The results......

So - first weigh-in after 11 days was a little disappointing on the actual pounds and body fat but very encouraging on the inches although (as is typical) the area where I've lost the most inches, happens to mean I may need a visit to Victoria’s Secret if I keep losing a full inch every 10 days!

That said, we’re both feeling great and our clothes are feeling very different - Tony’s already gone down a notch on his belt AND the best news so far, he stopped taking his blood pressure meds on Sunday and as I’m typing this on Thursday a full 4 days later, his blood pressure is still around where it used to be on the drugs which is excellent news all round.

We’re still experimenting with recipes and I have to say the rhubarb topped with vanilla pudding (with or without added cinnamon) is still one of our favourite desserts.  As for the main - we’re enjoying the basil and tomato soup with our 2 cups of vegetables (photo below the recipe) as follows,

Mixed vegetables in tomato sauce

Choose a mixed 2 cups of any of the following,

Leeks

Red and/or green pepper

Mushrooms (mixed)

Okra

Broccoli

Cauliflower

Or anything else you can think of

Add

Garlic

Chili peppers (optional)

Sea salt and freshly ground pepper

Chopped fresh basil or cilantro or parsley

Mix the tomato/basil soup with 5-6 oz water - shake well.

Saute the veg of your choice (including the garlic, chili (if using) and seasoning, in a splash of olive oil and sweat until cooked through and then add the soup mix - stir until heated through and serve in a bowls topped with your fresh herb(s) of choice.

Bon apetit!

The eve of our first weigh-In...

After 10 days on IP, I am actually quite looking forward to my first weigh-in and although excited at the prospect of having lost a few pounds I’m most excited about the results of my BMI and the measurements i.e. the inches that have hopefully started decreasing!

So to celebrate tonight, we’re sharing a burger (one of the aubergine burgers - recipe posted on an earlier blog) served on the first batch of homemade sauerkraut (which is not bad but I think we’ve improved with batch number two which already looks and smells fabulous - that’s the one with the mix of white and purple cabbage with onions and garlic) accompanied with some grilled courgettes (slice the courgettes lengthways, drizzle with olive oil and a generous amount of fresh lemon juice and some salt and pepper and pop straight on the bbq).  For an appetiser we enjoyed one of the IP chicken patty mixes prepared as follows,

Chicken ‘burgers’

1 IP chicken patty mix (prepared per the packet directions), to that add the following,

1 Thai red chili, deseeded and finely chopped

1 tablespoon of fresh chopped parsley

freshly ground black pepper

Mix well and warm a non stick pan with a spray or splash of olive oil - make into 2 small burgers/patties and fry for about 3 minutes on each side until golden brown.

Serve on top of a salad made with Patrick Panton’s spicy mixed greens with some finely chopped fresh fennel and some finely sliced spring onions.

Our ‘weigh-in eve’ meal was finished off with a chocolate pudding which even in it’s natural form is starting to grow on me!

I shall be in touch tomorrow after weigh-in and report on our progress........

Shrimp without the tofu noodles!

Having come to terms with having to live without tofu noodles for the foreseeable future, I decided to proceed with the shrimp and interesting mushrooms I’d bought and came up with the recipe below which both Tony and I enjoyed and hope you do too.

I also experimented a little more with the IP chocolate pudding (photo below and recipe as follows),

Whisk an egg white until it forms stiff peaks - mix the chocolate pudding with a little chili powder and sea salt then whisk in half of the egg whites to lighten the pudding and then using a spatula or metal spoon, fold in the remaining egg whites - leave to chill for 10 minutes and serve with some chopped fresh mint.  One pack of IP chocolate pudding with 1 egg white actually makes enough for a big bowl for one or is easily enough to share.

Shrimp & Mixed Mushrooms - Serves 2

10oz - 16oz precooked shrimp

(you can get 12oz bags from Hurleys - on special this week for just over $7!)

1 pack Oyster Mushrooms (from Fosters Strand)

1 pack Shitake Mushrooms (from Fosters Strand)

6-8 button mushrooms

A generous handful of spinach

1 inch of ginger, peeled and grated (preferably with a zester)

2 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed or chopped

1 tablespoon soy sauce

Juice of 1/2 lemon

splash of olive oil

sea salt & freshly ground pepper

Some finely chopped parsley for serving

Marinate the shrimp in the ginger, garlic, soy and lemon juice.

