Because NoMu makes everything yummy - cauli rice

Last night's dinner was terribly simple, but I did try my hand at cauli rice for the first time so thought I'd share that at least.

Dinner featured chicken wings with the NoMu Poultry rub (good lord this stuff is good) and I added their African rub to my homemade "smoor" (a fried tomato and onion sauce reduction for you non saffers / terribly english peeps) along with chopped chilli', salt and pepper and a whole lot of butter.

The cauli rice was really easy to do; grated fresh cauliflower heads some time back and stored the result in packets in the freezer. I took out a bag last night, nuked it in the microwave for 6 minutes, and then threw it into the pan I cooked the chicken wings in and turned the heat up. I tossed the cauli rice in the leftover juices (chicken fat and NoMu Poultry rub) and added extra rub for flavour. The "rice" had a slightly crunchy consistency, a fabulous taste and both myself and the other half thought "nutty" when eating it. All the recipes I've read for this state to add finely chopped onion and fry in coconut oil. I like things spicy, and had the chicken fat handy, so it made sense to do it the way I did. It's obviously NOT like the white starchy rice you're used to consuming, but it is really good, and it went fantastically well with the homemade smoor. Will definitely be having this again!

And just so we're clear here - this was not sponsored by NoMu in any way - I just absolutely adore their rubs, pesto mixes and grinders (their smoked salt grinder OMFG), and will always support local where I can.

NOT BUYING THE LCHF / BANTING "HYPE"?

If you, up until now, have not felt the need or urge to learn more about it, WHY THE F NOT?

No, seriously, you're doing yourself a disservice. I give you this gift in an effort to mend your erroneous ways dear interwebs voyeur - it's Sharon, my work bestie, after 6 weeks of Banting, and yes, I have her permission to post this here. We've all seen before / after photos', but this is somebody I work with and know personally, and this is a post that is not sponsored or paid for in any way shape or form.

Right, NOW are you interested? Thought so :) Sharon's done a lovely summary on her blog with all the links and resources you'd need to get started on LCHF / Banting titled "LCHF - What I'm Doing", enjoy!

ON LOVING #LCHF AND LEGAL COMFORT FOOD

It's hard to overstate how much I am loving the LCHF / Banting lifestyle. Words don't seem to quite cut it. So, instead, let me show you what I had for dinner last night.

Yes, that's right, fried bacon and avo!!! Serious comfort food just became legal, bitches! And, guess what, I was down a further 200g this morning - making my total weight loss in a week 2.6kg.

Now put down that toast and go get yourself a cheese and bacon omelette.

OMG it's ALIIIIIIIIIIIIVE!!

Yes, it's me, I'm back, and I found my old blog... so instead of starting yet another one that I don't continue with and update regularly, why, it makes sense to resuscitate this one instead don't you think ol' chaps hmmm? Hello world, how have you been? Pip pip right you are, onwards and all that ay wot wot?

I may or may not fill in the gaps of the past *ahem* few years at some stage if I feel up to it, but for now I'm using this platform for two main reasons:
1 - to keep a record of the new recipes I'm trying out
2 - to share said recipes should they work and be of interest to somebody on the same path

The path? Why, the Low Carb High Fat (LCHF) or Banting lifestyle - the new craze that seems to be infecting anybody with a social media account as far as my mouse can click!!

I'll expand on that later, plenty of time ahead :) For now, I'm all excited about this morning's kitchen experiment!!

I'm getting oh so slightly bored of scrambled eggs with cheese as breakfast - I do it because it's quick and easy and doesn't require much thought when I'm half asleep in the morning. I've seen quite a few recipes on the interwebs for LCHF / Banting breakfast "muffins" though, and decided to give them a bash this morning. I like the idea of these because they're pretty simple to do, you can make endless variations, and it's a really good way to use up leftovers in your fridge if you have the need. On top of that, they'll keep in your fridge for a week which means brekkies, or even a tasty lunchbox treat, is right at your fingertips. I'm not sure about freezing these bad boys, if anybody has done so with their own run on a similar breakfast "muffin", please let me know how it turned out post defrosting and reheating? Mine won't make it past tomorrow night, I can promise you that ;)

Okay, so first off, just two links for the sites that inspired my own attempt this morning (there are MANY variations):
Nom Nom Paleo - a very cute little site filled with interesting recipes - be aware though, not all are LCHF / Banting friendly due to it being a Paleo site.
Our Best Bites

Right, so my version! I had leftover mince in the fridge from trying out the LCHF version of spaghetti bolognaise last night - baby marrow noodles in place of the spag, so I figured why not use that! I fried it up in a pan on a high heat to reduce the liquid content, and added two grated baby marrow's to the mix along with a chopped fresh jalapeno near the end when most of the excess liquid had been cooked off.

