Friday 12 June 2020

Living on a Box - Day One


Day One

Breakfast - Yoghurt, 2/3 Banana, Almonds and Peanut Butter

As yoghurt and almond milk both need to be used up within around five days of opening, I have decided that I will open one of them at a time, so ... this week will be yoghurt week and next week will be cereal and milk week.


I realised that the bananas (when peeled) weighed  much more than the 80g required for one my five a day so I could save a third of each of my two bananas when I peel them to use, and pop the extra piece into the freezer.  Then next week for one of my breakfasts I can make myself a nice smoothie using frozen banana, an apple and some of the spinach, and thus saving myself a slice of bread.

I decided to slightly whiz up the almonds that I need for the first of this weeks breakfasts.  Using 20g a day which seemingly is the recommended serving size  I have enough for ten days of almonds to add to my breakfasts.   (Gosh Google is coming in handy with all this planning.)   So in the interests of balance, I will split that into five days of almonds for each week.  For the four days that I will be eating yogurt and fruit this week I will used the slightly whizzed nuts sprinkled on top and on the toast and peanut butter day I will eat the almonds as they are.

An interesting fact - most almonds weigh exactly 1g each  😃


Lunch - Sausage Bun with onion, one of my tomatoes and a few cucumber slices.
And as always a black coffee.


I thought I would need two sausages but when I opened the pack they were big fat sausages, so I just used one and sliced it into quarters lengthways when it was cooked.  It was perfectly adequate with my salady nibbles for a good lunch after a morning in the polytunnel.


Dinner - Chilli Mince and Baby Potatoes

Gosh this was delicious, a lovely rounded flavour with all the added extras, not hot at all as I am not keen on hot chilli, but just enough chilli flakes to give it a bit of flavour.  As I hadn't got any spare tomatoes or tomato   puree to put into this I use a huge squirt of tomato ketchup and it worked a treat to balance out the flavours.



I had tipped all the Baby potatoes out to make sure they were all in good condition, they were.  So I chose to use the smallest first and they were chopped in half and boiled to go with the Chilli mince.


My eyes were obviously bigger than my belly, and I had leftovers ... so I have yet again changed the menu plan so that I can use these up tomorrow.

As you can already see the menu is morphing significantly away from my first scribblings.  I decided I should use most of the fresh ingredients first, so although this meal was going to be Chilli with Cous Cous, I thought using some of my Baby Potatoes would be a better idea.  A lot of my fresh ingredients will be batch cooked this week into meals for both this week and next. 

 I will include any recipes on the day that I make them.

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Chilli Mince


1 Pack - The Meatless Farm Co Meat Free Mince
2 onions, peeled and chopped
2 carrots, washed and grated
1 Vegan Savoury Stock Pot
Squirt Tomato Ketchup
1 tsp Garlic Granules
1 tsp Chilli Flakes
Salt and Pepper


Follow the cooking instructions on the mince packet.
Add all the other ingredients, along with enough boiling water to cover nicely

Bring to the boil and then simmer for an hour, stirring a couple of times.  Add more water if it looks too dry.


Taste to check seasoning.


Serve, or cool and freeze in portion sized tubs.

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The only 'trimmings' were the top and tail of the carrots, but I saved them and popped them into the freezer in case I want to make a pan of 'free soup' ... if I run out of food!!


Sue xx
📦



19 comments:

  1. My hubby loves peanut butter, me not so much but thank goodness as my peanut allergy has definitely become more severe as I've grown older. I miss peanuts themselves as I loved them!

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    1. You have to be so careful with a peanut allergy ☹️ Have you tried the new Seed butters that are available?

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    2. I have. As I say I'm not a fan of peanut butter anyway but I love peanuts. I'm ok with other nuts though so can't complain.

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  2. That mince was delicious, something I'll definitely get again. I seem to pick up something new from each Challenge I do :-)

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  3. I sympathise with VC. I used to eat LOADS of peanut butter, it was considered a main foodgroup in it’s own right, but after an ill-advised course of steroids* I realised I had developed a slight allergy. The tell-tale “tingly lips” after eating it and feeling like I had a “trout pout” mouth. Not wishing to push my immune system to the point where it got more hysterical over peanuts than that, I gave up my beloved p/butter 😢. I’m OK now with a cereal/nut bar that has a few peanuts but would not dare eat a big handful like I used to.

    * As i understand it, steroids mess up your digestion and can cause leaky gut where proteins that haven’t been completely digested get into the blood stream. The body sees these proteins as a threat, and kicks off an immune response. Left unchecked, this can develop into the massive immune reaction that is so dangerous and can cause anaphylactic shock.

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    1. Gosh you do need to be careful then. Allergies are scary things :-(

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  4. Just catching up on the first few posts of this challenge, the chilli mince looks good with potatoes. Can I ask what the meatless mince is made out of please? I am now craving peanut butter. I haven't eaten any for some months, think I will go back to having some. Helen S.

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    1. The mince is made with pea and soya protein - https://meatlessfarm.com/our-products/fresh-plant-based-mince/

      Peanut butter is addictive isn't it once you start eating it it's hard to stop :-)

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    2. Oe abut butter calls to me from the cupboard! I rarely eat it as part of a meal but curiously the contents of the jar go down just the same!

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    3. PEANUT butter, I meant

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    4. As Alan doesn't eat peanut butter, it's all mine ... which means I can stick my finger in the jar anytime 😄

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  5. Great start Sue. The chilli look and sounds delicious.

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    1. It really is. I think I'll make myself a Shepherds Pie with one of the other portions 😃

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  6. I love your challenges. Only just discovered that you'd started a new one. What a great idea.

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  7. You are off to a great start on this challenge.

    God bless.

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    1. It's took some menu planning and alterations but we're off now 😄

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  8. I never finish a large tub of yogurt in five days, lol. I just open it, stir it up and resume use. If it's Greek type, just do the same. As I told my kids, it's sour to begin with.

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    1. You do have to be a bit careful with yoghurt, especially if it's a dairy version. My Mum was seriously ill after eating some yoghurt that had been opened for over a week. But as with anything else use your common-sense.

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