Moonwatcher's Atkins Diary

[moonwatcher]

Fantastic diary, moonwatcher, your menus look great!

I'm going to warn you off the sugar free chocolate though - or at least ask you to check the ingredients for sugar alcohols (anything ending in 'ol' with the worst of them being maltitol. If your choc contains these you'll be better off eating a couple of squares of real 75% or higher dark chocolate - or making cocoa bark with coconut oil - I have a thread in the recipes section with details on that but it's very good.

I bumped my thread in the main forum on 'sugar alcohols and why Atkins bars are evil' which may help but really you make such wonderful desserts and home made things have no nasties in - stick to those if you can!

Brilliant start, anyway. What's the recipe for your flax loaf? They look fab.

Hi moonlights and welcome!

I tried the Atkins bars once when I did Atkins before and hated them. I'll have a look at the ingredients on the remaining bar of choc. At the moment it is quite difficult to get to in the pantry! I did make the bark last time I was on Atkins and liked it - have planned to try a ginger version of some kind.

I use xylitol as my sweetener of choice though, which I presume is in the same group as maltitol. I have tried splenda, aspartame, stevia etc., and hate the taste and the aftertaste of all of them. I do use as little xylitol as possible - I find vanilla essence gives desserts a more natural and fresh slightly sweet taste and I grow sweet cicely in my herb garden which you can add to rhubarb and other fruit when you cook, which cuts down on the amount of sugar/sweetener you need. I also find that neither of us want things as sweet as we used to anyway, which is a good thing. I used xylitol last time I was on Atkins without it being a problem, no cravings etc., but I would rather use as little as possible of any sweetener to be honest.

Yesterday's loaf was a sachet of yeast with half a tspn of sugar and some warm water in a mug (about a third of a mug of water), left to stand in the warm for about 10 mins until it was nice and frothy.

I whisked up 5 eggs and added one and a half cups of ground flaxseed and about a tspn and a half of bicarbonate of soda, chopped rosemary - about a tblspn, although next time I would add a bit more, 10 chopped black olives and a sprinkle of dried garlic, stirred in the yeast and water and left it to rise in the warm for around half an hour. (I had my oven on, so just stood it on top of the stove to get the warmth from that.) I poured it into a 2lb loaf tin

Into the oven at 180 degrees. Not sure what the timing would be for that because as I said above, I messed about with it a bit in the halogen oven first, but once it was just about cooked I put the rosemary sprigs on top, for decoration only really, just because I felt like it! I should think around 30 - 40 minutes in the oven would be around right.

For the smaller loaves I made a couple of weeks ago with half the amount of ingredients (3 eggs) I didn't use the yeast and sugar, but whisked up the egg whites to stiff peaks and folded the other ingredients in. I thought I would experiment with the yeast, but there was little difference in taste or texture. I have read that you don't need the sugar at all, even that tiny amount, to get the yeast to rise, but I'm not sure how well it would work with flax. I'll probably try it when I have a bit more time to let it rise and see how it goes.

 

[moonwatcher]

Food for today, Monday 20th May

Completely back on track today:

Breakfast - cold egg custard - made last night, so ready to grab from the fridge this morning

Lunch - ham salad

Dinner - tuna stir fry. This was very tasty. I sliced up two fresh tuna steaks and marinated them for about half an hour in lime juice, soy sauce, chopped garlic and grated root ginger, sesame and olive oil and vinegar. Then I fried a red onion and some more root ginger and garlic in olive oil, added pea shoots, rocket and pak-choy, fried the tuna in its marinade, mixed it all together and served it with a dollop of sour cream and some home-made chilli sauce.



Followed this with stewed rhubarb, a sprinkling of sweetener, meringue and a little cream

Snacks - half an egg custard, half an avocado with a little sour cream, an ounce of cheddar and a slice of ham

Drinks - water, one coffee with cream

Managed to resist birthday cake at work for the third time in three weeks - surprisingly easy actually, which I was pleased about.

Lunch tomorrow will be home-made curried leek and cauli soup with two slices of rosemary and olive flaxbread with butter. Not sure about the evening yet as will be at a meeting after school and then back up there a couple of hours later to watch the GCSE drama performances and the Drama group perform, so will have to fit something in around that - possibly omelette.

