Month: September 2009

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Week 6 weigh in – my pants are falling down!

Start weight: 315 lbs (22 st 7 lb)

Last weeks weight: 296 lbs (21st 2 lb)

This weeks weight: 293 lbs (20st 13 lb)

Week 6 weight loss: 3lbs

TOTAL weight loss to date: 22lb (1 st 8 lb)

This week my pants (trousers) are seriously loose. So loose infact that I worry if I forget to hike them up on every sixth step that an embarrassing incident may well occur..

I have lots of smaller pants (trousers) in my cupboard but I am about another 20 lb away from fitting into those- this means I have to spend more money and buy more pants..

Normally I’d be annoyed at this but this time I don’t mind one little bit!

C xxx

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Pear Crumble

This was a HUGE hit with everyone this afternoon..

The smell as it cooks is so yummy and comforting that you have to immediately make custard, gobble it up, and wish you had saved some for later. There is not a sniff of austerity in this recipe despite using rations.

not a sniff of austerity in this recipe..

I have saved the final portion for Jeremy (my eldest daughter’s boyfriend) when he pops over tomorrow. I delight in sounding like a scratched record telling folk ‘this is a recipe from the war’ when I offer them food.

Pear Crumble

  • 6-8 cored pears (ripe for eating). Leave skins on
  • 1/2 cup of brown sugar
  • handful of sultanas
  • lemon juice/zest if available
  • 1/2 cup of wholewheat flour
  • 1/2 cup of rolled oats
  • 1/2 teaspoon all spice/mixed spice
  • 2 tablespoons margarine
  • custard powder, sugar and milk (for custard)

Method

Take the 8 ripe to eat pears and core them and chop them up (leaving the skins on)

Squirt a little lemon juice in and zest if available

Mix together with sultanas and place in a greased 7 inch cooking pan for teh oven

Mix the sugar and the all spice together and sprinkle evenly over the top of the pears in the pan

Mix 1/2 cup wholewheat flour and 1/2 cup of rolled oats together in a bowl

Rub in the margarine until mixture resembles bread crumbs

Sprinkle this over the top evenly

Place in pre-heated over at 200 centigrade for about 40 mins

Make a nice thick custard as per instructions on the can and serve hot crumble on top of hot custard

YUM!

Serves 4

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Feeling alive again- some random thoughts!

About 10 days ago I began to wake up from a LONG sleep…

I can’t really explain it- I suspect it has something to do with the weight loss and the lack of dubious chemicals I am now consuming BUT I also think something has changed inside me, the spark is coming back that I once lost a very long time ago. I was never sure where that went and why but it is returning and that is exciting!

And now the spark has ignited again it pushes me to enjoy life..and the last 10 days have been filled with more sociable pleasures including short walks (can’t manage the long ones yet), an exercise class at Heat Studios, supper with friends at Lunenburg Yacht Club, joining the planning committee for 350.org (for Bridgewater), a short visit to the Lunenburg Waterfront & Seafood Festival where my son Josh did his first video student report for the newspaper website southshorenow.ca, Fisheries Museum with my daughter Em and finally a super evening with friends on a yacht..

And today is family time, and cooking time, and cleaning time, and homework time, and silly time and experiment on the kids time ( the mock banana is nearly ready to serve).

I am happy…

C xx

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Oooooooo – fat photos!

Ya know- I am what I am and as much as this photo amuses and disturbs me it’s the truth – that’s me.

I think an important part of anyone’s JOURNEY is realizing the truth and the photo above, that my daughter shared with me today (taken just a few days before starting my 1940’s experiment) was a startling realization of the bare naked truth.

I have accepted it, and now I’m doing something about it. That is my journey…

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Week 5 weigh in- no loss-no gain

I was willing the scales to settle at 295 lbs this morning (so I will have lost 20lbs) but the only way I could get them to do this was to lean my weight to the left and that is definatley CHEATING! (grin)..

A little disappointed of course BUT  the last thing I will be doing is cutting my rations down- this experiment was to live on authentic wartime rations, not count calories and see how living like this improved my health. I do believe however that I eat very large portions of potatoes and bread daily so less generous servings of those this week and some exercise should see a pleasing result next Wednesday..

On a good note my clothes are feeling looser – I LOVE that feeling! 

C xx

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Can I be completely honest with you..?

