This evening I tried a pack of Butternut noodles (just clarifying these are spiralised ribbons of butternut squash, and not actual 'noodles') for the first time, and here is my version of 'Prawn, Kale & Butternut Noodles'. I cooked some quinoa (50g per person) (takes about 10 minutes to cook) and meanwhile in a large pan, I fried a large chopped red onion for a few minutes in some olive oil, then added a tin of tomatoes, some frozen prawns, some black kale (which looks a dark green colour) and cooked those through for about 10 minutes, and finally added the Butternut noodles, which took another 3 minutes to cook within the mixture.
I served the quinoa on the base of the plate, and then spooned the Prawn, Kale & Butternut noodle mixture on top. It was extremely tasty!
I am wondering what other people have eaten for their meal this evening - so if you care to share, then I'd love to hear from you.
Hope you're enjoying the weekend so far, and good luck to anyone who is joining us for the Monday group weigh-in - I'll be posting the thread just before 7am on Monday 11th January, if you want to join us for a Monday weigh-in.
Lowcal
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Great to see you, and sorry to hear you're not looking forward to Monday - maybe it will be better than you think, so try not to think about it too much. Hope you are enjoying the weekend.
Yes, I like to have quinoa from time to time, and it certainly went well in this combination. It was very quick and easy to make.
Are you allowed to eat 2 types of carb as you have butternut squash noodles and quino? I always thought one should eat a little bit of carb and mainly veg. I am just asking as I would like to make it.
The butternut 'noodle' is actually a ribbon of butternut squash, rather than specific 'noodles' - i.e. it's a vegetable that has been spiralised (or similar process) into a 'noodle' shape (at least that's what I'm presuming it is - I could be wrong! - I've not tried it before today) - it has 5.9g carbs within a half packet (which is the amount I ate in my meal). I'm not sure of the carb content of the quinoa, but I consider the overall meal to be a healthy balance, and I am quite active on a daily basis exercise wise, so felt it would be a good choice for me today.
I always try to include some protein, fat and carbs in any meal or snack I have, as I have read that the combination helps to keep the blood sugar levels stable i.e. adding some protein and fat to a meal slows the digestion and absorption of carbohydrate from the gut, and therefore reduces the glycaemic index of the entire meal.
I wouldn't say my meals are always the healthiest - but I do try to eat healthy things when I can - and I don't think there are specific 'rules' to follow. Everyone is different, and what suits one person doesn't necessarily suit the next. People have different tolerances to food etc, so essentially if in doubt, maybe check with a qualified person regarding specific food information and advice for your own needs. I think the people on this forum (including myself) are lay-people doing our best to share our experience etc.
I can only share my own experience here, and would be keen to hear thoughts from yourself and anyone else who cares to contribute - it's a great way to learn and find new ideas and recipes etc.
Sorry for this lengthy reply! Hope you enjoyed your evening meal, and that you've had a good day.
Thanks so much for explaining I thought it was noodles just put in butternut squash but now you are saying butternut squash and it is just the shape that is something different than definably I will try. I have only had buterut squash as a soup but will try this version as it makes a change.
Thank you, it's lovely to see you, and I like the sound of your meal. I haven't had cous cous for some time, might have to get some - it's really tasty. Salmon is one of my favourite fish and mixed veg and spinach makes a great combination.
I had a dessert as well - half a banana and 1 scoop of Vanilla ice-cream. I only tend to have dessert on the weekend, and it was really good.
thank you Lowcal, have you tried Zuchini spaghetti, carrot, i love it. I also make cauliflower rice another favourite of mine. I was given a Yonanas for Christmas and make ice cream with frozen bananas and frozen fruit, it is great. Have a good evening and lovely Sunday.
No, I've not tried Zuchini spaghetti, or the carrot version - I must give these things a try! I have done Cauliflower rice before, and that is really good.
I've not heard of a Yonanas - but it sounds like an interesting concept to make ice-cream with - I'm going to try to do a version by hand - but might also look at the Yonanas too.
Hello Lowcal, you must give the different spaghetti's a try, im sure you will enjoy them. Have a look on ebay for the Yonanas, it will give you an idea. Enjoy your Sunday.
Yes, I did. It was a packet from M&S, that's why I was thinking about what they'd done to get the noodle ribbons shape - I wasn't sure...! I don't have a spiraliser, and just wanted to try them out to see what they're like. I did enjoy them, and might look into making my own in the future.
