Thai meatballs

So, day 2 of my low-carb diet. I've just got over the headache from hell (caffeine and sugar withdrawal) and the nausea and thinking this may just work - again !

Last night was something quick and easy after work - baked salmon topped with pesto. Yum.

Tonight I did an old low-carb favourite which all the family will eat, although son no1 did state that they were "a little bit spicy but it was an ok spicy". Son no2 ate a few mouthfuls and then just ploughed into the peanut sauce - strange child he is.

THAI MEATBALLS WITH PEANUT SAUCE

serves 4

1 small onion
1-2 cloves of garlic
1 red chilli
1 tsp each of lazy ginger and lazy lemongrass
juice of 1/2 lime
stalks from a bunch of coriander
500g pork mince
seasoning

for the sauce

1 rounded tbsp peanut butter (I used crunchy as I prefer the texture)
1 heaped tsp dessicated coconut
2 tsp tamari soy sauce
1 tsp fish sauce
juice of 1/2 lime

To make the meatballs. Put the onion, garlic, ginger, lemongrass, chilli, coriander and lime juice in a processor and whizz to a paste. Mix with the mince and season. Set aside for a few hours if possible.

Mix all the ingredients for the sauce with about a tbsp of boiling water to thin it down. Set aside to rest, it will thicken on standing so may need more water later. I have also tried mixing with some creamed coconut which is nice too.

Heat some groundnut oil in a large pan and add walnut size balls of the meatball mix to the pan and cook until brown and golden.

I served this with green beans and steamed broccoli but would be good (for those not low carbing) with rice and a large salad.

The enemy of the foodie

Dieting. How I hate that word.

Low carb, no carb, food combining, VLCD, Weight Watchers, Slimming World, Atkins, The cabbage soup diet etc etc. Need I go on ? I'm sure we've all heard of most of the above even if we've not tried them ourselves.

I have a checkered dieting history. I've tried good old fashioned calorie control, Weight Watchers, Slimming world (I GAINED weight on that one) and low carb. I've lost weight, got pregnant and gained weight then lost weight again - God bless breastfeeding. I've exercised and I've not. All to the same end, I'm the same weight now that I was 10 years ago.

So, this all has to change. I've had a few health scares recently and it's made me realise that I need to change this.

Now it's low carb for me all the way. I tried Pig to Twig, a low carb diet (sorry, WOE) last year and lost a whopping 28lbs. I went down two dress sizes and even though I fell off the wagon, I've managed to keep most of that weight off. It may be perceived as unhealthy and all the other things, but I felt full of energy. My skin looked better than it has in a long time and I lost the bloated belly.

This weekend I'm eating my last carbs for a while and I've stacked my fridge full of yummy things - all strictly forbidden on weight watchers. I've planned some fantastic meals for this week too, more of that to come.