New Toy!

Impulse buy alert!  It was a very modest silicone flower shaped mould from Lidl.  This is great for eggs and pancakes!  I shall chronicle my journey for the perfect flower egg with a perfectly centred pollen yolk.  This is much harder than it sounds!

My first attempt was so pathetic that I didn't bother to take a picture.  This is my second attempt which was slightly better but the yolk was off centre so I broke it.  It produced a rather lovely marbling effect and looked pretty with my ketchup splodge.  The mould isn't perfect, liquid does leak outside the shape so I need to press it down more or just trim them off.

Fried Egg

Voila!

Quorn Mince

I wanted to make a mince that would go well with mashed potatoes and lashings of gravy.  It was important for me to make it more brown and not red so I avoided using tinned tomatoes in case it was too bolognaisey.  I had to use my arsenal of herbs and spices to make it tasty.  You can make this mix into a Sheepless Pie by putting the mash on top and topping with cheese and sticking it in the oven until bubbly.

I got the idea of using Marmite in cooking from Fiona Beckett.  I remember borrowing her book a few years ago and recently borrowed this one.  Sadly, it didn't inspire me to cook anything new but it did remind me about the Marmite thing.  Beyond Baked Beans Budget Cookbook

Makes 4-5 portions

Ingredients:

2tbsp corn oil
1/2 large white Spanish onion, finely chopped
2 stalks of celery, destringed, finely chopped
3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
3-4 thick slices of root ginger
1/2 pt hot water with 2tsp gravy granules
1 peeled carrot, finely chopped
2 peeled and deseeded tomatoes, finely chopped
1/2 pt hot water with 1/2 tsp Marmite
300g Quorn Mince
1 bay leaf

(season to your taste)
1tsp rosemary
1tsp salt
plenty of black pepper
1 level tsp kalonji seeds
2 tsp Maggi liquid seasoning

Method:

1. Heat a large saucepan/cooking vessel.  Put in the oil and fry the onions until soft and translucent.  Then add the celery, garlic and ginger.  Fry until celery is softening.

2. Put the kettle on and make the gravy.  Add this liquid to the pan and add carrots.

3. Add the tomatoes and the marmite mixture.

4. Add the Quorn mince and a bay leaf.

5. Cook for about 20mins.  Season with the herbs and spices to your taste.

Review:

I ate a portion from just tasting it to see if it was seasoned enough.  I've got some instant mash and Bisto to go with it for those lazy days.  I will report back after the brother test.  I was really pleased with how it looks though.  I refrained from adding Worcestershire sauce in order to keep it truly vegetarian.

Celery Slaw

Cheese and celery dressed generously in mayonnaise and black pepper inside a buttered crusty baguette.  I didn't have any bread so I decided to make a sort of coleslaw with celery.  I have heard of celery slaw but have never made it before so here is something I made.

I just want to thank Sue, my childhood best friend's mum.  She helped inspire me to cook.  Sue put sultanas in her homemade coleslaw and that is the magic ingredient that sets her coleslaw apart from the shop bought kind.

Makes 2 portions

Ingredients:

2 stalks of celery, destringed and chopped
1 large carrot, grated
50g extra mature cheddar, chopped small
A handful of sultanas
A squeeze of lemon juice
3 tbsp mayonnaise (I like my full fat Hellmann's)
A few shakes of kalonji seeds
Black pepper

Method:

Just add ingredients into a bowl and mix.  I was probably too generous with the mayonnaise but adjust to your taste.

Review:

A traditional coleslaw has some onion in it.  I didn't want to faff around crying and chopping an onion so I put in my new fancy ingredient; kalonji seeds instead and it added a nice savoury onioniness to the salad.  I ate this for two lunches in a row served with some Choice Grain crackers.  The carrots made the mayonnaise go an orangy colour which makes it look like you made the dressing yourself :)

Chickpea Salad

Salads needn't be boring.  I haven't had one for a while but I was determined to use things lying about the place and not buy anything in especially.  This gave me a challenge of sorts to use up things that I had.  I was actually inspired by  How to Make Bento The video is sugoi!  It is a bit much for me but I will take on small tips at a time and that video made me salt my cucumber!