I love the sound of your meal tonight - that is really good! I had baked Haddock for breakfast today, with a poached egg and 1.5 wholemeal toast with butter, as it's my one 'cooked breakfast' treat of the week! It'll be porridge with nuts and seeds again from now on till the next cooked breakfast.
I've only recently been eating some Kale, and I was confused today by the packet I bought from the Coop, as it was called 'Covolo Nero' - I had to look it up on the internet, to discover that means 'Black Kale' (hence the darker green colour) - apparently it was originally an Italian Kale which is now being grown in Lincolnshire. It was really good.
I'm learning something new most days!
Wishing you a good weekend.
Lowcal
Mmmm - looks lovely Lowcal I've got a spiralizer so I might try making my own butternut noodles sometime !
We had a lovely meal this evening. The recipe was one of the Joe Wicks 'Lean in 15' meals that was printed in the Sainsburys magazine this month. Garlic prawns with piri piri rice and peas
I love the sound of your evening meal too - I love spicy food. Yum!
I'm going to watch some TV now, but it's so interesting to hear what everyone's eating.
Have a great evening!
Lowcal
I had a fairly basic meal - aubergine in tomato sauce, rice, and carrot salad (grated carrot with sultanas). I'm experimenting with 'violife' a dairy free 'cheese' I found in Tesco, so had some of that grated on the aubergine too. Not sure what to make of it yet, but it seems a little like cheese - looks like it anyway - and I'm really missing cheese after all these months without it!
Lowcal your butternut noodles look great. I'm tempted to try them too now, will let you know if I do
A friend told me to grate the whole chunk of violife and freeze it so I don't feel under pressure to have too much in one go, just take a bit out of the freezer as and when I need it. I'm planning to develop a wheat-free pizza, so need to have a 'cheese' substitute at the ready. Now for the base...
The carrot and sultana salad was delicious, very fresh. Peppers salad sounds good too. I think we're off the same or similar things, I've been off dairy and wheat since May
I am off dairy, yeast and eggs. can't have sugar and red meat due to Thrush. That is why i said corn instead of sultanas for me but you can enjoy your salad just means more for you!
For the base for your pizza why don't you use either oats or spelt flour, corn flour?
It is very annoying dairy free especially as I love it but just got used to it just knowing that I am pain free is definitely worth it! When I get my periods I used to lie in bed now I can run around.
I love being free of stomach cramps etc too, also giving up dairy has unexpectedly made my eczema disappear!
I've tried to make pizza base with polenta, which I thought was appropriate being an Italian ingredient. But I've found a new recipe using mashed potato and rice flour, but unfortunately for you it contains yeast... if I can find the time I'll be attempting it this week
• in reply to
Hi Ruth - I saw a recipe in the latest Vegetarian Living mag for pizza base made out of cauliflower - but I think it had mozzarella in out, which is no good if you are off cheese. Perhaps you can substitute some of your violife instead. I gave the mag to my mum so I can't check it out now - but perhaps Googling it might get you a similar recipe ?
I had until my infertility therapist told me it is poisonous for me so now I am so proud to say that I can look at all these foods and it will not even tempt me but if you can have it go ahead and enjoy it it just means more for you as I will not be joining you. also I am desperate to get rid of my 1.5 stones weight whereas you have lost so much already so you are allowed! Permission granted!
Thanks! I think I'm definitely feeling permission granted having lost the weight. But I'm not tempted to fully go back to wheat and dairy yet, as I agree reducing symptoms through diet is very motivating! Hope your symptoms fully subside and you get the results you want too
It took me years to really believe that food has such an impact on me but now I believe with my whole heart that diet makes a huge difference to our lives and eating healthier is so much better than all the junk in the world! At least now I am pain free so I will not eat the wrong food again as I just cheated and got my Thrush back but from today I have started behaving myself like a good girl! This is the way how I want to be for good no more cheating it is not worth it! Sorry just felt that if I say it here than I will stick to it!
Your wheat-free pizza should be good when you develop it. Hope you'll share your recipe with us. I just think you're a whizz at developing new recipes - it's really great! Many of the recipes that people are sharing in this forum originate from you. Really great!!!
My recipes are really easy usually - I think that's why! I'm not one for complicated cooking... By the way there's a great red pepper soup recipe on Jenever's recent post - definitely worth checking out healthunlocked.com/nhsweigh....
