Place the pan over a medium heat and stand a cooking thermometer in it.  Stir gently, watching the thermometer carefully until the temperature reaches 46°C.

DRESSING

• Juice of half a lime
• 2 tsp soy sauce
• 1 x dried chilli, crumbled
• 2g Furikake
• 1 tsp fish sauce
• 10g spring onion, sliced thinly

• Fast Day Prawn Noodle Salad- 411kcal

   

I have searched the Internet for recipe ideas and tips and decided that there really is not that much inspiration for the 5:2 diet, so this little old blog seems like the perfect place to share a little bit of Fast Day love.

It’s what I love to do; researching food, planning food, playing with food and creating new ideas about food. That’s why I am kind of partial to the Fast Diet. It appeals to my inner foodie. It’s a food geeks playground. It’s a challenge but in a good way.


I believe that low calorie does not have to mean low flavor! So grab your 500 calories and lets see what we can do!

I will be sharing my Fast Day meals, hints, tips, highs and lows.  There will also be plenty of butter coated recipes too, as those 5 days are all mine for the eating!








I am not a diet or nutrition expert.  Anyone who wishes to try this diet plan needs to first check out all of the details right here.  All of my calorie values are plucked from either the packet or the internet.  All recipes and images are my own.  

It's a funny old day really.  I hated it at school, apart from one year when somebody slipped a handwritten card through my door.  I still don't know who sent it, but if it was you, you really made my day, thank you.

Anyway lets get back to the gin shall we.  

Valentine's Day in our house means husband is cooking and I am on cocktail duty.  The kids will be sent off to bed and we will light some candles, stick on the mix CD he made for me years ago (doesn't have quite the same ring as mix tape does it, but lovely non the less!), and enjoy the evening.  There will be no heart shaped table decorations and thank goodness for that, I will show my love in the form of the Super Sonic Gin and Tonic.  

Nothing says love like gin and tonic.   

NOTE: If you own a juicer because its the healthy thing to do and you couldn't possibly use it to make a cocktail just look at it this way; It's like getting healthy and a little tipsy all at the same time.  What could possibly be bad about that!!  

SUPER SONIC GIN AND TONIC

WHAT YOU NEED 

A juicer

A lime, peeled

Half a cucumber

Ice cubes

Tonic Water

Gin (I used Uncle Val's for this but Hendricks would be the other obvious choice for its partnership with cucumber is just too good to ignore!)

WHAT YOU DO

Juice the peeled lime and cucumber.  Now if you don't have a juicer you could blend the two together and strain the mixture to get rid of the bits.  

Place the zesty juice into two cocktail glasses.  Add a good (very good, your choice) measure of gin into the glass.  Add a couple of ice cubes and top off with a few splashes of tonic water.  Decorate with a lime slice and enjoy.  

Remember, healthy and tipsy- it's all good, I promise.  

Lentils are an essential part of my store cupboard.  In stews, soups and curry's they add a deep toothsome bite of goodness.

This delicious soup really showcases lentils as the star of the show.  Their earthy flavours are intensified with sultry smoked paprika and enhanced with the crispy addition of some easy to make Mexican Chorizo.
 Lentils are an edible pulse. They come from a bushy annual plant of the legume family, known for its lens-shaped seeds. Lentils are a similar shape to an optical lens and Lens is the Latin name for lentil.

The first element of this dish needs a little head start.  It couldn't be any simpler though, you just throw it all in a plastic tub and leave it overnight in the fridge.  I used a mixture of venison and pork for this mix but it works equally well with just pork.  Just make sure you use fabulous quality meat and if possible, grind it yourself just before using it.  Grinding your meat at the last minute helps it retain moisture giving excellent results in any dish you are using it in.

MEXICAN VENISON CHORIZO
WHAT YOU NEED
250g venison, minced
100g pork, minced
2 tsp. smoked paprika
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. fennel seeds
1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup red wine

WHAT YOU DO
Simply mix everything together in a plastic tub with a lid.  Once mixed together, place the lid on and leave in the fridge overnight.

