Day 37 Tuesday 25/09/07

Breakfast

Bowl of Special K with semi skimmed goats milk
1 x Benecol probiotic cholesterol lowering drink
cup of tea

Daytime

Two cup of vending machine white coffee
Ham, sheep’s cheese and lettuce sandwich on wholemeal bread with flora proactive spread and fig and chilli jam (from the farmer’s market)
Glass of pomegranate juice

Eve Meal

Roast Veg with pesto Pita Pockets

Chop one butternut squash, a white turnip, a red pepper, a green pepper, a red onion, 3 cloves of garlic and half an aubergine into rough size pieces (roots smaller than vine items) sprinkled with salt, pepper and dried oregano a glug of olive oil and a couple of bay leaves
Roast in the oven at 200 degrees C for 45 mins

To serve smear the inside of a pita pocket with Pesto and add a generous portion of the veg.

½ a bottle of crianza Spanish red wine

Pros – plenty of veg

Cons – ham and cheese in the sandwich but it was a lean piece of ham

Day 36 Monday 24/09/07

Breakfast

Bowl of shredded wheat with semi skimmed goats milk
1 x Benecol probiotic cholesterol lowering drink
cup of tea

Daytime

One cup of vending machine white coffee
Ham and lettuce sandwich on wholemeal bread with flora proactive spread and fig and orange liquor preserve (from the farmer’s market)

Eve Meal

Oriental cottage pie (inspired but modified from Simon Rimmer on Something for the Weekend on BBC2 yesterday)

Topping – one sweet potatoe peeled, boiled and mashed with dash of goats milk, salt, pepper and a sprinkle of sesame seeds

Filling – fry off in olive oil one onion sliced, when browned add 6 button mushrooms (quartered), then after a couple of minutes add chopped water chestnuts (from a can) and 3 sliced carrots (in rings). Cook for a couple of minutes and add sauce as below

Sauce – olive oil in a sauce pan, add a chopped clove of garlic, 2 tsp ground ginger and a tsp of crushed chillies. Add 50ml dry sherry, 75ml red wine, 30ml soy sauce & 10 ml oyster sauce then 150ml veg stock. Bring to boil and simmer for 10 mins

Add sauce to filling and transfer to oven proof dish then spread topping on and crisp under the grill

Serve with pickled red cabbage (more Lancashire than Beijing – but what the hec)

2 glasses of sherry and 2 glasses of red wine

Pros – plenty of veg

Cons – ham in the sandwich but it was a lean piece

Day 35 Sunday 23/09/07

Last Night

Had a half bottle of Italian merlot (won at the pub quiz) it needed food to make it palatable so had some sheep's cheese on 3 oatcakes.

Then got peckish so had a ham and salad sandwich (was a bit naughty and had mayonaise on it)

Breakfast

Apple, mango and passion fruit smoothie
1 x Benecol probiotic cholesterol lowering drink

Daytime

Went to the SO Noodle Bar
Had Aubergine Tempura with seaweed
Then had shredded chicken noodles
Washed it down with a bottle of Japanese lager

Eve Meal

Taiwanese Aubergine

Fry a chopped onion in groundnut oil with a centimetre of fresh ginger and a star anise, half way through add a pinch of sugar.
Chop half an aubergine into chip size bits and add to the onion after they have softened
When the aubergine has browned add 3 tbs of soy sauce then 3 tbs of rice wine vinegar then 150ml of water
Leave to simmer for 10 mins then add a tablespoon of oyster sauce and a teaspoon of cornflower mixed into some cold water. Mix through and cook for a further 3 mins.
Sprinkle with sesame seeds to serve


Pros – lots of aubergine

Cons – noodles will have been fried as was the tempura aubergine

Day 34 Saturday 22/09/07

Breakfast

Poached egg on seeded toast (2 slices) with Flora Pro Active spread
Slice of seeded bread toasted with flora pro active and marmite
Apple, mango and passion fruit smoothie

Daytime

2 Nectarines

Eve Meal

Kangaroo Steak

Mel has been on the net for cholesterol friendly foods and put an order in with www.alternativemeats.co.uk so over the coming days we will have Kudu, Crocodile, springbok sausages and wild boar. Tonight we had kangaroo rump steak with veg

In olive oil fry off 3 cloves of garlic roughly chopped, after 30 secs when the oil has taken the flavour add the kangaroo rump steaks (seasoned with salt and pepper) and fry on each side for 6 minuted.

Meanwhile boil new potatoes and with 5 mins to serving add baby sweetcorn

Remove the steak from the pan and let rest for a minute or so, in the same pan used for the meat add a dribble of red wine to deglaze and add spinach, till wilted.

Serve

A glass of rioja and ½ a bottle of Aussie Shiraz Cab Sav

Played a full game of rugby (my brother in law scored twice)

Pros – played rugby and kangaroo is low in cholesterol but does not fail to achieve my manly desire for steak

Cons – only fruit at lunch

Day 33 Friday 21/09/07

Breakfast

Bowl of shreddies
Apple, mango and passion fruit smoothie
Cup of tea

Daytime

Nectarine
Cup of vending machine coffee

Eve Meal

Fillet of Plaice with a spiced Peanut crust

For the spiced peanut crust fry a chopped clove of garlic and a pinch of curry leaves in olive oil. Add pinch of cumin seeds and some crushed chillies then add a handful of salted peanuts (leftover from my flight to Munich this week). Blend the fried off spices and peanuts in a food processor with a tablespoon of houmus and a teaspoon of cumin powder and a teaspoon of tumeric, add olive oil to make consistency become creamy.

Grill the plaice (seasoned with salt and pepper) then smear the peanut paste over the fish and grill till crisped
Serve with salad (lettuce and tomatoes) dressed in a balsamic and honey dressing

1 pint of lager
½ a bottle of Rioja

Pros – fish in the evening

Cons – only fruit at lunch

Day 32 Thursday 20/09/07

Breakfast

2 slices of seeded toast with honey
Apple, mango and passion fruit smoothie

Daytime

1 cup of vending machine coffee
handful of Haribro sweets

Eve Meal

Went to the pub and had fish pie – was a mix of salmon, cod and prawns with potatoes but had a cheese sauce over it. It came with a small portion of veg (broccoli, carrot and green beans)
One pint of bitter and a J2O

Pros – veg and fish in the evening

Cons – lack of lunch and cheese sauce

Day 31 Wednesday 19/09/07

Breakfast

2 slices of seeded toast with honey
mandarin, orange and raspberry smoothie

Daytime

Beetroot soup (from Saturday)
2 cups of coffee

Eve Meal

Swordfish and lemon pepper fishcakes with tapenous stuffed tomatoes

Swordfish and lemon pepper fishcakes from the farmer’s market baked in the oven served with asparagus, baby corn and green beans
Tapenous made from kalamata olives blended with houmous used to fill whole tomatoes scooped out of the seeds and baked in the oven for 25 mins.

½ a bottle of Chilean Cabernet Sauvignon

Pros – veg and fish in the evening

Cons – none