----------------------ABU DHABI----------------------

Friday, January 25

Snacks and Dishes from this Week

Sliced Carrots with Hummus Dip
BabyBell Low-fat Cheese with Walnuts
Minted Sweet Peas
Scrambled Eggs with Tuna

Wednesday, January 23

3 Dishes included in my Diet

Chicken on a Bed of Veggies
Herbed Sauteed Chicken
Fattoush Salad
Images taken by phone, sorry if its not clear!

Thursday, January 17

Vegetable Soup

I know I have not updated in a while, its only because I don't have any new recipes that Ive made over the last few days! I have been eating dishes that can be found within my blog in the soups and salads section.

To be honest, I'm so drained of energy from the Gym and College...Not to mention the Cats and their need for affection 24 hrs a day, oh yeah, AND my husband...lol...Phew! My coffee no longer works as effectively as it should to wake me up. On top of all this I haven't lost anymore weight, but I know its too early to tell, but i still wish i could have lost a teeny bit more from all that running and climbing on the StairMaster and Treadmill! On top of all that "something" is wrong with my stomach. The Doctor says theres nothing wrong, but I keep getting this nauseous burning feeling and bloating in the middle of my stomach. It comes and goes in waves...I don't know what to do now that my Dr says it nothing! Drinking laban or eating yogurt seems to help, but that's not a solution.All I want to eat is cereal and milky stuff because of it, and that makes my blog suffer too!...I just hope it goes away!


I made Vegetable Soup 2 days ago for dinner but did not take pictures, so below you'll find a link to a similar recipe to the one I made. Try it out! Its delicious!

http://www.myhomecooking.net/soup-recipes/vegetable-soup-recipe.htm



And.....Here is the cereal I eat for breakfast and sometimes dinner too. It doesnt need anything added to it but milk, unlike cornflakes that I always have to sweeten myself. It is VERY good!
http://www.kashi.com/products/organic_promise_cereal_strawberry_fields

Thursday, January 10

Sultana's Beef and Bean Soup



This soup is perfect for a quick lunch or dinner dish by itself or with some cornbread, shredded cheese and sour cream or just add noodles to it!
It is VERY versatile, you could add spices to it, thicken it like a chili, add any other ingredients you'd like with it, for example veggies or noodles,etc...
Sultana's Beef and Bean Soup
1/2 kilo beef/lamb mince
2 400g cans of diced/stewed/whole tomatoes
2 400g cans of ANY beans you like (I've used butter beans)
1 lrg yellow onion sliced thin
2 tsp OR as much diced garlic as you like
600ml chicken stock
1/2 cup diced fresh parsley
1 tbs Worcestershire sauce
1 tbs Tabasco sauce
Brown the meat and then add to it the onion and garlic, cook for 5 more minutes then add tomatoes, cook for 5 more minutes, then add stock, sauces, boil softly, covered, for 20 minutes, uncover and add parsley and beans, cook on a soft boil for 5 more minutes then take off heat. Taste for salt and add more Tabasco sauce for a spicier taste.
Enjoy!

Wednesday, January 9

Diet Diary

My Diet Diary over the last few days

Kilos lost-2!
Total hours spent in Gym-8
Number of times my toes went dumb from the Ski machine-4
Time spent "running" on the treadmill in one session-5 minutes
Time spent on the treadmill in one session- 2o-30 minutes
Amount of time it took before i thought about giving up- 3 minutes
Total amount of time since the Diet started- 7 days


Over this week I have eaten is various Soups and Veggie salad, Orange juice,Water,Coffee,Yellow cheese and cornflakes, and halloumi with bell peppers. THAT'S IT...

I can honestly say I have given "my all" in the Gym this week...I'm doing treadmill,2 different "ski machines", bicycle, crunches with and w/out machines help, 3 different leg machines, arm and chest weights, and leg exercises w/out machine. I spend 2 hours a day in the gym 5 days a week...I have lost 2 kilos in 7 days... I know its probably water, but hey, its 2 kilos!

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If anyone else out there is going through the same thing as me, all i can say is:

-When you think you cant give more to an exercise, add one more minute to your exercise.

