The Primal Blueprint Book

I have just received the Primal Blueprint book in the mail!!! :) I love getting packages from America it's very exciting! I don't know why lol. Anyway as I've only just received it I am yet to read it and I'm guessing I won't be able to put it down! It's one pretty big book so I have a lot to get through, it is also hardcover which is very nice.

I'm also doing a little bit of experimenting with reducing my dairy intake. I have wayy too much of it I've decided to reduce it and I'm hoping this is going to pay off. I will let you know how I go, it's day two and I do miss my dairy already, I love dairy and this is why I think I need to taper off a little.

Weight is down to 81.8kg today so happy it's going downwards again, let's hope I can get to the 70's in the next few weeks!

Lard - the new olive oil

I stumbled across this interesting piece of info on lard, it's an old post but very relevant, big thumbs up I reckon.

http://blogs.sharemynz.co.nz/gordon/the+big+fat+lie/lard+-+the+new+olive+oil?id=25484

Last week I asked my local butcher to save me up the pork fat so I can render it as lard :)

Blueberry Muffins

Now before I get into the recipe....my week has been going well, haven't gone down in weight, and probably to blame is too much food in general, think it's time to tweak for weight loss again.
Yes I know the blog design has changed yet again, as I said it's kind of like changing my room around!

Anyway I’ve been inspired to make a few sensible vice treats; this is also to help dh stay healthy as he has been slowly making the transition to more primal eating. He’s very much a sugar addict and I know it’s been hard for him so these experiments are to help him and so I too can have a little treat :) but obviously not too often because I don't want to stop losing weight.

The blueberry muffins I've made are from Elana’s Pantry. http://www.elanaspantry.com/blueberry-muffins/ However I made a few adjustments, the recipe is here:

Gluten Free Blueberry Muffins

½ cup coconut flour, sifted
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon baking soda
6 eggs
⅓ cup dark cane sugar (depending on sweetness)
100gms of melted butter
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 cup blueberries, fresh or frozen

In a small bowl, combine coconut flour, salt and baking soda
In a large bowl, combine eggs, sugar, butter and vanilla and blend well with a hand mixer
Mix dry ingredients into wet, blending with a hand mixer
Gently fold in blueberries
Place batter in paper lined muffin tins
Bake at 350° for 20-25 minutes
Cool and serve

Now you may be thinking woah sugar….well I hate artificial sweeteners and so does dh, 1/3 cup of dark cane sugar divided into 12 muffins is 1tsp sugar per muffin so that’s pretty good I think. They aren’t overly sweet at all but very very good, the butter makes them pretty damn nice too even dh like’s them.
Tip: make sure you buy cupcake liners, I buttered the muffin tray and they still stuck, took a little while to get them out!

Now I almost find these too yummy so I think next time I might try savory muffins with cheese, I think they would be awesome. Will let you know!

pecan crusted salmon

This is such a satisfying meal and really gives a great flavour to Salmon. For two salmon fillets:
10 or so pecans

2 tsp fennel seeds

1tsp dill

pinch parsley salt
1 Lemon

Blend together everything bar the lemon. Douse the salmon in lemon, only do this before you cook it otherwise the acid in the lemon juice will start to cook the fish. Top the salmon with the crust and fry in butter. Bake in the oven on 380F for 7-8minutes depending on how you like your salmon. I prefer mine not cooked too much.
Serve with salad and homemade pesto, this is the pesto I use: http://www.recipezaar.com/Pesto-49909

Today I weighed in at 82.2kgs so back down from what I was earlier this week.

First attempt at Oopsie Rolls!

So after reading a lot of good reviews on Oopsie rolls I thought I would give it a go, after all they are supposed to be the answer to everything...LOL

Anyway I made some yesterday and to my suprise omg they are great! Very light and fluffy and yummy. Today I filled one with a fried egg, some bacon and smoked cheddar. Not exactly primal because of the cheese and cream cheese in the oopsie roll but so so good, better than any McMuffin I've ever eaten from McD's.

Here's a picture, mine don't look as good as the one's I've found on the net but it was my first time. One thing I would do differently is whip the cream cheese and egg yolk first and then make the egg white mixture at the end. Also some egg rings would be perfect for keeping them from spreading and it would make it the perfect bun size. Nonetheless they were great and an excellent low carb burger bun alternative.


