Profiteroles (Piece Montée)

What can be better than a profiterole? A mountain of profiteroles...

Source

A combination of my mom’s recipe and the Daring Bakers May 2010 Challenge by Cat 

Taste 5 (out of 5)

Difficulty 2 (out of 5)

Ingredients

For the choux pastry

- 3/4 cup / 175 ml water
- 6 tbsp / 85 g unsalted butter (610 cal)
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 tbsp sugar (45 cal)
- 1 cup / 125 g all-purpose flour (455 cal)
- 4 large eggs (280 cal)

For the cream

- 2/3 cup sugar (555 cal)

- 2/3 cup flour (300 cal)

- 2/3 liter milk (345 cal)

- 2 large eggs (140 cal)

Total 2730 cal, 30 profiteroles, 90 cal/profiterole

Instructions

For the pastry

1. Pre-heat oven to 425F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or silicon mat.

2. Combine water, butter, salt and sugar in a saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a boil and stir occasionally. At boil, remove from heat and add the flour, stirring to combine completely.

3. Return to heat and cook, stirring constantly until the batter dries slightly and begins to pull away from the sides of the pan.

4. Transfer to a bowl and stir with a wooden spoon 1 minute to cool slightly.

5. Add the eggs. As you stir, the batter will become dry-looking like lightly buttered mashed potatoes. It will also be very sticky.
6. Transfer batter to a pastry bag fitted with a large open tip (I piped directly from the bag opening without a tip). Pipe choux about 1 inch-part in the baking sheets. Choux should be about 1 inch high and 1 inch wide. Using a clean finger dipped in hot water, gently press down on any tips that have formed on the top of choux when piping. You want them to retain their ball shape, but be smoothly curved on top.

Alternatively, if you don’t have a piping bag, you can use 2 spoons to form the choux. Constantly dip the spoons into hot water to prevent the batter from sticking to them.
7. Bake the choux at 425F until well-puffed and turning lightly golden in color. This can take anywhere from 10 to 25 minutes so keep an eye on your choux. If you reduce the heat too soon the choux will sink and become soggy and wet (but it will still taste ok ;-) ). 

8. Lower the temperature to 350F and continue baking until well-colored and dry, about 20 minutes more. Remove to a rack and cool.

For the filling

9. Beat the eggs with the sugar and flour. Boil the milk. While the milk is warming, pour about 1/2 cup into the egg mix and stir well to gradually increase its temperature. This way the eggs won’t curdle when you add them to boiling milk. Repeat this step 2-3 more times as the milk approaches boiling temperature. 

10. Once the milk boils, pour the warm egg mix into the boiling milk, constantly stirring, to prevent lumps from forming. Keep on the stove for several 3 more minutes, continue stirring. It’s best to use hand held mixer in this stage.

11. Remove the cream from heat, let cool.

Assembly
12. Cut the chilled choux in half with a sharp, dry knife. Scoop some of the cream with a spoon, fill the pastry and replace the upper half on top. 

13. Assemble your piece montée and pour melted chocolate on top for decoration. 

Afterthoughts

- I loved the final result - the only downside: it’s way too easy to finish all the mountain in one go :-). And since it’s a mountain, why not put a mountain goat on it (my boyfriend’s idea)?

- This is my second profiterole mountain this month. The first time I was experimenting with a chocolate - Irish cream filling. It was nice, especially after a night in the fridge, but I guess the classic cream is still my favorite.  

- I used Cat’s recipe for the choux, and my mom’s recipe for the cream. It’s all about minimizing the butter - Cat’s choux has a little less of it, and my mom’s cream has no butter at all. In some cases removing the butter results in a pretty sad taste, but I really think my mom’s cream is the best one for profiteroles and Napoleons. The butter only adds calories and at best does not add any taste. 

Blog-checking lines: The May 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Cat of Little Miss Cupcake. Cat challenged everyone to make a piece montée, or croquembouche, based on recipes from Peter Kump’s Baking School in Manhattan and Nick Malgieri.

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Chile and Chicken Enchilada

A May 2010 Daring Cooks challenge - a complete Mexican meal with everything made from scratch, including flour tortillas. 

