The good news is that I have kept the 5/6kg I lost off (it fluctuates, as I am sure you avid dieters know - weight changes daily/hourly!) Also that I am still enjoying shopping for food and cooking. My latest 'add-on' to the challenge, is to plan ahead - what meals am I eating this week, what foods do I need, who wants to cook which nights (husband likes to cook too)? So we sit down on a Sunday having checked our stocks in the freezers (now we have 3 freezers as we bulk buy fish and meat; use them to store bread; and handy for left-over meals when we are feeling lazy or to take to the caravan to microwave).
The not so good news is that him-indoors has developed a food allergy, so on top of our healthy eating regime we are now having to read ALL bought foods in packets, tins, bottles, carton etc for a whole list of words - some of which neither of us had heard of before. Basically, its a DAIRY allergy but we are finding milk proteins/casein/lactose are in products you wouldn't dream of thinking contain milk. The second part of the allergy is aspartame/sucrose which are sweeteners also used in many products but not necessary listed as such (may be an E number).
Did you know that Imperial Leather soap contains milk? No neither did we until a red raw rash appeared on his leg after a shower. Did you know that Sorbet (well the sort they use in restaurants) contains milk proteins? No, who would have thought it. But the best was finding a bottle of Australian red wine contained milk and eggs! I was gobsmacked.
So much stress has been expended on reading labels thoroughly which of course adds time when shopping. The allergy came overnight in the form of HIVES - lumps, bumps, weals, rashes - covered him from head to toe and a visit to A&E was undertaken for diagnosis. Anti-histamine tablets help but not wanting to take anymore tablets than necessary we went to Allergy UK for a cause.
I have bought him 'free from' dairy products - biscuits, cakes, chocolate and even hot cross buns and am only just experimenting with recipes - changing milk to soya or goats milk; butter to soya margarine or goats butter. It occurred to me that I could use vegetable/sunflower/olive oil instead of butter. Does anyone know the ratio of tablespoons to ounces/grams? Please let me know if you do.
Tonight I will be making Slimming World Chicken in tarragon sauce with rosemary potatoes. I wont be entering for a place on Masterchef just yet, but can tell you it will be very yummy.
Happy Eating....
