MORNING TEA (150 calories)

This seems to be a recurring morning tea (or afternoon tea) at my house while strawberries are in season and cheap.

A mug of tea (no sugar), fruit & nut slice with fresh strawberries and a magazine to read.

I first made the slice 2 weeks ago and I (& friends) eat so much of it that I make it about 3 times a week. I have tweaked the original recipe a few times to improve on it a couple of differing ways. It now contains grains, for instance.

I also buy the ingredients in the largest sizes I can find, resulting in a 66% reduction in cost.

HOWEVER ... the main thing is that I have chockies and biscuits in the pantry ... but I instinctively reach for the slice first for one reason ... it tastes BETTER and is NICER to eat.

It's significant health benefits are an added bonus.

Love it !

SATAY CHICKEN SALAD

This is a quick dinner that always goes down well, especially if the Satay Sauce has been prepped and made beforehand ... and already in the fridge.

The meal comprises three parts.

 1. A bed of greens on each plate, mixed with some thin sliced onion, carrot and a  good splash of balsamic vinegar.

2. Cut chicken breast into strips and brown in a pan with oil (use about 1/2 breast per serve). Lay (or pile) on top of the greens.

3. Put a generous dob of satay sauce on the top (with garnish), and dinner is done !

Job done !

Easy huh !

And so quick and healthy too.

My sauce recipe easily keeps for 3 - 4 days in the fridge.

Marty's Sarty Sauce recipe (Serves 6 luxuriantly)

  1/2        cup         Peanut Butter (Smooth or Crunchy ... your call)
   1          tbsp        Curry Powder
   1          tbsp        Ginger (Minced - in Jar)
   1          tbsp        Chilli (Minced -  in Jar)
  1/2        tbsp        Lime Leaves (in Jar)
  1/2                       Lemon (rind)
  1/2                       Lemon (juice) - use the same 1/2 of lemon for both rind and juice
  1/2        cup         Natural Yoghurt

Combine all the ingredients in one go, then serve or store in fridge.

FRUIT PULSE (or PHROOTI PHI PI)

I just made a fruit pulse. It is incredibly yummy and good for you.

Pulses are a food I will write about a bit later on. I just wanted to get the photo up and record the calories since I had just worked it out.

I will post recipes and general information, such as, what they are and why they are good for you.

This amount is 12 x 60g serves ... which contains 205 calories per serve.

It sounds a lot ... though this fruit pulse is nothing more than raw (dried) fruits and nuts, hence the health benefit of this food is very high.

Basically, the more of it you can eat, the better you will be for it.

The joke is, it is as nice to eat as a Mars bar.

BREAKFAST ... BUT DON'T EAT GRAPEFRUIT !

I don't even consider I am 'dieting' because I am eating the foods I like in regular and large quantities.

 And I am happy to do that day in and day out, every day of the year, without sufferance of any kind.

Initially, I kept my usual breakfast as is (because it was quite ok), to be refined at a later date.

Well ... as it happens ... breakfast evolved by itself.

Changes I made are :

1. Replaced white bread with wholemeal. This is an easy change and though the calories don't change much ... the quality of the food increases considerably. There is no cost difference.

2. Replaced the glass of fruit juice (at approx. 125 calories) with fresh pink grapefruit at 32 calories per half.

Note the sticker that denies me the one food that will cure my condition. Who benefits from that ?

The advantage of eating the pink grapefruit ... and the reason for the change ... is that eating pink grapefruit every day for 90 days is said to clear heart blockages, thus eliminating the need to take blood thinning medication, which after 12 years (4,380 days) of taking the maximum dose of Lipitor (not to mention Ramipril & Metoprolol as well), has done NOTHING to 'cure' the 5 blockages in my heart.

I will post another entry at a later date concerning my personal experience with how ineffective modern medical practice (and drugs) have been at ACTUALLY curing my health issues.

OK ... so that's the breakfast changes, reducing my daily brekky calorie intake from 444 calories to 390 calories.

And I'm still loving it and eating plenty and eating well.