I have also taken up Waitrose on their 3 for 2 offer on herbs and spices to try something new.  My cupboard now has kalonji seeds (I first saw this as an ingredient in naan bread) celery salt (I've made a Bloody Mary before without this so I can now make an authentic one) and some garlic granules in order to make some epic potato wedges.

  

This makes 2 portions.

Ingredients:

Salad:

1 tomato, deseeded and cubed

Put as much or as little of the following:

Chunk of cucumber, peeled and cubed

Salt

200g chickpeas (half a tin, drained)

Some cubed carrot

Some cubed red pepper

Some cooked sweetcorn niblets

For the dressing:

Lemon juice

Celery salt

Black pepper

Kalonji seeds

Method:

1. I put the tomato and cucumber in a dish and I ah salted them!  Leave for a bit (I left them in the fridge overnight).  You will get a lovely pool of liquid to pour off.  No more watery salads!

2. Put in the other ingredients in varying proportions.

3. Season with the dressing ingredients to your taste. 

Review:

I really enjoyed making and eating this.  I'm a salad cream girl and I was going to squirt it all over my salad and mix it about but luckily I tasted my food first and decided it tasted good enough without the salad cream.

My Mum boiled some potatoes the next day so I cubed them and added it to the second portion of salad.

I don't normally eat cubed carrots in salad, I prefer it grated but had some leftover carrot sticks with nothing to dip them in.

Hot Cocoa

The reason why I am still awake at 4.15am is because I had a lovely mug of hot cocoa.  I had been working later than usual and ended up eating and leaving late.  Once home, I knew I wouldn't have an early night so decided to have a nice hot cocoa.  I had a hot chocolate recently at a pub and was sorely disappointed. It probably had cow's milk in it but that wasn't the point!  There was an opportunity to entice me with a welcoming warm hug in a mug and all I got was a watery insipid pretender.

This is simple, delicious and even better VEGAN!!!

Ingredients:

1tsp Green & Black's Cocoa Powder
1tsp Unrefined sugar
A pinch of salt
A dash of Vanilla Extract
About 225ml Soya Milk (I used Alpro Blue long life)
A sprinkle of grated G&B 70% dark chocolate*  (optional, see note)

Method:

1.  In a mug, mix the cocoa with a dash of milk to form a smooth paste.  Add sugar, salt and vanilla.  Slowly add the rest of the milk and give it a good mix.  Make sure you scrape all the edges of the mug.

2.  Put in the microwave for a minute (watch carefully after 30s).  Stir and taste.  Nuke in bursts of 30s until desired heat.

3.  Ah!

*I have just checked their website and it looks like they now put whole milk powder in their dark chocolate (they didn't before).  This is a shame since I got into this brand because it doesn't have any cow's milk in it.  I'm glad the cocoa powder is still "may contain traces"

Banana and Peanut Butter Muffins

I was looking for a banana muffin recipe in order to use up excess bananas that were going past my preferred best time to eat stage (still firm and yellow skinned).  I've made banana muffins before but wanted one that had peanut butter in.  Peanut butter and banana is a healthy and flavourful combination from America (they have it in a sandwich)  I can't say this was a childhood favourite (that was PB and strawberry jam sandwiches) but this is an adult favourite of mine on toast.

I already made a batch of muffins using http://uktv.co.uk/food/recipe/aid/573813 which is a Rachel Allen recipe.  (I was looking for a recipe rather than her recipe)
I read the critiques and added a pinch of salt to the mix.  I used smooth peanut butter and sprinkled some sunflower seeds on two of them and they came out well so I put them on all of my second batch.  This is a nice recipe but it needed more peanut butter and banana flavour so here is my slightly altered recipe.

It seems with baking these muffins, I have gotten over my fear of overfilling and these raised beautifully.