 

[Atomic pink]

How does the sweetener you use come? Does it have a brand name? I don't think I am familar with that one. I find it strange how different sweeteners seem to taste very different to different people. I HATE canderel as it tastes like poison but find splenda really nice with no horrible aftertaste but someone I work with is the other way around. I try not to use too much of it either but I do think a bit of sweetener in moderation is very unlikely to do much harm to most people.

Glad you enjoyed the restaurant. The kangeroo bourginon was what caught my eye when looking at the menu. Yum. The tuna stirfry also looks very lovely. I don't think I have ever salivated about low carb food as much as I have about your diary!

 

[moonwatcher]

Tuna steaks are one of the few things I am wary of cooking. I don't like anything rare and a lot of the recipes I've seen say to cook for like only 4 minutes So I just stick to tinned!

They really do taste better cooked for a short time. If they are too well done they just taste like chunks of tuna out of the tin, but cooked for less time they almost taste meaty rather than fishy - sort of meaty, but with a fishy texture - very good. Even cooked rare, there were no bloody bits to put you off.

 

[moonwatcher]

How does the sweetener you use come? Does it have a brand name? I don't think I am familar with that one. I find it strange how different sweeteners seem to taste very different to different people. I HATE canderel as it tastes like poison but find splenda really nice with no horrible aftertaste but someone I work with is the other way around. I try not to use too much of it either but I do think a bit of sweetener in moderation is very unlikely to do much harm to most people.

Glad you enjoyed the restaurant. The kangeroo bourginon was what caught my eye when looking at the menu. Yum. The tuna stirfry also looks very lovely. I don't think I have ever salivated about low carb food as much as I have about your diary!

The brand I usually get is 'Total sweet' - I think that is the most common one, but I have seen other brands on line. I get it from Holland and Barrett or health food shops. Online is cheaper but only if you bulk buy from what I can see - not had the cash to splash out all in one go yet. It looks and tastes like sugar (well it does to us, but I agree with you that sweeteners seem to taste different to different people). You use it like for like in weight, spoonfuls etc. It stays crunchy when you sprinkle it onto food too, which I also really like. It won't feed yeast and I believe it has a higher melting point than sugar, which might make a difference in some recipes I suppose. I am planning to try caramelising some to see if it works. It isn't cheap, but I think it is worth the money (about £2.70 for a pack, which is either 200 or 250g)

 

[moonwatcher]

Update for Tuesday 21st May

Busy day yesterday, so didn't get to update.

Breakfast - pastry-less egg custard with tspn cream

Lunch - home-made curried cauliflower and leek soup with two small slices of flaxbread and butter

Meeting after work - plenty of biccies on the table, but just had a black coffee. Dashed home after the meeting to get changed, make today's salad lunch and prepare the veggies for the frittata later. Then back to school for a couple of hours to watch the Drama GCSE and Drama Club performances. Took a bottle of diet coke and one of water with us. Home again to finish cooking the frittata -

Onion, asparagus and smoked pork sausage frittata with cheddar, chillis and herbs, served with a small piece of garlic flaxbread.

Snacks - none

Drinks - water, diet coke, black coffee, one coffee with cream. Will update today's food a bit later.

 

[Atomic pink]

Excellent will power ignoring the temptation at work when it was such a hectic schedule you are following. i always find thats the most difficult time as i somehow kid myself if i am really busy it i somehow deserve to cheat :/

Thanks for the info about the sweetener. I might try and pick some up when I am next in Holland and Barratt to try. £2.70 doesn't seem too steep to me.

 

[moonwatcher]

Wednesday 22nd May

Breakfast - two boiled eggs with butter and black pepper

Lunch - tuna mayo and cheese salad

Dinner - half a giant spicy mint lamb burger with green beans, rocket, sour cream guacamole, home-made chilli and fried halloumi

Snack- egg custard made with egg, cream, nutmeg and cinnamon, vanilla essence and a little soya milk with a drizzle of cream and sugar free meringue

Drinks - water, one coffee with cream.

 

[moonwatcher]

Last night's asparagus and smoked sausage frittata with garlic flaxbread

Tonight's spicy lamb burger with green beans, guacamole with sour cream, rocket, halloumi and chilli sauce

 

[ladyfelsham]

Hi Moonwatcher

I'm just back from leave, so sorry to not say hi and welcome earlier

Your meals look FAB! And well done on the losses so far.