Saute the mushrooms until softened and releasing liquid, add the spinach until wilted and then add the shrimp until warmed through.  Season with sea salt and freshly ground pepper.  Serve in a bowl with a side salad and top with parsley

ENJOY!

AHA - that’s why it’s called the “I Pee”! (Quote from a fellow newcomer to the IP diet)

Most of you will probably know the feeling - although I thought I’d always been good with my water intake, I’ve probably doubled my intake since starting the IP and we’ve now got a ‘no flush’ rule unless of course absolutely necessary!  I laughed quite heartily the other day when I spotted a posting on FB from a friend which said, “You know you’re getting old when an ‘all nighter’ means not having to get up to pee’!

That said, I do feel better for the extra water and am looking forward to positive results all round in the near future.

Tony and I are adapting well to the diet and I’m still experimenting with how best it all works for us.  Two things we were missing were nibbles before dinner and also dessert and so we’ve discovered that what works for us is a packet for breakfast, a snack in the day and then using our 3rd pack to have dessert and although I’ve yet to try them all I have discovered I quite like the chocolate pudding as follows,

1 pack IP chocolate pudding

1 pack chocolate soy snack (let’s call them maltesers!)

generous pinch of sea salt

generous pinch of chili powder (or to taste)

Make the pudding per the directions then split the maltesers in half - crush half of them and mix well into the pudding with the sea salt and chili powder - pour into 2 ramekin dishes and then sprinkle the remaining maltesers over the top.  This obviously works well because there’s 2 of us on the diet - if you’re doing it alone I’m not sure if the 2nd pudding will keep overnight - I’ll check with my “coach” and revert...!

As for pre dinner nibbles - as long as you can spare some of your 2 cup vegetable limit - this was a lovely appetiser we enjoyed the other night and something I’ll definitely do again,

Cauliflower and/or brocoli (or a mix of the 2)

a splash of olive oil (or use a sprayer if you have one - it does use the oil sparingly)

garlic powder

chili powder

sea salt & freshly ground pepper

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees

Put the cauliflower (and broccoli) in a dish with a lid - add the remaining ingredients - put the lid on and shake well.

Place the vegetables on a baking tray and cover in foil - bake for 20 minutes and then remove the foil and bake for a further 10-15 minutes.

ENJOY!

Pasta - RED ALERT!

This post comes with an apology regarding the pasta - in my enthusiasm at seeing noodles (and it's funny because we weren't big pasta eaters prior to this but I think it's the lure of 'forbidden fruit'), I saw 'fat free & gluten free' on the front of the package and completely missed the YAM FLOUR listed in the ingredients on the back.

So, at least on Phase 1 these are BANNED - I would hate to lead anyone astray however don't want to delete the post becuase I still think it's a recipe we'll revisit one day however I will post a warning on that particular posting.

In the meantime - and without noodles - I've vastly improved the bolognese part of the recipe so take note if you're ok to eat the bolognese without the pasta or even to file it away to try at a more advance stage of the process.

We had leftover bolognese from last night and had 1 packet of tomato and basil soup left from our initial mixed bag of goodies - having tried it plain first I have to say we weren't impressed - but - I just added a little less water to the soup mix (about 5oz - 6oz as opposed to the normal 8oz) - gave it a good shake and poured it over the left over meat and veggie bolognese from last night et voila - we had a proper tomato sauce that was missing from the meal last night - AND it means you wouldn't have to use tomatoes at all given they're on the only twice a week list - how fabulous is that?!  Photo below of our spaghetti-less bolognese for lunch with a side of homemade sauerkraut and a salad of local greens from the (new) farmers market at Camana Bay every Saturday from 9am - 1pm.

Pasta Pasta!

WARNING! - with apologies - this food is NOT suitable for Phase 1

If you have a craving for some carbs and the mashed cauliflower isn’t cutting it - try these fabulous ‘noodles’ made out of tofu discovered in Kirks (in the organic section) by another keen IP’er.

