Weightloss Journey part 1

Hey everyone !!

I've been on a diet for about a week now.

It was difficult to get the motivation and really start focusing on myself.

For the record, i'm not eating everything that i'm making :)
The recipes you usually see on my blog are what I make at home for the rest of my family.

So in this post i'll just share what i'm doing to loose weight and what i'm eating on a day to day bases.

I started off with detoxyfying water.
I drank this for about 4 days (made it twice)
Its easy to make and really refreshing.

Less than 10 calories per serving.

To make this You'll need:

1 litre of water

1 medium sized Cucumber sliced

1 lemon , sliced

a handful of Mint leaves

1/2 piece of ginger, grated

Mix everything together in a jug and leave overnight in the fridge. Start consuming the water from next day.

Adding more water to fill it up.

Use this for 2 days than replace with new vegetables.

Image Source : Google

Apart from this, i'm eating 2 tablespoons of aloevera gel everyday, 1 tbsp empty stomach before breakfast and 1 tbsp at night. Aloe Vera has amazing properties, it increases our metabolism so it helps in loosing weight, cleans out our bowels (its a laxative) and its so good for skin and hair as well. 

My aunt has an aloe vera plant in her garden, she sends me a big leaf every 3 or 4 days.

Just peel the green part of the leaf and take out about a tablespoon of the gel, roughly chop it (as its a bit hard), and gulp it down with a little water. I didnt like the taste at first, but i've kind of gotten used to it.

Image Source: Google

I'm also drinking apple cider vinegar. There are a lot of health benefits of this vinegar as well.

Just dont drink it straight from the bottle. Dilute 1 tbsp in 1/2 cup of water. Drink this 30 minutes before every meal.

I'm doing this before lunch and dinner.

I've changed my salt intake from regular salt to low sodium salt. Even this i'm using in very small amounts.

Lipton Green tea with lemon : 0 calories

Boiled Egg : 155 calories

For breakfast i'm usually have 1 hard boiled egg, without salt. And a cup of green tea.

I'm not really a breakfast person, so i'm usually skipping this meal.

For snacking during the day, i eat 1 medium sized apple (78 calories) or cucumber (47 calories)

For lunch and dinner, i usually have salads or daal or chicken grilled or baked. I'm learning low fat recipes as i go along with this.

Sharing a few recipes:

Vegetable Salad : 111 calories

Raw Vegetable Salad:

Ingrediants:

1 medium sized cucumber

1 carrot

1 onion

1/2 beetroot

1 small tomato

a pinch of salt

juice of 1/2 lemon

Dice all the vegetables. Mix together and add salt and lemon juice.

These quantities make a large bowl of the salad. The calorie count given is according to the quantity given. And its actually quite filling.

Vegetable Salad with Apples : 152 calories

You can make a whole different varieties of salad.

In the above pictured salad, i've left out the beetroot and added 1 exta-small or half of a medium apple and 2 lettuce leaves.

Grilled Chicken.

Each piece :125 calories.

To cut back on the calories i divided 2 chicken breast fillets into 4 portions, which i'd be using in 4 seperate meals.

1 breast fillet is about 250 calories, and when you half it, its about 125 calories.

Chicken with sauce : 236 calories
Baked Onion Rings : 154 calories

Ingrediants:

(For marination)

1/2 Fillet of chicken breast

1 tbsp soy sauce

1 tsp of BBQ sauce

a pinch of salt and black pepper 

(for the sauce)

1/2 tbsp of flour

1/4 cup chicken stock

2-3 tbsp of low fat milk

a pinch of salt and pepper

a pinch of italian seasoning

(for Onion Rings)

1 large white onion

1/4 cup of low fat buttermilk

 1/2 egg

salt and pepper

2 tbsp of bread crumbs

Marinate chicken for about 1 hour, than grill in a tsp of olive oil.

Take out when done.

In the same pan add 1/2 tbsp of flour, cook for a minute than add chicken stock, milk and seasoning. Cook till thick and saucy. If its lumpy, pass it through a sieve.

Pour over the chicken.

Slice onions in thick rings. 

Beat together Egg and milk, salt and pepper.

Dip the onions in the milk mixture for 30 minutes.

Than coat in bread crumbs and bake for about 15-18 minutes.

LOW FAT PIZZA:

497 Calories for 2 serving.
1 serving : 248.5 calories

I know its not easy to let go of the junk that we used to put in our mouths.

I love homemade pizza, but its so high in calories :(

so today i came up with a low fat version of this delicious 'junk' food.

I know what you're thinking, that its not possible. But it is !!

Low Fat Pizza

Ingrediants:

(for the dough)

8 tbsp of Flour 

1/2 of yeast

1/2 tsp of sugar

a pinch of salt

(for the sauce)

1 small onion diced

1/4 cup of tomato puree

1 tbsp of tomato ketchup

2 cloved of garlic

a pinch of salt and black pepper

1 pinch of dried oregano and thyme

(For topping)

Chicken 50 grams

1/2 capsicum

1 medium onion

1 tbsp of shredded cheese (i used mozzarella)

For the dough

Mix yeast and sugar in 3-4 tsp of warm water.

Than add to the flour and salt to make a soft dough. add more warm water as needed.

Leave to rise for an hour.

For the sauce

Add all the ingrediants for the sauce in a pan with 1/2 cup of water. Cook till thick and saucy. Leave to cool

cut chicken in small chunks, add to a frying pan without any oil. Add salt and pepper, Move around till it cooks. Remove and leave to cool.

To assemble the pizza. spead the dough on butter paper, place the butter paper on a cookie sheet.

Spread sauce, chicken, Onion and capsicum.