Source 

Adapted from the May 2010 Daring Cooks challenge by Barbara and Bunnee

Taste 4 (out of 5)

Difficulty 5 (out of 5)

Ingredients

For the sauce

- 4 jalapeno peppers (15 cal)

- 4 tomatoes (60 cal)

- 3 small canned tomatoes (25 cal) - I added later because the sauce was way too spicy

- 1/3 cup corn kernels (45 cal)

- 2 tbsp lemon juice (10 cal)

- 2 cups chicken broth (20 cal)

- 1 clove garlic, minced (5 cal)

- 2 tsp yellow onion, minced (5 cal)

- 1 tsp diced oregano

- 1/4 tsp kosher salt

- 1/8 tsp black pepper

- 2 tbsp cornstarch diluted in 2 tbsp water

- 3 chicken thighs, boneless, skinless (330 cal)

- 2 tbsp Canola oil (240 cal)

- 4 oz Cheddar cheese (480 cal)

- cilantro for garnish

For flour tortillas (makes 9 small tortillas)

- 1 cup all purpose flour (455 cal)

- 3/4 cup whole wheat flour (300 cal)

- 1/2 tsp salt

- 1/4 tsp baking powder

- 30 g, about 1/4 avocado (50 cal)

- 1 tbsp olive oil (120 cal)

- 1/2 cup almost boiling water 

Total 2160, 3 enchiladas, 720 cal / enchilada

Instructions

Grilling the chicken

1. Pour 1 tbsp of oil into a medium sized frying pan and when it heats up add the chicken thighs. Roast for about 7-8 minutes on each side over medium heat. Remove ready chicken from the pan and shred with a fork. Set aside

For the sauce

2. Wash the jalapenos, dry and brush with a little bit of oil. Place on an aluminum foil lined baking sheet and broil for 20 minutes, rotating the jalapenos every 5 minutes. They should be black and charred. Place the grilled chiles in a small bowl and cover with a towel, let rest for 10-15 minutes. Now the skin should be easy to peel with your fingers. I recommend using rubber gloves, especially if your skin is sensitive. Cut the jalapenos in half and remove the seeds. Do not rinse the jalapenos. Finely chopped the peeled and seeded peppers and set aside.

3. Place the garlic and the onion in a food processor and mince. Add the tomatoes and pulse until the tomatoes are finely chopped. 

4. Move the onions, garlic and tomatoes to a saucepan along with the chicken broth, lemon juice, chopped green chiles, corn, oregano, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat and then reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes.
5. Add the cornstarch/water mixture and stir well. Simmer, stirring occasionally, until the sauce is thickened for another 10-15 minutes. Adjust seasonings.

For the tortillas

6. In a medium bowl combine the flours, the salt and the baking powder. Add the avocado and the oil and work in with a fork. Pour in the hot water in small batches mixing with your hands. Knead the dough for about 5 minutes, cover the bowl with a towel and let rest for 20-30 minutes. 

7. Divide the dough into small balls (the size of a ping-pong ball). Let rest for another 10 minutes under the towel. 

8. On a clean working surface, place a dough ball, press with your palm to flatten and then using a rolling pin roll into a circle. The dough is not sticky and you don’t need to flour the working surface or the pin. 

9. Once all the tortillas are rolled out, preheat a large skillet to medium-high heat. No need to grease the skillet. Place a tortilla on a skillet and once bubbles appear on the tortilla (in about 30-60 seconds), flip it. Again, when the bubbles appear and the tortilla puffs, press it with a spatula and remove from the heat. You can make several tortillas in one skillet, if there is enough room, as long as the tortillas do not overlap. 

Assembling the enchilada

10. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Shred the cheese.
11. In a baking dish large enough to hold 3 separate stacks of tortillas, ladle a thin layer of sauce. 12. Lay three tortillas in the dish and ladle a third of sauce over the tortillas. Place half of the chicken and a third of the cheese. 

