Day 15 - 2016

2 weeks since I started on this venture or Blogging and Healthy Eating.

The results for me, I feel are quite slow yet going in the right direction.

I haven't touched any sugar, butter, milk or dairy products during this time and have reduced my gluten free intake and stepped up having more fruit and vegetables (although still need to work on this) and generally physically, I feel a lot better.  I have less mucus in the morning, I have only had one episode of headache/pressure, I feel more energised, I sleep better most nights and apart from the ongoing issues with my back, physically I feel better.

Todays weight loss in the last week is again 1 kg (2.2 pounds) which in total for the last 2 weeks is 4.4 pounds.  As I say I guess I am expecting more but to be honest, I am not eating less just eating more of the right things so am happy with this result.

Yesterday was a very busy day work wise with lots of cooking, preparing and catering for a couple of my customer orders and by the time it got to about 9pm, I crashed out in bed and slept.

Today I have some catching up to do on email and preparing for my next catering job on Wednesday plus I need to go out and run a few errands (shopping, post office, bank etc.).  

I have just taken my daily morning ritual of lots of water, aloe vera juice shot and my supplements before having breakfast of a gluten free, sugar free granola topped with berries and walnuts - yummy.

As I have a busy day, I got up early to prepare my lunch and came across this lovely looking recipe I wanted to try out (plus I keep seeing Jamie Oliver advertising it for Hello Fresh on TV LOL).  It is an aubergine stew that Jamie serves with pasta but I will be serving this alongside brown rice.

Aubergine Stew

Serving size 4

1 aubergine cut into cubes

1/2 cup of shredded cabbage 

(I use cabbage mostly in place of onions as they don't really agree with me)

1 large tomatoes

1/2 can of chopped tomatoes

1/4 tsp turmeric, pinch of salt, pepper, cinnamon

2 tbsp chopped coriander (topping)

1 tbsp pine nuts toasted (topping)

For extra protein I add 1/2 cup of brown cooked lentils

(cooking is same concept of rice - 1/2 cup lentils to 1 cup of water)

I also add a pinch of salt and a bay leaf in the water for lentils to boil in.

Gently simmer until lentils are 'al dente' - approx 30 minutes.

Instructions

In a saucepan, put 1 tbsp of sunflower oil and gently fry the cabbage until tender

Add aubergine and gentry fry for a further 5/10 minutes until tender

Add the tomatoes and spices

Turn to a low heat and gently let simmer for approx. 20 minutes.

When you are ready to serve, sprinkle the coriander and coriander on top

Meanwhile boil up some brown rice.  

Remember for every 1 cup of rice, you will need approx. 2 cups of water, a little more for brown rice as this is a little harder grain.

**It is good to always wash the rice in cold water before boiling as it removes

some of the start that rice contains**

This is a great dish and quick to make.  So I am all ready for the day ahead.  Have a great day everyone and until soon, I will leave you with my thought.

Thought For Today

Courage is a strength that comes from the core of my being.
This strength allows me to commit to life.
Courage is the willingness to go beyond my current limits
and to say, I CAN.