Raiding the freezer

One of the things about cooking is that you often have leftovers. Especially if, like me, you grew up in a large, rambunctious Caribbean family where anyone might drop by and be included in the meal. 

Personally, I love leftovers because they make life that much easier on days when I am too tired/busy/late to cook. As I attempt to empty my freezer so I can fill it up with game, a lot of my bentos are going to involve defrosted leftovers.

The main leftover component in today’s bento is sardine fishcakes. I made these a couple of weeks ago from 150g mashed potato and one fresh sardine which I brushed with a little olive oil, sprinkled with chilli flakes, grilled, flaked and stirred into the mash with salt and pepper. The fishcakes have also been rolled in breadcrumbs to make them look more professional.

The other leftover component is cubed potato, leftover from earlier in the week, which I used to make a quick Spanish-style omelette. I really love Spanish tortilla and I think this is a nice way to make a single-portion one. You just need one egg, 25g cubed potato, ¼ clove of garlic and a tablespoon of onion or similar (I didn’t have onion this time so I used a bit of chopped leek).  I don’t even use oil – I just heat the pan (I get it quite hot so that the egg ‘takes’ immediately and doesn’t ooze out of the mould) pour the egg + veg mix into the mould and turn down the heat.

The not-so-leftover bit was buttered leeks which I made specially for this bento.

Trying to be healthy

I have had quite a foodie few days, so today’s bento is an attempt to be a bit healthier than normal while still packing in some energy-boosting dark green veg. No eggs today, though, as I woke up too late to cook them.

So, today I made:

• 100g (cooked weight) sushi rice topped with
• 60g grilled salmon, flaked and sprinkled with sesame seeds
• Buttered leeks – my trick for making this less fattening than usual is to slice the leeks and put them in a frying pan on a low heat with 2-6 tbsp of water. Once the water has been absorbed and the leeks have softened, I add a tsp of butter (5g) per leek and a bit of salt and pepper. The result is every bit as good as normal buttered leeks, but without the guilt factor.
• Blanched spinach, no dressing, sprinkled with sesame seeds

Bento for a dark Tuesday

Today’s bento was rather a rushed effort. I am finding it really hard to get up in the mornings now that it’s still darkish at 7am, so I am trying to pack lots of energy-building dark green veg and organic, free range eggs into my lunches.

Today’s box contains:

• 100g sushi rice
• Two handfuls of spinach with sesame dressing (1tsp tahini, 1 tsp soy, ½ tsp mirin, ½ tsp honey)
• 1 spanish-style omelette (1 egg, beaten; 25g chopped cooked potato; 1 spring onion, sliced; salt and pepper; cooked in a fried egg or crumpet ring to keep the shape/thickness)
• 75g salmon grilled with a drizzle of teriyaki sauce and some soy
• Chopped celery (to fill the gaps) 

Making the most of leftovers

This morning, I felt like a lapsed foodie: I burnt my figs to a cinder (after I’d doused the pan in water I realised I should have taken a photo!), didn’t feel like eating all of my porridge and struggled to fill my bento. Admittedly today I used a larger box, so that was part of the problem!

Today’s lunch is mostly made up of leftovers, which gave me time to make some cute little nori shapes.

I decided to go for a chequered effect, which is one of the easiest ways to make a bento look fun. I still had a stuffed courgette left over from the other day, and a bowl of sushi rice in the fridge, so I cut that into pieces and alternated it with rice shapes made with my onigiri mould. Then I used the moulds as a guide to cut matching shapes from a sheet of nori – I scored the sheet with a sharp knife and did the rest with scissors.

In the final corner, instead of rice I’ve put my little piggy pot, filled with salad dressing. The salad is just a colourful mixed leaf affair from a bag.

Of course, I realised too late that I have run out of soy sauce, so I will have to get some of that before lunch time. *sigh*

Cooking!

As part of my healthy living regime, I’ve been cooking up a storm. Essentially, I’ve been trying to prepare as much of the food I eat as possible, which has meant getting up early to make breakfasts and lunches instead of grabbing cereal at work or buying lunch from a café; making my own stocks and soups, etc.

Another reason is that I am quite a foodie and most low-fat foods in the supermarket just don’t inspire me. Also, I am signed up to an organic veg box service which means that once a fortnight I get a crop of food to use up. And since the contents are a surprise, I get to push my boundaries and think creatively. 

I am doing Weight Watchers, so my criteria for each main meal is that it must be fewer than ten points – other than that, anything goes. 

Here is what I cooked last night: stuffed courgettes with a side salad tossed in parmesan and balsamic vinegar. 

The salad was my own invention, but I got the courgette recipe from AllRecipesUk using smaller quantities of everything (100g mince, 50g brown rice)and substituting lean beef mince for the lamb. And yes, that is cheese on top - I grated 25g of parmesan, topped all my courgettes and still had a generous amount for my salad. Even with the more modest quantity of filling I made I was able to stuff two large courgettes and freeze about 1/3 – enough to stuff a small aubergine I think.

The Great Body Overhaul: Day 1

I am hijacking this blog for the next 52 days to deal with a pressing issue: my weight.

Since returning to northwest London in August and rediscovering my party spirit, I have gained almost 30lb. I am not happy about it! My clothes don’t fit.

So, until May 31st, this blog is going to chart my efforts to shift some of the excess before actually going to a Weight Watchers meeting and subjecting myself to the weigh-in.

• Long-term goal: Shift 5st
• Medium-term goal: Shift 30lb
• Short-term goal: Be slightly lighter in 14 days' time

Progress so far
Well, technically, Day 1 was Monday, but it was rather stressful – my first day in the new job and then an argument with my housemate. I ended up getting takeaway and drinking a martini. Whoops!

Tuesday, I arranged to meet some friends for a drink – but a meeting at work overran by ninety minutes, so drinks became dim sum and some cake Emilie had brought for me.

Wednesday, once again, I ended up going for dinner with a friend, followed by total surrender in the form of coffee and cake. And I announced over a lime and stem ginger brownie that I am giving up on going out for the next fortnight to try and concentrate on healthy eating. I’ll give it about that I’m skint, or something.

Today has been pretty good. I didn't manage to get out for a run this morning as I got home later than planned last night and was somewhat tired, but I used my extra minutes wisely by cleaning the kitchen. Tonight I'll try and do the same for my room!

Foodwise, I have been quite well-behaved:

• Breakfast = Chocolate Weetabix and skimmed milk (5 WW points)
• Lunch = homemade sushi and salad (7 WW points)

One huge difficulty I have is drinking enough water. A fitness professional advised me to aim for 3l a day and most days I have trouble even managing 1.5l. It's not even that I don't like water, I just don't often feel thirsty and find remembering to drink really difficult. I have had some success this week making sure I drink half a litre before leaving for work, but remembering to drink after that is still a battle.

This evening's big challenge will be going out for a drink with my housemate. She has brought a bit of drama into the flat recently and wants to talk about it. My plan: stick to two light drinks and go home after about an hour.