Makes 12 Muffins

Ingredients:

275g plain flour
50g oats
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 eggs
75g dark brown soft sugar
2.5 ripe bananas (more brown then yellow)
125g smooth peanut butter
250ml soya milk
50ml corn oil
25g sunflower seeds (approx)

Method:

1.  Sieve the flour in a bowl.  Add oats, baking powder and salt in a bowl.  Stir this thoroughly so the baking powder is evenly distributed in the mixture.

2.  In a slightly larger bowl, mash the banana in the bowl (fork will do, use to whisk eggs later).  Add sugar and peanut butter and mix together.

3.  In a measuring jug, measure the milk, add oil and break in the eggs and whisk together.

4.  Add the liquid to the mashed banana mix and stir thoroughly.

En garde!

5.  Set fan oven to 180c

6.  I changed my technique using this recipe.  I added the dry mix to the wet mix!  You get less flour clumps and hand washing up is slightly easier.  I have no spatula or tablespoon so made do with a dessert spoon.

Lumpy is good!

7.  Fill cases to the top and sprinkle some sunshine!

8.  Bake for 20-25 mins.  I tend to test one after 20 and put the rest back in.  Be your own judge!

Missing:  Muffin, last seen 5 mins ago...

Review:

These were much better than the first batch I made.  My brother actually ate one and he said that he could taste the peanut butter but it didn't have enough banana flavour.  I'm tempted to put even more salt but I am worried about the health implications.  Will these breakfast health muffins turn into heart attack ones?!  Funnily enough, I feel a bit scared offering free food to people because they are a bit too healthy.  I think that will be my next thing to work on, being less afraid of poisoning sharing my delicious food with my not quite friends but not quite strangers. 

Red Vegan Lasagne

I was on a lasagne making spree but was too lazy busy to write this one up.  I was really pleased with the result.  I portioned them up and froze them, then defrosted it and make the sauce my making up this vegan "Cheese Sauce." I got it from Holland and Barrett
The "Red" refers to using red peppers, red onions and kidney beans.

This made about 9 portions (which from a greedy pov may seem stingy sized!)

Ingredients:

For the roasted vegetables:
2/3 Red Onions, peeled and cut into wedges
4 cloves of Garlic, skin on
1 Red Pepper, deseeded and cut into chunks
Olive oil
Basil
Oregano
Rosemary

For the sauce:
1 tin (400g) of Kidney Beans, drained and rinsed until water is clear
2 tins of Plum Tomatoes, chopped (or use chopped tomatoes)

Method:

1. Really simple.  Chop everything up and drizzle with oil and season.  Put into a roasting dish or oven tray and roast for 20-30 mins at 180c until the vegetables are all soft and delicious.

Before

2. Squeeze the garlic out of their jackets (they will be lovely and sweet from steaming inside the skin)  Place mixture into a saucepan and add the tinned tomatoes and kidney beans and simmer and season.

Red Sauce

3.  Build your lasagne.  You might want to preboil the sheets so the pasta has a better texture.  Because I had no cheese sauce or cheese topping to "seal" in the moisture, I put some tin foil on top.

Before pic in all its juicy glory!

Cooked but a bit dry

Just so you can see the layers

A version without cheese sauce, a bit plain tbh

With Vegan "Cheese Sauce"

Review:
The Red Sauce works as a standalone pasta sauce.  It does benefit greatly by having some grated cheese on top.  This adds umami delicousness.  I thought the faux "Cheese Sauce" was ok but I think of it as a vegan bechemel, a lovely alternative to white sauce.  I think calling it a cheese sauce is pushing it a bit because I was disappointed with the flavour.

Quorn Fajita Lasagne

I first made this dish back in November 2010.  I had a packet of Fajita seasoning but never managed to get any chicken in, so it stayed in my cupboard for a while.  I also had some Quorn mince and lasagne sheets and thought I'd make lasagne with a twist!  This worked very well since Quorn is very bland so you need to make the sauce extra special.

Lasagne

I made enough for 8 servings minimum but still had mince sauce leftover so room for more!