For the soup, heat some oil in a frying pan and fry little bits of the chorizo until crispy.  Drain and add to the top of the soup.

This stuff is amazing in salads, scrambled eggs, tortillas, mixed with pasta and baked into portobello mushrooms too.  In fact its a pretty dynamite thing to have in the fridge as an addition to so many dishes.  It keeps for a week in the fridge- if it ever lasts that long!!



This is my simple lentil soup recipe and it is a fabulous lunch or appetizer.  If you don't have any Mexican Chorizo in the fridge, feel free to eat this as it is or add some crispy bacon pieces or thin strips of pan fried salami for added texture and crunch.

RED LENTIL SOUP
WHAT YOU NEED
1 onion, chopped
2 carrots, peeled and chopped finely
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tsp. smoked paprika
1 tsp. cumin seeds
Pinch of sugar
Splash of red wine or balsamic vinegar
400 g crushed tomatoes
150 g red lentils
500 ml chicken stock
Salt and Black Pepper

WHAT YOU DO
Fry the onion, carrot and garlic in a pan until starting to soften.  Add everything else and simmer gently for 30 minutes.  Allow to cool a little and blend the soup till smooth- add a little more stock if it's too thick.  Place it back in the pan adding salt and pepper to taste (lots of pepper works perfectly in this soup).  Heat the soup back up when ready to serve.

Before serving sprinkle with the crispy Chorizo pieces and a little parsley.

This soup freezes wonderfully and is a welcome, warming back up when the days are cold and busy.

Handful of fresh sage leaves, chopped finely into strips
1 tablespoon sea salt and a good grind of black pepper.
50 g butter

Does Offal scare you?  Would you cook with it?


I am rather quite fond of all unloved animal parts and I recently worked with TELUS Optik™ to share a little bit of my offal love;

WHAT I MADE

* Pan fried lambs liver with pear and rocket

Trim the liver and cut thinly on the diagonal.  Coat each slice in a mixture of flour, salt, pepper and a little English mustard powder.  Heat a frying pan with a little butter and oil till hot.  Pan fry quickly till golden on the outside and pink in the middle (a minute on each side should do it).  Cut a pear into thin slices and skewer a piece of pear with a few rocket leaves and the liver onto a cocktail stick.

* Lemon, olive oil and red onion beef heart skewers

Trim the heart well, removing all of the fat around the top and the strings from the inside.  Cut into thin strips and marinade overnight in olive oil, lemon juice and a thinly sliced red onion.  Seal the bag and leave in the fridge overnight- this process will start to break down the tough connective tissues of the heart to give you a tender finish when cooked.  The day after, snake the heart onto bamboo skewers that have been soaked in water to prevent burning.  Heat a large frying pan and add a little butter and oil.  Fry quickly until golden on the outside.  Sprinkle with a little chopped parsley and enjoy.  This is a great appetizer and a great talking point for any party!

* Sherry fried lambs kidneys

If the kidney has a whitish skin around it simply cut a small nick and using your fingers push under the skin and remove it.  To allow even cooking throughout, butterfly the kidney.  Place it on your board and place your hand flat over the top of it.  Keeping your knife parallel with the board cut into the kidney half way up.  Cut through till you get about 3/4 of the way through.  Open up the kidney, like a book and its ready to be fried in a hot pan with a little butter and oil.  Cook until golden on the outside and deliciously pink in the middle.  Remove from the pan and add a little more butter then slosh a good helping of sherry in and deglaze the pan.  Drizzle the sherry and butter sauce over the kidney and sprinkled with some chopped parsley.
  

TIPS FOR BUYING OFFAL

• Ask your butcher ahead of time to ensure that they can get you fresh offal for when you need it
• If you are unsure of trimming the offal ask your butcher and explain what you plan to do with it so they can cut it just as you need it
• Avoid frozen offal if you can.  The texture of liver can change quite dramatically after freezing and can become almost mushy.  Look for smooth, wet looking offal with a nice deep colour.

Prices at Acme Meat Market; Beef heart is $8.70/kg & Lamb liver/Kidneys are $12.99/kg.



So give offal a chance, it's cheap, healthy and super tasty!