-PUSH YOURSELF.

-Look at your weight loss weekly, not monthly. Set a 5 kilos weekly weight loss MAX work your butt off for that 5 kilo goal!

Saturday, January 5

Sultana's Palate is going on a Diet




YES! A Diet!

Not the kind of diet where all you eat is chocolate shakes or crackers, but "a good food" diet.

I have a diet plan based "a little bit" on the South beach diet, but basically just good instinct on what works for me.

Below you'll find the diet plan and above 2 meals that Ive had since starting.

The Tuna and Egg is simply Tuna in a can fried in its own oil with a diced tomato and a tsp of cumin powder and a pinch of red pepper flakes and fresh coriander(optional). After the tuna, just throw some beat eggs into the same pan and till scrambled. Eat this with pita bread and fresh sliced tomato or alone if you like.

The salad recipe is simply:
1 bell pepper diced
1 tomato diced(take out seeds)
1 cucumber sliced in four length ways and diced
1/2 yellow onion diced
1/2 cup white vinegar
1/2 cup diced fresh coriander
1 can of chick peas

Mix all together and eat alone or with some low fat soft salty white cheese sprinkled on top.


These two dishes are fast easy and filling!




The Diet Plan

*i am in no way qualified to give nutritional advice to anyone! I eat and do what I think is best for me and what Ive found works for me. If you are looking for a nutritionsit please find a qualified one!

Breakfast:

*Drinks: Coffee, green tea, low fat milk, normal tea and milk, juices (no sugar added) *Foods: Oatmeal, cornflakes, eggs and spinach, egg omelet with tomatoes, or Fool (cooked, smashed fava beans)with Arabic bread and homemade orange juice.

You can use store bought juice but make sure the ingredients says “NO SUGAR ADDED.”

Lunch:

Salad First! Then, Soup (based with tomato or broth) or Vegetables, Then meat or fish dish.
DRINK ONE GLASS OF WATER!

*Salad: Arabic salad, Fattoush, any salad you like but NOT a lot of dressing with cream or mayonnaise in it. Use apple cider vinegar and olive oil and Italian salad dressings more, also, hummus works as a delicious topping on Arabic salad! You can also make only a salad as your lunch with cut chicken in it or tuna too (protein in meat is important for lunch), serve it with a bowl of soup. You can also have Waraq Ainab(grape leaves stuffed).

*Soups: vegetable soup, spicy tom yum soup, chicken soup, cabbage soup, no cream based soups!

*Vegetables: Any veggies you like cooked in a healthy way!

*Meat: Tuna Fish, Salmon Fish, Chicken breasts without skin, Beef or Lamb without a lot of fat (called LEAN meat), shrimp. NO processed meats like hot dog, frozen kebab in packets… Cook your meat by grilling or baking or gently frying in olive oil or boiling in water or sauce.

Do not fry your meat in yellow oil or butter! You can use olive oil to fry it gently. No Deep frying food.

Snacks:
“3 cow” cheese slices, cucumber sliced thin with low fat white cheese wrapped inside, tomatoes with halloumi cheese and sautéed bell pepper slices, nuts of your choice(not a lot) Fresh fruits like grapefruit, watermelon, oranges, apples, cherries, and many others and you can eat with a bit of natural honey if you like. Carrots dipped in hummus.

Don’t eat a lot of bananas, pears, peaches, mangos, fruit with lots of sugars, dates with syrup in it.



Dinner:

Dinner should be lighter than lunch. Try to avoid eating after 8 pm. If you feel hungry after dinner then drink a glass of water then wait 10 minutes, if you’re still hungry you can have any of the foods listed under “Snacks”.
Drink one glass of water!

Soup: as above.
Salad: as above.
Meat: as above
Vegetable: as above.


Extra Stuff:

To clean out your body from “the bad stuff” and give weight loss a jump start you can:

-Drink 1 tsp of honey mixed with a glass of warm water in the morning after breakfast

-Drink a glass of warm water mixed with 1 tsp honey and 1 tsp lemon juice also after breakfast