13. Stack another three tortillas, top with the rest of the chicken, more sauce and another third of the cheese. Finish with the third tortilla, topped with the remaining sauce and cheese.
14. Bake until the sauce has thickened and the cheese melted, about 20 minutes. Let rest for 5-10 minutes.
15. To serve, transfer each stack to a plate. Spoon any leftover sauce over the stacks and sprinkle with cilantro, if you wish. The stacks may also be cooked in individual gratin dishes.

Afterthoughts

- First of all thanks to Barbara and Bunnee for the challenge, especially from my boyfriend, who loves Mexican food! I don’t think I would have dared to build these enchilada towers without this challenge. And I’ve wanted to make tortillas for a while, so this was a great opportunity. 

- I could not find the Anaheim chiles and the tomatillos required by this recipe, so I used jalapenos and tomatoes. 

- The sauce turned out way too hot for me, so I started looking for things to add to it to dilute the spice. I had corn and canned tomatoes at hand, and they did help to reduce the heat a little. I also used only part of the sauce on the enchiladas, and served guacamole on the side. With all these adjustments, the spice level was manageable. But next time it might be easier to just use less chiles :-).


Blog Checking Lines: Our hosts this month, Barbara of Barbara Bakes and Bunnee of Anna+Food have chosen a delicious Stacked Green Chile & Grilled Chicken Enchilada recipe in celebration of Cinco de Mayo! The recipe, featuring a homemade enchilada sauce was found onwww.finecooking.com and written by Robb Walsh.

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Cocoa Coffee Pudding

The Daring Baker April 2010 challenge

Source

Inspired by the Traditional English pudding

Taste 4 (out of 5)

Difficulty 2 (out of 5)

Ingredients

- 20 g margarine (145 cal)

- 20 g brown sugar (75 cal)

- 40 g all purpose flour (145 cal)

- 1/4 tsp baking powder

- 1 egg (70 cal)

- 1 tsp cocoa powder (10 cal)

- 1 tsp instant coffee 

- 2 tbsp water

- 1 tsp brandy (10 g)

- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract (5 cal)

Total 460 cal, 2 servings, 230 cal/serving

Instructions

1. Beat the margarine with the sugar, add the egg and continue beating. Add the flour and the baking powder and mix well. 

2. Heat the water slightly, dissolve the instant coffee and the cocoa powder, add the water and the vanilla extract and mix with the remaining ingredients.

3. Grease a small (1.5 cups) pyrex dish. Pour the batter in and steam over low medium heat for about 40-45 minutes.

Afterthoughts

- I have to admit that I don’t like my current combination of coffee and cocoa, at least not in the existing proportions. However, the texture is so surprisingly soft and spongy that it makes up for the flavor. I am going to make a chocolate sauce to make up for the coffee :-).

- This is my first Daring Baker Challange, and when I saw the recipe, I have to admit I was somewhat disappointed - I was expecting fancy mouth watering cakes, and here I see a really simple dish, which in addition requires a lot of extra equipment that I don’t have (like a pudding dish and a steamer). So I was procrastinating for a long long time. But then on what I thought was the last day of the Challange (which was actually 3 days past the deadline) I finally made it. I decided to do without all the additional dishes, especially since I had no idea what to expect. So I used a very small (1.5 cups) Pyrex dish, and placed it over an inverted pie pan inside a large pot with water. And it turned out quite nice! It does not at all look fancy, but it tastes somewhat like those super soft Chinese or Japanese buns. I don’t know whether that’s the Traditional English pudding, but I liked it - must be great with a rich sauce. I’m buying a steamer next time I go to the Chinatown :-). Thanks, Esther, without your challenge I would have no idea that one can steam a pudding!

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Turkey Meatloaf

A really simple and quick recipe, perfect when you are too lazy to roll those small individual meatballs.

