background hint of 'sweetness' anyway.

The second time I did them sweet so used really ripe ones (blackening-yellow ones). I just cut them into 3/4 inch pieces, coated them well in brown sugar and freshly ground nutmeg and roast them covered until soft and then uncovered until crisp. You dont have to cut them up, just do them whole if you like.