Thought I'd share a few of the foods that I have stumbled across on my journey.
Things like Cottage Cheese "Ice-Cream" and Cauliflower "Mash" all help to vary the menu whilst following Dr. Dukan's strict rules and regulations.
One thing that was killing me was the lack of takeaway on a Friday night.
So I made Pizza!
I used a Dukan Galette- which contains the daily allowance of oatbran for the base.
Mix some herbs and chopped onion with tomato puree and a splash of water and spread as far to the edges of the base as possible. Then I grated onto it a light mini babybel (1 a day is tolerated on Cruise).
Pop under the grill until the cheese is melted- and hey presto we have pizza!
Obviously its not like the real thing. My favourites being the vegetarian supreme from Dominoes or the pesto and mozzarella Ristorante pizza by Dr. Oetker. But I'm not going to lose 7.8lbs in 17 days by stuffing my face with either of those am I!
This made a lovely little snack anyhoo- I even used a pizza slice to cut it and live out the fantasy- even though it is smaller than a side plate!!!
Next up for the weekend is...
Curry
This was a courgette and king prawn curry that I found in a Slimming World recipe book.
I used:-
1 red onion- diced
2 garlic cloves- peeled and crushed
1 tsp grated ginger- was really hard to get a teaspoons worth
1 tsp mild chili powder- think I used cayenne pepper instead
2 tsp mild curry powder- I used masala powder
200ml chicken stock with bovril- I used half a vegetable oxo cube
1 large courgette- I had half of a small one
1 tin of tomatoes
prawns
Other ingredients in the recipe which I didn't use:-
6 cherry tomatoes, halved
200ml passata
200g very low fat natural fromage frais
6 tbsp very fine coriander
2 tbsp chopped mint leaves
salt
Method according to Slimming World:-
Place the onion in a medium sized non stick saucepan with the garlic, ginger, chilli powder, curry powder and stock. Bring to the boil over a medium heat, cover, reduce the heat to low and cook gently for 3-4 minutes.
Cut the courgette into thick matchsticks and add to the pan with the tomatoes and passata. Bring back to the boil and simmer gently for 10 minutes, stirring often to prevent sticking.
Stir in the prawns, fromage frais, chopped herbs, season with salt and remove from the heat.
Serve immediately with steamed green vegetables.
My way (or the highway):-
I bunged the prawns in at the beginning with the stock because they were frozen and I'm terribly paranoid about food poisoning. I made wayyy too much stock because I was guessing and as a result things were rather runny. So I ended up with a soupy brothy curry which still tasted lovely. I didn't add the fromage frais because I only had creme fraiche (not sure if they're the same) but have had a terrible experience with it splitting and curdling which isn't what you want when you're dying for indian takeaway and trying to make-do.
All in all. Yum.
Tonight I've had a favourite British dish..
Bangers and Mash
So here I have 2 veggie sausages- dry fried with peppered swede "mash" and 2 spears of asparagus.
I read somewhere that asparagus helps with water retention and as I PUT ON WEIGHT last time I weighed after a PV day I thought I'd give it a go.
I also had reduced salt and sugar ketchup with my bangers- although I'm not a fan and it will NEVER beat good old fashioned Heinz. And I added a dollop of extra light philly to my mash so that it was creamy and yum.
I realise that the meals I have shared cannot compare to or replace some of the fatty treats that we are used to. But it IS possible to Dukanize your favourite meals and enjoy food.
Cooking is so therapeutic and I find that I am constantly experimenting now that I have rules. In fact- now that I can eat LESS types or categories of food, I find that I am eating MORE of a variety because I'm always trying something new.
Win.
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