Source 

Inspired by Martha Stewart’s meatloaf 

Taste 5 (out of 5)

Difficulty 1 (out of 5)

Ingredients

- 1 lb lean ground turkey (500 cal)

- 1/2 lb breadcrumbs (500 cal)

- 1/2 medium onion (30 cal)

- 2 garlic cloves (10 cal)

- 1 small canned tomato (10 cal)

- 1/4 cup milk (30 cal)

- 2 egg whites (30 cal)

- salt and black pepper to taste

- 1/2 cup tomato juice + 1/2 tsp sugar for brushing the top (20 cal)

Total 1130 cal, 6 servings, 190 cal/serving

Instructions

1. Peel the onion and the garlic and puree in a food processor with a canned tomato. 

2. Soak the breadcrumbs in milk for about 5 minutes (I made my own breadcrumbs from fresh bread in a food processor). 

3. Combine the meat, the breadcrumbs, the egg whites and the onion puree; season with salt and pepper and mix well .

4. Line a cookie sheet with aluminum foil, grease well and sprinkle with dried breadcrumbs. Form a free shaped meatloaf. Brush the top with tomato juice and sugar mix. Bake in an oven preheated to 400F for about 50 minutes to an hour. For glossier meatloaf, brush the top with the tomato juice-sugar mix 2-3 more times throughout baking. 

Afterthoughts

I usually make meatballs, but it’s so much more work. I recently watched a Martha Stewart DVD, where her mother was making a really nice meatloaf, so I was searching for a recipe on-line and found a little different version. I did not follow the recipe exactly - I wanted to use turkey and some other ingredients I had available, but I found this recipe very inspirational. My version turned out very tasty, I believe the original Martha’s recipe would too :-). 

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Spinach Feta Bread

One more wonderful and delicious no knead bread.

Source 

Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day

Taste 5 (out of 5)

Difficulty 1 (out of 5)

Recipe available on-line here 

Afterthoughts

- Very very tasty! Great with Boursin or other creamy cheeses. And with soups, salads, sandwiches, and anything else you like.. Well, maybe not with jam or Nutella :-)

I often adjust the recipes a little, but this time I used exactly the same proportions as in the book. - My only modification: since I had to cook the spinach and since the recipe uses sugar, I first mixed the water with the sugar and the yeast so the yeast had activated by the time I added the other ingredients. This shortened the rising time of the dough from 2 hours to about 1 and a half. 

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Guacamole Bread

Avocado, tomato and garlic - for a guacamole bread.

Source 

Adapted from the Healthy Bread in 5 Minutes a Day 

Taste 3 (out of 5)

Difficulty 1 (out of 5)

Ingredients

- 3 3/4 cups all purpose flour (1705 cal)

- 3/4 tbsp yeast

- 1/2 tbsp salt

- 1 1/2 cups lukewarm water (temperature of about 90-100F)

- 1 garlic clove (5 cal)

- 1 ripe medium tomato (20 cal)

- 1/2 ripe avocado, pitted, peeled, and mashed (160 cal)

Total 1890 cal, 2 1-lb loaves, 945 cal/loaf

Instructions

1. Mince the roasted garlic. Wash and puree the tomato, do not discard seeds and peel. Pit, peel and mash the avocado. 

2. In a large container that has a lid, using a wooden spoon mix all the ingredients until all the flour is incorporated. Cover the container (not airtight) and let on the kitchen counter for about 2 hour until the dough approximately doubles in size. 

3. Use the dough after the 2 hour rest or refrigerate it in the same container still covered (not airtight). The refrigerated dough can be used over the next 5 days. 

4. On the baking day, sprinkle the dough with flour to prevent sticking and cut the desired amount. I use half of the dough at a time to make a 1-lb loaf. Gently form a ball by stretching the surface of the dough around to the bottom on all four sides, rotating the ball a quarter-turn as you go. If you want, you can also elongate the dough into an oval. Place the loaf on a cornmeal or semolina coated pizza peel. If you do not use a baking stone, place the bread on a cookie sheet which will be used for baking. Let the loaf rest for about 90 minutes (or 40 minutes if using non-refrigerated dough).

5. Place an empty broiler tray in the oven where it will not interfere with the rising of your bread.   About 30 minutes before baking preheat the oven with the broiler tray and the baking stone to 450F. If you do not use the stone, the preheat will be shorter.  

