How I Cook/Eat

First up, I'm vegetarian. However, I'm not strict with my veggie-ness. I'm aware that some of the things I eat, such as Muller Vitality yoghurts, Worcester Sauce and certain cheeses aren't veggie. However, my reasons for going veggie were to increase the range of vegetables I eat and stop my reliance on meat, and because I feel better when vegetables, pulses and grains are the bedrock of my diet, not because I have a moral objection to eating meat. So don't shout at me if I use real parmesan, please. There are vegetarian alternatives available, I'm sure, but I'm not fussy enough to use them. Sorry.

In terms of when I eat, the bedrock of my diet is the bag of food I take to work with me. Planning what I eat and taking it with me not only helps me avoid snacking or bad impulse food choices, but it really works for me as a way of using up leftovers.

I tend to go to the gym before work, so I have 2 breakfasts. Firstly I have a handful of something (usually dried fruit) on the way out of the house, then I have a proper breakfast when I get to work. Lunch is often (although not invariably) leftover soup from one of my big weekend soup cooking sessions, which is divided into plastic containers and bunged into the freezer. I don't label anything, so tend to play "soup lucky dip" where I pick something at random and then get to guess what it is when I come to eat it. Still, it works with my lifestyle and it's dead easy to grab something from the freezer on the way to the gym then let it defrost through the morning.

2 evenings a week I usually go to running club straight from work. Because I'm not a late evening eater, this means I eat before I go, usually at about 5 to give me some time to digest before running at 7. Again, this is usually a pot of something I've cooked up in a big batch and frozen, and again it's usually lucky dip. (I have one concession to not labelling - main meals and soups go in different size pots so I can at least tell what meal it's intended for). I then eat again after my run, but more of a "dessert" or "snack" rather than a full meal.

And I snack. Constantly. Fruit, mainly, although there are some other treats in there too. Particularly just after Christmas when I'm still working through all the goodies...

The weekends are my "big cooks". I'll try to cook up loads of stuff that I can freeze to keep me going through the week when I have to take stuff to work or want something quicker when I get in. I do cook midweek too, but not to the same extent.

Welcome!

I've realised recently that cooking is becoming more and more important to me. One comment I read once really resonated with me. It queried why people put so much effort into chosing the right computer, or tv, or clothes, but shovel food into their mouths indiscriminately even though that will affect, and become part of, their body, and affect their lives far more than that extra bit of surround sound or function that you never use. I started trying to eat more healthily when I was losing weight. Although I put a lot of that down to exercise as well as to nutrition, there's no doubting that what I eat is a lot better than it used to be, and cooking is becoming a passion. I can't resist a new cookbook, and I'm getting an increasingly big library of them that I love to dip into. So, I thought, why don't I blog it all?

This isn't intended to be an exhaustive food diary listing calories and grams of fat and such like. It also may not take account of, or only mention in passing, some of the meals I eat out, or *ahem* treats. But I've had a lot of comments while I've been losing weight that what I eat looks, sounds or smells fantastic, so I wanted to share some of what I eat. I also want to use this as a resource for myself, with comments about recipes I enjoyed, any suggestions or comments from anyone else about modifications to the recipes etc. It's a record of how I cook, and shop for, and prepare a healthy vegetarian* diet for one, and how I fit it into my lifestyle.

I welcome comments, about the recipes and with food ideas, but also if there are any new things that you think I should try, or general comments and questions about my diet. I've learned a lot while losing over 100lb, but I'm always open to new ideas.

*See the "How I cook/eat" section for more information on this.