Omelette

Coming back from a swim on Saturday afternoon, I DID want something different. Having done a mental inventory of the contents of my fridge, I decided on an omelette.

I have NEVER successfully cooked an omelette in my life. It ALWAYS comes out as scrambled eggs. The challenge was set.

Ingredients

- Eggs
- Milk
- Butter
- Pepper
- Tabasco
- Tomato; diced
- Mushroom; chopped
- Red onion; sliced

The trick seems to be patience. I let this baby sit in the pan untouched for about 3 minutes longer than my gut instinct told me to. The little devil on my shoulder was SCREAMING at me to lift a side up, but I resisted. Eventually I added tomato, mushrooms and red onion, and tentatively slid the spatula in. I flipped and slid and ... success!

The analysis

The centre was still quite runny, so my technique needs a lot of work, but broadly, I succeeded. It was indeed an omelette.

Steak and mushroom with brown rice (and beer)

So there is a clear pattern here still. Protein + vegetables + rice or salad, depending on the day.

At some point soon I'm gonna want more variety, but damn if I'm not enjoying these meals.

Diced steak and mushroom with brown rice

I think I'm starting to perfect the soy and chilli levels by this point. Delicious.

Lamb and mushroom on salad

Let's talk portion control. A nutrition rule I'm trying to apply is "mindful eating". Eating slowly enough so that your body has time to let you know if you're full, before you potentially overeat.

Another simple way to practise portion control is to use smaller plates and bowls. The bowl in this photo is much smaller than the white bowls from previous pictures.

Chilli con carne stuffed capsicum

Ok, NOW we're getting dodgy.

Chilli

- beef mince
- kidney beans
- canned tomatoes
- onion
- garlic
- chilli
- tumeric
- random other spices I may have added

Yeah, I'm not gonna spell this bit out. Make the damn chilli - there's a thousand recipes online.

Capsicum

Carefully cut the top out of the capsicum and lift it off, taking the core and seeds with it. Realise that you'll need a wider brim, and so cut the capsicum down to about half size.

The finish

Stuff the capsicum with the chilli. Stuff it down real good. Oh yeah.
Add some tomato wedges. Tomato goes with everything.

The analysis

Fanciful plan, but not all that practical. The main problem was the ratio of capsicum to chilli. There's just WAY too much capsicum.

Kangaroo lettuce burger

Finally a change of pace! Check out my lovely blurry creation - the lettuce burger!

I've always liked kangaroo meat. It's lean and tasty and environmentally friendly. Granted, the fillets are probably healthier than the mince burgers, but this is Charlie's dodgy dinners after all.

Ingredients

- lettuce; cos
- tomato; sliced
- onion
- kangaroo patty
- pepper
- chilli sauce

This one is super straightforward. Fry some onion, cook the patty, build the burger. Enjoy.

The analysis

Buy some cheese, Simon. Cheese would have made this amazing. Very messy to eat, but still yum. Gotta figure out a no-carb side to substitute in for chips.

Beef stirfry on brown rice

I think I did a better job with the rice this time. Also, I started cooking enough rice for 3-4 meals and putting the rest in the fridge.

I like to add tomato wedges when I'm eating what is otherwise without salad. Tomato is the bomb.

Steak, mushroom and carrot on brown rice

A post-workout meal, this delectable dish includes the luxury of carbs! Still figuring out how to get the rice cooker to cook brown rice without drying it out or under-doing it. Keen eyes will notice the extreme sogginess of the rice in this particular meal.

That is greek yoghurt on the right there. I have been introduced to it as a great low carb low sugar option. I Usually save it for dessert with blueberries, but on this occasion I experimented.

Steak, mushroom and carrot on salad

You may have noticed a theme by now. Time to start branching out.

Note the hardcore seasoning - spicy!

Chicken, mushroom and carrot on salad

Continuing with the protein + vegies + salad theme. Added some tumeric to the chicken. Salad is a bag of spinach leaves, shredded carrot and beetroot from Woolies.

Steak, mushroom and snowpeas on salad

Similar to the previous meal, but with mushrooms and snowpeas as the main vegetables instead of pumpkin, and with a much blurrier photo.

Steak and pumpkin on salad

The first nutrition rule I'm trying to apply is "no starchy carbs unless after exercise". The challenge with this is that we eat carbs with everything. It's actually difficult to name a meal that doesn't come with either rice, pasta, potato or bread.

My solution is to apply the salad substitute. As such my standard (non post exercise) meal formula is protein + vegetables + salad.

Let's work from the base upwards, and I'll try and remember how this went (it was two months ago).

Salad

- Cabbage; shredded (fresh bag from the supermarket)
- Capsicum; sliced
- Tomato; chopped
- Vinegar; just a splash
- Oil; just a drop

I'm slow in the kitchen, so I'm all about the time saving techniques. With salad, I've been making one big mix at the start of the weekend, and using that as my base salad for the next 4 or so meals. Each night I just have scoop a portion straight into the serving bowl, add some tomato wedges, and then add dressing.

Vegies

- Oil
- Garlic; paste
- Ginger; paste
- Chilli
- Onion; diced (from the freezer)
- Pumpkin; chunks (from the freezer)
- Carrot; julienne (from the freezer)
- Soy sauce; a few splashes
- Oyster sauce; a few blobs

So I found these pumpkin chunks in the freezer section of woolies. Was dubious, but they work fairly well.

1. Heat the oil
2. Add the onion, garlic, ginger and chilli
3. Heat that up for a couple minutes
4. Add the carrot and pumpkin
5. Cook for 10-12 minutes, turning the pumpkin chunks to cook them through
6. Add some soy and oyster sauce
7. Remove a chunk to test it; drop it on the floor; throw it away; wipe up the mess
8. Test another chunk, more carefully
9. Put aside on low heat

Steak

- Oil
- Whatever's on special, preferably something lean
- Salt and pepper

1. Heat the oil
2. Season the upside of the steak
3. Chuck it in the pan, seasoned side down
4. Season the new upside
5. Leave it 2-3 minutes, flip, 2-3 more minutes
6. Remove, cut off a piece to see if you've cooked it right, probably get it wrong
7. Leave to sit for two minutes

The finish

1. Add the vegies to the salad
2. Slice the steak
3. Add the steak on top
4. Realise you've cooked too much steak so eat two bits before you take the photo
5. Take the photo

The analysis

Tasty. Pumpkin worked surprisingly well. Too much soy.

Recounted success at training the next day. Was pointed out to me that pumpkin is a starchy carb. Dammit!