Baldur

I had mentioned my weight reduction diet several weeks ago.
Things are going slowly but my new weight is 40 pounds below where I started. My waist size has also shrunk by 4 inches.
Having kept some trousers that I'd outgrown was rather helpful but even those are a bit baggy on me now.

We can call this the 'amazing oatmeal diet', though certainly there have been many other changes in how I eat.
Each day begins with a whole cup of old fashioned oats cooked for 5 minutes in 3 cups of water. When it is ready stir in 2 tablespoons of ground flax seed meal, 2 tablespoons of Brewer's yeast and enough ground cinnamon to help cover the taste of the Brewer's yeast.
This makes quite a lot of oatmeal (2 very large bowls) but Baldur eats it all and it gets me thru the day.
In the afternoon I might have a piece of fruit, but my snacking has been greatly reduced.
For supper I can eat anything I feel like, but only after having a very large salad with a 'light' dressing. Generally it's mostly protein as I've no room for carbohydrates by then.

Hazer

Bravo Baldur...that takes a lot of discipline.

Qsilv

Q, who tends to live on protein and veggies (mostly green ones), is seriously intrigued. Would you please tell us what all goes into the salad melange?

Baldur

For my evening salad the proportions are as follows:

the equivalent of 1/3 of an iceberg lettuce, I use other greens such as spinach. dandelion, romaine etc, but aim for that amount in total.

1/2 cup of sliced cucumber

1 medium ripe tomato, or a sliced navel orange if the tomates are not appealing

a small handful of nuts or hulled seeds

aditional veggies such as radishes, shredded carrot, sliced raw apple or pear (truly not veggies), slightly steamed brocolli

a small amount of dressing
recipe to follow

Baldur

My standard salad dressing is made in this manner:

In a jar combine equal amounts of water, olive oil and vinegar.
The vinegar may be balsamic, red wine, cider, malt or white... it really is up to your personal taste.
I suppose another type of oil can be used as well but I prefer olive oil.

To the above you can add any of the following, in whatever cxombination you find interesting:

1 tablespoon of prepared dijon mustard
a smashed clove of garlic

fresh or dried herbs such as:
parsley
oregano
chives
rosemary (pulverized)
thyme
marjoram
basil.... lots of basil

you can also add
lemon or orange rind
minced sundried tomatoes
minced raw or dried onion
hot red pepper flakes

Black pepper, I try to go without added salt
**********
This week my dressing is rather Greek in flavor, it was made with white vinegar, water, olive oil, garlic, lemon rind, oregano, black pepper and marjoram

Baldur

cxombination - x = combination

Dragon

Do you cook the garlic at all before putting it in the dressing or just go for it raw?

Sounds delicious and deceptively simple, the sort of thing you could put on the table at a dinner party and everyone would be very impressed with it and you could graciously accept all the accolades while secretly thinking how easy it was to make.

Baldur

I definitely go with raw garlic, though in truth the acidity of the vinegar will somewhat cook it chemically.
To take the dressing up a couple notches for company replace the water with white wine

Qsilv

Thank you! Yummmmmmy sounding, all of it. I'll be adding basil to my larder. ;>

Crunchy apple's normal enough in salad, the pear is a bit of a surprise.

I was visiting at a friend's recently and she did a thing where she roasted sliced pears for quite a while, along with onions and cabbage together in another dish (and a small pork roast nestled in there).... then pureed part of the pears, interlacing the rest of them into the casserole with the roasted stuff, and poured the puree around on it.

Sounds a bit strange but..... oh.... my.... god.... scrumptious!

Baldur

It sounds marvelous.
Try a spinach and bibb lettuce salad with sliced pears, dried sweetened cranberries, toasted walnut halves, blue cheese and a mustard viniagrette

Qsilv

...er.......... nodding.... eyes sparkling. Sweet with bleu cheese....yep! Ok ok I know we're not supposed to get into the sinful side here but.... have you ever tried adding just a few sprinkles of strong bleu cheese onto one of those insanely rich sauces they pour over bread pudding or mincemeat pie??

Baldur

No, but then I'd want to add apples to the bread pudding too.

Heavens, I'm thinking about desserts..... very bad

I am having Banana Bread pudding with caramel sauce next time I am in Provincetown on Cape Cod. There is a restaurant there called Bayside Betsy's that makes it quite sinfully.
There is no point going to the Cape if one doesn't get the bread pudding.

Qsilv

If one is saintly enough, enough of the time, one's system is astoundingly forgiving of the occasional HUGE sin. Trust me on this one. ;>

Baldur

I'm perfectly willing to fast for the following 2 weeks if need be

Baldur

Actually on the subject of bread pudding there is a restaurant called the Gumbo Shop in New Orleans French Quarter that takes a slab of bread pudding, sprinkles it with brown sugar and places it under the broiler until caramelized. Then they pour a bourbon custard sauce over it.

I had eaten dinner there with no intention of even asking about dessert.
Then I saw the waiter walk by carrying a bread pudding to another table.
Sigh

Qsilv

(note the echo of the sigh.................... been there................)

Dragon

We have a fantastic restaraunt here called The Blue Dragon which serves Thai/Khmer style food. The entrees are amazing themselves, the Won Ton soup is definitely the best I've ever had which is saying something as I'm a bit of a Won Ton connasuer (I know I've spelled that totally wrong). However, it's worth going there just for the dessert alone. Our favorite is the mango cheese cake. I know you're saying what's so special about that but let me tell you a little about it. First they take a patty of deep fried sweet sticky rice, then they pipe the mango cheesecake on top of it (it's about the consistancy of soft serve ice cream and is wonderfully creamy) then another sticky rice patty then more cheesecake then they drizzle it liberally with pineapple coulee and put a sprig of fresh mint in the top for garnish. We always insure we have room for dessert.

polenta

My Good Lord!!!! 40 pounds is almost 20 kilos. It's a lot!!!!!!!!!!!
Congratulations!!!!!!!!
Was this diet prescribed to you by a nutrician or dietician?

polenta

What do you do when you are hungry or willing something tastier?

Baldur

Hello polenta,
I started this diet on my own. The hardest part is remaining determined to only eat things that I should.
If I really must snack I will make myself eat some fruit, though this afternoon I did have a bowl of cooked chickpeas marinated in a little olive oil, vinegar and herbs with hot red pepper flakes.
One thing that seems to work when I am very hungry is to eat something extremely spicy and hot.

Also please let me correct your question for you; I realize you want to know when your grammar is a bit off.
It should have been worded this way:
'What do you do when you are hungry or want something tastier?'
That is how it would most commonly be said in the USA, though the following version:
'What do you do when you are hungry or wanting something tastier?'