6. Right before baking slash the top of the loaf with a serrated knife. Slide the bread onto the stone, if using, or simply place the cookie sheet into the oven. Pour 1 cup of hot (not boiling) tap water into the broiler tray - be very careful here: the tray is hot and there will be a lot of steam.  Avoid splashing the water on the oven glass door (the glass might crack).

7. Close the oven door as soon as possible to trap the steam inside. Bake for about 40 minutes until the bread is nicely browned. Remove from the oven and let cool on a rack. 

Afterthoughts

- The original recipe used whole wheat flour, but I prefer white flour. 

- I have to admit that this is not my favorite bread flavor-vise. The texture is still great, just as any other artisan bread from this wonderful book. Spinach and Feta cheese is next on my to try list.

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Spinach Strawberry Salad

A yummy, healthy, refreshing salad, even for those who are not crazy about spinach.

Source 

Improvised

Taste 5 (out of 5)

Difficulty 1 (out of 5)

Ingredients

- 5 oz fresh spinach (35 cal)

- 1/2 mango (60 cal)

- 4 large strawberries (65 cal)

- 1/4 large red onion (15 cal)

- 4 walnuts, chopped (100 cal)

- 1/4 cup orange juice (20 cal)

- 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar (10 cal)

- 1 tsp agave nectar (15 cal)

- 1 tbsp olive oil (120 cal)

Total 450 cal, 2 large servings, 250 cal/serving

Instructions

1. Wash well the fruits and the vegetables. Peel and coarsely chop the onion and the mango, chop the strawberries. Add the walnuts and mix. 

2. Mix the orange juice, balsamic vinegar, agave nectar and olive oil and pour over the salad. Let the salad stand in the refrigerator for 1-2 hours before serving.

Afterthoughts

- I am not crazy about spinach, but this is one of the few recipes that make spinach edible and even quite tasty for me. And my boyfriend does not like the texture of onions, but I did not hear any complaints in this case.

- It’s a colorful, pretty salad, and is perfect for entertaining guests. Everyone will like it. 

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Brunswick Stew

A great recipe for a cosy family meal when it’s cold outside (and my first Daring Cook challenge)

Source 

April 2010 The Daring Cook Challenge
Adapted from Lee Bros. Southern Cookbook: Stories and Recipes for Southerners and Would-be Southerners

Taste 5 (out of 5)

Difficulty 3 (out of 5)

Ingredients

- 1 sausage (130 cal)

- 1/2 tsp sambal oelek (very spicy East Asian chilly paste)

- 2 tbsp canola oil (240 cal)

- 400 g / 14 oz stewing beef, cubed (860 cal)

- 400 g / 14 oz skinless, boneless, chicken thighs, cubed (475 cal)

- 1/2 tbsp sea salt for seasoning

- 2 cups chicken broth (20 cal)

- 1 bay leaf

- 1 celery stock (10 cal)

- 450 g / 1 lb potatoes (350 cal)

- 2 medium carrots (25 cal)

- 1 large onion (65 cal)

- 1 cup frozen corn kernels (135 cal)

- 1 1/2 cups cooked beans (365 cal)

- 2 cups / 6-7 whole peeled tomatoes, drained (140 cal)

- 2 tbsp red wine vinegar (5 cal)

- juice of 1 lemon

Total 2820, servings 6, 470 cal/ serving

Instructions

1. Very thinly slice the sausage. Heat 1 tablespoon of canola oil in a large skillet to medium-high heat and add the sliced sausage with 1/2 teaspoon of sambal oelek. Fry until the sausage is well done. Transfer into a small bowl and set aside to cool. Reserve the oil in the pan. 

2. Season the chicken and the meat with salt and black pepper to taste and brown in the pan on high heat for up to 5 minutes. Transfer the chicken into a large bowl. 

3. Add 1 cup of the chicken stock to the frying pan to deglaze it and simmer until it reduces in half. In the meantime peel and dice the potato and chop the celery. Puree the sausage in a blender to a uniform paste. Add the sausage puree to the reduced stock, add one more cup of stock and mix well. 

4. Pour half of the hot broth in a slow cooker then place the meat, arrange the potatoes and the celery on top. Pour the remaining stock over the vegetables. Add a bay leaf, close the lead and cook on high for 3 1/2 hours.

