Two ways with polenta

I've been going well with my weight loss goals at the moment. I've lost 1.4kg so far since Good Friday and I am not only feeling and looking great, but I have dramatically decreased my insulin needs and also improved my blood sugar levels, which would make it all worthwhile even if the weight wasn't coming off just yet! But it is, so that is a bonus :)

It was only when I went to write my shopping list this week that I realised I had planned two meals that used polenta. Luckily I am a big fan of it and didn't really care! Besides, one was a soft, creamy baked polenta and the other one was used as a crunchy topping, so they weren't even all that similar.

I found the Mushroom rosemary polenta bake in the May issue of Super Food Ideas magazine and paired it up with a Honey balsamic chicken recipe that I found on sparkpeople.com (which is a wonderful FREE site that helps you to reach your fitness goals - If you are on there, add me as a friend, my username is TaraM84). The polenta was delicious and creamy without using any cream, milk or even oil, and the glaze on the chicken was a perfect match with the steamed vegetables as well.

The Chilli bean bake is out of a book I borrowed from the library called '200 Fat-free Recipes' and although my polenta topping didn't turn out quite as fluffy as their cornmeal one, it was still really tasty. I used about half as much chilli as the recipe called for and found it to be just enough to taste it without making me need to drink a litre of water along with my meal. I had to use canned beans because my supermarket didn't have dried ones, so I didn't need to cook mine as long. If you use canned beans use about 3 and 3/4C of beans (almost 3 cans) and halve all the simmering times. Dried beans are of course cheaper and better for the environment as there is less packaging.

Honey Balsamic Chicken w/ Mushroom Rosemary Polenta Bake Serves 4

Honey Balsamic Chicken

Cut 500g skinless chicken breast into 4 equal portions. Combine 1 1/2tsp dried thyme, 1/2tsp salt & 1/4tsp pepper and sprinkle over both sides of chicken. Heat 1tsp olive oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken and cook 7 to 8 minutes on each side or until chicken is done. Transfer chicken to a platter and keep warm. Reduce heat to medium-low and add 2Tbsp balsamic vinegar and 2Tbsp honey to pan. Simmer 1 minute or until glaze thickens, stirring constantly. Pour glaze over chicken.

(Nutrition Info - taken from sparkpeople.com: Calories: 173.3, Total Fat: 2.6 g, Cholesterol: 65.7 mg, Sodium: 367.6 mg, Total Carbs: 10.1 g, Dietary Fiber: 0.3 g, Protein: 26.3 g)

Mushroom Rosemary Polenta Bake

Preheat oven to 200C. Place 1C beef stock, 2 crushed garlic cloves & 2C cold water in a saucepan. Cover and bring to the boil. Remove from heat and pour into a large ovenproof dish. Sprinkle over 1C polenta and top with 200g sliced mushrooms & 2tsp finely chopped fresh rosemary leaves. Cover dish tightly with foil and bake for 20 minutes, stirring after 10 minutes. Remove foil, sprinkle with 1/2C finely grated parmesan cheese and bake for another 5-7 minutes. Stand for 2 minutes and serve.

(Nutrition Info - taken from SFI: 760kj/180 calories, 4.4g fat inc. 2.4g sat. fat, 10g protein, 23.8g carbs, 2.6g fibre, 474mg sodium)

Chilli Bean Bake w/ Polenta Topping Serves 4

Soak 1 1/4C dried red kidney beans in cold water overnight. Drain and rinse well. Preheat the oven to 220C. Pour 4C water into a large saucepan, add the beans and 1 bay leaf and boil rapidly for 10 minutes. Lower the heat, cover, and simmer for 35-40 minutes or until the beans are tender. Add 1 large, finely chopped onion, 1 crushed garlic clove, 2 sliced celery sticks, 1tsp cumin, 1/2-1tsp chilli powder, 400g canned tomatoes, 1Tbsp tomato puree & 1tsp dried mixed herbs. Half cover the pan with a lid and simmer for a further 10 minutes. Stir in 1Tbsp lemon juice, 1 diced yellow capsicum, salt & pepper and simmer for another 8-10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are just tender.

Discard the bay leaf and spoon the mixture into a large baking or casserole dish. To make the topping, mix together 1 1/2C polenta, 1Tbsp wholemeal flour & 1tsp baking powder and whisk in 1 lightly beaten egg & 3/4C skim milk. Spread topping evenly over beans and bake for 20 minutes or until brown.

(Nutrition info - taken from 200 fat-free recipes: 399 calories/1675kj, 22.9g protein, 4.7g fat inc. 0.9g sat. fat, 11.6g fibre, 68g carbs)

Time to get healthy!

I've decided to get serious about getting fit & healthy. I know I have half heartedly attempted to do this several times in the life of this blog, but this time I am determined. I do not want to finish my degree at the end of this year and move into my profession overweight. I do not want to have to be a hypocrite on a daily basis when I am telling people how to eat better and promoting healthy lifestyles! So, starting on Good Friday (I know, crazy time to start eating healthy right?!), I started the process of turning my lifestyle around for the better. Over the past week I have been counting the calories I consume, striving to eat more fruit and vegetables, drinking more water and trying to get more exercise in the hopes that it will become a part of my regular routine.