The egg mix I used for this was 6 large eggs, about 100ml full fat milk, a teaspoon of baking powder, tabasco sauce, pepper and herbal salt (I like spicy and I like seasoning!).

I used a standard sized muffin pan that makes 12 and greased it well with butter.

Next, poured the egg mixture about a third of the way up in each well; I might use 7 eggs next time as I was *just* a tad short to make all the wells the same fill as I wanted to. Added a fork full of my mince / baby marrow mixture into each well.

Topped each one off with grated cheddar and a pinch of smoked paprika.

Popped into a preheated oven for 30 minutes at 180 celcius - the smell after 10 minutes was mouth watering, and the end result once these bad boys came out did not disappoint!!

So there you have it, my first post on LCHF / Banting kitchen fun! These are damn delicious - I've had four already and I strongly suspect another 2 will be meeting their demise shortly.... and at less than 2g carb per muffin by my reckoning, I can do so without stressing about the scale too!!

More detailed post

Is needed I think, due to my long absence. Okay, so I got a call on the 3rd of November to tell me the company is liquidating, and there is no money for me. Oddly enough, had a Kinekt / Xbox Live launch to go to for a buddy to cover, so that was my perfect opportunity to network with all buyers - feel shite that it landed up being a ME night as opposed to a web pic night as it shoulda been, but such is life. Had a few votes of confidence from friends and industry peeps which helped, but it really is the worst time of year to achive anything retail wise. Evereyone's budgets are tied up until 2011 and you're pretty muvh fucked. Still, even with those constraints, my products have done well and I'm proud of a job well done by me and even got a new customer on board which is great :)
I have no idea what will happen going forward; I'm not thrilled about what I had to do to get the financial backing - ito giving up part of "my company", but I had no choice for finance reasons and will have to manage that as I go.
Overall, I am flat broke, behind on my rent, overdue on my bills, and still loving life :) There is something about working for yourself that makes it worthwhile. I packed 67 boxes two weeks ago and was fucking crippled as an after effect for 4 days after, and I didn't care. When you know it's for YOU, it makes a difference.
Love life - Chris. The man is an absolute dream simply put. I love his family too, so bonus :)
Oh hell, you haven't had the update on mom; she passed away. I think that's about the time I stopped typing. I sometimes (but not often it must be said) feel guilty for not "feeling" more, but hey, that's the way she chose the relationship. Was cleaning out my cupboards today, and honestly, I felt more seeing a photo of Pat (Michael's mom) than my own. You choose how people feel about you more often than not.
Christmas weekend was great fun - spent Saturday wih Reen and the family with Chris, and Sunday with Chris' whole family - both were orsm fun. This eve went round to Reen's for a braai. We got there after they'd all eaten but still had a good meal and some good laughs and dicussions.
Shereen was in CT for the past week, she only got back on Friday. She saw Michael at the Spar and he gave her a wide berth. WTF. I'll never understand that shit. Thankfully, not ,my issue to comprehend, so all fine.
Learnt so much over these past few months really, and I hope I hang on to the lessons.