5. In the meantime, chop the onion and cook with 1 tbsp of oil over low heat for about 30 minutes until caramelized. Stir occasionally. When the onion is ready you can either puree it in a blender or leave it as is.  Chop the tomatoes. 

6. After 3 1/2 hours, take out the bay leaf from the stew. Add the onions, the beans and the corn. Stir them well to evenly distribute them in the stew. Spread the carrots and the tomatoes on top and cook for 1 1/2 hours more. 

7. Remove from the heat and add the vinegar and the lemon juice. Season to taste with sea salt, pepper, and Tabasco sauce if desired.

Afterthoughts

- It turned out really good, but I think it would been ready much faster and would have been even softer and juicier without the slow cooker. 

- This was my first daring cook challenge, which I enjoyed a lot. So thanks to the Daring Kitchen for the forum, to Wolf for the recipe and to Audax Artifex for all the slow cooker tips.

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Apple Grape Buns

It must be love, love, love.. That’s all I can say about this yummy fruity bread!

Source 

Variation on Apple Buns with Water Roux from the Scent of Spice blog

Taste 5 (out of 5)

Difficulty 1 (out of 5)

Ingredients

- 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour (1140 cal)

- 1/4 cup + 2 tbsp whole wheat bread flour (165 cal)

- 1/2 cup ground oats (160 cal)

- 2 medium apples (160 cal)

- 1/4 cup grapes (15 cal)

- 2 tbsp honey (130 cal)

- 1/4 cup maple syrup (210 cal)

- 2 tbsp apple vinegar (5 cal)

- 2 tbsp sunflower seeds (95 cal)

- 3/4 tbsp yeast

- 1/2 tbsp salt

- 1 cup water at 90-100F

Total 2080 cal, 16 buns, 130 cal / bun

Instructions

1. Wash the apples and the grapes, discard the seeds, do not peel. Finely chop the apples and the grapes and puree in a food processor. 

2. Prepare water roux: mix 2 tablespoons of whole wheat bread flour with 1/2 cup of water and cook over medium heat in a small  saucepan, stirring continuously, until the roux thickens to a paste, so that when you stir it you can see the bottom of the pan. Remove form the heat and let cool to room temperature. The roux is supposed to make the bred softer and keep it fresh longer.

3. In a large container that has a lid, using a wooden spoon mix all the ingredients until all the flour is incorporated. Cover the container (not airtight) and let on the kitchen counter for about 2 hour until the dough approximately doubles in size. 

4. Use the dough after the 3-4 hour rest or refrigerate it in the same container still covered (not airtight). The refrigerated dough can be used over the next 10 days. Usually the no knead bread takes about 2 hours to ferment, but in this cake all the fruit makes it a little harder on the yeast, so it takes much longer for the dough to double in size. So you can either increase the yeast or wait longer.

5. On the baking day, sprinkle the dough with flour to prevent sticking and cut the desired amount. I use half of the dough at a time to make 8 buns. Each bun should be a size of a large plum. Dust it with flour and gently form a ball by stretching the surface of the dough around to the bottom on all four sides, rotating the ball a quarter-turn as you go. Place the buns on a cornmeal or semolina coated pizza peel leaving 2 inches between the buns. If you do not use a baking stone, place the buns on a cookie sheet which will be used for baking. Let the buns rest for about 50 minutes (or 30 minutes if using non-refrigerated dough).

6. Place an empty broiler tray in the oven where it will not interfere with the rising of your buns.   About 30 minutes before baking preheat the oven with the broiler tray and the baking stone to 450F. If you do not use the stone, the preheat will be shorter.  

7. Right before baking you can brush the tops of the buns with an egg white wash made from 1 egg white lightly beaten with 1 tsp of sugar - this will make the buns shinier. Slide the buns onto the stone, if using or simply place the cookie sheet into the oven. Pour 1 cup of hot (not boiling) tap water into the broiler tray - be very careful here, the tray is hot there will be a lot of steam.  Avoid splashing the water on the oven glass door (the glass might crack).