So far, we’ve only tried the ‘spaghetti’ noodles and made an adapted spaghetti bolognese which was very tasty - one we’ve decided is a keeper.  I think an attempt at an IP friendly spaghetti carbonara may well be on the cards next.  In addition, tomorrow we’re going to try the fettucine in a thai shrimp and lemongrass broth so will blog the results of that experiment! - watch this space :)

Spaghetti Bolognese - serves 2

1 x 8oz pack of Tofu spaghetti - prepared per the pack (drain, rinse thoroughly, and add to boiling water for approx 2 minutes)

8oz lean ground sirloin

4 plum tomatoes, roughly chopped (if you prefer to remove the skins, pop them in a bowl of boiling water for 1-2 minutes and the skin will come off very easily)

Make up the remaining 4 cups of vegetables with your choice or as we did, with,

Red peppers, deseeded and chopped

Courgettes, roughly chopped

Mushrooms

Splash of olive oil

Splash of soy sauce

2-4 Garlic, chopped or crushed

1 tablespoon Herbes de provence (or oregano)

Fresh basil, roughly chopped

Put a splash of olive oil in the pan and brown the meat - remove the meat from the pan and leave to rest on the side.

Add the tomatoes and cook until they’ve broken down and made a sauce - add that to the meat on the side.

Put the remaining vegetables in the pan and let them sweat until softened but not discoloured and then add the meat and tomatoes along with the garlic, soy sauce and herbs of choice - let the flavours all come together (NOTE: this won’t be truly tomato-ey as with regular bolognese but still tasty).

Serve on top of the noodles and liberally sprinkle with basil.
NOTE:  if you don't have basil in your garden, pick some up from Joel Walton (at the farmers market or his 'new' market by McDonalds in George Town) or from Patrick Panton (East End Garden & Gifts) and remember Patrick is now at Camana Bay on Wednesday afternoons and on Saturdays from 9am - 1pm :)

For dessert we enjoyed a variation of rhubarb and custard - it's our favourite dessert to date.

Rhubarb & Custard - serves 2
To make individual portions simply make the rhubarb and save 1/2 for another time
2 packs of IP Vanilla pudding mix
1 rhubarb stalk
Stevia
A generous sprinkling of cinnamon

Roughly chop the rhubarb, place it in a pan with about 1/4 cup water and a pinch of stevia, bring to a boil and simmer until the rhubarb has completely broken down - leave aside to cool and then chill in the fridge until ready to use (possibly best to make this the day before).
Make the IP vanilla pudding mix per the instructions, add the cinnamon and mix well.
Halve the rhubarb and put into two ramkins, top with vanilla/cinnamon pudding mix and chill until ready to serve.

ENJOY!

Homemade Sauerkraut

Vegetables as we know are good for us – the ones that take well to natural fermentation – even better!  It was with this in mind and given the 2 cup maximum of vegetables at each meal that I decided to experiment with sauerkraut – not the stuff packed with vinegar and sugar from the supermarket shelves but good old fashioned home fermented cabbage!

I bring up the 2 cup maximum because having gotten my first batch of sauerkraut on the go, I can confirm that a whole head of cabbage once it releases the water, does in fact break down to approximately 2 cups worth of sauerkraut – possibly too much in one sitting for any one person to munch through but means you can add some variety to your vegetables all the while introducing goodness into your digestive system.

And, even better – it couldn’t be easier to make – you just need a glass jar with a lid (I use a recycled jar that used to have olives in it), a large bowl and some cabbage and  sea salt (approx 1 tbsp of sea salt per head of cabbage).

You will want to use glass over plastic which potentially has chemicals that can leach into your sauerkraut during fermentation.

Sauerkraut

Finely chop or shred your cabbage and put it into a bowl (you can use green or red or a mix of the two)

Add 1 tablespoon of sea salt

Crush/Knead the cabbage together with your hands until it starts to go limp and give up some water – keep kneading until there’s visible water in the bowl.  Start packing it into the glass jar pushing down with each layer to get rid of any air and encourage more water to come out of the cabbage – keep packing till you're done and the cabbage is sitting under the liquid – it’s ok if there’s a few bits poking but try to pack them in as these will discolour and will need to be discarded later on.

Put the lid on the jar and leave for 7 days out of the fridge.

You will need to check every 24 hours or so by loosening the lid to allow any air build up to escape (I check mine every morning).  Be warned that if you have a sensitive stomach you will want to stand back when you release the air - if you've ever driven past a field of cabbages you will know what I'm talking about!  Rest assured it tastes better than it smells during the fermentation process!

Once your 7 days are up you can keep this in the fridge for approximately 3 months.

ENJOY!

Note:

You can add raw onion (sliced) or raw garlic (roughly chopped) and even carrots for some colour (although on phase 1 of IP carrots aren’t allowed – I’m not sure when they are re-allowed so probably just best to stick to the cabbage and perhaps some onion)