Zone Day 4

Tors: 

I won't lie, when I was sitting at the dinner table waiting for Russ to sit down I was getting a little testy!  It's been the first time I've been properly hungry but I think it was a combination of an early snack and then standing there cooking dinner it and it smelt so good!  I can highly recommend breakfast, it actually felt a little indulgent!  I adopted the zucchini side dish from a Neil Perry recipe that I used to make (it had a lot of butter...)  In saying this, I want to highlight to everyone that just because you have a certain amount of blocks to work to, you don't have to have bland and boring meals.  Nor do you have to have an orange, deli meat and almonds for dinner - you just have to adapt and if there's a recipe that has too many fats, carbs or proteins just play around with it and experiment.  The MCC is a great example of this, I couldn't fit the toasted almonds and the mango so I prioritised which flavour I wanted.  You can't have a mango coconut chicken recipe without mango!  Have fun with food!!

Breakfast (3 Blocks)

120g ricotta (3p)

2 cups strawberries (2c)

1/2 cup blueberries

2 macadamias (3f) chopped

Lunch (3 Blocks)

small can of tuna (2p)

1 egg (1p)

1 cup capsicum (1p)

2 cups tomato (2p)

9 almonds (3f)

Snack 1 (2 Blocks)

1 small banana (2c)
6 almonds (2f)
1/2 scoop protein (2p)

Dinner (3 Blocks)

Lamb with Zucchini and Mushrooms (see recipe below)

Snack 2 (1 Block)

1/2 cup yoghurt (1p + 1c)

1/2 tsp peanut butter (1f)

Russ: 

A lot of people are asking my why I'm doing this and what's changed. Well, I'm doing this because I know I eat too much; it's 99% good food, I just eat too much of it! I would snack a lot throughout the day and have a massive dinner. I think I need this 'control' to keep me focused. And I guess what's changed already is my knowledge for the amount of food I 'should' be eating. I think we have both picked it up pretty quickly, like knowing off the top of your head what 1 block of meat is, or how much 1 block/cup/ounce converts in to metric weight for different veggies. One other thing is the way I feel full after eating, this sounds weird but it's a different type of feeling in my stomach. It's not that really satisfied, undo my belt, full as feeling, but that I know I've eaten the right amount feeling. A little bit empty but still full?!? It's strange and I guess only something that can be understood if you try this way of eating..... 

Breakfast (5 Blocks)

1 scoop Syntha-6 (3p, 2c, 4f)                             

60g cold meat (2 p)                                           

2 cups tomato (2c)                                              

1 long black w/ 1/3 tsp coconut oil (1f)

2 cups mushrooms (1c)                                      

Lunch (5 Blocks)

180g tuna in springwater (4p)                        

1 egg (1p)                                                           

1 & 1/4 cup corn (5c)                                       

1 tsp seeds (4f)                                                   

Snack 1 (2 Blocks)

95g tuna in springwater (2p)                           

1 medium carrot (1c)                                         

1 cup snow peas (1c)                                       

12 peanuts (2f)

Dinner (5 Blocks)

Lamb with Zucchini and Mushrooms (see recipe below)

Snack 2 (2 Blocks)
1 cup yoghurt (2p, 2c)

6g slivered almonds (2f)

Lamb with Zucchini and Mushrooms (8 Blocks)
240g lamb fillet (8p)
760g zucchini (raw) (4c)
1 cup onion (2c)
6 cups mushrooms (raw) (2c)

1 1/2 tbs pine nuts (8f)

1/2 cup mint leaves

1/4 cup rosemary leaves

4 cloves garlic

1 cup water

Chop the mint and rosemary up finely and in a food processor or mortar and pestle smash 1 clove of garlic, pine nuts, rosemary and mint together to form a paste.  Use this paste to marinate the lamb and leave for at least 30 minutes.

Quarter the mushrooms and roughly chop the zucchini.  Slice the onion into wedges and chop 3 cloves of garlic finely.  

In a non stick pan or casserole dish add the onion and cook until it softens.  If there is a little caramelisation on the bottom of the pan use it to you advantage (taste that is!) and add 1/2 cup water and mix it all in.  

Add the zucchini, mushrooms, garlic and the other 1/2 cup of water.  Cover and cook mushrooms and zucchini until they are soft.  This will take approximately 10 minutes, then take the lid off for the next 5 minutes and reduce all the liquid. You will need to stir this often to make sure the vegetables don't stick to the bottom of the pan. 

Heat a fry pan and add the marinated lamb steaks, each side will need 2-3 minutes, but for maximum taste you want to sear both sides but leave the middle just a little pink.  

Serve and enjoy!