8. Close the oven door as soon as possible to trap the steam inside. Bake for about 25 minutes until the buns are nicely browned. Remove from the oven and let cool on a rack. You can also brush the tops of the hot buns with soft butter for a glossy finish. 

Afterthoughts

Ever since I tried the Barley Apple Bread from the Healthy Bread in 5 Minutes a Day, I was in love with the amazing apple flavor. The original recipe turned out a little too rough for me, so I came up with the softer Apple Buns. They are my favorite comfort food at the moment. 

Yesterday I was on the way of mixing a new batch, when I saw the Soft Fluffy Japanese Style Sweet Rolls post, and the water roux in it caught my eye. So I tried adding it along with the grapes to the Apple Buns recipe. It did become much softer, don’t know if it’s the roux or larger amount of fruit, but it’s really really really good! The roux is also supposed to keep the bread fresh over time, but I guess I have to wait a couple of days to see how that works.  

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Mango Ginger Lemonade and Weightlossophy Recap

A healthy tropical drink plus the wrap up of my Weightlossophy.

Ok, so this is the last day of my one week detox. The idea was to eat unprocessed foods avoiding gluten, lactose, alcohol, caffeine and meat. I do not feel any effect of this detox, but I lost 4 pounds. 2 will be back as soon as I have a “normal” meal, but even 2 pounds per week is pretty good, right? 

Also, this week I was posting my Weightlossophy tips, which I followed when I lost 55 pounds over 7 months last year. So here are the last general thoughts and the recap with links to all the previous tips. 

My must-have for weight loss

  I have been complaining about weight almost all my life, even when I was pretty skinny as a kid. I had many sporadic diets, after which I almost always gained even more weight. A standard story, really. 

  This time the primary difference was a very strong motivation and a deadline that came with that motivation. I really really wanted to lose weight and was ready to start the diet “right now.” The problem with many short term diets is that you tell yourself: I am starting a diet tomorrow, today is the last day of “normal” eating, so... let’s binge! And then when you’re dieting one day something goes wrong, someone brings a cake to the office and you eat 2 pieces, you feel that “today is ruined anyway, so let’s binge today and tomorrow back to the diet.” And so it goes on. The problem is that in one binge you can eat 3,000-5,000 or more calories. It will take a week to compensate for it. And by the end of the week you’ll be so demotivated that you’ll binge again. 

  Now I realize why such diets did not work for me. Because I “wished” I had lost weight, but not “wanted it badly enough” to commit. Don’t begin a serious long-term diet unless you are absolutely motivated, determined and committed. If you plan to start it “tomorrow” or “next Monday,” it would most likely only result in unnecessary suffering and additional weight.  

  It makes sense, does not it? Why fight so hard for something which is only in the “wistful thinking” category?  Just accept that for now you can live with your weight as it is and spend your energy on more crucial things. Don’t bother with diets unless it’s a top priority for you.  

  I suppose that would be my primary dieting tip :-). If you are motivated, than good luck! And I hope you find some of the tips that I published this week useful. I don’t claim that they would all necessarily work for you - everyone is different and needs a different diet that he can sustain. But even if one of these ideas might appeal to you or inspire you to make some improvements in your diet, I will be very happy. We’re all together in this “diet” thing :-).

  

Summary of my previously published Weightlossophy tips with links:

Know how many calories you burn

Count how many calories you eat

Record everything

Eat before you get hungry

Spend time on non-eating food-related activities

Use stick and carrot reward system

Change something to get off plateaus

And now the healthy tropical drink to celebrate the end of my detox. Tomorrow I am making my favorite apple buns :-)

Mango Ginger Lemonade

Source 

Improvised

Taste 5 (out of 5)

Difficulty 1 (out of 5)

Ingredients

- 1/2 mango (65 cal)

- 1 lemon (15 cal)

- 1 thin slice of ginger

- 1 tbsp agave nectar (60 cal)

- zest of 1 lemon

- 3-4 ice cubes

Total 140 cal, 1 serving

Instructions

Reserve 1,2 lemon slices for decoration. Crush the remaining ingredients in a blender. Enjoy!

Afterthoughts

Pretty good :-)

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