Ingredients:

 

Mince:
2 tbsp Oil
1 large Onion, diced
5 cloves Garlic, crushed (peeled) and sliced
1 Red Pepper, deseeded and diced
1 Green Pepper, deseeded and diced
300g packet Quorn Mince
2 tins of Tomatoes (use chopped, I had plum  so had to faff around chopping them up)
About 1 tin of Water (swooshed/rinsed in the empty tomato tins)
1 packet Fajita Seasoning
2 tsp Sugar
1 tbsp Your Secret Ingredient aka Tomato Ketchup
Salt to taste
1tsp Cornflour, slaked with water

Béchemel:
25g Butter
3 tsp/25g Plain Flour (I used 3 tsp for ease but found my sauce was a bit on the thin side)
400ml Milk (ding it in the microwave with an optional bay leaf)
100g Mature Cheddar Cheese, grated
Salt and White Pepper

And 250g Lasagne Sheets

Method:

1.  Heat the oil in a large saucepan.  Fry onions until soft on a low heat, add garlic.

2.  Add the peppers and fry until slightly softened.

3.  Add Quorn and both tins of tomatoes with extra water.  Stir thoroughly and cook for 15mins.

4.  Add the packet of Fajita Seasoning and add sugar, ketchup and salt according to your taste.

5.  Add the cornflour mix to thicken sauce.

"Meat" Sauce

Set this saucepan aside to cool while you make the béchemel.

6.  Get a smaller saucepan than the meat sauce one and melt the butter.

7.  Add the flour and with a wooden spoon, keep stirring, almost beating it.  Let the flour cook a bit on low heat (this paste is the roux).  Meanwhile, you can ding the milk in a microwave container, add a bay leaf to pep it up if you have them.

8.  Add a little milk and beat into the roux.  Add a little at a time and beat quickly so you don't get lumps.  You can use a whisk but I just used a wooden spoon (less washing up!)  The key is to not put all the milk until you get to the point where the texture is okay to plonk all the liquid in.

9.  Cook for about 10-15 mins until the sauce thickens.  Don't just "stir" the sauce, make sure you scrape the bottom of the pan so you don't get a burnt sauce crust on the bottom.  I grate the cheese about now.

10.  Once the sauce is thickened, turn the heat off and let it cool.  This is where you can add the cheese but I prefer to save it for the cheesy topping.

11.  Let the building commence!  Grease/oil the lasagne dishes.  I ignore the instructions on the packet that says sauce first...I did pasta first (easy to dish up) mince, pasta, if there's room, repeat and top with the béchemel.  I know a traditional lasagne layers the béchemel as well but I personally think the layers get lost flavour wise so prefer just topping it with the sauce.

My pretties

I baked it for 20mins at 180c initially but the cheese was still yellow so I added another 10mins at 200c.  (Fan oven).

Done!

Review:

My favourite part was the cheesy top!  There was no need to precook the lasagne sheets but by not doing so, the sauce in the lasagne was not as juicy as I would have liked.  I will balance this next time by using more water so I can account for the pasta drinking up my water (the juicy factor).  I will make more béchemel and make it slighter thicker in consistency.  I will also keep an eye out for ANOTHER baking dish since I had so much Quorn sauce leftover.  This dish makes great freezer fare for those lazy days.

Raspberry and Lemon Muffins

This is an adapted recipe inspired by:
http://www.channel4.com/4food

I had previously made blueberry muffins and lemon muffins successfully so thought I'd use up the raspberries I bought.

Muffins

Makes enough for 12 muffins (but I get worried about overfilling and end up with 3 cake sized muffins as well)

Ingredients:  

  

300g Self Raising Flour

100g Caster Sugar (I used Unrefined Granulated Sugar, np)

1tsp Baking Powder
Pinch of Salt

175ml Milk (I used Soya Milk, np)

125ml Vegetable Oil (I used Corn Oil)

1 Egg
1 Lemon Rind, grated

165g Raspberries (125g to 150g is fine, I wanted to use the surplus up, I used slightly thawed frozen ones)

Method:

1.  Take a tsp of flour from the measured amount and mix with the raspberries.  This will help dry them up and stop them sinking.  Set aside.

