CALORIE COUNTED VEGAN PIZZA - CHEAP, WHOLESOME AND TASTY!

Tasty tomato pizza (Cost, around 50p or so)

Ingredients:
150g (1 mug) strong white flour 7.5p (551cals)
1/4 tsp salt
100g (1/3rd mug) lukewarm water
10g fresh yeast 4p (from Sainsbury's - free from Asda) (10cals)
1 dessertspoon veg oil 1p (90 cals)

Topping:Half a tin of tomatoes, reduced, with a tsp soya sauce and dried herbs - 15p (50cals)
Sliced field mushroom and tomato - 10p(?) (20cals)
A little roasted red pepper - 10p (10cals)
A good sprinkle of nutritional yeast (nooch) and oregano - pennies (20cals) [Or use your favourite vegan cheese - Applewood vegan cheddar is pretty good. (Not calorie or cost counted)]

(Total calorie count - 730. A pizza for one, using 100g of flour, would work out at 470cals!)

5:2 DIET - CHOCOLATE CAKE IN A MUG (Vegan) - UPDATE!

[If you came to this from the 'In A Nutshell' podcast, the story of my ultras and my Viva! fundraiser can be found here.]

This is a simple, quick, cheap, low(ish) calorie cake that can be ready  to eat in as little as 5 minutes (well, 6 minutes and 56 seconds). Mix in one mug - or jug - then pour into a prepared mug to bake. Easy to make with your youngster.

[[Here's the full, 8"/20cm version of the cake - which will set you back all of 70p!]]

Sunday 29th January 2017
Came across this chocolate cake recipe which doesn't use any oil, using apple sauce instead. I thought I'd use this method in this recipe:

4 dessertspoons self raising flour (approx. 40g)
4* dessertspoons sugar (approx. 50g)
1 heaped teaspoon cocoa powder (5g)
3 heaped teaspoons apple sauce (30g)

6 dessertspoons water (60g)

And it worked a treat! So, no more oil for me. This, of course, reduces the cal count - by about 150cals. So the cake comes in at around 375 cals.

*I thought it was a little sweet, so next time I'll use 3 dsps of sugar.

Thursday 9th May 2013

I've been tinkering with this recipe a little, to try and make it a little more user-friendly! For instance, I now cook it in a cereal dish lined with baking parchment - it was just too tricky trying to get it out of the mug in one piece. Mind you, if there's no-one else sharing this, then eating it straight out of the mug is the way to go!

I've also started mixing it in a (high-sided) cereal bowl with a rounded bottom - it makes it much easier to ensure you don't leave any caked dry mix in the bottom corners, as can happen when mixing it in a mug.

The third change I've made is to mix the sugar and cocoa powder first, before adding the flour. The sharp edges of the granulated sugar break up the clots of cocoa powder, so a sieve becomes unnecessary.

My record to date is 6 minutes 56 seconds from thinking about cake to hearing the microwave's ping as it finishes the two minute cooking time.

I just laid the baking parchment over the top of the bowl - the weight of the mixture sank the paper into the bowl

And here it is turned out onto a plate.

The time the cake weighed 190g (I used a larger dessertspoon), so, although the calorie count further down doesn't really apply, I guess 50g of this would still come in at around 175 calories.

If you're making the cereal bowl version of this, cut the baking parchment halfway across - then one bit folds under the other as the cake mix is poured in. 

Sunday 17th February 2013 (My first attempt at this)

Place a small disc of baking parchment in the bottom of a mug, then spray the inside of the mug with One-cal Fry-lite, or similar. Assemble the ingredients in a separate mug or a jug.

Not a great pic, I'll be the first to admit. But the cake was quick and tasty.

Ingredients:
4 dessertspoons self raising flour (approx. 40g)
4 dessertspoons sugar (approx. 50g)
1 heaped teaspoon cocoa powder (5g)
4 dessertspoons vegetable oil (approx. 28g)
6 dessertspoons water (60g)

Method:
Mix the dry ingredients together (I'll admit to sieving the cocoa, since it clumps easily, but the flour should be fine).

Add the oil and water and mix together first with a spoon, then a fork. Make sure you scrape up all the dry ingredients.

