New Love For ... Fish?

Normally I would opt out of having to purposely choose to eat fish from the menu, or beg my mum to allow me to skip the fish dish, because I really don't enjoy the fishy smell and taste (but I love having asam laksa). But recently mum has been buying salmon steaks for me because she doesn't want me eat chicken every day for every meal.

For my first attempt to pan fry a salmon steak, I thought it would be just the same as me cooking my daily chicken or fish fillet, so i decided to use a small pan. And boy was that a bad idea! I forgot that salmon has natural fat, and they will all ooze out when cooked. Oil was splattering and jumping everywhere!!! I couldn't even bring myself to go near the pan to flip the salmon! Mum had to come to the rescue. But the result, oh so delicious!

This morning was my second attempt to pan fry salmon, I picked the bigger pan, thinking it will be safer. I was wrong, again....splattering begins! But the oil didn't jump up as high as it did from the small pan, I managed to flip the salmon myself without getting burnt, and because the pan is big, I could tilt it to let the oil flow away from the salmon. Next time I'm using a cover....

Decided to experiment and made myself a tomato with tuna and shirataki noodle soup for dinner last Thursday night. Somehow it turn out looking like asam laksa! Mum told me to help eat finish some broccoli and mushrooms, also the little plate of fresh chilies that she didn't want to keep. Hence the attempt to decorate my meal. Those tiny red/orange chilies are one of my favorite, but are also my enemy, they really burn your lips and tongue!

Cruise Phase : Day Thirty Four

Diet Timeline :

Attack : 5 days 
Cruise : 52 days 18 days
Consolidation : 74 days
Stabilization : Forever..?

Weight : From 65kg to 58.7kg

Today will mark 39 days since the first day I started doing the Dukan Diet. I'm actually really proud of myself that I have been able to crawl out of bed before 6am every working day to prepare my breakfast and lunch. My meals are just really simple pan fry chicken or fish, eggs cooked tamago/omelette style since I don't know what the style is called (I just pour the beaten egg in a small frying pan and just let it slowly cook with low fire, then flipping it over till it's golden brown). Snacks and breakfast have been oat bran muffin/cake, galette (pan cakes) and yogurt. 

Still got to admit that breakfast is still a pain though, I just miss having a big breakfast meal of friend meehoon or nasi lemak. Dinner time is pretty much the time where I experiment on my cooking, sometimes I amaze myself by trying weird methods of cooking, but there are also times where food get burnt or undercooked.

I've still got quite a long way to go until this diet is over, but after about slightly over a month of controlling what I eat, I'm happy with the results. Clothes are getting loose, especially my jeans which reminds me that I have to get new ones. Trying on clothes was much easier now, I could actually fit into a size "S" dress at Forever 21!

Soon I will get to have whole meal bread and 40g per day of cheese, cheese sandwich wait for me!

Still Can't Get Enough.

I've got to admit, ever since the lyric video was out and now the OFFICIAL VIDEO, I just can't get enough of how sweet and fun this song is! The official video is so colourful and cheerful, makes me want to dance around every time I hear the song play. I simply can't take my eyes away from the screen too! Hayley, Jeremy and Taylor looked like they were having so much fun filming the video.

I think it's really cool that they didn't create like a storyline or have their instruments in this video, instead they wanted to kind of portray how it feels like falling in love, like dancing around in a room filled with balloons, running around the backyard with sparkles, etc.

Still loving "Still Into You"!

It's Ok To Be Silly, Sometimes

Some days, I just have the urge to have a silly smile on my face. 

Almost A Month Without Instant Noodles.

It's been a month now since I've started Dukan Diet, and so far it's been working out well for me although there was a little sneaking of not allowed foods here and there, like a tiny piece of assorted chocolates, some of the Gwai Leng Gou (Black herbal jelly mum made, she mixes them with some dried longan). So far my weight has been a balance between 59kg to 60kg, but my size has gone down, I could actually try on a lot more dresses now! Yay!

