Scrumbles' diary...life after losing a third of me...

[Scrumbles]

That'd be good, ML - I love turkish delight!

Strangely, I don't hate coconut - always a fan of the good 'ol Bounty bar! - but there's just something odd to me about having that particular flavour attached to an oil Still, as long as I can disguise it, it's all good! I'm trying the almond cocoa bark today - that sounds delish

I gave the flax another go this morning. Mixed together 14g each of flax and oats with 180ml soya milk, salt, sweetener and nutmeg to taste, microwaved for 2 minutes on high and it was very nice! The oats definitely helped with the texture - bit more substance, bit less gelatinous - and the nutmeg put me in mind of flaked rice pudding (one of my childhood favourites) because I always used to put a generous sprinkling of nutmeg in that. It seemed to complement (read: hide!) the taste of the flax pretty well too.

Not ideal to be having the oats I suppose, but I've been losing weight fairly consistently this past few weeks whilst eating them, and they don't appear to cause me any stomach issues or cravings. And the addition of the flax seems to make them twice as filling for some reason - I feel absolutely stuffed right now!

Miserable day today Don't think I'll be doing any sunbathing like I was yesterday...:sigh:

 

[Ange7367]

Nope scrumbles it's gonna rain apparently from 12 onwards boo hoo....had the flax porridge yesterday but not sure if it is triggering my ibs ....could be what I had eaten at the Indian Friday night so will leave off it today and give it a go in the week....are you on owl now?

 

[coffeelover]

Morning Scrumbles, I love an almond joy with coconut- yumm. Ordered the sf coconut syrup (sorry ML) to put in my coffee and hot chocolate.

flax and oats sounds a good idea.

 

[Scrumbles]

Nope scrumbles it's gonna rain apparently from 12 onwards boo hoo....had the flax porridge yesterday but not sure if it is triggering my ibs ....could be what I had eaten at the Indian Friday night so will leave off it today and give it a go in the week....are you on owl now?

Been raining all morning here

I had some strange feelings in my stomach after I tried the flax porridge (flax on its own) the other day, so I'm not entirely sure about the stuff tbh. Seem okay this morning, though, so maybe some people are better introducing it gradually?

I am indeed in OWL...sort of! Been upping the carbs by 5g or so every few weeks - think I'm averaging nearly 35g per day now.

I'm not following the carb ladder rungs in strict order, though...I'm dotting about all over the place if I'm honest! However, I do make sure that whatever I'm introducing won't push me over my daily carb limit, and I only have small quantities of new foods at a time to see what they do to me. I'm also trying to be good about still eating at least 12-15g per day of my carbs as Induction veggies since that is one of the cornerstones of modern Atkins (not sure if it was part of the original plan).

It's going okay so far, and I'm definitely enjoying the increased variety.

 

[ladyfelsham]

I'll dig out a link for you tomorrow Susie xx

Don't worry hun I found it at an online shop I use - Spices of India - got a load of different flavours

I love coconut, got coconut essence too so I can make my own bounty!

 

[stubbsey]

mmmmmmmmmmmm bounty!!! i might have to make some chocolate bark now i fancy a coconut taste

 

[moonlights]

Flax is almost entirely fibre so it does have the effect of keeping you regular. I always have mine before bed and I'm like clockwork the next morning, which is something I appreciate, but maybe having it earlier in the day might cause an unexpected dash...

 

[sammy1]

Hi, coconut bark sound great, I must look for coconut essence..re the flax I have the sane problem, so I am only having it every few days.

 

[Scrumbles]

Weigh in today and I've lost half a pound. Can't be bothered to update my ticker for that, so I'll consider it a sts. Average daily cals for the week were 1372 and carbs were 30g - I thought I was eating more than that, but apparently not.

So no weight lost, but I took my measurements and I've lost an inch from my bust, an inch from my waist and half an inch from my hips since last week. It's probably just de-bloat after totm, but I'll take it anyway, lol!

I'd be tempted to find something to *blame* for this apparent slowdown if it weren't for the fact that my detailed record-keeping from a while back tells me that I have a very distinct monthly pattern of loss: week before totm I lose the most weight of any week; week of totm I lose a very small amount; week after totm I lose little or nothing, week after that I lose a bit more, but not as much as week running up to totm.

That pattern, or something close to it, is replicated every month that I've tracked in detail, so I shouldn't be expecting to lose anything much this next week either; if I don't lose the week after that, though, I might be looking to tweak something...

Had my first MIM this morning. I went through a ton of recipes online yesterday but eventually decided to keep it simple:

20g flaxmeal
20g ground almonds
1 egg
half tspn baking powder
12g butter
half tspn cinnamon
pinch of nutmeg
pinch of salt

Mixed the dry ingredients in a coffee mug, melted the butter in a separate container then beat the egg into it. Slopped the egg and butter into the dry mix, microwaved for 1 min 20 secs, and that was it. I ate it warm and it was nice enough, but I suspect it might have been rather dry and maybe tough if I'd let it cool. I opted to go for a mix with almonds rather than pure flax partly because I'm still a little unsure of the taste/texture of the flax on its own and partly because it appears to have an...effect on me. A few hours after I've eaten it I need, really need, a walk in the park. I thought it was a coincidence at first, but it's happened every time I've eaten it, sooooo....? (Not that I'm complaining, btw!)