Wow, long time, etc :)

It's been a rather eventful past few months, to say the least. Company went *bang*, couldn't pay me. So, me being me, decided to find investors for the current model and continue - it's what I'm good at after all. Done, and then the previous boss calls me out of the bue to tell me "business as usual". Ummm, no, too late. Anyway, I started business at the worst possible time of the year, but early indications are good, so now I wait and see what the new year holds. Love life is orsm; smitten with my man and all is well going on 3 months now :) Aside from the constant bother of having no money, life is rather enjoyable ;)

Epic Weekend :)

Friday I went off to rAge and met up with Danny, Marc and Nandrew and missioned about. rAge this year was more fun than previous; combination of cool shit to look at and great company. Microsoft's Kinekt looks like I need to own it after watching Marc, Danny and others do the dancing game on it - looks like super super fun. Too shy I was to try it out for myself - not nearly enough confidence possessed to do gangsta rapper style moves in front of a horde of strangers he he he. I didn't get hands on with Move, but have been told by a few reliable sources who have been hands on with it that it is uber responsive and well worth it. Matter snot, funds are limited and I need a decent screen first, so both Kinekt and Move will have to wait. Got some hands on time with AC Brotherhood multiplayer which is great; I can see myself playing that online (when Telkom eventually activate my ADSL...). Also, watched Marc playing the vanquish demo which is yet another game that is now on my radar - fast paced shooter that just looks win. Sadly, Fable3 was not present - never delivered apparently. Contemplating Halo Reach for MP when I have my internets connected too.

Friday eve was dinner in Pretoria at La Pentola - left home at 6:30 and finally got there at 8:20; traffic was insane. An evening of many laughs and meeting new people, and getting to know some I have met previously a bit better. Was a great night and eventually left PTA around 12. Got home and traded a few sms'es with James, which eventually landed up with me driving to his place and watching all sorts of odd movies and series's episodes on various odd shit that was highly amusing until I eventually came back home at around 12 in the afternoon. Note - still hadn't slept at ALL since getting up Friday morning, so was oh so slightly DEAD on feet. Couldn't rest though as I had arranged to collect Guy after he finished up at work and take him through to rAge. So, home, quick shower, lie on couch for 15 minutes, then it was off to Brightwater to collect Guy. Met up with Guy and his friend Stephanie joined us, and we had a few beers at McGinty's, and I had 2 mana energy "potions" to attempt to revive my worn out body. Then, off to rAge and saw Danny et al again; left rAge at closing at 6pm, dropped Guy & Steph off and headed home to try and get some sleep before I had to go to Doors to meet up with Danny etc. Managed to get in a few hours sleep before being woken at 10pm by Danny to be told they were en route to Doors. Had quick shower, then decided to do my hair etc so I got to Doors just after 11pm. The sets that DJ was playing last night were KILLER. After a Monster energy drink, another Mana potion and a couple of tequila's, I was on the dance floor for many songs through the night. Was a great eve with many laughs - Danny and I were doing Kinekt moves on dancefloor as was Marc.. it is a highly contagious infiltrating kinda game that hahahaha. Epic dance / theater piece was done by Danny and I to Alice Cooper's Poison complete with him leaning in to "kiss" me and me dramatically pushing him away etc, which had Danny and I in stitches and also had a little fan club around us watching - most fun & laughs I have ever had on a dance floor :)
Nandrew had purchased some steam punk goggles at rAge in the day and was wearing them at Doors, that also was a constant point of amusement for all of us, and a constant ego booster / talking point and chick magnet for Nandrew :) I have the card for the chick who made them; going to find out about the "slim" chicks version - they are just pure WIN.
We all left Doors at around 5; Danny drove behind me home and he, Marc and Nandrew got to meet paprika and see my humble abode, then they headed home after a brief ten minute visit.
Today I only surfaced at around 11, showered and did the dishes (home has been severely neglected this weekend) and then raced off to Northgate to meet Danny, Marc and Nandrew at Steers for food before we headed to the dome for the last 2 hours of rAge weekend. More Kinekt dancing was done by all, including Nandrew. For somebody who was too shy (like myself) to do it the last 2 days; he kicked arse and got higher scores than either Danny or Marc managed to - must be the goggles :)
We then headed to Wimpy, where I realised my phone was gone. Marc called and it was off, so obviously stolen, but I headed back to the dome to check if anything had been handed in, no such luck. Apparently it will take at least 4 days to do all required paperwork / reports to get a replacement phone through Cell C which sucks, but not much I can do about it so no point in pining.
I am now at home finally and adapting to just being able to chill and not have to be anywhere for first time in what seems like forever hahahaha. Orsm weekend indeed :)
Tomorrow night is dinner at Tings in Hatfield with Danny, Marc, Nandrew and some others, so I am looking forward to that. Until then, I intend to rest, rest, and rest some more.