Your Aubergine meal sounds lovely. I've not heard of Violife. I can tolerate dairy, so I just tend to use Vintage Cheddars or Spicy cheeses, as they are quite strong flavours and I can use a relatively small amount and still get good flavour - but I realise you're more limited in terms of looking for dairy free. Nice that you're allowing yourself some cheese again, after months without it.
Yes, do let me know if you try the butternut noodles - and what you do with them.
Thank you! Glad you've made a decision on whether to buy that spiraliser or not. I'm considering getting one myself now - as there seem to be so many versions of spiralised food out there (butternut squash, carrot, courgette, etc).
Your Prawn Curry sounds delicious! I really like curries.
You sound like you've had a really great day, and brilliant that you've been out on your new bike - excellent!
Spiraliser crazy - wow, that sounds very colourful - I can imagine the creations you'll be putting together, I bet they'll be amazing.
A lovely sounding meal tonight for you - I'm having some fish pie (bit worried that I've let the fish mix defrost on the work surface - apparently that's not great - but it is very cold in my kitchen so probably quite 'fridge like' in temperature. The fish mix is back in the actual fridge again now. I'm hoping it's ok. I'll be heating the pie to a high temperature to cook it all through, so that should help.
Yes, it's been a good day thanks. Lots of cleaning and stuff like that, but it's good to have that out of the way now.
Yum! We had trout which had been lying in the freezer for a few months. I microwaved them, and baked a sweet potato for me, normal for husband, and accidentally cooked a bazillion peas to have with broccoli and carrots (I didn't have carrots). I'm going to try to make pea and mint soup tomorrow with the leftovers. As you may know this is first day of week 2 for me. I have a horrible feeling in my mouth, wonder if it's something to do with diet change? Can't imagine what though.
I haven't heard of anyone having strange feelings in their mouth, although my hygienist told me my oral hygiene was massively improved since I made my diet changes. So maybe it's the feeling of all the sugar-loving bacteria leaving now there's no sugar to sustain them?
How lovely that you had trout - I bet if Trafford1 noticed you wrote that, she'd be jealous as it's one of her favourites!!! I love trout too - really tasty. Your meal sounded delicious.
Amazing that you've mentioned pea and mint soup, as I had intended to make some of that this weekend, but I've got some Jerusalem Artichokes that i bought on special offer (a whole punnet of them!) and I'm hoping to make a soup with them following a recipe I saw in a book - never had Artichoke soup before - so bit of an experiment. Not sure I've got sufficient time to make soup today though, as I've got a few things I need to do. Wonder if artichokes freeze...? Do you know if they do?
Not sure why you have a horrible feeling in your mouth - hope it goes away soon!
Enjoy making your soup today - and wishing you a great Sunday.
Just popped in on my way to bed, and so pleased to see some chatting going on tonight, and I am looking forward to reading what everyone's written tomorrow, so will respond individually then.
I fancy a spiralizer but the cost puts me off a bit as I can eat pasta anyway on this plan. It looks lovely tho. Can I ask, what is the make of yours? I looked on amazon and they were all prices, but not sure if the cheaper ones would be any good ..
For my tea I had grilled bacon, fat removed, scrambled egg, baked beans and chips made in the oven ( which is on plan) and a mullerlite coconut yogurt - followed by a can of Scrumpy Jack ( which is NOT on plan...but its Saturday) 😁
This is the one that I got - from Lakeland. There are lots of different styles, but this one works well and is sturdy. I spent a bit more because I've bought cheaper items (graters and juliene peelers etc) in the past and they've not worked very well or fallen apart after a while. There is a huge range on Amazon though - might be something cheaper but as good ?
Thanks lucca, I've pinned it to the front of my phone. I don't mind this price and it does look sturdy. Also, lakeland is nearby (well 44 mls ) but not as bad as Taiwan or some far flung place if I ordered off amazon, so if things went bad I could return it. I'll try and get one later in the month 😊👍 x
I haven't looked at the cost of spiralizers - but the packet I bought of the Butternut 'noodle' was from M&S, and I think it cost me £1.00 for the packet - but I'm not absolutely sure.
Your tea sounds very tasty! I often make chips in the oven, and they are really good.
I usually have some cider on the weekends normally, but I'm doing a Dry January, so haven't had any this weekend. Actually I was surprised that I didn't actually miss it... So that's good. Hope you enjoyed yours though - I do like cider.
