sure, I’d say it’s one of the easiest things to make that tastes 100 times better than the shop bought version. its a good start to learning how to prep. garlic too!

Pizza base is dead easy*

Yep – I got home last night to my two 8 yr olds making their own pizza from scratch after seeing a YouTube video.

🙂

Just wondering what I should have along side the baocn and leek pasta rather than just a whole plate of pasta. Is the bacon in the recipe enough protein in take, maybe I should do something to go along with it. Is there a pretty good home made garlic bread maybe…

100g is a standard largeish serving of pasta. If you didn’t feel very hungry you could reduce it to 75g or even 50g. If you were having a traditional italian meal with several courses then you would only have 50g-75g. Bear in mind that the cheese is also a protein. If you want more protein, then have some nuts as a starter/nibble beforehand.

If you really like and want garlic bread, then fair enough, but for me garlic bread on top of a heavy pasta dish like that would be too much. I prefer to think of what ingredients and foods go together or complement one another in terms of taste, texture and flavours, rather than in terms of scientific food groups, but pasta and bread are both flour (‘double carbing’) and the butter in the garlic bread is more dairy fat on top of the cheese and the fat from the bacon. I like bread with my meal, but I would tend to eat somthing like part of a (homemade) foccacia roll before the pasta, and then use the remainder to mop up the remains of the sauce after eating the pasta.

Rather than thinking about protein or food groups or thinking about food simply as fuel/nutrition, think instead about what to your taste buds would go well with that sort of dish. To my mind, you are having a fairly rich/heavy pasta dish, so I would want things with it or after it that would cut through or counter balance that fat and richness, for example a glass of white wine with it, and/or a winter leaves salad with an olive oil and vinegar dressing, and/or a piece of fruit (e.g. an orange or an apple), i.e. things which are all somewhat acidic.

Part of my proble, with recipes is that I stick to it for fear of having to bin the whole lot.

It’s just cooking. No one is going to die if you make a mistake*. If you never make a mistake because you always stick rigidly to the recipe, then you will also never learn or develop that feel for cooking that comes from trial and error and experimenting/playing around a bit, whether it be with ingredients, or the process (increasing or lowering the temperature a bit, varying the cooking time etc.).

* There are a few exceptions, but you will get plenty of warning about those, e.g. picking wild mushrooms, soaking kidney beans etc.

When you have a complete disaster, just laugh about it and stick a frozen pizza in the oven.

If you really like and want garlic bread, then fair enough, but for me garlic bread on top of a heavy pasta dish like that would be too much

This, double carbs is too much for me.

I prefer a nice salad with my pasta, or even just have it on a bed of rocket and spinach leaves with some roasted tomatoes tossed through.

how are you getting on OP?

Just seen this thread and we have started cooking from the current Tom Kerridge Lose weight for Good program.  There are a whole bunch of brilliant recipes in the book and he majors on big flavours and low calories.  Worth looking at the first couple of programs on iplayer if you missed it and then getting the book if it appeals.

It’s going really well actually and I’m really enjoying everything I’ve eaten but also finding it equally quite tough at times. Eating healthier is definitely more expensive and I’ve had to spend some money on the kitchen to fix and sort things to make life a little easier and more enjoyable. Daft things like a new frying pan, two new baking trays now, new spatulas, new kitchen roll holder, new bin and then there’s keeping the veg stocked up buying fresh more often. Have had the same bag of oven chips in the freezer now since this thread and I haven’t touched them once.

Logging everything on myfitnesspal which has really highlighted some imbalances in my diet, sugar in particular and its really hard work trying to stay under recommended allowances. A cup of tea for me equals 18g of sugar so I’ve now cut back to only two cups a day just to try to keep under the allowance. It’s also made me think more about what I choose to eat so for example I had to work late tonight so when I got in I figured focus on protein and whatever small thing I ate make sure it was good rather than just convenient so I chucked some onions and mushrooms in a pan and cooked a quick omelette.

Following the porridge thread the other day I’ve been n bought some different types of oats and tomorrow morning I’m going to be following the ‘perfect porridge’ recipe. I’ve been n bought more good quality versions of the same food so the bargain basement peanut butter has been replaced with a non palm oil version. I’ve also made the swap to a seeded wonder loaf which although costs £1.40 a loaf I’m really enjoying. Make roasted veg a lot, love sweet potatoes and have made a few of the recipes now, leek and bacon, butternut macaroni cheese.

It’s quite hard to tell if its making a difference because when I started this diet change I also started my tablets so I can’t definitely say which has made the biggest difference. I’m having to exercise ridiculous self control to not just binge on the worst stuff imaginable like biscuits or mini eggs but I’m lasting so far with just an odd biscuit or two with my last cup of tea for the day. Hopefully this will be rewarded tomorrow night because instead of eating proper food for tea we’re going to a new pudding only place!!

18g is a shit load of sugar, I used to take 2 sugars in tea, weaned myself off over a year or two, not too difficult really.