Pour the mixture into your prepared mug and microwave for 2 to 2 and a half minutes on full power (800W in my case). Check with a skewer to see if it is done.

Calorie count:
This works out at 525 calories - for approximately 150g of cake = 175 calories for each portion of 50g.

Note:
Children should be able to make this from start to finish - since the mug handle should remain cool, the child can place the mug in and out of the microwave quite safely.

5:2 DIET - MY VERY FILLING VEG CURRY, DOWN TO 75 CALORIES

In my quest to find the lowest calorie dinner for a fasting day (FD), I've managed to push the calorie count down to 75! :)

5g each cumin seeds and curry powder, dry fried, 10 cals
65g onion 21
325g celery 26
150g dark green cabbage - cut in strips with the spine still intact 20
125g mushrooms 17
1/2 tin tomatoes 41

Plus: 1 teaspoon each, mushroom ketchup, soy sauce and (vegan) Worcs sauce 15

Total 150

This makes 8 large serving spoons - four of which fill a decent-sized side plate.

So, 75 cals! :)

There are a couple of reasons I like to drive my calories as low as possible on a FD:

The health benefits of intermittent fasting (IF) are backed by hard science.

And by varying the calorie intake on FDs (and feast days*) every now and again keeps the body's cells on their toes - they have to prepare for any eventuality.

*I also think that, just as our ancestors would feast when they made a kill, so should we. So once a week or so I'll have a bit of a blowout! :)

5:2 DIET - SIMPLE CHOCOLATE CAKE (VEGAN) - revised version

Here's my original recipe - but when you've made something as often as I've made this, you're bound to come up with a few tweaks. Hence the need for this recipe.

The finished article - I'm not bothered about icing, or filling, I just love it on its  own.

Ingredients:200g granulated sugar

25g cocoa powder

165g self raising flour (I use the cheapest I can find)

80g vegetable oil
250g water

Method:
Place the sugar and the cocoa powder in a mixing bowl and stir quite briskly - this prevents the cocoa powder from forming lumps, then add the flour. Stir the dry ingredients together using a whisk - once again, this should prevent the flour from forming clumps*. Now add the oil and water and stir, initially with a dessertspoon, then with the whisk. When this mix is smooth, pour into a prepared 20cm (8") silicon cake form. (all I do is place a disc of baking paper on the bottom of the cake form - just to make sure it comes away cleanly.)

After baking and before turning out

Place in a microwave (800W) for 6 minutes. This cake (most cakes, probably) rises quite a bit higher when baked in a microwave - perhaps by as much as 25%!

*All this to save using a sieve! :)
Calories:
165 flour = 355 x 1.65 = 586
200 sugar = 400 x 2 = 800
25 cocoa powder = 355 x .25 = 89
80 oil = 900 x .8 = 720

Total= 2195

The finished cake weighed 640g. 13 slices at around 50g each, say, would give 170 calories a slice.

Cost:

Last time I checked, the ingredients came to 70p – or 5.5p a slice.

5:2 CALORIE COUNTED TRIFLE - VEGAN

Vanilla sponge, raspberry jelly, banana, custard and coconut 'cream'

Friday 25th April 2014

I've got the taste for trifle, now, so here's another one - this time not made with chocolate cake (my default position!), but with vanilla sponge.

5:2 DIET VEGETABLE CURRY FOR 98 CALORIES! (NOW 94cals!)

3/03/14
My fast day dinner today comes in at 94 calories - a new low! (Recipe further down this post.)

I made a few tweaks - leaving out the cumin seeds and substituting asafoetida and mushroom sauce instead of soy sauce. I toyed with the idea of only using half a tin of tomatoes, since the curry already tasted wonderful before any tomatoes were added. In the event I added the whole tin, not wishing to bother with the faff of having a dish of tomatoes hanging round in the fridge.

Weirdly, the smell is making my juices run - but I'n not in the least bit hungry, despite not eating since 7pm last night (it's now 5.30pm). 