So far so good - chicken dinner today -usual accompaniments bar Yorkshires and roast pots (not keen on Yorkshires anyway) and some veg soup and fruit for dinner 😊 xxx
Great! Hope you enjoy that delicious sounding Chicken Dinner at lunchtime, and your veg soup and fruit tonight.
I had smoked salmon with scrambled eggs on wholegrain toast with butter for lunch, and I'm making a fish-pie to have with some green veggies (brocolli and cauliflower) this evening, with some cherry pie and ice-cream for dessert! xx
Actually it was the other way round. Chicken dinner be about 6, and just had the veg soup. I had a pre cooked chicken leg (very small one) which I cut the meat off and added it with a spoonful of baked beans to my soup , so not veggie any more, but very tasty and to be honest I think I overdid the seasoning on the soup as it was too hot, so that 'mellowed' it nicely. I'm making fish pie also this week 😊
I really like fish pie, so looking forward to my dinner later. Will add some kale and peas to it and maybe some sweetcorn too. Having the broccoli and cauliflower florets on the side.
Mine is going to be Coley, smoked haddock and salmon stir fried with onions and peppers, then put in a dish, a can of Asda smart price macaroni cheese on top, and then potato and carrot mash, sprinkle 90 gms low fat cheese on top cos the pie will be 3 servings for me. Since I only cook for myself, I freeze the rest for another day
I like that recipe - delicious. Great that it freezes well - I've not thought to freeze fish pie - I daren't do it with mine though as I'm using a frozen fish mix, which I'm currently de-frosting - I guess it wouldn't be good to then freeze the resulting fish pie (as it would involve re-freezing the fish pieces again).
Oops!....dunno...last time I did this with fresh- have to ask my daughter , its uncooked frozen fish, think it will be ok, like when I've used frozen fish ( not for pie) it has to be thawed and then cooked isn't it? Haha confused.com 😆
I'm not going to attempt to freeze my fish pie, as I am using defrosted fish - just to be on the safe side, but I'm sure it's fine to freeze a pie that is made from fresh fish. We're sharing it between 4 people tonight, and then having the remaining 2 portions tomorrow night, so should be fine, no need to freeze it for us on this occasion.
Confused.com is definitely the case! I feel confused myself. I always err on the side of caution when it comes to food hygiene.
Enjoy your fish pie, maybe your daughter will be able to advise, and most of all, stay safe.
The point relevant to our discussion was that he said "You can thaw a raw protein, cook it, and then refreeze it once. Toss it after that." - so I guess that means we can both freeze our fish pies, whether made from fresh or frozen fish!
The other thing I've learned is that I mustn't defrost my fish on the kitchen work-top, which is what I've been doing today - I hope it will be ok, I've put it back in the fridge now - glad I checked this out...!
Thanks for that link - yes we are ok then - I did ask my daughter who cooks in a residential home and she said we were okay too. I usually thaw stuff in the fridge so that's good. Have a good night low cal - enjoy your pie 😊 xxx
Ummmm Lowcal your meals never cease to amaze me in the way they look
This looks fresh and healthy and packed full of goodness. I love all of the ingredients you have listed. I haven't had quinoa in quite some time as I moved onto the bulgar wheat which has become a fav..of mine
I had 2 slices of pizza with some fries which was thoroughly enjoyable
I did notice this as soon as I read it umm trout. I defo need to go get me some as it's pay day on Friday so can't wait to stock up for the month I think
Start off today really well with a run almost got carried away answering some posts this morning and before I knew it, it was gone half 10 so had to get up and go
I've had all the rest I need now and have fully recovered from over doing it last week and early this week so back to my usual self. Working hard playing hard!
Feels good to have today off work just to relax and I have some Lamb cutlets which I have never made in my life so going to have to figure out what to do with them, any suggestions would be good or how to cook and cooking time would be helpful if you know. I could google it, but would like to know how you would cook these Lowcal please
They appear to have some fat around them, but I suppose this will add to the flavor once cooked.
Thanks again for posting such a tasty dish I always find it interesting to see what we have to eat
Well, I don't eat lamb very often, as I tend to stick to white meat like chicken most often, and fish. Infact I think it was back in the 1990's when I last cooked lamb cutlets, and I think I just grilled them for about 15 to 20 minutes - and I would normally not eat the fat, but I know that some people do enjoy that bit - and the research on saturated fat suggests its not as bad for us as was once thought, and if you fancy eating it - why not.
