Day 36 - the end!

Well, my medium rare steak at http://www.bonappetit-dundee.com/ was perfect! The moules Marseillaise were also tasty (pastis, cream and prawns) and the dessert - look at it. no words required. I may regret the half bottle of Corbieres tomorrow morning but you know what? A life without regrets is a life half lived - isn't that a saying?

Day 35 - V Day minus 1!

And so the challenge ends! Pasta with peppers and a Loyd Grossman sauce.  We're off out for steak tomorrow and I can't wait!  I've loved the challenge and would recommend it to anyone but don't think I'll ever be a full time vegetarian - I like meat too much and I think it's important to keep buying welfare friendly meats, and supporting local farmers.  I have to admit I'm looking forward to my next trip to the farmers market, and may well take myself off to the new farm shop at St Andrews once we get into spring. 

Day 34 - last weigh in of the challenge...

...and my weight's unchanged since this time last week!  I'm actually quite pleased about this as I only managed one zumba class, we had a buffet at work on Friday, and yesterday we had dinner at a friend's house - spag bol with garlic bread, a beer, and a magnum.
Tonight's dinner was another one for the 'do this again' list - vegeree. That's a kedgeree type of thing with roast aubergine and courgette instead of smoked fish.  

Day 33 - the next challenge?

So today's Friday, and Tuesday is the day we go out for steak so only 3 more days of the current challenge to go, and we'll probably eat out tomorrow as we're going to Edinburgh to see Avenue Q at the Playhouse. I do think it's helped me stay on track with the weight loss so I've been considering another challenge. Handily, we've been invited to a wedding just after Easter, and I bought a dress last year to lose weight into, so there it is - the next challenge!
Here's the dress:

I can get into it, but another 1/2 stone to stone will make it hang a lot better, which is definitely achievable. Don't think I'll blog the next one but it will be interesting to see what the reintroduction of meat does to the weight.

Day 32 - cake!

Obviously that's not dinner!  It's a chocolate cake for tomorrow's Mexican(ish) buffet at work.  Dinner was mushrooms and orzo pasta.  This not eating meat business has made me realise how much I enjoy a well cooked mushroom.  They definitely have to be cooked long enough for the liquid to evaporate off and for them start to caramelise around the edges.  I really can't get my head around the idea of eating raw mushrooms - weird texture and hardly any flavour!

Day 31 - feast of orange

This is Mr C's second go at making carrot and chickpea pockets - the orange in it goes really well the carrots and it's quite spicy so it definitely needs creme fraiche.
Slight hitch on the Valentine's day meat eating plan  - the restaurant we'd planned on visiting for a steak has closed!  So decision time - do we go home made or find a different restaurant?

Day 30 - soup

This is a South American soup with squash, sweetcorn, black eyed peas and French beans, flavoured with oregano and smoked paprika.  It was a bit runny but very healthy. Apart from the arepas I made to go with it, which are like a South American griddle cake made with cornmeal and pan fried.