23/02/14
I’ve just set an all-time record low (for me) for a fast day meal – just a simple veg curry, but it was so tasty and full of flavor and completely filled me up. Here are the ingredients I used - over here for the method:

5g cumin seeds and 5g curry powder dry fried for a couple of minutes – 10 cals

63g onion, finely chopped 20 cals

171g dark green cabbage, cut into strips 22

53g carrots, sliced 15

151g celery, cut into chunks 12

184g mushrooms, cut into chunks 24

400g chopped, tinned tomatoes 82

10g soy sauce 10

Total 195 calories. Divided in two this gave me 4 large serving spoons of curry – so, 98 calories altogether!

This left me very well fed, and, by staying away from the kitchen for a good half hour, I avoided adding anything else.

I’ve found, over the 2 years I’ve been practicing IF, that if I do stick to just a low calorie dinner, I’ll be satisfied with that. If I add beans or a microwaved potato, I find I want to push myself up to the 600 calories that, as a bloke, IF allows.

This fast, however, was a little different from my usual fasts, which generally begin with my final bite of dinner the day before. This time, not planning to fast today, I ate half a bar of Lindt’s Chilli Chocolate at around 10pm. So my fast didn’t really start until then! However, strictly speaking, that was only 275 cals – so, with my 98 for dinner today, I’ve had 373 calories in the last 27 hours, well below the magic 600 figure!

I decided to fast today since I skipped breakfast, as I often do, and found myself travelling back home over lunch time – so it just made sense to fast today, and have a Sunday dinner tomorrow!

This curry is an excellent basis for a range of further dishes - chilli non carne - lasagne (layered with potato instead of pasta - simply glorious!) - vegetarian Bolognese sauce - rich ragu pie, and many more. All these are to be found in the link below.

For all the 5:2 fasting vegetarian/vegan dishes on my blog, click here.

5:2 DIET CHEESE AND TOMATO PIZZA - FOR AROUND 70P

(For those who aren't sure what the 5:2 diet is, there's a great deal of info on this thread.)

Calorie count:
Whole pizza - 910 cal
1/2 pizza - 455 cals
1/3 pizza - 303 cals
1/4 pizza - 228 cals

5:2 DIET LASAGNE - LAYERED WITH POTATO (VEGAN)

(For those who aren't sure what the 5:2 diet is - here's some information)

I couldn't get any more on the plate - I was absolutely full up when I'd finished!

I didn't know quite what to call this dish. It's layered up with a bolognaise-type vegetable sauce and potatoes, with vegan flavourings instead of a cheese sauce*.

Basically, this is a lasagne/moussaka type meal using thinly sliced potatoes to layer the dish. I've made this over the years, generally to use up left-over bolognaise sauce - and it is awesome!
Makes 2 portions - one each for my two day's fasting this week.

Ingredients:
150g onion
100g cabbage
50g carrots
100g cauliflower
200g celery
150g mushrooms
1 tin chopped tomatoes
2 teaspoons stock powder
Good pinch of dried oregano
Black pepper to taste

Plus:
200g very thinly sliced potatoes (you can overlap the potatoes if you've got too many - or leave them out)
10g Free and Easy cheese sauce powder
5g nutritional yeast

(Or: instead of the powder, use the sauce)

Method:
Chop all the vegetables quite small and simmer them in a little water, until soft. Add the seasoning.

Slice the potatoes very thinly and cook for several minutes until soft.

Layer the dish in three layers - so divide the potatoes into 3 small piles. 

Spoon just under a third of the sauce into a baking dish and cover with 1/3rd of the potatoes. Cover the potatoes with cheese sauce powder and nutritional yeast (nooch). Then alternate with sauce, potatoes and the cheese sauce powder and nooch - finishing with a little liquid over the dry ingredients - just to moisten them.

Either bake for 30 minutes or microwave for 10 minutes - full power for 2 minutes, 8 minutes on 30% power (or equivalent).

Calorie count:
242 for the sauce
144 for the potatoes
25 for the sauce powder and nooch
410 in total

But since this is for two meals, that's 205 for each meal, leaving 295 (or 395 for a bloke) to spare.

(On the day made this, I chose to spend my calories on a small glass of beer, ditto some red wine - and still had enough calories spare for a small piece of chocolate cake! [Calorie counting to come!])

Note:
Free and Easy (dairy free) cheese sauce powder I bought in Sainsbury's supermarket. Engervita nutritional yeast is available in most health food shops.