2.  Sift flour into a large bowl, add baking powder, sugar and the salt.  Stir thoroughly so the baking powder is distributed evenly.

3.  Measure the milk and oil into a measuring jug, add egg and beat together. Add the lemon zest.

Zesty goodness

4.  This is when I turn the oven on.  It's quick because it's a fan oven, heat to 170c.  Line the muffin tin with 2 paper cases for each hole.  When it is hot enough, you can mix the wet and dry ingredients together.  Don't forget to line a few extra (cake or muffin in case of excess), you get the luxury of hindsight :p

5.  Quickly add the liquid ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir until the mixture is 'just' mixed. I got a few flour pockets but that is ok.

Left teaspoon, right dessertspoon

6.  Spoon about 2 dsp into each case.  Put the muffin tray into the oven. Bake for 20-25 minutes until golden.  If you're baking cakes, 20mins will definitely do.

Transfer the muffins from the tray to a cooling rack.  My cooling rack is just an extra that came with the microwave.

Review:

The muffins came out slightly blue due to the frozen raspberries.  I should wait until they are fully thawed and dry before I use them (even better, use fresh!).  The lemon was nice, they left brilliant yellow specks in the muffins.  I was going to make a lemon drizzle icing if it wasn't sweet enough but they were fine.  The presentation would benefit from setting aside a few raspberries and placing on top after you have put the mixture in the cases so you get lovely peeks of fruit.

I enjoyed making these but personally prefer them with blueberries.

Naan Pizzas

This was my first lunch after the challenge.  I didn't want to buy something convenient to eat, I wanted to use my renewed interest in making food at home and make something.  Using a mixture of fresh, frozen and tinned food, I came up with...

Naan Pizzas

Makes enough for 4 people (3 "Pizzas" each)

Ingredients:

1 tbsp Olive Oil (I ran out so used Corn Oil)
1 Red Onion, diced
3 Cloves of Garlic, crushed (peeled) and sliced
1 tin Chopped Tomatoes (I used Sargona Spicy Toms from Lidl)
A little Water to rinse tomato tin
1 tsp Sugar
160g Sweetcorn (Iceland Frozen)
Basil and Oregano to taste (dried)
6 Mini Plain Naan (one packet from Sainsbury's)
Mature Cheddar Cheese, grated
Halloumi Cheese, sliced
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Black Pepper

Method:

1.  Heat the oil in a medium saucepan.  Put in the onions and fry until soft.  Add the garlic.

2.  Open the tomatoes and pour in, put some water in and swoosh around to "rinse" the can and pour into sauce mix.  I found the sauce a bit too spicy for me so sweetened with sugar.

3.  Let it simmer and reduce slightly.

4.  Pour in the sweetcorn (if frozen, make sure it is cooked).

5.  Put as much basil and oregano as you like.  I prefer to put in more basil to oregano.

You can switch off the heat now and let the sauce cool slightly.  It is now the time to make your pizzas! 

6.  Put the grill on.

7.  Pop the naan into your toaster so that the outside is starting to crisp and the inside is steamed.  You can now split into two easily with a knife but be careful since they are fragile.

8.  Place naan halves inside up and lightly grill to remove moisture (this will stop pizzas being soggy).

9.  Spoon 1 dsp -1 tbsp of sauce mix onto each naan half.  Sprinkle cheddar and arrange halloumi.

Before they soak up the rays

Basking in the glow

10.  Grill until the halloumi starts to pop and blister.

11.  Finish with a drizzle of e.v olive oil and freshly ground pepper.

Done

Review:

I really enjoyed these!  My carnivorous brother commented how these were nice as well.  I didn't add any salt since I had cheese and halloumi is quite salty.  I will cover the edges with sauce and cheese so the bread doesn't get too burnt next time.

 

One more for prosperity!