You may have noticed that for a weight-loss blog (with a culinary bent) that I haven’t spoken a great deal about losing weight…

If I am completely honest with you the reason why, is that for the last 12 years I have FAILED time after time to bring my weight down out of the morbidly obese or regular obese category (yep-I’d love to be regular obese again!) despite my best intentions……..it makes me feel like a bit of a flake.

When I think of all the people who have health issues that are unable to do anything about them, here I am, large as life, being super flakey and failing to do something about a problem that can be resolved!

Despite what life throws at us I do believe myself to be a very lucky woman, I have three beautiful and complex children and have friends of all ages & genders that radiate warmth and compassion.

Life is good..

Thank you

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Carrot Curry Tasting Clip

CLICK HERE TO PLAY CLIP

As promised…. look out for the blooper near the end. The carrot curry wasn’t THAT bad actually (grin)

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Cynthia’s Eggless Sponge (gone right)

Because I ate my egg ration the other night, it means that anything that I now decide to cook, has to be egg free until I can use my ration book again on Friday to replenish the larder..

because I ate my egg ration, anything I cook this week has to be egg free..

BUT never despair, there are still lots of delicious things to make and I felt it was time to attempt an eggless sponge again.

Cynthia had shared her eggless sponge recipe with me on FACEBOOK and I liked the fact that the recipe called for leftover tea.

I cooked that very successfully this afternoon and have enjoyed a couple of big cups of tea and a couple of slices of Cynthia’s Sponge..

Here is the recipe..

Cynthia’s Eggless Sponge (gone right)

  • 1/2 pint of tea (without milk and tea leaves)
  • 3 oz butter/marg
  • 3 oz sugar
  • 3 oz sultanas
  • 10 oz wholewheat flour (add 3-4 teaspoons of baking powder)
  • 1 teaspoon all spice (mixed spice)
  • extra cinnamon if required

Method

Place the tea, butter, sugar and sultanas in a saucepan and heat gently until butter is melted, leave to cool.

Mix all the dry ingredients together.

Mix all the dry ingredients into the cooled liquid and mix well, give it a beat.

Put mixture into a greased and floured 7 inch cake tin

Cook on 180 degrees for around 45 minutes or more

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Wartime Cauliflower Cheese with Bacon

I NEVER thought I’d be able to enjoy

Cauliflower cheese during my 1940’s

Experiment. I guess this is because

when I normally prepare it, the sauce

has about 4 oz of cheese in it as does

the topping and with my cheese ration

being just 2 oz per week it just didn’t

seem doable, UNTIL I sat down and

worked out a way I could still have

this dish.

CLICK HERE FOR COSTS

 

My theory was to make a well

seasoned tasty sauce with NO

cheese and use my 2 oz cheese

ration on top and the dish I prepared would be enough to feed 4 people if

served with potatoes or other veggies.

 

I decided to use one weekly ration of bacon to make the dish REALLY tasty.

My theory was to make a well seasoned tasty sauce with NO cheese

Wartime Cauliflower Cheese with Bacon

  • 1 fresh cauliflower
  • 2 tablespoons cornstarch
  • 1/2 pint milk
  • 1 onion or 1 leek
  • 2-4 oz (1/2 -1 weekly ration) of bacon
  • 2 oz cheese
  • salt and pepper
  • horseradish or mustard
  • knob of butter

Method

Steam or boil the cauliflower and then drain well

While it’s cooking make the sauce. Mix the cornstarch into a thick paste with a little of the milk, add the rest of the milk and add a knob of butter.

Place on heat and slowly bring to a simmer stirring all the time, lower heat and add in salt & pepper, a little horseradish or dried mustard

Fry onions or leeks and chopped bacon in a separate pan

When browned add to white sauce and mix in well

Place cauliflower piled up in overproof dish

Pre-heat grill/broiler to quite high

Pour THICK sauce over the top

Grate the 2 oz of STRONG cheddar over the top, sprinkle with salt and pepper

Place under grill until topping is nice and browned

Serves 4 if serving with large backed potato and veggies

THIS DISH is pretty frugal too. CLICK HERE to find out how much it will cost you!

 

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100 Reasons to lose weight

For every lb I lose during the 1940’s Experiment ( my goal is to lose 100 lb in one year ) I will share with you a personal reason to lose weight. Some reasons will be silly, some shallow, some sad, some crazy, some motivating but above all they will be the personal thought’s that run through my head during this year…

Coming soon..