I shall check out using grated vegan cheese - it'll be more calories, but, since this is pretty low calorie anyway, it might be a decent alternative.

*Or: You may want to use this vegan cheese sauce at 125 calories - but, don't forget, this makes two meals

5:2 DIET RATATOUILLE PIE (VEGAN) made with bread dough

20 minutes at 220C - more pics below

Bread dough (717 calories):
200g strong white bread flour (676 cals)
1 stock cube (crumbled) (14 cals)
1 teaspoon curry powder (5 cals) (optional)
10g fresh yeast or 5g dried yeast (22 cals)
125g lukewarm water

Method:

1. Measure the water and stir in the yeast until it is dissolved. Place the flour, stock cube and curry powder into a mixing bowl, mix the dry ingredients and pour in the yeast liquid.

2. Have a little water to hand to add if necessary, remember, it is better for your dough to be wetter (slack) rather than drier (tight). Begin to mix by stirring the ingredients together with a knife, cutting through the dough as it forms. When it gets too stiff for the knife, use your hand to squeeze the mixture together. As it forms into a solid mass, keep turning it over and pressing it down to pick up the flour at the bottom of the bowl – but make sure it stays soft. Don’t be afraid to add more water to keep it soft! When all the flour has been mixed in, wipe the bowl around with the dough, turn it out onto the worktop and begin to knead.

3. Knead by flattening the dough out, folding it over and flattening it again. If the dough is too sticky, instead of putting extra flour on your worktop, place some in the bowl, put the dough back in and turn it round to coat it all over. That way you keep the flour under control and you won’t be tempted to add too much. Knead until the dough becomes smooth – and then stop before you get fed up!

4. Leave to prove for about an hour on your worktop, covered with a dry tea towel. Or place in an oiled plastic bag – all day if necessary - until you are ready for step 5. Or go straight to step 5.

5. When you are ready to proceed, don't knock the dough back, just divide into 2/3rds and 1/3rd.  Roll out the larger piece of dough about 4cm larger than your  pie dish and place it over the dish, carefully pushing into the sides all round. Roll out the smaller piece to the size of the dish, and place on a floured piece of baking parchment. 

6. Cover both with a tea towel and leave to prove on your worktop until the dough is risen and puffy, then fill the pie dish with the ratatouille filling (using a slotted spoon - you don't want too much liquid). Using the baking parchment, upturn the other piece of dough over the pie dish and filling and trim the edges.

7. Leave a few minutes for the dough to recover, then bake at 220C for about 20 minutes, turning the pie if necessary to ensure an even bake.

Filling (430 calories):
250g celery - 20 cals
100g onion – 31 cals
115g cabbage – 15 cals
64g carrot -19 cals
100g cauliflower – 31 cals
200 mushrooms – 15 cals
2 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed - 10 cals
50g sun dried tomatoes - 90 cals
800g tinned tomatoes - 152 cals 
10g bouillon powder – 24 cals
1 dessertspoon mushroom sauce - 15 cals
1 teaspoon curry powder - 8 cals
1 teaspoon mixed herbs 
Freshly ground black pepper to taste

Simmer the chopped vegetables in a little water until soft, then add the tinned, chopped tomatoes and flavourings. Reduce the liquid by simmering for 30 minutes. Adjust the flavourings, then using a slotted spoon, place the filling in the pie.

This pie will give 4 generous servings - each containing less than 287 calories!  

I'm always blown away by just how encasing some good ingredients in bread dough massively enhances the flavour of those ingredients - whether it is  a simple mushroom en croute, or a lovely vegetable pie such as this!

The dough is already rising

Now with the filling

Trimming almost complete. For reasons I don't fully understand, there is no need to cut slits in the top of a pie made with a bread dough

The trimmings were used to make a couple of spicy grissini (with a kink so they can be turned over if need be)

The bottom was lined with a piece of baking parchment

9th June 2013

My latest attempt:

I made the dough with curry powder, bouillon powder, tomato puree and chopped s-d-tomatoes

The filling was again a rich vegetable sauce

The trimmings made two tasty grissini

There are 3 good servings in this pie - four with a few veg. I just have curried wedges with it.