Live Below the Line: Conclusion

Finishing this 5 day challenge was a bit of an anticlimax.  I was expecting to be more annoyed through lack of food or more excited that it has finished.  Thoughts that have crossed my mind include:  Why don't I add another day to make it more "challenging" or even why not do it until all the food is gone?  I have decided against this because this is not a "game" and you should know your limits and not go beyond them (sadly this is life for many people)  The aim of the challenge is to raise awareness of what (looks for figures) 1.4 billion people have to live on a day (less than £1) and that does not include housing, transportation, education, clothes and healthcare.

This has also highlighted the issue that you can eat healthily (at least from a fruit and veg point of view) on a budget.  I wish people would stop using the excuse of "it's too expensive."  It was really easy including fruit and vegetables with each meal.  I did find myself having a headache recently.  I think it's a mixture of not drinking tea and a sickly/eye straining experience sitting in the front row of the cinema (never again!).

Out of my shopping list (of which the tinned spaghetti remains unopened but I buy and eat that anyway so it's good) I would buy the products again minus 3 items:
Pasta Sauce: If only you didn't have saccharine!  Otherwise, you tasted nice but I like to make my own from tinned tomatoes.
Custard Powder: I think I'd have a on/off relationship with you.  You taste ok but should I?  With the whey powder and milk proteins most probably derived from cow's milk of the lowest quality?  For now, I have to finish my tub of Birds custard powder which is vegan.
Caged Eggs:  What to say without sounding like a hypocrite?  If I was in a supermarket and HAD to buy eggs, I would get free range because I can afford to upgrade.  Since I don't buy my eggs from supermarkets and get them from work (they are battery eggs) it sounds like I wouldn't buy them otherwise.  This is a slightly complicated area.  When I do buy eggs from a supermarket, they are free range.

I feel like this (my) challenge is an endorsement for Tesco, maybe I should rename it to the Tesco Value challenge?!  It highlights the ridiculous supermarket price wars going on.  Cheap for you but at what cost to the producers?  I am not sick of pasta or porridge but it will be nice to have the option to eat rice again.

I look forward to food becoming a social and joyous occasion again.

Day 5 aka FINAL DAY!!!

Breakfast:
Porridge with grated apple and sultanas.

I quartered and cored the apple.  I grated it, skin side facing out and discarded the skin.  I then stirred into the ready made porridge.  It didn't look that great so sprinkled my old favourite the sultanas.  It tasted slightly sour, the sweetness of the apple is definitely lost in the porridge.  I seriously struggled eating the last spoonful but I talked myself into the idea that you do not waste food.

Lunch: 
Penne with baked beans and veg with omelette.

Monster Egg!

Monster side folded inwards to display underside

I only boiled 50g of pasta with 100g veg today using the remaining half tin of baked beans.  This was a strange combo for me, beans and rice=fine, kidney beans and pasta=fine but baked beans and pasta?!  Should it ever have to happen?  It was fine but strange all the same.  My omelette was an experiment to see if you could fry an egg without any oil or fat.  To reduce the risk of failure I thought I'd better whisk it first rather than attempt sunny side up.  To help it cook more quickly and thoroughly, I placed a lid on the frying pan and it bubbled up beautifully.  But alas, it was all an illusion akin to the marshmallow trick where you pump air in (or was it out?) of the container for as soon as I lifted the lid, it deflated back to how it should look.  The underside resembled a crepe/pancake.  The flavour reminded me of those Chinese Phoenix Egg Rolls but without the sugar and the crunch factor.

Dinner: 
What I should have eaten yesterday penne with pasta sauce and veg
Boiled egg
Apple
Sultanas
5 Digestives

The egg was nice.  Notice the lack of stock cube today.  I guess I could have spruced the egg up with a sprinkle of it but it was fine.

Day 4

Breakfast:
Porridge with peaches, syrup and sultanas.

