Low Fat Christmas Pudding

Here is my recipe for yesterday's low fat Christmas pudding (it was delicious - didn't even taste "low fat"):

Ingredients
* 75g (3oz) currants
* 75g (3oz) sultanas
* 115g (4oz) raisins
* 75g (3oz) cherries
* 75g (3oz) plain flour
* 1tsp mixed spice
* ½ tsp ground cinnamon
* 50g (2oz) fresh breadcrumbs
* 50g (2oz) brown sugar
* grated zest of ½ lemon and orange
* 115g (4oz) grated apple
* 115g (4oz) grated carrot
* 4tbsp brandy, rum or beer
* 1tbsp lemon juice
* 4tbsps skimmed milk
* 2 eggs beaten
* 2tbsp molasses or cane sugar syrup
* 4tbsps brandy or rum for reheating

Method

1. Combine all the dry ingredients and wet ingredients in 2 separate bowls
2. Mix together, adding the beaten egg, until all the ingredients are well combined.
3. Pour the mixture into a 1 litre (2lb) pudding basin or glass bowl and cover with foil if steaming (not if micro waving).
4. Place in a steamer, cover and cook for 3 hours. For microwave cooking, after filling the basin, cover with an upturned plate and microwave on high power for 5 minutes. Leave to stand for 5 minutes, then microwave for a further 5 minutes
5. To reheat, steam for 1-2 hours or microwave for 10 minutes
6. When cooked, run a knife around the edge of the basin, turn out onto a serving plate and drizzle with brandy or rum.  Serve with low fat custard.

A Christmas Gallstone Diet

Merry Christmas!

So, Christmas 2012 has passed and I managed to survive without slipping from the diet and/or having an attack!  It was tough with all the chocolates, cheese, pigs in blankets, roast potatoes/parsnips, cream, cake etc around, but somehow I did it!



My menu was as follows: -

Christmas Day
Breakfast: One banana
Lunch: Turkey (white meat only), gammon, brussel sprouts and carrots; a portion of low fat Christmas pudding and low fat custard
Dinner: Gammon, turkey (white meat only), low fat tzatziki, cherry tomatoes and low fat houmous
Snacks: Olives, carrot sticks and marshmallows

Boxing Day
Breakfast: Scrambled egg (made with skimmed milk and egg only) and one slice of toast with no butter
Lunch: Turkey (white meat only), gammon, carrots, asparagus, green beans and cauliflower; a portion of low fat Christmas pudding and low fat custard
Dinner: Gammon sandwich with no butter and low fat mayonnaise
Snacks: Snack-a-jacks rice cakes

I can't admit to being completely virtuous though - I did manage a fair few glasses of wine over the two days (well, they don't have any fat so I figured it was allowed!)

If you are also watching your fat content at the moment, how did you cope over Christmas?

About Me

Last night I had another shocking gallstone attack.  That makes approximately 10 attacks since my son was born 8 months ago.  I was diagnosed with gallstones in August 2012 and am on the NHS waiting list to have my gallbladder removed, but have no indication of how long I will be waiting.  I am really hoping it will be before my 30th birthday next October, as I would love to be able to eat some birthday cake with my family!

At the moment, it seems to be set off at random times and I am getting really depressed by all of the things that I can't eat or drink.  So, I have decided to create this blog in an attempt to record all of the nice recipes and foods that I try in my quest to make my diet more interesting again!

I am a 29-year old wife and mother and currently have two jobs.  One - a part-time job at a supermarket to pay the bills and two - my own business at www.fromstudenttosolicitor.com, which will, I hope, eventually enable us to buy our first home.  However, with two jobs and an 8 month old to run around after, this doesn't leave a lot of time for menu planning and recipe searching.  This tends to mean that I grab what I can, when I can - which leads to slip ups and gallstone attacks!

I need to get better at planning my food as I'm sick and tired of being kept up all night by these wretched stones!

Feel free to comment with any links to recipes that you think I might like and I will try them out and review them on this blog!