Food Glorious Food...

Today, I had a really big achievement and didn't even realise it until tonight! Before I say what my 'achievement' was, let me tell you that I've always been a 'finish every last scrap on your plate' kind of girl and regardless of portion size, I'll power through it until it's all gone. Man, I used to be able to pack it away! One of my biggest issues has always been portion size. I've never eaten heaps of junk food and we don't have any in the house, however I used to always eat big meals and would often go back for seconds - I just adore cooking and trying out new recipes.

So you've probably guessed by now in that my big achievement today was that when I was about two thirds of the way through my pre-prepared tuna, veggies and rice mix for lunch, I somehow figured I wasn't hungry anymore and seemed kind of full. So I stuck the lid on my lunchbox and put my fork on top in case I wanted some more, then half an hour later, I went and washed up my fork, popped my lunchbox in my bag and got on with working through the afternoon. I did that without even thinking!! I hope this is not a one-off occurence because I'm absolutely stoked - I actually ate until satisfied and sub-consciously STOPPED!!! I didn't even LOOK for more food which used to happen all the time. Jeeze, I hope this kind of behaviour change sticks because I've never been able to do that and I'm soooo happy to experience it for once. It gives me such hope!

Anyway, I'm totally into food at the moment - ever since I started Optifast 5 and a half weeks ago I've literally had the TV trained onto the Food Channel on Foxtel and have watched every foodie show going. Call it food porn given I was on a liquid diet for more than half that time but seriously, I've been loving it. I've also been scouring all my cookbooks, sorting out my delicious and Donna Hay magazines and have been searching through some of my favourite websites for ideas on band-friendly foods that I can cook that I think my lovely husband (Superman) will also enjoy. As such, today being our third wedding anniversary and me being completely buggered from working a 16 hour day yesterday, we decided to keep it low key and I wanted to cook something at home for the both of us. Happy to say, the meal was a success and it's going to become something I cook often as what follows is a simple, delicious, low-fat and high protein meal that I've modified slightly for extra moisture given our special band friend and all needs to deal with it too!

Thai-style Chicken and Rice
Serves 4 - serving size is about a half cup

2 tsp olive oil
1 medium red onion, finely diced
500g lan chicken mince
1/2 bunch coriander, chopped finely (set aside some leaves for serving)
4 tbs (80mL) sweet chilli sauce
2 tbs fish sauce
2 tbs lime juice
3 tsp brown sugar
1/4 - 1/2 cup chicken stock (optional)
steamed baby pak choy and basmati / jasmine rice to serve

Heat oil in a large, non-stick frying pan over medium heat. Add onion and cook for approx 3 mins stirring occasionally. Add mince and cook , breaking up the mince with a wooden spoon, until browned (approx 10 mins). If the meat is becoming dry, add a couple of splashes of chicken stock to keep moist - it doesn't matter if there's some liquid in the bottom of the pan once the mince has cooked as it will add to flavours later.

Once the mince is cooked, throw in the coriander, sweet chilli sauce, lime juice and sugar then stir to combine. If you need more moisture, add some more chicken stock - this will help with creating some lovely pan juices too to coat the rice later. Reduce the heat to low and pop on a lid - cook for another 5 minutes, stirring occasionally until heated through.

Serve on a bed of rice with some steamed baby pak choy and coriander leaves sprinkled on top.