Sorry I can't be more help with that one Traff, as don't eat red meat very often at all.
Glad you're feeling energised again after your rest, and here's to a great week ahead. Let us now how you cook your lamb cutlets in the end - someone with more experience in cooking them might offer some suggestions.
I don't eat red meat often either, but I got these on an offer and they look really nice, had them in the freezer for some time now and decided to take them out today and give it a go. Will let you know how I get on with cooking them and hope they don't turn out chewy
Thanks for sharing your info regarding the spiraliser. I will compare that one with the one mentioned by Lucca from Lakeland. I haven't looked at her link yet. The one you have sounds good - simple to use, and good to have the choice to have different widths of noodles.
I wouldn't personally avoid having carbs, because I'd always add in something like quinoa or bulgar wheat, brown rice, lentils, sweet potato, wholemeal bread, or something like that, as without those foods I would end up feeling completely ravenous! But I know that, like yourself, some people are using spiralisers to avoid having as many carbs.
I'll definitely consider getting a spiraliser. The comments and suggestions in this thread have been really helpful - many thanks!
Hope you're enjoying Sunday so far.
Lowcal
Just noticed your suggestion with the Bell Pepper too - sounds delicious!!!
That is fair enough - not everyone likes prawns, although several people were having prawns in their meals yesterday.
Yes, it's great to read and share recipe and meal ideas - I really like it too. I find I'm learning more from discussing things with people, and it's really great!
Hope you're having a great weekend.
Lowcal
Looks really nice Lowcal, did you do the noodles yourself or buy them?
I did walk to my local M&S simply food yesterday to get the ribbons mentioned in an earlier post but they did not have them, said it would be the main store in town and it was far to wet to walk another 3 mile !!!☔️
Tea last night was a homemade quorn chilli ( I've put two portions in the freezer) served with a baked potato and green salad and I followed it with a kids mini milk lolly !!! 😃
😇
• in reply to
Feeling the heat Flossie! I love the way we'll have an ice lolly as a low-cal treat nevermind the grim totally non-summery weather outside! Made me smile, cheeky
I bought the noodles from M&S - think it cost £1.00 or thereabouts for the pack, but I could be wrong! Sorry to hear you didn't get them when you went to your local M&S.
Your tea last night sounds good - and having 2 portions in the freezer for another time is really good. What a good idea to have a kids mini milk lolly - like Ruth says, even on a cold Wintry day. Really good!
Looks yummy, even tho I don't eat prawns, it still looks yummy to me! I'm really interested in the idea of butternut noodles as a substitute for normal noodles, I must see if I can find some locally, really want to try those. Thanks for sharing, I'm constantly finding new things exist that I didn't know about before!
Great to see you, and hope you're enjoying the weekend. Thanks for your comments, the butternut noodles are good - definitely worth a try. Your meal sounds delicious - I really like omelettes, especially when they're full of veggies and some grated cheese really sets them off. Lovely!
Thanks for the link to this! it looks amazing. Do they sell butternut squash noodles as a thing now? So no need to huff and puff and strain to cut a squash in half, bake for a long time and then scrape out with a fork? Happy days, it's times like this where I miss Tesco and Sainsbury's! I even saw a picture of someone who found frozen avocado in Tesco!
Will have to try this recipe I used to only have around 40g of Quinoa thinking that was a portion since the Carb content was so high. But the GL book put Quinoa portion as 65g! the equivalent GL to 45g of brown basmatic rice.
Couldn't eat so much so sticking to 50g like you also I used the mixed Quinoa because it looks more interesting
I want to try making my own sauces now with the nutria bullet, especially since I can control the sugar and the quantity
Yes, they do sell it already spiralised, and it is easy to use. I think the pack I bought cost £1.00, so it wasn't too expensive relatively speaking.
The recipe you're thinking of making soon - with the avocado sauce looks really delicious, I think I may try making that myself sometime soon as well. Thanks for posting the link.
Great that you're going to make your own sauces using your Nutra-bullet - they should be very tasty, and at least you know exactly what has gone into them.
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So no need to huff and puff and strain to cut a squash in half, bake for a long time and then scrape out with a fork? Happy days, it's times like this where I miss Tesco and Sainsbury's! I even saw a picture of someone who found frozen avocado in Tesco!
Fish Friday! Cod & Ratatouille meal - 357 calories
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