At last - the CRONish pasty!

That traditional English dish the Cornish pasty is a nutritional mightmare. The filling isn't too bad, mainly vegetables with a little lean meat, but the surrounding pastry can add 450 to 750 calories per pasty depending on thickness, in the form of white flour, butter and lard. If you were an impoverished tin miner toiling 12 hours a day underground this may well have been the best you could get, but not now! I experimented using bread dough to replace the pastry - fiddly and not ideal. Then I hit on the solution - low carb tortillas. I used Mama Lupe's as that is the only brand I can get in the UK - by post from the low carb megastore. 60 calories each. Make your filling - my favourite so far is mashed sweet potato with chopped steamed leeks and grated Leskol (fat-free cheddar is something we can only dream of over here, and unlike soft cheeses you can't really make it at home). Put the filling on the tortilla - leave enough space so you can press the edges together. Now brush the edges with liquid eggwhite and press together. Pierce the pasty with a fork to let the steam out, put on a plate and microwave till hot.

My little furry friends

I adore kiwi fruit and I have always peeled them, then recently I read about there being a lot of nutrients in the peel. I looked at the peel. Not very appetising and some varieties are actually furry. Still, I washed them carefully and gave it a go. And do you know it was OK. A coarse brush will smooth out the furry ones. Not only do I no longer have the chore of peeling the slippery little things, but a kiwi has become an easily portable snack. And they're only £1 for a bowlful on the market!

The spice of life

There has been a lot of recent discussion on the subject of variety in food and drink, the general conclusion being that the more varied and delicious and interesting it is, the more one eats. The thing is that for so many of us even those on CRON, food is not just fuel, it is a pleasure, and we intend that it should remain so! But there are other ways to get variety without over eating. Friends often comment on the many kinds of herbal teas and infusions I have in my cupboard - right now I am sipping white tea scented with blackcurrant - I also love to use fresh herbs, and spices, and some of the wonderful low calorie organic relishes I get on the farmers' market. Even if my usual lunch is a big bowl of salad it doesn't have to be the identical salad every day or the same flavour dressing. And I love to plunge my fork into the salad bowl knowing that what comes up will be a little different each time.

Clams

Inspired by April's recipes using canned clams I have done my best to track down this elusive item in London. So far no luck at all. If anyone has seen any anywhere let me know! Mr Google has not been able to provide on this occasion. Today I went to a deli in Hampstead which does some American products and got a jar of clams. They cost £4.35 for 285g and the label was in Italian but as far as I can see they are bottled in broth. They probably contain far too much salt. I shall have to experiment.

Chocolate drops

Take two teaspoons good quality cocoa powder, stir in three teaspoons Walden Farm zero calorie pancake syrup or chocolate sauce to a stiff paste. Put drops on a sheet of non stick paper - I just ease them off the tip of a spoon with a knife. Put in freezer, eat from frozen. About 1.5 calories each.

Choca choca choca choc me

I love chocolate, the darker the better, but of course it comes with a price - calories. So I wondered how to overcome this. The sweetener was easy but it is the fat content of chocolate that makes it solidify, so I thought of an alternative calorie-free way of making solid chocolate. This is a work in progress and improvements may come along but here is where I am at right now. To make six sugar free low fat chocolates - take 2 teaspoons best cocoa, two teaspoons fat free yogurt, two teapoons calorie free chocolate syrup (I used Da Vinci brand - in the UK this is available by post from the Low Carb Megastore) Mix to a paste. Put a sheet of non stick paper onto a small plate. Drop six blobs of the mixture onto the paper. Put the chocolates into the freezer. When frozen they are ready to eat. Eat from frozen.

Timing is everything

Sorry it has been so long since I last posted anything. Very busy with all sorts of stuff and some jobs just seem to fall out of the edges if you know what I mean. I have had a lot of thoughts about timing of meals and I have personally found it very helpful to have meals at set times of the day. It does help my system to learn when food is going to arrive. It also helps me if I feel hungry because I can look at the clock and say - oh it is 90 minutes before my next meal. Then I go make myself a nice cup of green tea to sip, and busy myself with a job (lots of those!) and the time just zips by. Sometimes I make my meals a couple of hours in advance, so when I go to the fridge there is a big box of fresh salad waiting for me at the right time. This means that the meal is actaully put together at a time when I am not hungry, so I can focus on what I am preparing with a little more equanimity! This season has been very bad for squashes and I really miss the spaghetti squashes I used to be able to get. I hope this coming year is better. I have just found a good recipe for 'spaghetti' made by steaming very finely cut runner beans and serving them with cherry tomatoes. This looks like a 'must make'!