My mum seems to be getting bored of the food I'm eating everyday, yes, the food that I AM eating, not her. Haha. But I'm still fine with the normal simple food that I am allowed to eat everyday. I've been experimenting with adding mustard, tomato puree and low fat cheese to my food. But somehow I don't think I'm allowed any low fat cheese yet? But I'm not too sure ;p

First attempt to make dukan bread, and scrambled eggs with yogurt. Turn out quite nice!

Half of the dukan bread for breakfast the next day. The bread is a bit not sure if it's because I cooked it a little too long or it is meant to be this way. But to me it's perfect for a sandwich!

Paprika chicken with a bit of low fat cheese and a scribble of mustard. Yummm~

Well I tried to make my food look pretty. I know I know, almost every meal looks the same...colour....

Fake pasta!! i wanted to make like a tomato stir fry but it turned out looking like pasta! A combination of chicken chunks, slice cabbage, shirataki noodles with 1 spoon of tomato puree, a pinch of salt and black pepper.

Hmm...what shall I experiment on next with my novice cooking skills.....

I still miss pasta and instant noodles, also mum's Tom Yam Fried Rice (I stole 1 bite the other day, teehee!)

Allowed Foods, Since Some Have Asked.

Yesterday I was approached by my colleague, she said "Tell me how to loss weight!! You slim alot, "hak sei yan"!" (hak sei yan direct translated to English = scare die me) Hahaha! And since I'm still very new at this Dukan Diet, I dig up some of the websites that were very helpful to me and passed them over to her. I also told her what to expect and what kind of sacrifices to make. Because for Chinese, a lot of us always like to say "No rice allowed??? I will die!!". Because rice is our main source of food. So what are we allowed to eat then if we want to proceed with this diet? Dr. Dukan has a list of 100 allowed foods on his website, it's a really loooooong list but I found another blogger with a clearer list, thought I have no idea what some of the food are, but you can check out her blog here

The Dukan Diet 100 Safe Food List (more info here)


MEAT AND OFFAL

1. Beefsteak,
2. Breasola/air-dried/wind dried beef
3. Calf's liver
4. Fat reduced bacon
5. Fillet of beef
6. Game
7. Kidney
8. Pre-cooked ham slices (without any fat or rind)
9. Rabbit
10. Roast beef
11. Rumpsteak
12. Sirloin steak
13. Tongue
14. Veal chop
15. Veal escalope

POULTRY

16. Chicken
17. Chicken liver
18. Guinea fowl
19. Ostrich
20. Pigeon
21. Poussin
22. Pre cooked chicken and turkey slices
23. Quail, turkey

FISH

24. Bass
25. Cod
26. Seafood sticks
27. Dab/lemon sole
28. Dover sole
29. Grey mullet
30. Haddock/smoked haddok
31. Hake
32. Halibut/smoked halibut
33. Herring
34. Mackerel
35. Monkfish
36. Plaice
37. Pollock/coley
38. Red mullet
39. Salmon/smoked salmon
40. Sardines
41. Sea bream
42. Skate
43. Swordfish
44. Trout (rainbow and salmon)
45. Tuna
46. Turbot
47. Whiting

SEAFOOD

48. Calamari/squid
49. Clams
50. Cockles
51. Crab
52. Crayfish/crawfish
53. Dublin bay prawns
54. Lobster
55. Mussels
56. Prawns/shrimps
57. Oysters
58. Scallops
59. Whelks

EGGS

60. Hen's eggs
61. Quail's eggs

DAIRY PRODUCTS

62. Cottage cheese (low fat)
63. Fat free fromage frais
64. Fat free Greek yogurt
65. Fat free yoghurt
66. Quark (low fat)
67. Skimmed milk

VEGETABLE "PROTEINS"

68. Konjac
69. Qat bran
70. Tofu

VEGETABLES

71. Artichoke (globe)
72. Asparagus
73. Aubergine
74. Beetroot
75. Broccoli
76. Brussel sprouts
77. Bean sprouts
78. Cabbage
79. Carrot
80. Cauliflower
81. Celery/celeriac
82. Chicory
83. Courgette
84. Cucumber
85. Fennel
86. French beans
87. Kohlrabi, lamb's lettuce
88. Leek
89. Lettuce
90. Mushrooms
91. Onion
92. Palm hearts
93. Peppers
94. Pumpkin
95. Radish
96. Rhubarb
97. Soya beans
98. Spinach
99. Salad leaves : rocket/watercress/alfafa/curly endive/sorrel etc
100. Tomato