A lot of people who I have told about my recent endeavours have commented that I don't look like I need to lose weight, that I look fine as I am, but the reality is that I am overweight. I am not ridiculously overweight and I do carry the extra weight well, but nonetheless, being overweight is not healthy, and being inactive is not good for my diabetic control. Surprisingly, when I jumped on my Wii Fit to weigh myself last Friday I found out that I have lost 3.8kg since the last time I was on it back in February, so I'm not as overweight as I was!

My BMI back then was 28.4, which is actually on the higher end of overweight (anything over 30 is considered obese) and my BMI at the beginning of the week was 26.9, which is getting closer to the healthy weight range (which is between 18.5 & 24.9). I am aiming for a BMI of 22 as this has the lowest health risks associated with it, so my goal weight is 55kg, which means I have 11.2kg to lose (4.9kg to get to the healthy weight range & another 6.3kg to get to a BMI of 22). I hope to get into the healthy weight range by the end of May and to my goal weight by my birthday at the beginning of August.

Over the past week I have been sticking fairly strictly to 1400 calories a day (~5850kj) and I have actually found that I am eating MORE now than I was before. I have always been a breakfast skipper (bad, I know). This stopped for a little while when I was first diagnosed with diabetes, but since I have had my insulin pump I have slipped back into my old ways, but this week I have eaten breakfast every day, which I am very proud of.

I have also been working to introduce exercise, which I have a lot of apprehension with, not only because of my poor fitness level, but also because of how badly it messes with my blood sugar readings. So I am trying to sort out my insulin doses and keep myself from going low after exercise, because aside from not being fun, I then also have to consume more calories to keep my sugar levels from going too low and putting me into a coma. The life of a diabetic is never simple, appreciate all the work that your body does to keep your sugar levels balanced! Trust me, you don't want to have to do that manually.

This week I got in one 30 minute walk (which was a feat in itself with the hills around here!) and three 45 minute Wii Fit sessions (with 13 minutes boxing, 10 minutes step aerobics, 11 minutes hula hoops & 11 minutes of strength exercises). Going from exercising 0 times a week to 4 times a week is pretty good if you ask me! I know that Wii Fit isn't the best exercise out there, but it gives me a good workout while giving me a chance to work out my insulin doses a little bit.

This week I lost 0.5kg, which I am fairly happy with, although it is a little short of the 0.7kg per week that I need to reach the healthy weight range by the end of May. Still, better than nothing, and also quite good when you consider that I managed to lose weight over the easter period! That is a pretty good accomplishment in itself.

Over the next few weeks you will notice a lot more healthier recipes on my blog. I hope that you all see this as good news and don't stop reading because of it. They will all still be very tasty, no rubbery, tasteless, rabbit food on my blog! Unfortunately, this does mean that I will not be participating in the Daring Bakers challenges anymore, I haven't been participating much lately anyway due to a distinct lack of time in my life, but I will be officially withdrawing from the group and I am very sad to do so. I will be living vicariously through other Daring Baker blogs from now on, so make me proud :)

Here is a pasta bake I made on Monday when Leanne came around for our weekly dinner and girly catch up. It isn't the lowest in fat or calories, but I had soup for lunch so that I could fit this into my calorie limit. It is quite high in fibre and contains around 1.5 of your 5 vegetable serves for the day as well. I got this one from the May issue of Super Food Ideas, although it was originally in their July 2006 issue. I was going to put some wholegrain honey mustard in there as well for some extra flavour, but I forgot about it until it was in the oven! Even without the mustard it was still delicious though.

Ham & Broccoli Pasta Bake Serves 4

Preheat oven to 180C. Cook 300g fusilli pasta according to packet directions, adding 380g trimmed broccoli florets to the pan for the last minute of cooking time.

Meanwhile, melt 1Tbsp reduced-fat dairy spread in a saucepan over medium heat and add 4 thinly sliced spring onions & 2 crushed garlic cloves. Cook for 1 minute, add 1Tbsp plain flour and cook, stirring, for 30 seconds. Remove from heat, add 1C skim milk, gradually, whisking until smooth. Return to hear and add 1tsp finely grated lemon rind. Cook, stirring, for 3 minutes or until sauce just comes to the boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 2 minutes, stirring occasionally, Remove from heat and add 1/2C reduced fat cream cheese & 1/2C grated reduced fat tasty cheese. Stir until melted and smooth. Season with salt & pepper.

Drain pasta and broccoli. Place in an 8C capacity baking dish. Top with 200g chopped 98% fat free ham. Pour cheese sauce over ham and stir to combine. Sprinkle with 1/2C fresh multigrain breadcrumbs and spray lightly with olive oil spray. Bake for 20 minutes or until golden.

Nutrition Information (from magazine) - 541 cal, 2266kj, 15.2g fat, 8.2g saturated fat, 33.6g protein, 63.1g carbohydrate, 7.3g fibre, 1307mg sodium