Here's the link to the recipe: http://www.examiner.com/x-355-Low-Carb-Examiner~y2008m5d20-Want-Supple-GlutenFree-Buns


It was my birthday on Tuesday and I got taken out for dinner by dh and surprised by some friends too so that was really great. We went to a really lovely restaurant and I ordered the rib eye meal with a baked tomato, field mushrooms, greens and a pistachio and blue cheese wonton. I ate it all, the wonton was only small and I didn't have desert while we were out, once I got home I had some berry cheesecake which I had made earlier and topped it with dark chocolate. Oh yum!



I gained about 800gms but I have overindulged so it was expected but with a couple of fasts and good eating I should be able to get the weight loss moving again.

How often do you weigh yourself?

I've just read an article in the latest 'OK!' magazine about a mother and daughter from Australia's Biggest Loser. Meaghan and Julie, they have both lost substantial amounts of weight, Meaghan lost 36.4kg and Julie 43.6kg, they do look fabulous, I love reading success stories of their life transformation.
Here's a link to some before pictures http://www.929.com.au/entertainment/blogs/biggestloser//blog/biggest-loser--julie--meaghan/20090123-2gci.html and the after pictures http://www.okmagazine.com.au/behind-the-scenes.html

In one of the questions OK asks is Do you still weigh yourself now?
Meghan and Julie: "Yeah!"
Julie: "Every day in fact, which I know probably isn't healthy, but I've got to keep on top of it. I don't want to wait until the end of the week and realise I've put on two kilos! I know it's too hard to take off! So I'm keeping track on a daily basis."

I don't blame her for weighing herself everyday, when you've lost a lot of weight you obviously want to stay on top of it.

They are eating what I would call low fat, moderate protein, moderate carbs. Meaghan's Diet example is Breakfast: 30gms of oats with four egg whites, low-fat yoghurt and a spoonful of jam', Lunch: Grilled chicken salad, Dinner: Steamed vegies and maybe a serving of fish for dinner. So it probably feels like a bit of a struggle to take the weight off. When you are low carbing and keeping enough fat in your diet it totally changes the struggle factor.

So I've just put up a poll because I'd love to know how often you weigh yourself... I'm a once a week weigh er at the moment but sometimes sneak a mid week weigh, I do find it hard to wait a week, it feels like ages. I know the change in lifestyle is just that, a change in lifestyle and shouldn't be focused on the scale but for me it helps keep me motivated, some say weighing yourself is addictive and I think they are right, whoever 'they' are!

I had a big night on Saturday and was out till 3am with dh and friends. People are surprised I have the stamina especially since I don't drink alcohol. I sometimes feel hungover anyway just because of the late night. So yesterday was a very easy day, I went to bed early because I was soo tired, I'm still a little weary today and have decided to fast today because I'm feeling a little gluttonous from the weekend, just a bit of overindulgence, not necessarily with high carb foods though, just too much in general.

On another note I've asked our local library to order Good Calories, Bad Calories so I'm waiting for that to arrive, I can't wait to read it. I think Mark Sisson's book is out soon so I will be purchasing that as soon as it's available for purchase. I need a good book to read and I'm only really in to books like that.

A Treat!

I went out for ‘coffee and desert’ last night with hubby and usually would just have a raspberry tea and let him eat the desert and it never bothers me but I just thought oh I’ll have a little bit, and I did pretty well, we had a custard square which is not like your bakery one it’s a homemade one and omg it’s good. I only ate the filling with plenty of cream so no icing and no pastry. The filling is the best part very Moorish but I only had a little bit, then a decaf flat white which I haven’t had for soo long, I’m not a big coffee drinker. It was a nice little treat but also a nice little reminder of why a don’t eat sweet food, the headache and fogginess that followed and even today I’m feeling a little off. I’m pretty sensitive to sweet stuff so I’m paying for it today in how I’m feeling.

Today my eating has been great though which it normally is, Breakfast was an omelette filled with spinach, feta and bacon om nom!! And lunch was frozen raspberries with cream and a scoop of protein powder blended up, tastes like frozen berry yoghurt, it’s soo good, I topped it with slivered almonds and grated 85% choc. I haven’t had the desire to eat anything off plan so that’s great, it obviously hasn’t triggered cravings so far which is what I was worried about so we’ll see. It’s my birthday on Tuesday so I think I will make some of my berry cheesecake for that. Weight is good, down to 82kg so wohoo, but I’m not weighing again for a week!