Day 2 is here! After yesterday's busy day of preparation, today was much easier having all of the key items ready-made.
The day started off with some granola. James isn't a real fan of granola usually, but we seem to have worked out it's the yoghurt which he isn't so keen on. Today he swapped that for some almond milk on his granola and he was much happier. The granola was still lovely and fresh and we'll be carrying on with that the rest of the week.
Today we had some shopping to deliver for one of our family members, so we popped out mid-morning to deliver that and we had to shoot over to Amy's workplace to pick up some folders. When we got back, we were really hungry, but it wasn't quite lunchtime. We decided in the end to rustle up a sweet treat. We plumped for some chickpea cookies.
The sound of them isn't all that great, and we weren't entirely convinced either. It turns out though that chickpeas, peanut butter, chocolate chips, vanilla extract and maple syrup make a lovely, light cookie!
These were a genuine surprise. As we were making them, the batter was surprisingly damp and we weren't overly excited about the smell before they were cooked. We think the cooking mellows them out though and these are definitely worth a go. In future, Amy wants to try using different nut butters to avoid the peanut taste.
Once the cookies had settled and we'd popped out into the garden to make the most of the warmer weather, we decided it was time for lunch. After yesterday's sandwiches, we still had some bread left over and we didn't want it to go to waste so we remade yesterday's lunches; half of our sandwiches were made with the leftover bread and we tried out our idea of putting the filling into wraps to make them more finger-friendly.
While the wrap idea was good on paper - it did make them much easier to eat - there's just something better about bread in our opinion! Obviously that's a personal preference and either is a great option - James thinks we were hampered by choosing brown wraps. He's adamant they would have been better in white wraps. Also, why are wraps so hard to photograph?!
At this stage, it's worth mentioning that we've not had any fruit or veg going off yet, which is a relief. We do always worry that with a click and collect order that the supermarket will give you the options with the shortest shelf life, but we seem to have been lucky so far!
After a walk around the block and a bit more TV, it was dinner time again. Today, James had a Zoom meeting for a charity he volunteers with, so we had to go for something a little bit quicker and easier. We opted for Tomato and Basil Spaghetti with 'macadamia parmesan' and as you can see, we used some spare Sourdough bread again for a cheeky garlic bread.
The tomato sauce was really simple to make and similar to our usual recipe, so there's not too much to say about that really. We did also have some gluten-free pasta tucked away in the back of the cupboard and the challenge's author swears by gluten-free options, so we gave that a go too. Ours was from a brand called Dove and, to be honest, if we hadn't known, we probably couldn't tell it was gluten-free.
The garlic bread was super simple too. We crisped the bread under the grill and drizzled a little bit of olive oil and rubbed the garlic on - no crushing involved (Google it, it's a thing!).
That's that on the food front, but before we snuggle down, grab another one of our cookies and watch a film, we thought we'd briefly mention what we've noticed from this diet so far.
Both of us mentioned earlier that we're not feeling overly full and it's most noticeable after dinner. It's difficult to explain in words: we're not hungry, but our stomachs aren't so full that we feel like we're going to burst. We think it's because we're not packed out with carbs like we would be from a freezer dinner for example. Oh, and our schedule for number 2s has gathered speed. They're more frequent which probably also helps with the feelings above.
And on that thought we'll leave you to your evening! Join us again tomorrow to see what treats are in store and if you'd like to read the book on what we're trying you can find it here!