A busy day in cucina Sara

The thing I find funniest (?) about having had an eating disorder, is that the people most close to me, my family, have really no idea.... no clues at all about how bad it was or what it means to be on the other side of it. It's not that I've been deliberately secretive, and have even mentioned a few times that I was struggling with binge eating, but it just doesn't register. I suppose that to most people a 'food binge' is just eating a bit too much - a normal sort of thing, not a real disorder. I used to think that myself, but changed my mind when I figured out that normal people probably don't go eating food out of the rubbish bin! It's an exercise in frustration to try and make people understand. I'd have better luck trying to teach my cat how to clean the loo.

Tomorrow is bean chilli day and that means today is 'pre-bean chilli day'. Cooking red kidney beans is a delicate operation. They are not as lethal as the Fuju fish, but they do pack a nice amount of toxic Phytohaemagglutnin, which could quickly turn your mexican food party into a gastro-intestinal horror movie. Incorrectly cooked kidney beans can be more toxic than the raw ones so it's best to take the time needed to neutralise them. Today I soaked the beans for 12 hours. Tomorrow I'll rinse them then boil them 'vigorously' (i.e. boil their little brains out) for about half an hour, then turn down the heat and let them simmer for another two hours. Then they are good to go.


I found a blog called Eat Like Me, which is a record of what a cardio bunny dietician eats. The food voyeur in me loves reading about what other people eat and generally I amuse myself by pulling it apart and muttering under my breath about a lack of protein and general paucity of foodie imagination. I'm really a snob that way. So, to balance the universe, I thought I'd try to make more of an effort to put my own eating out there for public ridicule. Dinner tonight was the dish to the left. That's a chicken breast stuffed with ricotta, herbs and ham. Of course the exciting

part is actually on the inside of the chicken breast.... I served that with lots of veges, some chickpeas, sweet potato and a big dollop of my Grandmas peach chutney. I can be bribed to do practically anything with peach chutney. It's a terrible weakness.

I've discovered that mini icecreams in general and Paddle Pop mini milks in particular are excellent for a dessert that is really not damaging to my fitness goals. These mini's waltz into the room at a measly 40 calories each and have more potassium than sodium, which is a good thing for fluid balance. Heck, you could have TWO and it wouldn't even register on the 'food guilt-ometer', plus, my inner child has a thing for icecream and I like to keep her happy. ;)