Susie x

 

[moonwatcher]

Hi Moonwatcher

I'm just back from leave, so sorry to not say hi and welcome earlier

Your meals look FAB! And well done on the losses so far.

Susie x

Hi Susie and thanks for dropping in.

 

[moonwatcher]

Thursday 23rd May.

Oh pleeeease may we have some sun! Will be spending the whole day tomorrow with 100 year 7s doing a geography field trip for a tourism project, on the Norfolk Broads. The forecast for tomorrow is wind, rain and 4°! I will be wearing a vest, t-shirt, double layer wool fleece, waterproof walking jacket, hat, gloves and scarf! Maybe two pairs of gloves actually! What a way to spend the last day of the half-term! Anyway, food for today:

Breakfast - lemony egg and cream cheese custard mix

Lunch - home-made broccoli and blue cheese soup with a toasted 'oopsie' flatbread

Dinner -Goodness, gracious, meatballs of fire! Chilli beef meatballs in an oopsie chilli and garlic wrap, with roasted orange pepper strips, salad, sour cream, chilli sauce and grated parmesan.

Snack - egg custard. Not the same as the breakfast one. These are a more traditional egg custard, just with no crust. They are so handy, as I make up a batch, stick them in the fridge and there they are - ready for breakfasts, puddings, snacks!

Drinks - water, one coffee with cream


The meatballs and wrap before folding. There are seven meatballs under there!

On the plate - well actually off the plate! They are quite small plates though!

 

[moonwatcher]

*puts up hand* What is an oopsie?

It's OK Frona, you don't have to put your hand up - only insist on that at work!

It is a substitute for bread, using eggs, ground flaxseed, cream cheese, salt. I think the name comes from someone following an Atkins recipe and getting one of the ingredients wrong - hence the 'oopsie.' Some people make them as rolls, but I find they work better as a wrap/pitta thickness. They are handy on the first stages of Atkins though.

 

[ladyfelsham]

Goodness, gracious, meatballs of fire!

LOL excellent, made me guffaw, just when I'd taken a sip of tea

 

[moonwatcher]

LOL excellent, made me guffaw, just when I'd taken a sip of tea

Oops! Hope the tea didn't travel too far!

Well, we didn't go on the field trip in the end as the weather was so bad that there was a concern that the boardwalks we would be using may be flooded, so it ended up as another (ab)normal day at school - about as normal as was possible with half of year 7 hyped up and disappointed about the trip being postponed. I am more than ready for half term. No thanks due to our cat who decided to celebrate the beginning of the holiday by projectile vomiting all over the bedroom floor! Eeuuuugh!

Anyway, food for today:

Breakfast - egg custard with a little cream

Lunch - cheese and salami salad

Dinner - not had it yet, but it will be steak with (stuffed?) mushrooms, celeriac chips and probably a little asparagus

Snacks - 2 small pieces of pork scratching, may have a lemon and cream cheese custard later, may not!

Drinks - water, lavender earl grey with a splash of soya milk, one coffee and cream

 

[superclaire999]

Your meals sound lush, have just found out about oppsie rolls and luv them, I put cheese and pepperoni and grill and make pretend pizzas yum, sorry your trip got cancelled but maybe it was best as the weathers been terrible today

 

[moonwatcher]

Oopsie pizzas are on my list! I was quite glad it was cancelled tbh, as it rained all day here too. 100 soggy 11/12 year olds don't make much of a happy day!

 

[moonwatcher]

Tonight's steak with peppercorn sauce, garlic portobello mushroom, pan-fried asparagus, celeriac chips and halloumi. Picture not as neat as usual as was in a hurry to be get it taken and eaten! No lemon custard as too full!

 

[superclaire999]

Omg they look like real chips, I started Atkins on Monday and totally broke it today for choco and a chippy tea lol will be back on next week, ps my daughter will be going into year 7 next year she excited

 

[moonwatcher]

They don't taste like real chips, but they do taste pretty good, and they fill that gap on the plate. The longer you can cook them the better they are as they get a bit more crispy. So far I have oven cooked them, but am planning to try frying some. I love working with the year 7s - they still have that enthusiasm to learn and have fun doing so, before they get older and both of those things become uncool!