Chickpea Slice

This year is all about the low sugar, low fat, low processed food. In the course of my culinary quest to achieve this I am rediscovering old recipes and trying out new ones. In the past I have always thought of chickpeas as a winter thing, mainly as an additive to soups and stews. In this summerish recipe they shine as the star of the dish.
Ingredients-
Oil spray
2-4 shallots, sliced.
I red capsicum, diced.
1 zucchini, diced
2x 400g cans of chickpeas, drained and rinsed.
1 tbsp red curry paste
1/2 cup breadcrumbs
2 eggs
2 tsp mustard
1 tbsp leamon juice
1tsp pepper
optional: natural yoghurt or sour cream to serve
Method-
Preheat oven to 180C. Spray frypan with oil, add shallots, red capsicum and zucchini, then cook until soft.
Mash 1 can of chickpeas.
Throw all ingredients into a bowl and mix until well combined.
Press mixture into a baking dish and cook for around 25 minutes or until firm.
Serving suggestion-
Serve with yoghurt or sour cream.
Nutritional Stats (per serve)-
3.7g fat, 3.2g fibre, 5.9g protein, 105cal

This recipe is fast, simple and, supposedly, serves 8. We got 5 reasonable sized servings out of it and accompanied by a side salad it made a filling dinner.
*****for ease
**** for taste

Day 7

I had a short changeover today, which means I finished work at 9:30 last night and started at 7AM today. Including getting out late, public transport, and giving a friend advice when I got home (at 11 PM), there was not much sleep to be had.
Fortunately, I repackaged and packed today's food ahead of time, so I only had to grab my bag and leave. I had breakfast (same as yesterday: 2 Weetbix, a handful of Coles' light muesli, a couple of spoonsful each of low fat yoghurt and stewed rhubarb/raspberries) when I got to work, then during my first break had a vegetable frittata and a toasted cheese sandwich on multigrain - it was supposed to come with mustard but that wasn't supplied, so I substituted some of the last of a caramelised onion relish from the fridge. At lunch I tasty Hoisin beef noodles, a fruit cup, dried apricots and a biscuit.
I went out for dinner with friends, and faced my first fully non-Lite'n'Easy meal (breakfast on Sunday was, except for the vodka/juice, the same as a provided breakfast would be). It was an Italian restaurant, and I didn't exactly fall wholly off the diet wagon but I certainly ate more than if I'd had the Lite'n'Easy meal in my freezer - delicious ravioli filled with pureed blue swimmer crab and prawn with vermouth and cream sauce, followed by just under half a shared chocolate mousse on a thin sponge. It was all delicious, I thoroughly enjoyed every mouthful, and though I was replete I didn't feel stuffed. I should have skipped the garlic pizza but stopped at one piece, and only drank water.
I'm weighing in tomorrow, so we'll see then how much damage dinner done. In any case I can't have gained. Surely. - Alex

Day 3

I countered a horrendous, absolutely appalling night with a double shot of vodka in my carrot, celery and apple juice during my weekly post-work breakfast catch up with my mother. Juice isn't a great option for anyone, given how many calories one can mindlessly consume and the pitiful amount of associated fibre. However, freshly squeezed (extracted?) vegie juice isn't quite as bad as fruit juice, and it's only a rare indulgence, so I'm cutting myself some slack. I accompanied it with poached eggs on multigrain muffins, and spinach.
My overnight meals were a salad and hot Tandoori chicken wrap with chutney, Hawaiian chicken with rice, and apple and sultana pancake and a choclate museli bar. Because I had breakfast before bed, I'll be having the fish, wedges and vegies dinner when I get to work, and I've got an apple to crunch while waiting for the tram. Still impressed with the meals - Alex