That's a lot to remember! So far my daily food intake consists only of Chicken, Fish, Celery, Broccoli, French Beans, Eggs, Spinach, Mushrooms, Shirataki Noodles, Fat-free no sugar added yogurt, Skim Milk, Oat Bran....yeah, I eat real simple :P

Still Learning to Cook Better

Since now I cook almost every meal for myself everyday, except on weekends when I go out. Being a novice cook, I am constantly searching around on Google for dukan friendly recipes and turning them into much simpler versions for myself. I still have a hard time telling visually if my food is cooked properly.

I got to say that I have finally figured out the microwave oven cocoa muffins I've been trying to make to taste more moist! It being so dry was partly due to where I placed the container in the oven. And voila it was fluffy, moist and yummy!

I decided to try cooking with yogurt too. I stumbled upon a blogger who was on dukan and she made dukan friendly curry laksa. All you need is 1 tbsp of Tom yam paste and 1 tbsp plain yogurt to mix into boiling water. I found out that I can have some tom yam as long as I don't add more salt, cuz the paste my mum buys is vegetarian and low on salt. And oh my goodness, the soup really did smelled and tasted close to a bowl of nyonya laksa! Success!

Cruise Phase : Day Thirteen

Day 13 of the cruise phase! Still surviving this dukan diet with minor cheating here and here, stealing bites of vegs on pure protein days, and having a little too many dark chocs.

The other day I suddenly had a major craving for red velvet cake with cream cheese frosting, causing me to feel really hungry all afternoon, so I decided to make a feast of a meal for dinner.

I read in some dukaner blogs that using a bit of tom yam is alright, so 1 tbsp should be okay? Haha. So I cooked up a bowl of stir fry tom yam chicken mushroom broccoli shirataki noodles, that's a mouthful just saying it! I didn't have to use any salt since I was already using vegetarian tom yam paste, and everything taste nice and mild.

That delicious meal sure hit the spot! I was feeling satisfied and didn't crave for red velvet anymore.

I tried making cocoa oat bran muffins again yesterday, this time I got the ingredients and time right. It was too dry for my liking, so today I set the time on the microwave to 3 minutes and 10 seconds. It turned out less dry, planning to try baking it for 3 minutes tomorrow.

Current weight : 61kg

Check out my odd shaped cocoa oat bran muffins. Lunch was onion omelette and black pepper chicken.

The awesome Shirataki noodles, good enough for a noodle lover like me!

I Tried To Bake.

Being on a diet for the first time sure can be boring when it comes to food choices. Even though I'm not a picky eater, I am definitely urged to try to cook or bake new things other than my favourite Korean Ramen. And so I decided to experiment on baking oat bran treats. My dad brought home a microwave oven a couple years ago, but my mum refuses to learn to use it and wouldn't allow us to go neat it, because she's paranoid about radioactive waves harming us and all. But then I found out that I could bake and grill with the model my dad brought home! Muahahaha! I unleashed the metal beast from its box and got to pressing around on the buttons.

Experiment 1

Cocoa Oat Bran cookie from a recipe I found online, takes only 1 minutes to cook on high in the microwave oven. I don't really have any microwave safe plates and stuff, but my colleague told me that almost all glass and stuff are safe. Well looks like the plate I'm using is safe for the oven.

Verdict? My cookie was too soft for my liking, it tasted like a cookie shaped brownie, I'll cook it a little longer next time.

Experiment 2

Cocoa Oat Bran muffin, following Nora's recipe. I used a little microwave safe container that I had to hold the muffin mix, it was a bit too shallow and my muffin morphed into a weird looking mushroom. Also I over cooked it, it was meant to cook for only 3.5 minutes, but I set it to 3 minutes and 50 seconds! Oh my goodness my muffin was as hard as a biscuit!

Trial and error for someone who doesn't really cook or bake. I'll do better next round :P