My next culinary endeavour will be to make Oopsie rolls, something else quintessentially Atkins-y that I've not bothered with until now. That will be tomorrow, so be ready for the tale of woe

ETA: the cocoa bark with almond extract is really nice - definite winner!

 

[coffeelover]

Well done on the loss Srummbles. Flax affects me the same way lol.

I've got some sf coconut syrup today from lcm, definitely going to make the bark, or hot chocolate, yum.

 

[moonlights]

I loooooove my cocoa bark. Honestly just like having a fancy choc!

I think I'm going to do an oopsie flat Swiss roll next week - in other words a big flat rectangular one I can use for sandwiches. The recipe for oopsies and Swiss roll seem to be more or less the same.

Mims have got nothing on almond bread imo BUT flax does toast better so mims are my toast substitute while almond bread is my bread sub. Not that I've made it in a while.

 

[stubbsey]

thats how i make mine because i rarely have burgers so no need to make the round. xx

 

[Scrumbles]

Well.

I have been busy putting the "oops" into Oopsie rolls Oopsie splats, more like!

Dunno what I did. I whisked my egg whites nice and stiff; I folded in my egg yolks/cheese nice and carefully, but still ended up with a rather runny mixture that wouldn't do anything except coat the base of my lined baking sheet in a thinnish layer. Shoved it in the oven for about 25 minutes and it puffed up promisingly whilst in there only to deflate as soon as it came out. I scraped half of it onto a plate and ate it, and it reminded me more of a soufflé omelette than anything else - I'd always assumed from the name that it was supposed to resemble bread? This wasn't even remotely bread-like

Anyway, no doubt I'll give it another go at some point. I may have to adjust the oven temperature/timing - really haven't much clue what I'm doing with this oven since I've never owned a fan oven until this year, and hadn't done any baking with it until this month! (excuses, excuses...)

Had another MIM this morning - gone MIM-crazy! - and decided I'm really rather liking them. I did the same recipe as yesterday, but I think I might try adding some banana essence tomorrow for a change up, then I'll make some more cocoa bark with almond extract. Goodness knows what I'll be having for my main meals - I'm so busy making goodies at the moment I can hardly be bothered with all that protein and veggie nonsense, lol!

Hope everyone's had a fab Atkins-friendly day...and has had more success in the kitchen than I have!

 

[moonlights]

I love your cooking adventures, Scrummie! I think it's meant to be reasonably flat and if it's anything like the Swiss roll - which is just a sweet version of the same recipe - then souffle omelette sounds about right. If you add a little flax or almond flour to it it might come out more bready?

Still haven't tried it myself but might make a cheese and herb version...

 

[stubbsey]

which recipe did you go by scrummie? did you use the one i posted on my recipe page? coz that had a heaped tablespoon of flax in it. mine do come out bready texture, its a little lighter.

what mim recipe do you use that you said you have perfected? i didnt like the ones i have made before so maybe i should give yours a go, i want to like them, just texture does make me get fed up half way through, well the ones i have made so far.

tried to reply earlier on my ipad but for some reason it is not allowing me to send replies, i cant get to the bottom of it, it was ok one minute and then not the next, looked at settings but cant see any problems.

 

[slaj]

That happens from time to time Tracey, really annoying especially when you've written a saga!
I prefer mims if I slice and toast them once they come out of the microwave, I put cinnamon and nutmeg in the mix, lovely toasted with a bit of Philly !

 

[Alpaca]

Morning Scrummie... Love your cooking adventures - they do make me smile. And I have all this to try once I'm completely back on track again. Can't wait!! lol

Hope you have a great day! xx

 

[Ange7367]

I haven't used flax that much just a few bowls of porridge made with it....but I am such a dope! Looked at the carb content of my flax ....can't believe how high it is 15g serving equals out to 5.3g carbs ....I had 40g serving the other day eeekkk. Managed to find some linwoods flax yesterday so will Definately be sticking to that....and tastes so much nicer than the linusit one. Think I possibly knew it was quite carby so was trying not to have it too often but now i don't have to might have a go at a mim again using the new flax. Cinnamon and nutmeg sounds very yum x

 

[coffeelover]

I never had good luck with oopsies Scrumbles. Mine were just a flat eggy mess.

The banana essence sounds a great idea. Oooh mims send me running to the park.

 

[moonlights]

Your flax probably wasn't that bad Angie - if it was pure flax with nothing added then it can't have been. I've noticed flax often has very confusing labels but it's basically all fibre and goes right through you so whatever the label says flax with nothing added has 0 effective carbs.