Sprinkle with cheese and oregano. Bake for 20 minutes.

You can add more cheese if you like, but it would increase the calorie count.

Take out and Enjoy !

This whole pizza is of 497 calories. and this serves 2 people!

So for 1 serving its only 248.4 calories !!

Man oh man, i'm hyperventilating here :D

haha :D

To cut more calories you can just make it a vege pizza and skip the chicken.

Thats it for today.

I hope i havent bored you with such a big post.

I'll be sharing my weightloss journey with you guys every week.

and more not-so-healthy recipes for the people who are fortunate enough that they dont gain weight :)

See you !

Love xx

Calzone

Calzone originated from Italy. It is shaped like a semicircle, with the dough folded over and stuffed with ingredients common to pizza.

Remember the Mughlai Malai Chicken recipe that i posted yesterday? I used the same chicken in the filling for this !

This recipe yields 2 Calzones.

So for my version of the Calzone, you'll need,

(For the dough)

2 1/2 cups of All purpose Flour

1/2 tsp of Salt

3 tbsp of Oil

2 tbsp of Yeast

1 tbsp of Sugar

(For the Sauce)

2-3 large Tomatoes

1 Onion finely diced.

1 tsp of freshly crushed Garlic

3-4 tbsp of Tomato ketchup

Salt to taste

1 1/2 tsp of Red chili flakes (adjust according to taste)

1/2 tsp of Oregano

1/2 tsp of Thyme

(For the Filling)

1 cup of Any type of prepared chicken (I used Mughlai Malai Chicken)

2 large Capsicum diced

1 large tomato diced

1 large Onion diced

1 cup of Mozzarella Cheese shredded

1/2 cup of Cheddar cheese 

Method :

(For the Dough)

Mix Yeast and Sugar with 4-5 tbsp of warm water. Place it in a water bath (Boil water, turn off heat and place this glass in the water) Leave to froth for 5-6 minutes.

Mix flour, salt, oil and the yeast sugar mixture to make a soft dough. 

Add warm water if needed.

Leave to rise for 1 hour.

(For the Sauce)

Blend tomatoes with a little bit of water. Keep aside.

Heat 2 tbsp of oil in a sauce pan. Add onion, cook till transparent.

Add freshly crushed garlic, cook till fragrant.

Add purred tomatoes...

...salt, red chili flakes, oregano, sugar and a little water.

When a little thick, add thyme.

Cook till saucy and thick.

Leave to cool.

(To Assemble)

Knead the dough a little, divide the dough in half. Roll out 1 half and place it on the baking tray in a circle.

Do the same with the other half, placing it on the other sheet. Leave for 20-30 minutes to rise.

Add the sauce , chicken, vegetables and cheeses on one side only.

Fold it over. I used butter paper underneath it, to lift it, as i baked both of these in the same tray.

Pinch in the sides so that the filling does not leak out. Make 2-3 indentations on the top.

I baked both of these together on a cookie sheet :D

Bake for 15-20 minutes in a preheated oven at 200 degree centigrade.

Enjoy !! 

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Chicken Tikka Pizza

I know, i'm posting after 5 days, i was going through a cooking block or something. I had recipes in my head, i wanted to make stuff but just couldnt get myself to do it (i know, i dont understand it either)
Anyways, we decided to have pizza for Sehri last night :D
I will just tell you the amount of ingredients that i used, you can adjust accordingly.
This recipe makes 2 large thin crust pizzas or 2 regular deep pan pizzas

Ingredients :
(For the Dough)
Flour : 28 tbsp
Milk : 6 tbsp
Oil : 3 tbsp
Salt : 1/4 tsp
Yeast : 4 tsp
Sugar : 4 tsp

(For the Sauce)
Tomatoes : 2-3 large
Onion : 1 diced
Garlic : 3-4 cloves
Tomato ketchup : 3-4 tbsp
Salt : to taste
Red chili flakes : 1 tbsp
Oregano : 1 tsp
Thyme : 1 tsp
Sugar : 1 tbsp

(For the Topping)
Chicken : 1 breast fillet cubed
Yogurt : 3 tbsp
Shan tikka masala : 1 tbsp
Salt : to adjust
Red chili powder : 1 tsp to kick up the heat !

Capsicum : 1 large or 2 medium
Onion : 1 large
Cheddar Cheese : to your own preference
Mozzarella Cheese : to your own preference

Method :

(For the Dough)

Mix yeast and sugar with 4-5 tbsp of lukewarm water. Place it in a hot water bath (boil water, turn off the heat and place this glass in the water) Leave to 2-3 minutes to froth.

 Mix everything with the flour, knead with warm water to make a soft dough.

Leave to rise for 1-1.5 hour

(For the Sauce)

Blend tomatoes with a small amount of water. Keep aside.

Heat a little oil in a pan, Add onion. Cook till transparent.

Add crushed garlic. Cook till fragrant.

Add pureed tomatoes,

...tomato ketchup, salt, red chili flakes, sugar, oregano..

..Thyme. And a little water. 

Cook on low flame till thick. Leave to cool.

(For the Topping)

Slice onions and capsicum. Keep aside.

Marinate chicken with yogurt, Shan tikka masala, red chili powder, salt.

Stir fry in 2-3 tbsp of oil.

Meanwhile heat a piece of coal.

When the chicken is done place the coal in the middle on a piece of bread or onion skin. Pour 2 drops of oil on the coal and cover.

(To Assemble)

Flatten the dough on a greased pizza pan. Spread the sauce.

Mozzarella...

..chicken, capsicum, onions and cheddar cheese. Sprinkle with oregano.

Bake in a preheated oven at 180 for 20-25 minutes.

Enjoy!