What a difference some fruit and a little artistic flair can make!  How much more appealing is the second picture compared to the first?  I used some of the light syrup from the tin of peaches to add some sweetness.  Normally I would drain off the syrup but you must use all you can!  The peaches weren't hard but more firm compared to fresh peaches.  An enjoyable breakfast and oh so pretty!

Lunch:
Lunch was a bit of a disaster since I ran out of time.  I was supposed to have pasta again but had to go out so I made do with munching on an apple and a digestive washed down with water.

I do not encourage eating like this.  This is another example of planning ahead.  In this modern life, we are cramming our eating time in the little time we have.  This is why fast food and ready meals are really popular.  I felt fine but my stomach was making weird noises of which I was self conscious.  I confessed to my friend but I needn't have since she didn't notice!  Should have kept my mouth shut!  Even if you don't feel hungry, stomach noises is a way of your body telling you that what you have eaten isn't enough.

Snack:
4 biscuits and some sultanas

Dinner:
Penne with pasta sauce and mixed veg topped with sliced boiled egg.

This is what I should have had for lunch.  I used the remaining jar of sauce with some water sloshed around the jar to use up all the sauce and give the jar a rinse.  To multitask and do less washing, I boiled 2 eggs in the pasta water (if this sounds yukky, just make sure you rinse the pasta after cooking).  Nuked the veg and saved the other portion for tomorrow's lunch or dinner.  My presentation leaves a lot to be desired but the egg was really nice!  I thought it would be more rubbery because it's a caged egg but I must have got my timings good because it was nice and soft.

Dessert: 
Peaches and custard

A few hours after dinner I made a dessert.  I put too much water into the custard powder but it still tasted nice.  It made me think I could make a sweet drink with the custard powder.  I then placed some more of those peaches in there.

Day 3

Breakfast:
Scrambled eggs with baked beans.

I could have easily had porridge again for breakfast but a part of me wanted to show you that you can be creative and have some variety.  I picked the 2 smallest eggs from the box and cracked them into a bowl.  I then whisked it with a fork and added a splash of water.  I then microwaved it in 10/15 sec bursts, whisking after each blast.  Funnily enough, I had always done scrambled eggs the proper way in a frying pan with butter and only watching Heston Blumenthal shake his head at the people at Little Chef did I pick up this trick!  You could do it without fat but make sure it's a non stick pan.

The beans were nicer than expected.  I used half the tin.  I noticed one of the ingredients was paprika.  I tried some beans cold and it wasn't unpleasant.  I don't normally like smokey flavoured food but the sauce was slightly sweet with just a hint of smoke (paprika?) and it was nice.

Lunch: 
I had pudding first so posting that first :P
Peaches with custard and digestive crumble topping.

Yeah, it's a more grandiose way of eating custard, peaches and digestive biscuit!  Once again, I wanted a go at being creative.  The only thing hot was the custard, I just fished a few peach pieces and placed on top and just crumbled a biscuit on top.  It was a nice concoction but had to be eaten quickly since the biscuit went soggy and it's best eaten when crunchy.

Soupy pasta with veg and kidney beans.

I could have improved the presentation but I just used the bowl I microwaved the veg in hence the little broccoli flecks near the rim of the bowl.

I want to show you a before and after picture of the vegetables:

Seeing the pictures side by side makes it easier to compare them.  I seem to remember it appearing to shrink a lot more than the picture shows.  The veg is ok, it would have been nicer to have some sweetcorn in the mix to give it a little sunshine.  I think the cauliflower was a bit on the crunchy side for my liking though.

Dinner: 
Same as lunch with some crumbled stock cube (that silver thing with the sultanas) to season the pasta
4 Digestives
Apple
Sultanas

Today's been ok.  My brother isn't being very helpful goading me with food (eating something in front of me and showing me the contents of his mouth after chewing it and then breathing on me...) but I've managed to resist temptation.  If I'm perfectly honest, it's been too easy so far.  I've not had any hunger pangs or any food cravings.  I think I've been getting 3/4 fruit and veg with a little protein and carbs.  I think tomorrow (Day 4) will be the hardest because it's my day off so will have to find things to do.