Day 2

I've already had my first temptation - chocolate at work from someone's birthday, combined with a fairly horrendous night. There are times, recent times, when over the ten hour shift I could have scoffed half a dozen of the delicious dessert chocolates, and half of the Cadbury family block and barely noticed.
Instead I I had Turkish meatballs with cous-cous, chicken pesto fettucini, an orange, an apple and cranberry muffin and a serving of corn chips with salsa. And an actual serving of corn chips, by the way, is not big but it was enough, particularly in conjunction with the rest of the food and in the absence of a tempting bag.
Still no exercise, but feeling virtuous, and replete. - Alex

Day one

I have to say that so far I'm far more impressed by the Lite'n'Easy meals than I expected - they're filling, generous and full of flavour. I didn't realise, until I got home after work and checked the menu guide more closely, that one of the bowls in the freezer was the designated day 1 snack (of week B in the spring menu). So in addition to my 2AM lunch of a warm Thai chicken salad with crispy noodles, black forest pears (stewed pears with bluberries), a cakey museli biscuit and Greek yoghurt with berries, I also had Meditteranian meatballs with pasta and melted cheese.
As I don't have a microwave I'll have the meatballs when I get to work, which is still day 1 - given my schedule I've decided to go with 24 hour days (00:00-23:59) rather than my usual accounting of a day starting anew when I wake up, regardless of the time that is.
There's a lot more variety in each weekly menu than I'd usually have, and although the menu rotates through three times I suspect I'm more likely to be excited about recognising favourites rather than groaning that it's week A again. I'm even wondering what meals I'll be missing out on once I transition off the program, which is a little sad!
Now for the downside - I haven't done any exercise, not just today but in ages. Not only am I heavier than I've ever been before, I'm also in poorer shape. I'm getting a little short of breath with relatively minimal exertion, compared to what I consider my baseline. I think I may be a little anemic, and intend to have some baseline bloods done (any day now...) but it's also general deconditioning.
So, out of hibernation and back into my life. The next few days are going to be entirely too ridiculous for exercise, but I'm on days starting Monday and will be doing my first workout in ages. Oh, and buying a microwave.
On Tuesday I'll also do a stretch program, either a class or DVD, so that I can walk to work on Wednesday without the shin splints that have started kicking in during the short stroll to my local library. - Alex

Bliss balls

A couple of years ago I regularly watched a program called Good Chef, Bad Chef which starred now-celebrity chef Gary Mehigan (better known for co-hosting Australian MasterChef) and nutritionist Janella Purcell. Each week's program had a theme - like Melbourne Cup picnic, and each co-host would prepare accordingly. Gary's food was invariably a luscious, full-fat offering, while the more puritanical Janella would just as invariably express shock and create lower fat, often vegan alternatives.
I've purged my home of all the high-density, low-nutrient foods I used to turn to when I was bored or peckish, which has left me in the cold when I crave something sweet. Yesterday, after seeing a bottle of tahini in the pantry, I remembered Janella had made bliss balls, and I decided to make some too.
Recipes abound, but are all variations of the same basic pattern - just add more of what you like and less (or none) of what you don't. In essence you need a cereal base, nuts and seeds and dried fruit, a binding agent, a sweetener, and a coating. I MagiMixed the following based on what I had to hand:
3/4 cup puffed rice (beautifully crackly crunchy)
1/4 cup puffed quinoa (to add grain variety to my diet)
A date
A couple of dried apricots
A small handful of sultanas
A smaller handful of diced dried pawpaw
1/4 cup each walnuts and brazil nuts
1/2 cup LSA (ground linseeds, sunflower seeds and almonds)

I then poured in about 200ml tahini (shaken to mix the oil and paste) and about 100ml rice malt syrup to taste - you could also use honey, golden syrup, or a fruit concentrate syrup like pear.
When I was happy with the consistency I rolled them into balls and coated them with sesame seeds. You can also lay the mixture in a tray and bake at 180 for about 20 minutes to make muesli bars but remember to score the mixture first!
Either way you get a sweet treat that's nutritionally dense, satisfies a yearning for a mouthful of something delicious and, though high in calories, is chock full of good fats, and too rich to plough through mindlessly. - Alex