Finally, my scale moved downward again today! And that besides me feeling rather bloated. I am still higher than my October starting weight though (by less then a pound, so it is not toooo bad).
I used that positive energy from the scale to head out for a run for the first time since the beginning of August. It felt great, but also tiring. I definitely lost some stamina. Helen, I think you are a faster runner now than me! I just seem not to be able to run fast.
But am very happy with myself. Yesterday I walked 4 miles in the wonderful autumn sunshine and today I went for a 30 minutes run. So this is a good exercise weekend.
Now I am going to pick up the book a friend gave me yesterday and read that for an hour as my weekend challenge! Thanks for that Lisa, I tend to just waste time a lot on weekends, but thanks to your challenge, I am now making an effort to do something that I know I will enjoy!
QOTD:
It's not a soup as such, but an Indian dal. I make it thinner than the recipe calls for and eat it as a soup:
Tarka Dal (Recipe from Foolproof Indian Cookery by Madhur Jaffrey)
75 g (3 oz) yellow split peas (skinned mung dal)
75 g (3 oz) split red lentils (masoor dal)
I often use just red lentils and just realised that I never have had split ones...
1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
900 ml (1.5 pints) water
1 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoon olive or groundnut oil (this is where I change the recipe, it works well with just 2 teaspoons of oil, I have even done it with only one teaspoon)
1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds (I love cumin, so I use more)
2 hot dried red chillies
1 garlic clove, lightly crushed but left whole, then peeled
Wash the peas and lentils in water, drain. Put peas and lentils, water and tumeric in a pot, bring to the boil. Be careful, it can easily boil over and the water is very yellow thanks to the turmeric. Turn heat down when it starts boiling, partly cover the pot and let simmer gently for 40-45 minutes until the peas and lentils are very soft. The add the salt, turn off the heat and cover the pot.
Put the oil in a small frying pan (I use a non-stick pan) and set over a medium-high heat. When the oil is hot, add the cumin seeds, the chillies and the garlic. When the garlic has browned lightly (also watch the state of the cumin seeds you don't want them to burn, just be nicely toasted), quickly add the oil with the spices to the pot with the dal, immediately put the lid back on and let it trap the aromas for a few minutes.
The chilies do add a lot of spice, so if you don't like your food hot, use only one. I also find that they burn easily and that is not good either, so sometimes I take them out earlier.
I eat the soup with yoghurt. One of my favourite winter meals!
And now I go and post it over in the recipe thread!!